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PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh High Courton Monday took up the hearing ondaily basis in a batch of petitionsfiled by farmers over the abolitionof AP Capital Region DevelopmentAuthority (AP CRDA) and thethree capitals on a daily basis. TheDivision Bench, comprising HighCourt Chief Justice PrashantKumar Mishra, Justice MSatyanaryana Murthy and JusticeDVSS Somayajulu, took up thehearing in multiple petitions filedby the Amaravati farmers,Amaravati Parirakshana Samithiand others against the State gov-ernment’s decision to go aheadwith trifurcated capital.

Senior advocate Dushyant Dave,appearing for the State govern-ment, requested the Chief Justiceto drop the two judges - JusticesSatyanarayana Murthy andSomayajulu - on the grounds thatthey are against the State govern-

ment but the CJ rejected it byinsisting that a request to that effectwas turned down by a bench ear-lier.

The High Court Bench observedthat there was a lot of significanceto the hearing on the capital cityissues. The Chief Justice observedthat because of this case, the entiredevelopment in the State hadcome to a standstill. The CJ stat-ed that the delay was causing a lotof inconvenience to the petition-ers and the respondents, the HighCourt said it would complete thehearing at the earliest and deliverits judgment as soon as possible.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Polling for the pending 12 munic-ipalities and Nellore MunicipalCorporation (NMC) concludedpeacefully barring a few minorincidents on Monday. The pollingwas held from 7 am to 5 pm. Thecounting of votes for the munic-ipal elections will take place onNovember 17.

Polling was held for Kuppam,Akividu, Jaggayyapeta,Kondapalli, Dachepalli, Gurjala,

Darshi, Buchireddypalem,Bethancharla, Kamalapuram,

Rajampet and Penukonda munic-ipalities.

By 5 pm in Nellore, 50 percentpolling was recorded and those inqueue lines were given the oppor-tunity to cast their vote.Meanwhile, YSRCP has won eightdivisions unanimously out of the54 divisions in NelloreCorporation. Polling went on for45 divisions. There are 206 can-didates in the fray and. 4.47 lakhpeople will exercise their right tovote. As many as 384 polling sta-

tions were set up with 4,000election staff taking part in theduties.

Buchireddypalem recorded61.6 per cent, Kuppam 76.49 percent, Jaggayyapeta 78.45 per cent,Dachepalli 71.88 per cent,Gurjala-71.8 per cent, Penukonda82.63 per cent, Kamalapuram76.16 per cent, Kondapalli 66.79per cent and Rajampet 67.27 percent polling was reported.

HC takes up daily hearing overpleas against 3 Capitals plan

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS Jagan MohanReddy has directed the officials totake up works in cities and munic-ipalities on a priority basis, mak-ing Andhra Pradesh a pot-hole-free State.

During a review meeting onrepairs to roads, held at the campoffice here on Monday, the ChiefMinister asked the officials to startroad repair works immediately ona stretch of 46,000 km across theState.

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

The cash-strapped Andhra Pradeshis looking to the Centre to fund itsambitious port-led development. Totap the potential of the long coastlinethat it offers, the Andhra Pradeshgovernment has laid out plans todevelop at least three greenfieldports at Bhavanapadu in Srikakulam,Machilipatnam in Krishna district

and Ramayapatnam in Prakasam dis-trict.

While all the three ports are to bedeveloped on the Landlord modelwith an outlay of Rs 14,000 crore, theState government wants the Centreto either provide a grant to developone of the ports or 25 percent of thetotal outlay.

Andhra Pradesh has got 974 kmof long coastline, the second-longestin India, after Gujarat. AP coastline

has one major port at Visakhapatnamunder the Government of India,three non-major ports under theState government, namely, KakinadaDeepwater Port, Krishnapatnam Portand Gangavaram Port. These non-major ports together handle about100 MTPA of cargo, second only toGujarat. Andhra Pradesh shares 4 pcof total Indian exports and aims toreach 10 pc share by 2030.

Take up road repairworks at once, CMdirects officials

Polling for 12 municipalities, NMC peaceful

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Union Home Minister and BJP sen-ior leader Amit Shah is learnt to havegiven the green signal to the partyleaders in the State to take part in theongoing Padayatra taken up by thefarmers of Amaravati against the YSJagan Mohan Reddy government’sdecision to have three capitals.

A few leaders, who had taken partin a strategy meeting with Amit Shahon Monday in Tirupati, sought someclarity from the BJP’s senior leader ontaking part in the Pada Yatra. It islearnt that these leaders apprisedAmit Shah that they are being criti-cised by the Amaravati farmers andalso those who support Amaravati asthe only capital city of the state fornot supporting the Pada Yatra andsought his direction.

Responding to the leaders, Amit

Shah is said to have told them they canparticipate in the Pada Yatra if theissue has majority popular support,sources in the BJP said.

Its been a few days that theAmaravati farmers had taken up thePada Yatra but BJP leaders have beenlargely silent about it though they hadin the past announced that they wantonly Amaravati as the capital ofAndhra Pradesh. Rajya Sabha mem-

ber, CM Ramesh, who participated ina TV debate on Monday evening saidthat Amit Shah had given clarityabout the party’s stance on the paday-atra taken up by Amaravati farmersand he would take part in it soon.

Amit Shah who is on a visit toTirupati to take part in the southzonal council meeting on Sunday hadheld discussions with the party’sstate leaders on Monday. It is learntAmit Shah had asked state BJP lead-ers to focus on strengthening theparty in the state as there is lot of antiincumbency in the state which is anopportunity for the party to grow inthe state. He had also set a goal to thestate leaders to capture power in thestate in 2024.

He held discussions with state unitcore committee members thatinclude party state president SomuVeerraju, senior leader Daggupati

Purandheswari, Rajya Sabha mem-bers, YS Chowdhary, CM Rameshand also party national secretary YSatyakumar. It is learnt that AmitShah had said that both YSRCP andTDP are parties that encouragedynastic politics and BJP maintainsequal distance with both the partiesand also it is the only alternative. Hehad also asked the party leaders tobuild public movements in the statealong with ally Jana Sena against theanti people policies of the currentgovernment.

Coming out of the meetingVeerraju said that Amit Shah hadgiven them a road map on strength-ening the party in the state by admit-ting important leaders and also workhard to bring party to power in thestate. Purandheswari said thatdemocracy is under threat in APunder the current rule.

Take part in Amaravati farmers’Padayatra, Shah tells BJP leaders

AP looks to Centre for grant CONSTRUCTION OF GREENFIELD PORTS

2 2

2 2

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

When PresidentRam Nath Kovindgave away the

Padma awards at RashtrapatiBhavan in New Delhi a weekago, the recipients includedthe 77-year-old barefootedTulasi Gowda of Honnali vil-lage in Karnataka.

Belonging to the Hulakkitribe, Tulasi Gowda has sincethe age of 12 planted 30,000saplings and is a ‘walking for-est encyclopaedia’.

Even Prime MinisterNarendra Modi bowed hishead in reverence to her.

Similarly, Harekala Hajabba– a fruit vendor – was alsoamong the recipients ofPadma Shri. The 66-year-old,who sells fruits nearManguluru bus station, builta school in a hamlet spendingmoney from his pocket.

Also honoured were MathaManjamma B. Jogati, a trans-gender, for her excellence infolk arts and Jogati dance,

three-star ranked first AirForce officer Marshal PadmaBandopadhyaya, MohammadSharif of Ayodhya, a bicyclemechanic who cremated over25,000 orphan bodies in threedecades, Bhuri Bai a dailywage earner-turned-artist ofBhill community in MadhyaPradesh, Dalavai ChalapatiRao, a puppeteer fromAnantapur, Yadla Gopala Raoof Srikakulam who has beenbreathing life into theatresince he was 12 years old, KasiVidwat Parishad presidentProf Ramyatna Shukla, who ismodernising Sanskrit gram-mar and philosophy, 82-year-old MK Kunjal from a remotearea in Kerala for resistingatrocities of caste Hindus onDalits, KrishnammalJagannadhan of Tamil Nadufor spreading Gandhian phi-losophy of non-, Girijanmother Rahee Bai SomaSopere of Ahmad Nagar, whois described as mother of

seeds of traditional crops, andseveral others.

None of them craved recog-nition; many of them are notaware of Delhi streets. Thesepeople are different from thosewho lobby for Padma awardsin Delhi.

Who were the recipients ofPadma Awards in earlierregimes?

In Congress regimes, manyweeks before Padma Awardswere declared, moneybagsused to reach VIPs. Pressureused to be exerted on theAwards committee. Influentialpeople used to ensure these

awards for their kith and kinusing their clout. Parties usedto be thrown in farmhouses inthe presence of elders.

In the UPA regime, formerPresident Pratibha Singh Patilin 2010 presented PadmaBhushan to a hotelier in NewYork, Sant Singh Chatwaalwho was sentenced by a UScourt to three years in jail andimposed US $5 lakh fine formobilising election fundsfrom people illegally.

A former militant ofSrinagar Gulam MohammadMir was also awarded aPadma Award. A Kashmiri

shawls vendor HasmatullahKhan as also Dr Khaleelullahwho was involved in severaleconomic crimes as director ofGP Pant Hospital in Delhi.There were allegations that anactor 'bought' Padma Shri.The list runs long.

During the Congressregime, one of the Presidentsof India managed to getPadma Shri award to a nurse

who took good care of him.There were alsoinstances ofC o n g r e s sregimes hon-ouring jour-nalists, underthe garb of pseudo-secularism, whoplayed second fiddle to themand slung mud on BJP leaders.

What is shocking is thatJawaharlal Nehru was award-ed Bharat Ratna in 1955 whenhe was still in office andIndira Gandhi got it in 1971when she was the PM, whileDr BR Ambedkar, architect ofthe Constitution, India firsteducation minister MaulanaAbul Kalam Azad and IronMan of India Sardar Patelwere awarded Bharat Ratnaposthumously.

Shehnai exponent UstadBismillah Khan whoenthralled the global audiencewas awarded Bharat Ratna byAtal Behari Vajpayee.

Prime Minister NarendraModi understood the

irregularities takingplace in selection ofthe awardees in thefirst two years of his

coming to power.Therefore, he totally trans-

formed the Padma Awardsprocess. Since 2017, he put afull stop to Union ministersmaking recommendations forPadma Awards and intro-duced a transparent anddemocratic system wherebythe general public makes thenominations.

He created machinery fromgrassroots level to inform himabout those who render ser-vice to the public withoutexpecting recognition. Heexpanded the Padma Awardscommittee by includingexperts from various fields.

Till 2014, names of onlysome loyalists were furnishedto the government for theawards. In 2014, the Padma

Awards Committee wentthrough 2,200 nominationsbut in 2020, over 46,000 nom-inations were sent.

Since 2017, there has beena perceptible change in the listof Padma awardees. Names ofthe 70-year-old Kalaripattutrainer in Kerala – MeenakshiAmma, folk singer ofKarnataka Sukri BommeGowda and the like wereincluded in the list.

Padma Awards are regard-ed as the highest civilian hon-ours in the country. But theirsignificance was lost as worth-less people and those whocame up in life through illegalmeans secured the awards.Modi reformed the PadmaAwards process by recognisingthe services of the commonman and downtrodden sec-tions. It has enhanced thevalue of Padma Awards.

What better yardstick tomeasure the lofty personalityand selfless thinking of Modi?

Y SATYA KUMAR

BJP National Secretary

TRULY

SPEAKING

What is shocking is that Nehru was awardedBharat Ratna in 1955 when he was still inoffice and Indira Gandhi got it in 1971 whenshe was the PM, while it was bestowed onDr BR Ambedkar, Maulana Abul Kalam Azadand Sardar Patel posthumously.

Modi has enhanced the value of Padma Awards

VIJAYAWADA

WEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated NOVEMBER 15, 2021 5:00 PM

Forecast: ThunderstormTTeemmpp:: 29HHuummiiddiittyy:: 83%SSuunnrriissee:: 6:21 amSSuunnsseett:: 05:40 pm

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Kartik & Shukla Paksha

Tithi : Dwadashi 08:01

Nakshatram : Revati 20:14

Time to Avoid : Time to Avoid

(Bad time to start any important work)

Rahukalam : 2:48 pm - 4:12 pm

Yamagandam : 9:13 am - 10:36 am

Varjyam : 7:12 am - 8:56 am

Gulika : 12:00 pm - 1:24 pm

Good Time : (to start any

important work)

Amritakalam : 5:38 pm - 7:22 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham : 11:38 am - 12:23 pm

PNS n KAKINADA

East Godavari Collector CHarikiran has said that theEklavya model residentialschool will provide qualityeducation to the studentsbelonging to tribal communi-ties.

Speaking at the foundationstone laying for the residen-tial school at Vetamamidivillage in Addateegala man-dal on Monday, he said, bothstate and central govern-ments would provide Rs 20crores for the school complex.

He said that foundationstones for 50 Eklavya modelresidential schools were laid

across the country to markthe birth anniversary ofBhagavan Birasa Munda, wholed the people of tribal com-

munities during the country’sfreedom struggle.

He said the objective of set-ting up these model residen-

tial schools was to providequality education to tribalchildren from 6th to 12thClass with CBSE syllabus.`The school building com-plex will have an academicblock, dining hall, library,separate hostels for boys andgirls besides vast playgroundsto encourage sports like bas-ketball, kho-kho, shuttle andother extracurricular activi-ties.

The state governmentallocated 15 acres of site forthe school complex. Water,roads and other infrastruc-tural facilities would also beprovided. The admissioninto the residential school

will be 90 percent tribals andten percent others.’ headded. The Collector askedthe tribal children to utilizethe opportunity..

Rampachodavaram sub-collector KattaSimhachalam, Gurukula’sdeputy secretary Dayakar,tribal welfare executive engi-neer Ramadevi, tribal wel-fare DD Saraswati, MPDOBapanna Dora and tahsildarCh Srinivasarao were amongthose attended. Later, theCollector visited the PHC atAddateegala and inspectedthe inpatient ward, materni-ty ward, drug store andadministrative wings.

MARTHI SUBRAHMANYAM

n VIJAYAWADA

Union Home Minister AmitShah has lashed out at theAndhra Pradesh BJP leader-ship. Sensing the reasons forthe party not expanding in theState, Amit Shah blamed theAP leadership's policies for thestate of affairs. In addition totaking in people from otherparties, they should also berespected.

Questioning the leaders fornot participating in theAmaravati movement, hemade it clear that they shouldfollow the party's line onAmaravati. He also questionedwhy the State leadership didnot have good relations withthe ally Jana Sena and askedit to go with it. Amit Shahcommented, "If you havecoordination, why do youhave to hold two meetingstoday?" Earlier, party MPsSujana Chaudhary and CMRamesh met Amit Shah andcomplained about the arbi-trary decisions of presidentSomu Veerraju and co-in-charge Sunil Deodhar. Theyurged him to remove SunilDeodhar from the position ashis style of functioning hasinto a big headache.

The State BJP leaders had

heated arguments during themeeting with Union HomeMinister Amit Shah. Duringthe two-part meeting, AmitShah expressed anger overthe performance, coordina-tion and decisions of the Stateleadership in one case, dissat-isfaction and aspiration inanother.

According to reliablesources, Amit Shah hadexpressed deep resentmentover the performance of theState BJP leadership. Partynational secretary BL Santosh,Sivaprakash, party nationalgeneral SecretaryPurandeswari, SecretarySatyakumar, State EventsMinister Madhukar, StatePresident Somu Veerraju,national Working Committeemember Kanna

Lakshminarayana, MPsSujana Chowdhury, CMRamesh and GVL NarasimhaRao were present.

On the occasion, Amit Shahcalled upon the party leader-ship to invite newcomers toexpand the party. He made itclear that respecting thosetaken into the party was para-mount. ‘It is just as importantfor us to accommodate thenewcomers as it is to respectthem. Although I have madethis clear many times, yourapproach has not changed, "said Amit Shah.

At this stage, SunilDeothar's recent remarks onMPs joining the party that'BJP is not a parking place forTDP in AP' came up for dis-cussion. Amit Shah is learnt tohave expressed his anger when

Sunil Deodhar and an MP hadreplied that the new MPsmight leave the party again.

"We are making peoplefrom other parties as chiefministers. Once upon a timewhen a particular CM wasoutside the BJP, he was astaunch anti-Hindutva. Nowthat he has joined our partyand become the CM, he hasbecome a brand ambassadorfor Hindutva. He went toNagpur too. Who told you tokeep people from other par-ties away from doing that?''Amit Shah lashed out at SunilDeodhar.

When it comes to theAmravati movement, AmitShah clarified that the Stateparty is responsible for imple-menting the decision taken bythe party core committee onAmravati in the past.However, when MP GVLNarasimha Rao said that theTDP would benefit from theAmaravati movement, AmitShah brushed it aside.

He said, "Parties participat-ing in people's movementshave the support of the peo-ple. If we are far from it say-ing that TDP will benefit,when will people support us?Why support our party?Implement the resolutionpassed by our party on

Amaravati. People will sup-port us if we participate in themovement. Along with theTDP, will our party also ben-efit?".

On the occasion, the lead-ers complained to Amit Shahthat Somu-Sunil had told theleaders who had gone on a pil-grimage that BJP was notfavourable to Amaravati.Responding to this, Amit Shahbrought to the notice of boththe leaders that BJP was not infavor of Amravati.Responding to this, Amit Shahsaid, "The decision taken bythe party over Amravati in thepast is final. Join the move-ment in support of the farm-ers."

Amit Shah told SomuVeerraju, "You are the presi-dent of this State unit of theparty. You have to make inde-pendent decisions by con-sulting everyone. If you haveany problems, talk to Santoshjiand make a decision, ” Somutold Veeraja.

Amit Shah pulled upSunil Deodhar and GVLNarasimha Rao for statingthat there would not be analliance with TDP in thefuture and said, " Who are youto decide alliances? That’s forthe president of the Stateparty to say."

Amit Shah gives Veerraju, Deodhar hispiece of mind at AP BJP leaders' meet

Continued from Page 1

He said the pot holes shouldbe closed and roads carpetedso that they would be madeavailable for motorists byJune 2022.

The Chief Minister askedthe officials to focus on roadsthat were in a bad shape dueto maximum damage.

The officials informed theChief Minister that the workswere delayed due to contin-uous rains and assured him ofstarting repairs works on astretch of 8,268 km by theend of November after final-ising the tenders.

Officials said that all therepairs would be completedbetween December and June.Further, the Chief Ministerdirected the authorities tocover all bridges and fly-overs and make plans tobring ROBs and bridgesunder Phase 1.

Continued from Page 1

The Kuppam municipalpolling ended amidst ten-sions. Polling was heldamidst tense situation asoutsiders in large numberswere flocking since thepolling process began. Theissue of outsiders in Kuppamled to tussle between the rul-ing YSRCP and the opposi-tion TDP supporters. TheTDP activists blocked non-locals arriving in buses atseveral places, the TDP lead-ers were outraged as noaction was taken against thenon-locals. Tension prevailedin Kuppam 16th wardthroughout the day, Sudhir

Bari the chairman candidatefrom the YSRCP was in thefray. Police resorted to lathicharge to disrupt the protest-ing TDP activists.

Tension prevailed atRajampet 15th ward inKadapa district as YSRCPactivists caught a man cast-ing fake votes that led to ten-sion. Police resorted to lathicharge to disrupt gangs at thepolling station. The gangspelted stones on the police.In Prakasam district Darshi13th ward the oppositionTDP activists manhandled avoter leading to tension,police had to intervene topacify the situation.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

As the formation of a cyclonicstorm in the Bay of Bengal islikely, the IndianMeteorological Department(IMD) has alerted the fisher-men not to venture into thesea up to November 18. Thelow-pressure area formed onSunday, remained well-marked and is turning into adepression.

According to IMD, the sys-tem would further intensifyinto a cyclonic storm andmoderate to very heavy rainwould occur at most of theplaces in coastal AndhraPradesh region in the comingnext 48 hours.

The State governmentalerted the north coastal dis-trict administrations to bevery careful after the IMDalerts. The Vizianagaram andSrikakulam administrationshave set up cyclone reliefcentres and cautioned thefrontline departments to gearup for the emergencies.

Meanwhile, the IMD scien-tists are cautioning that rainsstarting from November 16would continue till 20 as coolconditions are prevailing inthe sea. The present low-pressure is reported to bewell-marked over 1,000 kmsoutheast of Visakhapatnamand is developing further.

Continued from Page 1

Despite having a long coast-line focused approach towardsmaritime and port-led devel-opment has been missing inAndhra Pradesh by the suc-cessive governments. TheState government only inNovember 2019 notified con-stituting the AP MaritimeBoard, which has been a long-pending demand by the entre-preneurs and trade bodiesthat will help the State’s port-led development plans.

The government has plansto develop Greenfield ports atBhavanapadu at a cost of Rs4,362 crore, atMachilipatnam with anexpenditure of Rs 5,156 crand Ramayapatnam at a costof Rs 3,736 crore under theLandlord model with a totaloutlay of more than Rs 14,000

crore for unlocking the eco-nomic benefits of AndhraPradesh’s long coast toincrease port traffic from150 MTPA to 250 MTPA in2025 and 400 MTPA by 2030.

“With the recent Cabinetapproval, these ports will bemade operational by 2023-24with the plan to develop aport in EPC and then handover to strategic players tooperate and thereby get ahigher revenue share.Further, these ports whendeveloped will be able todrive over 25 MMT volumeof exports, which are current-ly being shipped throughnon-AP ports despite theirproximity to AP ports. Thekey goal is to fuel the growthof port-based Blue Economyand Industrial CorridorDevelopment aligned with“Gati Shakti”, the National

Infrastructure Master Planlaunched by the PrimeMinister earlier this month,”said a senior official of theState government.

The official added thatports are national assets withtheir development holdingstrategic importance, and theGovernment of India has theresponsibility to supportthese initiatives.

“Therefore, theGovernment of AndhraPradesh requested GoI toconsider providing grants toany of the three upcomingnon-major ports. A total ofRs 14,000 crore is the outlayand the State governmentrequested GoI to fund atleast 25 pc of the amount andparticipate in the effort tomatch the port demand ofthe immediate future,” thesenior official added.

HC takes up ...

Low-pressure in bay likelyto turn into depression

AP looks to Centre for grant

Sunil Deothar's recent remarks onMPs joining the party that 'BJP is nota parking place for TDP in AP' cameup for discussion. Amit Shah is learntto have expressed his anger whenSunil Deodhar and an MP had repliedthat the new MPs might leave theparty again.

Polling for 12 municipalities,NMC peaceful

Take up roadrepair works atonce, CMdirects officials

Quality edu for students at Ekalavya schools: DC

Continued from Page 1

Senior advocate Shyam Divan,representing Amaravati farm-ers, said that controversial pro-posals by the State governmentregarding the State Capitalwould have serious conse-quences on the constitutionalassurances on the basis ofwhich Amaravati farmers gavetheir valuable lands for theconstruction of the capital cityof Andhra Pradesh.

The senior advocate fur-ther said that the court shouldappreciate the fact that nearly30,000 families had given theirlands for the development ofAmaravati and they have nomeans of livelihood. Due to theabrupt halt of the capital pro-ject, the value of plots hadcrashed.

It may be recalled that inAugust, the High Court bench,comprising the then ChiefJustice Arup Kumar Goswami,Justice Joymalya Bagchi andJustice Nainala Jayasurya tookup the hearing of the cases per-taining to Amaravati and threecapitals. However, counsel forthe petitioners (Amaravatifarmers) requested the benchto defer the cases due to theincreasing number of Covidcases in the State.

Later, the High Court benchpostponed the hearing toNovember 15, after goingthrough the status report of theCovid cases in the country ingeneral and Andhra Pradesh inparticular.

On the other hand, even ifthe High Court gives its judg-ment after the hearing, there isno guarantee that the petition-ers or the government wouldnot go to the Apex Courtdepending on the judgment ofthe High Court.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Miyapur police onMonday, arrested two fakereporters for blackmailing alegally-run beauty parlor ownerand demanding money.

The arrested accused wereidentified as Manik alias Siva,32, and Amarnath, 33.

“On Sunday, the two went toa beauty parlor and posed as

reporters from vernacularnewspapers and asked themfor documents. They thenasked the managers to pay Rs30,000 per month and Rs10,000 as an advance by threat-ening that they would writearticles against their establish-ment," said police. Following acomplaint, a case was bookedand the arrests were made onMonday.

Police arrest 2fake reporters

03TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Leader of the Opposition NChandrababu Naidu onMonday lauded the people forcoming out and 'revolting'against the use of bogus votersand other election offences ofthe ruling YSRCP leaders in thepolling for the civic bodies.TDP polling agents and leaderswere arrested by the ‘unprinci-pled’ police, he alleged andobserved this happened duringlate-night hours prior to thepolling day. Alarmingly, thepolice did not file a single casethough the ruling party broughtbogus voters from other dis-tricts and states in the currentpolls to municipal bodies.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, the TDP chief saidthat the people of Kuppam putup a strong resistance by com-ing out in large numbers tooppose the election excesses ofthe YSRCP leaders. They hadcaught hundreds of bogus vot-ers and handed them over tothe authorities. It was a blackspot on democracy that thepolice did not act against bogusvoters but resorted to a lathi-charge on the people who cameto stop impersonators.

Naidu said that today's pollrevealed how the people in the

streets began revolting againstthe lawless government. In theTirupati by-poll, not manypeople tried to oppose the rul-ing party excesses. But, thepresent civic body pollschanged the whole electiondynamics in the State. TheYSRCP brought and put upthese impersonators at VijayaVani School, KUDA office,GVK Kalyana Mandapam,Soma Rama Reddy farmhouseand other places in Kuppam.However, the police did nottake any action and they start-ed playing high drama in orderto favour the YSRCP candi-dates.

Chandrababu Naidu con-demned the manner in whichthe police arrested the pollingagents of the TDP in manywards. The election officialswere only supporting the pollexcesses of the YSRCP. Themidnight arrest of TDPKuppam town presidentRajkumar was condemnable.There was video evidence toshow how the YSRCP broughtvoters in buses from other dis-tricts and States. The TDPchief said that the day was notfar off when the AP peoplewould start playing reversemind games against the JaganMohan Reddy’s misrule.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP national general secretaryNara Lokesh on Mondayslammed Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy for 'mur-dering democracy'. Heaccused the ChiefMinister ofusing 'bogusvoters' tocommit day-light murderof democra-cy and peo-ple's mandatein the currentcivic body elec-tions. In a statementhere, Lokesh said that theelection process was turnedinto a shady commercial activ-ity in which the people wereno longer the decision makers.The votes were turned intocommercial commodities inthe marketplace. The volun-teers, who were drawingsalaries from public funds,were acting like YSRCP politi-cal activists and they werebringing voters to the polling

booths.Nara Lokesh condemned themanner in which the Kuppampolice and the election officialswere detaining and arrestingthe TDP leaders and polling

agents in the Kuppamcivic body elec-

tions. Thepolice officersshouldexplain whythey allowedthe rulingYSRCP lead-

ers to bringbogus voters in

buses and vehi-cles from other

places. What was theState Election Commission(SEC) doing when the volun-teers were bringing voters tothe booths? Lokesh said thatthe YSRCP had put up all sortsof hurdles in order to preventthe civic body elections frombeing held in a democraticmanner. The elections wereeventually turned into JaganReddy selections, which wasdespicable and unpardonable.

Revolt against govt begins: Naidu

3 cousins meetwatery grave inKrishna river

MAA chief maintains strategicsilence over ticket price issuePNS n HYDERABAD

Though a leading productionhouse like DVVEntertainments has gone onrecord with its opposition to acap on film ticket prices inAndhra Pradesh, there hasbeen no reaction from theTollywood biggies.

The Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment has slashed ticketprices – a move that is goingto affect the pandemic-hitindustry which is sufferingheavy losses already. Though

stars like Pawan Kalyan cameforward to address the issue, itonly caused more damage asthe issue was ignored by theindustry biggies.

Movie Artists Association'spresident Manchu Vishnu,who promised to resolve all theissues, has kept mum on theticket price. Their strategicsilence regarding such a bigproblem has irked many of theindustry heads.

The Telugu Film Chamberof Commerce had issued anote saying they did not have

any issues regarding the pricesof movie tickets when Pawanhad raised his voice against thegovernment.

Now that big projects like'RRR', 'Radhe Shyam','Bheemla Nayak', and 'SarkaruVaari Paata' are prepping up tohit the screens, the industry isslowly coming to grips with theproblems.

The ticket price issue hasbecome a headache for traders,theatre owners, distributors,and producers, and needs animmediate resolution.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Bhavani devotees’ deekshaembracement programmebegan on a grand note atGoddess Kanaka DurgaTemple atop Indrakeeladri Hillhere on Monday. The confer-ment of Bhavani devoteeswould conclude on November19 for mandala deeksha devo-tees while for the devoteestaking artha mandala deeksha,the conferment would be fromDecember 5 to 9. The deekshaviramana would be held fromDecember 25 to 29.

Special pujas were per-formed on the auspicious occa-sion on the temple premisesindicating the commencementof Bhavani Deeksha. Before themala dharna, the devotees tooka holy bath in the Krishna andlined up at the temple, thepriests conferred deeksha onthem by chanting Vedichymns. Later, the Bhavaniswent round Kanaka DurgaTemple, Malleswara Swamyand other sub-temples. After41 days of deeksha, devoteesvisit the temple on December25 for deeksha viramana (relin-quishment).

Executive officer DBramaramba said both thedeeksha conferment and relin-quishment process will be con-ducted on the lines of Dasara

festival. She said that Giripradakshina and chandihomam would be held fromDecember 25 to 29.

On the other hand, NityaAnnadanam at Kanaka DurgaTemple resumed on Monday tomark the beginning of BhavaniDeeksha mala dharana. Templetrust board chairman PSominaidu and executive offi-cer D Bramarambha took thedecision as there had been asteady increase in devotees’footfall during the past twomonths.

The executive officer saidthat Nitya Annadanam was

stopped in April 2020 due toCOVID-19. Following dueprocedures and safety proto-cols, the service was beingresumed. Food packets arebeing distributed to those vis-iting the temple, she added.

Meanwhile, the Vijayawadacity police had made allarrangements for smooth traf-fic and parking during thefive days of the rituals. Inorder to avoid any untowardincidents during the rituals, thetemple authorities have madefoolproof arrangements uphilland downhill of Indrakeeladrion lines of Dasara festival.

The police have decided toarrange parking spaces fordevotees at five locations -Punnami Ghat, Bhavani Ghat,Gandhi Municipal Schoolground, Gadda Bomma centreand the open space near VMCoffice.

The traffic police officials ofBhavanipuram and One-townpolice station are looking foradditional parking lots duringthe five days of the deeksha asdevotees usually come asgroups in cars, vans and busesand controlling the rush withless number of parking lots willbe an uphill task, they said.

Election process turned intocommercial activity: Lokesh

Bhavani Deeksha embracementprogramme begins on grand note

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The five-day state-level TribalCrafts Mela started in the city onMonday. Andhra Pradesh TribalWelfare Director Ranjit Basha inau-gurated the exhibition-cum-saleon the beach front oppositeViswapriya Function Hall.

Speaking on the occasion, RanjitBasha called upon the people topromote tribal handicrafts andcooperate with the tribespeople fortheir better lifestyle. “In order topromote handicrafts and offer sup-port to the tribals, all categories oftribal handicrafts from across thestate have been brought under oneumbrella. Along with the handi-crafts, plenty of forest produceand products from GirijanCooperative Corporation (GCC)have also been brought to themela,” the Director said.

Participating in the inauguralfunction, Greater VisakhapatnamMunicipal Corporation (GVMC)Commissioner Dr.Lakshmisha saidthat the handicrafts were proof ofthe talent and quality of the tribal

artisan. Thecommissioneralso said thatthere was noc o m p a r i s o nbetween the forest

produce and GCC products and thecorporate company products. Hecalled upon people to promote andbuy the tribal handicrafts as a cit-izen responsibility.

On the occasion, the organisersconducted painting competitions forschool children with prize money ofRs.50,000, Rs.20,000 and Rs.10,000for first, second and third places,

respectively. The cash prizeswould be distributed on the

final day.As part of the inau-

gural session, ahandful of culturalp r o g r a m m e sincluding Thimsadance and othertribal cultural activ-

ities were conducted.Live demonstrations

are another part of theexhibition.

Promote tribal handicrafts, people told

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Nandipati Subba Rao, formerprofessor (Geology) at AndhraUniversity, has found a place inthe list of the top two percentscientists in 2021 in the world,prepared based on researchcitations by the world-famousStanford University, USA, andElsevier BV, a Netherlands-based publishing company, forthe second consecutive time.

The list was released recent-ly representing the top two per

cent of the most referred to sci-entists in various disciplinesincluding Science,Engineering, Pharmacy andMedicine. Prof. Subba Rao'sworld rank is 91,247 among1,86,178 persons.

His research paper's cita-tion h-index is 39, whichcharacterises the scientificoutput of a researcher. If theh-index is less than 20, it indi-cates a scientist. If it isbetween 20 and 40, it repre-sents a good scientist. If it is

from 40 to 60, it suggests anoutstanding scientist. If it ismore than 60, it signifies anexceptional scientist.

Prof. Subba Rao’s rank is fig-ured in the discipline of Earthand Environmental Sciences.His rank in the list from Indiais 506 out of 3,352 persons ofvarious disciplines. Last year,his rank from India was 557.He has, so far, published 120research papers in reputednational and internationaljournals.

Former AU professor named among top 2 percent scientists

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A pall of gloom descended inTotlavalluru mandal in theKrishna district as threecousins drowned in RiverKrishna on Monday. Theyouths ventured into the riverto have a dip on the occasionof Kartika Somavaram andwere washed away. Thedeceased were identified as GNagendra Babu (18), G Pavan(18) and G Nagaraju (20), allbelonging to Thotlavalluruvillage in the district.

Inspector M MukteswaraRao said that Nagendra Babuand Pavan were pursuing anITI course at Challapalli,while Nagaraju was a tractordriver. About 12 members ofthe family went to the river tohave a Kartika Somavarambath in the early hours ofMonday. While taking bath,the trio was swept away in theswirling waters.

Taking the help of villagersand expert swimmers, thepolice retrieved the bodies ofPavan and Nagaraju whilesearch is on for NagendraBabu.

All the three victims werecousins, said the police. Thebodies were later shifted tothe Government Hospital forpost-mortem examination.

Cop attached to Vatsavai PS gets awardPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Krishna district Superintendent ofPolice Siddharth Kaushal has warnedthat stringent action would be takenagainst the drug peddlers. He saidthe district police have launched amega drive to check the transporta-tion of drugs, ganja and other seda-tives.

Kaushal on Monday presented theweekly best performance award tothe constable Shaik Sultan Salauddinattached to the Vatsavai police sta-tion. The SP has presented theaward for his actively taking part inthe anti-drug transportation opera-

tions. The SP said the constableSultan tactfully checked a car twodays ago under Vatsavai police sta-tion limits and arrested two personstransporting 10 kgs ganja. The con-

stable seized the car and ganja. SP Kaushal presented the weekly

best performance award and con-gratulated the constable. Heenquired about the service, familybackground and other details of theconstable Sultan. SP Kaushal said thepolice department would rewardsuitably to the cops, who activelytake part in the prevention of ganjaand drug transportation in the dis-trict. Special branch DSPDharmendra, Special branch inspec-tor Subhakar and other officialsattended the weekly best perfor-mance presentation programme inMachilipatnam.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Refuting the Opposition’s alle-gations of YSRCP leaders cast-ing fake votes, GovernmentAdvisor (Public Affairs) SajjalaRamakrishna Reddy has saidthat TDP chief N ChandrababuNaidu has been spreading liesto justify his imminent defeatin Kuppam where people are infavour of YSRCP for the wel-fare programmes being carriedout by Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy.

Speaking to the media hereon Monday, he slammedChandrababu Naidu forspreading false informationon voting in Kuppam althoughelections are held on a peace-ful note. He asserted that there

is no need to cast fake votes aspeople are always ready tosupport YSRCP and statedthat Naidu is preparing theground by putting on a showas he was convinced of hisdefeat.

He said that ChandrababuNaidu had been conspiring tocreate unrest in the constituen-cy by pooling crowds fromother places and questionedhim to justify why hundreds ofpeople were brought to thebooths and appointed rowdysheeters as poll agents.

Ramakrishna Reddy saiddespite knowing the electionprocess of how voters areallowed into polling boothsand how many agents will bepermitted at the polling station,

Naidu was making baselesscharges on fake votes. He saidpolling agents of all partieswere present in booths andquestioned how someonecould cast fake votes.

Recalling that TDP mem-bers were caught red-handeddistributing money to the vot-ers, he said that ChandrababuNaidu was trying to bluff peo-ple and mislead them. As of 1pm, the total polling was about60 percent, and the people ofKuppam were ready to rejectTDP as they had been witness-ing the good governance ofChief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy for the pasttwo-and-a-half years, headded.

He said that elections werebeing held in 12 municipalitiesand one corporation, and thepublic opinion on the govern-ment was already known asYSRCP made a clean sweep inall the recent elections.

Sajjala pooh-poohs Naidu’s charge

04 TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021

PNS n ELURU

West Godavari DistrictCollector Kartikeya Mishra hassaid that aided school manage-ments were given the option ofmerging their institutions withthe government.

The Collector held a meetingon aided schools with the spe-cial officers and correspon-dents here on Monday.Speaking on the occasion, hemade it clear that the govern-ment would take over theschools which come forwardvoluntarily.

He said that infrastructurehad been developed in thegovernment schools which ledto an increase in the number ofstudents. The governmentreceived representations fromthose schools, where there werevery few students, to take overtheir schools.

The Collector said that aidedschool managements could

withdraw their proposal of sur-rendering to the governmentbefore November 17. He alsoasked the aided school manage-ments not to trust misleadinginformation being spread invarious media. Joint CollectorHimanshu Shukla, DEO C VRenuka, and RIO KChandrsekhar Babu wereamong those who were present.

PNS n ONGOLE

Prakasam District CollectorPravin Kumar has directedthe officials concerned to takesteps to set up milk procure-ment centres in 89 villages inassociation with Amul Dairy.

The Collector held a meet-ing here on Monday on theprocurement of milk, settingup of milk procurement cen-tres and the implementation ofJagananna Palavelluva schemein the district.

Speaking on the occasion,the Collector said that at pre-sent, 13,000 litres of milk wasprocured per day through 171procurement centres. As manyas 35 milk procurement cen-tres, which had been closedearlier due to some technicalreasons, resumed functioningand 24 more centres were get-ting ready for opening.

The Collector said that thefarmers were getting benefitsthrough the milk procurement

for Amul Dairy. He directedthe officials to create awarenessamong the farmers that dairyunits would give rich dividendsto them. The officials shouldstrive to ensure that there aremore members in the dairyunits.

Pravin Kumar told the offi-cials that steps should be takento set up new milk procure-ment centres in 89 villages. He

said that the villages which areproducing more than 150 litersof milk were identified. Withthe participation of the farm-ers, more centres should be setup. A comprehensive routemap should be evolved for thepurpose, he told them.

All steps should also betaken to ensure that the dairyfarmers do not face any prob-lems in the future, he said,

adding that he would appointsome senior officials to mon-itor all the issues.

“Loans worth Rs 2.60 crorehave been sanctioned to 335dairy farmers through thecooperative bank. The farmersshould be encouraged by giv-ing loans through the YSRCheyuta scheme,” the Collectortold the officials, and askedthem to identify buildings toset up milk procurement cen-tres at Cheemakurthi andAddanki mandals. TheCollector enquired about dis-bursing lakhs of rupees ascommissions to the secretariesin the milk procurement cen-tres.

District Cooperation OfficerRajasekhar, Jagananna PalaVelluva Nodal Officer Dr.Hanumantha Rao, DRDA P DB Babu Rao and AP DairyDevelopment CorporationManager Rajamohan wereamong those who were pre-sent.

PNS n ONGOLE

A voter turnout of 76 per centwas registered as the nagarapanchayat elections in Darsitown were conducted peace-fully on Monday. Out of the20 wards, one ward memberwas elected unanimously andelections were held for 19wards.

“No untoward incidenttook place anywhere,” SPMalika Garg said. As many as38 polling booths were set upfor the election. For both theruling YSRCP and the TeluguDesam Party, the election is aprestige issue.

The counting of votes willbe conducted on November17, for which arrangementshave been completed in themodel school. Election offi-cials said that 10 assistantelection officers, 10 countingsupervisors and 99 counting

staff were being deployed forthe counting.

Meanwhile, DistrictCollector Pravin Kumar andSuperintendent of PoliceMalika Garg inspected someof the polling booths. Theyinspected three polling boothsin the Darsi GovernmentCollege and observed the wayin which the polling was goingon. The Collector interactedwith some of the voters at apolling station. He directed theelection staff to use tricycles totake physically-challenged vot-ers. Later, the Collector, SPand Joint Collector KKrishnaveni inspected thestrong room where the ballotboxes would be kept.

The SP said that elaboratesecurity measures had beenput in place to ensure smoothconduct of the elections. TheSP warned that section 144IPC and section 30 of the

Police Act were in force andthat legal action would betaken against anyone foundguilty of any illegal activity.

The SP asked the people todial 100 or WhatsApp to thedistrict police on the number9121102266 to inform them ofany illegal activity. "Electionsto seven MPTC seats will beheld at 22 polling locations inthe district on Tuesday. Out ofthem, seven areas were iden-tified as hyper sensitive, 12 aresensitive and three are normalareas.”

Elaborate security arrange-ment were made with a totalof 494 police personnelincluding nine DSPs/CIs, 14SIs, 76 ASIs/HCs, 159 PCs, 69HGs/WHGs, 7 ARHCs, 88ARPCs, 72 GSMK/Para Policeincluding nine route mobiles,seven striking forces, sevenSpecial Striking Forces and 14Pickets.

Darsi Nagara Panchayat polls peaceful

PNS n ONGOLE

The maha padayatra beingtaken out by the Amaravatifarmers resumed fromM.Nidamanuru in Jarugumillimandal in Prakasam districton the 15th day. It coveredanother 14 km and halted inVikkiralapet village inKandukur mandal on Monday.

The ‘Nyaya Sthanam toDevasthanam’ maha padayatramarched forward without anyobstacles. The 45-day yatra will

conclude in Tirupati onDecember 15.

The maha padayatra wasaccorded rousing welcome invarious villages by the people.Flowers were rained on theparticipants. The JAC leaderssaid that they were taking outthe marathon padayatra inprotest against the govern-ment’s decision to shift theexecutive capital toVisakhapatnam fromAmaravati. The AmaravatiParirakshana Samithi JAC

leaders said that the padayatrawas receiving overwhelmingresponse from people in vari-ous villages.

Meanwhile, two farmers suf-fered injuries when a gas cylin-der exploded in Chatukupaduvillage in Jarugumilli mandal.Police said that the cylinderexploded when balloons werebeing filled with gas. Twofarmers who stood nearby suf-fered critical injuries and theywere shifted to the governmenthospital in Kandukur.

PNS n BHIMAVARAM

The polling for the Akividunagara panchayat concludedpeacefully on Monday. Thevoter turnout was 79.74 percent. As many as 39 polling sta-tions were set up for 20 wards.The polling began at 7 am.

District Collector KartikeyaMishra and SP Rahul DevSharma inspected the pollingbooths. Talking to the media,the Collector said that nountoward incident took placeanywhere. The voters casttheir vote in a peaceful atmos-phere and without any fear.Elaborate security measureswere taken in hyper sensitiveand sensitive polling stations.The entire polling process waswebcast, the Collector said.

SP Rahul Dev Sharma saidthat those who stood in queuestill 5 pm were allowed to casttheir votes. Election observersSatyanarayana, Assistant Sub-Collector Rahul Kumar Reddy,Sub-Collector C VishnuCharan and MunicipalCommissioner P M Satyaveniinspected the polling.

Out of the total 26,285 vot-

ers in the nagara panchayat,20,959 cast their votes of which10,330 were men and 10,629were women. Meanwhile, theelection to the 45th division ofEluru municipal corporationwas held peacefully. The voterturnout was 60 per cent. Outof the total 3594 votes, 2,157voters exercised their fran-chise.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

High turnout of voters with78.45 percent registered inthe municipal polls held inJaggaiahpet on Monday. Theelection was held very peace-fully amidst tight security inthe municipality. InKondapalli town, 66.79 per-cent turnout was registeredwith voters first time electedthe counselors for the munic-ipality, which upgraded aftermerger of two village pan-chayats Ibrahimpatnam andKondapalli. The districtadministration has madeelaborate arrangements forthe peaceful conduct ofpolling in the two municipal-ities.

The enthusiastic votersstarted voting at 7 am and by11 am 27 percent polling wasrecorded. By 3 pm 69.91percent of voters exercisedtheir franchise and by 5 pmthe turnout was 78.45. TheElection Commission con-ducted polls for the 31municipal wards inJaggaiahpet and 29 wards inKondapalli municipality.

In Kondapalli municipal-ity, by 1 p.m. 44.64 percentpolling was recorded and57.20 percent by 3 p.m. By 5p.m. the municipality regis-tered 66.79 percent voting.

Krishna district collector JNivas inspected the pollingwith webcasting and issuedorders to the officials for the

peaceful and smooth conductof elections.

Sub collector PraveenChand and other officialsinspected the polling. InWest Godavari district, thepolling was peaceful inKovvur. By 3 pm 61.50 per-cent polling was registered inthe town.

Counting of votes will beheld from 8 a.m. onwards onNovember 17 at SGS Collegeauditorium in Jaggaiahpet.For the Kondapalli munici-pality, the counting of voteswill be held at ZP girls highschool in Kondapalli munic-ipality. The district adminis-tration has made arrange-ments for the counting ofvotes.

PNS n ELURU

Eluru Parliamentary TNSFpresident Mahesh YadavPenuboina warned of intensi-fying agitation if the govern-ment did not repeal its decisionon the taking over of aidededucational institutions.

“If the government's deci-sion on aided educational insti-tutions is not withdrawn, wewill call for a siege Assembly”,he said here on Monday whileaddressing a press conference.

He said that the governmentshould repeal the Ordinance

12/2021 Amendment toSection 93 of the AP EducationAct 1982 on the aided institu-tions (schools, junior, degreecolleges). The government'sdecision of taking over aidededucational institutions

deprived education to the poorstudents. He said that therewould be a protest demonstra-tion on November 16 at thedistrict Collector’s officeprotesting against the govern-ment decision, he said.

PNS n ELURU

All arrangements were made toconduct elections for 14 MPTCsand one ZPTC on November 16in West Godavari district.

The election officials made allarrangements for the polls,Collector Kartikeya Mishra said.The polling would begin at 7 amand ends at 5 pm, he said,adding that the counting of votes

would be held on November 18. The Collector said that 112polling stations were being setup for 95,818 voters. He saidthat section 144 clamped at thecounting centres.

PNS n TIRUPATI

Union Minister for HomeAmit Shah worshipped SriKapileswara Swamy, here onMonday.

He was received byTirumala TirupatiDevasthanam (TTD)Chairman YV Subba Reddyand Executive officer KSJawhar Reddy and given atraditional welcome withPurnakumbham amid chant-ing of Veda Mantras.

Later, Shah offered prayersto Sri Vinayaka Swamy thento Dhwajasthambham. Later,he took part in AbhishekamSeva of the main deity.

He also had darshan of SriKamakshi Ammavaru, SriGuru Dakshinamurthy, SriSubramanya Swamy. TheCentral Home Minister alsoparticipated in ChandiHomam as part of the ongo-ing Homa Mahotsavams.

TTD Chairman and EOoffered him 'Prasadams' andpresented him "Roots" bookalong with a portrait of deity.

MPs Sujana Chowdary,CM Ramesh, TTD boardmember KrishnamurtyVaidyanathan, former TTDBoard MemberBhanuprakash Reddy,Chittoor District CollectorHarinarayana, TirupatiUrban Superintendent PoliceVenkatappala Naidu, TTDsChief Vigilance and SecurityOfficer Gopinath Jatti andother officers were present onthe occasion.

All set for 14 MPTC, ZPTC polls

78.45 percent pollingregistered in Jaggaiahpet

79.74 pc votes polled in Akividunagara panchayat elections

Amit Shahoffers prayersat KapileswaraSwamy temple

Maha Padayatra marches forward peacefully

89 milk procurement centres to be set up

Assembly siege threat by TNSF ‘Aided schools given option of merger’

100 free surgeries tounderprivileged kidsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

On the occasion of Children’sDay, noted hospitals chainAster, as a part of its CSR activ-ity, launched the ‘Second Life-Because Little Lives Matter’initiative. The yearlong initia-tive is aimed at supporting themedical treatment of disadvan-taged children, where the ini-tial aim is to help treat at least100 children below the age of 12years by providing free paedi-atric surgeries. The initiativeextends help to deserving chil-dren who are being treatedacross Aster Hospitals based in5 States in India.

This includes commonchildhood surgeries such asappendicitis, paediatric urolo-gy surgeries as well as complexclinical surgeries includingbone marrow transplant, livertransplants, heart surgeries, etc.A 24X7 multi- lingual helplinenumber has been set up atCalicut to manage enquiries,the helpline can be accessed bydialing 9633620660.

Dr Azad Moopen, FounderChairman and ManagingDirector, Aster said, “In India,where a significant segment ofthe population still remains

below the poverty line, manyfamilies with an ailing childstruggle to afford the advancedsurgery needed to save thelives of their little ones. Inmost cases, Paediatric OrganTransplants, Bone-marrowTransplant, cardiac surgeries oreven common surgeries can notonly give young children a sec-ond shot at a better life but alsosave an entire family fromfalling into the depths ofdespair.”

Devanand KT, RegionalCEO, Telangana & AndhraPradesh said, “The launch ofthe Second Life Initiative is tostructure a change that willeventually have a positiveimpact on the lives of disadvan-taged children from a long-term perspective. We aim toleverage inherent and individ-ual strengths of several of ourhospitals to fulfil and deliver onthese clinical interventions. AtAster, it is our motto to bringgreat healthcare within thereach of all individuals, ourhighly experienced experts atAster Hospital will be dedicat-ing a minimum 10 per cent oftheir man hours to help thesechildren and give them a well-deserved second chance at life”.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Tollywood actress ShaluChaurasia was injured in anattack by an unidentified personnear KBR Park in the tonyBanjara Hills on Sunday night.

The young actor wasattacked and her mobilephone snatched awaywhen she was tak-ing a stroll around8.30 p.m.

She complainedto the police that aman first asked herto hand over hermoney and valuables.When she resisted, hepunched her on her face and alsotried to attack her with a rock.The assailant snatched her mobilephone and escaped.

She sustained injuries on herhead and near her eye and wastaken to a private hospital.

Responding to the complaintby the actress, the Banjara Hills

police have registered a case andlaunched an investigation. Theywere scanning footage fromCCTV cameras in the area toidentify the attacker.

The sprawling KBR Park is fre-quented by celebrities, business-

men and political leaders formorning or evening

walks. Incidents ofchain snatchingwere reportedaround the park inthe past.

In 2014, a manhad opened fire on

Aurobindo Pharmaexecutive K Nityananda

Reddy with an AK-47 whenthe latter was sitting in his carafter a morning walk. Fortunatelyfor Reddy, he escaped unhurt.Police later arrested a formerpoliceman posted with the anti-Maoist force Greyhounds, whoconfessed to stealing a rifle andcarrying out the attack for extor-tion.

Movie artiste injured inattack at KBR Park

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Falaknuma Police onMonday, arrested four personsincluding a police official ofthe Hyderabad City Police,involved in the murder of amobile technician in the earlyhours of Sunday.

The arrested persons wereidentified as Mohammed SamiMohiuddin, 32, a home guardwith the Hussaini Alam Police,Mohammed Amjad Mohiuddin, 25, Mohammed Ali, 21and Amer Mohammed Khan,26, all residents of NawabSaheb Kunta in Achi ReddyNagar, Hyderabad. Thedeceased person, MohammedArif, is Amer's brother-in-law, said the police.

"Arif had a girlfriendwho kept falling ill regular-

ly. He suspected that his sis-ter, Shaheen Kausar, alongwith her husband, Amer,were per forming blackmagic on his girlfriend thatmade her fall sick. He thendemanded Rs 2 lakh cashfrom them and threatenedthem with dire conse-quences . Amer t henhatched a plan along withhis brother, Sami and hisfriends Amjad and Ali, tokill Arif. The four werethen waiting outside Arif 'shouse at Payeen bagh,Jahanuma, late on Saturdaynight and then first attackedhim with chilli powder andthen with axes and kn ives,"said Dr Gajarao Bhupal,Deputy Commissioner ofPol ice , S out h Z one,Hyderabad.

Home guard amongfour held for murder

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Barring heated argumentsamong local leaders of theYSR Congress, TeluguDesam Party and JanaSena Party at variousplaces in the 31st and 61stdivisions, the elections tothe two divisions of theGreater VisakhapatnamMunicipal Corporation(GVMC) were conductedpeacefully on Monday.

Some of the Jana SenaParty followers and PawanKalyan fans created a scuf-fle at the 61st division bypreventing the entry ofYSR Congress Party lead-ers at the polling booths.However, the police paci-fied both the groups andmaintained law and order.The police did not arrestanyone and cleared themob at various places inthe two divisions.

By 5 pm, 42 per cent ofvotes were registered inthe 31st division while 58per cent of votes werepolled in 61st division.The officials allowed thevoters who were in thequeue at 5 pm to casttheir votes.

V i s a k h a p a t n a mCollector Dr. A.Mallikharjuna and GVMCC o m m i s s i o n e rDr.Lakshmisha supervisedthe polling process. Bothofficials visited the pollingbooths and talked to theofficials and security per-sonnel.

Meanwhile, the by-pollsto various local body postsin the north coastalAndhra region were alsoheld peacefully. Therewere no unwanted inci-dents reported during thepolling process.

Vizag: Minorscufflesduring polls

nation 05 TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021

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R

An idol of goddess Annapurna brought back from Canada after 108 years was installedat the Kashi Vishwanath temple here on Monday in a ceremony attended by UttarPradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Idols of five other deities removed during the

reconstruction of the temple were also installed. The idol of the goddess was taken to thetemple in a silver palanquin, shouldered by Adityanath. The procession started from theKushmanda temple in Durgakund inthe morning. It was installed in thenorth-east corner of the temple amidchanting of hymns. The chief ministerhad arrived here on a two-day visit onSunday night. He inspected thecleaning and repair of the Shahi drainon the Lahurabir-Maidagin road late inthe night and ordered to complete thework on a war footing. Adityanath alsotook stock of the construction of theKashi Vishwanath temple corridor afterpaying obeisance at the temple.

India's first Food Museum opens in Thanjavur

Union Minister for Commerce, Industry, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal onMonday virtually launched India's first Food Museum here and said measures were on tomake the country go up the ladder from currently being the fifth largest agricultural exporter

in the world. Highlighting the importance of focussing on quality and productivity in taking thefarmers' produce to the world to become a global supplier, the Minister said "we are already the5th largest agricultural exporter in the worldand we are aspiring for more." "By adoptingglobal best practices, we will improve ourprocesses, bring about system changes,reduce our unnecessary expenditure andbenefit our farmers and consumers," Goyalsaid after launching the museum virtuallyfrom Delhi. The world today looks upon thecountry as a trusted partner, he said andadded, "we will continue to work towardsAatmanirbhar Bharat. In this mission, thegovernment is working towards realising theimage of strong and self-reliant farmers."

Kashmir reels under sub-zerotemperatures

Kashmir continued to reel under sub-zero night temperatures as the mercury settled onthe freezing point in Srinagar late on Sunday, officials said. Several areas in Kashmirwere engulfed by a layer of fog on Monday morning as the mercury went below the

freezing point, they added. Srinagar recorded a low of zero degree Celsius -- up from minus0.9 degrees Celsius the previous night. The officials said Pahalgam, which serves as the basecamp for the annual Amarnath Yatra,recorded a low of minus 4 degreesCelsius, the coldest in Kashmir. Gulmargin north Kashmir's Baramulla districtrecorded a minimum temperature ofminus 1.6 degrees Celsius. The mercuryat Kupwara in north Kashmir too settledat a low of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius.Qazigund, the gateway town to the val-ley, recorded a minimum temperature ofminus 1.2 degrees Celsius, whileKokernag town in the south recorded alow of 0.4 degrees Celsius.

PNS n KOLKATA

The TMC on Monday hintedthat the winter session ofParliament is set to be a stormyone, as opposition partieswould do all that it takes "tostop India from turning into anelected autocracy".

The Cabinet Committee onParliament Affairs has recom-mended that the winter sessionbe held from November 29 toDecember 23, according tosources.

Taking to Twitter, TMCRajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said, "Two brazenOrdinances extend ED andCBI Director terms from2ParrotParrot to 5 yearsParrotParrotParrotParrotParrot #Parliament Winter Sessionbegins two weeks from now. Berest assured, Opposition partieswill do all it takes to stop Indiafrom turning into an electedautocracy.”

The party, during theupcoming session, is likely to

raise matters such as theCentre's move to bring ordi-nances to extend the tenure ofCBI and ED directors up to fiveyears.

It may also bring up issuesof inflation, farmers' protestand enhancement of BSF juris-diction.

TMC's Lok Sabha leader

Sudip Bandopadhyay sought toknow why the Centre had topush ordinances when thewinter session was in the off-ing.

"What was the hurry whenthe winter session ofParliament is likely to beginnext week? It (tenure extensionof CBI, ED directors) could

have been discussed inParliament. We will raise thematter in the Parliament. Manyissues need to be discussed," hetold PTI.

Another senior TMC leadersaid on condition of anonymi-ty that the floor coordinationstrategy with other opposi-tion camps will be taken up fordiscussion during a party meet.

"The Pegasus row will alsobe raised in Parliament. Thegovernment can't evade dia-logue on this issue. But ourstrategy will be decided duringa meeting chaired by our partysupremo and parliamentaryparty chairperson MamataBanerjee next week. During themeeting, the floor coordinationstrategies with other oppositionparties will also be discussed,"he explained.

The TMC, after its stunningvictory in the West Bengalassembly elections earlier thisyear, is trying to cobble up anopposition unity with an eyeon 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

TMC hints winter session of Parliament to be stromy PNS n BHOPAL

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday targeted theCongress-led regimes in thecountry for “ignoring” thewelfare of tribals, addingefforts are underway to ensuredevelopment of regions whichremained backward duringthe "previous" regimes.

“Tribals were not given theirdues by the earlier govern-ments and were deprived ofbasic facilities,” Modi said,addressing the JanjatiyaGaurav Diwas celebrationshere.

The Central government iscelebrating November 15, thebirth anniversary of reveredtribal icon Birsa Munda asJanjatiya Gaurav Diwas.

“Like Ambedkar Jayanti,Gandhi Jayanti and other sim-ilar days, the jayanti (birthanniversary) of Bhagwan BirsaMunda will be celebrated everyyear on November 15,” Modisaid.

Development is now takingplace in 100 aspirational dis-tricts which remained back-

ward during the earlier(Congress) regimes, Modi said.

Modi launched multiple ini-tiatives for the welfare of thejanjatiya community, includingthe ‘Ration Aapke Gram'scheme in Madhya Pradesh.

The scheme is aimed atdelivering the monthly quotaof PDS Ration to beneficiariesfrom janjatiya community intheir own villages everymonth, so that they don't haveto travel to the Fair Price Shopto collect their ration.

Modi also handed overgenetic counselling cards tobeneficiaries, marking thelaunch of the Madhya PradeshSickle Cell

(Hemoglobinopathy) Mission.The Mission has been devel-

oped to screen and managepatients suffering from sicklecell anaemia, thalassemia andother hemoglobinopathies andto increase public awarenessabout these diseases, whoseimpact is seen to be more pro-found on the janjatiya commu-nity of Madhya Pradesh.

The PM laid the foundationstone of 50 Eklavya ModelResidential Schools across var-ious states and UTs includingAndhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Odisha, Tripuraand Dadra & Nagar Haveli andDaman & Diu.

Modi targets Congress-ledregimes over plight of tribals

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre is likely to allowconducting post-mortem aftersunset in hospitals with prop-er infrastructure, except forcases of homicide, suicide,rape, decomposed bodies andsuspected foul play, sourcessaid.

The aim is also to push forpost-mortem for organ dona-tion even after sundown if ade-quate infrastructure is avail-able, they said.

The issue of conductingpost-mortem after sunsetwas examined by a technicalcommittee in the DirectorateGeneral of Health Servicesunder the Union Ministry ofHealth recently, a sourcesaid.

Autopsy likely to be allowedafter sunset withproper infra

PNS n NEW DELHI

The number of Indians study-ing in the United Statesdecreased by nearly 13 per centin 2020-21 as compared to theprevious academic year,according to an annual reportreleased by the Institute ofInternational Education onMonday, with US officialsattributing the drop in num-bers to the impact of the coro-navirus pandemic.

However, the US remains a"top destination" for interna-tional students, and Indianstudents still constitute thesecond largest group of inter-national students in the US

after those from China, accord-ing to the 2021 Open DoorsReport.

Senior officials of the USEmbassy in New Delhi onMonday shared some of thedetails from the report at apress conference held at theFulbright House here, and alsotold reporters that "over 62,000student visas were issued thissummer alone, more than inany previous year".

The figures on student visasindicate that the "downturn" innumber of Indians studying inthe US, was a "Covid blip", andthat the "overall trendline hasbeen generally positive", saidAnthony Miranda, Counselor

for Cultural and EducationalAffairs at the US Embassy.

He spoke about the globalimpact of the COVID-19 pan-demic on education and stu-dent mobility, and that the US

too suffered its impact with adrop in the number of interna-tional students studying in theUS.

The number of Indiansstudying in the US decreasedby about 13 per cent in 2020-21 vis-a-vis the previous acad-emic year, while in reference tothe same period, the overalldecrease in number of interna-tional students in the US wasabout 15 per cent, Mirandasaid, citing the report.

He asserted that nothwith-standing the impact of thepandemic, "the US remains atop destination for internation-al students, welcoming over914,000 international students

from over 200 places of origin,"citing the report.

Indian students comprisednearly 20 per cent of this num-ber, with 1,67,582 students inthe 2020-2021 academic year,according to the 2021 OpenDoors Report, the US Embassysaid in a statement.

The annual report is pub-lished by the Institute ofInternational Education (IIE),in partnership with the USDepartment of State's Bureauof Educational and CulturalAffairs. It is the comprehensiveinformation resource on inter-national students and scholarsin the US, and American stu-dents abroad.

Number of Indians studying in US dropped by 13%Cruise drugs case: Sam D'Souzaappears before Mum Police SITPNS n MUMBAI

Sam D'Souza, whose namehad cropped up in connectionwith the pay-off allegationssurrounding the drugs-on-cruise case, appeared before theMumbai Police's SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) onMonday, an official said.

Bollywood superstar ShahRukh Khan's son Aryan Khanwas arrested last month by theNarcotics Control Bureau(NCB) after it raided the cruiseship and claimed to have seizeddrugs onboard. Aryan Khan

was later granted bail by theBombay High Court.

Independent witnessPrabhakar Sail last monthclaimed that he had overheardNCB witness K P Gosavi dis-cussing a pay-off deal of Rs 25crore with D'Souza over phoneafter Aryan Khan was arrestedby the NCB.

The Mumbai Police laterconstituted a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) toprobe the allegations of extor-tion against NCB officials inconnection with the case.

On Monday, D'Souza

reached the SIT's office insouth Mumbai along with hislawyer Pankaj Jadhav at around12.45 pm to record his state-ment, a police official said.

The NCB's vigilance team,which is also probing the pay-off allegations in the cruisedrugs case, has already record-ed D'Souza's statement.

Earlier, D'Souza in his pre-arrest bail plea, filed before theBombay High Court, claimedthat Gosavi had taken Rs 50lakh from Shah Rukh Khan'smanager Pooja Dadlani to getAryan Khan released.

Transfer of Madras HC CJ snowballs into controversyPNS n CHENNAI

The Supreme Court col-legium's proposal transfer-ring Madras High Court ChiefJustice Sanjib Banerjee toMeghalaya has snowballedinto a controversy with voic-es for and against the shiftingof the senior judge.

The Collegium had earlierrecommended for the transferof Chief Justice SanjibBanerjee to the MeghalayaHigh Court.The collegium,headed by Chief Justice ofIndia N V Ramana, in itsmeeting held on September16, had also recommended forthe transfer of JusticeMunishwar Nath Bhandari ofthe Allahabad High Court tothe Madras High Court.

Two major lawyers' bodieshere-- the Madras High CourtAdvocates Association

(MHAA), the largest one witha membership of over 20,000advocates and the MadrasBar Association, an elite groupof advocates -- have joined thechorus and passed resolu-tions protesting against theproposal to shift the CJ.

Over 30 senior advocates ofthe High Court have alsojoined those protesting againstthe transfer.

This follows over 200 advo-cates writing to the CJI andthe collegium last week,protesting against ChiefJustice Sanjib Banerjee's trans-fer to Meghalaya High Courtand seeking to reconsider theproposal. While so, there werevoices in support of the trans-fer as well. Advocate R C PaulKanakaraj, former president ofthe MHAA and the chief ofBJP Legal Wing, alleged theissue was being politicised.

Delhi govt ready to imposelockdown to curb pollutionPNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi government hasinformed the Supreme Courtthat it is ready to take steps likecomplete lockdown to controlpollution if it is mandated forthe entire NCR area.

"GNCTD (Government ofNational Capital Territory ofDelhi) is ready to take stepslike complete lockdown tocontrol the local emissions.However, such a step would bemeaningful if it is implement-ed across the NCR areas inneighbouring states. GivenDelhi's compactsize, a lockdownwould have lim-ited impact onthe air qualityregime," theDelhi govern-ment said in anaffidavit.

"This issuewould need tobe addressed at the level of air-shed involving NCR areas. Inview of the above, we areready to consider this step ifthe same is mandated for theentire NCR areas by the gov-ernment of India or by theCommission for Air QualityManagement in NationalCapital Region and adjoiningareas," it said.

The affidavit was submittedin response to a plea filed byenvironmental activist AdityaDubey and law student AmanBanka, who sought directionsto provide stubble-removingmachines to small and mar-

ginal farmers for free.The Delhi government

apprised the top court thatkeeping in view the deteriorat-ing ambient air quality allSchools, Colleges, Educationaland Coaching Institutes, SkillDevelopment & TrainingInstitutes, Other TrainingInstitutes, Libraries (exceptwhere exams are being con-ducted) have been closed tillNovember 20, 2021.

"All private offices, estab-lishments are advised to allowtheir staff to work from home,so as to ensure least vehicular

movement on theroads till November17, 2021, the Delhigovernment said.

The AAP govern-ment also told thetop court that all pri-vate offices andestablishments havebeen advised toallow their staff to

work from home, so as toensure least vehicular move-ment on the roads tillNovember 17, 2021.

It submitted that over thepast several years, the AirQuality Index does not go into 'severe' category fromFebruary till September.

"In fact, October, 2021 hasbeen the cleanest month in thelast six years with better airquality and no severe dayswere witnessed and also sawless stubble burning incidentsin Punjab and Haryana aver-aging around 675 incidentsper day.

Idol brought back from Canada after108 years installed at Varanasi shrine

PNS n NARAYANAPUR

A Naxal commander was killedin an encounter with securitypersonnel in Chhattisgarh'sNarayanpur district on Monday,a senior police official said.

The gunfight took place ataround 11.30 am in the forest ofBahker under Chhotedongarpolice station limits when ateam of the District ReserveGuard (DRG) was out on anarea domination operation,Narayanpur Superintendent ofPolice Girija Shankar Jaiswalsaid.

When the patrolling team wascordoning off the forest inBahker, located over 300 kmfrom the state capital Raipur, agroup of Naxals, positioned ona hill, opened fire at the securi-

ty personnel leading to the gun-fight, he said.

However, the ultras soon fledthe spot on finding the securi-ty personnel zeroing-in on them,he said.

"During a search of theencounter site, the body of aNaxal clad in 'uniform' wasrecovered along with an AK-47rifle," the official said.

The slain rebel has been iden-tified as Saket, commander ofthe outlawed Peoples' LiberationGuerilla Army (PLGA) compa-ny no. 6 of the Maoists, he said.

Narayanpur shares the borderwith Gadchiroli district in neigh-bouring Maharashtra, where 26Naxals, including top rebelleader Milind Teltumbde, werekilled in an encounter withpolice on Saturday.

PNS n ITANAGAR

Two days after five Assam Riflespersonnel, including a colonel-rank officer, were killed in ambushin Manipur, soldiers of the para-military force on Monday shotdead three militants of NationalSocialist Council of Nagaland(Khaplang), a separatist organisa-tion, in a remote part of ArunachalPradesh's Longding district.The rebels were gunned down byAssam Rifles (AR) at KhoglaVillage in Wakka Circle of the dis-trict around 8 am, LongdingDeputy Commissioner Bani Lego

stated. One AR jawan was report-edly injured in the incident, hesaid. A team of district police offi-cers later visited the village, locat-ed along the country's borderwith Myanmar, to collect the bod-ies and sent them for post-mortem, the DC said. The slainultras are yet to be identified, hesaid, adding that more details areawaited. On Saturday, a com-manding officer of the AssamRifles, his wife and son, alongwith four other personnel of theforce, lost their lives in an ambushby militants in Churachandpurdistrict of Manipur.

Naxal commander killed in encounter 3 NSCN-K rebels shot deadby Assam Rifles in Arunachal

Six boys accused of rape run awayfrom reform homePNS n INDORE

Six boys have run away froma reform home in MadhyaPradesh's Indore district,police said on Monday.

Six juveniles, charged withrape and other seriousoffences, escaped after break-ing the window of the BoysCorrectional Home in HiraNagar area on Saturdaynight, City Superintendent ofPolice (CSP) Nihit Upadhyaysaid.

They hailed from Indore,Barwani, Dewas andKhandwa districts, he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress demanded a"white paper" from both theCentre and the Delhi govern-ment on Monday on the stepstaken by them to tackle pollu-tion in the national capital andsaid they should be heldaccountable for playing with thehealth of people.

Talking to reporters here,Congress spokesperson JaiveerShergill accused both theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) andthe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ofindulging in a blame game andwasting the taxpayers' money on"hollow" advertisements.

The Congress is holding talks for a prospective alliance with theNCP, Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the MaharashtrawadiGomantak Party (MGP) for the Goa Assembly elections, due early

next year, a Congress office-bearer said on Monday. AICC Goa deskincharge Dinesh Gundu Rao told reporters that all these parties are ofthe view that Goa needs to be rid of a "corrupt and communal"government led by BJP. "The main aim of this alliance, if itmaterialises, will be to give a stable government in Goa for five years,"he said. The polls are due in Goa in February next year. The GFP andthe MGP had been part of the BJP-led government for some time inthe last five years. Underlining Congress' strategy for the elections,Rao said his party is open for a tie-up with the people whounderstand Goa, belong to the soil and understand the Goan cultureand community.

Cong discussing tie-up withNCP, MGP, GFP for 2022 polls

Cong demands ‘white paper' from BJP,AAP on steps taken to tackle pollution

sile defence systems like theSaudi-procured Patriot batter-ies had come a cropper againstthe crude drone attacks fired byYemen’s Houthi rebels in 2019.Even the subsequent expo-sure of the much-bandiedIsrael’s Iron Dome interceptorsin the Israeli-Hamas war result-ed in 60-odd Hamas rocketspiercing through the Israeli airdefence system. Such demon-strated gaps in the supposed-ly ‘cutting edge’ and existingmissile defence systems put thethreat of the Chinese hyperson-ic capability in another realm,even if the Chinese trial mis-sile is believed to have missedthe target by 24 miles.

Some naysayers havedownplayed the Chinese alarmby pointing to the possibleattempts by the Pentagon andthe all-powerful arms industryto drum up the critical politi-cal rhetoric and warmongeringtowards finances for the esti-mated $1.3 trillion investmentin ‘nuclear modernisation’ of itsentire base of the nuclear ‘triad’.Aiding this plausible view is therecent Biden commitmenttowards defending Taiwan mil-itarily, signing AUKUS (a secu-rity pact among the US, UKand Australia) and puntingsubstantially on the sensitivemicrochip industry to stayahead of the Chinese on thetechnological front. In times ofoverall economic hardship(COVID crisis, ironically orig-

inating from China), parallelallusion to a grave Cold Warmoment to frame a compellingand bipartisan national argu-ment in favour of strengthen-ing the military wherewithal ispolitically kosher.

Irrespective of the suitabil-ity of the expression, the factremains that while the US toohas been working on hyperson-ic technology, it has yet to con-duct a hypersonic weaponstest. True to their patent play-book of deflection, the Chinesehave rubbished news of‘weaponising’ the technologyand, instead, attributed thesame towards a re-useablespace vehicle for “peaceful pur-poses”. This convenient tactaffords the Chinese to rebuffany calls towards nuclear armscontrol until the last moment,by when the die is cast inBeijing’s favour. The unofficialChinese mouthpiece, GlobalTimes, worded its ostensibleclarification while still retainingthe spectre of threat in itsphraseology: “It is Washingtonthat has gone hysterical inviewing China. Granted, the UShas enough nuclear weapons todestroy the planet several timesover, but China has sufficientcountermeasures to make itsrivals fear and think twicebefore launching a strike againstChina. This is the goal ofChina’s defence strategy that theUS does not understand.”

Such weapons and tech-

nology add to the ‘destabilising’quotient of the Chinese imper-atives that can be masked inunrelated socio-economic-diplomatic manoeuvres that areusually deployed in adjunct tothe military footprint. Oddly,the reverse-engineering ofAmerican technology hasplayed a considerable role indeveloping platforms like theChinese hypersonic missilesprogramme, which the seminalFinancial Times article (whichbroke the news first) describedas “far more advanced than theUS officials realised”, addingthat “the test raised new ques-tions about why the US oftenunderestimated China’s mili-tary modernisation”.

Meanwhile, back home,the Indian leadership is con-tent with obfuscations,whataboutery, mealy-mouthed statements and polit-ical bombast to downplay theChinese threat. The reality ofthe Chinese capabilities isstaring at the world, and it callsfor an honest, detailed andthorough recognition of thethreat perceptions with duepreparation for countermea-sures. The professional andrealistic assessment of a‘Sputnik Moment’ by a USGeneral is one such lesson.

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

THE GOVT MUST PROVE ITS INTENTIONSSir — While allegations are made by theOpposition parties that constitutionalbodies like the CBI, ED and IT are mis-used by the ruling dispensation to tar-get opponents and others who don’t toetheir line of thinking, the Governmenthas given enough credence to the saidallegations by promulgating two ordi-nances on Sunday to extend the termsof the chiefs of the ED and CBI up to fiveyears from the earlier mandatory twoyear tenure for such positions. It is saidthat the Centre has enacted the ordi-nances to beat the Supreme Court’s orderthat no more extension should be givento the incumbent Chief of the EDSanjay Kumar Mishra, after his tenurecomes to an end on November 18.

Now, if the Government wants toprove that the promulgations have beenmade only in the interest of the nation,and not to defy the verdict of the apexcourt, they have a very good opportuni-ty in hand to do so. The Governmentshould not extend the tenure of S KMishra anymore, allow him to retire onthe due date and appoint another seniorofficer with an impeccable record as thenext Chief of the ED.

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

IMPART CYBER EDUCATION TO KIDSSir — What were the reasons behind therise in cyber crimes against children in2020 by over 400 per cent?. In 2019, therewere 164 reported cases against children,in 2018, the number was 117, and in 2017,79 such cases, as per NCRB data. Increaseof cyber crime against children from 2019(162) to 2020 (842) is alarming. The rea-sons behind this alarming increase isattributed to the Coronavirus pandemicwhich made it compulsory for childrento stay at home and use digital technolo-gies more than ever. The use and popu-larity of social media has already beengrowing among children, but it increasedmanifold during the COVID-inducedlockdowns. Another cause of this concerncould be the exposure to a sudden rise invirtual learning among children in india.

Since children are not very aware of

the cyber world, they are easy prey forhackers. Exposure to violence and obscen-ity, too, is an important cause.Therefore,the need to educate children onthe risks of unsafe browsing from ayoung age becomes even more important.India is picking up pace in the field of digi-tisation and the world is likely to revolvearound the internet for years to come.Therefore, safe internet browsing practicesand data privacy should be taught inschools and given equal significance.

Tarun Patidar | Ujjain

NEED TO MOVE ON FROM COAL Sir — Referring to the Glasgow climatepact, US climate envoy John Kerrymade a caustic comment that theGovernments had no choice but toaccept India’s coal language change for‘the responsible use of fossil fuels.’ In con-trast, the British Prime Minister BorisJohnson sounded optimistic when hesaid, “But today's agreement is a big stepforward and, critically, we have the firstever international agreement to phase

down coal.” At the 26th Conference ofthe Parties summit in Glasgow (COP26),Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiledthe five nectar elements, ‘Panchamrit,’which he termed an “unprecedented con-tribution of India to climate action.”

Greta Thunberg’s views apart, thecardinal question here is, can India phasedown the use of coal? As of September2021, 2.09 lakh MW of India’s 3.89 lakhMW installed generation capacity is ther-mal power, generated from burningcoal and lignite, accounting for 53.6 per-cent of the total installed capacity. Andas much as 0.60 lakh MW of thermalpower generation capacity is under con-struction in the country. India will needenormous investments to reduce itsdependence on fossil deposits buriedeternally under the earth. The fallacy ofthe Net Zero commitment by 2070appears obvious.

Haridasan Rajan | Kozhikode

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While the US too has been working on hypersonic technology, it is yet to conduct a weapons test while the Chinese have already done it

TRUE TO THEIRPATENT PLAYBOOK

OF DEFLECTION,THE CHINESE HAVERUBBISHED NEWSOF ‘WEAPONISING’THE TECHNOLOGY

AND, INSTEAD,ATTRIBUTED THESAME TOWARDS

A RE-USEABLESPACE VEHICLE FOR ‘PEACEFUL

PURPOSES’

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

BHOPINDER SINGH

The five-time ODI World Cup winnerAustralia at last grabbed its maidenT20 World Cup as it defeated New

Zealand by eight wickets on Sunday. Boththe teams played in great spirit but theAustralians were better at the end of theday. The Kiwis added another ‘runner-up’title in their collection as they had earliertasted defeat in the 2015 and 2019 WorldCup finals as well. In cricket, it is said that

catches win matches, but in the UnitedArab Emirates, it was all about who winsthe toss and takes the right decision.Notably, out of the 24 matches played inthe last round, 19 were won by the teamchasing.

‘Man of the Match’ Mitchell Marshplayed a superb knock ably supported bythe Player of the Tournament DavidWarner and Maxwell, whereas Cummins,Hazlewood and Zampa bowled exception-ally well, though Starc had an off night. NZput up a good total, thanks to KaneWilliamsons’s knock, but their bowlerscould not deliver. Interestingly, DavidWarner quietly took a sweet revenge onWilliamson who had replaced him as thecaptain of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL2021. Hopefully, NZ would make up for itin the next WC; it is too good a team tomiss out to get to the last dance.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad

Aussies win T20 World Cup in style

A ‘Sputnik Moment’,in Chinese context

On October 4, 1954, thenSoviet Union hadlaunched the first earth-orbiting satellite,

Sputnik 1, to shock the rival USAin the early days of the Cold War.This momentary setback in theensuing rivalry of sovereign com-petences birthed the term ‘SputnikMoment’ to imply the disconcert-ing technological gap betweennations, especially with an ‘enemy’nation. The motive was to acceptthe bitter reality of inequalityand galvanise the national moodtowards a common purpose andresolve to overcome the obviouslacunae. Later, Senator John Kerryused the term “New SputnikMoment” to invoke the much-needed spirit of bipartisanship onmatters concerning new energysources, education, infrastruc-ture and technology, all of whichwere falling prey to partisan chest-thumping. Former US PresidentBarack Obama was to evocative-ly posit the task of rebuilding theeconomy in the aftermath of the2007 global economic crisis as“Our Generation’s SputnikMoment”! Most recently, in arecalibrated context of the mostrelevant ‘enemy’ facing the ‘FreeWorld’, Joint Chiefs of US MilitaryStaff, General Mark Milley, likenedthe dangerous Chinese advance-ments in military technology withthe test of its hypersonic weaponssystem as “very close” to a“Sputnik Moment”.

The fact that the forewarningcame from the topmost servingGeneral of the US military makesthe latest ‘enemy’ threat bothcredible and significant. The lat-est hair-raising alarm against theChinese can be contextualised tothe time when the Sovietslaunched the Sputnik along withthe assumption that it could beplunged back into the US territo-ry without any credible deterrence— today, similar questions of theUS military’s capability to deter apotential Chinese deployment ofits hypersonic weapon loom. Theextremely provocative backdropof the ongoing Chinese belliger-ence in the Taiwan Straits, SouthChina Seas or even along theIndian border reiterates the vul-nerability felt in the Sino-warysphere. As it is, the much famedand multibillion worth of US mis-

SOUNDBITEBy pushing securityforces into civilianareas such as farming land andwedding halls, theGoI is choking public spaces.

PDP president —Mehbooba Mufti

Poverty and thetop global healthproblems areclosely connected.By improving one,

we can make progresstowards fixing the other.

Microsoft co-founder—Bill Gates

Tribals were not

given their due

by the earlier

Governments and

(they) were

deprived of basic facilities.

Prime Minister

—Narendra Modi

Everyone has to say goodbye tocricket one day. But my target is to carry on playing

until the 2023 World Cup.

Pakistan bowler —Wahab Riaz

Having lifted the 50-over World Cup five times, the Aussies are no strangersto the pinnacle of glory, though the trophy’s T20 cousin hadn’t been addedto their collection until Sunday evening, when the Kangaroos got the bet-

ter of the Kiwis in the final played in the UAE. The Aussies, always one of thestrongest title contenders across all formats, played exactly like champions. Theirrelentless chasing of targets, especially in the last few matches, showed that theywere confident and meant serious business. Though not all players were in thebest of form, somebody or the other rose to the occasion to save the day. Australialost only one of their five matches (to England), leaving in no doubt their supe-

rior skill set and brute power. That’s how formerIndian cricketer Virender Sehwag, along with oth-ers from the cricket fraternity, underlined theAustralian victory. While India took an early exitfrom the tournament (and it was not the first timewhen India’s fate was pinned on the other team,Afghanistan, in this case), the Black Caps man-aged to hang on till the finals, but in vain. Havingsaid that, they had made it to the 2015 and 2019ODI World Cup finals, too, but lost to Australia andEngland, respectively.

But the courage and sporting spirit that theKiwis bring to the field, though rarely being hailed as the “top dog”, must be applaud-ed. While New Zealand’s World Cup ambition will have to wait until 2023, its focusmust now shift to India for a three-match T20 and two-match Test series, star t-ing November 17. Now it’s time for both the teams to focus on the matches aheadwith the fighting spirit they are known for and give their best. Team India had demon-strated resilience earlier this year when it pulled off a magnificent victory fromthe jaws of defeat against England as well as Australia. The same never-say-dieattitude is needed to be brought to the table; it applies to the Kiwis as well. Ifboth teams manage to put up a good show, it would certainly be a boost for thesport, besides uplifting the morale of the players and their fans. Cricket is muchlike life, where there always are new opportunities and one must always bounceback. One win will not make you invincible and one defeat will not define you.And, it is not over even after it’s ‘over’.

It’s once again the same drama that Delhiites have witnessed year after year: TheSupreme Court upbraiding the authorities — both the State Governments and theCentre — over the toxic smog that clouds the national Capital’s skyline throughout

the winter. Just as the city was returning to normal after battling months of the COVID-19 scourge, the pollution menace has once again unsettled it. Those suffering fromlung-related issues are forced to shut themselves up and live under dread. The restgo about the business, huffing and puffing, disregarding the looming toxic threat. Theyhave few options. Life has to go on. People have to earn their livelihood. The city can’tbe brought to a grinding halt. The horror of the lockdown is still fresh in the mind ofmillions of those who suffered the most. It’s a matter of shame and measure of theinsensitivity of the authorities that the Supreme Court has to step in to remind them

that the situation was perilous and that life cannotgo on like this. The court has also set the record rightby asking the authorities not to seek scapegoats infarmers, pointing out that only four per cent of theair pollution is attributed to stubble burning. Pointingthis out, Justice Surya Kant said on Monday duringthe SC hearing: “The cat is out of the bag. Farmersare blamed needlessly.” The court identified facto-ries, transportation and road dust as major contribut-ing factors other than stubble burning.

In its order today, the cour t said: “TheGovernment has not indicated precisely what are the

steps they are taking to control these (industrial pollution and pollution due to trans-portation, dust and stubble burning). We direct the Central Government to hold anemergency meeting tomorrow…and what are the steps they can take.” On stubbleburning, the court said: “While it’s not the major cause...there is a lot of stubble burn-ing in Punjab and Haryana. We request the State Governments to pursue farmers tostop the burning for a week... Punjab and Haryana should hold these meetings.” Everytime the Supreme Court has tried to nudge the authorities on some important issues,the refrain is the same: Please don’t get into the domain of governance. But what shouldthe court do if the Centre does not even convene a meeting of the States around Delhiwhich must be brought on board to tackle the pollution menace. After all, Delhi is notan island. The SC has rightfully directed the Centre to hold a meeting of Delhi, Punjaband Haryana to work out a comprehensive plan to deal with the situation. It’s timethe SC sets up a permanent committee headed by a retired Judge to monitor roundthe year the steps required to prevent the visitation of the annual menace. Going bythe experiences of the past, the authorities are prone to sliding back into the “sleep”mode once the air quality level shows even the slightest improvement.

When breathing kills

Die hardThe T20 final was unfavourable, but Kiwis will

do well to keep their fighting spirit alive in India

PICTALK

Devotees pray on the banks of the Yamuna on the occasion of ‘Dev Uthani Ekadashi', in Prayagraj PTI

The SC is forced to remind the Govts that toxic smog is taking a toll on the citizenry

The teaser ofPrithviraj capturesthe essence of thelife of the legendarywarrior SamratPrithviraj Chauhan.

Actor —Akshay Kumar

Tax cuts alone won’thelp rein in oil prices

THERE ARE SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS REGARDING

THE CREDIBILITY OF SUCH AWARDS. SEEMS LIKE

EVERYONE WHO APPLIES GETS THE AWARD.

—BJP LEADER

SUVENDU ADHIKARI

OUR TOURISM DEPARTMENT HAS RECEIVED THE

SKOCH GOLD AWARD FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL

PERFORMANCE DURING COVID-19.

—WEST BENGAL CHIEF MINISTER

MAMATA BANERJEE

Given the fast pace of vaccination and substantially diminished effect ofCOVID-19, the GDP is expected to register growth close to 10 per cent

Closing the two-week COP26 climate summit in Glasgow onSaturday, Alok Sharma, the British president of the 197-coun-try conference, declared “We’ve kept 1.5 (degrees Celsius) with-

in reach, but its pulse is weak.” But he was close to tears several timesin his closing remarks. That was not because the 40,000-delegate meet-ing was a complete disaster. It wasn’t a complete success either, butthese things never are. Sharma was upset because a last-minute assaultby the world’s coal, oil and gas superpowers — Saudi Arabia andAustralia as the biggest exporters, China, India and Russia as hugeproducers and consumers — nearly brought the meeting to a halt. Afterdays and nights of almost non-stop negotiations, the great majorityof the countries present got a commitment to phase out ‘coal power’into the conference report for the first time. No timetable, but it’s astart. What? You mean none of the other summits ever mentioned coalin their reports? Coal is the worst fossil fuel by far, in terms of the vol-ume of carbon dioxide it puts into the atmosphere when it burns. Surelythey must have mentioned it before. Nope. The fossil fuel powers alwaysmanaged to keep it out of the final documents by threatening to sab-

otage a process that depends on consensus and unanimity.Ridiculous, of course. Your whole purpose is to stop global warming,but you’re not allowed to mention the principal cause? At the final ple-nary session, India’s climate minister, Bhupender Yadav, stood up andasked how developing countries could promise to phase out coal andfossil fuel subsidies when they “have still to deal with their develop-ment agendas and poverty eradication.

“The answer is that all the development agendas and poverty erad-ication will shrivel up and die if the warming stays on its current track— and Yadav probably knows that too. But he effectively threateneda veto, and managed to get the phrase “phase out coal” changed to“phase DOWN coal”. It wasn’t much of a victory, because the offend-ing word ‘coal’ is still in the Glasgow Climate Pact. It will be there atall future climate summits, and every year there will be attempts tostrengthen the other words around it. Eventually they will succeed. Atthis point you may want to join with Greta Thunberg in dismissing thewhole process as “blah, blah, blah”, but you would be wrong. This isthe only way millions-strong groups of people called countries, mostof whose ancestors were hunter-gatherers only a few thousand yearsago, can make decisions on subjects that matter to all of them. Theirrepresentatives come together physically, and if the debate is intenseand the meeting goes on long enough, their fixed positions tend to startbending towards compromise and consensus. That’s how their ances-tors did it in the far distant past, and that’s how we still do it today.So the great achievement at Glasgow was to agree that they will allmeet again next year and keep worrying away at the problem and ‘ratch-eting up’ the promises. There’s no formal agreement to meet againthe year after that, but everybody expects that this will be an annualevent in the future, no longer a five-yearly one. It doesn’t mean thathuman beings will respond fast enough to avoid catastrophic warm-ing. We have left it very late, the special interests will continue to wagea fighting retreat in defence of the status quo, and some ‘non-linear’response to the warming climate may suddenly upset all our plans andexpectations. We are in unknown waters now.

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is ‘The Shortest History of War’. The views expressed are personal.)

The Indian economy isnow moving up aftercertain unsavoury sce-

narios of note-ban, pandemicclosures of activities. Goldsales are up, event bookings arerising, market has a good timeduring Diwali despite cumulative inflation and lessintervention by the state apparatuses.

The G 20-led state controlscreated panic, made peopledependent on the governmentand stymied growth globally.A free flow Diwali is changingthat. Sales rise 10 percent andgold demand rises to 96.2tonnes in India, says the WorldGold Council.

According to theConfederation of All IndiaTraders (CAIT), sales of its 70million members increasedover `72,000 crore in at least

20 cities from where it couldcollect the data. Some otherdata claim $1.25 trillion sales.Secretary general of CAITPraveen Khandelwal says thatfor a long time, people hadsubdued their needs because ofclosure of activities in thecountry and the shock thatdemonetisation had given tothem. Now with the openingup of the market and activities,people are making their pur-chases freely.

Many retailers say theywere apprehensive before thefestival but to their surprisedespite severe rise in pricespurchases are increasing. Indemand were items such asearthen lamps, candles andpapier mache lamps, whichhelped small potters, craftsmenand handicraftsmen rake insubstantial profits. Sweets, dry

fruits, footwear, watches, toys,home décor, and fashion cloth-ing also saw huge demand.

The World Gold Councilexpected gold sales wouldrecover from 35 per cent belowthe pre-pandemic level. Thedemand has been more thanexpected. But it may not be aseuphoric as the government issaying or as the Rs 1.3 lakhcrore GST collections indicate.

The CAIT says this yearsales exceeded that of 2019 —`60,000 crore; ̀ 50,000 crore in2018 and `43,000 crore in2017. The confederation says

the upswing shows a sustain-able demand trend as risingvaccination levels along withlower transmission levels haveinstilled confidence in buyers.

The expectation is that byMarch 2022, there would beanother ̀ 2 lakh crore sales. ButGST collections may not be theactual indicator because it iscollected over high prices dueto inflation. Overall growth isuneven. Some sections aredoing well but India slipsdown on hunger index to 101position.

The wedding seasonbeginning mid-November is tocontinue the boom. The wed-dings this year are expected tohappen with the usual pompand show. Countrywide, thedemand for gold sales surged.Weddings are one of thebiggest drivers of gold purchas-

es in India as bullion in theform of jewellery is an essen-tial part of a bride’s dowry andalso a popular gift from fam-ily and guests.

Gold remains the biggestfinancial security instrumentfor rural and other families.The investment is consideredsecure and appreciating. Forthe bride too it is an essentialpart of her dowry and also asought after gift from familyand guests. After two years ofpandemic and severe hits tothe economy due to note-bana semblance of restoration isbeing noticed.

The weddings also createwealth distribution at variouslevels. Till November-end,about 25 lakh marriage cele-brations are on the cards. Awedding in India involvesbanquet halls, caterers, various

kinds of pipe bands, music sys-tem, hiring of musicians, dec-orations lights, ponies, priests,ornaments, garments and gifts.At the social level, differentartisans and craftsmen areinvolved in generating incomefor many.

It is not the Indian busi-nesses that alone are gainingbut many foreign houses andretailers are making robustsales. In short, the Indiansocial system is gettingstrengthened. As per estimatestill Diwali, about `9,000 crorewas spent on gold jewelleryand silverware while tradersselling packaging itemsmarked good sales.

Despite the chances of aprogressive recovery, the RBIholding on to the repo rate at4 per cent unchanged for theeighth time in a row is raising

eyebrows as savings is becom-ing non-remunerative. In real-ity, the rising inflation is erod-ing the basic value of savings.This is being viewed as a riskto the economy. Indian econ-omy traditionally has beengrowing on small savings thatare now being disincentivised.

The note-ban that hadshaken the poor, could notunearth black money nor con-tain fake currency said to becoming from Pakistan. Afterfive years, Directorate ofRevenue Intelligence says thatfake currency seizure hasunprecedented jump.

Strong controls and G-20harsh steps have not helpedcountries. India must discusshow to ensure a free-flowgrowth instead of oppressiveimposition of measures thatcause scares.

After two years of pandemic and severe hits to the economy due to note ban, a semblance of market restoration is being noticed

TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021

07

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

FIRSTCOLUMNCOP26: WE ARE INUNKNOWN WATERS

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Free-flow Diwali boosts sales: Lesson for oppressive G20

SHIVAJI SARKAR

(The writer is a senior journalist. The views

expressed are personal.)

GWYNNE DYER

UTTAM GUPTA

Not yielding much to cut emissions, COP26was a more productive climate summit

On November 3, 2021, the UnionGovernment notified reduc-tion in central excise duty(CED) by ̀ 5 per liter on petrol

and `10 per liter on diesel. Seen in iso-lation, these cuts may appear to be sig-nificant. However, when viewed in thebackdrop of the unprecedented increaseaffected by the Narendra ModiGovernment ever since it assumed office,this is small.

In May 2014, the CED on petrol was`9.8 per liter whereas on diesel it was `3.8per liter. As on November 2, 2021, it was`33 per liter on petrol — a cumulativeincrease of `23.2 per liter. On diesel, it was`32 per liter — higher by `28.2 per liter.The cuts notified on Nov 3, 2021, haveoffset only 1/5th of the hike on petrol and1/3rd on diesel.

The hike in duties has adverselyimpacted the economy by way of increas-ing prices across all sectors (all the morebecause increase in diesel price leads tohigher cost of transportation), eroding thepurchasing power of common man,undermining competitiveness of theindustrial and services sector and increas-ing the cost of implementing welfareschemes such as making food available atsubsidized rate. But, looking at things inisolation won’t be fair.

We need to consider as to how theextra revenue from duty hike was put touse. Of the `23.2 per liter increase in CEDon petrol, `13 per liter was given effectduring 2020 alone (`3/- in March and`10/- in May). In case of diesel, of the`28.2 per liter hike, `16 per liter was donein 2020 (`3/- in March and `13/- in May).During FY 2020-21, the economy wasdevastated by the COVID pandemicleading to contraction in GDP (grossdomestic product) by 7.3 percent.

As a result, the Union Budget suffereda double blow.

While, on one hand, there was a dras-tic reduction in receipts (gross tax receiptsor GTR was about `400,000 crore lessthan the target) on the other, the expen-diture of the Government increasedsharply to cover both life/health and liveli-hood needs. Major heads where itsexpenses zoomed included food subsidy:`500,000 crore; fertilizer subsidy:`134,000 crore; MGNREGA: `111,000crore; health: `94,000 crore. Besides, ithad to maintain high capital expenditure- revised estimate (RE) for the year being`439,000 crore.

Consequently, the fiscal deficit(FD)during 2020-21 was 9.5 percent of GDPor `1850,000 crore in nominal terms. Thiswas despite the Centre collecting `335,000crore from CED on petrol and dieselalone (during 2019-20, tax collection fromthese products was `180,000 crore).Imagine, if CED were to be less by `5/10per liter on petrol/diesel, i.e. same quan-tum as the cuts affected now, the collec-tion would have been lower by at least`100,000 crore.

THE HIKE INDUTIES HASADVERSELY

IMPACTED THEECONOMY BYINCREASING

PRICES ACROSSALL SECTORS,ERODING THEPURCHASING

POWER OFCOMMON MAN,UNDERMINING

COMPETITIVENESSOF THE

INDUSTRIAL AND SERVICES

SECTOR ANDINCREASING

THE COST OFIMPLEMENTING

WELFARESCHEMES

This would have affectedschemes for protecting thelife/livelihood; alternatively,Government would have beenforced to increase the FD to 10 per-cent or `1950,000 crore whichwould also entail heavy cost by wayof macro-economic instability, rat-ing downgrade, high interest rate,increasing debt, inflationary pres-sures and so on. Clearly, reducingduty cannot be an unmixed bless-ing all the more, when other rev-enue streams are drying up as hap-pened during 2020-21.

During the current year, giventhe fast pace of vaccination andsubstantially diminished effect ofCOVID, GDP is expected to reg-ister growth of close to 10 percent.As a result, the GTR is likely toexceed the target by about`200,000 crore. On the expendi-ture side, food subsidy may not bevery much off the mark thoughfertilizer subsidy could exceed thetarget by at least `40,000 crore(courtesy, steep increase in theinternational price of fertilizers).

The resulting budgetary cush-ion will help in absorbing the rev-enue loss from the recent cut induties — estimated to be about`65,000 crore in the remaining fivemonths of the current fiscal.

Twenty-five StateGovernments have also reducedVAT (value added tax). Thistogether with cuts in CED shouldprovide substantial relief (forinstance, ̀ 20 per liter on petrol inKarnataka). Yet, there is clamor for

more; some even wishing thatCED goes back to the level exist-ing prior to 2014. Even this shouldbe possible if only overall tax rev-enue picks up say, monthly GSTcollection going up to `150,000crore on a ‘sustained’ basis. Till thathappens, both the Centre andStates will need to act in a calibrat-ed manner.

However, to focus on reducingtaxes alone won’t help in reining inoil prices. Let us look at somenumbers. In Delhi, the pumpprice of around `104 per litre (ason Nov 3, 2021) includes ex-refinery price plus freight (ERP+F)of ̀ 47/-, dealer commission of `4/-, CED, `28/-and VAT, ̀ 25/-. Evenif, CED and VAT are completelywithdrawn (theoretical), the con-sumer will still pay `51/-.

In the break-up of pump price,ERP+Falone is `47/-. This corre-sponds to the international priceof crude oil at $85 per barrel. Beinga function of the global demand-supply balance, the price of crudecan go to any level; for instance, inthe first quarter of CY (calendaryear) 2012, it had touched a highof $125 per barrel. If, that scenariowere to repeat, the ERP+F wouldbe `69 per liter. Plus, dealer com-mission, the pump price will be`73 per liter even if the Centre andState don’t charge any duty.

Considering that Indiadepends on imports for 83.5 per-cent of its crude requirements,there is a high probability of ourhaving to pay such a high price.

Indeed, this is where the shoe real-ly pinches. There is an urgent needfor promoting self-reliance in oilproduction.

A recent directive of the UnionGovernment to Oil and NaturalGas Corporation (ONGC) totransfer 60 per cent of the operat-ing rights in the Bombay High andSouth Bassein region (nearly 50percent of India’s oil productioncomes from these two areas) to amultinational oil company (MNC)is a good move as this will help infully utilizing the potential of thisprolific area. That apart, there is anurgent need to put in place a ‘sta-ble’ and ‘conducive’ policy forattracting investment and increas-ing indigenous production.

Another important aspect hasto do with economy in the use offuel and improving energy use effi-ciency — a potent way of moder-ating demand. In fact, the currenthigh price should signal con-sumers to make necessary movesin that direction. India being thethird largest importer of oil, alower Indian demand can also con-tribute to lowering of the interna-tional price of crude.

Finally, at present, marketingof petroleum products is themonopoly of public sector under-takings (PSUs). Out of 70,000petrol pumps in the country, theyaccount for 90 percent. There isneed to bring competition byincreasing share of private sectorwhich will help reduce price bylowering the margins of firms.

(The writer is a policyanalyst. The views

expressed are personal.)

TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021 Money 08

oney atters

BoM tops PSU lenders chart in terms of loan

State-owned Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has emerged as thetop performer among public sector lenders in terms of loan

and savings deposit growth during the secondquarter of the current financial year, as perquarterly results data. The Pune-headquartered lender recorded an 11.46 percent increase in gross advances at Rs1,15,236 crore in the July-September periodof 2021-22, according to the published dataof BoM. It was followed by Punjab & SindBank which posted 9.53 per cent growth in

advances with aggregate loans at Rs 67,574 crore at the end ofSeptember 2021, as per data from the bank's quarterly results.

Gold declines Rs 82; silvertumbles Rs 208

Gold in the national capital on Monday dipped by Rs 82 to Rs48,246 per 10 gram in line with weak international preciousmetal prices and a stronger rupee,

according to HDFC Securities. In theprevious trade, the precious metal hadsettled at Rs 48,328 per 10 gram.Silveralso declined Rs 208 to Rs 65,594 perkilogram from Rs 65,802 per kilogram inthe previous trade.The rupee surged 12paise to 74.33 against the US dollar inopening trade on Monday. In theinternational market, gold trading lower at USD 1,862 per ounceand silver flat at USD 25.18 per ounce.

Bosch joint MD, CFO resigns

Auto components major Bosch Ltd on Monday said its JointManaging Director and CFO S C Srinivasan has resignedciting personal reasons.In a regulatory filing, the company

said Srinivasan has conveyed his "decision to opt for earlyretirement for personal reasons witheffect from April 1, 2022 and resignationfrom his current position as JointManaging Director & Chief FinancialOfficer of Bosch Ltd with the close ofbusiness hours on December 31, 2021."A chartered accountant, Srinivasan hadjoined Bosch Ltd in February 2017. Hehas over two decades of wide ranging

experience in corporate strategy, treasury, mergers and acquisitionand investor relations, among others.

Rupee slips 3 paise toclose at 74.48 against $

The rupee slipped 3 paise to settle at 74.48 (provisional)against the US dollar on Monday amid a muted trend in thedomestic equity market.

However, lower crude prices in theinternational market restricted therupee's fall, forex dealers said.At the interbank forex market, the localunit opened at 74.38 against thegreenback and witnessed an intra-dayhigh of 74.31 and a low of 74.49.It finally ended at 74.48 against theAmerican currency, registering a fall of just 3 paise over itsprevious close.

Sigachi Industries shareslist with a bang

Microcrystalline cellulose manufacturer Sigachi Industriesshares listed with a huge premium of nearly 253 per cent in

its debut trade on Monday against theissue price of Rs 163.The stock listed atRs 575, a premium of 252.76 per centon BSE. It then rallied 270.39 per cent toRs 603.75.On NSE, it debuted at Rs 570,zooming 249.69 per cent.The initial public offer of SigachiIndustries received a whopping 101.91times subscription earlier this

month.Price range for the Rs 125.42 crore-offer was at Rs 161-163 per share.

PNS n MUMBAI

Stock market barometersSensex and Nifty ended mar-ginally higher on Monday asrise in wholesale inflationcapped early gains despite apositive trend in global mar-kets.

The 30-share index settled32.02 points or 0.05 per centhigher at 60,718.71 with half ofits constituents ending ingreen.

The broad based Nifty edgedup 6.70 points or 0.04 per centto close at 18,109.45.

PowerGrid was the top gain-er in the Sensex pack, risingover 3 per cent, followed byITC, Asian Paints, Nestle Indiaand Kotak Bank.

TCS rose by 0.83 per centwhile Infosys inched up 0.31per cent. HUL, Dr Reddy's andSun Pharma were also amongthe gainers.

On the other hand, TataSteel fell the most by 3.24 percent, followed by M&M whichdeclined 1.19 per cent. BajajAuto, Reliance, SBI and BhartiAirtel declined.

Indian markets opened ona positive note on Mondaydespite mixed cues from Asianmarket peers where Chineseshares traded lower post betterthan expected consumer spenddata, said Narendra Solanki,Head- Equity Research(Fundamental), Anand Rathi.

During the afternoon ses-sion markets lost initial gainsand traded marginally in green

with buying in healthcare, IT,and tech stocks.

"Upside remain capped asWPI inflation in Octobersurged to 12.54 per cent from10.66 per cent a month ago and1.31 per cent in October 2020,"he noted.

The wholesale price-basedinflation spiked mainly due torise in prices of manufacturedproducts and crude petroleum.

It has remained in double digitfor the seventh consecutivemonth beginning April.

Sectorally, BSE healthcare,FMCG, consumer durablesand IT indices rose up to 2.09per cent, while metal, basicmaterials, telecom and energyindices fell up to 2.35 per cent.

Broader midcap rose0.41 per cent, while smallcapfell 0.19 per cent.

Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch at Geojit FinancialServices, said. "Domestic mar-ket was trading with a negativebias, between gains and losses,tracking volatile global marketsand in the wake of domesticinflation data. On the contrary,China's industrial outputgrowth accelerated to 3.5%YoY despite fresh Covidrestrictions and supply short-ages, thereby easing concernsover a global economic slow-down." Ajit Mishra, VP -Research, Religare Brokingsaid that upbeat global cuestriggered a firm start but prof-it taking across sectorstrimmed the gains as the dayprogressed.

Sensex, Nifty advance ongains in IT, FMCG stocks

PNS n SINGAPORE

In Singapore's largest databreach, the personal informa-tion of nearly 5.9 millionSingaporean and South-eastAsian customers of a hotelbooking site was found tohave been leaked, according toa media report on Monday.

The Personal DataProtection Commission(PDPC) has imposed a penal-ty of SGD 74,000 onCommeasure, a local firmwhich operates the websiteRedDoorz.

However, the amount ismuch lower than the com-bined SGD 1 million fineimposed on SingHealth andIntegrated Health InformationSystems for the 2018 databreach which affected 1.5 mil-lion people, The Straits Timesnewspaper reported.

According to PDPC, theamount of the fine wasfinalised taking into consider-ation the hardship on the hos-pitality sector caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic.

"In deciding the amount offinancial penalty to beimposed, we also consideredthat the organisation, whichoperates in the hospitality

industry, had been severelyimpacted by the Covid-19pandemic," the PDPC said inits judgment issued lastThursday.

"This is the largest databreach that has occurred sincethe Personal Data ProtectionAct came into effect," it said.

Commeasure found outabout the breach on September19 last year after an Americancyber-security firm alerted thecompany.

RedDoorz said most of thecompromised data came fromthe booking platform's largestmarket, Indonesia. The com-pany's customers are all fromSouth-east Asia. It is under-stood that about 9,000 of theaffected people are from

Singapore.The compromised data

included customers' name,contact number, e-mailaddress, date of birth, encrypt-ed password to their RedDoorzaccount and booking informa-tion. The hackers did not accessor download customers'masked credit card numbers.

The stolen data was put upfor sale on a hacker forumbefore it was taken down,according to Singapore'sBusiness Times report last year.

Commeasure informed theaffected customers about thedata breach on September 26last year and advised them tochange their RedDoorzaccount passwords. The PDPCwas notified on September 25.

Info of customers leaked inSingapore’s largest data breach

PNS n LONDON

Investors have until 3December 2021 to take advan-tage of the current EB-5investor visa in the USA. Theinvestment program allowsapplicants to obtain a greencard by investing 500,000 USDin a qualifying business. On 3December, Congress will bevoting on the US budget, withmany proponents pushing fora potential increase to 750,000or 900,000 USD.

With the US passportranked as the most powerfulpassport in the world, via therecently launched GlobalPassport Index, US citizen-ship is an important asset forany international investor. TheGlobal Passport Index, createdby the investment migrationconsultancy Global Citizen

Solutions, provides a pioneer-ing methodology that consid-ers investment opportunitiesand quality of living alongsidetravel mobility.

"From limitless work oppor-tunities and top-rated educa-

tion to exceptional living stan-dards, the USA is an easychoice for those lookingbeyond just a simple invest-ment. While the approachingdebate in Congress is some-thing for us to keep an eye on,

there is still time to take advan-tage of the current EB-5 invest-ment cost. My only advice is ifyou're considering an investorvisa in the US, submit yourapplication soon. There's notelling what will happen nextyear" , points out PatriciaCasaburi, Managing Directorat Global Citizen Solutions.

Investing in an EB-5 visagrants applicants and theirfamily members the right topermanently live in the UnitedStates, with the possibility toreceive your contribution backafter the investment project iscompleted.

To qualify for the EB-5,applicants must directly investat least $500,000 into a US-based business in TargetedEmployment Areas (TEA),which is classified as areas inneed of economic stimulation.

The respective investmentmust create at least ten full-time jobs for American work-ers. Alternatively, applicantscan invest $1million in non-targeted areas. Other condi-tions for applicants includeholding a clean criminal recordand being in excellent health.A key perk of the EB5 schemeis that the investor can obtaincitizenship after five years,provided they live for sixmonths per year in the UnitedStates.

The EB-5 visa program wascreated in 1990 to encourageforeign direct investment innew business development inrural or areas with high levelsof unemployment. Throughthe visa program, foreignnationals can qualify for greencards in exchange for qualify-ing investments.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Representatives of cryptoexchanges, Block chain andCrypto Assets Council(BACC), industry bodies andother stakeholders will maketheir submissions on cryptofinance on Monday before aparliamentary panel chaired byBJP leader Jayant Sinha.

This will be the first meet-ing on the subject to be con-vened by the ParliamentaryStanding Committee onFinance on the subject, whichhas generated a lot of interestas well as concerns in variousquarters around investmentpotential and risks.

The panel, headed by Sinha,who is also a former Ministerof State for Finance, will alsogather inputs from academi-cians from IIM Ahmedabad.

The panel's meeting, sched-uled to be held in the after-noon, assumes significance asit comes days after PrimeMinister Narendra Modichaired a high-level meetingwith officials from variousministries and RBI on theissue of cryptocurrency.

Talking about the meeting,panel chairman Sinha said the

meeting on crypto financewill discuss the opportunitiesand challenges this fast evolv-ing industry presents to theregulators and policy makers.

“We have called stakeholdersfrom across the industry includ-ing operators of major exchanges,members of CII as well as acade-mics from the IIM Ahmedabad,who have done a very thoroughstudy on the crypto finance,”Sinha told PTI. He further saidthe panel has also called repre-sentatives from the IndiaInternet and Mobile Associationof India, of which Blockchainand Crypto Assets Council, aspecific body that deals withcryptofinance players.

“We will hear from themabout their views on the rightregulatory framework for thisindustry as it continues todevelop and evolve,” he said.

The Supreme Court in earlyMarch 2020 had nullified theRBI circular banning cryp-tocurrencies. Following thison February 5, 2021, the cen-tral bank had instituted aninternal panel to suggest amodel for the central bank'sdigital currency. The RBI hadannounced its intent to comeout with an official digital cur-rency, in the face of prolifera-tion of cryptocurrencies likeBitcoin about which the centralbank has had many concerns.

Crypto finance: Jayant Sinha-led Par panel to collect views

PNS n HYDERABAD

IBM on Monday announcedthat it has set up a new facili-ty here offering clientsBusiness Process Operationsconsulting from IBMConsulting.

The new facility will befocused on Business ProcessOperations across severaldomains such as finance andaccounts, procurement andsupply chain, human resourcesand recruiting, and industryspecific processes includingrisk and compliance, IBM saidin a release.

With this facility, IBMConsulting can help clientsachieve their digital transfor-mation goals leveraging talentand IBM's comprehensivecapabilities in process re-engi-neering, data and technology,it said.

The new facility will alsohave dedicated workspaces tocollaborate with clients viathe IBM Garage, a collabora-tive approach to fast-trackinnovation and drive mean-ingful, lasting transformation.

The facility also serves anadditional function of enablingresiliency for IBM Consultingby acting as backup site for

Business Process Operationscentres in Chennai andBengaluru, the release said.

The onsite team will alsocollaborate with IBM IndiaSoftware Labs in Hyderabad tobring in artificial intelligence(AI) and platform offerings toreimagine intelligent work-flows in client operations, itsaid. Business ProcessOperations delivers a unifieduser experience and businessvalue for organisations withuse of agile methodologies,advanced process mining andintelligent workflows pow-ered by hybrid cloud and AI.

In finance organisations forinstance, it provides insightsfor core functionalities such asworking capital optimisation,spend leakage, reducederrors/exceptions, and others,the release said.

IBM expandspresence in TS

PNS n NEW DELHI

The wholesale price-basedinflation spiked to 5-monthhigh of 12.54 per cent inOctober, mainly due to rise inprices of manufactured prod-ucts and crude petroleum.

WPI inflation has remainedin double digit for the seventhconsecutive month beginningApril. Inflation in Septemberthis year was at 10.66 per cent,while in October 2020 it was at1.31 per cent.

The October WPI is thehighest in five months sinceMay, when it was at 13.11 percent.

"The high rate of inflation inOctober 2021 is primarily dueto rise in prices of mineral oils,basic metals, food products,

crude petroleum & naturalgas, chemicals and chemicalproducts etc as compared to

the corresponding month ofthe previous year," theCommerce and Industry

Ministry said in a statement.Inflation in manufactured

items was higher at 12.04 percent in October, as against 11.41per cent in the previous month.

In the fuel and power bas-ket, the rate of price rise was37.18 per cent in October, asagainst 24.81 per cent inSeptember.

Crude petroleum inflationwas 80.57 per cent during themonth under review, as against71.86 per cent in September.

Inflation in food articles toowitnessed some uptick on amonth-on-month basis at (-)1.69 per cent in October,against (-) 4.69 per cent inSeptember. Vegetable priceswere lower at (-) 18.49 per cent,while in onions it was (-) 25.01per cent.

WPI inflation at 5-month high of 12.54 pc

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Infosys ScienceFoundation (ISF) on Mondaysaid it will felicitate the laure-ates of the Infosys Prize 2021on December 2, 2021 acrosssix categories, includingEngineering and ComputerScience, Humanities and LifeSciences.

The Infosys Prize cele-brates success in researchand stands as a marker ofexcellence in science andresearch. It also aims toinspire young scholars tochoose a vocation in research.

The Prize comprises a goldmedal, a citation, and a purseof USD 100,000 (or its equiv-alent in Rupees), a statementsaid. It is awarded in six cat-egories: Engineering andComputer Science,Humanities, Life Sciences,Mathematical Sciences,Physical Sciences, and SocialSciences, it added.

Winners will be felicitatedby Gagandeep Kang, FRS -Professor at CMC Vellore,Infosys Prize laureate andone of India's leading virolo-gists.

PNS n NEW DELHI

CAMS, which acts as a reg-istrar and transfer agent formutual funds, has reported a48 per cent jump in profitafter tax to Rs 72.56 crore forthe three months endedSeptember 2021.

In comparison, the compa-ny had a profit after tax(PAT) of Rs 48.95 crore in thecorresponding period lastyear, according to a state-ment.

Its revenues from opera-tions during July-September2021 jumped 33 per cent toRs 227.60 crore, from Rs171.14 crore crore in theyear-ago period.

"Retail investors' confi-dence continues to be posi-tive, evident in the megaNFOs (new fund offers),strong net flows into equityassets, record high SIP (sys-tematic investment plan) reg-istrations and inflows. All ofthese led to our transactionvolumes touch historic highsduring the quarter," the com-pany's Chief ExecutiveOfficer Anuj Kumar said.

CAMS' profit aftertax jumps 48 pcto Rs 72.5 cr inSept quarter

ISF to award sixindividuals forcontributions toresearch, society

PNS n NEW DELHI

South Korea's Krafton said ithas permanently banned over25 lakh accounts betweenOctober 1 and November 10on BGMI game as part of itsefforts to provide a fair game-play environment to its play-ers. "At the end of September,we promised you that fairgameplay has always beenand will be ourpriority...Cheaters have noplace in BGMI and in orderto provide a fair gameplayenvironment to our players,we've been taking severemeasures to remove cheatersfrom the game," it added.

Krafton bans 25lakh accounts onBattlegrounds tostop cheating

PNS n HYDERABAD

Palred Technologies Limited, aTechnology Solutions playeracross Consumer Electronics,eCommerce, and IT Solutionsindustries, announced itsfinancial results for the firsthalf for FY 2021-2022.

Palred Technologies contin-ued its growth momentumand posted strong first half-yearly financial results at 74.72Cr, beating the industry esti-mates. The flagship brandpTron, a subsidiary of PalredTechnologies, boosted thecompany's revenue by register-ing record sales, from 12.93lakh units sold in H1 FY21 to

21.63 Lacs units sold in H1FY22, witnessing over 67%growth. pTron's BluetoothHeadsets and TWS (TrueWireless Stereo) have been themain driving force and stoodforefront in the category, reg-istering sales to the scale of5.13 lac units and 5.96 lac unitsrespectively.

pTron has witnessed a mas-sive growth in business sincethe beginning of 2019. It haspenetrated into the IndianConsumer Electronics indus-try at a rapid speed by intro-ducing a slew of products,especially smart accessorieswhich has seen a majordemand from the consumers.

pTron boosts PalredTech's Q2 revenue

Clock is ticking for EB5 Visa investors

9

Tuesday November 16, 2021 what’s brewing?

The wait to

watch AliaBhatt as Gangubai

in filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’smagnum opus Gangubai Kathiawadi just

got longer. The film that was delayed multipletimes owing to the pandemic, has been post-

poned yet again. Just months after the directorpicked January 6, 2022, as his release date, on

Monday he announced that the film will now releaseon 18 February 2022.

The period film, adapted from one of the chapters ofnoted author Hussain Zaidi’s book, Mafia Queens ofMumbai, features Bhatt in the title role of Gangubai,

one of the most powerful, loved and respectedmadams from Kamathipura during the 1960s.The movie was supposed to release on January6th, 2022, a day before SS Rajamouli’s RRR.

But then, Rajamouli and the makers ofRRR have requested Pen Studios and

Sanjay Leela Bhansali to post-pone their film.

GangubaiKathiawadipostponed

Trishala Dutt, daughter of Bollywood star SanjayDutt, has passed the idea of entering the world ofHindi cinema as she said that she is “busy build-

ing” her own legacy.Trishala, an ardent social media user, treated her fans

and followers to a question and answer session onInstagram.

A user asked her: “Do you have plans to enter into thefilm industry to carry on Sanjay Sir’s legacy.”

She replied: “No. I’m busy building on leaving myown legacy behind.”

Another user asked Trishala about her plans of gettingmarried, to which the 33-year-old confessed that datingat this age and day is ‘a disaster’.

“Ohhhhh It’s so hard lol. It’s so hard. For those of youwho are single in 2021, you know what I’m talkingabout. And for those who have been married for 5+years, you have absolutely no idea what I’m talkingabout. Dating in this age is a disaster. An utmost disas-ter. There’s always someone thinking they can do betterlol. I'll get married whenever I find a proper gentlemanthat treats me with respect, love, and appreciation that Ideserve. And of course, vice-versa. Happy wife — happylife,” she replied.

Trishala’s verified profile has over 573K followers onthe photo-sharing website. She is Sanjay Dutt’s eldestchild, from the late Richa Sharma.

Not A Fan: Adam Driver

doesn't like Comic-Con

Adam Driver, who wasrecently seen in RidleyScott’s epic historical

drama The Last Duel, is not a fanof the San Diego Comic-Conand the actor backs his disinter-est for the event with some rea-

sons.Adam was recentlyon The GrahamNorton Show whenhe recalled his firstand the only trip toComic-Con.

When the hostasked him if heliked the event,the actor fur-nished a straightup ‘No’ as ananswer.Explaining thereason, Adamstated, “I didn’t

know the rulesof Comic-Con. I

got in at the hotel at2 in the morning... and

I’m like, ‘Maybe tomorrow I’llgo get a coffee’. And they’relike, ‘Oh no, you can’t get acoffee’. I’m like, ‘Well, maybe

I’ll get a coffee in the hotel’.They’re like, ‘No, you can’t get acoffee in the hotel’.”

He then explained that whenhe demanded to go outside, hewas given the option of wearingeither an Iron Man mask or aDarth Vader mask in order toleave. “‘If you want to go outside’,they’re like, ‘Put a mask on sonobody knows who you are’.”

If being isolated in the hotelroom wasn’t enough, things gotworse for the actor. Narrating theevent he said, “I opened my win-dow, because I’d been in theroom for 24 hours before thisthing we were supposed to do.And then there was a band at thebottom of the building playingthe Star Wars theme on repeat,because we (the cast) were allstaying in the hotel. It was scary.”

On the work front, the actorwill be seen in another RidleyScott film, this time a biographi-cal crime drama titled House ofGucci where he will be seen inthe company of eminent artisteslike Lady Gaga, Jared Leto,Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, andAl Pacino.

Trishala doesn’twant to act

Actor Tom Felton almostbeat actor DanielRadcliffe to his iconic

role of Harry Potter.The actor is best known for

playing Draco Malfoy in thewizarding saga but directorChris Columbus, who helmedthe first two movies, hasrevealed Warner Bros. officialswere keen to cast him in thelead role, reportsaceshowbiz.com.

The filmmaker “knew” theyoung actor would be better asthe villainous schoolboy,explaining: “Tom was a greatactor as well, so we thought,let’s just dye Tom’s hair, givehim a scar, give him the glass-es and let’s see. He did a great

Harry Potter reading. Theproblem is you can really kindof tell when an 11 or 12-year-old kid’s hair is dyed.”

“He was so good at Malfoy.I just couldn’t pass that up. Iknew Tom had to playMalfoy.”

Columbus had been keen tocast Radcliffe as Harry fromthe moment he saw the then-11-year-old actor’s “complexand interesting” onscreenpresence on TV.

He told The HollywoodReporter: “I was up late onenight in London watchingBBC (TV), and there was aminiseries of DavidCopperfield. There was ayoung Dan Radcliffe in it, for

about two or three scenes. ButI thought, ‘That’s HarryPotter’.”

After requesting a meeting,casting directors warned himto “forget about” Daniel. Theytold Chris, “You’re never goingto get him. His parents are inthe industry. They have nodesire for him to do this. Justforget about him.”

Harry Potter producerDavid Heyman travelled tomeet Radcliffe’s family andspoke with them during theinterval at a theatre show.

Columbus said: “In David’susual charming way, he wasable to convince them to comein for a meeting. That was sortof the end of it.”

Tom Felton came close toland Harry Potter’s role

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

FUN

SHREYA SRIKONDA

hose who grew upin the 80s would beno strangers toUB40, one of themost iconic,decade-defining

pop and Reggae bands toemerge from England. Theirhits, like Red red wine,Kingston town, Here I am,could be heard playing on theradio, in bars, and in everymusic lover’s house. BiggaBaggariddim, UB40’s 20threcord, is a collaborative effortwith artists from all around theworld, including ZorawarShukla of Reggae Rajahs aswell as artists from Jamaica,New Zealand, and UB40’shome town Birmingham. Their1985 album Baggariddimserves as the base for this newproject. Jimmy Brown, drum-mer and founding member ofUB40, talks exclusively withThe Pioneer about how thealbum came about.

“The plan was to have atriple album with our lastalbum For The Many, a dubversion of For the Many, andthen a collaboration album. Allusing the same backing tracks.My favourite tracks changefrom day to day, but I love thecontributions from theyounger guys from Jamaica-Leno Banton and Blvk H3ro.”he shares.

General Zooz AKA Zorawar

Shukla, a Reggae artist fromIndia, appears on the album.Brown tells us that collaborat-ing with the Reggae Rajas (ofwhom General Zooz is a mem-ber), happened over the inter-net! Brown says, “We weredoing a short tour of India andthe Reggae Rajah’s were open-ing for us on a couple ofshows. Then we found out thatthese guys were flying the flagfor reggae in India as well asorganising a sort-of Reggae‘Sunsplash’ show in Goa everyyear. Most of the work onBigga Baggariddim was doneremotely. Sending backingtracks to artists over the inter-net, letting them do what theywant and we mixed themdown when the songs werereturned to us.”

He goes on to say that theprocess of creating music has-n’t changed much throughoutthe years. “We make musicthe same way we have alwaysdone. Get together and play.We are a real band. We don’thave a leader, or singer-song-writers, or a producer. Wemake decisions as a band. Theend result is a genuine collab-oration between all the mem-bers, and has always been thatway.”

In the 70’s, their music wasquite political, includingprotesting MargaretThatcher’s conservative partyelection win in 1983. In fact,the band’s name comes from‘Unemployment Benefit form

40’. ‘Protest music’ was popu-lar, and UB40 had a lot tooffer to the scene. Brown saysthat it wasn’t a conscious deci-sion to make music withpolitical statements. He says,“Back in the 1970’s there werelots of bands and artists thatwrote and sang protest songs.It was a time when youth cul-ture was anti-racist. So it wasinevitable our songs would bepolitical. It reflected the factthat we were all politically-minded people. All lefty’s, somany of our songs are about

class war.”He confesses that he doesn’t

know much about IndianReggae! But with this collabo-ration, a new door of possibil-ities has opened for artists tocollaborate more and createmore music. “To be honest, Idon’t really know a lot aboutthe underground reggae scenein India. But I’m hoping thatwill change. We have plans toreturn to India as soon aspossible, so we’ll have anopportunity to find out more,”he adds.

He says that they’re justwaiting for gigs to return.Since the pandemic, there hasbeen a full stop in live perfor-mances, and the drummer islooking forward to being backon stage.

“We are a working band.We play lots of gigs all aroundthe world. In 2019 we did wellover 100 shows in places likethe USA, Australia and NewZealand, Europe, and the UK.We want to get back to that assoon as possible,” he con-cludes on a hopeful note.

The Reggae experience: UB40'sBaggariddim has an Indian element

nfertility is defined as the inabilityto conceive after one year of regularintercourse without contraception.It is one of the medical, social andpsychological burdens in the world.

About 18–20% of couples in reproductiveage are infertile.

The thyroid hormone regulates cellularfunction; abnormal thyroid function canaffect your fertility. Undiagnosed anduntreated thyroid disease can be a causefor infertility or frequent miscarriage.

According to the Indian ThyroidSociety about 70 per cent of women withPMS have low thyroid levels, which makethe ovaries less able to produce proges-terone leading to PMS symptoms. 25.6per cent of the Indian population havethyroid dysfunction and possibly resultedin infertility.

Having trouble getting pregnant? Yourthyroid could be the problem - and yourdoctor may not even know it. Standardblood tests miss up to 80 percent of casesin which low tissue thyroid levels arecausing or contributing to infertility.

Underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)is a condition in which the thyroid glanddoesn't produce enough of certain impor-tant hormones. For women, there is a linkbetween hypothyroidism and infertility.Low levels of thyroid hormone can inter-fere with ovulation, which impairs fertili-ty. In addition, some of the underlying

causes of hypothyroidism — such as cer-tain autoimmune or pituitary disorders —impair fertility.

Seema Arora (name changed onrequest), 29, a working professional, herworld came to an end when she got toknow that she can’t be pregnant. As thy-roid is very much common in today’slifestyle, Seema was diagnosed with thy-roid but she ignored it and did not go forregular maintenance check ups. After 1year when she underwent TSH blood testshe got to know that she is suffering fromhypothyroidism due to which she is nowunable to conceive.

Since standard thyroid blood tests arenot sensitive enough to detect low ovariantissue levels the majority of the time,women must find a knowledgeable physi-cian who understands that standard testswill often not be useful in detecting lowovarian thyroid levels.

Symptoms:The symptoms of hypothyroidism can

be of many types. Some patients show nosymptoms, while others show somemarked symptoms. The symptoms usuallydepend on the severity of the hormonedeficiency and the rate at which it devel-ops in the patient. The symptoms are usu-ally milder at the beginning but developgradually as the condition deteriorates.

The general symptoms are weight gain,

fatigue, constipation, mus-cle and joint aches, slug-gishness, and intolerancetowards cold weather,abnormal and irregularperiods, fatigue, and sleep-lessness. The skin may turndry and thick. The hairmay become coarse or thin.At times eyebrows disap-pear and nails become brit-tle.

Diagnosis:If you feel the above

mentioned symptomsimmediately go for a TSH(thyroid stimulating hor-mone) test, Chest X-ray, T4or thyroxine test.

Treatment:Hyperthyroidism can be

treated in many ways.

However, a doctor choosesthe line of treatment on thebasis of a number of vari-ables like the underlyingcause of hyperthyroidism,the age of the patient, thesize of the thyroid glandand the presence of coex-isting medical illnesses.

If you are found to havehypothyroidism, thyroidhormone replacement isvery effective in restoringfertility. It may take 1-2months to normalize yourthyroid hormone levelswith medication; and onceyou start medication, youmust check your TSH lev-els to confirm they are inthe normal range. You willusually need to continuethe medicines for the restof your life and recheck

your thyroid functionevery 6 months or so.

Millions of people havean undiagnosed thyroidproblem, and don’t realizethat it is the source of theother health challengesthey face. Infertility is amajor health threat due tothyroid and many otherconditions that are oftenthe direct result of undiag-nosed and untreated thy-roid conditions. In orderto lead a healthy life Iwould recommend that allpatients who recognise anyof these symptoms shouldgo for a TSH test.

(The writer, Dr ShobhaGupta , Medical Director

and Infertility Specialist atMother’s Lap IVF Centre

— Pitampura, New Delhi)

Informa Markets in India, announced the 5thedition of RenewX, a two-day RenewableEnergy trade expo slated on November 19

and 20, 2021 at the Hitex, Hyderabad. This expowill provide an Industry platform to the renewableenergy buyers and sellers enabling them to connectand collaborate for generating business opportuni-ties.

One of the leading shows in South India,RenewX will witness a congregation of SouthIndia’s green economy community to discussindustry trends, challenges and market insights.

The expo aims to bring together decision makersfrom RE Sectors, Manufacturers, EPC Companies,Supplier & distributors from different categories —PV modules, hybrid systems, materials andEquipments, Inverters, charge controllers, batteries,Testing and monitoring systems, Component man-ufacturers, Bioenergy equipment manufacturers,backsheet manufacturers and System integrators.

Stepping out of New Delhi for the very first time, theGooncha Nehru Senior Hockey Tournament is nowbeing held in Hyderabad! The 57th edition of the

tournament is hosted by Jawaharlal Nehru HockeyTournament Society's (JNHTS) and sponsored byGooncha Estates Pvt Ltd, part of the Hyderabad basedGooncha Group. Jayesh Ranjan, the Principal Secretaryof I&C and IT, inaugurated the tourney at SouthCentral Railway Sports Complex on Sunday. The inau-guration was followed by the first knockout roundmatch between RCF, Kapurthala and Tamil Nadu XI.RCF won the match by 3-2 and will now play againstthe winner of the second knockout match in pool ‘A’,day after tomorrow, to qualify and join the seededteams in the Quarter Final League.

For 1st time, Hyd to hostsenior hockey tournament

South India’s largestrenewable energy tradeexpo announced

T

I

Untreatedthyroid canlead to infertility

Tuesday November 16, 2021

10

sport 11TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021

YASIR SSHAH MMISSES TTEST AAGAINST BBANGLAKarachi: Pakistan’s experienced leg-spinnerYasir Shah was on Monday not picked for theupcoming two-match Test series againstBangladesh after failing to recover from athumb injury. The Pakistani selectorsannounced a 20-member squad for the serieswith opener Imam-ul-Haq and off-spinner BilalAsif earning a recall to the national side.

ANIRUSH NNEW CCHENNAIYIN FFC CCAPTAINChennai: India international Anirudh Thapawas on Monday named captain of ChennaiyinFC for the forthcoming season of Indian SuperLeague (ISL) beginning on Friday. The 23-yearold midfielder, who has been with CFC since2016, takes over from Brazilian RafaelCrivellaro.Thapa, who is one of the key playersfor Chennaiyin FC over the years, said as acaptain there’s an added responsibility and hewould always protect his team and players.

MOHIT SSTUNS KKOREAN TTOP SSEEDDhaka: Young and unheralded Mohit Deshwalof Haryana stunned Korean top seed ChoiYonghee en route to setting up a semi-final clashwith Indian ace Avishek Verma in the men’scompound section of the Asian ArcheryChampionships here on Monday. On a daywhen the Indian recurve archers’ familiarstruggles against the Koreans once again cameto the fore, the compound trio of Mohit, Vermaand Jyothi Surekha kept India’s hopes alive inthe individual sections, advancing into theirrespective last-four rounds.

NORWICH HHIRES DDEAN SSMITH Norwich (England): Norwich appointed DeanSmith as manager of the Premier League’s last-placed team on Monday, a week after he wasfired by Aston Villa. The 50-year-old Smithreplaces Daniel Farke, who was dismissed lastweekend despite overseeing Norwich’s first winof the league season. “It has been a whirlwindseven days, but I’m really pleased to be back andworking for Norwich City in the PremierLeague,” Smith said in a statement.

INDIA TTO CCOMPETE IIN 113TH EEWC New Delhi: A seven-member Indian team willcompete in three gaming categories at the 13thEsports World Championship in Eilat, Israelstarting on Tuesday. The Indian athletes, whowill be supported by MPL Sports Foundationand sportwear brand from Bata, POWER, willbe competing in CS:GO, Tekken7 and PEScategories during the tournament, EsportsFederation of India (ESFI) said in a release.

WAHAB PPLANS TTO RRETIRE AAFTER 22023 WWCKarachi: Left-arm Pakistan fast bowler WahabRiaz is planning to retire from internationalcricket after the 2023 World Cup in India. The36-year-old pacer, who has played 27 Tests, 91ODIs and 36 T20Is, has not been a regular in thePakistan team for a while now and was alsoignored for the T20 World Cup.”Everyone has tosay goodbye to cricket one day.

LALREMSIAMI TTO LLEAD IINDIA IIN JJUNIOR WWCNew Delhi: Forward Lalremsiami, who was apart of the Indian senior women’s hockey teamwhich finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics,will lead the country’s 18-member junior squadat the FIH World Cup starting in South Africafrom December 5. The event will witness 16 topteams from across the globe battle for the titlewhich was previously won by Argentina in 2016.Ishika Chaudhary will shoulder theresponsibility of vice-captaincy.

SINGLES

PTI n DUBAI

No Indian cricketer figured inthe ICC’s T20 World Cup

‘Team of the Tournament’ whichcomprises players from six dif-ferent countries, including SriLanka and South Africa, withPakistan’s Babar Azam beingnamed ‘captain’ of the squad.

India were ousted at thegroup league stage after beingthrashed by Pakistan and NewZealand before winning threeinconsequential games againstAfghanistan, Scotland andNamibia.

The jury members did notthink any of the Indian playersdeserving to be picked whileSouth Africa’s Aiden Markramand Anirch Nortje and SriLanka’s Charith Asalanka andWanindu Hasaranga were theplayers whose teams didn’t qual-ify for the semi-finals but fore theICC team.

Stars players from champi-ons Australia, runners-up NewZealand, semi-finalists Englandand Pakistan also feature in thestar-studded line up.

Opening batter and ‘Playerof the Tournament’ DavidWarner, leg-spinner AdamZampa and seamer JoshHazlewood all made the cut forAustralia after helping steer their

side to their first ever T20 WorldCup title.

There were also spots forEngland’s Jos Buttler as wicket-keeper and New Zealand left-armer Trent Boult, besidesPakistan’s Babar as captain andSri Lanka star Hasaranga -- thetournament’s leading wicket-taker — in the line-up.

One of the jury members,former West Indies pacer IanBishop, said: “As with any teamselection there will be varying opinions, and robust dis-cussion on the final compositionof the squad.

“The panel respects that, andwe encourage the strong debatethat will ensue. This team wasincredibly difficult to select oversuch a highly competitive tour-nament. Selections were basedpredominantly on the Super 12onward to the final.”

TeamDavid Warner (Australia),

Jos Buttler (wk) (England), BabarAzam (captain, Pakistan),Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka),Aiden Markram (South Africa),Moeen Ali (England), WaninduHasaranga (Sri Lanka), AdamZampa (Australia), JoshHazlewood (Australia),TrentBoult (New Zealand), AnrichNortje (South Africa), 12th:Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan).

PTI n BALI

Two-time Olympic medallist P VSindhu will continue her quest

for a podium finish when she spear-heads India’s challenge at theIndonesia Masters Super 750 tour-nament but compatriots SainaNehwal and Sameer Verma will bemissing in action after deciding topull out of the tournament due toinjuries.

Sindhu, who had claimed abronze at the Tokyo Olympics to gowith her Rio silver medal, reachedthe quarterfinals and semifinals atDenmark and France before skip-ping the Hylo Open in Germany.

The 2019 World Championshipin Switzerland was Sindhu’s last title.She reached the final at Swiss Openearly this year but it ended with aloss.

The third seeded Indian, how-

ever, has good memories ofIndonesia as she had reached thefinals at Jakarta two years back andwill look to make a good start whenshe faces Thailand’s SupanidaKatethong in the opener.

Sindhu is likely to cross swordswith Spain’s Clara Azurmendi andCanada’s sixth seed Michelle Li in thenext two rounds and a clash againsttop seeded Japanese AkaneYamaguchi could be on the cards in

the semifinals if she can cross the ini-tial rounds.

Saina, the London Olympicsbronze-medallist, and Sameer, wholooked in good touch in the last twoevents, will miss the Indonesia leg torecover from their respectiveinjuries.

While Saina had suffered agroin injury at Uber Cup, Sameerhad injured his calf muscle inDenmark.

All eyes this week will also be onKidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen,who had reached the semifinals ofHylo Open.

While Srikanth seemed close toregaining his form, Lakshya too haslooked in good touch in his last fewoutings. The duo will look to con-tinue the good run when they begintheir men’s singles campaign here.

Lakshya will meet Japan’s KantaTsuneyama in his opening round,

while Srikanth faces a qualifier afterSameer pulled out.

Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneethwill take on Indonesia’s Shesar HirenRhustavito, while HS Prannoy is pit-ted against sixth-seeded IndonesianJonatan Christie in his opener.

Parupalli Kashyap will square offagainst Denmark’s Hans-KristianSolberg Vittinghus.

In men’s doubles competition,sixth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddyand Chirag Shetty will lock hornswith Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin and TeoEe Yi, while the fast-rising pair ofMR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila willbattle it out against the Japanesecombination of Takuro Hoki andYugo Kobayashi.

The women’s doubles pair ofAshwini Ponnappa and N SikkiReddy will take on Denmark’s Alexandra Boje andMette Poulsen.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Former India chief coach Ravi Shastri has beenroped in as the Commissioner of the Legends

League Cricket (LLC), a professional event forretired players that is set to take off next year.

The first season of LLC is scheduled to beheld in January next year in the Gulf.

“It feels great to remain connected with crick-et in the thick of action, especially with theLegends of the game who have been championsin their own rights,” Shastri, whose stint withIndia ended after the team’s exit from the ICCT20 World Cup, said in a release issued by theevent’s organisers. “It is going to be a lot of funwith some serious cricket going.

These stalwarts have nothing new to provebut they have their reputation in line and I canassure you, it will be interesting to see how theydo justice to it. “I am extremely thrilled to be apart of Legends League Cricket. This is a uniqueinitiative and we see a very bright future ahead,”added the 59-year-old.

AP n SAO PAULO

Mercedes driver LewisHamilton ended “the hardestweekend I’ve had” with a

stunning victory at the BrazilianGrand Prix, and gained momentumin his Formula One title fight with RedBull driver Max Verstappen.

Hamilton, a seven-time worldchampion, beat Verstappen despitestarting from 10th position on the griddue to a penalty — the secondHamilton faced this weekend in SaoPaulo.

Verstappen, the winner of therace’s previous edition in 2019, fin-ished second and saw his lead in thedriver’s championship shrink to 14points, with three races left. Thewinner of a race gets 25 points.

“Let’s keep pushing,” Hamiltonsaid on team radio after his sixth vic-tory of the season. He took a Brazilflag to celebrate his win in the car andon the podium, just as his idol AyrtonSenna did.

Hamilton’s teammate, ValtteriBottas, finished third and Red Bull’s

Sergio Perez was fourth with theMexican clocking the fastest lap of therace. The Ferraris of Charles Leclercand Carlos Sainz were fifth and sixth,respectively.

Verstappen led most of the raceafter the first turn, when he overtookpolesitter Bottas. But Hamilton, whorose from 10th to third position in justsix laps, went ahead of Verstappen onlap 59, putting a raucous crowd ontheir feet at Interlagos.

Hamilton finished the race witha 10-second advantage overVerstappen and said he felt like he hadwon his first race before a joyouscrowd at Interlagos.

“I was pushing as hard as I could,”an emotional Hamilton said after his101st victory. “From last on the grid(for Saturday’s sprint race), and thenanother five-place penalty — I thinkthat’s the hardest weekend I’ve had.Things kept going against us, but itjust shows, never give up, keep fight-ing. Never, ever stop fighting.”

Mercedes is now 11 points aheadof Red Bull in the constructor stand-ings. Verstappen will leave Brazil

50,000 euros ($57,200) poorer. He wasfined after being seen touching therear wing of Hamilton’s Mercedes onFriday.

“We were just missing a bit ofpace, but we gave it our all and had

fun,” the Dutchman said. “We stillhave a good points lead, today was abit of damage limitation. The comingraces we will bounce back.”

Organizers at Interlagos celebrat-ed the return of the series to the tra-

ditional track, which will host the racefor nine more years.

More than 181,000 tickets weresold for the three days of action, withthousands of fans gathering in frontof the podium — many of themunmasked despite health protocols.

Brazil was cut from the 2020 cal-endar because of restrictions in placefor the COVID-19 pandemic. The SaoPaulo Grand Prix, renamed for thisyear, was allowed to open for fullcapacity only weeks ago when the stategovernment eased restrictions forNovember.

Many fans saw the race as areturn to a more normal life, and theyliked the eventual winner.

Antonio Siqueira, 45, had tears inhis eyes when Hamilton drove byInterlagos’ straight with the Brazilian flag.

“Ayrton’s last title was 30 years ago,and to see the greatest driver ever havethis performance here and still revereour hero was very emotional,” Siqueirasaid. “Today makes it official; there isa Brazilian driver on the grid, and hisname is Lewis.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

Sixty six premier domestic cricketerswill battle it out in toxic Delhi air

which has been the cause for health haz-ards as the Syed Mushtaq Ali NationalT20 Championship’s pre-quarter-finalstarts in national Capital on Monday.

As on Monday, the highest AirQuality Index (AQI) level in Delhi was349, which is ‘Harzardous’ and wasrecorded in Shahdara area.

The place where two of the pre quar-ter-finals will be played is Feroz ShahKotla, which is located in Central Delhi,where the condition is slightly better withpeak AQI of 249, which is deemed“Unhealthy”.

“The conditions are slightly better

compared to past week and there is nointimation tat we won’t go ahead with thegame,” a senior DDCA official told PTIwhen asked if there is a chance of can-cellation.

Kotla will host one match in themorning and the other in the afternoon.

On the cricketing front, Maharashtrawill miss their key and inform playerRuturaj Gaikwad, who has been called fornational duty, when they take on arch-rivals Vidarbha in one of the three pre-quarter-finals.

Ruturaj was the chief architect ofMaharashtra’s wins in the league stageand he had continued his good run fromthe IPL, where he was the leading run-scorer for his side Chennai Super Kings.

But having earned a national India

call-up for the T20 series against New Zealand, Maharashtra will miss hisservices.

In his absence, senior players Kedar

Jadhav and current vice-captain NaushadShaikh, will have to shoulder responsi-bility if the side has to score or chase big.

Kedar has exactly not been among

heavy runs and come Tuesday, he wouldlike to take on the Vidarbha attack withgusto and help his team advance to thelast eight.

Naushad, who is an aggressive bat-ter and can take any attack to cleanserson his day, would need to come good atthe ‘Kotla’. However, the duo would needsupport from other batters.

If a fit Rahul Tripathi, who missedthe league stage due to an injury sus-tained in the IPL final, is available, thenthat will surely help Maharashtra, whohad won the T20 domestic champi-onship, 10 years back.

Maharashtra will also have a newcaptain for the marquee clash as theyoung opener from Pune led in theleague stage.

AP n SAO PAULO

Brazil is already the firstSouth American team to

secure a direct spot in nextyear’s World Cup. Second-place Argentina is nearly there,too.

Anyone thinking Tuesday’squalifying match between theteams will not be decisive has-n’t considered how much pridewill be at stake in the region’ssuperclasico.

Copa America championArgentina is determined toupstage Brazil and show LionelMessi he has a decent shot nextyear of winning the only trophymissing in his career. Victory infront of home crowd could alsomean, pending other results,securing qualification for Qatar2022.

Brazil is aiming to com-plete the best South American

qualifying campaign in histo-ry, although coach Tite is stillexpected to continue experi-menting with his lineup withan eye on the World Cup.

Only 25,000 fans in SanJuan, in Argentina’s northwest,will be at the stadium to watchthe teams play a full game forthe first time in this edition ofWorld Cup qualifying.

The first encounter was

stopped after seven minutes ofplay in September by Brazilianauthorities enforcing proto-cols in place for the COVID-19pandemic.

Brazil leads qualifiers with34 points, six ahead ofArgentina.

Both teams have complet-ed 12 games, one fewer thanthe other eight teams in qualifying.

PTI n JAIPUR

Heavy dew, which will min-imise the toss advantage,

has been predicted for India’sopening T20I against NewZealand as Jaipur gears up tohost its first international matchin eight years on Wednesday.

The winter chill can beexperienced the moment youarrive in the pink city.

Officials and groundstaff atthe Rajasthan CricketAssociation told PTI that in thelast two days, the dew has been

setting around 7pm, the starttime of the first ever T20International to be played at theSawai Mansingh Stadium.

The dew factor proved to bea massive one at the recently con-cluded T20 World Cup in theUAE where teams preferred tochase in better batting condi-tions.

“Here in Jaipur, there couldbe dew in the first innings itselfgoing by the last two dayswhich minimises the tossadvantage to a certain extent.Since it is a T20, one has toexpect lots of runs from this sur-face,” said an official.

“We will use the anti-dewspray on match day but we have all seen its effect is verylimited.”

In the last ODI held here in2013, India chased downAustralia’s 359 in just 43.3 overswith Rohit Sharma and ViratKohli scoring a century each.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The advantage teams have had batting sec-ond in the just-concluded

T20 World Cup is something the ICC canlook into to ensure a level-playing field, Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar saidon Monday.

In the T20 showpiece that concluded inthe UAE on Sunday with Australia’s triumphover New Zealand in the title clash, teams batting second have won almost alltheir matches, including the semifinals andthe final.

“The commentators were saying that thedew factor wasn’t there today so I don’t think it really came into play that muchin this game but I think it has in the previ-ous games and maybe that is something thatneeds to be looked at,” Gavaskar told Sports Today.

“But you may also say that if the groupmatches are played at the same time then whychange for the knockouts,” said Gavaskar.

PTI n JAIPUR

As part of a new leadership group,India’s T20 vice-captain K L Rahul

could not be more excited about work-ing with Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharmaas the head coach is big on setting a goodteam culture with the new skipper beinga tactical genius.

The T20 home series against NewZealand marks the start of a new era forIndian cricket after the disappointmentof a pre-mature exit from the T20 WorldCup.

With the next edition only 12 monthsaway, Rahul said the team managementwill soon take a call on what is the best

template to follow in the unforgivingshortest format.

“Look, obviously I’ve been very for-tunate I have known Rahul Dravid for along time. As a youngster I did pick hisbrain and try and understand the gamebetter and understanding the art of bat-ting better from him. Has been very help-ful to all of us back home in Karnataka.

“As a coach he has has been with theboys around the country and to have himin the set up is a great opportunity to learnfrom, we all know what a big name he isand the kind of things he has done for ourcountry,” Rahul said referring to the newhead coach ahead of the first T20 onWednesday.

The vice-captain also spoke brieflyabout Dravid’s vision for the team.

“When it comes to coaching, I haveplayed a couple of games with the IndiaA set up and we have had a small chat just

before coming out here for training. Heis somebody who’s big on setting a goodteam culture and creating an atmospherewhere people are thriving and trying toget better as people and cricketers.

“He was always a team man when hewas playing and that is the kind of cul-ture he wants to bring in here whereeveryone is putting the team aheadinstead of personal goals.”

The new think thank has just gottogether and there will be plenty of dis-cussions in the near future, said Rahul.

About Rohit, the stylish batter said hisperformances for the Indian team and hisIPL franchise say it all.

“We have all seen him in the IPL and

his stats are for everybody to see. He hasa great understanding of the game andtactically he is really good and that is whyhe has been able to achieve what he hasas a leader.

“He will bring a lot of calm into thedressing room. The next few weeks willbe exciting to know what kind of goalshe has for the team and what kind of tem-plate we are looking to play.

“In a team sport it is always a collec-tive effort and decision.

The job of the leadership group is toensure that everybody is clear about theirroles and feeling secure in the team andit will be an exciting challenge to createthat kind of atmosphere,” he said.

ICC’s ‘Team ofTournament’

No Indian included

Hamilton’s stunning win in Brazil

Shastri joins upcoming LegendsLeague as Commissioner

Sindhu eyes podium finish; Saina pulls out due to injuries

Rohit as leader will bring a lot of calm into dressing room: Rahul

Argentina, Brazil meet inqualifying with eyes on Qatar

ICC must make sure

there is level-playing

field, says Gavaskar

Early dew to minimise tossadvantage in first T20I

Mushtaq Ali Trophy knockouts to undergo in ‘Hazardous’ Delhi air

ccording to

the latest

buzz,

Samantha is

going to be

showing off her d

ance

moves in Sukumar’s

Pushpa! The Allu Arjun

starrer has ro

ped in the

actress for it

s 5th single,

for which sh

ooting is

going to start so

on at

Ramoji Film

City. With

this song, th

e shooting of

Pushpa will be wrapped

up. The film will e

nter

the post-production

phase once the shooting

is completed.

“Pushpa’s 5th song is

special and needed some-

one special! W

e reached

out to our very sp

ecial

Samantha Garu, and she

gleefully agreed to come

aboard owing to the rap-

port we’ve built o

ver

time,” said a post s

hared

by the makers on social

media. “This would be

her first

special song

appearance of her career

and we are leaving no

stone unturned to make it

truly special and memo-

rable,” the post read.

The film is a

n action

packed story that fo

llows

the lives of re

d sandal-

wood smugglers i

n the

Seshachalam Hills of

the Rayalaseema region

of Andhra Pradesh. The

film will b

e released in

two parts. The fir

st part,

titled Pushpa: The Rise,

will be released in the-

atres on December 17 in

multiple languages.

Along with Allu Arjun,

Pushpa features

Rashmika Mandanna and

Fahadh Faasil in lead

roles. Jagapathi Babu,

Prakash Raj, Dhananjay,

Sunil, Anasuya

Bharadwaj and Harish

Uthaman will play

supporting roles in the

film.

12

Vijayawada Tuesday November 16, 2021

K RAMYA SREE

uriya’s recently releasedJai Bhim, is gaining all thetraction for a strong hit-ting message the filmfocuses on. The film dealswith the innocent and

hardworking lives of an oppressedtribe who, even with no land to calltheir own, nor a strong roof overtheir heads, find joy in simple thingsin life.

Starring an ensemble cast of actorslike Prakash Raj, Rao Ramesh,Rajisha Vijayan, Manikandan andLijo Mol Jose, Jai Bhim has beendirected by Tj Gnanavel with Suriyaand Jyotika’s 2D Entertainmentserving as producers. The film’smusic has been composed by SeanRoldan.

Recently, a slapping scene fea-turing actor Prakash Raj in just-released Tamil film Jai Bhim hastriggered a massive debate onTwitter.

The scene in whichPrakash Raj is shown slap-ping a Hindi-speaking

pawn broker, asking himto speak in Tamil

instead, has not gonedown well with a sec-

tion of the audience,who took to

Twitter toexpress their

displeasure.

Interestingly, the film marksTollywood’s beloved actor RaoRamesh’s debut in Tamil cinema.

Ramesh, who is awe-inspired ofSuriya’s dedication for acting, shareswith The Pioneer, “I did not expectthis offer from Gnanavel sir and I amacting with Suriya for the first time.It’s a great experience to work him. Iheard a lot about his dedication, butthis time I saw it live. I admire hissocial service.”

“He changes his hairstyle andlooks from film to film. This showshis passion for cinema. Apart fromthat, I want to know how he man-ages to be a perfectionist personallyand professionally,” laughs Ramesh.

Sharing some of his memorablemoments shooting for the film, theactor says, “Shooting the court scenewas very intense in the film. Apartfrom that, when we went to the US,one guy met Suriya and told he stud-ied in a school run by the actor andnow he is working in US. Suriyawas so down to earth that he askedthe guy to join him and drivethrough the city. He is a humbleman and I consider myself luckyto have worked with him for a filmthat talks about a pressing issue.”

On learning Tamil language anddubbing for himself for the firsttime in Tamil, Rao Ramesh says hewas strictly told to learn the lan-guage.

“People from Tamil Nadu givetheir life to their language. I thinkthat is the only state that values itsmother tongue very much. Peopleeven name themselves Tamil there.Learning Tamil and dubbing forthis film was not easy,” says he,further continuing, “When I first

met Suriya, he told me to speakin Tamil. I was given dia-

logues to dub onlyafter I learnt

Tamil and the direc-tor felt I could dojustice to the lan-guage. They wantedfreshness and want-ed me to dub formyself. I amthankful toSuriya sir andGnanavelsir.”

DUBBING IN TAMIL WASNOT EASY: RAO RAMESH

umanth after a longtime, has signed afilm, Aham Reboot,produced byVayuputra

Entertainments and SOriginals. The film, directedby Prashant Sagar Atuluri, was

formally launched atAnnapurna Studios onMonday. Director ChanduMondetti switched on thecamera while SharanKoppishetti hit the clap board.

According to sources,Sumanth will play an RJ in the

film. The concept poster wasreleased during the opening ofthe film.

Aham Reboot has music bySriram Madduri, and cine-matography by VarunAnkarla. Further details of thefilm will be revealed soon.

tollywood

s

egastar Chiranjeevi’smassive action enter-tainer BholaaShankar, beinghelmed by MeherRamesh, waslaunched recently in

a grand manner.The film’s regular shoot has

commenced on Monday. Ahuge set erected by produc-tion designer AS Prakash inthe city where the Megastarwill shoot some crucialsequences in the first sched-ule.

Bholaa Shankar, producedby Ramabrahmam Sunkara,has been making enoughnoise, ever since it wasannounced officially. The titleposter, followed by Rakhispecial video got overwhelm-ing response. Meher Ramesh

will be presenting megastar ina different getup in the high-ly-anticipated film.

The film boasts of a goodstory-line, an ensemble castand a stellar technical team.Recently, Tamannaah Bhatiacame on board the film toplay female lead, whileKeerthy Suresh will play sisterto Chiranjeevi. This filmfilled with emotions is toutedto be a pure commercial film.

Young sensation MahatiSwara Sagar renders sound-tracks, while Dudley cranksthe camera. Anil Sunkara’sAK Entertainments will beproducing the film, in associ-ation with CreativeCommercials, on a massivescale.

Bholaa Shankar is said torelease in theatres in 2022.

m

Massive set erected

for Bholaa Shankar

ampoorneshBabu is backwith yetanother enter-tainer andhow!

Produced by Gururajand Karthik, directed byVadla Janarthan,Sampoornesh launchedhis next project titled Mr.Beggar on Monday witha puja. Adviti Shetty willplay the actor’s loveinterest in this film.Actor Satya Prakashclapped during themuhurtam scene, whileKarti Movie Makers headRaju switched on thecamera.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Sampoornesh said,“Director Janarthan haspenned an amazingscript for this film. Mostpart of the film is set inthe backdrop of Goa.Our next schedule is inGoa next month. I wantthis movie to be respect-ed the way HridayaKalayam was.”

The film is said tohave many senior artists.

Anubhavinchu Raja is made for family

audience: Raj Tarunctor Raj Tarun is gearing up for the release of AnubhavinchuRaja, directed by Srinu Gavireddy. The film, an out and outentertainer, is being jointly produced by Annapurna Studiosand Srivenkateswara Cinemas LLP and is said to hit bigscreens on November 26.

Recently, Nagarjuna released the first look poster of the filmwhich received positive response from the audience, while NagaChaitanya released the title song of the film.

Raj Tarun, who will be seen as a security guard in the film, said,“Generally, we think security guards are awake all night, working

hard. But it was only when I started to shoot, i understood thekind of training security guards undergo before they are offered

a job. I salute all of them. This is a movie a whole family cango watch and watch together and it is made for family

audience. This is surely going to entertain everyone.”

a

a

s

Sumanth plays anRJ in Aham Reboot

Sampoornesh Babu is Mr Beggar

s

SAM's

special song

in PUSHPA

announced