PNS n HYDERABAD

Call it pot calling the kettle black,diversionary tactic, opportunisticsettling of scores politically orwhatever; a strange paradox isplaying out before the people ofTelangana now at a time when theyare reeling under the twin impactof recent high-voltage shock ofpower tariff hike and the long-con-tinuing incremental doses ofincrease in fuel prices.

While the Bharatiya JanataParty staged protests over thehike in power tariff effected bythe TRS government as if theCentre-dictated fuel price hikesdo not count, the TelanganaRashtra Samiti took to the streetsover rising fuel prices on as if thepower shock it administered topeople was akin to electrotherapy.

Both BJP and TRSare playing to the

gallery with their self-righteous protests over the pastcouple of days. They have no com-

punction inmaking bakrasout of commonpeople with theirnakras over the hikes,while shedding crocodile tears.

A day after power tariff was hiked

steeply in TS, the ruling TelanganaRashtra Samithi staged protestdemonstrations across the Stateagainst the increase in petrol, dieseland cooking gas prices as well as theCentre's discriminatory policiesagainst Telangana. These protestswere aimed apparently to temperthe hard feelings of people of thepower tariff hike. TRS Ministers andother important leaders of the rul-ing party led the protests in districtheadquarter towns and constituen-cy headquarters.

On Friday, not to be outdone,BJP leaders and activists protest-ed the hike in power tariff in TS.Senior BJP leader and ex- MLA

NVSS Prabhakar led a demon-stration before the TSCPDCLoffice in Uppal.

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

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ANALYSIS 7DISHING OUT

HISTORY A LA CARTE

MONEY 8RBI CENTRAL BOARD DISCUSSES IMPACT OF GEOPOLITICAL CRISES

SPORTS 12SINDHU, PRANNOY ENTER

SWISS OPEN SEMIS

SC PERMITS PERSONS WITHDISABILITIES FOR OPTING IPS, DANIPS

The Supreme Court Friday allowed persons with disabilities to apply forIndian Police Service (IPS), DANIPS and Indian Railway ProtectionForce Services (IRPFS) provisionally as their preferences in the civil

services and asked them to submit application forms in this regard to theUPSC by April 1. The apex court passed the order while hearing a pleawhich has challenged the Centre's August 18, 2021 notification saying ithas granted a “blanket exemption” to all categories of posts under the IPS,Delhi, Daman and Diu, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and NicobarIslands, Lakshadweep Police Service (DANIPS) and IRPFS from thepurview of reservation required to be provided thereunder.

OVER 13 LAKH DEPOSIT-REFUNDCASES PENDING WITH BSNL

Over 13 lakh cases pertaining to the refund of deposits forthe surrendered landline connections are pending withBharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) as on January 2022,

and 1.4 lakh such cases are due with Mahanagar TelephoneNigam Ltd (MTNL), the Parliament was informed on Friday.Main reasons for the pendency of these cases are non-availability of updated bank account details of customers andalso temporary shortage of funds, Minister of State forCommunications Devusinh Chauhan said in a written reply tothe Rajya Sabha.

OVER 1 CR CHILDREN OF 12-14 YEARSADMINISTERED COVID VAX FIRST DOSE

Over one crore children in the age-group of 12-14 years havebeen administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine,Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Friday.

The vaccination for this age group started on March 16 withBiological E's intramuscular vaccine Corbevax, two doses ofwhich are to be administered 28 days apart. As of March 1 lastyear, there were 4.7 crore children aged 12 and 13 years in thecountry. "Over one crore children between the age group of 12-14 have received their first dose of #COVID19 vaccine.Congratulations to all my young warriors who got vaccinated.

RESOLUTION IN RS TO SET UPRESEARCH FOUNDATIONS TO REVIVE AIK

BJP MP Rakesh Sinha moved a resolution in Rajya Sabha onFriday, urging to establish research foundations at state anddistrict level to revive the Ancient Indian Knowledge (AIK)

tradition. The resolution, moved during the private member'sbusiness hours, suggested that these new institutes be built on thelines of the National Research Foundation established under theNew Education Policy. The resolution suggested to make itmandatory for all universities and colleges of the country to collectinformation about the local culture, various streams of knowledgeand other information.

HYDERABAD, SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 2022; PAGES 12 `3

ALMANAC

Updated: March 25, 2022 5:00 PM

Forecast: Mostly sunny

Temp: 36oc

Humidity: 42%

Sunrise: 6:20 AM

Sunset: 6:24 PM

Month & Paksham:

Tithi: Navami: Mar 25 10:04 PM

to Mar 26 08:01 PM

Dashami: Mar 26 08:01 PM

to Mar 27 06:04 PM

Nakshatram:

Purva Ashadha: Mar 25 04:07 PM

to Mar 26 02:47 PM

Uttara Ashadha: Mar 26 02:47 PM

to Mar 27 01:32 PM

Rahukalam: 9:20 AM to 10:51 AM

Yamagandam: 1:52 PM to 3:23 PM

Varjyam: 10:22 PM to 11:53 PM

Gulika: 6:19 AM to 7:50 AM

Amritakalam: 10:15 AM to 11:46 AM

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:57 AM to

12:45 PM

TTOODDAAYY

HYDERABAD WEATHER

India's civil aviation putCovid behind it: ScindiaDEEPIKA PASHAMn HYDERABAD

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya MScindia said on Friday that the coun-try's civil aviation sector had registereda V-shape recovery post the Covid-19 pandemic, with 3.83 lakh passen-gers being carried per day again today.

"More heliports will come up inHyderabad and by 2024-25 we willgrow to 220 airports. TheGovernment of India will be a con-structive collaborator with all stake-holders of the aviation sector and workwith them for the development of civilaviation in the country",he said.

TRS MP busy watching RRR, while peers stage protestsPNS n HYDERABAD

While TRS MPs were busy stag-ing protests in Parliament overissues concerning the state, EatalaRajender's aide and Chevella MPRanjith Reddy was in a holidaymood on Friday watching whatcineastes called 'movie of the day'.Ranjith Reddy watched RRRwith his family and shared onTwitter later that he was on a hol-iday. In a tweet, he said, "Myhearty congratulations to theentire team on churning out

such a wonderful movie. Suchgreat performances from all thethree R's of the film!"

All this happened while TRS

MPs staged a protest in front ofthe Gandhi statue on Parliamentpremises on Friday as theydemanded that NavodayaVidyalayas be allotted to all thedistricts in Telangana. Known tobe Eatala Rajender's bosomfriend, Ranjith Reddy has tried toremain non-controversial eversince his ally's exit. However, fivedays ago, he was the only TRSMP to wish Eatala on Twitter.This triggered speculations overthe MP's presence.

Cryptocurrency enters city real estateNAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

Is crypto currency bankrolling thebooming real estate in the city? Hasthe resurgent realty come out of itsshell of doing transactions in cur-rency and cheques to go daringlyfor crypto currency?

Currently, there is no regulationor any ban on the use of crypto cur-rencies in the country. An orderissued by the Reserve Bank of Indiabarring banks from supportingcrypto transactions was reversed bythe Supreme Court of March 2020.In February, the Union FinanceSecretary made it clear that cryp-to currencies would never be madelegal tender.

Still, according to multiplesources in the city, there have beenproperty transactions using cryp-

to currency. Since crypto is not alegal tender, these properties are not100% crypto transactions and so

split between crypto currency andcash or cheque.

The most popular crypto curren-cies used in real estate transactionsis purportedly Bitcoin andEthereum.

Currently the valuation of cryp-to currency is on the rise, with thesellers benefiting financially fromaccepting crypto currency. In sev-eral parts of the world, Bitcoin valuehas increased 5x to 10x since thehomes were sold. This crypto canbe converted to cash or used inother transactions. Many real estateexperts wondered as to why therecent budget brought crypto cur-rencies into the tax ambit.

Sonia apprised of TPCC seniors’ issue PNS n HYDERABAD

The issue of bickering among sen-ior Telangana Congress leadersreached AICC chief SoniaGandhi at last through aG-23 leader onThursday, it is learnt.

Sonia will give anappointment to seniorTelangana Congressleaders soon. GandhiBhavan sources said thatSonia had assured the G23leader that she would giveappointments to senior TelanganaCongress leaders.

The differences among seniorTelangana Congress leaders andTPCC chief Revanth Reddy and

Revanth’s supporters havebeen simmering for some

time now. Revanth hada spat with TPCCWorking President T.Jagga Reddy. TheTPCC scrapped theadditional responsi-

bilities of Jagga Reddyand the fight between

the two groups stalled.Sonia would have given an

appointment to the senior leaders acouple of days ago, but her medical

condition did not permit her to givean appointment to the seniors.

It may be recalled that Congressleaders CLP leader Mallu BhattiVikramarka and Manthani MLA DSridhar Babu had gone to New Delhito meet Sonia, but they did not getan appointment. It is learnt thatBhatti had a meeting with theTelangana Congress Affairs in-charge Manickam Tagore.

Sonia was busy attendingParliament’s budget session and wasnot able to devote time to otherthings, including giving appoint-ments to the senior Congress lead-ers from Telangana.

‘Hyderabad is similarto Boston': KTRo Explores areas of interest with city Governor

o Thermo Fischcher to inaugurate R&D facility soon

PNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad and the US city ofBoston have extended cooperationfor the growth of IT, Pharma andLife Science industries.

Charlie Baker, the Governor of

Massachusetts and Minister KTRexplored areas of mutual interestat the 'Global Innovation 2022Health Care at a Glance' event heldin Boston in the US.

Modi govt gave new outlookto governance: Jitendra SinghPNS n NEW DELHI

Union Minister Jitendra Singh onFriday said the Narendra Modigovernment has sought to give anew outlook to governance in thelast seven to eight years.

Not just in terms of governance,there has been huge social reformsthat will give the coming genera-tions a level-playing field, he saidat the valedictory function of theThird Capacity BuildingProgramme for senior officers ofJammu and KashmirAdministrative Service here.

Singh, the Union Minister ofState for Personnel, said the intentof the government became clearwhen soon after the BJP came topower in 2014 with one of thefirst major decisions was to intro-duce self-attestation and do awaywith getting documents attested bya gazetted officer.

Since then, the Modi govern-ment has done away with around1500 rules, including abolishing

interviews for recruitment, he said.Singh said the Ministry of

Personnel has streamlined gover-

nance and made it timeline-orient-ed.

As for Jammu and Kashmir, theminister said cadre review hadbeen pending for several yearsbecause the earlier governmentswere never keen about it.

Now, the exercise has beenundertaken to ensure regularinduction of Jammu and KashmirAdministrative Service officersinto IAS, Singh said.

He said that in Jammu andKashmir, the number of IAS officersis lower compared to its approvedtotal strength. This situation needsto be improved so that civil servantsstay motivated, he said.

The Union Minister said,"Earlier, we were living in the blissof not having the capacity. But thefact is that capacity and potentialwere always there, but it is beingrealised now with a change in workculture in the last seven to eightyears under the present regime."

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana State will take on theUnion government more aggres-sively after Ugadi- Telugu New Year.Chief Minister K ChandrasekharRao has reportedly sought anaction plan in this regard.

A decision to go hammer andtongs at the Centre was taken onFriday after Chief Minister K

Chandrashekar Rao was briefedat Pragati Bhavan by the TSministerial delegation thatreturned from Delhi after aninconsequential meeting withUnion Minister Piyush Goyal.

Ministers Niranjan Reddy,Gangula Kamlakar, Puvada Ajayand Prashant Reddy,

Not just ‘The KashmirFiles’, also speakabout book on 2002Gujarat riots: ShindePNS n PUNE

Veteran Congress leader and for-mer Union minister SushilkumarShinde on Friday said a book onthe Gujarat riots written by a jour-nalist must also be given as muchpublicity as 'The Kashmir Files'.

'The Kashmir Files', whichdepicts atrocities committed byPakistan-backed terrorists onKashmiri Pandits that finally led totheir displacement from the restiveregion, has garnered support fromthe BJP, whose state governmentshave made it tax-free. Shinde, whosaid he had not seen the film writ-ten and directed by VivekAgnihotri, lashed out at the primeminister and other BJP leaders onthe issue.

AP govt floutsConstitution,fiscal norms: CAGPNS n AMARAVATI

The Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy gov-ernment in Andhra Pradesh vio-lated the Constitution of Indiaand bypassed the Legislature inspending public money to thetune of Rs 1.10 lakh crore, theComptroller and Auditor General(CAG) has observed.

In its report on the state'sFinance Accounts for the yearended March 2021, the CAGexposed the gross financialimpropriety and mismanagementof the Jagan Mohan Reddy gov-ernment, wherein thousands ofcrores of rupees were spent with-out authorisation.

The Comprehensive FinancialManagement System (CFMS) hasalso come in for rebuke by thestatutory auditor.

Earlier, we were living in thebliss of not having the

capacity. But the fact is thatcapacity and potential werealways there, but it is beingrealised now with a change

in work culture in the lastseven to eight years under

the present regime

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia, TS Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan andother dignitaries at a session of Wings India 2022 in Hyderabad on Friday.

Telangana IT KTRama Rao withCharlie Baker,Governor ofMassachusetts,and otherdignitaries at‘GlobalInnovation 2022Health Care at aGlance' eventheld in Boston,USA on Friday.

Still, according to multiplesources in the city, there

have been propertytransactions using crypto

currency. Since cryptois not a legaltender, these

properties arenot 100% cryptotransactions and

so splitbetween

cryptocurrency and

cash or cheque.

2

22

22

2

TRS-BJP competitiveprotests leave people aghast

WITH FUEL, POWER BECOMING COSTLIER BY THE DAY…

Centre at it again!Differs with its ownreply on TS queriesPNS n HYDERABAD

The Union government hasbeen changing its responses toTelangana-related queries byparliamentarians in this budg-et session without rhyme orreason. For the second time ina row, the Center,

22

22

TRS to up the ante against the CentreUGADI RESOLUTION

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PNS n HYDERABAD

Senior Congress leaderMohammed Ali Shabbir onFriday demanded that ChiefMinister K. ChandrasekharRao should provide 12 percent reservation for bothMuslims and Scheduled Tribesduring the recruitment to fillthe 80,039 vacancies in gov-ernment services. He said thatthe Chief Minister mustimplement the quota and fightthe legal battle later if it getsquashed by a court of law.

Shabbir was addressing apress conference at the GandhiBhavan on Friday on the occa-sion of the completion of 12years of the Supreme Courtpermitting the continuation ofthe four per cent Muslimquota in education and jobs inundivided AP while referringthe matter to a ConstitutionBench for final hearing.

“March 25 is an importantdate in the history of Muslimreservation. It was on this

day in 2010 that the SupremeCourt permitted the continu-ation of the four per centreservation in jobs and educa-tion for Muslims under theBC-E category which was

struck down by the HighCourt. Originally, CongressPresident Sonia Gandhipromised five per cent Muslimreservation in the 2004Congress election manifesto.The promise was implement-

ed in just 58 days after com-ing to power by the CongressGovernment headed by DrY.S. Rajashekhara Reddy. Thequota was later reduced to fourper cent as per the orders of

the High Court. As a ministerthen, I played my role in get-ting clearance from over 17departments to implementthe five per cent Muslimquota. We fought a long legalbattle to protect Muslim reser-

vation. It was struck down bythe Andhra Pradesh HC twiceon technical and othergrounds. The matter went tothe Supreme Court and the SCpermitted the continuation ofthe four per cent Muslimreservation subject to the finalorder of the ConstitutionBench,” he said.

Shabbir Ali said that thecase is yet to come up for hear-ing as the ConstitutionBenches, constituted thrice,could not take up the matterdue to technical reasons.

“Since the TRS Governmentwas showing lack of serious-ness in fighting the case, I gotimpleaded in the case andsenior Supreme Court LawyerSalman Khursheed is arguingthe case in the Supreme Court.We will do whatever it takes todefend the four per centMuslim quota,” he said.

The Congress leaderaccused KCR of cheatingMuslims by promising them12 per cent reservation.

Congress asks KCR to provide12% quota for Muslims, STs

Congress tolaunch protestsagainst GO: 111PNS n HYDERABAD

The Congress has decided tolaunch protests against GO:111 after receiving the reportof the TPCC experts’ commit-tee. The party took the decisionat the TS Congress PoliticalAffairs Committee’s meetingheld via Zoom on Friday. TheCongress has also decided toset up a committee consistingof DCC presidents of the dis-tricts in erstwhile Ranga Reddydistrict to review GO: 111. Theparty has also decided that theprotests would help peopleaffected by GO: 111.

The meeting decided tolaunch protests at the field levelagainst the utility and othercharges hiked by the State andthe Centre after appointingspecial committees to examinethem. The meeting decided tosupport the farmers till theState government procuredthe last grain of paddy fromfarmers. The meeting alsodecided to ensure at the villagelevel that all eligible beneficia-ries benefited from the DalitBandhu scheme.

People will shock TRS innext elections, says GudurPNS n HYDERABAD

Senior BJP leader GudurNarayana Reddy has demand-ed that Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao shouldreduce the hike in powercharges or else the peoplewould give him a big shock inthe next Assembly elections.

In a media statement onFriday, Gudur Narayana saidthat the recent hike whichwas permitted by theTelangana ElectricityRegulatory Authority has puta heavy burden on the poor.

He demanded that the gov-ernment should take up theburden of Rs 6,000 crore beingput on the poor through thehike in power charges.

He also said that the govern-ment should pay the dues of itsdepartments and lift irrigationschemes immediately toreduce the losses of power dis-tribution companies.

“I am surprised why a statelike TS is unable to bear Rs6,000 crore and allowed thepower distribution companiesto collect that amount from thepeople,” the BJP leader said.

He said that the ERC has noother option than to allow thehike as power distributioncompanies were losing. It is the

government’s failure that hasled to the rise in power tariffs,he added.

He said that the governmenthad messed up the power sec-tor with its thoughtless deci-sions and poor management.

Although the distributioncompanies were incurringheavy losses in the last threeyears, the government didnothing and allowed the situ-ation to worsen.

He said that if the govern-ment had paid subsidies, thedues of departments, and hadallowed distribution compa-nies to adjust charges, the pre-sent situation would not havearisen.

Narayana said that the gov-ernment owes about Rs 48,000crore to power distribution

companies directly or indirect-ly. While the total uncollecteddues from consumers wereabout Rs 17,000 crore, govern-ment departments alone haveto pay Rs 12,598 crore.

He said that the governmentdid not pay the Rs 5,000 croredues of Kaleswaram and otherLift Irrigation Schemes.

Both Discoms of Telanganahave suffered losses of aroundRs 20,000 crore in the last fewyears due to the gap betweenthe cost of purchase and thesale price of power to con-sumers. They have been pay-ing billions as interest everymonth for bank loans, he said.

He added that as the govern-ment did not allow theDiscoms to adjust the gapbetween purchase and saleprices they incurred heavylosses. Narayana said that theDiscoms have placed a burdenof Rs 6,000 crore on the peo-ple by hiking charges 50 percent.

He said that even consumerswho use less than 50 units permonth were not spared. Themonthly power charges of aconsumer who uses up to 50units per month would go upby Rs 51 from May which is 50per cent more than the presentrate.

Congress filesplaint with SC panelon Bhoodhan landsPNS n HYDERABAD

Congress leader Bakka Judsonhas filed a complaint with theNational SC Commission alleg-ing that the Dharani Portal waslaunched to take back theBhoodhan lands allotted toDalits. He filed the complaint onFriday alleging that ChiefMinister K. Chand rasekharRao's followers have been grab-bing the assigned lands ofDalits. He said that in the Mekalagutta village of RaghunathPally mandal in Jangaon district,Minister Errabelli Dayakar Raoand MLA Rajaiah havedestroyed the records of 110Bhoodhan lands and haveforced the tehsildar to record thetitles of the lands in their nameson the Dharani Portal.

Continued from page 1

The 12-day Capacity Buildingprogramme from March 14to 25 was organized by theNational Centre for GoodGovernance, Department ofAdministrative Reforms andPublic Grievances. A total of32 officers attended the pro-gramme from the UnionTerritories of Jammu andKashmir, and Ladakh.

Modi govt gavenew outlook...

Not just ‘TheKashmir Files...Continued from page 1

"I have not seen the film (TheKashmir Files ) but severalpeople are talking about it.But before Kashmir Files,there was ( a book ) GujaratFiles (Anatomy of Cover-Up) by (journalist) Rana(Ayyub)," he said. "The primeminister and others are giv-ing publicity to The KashmirFiles, they must also talkabout The Gujarat Files,"Shinde told reporters inSolapur. He said showingany event in a distorted waywas wrong, adding that try-ing to whip up people's sen-timents in this manner wasan old strategy of the BJP. Hepraised the film 'Jhund',which showcases slum soccerand its role as a social eman-cipator for the youth in adeprived urban setting, andhas been helmed by award-winning director NagrajManjule.

Continued from page 1

He was speaking after the for-mal inauguration of WingsIndia 2022 at BegumpetAirport here on Thursday.

"We don't believe in squaretables, we believe in roundta-bles at our Ministry to ensurethe success of this sector andour country at large."

"We also have employmentmultiplier effect with all theairports in tier 2 and tier 3cities contributing 1:61, whichmeans every direct employ-ment in the civil aviation cre-ates 6.1 indirect jobs. Due toOmicron we had dipped to 1.6lakh passengers per day, butnow I stand before you allwithout mask I am confidentin the days and months tocome our record will surpass4.1 lakh and create history",Scindia observed.

The Minister also launchedSmall Aircraft Sub-Scheme.Its primary objective is to facil-itate and stimulate regional

air connectivity by creating agrowth-oriented frameworkwith a specific focus on oper-ations through small aircraft(including seaplanes). Thescheme intends to facilitatecreation of an ecosystem forsmall aircraft operations inthe country by providing theframework necessary for bring-ing together relevant stake-holders such as States, air-lines, airport operators andpolicymakers to collaboratetowards the success of this ini-tiative.

The Minister also saw theStatic Display Area showcasinga range of aircraft from widebody Airbus 350 to small air-craft and helicopters.

The inaugural session (fol-lowed by Ministerial plenary)was attended by Jean BaptisteDjebbari, French Minister ofState for Transport, Ministerfor Ecological Transition,France; NgampasongMuongmany, Vice Minister ofPublic Works and Transport,

Laos; Prem Bahadur Ale,Minister of Culture, Tourismand Civil Aviation, Nepal; DrTamilisai Soundararajan,Governor of Telangana andLieutenant Governor ofPuducherry ; DushyantChautala, Deputy ChiefMinister of Haryana; NakapNalo, Minister of CivilAviation, Government ofArunachal Pradesh; andSecretary, Civil Aviation,Government of India RajeevBansal, Chairman of AirportsAuthority of India SanjeevKumar; Joint Secretary,MOCA, Usha Padhee, RemiMaillard, Chair, FICCI CivilAviation Committee andPresident and MD.

Speaking on the occasion,Scindia pointed out that theIndian Aviation sector hadpassed through a lot of trialsand tribulations during thepandemic. But it was emergingstronger, fitter and ready to facechallenges and tap the oppor-tunities, he said. International

flights were going to fullyresume in a couple of days, andthe number of internationaltravellers from India wouldalso jump rapidly.

There number of aircraft inthe country had gone up from400 to 710 in seven years. Thegoal was to add more than 100aircraft every year. TheMinister said that UDAN wasa mission to connect every sin-gle citizen, and make flightsaccessible to common man."Hawaii chappal pehene walabhi hawai jahaz main uddpaye," he observed.

The Minister said that 15 percent of the Indian pilots werewomen, or three times theglobal average. For drones,new policy had beenannounced and PLI schemeinitiated so that the PrimeMinister's vision of makingIndia a global leader in the sec-tor could be realized. TheMinister said that a new heli-copter policy had beenannounced.

India's civil aviation put Covid behind it: Scindia AP govt flouts Constitution...Continued from page 1

The report in two volumeswas presented to theLegislature here on Friday.

"There was an excess dis-bursement of Rs1,10,509.12crore over the authorisationmade by the State Legislatureduring the financial year2020-21. This is in violation ofArticles 204 and 205 of theConstitution, under which"no money shall be with-drawn from the ConsolidatedFund except under appropri-ation made by Law by theState Legislature," CAG GirishChandra Murmu noted.

This vitiated the system ofbudgetary and financial con-trol and encouraged financialindiscipline in management ofpublic resources, Murmuobserved. The state govern-ment, according to the CAGreport, transacted a sum of Rs48,284 crore through "specialbills." On being questioned bythe Principal Accountant

General, the Special ChiefSecretary (Finance) "ratifiedthe backend transactions"overstepping his powers.

"The procedure for carryingout these adjustment transac-tions is laid down in the trea-sury code. Ratifying the back-end transactions is not with-in the powers of the SpecialChief Secretary (Finance),"the CAG pointed out.

Following audit objections,the state government issued anorder on October 12, 2021,entrusting the activities man-aged by the Centre forFinancial Systems andServices to Director ofTreasury and Accounts andothers. "This only confirmsthe contention of Audit thatthe operation of special billswas unauthorised," the CAGsaid. The CAG also found thattransactions under five cate-gories amounting to Rs 26,839crore were "not in conso-nance with the TreasuryCode."

Continued from page 1

However, he was among thedelegation which went withChief Minister toMaharashtra. He was seenwith Minister K T Rama Raoon several occasions.

Meanwhile, the protestingMPs in Parliament asked theCentre to do justice to thestate of Telangana. MPsNama Nageshwar Rao, KottaPrabhakar Reddy, NetakaniVenkatesh, Ramulu, PasunuriDayakar, Manne SrinivasReddy and Bibi Patil tookpart in the protest.

TRS MP busywatching RRR...

Continued from page 1

Charlie Baker said that allpossibilities should be exploredfor investment opportunitiesbetween Boston andHyderabad and stressed theneed for tie-ups between thelife science and pharma com-panies of the two cities.

Baker said that there weremany similarities betweenHyderabad and Boston addingthat the tie-ups between com-panies would help in acceler-ating research and develop-ment, besides spurring discov-eries.

“Like in Hyderabad, manylife sciences, pharmaceuticalcompanies, IT and Technologycompanies are operating inBoston,” the Governor said.

Speaking on the occasion

KTR said, “Creating awarenesson the opportunities availablein the two cities through reg-ular events would help bringmore investments.”

He spoke about the medicalrecords digitization projectbeing taken up by TelanganaGovernment in two districtson a pilot basis.

“In addition to life sciencescientists, the coordinatedefforts of data scientists willpave the way for inventions,”said KTR and cited the exam-ple of Novartis operations inHyderabad to underscore theincreased role of technology inlife and biosciences.

John Sculley, theChairperson of NirvanaHealth and former Apple CEO,Ravi lka, the CEO of NirvanaHealth and founder, Sasi Kant

Vallepalli, the CEO of theQuality Matrix Group, wereamong the dignitaries whoattended the event.

KTR met Julie DeWane, theVP of Global Operations of theLife Sciences & LaboratoryProducts Group, and TyMortensen, the VP of theStrategic Operations depart-ment of Thermo Fisher in theUS. Mortensen told KTR thatthey will soon inaugurate theirnew R&D facility inHyderabad.

“I'm glad to learn thatThermo Fisher, a global leaderin the supply of scientific labinstrumentation, equipment,reagents and consumables israpidly expanding its IndiaEngineering Centre opera-tions in Hyderabad,” said KTR.

The Minister also participat-

ed in a roundtable conferencein Boston. KTR said thatHyderabad has emerged asthe vaccine capital of theworld.

Speaking at the roundtableconference in Boston, KTRsaid that the TelanganaGovernment has launchedmany programmes to pro-mote the life science sector.

“The TelanganaGovernment is working withthe clear goal of doubling theproduction of life sciences andpharma companies,” said KTR.

The provision of basic facil-ities of international stan-dards, special funding forinnovation, and the specialincubator at the GenomeValley were taken up as perthese initiatives, and this isyielding results, he said.

Hyderabad is similar to Boston: KTR

Continued from page 1

However, Blockchain expertswarn that being a largelyunregulated market, cryptocan further foster hawalatransactions. A city-basedBlock chain expert, who pre-ferred to remain anonymous,said, "Currently in India it isnot a legal tender, but somecountries are using it abroadin real estate. We have comeacross some people transact-ing using crypto here. If atransaction is happening usingBitcoin, then it can beencashed anywhere in theworld where there are nowithdrawal limits on cash.This could foster more hawalatransaction as crypto is accept-ed across the world and does-n't have the issue of conversionof currency. Apart fromencashing, it can be used tobuy other assets. However, ifone gets caught doing an ille-gal transaction, all the chain ofowners of the Bitcoin can betracked by legal authorities.That's the transparency thatblockchain offers, which is

not there with cash transac-tions.'' However, real estateexperts said that the potentialwas only for benami transac-tions and not those relating toapproved projects. C Shekar Reddy, formerCREDAI president, said, "Maybe people who have moremoney and can risk it aredoing it. But our industry hasnot come across such transac-tions. It is not accepted inindustry as government hasnot legalised it. It will havesome private key items and ifpeople lose it, they losemoney."A crypto will have an addressand a private key which is akinto account number and pass-word. If one loses the privatekey, they lose their money. Experts said: "NeitherEtherum nor Bitcoin are com-pany, so if the network ishacked, then people can loseall their money. Underlyingtechnology Blockchain cannotbe hacked, but these cryptocurrency networks can be andit is not really difficult tohack now".

Cryptocurrency enters city real estate

PNS n NEW DELHI

The National Company LawTribunal (NCLT) on Friday ini-tiated insolvency proceedingsagainst real estate firm SupertechLtd, one of the companies ofSupertech group. This is the sec-ond major setback for Noida-based developer in the last oneyear. On August 31 last year, theSupreme Court had ordered the

demolition of Supertech Ltd'stwin 40-storeyed towers, whichare part of the under constructionEmerald Court project in Noidafor violation of building norms.A NCLT bench on Friday allowedthe plea filed by Union Bank ofIndia, a financial creditor, claim-ing default against Supertech Ltd,and appointed an interim resolu-tion professional superseding theboard of the company.

PNS n BRUSSELS

The European Union setthe stage for a stepped-upcrackdown on big techcompanies with an agree-ment on landmark digitalrules to rein in online “gate-keepers" such as Googleand Facebook parent Meta.EU officials agreed lateThursday on wording forthe bloc's Digital MarketsAct, part of a long-awaitedoverhaul of its digital rule-book. The act, which stillneeds other approvals,seeks to prevent tech giantsfrom dominating digitalmarkets, with the threat ofwhopping fines or eventhe possibility of a compa-ny breakup.

Continued from page 1

He accused the state govern-ment of making use of powersupply for its political ends, butnot paying to the distributioncompanies leading to the lat-est burden on all sections ofsociety. The party would fighttooth and nail till the highrates were withdrawn, he said.

BJP city leaders, who hadconverged at KhairatabadChowrasta, raised slogansagainst Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao. Theydemanded the rollback of thedecision to increase electrici-ty tariff. Not unexpectedly,they had run-ins with policepersonnel. Saffron partyactivists burnt effigies atQutubullapur. When a policeofficer kicked an effigy on fire,

it fell on protesting BJPactivists. They were taken toShapurNagar Hospital. BJPleaders lost no time to allegethat the police, while provid-ing security to TRS protester,were acting against theirprotests.

It is a different matter thatthe momentum of the protestsby both BJP and TRS dieddown towards the evening onboth the days.

Apart from fuel and power,TS has been grappling withagrarian unrest due tointractable issues over pur-chase of paddy. TRS leadersprotested inside Parliamenton Friday against the indiffer-ent attitude of Centre overpaddy procurement, sanctionof Navodaya Vidyalayas to TSand rising fuel prices.

Continued from page 1

in a written reply, said thatno request for medical col-lege was received from theTS government. Earlierthis week, it said that thestate government neversent the Tribal ReservationBill.

Incidentally, these ques-tions were asked in previ-ous sessions as well. Letalone giving updates, theresponses from the Centrewere different. For thesame question on medicalcolleges, in 2018 UnionMinister answered thatGOI had requested differ-ent States to identify loca-tions. But the Guidelines

document says the CentralGovernment identifieslocat ions. Even on22March, the Centre said itdid not get any bill fromTelangana on Tribal reser-vation. But In 2018, theGovernment of Indiaanswered in the Lok Sabhathat the Telangana Statesent Bill to Ministry ofHome in 2017 to enhanceST Reservation. TRS lead-ers are questioningwhether Parliament ses-sions are held to readscripts written by BJP headoffice. Minister Harish Raolamented that BJP UnionMinisters were propagatinglies as parliamentary wit-ness.

Centre at it again! Differs with

its own reply on TS queries

TRS-BJP competitive protestsleave people aghast

EU agrees on newdigital rules to rein inBig Tech dominance

PNS n HYDERABADPetrol and diesel priceswill be hiked again onSaturday. Over the pastfive days, this is fourthsuch hike. Petrol anddiesel rates will reported-ly go up by 80 paise perlitre from Saturday morn-ing. It started on Monday,when the government hadincreased petrol and dieselprices by 80 paise. Anotherhike was done on Tuesday.Fuel prices were againincreased by 80 paise onFriday. With the latestprice revision, petrol inHyderabad will sell at Rs111.71 per litre.

Fuel prices togo up againContinued from page 1

who had been to Delhi, attend-ed the meeting. The ministersbriefed the CM on the discus-sions with Union MinisterPiyush Goyal. In this context,the CM held a day-long meet-ing, along with ministers,about the action plan onpaddy procurement. It wasdecided to bring pressure onthe Central government on theissue of reservations for trib-als. KCR directed the

Ministers to ensure that thepanchyats pass the resolu-tions regarding the direct pur-chase of grain to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi assoon as possible. TheMinisters will hold a pressconference on Saturday onthe action plans.

It may be mentioned herethat the Minister NiranjanReddy said that the attitude ofthe Union Minister PiyushGoyal was arrogant and thatthe behaviour of the Centrewas unfortunate.

TRS to up the ante against...

NCLT initiates IP against Supertech Ltd

hyderabad 03

PRECAURIOUS HHANDLING

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 26, 2022

PNS n RANGAREDDY

Rangareddy District CollectorAmoy Kumar directed theconcerned authorities toencourage Dalita Bandhu ben-eficiaries in the district toselect lucrative units. DistrictCollector Amoy Kumar held azoom review meeting withMPDOs, municipal commis-sioners and veterinary doctorson the Dalita Bandhu schemeat the district collectorate hereon Friday.

The Collector said that theauthorities should make thebeneficiaries aware of the units.He said that those who haveopted for the dairy buffaloscheme, should see whetherthey have land, water supply,electricity facility or not. Hesaid as the district is close tothe state capital, there is a highdemand for milk, vegetables

and poultry. Beneficiaries areasked to submit their detailsimmediately if they want buf-faloes. Similarly those in thetransport sector are asked tosubmit details of what vehiclesthey want, model, capacityetc. he Collector directed theconcerned officials to take upinitiative so that the units willbe launched at the early.Special attention should be

paid to the selected units of theDalita Bandhu scheme andefforts should be made forgrounding. Zoom meeting wasattended by Additional DistrictCollector Pratik Jain, DistrictSC Development CorporationED Praveen Kumar Reddy,GM DIC Rajeshwar Reddy,Animal Husbandry Department Joint Director Anjilappaand other officials.

High demand for milk in RRdistrict due to proximity to Hyd

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC) on Friday launchednew system for mutation andassessment of properties toremove the difficulties beingfaced by the citizens. TheGHMC plans to bring all newproperties to tax net.

GHMC officials said "Theexisting property tax assess-ment system of the GHMC isnot citizen friendly. It is verydifficult for people to get anassessment of their properties.In some cases, the citizens areaggrieved and do not pay taxes"

The GHMC announced that,on registration of any existingproperty which was alreadyassessed to property tax, the

property will be automaticallymutated in the name of the newowner without changing theexisting PTIN (property taxidentification number or VLTN(vacant land tax number) andtax amount. Also, on receipt ofPTIN/VLTN with property

details from registration depart-ment, GHMC will be generat-ing property tax to residentialproperties with a monthlyrental value of Ra 1.25 persquare feet for Jubilee Hillscircle and Rs 1.00 per squarefeet for other circles in the city.

If the registered property is newand not assessed to property taxor vacant land tax, a newPTIN/VTIN will be generatedand sent to GHMC online. Incase of vacant lands, the landtax is generated online at 0.50%of the registration value.

Furthermore, after assess-ment of the property, respectiveowners will get an SMS withtwo links, one to download theassessment copy and another topay the registration fee.

"The new system will ensurethat all the properties registeredare assessed to property orvacant land tax instantly with-out any human intervention.There will be no pendencies inGHMC offices. We urge citi-zens to pay taxes promptly" saidGHMC officials.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Maulana Azad National UrduUniversity (MANUU) trainingand placement cell hasannounced to conduct a place-ment drive for its students ofDirectorate of DistanceEducation (DDE) on March 29and 30 as per the directives ofUGC. The drive will be heldfrom 9 am to 5 pm at the CSEAcademy building, MANUUcampus in both offline andonline modes. According to DrMohammed Yousuf Khan, In-charge Cell, the final year andpassed out students of distancecourses can also register.

PNS n HYDERABAD

KL Deemed-to-be Univer sityhas hosted a Startup Expo inits Hyderabad Campus. Atwo-day event witnessed thenetworking of young innova-tors, investors, mentors, andentrepreneurs. It included amassive registration and par-ticipation from several collegesin the city, in several skilltrades. The Expo aimed toprovide an interface betweenstartups and investors, allow-ing the startups to expandtheir networks and get valida-tion from experienced tech-nology entrepreneurs andinvestors.

The event witnessed promi-nent investors in the likes ofSurya K Vidiyala, CEO ofCITRUS 360, Global Entrepreneur, Innovator, Investorand Advisor, Viiveck Verma,

CIO, Recykal Foundation &Venture Partner, VentureCatalyst, and Sandip Poddar,MD at Amel Services andConsultancy, Board Memberat Banka Bioloo and LPInvestor in PE and VC Funds.The experienced investors andmentors evaluated and validat-ed the business ideas of theparticipating tech talent. Itshowcased some of the mostinnovative student designs ofthe year. Ramana Kumar, astudent at KL Deemed-to-beUniversity showcased anintriguing healer hoodie.Prof L Koteswara Rao,Principal, Engineering, KLDeemed-to-be University,said, "The expo reflects thestrong trust and ideals forentrepreneurship that we har-bor, which is key to our coun-try's socio-economic devel-opment.

KLU Expo showcasesInnovative designs

After registration, propertiesto get automatic mutation

GHMC LAUNCHES ONLINE SYSTEM

MANUUplacement driveon March 29, 30

SIDDHARTH KUMAR SINGH

n HYDERABAD

The condition of pharmacies inthe state is very bad. Whilespeaking to The Pioneer,Tirumal Rao, Secretary ofIndian PharmacistsAssociation said that there areno pharmacists in BastiDawakhanas.

"In pharmacies of BastiDawakhanas, if there are twomedicines side by side, one asmaller dose and another ahigher dose, a split secondmess up is enough to cause alife threat to the patient.

What's the point of sellingmedicines for free if there is noproper care," said Rao. Whileexplaining the problem, Raosaid that big medical shopsearn money in crores but they

don't have the basic courtesy topay decent salaries to pharma-cists working in the medicalshops. He said that recently thedrugs control departmentreleased an order that medical

shops should not sell medicineswithout the presence of a phar-macist. Rao appreciated theorder and said, "it's a goodorder and needs to be appreci-ated. But pharmacists are notinterested to work at medicalshops as they don't get goodsalaries. The administrationshould asses the problem."

Rao also highlighted theproblem of women who workin pharmacies. He said, hard-ly any medical shops havewashroom facilities. Thisbecomes a huge problem espe-cially for women. He pointedout that fridges at many med-

ical shops do not functionproperly. Certain medicineshave to be stored at specifictemperatures. So, medicalshops need good and function-ing fridges. Rao regretted thatwhen the medical profession-als wanted to meet the HealthMinister Harish Rao at PragatiBhavan, the Minister do nothave time to meet them.Students in present days nolonger want to study courseslike B.Pharm and M.Pharm.Students painstakingly studythese courses and when theywant to work, they are paidvery low.

PNS n HYDERABAD

AIG Hospital, Hyderabad onFriday conducted a specialacademic conference forHospital Infection Control.Over 400 doctors, nurses,infection control officers, andhospital administrators fromacross the country joined thethree-day conference.

It is estimated that about10% of patients in the coun-try get Hospital AcquiredInfection (HAI) during theirstay at the hospital. This oftenbecomes severe and leads tomultiple complications forthe patients. The problem ofHAI in India is growingbecause of several reasons

including non-adherence toinfection control measuresby hospital staff. "HAI hasbecome one of the most chal-lenging aspects of healthcarenot only in India but in welldeveloped nations like the

US and the UK. It is of utmostimportance that all stake-holders of the hospital ecosys-tem are trained on all aspectsof infection control,'' said DrNageshwar Reddy, ChairmanAIG Hospitals.

‘Pharmacists required for efficient services’AIG Hospital conducts meet on ‘Infection control'

H-NEW arrestsdrug peddlerfor sellinghash oilPNS n HYDERABAD

Sleuths of the HyderabadNarcotics Enforcement Wing(H-NEW) on Friday appre-hended a drug peddler alongwith 4 drug consumers. Theyalso seized 300 grams of hashoil. The prime accused PAshutosh (26) is a resident ofAfzalgunj. He purchaseshash oil from another personat a lower price and sell it toneedy customers at higherprice to make illegal money.Based on credible informa-tion, H-NEW team alongwith Afzalgunj police appre-hend the accused. The policenabbed 4 drug consumers aswell. The police seized 300grams of hash oil, 5 mobilephones, one Honda scooty, allworth Rs 1.8 lakh.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad Traffic Commissioner AV Ranganath has con-ducted a meeting with theofficials of the traffic wingand decided on whom charg-ing sheets must be filed for vio-lating traffic rules. Court offi-cers, crane officers and stationhouse officers have partici-pated in the meeting.

The traffic violations includedangerous over speeding, sig-nal jumping, for multiple vio-lations at a time file chargesheet for example over speed-ing, triple riding and signaljumping at a time. Ranganathdirected the officials to filecharge sheet against violators if

the total number of trafficviolations cross 50 cases.Previous challans' history alsoshould mentioned while filingcharge sheet and try for the

conviction, he said. Otherissues such as removal of aban-doned vehicles from the pub-lic places and roads, removal ofstickers on vehicles, drive on

irregular number plates orimproper number plates andvehicle without number plate,to reduce begging menacewere also discussed.

Traffic violators to get charge sheet if they cross 50 cases

Traffic Police Commissioner AV Ranganath addressing officials in Hyderabad on Friday

PNS n HYDERABAD

The alumni meet was conduct-ed on Friday at Arts College ofOsmania University and around300 plus alumni have attendedthe meet and deliberated on var-ious aspects related to the aca-demic development andresearch activities and gavetheir valuable feedback andsuggestions for the advancementof academics in the College.

Prof C Ganesh, Principal,University College of Arts andSocial Sciences conducted themeeting of the alumni of vari-ous departments of the College.

The meeting was attended byeminent alumni and personal-ities like Prof Limbadri,Chairman, Telangana StateCouncil of Higher Education(TSCHE), Prof D Ravinder,Vice-Chancellor, Osmania

University, Prof SankasalaMallesh, Vice chancellor,Satavahana University,Karimnagar, Prof T Ramesh,Vice Chancellor, KakatiyaUniversity, Warangal, ProfKishan Rao, Vice-Chancellor,Telugu University, Hyderabad,Prof MV Krishna Rao, FormerDirector General of Police(DGP), Erolla Srinivas, FormerChairman, SC/ST Commission,Umar Jaleel, Secretary, Board ofIntermediate Education,Samuel John, LabourCommissioner, Allam Narayanainteracted with students. Aspart of the meet Alumni ofMining Engineers OU and KUhas donated Rs 10 lakhs to theMining College of Engineering,OU towards repairs and reno-vation of temporary MiningEngineering Classrooms atOsmania University.

Over 300 turn up forOU alumni meet

TS SHRCChairman inspectsBhoiguda firemishap site

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana State Human RightsCommission Chair person,Justice Gunda Chandraiah onFriday inspected the site of theBhoiguda fire incident. Hespoke to the local policeauthorities and enquired aboutthe incident. He also spoke tothe officials from the firebrigade who were presentduring the time of the acci-dent. After the inspection, hesaid, "It is tragic that elevenlives were lost due to the fire.It has come to light that thegodown did not follow theregular fire safety norms. Theowner of this godown violat-ed it. There are many suchplaces in the city where the sit-uation is the same. Just asmall incident can claim morelives in such locations.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Cyberabad Police on Fridayheld a blood donation camp tohelp Thalassemia patients. Thecamp was held at Cyberabadpolice commissionerate and atotal of 30 units of blood wascollected. The camp was organ-ised jointly by Cyberabad Policeand Indian Red Cross Society.The RCS stated that this campwas organised so that morelives of thalassemia patientscan be saved. The camp wasconducted under the guidanceof Cyberabad CP StephenRaveendra. Other participantsincluded MTO Venkataswamy,RI Arun Kumar and membersfrom the Red Cross Society.

Cops organiseblood donationcamp

PNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad Metropolitan WaterSupply and Sewerage Board(HMWSSB) Managing DirectorDana Kishore on Friday inspect-ed the construction work ofSewage Treatment Plants (STPs)which are under construction atAmberpet and Nagole. The MDsuggested the officials to completethe works in time, the construc-tion company should divideworkers in 3 shifts so that the

work will continue round theclock. He also said that the work-ers should be provided with prop-er protective equipment. He saidthat indicator boards should beset up on the STP premises detail-ing various stages of constructionwork. He later conducted areview at the Water Board head-quarters in Khairatabad. He said,"The construction companieshave been directed to work in aplanned manner and complete theSTP's by the end of the year.

PNS n HYDERABAD

There are 809 street childrenor 'children in street situa-tions' across Telangana.

As per data available withBaal Swaraj portal,Maharashtra has the highestnumber of children - 4,952living on the streets.Telangana is at the eighthposition and it is followed byAndhra Pradesh with 738kids on streets.

According to data submit-ted in the Lok Sabha onFriday, there are 809 kids liv-ing on the streets in TS, ofwhich 113 live with theirfamilies. Six of them live onthe streets alone, and 690children live on streets dur-ing the day but go back tofamilies living in slums dur-ing the night.

Across India, there are17,914 living on the streets,out of which 9,530 children

live on the streets with theirfamilies, 834 children live onthe streets alone, and 7,550children stay on the streets inthe day and are back home inthe night with their families

who reside in a nearbyslum/hutments.

In her reply UnionMinister Smriti Irani said:"The Ministry is implement-ing a centrally sponsored

scheme namely ChildProtection Services (CPS)Scheme - Mission Vatsalyaunder which support is pro-vided to States and UTGovernments for deliveringservices for children inneed of care and in diffi-cult circumstances, includingrehabilitation of childrenliving on the streets. TheChild Care Institutions(CCIs) established underthe scheme support interalia age-appropriate educa-tion, access to vocationaltraining, recreation, healthcare, etc".

She said that the Ministryhad issued advisories andguidelines for encouragingCOVID-appropriate behav-iour, monitoring of ChildCare Institutions and copingstrategies during COVIDtimes for mental health sup-port to children and care-givers.

‘809 kids live on the streets in TS’

PNS n HYDERABAD

RRR (Rise, Roar, Revolt)movie team including RamCharan, Jr NTR, and S SRajamouli on Friday trav-elled in Telangana State RoadTransport Corporation(TSRTC) bus for a theatrevisit in the city.

As the team arrived at thetheatre, the frenzied fans,who were waiting to catch theglimpse of their favouritestars, burst crackers anddanced to the beat of drums.

In an effort to promotestate-owned cooptation,TSRTC MD, VC Sajjanararranged buses for the RRRmovie team.

Acknowledging Sajjanar for

his gesture, the team onThursday tweeted, “Thankyou V.C. Sajjanar sir forarranging TSRTC buses forour team to watch RRR movietomorrow. We will forevercherish your continuous sup-port.”

RRR, a fictional storyinspired by Telugu freedomfighters Alluri Sitarama Rajuand Komaram Bheem,explores a blind spot in histo-ry for a cinematic spectacleand hit the theatres on Friday.The film boasts an ensemblecast, starring the likes of JrNTR, Ram Charan, AjayDevgn, Alia Bhatt, OliviaMorris, Samuthirakani,Alison Doody, and RayStevenson.

RRR team travels inTSRTC bus for theatre visit

STPs to be completed in time

The Garlic Pear tree growing inside a tank abutting the Hamam being carefully translocated to a safer space near AbdullahQutb Shah's mausoleum in Qutb Shahi Heritage Park

BASTI DAWAKHANAS

04HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 26, 2022

PNS n JAYASHANKARBHUPALA PALLY

District Collector BhaveshMishra on Friday directed theofficials to provide water forirrigation in the agriculturelands of the tribal farmers andenergise pumsets before therainy season begins.

The Collector was holding areview meeting with the offi-cials of the rural andGroundwater Departments. Hetold the officials that the GiriVikasam scheme was designedto provide water for irrigationin the tribal lands whichremained parched. He askedthe officials to drill borewells inthe lands and provide water forirrigation. The governmentreleased Rs 8.18 crore funds forimplementing the scheme in

the district. An action plan hasbeen prepared to drill 218borewell and energise theplumpest to benefit 640 tribalfarmers in Palimela,Mahadevpur, Kataram,Mahamutharam, Bhupalapally,Ganapur, Regonda and Chityalmandls. The pumpset in 31tribal habitations were ener-gised by providing three-phasepower connection, he said.

The Collector said geophys-ical instruments would be

bought to identify groundwa-ter resources and drillborewells. He asked the officialsto ensure that geologists iden-tify borwell points within amonth. He directed the officialsto promptly inspect the lands ofthe tribal farmers, if anyone ofthem applied for drilling aborewell in his land. DistrictRural Development OfficePurushotham, GroundwaterDepartment officier SrinivasRao and others were present.

Speed up works under Giri Vikasamscheme: Collector to officials

District Collector Bhavesh Mishra addressing officials Bhupalapally on Friday

PNS n KAMAREDDY

The Kamareddy police onFriday seized 20 quintals ofrice meant to be distributedunder public distribution sys-tem. The seizure, according topolice, was effected atPeddamallareddy village,while the rice was being trans-ported. The police arrestedtwo suspects, named KothaRajender and Katta Swamy.Acting on a tip-off, the policesaid a vehicle used for trans-portation of the rice was inter-cepted and seized the rice.

20 quintals ofPDS rice seized

PNS n WARANGAL

The Congress party unit inWarangal and Hanamkondadistricts has plunged into cri-sis with the unit presidentNaini Rajender threateningto quit the party.

Rejender Reddy tookoffence at the statement byCongress party Jangoan dis-trict unit president JangaRaghav Reddy that he wouldcontest from Warangal Westconstituency. Raghav Reddy, itis thought, would be fieldedfrom Palakurthy Assemblyconstituency. Rajender Reddyis keen on standing from

Warangal West constituency. What business Raghav

Reddy has in Warangal Westconstituency, Rajender Reddyasked and added that his state-ment was aimed at creatingchaos in the party. Hedemanded that the high com-mand take action againstRaghav Reddy. RajenderReddy said he had sent com-plaints to TPCC president ARevanta Reddy and party Stateaffairs in-charge ManickamTagore against Raghav Reddy,but in vain.

Rajender Reddy threatenedto quit the party if the TPCCfailed to respond by March 31.

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

Minister for Prohibition andExcise V Srinivas Goud onFriday said a foot over bridgewould be constructed at theTSRTC bus stat ion inMahabubnagar. The Ministervisited the bus station.

A decision to this effectwas taken as the pedestrians

have found it difficult tocross the road at the bus sta-tion. In view of the growingpopulation in the town, it isimportant to build a footover bridge at the bus stationto ensure safety of the peo-ple.

The Minister promised toensure that sheds are builtexclusively for the street ven-

dors at the bus station. Hedirected the officials to pro-vide drinking water at thebus station.

He was accompanied byMunicipal Chairman K CNarasimhulu, MunicipalCommissioner PradeepKumar, RTC RegionalManager Sridhar, councillorRamu and others.

A foot over bridge tobe build at bus station

Warangal Congressunit plunges into crisis

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

Panchayat Raj and RuralDevelopment Sandeep KumarSultania on Friday directedthe district officials to launchworks at least in two schools ineach mandal under ManaVooru-Mana Badi scheme.

In a meeting via video con-ference with the DistrictCollectors and officials,Sandeep Kumar Sultania hint-ed at the possibility of three of12 works under the scheme canbe taken up under theMahatma Gandhi NationalRural Employment Scheme.He directed the Collectors todeploy the district level officersin mandals for supervision ofworks. Each official shouldvisit 50 schools and inspect the

quality of works in them. Theworks, which can be undertak-en at a cost of less Rs 30 lakh,should be launched immedi-ately, he said.

District Collector S VenkataRao said the district adminis-

tration would launch works.The district administration,he said, was ready with soft-ware too to launch the scheme.

Additional Collector TejasNandanlal Pawar, RevenueAdditional Collector K

Seetharama Rao, DistrictEducaitonal Officer AssistantDirector Anasuyya,Engineering DepartmentExecutive Engineers andAssistant Engineers were alsopresent.

Collectors told to launch Mana Vooru- Mana Badi worksEach official shouldvisit 50 schools andinspect the qualityof works in them.The works, whichcan be undertakenat a cost of less Rs 30 lakh, shouldbe launchedimmediately, hesaid.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Atul Singh Joint Secretary, KheloIndia Scheme, Government ofIndia visited OU SyntheticAthletics Track, Synthetic TennisCourts and Swimming pool forWomen on Friday. Atul Singhinspected the progress of workand instructed to hasten work

and complete it within sched-uled time. SATs chairman AVenkateshwar Reddy, OsmaniaUniversity OSD to V-C ProfRedya Naik, Prof K Deepla ,Director DPE OU, Prof RajeshKumar Principal UCPE, IUT secProf Sunil Kumar Bidla andDevidas SE, UBD, OU were pre-sent during inspection.

Atul Singh inspects OUSynthetic Athletics Track

PNS n WARANGAL

CPI State secretariat com-mittee member T SrinivasRao on Friday severely crit-icised Union Minister forFood and PublicDistribution Piyush Goyalfor his comments againstthe people of Telangana. Hedemanded that the UnionMinister tender an uncondi-tional apology to the people.

Saying that Piyush Goyalasked the State governmentto ensure that the people gethabituated to eating brokenrice, the CPI leader said theUnion Minister's commentsreflected his 'arrogance.' TheUnion Minister heapedinsults on the people ofTelangana State. It was estab-lished once again that theBJP government at theCentre has been treatingTelangana people as sec-ondary grade citizen. TheBJP leaders have no respectfor the people. The BJP lead-ers should remember thatthey cannot remain in powerforever, he said.

Telangana RythuSangaham State unit secre-tary T Sagar slammed theUnion Minister for his com-ments for his uncalledremarks. He demanded thatthe Union Minister with-draw his remarks.

CPI demandsapology fromPiyush Goyal forhis remarks

Atul Singh Joint Secretary, Khelo India Scheme, Government of India, inspectingsynthetic athletics track at OU on Friday

‘KCR misleading farmers’ Union Minister Kishan Reddy alleges that the TRS is acting selfishly for political gains

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has been deceivingfarmers, while hatching con-spiracy against BJP, due toaffection he has for his son KT Rama Rao, Union TourismMinister G Kishan Reddy saidon Friday.

He said that he feels pity forthe TRS as the KCR family hasbeen making farmers scape-goats. KCR has been behavingungentlemanly after the victo-ry of Eatala Rajender. It is notproper for father (KCR), son(KTR) and daughter (Kavitha)to speak as they liked in regardto the paddy procurementissue, he said.

Kishan Reddy said that theTRS has been acting selfishlyfor political gains and said thatthe Telangana people are intel-ligent and they will show theiragility when time comes. Hesuggested that KCR should notmake Telangana people scape-goats for the sake of familypolitics.

KCR has been trying toprotect his family's image afterthe Huzurabad election andhas been trying to implementthe Bengal Model inTelangana, Kishan added.

He said that the TRS gov-ernment has been politicisingpaddy procurement althoughthe Centre had said that it will

purchase raw rice.He said that farmers pro-

duce paddy, but the paddy ismilled into raw rice and boiledrice in mills. Has the TRS gov-ernment agreed to send rawrice to the Centre or not,Kishan asked the TRS govern-ment.The Union Minister crit-icised the TRS government forspreading the lie that the BJPis against farmers. He askedKCR to tell why the TRS gov-ernment did not reduce taxeson petrol although many Stateshad cut taxes on petrol.

Kishan Reddy said thatTelangana would get revenuefrom the taxes on petroleumproducts, but the Centre hasbeen suffering losses due to thehike in crude oil prices afterthe Ukraine war.

He alleged that the TRSgovernment is not completingprojects like the Sainik School,MMTS, Tribal Museum andothers sanctioned by theCentre. The TRS Governmentis also carrying out propagan-da of lies against the Centre.

He said that the FoodCorporation of India (FCI)does not purchase paddy andthat it purchases only rice.

Why is it that this issueexists only in Telangana and isnot an issue in AndhraPradesh, Tamil Nadu andChhattisgarh who also culti-vate paddy, he asked?

Kishan said that the Centrewill purchase even the lastgrain of rice.

He doubted KCR sayingthat KCR has no control over

the agreements made by theTS government.

He said that the Centre hadalready spent Rs 26,640 crorefor procuring paddy inTelangana.

He said that KCR has beenprovoking farmers by notspending a single rupee onpaddy procurement. The TSgovernment did not informthe Centre how much rice itwill supply to the Centre in theyasangi season. He said thatConsumer Affairs, Food andPublic Distribution MinisterPiyush Goyal had asked him toattend the meeting held onThursday with TelanganaMinisters, but he couldn'tattend the meeting as he wasin Parliament.

VH hails Sonia's moveto cleanse CongressPNS n HYDERABAD

Senior Congress leader VHanumantha Rao has saidthat it is a good sign thatAICC chief Sonia Gandhihas launched an operation tocleanse the party after itsdefeat in the recentAssembly polls in five states.

Hanumantha Rao congrat-ulated Sonia on her initiativeand suggested that she con-sider the party developmentsin Telangana as she is goingto meet AICC general secre-taries on Saturday.

He urged Sonia to speak tosenior Congress leaders inTelangana. He exuded con-fidence that she would givean appointment soon to thesenior Congress leaders ofTelangana.

Speaking to the media in

New Delhi on Friday, JaggaReddy said that there wasnothing wrong in the TPCCWorking President's outburstagainst TPCC chief RevanthReddy. He said that someleaders in Gandhi Bhavanspoke offensively and henceJagga Reddy had reactedemotionally. VH said thatthey had passed a resolutionat the senior leaders' meetingheld in Hotel Ashoka tostrengthen Sonia Gandhi'sleadership.

He made it clear that theyhad not spoken a singleword against the party.

VH suggested thatCongress leaders inTelangana must exploit theanti-incumbency the TRSwas facing and launch effec-tive programmes againstboth the TRS and the BJP.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A cryo-electron microscopyfacility was inaugurated onFriday at the Centre forCellular and MolecularBiology (CCMB) inHyderabad. Hyderabadbecomes the second city inIndia to have such a facility.The other one is located atIISc Bangalore. This facilityallows scientists to look atmatter to its atomic details.

"The modern cryo-elec-tron microscopy facility isexpected to help us view thefunctioning of several mole-cular machines that operate inthe cell which were earlier notamenable to conventional

structure determinationmethods such as X-Ray crys-tallography or nuclear mag-netic resonance," said DrSankaranarayan, StructuralBiologist at CCMB.

The facility will allowworking with samples at cryo-genic temperatures, around -173 degrees and photograph-ing individual moleculesusing the electron micro-scope. "The facility has large-ly been built in CCMB in thelast two years of the pandem-ic, thanks to our in-houseteams. It will be available toresearchers at CCMB, CSIRlabs and other research insti-tutes," said Dr Vinay KNandicoori, Director, CCMB.

Cryo-electron microscopyfacility opens at CCMB

PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for Finance andHealth T Harish Rao on Fridaycondemned the BJP UnionMinisters of 'propagating lies.'He said, in a tweet, the UnionMinister had lied that no pro-posal for increasing reserva-tions for Tribal people hadbeen received. The Centre alsotold lies regarding the propos-al for medical colleges, he saidand added that 'it is cruel andpainful.'

The Minister added twophotographs along with histweet. One was from 2015when the then Union HealthMinister J P Nadda said theTelangana was not in the'approved list of identifiedstates under the Central spon-sored scheme (CSS) for estab-lishment of new medical col-leges.'

The second related to 2019when former Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhanrepeated the same thing in

regard to CSS. Quoting all this, Harish Rao

said "Telangana has alwaysbeen asking the Centre for rep-resentation but the UnionMinisters go on a rampageagainst the State and play hideand seek. Although the Centreis not cooperating, the Stategovernment has taken stepstowards opening up of medicalcolleges under the leadershipof CM KCR"

He did not pull any punchin condemnation of UnionFood and Public DistributionMinister Piyush Goyal's inap-propriate behaviour with theMinisterial delegation that metwith him on Tuesday, anddemanded an unconditionalapology from the UnionMinister for 'humiliating' thedelegation. "He should apolo-gise and withdraw hisremarks," he said.

Harish skewers UnionMinisters for ‘propagating lies’

PNS n HYDERABAD

As many as 162 tri-service offi-cers, including officers fromfriendly foreign countries, suc-cessfully completed the HigherDefence Management Course(HDMC) at the College ofDefence Management (CDM),Secunderabad. Air MarshalBR Krishna, Chief ofIntegrated Defence Staff tothe Chairman, Chiefs of StaffCommittee, presided over the

valedictory ceremony held onFriday and felicitated the grad-uating officers for successfulcompletion of 44 weeks ofcurriculum. In his address, AirMarshal BR Krishna empha-sised that qualitative insightreinforced by quantitativerationale during the course willenable officers to take deci-sions to bridge execution gapsin their future assignments. Heexhorted the participants ondevelopment of strategic

thought, importance of disrup-tive technologies and hybridwarfare among the three ser-vices for effective execution ofoperations. Officers fromAfghanistan, Bangladesh,Bhutan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia,Sri Lanka, Uganda, andVietnam received Master ofManagement Studies (MMS)degree from OsmaniaUniversity and an All IndiaManagement Association(AIMA) certificate.

HDMC course concludes at CDM

PNS n SANGAREDDY

The bodies of four children,who drowned inKamalpuram tank underManoor mandal on Thursday,were retrieved with the helpof expert swimmers onFriday. The deceased wereidentified as Sai Charan (11),his brother Sai Sampath,Vinod (12) and Mahesh (12).

While Sai Charan and SaiSampath hailed fromMangalpet, nearNarayankhed, Vinod fromKamalapuram and Maheshfrom Khanapur. The policesaid the boys had gone toKamalapuram. They venturedinto the tank though they didnot know swimming.

Four boys drownedin Kamalapuram tank

Minister V Srinivas Goud, Municipal Chairman K C Narasimhulu and others inspecting TSRTC bus station inMahabubnagar on FridayAir Marshal BR Krishna presenting a trophy at the valedictory function of HDMC at CDM, Secunderabad on Friday

‘Although the Centre

is not cooperating,

the State

government has

taken steps towards

opening up of

medical colleges

under the leadership

of CM KCR’

PNS n MANCHERIAL

A car driver attempted tocommit suicide by consum-ing taxic hair oil at Thandurmandal centre on Friday ashe was allegedly harassed bythe police. He alleged that thepolice were trying to foist amurder case on him.

The driver, identified asGurram Sagar, who hailedfrom Kasipet village underThandur mandal, in a selfievideo, said ThandurInspector of Police KJagadish and Sub-InspectorKiran Kumar were harassinghim. The police officersthreatened to foist a false caseon him.

Car driverattempts suicide

PNS n NALGONDA

State Legislative CouncilChairman Gutha SukenderReddy on Friday criticised theCentre for trying to create con-fusion among the farmers onpaddy procurement. He urged

the Centre to reconsider itsdecision on paddy procurementduring the yasangi season. Hesaid the Centre was discrimi-nating against the farmers ofTelangana State as far as paddyprocurement is concerned. TheCentre procure paddy from

the State on a par with Punjab,he said. He vehemently criti-cised Union Minister for Foodand Public Distribution PiyushGoyal, who was charteredaccountant in the past. The gov-ernments, which harassedfarmers, would not survive.

Gutha criticises Centre on paddy procurement

Kishan Reddy said

that Consumer

Affairs, Food and

Public Distribution

Minister Piyush

Goyal had asked

him to attend the

meeting held on

Thursday with

Telangana

Ministers, but he

couldn't attend the

meeting.

nation 05HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 26, 2022

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The ruling BJP in Gujarat demanded action against two Congress MLAs whotook off their shirts outside the entry gate of the state legislative Assembly onFriday as part of a protest over the issue of inadequate power supply to

farmers. Claiming that the BJP government had failed to provide adequateelectricity to farmers, at least 15 Congress MLAs sat in protest near the mainentry gate of the Assembly buildingfor about 10 minutes, during whichlegislators Vimal Chudasama andLalit Vasoya removed their shirts.The treasury bench raised anobjection in the Assembly afterQuestion Hour, following whichSpeaker Nimaben Acharya said shewill give her verdict in the comingdays after going through the videoclips of the said incident whichtook place moments before theHouse met at 10 am.

Two Cong MLAs take off shirts duringprotest outside Guj Assembly

The Bihar assembly was on Friday paralysed by vociferous protests by the opposition whichaccused the Nitish Kumar government of dragging its feet on a state-specific caste census.The matter was raised shortly after commencement of proceedings at 11 AM through a

starred question from Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav. As he was not present in theHouse, the Speaker moved to the next listed question and members of the RJD and Left partiesrose in protest. They demanded that astatement be made by the government onthe questions raised by Yadav, whichincluded details of the proposed timelinefor a state-specific caste census andbudgetary allocation for the same.Ruckus by the opposition members,many of whom trooped into the well,forced adjournment till 11.30 hours andwhen the House re-assembled, MLAs ofthe RJD and the Left again raised sloganslike “sau mein nabbe shoshit hain, nabbebhag hamaara hai”.

Bihar Assembly paralysed over caste census issue

BJP MP Virender Singh Mast has questioned the "silence" of Congress leaders PriyankaGandhi Vadra, Rahul Gandhi, and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav over theBirbhum violence in West Bengal in which eight people were charred to death. Terming

the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal as a "government of criminals", the BalliaMP said she will have to bear its consequences in the coming time. Mast, former nationalpresident of the Bharatiya JanataParty Kisan Morcha, described theBirbhum violence as a crime againsthumanity. "Such incidents shouldhave no place in the country," he toldreporters at his residence onThursday evening. "Why are PriyankaGandhi Vadra, who had raised a hueand cry over even small incidents inUttar Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi, whorepeatedly tries to attack the BJP, andAkhilesh Yadav silent on this incident,they should tell the public," Mast said.

BJP MP Mast questions 'silence' ofOppn leaders over Birbhum violence

Eastern Ladakh situation awork in progress: JaishankarPNS n NEW DELHI

The current situation betweenIndia and China on the easternLadakh issue is "a work inprogress" but moving at a slow-er place than desirable, ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankarsaid on Friday after talks withhis Chinese counterpart WangYi.

He asserted that the restora-tion of normal ties will requirenormalcy in border areas.

Addressing a press confer-ence after talks with Wang,Jaishankar noted that 15 roundsof talks between senior militarycommanders have taken placeover the eastern Ladakh stand-off and pointed out thatprogress has been achieved onseveral friction points from thedisengagement perspective."This needs to be taken forwardsince completion of disengage-

ment is necessary for discus-sions on de-escalation to takeplace. I would describe ourcurrent situation as a work inprogress, obviously at a slowerplace than desirable, and mydiscussions with ForeignMinister Wang were aimed atexpediting that process," theexternal affairs minister said.The impact of border tensions

on the overall ties has been vis-ible in the last two years, he said.

"This is only natural sincepeace and tranquillity in theborder areas have been thefoundation of stable and coop-erative ties," Jaishankar said. Hesaid his nearly three-hour talkswith Wang addressed a broadand substantive agenda in anopen and candid manner.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Opposition members fromvarious parties in Lok Sabhaon Friday walked out of pro-ceedings over rising fuelprices, with a Congress MPquestioning the need to hikeprice of petrol, diesel andcooking gas following a 137days hiatus after polls in fivestates concluded.

Gaurav Gogoi (Cong)raised the issue of rise in fuelprices during Zero Hour,saying after inflation anduneven recovery after thecoronavirus pandemic, peo-ple needed a breathing space.

He wondered why pricesof petrol and diesel wereincreased three times in aweek after a hiatus of 137

days. He claimed that ten-sions between Russia andUkraine were simmeringsince December last year,

but blaming the conflict now,the prices were hiked. "Wedon't know how many morehikes await the people of

India and people of Indiahave just returned fromOmicron. They want anenvironment where they can

do their business but allthese price hikes haveincreased the cost of busi-ness, especially the price oftransportation and this willlead to inflation," he said. He,as well as members from var-ious opposition parties,sought a reply from the gov-ernment as to why for 137days they managed to keepthe prices stable. They saidFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman, who was presentin the House, shouldrespond.

Members, including thosefrom Congress, DMK, NCP,Left, Viduthalai ChiruthaigalKatchi (VCK) and IUML,walked out of the House toregister their protest on theissue.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A study has said that heart dis-eases contributed over 28 percent of the total deaths in Indiain 2016, compared to 15.2 percent in 1990, the Lok Sabhawas informed on Friday.

The government also toldthe lower house that non-communicable diseases areestimated to account for 63 percent of fatalities in the coun-try.

Union Minister of State forHealth Bharati Pawar said the

study -- The changing patternsof cardiovascular diseases and

their risk factors in the Statesof India: The Global Burden of

Disease Study 1990-2016 --was published in the Lancet

Global Health 2018 by theIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR). She saidthe according to the study,heart diseases contributed 28.1per cent of the total deaths inIndia in 2016 compared to 15.2per cent in 1990. Pawar saidanother study -- 'Global,regional and national burdenof chronic kidney disease,1990-2017: a systematic analy-sis for the Global Burden ofDisease Study 2017 -- waspublished in Lancet 2020 byICMR.

SC-appointed panel to visitCorbett, Rajaji buffer zonesPNS n RISHIKESH (U'KHAND)

Members of a Supreme Court-appointed panel will arrive inUttarakhand on March 28 tovisit the sites of constructionand road projects undertakenin the buffer zones of Corbettand Rajaji Tiger reserves inviolation of the norms.

The Central EmpoweredCommittee constituted by theapex court will undertake sitevisits of the buffer zones of thetwo reserves from March 28-30, advocate Gaurav KumarBansal said.

The CEC is looking intoBansal's applications on theupgradation of Laldhang-Chillarkhal road that passesthrough the buffer zone ofRajaji and the illegal felling oftrees, construction of buildingsand water bodies in Pakhroand Morghatti ranges ofCorbett. The panel includes itschairman PV Jayakrishnan,

member Mahendra Vyas andmember secretary AmarnathaShetty.

A field visit earlier by a teamof the National TigerConservation Authority(NTCA) had taken note of ille-gal constructions carried out inMorghatti and Pakhro rangesof Corbett and recommendedstern action against forest offi-cials without whose con-nivance the violations were notpossible. Several probe com-

mittees set up in the light of therecommendations of theNTCA team had indicted offi-cials for their connivanceincluding the then chiefwildlife warden J S Suhag andex Kalagarh DFO KishanChand.

The site visit by the CECmay expedite penal actionagainst the guilty officials. Sofar penal action has been takenonly against ranger Brij BihariSharma.

The government

also told the lower

house that non-

communicable

diseases are

estimated to

account for 63 per

cent of fatalities in

the country.

Mamata is like my sister: WB GuvPNS n JAIPUR

West Bengal Governor JagdeepDhankhar, who has been at log-gerheads with Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee, on Fridaysaid he shares a deep relation-ship with her like a brother.

At the same time, he is not a"proactive governor" but a"copybook governor", whobelieves in the rule of law,Dhankhar said here, adding hewill never violate the dignity ofthe Constitution at the behest ofanyone.

He referred to various occa-sions when he had a showdownwith the West Bengal CM whilestressing that he won't do any-thing beyond the constitution-al limits. Dhank har was speak-

ing as the chief guest in a sem-inar on the "Role of Governorsand MLAs in Furtherance of

Democracy", organised by theCommon wealth ParliamentaryAssociation's Rajasthan chapter

in the state Assembly building."People may not have knowl-edge but my personal relation-ship with the chief minister isvery deep, of brother and sister.Our dialogue is continuing," hesaid.

He made the remark whiletalking about a recent contro-versy over summoning the WestBengal state Assembly at 2 amon March 7, the timing ofwhich was changed to 2 pmafter a fresh cabinet proposal.

An imbroglio over the timingstarted after Dhankhar had onFebruary 24 summoned theAssembly at 2 am on the basisof a proposal by the MamataBanerjee cabinet, which waslater clarified as a typographi-cal error.

SC refuses to entertain plea onforcible religious conversionPNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Fridayrefused to entertain a pleaagainst an order passed by theMadras High Court on a peti-tion which had raised theissue of alleged forcible con-version from Hinduism toother religions, saying it ismore of “publicity interest”and that such pleas disturbharmony.

“You are actually disturbingthe harmony with these kindsof petitions,” a bench ofJustices Indira Banerjee and AS Bopanna observed. Thebench said the petition is“more of publicity interestrather than public interest" and

must be dismissed with cost.When the apex court said it

was inclined to dismiss theplea with cost, advocate C RJaya Sukin, appearing for thepetitioner, sought permissionto withdraw it. “The SpecialLeave Petition (SLP) is dis-missed as withdrawn,” thebench ruled. The petitionerhad challenged an order of theMadurai bench of the MadrasHigh Court passed in Marchlast year on a public interest lit-igation seeking a direction tothe Centre and others, includ-ing the state of Tamil Nadu, toestablish a board for surveil-lance and monitoring theactivities of the Christian mis-sionaries.

COVID-19: Govt says no state hasreported deaths due to oxygen shortagePNS n NEW DELHI

Few states and union terri-tories have responded tothe Centre's requests to fur-nish details on COVID-19mortalities due to oxygenshortage and none of themhave reported confirmeddeaths due to it, Minister ofState for Health BharatiPravin Pawar informedParliament said on Friday.

The government main-tains data of COVID-19cases and deaths reported bystates and union territories.

Accordingly, the Uniongovernment has requestedstates and union territoriesto furnish details of suspect-ed deaths due to oxygenshortage, Pawar said in awritten reply to a questionin Lok Sabha.

"Few states and UTs haveresponded and none of thethem has reported onfirmeddeath due to oxygen short-

age," the minister said. TheIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) had onMay 10, 2020, issued'Guidance for appropriaterecording of COVID-19related deaths in India'. Thehealth ministry, through aletter dated October 9, 2020,conveyed to states andunion territories, WHO andICMR guidelines on correctrecording of COVID-19related deaths in accordancewith the globally acceptedICD-10 classification and

also urged them to under-take periodic death auditswith an aim to improve thequality of healthcare servicesby taking suitable correctivemeasures, she said.

States and union territo-ries were also provided witha proforma for death auditsin this regard, she added.Pawar further said thathealth is a state subject.The Government of India issupporting states in theirendeavour to enhance pre-paredness and response

capacities against COVID-19. Various initiatives havebeen taken by the govern-ment to provide technicalguidance and furtherstrengthen health infra-structure, availability ofessential logistics, includingdrugs and medical oxygensupply, to manage COVID-19. "More than 180 guide-lines/ advisories/SoPs/planshave been issued to statesand UTs by Ministry ofHealth. This includes tech-nical guidance on issuesranging from surveillanceand containment ofCOVID-19, travel advi-sories, clinical managementprotocols for managingCOVID-19 cases in adultsand children, managementof mucormycosis, rationaluse of oxygen, SOPs forsafe resumption of activitiesin workplaces, markets, reli-gious places etc.," Pawarsaid.

93 pc households inDelhi now have accessto piped water supplyPNS n NEW DELHI: Around 93per cent of households in Delhinow have access to piped watersupply, and water production dur-ing the summer season is beingmaintained at 953 million gallons aday (MGD) consistently, accordingto the Delhi Economic Survey2021-22. The survey report pre-sented in the assembly on Fridayby Deputy Chief Minister ManishSisodia also said Delhi's waterdemand is set to increase to 1,505MGD this year against the expectedsupply of 1,200 MGD.

NO QUESTIONS SHOULD BE RAISED

ON EVMS: LAW MINISTER IN LS

PNS n NEW DELHI: Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju onFriday said no questions should be raised on electronicvoting machines (EVMs) as they are kept in the ElectionCommission's custody after being handed over to the pollpanel by manufacturers. The Indian election system hasbeen recognised as "one of the best" in the world, he said,replying to a question asked by Congress memberManish Tewari in Lok Sabha.

Opposition members walk out ofLok Sabha over hike in fuel prices

Heart diseases behind 28% of deaths in India

I feel the pressure. There’sjust so muchexpectation from my fans.

Actor— Siddharth Nigam

posed to be the touchstone onwhich the worth of politicalideologies ought to be judged.Most students of political sci-ence would relate the conceptto the West, the term havingfirst emerged in the UK dur-ing World War II. It has sincebeen used much more broad-ly to describe systems of socialwelfare that have developedsince the 19th century. Theoriginal promise of a welfareState covered every citizenregardless of income. It offerednothing less than cradle-to-grave welfare. That was thegreat promise dangled beforethe British electorate in 1945.

But a welfarist society isthe traditional concept thathas been rooted in India sincetime immemorial. One needlook no farther than thecountless langars in ourgurudwaras and bhandarasin temples. Apart from feed-ing the poor, the meals werewillingly donated by therich/well-to-do. It is thereforea voluntary transfer of wealthfrom the rich to the needyindividual. This is unlike theEuropean method of taxingthe rich at high rates. Taxingpublic money for the suppos-edly noble purpose of spend-ing the proceeds on the pooris a dubious idea, as no effec-

tive mechanism for ensuringthe delivery of taxed wealth toits intended beneficiaries hasbeen developed.

Regimes and countriesthat have met with collapse intrying to enforce this systemfill textbooks. Late PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi hadonce said that out of every`100 allocated for the welfareof the poor, only `15 actual-ly reached them. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi isacutely aware of this realityand has been insistent ondirect delivery to the intend-ed beneficiaries. AnotherIndian reality has been thedemand for at least one toiletper family. This need wasmore acute for orthodoxMuslim women, who couldnot expose their faces outsidetheir homes, which wouldhave been inevitable duringthe daytime. Scholars mightreject this point as unneces-sary in the context of ideol-ogy. We in India question theuse of ideology, which doesnot include every citizen’scomfort as essential.Thousands of pages ofMarxist and socialist ideolo-gy are useful, but ineffectivefor a leader to make apromise to his electorate.

One particular allegation

has been that the BJP polaris-es the electorate. Would any-body believe that the party isa club of wastrels who polariseHindus and Muslims withoutrhyme or reason? YogiAdityanath got only nine votesin a particular pocket in hisconstituency. In other words,his party is not popular amongMuslims everywhere. Bypolarising or doing anythingagainst Muslims, the BJPwould lose whatever little sup-port it gets from the commu-nity, whether men or women.This would apply equally toMahadalits, or the most back-ward, among the Hindus.

A new theory is currentthat traditional electoraldemocracy has been vitiatedby the ruling party to theextent that it is coming in theway of the all-important con-stitutional democracy. Theproblem before us is toresearch what constitutionaldemocracy is, as distinct fromelectoral. I can only think ofthe Greek concept of the threeclasses, of which only theuppermost mattered. I wonderif I am right.

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

A HELPLESS CRY FOR ENVIRONMENTSir — The pollution in Delhi hasreached its worst levels again.Unfortunately, it has earned the dubiousdistinction of being the most pollutedCapital city in the world. It is a matterof grave concern. November 8, 2017, isa red-letter day in the history of Delhi;the air quality index indicated pollutionlevels of 999, way above the upper limitof the worst AQI category. Let’s talkabout the causes: Carbon emissionfrom vehicles is tremendous and indus-trial waste into air and water is one ofthe primary reasons for air pollution,besides various chemical factories pol-lute the air as well as water.

Contaminated water due to industri-al water destroys marine and organic life.This has an awful impact as the airbecomes increasingly poisonous andgives rise to various health issues. Thissorry development calls for immediateattention by every State of the nation andthe entire world as human survivalfaces a grave danger. Some kind of pub-lic awareness programme must belaunched and general public should beinvolved in fighting this man-createdmenace. More trees should be planted.All this will require great political willand zeal and I am of the view that all par-ties lack it.

Poonam Boyat | Ujjain

FOREIGN POLICY FACES TOUGH TIMESSir — Currently, as the Russian-Ukrainewar rages and the world is in turmoil, ourforeign policy is also facing a difficult test.Many countries are not tired of praisingIndia’s foreign policy. Keeping itself bal-anced between two superpowers, it hasbeen successful in maintaining not onlycommercial but also political relations. Asa developing nation, India’s policy hasalways been of non-violence, cooperationand harmony. It has always strived to cre-ate an independent foreign policy andself-reliant image, so India’s foreign pol-icy has been the biggest nurturer of non-alignment and co-existence.

But it must be appreciated that the

success of our country’s foreign policy isthat India is still not included in anygroup; it remains constant on peace, har-mony and co-existence. In fact, India’sforeign policy is a reflection of our civil-isation, culture and political traditions,in which great thinkers like Kautilya areon the same page as Ashoka’s theory ofpeace and equality, Gandhi’s philosophyand Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. EvenAmerica clearly understands that thisnew India is not going to back down fromits principles and its interests. We needto be cautious and strengthen our foreignpolicy for our national interests.

Devanand Roy | Delhi

INDIA MUST CARE FOR ITSELFSir — US President Joe Biden sufferedknocking knees and chattering teethwhen India and China were almost onverge of the largest military conflagrationsince World War II in Ladakh. Eventoday, the countries are in eyeball-to-eye-ball confrontation with 1,00,000 troopseach with the most modern weaponry.The Biden Administration kept out

because of its economic interests inChina, so why should India get involvedin the Ukraine-Russia issue which,according to Prof John Mierscheimer ofChicago University, is of US making asit tried to make Ukraine part of Nato andthe EU in violation of its solemn promiseto Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990 that thesegroupings would not expand to cover theerstwhile Warsaw Pact countries.

Among the Quad members, with thepossible exception of India being some-what “shaky” in part, Japan has beenextremely strong — and so has Australia— in terms of dealing with Putin’saggression. So the US President essen-tially said the countries that align withthe policy of the US are “strong” andthose with an independent foreign pol-icy are “shaky”. The only advantage theUS and the West have is having big com-panies and institutions of the world orderin their basket, nothing else.

Ganapathi Bhat | Akola

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A point of interest, and debate, is whether the recent Assembly poll results

would persuade the party to recast its governance ideology

PRIME MINISTERNARENDRA MODI

IS ACUTELY AWAREOF THIS REALITY

AND HAS BEENINSISTENT ON

DIRECT DELIVERYOF BENEFITS TO

THE INTENDEDBENEFICIARIES.

ANOTHER INDIANREALITY HAS BEENTHE DEMAND FOR

AT LEAST ONETOILET PER FAMILY

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

PRAFULL GORADIA

The wait is over for the 15th edition of theIndian Premier League (IPL), to be called‘TATA IPL 2022’. The League has come

back home after the pandemic pause and thisedition will be played only in Maharashtra,and the fun begins at the Wankhede Stadiumin Mumbai today. The addition of two newteams, Gujarat Titans and LucknowSuperGiants, compelled the Board of Controlfor Cricket in India to re-introduce the IndianPremier League’s 2011 playing format.While dividing the 10 teams into two groups

of five, a random draw was used to deter-mine the groups and who played them acrossthe groups once and twice.

The only time an IPL event was held inthe 10-team format was in 2011 and it waswon by Chennai Super Kings. It will be inter-esting to see who will be crowned the ‘cham-pion’ in this year’s event. Returning home,the event will host defending championsChennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians,Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans, Kolkata KnightRiders, Lucknow SuperGiants, Punjab Kings,Rajasthan Royals, Royal ChallengersBangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad that willbe battling for the coveted title. Cricket hascertainly come of age in India and the IPLhas brought glitz and enormous amounts ofmoney to everyone involved. The way teamsare rushing to buy players, it’s worth a watch.Sometimes nail-biting finishes, too.

CK Subramaniam | Navi Mumbai

IPL extravaganza begins today

Will BJP reforgeits programmes?

Sunday, March 20, saw aninteresting debate in theprint media. The point ofdiscussion was whether its

resounding victory in the recentAssembly elections wouldinduce the BJP to reforge its ide-ology of governance. Thedebaters have been anxious toknow whether the electoralresults were a change ofGovernments or a change ofregime. The BJP’s ideology ofHinduness has traditionally hada connect with the soil of India.In fact, most other political ide-ologies the world over are ‘-isms’based on the socio-economicclasses they sprung from, ratherthan on the specific ethos of thecountries concerned. It was sowith capitalism, which has hadits roots in mercantilism.Socialism and then of coursecommunism which followed it,was conceived of by those whobelieved that religion is the“opium of the masses” andnationalism is an instrument ofthe rich exploiting class to keepthe toiling working class inchains. In complete contrast toall this, the BJP’s ideology andthe programmes emanatingfrom it are the closest to India’sown ethos.

The advantage of an ideolo-gy that has grown from a coun-try’s soil is that people normal-ly take to it like fish to water.Those who have been influ-enced by thinking that has orig-inated overseas find it difficult todigest it though. Dr BRAmbedkar (Complete Works,published by the Government ofMaharashtra) put this pointacross lucidly. He was at the timethinking of which faith to con-vert to since he had decided hewould not die as a Hindu. Hisquest led him to reject Islam andChristianity because, in hiswords, “they would have a dena-tionalising effect on his people”;those religions have been found-ed in other countries. In the end,he chose Buddhism because itwas born in India. Has he notproved to be a visionary in thedecades since he made his choicesome 70 years ago?

Welfarism or a welfare Stateis one of the themes in vogue inthe current milieu, and is sup-

Well, a lot of hue and cry is being witnessed these days about The KashmirFiles. There are narratives, both allegedly “secular” and “pan-India secu-lar”, and then there are the “believers”, too. Nationalists who were peace-

fully snoring for over 30 years since the Kashmiri Hindu Pandits were forced out(no, it wasn’t an exodus; it was almost a genocide!) of the Valley with loudspeak-ered threats to life, limb, property and their womenfolk one cold January night in1990 — they were sound asleep, really, save to stir themselves for an occasional

yawn or a burp, and even though their saiyaan bhayekotwal since 2014 — have suddenly kicked them-selves up in righteous anger, vertebrae upright.Needless to say, this theme has also sprung forthcertain captains of the opposite camp who are willy-nilly trying to prove that the cinematic projection ismere propaganda. First things first: They don’t noticeanything unusual in lakhs of Kahmiri Hindu Pandits,infirm or old or waiting to join their employment post-ing a week later, fleeing their homes in the early morn-ing chill. Then, in the light of the surreptitious RoshniAct, they comfortably take over the abandoned prop-

erties on cheap money, or even for free, “for upkeep”.And now certain MPs are claiming that the BJP is “promoting” the movie with

an eye on the forthcoming Assembly polls in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Well, wouldn’tit rather work on ‘The Godhra Files’ or the ‘Bhanwari Devi Diaries’? Of course, TheKashmir Files leaves behind a gut-wrenching pain because the so-called “exodus”was a hurt in itself, as a people and as a nation, but such politics is digging furthernails into that pain to bring about an unsavoury memory back to further the chasmbetween Hindus and Muslims that, agree to it or not, has been cracking deeper eversince 2014 when Narendra Modi first entered Parliament as the Prime Minister andchanged the narrative of the country as well as of soft Hindutva as was practisedby their older leaders such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Understand, this Modi is not atoot, he is a hoot! Meanwhile, the behaviour of most Kashmiri Muslims is as warmas the weather in the snow-clad Valley. There’s still time; there’s still half a chancefor course correction. Here’s hoping for the sake of all Indians, and humanity at large,that we are proved wrong in the stereotyped image of our Muslim brethren.

Acrisis of credibility faces the Indian judiciary. Increasingly, death sentences andlife terms awarded by lower courts in murder cases are getting reversed inappeals by the higher courts for reasons of error, subjectivity, or sentiment. Is

there a case to recommend a course-correction exercise for the judges? A crime-control approach can sometimes have a subjective influence on the application oflaw. Take the latest case of the Allahabad High Court acquitting a murder accusedby setting aside the death penalty awarded to him by a lower court. The High Courtrejected the reference made to it to confirm the death penalty and acquitted the accused.The court’s observation is startling: “The evidence….does not have a ring of truth.The story of prosecution and the evidence led to prove the same is not worthy ofcredence… The evidence is not such as to raise the confidence of the court….” Itis an indictment of the entire process undertaken by the lower court. Imagine thetrauma of the accused who must have suffered unimaginable mental anguish whenhe was sentenced to death. What can, or who will, compensate him for the wrong?What is the guarantee that the errors will not be repeated? Is there a feedback mech-

anism in the judiciary that helps overcome such fun-damental problems? Chief Justice NV Ramana washimself part of a Supreme Court bench thatreversed a Section 302 order last May.

Barely a fortnight after taking the oath of office,Justice Ramana and two other judges set aside ajudgment of the High Court in a murder case. A lowercourt had acquitted the accused in the case but inappeal before the High Court, the acquittal was setaside and the accused were sentenced to life impris-onment. Setting aside the life term order, the SC benchnoted that the proof submitted was “too thin a piece

of evidence to convict someone under Section 302 of the Code…The first Court offacts on appreciation of evidence had acquitted the appellant. We do not find anymajor lacuna in its reasoning which would have warranted interference by the AppealCourt for reversing such finding into that of guilt”. Justice Ramana was part of anoth-er bench to give almost a similar ruling in another life sentence case. Project 39A,which fights for fair justice, said in a 2016 report that nearly a third of 1700 deathsentences awarded by trial courts in 15 years till 2015 were eventually acquittedwhile 65.3% of sentences were commuted to life. Only 4.9% of the sentences wereconfirmed. Of the 102 death sentences awarded in 2019, the Supreme Court thatyear confirmed only six death sentences. There should be a similar statistical analy-sis of the High Courts as well. It means most death sentence cases do not meet thehigh threshold set by judicial standards. The reasons for such dissonance need prob-ing. A wrong conviction is worse than a wrong acquittal.

Fair justice

Truth or dare?The Kashmir Files has reopened wounds among

people, and chapters among the political class

PICTALK

Students at the inauguration of Red Fort festival ‘Bharat Bhagya Vidhata’, in Delhi Ranjan DDimri || TThe PPioneer

Higher courts are overturning an increasingnumber of death and murder convictions

The special schoolfor armed forcestraining in Delhiwill be named afterShaheed-e-Azam

Bhagat Singh.

Chief Minister— Arvind Kejriwal

Warne believed inhis players, knewtheir skill set andwhere they fit in.

Australian ex-allrounder— Shane Watson

SOUNDBITE

Russia is considering cyberattacks againstcritical infra tar-gets (among theUS companies).

US President— Joe Biden

Let’s further waterconservation and contribute to a sustainableplanet.

Prime Minister— Narendra Modi

self in has been getting very popu-lar among those with weaker edu-cational aptitude.

There is a reason why somepeople love to consume historywhether in writing or in cinemaover other genres like musicals, rela-tionship stories, comedies, socialcommentary etc. They cherish thecomfort of the completed past overthe uncertain present or a possiblefuture. You either already knowhow an event ended so there’s nosuspense in it, or at least know thatit’s of the past and that its outcomeis not now getting decided. So, itguarantees a passivity and a diver-sion that a current newsreel or con-temporary theme cannot bring.

The past provides a sense offamiliarity and continuity, or evensecurity in an ever-changing world.Someone may know next to noth-ing of world history but can knowa lot about the history of an area of5 km radius. They know how astreet, a locality or a campus hascome to be what it is. Who built oroccupied the earliest buildings, arethey still occupying them, who orwhat arrived next, who were thefirst doctors or chemist stores,which was the first bank, or bou-tique, or gym.

They like to associate and iden-tify with the continuing history ofsomething larger than themselvesor their family - a colony, a com-munity or a city.

With the explosion of socialmedia, there is now a ready mar-ket for new cultural products - shortfilms, poems, booklets, blogs, photoalbums, interviews - that can pro-

vide this comfort fodder, this com-munity binding material thatevokes common reminiscences,shared nostalgia and establishes aready heritage.

Then there are the few grandhistorians who’ve looked at longerarcs of history and at causes thatbrought about shifts in power oreconomic change and who analysehow communities or nations flour-ish or decline.

Today, whether it’s a common-man historian or an academicallyproficient historiographer or aparty propagandist or a seasonedjournalist, they are all quite unlikethe official court historians of ear-lier centuries. However, their posi-tion is like that of a commissionedportrait photographer - they feel anaudience pressure to make a personor specific group of people lookreally good, and to deflect attentionfrom unflattering features.

Our consumption of history,whether through an Amar ChitraKatha illustrated book, a TV seri-al, a book by Percival Spear orManu S Pillai, or a dramatised filmdoes leave us with a learning or two,and leaves some emotional impact.To estimate how much, we have toconsider three axes: where - near-by or faraway, smaller radius or alarger area; when - recently or longago, lasting an hour or a decade;and what - an achievement or acalamity, a crisis or an adventure.

It’s been rightly observed thatthere are macro level insights thatcan be obtained when we pay closeattention at a micro level, which isreadily accessible to every one of us

- our own day-to-day experience.Some of us keep an account of ourown days in a diary. Now, wouldone tend to be candid in a mostlyprivate diary or be so deluded as tocontinually compliment themselveson everything and depict theiraverage day as a splendid triumphover dread foes? What is the tex-ture of our daily living - is it per-vaded mainly by cordiality or arethere frequent bouts of hostile feel-ings?

In a sense, one’s daily battleagainst inertia, vices, petty diver-sions, self-doubt, cynicism andnegative emotions like suspicion andanger is worth recording and in factstatistically, it is this psychologicalsee-saw that aggregates into theamity or hostility, accommodationor intolerance, optimism or despair,affirmation or shame, integrity orcorruption that hovers as a cultur-al cloud at the societal level.

Writing out a concise history ofone’s day or week is a way tobecome self-aware of how werespond to people and eventsaround us. It is a practical way ofdeveloping a sense of personal his-tory. Actually, the history of insti-tutions, of communities, etc., isreflective of what their members didor did not do during a giventenure. Not only that, it will also beabout how during an inner strug-gle between many emotions, theones most relevant to the bestpossible future are the ones wechoose to accord the most amountof time and our attention.

That way, some of the futurecan indeed be of our scripting.

Dishing out historya la carte

A PERSON CAN CHANGE RELIGION OF HIS OWN

FREE WILL, BUT NOT FORCIBLY OR BY USING

ALLUREMENT.

— CHIEF MINISTER

MANOHAR LAL KHATTAR

WHY IS AN ANTI-CONVERSION LAW NEEDED

WHEN THERE ARE PROVISIONS IN THE IPC TO

ACT AGAINST FORCED CONVERSIONS?

— HARYANA LEADER OF OPPOSITION

BHUPINDER SINGH HOODA

There is a reason why some people love to consume history. They cherish thecomfort of the completed past over the uncertain present or a possible future

The Ukraine war is upending India’s dream budget and now getsfurther bruised with a rise in crude prices and retail inflation. Thenation has to tighten its belt, go slow on reckless infrastructure

spending, and be austere as indicators go for a toss amid efforts ofthe government to stabilize the economy. Oil and gas are set to bleedthe country even as the government looks for alternative sources butthe discounted products from sanctioned Russia look irresistible. Thewar is hardening the international market, soaring energy prices, mak-ing exports difficult as the rupee plunges against the dollar. Importsare growing at $616.91 billion, a 55 per cent increase, exports areat lower volumes at $335.88 billion. The trade deficit at $228.92 bil-lion, a rise of 47 per cent. Borrowings are high and a likely cut oninfra spending of budgeted `10 lakh crore looms large. The atmos-

phere throws Indian business and consumers at the mercy of glob-al winds. It is also likely to fetch lower prices for the LIC privatisa-tion move. As per the World Inequality Report, the country stands outas poor and very unequal with the top one per cent of the people hold-ing more than one-fifth of total national income in 2021, and the bot-tom half, just 13 per cent. Average Indian’s income is `204,200 perannum or about `17,016 a month and the bottom’s is still less at`53,610. As of now, the government must do away with the unnec-essary subsidy of ̀ 2908 crore (increased from ̀ 800 crore) for elec-tric cars (EV). Similarly, it needs to review infra projects that defy thenorms of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Italso can consider cuts for many other infra projects.Such austeritiesare needed in various areas and the country must reconsider its deci-sion to rush for EVs. Maruti-Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava has appro-priately suggested not going for it merely for the issue of emissionor pollution. He says: “EVs are not clean cars. These are far moreexpensive and does not suit Indian needs. EVs depended on coal firedthermal plants will not reduce carbon emissions or greenhouse gasesin the next 10-15 years.” In other words, it virtually goes against thebasic concern of the IPCC.

“If we just adopt whatever strategies the US and Europe are fol-lowing, I don’t think we will be doing justice to what we need to doin India,” Bhargava says. So, India needs to rethink on its invest-ments on unsettled EV technology, building of charging stations andmaking the country dependent on imports of battery. The battery,unless made with elements found in India would remain extremelyexpensive and supply uncertain. India may continue with CNG fornow.Inflation and, low manufacturing are hitting the country. But theseare not being addressed. The infra increases incomes of large groupsbut does not accelerate growth. India to grow has to carefully cuton infra and spend more on merchandise production. Times are dif-ficult and complex solutions have to be worked out. The average Indianyouth is in a perennial rush to enter the job market at the earliest.However, the National Education Policy, in a bid to align it with thatof the affluent United States, is making them stick around in schoolsand universities for two years more. Primary education is delayedby a year and graduation is now four years instead of three. As edu-cation gets prolonged, it becomes expensive and can lead to unpaidstudy loans or increased college dropouts. This anomaly in the pol-icy needs to be corrected right away.

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

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 26, 2022

07

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FIRSTCOLUMNCRISIS-HIT INDIAN

ECONOMY

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

BALAKRISHNAN

SATYAM

Particularly affected are infrastructure, electricvehicles and the National Education Policy

ONE'S DAILYBATTLE AGAINSTINERTIA, VICES,

SELF-DOUBT,CYNICISM AND

NEGATIVEEMOTIONS IS

WORTHRECORDING

AND IN FACT,STATISTICALLY,

IT IS THISPSYCHOLOGICAL

SEE-SAW THATAGGREGATES

INTO THE AMITYOR HOSTILITY,OPTIMISM OR

DESPAIR,AFFIRMATION OR

SHAME,INTEGRITY ORCORRUPTION

THAT HOVERS ASA CULTURAL

CLOUD AT THESOCIETAL LEVEL

(The writer is a creative director,

advertising faculty, and an amateur

epistemologist.The viewsexpressed are personal.)

Russian troops are stalledfor the third week outsidemost of the major cities of

eastern and central Ukraine, butthey have failed to surround andcut off any of them exceptMariupol, the big port on theBlack Sea that has become theUkrainian ‘Stalingrad’. Indeed,Ukrainian counter-attacks aredriving the Russians back somedistance in a few places.

This has come as such a sur-prise to most foreign observers(who expected Ukraine’s army tocrumble quickly before thegreater numbers and firepowerof the Russians) that some havenow swung to the other extreme.I have seen three think-piecesthis week urging Ukraine orNATO or somebody to startbuilding an off-ramp forVladimir Putin.

The thinking is that the

Russian army cannot win, butthe Russian dictator cannotafford to be seen to lose.Therefore, it’s the other side’sresponsibility to create a ‘goldenbridge’ across which Putin canretreat without admitting defeatand losing face. (The phrasecomes from Sun Tzu’s ‘Art ofWar’, written 2,500 years ago.)

It may come to that in theend, but the pundits are gettingahead of themselves. TheRussians have not lost the waryet; they have just failed to winit quickly and cheaply. Indeed,with around 10,000 Russiansoldiers dead already they havefailed quite spectacularly.

If the problem is just logis-tics, it can be sorted out in time.It might take another week oreven a month, but Ukraine isnot going anywhere; there’s noparticular hurry to conquer it.

However, it’s a whole differentgame if the real problem withthe Russian troops is morale.

Street-fighting eats uptroops like no other militaryoperation, so the Russian reluc-tance to launch a full-scaleground attack on big cities likeKyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa isunderstandable. But the alterna-tive of just standing back and

smashing the cities to dust withartillery is always available, andit worked well enough for Putinin Grozny and Aleppo.

Maybe Putin still intends todo that, and his generals are justwaiting for more shells androckets to arrive. But if neitherkind of attack on the citiesoccurs in the next week or so,then we can assume that the

problem is not just logistical. Itis also about the reluctance ofRussian soldiers to destroy thebig Ukrainian cities, or maybeeven to fight any more at all.

There have been strayreports of Russian units refus-ing to fight already, but thatmay just be Ukrainian propa-ganda. Yet it could also be true,because the soldiers will knowby now that they are in Ukraineas invaders, not as friends,and that will be a very uncom-fortable feeling.

A majority of adults inUkraine speak Russian wellenough to make their feelingsknown to the invaders in per-son and in considerable detail,so the Russian soldiers will notbe fooled by the official propa-ganda that still misleads theirfriends and family back home.They will feel that they have

been lied to by their ownauthorities.

The Russian army’s supplysystem has been managed sobadly that the soldiers have hadto spend much of their time ‘liv-ing off the land’, which actual-ly means stealing, buying orbegging food and water fromthe local Ukrainian popula-tion, so they will be feelingnothing but contempt for theirown leaders.

Their own mobile phoneswere confiscated by their offi-cers at the border, but their moreenterprising comrades will haveacquired Ukrainian ones bynow, so they will know what isactually happening elsewherealmost at once, including anyoutbreaks of disobedience byRussian troops.

Armies do sometimes justmelt away, or at least cease to

function as military hierarchies.I’m not confidently predictingthat this is going to happen tothe Russian army in Ukraine,but it’s certainly the ideal conditions to breed that sort ofcollapse.

So the Ukrainians should(and probably will) wait a whilelonger and see if the Russianarmy really does fall apart.

If it doesn’t and the Russianbombardment really startswrecking the big cities, then waitlonger, because in the end theywill have to send their troops into occupy them. If they refusethat order, then you have won.

If they obey it, then youhave lost the conventional war.Send President VolodymyrZelensky abroad to lead the gov-ernment-in-exile if he’s stillalive, and start planning theguerrilla war of resistance.

The Russians have not lost the war yet; they have just failed to win it quickly and cheaply

The invasion of Ukraine: What next?

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is ‘The Shortest Historyof War’. The views expressed

are personal.)

GWYNNE DYER

SHIVAJI SARKAR In the 1970s, cricketing meant inter-national Test series. Three-day match-es between visiting sides and Ranjizonal teams were also part of an India

tour. Then, the 50-over match, the day-and-night match, and eventually the T20came about.

Back then, cricket fans in India wouldfollow matches involving Somerset,Northamptonshire, etc., as top Indian play-ers took part in the English leagues. No onethen might have imagined that the world’sstar cricketers would flock to be among theten teams in an Indian league. Far fewerTest games are played than T20 tourna-ment matches.

When Conan Doyle and J.M.Barriewere playing the game, or for that mattereven when Vijay Hazare captained theIndian team to its first ever Test win, noone imagined how the formats and skillswould evolve, to the greater benefit of amuch larger global audience.

On the contrary, consider a pack ofplaying cards. Printers still follow an out-moded convention without any redesign.Obsolete symbols such as K and Q and Jought to have given way long ago toCouncillor, Mayor, Judge and Governor.The French Revolution of 1789 was a land-mark event that heralded the era of the cit-izen and dusted out the monarchy. Yet, inmany parts of the world, there’s a slownessin adopting the egalitarian language of cit-izens. In fact, some political parties chooseto signal a continuity with medievaldynasties and past insignia of power todemand a cultural allegiance from the pre-sent generation.

Rather than economic history or tech-nological history, it is political history thatis framed and projected as a means ofwielding power over people. By control-ling the prevalent social view of the pre-sent so that it appears less amenable to theaspirations of the lowly placed, the spiritof a democracy can be stifled.

The invention of the printing press, theelectric bulb, the airplane, the telephone,digital photography, have all redefinedhuman capacities in a profound way. Theywill shape our future more than many tra-ditional concepts will. And yet, there willbe people who direct our attention to oldmythologies, primitive frameworks ofunderstanding, and fetishize ‘ancient mar-vels’ at a time when many young peopleof today are themselves creating innova-tive solutions, working with advancedmethods, and apply a global understand-ing than a regional or monocultural one.

Now there are ways and ways in whichwe can relate to history. It can serve asknowledge that informs our current andfuture practice and policy without entire-ly determining it. Or history can get fedto an upcoming generation as an inheri-tance - on its own, a wealth to revel in -which can preclude the need to acquire anyglory for themselves in the future throughtalent and effort. This latter type of shinyarmour to readily strap on and preen one-

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 26, 2022 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Country's largest mortgagelender HDFC Ltd has soldover 28.89 lakh shares held

in Hindustan Oil Exploration Ltd(HOEC) during July 2021 toMarch 2022 for Rs 61 crore.Out of 1,15,72,786 equityshares of Rs 10 each held bythe Corporation in Hindustan OilExploration Company Ltd(HOEC), the Corporation hassold 28,89,638 shares

representing 2.19 per cent of the paid-up share capital of HOEC,HDFC said in a regulatory filing on Friday. Housing DevelopmentFinance Corporation (HDFC) said the shares were sold on thesecondary market through stock exchanges. HDFC said the shareshave been sold between July 9, 2021 and March 24, 2022 (includingthese dates). The sale crossed the 2 per cent threshold on acumulative basis, on March 24, 2022."The sale transactions werecarried out through stock exchanges at the prevailing market price.The total consideration for the sale of 28,89,638 equity shares is Rs61.04 crore," HDFC said. HOEC, which is engaged in exploration,development and production of crude oil and natural gas in India,both onshore and offshore, was incorporated in September 1983.The company participates in various oil and gas blocks which are inthe nature of joint operation through production sharing contractsbetween the company and government along with other entities.

HDFC sells over 2 pc stake in oilexplorer HOEC during July-Mar

German luxury car maker Audiplans to develop the market inIndia by bringing in more

brands and expanding the networkacross the country, an official ofAudi India said on Friday. Head ofAudi India Balbir Singh Dhillon saidthat the company, part of theVolkswagen Group, presentlyassembles four internal combustion(IC) cars in India, two SUVs and twosedans. "To develop the market in

the country, we will bring in more brands and also expand thenetwork. We have presently 60 touchpoints across the country",Dhillon said.Audi India, the third largest luxury car company in termsof sales, is having enough capacity to meet the demand at itsAurangbad plant for the next five years. These four models areassembled at the plant after bringing them in CKD form. Other modelsare directly imported.In 2021, the company sold 3293 cars, 101 percent growth over2020. Dhillon said that the present conflict in EastEurope may disrupt the supply chain since many components aresourced from Ukraine. Dhillon said we don't aim to become numberone in sales, To a query, he said the company had already introducedfive electric vehicles (EV) in India. Dhillon added that the target is thatby 2025, 15 per cent of the company's sales will be EVs Globally, Audiplans to stop sales of IC cars by 2033 and start selling all EV models.

Audi India plans to developmarket with more brands

PNS n NEW DELHI

Imports from China declined7.2 per cent to USD 65.21 bil-lion in 2020-21 from USD70.31 billion in 2018-19,Parliament was informed onFriday.

On the other hand, India'sexports to China rose 26 percent to USD 21.18 billion in2020-21 from USD 16.75 bil-lion in 2018-19, Minister ofState for Commerce andIndustry Anupriya Patel said ina written reply to the RajyaSaha.

"The imports from Chinahave exhibited a decliningtrend from USD 70.31 billionin 2018-19 to USD 65.21 bil-lion in 2020-21, a decline of 7.2per cent," she said.

The minister said India hasmade sustained efforts toachieve a more balanced trade

with China, including bilater-al engagements to address thenon-tariff barriers on Indianexports to China and measuresagainst unfair trade practices.

In a separate reply, the min-ister said the trade deficit withChina stood at USD 44.02billion in 2020-21 as againstUSD 48.65 billion.

Replying to another ques-tion, Patel said representa-tions from industry arereceived from time to time onsurge in imports from ASEANcountries, Japan and Korea,which are examined in consul-tation with the concernedadministrative ministries.

They are taken up with therespective trading partnersunder the existing institution-al mechanism enshrined in therespective free trade agree-ments, she added.

"FTAs have inbuilt provi-

sions to check any misuse ofthe FTA concessions, whichinter-alia include strict compli-ance of the Rules of Origin,checking mis-declaration, ifany, and taking trade remedi-al actions," the minister noted.

To another question, shereplied that the ministry isholding regular meetings withstakeholders to draw a roadmap and strategy to control theexpected loss in the tradeindustry due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

On a similar question,Commerce and IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal said theimpact can be assessed onlyafter the situation stabilises.

"However, the Departmentof Commerce is holding reg-ular consultation with all stake-holders to find out the impacton bilateral trade betweenIndia and Russia," he said.

Imports from China slip 7.2 pcto US $ 65.21 bn in 2020-21

PNS n NEW DELHI

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the CentralBoard of Directors of ReserveBank of India on Friday dis-cussed the overall impact ofcurrent global geopoliticalcrises on the Indian economy.

The 594th meeting of theCentral Board of Directors ofRBI was held on Friday atBengaluru under theChairmanship of GovernorShaktikanta Das, the RBI saidin a release. "The Board in itsmeeting reviewed the variousareas of operation of the Bankand the current economic sit-uation, global and domesticchallenges including the over-all impact of current globalgeopolitical crises," it said.

Further, the Board dis-cussed the Reserve Bank'sactivities during the current

accounting year 2021-22. TheBoard also approved the bud-get for the accounting year2022-23.

Deputy Governors MaheshKumar Jain, MichaelDebabrata Patra, M RajeshwarRao, and T Rabi Sankar,attended the meeting.

Other Directors of theCentral Board – Satish K

Marathe, S Gurumurthy,Revathy Iyer and SachinChaturvedi too attended themeeting.

The release further saidAjay Seth, Secretary,Department of EconomicAffairs and Sanjay Malhotra,Secretary, Department ofFinancial Services also partic-ipated in the meeting.

RBI central board discussesimpact of geopolitical crises PNS n NEW DELHI

Sustained efforts by the gov-ernment have resulted inincreasing the number ofrecognised startups from 726in 2016-17 to 65,861 as onMarch 14 this fiscal, theParliament was informed onFriday.

The government hadlaunched 'Startup India' initia-tive on January 16, 2016, withan aim to build a strongerecosystem for nurturing thestartup culture that would fur-ther drive economic growth,support entrepreneurship, andenable large-scale employmentopportunities.

"Sustained governmentefforts in this direction haveresulted in increasing the num-ber of recognised startupsfrom 726 in FY 2016-17 to65,861 in FY 2021-22 (as on14th March 2022)," Commerceand Industry Minister Piyush

Goyal said in a written reply tothe Rajya Sabha.

He said that the recognisedstartups are spread across over640 districts and have report-ed a creation of more thanseven lakh jobs with an aver-age of 11 jobs being created bythem.

The recognised startups, hesaid, are spread across 56diversified sectors such as ITservices, finance technology,technology hardware, enter-prise software, artificial intel-ligence, and nanotechnology.

Replying to an anotherquestion, Minister of State forCommerce and Industry SomParkash said that as onFebruary 28 this year, the min-istry has allocated Rs 2,791.29crore to SIDBI, which in turncommitted Rs 6,795 crore to 82Alternative Investment Funds(AIFs), while Rs 8,785 crorehave been invested by support-ed AIFs in 574 startups.

Number of recognised startupsincreases to 65,861: Govt

PNS n BRUSSELS

The US and European Unionon Friday announced a newpartnership to reduce the con-tinent's reliance on Russianenergy, the start of a years-longinitiative to further isolateMoscow after its invasion ofUkraine.

As part of the plan, the USand other nations will increaseliquified natural gas exports toEurope by 15 billion cubicmetres this year, the WhiteHouse said, adding that evenlarger shipments would bedelivered in the future.

At the same time, they willtry to keep their climate goalson track by powering gas infra-structure with clean energyand reducing methane leaksthat can worsen global warm-ing.

Although the initiative willlikely require new facilitiesfor importing liquified natur-

al gas, the partnership is alsogeared toward reducingreliance on fossil fuels in thelong run through energy effi-ciency and alternative sourcesof energy, according to theWhite House.

US President Joe Biden wasset to discuss the issue withUrsula von der Leyen, head ofthe European Union's execu-tive arm, before leaving forPoland, the final leg of his four-day trip.

Earlier this week, Von derLeyen said the EU was "aimingat having a commitment foradditional supplies for thenext two winters”.

Jake Sullivan, Biden'snational security adviser,recently told reporters thatthe administration wanted toquickly “surge” gas to Europe.

Russian energy is a keysource of income and politicalleverage for Moscow.

Almost 40 per cent of the

European Union's natural gascomes from Russia to heathomes, generate electricity andpower industry.

After leaving Brussels, Bidentravels to Rzeszów in Poland,where US troops are basedroughly an hour's drive fromthe Ukrainian border.

The US president will getbriefed on the humanitarianresponse to the refugeesstreaming out of Ukraine andthose still suffering inside the

country.He will also meet US service

members from the 82ndAirborne Division, who servealongside Polish troops.

Biden is then expected tocontinue on to Warsaw fortalks on Saturday with PolishPresident Andrzej Duda.

Before returning toWashington, the White Housesaid Biden will give an address"on the united efforts of thefree world to support the peo-

ple of Ukraine, hold Russiaaccountable for its brutal war,and defend a future that isrooted in democratic princi-ples”.

While in Brussels, Biden onThursday participated in atrio of summits hosted byNATO, the Group of Sevenindustrialised nations and theEuropean Union.

The extraordinary series ofmeetings reflected heightenedconcerns about the war inUkraine, which on Thursdayentered its second month.

Although Ukraine hasresisted the Russian invasionmuch more successfully thaninitially expected, the conflicthas become a gruelling andbloody affair, with thousandsof casualties on each side andmillions of refugees fleeingthe country.

Western leaders are alsoconcerned that RussianPresident Vladimir Putin

could use chemical or evennuclear weapons to regainmomentum in the war.

Getting more liquefied nat-ural gas to Europe could be dif-ficult, even though the UShas been dramatically increas-ing its exports in recent years.

Many export facilities arealready operating at capacity,and most new terminals arestill only in the planning stages.

Most US shipments alreadygo to Europe, according to theCentre for Liquefied NaturalGas, an industry lobbyinggroup. Although much of thesupply is already contractedout to buyers, there's stillopportunities to shift its des-tination. “The US is in aunique position because it hasflexible LNG that can bererouted to Europe or to Asia,depending on who's willing topay that price,” said EmilyMcClain, gas markets analystat Rystad.

US, EU announce new partnership to undercut Russian energy

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Small IndustriesDevelopment Bank of India(SIDBI) has joined hands withthe Meghalaya government todevelop an ecosystem for smalland medium businesses.

SIDBI has entered into a

Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) with theMeghalaya InfrastructureDevelopment and FinanceCorporation Ltd (MiDFC) todevelop the MSME ecosystemin the state, SIDBI said in arelease.SIDBI is the country'sprincipal financial institution

for Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises (MSMEs).

Under the MoU, SIDBI andthe state government will workclosely to facilitate the develop-ment of the MSME ecosystemin Meghalaya. As per theMoU's few broad objectives,SIDBI will aid in entrepreneur-

ship development in the state;development of MSME clusters;capacity building ofNGOs/development organisa-tions/ MSMEs; support andshowcase replicable livelihoodprojects aligned to the priorityidentified by the state amongothers.

The MoU will also worktowards expanding digital offer-ings for MSMEs in the state;mapping state specific liveli-hood opportunities throughexpert consultants and exten-sion of promotion and develop-mental initiatives of SIDBI inthe state.

SIDBI joins hands with Meghalaya govt to develop MSME

PNS n NEW DELHI

Torrent Power on Fridayannounced the completion ofthe acquisition of 50 MWsolar power plant fromLightsource bp and UKCI foran enterprise value of Rs 300crore.

"Torrent Power Limited has,pursuant to SecuritiesPurchase Agreement withLightsource India Ltd andLightsource Renewable Energy(India) Ltd, completed trans-action of acquisition of 100 percent of the share capital and allsecurities of LREHLRenewables India SPV 1Private Ltd (SPV)," a compa-ny statement said.

The SPV (special purposevehicle) operates a 50 MWsolar power plant, commis-sioned in April 2018, situatedin Maharashtra.

It has a long-term PowerPurchase Agreement withSolar Energy Corporation ofIndia Limited for full capaci-

ty for a period of 25 years at atariff of Rs 4.43/ kWh.

According to the statement,enterprise value for this acqui-sition is around Rs 300 croreincluding the VGF (viabilitygap funding) receivable, con-sequent to closing adjustments.

Torrent Power is a leadingpower sector firm and has apresence across the entirepower value chain of genera-tion, transmission and distri-bution.

Torrent Power currently hasan aggregate installed genera-

tion capacity of 4.1 GW, whichconsists largely of clean gener-ation sources such as gas (2.7GW) and renewables (1.0GW).

It also has a capacity of 0.4GW of renewable energyplants under development.

With the acquisition of 50MW Solar Power Plant,Torrent Power's total genera-tion capacity, including underdevelopment portfolio, willreach 4.6 GW with a renewableportfolio of more than 1.5GW.

Torrent Power completes acquisition of 50 MWsolar power plant from Lightsource bp, UKCI

ESIC scheme adds 12.84 lakhnew members in JanuaryPNS n NEW DELHI

Around 12.84 lakh newmembers joined theESIC-run socialsecurity scheme inJanuary 2021against 15.34 lakhin the previousmonth, official datashowed on Friday,giving a perspective onformal sector employmentin the country.

The latest data is part of areport released by theNational Statistical Office(NSO).

Gross new enrolments withEmployees' State InsuranceCorporation (ESIC) were10.78 lakh in April, 8.91 lakhin May, 10.68 lakh in June,13.42 lakh in July, 13.47 lakh

in August, 13.57 lakh inSeptember, 12.47 lakh in

October and 10.44 lakh inNovember 2021, the lat-

est data showed.June, July and

August figures showan increase in enrol-ments after easing of

C O V I D - i n d u c e drestrictions by states

post the second wave ofthe pandemic that hit thecountry in mid-April lastyear.The NSO report showedthat gross enrolments of newsubscribers with ESIC were1.15 crore in 2020-21, com-pared to 1.51 crore in 2019-20and 1.49 crore in 2018-19.From September 2017 toMarch 2018, around 83.35lakh new subscribers joinedthe ESIC scheme.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Chemical manufacturerGujarat Polysol ChemicalsLtd (GPCL) has filed its pre-liminary papers with Sebi toraise Rs 414 crore through aninitial public offering. Theinitial share sale comprises afresh issue of equity sharesaggregating up to Rs 87 croreand an offer-for-sale (OFS) ofequity shares aggregating upto Rs 327 crore by its promot-ers, according to the draft redherring prospectus.There willbe no pre-IPO placement forthis issue. The company willuse the net proceeds towardsrepayment or pre-payment infull or in part of all borrow-ing availed by the companyand general corporate pur-poses.

Gujarat PolysolChemicals files DRHPfor Rs 414-crore IPO

PNS n BEIJING

Global stock markets weremixed on Friday after Westerngovernments promised newsanctions on Russia andPresident Vladimir Putin triedto prop up Moscow's sinkingruble by threatening to requireEurope to use the Russiancurrency to pay for gasexports.

London and Shanghaideclined while Tokyo gained,and Frankfurt was little-changed. Oil fell but stayedabove USD110 per barrel.

Wall Street futures declineda day after gaining as thenumber of Americans apply-ing for unemployment fell toa 52-year low.

Western leaders meetingon Thursday in Brusselspromised more sanctions.

US President Joe Biden said

they were meant to “increasethe pain” on Putin, but theleaders released no details ofpossible new penalties.

Putin threatened to requireEuropean customers that relyon Russia gas supplies to payin rubles, a move that wouldincrease demand for theRussian currency, pushing upan exchange rate that has

slumped under sanctions.European leaders on

Thursday rejected that possi-bility, potentially setting up aclash over energy supplies.

Putin's demand is a “cun-ning gambit" to frustrate sanc-tions while “elevating uncer-tainty for the West”, said TanBoon Heng of Mizuho Bank ina report.

Global stocks mixed after West targets RussiaPNS n NEW DELHI

Delhi ranked third in terms ofper capita income behindSikkim and Goa, according tothe Economic Survey of Delhi2021-22.

The survey also said thatDelhi's GDP at current pricesincreased by about 50 percent in the last six years fromRs 6,16,085 crore in 2016-17to Rs 9,23,967 crore in 2021-22.

According to the survey,Delhi's per capita income grew16.81 per cent year-on-year toRs 4,01,982 in fiscal 2021-22.

"Delhi's Per Capita Incomeduring 2021-22 at currentprices, has been worked out toRs 4,01,982 as against Rs3,44,136 during 2020-21,showing a growth of 16.81 percent. Per Capita Income of

Delhi is ranked at 3rd placeamong States/UTs while Goastood at 1st place and Sikkimat 2nd place," the survey said.

The economic survey forthe financial year 2021-22 waspresented in the Assembly onFriday by Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia.

The per capita income ofDelhi was three times higherthan the national average in2021-22, it said.

Delhi ranks third in terms of per capitaincome behind Sikkim, Goa: Eco Survey

PNS n MUMBAI

Market benchmark Sensexdeclined over 233 points onFriday, extending its losses toa third day as index majorsHDFC Bank, TCS and Infosyswent down amid a mixedtrend in global equities.The 30-share BSE benchmark dropped233.48 points or 0.41 per centto settle at 57,362.20. Duringthe day, it tanked 495.44 pointsto 57,100.24.Similarly, thebroader NSE Nifty declined69.75 points or 0.40 per cent tosettle at 17,153. "The Indianequity market continue to bein a grind, influenced by andreacting to incremental newsflow on the global front, espe-cially related to the geopoliti-cal situation and Fed rhetoric.

Sensex, Nifty declinefor 3rd day as HDFCBank, TCS slide

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SaturdayMarch 26, 2022

Asunscreen istouted as one of the must-haves in any skincare routine because

it not just protects the skin from the sun’s harsh UVradiation, but also nourishes and keeps it youthful.Sunscreens are extremely popular but there are a lotof myths regarding its use. This article will attemptto explode some of these myths and bring someclarity on the topic.

Shahnaz Husain, founder, chairperson and man-aging director of The Shahnaz Husain Group, inconversation with The Pioneer busts some of themyths surrounding sunscreen. Here we go:

Myth #1: People with fair complexionhave to use more sunscreen than peoplewho are wheatish or dusky skin

People tend to assume that people with moremelanin in their skin need not put on some sun-screen because of melanin’s natural ability to absorbless UV rays than pale skin. This may be true tosome extent, but this does not mean that darker-skinned people have to avoid sunscreen altogether!Over-exposure to the sun can cause wrinkles, pig-mentation and dryness in darker skins too. Doctors

recommend that everyone use a sunscreen with anSPF of 20 to 25 because the skin cannot fight theseharmful rays on its own.

Myth #2: Sunscreen removes tan

This is probably one of the most ridiculous mythsthat people believe. A sunscreen is not meant toremove the tan that you already have. Yes, a sun-screen may prevent your skin from tanning furtherto a certain degree, but it may not de-tan your skin!For that purpose, you may needto go for specific de-tanningproducts available in themarket or use homeremedies to removetan.

Myth #3:People whodo not usesunscreenare prone toget cancer

One cannotclaim, for goodreason, that any-body and every-body who does notuse sunscreen willdefinitely get cancer. Of

course, it istrue that exposingoneself to the harsh sun andgetting sunburnt regularly does double therisk of skin cancer or melanoma. But people whoavoid the sun at peak times (12 pm to 3 pm) anduse an umbrella instead of a sunscreen can also beprotected from the possibility of getting skin cancerdue to UV radiation. This scenario does not requiresunscreen use; so it is absolutely wrong assumingthat anyone who doesn’t use sunscreen is doomedand will get cancer for sure.

Myth #4: You need to apply sunscreenonly once a day

Many folks believe that sunscreen is a one-and-done product in the sense that it needs to beapplied only once a day, and they’re good to go.Nope. You need to carry around a sunscreen justlike how one carries around a water bottle in yourbag. The sunscreen needs to be reapplied every

three-four hours, if you are out in the sun for long.If you are outdoors the whole day, then this processbecomes even more important because sun-expo-sure can cause sun damage if it is not amply pro-tected by sunscreen.

Myth # 5: Make-up with SPF of over 30 isenough, no need for actual sunscreen

Nowadays, a lot of make-up products claim tohave built-in sunscreen on their labels, boasting ofSPF over 30 and 40 in most cases. Many of usbelieve that the SPF coverage these products offer ismore than enough, and that there is no need for aproper sunscreen. This is not correct. This isbecause experts say that you will need to be applylayers and layers of such ‘make-up with SPF’ prod-ucts if it has to be as effective as one coat of a prop-er sunscreen. Also, such make-up products areaimed mostly at the face and neck, ignoring theother exposed parts of the body like arms and legs.Since it is not a practical option to cake your faceand body with such make-up, the best bet would beto use a sunscreen suited to your skin regularly.

Myth #6: Water-resistant sunscreen is thesame as ‘water-proof’ sunscreen

It may come as a shock to many people, but thereis no such thing as a water-proof sunscreen. Sweat

and water have the ability to wash off thetoughest of sunscreens from our skin, no

matter what. This is why many sunscreenmanufacturers abroad are now not

allowed by law to use the term‘waterproof sunscreen’. However,there are sunscreens in the mar-ket that are water-resistant.What this essentially means isthat such types of sunscreenshave the ability to last longerwhen one is swimming orsweating. However, reap-plication every forty to

eighty minutes is advisedwhen one is actively per-

spiring during any physicalactivity.

Myth#7: Doublethe SPF, double theprotection

Many of us have the idea that a sunscreen withSPF 30 is going to offer double protection than asunscreen with SPF 15. This seems plausible forthe uninitiated, because 15 times two is 30.However, that is not the logic behind sun-screen use. Experts state that while sun-screens with SPF 15 have the ability to blockup to 94% of UVB rays, sunscreens withSPF 30 have the ability to block up to97%. This means that there is only a mar-ginal increase in protection and ‘dou-

bling’ does not happen atall. Therefore, using abroad-range sunscreenthat protects you fromboth UVA and UVBrays should be whatyou’re looking forinstead of justobsessing over theSPF values. Forsun-sensitiveskin, which isprone to darkpatches orspots, use asunscreenof highSPF.

SHIKHA DUGGAL

or the Singhania family, there is adesire to connect and contribute tosustaining their legacy across the gen-erations. These sole textile distributorsfrom the times of Nizam are main-

taining their value, creating milestones and for-warding their personal histories. The connec-tive tissue that has kept them bound and ledthem to continuous growth is the artisticexpression that they have inculcated in theirtextiles all this while.

“To your surprise, I am continuing the 7thgeneration who were born and brought up here.My great grandfather was associated with theNizams. They offered him to commence a tex-tile business in this city. Once, my great grand-father narrated to us how their ancestors usedto come here on camels to do business. Fromestablishing textiles in the old city, look wherewe are today, running the occupation in thecentral hub of Hyderabad. The Nizams were theones to guide us because the textile businesswasn’t a thing back then! It was being imported

from Japan and that’s about it. Nobody ven-tured into it personally over here.

Unknown fact: duringthose times,

fabric was distributed in the same way thatrations were.Everyone was given a limitedlicence that had to be distributed in accordancewith the rules. That was the understandingback then,” shared Shailesh Singhania, whoowns a store in Banjara Hills.

The promise of quality is the foremostgoal of their business! From being themanufacturers and wholesalers of tex-tiles, they moved into the retail seg-ment around 1999, and it’sunimaginable when you seetheir survival with so muchgrace today. He continued,“What has changed today isthat the expansion is sohuge that we have ourown printing and embroi-dery units today.Designing, colour grad-ing, yarn spinning, giv-ing it to the handloomweavers, using appropri-ate dyes — all of thishas changed now. It hasbeen revamped in a way.We have come a longway from importing tomanufacturing.”

Singhanias believes thatweaving traditions are one

of the oldest artisticexpres-

sions, and they opened their first store inBanjara Hills in 2004, hoping to showcase thisartisanal craft!He

also mentioned, “Since Nizami culture wasmore about embroidery, gota patti, pearl work,zardosi, totally influenced by Muslim culture.Kanjivaram is trending now in Hyderabad.Earlier, there were brocades or handcrafted

banarasi. We have derived inspiration fromour great grandmother’s blouses too. Our

current aim is to build on natural yarn.You won’t find any plastic zaris. Silk,

cotton, and woollen are the onlynatural fabrics available, so they

are limited, but we are anyhowworking with those to

remain sustainable and notharm the environment byany means. Sustainabilityis the true form of luxu-ry!”

So proud of theirheritage, here you willfind all the tokens ofpure artistry collectedover the years andcarefully put togetherby them. The walls atthe store are dedicatedto reviving art pieceswoven by masterweavers and award-

winning artists! Wallpanels with the best of

fabrics and an extensiverepertoire of luscious fab-

rics like Silk Ikat, Organza,Hand Painted Silks, Block

Printed Cottons,Banarasis, Kanchisilks and manymore from this

nation’s

fabric culture are waiting for you. He conclud-ed, “No one can beat the acceptance that thiscity provides! They are always welcome torevival procedures. It knows how to hop ontothe trend itself without any hassle. Hyderabadiwomen look so graceful in sarees. All of a sud-den, there’s a spark of banarasi sarees here.Draping sarees has a beauty all of its own. Wegrew up without mobile phones. The onlysource of inspiration was the stories coming

from our grandparents. Theyalways mentioned that the

market would never stopgrowing and that the busi-ness would never end, and

that’s what I embraced as abusinessman too in order to

continue our textileheritage.”

‘No place can beat the acceptance

that Hyd provides!’

Popular sunscreenmyths that are not true

f

Themusc

uloskeletalsystem is com-

posed of hun-dreds of moving

elements (bones,muscles, liga-

ments, tendons,and cartilage) that

work together toallow the body to

move and operate at itsbest. However, these

components could beinjured, weakened with

time, or afflicted by illness.Although bones are pret-

ty strong, they are made upof living tissue that constantly

breaks down and rebuilds.“The body can build new bones

quicker than break down exist-ing bone tissue until one is in

their early 20s. However, as peopleage, this process slows down. Old

bone tissue might degrade quickerthan it can be replaced as humans

age. This can cause the bones tobecome more thin and fragile, leading

to osteoporosis, a disorder that causesthe bones to thin, weaken, and become

more brittle, increasing the risk of bonefractures. So to stay healthy and fit, it's

critical to recognise some of the warningsigns and look out for them,” shares Dr.

Veerendra Mudnoor, Consultant Joint

Replacement &Arthroscopy Surgeon, Apollo

Spectra Hospital, Hyderabad.Dr. Veerendra also shares a

few early warning signs for osteo-porosis that should be considered:

Receding gums: Teeth are usual-ly attached to the jawbone, and once

the jawbone begins to thin, one maynotice receding gums as well. Jaw

bone erosion has been linked todecreasing bone density in the lower

spine vertebrae in women’s surveys.Decreasing grip strength: Good grip,

balance, and muscle strength are essentialfor preventing falls, especially among older

humans. Researchers discovered a relation-ship between weak handgrip strength and low

bone mineral density in a study of post-menopausal women, hinting at overall bonemineral density. Also, decreased grip strengthmight increase the chance of falling. When aperson’s handgrip loosens, it can be a sign toconsider.

Cramps and pains: Muscle cramps andaches are a common, yet frequently neglected,an early indication of osteoporosis. It denotes asignificant deficiency in Vitamin D, the mostcritical bone builder. A variety of factors cancause leg and foot cramps. However, crampsthat occur at night are frequently indicative oflow calcium, magnesium, and/or potassiumlevels in the blood. An excessive bone lossmight develop if this scenario persists for anextended period.

Height reduction: Certain bodily changesare early indicators of osteoporosis. One of themost noticeable signs is the loss of height. If anindividual has a height loss of more than two

inches ora curvature in thespine that has been detected byan orthopedic, they are in the risk zone forosteoporosis. It means that the illness hasalready affected one’s vertebrae.

Brittle fingernails: According to the ortho-pedist, nailbone health isclosely tied tobone density.Weak finger-nails that fre-quently breakafter handwashing orother manualactivitiesmight indicatea decrease inbone density.The strengthof one’s nailsmight indicatethe health ofone’s bones.However,additionalvariables thatmay impactthe nailsshould beconsidered,such as expo-sure toextremely hotor cold tem-

peratures,regular useof nailpaintremover oracrylicnails, orprolongedimmersionin water.

One canavoid get-ting osteo-porosis byfrequentlyexercising,eating ahealthy diet rich in calcium and vitamins,avoiding alcohol and other drugs, and min-imising falls. Osteoporosis treatmentincludes medication to help with bone mass.These medications usually have hormonaleffects, increasing or acting similarly tooestrogen to stimulate bone development.Osteoporosis frequently has no symptoms inits early stages. Low bone density inosteopenia, frequent fractures, and issueswith one’s posture are all indicators of osteo-porosis. So, please be mindful of one’s bonedensity and check it regularly to detectosteoporosis early and treat it to enhanceboth bone health and quality of life, con-cludes the doctor.

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10

Hyderabad Saturday March 26, 2022 what’s brewing?

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

An exclusive supper soiréewas held to experiencestate-of-the-art Italian luxuryfurniture for the launch ofEmpire Home, owned byKabir and Nisha Manghnani.The event was held oversupper and a flowing baramidst jazz with George Hullon the sax followed by KeithRosario’s vocals. Guestsseen were PVP (Prasad VPotluri), Vishnuvardhan andMeera Reddy, Deepika andSagar Rao, Padmaja Reddy,Supraja Rao, Renu and SirajHasan, Aamir and HameedaSharma, Ian and AliciaDubier, Aruna Bahuguna,Gulnar, and AadarshBalakrishna, JyotsnaAngara, Dr Sunil Kapoor,Preeti Kapoor, and manyother society ladies andgentlemen.

SUPPER SOIREE

l Vyshnavi Reddyl Deepa Gurbani

l Raj shree Somany

l Karuna Gopal

l Babita Jhabakh

l Anita l Rama Ganeriwal l Priyanka

lTa

vish

i Jai

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l Aadarash and Gulnar Balakrihsna

Deep Mela 2022, a fundraising exhibition, wasinaugurated by Karuna

Gopal, President, Foundationfor Futuristic Cities. The three-day mela will continue tillMarch 27 at Hitex ExhibitionCentre, Hall No 2. It features arange of products fromclothing, jewellery, accessories,to cosmetics, homeappliances, decor and more.

SHOPPING FOR A CAUSE

Pepperfry, furniture, and home productsmarketplace, announced the launch ofits first Studio in Secunderabad,

Telangana. The offline expansion is in linewith the company’s aim to penetrate nichemarkets and build the largest omnichannelbusiness in the furniture and home prod-ucts segment in India. Pepperfry, whichlaunched its first Studio in 2014, currentlyhas 100 plus Studios across 50 plus citiesin the country.

l Bakhita Francis

PAR

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Ph

oto

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V C

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l Indu Agarwal

Dream11, a fan-tasy sportsplatform,

announced that twoof India’s most popu-lar actors and sensa-tional youth icons,Kartik Aaryan andSamantha Prabhu willbe its newestendorsers. This willbe the first time thatDream11 has celebri-ties outside of sportsas ambassadors forthe brand to buildsalience via multi-channel marketingcampaigns through-out the year. In addi-tion to Dream11’sexisting 27 cricketambassadors, the newsuperstars will helpthe brand engage dif-ferently with usersacross the country aswell as its existing 120million userbases.

The actors will ini-

tially be seen in aseries of ad filmsannouncing TheDream Sale on theDream11 app, as partof which sports fanswill be offered a flat50% joining discounton mega contestsalong with a host ofother offers on theplatform ahead of theTATA Indian PremierLeague (IPL) 2022.The Dream Sale willbe live till March 29.Films featuring thetwo actors will beavailable digitally onsocial media,YouTube and Hotstar.

As sports fansthemselves, bothactors have testedtheir skills and knowl-edge of their favouritegames as fantasysports players.

Samantha Prabhusaid, “As a brand,

Dream11 encouragesyou to ‘Dream Big’, aphilosophy thatstrongly resonateswith me as it is purehard work and ambi-tion that has got meto where I am today.This connection withwhat the brand standsfor motivated me toendorse the brandand spread this mes-sage. I have also thor-oughly enjoyedDream11’s past cam-paigns during the IPL– they’re entertaining,relatable, and capturethe pulse of India’spassion for sports.I am thrilled to beassociated with theworld’s biggestfantasy sports plat-form and play apart in celebratingthe spirit of sportsand the values itpromotes.”

ith oneofIndia’sfinestandmost

successful film-makers — KaranJohar hosting thegrand trailerlaunch event ofthis year’s highly-anticipated pan-India film KGF:Chapter 2 inBengaluru, onecan imagine howspectacular theevent will turnout to be!

As KGF:Chapter 2 is gear-ing up for a mas-sive theatricalrelease on April14, the makers ofthe mega actionentertainer havedecided to go allout with the pro-motions andhence they areorganising thebiggest trailerlaunch event on27th March inBengaluru. It istouted to be avisual spectaclewhere the entirecast and crewwould cometogether, alongwith the bigwigsof the industry.

Building theanticipation evenfurther, the mak-ers have roped infilmmaker KaranJohar to host thetrailer launchevent of the filmscheduled in

Bengaluru thisweek.

An explosivecombination ofimmersive story-line, mind-bend-ing actionsequences, catchysoundtrack andtop-notch perfor-mances, Chapter1 shattered Indiancinema recordsand expectations.With the additionof Sanjay Dutt,Raveena Tandonto its eclectic cast,Chapter 2 isexpected to sur-pass previouslyset records.

Releasingnationwide onApril 14, 2022, inKannada, Telugu,Hindi, Tamil andMalayalam,K.G.F.: Chapter 2is written anddirected byPrashanth Neel,one of the mostsought-afterdirectors, andproduced by VijayKiragandur,under theHombale Filmsbanner. One ofthe emergingpan-India pro-duction houses,Hombale Filmsis set to show-case some ofthe biggestfilms in Indiancinema overthe next twoyears, includ-ing the much-awaited filmSalaar starring

Prabhas.The

film isbeingpresented inNorth-Indianmarkets by RiteshSidhwani andFarhan Akhtar’sExcelEntertainmentand AA Films.Excel has givensuper hits like DilChahata Hai,Zindagi Na MilegiDobara, DilDhadakne Do,and GullyBoy toonlyname afew.

Karan Johar tohost trailer launchevent of ‘KGF:

Chapter 2’!

RGV to direct Upendra

DirectorRamGopal

Varma, who has beenbusy with multiple movies,

has announced that he willdirect Kannada star Upendra foran upcoming film R.

Taking to twitter, Varma post-ed a series of quotes on his

upcoming movie with Upendra.According to Varma’s tweets, the

movie, which is titled R will show-case Upendra as a gangster inBengaluru who later moved toMumbai to rule the underworld.

The Shiva director also releasedvideo glimpses of R.

However, the maker has kept theother details related to this movieunder the wraps for now. Producedby A Square Productions, the moviewill go on floors soon, the RaktaCharitra director announced.

runalThakur,who waslast seen inan extend-ed cameo

in Kartik Aaryan’scrime thriller,Dhamaka will next beseen debuting in aTelugu film oppositesouth sensationDulquer Salmaan.Produced by SwapnaCinema, the film isbeing directed byHanu Raghavapudi. Itwill be presented byVyjayanthi Films.What’s interesting is

that the actor’s lookfrom the film bears astriking resemblancewith the yesteryearsuperstar,Madhubala!

Often called themost beautiful Indianactress of all time,Madhubala is an icon,so any comparison toher is a huge compli-ment. Despite havingsuch big shoes to fill,Mrunal seems to lovethe attention: “It’s anhonour to be told Iresemble one of themost beautifulactresses, Madhubala

ji.” The actor adds,“This film just got awhole lot special forme after being associ-ated with such a leg-endary actor. Reallylooking forward tothis one and I hopethat my fans love thefilm as much as weloved making it!”

Mrunal Thakurwill also be seen inShahid Kapoor’supcoming sportsdrama, Jersey, direct-ed by GowtamTinnanuri, releasingworldwide on April14, 2022.

w

m

11

Hyderabad | Saturday March 26, 2022 tollywood

SHIKHA DUGGAL

espite some of the trend-ing hashtags on sex-ed,sex-positivity in thecountry still seems to bea far-fetched topic. And,

just doing this a little more right,Akshara Haasan replaces shamewith teaching in a coming of agedramedy titled Achcham MadamNaanam Payirppu, aka The Mythof the Good Girl in India onAmazon Prime Video. Accordingto the popular adage, Achcham(fear), Madam (innocence),Naanam (coyness), and Payirppu(chastity) are the four ideal quali-ties that every good Tamil girlmust possess. Even the posterseems to be presenting Aksharawith some similar traits, making uswonder what she’s perplexed about.Talking to us in an exclusive chat,she apprises, “Yes, the poster says alot about my character — it’s allabout innocence. There will bemany nineteen-year-old girls whomust come from orthodox familiesand are simply attempting to strikea balance between their personaldesires and what the familybelieves in. We would like tochange this.”

She is in that awkward stagebetween being a curious teenagerand a smart woman and strugglesto strike a balance between societalexpectations and personal desires.“The moment the camera startedrolling, each actor was speaking forhimself. We were as realistic as wecould be! Whenever any moment

was naturally moving aheadtowards a vital emotional space,the director never interrupted.”

How did Akshara manage tomake this transition? Well, shereplied, “I noticed how bold she isin real life. She’s a powerful lady.These are some of the women thatI like to adore in my real life too.She was extremely warm-heartedto me.”

After having a successful run onthe international film festival cir-cuit, the movie is now going toring bells on OTT. The film, pro-duced by Trend Loud and writtenand directed by Raja Ramamurthy,has been recognised at variousprestigious international film festi-vals such as HBO’s South AsianInternational Film Festival,Caleidoscope Indian Film Festivalin Boston, etc. Super elatedAkshara says, “We got well-deserved recognition abroad. Thisfeedback was important because itwas coming from a completelydiverse perspective. Thewhole experience wasso enriching.”

Going by thesynopsis, we askAkshara whethershe was alsounder any pres-sure in her real-life or probablyconfused. Sheascertains, “Idon’t mean tosound philo-sophical, butlife, anyway,redefines and

re-identifies us. We will alwaysreach that boiling point in ourlives. Mom and dad instilled confi-dence in both of us by passing ontheir knowledge, encouraging us tobe open tolearningand

pushing us to read a lot. Theirmixture of values and ethics mademe who I am today. It was interest-ing growing up with them.”

Further into the conversation,talking about her teenage days, theShamitabh fame recalls, “I was amix of calm and notorious. I hadbeen to four different schools,

including a boarding school. I gotto spend time both in Mumbaiand Chennai — each schoolbuilt a viewpoint in me, whichis extremely important for abudding teenager. That’s theage when we are discoveringourselves, right! For example,talking about sex should be verynormal in every household.How can an organic process all

of a sudden turn awkward forus? Communication is always the

key.” When Raja narrated the storyto the lead actress, she instantlyknew she wanted to be a part ofthis film. Achcham MadamNaanam Payirppu is a slice-of-life,light-hearted watch. Akshara

believes that every youngadult will relate to

her character inthe film!

‘Talking about sexshould be very normalin every household'd Mrunal Thakur's

look from her nextis inspired byMadhubala

Samanthabags anotherendorsement

sports 12HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MARCH 26, 2022

AP n PARIS

Reigning European champions Italy willmiss a second straight World Cup afterlosing to a dramatic stoppage-time goalagainst North Macedonia on Thursday,

but Portugal, Wales and Sweden all made itthrough to qualifying play-off deciders.

Four-time World Cup winners Italy werestunned in Palermo as Aleksandar Trajkovski --who used to play club football in the Sicilian city-- fired past Gianluigi Donnarumma from rangein the second minute of injury time to give North

Macedonia an incredible 1-0 victory.There was no time after that for Italy to recov-

er and they will again be absent from the WorldCup in Qatar after also failing to qualify for the2018 tournament in Russia when they lost in aplay-off to Sweden.

That was a traumatic experience for a nationthat had previously been to every tournamentsince 1958, and this failure is all the more remark-able given that they were crowned Europeanchampions less than nine months ago.

That success for Roberto Mancini's side camewhile they were on a world record 37-game

unbeaten run, but four draws in their last five qual-ifiers last autumn saw them finish second in theirgroup to Switzerland, exposing them to the dan-gers of the play-offs again.

North Macedonia, the Balkan nation of justtwo million people, held Italy to a draw in Turinin 2018 World Cup qualifying and beat Germanyaway in this campaign before appearing at theirdebut European Championship last year.

PENALTY MISS COSTS TURKEYThey will now go to Porto to face Portugal

next Tuesday, after the Euro 2016 winners defeat-ed Turkey 3-1 at the Estadio do Dragao, albeit onlyafter Burak Yilmaz missed a crucial late penaltyfor the visitors.

The home side were cruising thanks to first-half goals by Brazilian-born midfielder Otavio andLiverpool forward Diogo Jota.

But Turkey's veteran skipper Yilmaz pulleda goal back in the 65th minute, setting up a tensefinish.

Turkey were then awarded a late penalty whena foul on Enes Unal was detected by the Germanreferee following a VAR review, but Yilmaz putthe spot-kick over the bar and Matheus Nunessecured Portugal's victory in stoppage time.

Turkey have not appeared at the World Cupsince coming third in Japan and South Koreain 2002.

Portugal have not missed out on the tour-nament since 1998 and, at 37, Cristiano

Ronaldo's dream of World Cup gloryremains alive.

BALE BRILLIANCEMeanwhile, Gareth Bale was in inspi-

rational form as his brace secured a 2-1 winfor Wales against Austria in Cardiff.

Bale has only played five times for hisclub Real Madrid this season, and justtwice since August, but the Wales captainstarted at the Cardiff City Stadium andopened the scoring from a stunning25th-minute free-kick.

He then struck again, with a superbhit across goalkeeper Heinz Lindnerand into the far corner, to double thelead six minutes after half-time.

Wales, who are bidding to qualify

for their first World Cup since 1958, then heldon after Austria reduced the deficit in the 64thminute when Marcel Sabitzer's shot deflected inoff Ben Davies.

Robert Page's team will be at home in theplay-off final but must wait until at least Junefor that, with the ongoing war in Ukraine mean-ing their tie away to Scotland remains on holdfor now.

Sweden set up a play-off final againstPoland next week after an extra-time strike byRobin Quaison gave them a 1-0 win over theCzech Republic in Solna.

Quarter-finalists in 2018, Sweden had to bepatient before edging a Czech side who owedtheir place in the play-offs to their performancein the last UEFA Nations League.

Saudi Arabia-based Quaison scored in the110th minute, finishing after a one-two withAlexander Isak.

Poland received a bye to the play-off finalafter would-be opponents Russia were suspend-

ed from all international com-petition until further

notice following theinvasion of Ukraine.

Scotland andPoland drew 1-1 in afriendly in Glasgow,with Kieran Tierney

giving the home sidethe lead only for Krzysztof

Piatek to level with as toppage- t ime

penalty.

AP n MONATVIDEO

Giorgian de Arrascaeta sentUruguay to the World Cup

with the only goal of the gameagainst Peru on Thursday, aresult that also bookedEcuador's ticket to Qatar, witha helping hand from Brazil.

Ecuador slumped to a 3-1defeat in Paraguay but stillqualified for a World Cup forthe just the fourth time -- allthis century -- thanks toUruguay's victory and already-qualified Brazil's 4-0 win overChile.

Nineteen teams have nowqualified for the finals in Qatarlater this year, with 13 spots stillavailable.

With Argentina, who playVenezuela on Friday, alsoalready qualified, Peru andChile will now vie for the fifth-place intercontinental play-offspot from the single SouthAmerican qualification groupalongside Colombia, whoemphatically ended a seven-match goalless streak with a 3-0 win over Bolivia.

It has been a remarkableturnaround for Uruguay sincea disastrous spell at the end oflast year when they lost fourmatches in a row, conceding 11goals, scoring just one and slip-ping to seventh in the 10-teamgroup.

That spelled the end foriconic coach Oscar Tabarez,who spent a record 15 years atthe helm and guided the"Celeste" to a World Cup semi-final in 2010 and Copa Americatitle a year later.

But his successor DiegoAlonso has won three out ofthree and taken Uruguay --winners in 1930 and 1950 -- toa fourth straight finals.

Ecuador's qualificationowed more to a solid campaignthan Thursday's shambolic per-formance in driving rain on adifficult pitch in Ciudad delEste.

The omens were poorbefore kick-off as Ecuador hadalready lost on all eight previ-ous trips to Paraguay for WorldCup qualifiers dating back to1981.

Strikes from RobertMorales, a Piero Hincapie owngoal and Miguel Almiron wonthe game for Paraguay beforeJordy Caicedo's late penaltyconsolation.

Neymar marked his returnto the Brazil team by scoring apenalty while Vinicius Junior, aPhilippe Coutinho penalty andRicharlison heaped misery onChile, whose hopes of qualifi-cation hang by a thread.

Goals from Luis Diaz,Miguel Borja and Mateus Uribekept Colombia's chances alive.

PTI n MANAMA

Up against higher-rankedBelarus in their second

international friendly here onSaturday, national footballteam head coach Igor Stimacon Friday said he would con-tinue trying out new faces soas to keep his blueprint readyfor the Asian Cup final roundqualifiers in June.

India almost secured adraw against Bahrain with asecond-half equaliser fromRahul Bheke but only to con-cede an 88th minute goal to godown 1-2 in the first friendlyhere on Wednesday.

Belarus are 10 notchesabove 104th ranked India.

Stimac, however, is notafraid of trying out youngstersand hinted at including Kerala

Blasters' 21-year-old defenderRuivah Hormipam in theBelarus match on Saturday.

"Definitely, there will bebig changes for the Belarusgame, some of it coming as aresult of not good enoughperformance from some play-ers from the previous game,some of it coming as an oppor-tunity for those who I count onfor the future," the 54-year-oldCroat said in a virtual pressconference.

"We need to see what theycan do at the Internationallevel. They had promising sea-sons in the ISL and this was agreat challenge for them. Sothere will be the likes ofHormipam, Anwar (Ali),Roshan (Singh) on the pitch.New team is coming up, therewill be fresh energy of course.

"Friendly games are thebest opportunity to give play-ers the chance to perform, andI believe if you don't take risks,you will never succeed," headded.

From the 25-membersquad for the two friendlies,Stimac had given maiden call-ups to seven players --Prabhshukhan Gill, RuivahHormipam, Anwar Ali, RoshanSingh, VP Suhair, DanishFarooq and Aniket Jadhav.

Out of which, Stimac triedout five players against Bahrain.

While VP Suhair andDanish Farooq were named inthe starting line-up, NaoremRoshan Singh, Aniket Jadhavand Anwar Ali came on as sec-ond-half substitutes.

India also got a boost asmore players would be avail-able. Amrinder Singh,Chinglensana Singh, AkashMishra, Anirudh Thapa,Brandon Fernandes and AniketJadhav reached Manama on theday of Bahrain match due tovisa-related issues. Only Thapaand Jadhav played againstBahrain.

"We are more optimisticthis time, we have a few morefaces in the middle of the pitchwith the likes of Brandon,Thapa joining us. Also JeaksonSingh is available for this game,so we have more options of playing creative games," he said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

World championships Silvermedallist Anshu Malik and

bronze winner Sarita Mor will leada 10-member Indian women'swrestling team at the AsianChampionships to be held inUlaanbatar, Mongolia next month.

While Anshu, a Silver medallistin the 2021 World WrestlingChampionships in Oslo, will repre-sent in her pet 57kg category, Sarita

will be take part in the 59kg section.Sarita is a Bronze medallist in

her category at the 2021 WorldChampionships.

The team was picked after theselections trials held at the SAITraining Centre in Lucknow onFriday.

In the other high-profile bout inthe trials, Manisha defeated RioOlympics medallist Sakshi Malik 1-5 to seal her place in the 62kg cate-gory.

PTI n MUMBAI

Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and H S Prannoy

stormed into the semifinals ofthe Swiss Open badmintontournament with straight-gamevictories in their respectivewomen and men singles eventshere on Friday.

While Sindhu, seeded sec-ond in the tournament, madeshort work of fifth seed MichelleLi of Canada 21-10 21-19 in 36minutes, Prannoy beat compa-triot and formerCommonwealth Games goldmedallist Parupalli Kashyap 21-16 21-16 in a quarterfinal matchthat lasted 43 minutes.

Former world championSindhu will meet unseededSupanida Katethong ofThailand in the semifinals onSaturday.

Prannoy, on the other hand,faces third seeded Anthony

Sinisuka Ginting in the semifi-nals. The Indonesian beatanother Indian Sameer Verma21-17 21-14 in a quarterfinalmatch that lasted 39 minutes.

Sindhu was in good touch

as she simply outplayed heropponent in the first game.After the scores were levelled at3-3, Sindhu grabbed sevenstraight points twice. She wasahead 10-3 first and then was

leading 17-4 before pocketingthe first game.

The second game was aclose affair with none of the twoshuttlers giving an inch to theother. Sindhu was trailing 0-3but quickly made it 4-4. She wasahead 7-4 but the Canadianfought back to reduce the gap tojust one point.

Sindhu again roared back toa 14-9 lead before Li made aremarkable comeback to makeit 16-16. The second gamecould have gone either way asthe scores were levelled 17-17,18-18 and 19-19 but ultimatelyit was Sindhu who held hernerves to grab it 21-19 andpocket the match.

In the women's doubles, theIndian pair of AshwiniPonnappa and N Sikki Reddywent down fighting to theMalaysian duo of Vivian Hooand Chiew Sien Kim in thequarterfinals. The Indian pair

lost 20-22 21-23 in 55 minutes.

HIMANTA RE-ELECTED ASBAI CHIEF

Incumbent Himanta BiswaSarma was re-elected unop-posed as the president ofBadminton Association of India(BAI) for a second term of fouryears -- 2022 to 2026 -- duringits General Body Meeting hereon Friday.

Sarma, who is also the cur-rent Chief Minister of Assam,was elected as BAI chief for thefirst time in 2017. He is also aBadminton Asia vice presidentand a member of theBadminton World FederationExecutive Council.

Former junior nationalcoach Sanjay Mishra will be thenew general secretary of BAIwith incumbent Ajay KumarSinghania becoming vice pres-ident in the new ExecutiveCouncil.

AP nMIAMI

Two days, two wins and mak-ing it look easy.Naomi Osaka sure seems

like herself again. The formerworld No 1 is through to thethird round at the Miami Open,easily handling 13th-seededAngelique Kerber of Germany6-2, 6-3 on Thursday. It wasevery bit as one-sided as thescore made it seem, with Osakawinning 89% of first-servepoints and 61 of the 100 pointsplayed in the match overall.

"It means a lot to me," saidOsaka, unseeded in Miami afterfalling to No 77 in the worldbecause she's missed consider-able time to focus on her men-tal health in recent years. "She'sthe first high-seeded player I've

beaten this year."Osaka's win set the tone for

a day where 11 seeded womenwere ousted from the tourna-ment, a stunning series of resultsheadlined by Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu defeating top-

seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-4. Begu had lost 17 of her last 18matches against top-10 playersentering Thursday.

Also gone: No 3 seed AnettKontaveit. She lost to Ann Li, a21-year-old American who got

her first win over a top-10opponent - a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 tri-umph. Kerber is ranked 15th inthe world; the last time Osakadefeated a top-15 ranked play-er was when she topped then-No 10 Serena Williams in the2021 Australian Open semifi-nals. Osaka went on to win thattournament and hasn't been toa final since, but her win overKerber - who had been 4-1against Osaka entering Thursday- certainly made her look thepart of a Miami contender.

The rest of the oustedwomen's seeds: No 6 KarolinaPliskova, No 11 EmmaRaducanu, No 15 Elina Svitolina,No 18 Leylah Fernandez, No 19Tamara Zidansek, No 25 DariaKasatkina, No 31 Alize Cornetand No 32 Sara Sorribes Tormo,

all of them defeated onThursday.

Pliskova - in just her secondmatch after missing about fourmonths with a broken arm - lost6-3, 6-3 to qualifier AnnaKalinskaya.

Olympic doubles Goldmedalist Katarina Siniakova ofthe Czech Republic needed justunder three hours to beatRaducanu, the reigning USOpen champion, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Svitolina, who had a num-ber of fans wearing pro-Ukraineshirts watching her match intribute to her homeland, lost toBritain's Heather Watson 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Fernandez - a US Openfinalist last year - lost to KarolinaMuchova of the Czech Republic6-4, 7-6 (3). Muchova, who

hasn't played since the US Opennearly seven months agobecause of an abdominal injury,will face Osaka for a spot in theround of 16. Vera Zvonarevatopped Zidansek, 6-3, 6-2.Cornet lost to Alison Riske of

the US 6-2, 6-2. Kasatkina fell toAliaksandra Sasnovich ofBelarus 7-6 (5), 6-4, and SorribesTormo was ousted by KaiaKanepi of Estonia 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.No 9 seed Danielle Collins of theUS escaped the upset bug, hold-

ing off Anna Bondar of Hungary6-3, 3-6, 6-4. No 8 seed OnsJabeur was another winner, get-ting past Poland's Magda Linette7-6 (1), 6-2, and No 22 BelindaBencic eased by Maria Kostyuk6-3, 6-1.

AP n MIAMI

Andy Murray opened his MiamiOpen campaign with a straight

sets win over Argentina's FedericoDelbonis to set up an intriguingsecond round encounter withDaniil Medvedev on Thursday.

Murray, the three-timeGrand Slam champion, maynever return to the glorioushighs of winning Wimbledonand the US Open but with hismetal hip and granite resolve, the34-year-old still loves competing. Theveteran Scot was snarling and fist pump-ing just like in his heyday as he eventu-

ally eased to a 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 triumph.Next up is world number two Medvedevwho will once again test the British play-

er's ability to string wins together sincemaking a return to the tour after a sec-

ond hip operation.He has failed to back up first

round wins in his last five tourna-ments and his clash withMedvedev will be the first time infive years he has come up againsta top two player.

Murray, however, is justhappy to still be in the mix at

the biggest tournaments.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The seventh edition of the Ageas Federal LifeInsurance New Delhi Marathon on Sunday will

be the last opportunity for the country's marathonrunners to qualify for this year's two multi-sportevents -- the Commonwealth Games and the AsianGames. Leading the pack will be Anish ThapaMagar, Nitendra Rawat, Belliappa AB and ArjunPradhan, who have all been preparing for the sea-son's most-awaited race, with an eye to secure theirtickets to Birmingham, UK and Hangzhou, China.

Italy miss out on WC, again

Ecuador, Uruguay qualify

Another win for Osaka at Miami Open MURRAY OFF THE MARK

Coach Stimac hints more changes against Belarus

Sindhu, Prannoy enter Swiss Open semis

New Delhi Marathonlast chance for Indians

Anshu, Sarita to lead Indian women's