VIJAYAWADA, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2022; PAGES 12 `3

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MONEY 8WORLD SHARES UP, US FUTURES SINK AS

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Updated: February 25, 2022 5:00 PM

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TTOODDAAYY

Bring students back safe, CM orders officialsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

In view of the tense situation pre-vailing in Ukraine on account ofthe war, Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy has instruct-ed officials to coordinate with theMinistry of External Affairs(MEA) to provide the best possi-ble help for the students andIndian nationals from AndhraPradesh. Jaganmohan Reddy alsodialled Union Minister forExternal Affairs S Jaishankar andenquired about the repatriationprocess.

He briefed the minister aboutthe efforts of the State governmentin assisting the Centre. On Friday,

he held a high-level meeting withthe senior government officialsand asked them to arrange specialf l ights, i f need be, incoordin3ation with MEA to evac-uate Telugu students.

The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment has set up helpline numbersfor the stranded students to seekassistance. Specially dedicatedhelplines have been set up atAndhra Bhavan in Delhi and inVijayawada for the students toapproach and seek help.

The Chief Minister has orderedthe officials to set up district-levelcall centres to aid the strandedstudents and their families.Officials have been instructed to

enquire about their well-being andtake appropriate measures, includ-ing timely consultation and guid-ance during these tough times.

The Chief Minister said that, ifnecessary, assistance will be lentin the evacuation process usingspecial aircraft.

The officials were instructed toassist the centre with the neces-sary information. In addition,they were instructed to forwardany information received aboutthe people from Andhra Pradeshto the Ministry of ExternalAffairs officials.

BHOGAPURAM AIRPORT

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Friday wrote to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi to directthe Ministry of Civil Aviation(MoCA) to issue site clearance andNOC for developing greenfieldinternational airport atBhogapuram in Vizianagaram.

He wrote similar letters also toUnion Minister for Civil AviationJyotiraditya Scindia and DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh.

Explaining the importance ofthe new airport planned by theState government, the chief min-ister said MoCA has accorded its'Site Clearance approval' for setting

up the Greenfield InternationalAirport at Bhogapuram in 2016with conditions to compensatethe Airport Authority of India(AAI).

CM writes to PM seekingsite clearance, NOC

The students and individualsthemselves or their familymembers can approach or

connect to the below-mentionedhelplines of representatives atAndhra Pradesh Bhavan, Delhiand Vijayawada for further assis-tance:

Delhi1) P. Ravi Shanker, OSD: Mob

No.98719990552) MVS Rama Rao, Assistant

Commissioner: Mob No.98719900813) ASRN Saibabu, Assistant

Commissioner, Mob.

No.98719994304) Landline: 011-23384016The email id is

rcapbnd@gmail.com

VijayawadaAndhra Pradesh Non-Resident

Telugu Society (APNRTS)(An entity of Government of

Andhra Pradesh)Website

https://www.apnrts.ap.gov.in/24/7 Helpline: 0863-2340678WhatsApp +91-8500027678E-

mail: helpline@apnrts.com andinfo@apnrts.com

Helplines set up at Delhi and VjaTask force to help bring backAP students from Ukraine: CSPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Secretary Dr.Sameer Sarma has saidthat the government hasappointed a task forcethat will work towardsbringing back studentsbelonging to Andhra Pradeshfrom crisis-ridden Ukraine.

Talking to reporters after attend-ing a high-level meeting with ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan Reddy,

the Chief Secretary said that theState-appointed task force will

coordinate with the Ministryof External Affairs (MEA) inevacuating the studentsbelonging to AndhraPradesh. He also said that the

MEA had deployed four teamson the land borders of Ukraine in

Poland, Hungary, Slovik Republicand Hungary.

All set for MILAN-2022 from today;CM to attend P 3

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‘I DON'T WANT TO DIE’: UKRAINIANSFEAR AS INVASION CLOSES IN

Yurii Zhyhanov woke to his mother's screaming and foundhimself covered in dust. Before dawn on the second day ofRussia's invasion, their residential building had been struck

by shelling on the outskirts of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. He andother civilians were horrified to find their lives at risk, and manyhave begun to flee. Amid the smoke and the wailing of car alarms,Zhyhanov and his family packed and joined them. “What are youdoing? What is this?” he said, addressing Russia and gesturing tothe damaged building behind him. “If you want to attack militarypersonnel, attack military personnel. This is all I can say.”

DAY AFTER SEIZING CHERNOBYL,RUSSIA CLAIMS PERSONNEL WORKING

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant's personnel arecontinuing to service the facilities and monitor theradiation situation at the station as usual, a top Russian

official claimed on Friday, a day after Russian forces took overthe decommissioned facility after a fierce fight with Ukrainiansoldiers guarding it. Russian President Vladimir Putin onThursday launched a multi-pronged all-out attack on Ukraine,casting aside international condemnation and sanctions andwarned other countries that any attempt to interfere would leadto "consequences they had never seen".

HUNGARY TAKES UKRAINEREFUGEES FLEEING ATTACK

Hungary has extended temporary legal protection toUkrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, as countries ineastern Europe prepare for the arrival of refugees at their

borders. Hungary, which borders Ukraine to the west, has in thepast taken a firm stance against all forms of immigration. It hascontroversially refused to accept refugees and asylum seekersfrom the Middle East, Africa and Asia. But in a decree publishedlate Thursday, Hungary's government announced that allUkrainian citizens arriving from Ukraine, and all third-countrynationals legally residing there, would be entitled to protection.

RUSSIA BANS UK AIRLINES IN TIT-FOR-TAT MOVE

In a retaliatory move over UK's ban on Russian flag carrierAeroflot, President Vladimir Putin on Friday imposed a ban onBritish airlines from landing in Russia or using its airspace.

Outlining the largest and most severe package of economicsanctions that Russia has ever seen in Parliament in response toMoscow's invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson had announced a ban on Russia's national airlineAeroflot from landing in the country. Russia responded with a tit-for-tat ban as a response to what Russia branded as "unfriendlydecisions" by the UK aviation authorities.

PNS n MOSCOW

Russian Foreign MinisterSergey Lavrov on Fridaysaid that Moscow is readyfor talks at "any moment"with Ukraine once theUkrainian militaryresponds positively toPresident Vladimir Putin'scall, end their resistanceand lay down their arms.

Lavrov also said thatRussia's military operationin Ukraine aims to "demili-tarise and denazify" the EastEuropean country and noone is going to occupy it.

The Russian top diplomatmade the remarks followingtalks with Deputy ForeignMinister of the DonetskPeople's Republic (DPR)Sergey Peresada andForeign Minister of theLugansk People's Republic(LPR) Vladislav Deinego,the state-run TASS newsagency reported.

President Putin signedtreaties with leaders of DPRand LPR on February 21,recognising the two regionsof Ukraine as independent.

Ithas been a

long timesince thethreat ofusing nuclearweapons hasbeenbrandished soopenly by a worldleader, but VladimirPutin has just done it, warning in a speech thathe has the weapons available if anyone dares touse military means to try to stop Russia'stakeover of Ukraine. The threat may have beenempty, a mere baring of fangs by the Russianpresident, but it was noticed. It kindled visions of anightmarish outcome in which Putin's ambitions inUkraine could lead to a nuclear war through accidentor miscalculation. As for military affairs, even afterthe dissolution of the USSR and losing a considerablepart of its capabilities, today's Russia remains one ofthe most powerful nuclear states," Putin said, in hispre-invasion address early Thursday. "Moreover, ithas a certain advantage in several cutting-edge

weapons. In this context, thereshould be no doubt foranyone that any potentialaggressor will face defeatand ominousconsequences should

it directly attack ourcountry.

Stop brutal aggressionWorld leaders fine-tune punitive measures against Russia

The world has made it clear that a military intervention in Ukraine is off the books,so most countries on Friday were throwing ever more punishment at Moscow fromfinancial to football sanctions anything to force President Vladimir Putin to stop thebrutal invasion of Russia's neighbor and unleash a major war in Europe. Undeterredin the game of punitive sanctions, Russia started its own tit-for-tat measures,banning British flights to and over its territory in retaliation to a similar U.K. ban onAeroflot flights. Yet with the Kremlin's eyes fully targeted on expanding the attacks on Ukraine, almost of the action was still going one way.

Putin waves nuclear

swordUkraine’s capital

under threatRussian troops bore down on Ukraine's capitalFriday, with gunfire and explosions resonatingever closer to the government quarter, in aninvasion of a democratic country that has fueledfears of wider war in Europe and triggeredworldwide efforts to make Russia stop. Amidgrowing casualties from the deadly warfareincluding shelling that sliced through the facadeof a Kyiv apartment building, bridges andschools the Kremlin said Russia was ready totalk with Ukrainian officials. That came even asthere were also increasing signs that VladimirPutin's Russia may be seeking to overthrowUkraine's government, in his boldest effort yet toredraw the world map and revive Moscow'sCold War-era influence.

Indian govt to bearcost of evacuation

The government ismaking efforts to

evacuate Indian nationalsfrom Ukraine through itsland border crossings withits neighbouring countriesand they would then bebrought back home, officialsources said on Friday.

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(IN VIJAYAWADA

Traditionally leadership hasbeen broadly categorised

as authoritarian, participative,delegative, transactional, andtransformational. Dependingon finer distinguishing traits,a leader may be a coach,visionary, servant, autocratic,hands-off, democratic, pace-setter, transformational, trans-actional, bureaucratic, or anarchitect.

Architect leadership is anapproach that focuses onovercoming obstacles, imple-menting strategy, achievingperformance improvement,and enhancing value.

In crass politics, the princi-pal players are arch-rivals;not history makers, torch-bearers of human progress orchampions of the welfare ofmankind. We have politicalleaders of different natures,calibers, and capabilities. Mostof them pursue goals in linewith their political ambitionsand aims. We rarely findarchitectural leadership thatrestructures society to bene-fit posterity permanently.

In the history of the world

there have been epoch-mak-ing occurrences, thanks tothe foresight of some leaders.These leaders are rare. Theygo beyond their personalambitions, trying to do lastinggood to the best of their abil-ity, come what may. Theirambition is never deterred; for,they are determined. Theypursue their goals in the inter-ests of people, in the interestsof the region, and, above all,in the interests of the future.

These leaders are ambi-tious to the core and go to anyextent in pursuit of their goalsand thereby find a permanentplace in the hearts of thepeople.

Their actions are not run-of-the-mill. They remain trueto their ambition, aspirationsand thereby etch for them-selves a predominant place inhistory.

Architect leadership is rareamong politicians. Leadersbelonging to this ilk are dri-ven by values.

They pursue value-basedpolitics and at the same timeadd value to every act oftheirs. Once they are on themove, every step they takebecomes momentous. It is afact that nothing can be donewithout power. If the power

that one has is utilised for thegood of society, for the bene-fit of posterity, it would be aleadership of a different kind- one that ignites aspiration,ambition, and inspiration.Such leadership shines andshows the way to be a deter-mined leader.

Particularly in Americanand British history we findmany examples of such archi-

tect leadership. Take, for example, the case

of Abraham Lincoln. Leaderslike Lincoln have faced hur-dles, admonition, and rejec-tion. But they never lost hopeor deviated from their clear-cut goals. They followed theirgoals in letter and spirit to the

last detail until they accom-plished them.

That is the reason evenhundreds of years later theyare still remembered andrevered the world over. Fortheir mark in history isremarkable. Their decisionsare epoch-making. Their actsare flawless. Irrespective ofparty lines or ideologies, theyalways act in an ideal manner.History changing and historycreating decisions can only betaken only by those who thinkbetter than the rest, who actaboveboard, casting aside nar-row thinking. They shun self-ish mentality and show theright path to progress.

Development is not dolingout freebies or luring peoplewith instant benefit; it lies inensuring benefits that last.Those who ensure such per-manent benefits are extolled

and celebrated in history.Those who build reservoirsand projects best exemplifyarchitect leadership, not thosewho indulge in politics of triv-ial nature. Only such leadersare called architects of mod-ern thinking. They stand outfor their modesty and highlevels of motivation. There isnothing wrong if a leader isaspirational. At the sametime, he should be motiva-tional. Telangana is fortunateto have such political leader-ship - one that is insightfuland incisive. Unless there waspolitical will, accompaniedwith passion and persever-ance, there would not havebeen massive projects likeKaleshwaram, Mallannasagarand the like.

It is constructive and devel-opmental politics that mattersnow. History has changed its

course. Now comes a timethat demands politicians ofsubstance who do things andget things done. When passionis the driving force of ambitionthat is combined with politicalwill and individual willpower,none can stop the surge ofdevelopment in every aspect ofhuman life.

Power is not to be exercisedonly for politics; it has to dosomething substantial that ishelpful not only to the presentbut also future generation. Byarchitect political leadership Imean a kind of leadership thatstrives for transformation andbrings change that is history-making in every sense of theword. After Jawaharlal Nehru,who started many projectsterming them "temples of mod-ern India", India has not seenan architect leader in a politi-cian. Now, thanks to TS ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao, modern India's youngeststate is witnessing such greattemples being built, therebymaking Telangana an exem-plary state worth emulating inseveral aspects.

RAJESWARA PRASAD

BUDDHAVARAPU

In crass politics, the principal players arearch-rivals; not history makers, torchbearersof human progress or champions of thewelfare of mankind. We have political leadersof different natures, calibers, and capabilities.Most of them pursue goals in line with theirpolitical ambitions and aims. We rarely findarchitectural leadership that restructuressociety to benefit posterity permanently.

Architect leadership in Telangana

‘Decision on movie ticketprices as per panel report’PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

If the producers of PawanKalyan-starrer Bheemla Naikneeded a hike in the movieticket prices, they should havepostponed its release, Ministerfor Municipal Administrationand Urban Development BotsaSatyanarayana has said. In acounter-attack on the com-ments and trolling of the Stategovernment regarding theBheemla Naik movie, whichwas released on Friday, theminister said that the govern-ment worked for the people,not individuals.

The minister said that ateam of representatives of theTelugu film industry, led bymegastar Chiranjeevi, had metthe Chief Minister and dis-cussed various issues includingmovie ticket prices. The gov-ernment had appointed a com-mittee to review and give sug-gestions on the hike in ticketprices, and would take a deci-sion accordingly, the minister

said."However, some people, with

hidden interests, are not readyto look into the facts and aremaking false statements aboutthe government. If they(Bheemla Naik producers)really need a hike in the movieticket prices, they should waitand postpone the release. Thegovernment is working for thepeople, not for individuals andorganisations. The governmentwould take a decision accord-ing to the committee's reportand as per the rules," BotsaSatyanarayana said.

Naidu, Lokesh politicisingfilm ticket prices issue: Perni

I& PR and CinematographyMinister PerniVenkatramaiah (Nani) has

criticised TDP Chief NChandrababu Naidu and hisson Nara Lokesh forpoliticising every issueincluding a recently-releasedmovie and said the Stategovernment would regulate themovie ticket prices if they aresold against the fixed prices.Speaking to media at partycentral office here on Friday,the Minister said the Stategovernment had issued G.O 35to fix prices of movie tickets intheatres and added that theprices were fixed based onarea, AC, non-AC, multiplexand other factors. He saidsome exhibitors hadchallenged GO. 35 in HighCourt and the court said the

Joint Collector, who is thelicensing authority, be allowedto fix rates in consultation withstakeholders. He wondered yexhibitors are not approachingthe Joint Collectors to fixmovie ticket prices. The Stategovernment had delayed theissuance of the GO on fixingticket prices due to the suddendemise of the Cabinet ministerM Goutham Reddy and it isunfortunate that vestedinterests are trying to polticiseit. The Minister recalled Naidusaying that political alliancecould not be a one-sided loveaffair and opined that the TDPsupremo was looking for aossible alliance with Jana Senaand hence politicising the ticketsissue. He asserted that YSRCPhad never considered PawanKalyan as a serious politician.

CM writes to PM seeking site...Continued from Page 1

However, the validity of the'Site Clearance and NOC'approval, has expired.

"Since 2018, though theState Government has identi-fied the PPP partner for theimplementation of the project,the project has not progressedat the desired pace due to non-issuance of 'Site Clearance &NOC' approval to Airport andseveral conditions being put upby MoCA to compensateAirport Authority of India(AAI). To synergize the view-points of the Ministry ofDefence (Navy), Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) and theMinistry of Civil Aviation(MoCA) it is suggested thatMoCA provides uncondition-al fresh site clearance for NewGreenfield InternationalAirport of Vishakhapatnamat Bhogapuram, at the earliest,"Jagan said in the letter.

He also said that the airportat Visakhapatnam plays animportant role in the develop-ment of Visakhapatnam as aneconomic and tourism hub inthe State. It needs to operateseveral civil flights to supportthis industry and incubate fur-ther growth. The presentVishakhapatnam Airport issurrounded by hills on threesides and hence, for safetyconsiderations, civil flights cantake off and land in only onedirection. These places a limitof only 10 movements perhour. While the currentrequirement of both civil andmilitary flying is being met, thenumber of Naval and civilflights are expected to increasesubstantially in the immediatefuture, in accordance with thegrowing security imperativesfor the nation on the EasternSeaboard and the effort of theState to improve the tourismindustry in Vishakhapatnam,

he added."Through correspondence

addressed to Chief of NavalStaff, Ministry of Defence,Government of India and theGovernment of AndhraPradesh, the Flag OfficerC om m an d i ng - i n - C h i e f ,Eastern Naval Command hasstated reasons for not shiftingNaval Air Station at INS Degato Bhogapuram. With observa-tions stated by the Flag OfficerC om m an d i ng - i n - C h i e f ,Eastern Naval Command,there is no other choice but toshift the civil aviation traffic toBhogapuram. TheGovernment of AndhraPradesh has decided to devel-op a greenfield internationalairport· at Bhogapuram,Visakhapatnam in PPP modeas a civil enclave of the exist-ing Visakhapatnam airport atthe naval base (INS Dega,Eastern Naval Command),"he added.

Task force tohelp bringback APstudents...Continued from Page 1

Efforts are on to bring stu-dents to these four borderareas by road and fromthere they will be airlifted.

Transport Secretary, M TKrishna Babu, APDDCFMD, Dr. A Babu, PrincipalResident Commissioner atAP Bhavan, PraveenPrakash, Rythu BazaarsCEO Srinivasulu, APNRTSociety CEO K DineshKumar, Special Officer( I n t e r n a t i o n a lC ooperat ion) GiteshSarma, and all the districtcollectors in the state willbe the members of the taskforce.

Naidu holds zoom meet withTelugus in warn-torn UkrainePNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP national president andformer chief minister NChandrababu Naidu hasadvised the Telugu studentsstranded in Ukraine not to takeany hasty decisions and wait tillthey would get a safe passage.

Naidu held a zoom confer-ence with over 100 strandedstudents and enquired abouttheir present situation to finda way out of the war-torncountry. The students narrat-ed their problems due touncertainty about evacuation,lack of accommodation, short-age of food, rising costs of trav-el and money exchange prob-lems.

The TDP chief told the stu-dents that it would take two tothree days for clarity to emergeon the overall evacuation logis-tics. There was nothing topanic about. The studentsshould be bold and wait tillhelp would reach them. Theyshould pass on their details tothe TDP NRI Cell. It wouldopen a website also soon to

remain accessible to providethe required help.

Naidu assured the studentsthat he would keep a constantwatch and take up the issuewith the Government of Indiaand the Embassy. Though theTDP was not in the govern-ment in AP, it would do every-thing possible from its side torescue everyone. The studentsshould constantly evaluatetheir risk factors. They shouldtake help only from reliablegroups and agencies.

Chandrababu Naidu saidthe Telugu students shouldnot take sides in this conflictand they should maintain neu-trality at any cost. There mightbe pressure to join the army.The students should under-stand that their life safety wasvery important. They shouldmove out of their bunkers,metro stations, and presentlocations only when theywould have reliable support toshift them to the borders.

The TDP chief told the stu-dents to communicate theirdifficulties and requirements to

the TDP NRI Cell number.The money would not be aproblem. The banks were notworking there. The studentsshould come out with plans onhow they could get physical ormonetary support from theIndian agencies. The TDPwould negotiate with the con-cerned agencies to rush help.

Naidu assured the studentsthat everybody back home inAP would be with them.Everybody was ready to dotheir bit for their safe return totheir homeland. Students saidthat those stranded in theeastern parts of Ukraine werefacing the most difficulty inevacuation. They were notfinding vehicles to travel 1,200to 1,500 km to reach the bor-ders and return via Romania,Hungary or other countries.

One student said the localalerts were being made inRussian and they were havingcommunication problems.Prioritisation of evacuationwas also important. Immediatehelp should be rushed to thehigh-risk zones.

Bring students back safe,CM orders officials...Continued from Page 1

The Chief Minister has takenit upon himself and is moni-toring the situation closely.

The Chief Minister asked theofficials to keep him informedabout the situation andprogress of helping the strand-ed students and professionals.

If Ukraine Army...Continued from Page 1

We are ready to hold talks atany moment, once theUkrainian Armed Forcesrespond to our president's call,end their resistance and laydown their arms. No one plansto attack and oppress them, letthem return to their families,and let us give the Ukrainianpeople a chance to decidetheir future, Lavrov was quot-ed as saying by the TASS newsagency.

According to reports, theKremlin on Friday said thatPresident Putin is ready tosend a delegation to Belarus fortalks with Ukrainian officials.

The development comesafter Ukraine PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy said thathe is willing to discuss a non-aligned status for Ukraine.

President Putin onThursday launched a multi-pronged all-out attack onUkraine, casting aside interna-tional condemnation and sanc-tions and warned other coun-tries that any attempt to inter-fere would lead to "conse-quences they had never seen".

President Putin announcedin a televised address onThursday morning that inresponse to a request by the

head of the Donbas republic,he had made a decision tocarry out a special militaryoperation to protect peoplewho have been suffering fromabuse and genocide by the Kyivregime for eight years.

Putin said the Russian mil-itary operation aims to ensurea demilitarisation of Ukraine.Putin also urged Ukrainianservicemen to immediatelyput down arms and go home.

The US and its allies havedecided to block assets of fourlarge Russian banks, imposeexport controls and sanctionoligarchs close to Putin after heordered a "special militaryoperation" against Ukraine onThursday.

Lavrov said that Russia hadalways called for negotiationsand claimed that Russia had noplans to "occupy" Ukraine.

No one is going to occupyUkraine. The aim of the oper-ation has been openly declared:demilitarising and denazifying,Russia's top diplomat empha-sised.

Russia sees no possibility ofrecognising the Ukrainiangovernment as democraticgiven that it is oppressingand using methods of geno-cide against its own people,Lavrov alleged

Putin waves nuclear sword...Continued from Page 1

By merely suggesting a nuclearresponse, Putin put into playthe disturbing possibility thatthe current fighting in Ukrainemight eventually veer into anatomic confrontation betweenRussia and the United States.That apocalyptic scenario isfamiliar to those who grew upduring the Cold War, an erawhen American school chil-dren were told to duck and

cover under their desks incase of nuclear sirens. But thatdanger gradually receded fromthe public imagination afterthe fall of the Berlin Wall andthe dissolution of the SovietUnion, when the two powersseemed to be on a glide pathto disarmament, democracyand prosperity.

Before that, even young peo-ple understood the terrifying.idea behind the strategy ofmutual assured destruction --

MAD for short -- a balance innuclear capabilities that wasmeant to keep hands on each sideoff of the atomic trigger, know-ing that any use of the doomsdayweapons could end in the anni-hilation of both sides in a conflict.

And amazingly, no countryhas used nuclear weapons since1945, when President HarryTruman dropped bombs onJapan in the belief that it was thesurest way to end World War IIquickly.

Indian govt to bear cost of evacuation...Continued from Page 1

They said evacuation flightsfor the Indians are beingarranged and the transporta-tion cost will be completelyborne by the government."The government of India isorganising evacuation flightsfor Indians in Ukraine. Thecost will be completely borneby the government for thisevacuation," said a sourceprivy to the development.India is focusing on evacuat-ing the Indians throughUkraine's land borders withHungary, Poland, Slovakia andRomania as the Ukrainiangovernment closed the coun-try's airspace following theRussian military offensive.

Government officials saidAir India is planning to oper-ate two f lights to theRomanian capital Buchareston Friday to evacuate some ofthe Indians.

Foreign Secretary HarshVardhan Shringla said onThursday that there werearound 20,000 Indians inUkraine and of them, nearly4,000 have returned to India inthe last few days.

In a related development,the Indian embassy in Ukrainesaid efforts are on to evacuatethe Indians throughRomanian and Hungarianborder crossings.

In an advisory, the embassysaid Indian teams are beingdeputed at the Chop-Zahonycheck post on the Hungarianborder as well as at Porubne-Stret on the Romanian borderaround Chernivtsi inUzhhorod.

"In this difficult situation,the embassy of India requestsIndians to continue to remainstrong, safe and alert. Theembassy is also working roundthe clock to support the Indiancommunity in Ukraine," itsaid.

"The government of Indiaand the embassy are workingto establish evacuation routesfrom Romania and Hungary,"it said.

At a media briefing onThursday night, Shringla saidthe government is accordingthe topmost priority to theevacuation of Indians and thatteams of Indian officials wereon their way to the Zahonyborder post in Hungary,Krakowiec land border inPoland, Vysne Nemecke inSlovak Republic, and Suceavaland border in Romania.

"We have also asked some ofour officers to go across andset up camp offices in Ukraineclose to the border to theplaces we have identified --Lviv, which is close to Poland,and Chernivtsi which is closeto Romania," he said.

Stop brutalaggression... Continued from Page 1

European Union leadersdiscussed until the earlyhours Friday any ways to hitPutin even harder than thetwo sets of sanctions that italready approved.

We are hitting the regimeat all levels and we are hit-ting it hardest, Dutch PrimeMinister Mark Rutte saidearly Friday.

The 27-nation bloc andother Western powers likethe United States and theUnited Kingdom haveagreed on a slew of sanctionhitting everything from thebanking sector to oi lrefineries and the defensesector. EU foreign ministerswill push the approvalprocess further later in theday. And just as Russia wasmaking a pincer movementto choke Ukraine and itscapital Kyiv, Western pow-ers were implementing mea-sures aimed at "asphyxiatingRussia's economy, in thewords of French ForeignMinister Jean-Yves LeDrian.

Ukraine’s capital under...Continued from Page 1

The U.S. and other global pow-ers slapped ever-tougher sanc-tions on Russia as the invasionreverberated through the world'seconomy and energy supplies,threatening to further squeezeordinary households. U.N. offi-cials said they were preparing formillions to flee Ukraine.Sporting authorities sought topunish Russia on global playingfields. And NATO leaders calledan urgent meeting to discusshow far they can go to challengePutin without engaging Russianforces in direct war. Day 2 ofRussia's invasion focused on theUkrainian capital, where

Associated Press reporters heardexplosions starting before dawnand gunfire was reported in sev-eral areas. Ukrainian authoritiesused armoured vehicles andsnowplows to defend Kyiv andlimit movement, and saidRussian spies were seeking toinfiltrate the city.

Russia's military said it hadseized a strategic airport outsideKyiv that allows it to quicklybuild up forces to take the cap-ital.

It claimed to have already cutthe city off from the west thedirection many of those escap-ing the invasion are heading in,with lines of cars snaking towardthe Polish border.

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | FEBRUARY 26, 2022

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP national president andformer chief minister N.Chandrababu Naidu on Fridayslammed the YSRCP govern-ment for imposing 'political-ly motivated restrictions' onthe Bheemla Nayak movie.

Naidu said that ChiefMinister Y.S.Jaganmohan Reddywas targeting andvictimising each andevery sector in theState. The CM hasstarted harassing thecine industry despiteits impressive servicein the entertainmentsector.

In a tweet here, the TDPchief strongly condemned themanner in which the govern-ment was destroying systemsfor taking revenge against per-sons.

Naidu described as'Government terrorism' theJaganmohan Reddy regime'svindictive approach towardsthe release of Bheemla Nayakmovie. The Government wasacting vengefully by selecting

individuals as targets. TheCM should stop his adamantpolicy towards the Telugu cin-ema industry which has risento international fame with itsexcellence and merit.

Chandrababu Naidu strong-ly objected to posting revenueemployees to keep watch attheatres. The government

apparently set asideall of the people'sproblems and con-sidered vendettapolitics as a priority.The manner inwhich the BheemlaNayak movie wasbeing targeted washighly objectionable.

The TDP chiefsaid while all other Stateswere making all-out efforts forsafe return of their peoplestranded in Ukraine, theAndhra Pradesh CM was busywith his vendetta activities.The TDP would never hesitateto question when a wrong wascommitted by anybody.

Naidu demanded that thegovernment immediately stopits harassment attitude towardsBheemla Nayak.

Naidu slams ‘restrictions’on Bheemla Naik

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh HighCourt has granted condition-al bail to two advocatesaccused in a case pertaining tomaking derogatory commentson social media platformsagainst courts, judges and judi-ciary in Andhra Pradesh. TheHigh Court has ordered thetwo advocates, GopalakrishnaKalanidhi from Hyderabadand Metta Chandrasekhar Rao,to sign every Monday at theCBI office in Vijayawada.

The CBI officials recentlyarrested the advocates andthey filed a petition in the HighCourt seeking bail in the case.

The counsel argued thatKalanidhi Gopalakrishna wasnot in good health. After hear-ing the arguments, the courtgranted conditional bail to thetwo advocates.

Earlier, the CBI had filedcases against the two advocatesand a businessman in connec-tion with the probe into thealleged derogatory social

media posts against judges.Metta Chandrasekhar Rao,Kalanidhi Gopalakrishna andGunta Ramesh Rao were takeninto custody in connectionwith the cases.

The CBI has registered sev-eral cases/FIRs against theaccused allegedly involved inintentionally targeting judgesand the judiciary throughinterviews, social media, postsand speeches on online plat-forms, maliciously attributingulterior motives in delivery oforders and judgments. Theaccused had filed bail petitionsin the High Court and JusticeManavendranath Roy heardthe case.

REMARKS AGAINST JUDGES

AP HC grants conditionalbail to two advocates

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh PoliceDepartment has once againexcelled in technology andinnovation by winning 15awards in various categories inthe latest Digital TechnologySabha-2022.

The State Police departmentis on the forefront across thecountry in state-of-the-arttechnology, bringing innova-tions using the latest technol-ogy. The department has wona total of 165 awards andstands tall in winning awards

at the national level so far.Among the 15 Digital

Technology Sabha-2022awards, the Andhra PradeshPolice Headquarters has woneight awards while TirupatiUrban two besides Kadapa,Chittoor and Anantapur wonone award each, two other dis-trict units bagged one awardeach.

The various categories inwhich the AP Police depart-ment won awards are for util-ising body-worn cameras,GPS, Radio Over InternetProtocol, Disha Centralised

Command Control Room,Hawk Vehicles, Digital HealthProfile and VideoConferencing Systems.

On the other hand, ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy on Friday appreciatedthe AP Police department forwinning the awards. DirectorGeneral of Police KVRajendranath Reddy appreci-ated the police force, particu-larly the technical team forwinning Digital TechnologySabha awards and urged theofficers to focus on ensuringquality service to the people.

CM heaps praise on AP Police Department

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Minister for Endowments V.Srinivas has said that thereconstruction works of LordSri Rama Temple atRamatheerthalu inVizianagaram district would becompleted shortly and thetemple would be opened forthe devotees during the com-ing Sri Ramanavami festival.

After miscreants had van-dalised the 400-year-old idol ofLord Rama at theRamatheerthalu temple, thegovernment sanctioned specialfunds to reconstruct the entiretemple and the works are pro-gressing swiftly. The LordRama temple located atRamatheerthalu in the dis-trict is one of the most impor-tant temples in the State.

The Endowments Ministerconvened a review meeting onthe temple works and direct-ed the officials to take steps tofinish the works soon and to

ensure that the temple couldbe opened for SriRamanavami. Later, address-ing the media, he said that theworks were progressing as perthe schedule, at the same timenot compromising on thequality. If the guidelines allow,the temple would be furtherdeveloped under the

Prasadam scheme of theUnion Government, he said.The minister directed the offi-cials to examine the possibil-ities of getting special aidunder the Prasadam scheme.

Deputy Chief Minister P.Pushpa Srivani, Zilla ParishadChairman M. Srinivasa Rao,MLAs and others were present.

Ramatheerthalu temple to bereopened on Ramanavami day

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The newly-appointed Chairmanof the Andhra Pradesh PublicService Commission, GautamSawang, and the new DirectorGeneral of Police K VRajendranath Reddy called onAndhra Pradesh GovernorBiswabhusan Harichandan on acourtesy visit at the Raj Bhavanhere on Friday.

RP Sisodia, Special ChiefSecretary to the Governor, wel-

comed the officers. GautamSawang briefed the Governorabout the action being taken on

the recruitment to fill variousvacancies as per the job calen-dar prepared and notified by the

government, for the benefit ofeducated unemployed youth.The Governor directed GautamSawang to ensure that therecruitment process was donein a transparent manner.

DGP Rajendranath Reddy,who met the Governor later,briefed the latter on the mea-sures taken to ensure peacefullaw and order situation in theState and the reforms beingimplemented in the PoliceDepartment.

New APPSC chief, DGP meet Governor

PNS n RAJAHMUNDRY

Chief Minister YS Jagan MohaReddy’s brother-in-law andYS Sharmila’s husband, Bro.Anil Kumar, an evangelist,met former MP UndavalliArun Kumar here on Friday.

Their discussion lasted forabout an hour at Undavalli'sresidence. Talking to the media,Anil said that he had discussedwith Arun Kumar the politicsof the AP and Telangana states."I met a person who has greatknowledge. He presented mewith a book titled PartitionStory ," Anil told the media.

Undavalli Arun Kumar saidthat he had known him formany years and they discussedmany issues. He said that he

had a close association with theYSR family for the last 25 years.He felt happy when he metAnil Kumar. While going toinaugurate a church Anil came

to his house and met him,Undavali said. “We discussedvarious issues including AP,Telangana politics and Ukrainecrisis,” Undavalli said.

Bro. Anil calls on ex-MP Undavalli

Murder casesolved in lessthan two daysPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Krishna district police havecracked the mystery in amurder case in just 36 hoursthat took place in Tiruvurutown in the district onFebruary 23. The policenabbed the prime accused inthe murder case and alsoarrested the others involvedin the murder.

DSP B Srinivasulu told themedia persons on Friday thatthe deceased KalyanapuChaitanya (26) was brutallymurdered on February 23. Hesaid that the police immedi-ately took action and in lessthan two days they were suc-cessful in arresting the primeaccused Munukuntla Srinuand seven others on Friday.

He said that there werefinancial disputes betweenthe deceased K Chaitanyaand the A1 M Srinu. Afternabbing the culprits, thepolice recovered the weaponsused in the murder. Theaccused were producedbefore the court and laterthey were remanded, saidthe DSP.

‘MSMEs major contributors to economic development’

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A surgery was successfullyperformed on a 45-year-oldwoman from Vijayawada, whohad been diagnosed with arare case of fibroid red degen-eration. She was brought to aprivate hospital in Vijayawadaafter she had complained ofpain in the lower abdomen fortwo months.

The patient was sufferingfrom low-grade fever occa-sionally. However, it wouldsubside spontaneously. Thepain in the abdomen was notrelated to the menstrual cycle.Later, the doctors found asmall 4x3 cm anterior wallintramural fibroid with noother pathology. On high-dose, contrast-enhanced com-

puted tomography (CECT),multiple tiny renal calculiwere noted along with thefibroid. The doctors proceed-ed for a total laparoscopichysterectomy after counsellingthe patient. Doctors foundomental adhesions to the ante-rior abdominal wall whichwere released, and the tubesand ovaries were healthy onboth the sides.

Dr SreeRamya K, SeniorObstetrician andGynaecologist, KamineniHospitals, said that fibroid(leiomyoma) of the uteruswas the most common benigncondition found in women ofreproductive age group. Not allthe fibroids needed to beremoved, nor should they beneglected.

Rare surgery performed on woman

Demand to retain Pedapalaparruin Gudivada divisionPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The residents ofPedapalaparru in the Krishnadistrict have demanded thatthe village be continued underGudivada Revenue Division inthe wake of the reorganisationof the district in AndhraPradesh. The village is underKaikaluru constituency inMudinepalli mandal.

The villagers say that withthe reorganization of districtsthe villagers would suffer a lot

as the revenue division centrethat is 5 km at present wouldbe as far as 70 km after reor-ganization.

To this effect, village eldersK Krishna Prasad, ChSubramanyeswara Varaprasad,B Prasad, Ch Srikanth, KSrinivas Rao, Ch Phani andothers gave a representationwith the signature of 1,500 vil-lagers to Civil SuppliesMinister Kodali SriVeknateswara Rao (Nani) onFriday.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Indian Navy is all set tohost its major maritime exer-cise, MILAN-2022, with atheme of ‘Camaraderie -Cohesion - Collaboration’. TheEastern Naval Command(ENC) is hosting the event intwo phases and the city hasbeen decked up for the variousactivities lined up fromFebruary 26 to March 4.MILAN, the multilateral navalexercise conducted by theIndian Navy, is a way of bring-ing together friendly naviesfrom across the world.

As many as 46 navies acrossthe globe have been participat-ing in the event to encouragediscussions and solve com-mon issues while celebratingeach other’s traditions andabsorbing best practices inthe maritime domain. AllQuadrilateral SecurityDialogue (QUAD) nationshave also been invited, mak-ing it the first time forAustralia, Japan, and theUnited States to participate inthe exercise.

In the first phase, discussionswill be held at the harbour onmaritime subjects of commonconcerns and solutions. Theprofessional discussions areset to build the operationaltempo for phase two.

Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy is attending theevent. The Chief Minister willbe the chief guest at the oper-ational demonstration to be

held at R.K. Beach and attendother activities at the headquar-ters of the Eastern NavalCommand on February 27.The Chief Minister wouldaddress the gathering at theR.K. Beach and witness the

international parade.The State government, in

association with all the linedepartments, has geared up tomake the event a grand success.Police personnel have beendeployed to control and divert

traffic towards the beachfront.Special enclosures have beenarranged for the VIPs andcommon people to witness theevent. Special LED screenshave been set up to witness theoperational demonstration.

Collector Dr. A.Mallikharjuna andCommissioner of Police M.K.Sinha, along with naval offi-cials, reviewed the arrange-ments on the beach road onFriday.

All set for MILAN-2022 in Vizagfrom today; Jagan to attend

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The annual meeting of theConfederation of IndianIndustry (CII) for 2021-22 washeld on Friday in virtual modeand a new committee waselected for the CIIVisakhapatnam Zone. RagamKishore, CEO and Director,Vizag Seaport Private Limited,has been nominated as chair-man, CII Visakhapatnam zone.Earlier, he was the vice-chair-man of the zone.

D. Tirupathi Raju, chair-

man, CII Andhra Pradesh,announced the new office-bearers for 2022-23. Dr P.P. LalKrishna, managing director,Ramky Pharma City Limited,was nominated as vice-chair-man.

On the occasion, MSMEconclave-2022 with the themefocusing on India@75 was alsoorganised.

Rama Gummalla, chiefgeneral manager, Materials,Hindustan PetroleumCorporation-Visakh Refinery,briefed on the opportunities

in the refinery for accelerat-ed growth for MSMEs. Shesaid that the MSME sectorwas a major contributor tothe economic development ofthe country and had gainedsignificant importance dueto its contributions to thegross domestic product(GDP).

Manoj Yadav, head,Corporate ManagementServices, Bharat ElectronicsLimited, said that MSMEs con-tributed significantly to thedefence manufacturing of qual-

ity products. One of the keyobjectives of the ‘Make inIndia’ initiative of theGovernment of India was tobring micro, small and medi-um enterprises into the defencesupply chain and thereby boostthe self-reliance of the countryin defence.

D. Chandra Sekhar,Additional DevelopmentCommissioner, MSMEDevelopment Institute,Government of India, high-lighted the initiatives of theMSME Development Institute.

He mentioned that the MSMEsector had emerged as a high-ly vibrant and dynamic sectorand provided large employ-ment opportunities.

R.V.S. Rudraraju, formerchairman, CII AndhraPradesh, and chief operatingofficer, RHI Magnesita IndiaLimited, said that MSMEs werewidening their domain acrosssectors of the economy, pro-ducing a diverse range of prod-ucts and services to meetdemands of domestic as well asglobal markets.

TTD cancelsVIP darshanson weekendsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

As part of facilitating SrivariDarshan for more commondevotees, TTD has can-celled VIP Break Darshanslot on Saturdays andSundays.

TTD said that the move isaimed at providing hassle-free Srivari Darshan for com-mon devotees who throng thepilgrim center.

The reallocation of thetime slot of VIPs to com-mon devotees on Fridays,Saturdays and Sundayswill enable TTD in provid-ing darshan to more devo-tees.

As of now, TTD has issued30,000 SSD tokens every day.The latest decision of TTDwill provide additional twohours of Srivari Darshan tocommon devotees on week-ends.

HYDERABAD: The TirumalaTirupati Devasthanam's localadvisory committee in the citywill be conducting theBrahmotsavams at the TTDtemple in Jubilee Hills fromMarch 1 to March 9. TheBrahmotsavams in city will startwith the Dhwajarohanam onMarch 1. There will be specialpuja programmes on every dayof the 10-day celebrations.

Brahmotsavams inHyd TTD templefrom March 1

04VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | FEBRUARY 26, 2022

MLA, SP inspectbuildings for settingup new dist officesPNS n GUNTUR

Narasaraopet MLA GopireddySrinivasa Reddy and SP VishalGunni inspected some build-ings in Narasaraopet for theestablishment of the newly-created Palnadu district.

The MLA and SP, alongwith other officials, inspectedsome of the structures tohouse the Collector's officeand SP’s office for the newPalnadu district.

Speaking on the occasion,the SP said that he had seensome buildings inNarasaraopet. “We are search-

ing for buildings to house theCollector’s office, SP’s officeand other government officesin the new district. We havesent some proposals in thisregard to the government forapprovals,” he said.

The SP said that variousissues including constructionof new buildings and mod-ernising existing ones werealso discussed with the offi-cials. “We are also examiningthe existing infrastructure andother resources,” he said,adding that he is ready to workfrom Narasaraopet as districtSP.

PNS n ONGOLE

Prakasam District CollectorPravin Kumar has said thatsteps are being taken to dis-burse compensation to all evac-uees of Ramayapatnam sea-port. The Collector held ameeting here on Friday withthe Modivaripalem villagerswho are parting with theirlands for the construction ofthe port. He told them that asper the assurance, compensa-tion would be paid to thosewho had patta lands.

The Collector said that stepswere taken to disburse Rs 2.30lakh per acre to those who

were cultivating lands despitetheir names not being figuredin the patta, 10(1), or Adangal.

Local MLA ManuguntaMahidhar Reddy assured thatcompensation would be givenand they were taking the issueto the government. He said thathe would discuss the issuewith the Chief Minister in two

or three days. Joint CollectorJ Venkata Murali, Sub-collec-tor Aparajita Singh, and portliaison officer IV Reddy andTahasildar Balakishore wereamong those who were pre-sent.

Later, ZPTCs, MPTCs,AMC chairman, and districtlibrary chairman submitted a

representation to the Collectorurging him to ensure thatMarkapuram district is creat-ed with Markapuram its head-quarters.

They said that on the adviceof Education ministerAdimulapu Suresh they sub-mitted the memorandum tothe Collector.Yerragondapalem MPP GondaKiran Goud, MPP BezawadaPedda Guravaiah, PeddaDornala PP Padmaja ZPTCsCh Vijaya Bhaskar, RaavathVagya Nayak, Makam JohnPaul Chalama Reddy, and DLata Chandrakanth Naik werepresent on the occasion.

Compensation will be paid toRamayapatnam port evacuees: DC

PNS n ONGOLE

Veligonda Project SpecialCollector Sarala Vandanamand Special Deputy CollectorDevendra Reddy held a meet-ing with the Chenchu tribepeople of ChintamudipiChenchu colony in Kalanutalavillage panchayat inPeddaraveedu mandal onFriday and assured them toextend the R&R package to allthe eligible people.

The Special Collector visit-ed the village and interactedwith the Chenchu tribe peo-ple at the village. Speaking tothem she said that the pack-age benefits would be extend-

ed to all eligible whose nameswere figured in the Gazette(R&R). The special collectorverified the bank accounts,identity cards, ration cards,Aadhaar cards, and votercards of the tribal people. Inthis order the Chenchu tribes-men brought several issues tothe attention of the SpecialCollector.

The tribal Chenchu peopletold the officials that three per-sons were killed due to the col-lapse of roofs of two houses inthe village and they have noproper houses.

The situation forces them tomigrate to other places seekinglivelihood. They told them

that nobody had forcibly takentheir PAN cards, bankaccounts and ATM cards andthe cards with them only. Theysaid that YSRCP convenerPalireddy Krishna Reddyhelped them and they con-demned the allegation againsthim.

The Special Collector toldthem that the R&& packageunder Veligonda project evac-uees would be extended tothem at the earliest. She saidthat there are 95 beneficiariesin the village and their detailswould be given to the districtCollector. Tahasildar Umaraniand RI Rajesh were amongthose who were present.

R&R package assured to Veligonda evacuees

PNS n ONGOLE

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)State president Somu Veerrajuhas lambasted the Jagan MohanReddy government for denyingpermission to exhibit a benefitshow to Pawan Kalyan-starrerBheemla Nayak movie and tookstrong exception to the TTD’sproposal to hike Arjita Seva tick-ets. Addressing a media confer-ence here on Friday, Veerrajusaid that the government deniedpermission to exhibit a benefitshow of Bheemla Nayak. It ishighly improper and unjust tothe state government to interfereand vitiate the prospects of theentertainment sector.

Coming down heavily on theTirumala Tirupati Devasthanamboard for its decision to hike theprice of Arjitha Sevas ticket ofhill shrine Tirumala, he said thatthe prices of cinema ticketswere slashed in the state, at thesame time, the Arjita Seva tick-ets of Tirumala temple werehiked. The TTD’s decision tohike the prices of Arjitha Sevaand special darshan ticketswould be an additional burdenon devotees, he lamented.

Taking a dig at the state gov-ernment for taking the funds ofvillage Panchayats, the BJPleader alleged that the stategovernment had forcibly takenthe funds of village Panchayatswhich were extended by theCentral government to take updevelopment works at the vil-lages. The state government isutilizing the funds given by theCentre for other purposesinstead of carrying out develop-ment works, he charged.

“The Centre has released32,000 crore funds for the con-struction of Jagananna colonies

but the state government hasowned the scheme and the cred-it”, he flayed. When the Uniongovernment is releasing funds tothe AP government for the devel-opment of the state, the state gov-ernment is doing business withnatural resources liquor, sand andred sander, he decried.

The state government is alsodiverting funds, released by theCentre for the construction ofthe Polavaram project, to otherpurposes, he criticised. TheBJP state president reiterated itsdemand that the Capital city ofAP should be in Amaravati.

Veerraju slams govt for denyingpermission for benefit show

PNS n GUNTUR

Minister for EducationAdimulapu Suresh has saidthat the government is bring-ing reforms in the libraries sys-tem by setting up digitallibraries and air- conditionedstudy rooms in libraries. Acommittee will be set up tofocus on the books, which theState government is to receivefrom the Central library underthe AP Reorganisation Act2014, the minister informed.

The Minister appealed to thelibrary chairmen and employ-ees to work together to imple-ment the reforms being intro-duced by state Chief MinisterYS Jagan Mohan Reddy toradically change the system ofpublic libraries in the state.Education Minister AdimulapuSuresh, MLC Lella Appireddyand State Library CouncilChairman Mandapati SeshagiriRao attended the AndhraPradesh State District LibraryEmployees Union State PlenarySession held here on Friday.The meeting also congratulat-ed the new chairman.

Speaking on the occasion,the Minister asked that thenewly-appointed GrandhalayaParishad Chairmen who weregiven the responsibility of pro-moting book reading, should

think creatively and innova-tively and strengthen thelibrary system. He informedthat Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy had announcedthat agriculture, health, andeducation were being givenhigh priority.

Under the Nadu-Neduprogramme steps were takento carry out a programme todevelop library buildings.He said that books requiredfor libraries would be pro-cured and steps would betaken to increase the numberof books by at least 10 per-cent every year. He said aspecial committee would beset up for books to come

from the Central Libraryunder the AP ReorganisationAct 2014.

The minister said a meetingwith municipal chairpersons,mayors, commissioners anddeputies would be held soon onthe cess due to libraries frommunicipalities, municipalitiesand panchayats. He said discus-sions were underway withFinance Ministry officials tocredit the cess directly from theproperty tax to the libraryaccount.

Adimulapu Suresh informedthat proposals had been madeto increase the honorarium ofthe library chairmen. He saidhe would discuss with the

Finance Ministry the issue ofpaying salaries to libraryemployees under the 010account. The ministerpromised to issue ordersincreasing the retirement age oflibrary employees to 62 yearslike other government employ-ees.

Steps would be taken to fillthe vacant posts in librariesthrough outsourcing, he said,adding that the governmentwould extend its full support tothe Chairmen's efforts for thedevelopment of libraries. MLCAppireddy, Mayor K ShivanagaManohar Naidu and state pub-lic libraries director Dr.M RPrasanna Kumar also spoke.

Digital libraries to have AC study rooms

DGP calls on HomeMinister

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Jana Sena chief K PawanKalyan congratulated seniorjournalist and writer MVRSastry for his book “Netaji.

In a statement here onFriday, Pawan Kalyan saidthat the sacrifices of the war-riors, who made supreme sac-rifices for the freedom of thecountry, should reach every-one. Netaji Subhash ChandraBose was a warrior who foughtvaliantly for independent Indiaand was Commander of theAzad Hind Fauj. Bore told theworld that Indians could fightwith weapons.

“My heartfelt congratula-tions to MVR Shastri, eminentauthor of the book 'Netaji' fortelling us how glorious the his-tory of that freedom strugglewas. We are now enjoyingfreedom because of warriorslike Subash Chandra Bose.Many warriors made supreme

sacrifices to free India fromthe British,” he said. He feltthat it is the responsibility ofall to inform the sacrifices offreedom fighters to the nextgenerations. The nationalistperspective of MVR Sastry isadmirable, he complimented.He said that he could notattend the book release func-tion but he would meet MVRSastry later.

“Knowing about the book'Netaji' reminded me of theevents when I went on a tripto Japan in 2001. Through myclose associates at the IndianHigh Commission in Tokyo, Ivisited the Netaji Monumentsand the monument at theRenkoji Temple. In the visitor’sbook, I read an opinion writ-ten by Atal Bihari Vajpayee",``A man can lose his life forthe ‘theory’, and however, thattheory will inspire thousandsafter his death”, Pawan Kalyansaid.

Sacrifices of freedom fightersshould inspire all: Pawan

Pawan fans try to obstruct Perni,Kodali in GudivadaPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Ministers PerniVenkataramaiah (Nani) andKodali Sri Venkateswra Rao(Nani) had to face the heatfrom the fans of actor-turned-politician PawanKalyan on Friday. The actor'sfans and the Jana Sena Party(JSP) activists tried toobstruct the ministers fromattending the inaugurationof a theatre in Gudivada andraised slogans ‘Jai PawanKalyan’.

The Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment has not permittedspecial shows or benefitshows for Bheemla Nayak inthe State, which has irked thefans. The police arrested JSPGudivada in-charge B

Srikanth and a few PawanKalyan fans, who tried toblock the minister's way,raising slogans and demand-ing that the State govern-ment should give up itsstubborn stand. They saidthat the Andhra PradeshState government was target-ing Pawan Kalyan's films.They said that it was veryunfair to arrest those whocame to give representationto Minister Perni Nani.

The much-awaitedBheemla Nayak hit the the-atres on Friday. StarringPawan Kalyan and RanaDaggubati in the lead roles,the intense action dramahas been receiving ravereviews from critics andaudiences alike.

The police arrested JSP Gudivada in-charge B Srikanth and a few PawanKalyan fans, who tried to block theminister's way, raising slogans anddemanding that the governmentshould give up its stubborn stand.

PNS n GUNTUR

Director General of Police(DGP) K V RajendranathReddy called on HomeMinister Mekathoti Sucharitaat her camp office here onFriday.

The DGP assumed chargea few days ago. He presentedher with a bouquet. TheHome Minister and her hus-band M Dayasagar, who isthe Income Tax PrincipalCommissioner, congratulat-ed the DGP.

Talking to the media, theDGP said that transfers ofofficials take place in thePolice department as per theneed. Transfers, postings andpromotions are part of theinternal exercises in thePolice department, he saidand added that he wouldtour he would soon tour inthe district.

PNS n ONGOLE

Prakasam District CollectorPravin Kumar said that aspecial call centre had beenset up at the Distr ictCollector's office to helpTelugu students who hadbeen struck in Ukraine.

In a statement here onFriday, the Collector said thatthe call centre, which operateson 1077, is open 24 hours aday. The call centre has been

available since midnight onFriday. The Collector saidthat the parents and relativesof the students who werestruck in Ukraine in the warsituation could get informa-tion and assistance by callingthe number. He said that thedetails of the students whowere in Ukraine would besent to the government andsteps would be taken to pro-vide them assistance, he said.

Meanwhile, Guntur MP

Galla Jayadev said that he hadwritten a letter to UnionForeign MinisterJayashankar seeking the saferepatriation of Telugu stu-dents stranded in Ukraine, aswell as students from Gunturdistrict, in the wake of theUkraine crisis. He said thathe had urged the MEA tomake suitable arrangementsfor the evacuation of studentsresiding in Ukraine and theirreturn to India by special

flights. He appealed to theUnion Minister to bring themsafely without any threat tothem.

“There are about 40 MBBSstudents from Guntur inUkraine. The parents of thestudents are panicking in thecurrent circumstances. Theclosure of the internationalairport and the declaration ofUkraine as a no-fly zone haveleft many Indians stranded inUkraine”, he said.

Ukraine crisis: Call centre in Ongole to help students

PNS n TIRUMALA

As part of traditional practice,'silk vastrams' were presentedto Sri BhramarambaMallikarjuna Swamy templein Srisailam on Friday onbehalf of Sri Venkateswaratemple of Tirumala on theauspicious occasion of ongo-ing annual Brahmotsavam inSrisailam which commencedon February 22 and concludeon March 4.

TTD Additional ExecutiveOfficer AV Dharma Reddymade the presentation of silkvastrams on behalf of TTD atSrisailam on Friday eveningamid mangala Vaidyam andchanting of mantras and wasreceived by Srisailam

Devasthanam ExecutiveOfficer S Lavanna.

TTD Trust Board memberK Ramabhupal Reddy,Tirumala temple ParupattedarGurappa were also present.

TSRTC arrangesspecial busesfor ShivaratriPNS n HYDERABAD

The TSRTC announced onFriday that it will arrangebuses if a minimum of 30people would like to travel toLord Shiva temples acrossthe State duringMahashivaratri.

TSRTC Vice-Chairmanand Managing Director VCSajjanar said, “Those whowant to hire our buses ser-vices should call 040-30102829 or 040-6815 3333.”He added that there must bea minimum of 30 passengerson a trip.

The buses will run fromFebruary 27 to March 1. Thetemples included in the listare Keesaragutta, Srisailam,and Vemulawada.

The charges for Srisailamare Rs 510 per person if oneis travelling from MGBS toSrisailam and Rs 550 perperson if anyone with a groupof minimum 30 passengerswould like to travel fromtheir housing colonies toSrisailam.

The TSRTC has arranged155 super luxury and expressbuses on this route. Thesebuses have more than 30seats and the RTC will allo-cate the empty seats to otherfamilies too.

TTD presents silk robesto Srisailam temple

BHEEMLA NAYAK

nation 05VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | FEBRUARY 26, 2022

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R SC invites applications for conferring‘senior advocate' designation

The Supreme Court Friday invited applications seeking conferment of designation of'senior advocate' from retired Chief Justices, Judges of High Courts andAdvocates-on-Record and advocates as per the guidelines. The applications in the

prescribed format, addressed to the Chief Justice, have to be submitted in theSecretariat of the Committee for the designation of senior advocates latest by 4.30 pmon March 21, 2022. “It is clarified thatretired Chief Justices/ Judges of HighCourts and Advocates-on-Record/Advocates whose earlierapplications were not consideredfavourably, are eligible to apply afresh inthe respective prescribed format,” anotice said. It clarified that retired ChiefJustices / Judges of High Courts andAdvocates-on-Record / Advocates whohave submitted applications prior to thedate of publication of this notice, mayapply afresh in the prescribed formats.

Six people, who went missing in snow, rescued in J-K's Kishtwar

Six people, who went missing in heavy snowfall earlier this week, have been traced andrescued by police in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Friday, officials said. AjazAhmed (30), Akbar (25), Ghulam Nabi (20), Gulzar Ahmed (18), Manzoor Ahmed (20)

and Irshad Ahmed (18), all residents of Warwan area in Kishtwar, are safe and their evacuation-- after being stuck in snow for three days and three nights -- is being facilitated by the police,the officials said. One Wali Mohammedfrom Anantnag had informed the policein snow-bound Kishtwar that his six rela-tives, who were going towards Warwanfrom Anantnag, had got trapped at viaMargan Top on Tuesday. Following this,Kishtwar senior superintendent of policeShafqat Hussain Bhat directed the policeto launch a search and rescue operationfor their safe evacuation. Subsequently,the police managed to establish contactwith the six people over mobile phoneon Friday, the officials said.

J-K admin approves setting upinfrastructure for women battalions

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday approved setting up of infrastructurefor women battalions at several places in the union territory, officials said. TheAdministrative Council (AC), which met here under the chairmanship of Lieutenant

Governor Manoj Sinha, accorded administrative approval for construction work for womenbattalions at Sopore, Baramulla andPargalta, Jammu, an official spokesmansaid. Farooq Khan and Rajeev RaiBhatnagar, advisors to the Lt Governor,Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary,and Nitishwar Kumar, PrincipalSecretary to the Lt Governor, attendedthe meeting, he said. The constructionwork will be carried out at an estimatedcost of Rs 50 crore at each battalionand it will include administration blocks,residential accommodation and hostels,and office building, among others, thespokesman said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Russia on Friday said it expectssupport from India at the UNSecurity Council when the glob-al body takes up a crucial reso-lution on the Russian militaryoperation in Ukraine.

Russia's Charge d'affairesRoman Babushkin said Indiahas a deep understanding of thereasons that led to the currentsituation in Ukraine andMoscow is looking for contin-ued support from New Delhi insync with the special and priv-ileged strategic partnershipbetween the two countries.

The UN Security Council isscheduled to vote on Fridayevening on a draft resolution onRussia's military operation inUkraine as well as the escalat-ing situation in the easternEuropean country.

"We highly appreciate India'sdeep understanding of the cur-rent situation as well as the rea-sons that led to it. We expectIndia to support Russia at theUN Security Council,"Babushkin told PTI.

The draft resolution is set tocondemn in the strongest termsRussia's military operation inUkraine that has triggeredstrong outrage among theWestern powers.

Appreciating India's posi-

tion, the Russian diplomat alsoreferred to External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar's com-ments three days back in Paristhat the situation in Ukraine hasits roots in the post-Soviet pol-itics and the expansion of theNorth Atlantic TreatyOrganization (NATO).

"India's position has beenvery balanced and indepen-dent. We appreciate it and wecontinue to expect India's sup-port in sync with the special andprivileged strategic partnershipbetween the two countries,"Babushkin said.

When asked at a media brief-ing on Thursday about India'sposition on the draft UN

Security Council resolution onthe Ukraine crisis, ForeignSecretary Harsh VardhanShringla said India has seen itand that New Delhi's stand willdepend on the final shape of itstext.

"I am told that it wouldundergo considerable changes.We will wait to see the shape thatthe resolution takes before wecan pronounce ourselves andthe position that we will take onthe issue," the foreign secretarysaid.

The Russian Charge d'af-faires said Russia has been inconstant touch with India overthe latest developments relatingto Ukraine.

"We are maintaining all com-munication with India and it hasa proper understanding of theoverall situation," he said.

In the midst of the escalatingsituation in Ukraine, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi held atelephonic conversation withPresident Vladimir Putin onThursday during which heappealed for ending violence,and called for concerted effortsfrom all sides to return to thepath of diplomatic dialogue.

A Russian readout said Putinoutlined the fundamentalassessments of Ukraine's"aggressive actions" against thecivilian population of Donbas aswell as the many years of"destructive policy" aimed atbreaking the Minsk agreements.

Jaishankar too held a phoneconversation with his Russiancounterpart Sergey Lavrov andunderlined that dialogue anddiplomacy are the best way for-ward to deal with the crisis.

Babushkin said the Westernpowers and the currentUkrainian government wereresponsible for the Russianaction against Ukraine as theynever heeded to Russia's secu-rity concerns as well as legiti-mate interests of the people ofDonetsk People's Republic(DPR) and the Luhansk People'sRepublic (LNR) in Ukraine.

Russia expects India's supportin UN Security Council vote

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Left parties on Friday con-demned Russia's military actionagainst Ukraine, but defendedMoscow's right to demand secu-rity guarantees amid efforts toinduct the country it shares aborder with into NATO.

The CPI(M) issued a state-ment saying there should be animmediate cessation of armedhostilities.

"After the dissolution of theSoviet Union, the United States-led NATO has been steadilyexpanding eastward, contrary tothe assurance given to Russia.The efforts to get Ukraine to joinNATO would pose a directthreat to Russia's security," it said.

"Russia is also concernedabout its security due to thethreat posed by the presence ofNATO forces and missiles at itsborders in eastern Europe.Hence, the Russian demand forsecurity guarantees, includingUkraine not joining NATO, islegitimate," the CPI(M) state-ment said.

It further stated that therefusal by the US and NATO tomeet the Russian security needsand the "belligerence of the US"in sending troops to the regionhave further escalated tensions.

"For peace to be established,the genuine concerns of all the

peoples, including of theDonbass region in easternUkraine, should be addressed.The process of negotiationsshould be restarted and theearlier agreements reached byboth the parties should beadhered to.

"The CPI(M) urges the Indiangovernment to immediately takesteps to ensure the safety of the

thousands of Indian citizens,mainly students stranded inUkraine and undertake mea-sures to evacuate all Indian cit-izens," it said.

The CPI too adhered to asimilar line and said that whileit stood by its uncompromisingposition that war is not the solu-tion for any geo-political conflictin any part of the world, themove to include Ukraine intoNATO would be a threat toworld peace.

"They could be solved only

through peaceful means andmeaningful dialogue. The CPI isof the opinion that the US moveto expand NATO to the East andany part of the world would bean eternal threat to world peace.CPI urges the government ofIndia to do everything possibleto ensure the safety of all Indiancitizens living in Ukraine. Theauthorities of Indian missions inthe region need to be asked totake up this issue with utmosturgency," it said in a separatestatement.

CPI MP Binoy Viswam hasalso written to the Ministry ofExternal Affairs, seeking itsintervention to ensure the safereturn of hundreds of Indianswho are stranded in Ukraine.

"The government must beaware that more than 20,000Indians reside in Ukraine,including students. With thebreak out of military operationin Ukraine, the measures takenby the Indian government needto stepped up. While manyhave managed to return, sever-al are stuck.

"With the Ukranian airspacebeing closed to civilian flights,I urge the government thatevery option should be exploredfor the emergency evacuation ofIndian nationals including therail and road methods," he saidin the letter.

Defend Russia’s demand for security guarantees

PNS n URI (J&K)

Children play without fear andfarmers tend their fields herewithout any threat of shells asthey mark a year of peace andcalm after the Indian andPakistan armies reiterated theceasefire on this day a year ago.

The surprise reiteration ofthe ceasefire agreement by thetwo neighbours from the mid-night of February 24 last yearcame as a huge relief to the peo-ple of Uri near the Line ofControl (LoC) in Jammu andKashmir, who otherwise livedin constant fear and bore themaximum brunt of the animos-

ity between the two countries.While the security estab-

lishment, too, has heaved a sighof relief and expressed happi-ness over the ceasefire holdingup, it is actually the people – theresidents near the line of thedivide -- who appreciate andrealise the true meaning of theguns falling silent.

“We know what the ceasefireactually means to us. We livedunder constant fear for manyyears, but for the past year, welived peacefully in our villagesalong with our children,” QaziSheikh, a local, said.

He said the ceasefire hasprovided an opportunity to

the villagers to carry out theiractivities without any fear ofexplosions rocking their neigh-bourhood.

“Explosions and shellingused to be the order of the day,and we lived under a constantfear day and night. Now, we

roam freely, and go on with ourlife happily,” Sheikh said.

He was of the opinion thatthe ceasefire be made a perma-nent feature and both the coun-tries must talk peace.

“We hope the ceasefire con-tinues. We want both the coun-tries to maintain peace. Wehave suffered for long and wewant to live our life normallyand peacefully now,” he said.

Romana Irshad, a Class IIstudent and a resident ofGarkote in Uri, said, “We cannow play in open fields becauseof the ceasefire. Otherwise,due to fear, we used to play inour rooms. We study with a free

mind without the sound ofexplosions in the background.”

Sheikh said the ceasefire hasnot only saved lives but theirproperties as well.

“We hope the ceasefire holdsso we could see our farmsprosper once again,” Shera, afarmer, said.

Last month, the GeneralOfficer Commanding (GoC) ofthe Army's 15 Corps or theChinar Corps, Lt Gen D PPandey, said the ceasefire alongthe LoC in Kashmir was hold-ing and the Army would like itto continue for the benefit ofthe people on either side of thedivide.

A year of ceasefire: Wide smiles, lush green fields at border

Karnataka Cong menchant unity ‘mantra'

Bullied at school,Faridabad studentcommits suicidePNS n FARIDABAD

A class 10 student allegedlycommitted suicide by jump-ing off the top floor of hisapartment block here, leavingbehind a note in which heaccused his school head-mistress of harassing himand other children of bully-ing him, police said on Friday.

“The school has killed me,”he said in the note, foundafter the suicide on Thursdaynight, police said, addingthey have registered a case ofabetment of suicide againstthe headmistress and schoolmanagement.

The boy whose mothertaught in the same schoolallegedly jumped off from the17th floor of his residentialbuilding here at 9 pm onThursday when he was alonein his house and succumbedto his injuries during treat-ment in a hospital, policesaid.

The boy had also beenfacing depression for the lastone year and had been under-going professional coun-selling in Delhi for it, saidSHO Arjun Dhundhara ofthe BPTP police stationwhere the FIR was lodged.

In her complaint topolice, the boy's motheralso alleged that her son hadtold her nearly a year agothat other students used tocall him “homosexual”, theSHO said.

IMA requests PM to help bringback young medical studentsPNS n NEW DELHI

The Indian MedicalAssociation (IMA) hasappealed to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to help bringback young medical studentsstranded in Ukraine on prior-ity, saying most of them can-not afford the escalated costsof air travel following aRussian military offensive.

The doctors' body urgedModi to help them financial-ly and also create a dedicated

helpdesk for medical students."As you are aware that thou-

sands of Indian students pur-suing their medical studies arestranded in Ukraine. Most ofthem cannot afford the esca-lated costs of air travel. Eventhose affording cannot traveldue to the adverse conditionsthere. Even the day-to-dayrations are dwindling, creatingsevere hardships for their sur-vival," the IMA said in a let-ter to Modi.

Their parents here are anx-

ious and worried about theirsafety and well-being, it said.

"The IMA is well aware ofthe various efforts taken byour Union Government toget back Indian citizens. Wesincerely and humbly appealto your good self to give pri-ority to our young studentsand bring them back as soonas possible. We request furtherto the government to helpthem financially and make allpossible efforts to get themout," the IMA stated.

PNS n NAGPUR

U n i o nm i n i s t e rN i t i nGadkari onFriday saidthe centralgovernmentis makinga r r a n g e -

ments to bring back Indianstudents stuck in Ukraineamid Russian invasion, andthey will be brought home assoon as the eastern Europeancountry's airspace opens upfor civilian flights.

He said that the Unionministries of Home Affairsand Civil Aviation have takenup the issue of Indian stu-dents stuck in Ukraine veryseriously. Addressing a pressconference here, Gadkarisaid, "Students not only fromVidarbha (region ofMaharashtra), but fromacross India are pursuingmedical courses in Ukraine.The Home and Civil Aviationministries have taken up theissue of Indian students stuckin war-torn Ukraine veryseriously."

PNS n BHUBANESWAR

With the guardians of 1,500Odisha students stranded inUkraine expressing concernover the safety of their wards,Chief Minister Naveen Patnaikon Fridayspoke toUnion HomeMinister AmitShah andurged him toensure thesafe evacua-tion of stu-dents andl a b o u r e r sfrom the east-ern state.

P a t n a i kcalled up Shah in the morningafter appeals poured in fromcommon people from variousparts of the state for evacua-tion of the Odia students,most of whom are studyingmedical courses in the easternEuropean nation.

"The chief minister spokemostly on the evacuation ofstudents and labourers," anofficial at the Chief Minister's

Office said."Shah assured the chief

minister that the Governmentof India is in touch with theUkrainian government and isworking to bring back the stu-dents and labourers at the ear-

liest," a CMO statement said.Patnaik directed Special

Relief Commissioner P K Jenato coordinate the return of theOdisha residents fromUkraine. District magistrateswere asked to collect informa-tion regarding students andworkers stranded in Ukraineand coordinate with their fam-ily members in the easternstate.

Patnaik speaks toShah over safetyof stranded Odias

LEFT PARTIES CONDEMN MILITARY ATTACK

Centre makingarrangementsto bring backstudents

PM BATS FOR INDIGENOUS MANUFACTURING IN DEFENCE SECTOR

PNS n NEW DELHI

Cyber security is no longerlimited to just the digital worldas it has now become a matterof national security, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi saidon Friday.

He also noted that theprocess of importing defenceitems is so long that by the timethey reach our security forces,many of them have become out-dated and therefore, the solutionis to go for indigenous manu-facturing.

"Even during the period ofslavery and immediately afterIndependence, the strength ofour defence manufacturing wasvery high. Weapons made inIndia played a big role in WorldWar II," he said in his addressat the Defence Ministry's post-budget webinar. Although thisstrength of ours kept on weak-ening in later years, it shows thatthere was no shortage of capac-ity in India then and neither itis there now, he added.

About 70 percent of thisyear's defence budget has been

kept for domestic industry only,he said. "The strength of India'sIT is our great strength. Themore we use this power in ourdefence sector, the more confi-dent we will be in our security,"he noted.

"For example, cyber securityis no longer limited to the dig-ital world only. It has become amatter of national security," headded.

It is a source of happiness thatin the last five-six years, Indiahas increased defence exportsby six times, he said.

PNS n BENGALURU

Karnataka Congress menchant 'mantra' of unity aheadof Assembly elections in theState next year.

A day after a meeting RahulGandhi, Leader of Oppositionin Assembly Siddaramaiahand Karnataka Congress pres-ident D K Shivakumar held ajoint press meet in New Delhion Friday and expressed con-fidence about Congressreturning to power.

"There is one year forAssembly elections, there is aconducive atmosphere forCongress to come back topower because the currentBJP government came topower through operationlotus, no developmental workhas happened since then. Thepeople are cursing the govern-ment," said Siddaramaiah said.

He said Rahul Gandhicalled for a meeting of seniorCongress men in Karnataka totake stock of the political sit-uation and discuss the strate-gy to win the election andcome back to power.

"Rahul Gandhi has got themessage that everyone in theparty is working together inthe State and that the party willcome back to power... We allare working together, there areno differences. BJP is trying toproject there are differences,that is not a fact. As we are ademocratic party, there may bedifferences of opinion, that'sall," he added.

Rahul Gandhi's meetingwith State Congress leaders is

said to be aimed at sending outa message of collective leader-ship amid reports of politicaloneupmanship betweenSiddaramaiah and Shivakumaras both have chief ministerialambitions.

Stating that about 15 StateCongress leaders met RahulGandhi in the presence ofparty general secretariesRandeep Singh Surjewala andK C Venugopal, Shivakumarsaid,"We've apprised him(Rahul) about political devel-opments in Karnataka andparty organisational matters.We have one year's time andwe have been asked to gobefore the people keeping inmind the national politicaldevelopments, issues of thepeople of the State. Leadershave been asked to spendmore time on the field. It isour duty to bring the partyback to power and we havepromised to work together,"he said.

He said the Congress's'padayatra' demanding imple-mentation of the Mekedatuproject would resume fromRamanagra on February 27and conclude at the NationalCollege Grounds in Bengaluruon March 3. For the yatra,Shivakumar sought coopera-tion from the public and var-ious organisations.

With limited options amidthe surge in COVID cases, thegovernment prohibitingmovement of people and theHigh Court's observations,the Congress halted the yatramid-way in January.

those standing last in the lineand to help them lead a digni-fied life. One is convinced thatwherever the elected represen-tative has a clean image, cor-ruption gets checked, whichmeans considerable relief tothe ‘last man in the line’. Sadlyenough, such numbers areconsistently on the decline.

Young persons in schoolsand colleges learn about theConstitution, and its empha-sis on improving the lot every-one. Every child before hecompletes 10 years in school isexpected to get familiar withthe concepts and practices ofdemocracy, the Republic andhow these are woven into theConstitution. Eminent expertsexplain that in a Republic, peo-ple are supreme; electedGovernments derive powersfrom people, though for alimited period. There is totalemphasis on equality, irre-spective of any and everydiversity. Eminent constitu-tional expert Dr SubhashKashyap indicates howRepublics succeed, or fall:“Republics are created by thevirtues, public spirit and intel-ligence of citizens. They failwhen the wise are banishedfrom public councils becausethey dare to be honest, and the

profligate are rewardedbecause the flatter the peoplein order to betray them.”

Clearly, it is the cognitivecapital of the nation, andemphasis on essential unity ofall people that would decidethe success or otherwise of theRepublic in meeting the objec-tives enshrined in theConstitution. In a parliamen-tary democracy, the impor-tance and significance of elec-tions and the vote is expectedto be well understood by vot-ers. Towards this, people mustbe well aware of the extent towhich the political partiesrespect the Constitution. Suchdeliberations must become anintegral part of electioneering.Every political party vocifer-ously declares total adherenceto the values and vision of DrBR Ambedkar. People have aright to analyse and identifythose who are really seriousabout it. Ambedkar under-stood India, its people, itsdiversities and its inherentunity. He could envision ratherprecisely the hindrances andimpediments to be faced at theimplementation stage; andhow these could really restrictthe pace of socio-economicreforms. The ConstituentAssembly had high aspira-

tions of independent Indiaregaining its rightful place inthe comity of nations.Ambedkar expressed the sen-timents of not only everymember of the ConstituentAssembly but also of everyalert, active and responsible cit-izen of India: “I feel, howevergood a Constitution may be, itis sure to turn out bad becausethose who are called to workit happen to be a bad lot.However bad a Constitutionmay be, it may turn out to begood if those who are called towork it happen to be a goodlot. The working of aConstitution does not dependwholly upon the nature of theConstitution. The factors onwhich the State’s organs dependare its people and the partiesthey set up as their instrumentsto carry out their wishes. Whocan say how the people of Indiaand their parties will behave?”

Indian democracy wouldflourish depending upon thenumbers of elected representa-tives who comprehend theseideas, and have the courage andcompetence to put them intopractice.

(The author works in edu-cation, social cohesion andreligious amity. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

DON’T PAINT NEHRU IN BAD LIGHTSir — This is in response to PrafullGoradia’s article ‘Silent churning of revo-lution in India’ (February 25). JawaharlalNehru was of course a man who was the“farthest from anything Indian andHinduism in soul and spirit”. Indeed howcould that self-declared “culturally aMuslim” stress that he was the “lastEnglishman to rule India”? But perhapsSwami Vivekananda was an epitome of allthings Indian and Hinduism. Surely thisis the reason why he gets projected as their“own messiah” by the ‘nationalist’ saffronbrigade and the ruling party at the Centre.In this context, let me humbly, but firm-ly, enlighten Prafull about a bold statementof Vivekananda — “For our own moth-erland, a junction of the two great systems,Hinduism and Islam — Vedanta brain andIslam body — is the only hope.”

Ramakrishna Paramhansa used to livewith Muslim and Christian mystics foryears, followed their strict routines andthereafter emphasised that all roads leadto truth. Not to forget the “proud Hindu”Vivekanada used to praise all the good thatthe West had to offer and severely criti-cise the vices embedded in Hinduism.Lastly, all sane secular humanitarianIndians pray that Bharat Mata is sparedof the intolerance and parochialism of current ‘revolutionaries’.

Kajal Chatterjee | Kolkata

MORE TURMOIL LIKELY TO FOLLOWSir — This refers to the editorial ‘War!’(February 25). Russia on Thursdaylaunched a massive invasion of Ukraine.With utter disregard at the UN SecurityCouncil that was in a last-ditch sessionto make better sense prevail, RussianPresident Vladimir Putin sent battletanks rolling into the highways ofUkraine not only from his borders butalso from Belarus. And with Nato refus-ing to put boots on Ukrainian soil, thenation’s military doesn’t have a ghost ofa chance against the infinitely superiorinvader. Obviously, the crippling eco-nomic sanctions that the US, the UK andthe EU have started imposing mean lit-tle to a despot with an elephantine ego

who has no respect for international law.With the US and Nato showing no

appetite for being a credible counter-weight, both are having a free run. It isa different matter that the diminishingprofile of the US as a global cop is a pos-itive development. But the develop-ments are ominous for Taiwan, whichcan expect fresh turbulence. And theoccupying Chinese force on the Ladakhborder could get more aggressive. Indiapredictably has chosen to react cautious-ly. That the turmoil will slow down itseconomy, which is partially on themend, is a given.

N Sadhasiva Reddy | Bengaluru

A WELCOME STEP BY RAJASTHAN GOVTSir — The Rajasthan Government hasreverted to the old scheme of pension toprovide guaranteed pension to StateGovernment employees. With thisannouncement in the State’s Budget, the18-year-old contributory ‘New PensionScheme’ comes to an end. With theAssembly elections due next year in

Rajasthan, this was the last full Budgetpresented by the current Congress-ledGovernment. The move has a significantrepercussion on fiscal stability. Pensionsare a generational issue. Disconsolationof the old pension scheme was one of thesuccess stories of fiscal reform in the cur-rent century. Going back on it would bea painful journey.

Under the new pension scheme, forthe same work in a Government job, aworker appointed on or after January 1,2004, gets 10 per cent less take-homesalary because of the contribution hemakes, compared to the beneficiaryunder the old pension scheme appoint-ed till December 31, 2003. Under the oldpension scheme, the worker didn’t haveto make any such contribution towardshis pension. The move may encourageother State Governments too to go backto the old pension scheme.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

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06

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The spirit of political party candidates seeking a place in the House has

dwindled, and they make no effort to connect with volunteers or voters

SEVERAL POLITICAL

PARTIES SURVIVE ON

CONSIDERATIONS OF

CASTE, CASTE

GROUPINGS,

REGIONALISM AND

RELIGION. NONE OF

THIS HARMONISES

WITH THE SPIRIT

OF CONSTITUTION.

THE CREDIBILITY OF

ELECTED

REPRESENTATIVES

HAS GROSSLY

DECLINED

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

JS RAJPUT

It is really ridiculous that the IndianGovernment through its embassy inUkraine has advised the panic-stricken stu-

dents to find bomb shelters and save them-selves. While all other countries were ableto sense this dangerous situation well inadvance and evacuated their citizens, ourMinistry of External Affairs has been in aslumber. This is not the first time Indian cit-izens are left in lurch in such a dangeroussituation. We cannot forget the incidents thatendangered the lives of Indians in

Afghanistan at the time of transformation ofpower due to our Government’s lethargy.Indian diplomacy has taken a beating and SJaishankar, the Minister of External Affairs,has failed miserably in handling such sen-sitive situations and proved beyond doubtthat he is the most inefficient Foreign Ministerfree India has ever had.

It is high time to replace him with a vet-eran in diplomatic dealings, who has the intel-ligence to foresee and contain damages andsave Indians on time. It is also unfortunatethat though the Russian invasion and the dan-gerous situation to which Indians would bepushed into was clearly writ large in the wall,our tall leaders including the Prime Minister,Home Minister and Defence Minister failed tocall for relevant meetings and discuss in Delhithe precautionary measures to be taken.Instead, they kept campaigning for their partyahead of the Assembly elections.

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

A diplomatic failure

Elections, virtuesand public spirit

The caller was repeatedlypressing the doorbell;sensing an emergency,one rushed out to open

the gate. They were a couple ofyoungsters with pamphlets andbadges of a political party promi-nently displayed on their person.They gave me a pamphlet, firm-ly instructing that I too must votefor their candidate, as all others inthe constituency. Before I couldopen my mouth, they rushedtowards their next target. Undersome impulse, I asked them howand when I could see this illustri-ous person. Prompt came thereply: “Have you not seen him onTV? He is a busy person, cannotsee or meet everybody!”

They had firmly put me inmy place. I thanked them, andwas left wondering whether thisrepresents a transformation in thecandidate-party-voter relation-ship. Obviously, they were no vol-unteers. They were least interest-ed in the candidate, his victory orthe party. I realised it is time forsomeone like me to erase thememories of candidates visitingvoters, accompanied by volun-teers, making courteous requests.As one speaks to people on elec-tions on one-on-one basis, apainful reality comes to the fore:We don’t expect much change; inthe past we have seen the winnersdevoting all of their time andenergy to look after their familyand cronies. Several politicalparties survive on considera-tions of caste, caste groupings,regionalism and religion. None ofthis harmonises with the spirit ofthe Constitution. The credibilityof elected representatives hasgrossly declined; people don’t givethem the respect that is the gen-uine due of every elected repre-sentative. One must hasten to addthat the system functions becauseof exceptions; the representativeswho understand the spirit of theConstitution, who are deter-mined to serve their electors. Itis no cliché that a considerablenumber of elected representativesrarely visit their constituencies.

Independent analysis of thecontemporary electoral scenarioclearly establishes a disturbinglevel of commitment to publicgood, declining sense of respon-sibility to transform the life of

There are children crying, people dying, and explosions from missile attacks.This is mostly happening along the eastern borders of Ukraine, which it shareswith former parent Russia, as long as they coexisted as the USSR until 1991

when internal political, economic and ethnic disintegration dissolved the USSR and15 independent countries took shape. The world had barely started limping backto normal after a two-year COVID-19 affliction when it was plunged into an unnec-essary and unreasonable war. It basically is a completely unjustified demonstra-

tion of regional hegemony. The world was a witnessin 2014 when 14,000 Ukrainians were killed by theRussian forces to annex the Crimean peninsula. Nowafter Russia launched an all-out attack on Ukraine,the so-called global ‘leaders’ have meekly wokenup to the disparaging act and are making suitablenoises to show their concern for the upkeep ofdemocracy and the sovereignty of respectivecountries. And where is the United Nations, by theway? Formed in 1945 to ensure the world will nothave to go through another war after the two dread-ed World Wars, it replaced the League of Nations,

but what else changed? It’s still toothless and clawless.Amid all this chest-thumping and shows of bravado, especially between Russia

and the United States where most citizens are not in favour of US involvement in theconflict, the next obvious concern will be with what happens in Taiwan? Will Chinabe emboldened by the feeble protests and actions of the rest of the world’s coun-tries? It’s undoubtedly set a wrong, bad example for the local bullies to push theirway around while the other seniors pretend that they haven’t noticed anything. RussianPresident Vladimir Putin is well known as a ‘dictator’; by launching a full-scale waron Ukraine, he has blatantly publicised his policy of “My way or the highway”. Butthe problem is that the threat or actual clamping down of economic sanctions bythe EU, US or other countries against Russia are transient and can’t sustain for longenough period. Economy has entirely different dynamics largely untouched by glob-al conflicts. The European nations need Russia more than Russia needs them. Butdoes it mean that the world will sit back and twiddle its thumbs? Next in line couldbe Lithuania and, let’s not forget, Belarus is already a puppet in Russian hands.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia would want to turn Delhi into India’s, nay, Asia’s,Cannes if he has his way. His enthusiasm to turn Delhi is contagious. He has justunveiled Delhi’s film policy that wants to make the national Capital (and State) as

a film production hub, thereby boosting local jobs and promoting tourism. A nodal agencywill ease production processes by interacting with the cinema teams and personnel fromthe hospitality, tourism and transport sectors. This is a creditable exercise and its suc-cess will depend on how inclusive and seamless the policy will be in practice. Moderngenerations of Indians still remember the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer, Trishul, largely shotin Delhi in the 1970s. The film brought Delhi into the cinematic map of India. Some ofthe iconic scenes were shot in Lodhi Garden, Golf Club, Odeon Theatre, Teen Murti, OldFort, the parking lot of Oberoi and, of course, the climax in the Hall of Nations (now demol-ished) in Pragati Maidan. In the new century, Delhi is the preferred location for films witha heavy dose of nationalism, national politics or national institutions. Some filmmakers,thinking out of the box, revived Delhi as a popular destination by contextualising their worksin Dilli rather than Delhi. Chandni Chowk and Karol Bagh in Delhi 6, the South Campus

of Delhi University in Fukrey, Connaught Place in 3 Idiots,Agrasen Ki Baoli in PK, Rajouri Garden and Lajpat Nagarin Queen, or Pitampura and Kapashera in Delhi Bellyfocussed on the heritage, immigrant and subaltern Delhi.

Making Delhi attractive to filmmakers of the day isa bit of a challenge for Sisodia. Much of mainstreamIndian cinema — not just Hindi — is romancing withrealism these days. They are no longer into identity props,like Mumbai’s Marine Drive or Delhi’s India Gate. Thereis an eagerness for close-to-the-truth locales for believ-able, or credible, cinema. A recent multi-lingual film spenthuge amounts of money to shoot in a village inside a

pristine, hilly forest of Andhra Pradesh. Sandalwood smuggling operations in such a localemake much more cinematic sense than a film studio. Secondly, Delhi will have to devel-op cinema-related infrastructure if directors have to save costs of transporting crew, trans-port and equipment from outside. Thirdly, Sisodia can take a novel initiative and try bring-ing all States on a single platform for a single-window access to filmmakers. In India, 14States have their own film facilitation policies while 18 offer various incentives to film-makers. And now, the Union Government is also jumping into the fray, having decidedto frame a model film policy and coordinate with States to set up film promotion offices.The absence of friendly local policies force producers to look for locales abroad eventhough film shooting is cheaper in India. A cohesive Centre-States effort is needed tomake Delhi, the seat of governance, be the natural intersection between national cine-matographic legislation, India’s internal cinematographic market, cinema’s cultural val-ues and film-makers’ freedom of expression.

Lights, camera, action!

Wake upRussia is not going to be cowed by the

hollow words of the so-called ‘global leaders’

PICTALK

Preparations for the 2nd T20 match between India and Sri Lanka, in Dharamsala PTI

Delhi has unveiled a film policy but it needs to do a lot more to get things going

India is walkingthe talk on climatechange mitigationand adaptation.

Union Minister— Bhupender Yadav

There are no

issues. I am

looking forward

to playing all

the games.

India cricket captain

— Rohit Sharma

SOUNDBITE

External forces

are attempting

to manipulate

the situation in

Ukraine.

Taiwan President

— Tsai Ing-wen

We are clear thatwe will not agreeto any change inthe status quo..at the LAC.

External Affairs Minister— S Jaishankar

My first priority

is to finish

the films and

projects stuck

due to COVID.

Actor— Manoj Bajpayee

Case for early teachingin mother tongue

VLADIMIR PUTIN IS THE AGGRESSOR. PUTIN

CHOSE THIS WAR. NOW HE AND HIS COUNTRY

WILL BEAR THE CONSEQUENCES.

—US RESIDENT

JOE BIDEN

WHOEVER TRIES TO STOP US SHOULD KNOW

THAT RUSSIA WILL LEAD THEM TO

CONSEQUENCES NEVER FACED IN HISTORY.

— RUSSIAN PRESIDENT

VLADIMIR PUTIN

The NEP was right in suggesting that first five years of learning shouldbe in mother tongue. Then the child can be shifted to English medium

Because the Taliban have been designated as ‘terrorists’, it ispossible for the United States not only to embargo Americanaid and trade to Afghanistan, but also to block or at least seri-

ously hinder effor ts by other countries to send humanitarian aid.As a result, more than half the country’s people - 23 million at lastcount - are suddenly near starvation. There are many reports ofpeople selling one of their children in order to feed the others. Thisis formally a kind of adoption process, but in practice is often athinly disguised form of debt slavery. There have even been a fewdocumented cases of parents selling an organ to buy food for theirchildren. Because the central bank is in Taliban hands, anti-terror-ism legislation enables the US to deny the country access even tothe many billions of dollars (mostly unspent aid money, but also

private savings) that the former government had on deposit withforeign banks. The vindictiveness needs no explanation: nobodyhumiliates the United States and goes unpunished. The fact thatordinary civilian Afghans had nothing to do with that humiliation,but are the ones suffering the retaliation for it, has no more weightin this case than it had in any other. The ‘domestic US politics’,however, is a more complex issue.

The Biden administration has taken a severe beating political-ly due to the events of last August, and it’s no use pointing outthat it was originally Donald Trump who signed the deal that led tothe abrupt collapse of the pro-Western Afghan regime and the humil-iating sauve-qui-peut that followed. Joe Biden has to take the blame.There are mid-term elections coming up this November, and theDemocratic Party is at risk of losing control of both houses ofCongress. Biden cannot afford to be seen as soft on the Taliban,but that severely restricts his ability to do anything for the starv-ing Afghans even if he wanted to. To give the man credit, he appearsto be trying anyway. Seven billion dollars of Afghan money is frozenin US banks. Even now it could probably save several hundred thou-sand innocent lives in Afghanistan if it were released to Kabul imme-diately. What Biden has tried to do is free up half of it for human-itarian aid by giving the other half to American families who havelost relatives in terrorist attacks. It’s questionable whether he canlegally give that $7 billion to anybody, but on February 11 he signedan executive order splitting it evenly between US victims of terror-ism and humanitarian aid to the Afghan people. He obviously hopesthis will give him enough political cover to give half to the starv-ing Afghans, but a) it won’t work; and b) it isn’t fair. If a couple ofsenior members of the Taliban knew in advance about Osama binLaden’s plans to attack America eighteen years ago - which isunproven and unlikely - they are long gone now. The Taliban aredeeply unpleasant to Western eyes, but they won the war fair andsquare and the best way of ending the incipient famine would beto recognise them. If you can’t do that, and you can’t even bringyourself to talk to them yet, let alone trust them with their own money,then just buy food for the Afghan people (with their own money)and fly it in. Deliver it to the airports, and let the Taliban distributeit from there. You owe the Afghans that much, at least.

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

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | FEBRUARY 26, 2022

07

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FIRSTCOLUMNTHE TALIBAN AND THESTARVING AFGHANS

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

GWYNNE DYER

RAMACHANDRA MURTHYKONDUBHATLA

The real motive for blocking the Afghan moneyis vindictiveness — plus domestic US politics

English as a medium of instructionhas become a political issue inTelugu States. To choose betweenmother tongue and English as a

medium of instruction is a pan-Indiapredicament and debate on this subject hasbeen going on for decades albeit in anunorganized manner. Telangana ChiefMinister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR)presided over a Cabinet meeting onJanuary 17, 2022 that decided to go forEnglish medium right from first class andsimultaneously continue with Telugumedium for students who opt for it. It isagainst the National Education Policy 2020(NEP) that the Narendra ModiGovernment finalised. BJP leaders inTelangana have naturally taken objectionto the State Government’s decision.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy (JMR) wanted tohave English medium in all Governmentschools from the day he took over as chiefminister. He said people asked him,when he met them in large numbers dur-ing his historic walkathon in 2017-18, forEnglish medium. No doubt, it is a popu-lar demand. Should the Governments goby what people ask for or what is good forthe people? Soon after assuming power,JMR had shown keen interest in develop-ing Government schools by giving themfacelift and providing sufficient infrastruc-ture. At first, he did not provide for Telugumedium at all. After a hue and cry fromthe advocates of mother tongue as medi-um of instruction, he said he would haveTelugu medium at some schools. The pol-icy ran into difficulties, legal problems andthe Government wishes to implement thenew policy from next academic year.

“According to the human rights dec-laration by the United Nations, educationis a right of every child. What kind of edu-cation should the children get depends ontheir parents, who are the ultimate deci-sion-makers. Parents are particular thattheir children should study in Englishmedium from the beginning of schooling,”said Prof. Limbadri, Chairman ofTelangana Higher Education Council.He said the Government is set to improvefacilities in Government schools under thepilot programme “Mana Ooru - ManaBadi” (Our village - Our school). In a way,KCR is following JMR’s policy with duediligence. Telangana will not do away withTelugu medium altogether. It will allow itto have a natural death.

Two decades ago, 80 per cent of thestudents used to go to Governmentschools and 20 percent to private schools.By 2005, the percentage of studentsstudying in Government schools camedown to 70 percent. Now it is less than 45percent. Telangana is leading in provid-ing English medium education for SCs,STs, OBCs and Minorities through resi-dential schools, model schools andgurukul schools. Without making it pub-lic, the Government allowed teachers toswitch over to English medium wherev-

ENGLISH IS ALANGUAGE OF

SCIENCE,TECHNOLOGY,

COMPUTER,INTERNET,

JOURNALISM,WEBSITES ANDSO ON. 80 PER

CENT OF THEINFORMATIONFED INTO THE

COMPUTERS ISIN ENGLISH. THE

FACT OF THEMATTER IS

ENGLISH ORSPANISH OR ANY OTHER

LANGUAGE CANBE LEARNT

BETTER ON THEFOUNDATION

LAID BY MOTHERTONGUE

er there was a popular demand. Anumber of Government schoolswere closed due to lack of Englishmedium.

There are three kinds ofschools in AP and TS. Majority ofthe schools are run byGovernment, followed by privateschools and then corporate schools.The teachers in Governmentschools are better qualified and bet-ter paid than those in privateschools. But even the poor and lowcaste parents spend on their chil-dren for English medium educa-tion in private schools. They payfive times to the amount theywould have spent if their childrenwent to Government schools. If theGovernment schools introduceEnglish medium, the poor will bespared of the burden.

Dalit intellectual ChandrabhanPrasad has long been saying thatEnglish has been the greatest lib-erator of Dalits form caste hierar-chy. Decades of English deprivationhas deepened the inequalities. Oneintellectual said the mother tonguefanatics are keeping India poor andbackward. If we did not haveEnglish medium schools, we wouldnot have Padma Bhushans likeSatya Nadella and Sunder Pitchaiheading prestigious multinationalcorporations such as Microsoftand Google.

Switching over to Englishmedium overnight, however, isnot going to be easy. Bilingualteaching material has to be pre-pared. There will be considerableinvestment in the beginning.Teachers have to be trained. WhatIndia spends on education is a pit-tance compared to the US andother developed countries. It has tobe increased many folds.

NEP says “wherever possible,

the medium of instruction until atleast Grade 5, but preferably tillGrade 8 and beyond, will be thehome language/mother tongue/local language/regional language.”There is a solid scientific consen-sus that teaching a child in her ownlanguage is the best pedagogicalmethod.

Like India, Nigeria is a multi-lingual country with a history ofBritish colonialism and Englishlanguage dominating their educa-tion system. Pioneering Nigerianeducationist Aliu Fafunwalaunched a project in 1970 inwhich experimental groups of stu-dents were taught in their ownnative Yoruba language for theirfirst six years. They did far betterin studies than those who weretaught in English. Nancy Modianoin Mexico experimented on thesame lines in1973 and came upwith similar result. Children whowere taught in their native languageearly on and later transitioned toSpanish outperformed childrentaught only in Spanish from Grade1. No such comparative studieswere undertaken in India, muchless in AP and Telangana.

Article 350A of the constitutionstated that every State and localauthority should endeavour toprovide ‘adequate facilities forinstruction in the mother tongueat the primary stage of educationto children belonging to linguisticminority groups.’ The KothariCommission on education andnational development (1964-66)suggested that in tribal areas, forthe first two years of school, themedium of instruction and booksshould be in the local tribal lan-guages. The regional languagesshould be taught separately andshould become medium of instruc-

tion by third year. OdishaGovernment had started imple-menting this policy in 2007. Rightto Education Act, 2009, also insistson teaching kids in their mothertongue. But successive govern-ments have been tinkering witheducation. Far from encouragingprivate school to drop English, theunion Government does not usemother tongue in its own networkof elite KendriyaVidyalay schools.

English is a language of science,technology, computer, internet,journalism, website and so on. 80percent of the information fed intothe computers is in English. Thefact of the matter is English orSpanish or any other language canbe learnt better on the foundationlaid by mother tongue. A small kidspends only three or four hours ina day at the school. The rest of thechild’s time is in a non-Englishenvironment. If we force her tolearn English directly then it willamount to rote learning. The NEPwas right in suggesting that firstfive years of learning should be inmother tongue. Then the child canbe shifted to English medium.English as a language has to betaught right from first class. TillGrade 5, the language of instruc-tion would be mother tongue.Then, from Grade 6 onwardsmother tongue would become asubject and the medium of instruc-tion would be English. The transi-tion would then be seamless.

If the Union Government canmake it compulsory for all the pri-mary schools run by Governmentor private sector to teach only inmother tongue till Grade 5, therewill be a level playing field.Otherwise, there will be no takersfor mother tongue as medium ofinstruction.

(The writer is a seniorjournalist and Editor,

primepost, a news websitebased out of Hyderabad.

The views expressed are personal.)

In the run up to the high-stakes 2022 Uttar Pradeshassembly elections, the polit-

ical parties had announced withmuch fanfare their respectivemanifestos adorned with pop-ulist announcements to woo theelectorate.

Nevertheless, the energysector freebies grabbed the max-imum media space as also thepopular imagination given thefact that the UP power tariffs areamong the highest in the coun-try. All the major parties, viz.,BJP, Samajwadi Party, Congressand Aam Aadmi Party havemade competing power sectorpre-poll promises.

Yet these outfits haveapplied little thought to the pre-carious financial condition ofthe state power utility, UPPower Corporation Limited(UPPCL), and the distribution

companies (discoms).Understandably, there are

financial and technical impera-tives involved in the energysector pre-poll freebies held outby the parties owing to theirpopulist agenda to get an upperhand at the hustings.

The UP discoms have accu-mulated losses of almost ̀ 95,000crore with an estimated dailyrevenue gap of ̀ 80 crore addingto the mess.

Much of the low income-population consumes less than100 units a month. Consideringthat the peak demand in UPhovers around 25,000MW on adaily basis, the free powerpromise will invariably lead tohigher consumption to avail ofthe dole.

However, the political econ-omy of the energy sector, whichtouches the lives of about 30 mil-

lion electrified households in UP,is too much to ignore, especial-ly during election times.

Sample this: The AkhileshYadav-led SP has promised toprovide 300 units of free elec-tricity to every household plusensuring a 24-hour power sup-ply in the state. Yadav claimedthe free power plank wouldincur “just” `12,000 croreannually.

Energy sector experts warnthat the promise of free power

for the first 300 units in a bigstate like UP with about 30 mil-lion consumers would spur sud-den upsurge in demand. Thiswould not only stress the trans-mission and distribution infrabut catalyse the gaping revenuedeficit sinkhole.

In its farm outreach espe-cially in the backdrop of therecent farmers’ stir, the rulingBJP helmed by Yogi Adityanathhas also promised free power forirrigation.

AAPhas announced plansto replicate its Delhi model inUP by giving 300 units free tothe domestic consumers if votedto power.The party haspromised to waive off outstand-ing power bills and give freepower to farmers if it formed theUP government.Not to be out-done, Congress has joined thefreebie league too, promising to

slash power bills by half andwaive outstanding bills pertain-ing to the Covid period.

According to UP powerconsumer activist AvadheshVerma, the free power promiseby the different parties togeth-er with the financial outgoalready incurred owing to thesubsidised or free power to cer-tain sections of consumers,including farmers, would costthe exchequer more than`30,000 crore annually.

In the 2020-21 annual rev-enue requirement (ARR) state-ment filed by the UP PowerCorporation Limited (UPPCL),the revenue shortfall was peggedat Rs 16,000 crore. “Against thetotal expenditure estimated at`78,215 crore, the revenuetogether with the subsidyamount was projected in theARR at a little over `62,000

crore. Thus leaving a deficit of`16,000 crore,” he informed.

He blamed a gamut of fac-tors for the precarious condi-tion of the UP discoms, includ-ing political interference withthe power sector issues, pop-ulism, freebies, costly powerpurchase agreements (PPAs)signed during previous regimes,corruption etc.

On one hand, the populistmeasures are bleeding the dis-coms each day, the politicalinterference, corruption andpolitical compulsions, especial-ly during election times preventthe overhauling of the energysector as also strict compliancewith regards to defaulters.

“Energy is the raw materialof development. Unless there isenergy security, the economicdevelopment agenda wouldremain an unfulfilled dream.

There is an urgent need to stempolitical interference with theenergy landscape, and to reviewthe decision of unbundling ofthe UP State Electricity Board,”All India Power EngineerFederation (AIPEF) chairmanShailendra Dubey noted.

He lamented that the gov-ernment departments and agen-cies were among the top default-ers of the state energy sector,which was a major reason for thedwindling fortunes of the pub-lic sector power utilities.

“For example, the civic bod-ies are major defaulters, but thepower department cannot sum-marily shut down power supplyto the street lights managed bythe municipalities owing to lawand order as well as public con-venience factors. This leads to aperennial built up of arrears forthe discoms,” he added.

These discoms have accumulated losses of almost `95,000 crore with an estimated daily revenue gap of `80 crore adding to the mess

Freebies push UP discoms into financial distress

VIRENDRA SINGH RAWAT

(The writer is a Lucknow-based financial and political

journalist. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | FEBRUARY 26, 2022 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Tata Steel on Friday reiteratedits commitment to build asustainable future by

shipping nearly 1,800 tonnes offinished steel products fromHaldia Port in West Bengal toPandu Port in Assam using theIndo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP)route via Brahmaputra River.This shipment of Tata Steel's

TMT bars that arrived at Haldia on rail before being loaded on to riverbarges marks the beginning of the use of multimodal logistics, alandmark effort to decarbonise the steel sector and thecountry.Earlier last week, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping andWaterways Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the barge 'KalpanaChawla' carrying Tata Steel's finished goods."The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route will help us service the growingNorth East market better. This route can also be explored forservicing other locations enroute this waterway to deliver steel insmaller lots and in better condition for the benefit of customers inthe North-East."The initiative paves the way for seamless and robustintegrated logistics solution towards utilising inland waterways forIndia and Bangladesh," Tata Steel Vice President Supply ChainPeeyush Gupta said.The IBP route will also help Tata Steel lower itsScope-3 carbon footprint. In July 2021, the company had alsopioneered the use of electric vehicles to move finished goods inselect locations.

Tata Steel completes maidenmulti-modal shipment of TMT

Chemicals and FertilisersMinister MansukhMandaviya on Friday said

the ministry is planning to bringproduction linked incentive (PLI)scheme for the chemical sectorto boost domestic productionand exports.Addressing aseminar, the minister said thegovernment has launched PLIschemes for different sectors tomake Indian self-reliant.

"We are thinking how to bring PLI scheme in the chemical sector. Wehave started working in this direction," said Mandaviya, who headsthe health ministry as well.Speaking on the sidelines of the event, hesaid the ministry is working towards this but the final decision willbe taken by the government.Mandaviya said the objective is toensure that all core chemicals are manufactured in India fordomestic as well as global markets.Last year, the governmentlaunched a PLI scheme for 13 sectors with commitments of financialoutlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore in the 5 years starting 2021-22.Mandaviya was addressing a seminar 'Industry Connect 2022:Industry and Academia Synergy' organised by his ministry inassociation with Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering &Technology (CIPET) and FICCI.Mandaviya stressed on greatersynergy among the government departments, CIPET, industry andacademia for the holistic development of this "sunrise" sector.The minister said the sector has an important role to play in helpingthe country become a USD 5 trillion economy.The chemical andpetrochemical sector provides raw materials to many industries, headded.Mandaviya emphasised on the need to make India a globalmanufacturing hub for meeting domestic demand as well as exports.

Ministry mulling PLI schemefor chemical sector: Mandaviya

Paring previous gains,gold prices in thenational capital on

Friday declined by Rs1,274 to Rs 50,913 per 10gram reflecting overnightfall in international marketalong with rupeeappreciation, according toHDFC Securities.

The yellow metal had closed at Rs 52,187 per 10 gram in theprevious trade.Silver also plummeted by Rs 2,219 to Rs 64,809 perkg, compared with the previous close of Rs 67,028 per kg.The rupee appreciated by 34 paise to close at 75.26 against the USdollar on Friday in line with regional currencies, following a retreat incrude oil prices and a rebound in domestic equities.HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel said,

"Spot prices for 24 carat gold in Delhi fell Rs 1,274 reflectingovernight decline in COMEX gold prices along with rupeeappreciation."He added that traders and investors continue to re-assess the situation surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine aswell as further sanctions against Russia.

Gold declines by Rs 1,274,silver plummets Rs 2,219

PNS nTOKYO

World shares advanced Fridaybut US futures were lower asRussian troops pressed towardthe capital of Ukraine.

Market benchmarks rose inLondon, Paris, Tokyo andShanghai but fell in HongKong. Russian shares gained15%, rebounding after a nose-dive on Thursday as the inva-sion of Ukraine began.

The price of oil hoveredjust below $100 per barrel andprices of most other com-modities fell after surging theday before.

Despite uncertainty aboutthe Ukraine and worries overinflation and the pandemic, anovernight turnaround on WallStreet seemed to buoy Asianand European shares.

Investors appeared relievedthat sanctions against Russiawere not as severe as theymight have been, even asUkraine's president pleadedfor international help to fendoff an attack that could topplehis democratically elected gov-ernment, cause massive casu-alties and ripple out damage tothe global economy.

France's CAC 40 edged up0.6% in early trading to6,562.96, while Germany's

DAX rose 0.2% to 14,083.92.Britain's FTSE 100 gained 1.2%to 7,295.52.

But U.S. futures augured aless upbeat start for New Yorkmarkets, with the future for thebenchmark S&P 500 down1.2% while the contract for theDow industrials was 1% lower.

Russia was pressing itsinvasion of Ukraine to the out-skirts of the capital Fridayafter unleashing airstrikes oncities and military bases andsending in troops and tanksfrom three sides in what

amounts to the largest groundwar in Europe since WorldWar II.

Market players might bebetting that the crisis couldslow moves by central banks tocool inflation by raising inter-est rates and unwinding othersupport for pandemic-bur-dened economies, said IpekOzkardeskaya of SwissquoteBank SA.

“But in reality, it's aboutvolatility, high volatility thatresults from a high-voltageenvironment," Ozkardeskaya

wrote in a commentary.“This morning, the US

equity futures are again in thered. It's impossible to tell whatdirection the market will takein the next five minutes. Theonly certainty is uncertainty,and this is how it will be for thenext couple of sessions unfor-tunately."

The Russian invasion ofUkraine caused a barrage ofnew, targeted financial sanc-tions meant to isolate, punishand impoverish Russia in thelong term.

World shares up, US futures sinkas Russia moves toward Kyiv

PNS nMUMBAI

The organised dairy industryis likely to witness 12 per centrevenue growth this financialyear to reach Rs 1.6 lakh crore,mainly due to recovery indemand for value-added prod-ucts (VAPs), steady liquid milksales and a hike in the retailprice, a report said on Friday.

Revenue of India's organiseddairy industry will rebound asolid 12 per cent year-on-yearthis fiscal to Rs 1.6 lakh crore,compared with a decadal lowgrowth of one per cent last fis-cal, riding on strong demandrecovery in most VAP, steadyliquid milk sales and retailprice hikes during the fiscal,according to a report by CrisilRatings.

Steady demand for bothVAP (around one-third shareof organised sector sales) andliquid milk (around two-thirdsshare) is likely to lead to 5-6per cent growth next fiscal aswell in line with the pre-pan-demic trend, the report esti-mated.

Operating profitability,however, will be set back to thepre-pandemic level of 5-5.5 percent in the next two fiscalsfrom the peak of 6 per centseen in fiscal 2021. This is dueto high raw milk prices alongwith higher transportation and

packaging costs even as dairiesincreasing retail product pricesby 3-4 per cent across cate-gories this year.

Apart from this, better rev-enue growth and near-stableoperating profits, along withwell-managed balance sheets,will lead to a 'stable' credit out-look for dairy players, CrisilRatings added.

The report is based on aCrisil Ratings analysis of 57rated dairies, which accountfor nearly two-thirds of theorganised segment revenue ofRs 1 lakh crore.

Demand for VAPs such asghee, butter, cheese, curd, andSMP saw a strong recoveryamid the festive and weddingseason in the third quarter ofthis fiscal, and the reopening

of commercial establishmentson a pan-India basis.

"VAP sales growth isexpected to be 17-18 per centthis fiscal on a lower base oflast fiscal.

"This, in turn, will be drivenby strong volume growth of13-14 per cent as hotels, restau-rants and cafe (accounting for20 per cent of organised sectorsales) have opened up, and fes-tive and wedding celebrations,as well as home consumption,have increased," Crisil RatingsSenior Director Anuj Sethisaid.The second and thirdCovid-19 waves have had nomaterial impact on most dairysegments, with food-deliveryservices and eateries continu-ing to function despite localrestrictions, he added.

India's organised dairy industryto witness 12 pc y-o-y growth

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Russia-Ukraine militaryconflict, which has increasedenergy prices globally, willreduce the propensity to importcoal by power plants and willfurther hamper the supply offuel to captive power plants andindustries like steel, aluminiumfrom state-owned Coal India,ICPPA said on Friday.

According to the IndianCaptive Power ProducersAssociation (ICPPA), amid ris-ing energy prices globally, elec-tricity producers will pressurisethe government for moredomestic coal to fulfill theirdemand and this will adverse-ly affect fuel supply to the non-power sector.

"This (Russia-Ukraine) crisishas increased energy pricesglobally and that reduces the

propensity to import coal andcoke. And it will further com-plicate the matter and it isgoing to hamper supplies toboth CPPs and industries from

Coal India," ICPPA SecretaryGeneral Rajiv Agarwal toldPTI.

The industries like alu-minum, cement, steel, sponge-

iron, paper, fertiliser, chemical,rayon and their captive powerplants (CPPs) are mostlydependent on domestic coal.

"From the last six-seven

months we (CPPs) have beengetting a very low supply ofcoal. Because of this crisispower plants... will have lowerpropensity to import and hencethey will pressurise the systemto give more and more coal tothem by rail mode. That willstop or delay operationalisationof normalcy in rake supply toCPPs and industries," Agarwalsaid.

The yearly supply of coal tothe non-power sector is justeight per cent and still the non-regulated sector (NRS) is facingfuel shortages.

This adverse supply situationthat started aroundAugust/September last yearbecame further arduous as coalstock at many plants plungedbelow critical level.

The demand-supply ratiohad shown signs of improve-

ment during November.However, the supply to theNRS consumers, includingCPPs, has plummeted onceagain despite October-Marchbeing the highest productionmonths for Coal India Ltd.

According to ChhattisgarhSponge Iron ManufacturersAssociation President AnilNachrani the non-power sectoris already reeling under fuelshortages and the Russia-Ukraine crisis has worsened thesituation.

Energy-intensive and con-tinuous process plants alongwith their captive power plantsare highly dependent on coal asa primary source of fuel.Therefore, interruption in thefuel supply chain is forcingmany plants to run at a lowercapacity and adversely affectingtheir cost of production.

Russia-Ukraine crisis to further hamper coal supply to CPPs

PNS n NEW DELHI

Markets regulator Sebi has pro-posed allowing foreign portfo-lio investors (FPIs) to participatein the exchange-traded com-modity derivatives market.

In its consultation paper, theregulator has suggested thatFPIs should be allowed to tradein all non-agricultural com-modity derivatives and a fewselected broad agricultural com-modity derivatives, to beginwith.

The move is aimed at furtherincreasing depth and liquidity incommodity derivative markets.

"Enhanced liquidity can grad-ually enable the Indian com-modity derivative market toserve as a global benchmark forvarious commodities therebyshifting India from the role ofprice taker to a price setter," Sebisaid.

In addition, their participa-tion may help bring down the

transaction costs in the com-modity futures segment, owingto economies of scale.

Currently, foreign entitieshaving actual exposure toIndian commodity markets,known as eligible foreign enti-ties (EFEs), are allowed to par-ticipate in the Indian com-modity derivatives market.

FPIs being financial investorswith huge purchasing power

have not yet been allowed toparticipate in exchange-tradedcommodity derivatives (ETCD).

The consultation papercomes after Sebi's CommodityDerivatives AdvisoryCommittee (CDAC), in itsmeeting held in November2021, deliberated on the lack ofparticipation by EFEs and alsorecommended on participationby FPIs in ETCDs.

Sebi proposes to allow FPIs toparticipate in commodity derivatives

PNS n NEW DELHI

Coal India on Friday said thatits Odisha-based arm MCL ison track to outstrip its annualproduction target of 163 mil-lion tonnes (MT) for the ongo-ing fiscal.Mahanadi CoalfieldsLtd (MCL) on Thursdaybreezed past its highest-everproduction that it recorded inFY'21, 35 days ahead of FY'22-end."Averaging a little over 5lakh tonnes per day, MCL is ontrack to outstrip its annual pro-duction target of 163 MT forFY'22," Coal India (CIL) said

in a statement.In ramping up its produc-

tion to 148.2 million tonnes(MT) as of Thursday,Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd(MCL) excelled its entire FY'21output of 148 MT. "As of thereferred date, MCL has sur-passed its progressive target of144.5 MT by 3.7 MT with theachievement being 102.6 percent," it said.Another sub-sidiary of CIL, South EasternCoalfields Ltd as of Wednesdaydespatched 139 MT of coal,surpassing the total despatch of138.8 MT of FY'21.

PNS nMUMBAI

A day after suffering theirworst session in about twoyears, benchmark indicesSensex and Nifty reboundedup to 2.5 per cent on Friday,in line with higher globalmarkets as the US and alliesput up a united front to pun-ish Russia with harsher sanc-tions over the Ukraine con-flict. A strengthening rupeeand bargain hunting by par-ticipants supported the recov-ery, traders said.Snapping itsseven-day losing streak, the30-share BSE Sensex climbed1,328.61 points or 2.44 percent to settle at 55,858.52.Similarly, the broader NSENifty soared 410.45 points or2.53 per cent to16,658.40.Barring HUL andNestle, all Sensex shares closedwith gains -- with Tata Steel,IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance,NTPC and Tech Mahindrasurging as much as 6.54 percent.On Thursday, the Sensexhad crashed over 2,700 points-- its biggest single-day plungein about two years; and theNifty had nosedived 815points. "Domestic indicesstaged a firm recovery track-ing positive cues from globalmarkets and took advantage oflower valuations followingthe massive sell-off in theprevious session.

Sensex, Nifty reboundtracking recovery inglobal markets

Coal India arm MCL on trackto outstrip annual production

PNS n NEW DELHI

Luxury automaker BMWIndia on Friday said it hascommenced pre-launchbookings for the new X4.

The much-awaited SportsActivity Coupe will be avail-able in a special 'BlackShadow Edition' in limitednumbers only, the automak-er said in a statement. The carcan be exclusively reservedonline through the BMWShop for Rs 50,000 only, itadded. The automaker saidthe refreshed version of themodel would come with newexterior looks, modern inte-rior, improved equipmentand updated infotainment.The car is scheduled to belaunched in India in March2022. Deliveries will be doneon a first-come-first-servebasis, the company said.

BMW Indiacommencesbookings fornew X4

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Defence Ministry will cre-ate a panel with representativesfrom all three services to mon-itor its budget spending so thatit is fully utilised in time,Defence Minister Rajnath Singhsaid on Friday.

The government's commit-ment to reducing imports andmodernising armed forces withindigenous technology hasbeen given further impetus inthis budget, he said in hisspeech during a post-budgetwebinar.

Singh said he is sure that theDefence Ministry has noted allthe valuable suggestionsreceived and deliberated duringthe webinar and has also drawnan action plan for time-boundimplementation of the budgetannouncements for atmanirb-

harta (self-reliance) in defence."For promoting industry-led

research and development(R&D) efforts, I would sanctionat least five projects underMake-I during the financialyear 2022-23," he mentioned.

Projects under 'Make-I' cat-egory involve governmentfunding of 90 per cent, releasedin a phased manner and based

on the progress of the scheme,as per terms agreed between theMinistry of Defence and thevendor.

Singh said, "We would cre-ate a monitoring mechanismunder Director General-Acquisition, with representa-tives from all the three servicesto monitor the budget ear-marked, specifically for privateindustry and startups, so that itis fully utilised."

He said the DefenceMinistry will reform the QAprocess, so that it is non-intru-sive, prevention-based and freefrom the Inspector-Raj."Wewould come up with the IDEX-Prime to support projects,requiring support beyond Rs1.5 crore up to Rs 10 crore. Thiswould help our ever-growingstartups in the defence sector,"Singh mentioned.

Defence Ministry to create panel to monitor budget spending

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Ministry of Electronics andIT will set up centres for trans-formational artificial intelligencethat will collaborate with acad-emia and industry to developAI-based solutions, a seniorgovernment official said onFriday.MyGov CEO AbhishekSingh, who also heads DigitalIndia Corporation and Nationale-Governance Division, saidthat a fund of funds is also beingcreated that will provide finan-cial support to startups at allstages of their development.

While speaking at a FICCIevent on AI, Singh said India hasa lot of AI-skilled forces.

"A lot of AI research is beingdone in all of our academic insti-tutions, we still lag far behindChina and the US when itcomes to AI research. There arecertain initiatives that have beentaken but we need to go further,"he said.

Singh said Department ofScience and Technology toohas set up TechnologyInnovation Hubs under NationalMission on InterdisciplinaryCyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). "But under the nationalprogramme on AI what is beingthought of is that the India cen-tres for transformational AI willbe set up. These centres will beset up in partnership with theindustry and academia. Theywill be sector specific. The solu-tion or the application which isdeveloped from the exercisewill be assessed for scaling upacross the country," Singhsaid.Telangana Principal secre-tary for Department ofIndustries and Commerce andIT Jayesh Ranjan said the stategovernment has guaranteed thatany AI solution which has rele-vance for the government will beadopted by it without biddingand irrespective of the experi-ence.

Govt to set up centresfor transformational AI

PNS n NEW DELHI

Around 15.26 lakh newmembers joined the ESIC-run social security scheme inDecember 2021 against 10.39lakh in the previous month,official data showed onFriday, giving a perspectiveon formal sector employ-ment in the country.

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

Gross new enrolmentswith Employees' StateInsurance Corporation(ESIC) were 10.73 lakh inApril, 8.94 lakh in May, 11.07lakh in June, 13.23 lakh inJuly, 13.51 lakh in August,13.60 lakh in September and12.08 lakh in October 2021,the latest data showed.

ESIC schemeadds 15.26 lakhnew members inDecember

Apart from this,better revenuegrowth and near-stable operatingprofits, along withwell-managedbalance sheets,will lead to a'stable' creditoutlook for dairyplayers, CrisilRatings added.

9

Vijayawada | Saturday February 26, 2022 hollywood

ctress Taapsee Pannu talksabout reuniting with film-maker Anubhav Sinha forone of the short films whichis part of his anthologymovie.

Anubhav Sinha has brought togetherfilmmakers Sudhir Mishra and HansalMehta for an anthology film with thepandemic as a backdrop. The film willbe produced by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series and Sinha’s production houseBenaras Mediaworks.

Taapsee shares her experience ofworking with Anubhav Sinha again afterThappad and Mulk and also unveils the

concept of the short film directed bySudhir Mishra with pandemic as a back-drop.

Taapsee says, “The story is uniqueand never done before, it’s a socio politi-cal drama that spans across two genera-tions with the pandemic as the back-drop. I couldn’t be more thrilled to beworking with a brilliant filmmaker likeSudhir Sir who is so solid with his craft.”

“And mostly it feels like homecomingworking again with Anubhav Sir andBhushan Sir. Anubhav Sir knows how tochannel the best in me. Being surround-ed by masterful filmmakers like these isa blessed experience,” she adds.

Anubhav Sinha shares about the nar-rative of the film which is layered andfocuses on human relationships. He ishappy to work with Taapsee again andhave all the words of appreciation forher

“The narrative is a layered one talkingabout human relationships against thepandemic serving as a backdrop. I amso glad to be reuniting with Taapsee forthis one! She is perceptive and bringsher own to every character she plays.She is the kind of actor who infuses herroles with a lived-in experience, makingthe story even more relatable,” he shares.

Director Sudhir Mishra throws lighton his short film and reveals, “This is afilm about the idea of being young ,about how one generation passes thebaton to the next. Personally, this is oneof those stories for me which leaves anindelible mark on you and I couldn'thave asked for a better team to bring itto life with.”

On the other hand producer BhushanKumar says that with the team ofAnubhav, Sudhir, Taapsee, this film hasa gripping storyline which make it aperfect project.

“This film boasts of a dream team.Anubhav, Sudhir, Taapsee are ready toembark upon one of the most stirringstories I have read in recent times. I amso happy to have such prolific filmmak-ers on board to create this anthology. It’sa fine story and these artists are sure towhip it up into a marvelous movie.”

Taapsee Pannu on working with Anubhav Sinha,

Sudhir Mishra for upcoming anthology film

A

ven though he wasone of thefavourites of the’90s generation,Bollywood actorBobby Deol, also

the son of yesteryear super-star Dharmendra, has founda new generation of audiencethrough some of his success-ful web films and web seriesin the last two years.

The actor says his father isquite emotional and proud ofthe recent success that he hasachieved through the webshows.

In conversation with IANS,Bobby shared, “Yes he is astar of Hindi cinema but forus, he is our papaji. He isvery emotional and proud ofmy current success alsobecause this medium of OTTis very different and new fortheir generation. For him, healways says and makes usbelieve that the love from theaudience is more importantthan awards. My father in theprime of his career did notreceive those film awards buthe was always loved by the

audience. Now when he seeshow my work is gettingrecognised by a new genera-tion of audience, it makeshim feel proud.”

Bobby made hisBollywood debut with thefilm Barsaat in 1995, deliver-ing some of the successfulfilms such as Kareeb, Soldier,Bichhoo, Ajnabee, Humraazand Yamla PaglaDeewana.

He made his OTTdebut in 2020 with aNetflix film Class of83 and web seriesAashram. Both ofthem were wellreceived.

His latest release on ZEE5is a feature film titled LoveHostel, a Shanker Ramandirectorial, that also features— Sanya Malhotra andVikrant Massey.

According to Bobby, he isalso growing as a creativeperson because of workingwith youngsters.

“I think the new genera-tion of actors, directors, writ-ers have a very unique

approach towards their work.I love that about them. Yes, attimes it also makes mesmile,” he said.

Sharing one of suchinstances, Bobby said,“Before we started the shoot-ing for Love Hostel, in thehostel where we were staying,one evening Sanya andVikrant came to meet me in

my room.“That was the first time we

were meeting. Both of themwere just going on and onabout how they used todance to those songs ofSoldier, Humraaz... they likedmy films like Bichhoo(laughs). They are very sweetand at the same time profes-sional with their work. I likesuch enthusiasm.”

e

eo Award winnerDarren Mann,who broke outwith 2018 dramaGiant Little Ones,has joined the castof the neo-noir

thriller The Minute YouWake Up Dead, where hewill be seen in the companyof Morgan Freeman, ColeHauser and Jamie Alexander.

As per Variety, the film,with screenplay by TimothyHolland, traces the journey

of a stockbroker in a smalltown who gets involved inan insurance scam with a

next-door neighbour, anassociation that leads tomultiple murders. Milestone

Studios is handling produc-tion finance and sales.

Mann’s upcoming creditsinclude the final season ofTNT’s Animal Kingdom andthe indie project Breakwater.In the latter, he’ll star oppo-site Dermot Mulroney andMena Suvari in a story of ayoung ex-con who risks hisnewfound freedom to trackdown the estranged daughterof a fellow inmate, unknow-ingly bringing her paststraight to her doorstep.

Darren Mann cast for The Minute You

Wake Up Dead opposite Morgan Freeman

l

Actor AnushkaSharma onFriday

announced she hasbegun preparing forher next ChakdaXpress, a film inspiredby the life and times offormer Indian cricketcaptain JhulanGoswami.

Produced byAnushka Sharma andher brother KarneshSsharma’s Clean SlateFilmz, Chakda Xpressis directed by PrositRoy.

The actor took toInstagram and postedpictures of her bowlingat the nets.

“Grip by Grip Prep

#ChakdaXpress,” the33-year-old wrote.

According to themakers, Chakda Xpresstraces JhulanGoswami’s journey asshe “moves up the lad-der despite the hin-drances posed bymisogynistic politics tofulfil her dream ofplaying cricket forIndia”.

She holds the worldrecord for the highestnumber of wicketstaken by a woman inan international career.Sharma will reportedlyfly to the UK to shoot a30-day schedule of thefilm. Chakda Xpresswill stream on Netflix.

Anushka Sharma beginsprep for ‘Chakda Xpress'

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

Bobby Deol saysOTT helps himconnect with newgeneration

n a major push fordigital education,Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharamanin her Budget 2022speech announced a

host of measures for theCOVID-19 pandemic-hit sector.A digital university will be devel-oped to provide access to stu-dents for world-class qualityeducation with ISTE standards,said FM Sitharaman. But, didyou know? Hyderabad’sStumagz.com is already wayahead. They have built a digitalcampus community that’sempowering digital educationlike never before. The founder,Charan Lakkaraju, takes pride inembracing digital transformationfrom different perspectives. Wespoke to the founder and CEOof Stumagz.com for the very spe-cial weekly column on his asso-ciation with this city and howhe’s expanding this digital tool ofeducation around every nookand corner.

Calling the Old City a “miniparadise”, he couldn’t stop gush-ing about its cultural extravagan-za! He said, “Though it’s crowd-ed, it remains the heart ofHyderabad. So many touristscome over to witness theHyderabadi culture there. Someof the landmarks you’ll see thereare the Charminar, FalaknumaPalace, and Salarjung Museum.It’s so royal out there.” Giving ushis outlook on digital educationacross the city, he said, “It’s thefuture, there’s no turning backnow. It will create a competitiveatmosphere. In particular, in thewake of the pandemic, peoplehave begun to realise the far-reaching power of educationblended with technology. Thedigitised communities like usthat manage this at their bestwill naturally rise above the oth-ers.”

There’s nothing that turns himoff when it comes to the city. Heis an optimistic individual,hence, he strongly believes thereare always endless possibilities,be it a city or a human being.They can offer anything at any

time! “Hyderabad is a beautifulblend of today and tomorrow. Itscosmopolitan roots enhance iteven more. This great diversity isbecause the city is experiencingrapid economic growth thatattracts individuals looking forjob opportunities. It’s also hometo one of the busiest airports, soyou can imagine its tremendousgrowth now. There are all kindsof things that appeal to interna-tional citizens too whenever theyvisit us,” he said.

Emerging as the city with oneof the best gated community liv-ing experiences, Hyderabad hasit all — from community safety,pet friendliness, cleanliness,

quality of amenities, to event-fulness. Charan calls it “a home!”“Even North Indians feel at easehere. I can’t forget the days Ispent in college here. The aspira-tion, that fire in my belly thatrose at that point, made me whoI am today. Nobody needs to bea pure engineer here; there aremultiple scopes. It also acted as acatalyst in building my networkand growing the start-up. Thereare networking opportunities foreveryone, regardless of any dis-crimination,” added the entre-preneur.

When he was recognised byForbes, there was nothing thatcould have topped his achieve-

ment list till then — he was oncloud nine. That made him feelhe was on the right path and,indeed, digital education andentrepreneurship are the way tothe future. “With the budget alsobeing focused on giving digitaleducation a push, it only meansa billion-dollar future withexemplary deals is waiting for us.Even a pandemic couldn’t stopeducation, thanks to the internet.Manu turned to various collab-oration platforms and videoconferencing to remainengaged with their studentswhile working from home.This is success for us,” heceased on an impactful note.

i

ating can be exhausting,especially if you have astring of bad dates.There will be ups anddowns, but theyshould not feel as if

they are sinking in quicksand.However, it does not implythat you are doomed to a baddating life.

If you feel like you’resinking into a union withno way out, it’s probablytime to make changes inyour dating life that willmake it work better. Due tocodependency, self-esteemissues, or family pressure,you may feel completelytrapped while dat-ing, and you may beunable to leave asituation that isn’thealthy ormeaningful foryou.

Some exer-cises canhelp if youfeel likedating is achore,you’re notfindinganyoneworthpursu-ing,or

you’ve run out ofoptions. In your

dating life,you can

go fromfeelingstucktoexpe-rienc-ing abreathoffreshair.IndiandatingApp

QuackQuack conducted a surveyamong its users, which resulted insome interesting responses, whichyou can read about below:

Practicing radical self love

It's a wonderful feeling to be dat-ing someone you like. However, it isalso critical that you practise self-awareness and make yourself avail-able. When you begin to meet yourown needs, you may discover thatyou no longer need to look for apartner who will fulfil these desires.

So, for a while, you could experi-ment with radical self-love. Thismeans doing things for yourselfthat you would like your partner todo for you. It includes activitiessuch as buying yourself flowers,going to the movies alone, andtreating yourself to your favouritemeals.

Take a dating vacation:

Dating, like all daily activities,necessitates effort and consis-tency. Similarly, doing some-thing repeatedly for an extendedperiod of time can lead toburnout. A Dating Vacation is abreak in your dating life.

This dating vacation will be atime when you take a breakfrom dating and invest in your-self. Meet up with people youhaven’t seen in a long time.Participating in workshops ortaking up hobby classes allows

you to gain a better understandingof your own mind.

Abandon your comfort zone:

The pandemic has been theworld's top concern for the pastthree years. It ruled everythingaround us, including our datinglives. But it is no longer the same.The vast majority of people havebeen immunised, and offline datingis regaining popularity.

Take that first step toward meet-ing new people. The dating app hasthousands of profiles of people whowant to meet new people and hangout with people who have a differ-ent outlook on life. Meeting newpeople may sound intimidating, butit is something that must beattempted in order to break out of arut. It also helps to break the pat-tern we discussed earlier.

Giving second date and thirddates a chance:

If a date feels strange or uninter-esting to you, give it a second andthird chance. Life is bigger than asingle decision, and everyone has apassion for something. Once thatperson is at ease with you, it is timefor them to express themselvesfully, and no one knows when thechemistry will kick in! Allow your-self to be honest about your optionsand risks. The world is vast, andyou are deserving of all the love ithas to offer.

Stuck in rut when itcomes to dating?

Hyderabad is a blend of

today and tomorrow

With enough‘massyness’, BheemlaNayak is a fan’s delight

K RAMYA SREE

Cast: Pawan Kalyan,Rana Daggubati, NityaMenon, SamyuktaMenon, Murli Sharma,Rao Ramesh,Samuthirakani,Tanikella Bharani, andothers.Director: SaagarChandra Suryadevara NagaVamsi is the producer.Sithara Entertainmentsis the company's name.S Thaman composed themusic.

Plot:

Daniel Shekar, akaDanny (RanaDaggubati), a retiredIndian Army havildar,gets caught with alcoholin a prohibited zone.Bheemla Nayak (PawanKalyan), who eats andbreathes morals, arrestsDanny, who also hap-pens to be a highlyinfluential person in thearea. An egoistic Dannyintends to avenge hisinsult by BheemlaNayak. This results inthe never-ending rivalrybetween BhemmlaNayak and Danny.

Our review:

When Pawan Kalyanis cast in any remake,you know it won’t sim-ply be recreated; it’ll bealtered to keep his fanshappy. The same hap-pened with BheemlaNayak, just like with hisprevious outing, VakeelSaab. Pawan Kalyan’sperformance as a loyalpolice officer withmorals and values was atreat to watch. While the

first half of the film goesat a slow pace, the sec-ond half picks up withthe actor fighting it outwith Rana without apolice uniform. Hereyou get to see the actual‘Pawanism’.

Speaking of perfor-mances, it was a tug ofwar between PawanKalyan and RanaDaggubati. They over-ride everyone in the filmwith their performances.While Nithya Menon,another‘rebel’ characterin the film, did justice towhat she was offered.Every other cast mem-ber — SamyukthaMenon, Murli Sharma,Harsha Vardhan,Samuthirakhani,Tanikella Bharani, RaoRamesh, Raghu Babu,and others — playedtheir best. However, it isPK and Rana’s perfor-mances that will beremembered.

Saagar Chandra tooka big risk by remaking asuperhit film likeAyyappam Koshiyum,but he did a brilliant job.He delivered whatPawan Kalyan fanswanted with a tonne ofTeluguness and power-packed actionsequences.

What we liked:

There is comedy,plenty of action andtonnes of heavy dia-logue. The witty dia-logue and edgy humourkeep the audience enter-tained.A few fightscenes are so “whistlemama” moments, whilethe climax is a super hitwith Brahmanandam’sshort presence. Thanks

to the director forreducing the film’slength at the perfecttiming, which otherwisewould’ve bored theaudience. Musicdeserves a special men-tion. It enhanced theperformances of theactors and gave “pakkacommercial” vibes inmany sequences. In par-ticular, the La LaBheemla Nayak songmade fans jump on theirchairs.

What we didn’t like:

Too much action.Both the actors’ entrieswere very simple. If youare going with expecta-tions of sumos flying inthe air, sandstorms, etc.,during the entry scenes,then surely you will bedisappointed. Some ofTrivikram’s heavy dia-logues seemed unneces-sary. Also, like manycommercial films, logicgoes for a toss inBheemla Nayak too.

Verdict:

Everything was tailor-made for a commercialfilm — from cinematog-raphy to screenplay andperformances. Whilesome dialogues feltunnecessary, they sureare a treat for Pawanfans who expect all the"massyness" from him.It’s Pawan Kalyan andRana who take the filmon a ride. Adding to it isyouthful music, which isthe icing on the cake.‘POWER STORMKICKED OFF AT FULLTHROTTLE’. Overall,Bheemla Nayak is a fan’sdelight.

Rating: 3.25/5

d

Even North Indians feel atease here. I can’t forgetthe days I spent incollege here. Theaspiration, that fire in mybelly that rose at thatpoint, made me who I amtoday. Nobody needs tobe a pure engineer here;there are multiple scopes.It also acted as a catalystin building my networkand growing the start-up.There are networkingopportunities foreveryone, regardless ofany discrimination.

SaturdayFebruary 26, 2022

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facebook.com/dailypioneer

sports 11VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | FEBRUARY 26, 2022

PTI n NEW DELHI

The 2022 Indian Premier League willsee a tweak in format as 10 teams

will be divided into groups of five butthe number of matches per side willremain 14.

As per groupings released by BCCIon Friday, group A comprises MumbaiIndians, KKR, Rajasthan Royals, DelhiCapitals and Lucknow Supergiants.

The group B will have ChennaiSuper Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad,Royal Challengers Bengaluru, PunjabKings and Gujarat Titans.

Over the years, the IPL has been aneight-team affair where each teamplayed each other twice at the roundrobin league stage to complete 14games.

However this groupleague format is not new inIPL as it was once used adecade back when PuneWarriors and Kochi TuskersKerala were part of theleague.

The rows and columns ofthe groups (A and B) hasbeen done as per IPL perfor-mances --- number of titlesand number of finalsreached.

Firstly, the group-ings have been done asper IPL performancewhere group A has MI(Team 1) with five titlesas first team.

Correspondingly, in group B, the firstteam is CSK (Team 2) which has fourtitles.

Team 3 is again placed in group Aand that is KKR with two titles and thecorresponding Team 4 placed in groupB is SRH with a sole title.

Team 5 again in group A isRajasthan Royals (1 title) and its cor-responding Team 6 in group B is RCB,which has played three finals.

Team 7 in group A is DC, whichhas one final appearance and two play-offs while corresponding Team 8 ingroup B is Punjab Kings with one finalappearance.

Newcomers, Lucknow SuperGiants is Team 9 in group A and

Gujarat Titans is corresponding team10 in group B.

Each team plays theother teams in its grouptwice, which makes it eightmatches.

The balance six gamesthey play against the fiveteams in the other group.

So for MI from group Awill pay two games CSKwhich is its equivalent team in

group B and one match againstthe other four teams.Similarly KKR, the sec-ond placed team in Aplays SRH in group Btwice and all otherteams once. This is howteams attain (8+6) 14group league games.

AP n CHRISTCHURCH

Sarel Erwee responded to achallenge leveled by his cap-

tain with a maiden century forSouth Africa on Friday againstNew Zealand on the first day ofthe second test.

Erwee's 108 helped SouthAfrica to 238-3 at stumps andgave it insulation against a set-back late in the day when Erweeand Aiden Markram's (42) wick-ets fell within the space of threeballs. Temba Bavuma was 22 notout at stumps and Rassie van derDussen 13.

Proteas captain Dean Elgarthrew down the challenge to hisfellow batsmen Friday when hechose to bat on winning the tosson the same ground on whichthe tourists were dismissed for95 and 111 in losing the first testloss by an innings and 276runs.

Elgar made 41 in an open-ing stand with Erwee which wasworth as much as South Africa'ssecond-innings total in the firsttest and which was its first cen-tury partnership for the firstwicket in 34 tests.

With a fine sense of timing,

Erwee reached his first halfcentury just before lunch and hiscentury in the over before tea,after exactly four hours at thecrease.

"I think it means a bit to mebut I think it means a bit moreto the team and my family backhome," Erwee said.

"It's nice to be in this posi-tion but there's still a lot of workto do.

"I wasn't expecting (to batfirst) until Dean came up to methis morning. You get used to it,these decisions that come soquickly and I guess it's part ofbeing an opening batter. You'vegot to be ready for these thingsand whatever comes your wayyou've got to throw a punch."

The pitch at Hagley Ovalwasn't quite the seamer's par-adise on which New Zealand'sfour-pronged pace attack thrivedin the first test. But it was stillgreen enough on the first morn-ing for some commentators'jaws to drop when Elgarannounced his decision to batfirst and explained it was impor-tant for South Africa to "frontup" in the second test aftertheir failure in the first.

PTI n DHARAMSALA

Areinvigorated India will look topocket their second series win inas many weeks and build on thegains made from a drastic change

in their batting approach in the second T20International against Sri Lanka here onSaturday.

India were forced to look in the mir-ror after their early exit from the T20 WorldCup last year but four months later, theylook a transformed unit with a bunch ofyoungsters being tried out in various posi-tions and roles. It is still early days but theRohit Sharma-led side has already figured

out the core group of players that will trav-el to Australia for the World Cup DownUnder later this year.

Young opener Ishan Kishan got a mas-sive dose of confidence in the seriesopener on Thursday after his strugglesagainst the West Indies.

Finding strike rotation tough in thepreceding series, Kishan was able to over-

come that weakness against the Sri Lankanbowlers besides flaunting the strokeplay heis known for in the IPL.

There is no time to settle in a T20 gameand India have finally realised that, allow-ing them to post 180 plus totals regularly.

If it wasn't for Ruturaj Gaekwad's wristinjury, he could have opened with Kishanand Rohit would have dropped himself

down the order like he did against the WestIndies. The same could happen onSaturday if Gaekwad is able to regain fullfitness. Such is Rohit's class that he has nottaken any time to find his rhythm aftercoming from an injury break.

He looked in sublime touch en routeto his 44 but must be disappointed to nothave carried on for longer. Shreyas Iyer

made merry at number three in theabsence of the rested Virat Kohli and wouldbe aiming to repeat that for the rest of theseries.

When a full strength India take thefield next, he might not find a place in theplaying eleven and therefore, he needs tomake the most of the opportunities thatcome his way. As Rohit indicated after the

opening game, a fit again Ravindra Jadejawill continue to bat higher up the order asthe team wants to optimise his significant-ly improved batting skills.

"We want more from him that is whywe asked him to bat higher. You will seethat happening more and more in thegames that he plays for India. I want himto bat up the order more.

"He is a very improved batter, so wewill try and see if we can promote himgoing forward. We are very clear with whatwe want to achieve with him in white ballcricket," said the skipper referring to theall-rounder.

Comeback man Sanju Samson did notget to bat in the opener and he will beeagerly waiting for his turn at the scenicDharamsala ground.

India are also getting better on thebowling front. They used as many as sevenoptions, including Deepak Hooda, onThursday and most of them did alright.Venkatesh Iyer was a tad expensive buttook a couple of wickets.

It would take a special effort from SriLanka to end India's 10-match winningstreak in the spiritual home of Dalai Lama.

With a misfiring top-order andabsence of frontline spinners MaheeshTheekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga, SriLanka struggled to compete in the firstgame.

Even skipper Dasun Shanaka bowlingafter a while did not help as Indians lookedunstoppable with the bat.

The weather is expected to be muchcolder in the night compared to Lucknow.With only a travel day separating the twogames, the players will have little time toadjust to the conditions.

PTI n LUCKNOW

Struggling for fluency in the previousseries, young opener Ishan Kishan

has credited India skipper Rohit Sharmaand head coach Rahul Dravid for hisreturn to form in the first T20 againstSri Lanka.

The left-hander, who failed to cap-italise on his starts against the WestIndies, finally lived up to his Rs 15.25crore IPL tag with a whirlwind 56-ball89 in India's 62-run win over Sri Lankaon Thursday.

"Always a senior player would wanta youngster to be in a good head space.Be it (coach) Rahul (Dravid) bhai,Virat (Kohli) bhai or Rohit bhai, they allhave passed this phase. They are awarehow we feel when we don't performwell," Ishan said at the post-matchmedia interaction.

"I didn't do well against the WestIndies. They always told me that theyknow about my talent and what I can dofor the team. 'We trust in you. Never everyou think that we are doubting yourabilities'.

"They always help you out withsmall, small things be it your batting gripor the attacking mindset."

The wicketkeeper-batter, who wasbought back by Rohit Sharma-ledMumbai Indians at the recent IPL auc-tion, scored just 71 runs in three match-es at a poor strike rate of 85.54.

But skipper Rohit kept his faith inIshan's abilities and retained him as anopener for the opener against Sri Lanka

"After playing so much cricket, you

get used to the situation. Tough timeswill come but it's very important to bein the situation. You don't get tooexcited when you score runs.

"Same goes when you don't per-form. So you need to be in a very goodspace. You need to talk to your seniors,because they are much more experi-enced than us. So it's very helpfulwhen I sit with Rohit bhai for a conver-sation," added the 23-year-old, whoscored his second T20I fifty.

Ishan revealed how Rohit helpedhim out at the nets to overcome hisshortcomings to rotate the strike andtake quick singles.

"He (Rohit Sharma) always keepstelling me that 'you can hit wheneveryou go out there in the middle. Theimportant thing for me where I waserring was about rotating the strikes, andtaking singles

"Obviously he has helped me out in

those areas, especially when I'm battingat the nets. He keeps telling me to tryhow to rotate the strike. 'You can hit any-way, but it's about rotating the strike andkeeping the bowlers under pressure', hewould say.

"When you get their full support,our job is to continue our disciplined life,be it the fitness, homework, or battingpattern we just have to continue."

Ishan further said he's blessed tohave so many senior cricketers in thedressing room as they keep showing himthe way.

"Senior players always help you out.It's not always about hitting hard, it'sabout going there and playing with thebowlers' mind and how to put himunder pressure if he's bowling well atthat point of time."

Ishan has been promoted up theorder in absence of regular opener KLRahul (hamstring injury).

NEW DELHI: The BCCI might seek an explanation fromveteran keeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha about hisrecent outburst targetting Board President SouravGanguly and head coach Rahul Dravid after beingdropped from the Indian team as it feels he violated theprotocols for centrally-contracted cricketers. It is learntthat Saha, who is group B of central contracts with anannual retainership of Rs 3 crore, is in violation of clause6.3. "Player shall not make any comments about the game,officials, incidents that happened in the game, use of tech-nology, selection matters or any other matter related tothe game which is in opinion of the BCCI is adverse toand /or not in the interest of the game, team or BCCI inany media...," the clause states.

The specific comments that Saha made across mediais on his selection and his private conversations withDravid, chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma andGanguly. "Yes, there is a possibility that BCCI could askWriddhiman as to how he spoke on selection mattersbeing a centrally contracted cricketer," BCCI treasurerArun Dhumal told PTI on Thursday.

The 37-year-old, whose international career has allbut ended after he was told by the team management thatthe focus is now on grooming a younger keeper, has sincealso made public allegedly "threatening" whatsapp mes-sages from a journalist without taking names.

PRI n SULTANPUR (HARYANA)

Ganesh Satish pummeled the Maharashtraattack into submission as his elegant 275 put

Vidarbha in a commanding position on the sec-ond day of their Elite Group G Ranji Trophygame here on Friday.

Satish, who registered his highest individualscore and his second first class double hundred,

took the Maharashtra attack to task as Vidarbhaposted a mammoth 569 for 5 declared in theirfirst essay. His previous best was 237 againstAndhra in the 2019-20 season.

The right-handed batter, who walked innumber four, played shots at will and round thepark as he tore into a pedestrian Maharashtraattack.

He and wicket-keeper batter Akshay Wadkar(145 not out off 283 balls), who also notched uphis seventh first class hundred, added a stagger-ing 288 runs for the fourth wicket.

Wadkar, who notched up his second hundredof the season, played the perfect second fiddle,hammering 17 fours in his 283-ball knock.

Satish struck 33 fours and five maximumsin his 482-ball knock before being cleaned up byexperienced Maharashtra left-arm spinnerSatyajeet Bachhav (2/134), but till then the dam-age had been done at the Gurgaon cricketground.

Akshay Karnewar (39) also played his partwell. Wadkar remained unbeaten on 145 as skip-per Faiz Fazal decided to declare the innings.

Sharma, Raghuwanshi put MP in driver's seatagainst Meghalaya

Shubham Sharma's stroke-filled 111 coupled

with Akshat Raghuwanshi's 100 firmly putMadhya Pradesh in a commanding positionagainst Meghalaya on the second day of their EliteGroup A Ranji Trophy game here on Friday.

After bundling out Meghalaya for a meagre61, MP posted a mammoth 499 for 6 declaredin their first essay, courtesy hundreds by informShubham Sharma, Raghuwanshi at theSaurashtra Cricket Association stadium ground'C'.

Experienced campaigner Rajat Patidar andYash Dubey also chipped in by scoring 86 andunbeaten 85 respectively.

MP resumed from their overnight score of141 for 2 and Sharma, who played a vital role inthe team's win over Gujarat in the lung-opener,hammered a listless Meghalaya attack, striking15 boundaries in his 169-ball knock.

Patidar played perfect second fiddle, even ashe struck 12 boundaries and forged a 131-runstand for the third wicket.

But then Aryan dismissed Sharma to pegback MP.

Patidar also missed a deserving hundred, ashe was removed by Akash Kumar, leaving MPat 297 for 4. Skipper Aditya Srivastava (42; 4x4)also played his part to perfection.

Rana, Sharma lead Haryana fightback vsPunjab Skipper Himanshu Rana led from thefront with his fourth first-class century asHaryana reached 204/3 in a strong reply toPunjab's mammoth 444 on the second day oftheir Ranji Trophy Group F fixture here onFriday.

Rana slammed 16 fours en route to hisunbeaten 113 from 177 balls, while YashuSharma, who scored his maiden first-class cen-tury against Tripura in the last match, gave himgood support at the other end with 69 not out.

Haryana were trailing Punjab by 240 runsat the end of day two's play.

Haryana had a jittery start and were 4/2 afterlosing both the openers Subham Rohilla (4) andMayank Shandilya (0) inside the second overbefore the skipper rebuilt their innings.

Rana got a 50-plus stand with ShivamChauhan and looked to carry on the momen-tum but Siddharth Kaul (2/49) Punjab gaveanother breakthrough.

Kaul cleaned up Chauhan (18) with theteam's score at 65/3 and Haryana looked to slipagain before Rana resisted the collapse, buildinga fine partnership with the in-form YashuSharma.

India on course

seriesto wrap up

Dharamsala

India on course

seriesto wrap up

Dharamsalainin

10 teams divided in two groups offive; each team to play 14 games

Ishan credits Rohit for his batting turnaround

R A N J I T R O P H Y U P D A T E S

Ganesh Satish double ton floors Maha

Erwee 108, Proteas238-3 on day 1

BCCI may ask Wriddhimanto explain breach

PTI n NEW DELHI

Punjab Kings co-owner NessWadia feels they have done

half the job by picking a "well-rounded" squad at the recentIPL auction and hopes the cho-sen players will do the rest tohelp the franchise bag the elu-sive trophy.

Punjab Kings have under-performed since IPL's inception,reaching the final only once in14 attempts. They blew hotand cold in the last three seasonsto end up sixth out of eightteams.

They went into the megaauction with the maximum

purse of Rs 72 crore out of the10 teams, which doesn't provideany guarantee for a successfulbuying spree due in a highlydynamic environment, but theirdecisions were largely lauded bythe pundits.

"50% of the battle is gettingthe right team, which is whatwe've done. Now it's up to theplayers, coaches Anil (Kumble),Jonty (Rhodes) and Damien(Wright), to really take us to thatelusive title we have been wait-ing for so long.

"Or at least a place in the topfour play-offs because we havehad a bad run the last four-fiveyears," Wadia told PTI.

Having retained only twoplayers in Mayank Agarwal andyoung pacer Arshdeep Singh,Punjab managed to get the

likes of Jonny Bairstow, ShikharDhawan, Rahul Chahar, KagisoRabada, Odean Smith and LiamLivingstone.

To maintain some continu-ity, they also bought back thebig-hitting Shah Rukh Khanand left-arm spinner HarpeetBrar besides getting RishiDhawan and Sandeep Sharma,who both played for Punjab inthe past.

In recent seasons, Punjabstruggled with power hitting inthe middle-order and deathbowling.

"We have well balancedsquad now. We bat all the waydown to eight or nine and havethe bowlers who can do the jobboth upfront and at the death.

"I would say this was thetoughest and most successful

auction for us since the first edi-tion in 2008," said Wadia com-paring the current squad to the2008 batch which had the likesof Yuvraj Singh, MahelaJayawardene, KumarSangakkara, Brett Lee and IrfanPathan.

The co-owner said theirpreparation for the mega auctionbegan in October last year andthat included "intense" mockauctions.

"We had a very good idea ofwho we would be going for andwe were pretty accurate when itcame to that. And also, ourobjective was not to really focuson what others are doing.

We have done half the job at IPL auction: Ness Wadia

s thePrabhasand PoojaHegde-starrerRadhe

Shyam is being read-ied for its worldwiderelease, the makers areprepping up a stage topromote the upcom-ing love saga.

With plans to kick-start promotionssoon, the makers willhave Prabhas, PoojaHegde, RadhaKrishna Kumar andothers hit the road toparticipate in nation-wide tours. Mumbai,Chennai, Hyderabad,

Kochi and Bangaloreare on top of the list.The release date ofRadhe Shyam hasbeen set for March 11after several post-ponements.

The Radhe Shyamteam will interact withthe media by holdingpress meets and alsorelease promotionaland BTS videos tokeep up the existinghype around themovie.

Touted to be a lovesaga, Radhe Shyamhas Prabhas asVikramaditya andPooja Hege playsPrerana. Vikramaditya

is a palmist who pre-dicts the future andalso knows the past.

Megastar AmitabhBachchan has comeon board to lend hisvoice for RadheShyam and Bollywoodactress Bhagya Shreewill portray Prabhas’smother in the movie.

Helmed by RadhaKrishna Kumar, thepan-India movie isbeing produced underthe banner UVCreations and pre-sented by GulshanKumar and T-Series.The film is mountedon a lavish scale witheye-appealing visuals.

amantha RuthPrabhu’s recentInstagram storyreveals herinsights onactor Will

Smith’s book titled Will.The Majili actress is notonly a fitness freak butalso a bookworm.

In herlatest socialmediaposts,Samanthahas givenherinsights onWill, whichis quiterelatablefor thestrugglethe actresshas beenundergo-ing in her personal life.

Samantha shared aquote from the popularbook which reads, “Overthe past thirty years, likeall of us, 1 have dealt withfailure, loss, humiliation,divorce, and death.”

“I’ve had my life threat-ened, my money is takenaway, my privacy invaded,my family disintegratedand every single day, stillgot up, mixed concrete,

and laid anotherbrick. No matterwhat you’re goingthrough, there isalways another bricksitting right there infront of you, waitingto be laid.”

“The only questionis, are you going to get

up and layit?”.

Theactress alsoreviewed thebook, as shewrote, “Workhard, learnfrom yoursetbacks,self-reflect,reinventyourself andnever evergive up. Oh,and a sense

of humour helps. What alovely and fascinatingbook, Will.”

Samantha Ruth Prabhuhas always been activelysharing inspiring quotesand discussions on socialmedia.

But, ever since her per-sonal setback (divorce)was revealed, most of herfans and followers havebeen trying to dissect hersocial media activity.

12

Vijayawada Saturday February 26, 2022 tollywood

s

SHIKHA DUGGAL

vika Gor, the girlfrom Mumbaicity, is now readyto make waves ina Kazakhstanimovie with her

international presence as aceleb star herself. Notmany stars get to boast ofa film character writtenaround them, but Avika isone exception. In a candidchat with us, the actressopened up about her long-shot story that got herkicking down doors tomake a mark in a country

like Kazakhstan, the fewchallenges she faced alongthe way and all the excitingnew projects coming herway from Tollywood andbeyond. She begins, “Itfeels so freeing to hop on

to projects that are oneof its kind and on yourjourney you may set arecord. A little known

fact — the Sovietcountry Kazakhstanisn’t new to me.There was a time

when my trend-ing show Balika

Vadhu attracteda lot of it’sviewers fromthis country.I frequentlyvisit thusmetropolisto promotemy showsand com-mercials.

Though it’s just a cameo, but I’llbe there for the premiere and seehow a movie is released in ananother country. Values and rela-tionships are their priority, hencethey connected to me. Just like us,it’s a contributor to literature, sci-ence and philosophy. So, our cul-tures are quite identical that way.”

So many years into an illustri-ous career as an actress, sheknows her acting process verywell. What’s the importance forthis unique project in her lifethough? Well, she informs, “As amatter of fact, it will do addweightage to my career. I don’tthink any actress has ever donethis before! This particular ven-ture has made me more meek, Iwonder why God must have justchosen me to do this? It’s noteven in the language I am famil-iar with, I am curious. I am noteven informed whether thismovie will be screened in my owncountry or not but I agreed to dothis.” Talking about getting intothe skin of her character, shespeaks, “I was playing myself so itwas an untroubled experience forme. If i had to speak inKazakhstani language, I wouldhave applied my indistinguishableexperience that I do for Telugufilms. There wasn't a momentwhere any of them made me feelout of place by the way. There wasan enigmatic exchange of cultureshappening on the sets! My affilia-tion with the country dates backto 2014, I was the most comfort-able there. From visitingKazakhstan as a guest celeb todoing a movie today — I havecome a long way. I didn’t evengive this project a secondthought, my response was I’ll be

there at Kazakhstan.” Avika shot this intriguing piece

of cinema in the most extraordi-nary locations of Turkey and shecouldn't stop being enthusiasticabout it. She added, “It’s extreme-ly cold out there, you’ll freeze. It’sso full of kind gentlemen allaround you. If ever possible, Iwould love to buy a home here orin Kazakhstan. It’s truly a modernwestern country, while maintain-ing religious and historical val-ues.”

With the poster she uploadedonline, Avika managed to gener-ate a widespread curiosityamongst netizens that is she onher way to become the next glob-al star like Priyanka Chopra,Aishwarya Rai, DeepikaPadukone, Huma Qureshi, NituChandra, etc.? She clarifies, “Bydoing this movie, I am not look-ing for my fans to tag me as aglobal star! If I can work in Hindiand Telugu, Kazakh was a greatstep in the right direction. It’s justan unbelievable world I belong tosometimes, I know for a fact peo-ple would kill to live a life likemine especially at such a youngage. I just love being on camera, Iam enthusiastic about filmmakingculture! It’s my transformationthat’s bringing me versatile offersfrom Indian cinema and i am notshying away from taking thoseup. I really want to etch my namein the history of cinema. I havestarted producing too!”

It is worth mentioning herethat Avika has won SIIMA Awardfor Best Female Debut (Telugu)for her role in Uyyala Jampalaand she has a long list of movieslined up and we can’t wait to seeher on screen again.

From Telugu to

Kazakhstan cinema

Samantha absorbsinsights of Will

ilmmaker PaRanjith’s actiondrama Birsa,which marks hisforay into Hindifilms, is scheduled

to go on floors by the end ofthis year, makers shared onFriday.

Produced by ShareenMantri and Kishor Aroraunder Namah Pictures, thefilm is a biopic based on thelife of Birsa Munda, a triballeader from Jharkhand whostood up to British colonialoppressors in the 19th centu-ry.

The film’s team has exten-sively toured Jharkhand andBengal to trace Birsa’s life andare lending final touches tothe script.

“The action drama will beshot extensively at hithertounseen locations and bring tothe big screen verdant land-scapes and deep jungles asnever seen before,” a notefrom the makers read.

Ranjith, best known forhelming acclaimed Tamilfilms like SarpattaParambarai, Madras,Rajinikanth-starrer Kaala

and Kabali, said he is thrilledto start work on Birsa.

“I could not have chosen abetter project for my firstHindi film. The process ofscripting and research behindthe film has been a veryenriching process. I havegained inspiration fromBirsa’s life and his convictionfor freedom and autonomy.Would also like to thank theproducers for theirpatience duringthe processof researchand script-ing,” thedirector saidin a state-ment.

Mantrisaid thepro-duc-tion

house is interested in chroni-cling stories that “engage,entertain and inspire”.

“The team has undergoneintense research for the filmand we aim to bring aliveBirsa’s story on a colossalscale,” Mantri added.

According to Arora, BirsaMunda’s story of revolution“personifies courage in everyway”.

“We are thrilled to collabo-rate with Ranjith for hisBollywood debut as a direc-tor and cannot wait for thefilm to go on floors this year,”he said.

Apart from Birsa, NamahPictures also has the emo-

tional thriller Lost,directed by

Aniruddha RoyChowdhury andstarring YamiGautam andPankaj Kapur,a project withKartikAaryan and aseries basedon the auto-biography ofPhoolanDevi.

Charan rides a

bicyle in RC 15ega Power star RamCharan, who is busypromotingRajamouli’s magnumopus RRR, hasalready begun shoot-

ing for his next — tentativelytitled RC 15. The film, beingdirected by Shankar, is touted tobe a sleek action entertainer cre-ated at a huge budget. OnFriday, a video from the sets ofRC 15 was leaked by a netizen.The leaked video footage showsRam Charan riding a bicycle ona country road.

If the on going buzz is to be

believed, Ram Charan will beseen in a dual character in thisfilm.

According to the reports, oneof the primary attractions of RC 15 is the train combat sce-nario. Anbariv, a stuntchoreographer, has alreadybeen roped in to overseethe action scenes.

The train scene is sup-posed to be a pivotalaction sequence, and oneof the many highlightsof RC 15, which hasKiara Advani as theleading lady.

m

f

Radhe Shyam team ready for nationwidepromos before March 11 release

ass Maharaja Ravi Teja andTrinadha Rao Nakkinahave collaborated forthe first time for anout-and-outaction entertain-

er Dhamaka, that comesup with an interestingtagline of ‘Double Impact’.The film is being mountedon a grand scale by theproducer TG VishwaPrasad while VivekKuchibhotla is the co-pro-ducer of the movie from thebanners, People Media Factory& Abhishek Aggarwal Arts.

Dhamaka’s new action schedulebegins today in Hyderabad. The team iscanning a breath-taking action sequence inan enormous set on Ravi Teja and fighters.Ram-Lakshman masters are overseeing thisepisode.

Briefing about this episode, producer TGVishwa Prasad said, “It’s a high-octane actionblock which is very crucial for the film. So, ahuge set was erected, without compromisingon budget. This is going to be a feast for themasses and action movie buffs.”

Actress Sreeleela who shot to fame withPelli SandaD is playing the female lead oppo-site Ravi Teja in the film. The on-screenchemistry of the lead pair looked adorable ina Valentine’s Day poster.

Dhamaka features somewell-known actors in vital

roles and top-notch tech-nicians handling differ-

ent crafts.Prasanna Kumar

Bezawada haspenned story,screenplay and dia-logues for the film,while BheemsCeciroleo is scoring

the music andKarthik

Ghattamaneni handlesthe cinematography.

Other cast and crewdetails will be revealed soon.

m

a

RaviTeja’s

power-packedaction schedule

begins

Pa. Ranjith to make B’wood

debut with Birsa Munda biopic

a