3 capitals plan: Jagan govt may offer clarity on 'way forward'

VIJAYAWADA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022; PAGES 12 `3

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TODAY

VIJAYAWADA WEATHER

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh witnessed a spikein the collection of the Goods andServices Tax (GST) in the just-con-cluded August compared to the cor-responding period last year, indicat-ing an economic recovery in theState that was battered by theCovid-19 pandemic.

The GST collections this Augustwent up by 22 pc. While the GSTcollection was Rs 3,173 crore inAugust this year, it was 2,591 crorelast August.

The all-India overall GST rev-enues for August 2022 were 28 pchigher than Rs 1,12,020 crore GSTcollected in August 2021. Duringthe month, revenues from theimport of goods were 57 pc higherand the gains from domestic trans-actions (including import of serv-ices) are 19 pc higher than the rev-enues from these sources during thesame month last year.

The gross GST revenue collectedin August 2022 across the country

stood at Rs 1,43,612 crore of whichCGST is Rs 24,710 crore, SGST is Rs30,951 crore, IGST is Rs 77,782crore (including Rs 42,067 crore col-lected on import of goods) and cessis Rs 10,168 crore including Rs 1,018crore collected on import of goods.

The government has settled Rs29,524 crore to CGST and Rs 25,119crore to SGST from IGST. Centreand the state's total revenue inAugust 2022 after the regular settle-ment is Rs 54,234 crore for CGSTand Rs 56,070 crore for the SGST.

For six months now, the month-ly all-India GST revenues havebeen more than the Rs 1.4 lakhcrore mark.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

INS Satpura arrived in Suva, Fijiin the South Pacific Ocean aspart of its OperationalDeployment in the Pacific onThursday. The visit, which is thefirst by an Indian warship infour years, is aimed at strength-ening the friendship and coop-eration between the two nations.Besides interactions with seniordefence leadership, the shipwill be open for visitors, and thecrew would undertake commu-nity outreach programmes.

Earlier, INS Satpura hoistedthe National Flag in San Diegoin the North AmericanContinent, as part of the IndianNavy’s deployment of shipsacross all six inhabited conti-nents of the world to celebrate75 years of Independence.

INS Satpura is an indigenous-ly designed and built, 6000 tonsguided missile stealth frigateequipped to seek and destroyadversaries in air, surface, andunderwater. The ship is a front-line unit of the Eastern Fleetbased at Visakhapatnam.

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

The Jagan Mohan Reddy govern-ment is said to be contemplatingholding a session of the State legis-lature in the third week of thismonth. The session will be held fora week and are likely to begin onSeptember 19.

The buzz is that the governmentmay offer some clarity on the ‘wayahead’ or ‘way forward' on the con-tentious three capitals plan thatwas caught in the legal tangle.

It has been almost six monthssince the High Court struck downthe State government’s proposal tohave three capitals underminingthe legislative competence of thegovernment to bifurcate or trifurcatethe capital. Jagan government hasnot made any further move on itwhether to approach a higher courtetc.

Fifteen days after the High Courtverdict, Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy had announced in theAssembly during the Budget sessionthat the government is still commit-ted to the three capitals plan with-out mentioning how the governmentwould go ahead.

A few days ago, during the hear-ing on the petition by Amaravati

farmers, State Advocate GeneralSriram told the High Court benchthat the government will eitherapproach a higher bench or SupremeCourt on the issue.

On his part, Jagan on March 24,reaffirmed the government’s com-mitment to decentralised develop-ment and also resolutely said thatcapital decision is the government’s

right and responsibility while poli-cymaking is the domain of the leg-islature.

Rounding off the discussion onlegislative competence on the floorof the House on March 24, the ChiefMinister said courts cannot preemptor direct not to make a policy withpresumptions and lay down impos-sible conditions setting timelines thatcannot be met.

“The laws we are making stand forpublic scrutiny every five years,which is the very reason why theprevious dispensation was rejectedand people gave us a thumping man-date with 151 of the 175 seats in theHouse, and courts should not be get-ting into our domain of making lawsand this I am saying with the utmostrespect towards the judiciary and toset the record straight for future gen-erations to come.

PNS n AMARAVATI

A one-year service in rural and trib-al areas is to be made compulsoryfor post-graduate medical studentswho complete their courses withgovernment support.

The government has taken apolicy decision in this regard andnecessary orders will be issuedsoon, Andhra Pradesh PrincipalSecretary (Health) M T Krishna

Babu said.Krishna Babu told reporters that

about 400 students pursue post-graduate medical education with the

government support in the Stateevery year under Category-A.

Initially, we wanted to make itcompulsory for all post-graduatesbut now we have decided to restrictit to Category-A students only.This will ensure availability of ade-quate number of specialist doctorsin rural and tribal areas, thePrincipal Secretary said.

PNS n AMARAVATI

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddyhas convened a review meeting of rev-enue-generating departments, includ-ing Excise, Mines, and Panchayat Raj,at the Camp Office here on Thursday.

The Chief Minister told the officialsto ensure that ganja and other such sub-stances are out of bounds to studentsand youth. Special Enforcement Board(SEB) phone numbers should be dis-played before all colleges and univer-sities and there should be no reportsof drug abuse. The Collectors shouldcoordinate, he said.

Liquor consumption has comedown due to steep hikes in prices andthe shutting down of belt shops.Those who are into the brewing ofillicit liquor and cultivating ganjashould be shown alternative sourcesof employment and encourage self-employment, he said.

The officials informed the ChiefMinister that consumption of alcoholhas come down from 384.31 lakhcases in 2018-19 to 278.5 lakh casesin 2021-22. The sales of beer for thesame period have come down from

277.10 lakh cases to 82.6 lakh cases.The revenue has gone up from Rs20,128 crore to Rs 25,023 crore for thesame period due to steep hikes inprices.

In all, 20,127 cases were registered,16,027 were arrested and 1407 vehi-cles were seized in cases of illicit liquor.On 2500 acres people shifted othercrops while steps are being taken forhorticulture on another 1,600 acres,the officials said.

The Chief Minister said that ACBtoll-free number 14400 should be dis-played in all government offices. Theseboards should be on display fromVillage Secretariat to Collector's Office,from the police station to SP Office andat PDS shops as well, he said.

Sub-registrar offices and passportoffices be revamped.

Taking the district as a unit, theCollectors should ensure that min-ing operations are carried out afteracquiring the necessary permissionsand amicably settle if there are anydisputes so that there is no loss ofrevenue, he said.

Employeesobserve ‘Vidroha

Dinam' in city

P3

3 capitals plan: Jagan govt mayoffer clarity on ‘way forward’n Issue to be taken up during Assembly session that is likely to begin on Sept 19

AP ON PATH OF ECONOMIC RECOVERY

Aug GST collectionsincrease by 22%

PNS n NELLORE

Five persons, including a woman andher two children, committed suicide intwo separate incidents in the district onThursday. A woman, along with his sonand daughter, committed suicide byhanging from the ceiling fan in theirhouse at Jai Bhimnagar in Vinjamurtown on Thursday.Police said that the deceased SadamGeeta (34), along with her daughter

Charisma (5) and Venkat (10),committed suicide by hanging from theceiling fan. Venkata Rao, the husbandof deceased Geeta was working as aclerk in a gas godown. He went to hishouse for lunch and found his wife,daughter and son hanging from theceiling fan. Family disputes forcedthem to take the extreme step, policesaid. A case was registered and thebodies were sent to the governmenthospital for post-mortem.

In another incident, a manand his son committedsuicide by jumping into awell at K. Ambapuram villagein Nellore rural mandal onThursday. Police said that thedeceased Ranga Swamy haddifferences with his wife forthe last few months. He tookhis son Siva Kumar, andalong with him, jumped intothe well. However, Ranga

Swamy’s other son ranaway at the last minute andinformed the police. The bodies were retrievedfrom the well and shifted tothe government hospital forpost-mortem. The deceasedRanga Swamy haddifferences with his wifewhich forced him to takethe extreme step, the policesaid.

Keep youth awayfrom drugs: CM Alcohol consumption down, revenue up, say officials

‘INS Satpura’ in Fiji to strengthen ties

Rural, tribal service to be mademandatory for PG doctors in AP

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Jana Sena Political AffairsCommittee chairman NadendlaManohar has said that the YSRCP'sfears have been exposed with thedemolition of the JSP flag pedestalwith a JCB at Jaggayyapet on thenight of August 31.

In a statement here Thursday, hesaid that the JSP activists had stoodby people at the ground level.

“The Jana Sena is going aheadwith its ideology of the welfare of thepeople. The YSRCP is unable todigest it. The JSP activists andleaders are working at the groundlevel for the people drawing inspi-ration from party chief K PawanKalyan,” Manohar said.

Nadendla Manohar asserted thatin a democratic system, politicalparties hoist their flags and apprise

people of their ideologies.“Undemocratic policies are beingimplemented in Andhra Pradesh bythe YSRCP regime. The pullingdown of the pedestal of JSP’s flagindicates the undemocratic policiesof the YSRCP regime. The demoli-tion of the pedestal reflects theapprehensions of local MLA and hisfollowers over JSP,” he alleged.

DEMOLITION OF JSP FLAG PEDESTAL

‘Undemocratic' act exposedYSRCP frustration: Nadendla

5 of 2 families end lives in 2 incidents

‘Power grid will befuture-ready, insulated

from cyber attacks’

P5

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy VarlaDevasthanam has geared up toorganise 10-day Dasara festivalsatop Indrakeeladri from September26 to October 5. Last year, the fes-tival was celebrated for nine daysas per the Telugu calendar.

Addressing a press conferenceon Thursday, Kanaka DurgaTemple Executive Officer DBramaraba said that they wereexpecting about 10 lakh devoteesthis year. During the last twoyears, the Dasara festival was a low-key affair due to Covid.

She said that the Bhavani devo-tees' rush would be expected fortwo more days even after the com-pletion of the Dasara celebrations.The Bhavani devotees wererequested to make a note that therewould not be any arrangements forthe relinquishment of Deekshaduring the festival. They wouldhave to relinquish their Deeksha attheir respective places, she added.

10L devoteesexpected forDasara fest

UP BUSINESSMAN CAUGHT WITH RS 200 CRORE GETS BAIL

SEC RECOMMENDS BIOLOGICAL E'SVACCINE AGAINST S PNEUMONIA

JHARKHAND GOVT TO PAY RS 2 CRORE FOR

CHARTERED FLIGHT FOR ‘VIP MOVEMENT'

MAHARASHTRA VILLAGE

PRACTICES WHAT IT PREACHES

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday granted bail to businessmanPiyush Jain, whose premises were raided last year and Rs 200 crorein cash and 23 kg of gold were seized by central agencies. His arrest

just before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls had led to a row with the BJPcalling the Kanpur-based perfume trader a "friend" of the Samajwadi Party(SP). But the opposition party had alleged that Jain belonged to the BJP.Justice Subhash Vidyarthi allowed the bail application by Jain on hisfurnishing a personal bond of Rs 10 lakh and two reliable sureties each ofthe like amount. Jain was arrested on December 26, 2021 after beingaccused of evading tax by the Director General of GST Intelligence (DGGI).

Biological E Limited on Thursday announced that the Subject ExpertCommittee of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO)reviewed and approved the Phase 3 infants' clinical trial data and

recommended for manufacture its 14-valent paediatric vaccine(investigational pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine PCV14)against S pneumonia infection, in single-dose and multi-dosepresentations. A press release from the city-based vaccine maker said thePCV14 can be administered to infants at six, 10 and 14 weeks of age.Streptococcus pneumoniae infection continues to be a leading cause ofchild mortality under 5 years of age in India and in developing countries.

The Jharkhand government decided on Thursday that it wouldpay Rs 2.06 crore for chartered plane services for a month, anofficial said. The cabinet has approved the proposal of getting a

"fixed winged jet chartered flight service" on a nomination basis for amonth for "official movements of VIPs and VVIPs outside the state",cabinet secretary Vandana Dadel said. "The service period will beapplicable from August 31," she said. The MLAs and ministers of theruling UPA coalition in the state went to neighbouring Chhattisgarhon Tuesday to stave off the BJP's possible poaching attempt duringthe ongoing political crisis in the state.

Nandyal gram panchayat in Kagal taluka of Kolhapur district, one of the firstvillages in Maharashtra to ban regressive practices related to widows, hasproved that it practices what it preaches. When a resident of Nandyal died

a couple of days ago, the gram panchayat ensured his wife was not subjectedto any humiliating rituals related to widows. Three months ago, the local gramsabha passed a resolution banning discriminatory practices related to womenwho have lost their husbands. Social activist Pramod Zinjade said Nandyal,around 375km from Mumbai, was among the first villages to demand alegislation to protect the dignity of women who are pushed into a life ofseclusion and discrimination after the death of their husbands.

Tainted individualspolarising politics: PM

PNS n KOCHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi onThursday said that action againstcorrupt people in the country hasresulted in a new polarisation innational politics with certain polit-ical groups openly trying to getorganised into a unit to savethose facing graft charges.

Modi, who arrived in Kerala ona two-day visit, said that corrup-tion was the biggest hurdle indevelopment and interests of theyouth.

BJP will organise‘unity in diversity'festivals in all districts PNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP will organise "unity indiversity" festivals in all districts aspart of its fortnight-long "seva"campaign to mark Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's birthday.

The campaign will begin onModi's birthday on September 17and conclude on October 2, thebirth anniversary of MahatmaGandhi.

The BJP has formed an eight-member central panel led by itsgeneral secretary Arun Singh formonitoring the campaign, whichwill include activities such as blooddonation camps, awareness pro-grammes on water conservationand the vocal for local idea, andcleanliness drives.

The BJP has been celebratingPrime Minister Modi's birthday as'Seva Diwas' (Day of Service) forseveral years by organising welfareactivities across the country for afortnight.

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Tirumala TirupatiDevasthanams (TTD)Chairman YV Subba Reddy onThursday said that the GTChoultries near Tirupati railwaystation and bus station will bemodernised to provide moreaffordable and better accommo-dation to devotees.

After an inspection of the freeand Rs 50 tariff rooms at secondand third choultries along withTTD board member P AshokKumar, the TTD Chairmandirected officials to provide cots,beds, etc. free in rooms.

Among others, he instructedthe officials to carry out repairsto rooms and corridors andclean up the open areas byremoving garbage and also pro-vide fans and other facilities todevotees for group cooking etc.

During his visit, the TTDChairman interacted with devo-tees from Jakwa town of MadhyaPradesh and enquired abouttheir experience on SrivariDarshan, food and other ameni-ties being provided by TTD. TheNorth Indian devotees said theywere on a 22-day South Indianpilgrimage and visited temples inTamilnadu and Karnataka so far.

Lauding the arrangements

for devotees at Tirumala andTirupati the pilgrims expressedtheir immense happiness andsaid, such facilities are not avail-able at any temple across thecountry.

They were highly appreciativeof the free accommodation in SriGovindarajaswami templechoultries, the hygiene, andcleanliness at Tirumala, in parksand surroundings.

The North Indian devoteesalso said they were lucky to have

'Srivari Darshan' under 'SarvaDarshan' category within fourhours. ''I lost mobile but officialstraced it within one hour'', anoth-er pilgrim told the TTDChairman.

A devotee Chakram fromGollaprolu of East Godavarisaid the Rs 50 room at SriGovindarajaswami choultrieswas nice and they had SrivariDarshan in three hours besidesgood 'Anna Prasadam' atTirumala.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Information and PublicRelat ions C ommis-sioner T Vijaya KumarReddy has invited thenominations for thePadma Awards to bepresented by theCentral governmentdur ing theIndependence Day cel-ebrations in 2023.

He said in a pressre lease here onThursday that nomina-tions from social ser-vice, arts and crafts,public affairs, scienceand engineering, trade,business, health, educa-tion, sports, civil ser-vices, and literaturefields are invited, hesaid and added thatthey would be sent tothe Central govern-ment.

Interested personsshould send their nom-inations on or beforeSeptember 5 to thePr incipa l S ecretar y(Pol it ica l ) , Genera lAdministration (SC-II)wing, AP Secretariat,Velagapudi, Guntur dis-t r ic t - 522238, headded.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

AgriGold Customers andAgents Welfare Association(ACA&AWA) honorary pres-ident Muppalla Nageswara Raohas said that his associationwill organise an agitation andmassive procession fromTummalapalli Kalakshetramto Dharna Chowk inVijayawada on September 6,demanding that the State gov-ernment release Rs. 3,060 croreimmediately to make pay-ments of Rs. 20,000 and aboveto about 10 lakh victims whohave deposited their money inthe AgriGold company and arewaiting for the past sevenyears. “We have also planned toconduct an agitation at theDharna Chowk in a peacefulmanner,” said Nageswara Rao,who is also the CPI State assis-tant secretary.

Muppalla Nageswara Raoaddressed the media at theDasari Bhavan in Vijayawadaon Thursday.

He said that Chief MinisterYS Jagan Mohan Reddy hadgiven an assurance to theAgriGold depositors when hewas the Opposition leader thattheir problems would beresolved within six months

after the YSRCP came topower. However, even after 39months, the State governmenthasn’t done anything. The vic-tims are struggling financiallyand some of them have evencommitted suicide, he said.The previous TDP govern-ment had announced

Rs. 1,180 crore for payingback those who had depositedRs. 10,000 and below. TheYSRCP government releasedRs. 252 crore on November 7,2019, he said.

Later, the State governmentreleased another Rs. 667 crorefor paying back those who haddeposited Rs. 20,000 andbelow, on August 24, 2021. Sofar, the State government hasreleased Rs. 905 crore and the

payments have been complet-ed to about 14 lakh people.About 6.50 lakh victims whohave deposited Rs.20,000 andabove are waiting for theirpayments, he added.

The AgriGold financialscam affected 32 lakh people ineight States, of which 19.50lakh belong to AndhraPradesh.

Nageswara Rao said thatthe State government formeda high power committee underthe chairmanship of the ChiefSecretary, with CID ADGP asconvenor and the DGP, CCLAsecretary, and the Finance sec-retary as members, to clear thevictims' payments. The com-mittee, however, has not con-ducted even a single meeting

so far. Meanwhile, theAgriGold company manage-ment has started a benamicompany, which is conductingreal estate business andincreasing their assets, healleged.

In this situation, theAgrigold Customers andAgents Welfare Associationwill conduct a massive agita-tion to resolve their problemspeacefully. Nageswara Raomade it clear that there wouldbe no protests at the CM's res-idence.

They would organise a mas-sive procession fromTummalapalli Kalakshetramto Dharna Chowk and stage aprotest demanding the imme-diate release of funds to makepayments to the victims.

"Earlier, the TDP govern-ment neglected the AgriGoldvictims. So, the people votedagainst the TDP. Now, ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy should sort out theAgriGold victims’ problemsas early as possible,” hedemanded.

Association general secre-tary V Tirupathi Rao, deputygeneral secretary BVChandrasekhar and otherswere present.

‘Into the heaven of freedommy father, let my country

awake,’ GurudevRabindranath Tagore said inhis Nobel Prize-winning workGitanjali.

This was a dream he hadfor our nation while it was stillbattling the colonisers. Buteven after India became anindependent nation, it hastaken almost seven decades torealise Tagore’s dream. For itis only in the last eight yearsthat we have been truly expe-riencing freedom from awhole lot of chains that hadkept us from waking up to ourtrue potential.

As we complete 75 years ofbeing the world’s largestdemocracy, it is wonderful tosee what we as a nation haveachieved in the last few years.

To begin with, the veryway that the world looks atIndia has transformed.Especially after having sur-

vived the worst global crisis inthe last two centuries, Indiahas not just fared way betterthan the most powerful anddeveloped nations, but alsoearned the title of being thepharmacy of the world, hav-ing supplied vaccines to atleast 50 per cent of the leastdeveloped countries whenthere were most developedones not willing to share any.Every country has valued andlauded India’s efforts in ensur-ing we fight this pandemictogether in keeping with ouridea of Vasudhaiva kutum-bakam. This has infused awhole new vigour anddynamism to our foreign pol-icy.

Be it India’s relationshipwith Iran that saw a majorshift with the signing of theChabahar agreement, or therenewed vigour that wasbrought to our friendshipwith Israel after the first ever

visit of an Indian PrimeMinister in 2018, India hasrisen in the eyes of the worldas an equal and is no longer athird-world country. ThePrime Minister’s personaltouch in foreign policy hasmade him a critical part ofglobal diplomacy and conver-sations for world peace, as theMexican President recentlypointed out. The strongestproof of our changing place atthe table of world diplomacywas the way all global leadersstood in solidarity with Indiawhen cross-border terrorism

led to the cowardly attack inPulwama.

The helplessness whichwas on full display in theaftermath of the 2008Mumbai attacks has nowbeen confined to history.Warnings are now followedup with action, as Pakistandiscovered soon afterPathankot and Pulwama. Beit the plateau of Doklam inBhutan or the heights of theKailash Range in easternLadakh, India has stood itsground, sending a clear mes-sage by refusing to blink.

The Prime Minister’s callfor atmanirbharta has trans-lated into concrete progressin sectors like defence man-ufacturing, electronics, semi-conductors etc. The result isthat India recorded its high-est-ever defence exports in2021-22 and has become thesecond-largest mobile phone

manufacturer in the world.The delivery of food to

over 80 crore people underthe Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan Anna Yojana involv-ing a total expenditure of Rs3.40 lakh crore cushioned theimpact of the pandemic. Ata time when poverty was ris-ing in the developed world,India managed to bringdown extreme poverty to itslowest level ever — 0.8 percent of the population.

Over 18,000 villages thathad been without electricityeven 70 years afterIndependence were electri-fied within 1,000 days of thePrime Minister announcingthe programme in his 2015Independence Day speech.Potable water is reachinghomes through taps, thanksto the Har Ghar Jal scheme.From 3.23 crore householdsgett ing drinking waterthrough taps in 2019, when

PM Modi announced thescheme, the number hasgone up to 9.6 crore homesin three years. Be it theSkampuk village in Ladakh,located at a height of 13,000feet, where pipes had to besecured with an insulationjacket to ensure they don’tfreeze, or the Mawblang vil-lage in Meghalaya, cleandrinking water has reachedhouseholds no matter howremote the location.

Indian trains are now saferthan ever before, with theRailways Minister leadingthe trials of Kavach, anindigenous Automatic TrainProtection System, from thefront. From hygiene to punc-tuality, to greater connectiv-ity and availability, fromMission Raftaar to VandeBharat, to Gatimaan semi-high-speed rails to the soon-to-arrive Bullet trains, thelifeline of the nation has

received a whole new lease ofenergy that will fast-trackIndia’s growth.

The new growth story isone of inclusive develop-ment or Janbhagidari, be itPoshan abhiyan, open defe-cation free villages, theworld’s largest vaccinationdrive, or the HarGharTiranga campaign.

The Union government islaying the blueprint of itsjourney ahead in the ‘AmritKal’ towards a Bharat that isenvisaged to become aVishwaguru by its 100th yearof Independence. OurPradhan Sevak’s mantra of‘Sabka saath, Sabka vikas,Sabka vishwas and Sabkaprayas’ is fuelling it at everystep.

(The author is aMember of Parliament

from Nizamabad,Telangana)

ARVIND DHARMAPURI

India has not just fared way better than themost powerful and developed nations, but alsoearned the title of being the pharmacy of theworld, having supplied vaccines to at least 50per cent of the least developed countries whenthere were most developed ones not willing toshare any.

Eight years of unmatched good governance

TTD to moderniseGT Choultries

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TTD Executive Officer (EO) AVDharma Reddy has directedofficials on Thursday tocomplete Srinivasa Sethuconstruction works byDecember. Addressing a review meeting ofofficials of Tirupati MunicipalCorporation, Smart CityCorporation and TTDEngineering department at hischambers in TTD AdministrativeBuilding, the TTD EO instructedthat all out steps be taken tocomplete the approach roadworks from Karakambadi to

Leela Mahal Circle by September25. Similarly, the works onRamanuja Circle to Outer RingRoad should be completed byNovember 30 and by Decemberthe Srinivasa Sethu worksshould be over. TTD will depositits share of funds for projectwithout any delay to achieve theworks on schedule.He advised that TTD JEOVeerabrahmam, Chief EngineerNageswara Rao should reviewthe works once a week withMunicipal, Smart City, andAFCON officials. He would holdanother review meeting by endof September on the Sethuworks.

Complete ‘Srinivasa Sethu' works by Dec: TTD EO

Nominationsinvited for

Padma Awards

Continued from Page 1

The timeline set by thecourts like setting up basicamenities within one monthand other infrastructure in theregion within six months isimpossible. The 29 villagesform a minor fraction of thetotal State. We are exploringlegal options on the issue,” hesaid. Jagan added, “We arecommitted to decentralisa-tion of development and at thesame we will safeguard theinterests of the farmers ofthe region who gave land”.

“No court can directimpossible terms and we are

exploring legal options andsearching for alternative mea-sures. Despite hurdles, wewill go forward with ourdecentralised developmentagenda and will not go back.We have no option but to goahead as decentralisation isour policy and decision oncapitals is our right andresponsibility,” he said.

It may be worth mention-ing here that in November lastyear in a dramatic turnaroundthe YS Jaganmohan Reddygovernment repealed the APDecentralisation and InclusiveDevelopment of All Regions,2020, and repeal of CRDA

Acts. However, chief minis-ter YS Jaganmohan Reddyannounced in the House thathis government is committedto the three capitals plan thathelps decentralised and over-all development of the stateand said they will reintroducethese Bills in a fresh formwhile making some changes.

After Finance andLegislative Affairs MinisterBuggana Rajendranath intro-duced the repeal bill, theChief Minister told Assemblythat his government willintroduce fresh bills in theState legislature that pave theway for the three capitals by

explaining the benefits of thedecentralisation plan, dis-pelling some doubts to a fewsections by holding consulta-tions and also make somechanges.

“The Government intendsto take back the previousbil l(s) tabled in theLegislature, and after adetailed study, the impro-vised bill(s) will come beforethe House with a comprehen-sive flow. Against this back-drop, the Three Capitals Billneeds more clarity anddetailed explanation,” saidChief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy.

3 capitals plan: Jagan govt may offer...

10L devotees...Continued from Page 1

The EO said that there wouldnot be 'antaralaya darshan' dur-ing the festival.

All other queue lines includ-ing Rs. 100, Rs. 300 and free dar-shan would continue as usual.It is being contemplated tointroduce a Rs 500 ticket forVIPs this year and a final deci-sion would be taken at a coor-dination meeting to be held onFriday, she said.

Meanwhile, she said that theother arrangements like queuelines, bathing ghats, tonsuringplaces, free buses for devoteesand 'prasadam' counters wouldbe organised as per the plan oflast year. EO Bhramarmba saidthat the expenditure was Rs. 3crore during last year's Dasarafestival.

She further said that thisyear, it is estimated to be aroundRs. 4 crore as the cost of illumi-nation increased considerably.Out of Rs. 4 crore, Rs. 2 crorewould be spent on works likeillumination, queue lines, ton-suring places, etc, she said. Lastyear's revenue was Rs. 11.5crore.

This year, it is expected totouch Rs 15 crore, she added.

Later, EO Bhramarambainaugurated the arrangementsfor the Dasara celebrations andthe works began with pujas atopIndrakeeladri. TempleSthanacharya Vishnubhotla SivaPrasad Sarma, executive engi-neers KVS Koteswara Rao, LRama Devi, DEE VenkateswaraRao, AEE Boppana Ashok, andVedic Committee memberswere present.

Rural, tribalservice to be mademandatory for PGdoctors in AP

Continued from Page 1

He said 3,726 doctors andspecialists were recruited inthe last two years, with spe-cialists getting an extra 50 percent pay and MBBS doctors30 per cent.

"We are focused onimproving health care ser-vices, particularly in rural andtribal areas. We will soonhave one health hub in eachdistrict with specialist doc-tors," he added.

Krishna Babu said fivenew medical colleges atEluru, Rajamahendravaram,V i z i a n a g a r a m ,Machilipatnam and Nandyalwould start functioning in theState from the 2023-24 aca-demic year.

In all, the State governmenthas taken up 16 new medicalcolleges and the balance 11would start functioning from2024-25 academic year.

Three (at Paderu,Machilipatnam andPiduguralla) of the 16 newmedical colleges were beingfunded by the Central gov-ernment. Three more wouldbe taken up under theNational InfrastructurePipeline scheme.

The remaining nine werebeing set up with loan fromNabard.

Director (Health) J Nivasand Director and AP VaidyaVidhana Parishad VinodKumar were also present.

‘Undemocratic' act...

Continued from Page 1

The police registered casesagainst the JSP activists whoprotested against the demoli-tion of the pedestal, Manoharsaid and added that cases wereregistered against the Krishnadistrict JSP presidentBandreddi Ramakrishna andother leaders BoliyashettiSrikanth, Ravi Sowjanya,Eemani Kishore, BadisaMuralikrishna for registeringtheir protest. The JSP wouldstand by them and extend theneeded help, he announced.

Continued from Page 1

The growth in GST revenuetill August 2022 over the sameperiod last year is 33 pc, con-tinuing to display very highbuoyancy. This is a clear impactof various measures taken by

the GST Council in the past toensure better compliance.Better reporting coupled witheconomic recovery has beenhaving a positive impact on theGST revenues consistently.During July 2022, 7.6 crore e-way bills were generated.

Aug GST collections increase by 22%

Continued from Page 1

Singh, in a letter to theparty's state unit, has given aset of instructions on differentthemes of the campaign.

According to the letter, BJPworkers in districts will organ-ise "unity in diversity" festivalsand send a message of "EkBharat, Shresth Bharat (OneIndia, Great India)" amongmasses.

As part of the campaign,party functionaries in all stateunits will identify a state dif-ferent from theirs and adoptits language and culture for aday.

All state units have beenasked to update this and allother activities on the Namo

app of the prime minister, andfive best state units will beawarded for organising thisfestivals.

The party has also issuedinstructions for carrying outplantation drive, clealinessdrive and awareness cam-paigns for water conserva-tion, distributing equipmentamong disabled persons, pro-moting local products, andorganising free health check-up camps.

As part of the campaign,BJP workers and people ingeneral will be encouraged touse Khadi and local productson October 2, the birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi.

BJP will organise ‘unity in...

Keep youth...Continued from Page 1

When the CM said thereshould be transparency inthe sale of red sanders, theofficials replied to himsaying that plans are afootfor the sale of 2,640 met-r i c t on n e s b e t we e nOctober and March.

Tainted individuals polarising politics...

Continued from Page 1

"However, what we see is thatas we take action against the cor-rupt persons, there has emergeda new polarisation in national pol-itics. "To save these corrupt peo-ple, certain political groups areopenly coming out and trying toget organised into a unit. Peopleof India and Kerala have to be vig-ilant against such groups," he said.

Speaking to a large gatheringof supporters outside the CochinInternational Airport atNedumbassery near here, he fur-ther said that people in the stateare viewing the BJP with renewedhope as they realise that it is work-ing for change and developmentin India.

Modi also asserted that thebiggest priority of his government

is to provide fundamental facili-ties to every citizen of the coun-try and build modern infra-structure.

The union government isworking to provide homes to thepoor. Under the 'Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana' scheme, two lakhhouses have been approved andmore than 1.30 lakh have beencompleted in Kerala, he noted.

Modi said the Centre hasspent around Rs 1 lakh crore inKerala on various projects.

"The central government isworking to open at least one med-ical college in every district, andit will hugely benefit the youth ofKerala. To develop modern infra-structure, the BJP government isspending around Rs 1 lakh croreon multiple projects in Kerala," hesaid.

Protest planned for releaseof Rs 3,060 cr for depositors

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

State government employeesstaged a lunch-hour demon-stration demanding the cancel-lation of the ContributoryPension Scheme (CPS) andrestoration of the Old PensionScheme (OPS) as is beingimplemented in Rajasthan andPunjab states, at the PanchayatRaj office on MG Road inVijayawada on Thursday. Thegovernment employeesobserved September 1 as'Vidroha Dinam', and theyraised slogans demanding can-cellation of the CPS.

Andhra Pradesh Non-Gazetted Officers (APNGO)Association West Krishnapresident A Vidyasagar ledthe agitation.

APNGO Association Stategeneral secretary KV SivaReddy said that as per theassurance given by ChiefMinister Y S Jagan MohanReddy, the State governmentshould restore the OPS forth-with by cancelling the CPSintroduced 18 years ago.

Siva Reddy found fault withthe State government's attitudetoward the CPS employees byimposing several restrictionsand demanding the withdraw-al of its 'undemocratic' actions.He wanted the State govern-

ment to follow the systembeing followed in Rajasthan,Punjab, Chattisgarh, andJharkhand states.

The APNGO Associationwould extend its support to theCPS employees and directlyparticipate in the agitation, headded. APNGO AssociationWest Krishna president AVidyasagar said that CPSemployees have been observ-ing the 'Vidroha Dinam' everySeptember 1 since the CPS wasintroduced on September 1,2004. On the call given by APJAC, teachers and otheremployees are conducting sev-eral forms of agitation

demanding the cancellationof CPS, he said and alleged thatthe State government hadbooked bind-over cases, apartfrom making the preventivearrests.

As per the Constitution,employees have the right toorganise agitations to pressfor their demands and con-demned the government's atti-tude.

AP JAC leader Md Iqbal,Government Employees'Association president MSambasiva Rao, PRTU leaderD Srinivas, CPS Employees'Association leader SomeswaraRao and others were present.

Employees observe ‘Vidroha Dinam' in cityStage lunch-hour demo demanding cancellation of CPS

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Eastern NavalC o m m a n d ( E N C )Headquarters, is celebratingHindi Fortnight fromSeptember 1 to 14 followingsafe COVID-19 protocols.ENC, Chief Staff Officer(Personnel & Administration)Rear Admiral SandeepPradhan, was the Chief Guestfor the inaugural ceremonyheld at Swarna Jyoti on

Thursday.The function was attended

by service and civilian person-nel from various Ships andestablishments of Eastern

Naval Command. TheFortnight will witness variousHindi Competitions andWorkshops including therelease of the 28th edition of

Hindi Magazine ‘Poorvi Vani’on September 14.

Speaking on the occasion,Rear Admiral SandeepPradhan emphasized theimportance of the use of Hindiand he lauded the efforts takenby the personnel of theCommand toward Hindiimplementation. He directedthem to continue their goodwork to accelerate the imple-mentation of Hindi and Hindi-related tasks in the ENC

PNS n ELURU

A large number of governmentemployees staged a dharnademanding that the govern-ment revoke the ContributoryPension Scheme (CPS) andrestore the Old PensionScheme (OPS) at theCollector’s office here onThursday.

In response to the call givenby Joint Action Committee(JAC) Chairman BandiSrinivas and secretary gener-al G Hrudaya Raju, theemployees converged at theCollector’s office and staged adharna. They held flexi ban-ners and raised slogansdemanding the government torestore the OPS and revoke thepresent CPS.

The employees registeredtheir protest during the lunchhour today. Addressing thegathering, district JAC chair-man Haranath reminded thatChief Minister Y S JaganMohan Reddy assured torestore the old pension schemeafter revoking the CPS butfailed to do so. Jagan MohanReddy promised the govern-ment employees during hispadayatra to restore the oldpension scheme but he hadforgotten after coming to

power, he slammed.The JAC leaders warned of

intensifying the agitation if thegovernment did not take afavourable decision on theCPS issue. They also demand-ed to withdraw the bind-overcases registered against someJAC leaders and employees.

District JAC convenor ChSrinivas said that the APNGOassociation and AP JAC andAll India State GovernmentEmployees Federation hadbeen agitating for the imple-mentation of the old pensionscheme but the governmenthad not responded so far. Hesaid that over two lakh govern-ment employees in AP hadbeen agitating for the lastthree years demanding theimplementation of OPS butthe government had not taken

steps to resolve the long pend-ing issue.

The JAC leaders alsodemanded the governmentimmediately withdraw thenewly introduced WhatsAppattendance to the teachers.The government should takea favourable decision on theregularising of the services ofcontract and contingentemployees, issuance of healthcards, and other pendingissues.

JAC leaders PolishettiVenkata Narasimha Rao,Peddiboina Narayana, PuvvulaAnjaneyulu, H Krishna, PudiSrinivas, APNGO district trea-surer Nerusu Venkata RamaRao, K Sunita, E Satya Bharati,and KSR Mohan were amongthose who participated in theagitation.

Dharna staged against CPSPNS n AMARAVATI

The main opposition TeluguDesam Party (TDP) hasopposed the establishment ofa Bulk Drug Park (BDP) in theKakinada district of AndhraPradesh claiming that it poseda grave threat to the environ-ment besides the livelihoods offarmers and fishermen in theregion.

The BDP could also conse-quently endanger food pro-duction as thousands of acresof cultivable land would beadversely affected, Leader ofOpposition in the APLegislative Council, YanamalaRamakrishnudu, has said.

In a letter to theU n i o nDepartment ofPharmaceuticalsJoint Secretary onT h u r s d a y ,Yanamala high-lighted the threatposed by the pro-posed BDP andsought the Centre'simmediate inter-vention to stop it.He marked thecopy of the letter tothe National GreenT r i b u n a lChairman as well.

On August 30,the Department ofPharmaceuticals communi-cated the Centre's in-principleapproval for the setting up ofthe BDP over 2,000 acres ofland in Thondangi mandal inKakinada district.

AP was the third State afterGujarat and Himachal Pradeshto be chosen for the BDPunder a scheme brought-in bythe Union Ministry ofChemicals and Fertilisers.

Under the scheme, APwould receive a grant-in-aid ofRs 1,000 crore for creation ofinfrastructure for the BDP.

"Most of the people livinghere (Thondangi region)belong to the backward class-

es and are mostly farmers andfishermen. There are about300 hatcheries in the area. TheBDP will endanger their liveli-hood as the pharma units willcause air, soil and water pol-lution, apart from leaving theBay of Bengal also contami-nated," the TDP politburomember pointed out.

He recalled that people ofthe region had earlierlaunched an agitation againstthe establishment of a pharmacompany by Aurobindo.

Yanamala also pointed outthat the National GreenTribunal levied a penalty of Rs6.94 crore on Hetero Drugs forviolating pollution control

norms in neighbouringNakkapalli mandal in thevicinity.

"River Jammeru f lowsthrough Thondangi, cateringto the irrigation needs offarmers in the region. Thepharma industry will pose agreat threat to the river that isfilled with backwaters of theBay of Bengal," Yanamala said.

In light of the facts, herequested that the Centreintervene immediately andstop the establishment of BDPin Thondangi, adhering tothe Environment ProtectionAct, 1986 and the CoastalRegulatory Zone Notification,2019.

TDP opposes BulkDrug Park in AP

SZ clinchesACA T20 titlePNS n VIJAYAWADA

The south zone has baggedthe Andhra CricketAssociation (ACA) SeniorMen's T20 Inter-ZonalChampionship, which con-cluded at the ACA stadiumsat Mulapadu ofIbrahimpatnam mandal inNTR district on Thursday. Inthe three-day inter-zonalchampionship, the southzone team won two matches.

The south zone beat thenorth zone by five wickets inthe third match held atDevineni Venkata Ramanagrounds. The north zonewon the toss and elected tobat first. They scored 132runs for the loss of sevenwickets in the stipulated 20overs. North zone's P Avinashscored 31 runs.

In reply, the south zoneteam scored 135 runs for theloss of five wickets in 19.1overs. Abhishek M Reddyhit a half-century (56 off 38balls, six boundaries, onesix) and played a crucial rolein the team’s win. K AshwinHebbar scored 32 runs off 31balls.

‘Food Track' inauguratedat Vizag railway stationPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Aiming to provide deliciousfood items atVisakhapatnam railway sta-tion, IRCTC has provided'Food Track' - a multi-cui-sine food plaza on PlatformNo.8. The 'Food Track' wasinaugurated on Thursdayby Divis ional R ai lwayManager Anup Satpathy.The food court will providesouth Indian dishes, tiffins,snacks and meals in additionto north Indian dishes & fastfoods.

Speaking on the occasion,Anup Satpathy said that allefforts are being made by thedivision to provide a comfort-able journey to the rail passen-gers at Visakhapatnam stationand to provide good qualityfood at the station. As all thetrains halt at Visakhapatnamstation for 20 minutes, everypassenger would like to havelocal flavor food at a conve-nient place. Keeping thisdemand in mind, a multi-cui-sine food court has been pro-vided on Platform No.8, headded.

ENC celebrating ‘Hindi Fortnight’

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

APSRTC NTR district PublicTransport Department Officer(PTDO) M Yesu Danam hassaid that the RTC has slashedthe charges by 20 per cent forAC bus services operatingbetween Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada-Hyderabad, Vijayawada-Chennai/Bengaluru fromSeptember 1 to 30. He made itclear that 20 per cent of chargeswould be slashed only for thebuses belonging to NTR district.

Yesu Danam said in a pressrelease here on Thursday that20 per cent rebate would be

implemented for the bus ser-vices between Vijayawada andHyderabad, including allGaruda, Amaravati andVennela AC services on Friday(up and down) and Sunday(up). Up to 10 per cent chargeswould be slashed on allremaining days, he added.

He further said that RTC buscommuters travelling on ACbuses from Vijayawada toVisakhapatnam, Hyderabad,Chennai and Bengaluru couldutilise the opportunity. ACbus charge from Vijayawada toVizag (Dolphin Cruise) is Rs.1,000, which would be slashedto Rs. 870, he said.

Similarly, for the bus servicesto Amaravati and Vennela fromVijayawada-Chennai-Bengaluru,the 20 per cent reduction would

be applicable onall days exceptSunday (Up), and Friday(Down). The present bus fare

from Vennela to Bengaluru is Rs.2,180, which would be Rs. 1,770after the implementation of thereduction. For Amaravati ser-vices, the charge decreased from

Rs. 1,890 to 1,540 and forChennai (Dolphin Cruise)

buses, from Rs. 1,280 toRs 1,050, he added.

From Vijayawadato Hyderabad, theVennela charge isreduced from Rs.

940 to Rs. 850,Amaravat i charge

from Rs. 830 to Rs. 750,and the Garuda charge

was slashed from Rs. 740 toRs. 670.

APSRTC slashes AC bus ticket charges by 20 pc

NTRdistrict

PTDO says thefacility will beavailable till

Sept 30

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Soft tennis international player and bronze medal winnerat ISTF World Tour International Soft Tennis ChampionshipN Anusha reached Vijayawada on Thursday. AndhraPradesh Soft Tennis Association representatives and phys-ical education department officers at SRR & CVRGovernment Degree College accorded a grand welcome toher at the Gannavaram international airport nearVijayawada.

Andhra Pradesh Soft Tennis Association president ValleSrinu Babu, general secretary Daram Naveen Kumar, trea-surer Abdul Kareem, SRR & CVR College physical educa-tion department in-charge Dr. M Koteswara Rao receivedAnusha at the airport. They congratulated her on winningthree bronze medals at the tournament held in Thailand.

AP Soft Tennis Association representatives K NarasimhaRao, Ch Bhanuchander, Vinay Kumar, S Santosh Kumar,Ramachandra Rao and others were also present.

Soft tennis player Anusha felicitated

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

NTR District Collector S Dilli Rao told the high-er officials that the comprehensive land surveywas progressing at a brisk pace in the district, andthat the last and 13th notification was complet-ed for surveying in 12 villages. The Collector par-ticipated in a video conference withCommissioner of Chief Land Acquisition(CCLA) Special Secretary J SaiPrasad onThursday. During the conference, the Collectorexplained the progress of the resurvey works inthe district to Special Secretary Sai Prasad andsecretary Babu A.

He said that a land survey was being conduct-ed in the 136 villages of the Vissanapeta,Gampala Gudem, Tiruvuru, A Konduru,JaggayyaPeta, Kanchikacherla, and Vatchavayimandals under the Jagananna SaswathaBhuhakku-Bhu Raksha scheme. Also, heexplained that the drone survey had been com-pleted in 41 villages in Tiruvuru and Nandigama

divisions.The Collector also claimed that they complet-

ed the ground truthing process in 14 villages andit would be completed in two other villages swift-ly. The Collector added that ground valuationworks in 12 villages would also be completedsoon.

DRO K Mohan Kumar and District SurveyOfficer K. Surya Rao were present.

Land survey progressing at brisk pace: Collector

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Vigilance andEnforcement Officers andMedical Department officialsjointly conducted randominspections of PHC/CHC/gov-ernment hospitals across theState on Thursday. As part ofthis, Anti-Corruption Bureau(ACB) set up by the govern-ment to prevent corruption hasthoroughly examined whetherthe toll free number 14400 hasbeen set up visibly to thepatients or whether the medi-cines allotted toCHC/PHC/Government hos-pitals and examined the expirydates. As part of this, inspec-tions were conducted in a totalof 42 various PHC/CHC/Goveand hospitals across 26 districts

in the state.The officials found that in

most of the health centers, theanti-corruption departmenttoll-free number set up by thegovernment for the public hasnot been set up in a visiblemanner. Also, it was found that

the tables of details of medi-cines and medical tests avail-able in hospitals are not avail-able.

CC cameras have not beeninstalled in Kothavalasa PHCof Vizianagaram district, ven-tilators and incubators are

lying useless in Naravaripalle,Tirupati district, 108 andThallibidda Expresses are notmaintained in BangurapalemCHC, Tirupati district, operatheater is not working in PodiliCHC of Ongole district, It wasfound that the lab equipmentwas not working and therewere no ambulances either.

Dr Shankha Brath Bagchi,State Director, General, Ex-officio Secretary of theVigilance and Enforcementinformed that strict action willbe taken by the relevantdepartments against those whohave neglected their duties,who have committed irregular-ities in the medicines assignedto the hospital, and who haveneglected to provide timelytreatment to the patients.

Surprise checks conducted atPHC, CHC, government hospitals

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The women athletes ofVijayawada Division represent-ing the South Central RailwayAthletic team made them proudby securing many medals at the87th All India Railway AthleticChampionship held at RaeBareli (U.P) from August 29 to31. Four female athletes ofVijayawada Division haveshown outstanding perfor-mance and secured one goldand seven silver medals in var-ious athletic events at national

level. The following are thedetails of the winners:

G.Karthika, Senior Clerk,Commercial Department haswon gold medal in Triple Jump(12.88mts), two silver medals inLong Jump (6.10m) and4X100m relay.

M.Sowmiya, Junior Clerk,Engineering Department,secured three silver medals in100m Hurdles, Heptathlon and4X100m relay.

Preethi Lamba, Junior Clerk,Engineering Department,secured a silver medal in 3000steeplechase.

M. Akila, Junior Clerk,Mechanical Development, hassecured a silver medal in4X100m Relay.

Because of their outstandingand brilliant performance, SCRwomen athletes team secured

third position in Over allChampionship at the All IndiaRailway AthleticChampionship.

Shivendra Mohan,Divisional Railway Manager,Shri D.Srinivasa Rao ADRM,Infrastructure; M Srikanth,ADRM, Operations;Valleswara. B Tokkala,Divisional Sports Officer andSenior Divisional SecurityCommissioner (RPF), E.Santharam, Senior DivisionalEngineer, Coordination;Vavilapalli.

Divisional athletes secure gold, silver medals 87

THALL INDIA RAILWAY ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIP

04VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

PNS n NELLORE

The police have cracked thecase involving the murder of acouple that took place onAugust 28 in the Ashok Nagararea of the city and arrestedtwo persons in this connection.

Superintendent of PoliceVijaya Rao told the media hereon Thursday that the policearrested Siva, who was work-ing as a supplier in the canteenowned by the deceasedVasireddy Krishna Rao, and hisaccomplice Ramakrishna.

The SP said that thedeceased Krishna Rao (54)used to scold the primeaccused Siva for his negli-gence in work at the hotel.

Krishna Rao used to scoldSiva in front of all other col-leagues. He nursed a grudgeagainst Krishna Rao.

The police said the accused

were in dire need of moneyand hatched a plot to burgle thehouse of Krishna Rao. Theyobserved the movements ofKrishna Rao and conducted a

recce of his house. They first attacked Krishna

Rao in front of his house andkilled him by slitting his throat.Later, they opened the door ofthe house with keys snatchedfrom Krishna Rao and enteredthe bedroom where they killedSunita (50), his wife. Theymade away with Rs 1.6 lakhcash.

Interestingly, the accusedattended the funeral of the cou-ple held in the Krishna district.

The SP said that they founda vital clue after examining theCCTV footage. He said acharge sheet would be filed inthe case within 15 days. Thetwo accused were produced inthe court, he added.

Nellore couple murdercase cracked; two held

PNS n AMALAPURAM

The sarpanch of Dindi villagein the Konaseema district hasgrabbed the attention of localpeople by performing the tra-ditional Vinayaka Chavithi'puja' in the middle of a fishpond.

Dindi village sarpanchMudunuri Srinivasa Rajuperformed the 'puja' standingin the waist-deep pond.

Talking to the media,Srinivasa Raju said that hehad performed the Vinayaka'puja' in a novel way this yearto express his anguish to thedeity. He said that he feltsorry for being elected as vil-

lage sarpanch as he failed tofulfil the assurances he hadgiven to the people. He saidthat he was unable to get theroad constructed in the vil-

lage even after one-and-a-half years of being elected assarpanch.

“Sarpanches are in anembarrassing situation. We

were forced to stand in aposition in which we cannotdo anything for the villageand the people who electedus,” he said, adding he hadtold the same to LordVinayaka while performingthe 'puja' in the middle of thepond.

“I have also invoked LordVinayaka to bestow wis-dom on our Chief MinisterY S Jagan Mohan Reddy,”Mudunuri Srinivasa Rajusaid. Performing theGanesh 'puja' in the middleof the pond has attractedthe attention of all andbecame a hot topic in thedistrict.

PROTESTING AGAINST NON-RELEASE OF FUNDS

SARPANCH PERFORMSGANESH ‘PUJA’ IN FISH POND

15 kids taken ill after havingred castor oil seeds Kothapalli takes part

in Pawan b'day bashPNS n ELURU

Former minister KottapalliSubba Rayudu participated inthe birthday celebrations ofJana Sena Party chief K PawanKalyan near SwarnandhraEngineering College atSitarampuram inNarasapuram mandal onThursday.

Addressing the crowd onthe occasion, Subba Rayuduexhorted the youth to enterpolitics and play an activerole. Jai Pawan Kalyan slogansraised by the Pawan Kalyanfans, admirers, and activistsresonated in the area.

Later, they took out a bikerally and cut the cake on theoccasion.

Vigilance officialsinspect BhimavaramGovt hospitalPNS n BHIMAVARAM

Vigilance officials inspectedthe Government GeneralHospital here on Thursday.

The vigilance officials led byCI Wilson inspected therecords, attendance of doctors,and stock of medicines.

Talking to the media on theoccasion, CI Wilson said thaton the directions of DGShankarabhadra Babi and SPKaranam Kumar they wereconducting inspections ofPHCs, CHCs, and Area hos-pitals. As part of that, inspec-tions were conducted in theArea hospital here.

He said that after checkingthe management of the hospi-tal, whether the doctors areattending as per duty or theirattendance, the stock of med-icines, emergency medicines,free operations, other medicalservices, and the hospitalrecords, it was found thateverything was perfect.

The hospital authoritieswere directed to display ACBtoll-free number 14400 forwhich complaints could bemade. Vigilance AE TSrinivasa Rao, AG P Sridhar,ACI Ranjith Kumar, DrugsInspector P Mallikharjun, andothers participated.

PNS n GUNTUR

Guntur Municipal Corporation(GMC) Commissioner KeerthiChekuri has directed the offi-cials to levy property tax on allstructures and warned ofaction if the officials failed todo so.

At a meeting here onThursday, she said that she hadreviewed the collection ofproperty tax, court cases, andrenewal of the lease of thebuilding, and other issues withthe revenue and admin secre-taries.

Speaking on this occasion,the commissioner said thatduring her field-level visit, shefound that in many parts of the

city, the tax was not levied onthe plots that had been com-pleted, and such an indifferentattitude would not be ignoredanymore.

It has been clarified that taxshould be levied within 10days of new buildings andstructures coming into use,she said, and warned of depart-mental action against the con-cerned authorities, if repeated.

Keerthi Chekuri said non-assessment should not be seenin the city anymore, everyoneshould work responsibly andwork towards increasing theincome of the city govern-ment. The additional commis-sioner was directed to issue theoccupancy certificate to the

buildings and send a note tothe city planner only after fil-ing a 'no objection certificateon payment of arrears.

The Commissioner reviewed

the tax collections and said thatthe officials should strive toincrease the collections with aspecial focus on vacant land taxarrears.

The admin secretaries weredirected to identify the tax-freeempty stalls in the city and taxthem. A report should be givenon the progress of taxation ofvacant land every week, shetold them

After inquiring about thedetails of the water tax collec-tion not being done as expect-ed, she directed the adminsecretaries to conduct ahouse-to-house survey with-in the secretariats to check thedetails of the houses that havetax and but did not have taps.Additional Commissioner DSrinivasa Rao, revenue offi-cials Prasad Venubabu Balajiand other officials were pre-sent.

Levy property tax on all structures: Civic chief

PNS n ANANTAPUR

As many as 15 children were taken ill afterconsuming red castor oil seeds atSubbireddypalali village in Hindupur man-dal of Anantapur district on Thursday. Theymistook the red castor oil seeds for almondsand ate them.

According to reports, the children devel-oped motions and vomiting after eating theseeds. They were admitted to theGovernment hospital where they are under-going treatment. However, they were said tobe out of danger.

PNS n NELLORE

One woman was killed andtwo others were injured whenthe sunshade on which theystood to watch a religiousprogramme caved inAtmakur town on Thursday.

Police said that about 15people stood in the sunshadeto watch a religious pro-gramme organised on theoccasion of GaneshChaturthi.

The sun shade suddenlycollapsed killing VenkataNiraja, Sujata, and anotherwoman who were criticallyinjured in the incident. Theinjured were admitted to thegovernment hospital inNellore.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Vinayaka Chavithi festivitieswere held with religious fer-vour in Kapileswara SwamyTemple in Tirupati onWednesday. Later in theevening, Mooshika VahanaSeva was held. Temple DyEODevendrababu, AEOSrinivasulu and others werepresent. On the auspiciousoccasion, Vinayaka ChavitiPuja was held in SV VedicUniversity in Tirupati. The fac-ulty and students of the varsi-ty were present.

Vinayaka Chavithi celebrated 1 killed, 2 hurtas sunshadecaves in

NAVEENA GHANATE

n HYDERABAD

After the increase in onlineshopping during the pandem-ic, offline shopping, that is, thetraditional way of going to astore and purchasing is up.

CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd, areal estate consulting firm, onTuesday announced the find-ings of its latest retail report,‘CBRE India Retail Figures H12022’.

According to the report,retail absorption in Hyderabadstood at approximately 0.24million sq. ft. led by domesticbrands. The supply of retail

space in the city was 0.37 mil-lion sq. ft. during H1 2022.

Additionally, with improvingsentiments towards offlinestores, space take-up increasedacross malls on a half-yearlybasis. Among the key retail cat-egories, leasing was mainlydriven by fashion and apparelbrands with a 35 per cent sharein total absorption, followed byEntertainment (34 per cent)and Consumer Electronics (10per cent).

Key transactions recordedduring H1 2022 in the city wereINOX leasing 50,000 sq. ft inNecklace Pride Mall, Moviemaxleased 25,000 sq. ft in High

Street in Eastern Hyderabadand Decathlon leased 20,000 sq.ft in Necklace Pride Mall.

Retail players from theFashion and Apparel and Foodand Beverage categories havealso set up new stores inKukatpally and Madhapur inHyderabad.

The report points out thatamong cities, Delhi-NCR andPune, followed by Bangaloreand Hyderabad, led leasing,together accounting for morethan 70 per cent of overall retailspace take-up.

As per the report, pent-upsupply is likely to enter the mar-ket during H2 2022, and the

total supply for the year isanticipated to surpass pre-pan-demic levels. Leasing momen-tum is expected to pick up in

H2 2022 due to the anticipat-ed space take-up in newly com-pleted malls.

The report also observed that

due to strong demand fromretailers across investment grademalls and prominent highstreets, rental values increasedon a half-yearly basis in selectmicro-markets across mostcities. Among high streets, rentsrose by about 5 to 12 per centacross select locations in Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Hyderabad,and Pune, and about 1 to 3 percent in Mumbai.

While prominent mall clus-ters in Pune and Delhi-NCRwitnessed a rental growth of 5to 11 per cent on a half-yearlybasis, a marginal increase of 1to 3 per cent was reportedacross one mall cluster in

Mumbai. Anshuman Magazine,Chairman & CEO – India,South-East Asia, Middle East &Africa, CBRE, said, “It is evi-dent that retailers have regainedconfidence and. We anticipatethat in future, domestic brandswill remain proactive in reloca-tions/expansions, and a strongappetite from internationalretailers will continue.

We foresee retail leasing totouch 6 to 6.5 million sq. ft. in2022, twice the 2021 quantum.Additionally, owing to thetremendous growth potential,we expect many internationalbrands to launch stores in tierII and III markets.”

Conventional offline shopping gains ground in Hyd

Per capita debt of every TS newborn is Rs 1.25 lakhm Finance Minister Nirmala’s math PNS n KAMAREDDY

Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman has putthe per capita debt on everynewborn in Telangana at Rs1,25,000.

She arrived here onThursday to a tumultuouswelcome by the BJP’s rank andfile as she visited here as partof the BJP’s ZaheerabadParliament Pravas Yojana pro-gramme.

BJP leader Katipall iVenkata Ramana Reddyextended a grand welcome toher at Renuka Gardens. A bikerally was taken out by BJPworkers through the town’sthoroughfares. She reachedthe local Staya Gardens here.

Speaking to the media afterthe Parliament CoreCommittee meeting, she saidthe TS government is chang-ing the names of the Centralschemes and giving localnames.

Nirmala insisted thatCentral schemes must beimplemented without chang-ing names. There is a dispute

between the state and theCentre on the issue.

She said the Centre willseek an explanation for chang-ing the names of Centralschemes.

Nirmala expressed concernover Ayushman Bharat notreaching Telangana anddenied the charge that theCentre is not cooperatingwith the state in develop-ment matters. She sought toknow the purpose of imple-menting the Kaleswaram pro-ject. Is it to provide irrigationor to milk it for money?

Compensation has not been

paid to those who sufferedlosses due to the Kaleswaram,Mid-Manair, Mallanna Sagar,Sita Rama, and Palamuru pro-jects, she said.

The estimates of theKaleswaram project wererevised from Rs 39,500 croreto Rs 1,20,000 crore, increas-ing it by three times, she said.

Instead of levelling baselessallegations against the Centre,the BJP wants the governmentto answer the queries of thepeople, she said.

She said that the TRS gov-ernment had changed thePradhan Mantri Awas Yojnaas the 2BHK house pro-gramme, the Pradhan MantriMatsya Samada scheme andthe National CooperativeSociety funded scheme as thesheep unit scheme.

Telangana did not opt forAyushman Bharat as it fearedthat it would earn a goodname for Modi, she said.Moreover, the TRS govern-ment prevented farmers frombenefiting from the PradhanMantri Fasal Yojna, Nirmalasaid.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The State’s Goods andServices Tax (GST) collec-tions in August 2022, were Rs3,871 crore against Rs 4,547crore in July. Collections inAugust are 10 per cent high-er than that of July 2021.

Telangana’s GST collec-tions in August 2021,amounted to Rs 3,526 crore.In June 2022, Telangana col-lected Rs 3,901 crore. AndhraPradesh collected Rs 3,173crore in August 2022.

The gross GST revenuecollected across the countryin August 2022 is Rs 1,00,526crore.

According to a release bythe Union Ministry ofFinance on Thursday, thegross GST revenue collectedin August 2022 is Rs 1,43,612crore of which CGST is Rs24,710 crore, SGST is Rs30,951 crore, IGST is Rs77,782 crore (including Rs42,067 crore collected fromimported goods) and thecess is Rs 10,168 crore(including Rs 1,018 crorecollected on importedgoods).

In August, TS netted Rs 3,871 cr GST

PNS n HYDERABAD

The TRS termed the awkwardmoment that occurred betweenChief Ministers K.Chandrasekhar Rao and NitishKumar during the press confer-ence on Wednesday was not aninsult.

As KCR pleaded, "Aap baithiyena (please sit)," Nitish Kumarinsisted "Aap chaliye na (let's go)."

As the two leaders kept saying"baithiye," "chaliye" to each other,

the BJP saw it as an example ofthe opposition's dissonance onthe PM candidate and an insultto the TS CM.

BJP leaders shared the videoon social media and targetedNitish Kumar, who dumped theparty last month and formed anew government with TejashwiYadav, the Congress and otheropposition parties.

However, Rythu BandhuSamiti Chairman, MLC Dr PallaRajeshwar Reddy, said that it isnot an insult and that NitishKumar was embarrassed by therepeated questions about his PMcandidature.

The TRS says the viral"baithiye," "Chaliye" betweenKCR and Nitish Kumar whiletackling questions on the PM

candidate is not disrespectful.“The BJP leaders who hold

shoes and lick boots are talkingabout self-respect. KCR is notafraid of press conferences. DidModi hold at least one press meetin the last eight years?” Palla said.

He said that Bihar journalistsappreciated KCR's grasp of theHindi language and that religiousheads had insisted on KCR wear-ing Pagdi, unlike Modi whospends Rs 10 lakh a day anddresses up at home.

No insult to KCR, says TRS‘BAITHIYE-CHALIYE’ MOMENT

nation 05VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

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World saw power of yoga, traditionalIndian medicines: UP CM

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said the world saw the power ofYoga and traditional alternative medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic when the"fatalities in India were half of that of the United States of America". He was speaking after

inaugurating Kshemavana', a wellness centre set up by Sri Dharmasthala ManjunatheshwaraInstitute of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences (SDMINYS) at Nelamangala on the outskirts ofBengaluru. Despite the US population being one-fourth of ours, the fatalities there (due toCOVID-19) were double the number ofdeaths reported in our country. Itproves that the traditions of our countrywhich we recognise as 'AYUSH'strengthens the lifespan and immunityof people, he said. Karnataka ChiefMinister Basavaraj Bommai, the head ofthe institution Dharmadhikari'Veerendra Heggade, head of the AdiChunchanagiri Math of Nath sect, towhich Yogi Adityanath too belongs,Nirmalananda Natha Swamiji wereamong those present on the occasion.

Transfer when no vacant postavailable is invalid: Karnataka HC

The Karnataka High Court has reiterated that "no transfer must be made except to avacant post" and reinstated a Municipal officer who was transferred in Decemberlast year. Murthy Halaiah, chief officer of Hanur Town Municipal Council, was trans-

ferred on December 23, 2021 but for the next six months, he was not given a posting.However on the same day of his transfer, another officer, Paramashivaiah, was posted tothe position served by Halaiah till then, who challenged this in the HC. When the casewas pending, he was given a posting onJuly 20, 2022 to the Town MunicipalCouncil, Ullal. Halaiah's advocate PavanaChandra Shetty argued before Justice SSunil Dutt Yadav that as per a DivisionBench order in 'M Arun Prasad Vs TheCommissioner of Excise' case, it is a set-tled position in law that a transfer with-out showing place of posting would suf-fer from legal malafide. The HC set asidethe transfer order of Halaiah and directedhim and Paramashivaiah to be placed inthe position prior to the impugned order.

CBI arrests Delhi Police ASI for receivingbribe of Rs 7.89 lakh; ACP under scanner

The CBI has arrested an assistant sub-inspector posted in anti-narcotics wing of DelhiPolice for allegedly receiving Rs 7.89 lakh bribe from an accused under probe, a casein which role of an assistant commissioner of police is also under scanner. The

agency has arrested ASI Dushyant Gautam for allegedly accepting the bribe on theinstructions of ACP Brijpal, who is also posted in anti-narcotics wing, officials said. TheCBI in its FIR against the duo has alleged that Brijpal had demanded Rs 15 lakh throughGautam for giving relief to the wife ofan accused facing probe in a caseregistered under the Narcotic Drugsand Psychotropic Substances Act atBhalswa police station. The accusedapproached the CBI with a complaintagainst the police officials, they said."The CBI laid a trap and caught the ASI(said official) while accepting the bribeof Rs 7.89 lakh from the complainant.Searches were conducted at thepremises of accused located at Delhiand Faridabad.

Now, sip a cup of 24-carat gold or bhoot jolokia'PNS n GUWAHATI

At a time when organic tea vari-ety is gaining popularity, anAssam-based startup offers'ghost pepper' and 'gold' teaamong its 40-odd specialityblends as it is mixing the world'shottest chilli 'bhoot jolokia' and24-carat edible yellow metal towoo consumers, a companyofficial said.

Innovation in blends is theneed of the hour to promote teain the international and domes-tic markets as consumersbecome more health consciousand are looking for specialvarieties, entrepreneur RanjitBaruah said.

"We have created more than40 speciality and luxury blendsunder the brand 'Aromica Tea'and have plans to add more tothe list soon.

"Tea flavoured with the

'bhoot jolokia' or 'ghost pepper'is a fiery innovation in the worldfor which we have filed an appli-cation for patent and are await-ing approval. This variety of teais brewed for those who liketheir cuppa spicy, and it hashealth benefits," he told PTI.

Elaborating on innovations,Baruah said 'insulin' tea withCostus Igneus plant leaves,'blue' tea with Asian pigeon-wings flower (Aparajita) and'moringa tulsi green' tea areamong its special varieties.

Costus Igneus plant leaves arebelieved to activate beta cells inthe pancreas which in turnboosts the natural insulin secre-tion in the body and maintainsthe blood sugar levels, while the'moringa and tulsi' blend helpsreduce stress and strengthenimmunity, he claimed.

"With extensive research, wehave created these unique and

popular blends of tea. Ourefforts are to promote Assam teaas a healthy drink," said Baruahwho has 20 years of experiencein the industry.

He said, "We want to show-case that our tea offers special-ity varieties than only CTC."

Baruah has also venturedinto luxury 'gold' tea with hisentity blending 24-carat edibleyellow metal with black tea,which is priced at Rs 2.5 lakhper kg.

The company is focusing on

taking these blends to the inter-national markets and has start-ed exports to Australia, Japan,Canada, Sweden, the US,Lithuania, Georgia, the UK andSingapore, he said but did notdisclose its revenue from theoverseas sales.

The products are also avail-able on several e-commerceplatforms across the country, hesaid.

The startup has recentlysecured a deal with a US-basedcompany for the supply ofvalue-added tea to Poland,Baruah said.

Corporate gifts and co-branding are other sources ofrevenue for the company withthe Assam government being amajor client.

Tea is one the most fre-quently consumed drink world-wide, and by blending tea leaveswith traditional herbs and other

ingredients, health and nutri-tional value can be created, hesaid while explaining the uniqueselling point of his products.

While preparing blends, thetea retailer sources "only natur-al ingredients that have beentraditionally used in everyhousehold in the northeastregion over the years", heclaimed.

"All our tea varieties are pro-duced using organic farming asour primary aim is to ensurewellness of the consumer," hesaid.

The northeast region is hometo many herbs with immensemedicinal properties, whichare considered beneficial tocure or control diabetes,migraine and body ache, reducestress, boost immunity and alsoact as anti-ageing and anti-cancer elements, Baruahclaimed.

‘Power grid will be future ready,insulated from cyber attacks’PNS n NEW DELHI

India's power network willsoon be more future-readyand insulated from cyberattacks with the provision ofroutine inspections and time-ly action under the ElectricityAmendment Bill, Union PowerMinister RK Singh said.

Cyber attract threat has beenan issue and the governmentdid all what it takes to addressthat. Now through theElectricity Amendment Bill2022, the power ministry hasmade a provision for inspec-tion of the national electricitygrid for maintaining cyberhygiene in the network.

Talking to PTI, Singh said,"We are facing cyber attacks onour power transmission sys-tem. We know from wherethose are emanating. We haveprovided (a safeguard) for that,

which requires inspection reg-ularly. We need to follow cyberhygiene.

"Therefore, we are empow-ering our central (national)load dispatch centre so that itcan do inspections and givedirections. We have one grid inthe country and if there is someissue in one corner of thenation then the entire grid can

collapse. That is why this pro-vision is made."

The bill provides for amend-ing section 26 of the Act so asto strengthen the functioningof the National Load DespatchCentre for ensuring the safetyand security of the grid and forthe economic and efficientoperation of the power systemin the country.

Earlier this year in April,Singh admitted that there were

cyber attacks on the nationalpower grid. "These were prob-ing attacks in December,January and February. Theydid not succeed. But we areaware," he had said.

According to the reportsearlier this year, the hackershad targeted seven Indian statecentres responsible for carry-ing out electrical dispatch andgrid control near a borderarea.

“We have one grid in thecountry and if there is someissue in one corner of thenation then the entire grid can collapse. That is why this provision is made.”

PNS n NEW DELHI

A 19-year-old patient suffer-ing from cardiac ailmentreceived a new lease of lifeafter undergoing an overeight-hour complex trans-plant surgery of the heartreceived from a 55-year-oldwoman here, doctors at aprivate hospital here said onThursday.

The operation was chal-lenging as there was a "signif-icant mismatch in the heightand weight of the donor andrecipient", they said.

The heart harvested fromthe old woman at AIIMS wastransported to Fortis EscortsHeart Institute (FEHI), Okhla,here via green corridor, cov-ering a distance of 9.2 km in

14 minutes on Tuesdayevening during heavy traffichours.

The woman had fallenunconscious on a road whilegoing for a morning walk andwas immediately admitted tothe All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS)with a "severe head injury"and was later declared brain

dead, FEHI said in a state-ment.

An alert was sent by theNational Organ TissueTransplant Organization(NOTTO) about a possiblecadaveric heart donor. Theheart was allocated to FEHIby NOTTO.

"The recipient was in anadvanced heart failure stagedue to dilated cardiomyopa-thy (a type of heart muscledisease that causes the heartchambers (ventricles) to thinand stretch, growing larger).

A team of doctors led by DrZ S Meharwal, executivedirector and head of adult car-diac surgery, VAD and hearttransplantation programme,FEHI, performed the complexoperation.

PNS n MUMBAI

The chemical analysis expertwho had examined the motor-cycle that was allegedly ownedby BJP MP Pragya SinghThakur and was used in theSeptember 2008 Malegaonblast told the special NIAcourt here that, in his obser-vation, the explosive materialwas placed below the seat ofthe two-wheeler.

The expert had lastmonth recorded histestimony as a wit-ness in the casebefore specialN a t i o n a lInvestigationAgency JudgeAK Lahoti, thedetails ofwhich weremade availablerecently.

Bharatiya JanataParty Lok Sabha MP fromBhopal Pragya Singh Thakuris one of the accused in theblast case, in which six personswere killed and 90 wereinjured when an explosivedevice strapped to a motorcy-cle went off near a mosque inMalegaon on September 29,2008.

While replying to a questionof one of the defence lawyers,

the witness said it was not cor-rect to say he carried out theanalysis with a prejudicedmind and at the instance ofpolice. He also denied theanalysis was not conductedproperly.

"It was my observation thatexplosive material was putbelow the seat of the LML bike(allegedly belonging toThakur)," the witness said,adding that he did not find any

cavity below the seat ofthe two-wheeler.

During hisexamination-

in-chief bythe specialpublic pros-ecutor, thewitness hadsaid he had

found thevehicle in seri-

ously damagedcondition when he

reached the spot afterthe incident.

"I observed the fuel tank ofthe bike had blown off. It waslying some feet away from thespot. The seat cover and dick-ey (motorcycle's side box) wasblown off. Its spare parts werescattered around the spot. Thefuel that was coming out of themotorcycle was lying aroundthe spot," he said.

No early withdrawal of monsoon;September may see excess rainPNS n NEW DELHI

The southwest monsoon is setto make its exit in style, bring-ing rains to the parched partsof Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, asweather forecasters havepicked up signs of formation ofa cyclonic circulation over Bayof Bengal.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD) Director GeneralMrutyunjay Mohapatra onThursday junked last week'sforecast of early withdrawal ofsouthwest monsoon andannounced the extended stayof the seasonal showers.

"Even though we expectedearly withdrawal of the south-west monsoon, a cyclonic cir-culation over west-central andadjoining northwest Bay ofBengal will shift the monsoontrough southwards aroundSeptember 7. This will increase

rainfall activity over centraland north peninsular India,"Mohapatra said.

"Hence, conditions are notfavourable for early withdraw-al of monsoon," he said, addingthat the weather office willcontinue to monitor the situ-ation. On August 25, theweather office had predictedan early withdrawal of south-west monsoon against the nor-mal date of September 17.

India has received six per

cent excess rainfall this mon-soon but large parts of UttarPradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand,Manipur, Tripura and WestBengal have reported defi-cient rains, which has affectedthe rice crop this kharif season.

Mohapatra said the expect-ed surge in September show-ers may help compensate forthe deficient rainfall in westernand southern Uttar Pradeshand parts of north-northwestBihar.

PM visits AdiShankara'sbirthplace inKeralaPNS n KOCHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday visited AdiShankara Janma BhoomiKshetram, the birthplace ofsaint-philosopher AdiShankaracharya at Kalady vil-lage in Kerala's Ernakulam dis-trict.

Modi, before leaving forKalady, remembered the con-tributions of the saint philoso-pher to India and said the lega-cy Adi Shankara, known forthe philosophy of Advaita,established was taken forwardfrom Kerala by various spiri-tual leaders and social reform-ers like Sree Narayana Guru,Chattampi Swamikal andAyyankali. The BJP said thePrime Minister visited thebirthplace of Adi Shankara, sit-uated on the bank of RiverPeriyar, to "honour the legacy"of the "great Indian saint."

SC upholds scheme for empanelment ofpara-legal volunteers PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Thursdaysaid that the scheme forempanelment of para-legalvolunteers in police stationsfor missing children framed bythe Delhi State Legal ServiceAuthority may be circulated toall the legal services authori-ties of the states and UnionTerritories (UTs) so thatappropriate schemes can beframed.

The apexcourt was hear-ing a petitionfiled by NGO,' B a c h p a nB a c h a oAndolan', inc o n n e c t i o nwith the sexual assault of aminor girl at a police stationafter she was dumped by fouryouths who gang-raped her inLalitpur district in UttarPradesh.

A bench of Justices IndiraBanerjee and M M Sundreshwas told by advocate GauravAgarwal, who appeared for theNational Legal ServicesAuthority (NALSA), that fam-ily of the victim has been pro-vided with legal assistance.

Agarwal told the top courtabout the scheme framed bythe Delhi State Legal ServiceAuthority (DSLSA) regarding

how para-legal volunteersshould work, including theirtimings, remunerations, andtraining.

He said the scheme framedby the DSLSA can be circulat-ed to the state legal servicesauthorities of the states andUTs.

"The scheme for empanel-ment of para-legal volunteersin police stations for missingchildren framed by the Delhi

State LegalS e r v i c eAuthority maybe circulated toall the state legalservices author-ities and thelegal servicesauthorities of

the Union Territories so thatappropriate schemes can beframed for appointment ofpara-legal volunteers in policestations for missing childrenand other offences against thechildren using the scheme asa model scheme with appro-priate modifications," thebench said in its order.

The apex court alsoimpleaded the Union Ministryof Women and ChildDevelopment as a party-respondent in the matter at therequest made by AdditionalSolicitor General AishwaryaBhati.

Ailing youth receives heart from oldwoman through complex surgery

India in touchwith family ofIndian who died in PortugalPNS n NEW DELHI

India on Thursday describedas "unfortunate" the death ofan Indian pregnant woman inPortugal and said it was intouch with her family.

The woman died whileshe was being shiftedbetween crisis-hit hospitals inLisbon.

"This is an unfortunateincident. We are in touchwith her family," ExternalAffairs Ministry spokesper-son Arindam Bagchi said ata media briefing here.

MALEGAON BLAST CASE

Explosive materialplaced below two-wheeler's seat

Kejriwal govt wins confidence voteamid walkout by BJP legislatorsPNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi Assembly onThursday passed the confi-dence motion tabled by ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwaleven as five BJP MLAs stageda walkout after their partycolleagues were marshalledout of the House over anargument with the deputyspeaker.

Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal said he brought themotion to prove to the coun-try that the BJP cannot buyAam Aadmi Party MLAs andthe saffron party's 'Operation

Lotus' had "failed" in Delhi.The AAP has 62 MLAs in

the 70-member assembly. Theremaining eight belong to theBJP.

There was no vote againstthe confidence motion as all

the AAP MLAs present in theHouse voted in its favour asexpected while all the BJP leg-islators were out of the Houseby then.

BJP MLAs Vijender Gupta,Abhay Verma and MohanSingh Bisht were marshalledout following an argumentwith Deputy Speaker RakhiBirla, who did not heed theirdemand to take up their call-ing attention notices before adiscussion on the confidencemotion. The remaining fivewalked out in protest.

Birla later adjourned theHouse sine die.

Important to accommodate peoplewith disabilities: Union minister PuriPNS n NEW DELHI

Union minister Hardeep SinghPuri on Thursday said there isa need to build sustainable anduniversally accessible spacesand find policy solutions toaccommodate persons with dis-abilities.

The minister for housing andurban affairs said around 70 percent of those who need assistivetechnology did not have accessto such a facility and called uponinnovators to come up withsolutions that are simple andwidely accepted.

Puri was speaking at an event

organised to present the 'SmartSolutions Challenge andInclusive Cities Awards 2022', aninitiative of the NationalInstitute of Urban Affairs(NIUA) and the United Nations(UN) in India to address city-level accessibility and inclusionchallenges faced by personswith disabilities, women, girlsand senior citizens.

Citing the 2011 census data,Puri said approximately 26.8million people in India livewith disabilities.

"We must find policy solu-tions and build infrastructurethat caters to people with disabil-

ities and that is what we are com-mitted to. It is estimated thatnearly 70 per cent of those whoneed assistive technology haveno access to it. This means thatpersons living with disabilities

are constantly competing just togain access to essential resources."Lack of accountability curtailstheir access to transport services,sanitation, health and education.As a result, the most vulnerablepopulations could get excluded.That's why we precisely needuniversal designs," he said.Moving to such designs will alsohelp achieve the target underSustainable Development Goalsto provide universal access tosafe, inclusive and accessiblegreen and public spaces towomen, children, senior citizensand persons with disabilities by2030, he added.

My wife and I feelblessed that ourdaughter was bornduringGaneshotsav (in2018).

Actor—Neil Nitin Mukesh

Mikhail Gorbachev, 91, credited with the end of the Cold War and giving rightto self-determination to Eastern Europe, is no more. Gorbachev, the last SovietUnion President, removed the ‘iron curtain’ from Eastern Europe. His initia-

tives glasnost and perestroika ushered in a new era of openness and reforms whichchanged the course of events of the Soviet Union and for that matter entire world.His reforms were so overwhelming that the Soviet empire could not survive them andfell like a house of cards. Indeed, different people would judge him differently. YuvalNoah Harare, the well-known contemporary historian, holds him as an outstandingleader who risked everything to bring about a better and safer world free of nucleardanger. On the other end of the spectrum, President Vladimir Putin though expressed“his deepest condolences” on his demise has called the dismantling of the Soviet

Union as “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of thetwentieth century and blamed Gorbachev for it.

He went on to say that he would reverse theSoviet Union's disintegration if he could. While theWestern leaders all praise him, including Joe Bidenand Boris Johnson, the reactions back home havebeen mixed and some even outright slander.Thereforms brought about by Gorbachev meant a lotof misery for the common people as the transitionfrom a closed economy to an open one was not ahappy experience. Besides, the people who cher-ished Russian nationalism saw him as a person whodeliberately dismantled the Union. For them, he

remains a fall guy.In fact, the last days of Gorbachev must have been rather painfulas he saw his ideals thrown to the winds by the incumbent Russian President. Theattack on Ukraine would have been a nightmare for him. The peace he stood for wasbeing blown to pieces in his last days. And he could not do anything about it.Aspeople judge him by their own standards, the Nobel Peace Prize winner would qui-etly rest till eternity. Gorbachev will be buried in Moscow's Novodevichy Cemeterynext to his wife Raisa, who died in 1999. The world would ever be indebted to himfor giving peace a chance and standing for humanity risking everything! Perhaps,Ruslan Grinberg, a liberal economist summed it up best, “He gave us all freedom— but we don’t know what to do with it!”

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s visit to Patna and his meet-ing with his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar have occasioned speculation abouta joint front by Opposition parties to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in

the general elections in 2024. In fact, the joint press conference by the two stal-warts has already resulted in a viral video in which Rao is urging Kumar to keepanswering questions, saying “Aap baithiye na (please sit),” whereas Kumar wantsto wind it up, “Aap chaliye na (let’s go).” The BJP was quick to react to the slightdifferent in approach between the two Chief Ministers over answering the ques-tions of journalists. Its IT Cell chief Amit Malviya claimed that KCR was “insult-

ed.” Such a harsh remark is indicative of the saf-fron party’s unease over the coming together oftwo Chief Ministers. Despite the bonhomiebetween the two leaders, posing a serious chal-lenge to the BJP in 2024 is an uphill task. For one,under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and HomeMinister Amit Shah the BJP has become a formi-dable election-winning machine. Even the criticsof the BJP’s big two acknowledge that they andtheir party colleagues are assiduous politicians,working consistently and diligently for the successof their party. BJP leaders don’t leave any stoneunturned.

Then there is the issue of unity among Opposition leaders. Disarray in theCongress is well known. Rahul Gandhi and other dynasts seem determined to makeModi’s dream of Congress-mukt Bharat a reality. And yet the grand old party, despiteits meager presence in the Lok Sabha, is the only party other than the BJP thathas a national footprint; it also has a 19.5 per cent vote share. But there is noconsensus among Opposition leaders regarding the role of the grand old party inthe proposed non-BJP front. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is not favourablydisposed towards the Congress. Her Delhi counterpart, Arvind Kejriwal, has alsonot shown much enthusiasm about a non-BJP coalition; he is busy on an expan-sion drive. There is still talk about a third front—that is, an alliance of non-Congressand non-BJP parties. KCR, however, is clear on the subject. He said, “Why thirdfront? We are working on the main front... All opposition parties should come togeth-er and raise the slogan for a BJP-mukt Bharat...” Further, it will be very difficultfor one of the leaders of the Opposition to be accepted as the prime ministerialface, as Modi’s challenger. Kumar, after his recent political somersault in whichhe dumped the BJP and realigned with the RJD, is seen by many as a frontrun-ner, but he has to travel a lot of distance. Also, he has to convince a lot of peo-ple that he can not only take on Modi successfully but also run a government ina manner that would be acceptable to all. He has a long way to go.

Uphill task

ABUSING HUMANITY & THE LAWSir — The horrible video on socialmedia where a tribal woman is telling herhorrific experience with BJP leaderSeema Patra, who tortured the tribaldomestic help, makes one cringe. If thisvideo wouldn’t surface on social media,Patra would have continued with herways. Patra even fled fearing policearrest, following which the Argora policein Ranchi launched a search operationand arrested her. Sunita, the domestichelp, was made to clean the toilet with hertongue. This is the height of inhumani-ty; Patra and her husband must be triedand severely punished under all appro-priate sections of the law.

Sunita had multiple wounds on herbody. She alleged that Patra used to burnher with hot objects. Acting on a tip-offfrom a Government employee, the RanchiPolice had rescued Sunita from Patra’s res-idence and recorded the help’s statementon August 30. A case has been registeredagainst Patra, wife of former IAS officerMaheshwar Patra, under the relevant sec-tions of IPC and sections of the SC/STAct, 1989. Sunita’s statement was record-ed in court, after which the BJP suspend-ed Seema Patra. However, she deservesmore severe punishment for misusing herposition.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

UN INDICTS CHINA ON HUMAN RIGHTSSir — Finally, after more than one year,the UN Head of Human Rights commis-sioner, Michele Bachelet, released her 50-page report on Wednesday, which wasalso her last day in office. Though Chinamade a huge effort to stop it, it could notsucceed. The United Nations alsoacknowledged what, for many years,human rights organisations around theworld have been saying: China continuesto commit ‘serious’ human rights viola-tions against Uighurs and other predom-inantly Muslim minorities in the nameof terrorism. China is running a concen-tration camp for the Uighurs just as NaziGermany used to run for the Jews.

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

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

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

06

Adieu Gorbachev!Gorbachev would be judged in many ways but his singlemost important contribution remains ending the Cold War

PICTALK

A devotee performs rituals on the banks of Tapi river on the occasion of ‘Rishi Panchami', in Surat PTI

KCR meets Nitish but a lot more needs to be done, in the former’s words, for ‘a BJP-mukt Bharat’

Rather than between AAP and the BJP, thefeud between AAP leaders and DelhiLieutenant Governor V K Saxena has

been hotting up. Manish Sisodia is embroiledin the excise policy scam. To wriggle out ofthe raging criticism of irregularities in the pol-icy, AAP has levelled ̀ 1,400-crore corruptioncharges against Saxena, who was then theKhadi and Village Industries Commissionchairman. Saxena has rejected the charge as“figment of imagination”. Counter-charges

cannot drown charges until such charges arefound baseless in an impartial judicial enquiryor in the court of law.

The silence of AAP leaders until thecharges against Sisodia reached a crescendoitself gives room for suspicion on the allega-tion against the Lt Governor. People are enti-tled to know the truth. Saxena has been con-templating legal action against Jasmine Shah,who is the vice-chairman of Delhi’s Dialogueand Development Commission. It is commonexperience that some political leaders do notmake allegations against others until allega-tions are made against them. It is like “Youdon’t expose me, I won’t expose you. If youexpose me, I will also expose you.” If Saxenais not guilty of the charges levelled against him,he must disprove these. At the same time, ifthe allegations are found to be baseless, thosemaking baseless charges must be penalisedheavily by the courts.

KV Seetharamaiah | Bengaluru

AAP leaders versus L-G

SOUNDBITE

ment is a continuous andongoing process happeningall year round and not onlywhen disasters strike.Similarly, community radiosare also working with theircommunities all year round.It'severyday medium, makingit one of the perfect tools forcommunity engagement andparticipation-based disastermanagement.

The role of CommunityRadios is tremendous in nat-ural calamities. A communi-ty radio station with a reachof 15-20 Km becomes high-ly powerful with the integra-tion of mobile telephony inreal-time. Community Radiostations function with thebasic belief, "from the people,for the people,by the people".In this sense, communityradios are an effective com-munication tool to reach outand serve the poorest com-munity and share vital infor-mation in theirlanguages/dialects. The com-munity radios are also signif-icant for development initia-tives, awareness campaignsfor nature conservation, agri-culture, regional culture, andeducation, contributing tothe development of the com-munity. During the time ofnatural disasters and emer-gencies, it has proved to be

the most effective means todisseminate preparedness andrelief-related informationpacked in their dialect. Ithelps in developing strategiesand building awareness sothat the communities canprepare better in advance, atthe time of disaster and afterthe disaster. There are someinstances in Japan and othercountries in which commu-nity radios became the primevehicle for information shar-ing for communities duringdisaster emergency relief aswell as post-disaster recovery.Community radios also playan important role in disasterrisk reduction, especially inpre-disaster preparedness andmitigation through aware-ness raising, and targeting dif-ferent community groups.

However, the participa-tion, involvement, and own-ership of the local communi-ty are extremely important forthe effective role of commu-nity radio in disaster manage-ment. This can be demon-strated in two instances. In2004, during the IndianOcean Tsunami, AnnaCommunity Radio inChennai which was the firstCommunity Radio in thecountry provided an effectiveplatform to share the griev-ances of the affected people of

Southern India by broad-casting information aboutrelief support, camp loca-tions, precautions to be taken,etc. Another instance was inJune 2013, when Uttrakhandfaced multi-day cloudbursts.There was a state of panicbecause all modes of commu-nication were lost. This nat-ural disaster demonstratedthe effectiveness of commu-nity radio as a tool of effec-tive communication in disas-ter management inRudraprayag district whichwas the most affected area.The community radioMandakini Ki Awaaz workedwith the People's PowerCollective, assisted the com-munity by building aware-ness, created confidenceamongst the community.

They worked as a team toidentify those who neededhelp within the community;connected with them to telltheir story; reached out tothem and connected themwith aid agencies.

(Panwar is a senior journalist and Chairman,

Panwar Group of Institutions, & president,

Community RadioAssociation of India. Tarun

is Director, Zone 4 Solution,India. The views expressed

are personal.)

As most people still live in rural areas, community radio can be the best way to reach out to them in times of catastrophe

HOWEVER, THEPARTICIPATION,

INVOLVEMENT ANDOWNERSHIP OF THELOCAL COMMUNITY

ARE EXTREMELYIMPORTANT FOR

THE EFFECTIVEROLE OF

COMMUNITY RADIOIN DISASTER

MANAGEMENT

BRIJENDER SINGHPANWAR

Community radiohelps fight disasters

Due to its unique geo-graphical and socio-eco-nomic factors, India is

prone to almost all types of haz-ards and disasters. About 59 percent of Indian landmass is proneto earthquakes of moderate tovery high density. Close to 5,700Km out of the total 7,516 Kmlong coastline receive cyclonesand tsunamis. Approximately12 per cent,i.e. over 40 millionhectares of landmass face urbanfloods and river erosion. 68 percent of India's cultivable area isvulnerable to droughts and thehilly areas are at risk from land-slides and avalanches. India isalso vulnerable to chemical, bio-logical, radiological, and nuclear(CBRN) emergencies and otherman-made disasters. Disasterrisks in India are further com-pounded by increasing vulnera-bilities related to changing demo-graphics and socio-economicconditions, unplanned urbaniza-tion, development within high-risk zones, environmental degra-dation, climate change, geo-graphical hazards, epidemics,and pandemics. According to theWorld Bank estimates, directlosses from natural disastershave been estimated to amountto up to 2 per cent of India'sGDP. It is ranked 7thin theGlobal Climate Risk Index 2021.

The large-scale disastersmentioned above keep on visit-ing one part or the other or thecountry, time and again, oftenoverwhelming the capacities ofthe Governments, not only foran effective response but also forlong-term recovery and recon-struction. During these disas-ters, the role of timely commu-nication and passing on crucialinformation before striking dis-aster (pre-disaster), at the timeof disaster (during a disaster),and after the disaster (post-dis-aster) is very important. Pastexperiences indicate that thecommunication infrastructureand networks during times ofdisasters are destroyed andbecome ineffective. However,the medium of radio, especial-ly the Community radios sur-vive the onslaught to play a cru-cial role in disseminating time-ly information in their commu-nities and thereby saving livesand valuables. Disaster manage-

NAKUL KUMARTARUN

How can there be afair and free(Congress chief’s)election without apublicly availableelectoral roll?

Congress MP—Manish Tewari

Since AAP MLAsclaimed the BJPoffered themcrores…why arethey silent onnames?

BJP MP —Manoj Tiwari

We demand imme-diate demilitarisa-tion of our N-plantand its transfer toUkrainian control.

Ukraine President—Volodymyr Zelenskyy

For the Lankatour, I feel I canjust go out andplay with a lotmore freedom.

Australian cricketer—Steve Smith

They were badly tortured, told to con-vert, punished for praying, their womenwere sexually harassed, they were forciblysterilised. China has been claiming thatpeople are kept in ‘re-education camps’, notconcentration camps where they are giventraining. But this white lie of China has nowcome in front of the world. But the sadpoint is that this report is not binding onthe Chinese Government. It will be dis-cussed in the media for just two days. Afterthat, everything will be normal and theUighurs will continue to be tortured.

Jang Bahadur Singh | Jamshedpur

WORLD COCONUT DAY TODAYSir —The World Coconut Day is observedon September 2 every year to createawareness about the importance ofcoconuts across the world. Coconut inIndia is referred to as ‘kalpavriksha’, whichmeans a tree fulfilling all the necessities oflife. There is a lot of significance ofcoconut in Hinduism and even its tree in

rituals and ceremonies. In other countries,it is also called the ‘Tree of a thousand uses’or the ‘Tree of life’. Coconut made its wayfrom India to the coast of East Africa, andfrom Southeast Asia to the west ofMadagascar.

Coconuts provide us with a vast rangeof products and benefits. The tenderwhite flesh inside is used in an array ofcooking recipes and the oil, milk and waterare used for both cooking and non-cook-ing purposes. Coconut butter, coconutcream and coconut oil are staple byprod-ucts used in beauty products, and the huskand leaves are used for making doormats,roofs and huts. The first observance ofWorld Coconut Day took place in 2009.Every year, the International CoconutCommunity sets a theme for WorldCoconut Day; this year, it is “GrowingCoconut for a Better Future and Life”.

Jubel D’Cruz | Mumbai

Send yyour ffeedback tto:[email protected]

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

07VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

DECEMBER 12, 1954 — SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

DR CHANDAN MITRADR CHANDAN MITRAI N R E M E M B R A N C E : A P I O N E E R I N G E D I T O R

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 2, 2022 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Hinduja group flagshipcompany AshokLeyland on Thursday

said it has bagged orders forsupply of 1,400 schoolbuses in the United ArabEmirates making it as thecompany's largest ever orderreceived in that country.The buses would be

supplied from the company's manufacturing unit in Ras Al Khaimah,United Arab Emirates.The total fleet deal for the Gulf CooperationCouncil made buses has been bagged by the Ashok Leyland'sdistribution partners in the United Arab Emirates, Swaidan Trading --Al Naboodah Group.Most of the supply of buses would be to servethe Emirates Transport and STS Group, a company statementsaid."This is a historic moment for Ashok Leyland in UAE. This is atestament to the reliability, durability and robustness of our busesand reaffirms the faith that our customers have on our buses beingthe safest for transporting school students," company ExecutiveChairman Dheeraj Hinduja said."These buses are made in the UAEassembly plant. The product concepts originate in the UAE, thedesigns are done by our engineers and are assembled in UAE withmore than 55 per cent parts sourced in UAE," he said.The company'snew electric vehicle company Switch Mobility, based out of theUnited Kingdom, would help fulfil the aspiration of zero carbonemission transportation, he said.

Ashok Leyland bags order to supply1,400 school buses in the UAE

The pure-play creditcard issuer SBI Cardhas prepared the

ground for movingtowards card tokenization,which is set to kick-in fromOctober, a move aimed atprotecting against fraud aswell as data theft."In terms

of our preparation, readiness wise, technology wise, integration withall the networks, we are ready with all the networks like Visa,Mastercard and RuPay," Rama Mohan Rao Amara, MD & CEO, SBICards and Payment Services (SBI Card) told PTI on Thursday.As perthe Reserve Bank of India (RBI), tokenisation refers to replacementof actual card details with an alternate code called the "token", whichshall be unique for a combination of card, token requestor anddevice.A tokenised card transaction is considered safer as the actualcard details are not shared with the merchant during transactionprocessing.On card tokenization, Amara said "It is a very goodmeasure in terms of protecting the consumer interest and ensuringagainst any data leakage."In late June, the RBI had extended thecard-on-file (CoF) tokenization deadline by three months toSeptember 30, on the back of various representations received fromstakeholders.

SBI Card ready with cardtokenization mandate

TVS Motor Companyregistered a growth of15% in August 2022 with

sales of 333,787 units asagainst 290,694 units in themonth of August 2021.Two-Wheeler Total two-wheelersregistered a growth of 15% inAugust 2022 with salesincreasing from 274,313 unitsin August 2021 to 315,539

units in August 2022. Domestic two-wheeler registered growth of33% with sales increasing from 179,999 units in August 2021 to239,325 units in August 2022.Motorcycle registered a growth of 17%with sales increasing from 133,789 units in August 2021 to 157,118units in August 2022. Scooter registered a growth of 40% with salesincreasing from 87,059 units in August 2021 to 121,866 units inAugust 2022.With positive market sentiments and the upcomingfestive season, the Company is optimistic about the demand in thedomestic two-wheeler market. As the availability of semiconductorshave supported in reaching a balanced supply chain, the Company isnow geared up to swiftly meet the festive demand.InternationalBusiness The Company's total exports registered sales of 93,111units in August 2022 as against sales of 109,927 units in August2021. Two-wheeler exports registered sales of 76,214 units in August2022 as against 94,314 units in August 2021. While somegeographies in the international market are experiencing economicslowdown and higher inflation, the Company is optimistic about thesales momentum returning to normal levels gradually.Three-WheelerThree-wheeler of the Company grew by 11% growing from 16,381units registered in August 2021 to 18,248 units in August 2022.

TVS Motor Company salesgrows by 15% in August 2022

PNS n NEW DELHI

India to become sixth largestinsurance market in the worldin the next 10 years supportedby regulatory push and rapideconomic expansion, a reportsaid.

Total insurance premiums inIndia will grow by an average14 per cent per annum innominal local currency termsover the next decade, makingIndia the 6th largest in termsof total premium volume by2032 from 10th largest in 2021,Swiss Re Institute said in itsreport.

With regard to Indian lifeinsurance industry, the reportsaid it will grow at an excep-tional rate of 6.6 per cent (inreal terms) in 2022 and further

grow at 7.1 per cent in 2023.Considering the projected

growth rate, the life insurancepremiums in India are set tocross USD 100 billion for thefirst time in 2022, it said.

As far as non-life insurancemarket is concerned, the reportsaid it has returned to a growthof 5.8 per cent (in real terms)in 2021 after a slight contrac-tion in 2020.

"The growth will slow downslightly in 2022 to 4.5 per cent,mainly due to high inflation.However, the sector is furtherexpected to witness a growth ofclose to 8 per centCompounded Annual GrowthRate (CAGR) between 2023and 2032," it said.

One of the driving factors forthe sectoral growth is the sys-

tematic change into India'snon-life insurance sectorbrought by the pandemic.

It resulted in a greater riskawareness leading to higherdemands in health insurance,making it the biggest Line ofBusiness (LoB) by premium

volume in 2021.The report said, the global

economy is on the brink ofinflationary recessions, withpolicymakers facing an increas-ingly difficult inflation-growthtrade off.

Swiss Re expects India to

reign as the world's fastest-growing economy in 2022.

Inflation and monetary pol-icy tightening are driving long-term sovereign bond yieldshigher, with markets pricing inboth higher real yields andinflation expectations, it said,adding, insurers will, over time,benefit from higher invest-

ment returns that will help off-set the higher claims cost.

Swiss Re projected over USD7 trillion global premiums byend of 2022.

It expects the stalling of pre-mium growth in the globalinsurance markets this year,and a stronger, but still below-trend in 2023.

India to be 6th largest insurance market by 2032"The growth will slow down slightly in

2022 to 4.5 per cent, mainly due to

high inflation. However, the sector is

further expected to witness a growth

of close to 8 per cent Compounded

Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) between

2023 and 2032," it said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Aircraft maker Boeing expectsIndia's air traffic to annuallygrow by nearly 7 per centthrough 2040, and is bullish onthe "massive potential" in theair cargo space.

The company, which is a keyplayer in both civil and defenceaerospace segments, is alsolooking to increase the sourc-ing of raw materials from thecountry.

Boeing Managing Director(Marketing) David Schulte onThursday said strong recoveryis gaining further momentumin Indian aviation and it is oneof the fastest growing markets.

India's airlines will lead airtraffic growth through 2040,growing at a rate of 6.9 percent. The growth for the SouthEast Asia market is pegged at5.5 per cent, China (5.4 percent), Africa (5.4 per cent) and

Latin America (4.8 per cent),Boeing said in a presentationmade here on Wednesday.

The projection is based onan over 20-year horizon andthe growth could be muchhigher in the near term.

Besides, the company saidIndian airlines are projected tosee massive growth in terms ofseats offered.

Boeing, which has around90 per cent global market

share in cargo, expects to playa large part in India's cargomarket.Schulte said there is a"massive potential (in cargo)".

Currently, two scheduledIndian carriers -- SpiceJet andAir India Express -- are usingBoeing freighters.

Boeing India President SalilGupte said it is always lookingat the possibility of increasedraw material supplies fromIndia.

India's air traffic to grow nearly 7 % through2040; cargo space has ‘massive potential'

PNS n MUMBAI

Equity indices buckled underselling pressure on Thursdayas a bearish trend in globalmarkets and concerns overaggressive rate hikes by centralbanks unnerved investors.

Market heavyweightReliance Industries tumbledafter the government raisedthe tax on export of diesel andjet fuel (ATF) and hiked thewindfall profit levy on domes-tically-produced crude oil.

The 30-share BSE Sensexfell 770.48 points or 1.29 percent to settle at 58,766.59.During the day, it tanked1,014.5 points or 1.70 percent to 58,522.57.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty declined 216.50 points or1.22 per cent to close at17,542.80.

Reliance Industries was thebiggest laggard among theSensex components, sliding

2.99 per cent, followed byTCS, Sun Pharma, TechMahindra, HUL, Infosys,NTPC and Tata Steel.

In contrast, Bajaj Finserv,Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel,Titan, State Bank of India,Mahindra & Mahindra andIndusInd Bank were the gain-ers, climbing up to 2.58 percent.

The market breadth wasnegative, with 23 of the 30Sensex counters posting loss-es."Domestic equities wit-nessed volatility amid weakglobal cues... Global marketswere negative as concernsheightened over a hawkishFederal Reserve stance onmonetary policy tighteningand economic slowdown inChina. Further data releasedon Wednesday showedEurozone inflation rising torecord high of 9.1 per cent YoYin August while Japan inflationtouched a 24-year high.

Sensex slides 770 points amidglobal market jitters; RIL top drag

PNS n NEW DELHI

Amid reports of some insur-ance companies making prof-its in the government's flagshipcrop cover scheme PMFBY, theCentre is planning to revampthe programme to rationalisepremium rate and encourageparticipation of more insurers.

The likely key changes to thescheme will be implementedfrom 2023-24 crop year (July-June) after the cabinetapproval, according to sources.

The Pradhan Mantri FasalBima Yojana (PMFBY),launched in February 2016,aims to provide financial sup-port to farmers suffering croploss/damage arising out of nat-ural calamities.

Under this scheme, maxi-mum premium payable byfarmers is 2 per cent for all foodand oilseeds crops grown in thekharif (summer) season, 1.5per cent for same crops grownin rabi (winter) season and 5per cent for commercial andhorticulture crops.

The difference between pre-mium and the rate of insurance

charges payable by farmers isshared equally by the Centreand states.

The scheme was lastrevamped in 2020 to enablevoluntary participation offarmers and make way forreporting crop loss within 72hours of occurrence of anyevent.

According to official sources,the need to further revamp thescheme was felt because expo-sure of insurance companies in

the PMFBY was on decliningmode. This led to lack of com-petition forcing the existinginsurers to charge high premi-um rate.

As per the policy, insurancecompanies are empanelled forthree crop years via a tenderprocess. Around 18 insurerswere empanelled for a periodfrom 2019-20 till 2022-23.However, eight of them exitedand 10 companies are partici-pating in the scheme now.

The eight firms had exited in2021-22 crop year, includingfour each from governmentand private sector, due to heavylosses following high claimratio, sources said.

However in the absence ofcompetition, insurance firmswhich were left in fray fixedhigher premium. As a result,some companies made hugeprofit during the last crop yearas the claims for crop losseswere less.

This made few state govern-ments believe that the PMFBYwas benefiting only insurancecompanies and not the farm-ers, sources added.To tacklethis problem, sources said aworking group -- constituted in2021 by the agriculture min-istry -- examined the wholeissue and submitted a detailreport.

Sources said the workinggroup has recommended twoapproaches for implementingthe PMFBY.

One is the "risk transferapproach", being followed cur-rently, wherein complete risk istransferred to implementinginsurance companies. This willinvolve bearing entire claim lia-bility by the insurance compa-ny.Second is the "risk partici-pation approach", under whichthree alternative models arerecommended to states foradoption wherein the claims aswell as surplus premiumamount (earned after clearingthe claim) is shared betweenimplementing states and insur-er as per the mutually agreedformula.

Govt plans to revamp crop coverscheme to woo more insurers

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government on Thursdayraised the tax on the export ofdiesel and jet fuel (ATF) andhiked the windfall profit levyon domestically-producedcrude oil in line with risingproduct margins and oil prices.

At the fourth fortnightlyreview, the government raisedthe windfall profit tax on theexport of diesel to Rs 13.5 perlitre from Rs 7 per litre.

The tax on Aviation TurbineFuel (ATF) exports too hasbeen hiked to Rs 9 from Rs 2per litre with effect fromSeptember 1 , according to afinance ministry notificationissued late Wednesday night.

Alongside, the tax ondomestically-produced crudeoil too has been hiked to Rs13,300 per tonne from Rs13,000.

The new levies come intoeffect from Thursday,September 1.

The recovery in oil prices inthe second half of August as

compared to the first fort-night of the month led to aslight upward revision in wind-fall taxes on domestic oil pro-duction. These are now USD22.8 per barrel, up from USD22 previously.

"The adjustments, while stillad hoc, highlight the produc-er oil price cap of USD 70-75per barrel and profitability ofUSD 20-21 a barrel," MorganStanley said in a note.

The export tax on diesel andjet fuel was raised by USD 17

per barrel and USD 14 toUSD 27 a barrel and USD 18,respectively, as refinery mar-gins for these products haverisen.

While private refinersReliance Industries Ltd andRosneft-based Nayara Energyare the principal exporters offuel like diesel and ATF, thewindfall levy on domesticcrude targets producers likestate-owned Oil and NaturalGas Corporation (ONGC) andVedanta Ltd.

Export tax on diesel, ATF hiked; windfalllevy on domestic oil production up

PNS n NEW DELHI

Apparel exports rose by about32 per cent to USD 4.5 billionduring April-June this fiscalas against USD 3.40 billion inthe same period last year,Apparel Export PromotionCouncil (AEPC) said onThursday.

Addressing a meeting ofthe council, AEPC chairmanNaren Goenka said that freetrade agreements with coun-tries including UAE,Australia and the UK willhelp neutralise the advantagewhich India's competitorsuse to enjoy in some of theimportant markets.

Apparel exports in 2021-22stood at USD 16.2 billion.

"We have to be poised tograb the opportunity byramping up our productioncapacity, getting into theMMF (man-made fibre) seg-ment...We have to activelylower our cost of productionand work on meeting theglobal standards.

Apparel exportsrise 32 % toUS$ 4.5 billion

PNS n NEW DELHI

Coal stocks at power generat-ing plants rose to about 30million tonnes last month,state-run Coal India said onThursday, dispelling fears ofshortages of dry-fuel duringthe monsoon season.

The government has beenmaking all efforts to build upcoal stocks to avoid the reoc-currence of power outagesseen during the summer thisyear."...coal stock at powerplants is close to 30 MTs,including imported coal, end-ing August 22 (till 29th). Thisis substantially higher than12.8 MTs of August '21 whenthe stock plummeted by 11.2MTs in a month," Coal IndiaLtd (CIL) said in a statement.

The PSU said thatenhanced supply of fuel fromCIL helped the stock sta-bilise at power houses.

"Closing stock for themonth of August'22 is a six-year high barring 2020 whenpandemic fuelled slowdown

saw the stock at 37.7 MT," itsaid.

With a stock of dry-fuel of31 MT at CIL's pitheads,around 30 MT stock at powerplants, and a little over 10 MTat PSU's sidings, goods sheds,private washeries, ports, cap-tive plants there is sufficientavailability of coal in the sys-tem, the maharatna firm said.

Besides, the supply of coalto the power sector also roseto 243.3 million tonnes in thefirst five months of the cur-rent financial year.

Coal production by CILduring April-August periodalso increased by 21 per centto 253.3 MT, over 209.2 MTin the year-ago period.

"This level of increase wasachieved despite increaseddownpour across all the areasof WCL (Western CoalfieldsLtd) and MCL (MahanadiCoalfields Ltd)," it said. CILproduction last month rose to46.2 MT, against 42.6 MT inthe corresponding month ofthe previous fiscal.

Coal stocks at electricitygenerating plants up

GST collection rises 28% to Rs1.43 lakh cr in festive seasonPNS n NEW DELHI

India's tax collection from thesale of goods and servicessoared 28 per cent to Rs 1.43lakh crore in July aided by ris-ing demand, higher rates, andgreater compliance.

The GST collectionremained above the Rs 1.4-lakh-crore mark for the sixthstraight month in August andthe ensuing festival seasonwill help continue the trend.

Better reporting coupledwith economic recovery hashave a "positive impact on theGST revenues on a consistentbasis , the finance ministrysaid in a statement.

The gross GST revenue col-lected in August 2022 is Rs1,43,612 crore of which CGSTis Rs 24,710 crore, SGST is Rs30,951 crore, IGST is Rs 77,782crore (including Rs 42,067crore collected on import ofgoods) and cess is Rs 10,168crore (including Rs 1,018 crorecollected on import of goods),

the ministry said.The rev-enues for the month of August2022 are 28 per cent higherthan the GST revenues of Rs1,12,020 crore collected inAugust 2021.

"The growth in GST rev-enue till August 2022 over thesame period last year is 33 percent, continuing to displayvery high buoyancy. This is aclear impact of various mea-sures taken by the Council inthe past to ensure better com-pliance, the Ministry said.

The collection in August is,however, lower than Rs 1.49lakh crore collected in July.The mop up was at a recordhigh of Rs 1.67 lakh crore inApril.KPMG in India PartnerIndirect Tax Abhishek Jainsaid, "The consistent high col-lections indicate upward eco-nomic trajectory despite fluc-tuating COVID cases and tosome extent attributable toinflation and better compli-ance being ensured by the gov-ernment."

PNS n NEW DELHI

Power Grid Corporationhas extended the deadlinefor its Rs 6,000 crore ten-der for procuring smartelectricity meters amidindustry concerns over thestate-run firm opting forold and absolute technol-ogy over the latest 5G.

Two s ou rc e s w it hknowledge of the mattersaid PGCIL has extendedtill September 9 the lastdate for bidding for its ten-der to install one croresmart meters that are con-nected through a web-based monitoring systemto record information,such as electricity con-sumption.An email sentto Powe r Gr i dCorporation of India Ltd(PGCIL) for commentsremained unanswered.

PGCIL's Rs 6,000 crtender for smartmeters delayed over

PNS n NEW DELHI

Moody's Investors Service onThursday slashed India's eco-nomic growth projection for2022 to 7.7 per cent, citingdampening of economicmomentum in coming quarterson rising interest rates, unevenmonsoon, and slowing globalgrowth.

This is a sharp 1.1 percent-age points cut from the growthprojection of 8.8 per cent forcurrent year made in May byMoody's.The Indian economygrew 8.3 per cent in 2021 aftera 6.7 per cent contraction in2020, the year when the pan-demic struck the country.In itsupdate to Global MacroOutlook 2022-23, Moody's saidIndia's central bank is likely toremain hawkish this year andmaintain a reasonably tightpolicy stance in 2023 to preventdomestic inflationary pressuresfrom building further.

Our expectation that India'sreal GDP growth will slowfrom 8.3 per cent in 2021 to 7.7per cent in 2022 and to decel-erate further to 5.2 per cent in2023 assumes that rising inter-est rates, uneven distribution ofmonsoons, and slowing globalgrowth will dampen econom-ic momentum on a sequentialbasis, Moody's said.

Moody's slashesIndia's economicgrowth forecast

The scheme waslast revamped in2020 to enablevoluntaryparticipation offarmers and makeway for reportingcrop loss within72 hours ofoccurrence of anyevent

THE PRADHAN MANTRI FASAL BIMA YOJANA

Supermodel Kate Moss receivedher first diamonds fromHollywood star Johnny Depp,

who reportedly had her pull themout of ‘the crack of his a***.’

Sitting down with Vogue to lookback on her looks over the years, the48-year-old supermodel, who was ina relationship with Pirates of theCaribbean star Depp, 59, from 1994until 1997, said that he had hid thenecklace she was pictured wearingdown his pants before presenting itto her, reports aceshowbiz.com.

She said, “And that diamond neck-lace Johnny gave me, they were thefirst diamonds I ever owned. He

pulled them out of the crack of hisa****.”

“We were going out to dinner andhe said, ‘I’ve got something in mybum, can you have a look,’ and I waslike, ‘what' and I put my hand downhis trousers and I pulled out a dia-mond necklace. That diamond neck-

lace.” Meanwhile, Moss, who hasgraced the cover of Vogue magazinea total of 43 times over the course ofher career, explained that when shemade her debut on the legendarymagazine as a teenager back in 1993,she believed she had "made it" as amodel and still has the cover imageframed at her home.

Speaking in a video posted toVogue’s YouTube, she said, “When Ihad my first Vogue cover I thought,alright I've made it, that’s it, I don’thave to do it anymore. I think I was19. It was really special, for me to beon Vogue it was like wow, I couldn'tbelieve it.

Actor Russell Crowe willplay a former homicidedetective tasked with

re-examining a brutal murdercase from his past in SleepingDogs.

The Nickel City Picturesfilm marks the directorialdebut of Adam Cooper, whowrote the script with BillCollage, reports Variety.

The film is an adaptation ofE.O. Chirovici's acclaimednovel, ‘The Book of Mirrors.’Cooper and Collage previous-ly penned the scripts forAssassins Creed and Exodus:Gods and Kings.

Crowe played RoyFreeman, who is undergoing acutting-edge Alzheimer's

treatment. He is forced tograpple with the impact of aninvestigation from his formerlife after a death row inmatethat Freeman arrested 10

years prior starts to pro-claim his innocence.

Intrigued and fighting toregain his memory,Freeman enlists his formerpartner to help him revivethe case and discover thetruth. Together, they set offto unravel a tangled web ofsecrets, forcing Freeman tomake some horrific discov-eries.

“Our memory of the pastis what gives us context forwho we are. A characterwho is bereft in this capaci-

ty comes with a very complexkind of humanity and there'sno one better at embodyingcomplex characters thanRussell Crowe,” said Cooper.

Principal photography isslated to begin in January2023.

Crowe is currently in pro-duction on The Pope'sExorcist.

He will next be seen inPeter Farrelly's The GreatestBeer Run Ever, which will pre-miere at ToronotoInternational Film Festival,and J.C. Chandor's Spider-verse adventure Kraven theHunter.

He is in post-production onthe thriller 'Poker Face', whichhe directed and stars in.Crowe won an Oscar forGladiator and was also nomi-nated for his work in TheInsider and A Beautiful Mind.

Russell Crowe to play detectivewith Alzheimer's in crime thriller

Hindi film action starTiger Shroff recentlyappeared on the 9th

episode of the popular chatshow Koffee With Karan and

spoke about the kind of rela-tionship he shares with DishaPatani. The two have beenrumoured to be dating for afew years but in the recent

episode, Tiger chose to callDisha his “friend” and saidthat he is “single”.

When Karan probed himabout dating Disha, the War

star said, “I’m just verygood friends just like Ialways have been.” Towhich Karan replied bysaying, “You can’t usethat line anymore, Tiger.”

“You all made Bastianbecome the hottestrestaurant because everySunday we saw you inand out to a point I waslike, ‘This is like a rou-tine. Tiger and Disha areat Bastian every Sunday,'”Karan said as he furtherteased him.

Undeterred, Tigerfirmly stood his groundas he said: “We like eatingthe same food. Maybethat’s why we go to thatrestaurant together.”

He then set the recordstraight by commenting

on theirbreakuprumours,“Well,there’sbeenspecula-tion onus for averylongtime.We’vealwaysmain-tained weare amaz-ing friendsand that’swhat it istoday (sic),”Tiger said.

WhenKaran pushedhim for the lasttime asking if he’ssingle now, Tigerreplied, “Yeah, Ithink so.”

Tiger Shroff finally breakssilence on his relationship

with Disha Patani

9

Vijayawada | Friday September 2, 2022 what’s brewing?

AparshaktiKhuranacould have

been seen onscreen in asports based movie like

Dangal, a movie based onprofessional wrestling, but in

real life he has been roped in forUltimate Kho Kho 2022 which will

be telecasted by a major televisionnetwork.

Although Kho Kho is one of thehomegrown indigenous sports, not

many stars seem to be associated withthe game. The actor is more than happy

to lend his support to this game to shinemore light on it and wants to continuedoing his bit to bring to the forefrontthe game and the many playersbehind it.

Aparshakti, whose latestmovie Dhoka Round D Corner’steaser, starring R Madhavan,Darshan Kumar andKhushali Kumar, was recent-ly released, says, “Sportshave been a very integralpart of my life, right fromchildhood. It does not justhelp in physical health butalso helps develop one’smental strategy. I havebeen a part of the

Haryana U-19 CricketTeam and I still play foot-

ball with the All Starsteam. Also my first film was

based on wrestling. Now it isan honour to host Ultimate

Kho Kho Leagues open-ing season. The league

has so many talent-ed players, as the

championshipgoes on I

am

surepeople are going to

be hooked till thefinals. It is importantthat we support home-grown sports and takethem to new heightsand build a great audi-ence base for them.We must pride in ourculture and home-grown sports such asthese are part of thecommunity at large”.

The championship,which has around sixteams, is being hostedin Pune. The names ofthe teams are ChennaiQuick Guns, Gujarat

Giants, MumbaiKhiladis, OdishaJuggernauts, RajasthanWarriors and TeluguYoddhas. The ongoingleague will go on tillSeptember 4.

AparshaktiKhurana to

supporthomegrown

sports

Kate Moss got her first diamonds afterpulling them out of Johnny Depp's pants

FUN

ARCHIE

GARFIELDREALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

SUDOKU

Rulesl Each row and column can

contain each number (1 to 9)exactly once.

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

Medical science hasevolved signifi-cantly over the

period of time. In today’sscenario, couples who areunable to conceive natu-rally can experience thejoy of parenthood withvarious advanced tech-niques. Egg freezing hasgradually gained popular-ity.

This procedure is con-sidered to be an innova-tion in the fertility indus-try that has revolutionisedthe path toward mother-hood. It is also preferredby women who wish topostpone their pregnancy.

Egg freezing is alsoknown as oocyte cryop-reservation. In thisprocess, the eggs harvest-ed from your ovaries arefrozen in an unfertilizedstate and stored for lateruse. Females who do notwish to be a parent at thepresent moment can con-sider this option for con-ceiving at a later stage intheir life.

If you are planning togo through this process,here are 10 things thatyou should know aboutand keep into considera-tion-

Egg freezing: Theprocess

It is a technique inwhich a woman’s eggs areextracted and cryopre-served at a temperature of-196c. This process isconducted with the assis-tance of an advancedfreezing technique, vitrifi-cation which is alsoknown as flash freezing.The first stage in theprocess is fertility assess-ment by the medical pro-fessional. It is then fol-lowed by the ovarianstimulation stage whereinthe woman is injectedwith drugs that multiplyeggs in her ovaries.

Conceiving withfrozen eggs

Once the female isready to start a family, theeggs are thawed and fer-tilized using the ICSItechnique with her part-ner’s sperm. The embryosformed on fertilization

are then transferredinto the female’s uterusfor implantation.

The associatedtimeline

The egg freezingprocess is indeed benefi-cial but comes with atimeline. If you wish tofreeze your eggs, youshould consider doing ittill the time you are inyour early thirties. Thereason for this is simple-as a woman ages, her eggcount as well as qualitydecline. This causes issuesin conceiving and increas-es the risk of miscarriages.The chances of the occur-rence of genetic anom-alies in a fetus also growsignificantly. Hence, thesooner you preserve youreggs, the higher will bethe chances of a healthypregnancy in the future.

Medical conditionsimpacting fertility

When the females gothrough severe medicalconditions such as sicklecell anemia and autoim-mune diseases, their fer-tility can be impacted. Insuch a scenario, they cango for egg freezing to starta family in the future.

Egg freezing is aviable pregnancymethod in case ofcancer

In certain cases, under-going medical treatmentssuch as chemotherapy canaffect your fertility. Youcan then consider eggfreezing for conceiving ata later stage once youhave recovered and are fitto plan your baby.

Preferring egg freez-ing over embryofreezing

In cases when couplesare undergoing theprocess of IVF, many ofthem prefer egg freezingover embryo freezing dueto religious beliefs andethical reasons.

Egg freezing: A bene-ficial procedure

Modern females arekeen to focus on theirprofessional growth andare not prepared for beinga mother. Due to this rea-son, they wish to delaychildbirth. For them, eggfreezing is a viable optionfor getting pregnant in thefuture.

The cost of eggfreezing

As far as the cost of thisprocedure is concerned,egg freezing is compara-tively expensive. Retrievalof eggs and freezing themmay cost Rs. 50,000 to Rs.1 lakh approximately.Adding to it, the annualcost of retaining the eggsin the frozen state couldcost around Rs. 15,000 toRs. 30,000. If the womandoes not use the eggs for10-15 years after freezing,then the ongoing storagecost keeps on adding up.Hence, this could be aslightly expensive optionfor conceiving.

The associated riskswith egg freezing

There are various risksassociated with egg freez-ing. The women may haveto undergo multiplecycles of IVF to becomepregnant. Adding to it,since females have to takehormones for the multi-plication of eggs, theycould experience adverseside effects such as weightgain, bloating, moodswings, etc. In severecases, it can even lead tothe occurrence of ovarianhyperstimulation, a con-dition in which ovariesswell up and fluid leaksinto the body.

Egg freezing: Thenew-age method forconceiving

While the techniquehas been successful so far,it is always advisable tokeep the associated risksinto consideration. Whilestating actual figures anddata about the successrate would be tough; onthe whole, it has beenobserved that egg freezinghas shown positive out-comes. Medicalresearchers and expertshave studied that preg-nancies with frozen eggshave been as successful asthe cases where eggs arenot frozen.

However, before goingahead with this process, itis imperative that youseek medical supervision.The doctor will first focuson your comprehensivemedical history with spe-cial attention to fertility.The expert will also ana-lyze the menstrual patternand accordingly performa range of tests to assesshormone levels. Youshould initiate the processonly after prior consulta-tion with the fertilityexpert.

SHIKHA DUGGAL

omething new has come up, thevoice of internet protocol. At first, itgave us a hint towards BPO butafter some research, we found theinsights quite differing to what we

were thinking leading us to do a story on it.This is accomplished by sending voice datain packets across IP, instead of via tradition-al circuit transmissions over the PublicSwitched Telephone Network. With a rea-sonable connection to the internet, phoneservice is able to be delivered across theinternet via VoIP, turning analog signalsinto digital signals so they can be properlyread and interpreted by transmissiondevices on the Internet.

“Cloud telephony is simplifying and tak-ing care of communication infrastructureissues businesses face today. It is replacingtraditional telephony systems around theworld, for good. Landlines are already athing of the past, as countries like the UKare already considering this transition at abig level. This new technology, which allowsyou to make and receive phone calls overthe internet, has also emerged in India andis already creating a new space in theIndian market dominated by traditionaltelephony. According to a Nielsen 2020report, there was a spike in the usage ofVoIP chat applications in India from 3.45hours per week to 5.22 hours per weekin the first phase of the country’snationwide lockdown,” informs

Ankit Dudhwewala, co-founder and CEO ofAppitsimple Infotek Pvt Ltd.

VoIP was developed around 1995, origi-nally to serve as a way to save money onlong-distance and international telephonecharges. It began with a company calledVocalTec, who created the first internetphone for the masses. Through thisInternetPhone, one user could call anotherthrough connected speakers and micro-phone, using the same software.

The founder continued, “VoIP marketgrowth at a global level can be attrib-uted to market disruption with theincreasing commercialization of5G and the rapidly growing useof VoIP networks. With 5Gslated to roll out in Indiasoon, it is all set to makean impact far beyondthe consumer-basedmobile market. Theeffect of 5G willbe much moreprofound asmoreindustryusecases

are implemented, includ-ing VoIP use by compa-

nies. 5G will speedup, empower, and

revolutioniseVoIP usage

in thecoun-

try

creating new opportunities for businesses,people, and society.”

The transition from legacy phone systemsand increasing dependence on cloud-basedunified communications are also promotingthe acceptance of hosted VoIP services. In alegacy phone system, telephone landlinesconnect the phones to an on-site computeror CPU. VoIP is the cloud-based alternativeto the traditional phone system.

If we go back to history again, from 1996to 1998, VocalTec worked on adding inter-net voicemail applications and paired theirInternet phone software with MicrosoftNetMeeting. Later in 1998, VocalTec cameout with computer-to-telephone and phone-to-phone calling features for VoIP. Initially,adoption of VoIP was low at only one per-cent in part, because users had to listen toadvertisements before, during and aftertheir conversations.

And today, he says, “As companies askedtheir employees to work from home afterthe pandemic outbreak, VoIP servicesgained huge market traction during thistime. Several sectors adopted VoIP andgained benefits from it by easily mergingtheir telephone and computer networks. Amajority of industries also switched toremote working protocols during this time,giving way to cloud-based phone services.”

By 1999, companies like Teledvance wereformed to take VoIP to the enterprise spacewith more robust features, capability andreliability. Smoothstone wasn’t forced to relyon gimmicky revenue models featuring dis-ruptive advertising, since the corporate mar-ket was hungry for alternative, flexible tele-phony solutions. The VoIP and network ser-vices pioneered by the company exist todaywithin the Intrado portfolio of calling andnetwork services.

“Low audio quality and long delays due topoor communication infrastructure canadversely impact the productivity of busi-nesses. This is the reason why businessesacross the world are migrating from tradi-tional phone systems to cloud-based sys-tems. VoIP products are tailored to handlevoice mails and enable smooth communica-tion, which is a must for effective businessoperations. To leverage the growing trend ofcloud telephony, the companies operating inthe market can use several innovative soft-ware and solutions at a lower cost.”

The overall VoIP market size was USD 30billion in 2020 and is estimated to grow at a

CAGR of 15% from 2021 to 2027.According to a report, the Asia Pacific

VoIP market captured around 20%of revenue share in 2020. The

APAC region, which alsoincludes India, is charac-

terized by growinginternet penetration,

fueling the mar-ket's growth.

Ever wonderedwhat’s cloudtelephony? It istaking care ofcommunicationinfrastructure issuesbusinesses facetoday, says AnkitDudhwewala, CEOof AppitsimpleInfotek Pvt Ltd.The Pioneer

connects with theentrepreneur, whoexplains to us indetail about cloudtelephony, VoIP,VoIP market andmore.

s

CLOUD TELEPHONY;THE TRENDING STAR

Egg freezing: The new age process

Foreveryworkingwoman, goodfashion clothingcan just presentthemselves, and theirpersonalities. Today, withus, we have Dipti Tolani,who brings to you a one-stopfashion destination forformals and casuals’ apparels,based on your interest.

K. RAMYA SREE

Fashion is thearmour we wearto protect our-

selves from the realities ofeveryday life. Especially if you

are a working woman, what youwear is how you present yourself to

the world. A fashionista herself, DiptiTolani, was vacationing in India, when

the gap in women’s business formals andcasuals’ apparel availability struck her.Dipti was born and brought up in a small

town in Goa, with no more than two parallelstreets. Her determination to grow beyond the

sleepy little town and to gain global exposure madeher focus on her education. The streak of indepen-

dence inherent in this entrepreneur’s mental frameworkcatapulted her to explore uncharted waters. And, this

engineering graduate went on to establish SALT Attire, avehicle of empowerment for women who work and need

suitable attire.Explaining about her journey over a quick call,Dipti says, “On one of my trips back home to

India, I happened to run into an unplannedwork-related meeting. Since it was a vaca-

tion, I didn’t pack any business casual orwork wear items and had to urgently

go and shop for appropriate clothesto wear. I hopped from show-

room to showroom, withdwindling hopes that I

would find what Ineeded. I just need-

ed a good shirtwith decent

fabric anda pair of

pants.I struggled

and compro-mised over trade-offs

between designs, price,fabric and fit. A simple search

for a shirt and pants turned into ahunt. When I enquired with my col-

leagues and other friends that work in India,they all seemed to have the same issue.”“They mostly bought clothes on their trips abroad, or

if they would get lucky, they found some clothes, but onlyafter a lot of hunting. The shopping experience for myfriends, colleagues and myself back in the US was far fromthis. This made me realise that there is a gap in India when itcomes to high quality business casuals and workwear forwomen, and the demand for such clothing is only going toincrease as more women enter the workforce. I conceptu-alised a one-stop store for 9AM-9PM clothing needs, whereany piece of clothing that you pick could be worn to bothwork and after.”

Dipti maintains that her start-up, SALT Attire, is her high-est professional achievement milestone. She started the enter-prise without any prior network in India. This was despitethe Indian phenomenon that most businesses are tight-knitamongst themselves and their investors follow suit. The veryfact that a rank newcomer could establish a toehold and dis-play such a strong growth pattern is a feat of excellence.

There are a few wardrobe essentials that are floatingaround for the season. Dipti , who is also a fitness enthusiastwho likes to run marathons and indulge in photography,elaborates, “The first one is a power blazer. A longline blazerstyled in a monochrome scheme throughout the rest of theoutfit with relaxed pants and a versatile top works like acharm. Breezy, pleated skirts paired with classic turtlenecksor high-neck tops are another great hit. The transition fromwearing pyjama bottoms to restricting trousers has been hardon all of us, so easing ourselves gently with a pair of wide-legtrousers is the way to go.”

Creativity is her middle name and ‘Inspiration is every-where’ is the mantra that Dipti brings to her life. To givemore depth to her work, she named each of her productsuniquely and the reason she tells is, “To create long-lastingfashion, the consumers first need to build a relationship withtheir garments. That only happens when they relate to it. Thestorytelling and messaging hold as much weight in today’sfashion industry as the garment itself.”

Meanwhile, sharing some tips on how to look chic andclassy, she explains. “Defineyour style and identi-fy wardrobeessentials.Invest intimelesspieces.

Makean effortto identifynew, home-grown brands sincethey have a lot tooffer, and you’ll end upwith some special finds.”

We also spoke about colourtrends in 2022, and she says it’sthe time of ‘soft pastels to rule.’ Whilethe classic neutrals are here to stay,some pastels are coming in. Lilac has madeits way to the top of the chart, along withother delicate tones.

However, some attention-grabbing colours likecobalt blue, fuchsia pink, hot coral, and Kermit greenare back in the race and our collections.”

Lastly, we asked her about the key elements you must fol-low while dressing up. She informed us, “Predominantly,your work wardrobe should reflect who you are and besomething you feel comfortable wearing. One shouldalways opt for a good fit that lets you move aroundand is easy to wear for long hours. In terms ofcolours, a neutral colour palette with a hint ofpastels is a must-have. It allows room for aninterchanging wardrobe quite easily. Onecan always add a dash of colour viaaccessories for an added visual aesthet-ic. Minimal and sharp cuts, whichinstill confidence and provideroom for movement, arepreferable over any reveal-ing cuts. Prints can besubtle and soothing orlively and rejuvenating,depending on one’spersonal aesthetic.Pair them up withsolids to bal-ance out the

look.”Onestop

destination,for-and-after

work

FridaySeptember 2, 2022

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

sports 11VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

AP n NEW YORK

Serena Williams dra-matically extendedher iconic career

on Wednesday with a never-say-die, three-set victory

over world number twoAnett Kontaveit at the US Open.The 40-year-old, 23-time Grand

Slam title winner triumphed 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-2 in front of a raucous, partisan ArthurAshe Stadium Court crowd to reach the thirdround of a tournament she has won sixtimes.

Having declared that she was already"evolving away from tennis" after a 27-yearcareer, Williams' force of will ensured thatthe retirement party was put on hold for alittle longer.

"There's no rush," said Serena on courtwhen remindedthat she haddeclared herself tobe in the closingstages of hercareer.

"There's still alittle left in me so

we'll see. I'm a pret-ty good player. I love a chal-

lenge.""I'm just Serena, youknow. Honestly after I

lost the second set Ithought 'oh my

goodness, I've gotto give my besteffort becausethis could be it."

She added:"I'm just look-ing at it as abonus. I don'thave anything to

prove. I haveabsolutely noth-

ing to lose. I've hadan 'X' on my back

since 1999."The American

arrived on court with the sta-

dium announcer proudly intro-ducing her as "the greatest of alltime" while Kontaveit waitedpatiently at her chair.

Golf superstar Tiger Woodswatched from the Williams' play-er box while Emmy award win-ning actress Zendaya also boost-ed the A-list of invitees from theArthur Ashe Stadium stands.

RANKED AT 609Kontaveit, whose Grand Slam

career has yielded just one quar-ter-final appearance, served alove game to get the contestunderway but Williams wasquickly level.

The 26-year-old Estonianfought off two break points in thethird game but was then unable toconvert one of her own in the

fourth game.Kontaveit saved four break

points in the seventh game, eachsuccess greeted with muted, politeapplause from the partisan crowd.

Former world number oneWilliams, now ranked at a lowly609, had the crowd on their feetwhen she converted the sixthbreak point for a 5-4 lead.

Her legion of passionate fanswere quickly sitting down againwhen she handed the breakstraight back on a double fault.

Williams, however, played acomposed tiebreak to take theopener after 63 minutes courtesyof a fifth ace.

To her credit, Kontaveit hitstraight back, stretching to adouble break for 3-0 beforeWilliams retrieved one.

It was a brief respite as theEstonian broke again for a 4-1lead on her way to levelling thetie.

Williams was ahead for 2-0 inthe decider but then saw a 40-0lead slip away as Kontaveit hitback.

The Estonian dropped serveagain as Williams went to 3-1 andthen 4-1 with a solid hold.

Victory was in sight at 5-2with Williams winning a 19-shotrally.

It was all too much forKontaveit who was broken to lovewith the match secured with abackhand winner.

Williams next facesAustralia's Ajla Tomljanovic for aplace in the last 16.

AP n PARIS

Goals from Neymar andKylian Mbappe helped

Paris Saint-Germain stay topof the Ligue 1 table with a 3-0 victory at Toulouse onWednesday.

Christophe Galt ier 'sreigning champions werenever seriously threatened bytheir newly-promoted oppo-nents and remain above Lensand Marseille on goal differ-ence.

The fearsome front threeof Lionel Messi, Neymar andMbappe have now scored 18times between them alreadythis term.

"'MMN'? We can only besatisfied with their perform-ances," said PSG coach Galtier.

Toulouse frustrated PSGearly in the game, with goal-keeper Maxime Dupe makingtwo smart stops from Mbappeand tipping a Messi shot wide.

But the away side did takethe lead in the 37th minute, asNeymar raced onto Messi'sthrough ball and slotted intothe bottom corner.

The Brazilian's ninth goalof the season was initiallyruled out for offside, but thatdecision was overturned aftera lengthy VAR review.

PSG did not take long toscore again after half-time, asMessi broke clear into the areabefore laying the ball off for

Mbappe to slot home throughthe legs of Dupe.

The capital side eased offlater in the second half, withNeymar and Messi both sub-stituted.

Summer signing HugoEkitike almost grabbed hisfirst goal for the club, but wasdenied by Dupe, who fin-ished the match with 10 saves.

But he was beaten again inthe 90th minute when JuanBernat powered a left-footed

strike high into the top corner.Lens, who also have 13

points from five games, con-tinued their fine start with a5-2 home thrashing of Lorientto move into second placeabove Marseille on goalsscored.

Marseille remained levelon points with the top two asSenegalese midfielder PapeGueye netted the only goal ina 1-0 win over Clermont.

AP n NAPLES

Roma stayed top of Serie A onWednesday after Napoli were

held to a 1-1 draw by Lecce, whileunderwhelming Juventus beatSpezia 2-0.

Napoli would have gone firston goal difference with a win overtheir promoted opponents at theStadio Maradona but LorenzoColombo's rocket just after thehalf-hour mark ensured Lecceescaped Naples with a point.

Luciano Spalletti's side sitthird after four games, two pointsbehind Roma and one away fromsecond-placed Inter Milan, whileLecce are 15th after earning theirsecond point of the campaign.

Napoli thought they were ontheir way to a regulation winwhen Eljif Elmas tapped inMatteo Politano's mishit shot inthe 27th minute.

VLAHOVIC STRIKES AGAINJuventus are level on points

with Napoli in fourth thanks toanother superb ninth-minutefree-kick from Dusan Vlahovic,his fourth goal of the season, andArkadiusz Milik's first for the clubin front of new signing LeandroParedes.

Argentina star Paredes was atthe Allianz Stadium in Turinafter completing his loan movefrom Paris Saint-Germain earli-er in the day.

The three points maintainJuve's unbeaten record but won't

hide another disappointing per-formance from MassimilianoAllegri's injury-dogged side.

Angel Di Maria returned as asecond-half substitute after recov-ering from a thigh injury pickedup during his debut earlier in themonth.

But he failed to provide thespark which would have madeJuve's win more convincing, eventhough fellow substitute Miliknetted in stoppage time afterdeftly firing home from FabioMiretti's low cross.

GABBIADINI DENIES LAZIOEarlier, Manolo Gabbiadini

saved a point for Sampdoria ina 1-1 home draw with Lazio, net-ting his team's first goal of theseason in stoppage time andlifting them out of the Serie Adrop zone.

Sampdoria are 17th withjust two points from their firstfour games after Gabbiadiniexpertly lashed home his 92nd-minute leveller which deniedLazio the chance to move levelwith Roma.

AP nMANCHESTER

Erling Haaland hit a secondsuccessive hat-trick as

Manchester City crushedNottingham Forest 6-0, whileleaders Arsenal extended theirperfect start to the PremierLeague season with a 2-1 winagainst Aston Villa onWednesday.

City and Arsenal have setthe early pace, but Liverpool aregathering momentum aftersnatching a last-gasp 2-1 victo-ry against Newcastle.

Haaland has made a blister-ing start since his £50 million($58 million) move fromBorussia Dortmund in the close-season and the Norway striker'slatest goal spree set a PremierLeague record.

Haaland's tally of nine goalsafter his first five appearances isa new high in the PremierLeague era, beating the previousmark of eight set by City legendSergio Aguero and Micky

Quinn.Inspired by Haaland's first-

half treble, Pep Guardiola'sunbeaten side ran riot at the

Etihad Stadium, reaching 19goals from just five games.

City went ahead in the 12thminute when Phil Foden's cross

reached Haaland, who pokedhome from close range.

Haaland, whose father Alfieplayed for Forest between 1993

and 1997, struck again fromclose range in the 23rd minuteafter Foden's run was halted bya Neco Williams tackle thatdiverted the ball into theNorwegian's path.

Haaland was impossible forForest to handle and he sealedhis treble eight minutes laterwith a header from virtually on

the goal-line after John Stonesnodded across the six-yard box.

Haaland is only the seventhplayer to score a hat-trick in suc-cessive Premier League appear-ances.

Even with Kevin De Bruynestarting on the bench, the cham-pions were unstoppable andJoao Cancelo curled into the top

corner from 20 yards in the 50thminute.

Argentine forward JulianAlvarez celebrated his firstPremier League start for City fol-lowing his move from RiverPlate with a goal on the hour asthe 22-year-old slotted homefrom Riyad Mahrez's pass.

Alvarez lashed in his second

in the 87th minute to seal City'sbiggest win since a 7-0 rout ofLeeds in December.

PERFECT ARSENALCity are two points behind

Arsenal after Mikel Arteta's sideonce again showed a tenacity sooften missing from Gunnersteams in recent seasons.

Arsenal struck in the 30thminute thanks to a gift fromtheir former keeper EmilianoMartinez, who pushed a tameGabriel Martinelli cross straightto Gabriel Jesus for a simple fin-ish.

Second bottom Villa werelevel when Douglas Luiz's cor-ner flew straight past Arsenalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale in the74th minute despite the hosts'appeal for a foul.

But Arsenal, who camefrom behind to beat Fulham onSaturday, responded impres-sively as Martinelli restoredtheir lead three minutes laterfrom Bukayo Saka's cross.

AP n BERLIN

Sadio Mane was one of five different goalscorers asBayern Munich qualified for the next round of the

German Cup with a 5-0 win away at Viktoria Cologneon Wednesday.

Mane's goal, scored in the 53rd minute, was his fifthin six games this season since his summer arrival fromPremier League side Liverpool.

Former Arsenal forward Serge Gnabry held up theball, drawing in Cologne goalkeeper Ben Voll to findMane unmarked in front of goal.

Two further summer arrivals inRyan Gravenberch and 17-year-oldstarlet Mathys Tel both scoredfirst-half goals, breaking down astubborn but outgunnedCologne defence.

Teenager Jamal Musialascored his side's fourth inthe 67th minute just fourminutes after replac-ing Mane from thebench, controlling apass from ThomasMueller from thepenalty spot.

Bayern addeda f i f th throughGermany mid-f ielder LeonGoretzka, play-ing his f irstgame of the sea-son after return-ing from ak n e einjury.

AP n NEW YORK

Former champion Andy Murray reached the USOpen third round for the first time in six years

on Wednesday with a four-set win over Americanwildcard Emilio Nava.

Murray, who famouslyended Britain's 76-year waitfor a men's Grand Slam titlewhen he won the US Openin 2012, came out on top 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-0.

"Physically this is thebest I've felt in the last fewyears," said 35-year-oldMurray.

"My movement is by farthe best it's been in a longtime. I'm getting closer towhere I want to be andhopefully I can have a deeprun here."

Nava, ranked 203 in theworld, claimed a gruelling84-minute first set with animpressive crosscourt fore-hand winner.

But the 20-year-old, who had needed five setsto see off John Millman in the first

round, eventually ran out ofsteam, winning just four moregames and ending the contestwith 56 unforced errors.

"He was dictating thepoints in the first set," saidMurray of his opponent.

"But then I was hitting itdeeper and was able to control thepoints.

Murray last made the thirdround in 2016 on his

way to the quarter-finals. If he is toprogress further,he may have toget past worldnumber 14Matteo Berrettini,a semi-finalist inNew York in2019.

B erre tt in idefeated Murray in

the final of theStuttgart grasscourt

tournament in June.

AP nMANCHESTER

Pep Guardiola has chal-lenged Erling Haaland to

become a Manchester City leg-end after the Norway striker'ssecond successive hat-trickinspired a 6-0 rout ofNottingham Forest onWednesday.

Haaland still has a longway to go to catch up withAguero, City's record scorer,but Guardiola is confident his

close-season signing fromBorussia Dortmund can writehimself into the club's folklore.

"Sergio is the legend.Nobody can break the positionin the hearts of City fans, scor-ing the most important goal inthe modern history,"Guardiola said.

"Erling has the quality tobe there. It's not about him orSergio. What Sergio has doneis amazing. But Erling has thistalent."

"When City boughtErling, everybody talked aboutwhat he has done in the past.What we wanted to do is helphim. Hopefully he can enjoyand score more goals."

"What he has done inNorway, Austria and Germanyhe tries to do here. He's talent-ed, we knew it."

Haaland is already thefirm favourite to finish as thisseason's Premier League topscorer.

AP n NEW YORK

Wu Yibing created a piece oftennis history on Wednesdayafter becoming the first playerfrom China to reach the thirdround of the US Open.

The talented 22-year-olddefeated fellow qualifier NunoBorges of Portugal in a five-setthriller to set up a potentialDavid v Goliath showdown withdefending champion DaniilMedvedev.

Wu recovered from two setsto one down to close out a 6-7(3/7), 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 winin 3hr 47min.

Wu is the first player fromChina to reach the third roundof any Grand Slam tournamentsince Kho Sin-Khie reached thesame stage at Wimbledon in1946.

Wu's heroics came aftermore success for China in thewomen's draw, where Wang Xiyustunned third seed Maria Sakkarito reach the third round of aGrand Slam for the first time.

Wang, ranked 75, came froma set down to knock out herGreek opponent, who made the

semi-finals last year, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 in their two-hour 43-minuteclash.

The left-hander hit 11 aces,35 winners and saved 12 of 17break points and goes on to faceAlison Riske-Amritraj of theUnited States for a place in thelast 16.

SERENA KEEPS ON WINNINGAmerican tennis superstar dispatches world number2 Kontaveit to reach third round of US Open 2022

THE23-TIME GRAND

SLAM TITLE WINNERTRIUMPHED 7-6 (7/4), 2-6,

6-2 IN FRONT OF A RAUCOUS,PARTISAN ARTHUR ASHE

STADIUM COURT CROWD TOREACH THE THIRD ROUNDOF A TOURNAMENT SHE

HAS WON SIXTIMES

CHINA'S WU MAKES HISTORY AFTERREACHING US OPEN 3RD ROUND

Murray reaches USOpen last 32 for 1sttime in six years

MURRAY, WHO

FAMOUSLY

ENDED

BRITAIN'S 76-

YEAR WAIT

FOR A MEN'S

GRAND SLAM

TITLE WHEN HE

WON THE US

OPEN IN 2012,

CAME OUT ON

TOP 5-7, 6-3, 6-

1, 6-0

Napoli draw leave Roma on summitLeon Goretzkareturns with a goal

Neymar, Mbappe take PSG to top

Record-breaking Haaland hits City treble, Arsenal stay perfectErling can be a Man City legend: Pep

Zaid Khan, son ofKarnataka’s 4-timesMLA Zameer

Ahmed, is making hisfilm debut with a PanIndia project Banarasbeing directed byJayathirtha of Bell Bottomfame. The film billed tobe a pleasant love storyset in the backdrop ofBanaras city (Varanasi)stars Sonal Monteiro asthe leading lady.Produced by Tilakraj

Ballal under the bannerof NK Productions, themakers of the movieannounced its releasedate, on the occasion ofGanesha Chaturthi.

Heavy on content andculture, Banaras will havegrand Pan India release inTelugu, Tamil, Kannada,Hindi and Malayalamlanguages worldwide onNovember 4. Zaid Khanand Sonal Monteiro lookadorable together in the

picture. The other imageshows the lead pair enjoy-ing their boat ride inBanaras.

Zaid Khan has trainedat Anupam Kher’s actingschool, before making hisfilm debut to learn all theskills to become an actor.He listened to numerousscripts, before finalizingBanaras. The film’s previ-ous promotional contententhused cine goers.As the release dateis announced,they will upthe game inpromotingthe movie.The film hasmusic byAjaneeshLoknath andcinematogra-phy byAdvaithaGurumurthy,while KM Prakashis the editor.

Pawan Kalyan’s historicaldrama Hari Hara VeeraMallu helmed by reputed

filmmaker Krish Jagarlamudi iseasily one of the most awaitedfilms among movie buffs. NidhhiAgerwal plays the female lead inthe film presented by A MRathnam under Mega SuryaProduction and produced byA.Dayakar Rao.

Commemorating the birthdayof Pawan Kalyan (September 2),the makers of Hari Hara VeeraMallu plan to unveil a specialglimpse of the film at 5.45 pmtomorrow. The joy of the star’sfans knew no bounds upon hear-ing the news and the team is con-fident that they’ll live up to theirexpectations.

On the eve of the big day, moviebuffs received a pleasant surprisefrom the film team. A specialposter from Hari Hara Veera

Mallu was unveiled on Thursday.In the poster, Pawan Kalyan in thetitular character, sporting arounded mustache, transports theviewers to a different era in a regalavatar, beaming with intensitywhile riding a chariot.

The poster suggests that theprotagonist is amidst a heated,war-like situation where severalmen are marching towards theenemy holding their weapons.This is just the perfect icing onthe cake for Pawan Kalyan’s fansas they await a special glimpsefrom the team tomorrow.

For the unversed, the film is setin the 17th century revolvingaround the Mughals and the era ofQutub Shahis and promises to bea visual feast. Hari Hara VeeraMallu is a first-of-its-kind story inIndian cinema about a legendaryoutlaw and is set to transportviewers to a different world.

The pan-Indian film, set torelease in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil,Kannada and Malayalam, isbeing made on a huge scale.The film’s shoot is 50%complete and a new sched-ule will commence soon,the producer Dayakar Raoadded. MM Keeravaaniprovides the music scorefor the epic actionerwhile VS Gnanasekharcranks the camera. SaiMadhav Burra pens thedialogues.

Sham Kaushal,Todor Lazarov Juji,Ram-Laxman andDileep Subbarayanare the stunt choreo-graphers for this big-budget adventure.Hari Hara Suthanis the VFX headfor the project.

Pawan Kalyan sparkles his regal avatar inHari Hara Veera Mallu’s latest poster

12

Vijayawada | Friday September 2, 2022 tollywood

SHIKHA DUGGAL

Rakul is back, and thistime with AkshayKumar, looking at the

trailer, the audience is assum-ing it's going to be the blow yourmind figures sort of show.

Titled Cuttputlli, the stakes arehigh this time. A thriller like thishas moved the Tollywood actressand she shared with us exclusive-ly, “It was the last ten-minutes ofthe film that made me sign it.There are days when you sudden-ly break. Like I have told earlier inmy interviews, I have beenreplaced out of films which isokay, as everybody gets replacedand everybody fails. But, I feel,winners are those who get up andtell themselves that it’s okay tofail and let’s restart again. So, Iam picking up from where Ileft.”

The actress strongly feelsthat it’s just good films that

are always watched, thosefilms have an audience

on television. Manyof her films

were

dubbed and were super hits inHindi. She is a true believer thatcinema has no language, it onlyhas emotion, and wherever filmsare being made they will beappreciated all over India. Ongrooving with Akshay Kumar in amelodious song with so manyaeroplanes around, she talksabout the set-up, “Melodies arealways long-lasting. It wasn't ahectic choreography at all, I wasin the mood. Dancing on top of aplane was extravagant. However,it was freezing cold while we wereshooting Saathiya and I was wear-ing a black corset made of mesh. I

could feel the wind passingthrough it.”

The kind of reach and experi-mentation that’s happening, it's anew world for Rakul nowadays.She is excited to see what unfoldsin the future in the Indian spaceof OTT. She then talks about hercamaraderie with the lead actor,“There was no tension betweenAkshay Kumar and me, he's notpetrifying at all (she laughs). Thefirst reading was at 5:30 a.m (yes,it's true, he really is a morningperson) and all of us showed up.As soon as the reading finished, itwas breakfast time at AK’s house.

One thing that you can neverforget about him is his inten-tions to keep the cast and crewtogether. As soon as duskarrived, he ensured we had ourmeals together and played a lotof games post for a good bond-ing time.”

She was in a new space afterDe De Pyaar De, and was eagerto make the most of it. Havingsaid that, she tried to calm her-self down when the pandemicstruck by looking at the brighterside of things. She thought atleast, she still has work anddoesn’t have to worry about herbasic needs.

Continuing that work, shespills, "I am dying to do anotherlove-story, sucker for romance.Or go completely on the contrastand do a period film wearingthose ten kilos of outfits andheavy jewelry and arrive like aqueen! Biopic is also on mycards as well.”

‘I am dying todo anotherlove story'

In an exclusiveinterview withThe Pioneer,

the KondaPolam actress

gets candidabout herupcoming

filmCuttputlli

Well-known pro-ducer KKRadhamohan

who has good taste inselecting stories is comingup with a wholesomefamily entertainer CrazyFellow being made underSri Sathya Sai Arts withyoung and talented heroAadi Saikumar playing thelead role and debutantPhani Krishna Sirikidirecting it.

The film’s teaser is outtoday and it gives usinsight into the life of theprotagonist. He leads ahappy life, though his actsbring troubles to his dearones. He is a burden forfamily, troublemaker forfriends and nuisance forgirls. Two girls enter hislife- DiganganaSuryavanshi and MirnaaMenon. Aadi’s characteras a Crazy Fellow is goingto be the USP of the

movie.Aadi sports a stylish

and dynamic look and hiscomic timing is excep-tional. Satish Mutyala’scamera work is com-mendable, whereas RRDhruvan impresses withhis background score.Production values of SriSathya Sai Arts are lavish.The movie is carryinggood buzz among moviebuffs and the teaser hastaken the expectations toanother level.

Giduturi Satya,Kolikapogu Ramesh andRama Krishna superviseediting, art and stuntsdepartments respectively.

The film’s post-produc-tion works are underwayand the team is promotingthe movie aggressively.The makers, through theteaser, announced therelease of the movie onOctober 14.

Aadi Saikumar’s

Crazy Fellow in

theaters on

October 14

Tollywood actor NikhilSiddhartha is the latestpan-India star to emerge

from down South.The movie which

has catapultedNikhilSiddhartha tothe Rs 100-crore club, isa sequel tohis earlierTelugu hitmovie

Karthikeya.The socio-mythologicalthriller revolv-

ing around oneof the most

adored and adventur-ous figures of Indianmythology, SriKrishna, has had peo-ple across North Indiaflocking to movie the-atres. While obvious-ly happy about thetremendousresponse the movieis garnering at thebox office in Hindi

markets, lead actor NikhilSiddhartha confides that atone point, they were worriedif the film would make it tothe theatres at all.

“During the pandemic wewere not sure if the movie wasever going to release or not.From a situation like that to asituation like this, where peo-ple across the country arewatching it. It's like a miracle.”

Nikhil recalled severalinstances during the movie'smaking, when providencesaved the day in an almostunbelievable manner. Theteam shot extensively inGujarat and HimachalPradesh and it got boggeddown in unknown terrain andhostile weather conditions.

Talking about such inci-dents, he said, “Now lookingat the way the movie hastaken off, sometimes you feelthat is there a divine hand orintervention because when wewere shooting, we had hugesnow blocks. We were blockedin by snow and we thought wewere never going to finish the

shoot. But then we had theBorder Roads Organisationcoming in like gods, andopening it up for us, minutesafter we were blocked in.

Then, in the Rann of Kutchwe had the BSF helping uswhen we were about to shootbecause we did not have thepermissions. So several suchincidents happened wherepeople intervened.”

Sharing the philosophy ofthe film and how it is provedin the film, he says, “Ourmovie’s motto is ‘daiva man-ishi roopena’, which means‘God comes in the form ofhumans’. We had many peoplehelping the film. So that'swhen I had to believe in mira-cles. I do believe in Lord SriKrishna, I do believe in thedialogue he said in the movie,”he elaborated.

For the lead actor ofKarthikeya 2, the movie ismore than box office successor pan-India recognition.Nikhil explained that themovie is more about gettingtoday’s generation closer to itscultural roots.

Nikhil said, “We made thismovie without keeping boxoffice numbers in mind. It wasa very honest attempt that wetalk about Sri Krishna in theright way. And talk a little bitabout our Indian roots andculture which I think theyounger generation is notbeing informed about.

We have the Marvel uni-verse, we have Spiderman, theAvatar universe, but we don'thave a universe which talksabout our Puranas and ourIndian culture which I feelmuch much better.”

ZEE5 has been relentlesslydishing out a wide variety ofcontent in various formats,

and languages. After presentingthe comedy-drama Oka ChinnaFamily Story from Pink ElephantPictures, Loser 2 from AnnapurnaStudios stable, Gaalivaana fromBBC Studios and NorthStarEntertainment, it most recentlycame out with Recce, Maa Neella

Tank, PaperRocket, andHello World.

Zee5announced itsnext original,

Maya

Bazar: A Paradise On Earth.Produced by Rana Daggubati,this original marks the first col-laboration between the versatileactor and ZEE5. VK Naresh,Jhansi, Eesha Rebba and RaviVarma, among others, are playingimportant roles in this one.

Talking about the premise ofthe Original, director GautamiChallagulla says that the storyunfolds in the backdrop of agated community on whose inau-gural day a celeb, who is it'sbrand ambassador, dies suspi-ciously.

He says, “Owning a villa in agated community is promoted asa sign of one's social and financialprosperity. In our story, a villa is

eagerly bought at Maya Bazaaron the promise of heavenly

bliss. However, the highexpectations of the buy-ers turn upside downwhen the community’s

brand ambassador – acelebrity actor Abhijeet -

falls dead from the terrace ofthe clubhouse on the inaugura-

tion day. On the same day, theresidents also come to know thatthe entire property is illegal,thanks to the builder Mr. Gandhi,who bypassed all rules and

approvals.”

Rana Daggubati collaborates with

Zee5 for Maya Bazaar

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Karthikeya 2: Nikhil Siddhartha says ‘If we can have

a Marvel universe, why not one for our Puranas'