5 youngsters drown on Karthika pournima · 11/13/2019  · India's richest trust --The Prudent Electoral Trust -- gave Rs 54.25 crore in donations to the party, accord-ing to the

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HYDERABAD, WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2019; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNVIJAYAWADA

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Minister KT Rama Rao participated in 550th Prakash Utsav of Guru Nanak Devjion Tuesday

PRAKASH UUTSAV

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NKESHAF AHMEDn HYDERABAD

In a significant development,the Telangana High Court onTuesday offered to constitute ahigh-level committee, com-prising three retired SupremeCourt judges, to reconcile thedifferences between tradeunions and TSRTC manage-ment so as to break the impasseover RTC indefinite strike.The court said that committeewould look into the demandsof the striking employees.

A division bench of the HCdirected the state advocate-general to get instructions fromthe government regarding theproposal to constitute the high-level committee by the nextdate of hearing.

The Court made this obser-vation while referring toSection 10(A) of the IndustrialDisputes Act-1948. The Actmandates arbitration betweenthe parties to a suit. In responseto the observation of the HC,the senior counsel appearingfor the trade unions told thecourt that the Unions wouldreconsider their decision oncontinuing the strike once theproposed committee was con-stituted by the HC to end theongoing impasse.

The High Court also madesome interesting observationsduring the course of the hear-ing of the arguments in a batch

of Public Interest Litigationpetitions filed against the ongo-ing TSRTC employees strikeand the recent decision of thestate cabinet on the issue of pri-vatizing 5,100 private routepermits of TSRTC. It said thatit did not have powers to act byexceeding its judicial powersviz a viz the laws of the land. Itmade it clear that it can't issueany order that contravenes anyexisting statutes of the state andCentre unless they were illegal,arbitrary and unconstitutionalin nature.

Referring to the pleas madeby different petitioners todeclare the strike as illegal

either normally or underESMA (Essential ServicesMaintenance Act), the courtasked senior Advocate VidyaSagar if it had the powers todeclare the strike as illegalunder any of the law of theland, including ESMA.

Responding to the question,he said that the HC coulddeclare the strike as illegalunder ESMA. He showed someGOs issued in the year 1998 bythe erstwhile AP governmentand in the year 2015 by theTelangana government.

After perusing the 2015 GOissued by the state govern-ment, the court said that theGO was meant for just sixmonths and didn't have anylegal force now. It asked thesenior counsel to show anyother GO to support his claim.The matter was posted tillWednesday for further hearingby the HC later.

HC moots panel of SC retdjudges to resolve RTC strike

Seeks Govt opinion on panel Adjourns case to today

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress on Tuesday saidGovernor Bhagat SinghKoshyari acted in a hurry insending his report recom-mending President's rule inMaharashtra without exhaustingall options for government for-mation. The Shiv Sena, whichon Monday suffered a setback inits efforts to cobble up a non-BJPgovernment in the state, said ifPresident's rule is imposed, it canbe challenged in court.

The governor, who had giventhe NCP time till 8.30 pm onTuesday to express its "willing-ness and ability" to form gov-ernment, has submitted a reportto President Ram Nath Kovindrecommending President's rulein the state. "I condemn thisaction which has been taken ina hurry without exhausting alloptions. This raises questionsabout the governor's impartial-ity. This also raises doubtwhether the governor is actingunder pressure," MaharashtraCongress spokesman SachinSawant told reporters here.Another senior CongressmanVijay Wadettiwar, who wasleader of the opposition in the13th state Assembly, the tenureof which expired on November9, felt President's rule will not bea roadblock in government for-mation.

Continued on Page 4

President's ruleimposed in Maharashtra

MAHA DRAMA

Shiv Sena moves SC againstMaha Governor's decisionPNS n NEW DELHI

The Shiv Sena on Tuesdaymoved the Supreme Courtagainst the MaharashtraGovernor Bhagat SinghKoshyari's decision not toextend the 24 hour time peri-od given to the party to proveits number on the floor toform the government.

The Sena, which hasemerged as the second-largestparty with 56 seats in the 288-member Assembly, said that itwas constrained to move thetop court seeking urgent reliefagainst the "arbitrary andmalafide actions" of theGovernor. The party soughtquashing of the order of the

Governor and declaring theaction "unconstitutional, arbi-trary, illegal, void-ab-initio, andviolative of Article 14 of theConstitution of India".

Also raising questions onthe Governor's behaviour, itsaid that he cannot act in sucha manner or act on the diktatsof the Central Government.

The Sena was invited by theGovernor when the single-largest party BJP, which won105 seats, said that it cannotform a government. It told thecourt that the Governor was in"hot haste" as he refused togrant even three days' time toprove the requisite majority toform the government.

Continued on Page 4

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari

The Governor, whohad given the NCPtime till 8.30 pm onTuesday to expressits "willingness andability" to formgovt, submitted areportrecommendingPresident's rule

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

Gone are the days when polit-ical lineage was largely aboutsons and daughters. These dayspolitical leaders' wives seem tohave put on political weight inTelangana, particularly in theruling Telangana RashtraSamiti party.

Women are behind the suc-cess of many politicians in theTRS government and they nolonger want to be in the shad-ow of their respective hus-bands. Politics is clearly turn-

ing into a family affair even forministers and leaders, witheach of them unabashedlydoing their bit in promotingtheir wives. No wonder, postersof wives of ministers wishingpeople on festivals havebecome a common and fre-

quent sight. On Tuesday, on the occasion

of Karthika Pournami, Minister

Errabelli Dayakar Rao waskeenly promoting his wifeErrabelli Usha Dayakar Rao.Likewise, for Sadar festival,posters of Bonthu Sridevi, wifeof Mayor Bonthu Ram Mohan,appeared across Hyderabad.

The names of spouses thattypically surface during elec-tions are tactically being inject-

ed into the minds of people bywhat borders on subliminaladvertising. The noticeablepoint is that the wife's name hasthe leader's name prominent-ly inscribed in it.

Spouses of some of theministers have already cuttheir teeth in politics. In sucha situation, joint promotion is

going on in full swing. Ministers Mynampally

Hanumanth Rao and GJagadish Reddy are purportedlyinvolved in joint promotionsinvolving their respectivewives.

Amberpet MLA KaleruVenkatesh is reportedly fol-lowing the path of 'couple pol-itics' along with his wifeGolnaka Corporator KaleruPadma Venkatesh. They toohope to soar to newer heightsand continue their politicalheritage.

Continued on Page 4

Minister Indrakaran Reddy is also taking stepsto field his daughter-in-law Divya Reddy inpolitics. However, Kalvakuntla family has notbeen keen on promoting their daughters-in-law

PNS n HYDERABAD

Two farmers died of electro-cution when they came intocontact with an electric fenceat an agricultural field atKondapuram village inNallabelli mandal in the dis-trict on Monday night.

The deceased were identi-fied as Eesam Kommaiah (50)and his brother-in-lawAgaboina Sudhakar (45) ofthe same village. According tothe police, both of them wentto irrigate the chilli fields onMonday night and did notreturn in the morning.

Continued on Page 3

BJP got Rs 350 crore indonations from Tata’s trustPNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP received Rs 356 crorein donations from an electoraltrust controlled by the TataGroup during 2018-19, accord-ing to documents submitted bythe ruling party before theElection Commission.

As per information provid-ed by the BJP to the EC onOctober 31, it received a totalof over Rs 700 crore in dona-tions through cheques andonline payments during thefinancial year 2018-19.

Around half the contribu-tions -- Rs 356 crore -- were

made by the Tata-controlledProgressive Electoral Trust.

India's richest trust --The Prudent ElectoralTrust -- gave Rs 54.25crore in donationsto the party, accord-ing to the docu-ments.

The Prudent Trustis backed by top corporatehouses including BhartiGroup, Hero MotoCorp,Jubilant Foodworks, OrientCement, DLF, JK Tyres, amongothers.

The information providedpertains to donations of Rs

20,000 and above each thatwere received by the party

through cheques oronline payments.

D o n a t i o n sreceived in the formof electoral bondswere not included in

the filing.The BJP received

donations from individu-als, companies as well as elec-toral trusts, the documentsaid.

As per the election code,political parties are mandatedto disclose all donations theyreceive in a financial year.

Guv working atBJP's ‘behest’:Shiv SenaPNS n MUMBAI

The Shiv Sena approachedthe Supreme Court Tuesdayagainst Maharashtra GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari'srefusal to grant it extra time tostake claim to form the nextgovernment in Maharashtra.The decision was "unconsti-tutional, unreasonable andmalafide," the party said in itspetition to the top court.Congress leader and formerUnion Minister Kapil Sibal willrepresent the party in the topcourt, sources said.

Refusing to accept theSena's request for a 48-hourextension to form govern-ment, Governor Bhagat SinghKoshiyari had invited SharadPawar's Nationalist CongressParty yesterday to stake claim.The deadline for the NCP endsat 8.30 pm today and theparty said they had asked fora 48-hour extension thismorning. Today, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi's cab-inet recommended President'sRule for Maharashtra, whereno government has beenformed nearly 20 days after theassembly election results.

The Governor, the ShivSena alleged, was working "atthe behest of the BJP".

In its petition, the Senasaid while the Governor gave48 hours to the BJP to indicatewhether it can form govern-ment, he gave them only 24hours to get the support lettersfrom prospective allies -- theCongress and the NCP.

WARANGAL: In a bizarreincident that has shaken theentire Musthyalapalli villagein Damera mandal ofWarangal rural district,Kadari Mahesh Chandra(40), a drunkard, was setablaze by his parents at hisresidence on Tuesday night.

The incident took placearound 8PM, with the par-ents resorting to the grue-some act unable to bear theharassment of their son. Thevillagers and neighboursalleged that Maheshchandraused to booze and harass hiswife Radhika(35) and adaughter and son unneces-sarily every day.

Disgusted with their son'sways, the parents, Prabhakarand Vimala, torched him onTuesday after pouringkerosene on him when hewas in an inebriated condi-tion. The drunkard wasenveloped in flames, but noone in the vicinity was per-mitted to rescue him.

Drunkard sonset ablaze byparents

NEW DELHI: TheEnforcement Directorate(ED) on Tuesday said that ithas registered a case againsttwo IAS officers and someothers in connection to itsprobe into the Shahranpurillegal sand mining case.

A senior ED official toldIANS that the agencyhasbooked Ajay Kumar Singhand Pawan Kumar, formerDistrict Magistrates (DM) ofSaharanpur, on the basis ofthe CBI FIR registered onSeptember 30 this year.

According to the ED,Singh, a 1998-batch IAS, wasposted as the SaharanpurDM between March 28, 2012and February 12, 2014. He isnow Secretary of the Khadiand Village Industries Board.

ED books 2 IAS in sandmining case

PNS n SIDDIPET

In tragic incidents on the aus-picious occasion of Karthikapournima on Tuesday, threeyouths drowned in a deepstream in Varikole village whilethey were trying to take holydip in Koheda mandal ofSiddipet district. The youthsKante Nikhil, Kuna Prashanthand Pendhota Varaprasad, agedbetween 10 and 15 years, wentfor the dip during the earlyhours and were drowned asthey could not swim.

Police came to the spot andtook up search operations toretrieve the bodies. The vil-lagers were found wailinginconsolably over the death ofthe three youths. The bodieswere traced and handed over to

the kin of the deceased.A pall of gloom descended

on the village as the threeyoungsters from the same vil-

lage died on the same day. Acase was registered.

Two teenagers, a boy and agirl, met with a watery grave

in the district on Tuesday.The deceased were identifiedas Bhukya Anill (13), son ofSrinivas and Laxmi, of Teekyathanda on the outskirts ofPonugodu village in Gudurmandal, and GugulothuPavani (13), daughter of Bodiand Vijaya of Venkatathandaof Anepuram village ofMarripeda mandal in the dis-trict.

While the former died in awell, the latter drowned in theSRSP canal. Both were study-ing 8th class in differentschools. Meanwhile, TribalWelfare Minister SatyavathiRathod visited theMahabubabad area hospitaland consoled the parents ofPavani, and assured help fromthe government.

Bodies of the victims who were drowned on Tuesday

5 youngsters drown on Karthika pournima

PNS n HYDERABAD

A Maoist couple fromMansoorabad, found to be inpossession of incriminatingMaoist literature, was nabbedby a special team of the LBNagar Police on Tuesday, fol-lowing searches at theirpremises. The two are topMaoists and have been active-ly participating in revolution-ary activities, according toRachakonda PoliceCommissioner MaheshBhagwat.

Following a tip-off about thecouple, identified as NarlaRavi Sharma, 54, member ofCPI Maoist Party & ex-SCMBihar regional committee UG,

and Bellapu Anuradha, 56,special teams were formed bythe LB Nagar Police to searchtheir premises atVenkataramana Colony inMansoorabad.

"We found incriminatingMaoist literature, three laptops,pen drives and memory cardsand correspondence withMaoist- related stuff," said theofficial, adding that they werearrested on Tuesday.

"They were connected withMaoist activities in the statefrom their house since June2019. Ravi Sharma alias Rahulis a graduate in Agricultureand studied at Acharya NGRanga Agriculture University,Hyderabad during the year1984-86. He came into contactwith one Mekala DamodarReddy alias Madan DCS ofCPI (ML) PWG and worked asCO in twin cities.

Continued on Page 3

Ravi Sharma and Bellapu Anuradha

Top Maoist couple nabbed

Live electricfence claimstwo lives

PNS n HYDERABAD

Asaduddin Owaisi "Has HisOwn Agenda": BJP LeaderOn Ayodhya Order Remark

HYDERABAD: BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) leader NVSubhash on Tuesday said thatAll India Majlis-e-IttehadulMuslimeen (AIMIM) chiefAsaduddin Owaisi has givenan inflammatory statementagainst the Supreme Court'sAyodhya verdict just to servehis own agenda and to disruptthe unity of the country.

"Mr Owaisi has given aninflammatory speech tospread communal hatred afterthe landmark Supreme Courtjudgement. Instead of wel-coming the verdict, he has hisown agendas and is trying todisrupt the unity and diversi-ty of the country," Mr Subhashwas quoted as saying by newsagency ANI. A complaint hasbeen filed against theHyderabad MP for his con-troversial remarks. The BJPleader said that the SupremeCourt has, in a historic andlandmark judgement, resolveda centuries-old dispute.

Continued on Page 4

Owaisi ‘hashis ownagenda’: BJP

6 Indianworkers killedin Oman DUBAI: At least six con-struction workers, believed tobe Indian nationals, werekilled in Oman when theywere buried at an excavationsite of a water pipeline projectdue to heavy rains.

The incident happened inthe Seeb area of Muscat fol-lowing heavy rain on Sunday,the Indian Embassy inMuscat said.

"We are deeply saddened tolearn about the incidentinvolving death of six work-ers, who are believed to beIndian nationals, in Seeb areaof Muscat, Oman, followingthe heavy rains on November10," the Indian embassy saidin a tweet.

The Court made thisobservation whilereferring to Section10(A) of the IndustrialDisputes Act-1948

Wives of TRS leaders put on political weight MOVE OVER SONS AND DAUGHTERS…

PNS n GADWAL

A video in which a farmer isseen taking revenue officialsto task for the delay in resolv-ing land issue and demandingbribes has gone viral.

In the clip, the farmer isseen expressing his ire at rev-enue officials for their inac-tion, even though Gadwaldistrict collector had issuedorders to resolve his issue.

The incident, which hap-pened at the Gadwal DictrictCollectorate on Monday,found its way into everyone'scell phone in no time.

Ramudu (62), the farmerfrom Macharla village ofGhattu mandal, had come tothe District Collectorate onMonday to escalate the issuepertaining to his agriculturalland which was pending formore than 14 months after hehad represented it to theCollector.

Due to mandal- and vil-lage-level revenue officialsprotesting againstAbdullapurmet MRO VijayaReddy's murder for the pastfew days, he was left with nooption but to seek theCollector's intervention onthe alleged inaction of rev-enue officials.

At the Collectorate, he was

confronted by angry revenueofficials who got into a heat-ed argument with Ramudu,when the latter showed themdocuments and DistrictCollector's signature on them,which he had submitted to theCollector in September 2018.

"From VRO, to MRO andRDO, all of them have takenbribe. For an extent of land to

be registered, they made apercentage basis commissiondemand. They take lakhs ofrupees as salary but don't dotheir job," he alleged, speak-ing with the media presentoutside the Collectorate.

A revenue official presentthere asked the farmerwhether he was givingsalaries to them and asked thefarmer who he was to ques-tion them. He also asked thefarmer to go on the road andspeak about it.

"If a MRO dies, all theserevenue officials are protest-ing, but if a farmer diesbecause of MRO's inaction,nobody protests," Ramuduobserved.

While the revenue officialsretreated and went inside,the police personnel presentthere convinced Ramudu thathe could meet the Collectorand once again take the issueto his notice.

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HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019 hyderabad 02

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PNS n HYDERABAD

Hitachi Vantara, a subsidiaryof Japanese tech conglomer-ate Hitachi Ltd., on Tuesdayunveiled a new regional oper-ations hub herethat will act as aninnovation andglobal deliverycentre for theAsia Pacif ic(APAC) region.

"India plays acrit ical role in HitachiVantara's holistic global strat-egy," Bobby Soni, ChiefSolutions and Ser vicesOfficer at Hitachi Vantara,said in a statement.

"As India continues to riseas a powerful global eco-

nomic player, building out acentre of excellence inHyderabad will enable us toconnect even better with ourcustomers, build local marketexpertise, and deliver indus-

t r y - l e a d i n gi n n o v a t i o nfaster than ever,"Soni said.

The deliverycentre enhancesH i t a c h iVantara's capa-

bilities to support global cus-tomers anywhere, anytime.

India, with its highlyskilled workforce and region-al prominence, plays a criti-cal role in the company'sglobal growth strategy,Hitachi Vantara said.

Hitachi Vantara sets up regional operationshub in Hyderabad

REUTERS n KIMBERLEY

The first South African projectto bring illegal miners into theformal fold has been plagued byviolence in diamond capitalKimberley, dealing a major blowto national efforts to stem abooming illicit trade.

The project was launched 18months ago in Kimberley, thesite of a 19th-century diamondrush that lured fortune-seekersfrom the world over. Mine own-ers granted more than 800 unli-censed, or informal, small-scaleminers the right to legally minearound 1,500 acres of diamond-rich waste fields.

The aim of the government-backed scheme was to curbillegal mining and black-markettrade of diamonds, and serve asa blueprint for future attempts

elsewhere in the country, notonly in the diamond sector, butalso potentially manganese, goldand chrome. However the pro-ject has been hit by violence,with informal miners notincluded in the scheme attack-

ing infrastructure and evenmembers of the newly licensedcooperative, according to mineowner Ekapa Minerals which isrunning the initiative.

The failure thus far of this pilotscheme is a blow to wider corpo-

rate and governmental efforts tobring South Africa's estimatedtens of thousands of informalminers, or "zama-zamas", into themainstream, to boost productiv-ity and curb crime. Illicit miningand mineral trading cost around$1.5 billion a year in lost sales,taxes and royalties, according toa 2017 estimate by industrygroup the Minerals Council, andsees criminal networks exploit

vulnerable workers strugglingto make ends meet.

While the government hasalways acted in an advisorycapacity, it indicated it maynow be forced to take a moreactive role in the project, the firstto attempt so-called formaliza-tion in the mining industry.Asked whether he was pleasedwith the results of the Ekapa pro-ject, minerals minister Gwede

Mantashe told Reuters: "I'mnot. We will have to assignsomebody to work on it."

He did not elaborate on whatwould have to be done, addingonly: "I am not happy becauseit (informal mining) must be inthe mainstream of mining, itmust not be in the periphery."

The project's troubles alsodemonstrate the perils of piece-meal formalization in a countrywhose regulation of small-scalemining lags far behind itsAfrican counterparts.

Ekapa and Petra Diamonds(PDL.L), then a part-owner ofthe mine, launched the initiativelast year at Kimberley, inNorthern Cape Province, hop-ing to address the problem of aninflux of zama-zamas - a Zulu-derived word which looselytranslates as "keep trying".

As much as 6 million rands'($400,300) worth of diamondswere being taken by illegal min-ers each month, Ekapa esti-mates. In a bid to stem that, thecompany formed 836 minersinto the Batho Pele miningcooperative and gave them alicence to mine the fields.

But a year and a half later, thetrack record on the ground is notpromising. Illegal miners whoare not part of the cooperativehave stolen fences, petrol-bombed three Ekapa trucks,blocked access roads with rocksand burning tires, and sabotageda waste pipeline, shutting downits plant, according to Ekapa.

Ekapa security teams havebeen attacked with knives, sling-shots, rocks, petrol bombs and,in one instance, a hunting rifle,the company said.

In Kimberley, the world's diamond capital, illicit mining fight floundersThe aim of the government-backedscheme was to curb illegal mining andblack-market trade of diamonds, andserve as a blueprint for future attemptselsewhere in the country, not only inthe diamond sector, but also potentiallymanganese, gold and chrome

Wi l lt h eidea

of makingHyderabadthe nation's

second capital befruitful and yield

expected results? Will such sec-ond capital resonate in thesentiments-ridden TelanganaState? Is it really possible for thecentral leadership of BJP to pullit off under the nose of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, polit-ical Bahubali of the country, bygoing against the strong senti-ments of the people of theyoungest state in the country?

After former governor ofMaharashtra Ch. VidyasagarRao adverted to the issuerecently, political circles as wellas general public are eager toknow whether Hyderabad nowmerits the pride of place. Theissue is quite old, having beenfirst mooted by the architect of

the country's basic statute DrBR Ambedkar during the ini-tial years of India'sIndependence. It was then feltthat Hyderabad could be themost-favoured destination forpeople across the country, irre-spective of their region, reli-gion, caste or creed.

However, successive govern-ments at Delhi did not focus onthe issue of Hyderabad asnation's second capital for var-ious reasons. The main reasonis believed to be the absence ofpolitical need for rulers to goahead with the proposal madeby Dr. Ambedkar.

If so, why did VidyasagarRao raise this issue now? Hestressed his point by referringto the grave pollution in thenational capital? One cannotignore his proximity with Modiever since the latter emerged asan unparallel leader of the saf-fron party seven years ago. Itwas not without reason that

Vidyasagar was appointed theGovernor of Maharashtra andmade in-charge of Tamil Naduduring the political unrest fol-lowing the demise of thenChief Minister Jayalalithaa.After completion ofVidyasagar's tenure atRajbhavan, he has been broughtagain into Telangana politics toprepare the ground for theBJP to really emerge as an alter-native to the ruling TelanganaRashtra Samiti.

Vidyasagar is the 'choice' ofModi in Telangana to counterKCR as both of leaders belongto the Velama community,which has attained the status ofruling caste with the emergenceof KCR as an undisputed leaderof people following theTelangana movement. Reddysand Kammas are the othercastes that have been enjoyingprominent status. These twocommunities have ruled theundivided state of Andhra

Pradesh for decades. BothKCR and Vidyasagar had theexperience of contesting againsteach other in the 2004 elections.Then Union Minister of Statefor Home Affairs Vidyasagarlost the election to KCR, TRS'nominee backed by Congress,in the Karimnagar Lok Sabhaseat. Later, KCR had becomemember of the Union Cabinet

headed by Manmohan Singh. If Vidyasagar, with such a

background, has once againraked up the subject of secondcapital, the writing on the wallis clear. The plausible reasonappears to be the politicalfuture of BJP in AndhraPradesh, where the saffronparty has been trying hard toleave its own impression on thestrength of Modi government'sachievements like abrogation ofArticle 370 and recent develop-ments culminating in SC's ver-dict on Ayodhya issue!

Considering the heartburnof the people of AP over thebifurcation of the unified state,the saffron party wants to winthe confidence of Andhra peo-ple. People in AP lost theirmost beloved city Hyderabad toTelangana, following bifurca-tion. Their wish of havingHyderabad at least as jointcapital too evaporated due tothe adamant attitude of the

UPA government. The angerof Andhra people due thisharsh decision of UPA govern-ment reflected in the 2014elections, in which Congresslost its address in Andhra andBJP managed to save its faceonly because it aligned itselfwith TDP and won fourAssembly and two LS seats. So,winning the hearts of people ofAndhra may not be all thateasy. So, BJP has to get thepatronage of Andhra peopleonly by backing the idea ofmaking Hyderabad secondcapital of the country. And,that is better done by latchingon to the 'theory of Dr.Ambedkar' in this regard.

What about the possible lossof BJP's political interests in T-state? Will Telangana peopleagree to this kind of change?BJP believes that T-peoplemight be reluctant to shareHyderabad with Andhra peo-ple and may welcome the move

of Modi government on mak-ing the city as second capital ofIndia. BJP has slowly beenexpanding its political base inT-state if the results of therecent Lok Sabha elections areany indication.

At the same time, any suchmove may come in handy forTRS to regain public sympathy,considering the dip in its pop-ularity due to the prolongedRTC strike and concerns of rev-enue staff. TRS did praiseDr.Ambedkar for his positivethoughts on Telangana state.Still, it strategically ignored thewords of the same person onthe issue of making Hyderabadthe second capital. This isbecause T-people feel proud ofowning this city, known for itscosmopolitan culture.Regardless of the sentiments inT state, it appears thatHyderabad as nation's secondcapital might be the final wordof BJP's central leadership!.

M D RATNA KUMAR Senior Journalist

After former governor of Maharashtra Ch.Vidyasagar Rao adverted to the issuerecently, political circles as well as generalpublic are eager to know whetherHyderabad now merits the pride of place.The issue is quite old, having been firstmooted by the architect of the country'sbasic statute Dr BR Ambedkar during theinitial years of India's Independence

PINPOINT

Will Hyd as nation's ‘second Capital' resonate in sentiment-ridden TS?

K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

Already one month has gonesince Rabi season began.However, farmers have not yetreceived Kharif season's RythuBandhu scheme money. Thestate government is yet to dis-tribute Rs.1,754 crore Kharifseason's Rythu Bandhu moneyto 11.75 lakh more farmers.The government had starteddistribution of Kharif season'sRythu Bandhu in June andcontinues the clearing processof the scheme in a phasedmanner. However, more thanone billion farmers have not yetreceived the amount.

It is learnt that the ChiefMinister's flagship schemeRythu Bandhu is facing fundscrunch. The Rabi season start-ed in October. The sowingseason nears as the season getsto mid-November. However,the Kharif season's RythuBandhu amounts have not yetbeen deposited in the accountsof farmers. A farmer fromMahabubnagar on condition ofanonymity bemoaned that he

has not got Kharif season'samount yet. "When will I getthe Rabi season's RythuBandhu amount?" hebemoaned. However replyingto Congress criticism, ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raohad announced in theAssembly during the budgetsession that his governmentwould implement the Rythu

Bandhu scheme at any costwithout compromising on it.

It is learnt that theAgriculture department is noteven thinking on Rabhi sea-son's Rythu Bandhu as it is yetto clear 11.75 lakh farmers'amounts. The governmenttried to implement RythuBandhu scheme to 56.75 lakhfarmers with expected amount

Rs.7,254 crore. However, thegovernment deposited Rs.5,500crore to 45 lakh farmers by allo-cating Rs.6,900 crore to thescheme in the budget for Kharifseason. The government needsRs.354 crore more to imple-

ment the scheme thanwhat was allotted in

the budget. Ag r ic u lture

and Cooperationprincipal secre-tary C ParthaSarathi said that

they will startsoon Rabi season's

Rythu Bandhuamounts distribution. He

said that they have yet to clearmore than Rs.1,500 croreamounts for Kharif seasonRythu Bandhu. A farmer, whodidn't get Kharif season'samount yet, from Rangareddyon condition of anonymity,said "I am hoping that I may gettwo seasons' (Kharif and Rabi)amounts in Rabi season."However, it is learnt that about13 lakh farmers didn't getRythu Bandhu amounts in thelast Kharif and Rabi seasons.

It is learnt that the Chief Minister'sflagship scheme Rythu Bandhu is facingfunds crunch. The Rabi season started inOctober. The sowing season nears as theseason gets to mid-November

Manda toorganize paradewith 10 lakhpeoplePNS n HYDERABAD

MRPS founder presidentManda Krishna Madiga hasstated that they would orga-nize massive parade inHyderabad with one lakh to10 lakh people. At a roundtable meeting at SomajigudaPress Club on Tuesday,Manda Krishna Madiga saidthat Minorities, SC, STswould face severe injustice ifRTC was privatized. He saidthat caste organizationswould meet Governor onNovember 20 in respect ofRTC strike. He said that theywould extend their support toRTC JAC's proposedMahadharna at Indira Parkon November 17 and SadakBandh on November 18.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Government ofTelangana has issued noti-fication to constitute templetrust boards fol lowingreports received from tem-ple authorities who laidemphasis on the need toconstitute the boards.

According to endow-ments secretary V AnilKumar on Monday, the gov-ernment has given its greensignal to constitute trustboards to Ganesh templeand Ujjaini Mahankali tem-ple in Secunderabad,Yel lamma temple inBalkampet, Kanakadurgatemple in Ameerpet ,Venkateswara Swamy tem-ple in Srinagar whose annu-al income crosses Rs 1crore-mark.

Similarly, the governmentgave its green signal forconstitution of anothereight temples in twin citieswhose annual incomecrosses Rs 25 lakh.

The interested shouldsubmit their applicationswithin 20 days.

Government toconstitute trustboards totemples soon

Pumping of Kaleshwaramwater to MMD beginsPNS n KARIMNAGAR:

Pumping of Kaleshwaramwater to Rajarajeshwara reser-voir (Mid Manair Dam) fromthe Nandi Medaram pumphouse recommenced onTuesday morning.

The pumping of waterbegan at 5 a.m. with the irri-gation authorities switching onthree motors of the Nandipump house. The Nandi pumphouse is constructed underKaleshwaram package-6 nearNandi Medaram, Dharmarammandal of Peddapalli district.

Water was pumped into thereservoir through deliveryfrom where it has been takento Gayatri (Laxmpur) pump

house of package-8 inKarimangar district. Waterwould reach Mid Manairthrough flood flow canal.

Though Mid Manair reser-voir was filled withKaleshwaram water a fewmonths ago, the project wascompletely drained as waterwas released into LowerManair Dam after leakagesdeveloped on the left sidebund of MMD. Now that thebund leakages have beenrepaired, officials decided to fillup the Mid Manair Dam now.

Kaleshwaram projectEngineer-in-Chief NallaVenkateshwarlu and ExecutiveEngineer Nune Sridhar weremonitoring the water release.

‘Rabi's Rythu Bandhu will startonly after Kharif's distribution’

PNS n MEDAK

Two spotted deer were electro-cuted after they accidentallystepped on a live wire fence setup around a paddy field by afarmer in Medak forest area onSunday.

Following information,Forest Range Officer of MedakM Bachi Reddy, along with hisstaff, inspected the site andfound the two animals dead atthe paddy field of one MandeVenkaiah (60) at Gajireddypallyvillage of Ghanpur Mandal.

When questioned, the farmertold the forest personnel he hadfenced his agriculture field toprotect the crop from the wildanimals.

However, Divisional ForestOfficer of Medak, MPadmajarani said that her stafffound enough evidence that the

fencing was connected withelectricity during nighttime.

A case under the WildlifeProtection Act, 1972 has beenfiled against Venkaiah. Theaccused was produced beforeJudicial First Class MagistrateMedak on Monday. The courthas remanded the accused for15 days.

Video of farmer taking revenue officials to task goes viral 2 spotted deer electrocutedin Medak, farmer arrested

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019 hyderabad 03

RIMEORNERC

Six DJS activiststaken into custody

Student held forlooting delivery boys

HYDERABAD: Six activists ofthe Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat,including its president AbdulMajid, were taken intopreventive custody by the citypolice on Tuesday morning.According to the police, the DFSoffice-bearers were preparing tohold a press conference andspeak about the Ayodhyaverdict at their office onTuesday at Moghalpura in theafternoon. The police tookAbdul Majid into custody atKanchanbagh when he wasleaving for his office. Twoothers, Mohammed Bin Omer,organizing secretary, andSalahuddin Affan, generalsecretary, were also taken intocustody by the city police.Later, three more office-bearerswere picked up. All of themwere shifted to KanchanbaghPolice Station. The SaidabadPolice and Commissioner'sTask Force also took MaulanaNaseeruddin, president ofWahadat -e-Islami, intopreventive custody. MaulanaNaseeruddin was also planningto address the press personnelalongside the DJS group.

HYDERABAD: A BBA studentwho allegedly committed theftsof electronic gadgets and otherproducts from delivery boys ofe-commerce portals wasarrested by the Dundigal policeon Monday. According to thepolice, the accused wasidentified as Thungala Sriram.He would follow the deliveryboys on a bike after targetinghis victim. "Once the boyswould go to a customer todeliver the product by leavingtheir delivery bag on the bike,Sriram would run away with thebag," said the police. DCPBalanagar PV Padmaja saidclues from CCTV camerasplayed a major role in nabbingSriram. He was earlier arrestedin bike theft cases and was outon bail.

Top Maoistcouple nabbed Continued on Page 1

He was elected as GeneralSecretary of Hyderabad CityRSU.

In 1988, he was arrested intwo cases, attack on RTC busand setting it blaze case inSaidabad and another case ofMirchowk. In the year 1992-93, he worked in CentralResearch Institute for DrylandAgriculture (CRIDA) atHyderabad," said the PoliceCommissioner.

His underground activitiesincluded him going to Bihar,Jharkhand in the year 1998 totake part in merger process ofPWG with PU. In the year1999 worked as ZCM atPalamu, Lathehar of Jharkhandstate and was then taken as BJSAC member in the year 2001and acted as an in-charge ofmilitary affairs of BJ SAC from2003 -2006. He attended the9th Congress at Bhimbandhforest Bihar and acted as in-charge security arrangements.

During the year 2008, hewas taken into SCOPE to train

cadre on political and militaryconcepts. October 17, 2009,Sharma was arrested inHazaribagh district ofJharkhand. A total of 16 casesare registered against him, ofwhich 11 are in Jharkhand, 4in Hyderabad and 1 atChintapalli VisakhapatnamRural, AP. He frequently goesunderground for long periodsand takes part in the meetingsof top Maoists in Chhattisgarhand other parts of the country.

"Sharma was activelyinvolved in the formation ofthe All India Forum againstHindutva Facist Offensive inFebruary 2019 at Delhi. He iscontinuing his war against theState and actively promotingrevolutionary activities in theState and country. The seizureof a large quantity of literatureand digital gadgets from hishouse authenticate that he is ahard-core Maoist. The analy-sis of incriminating literatureand digital data seized will fur-ther substantiate the chargeslevelled against him," con-cluded the Commissioner.

Live electricfence claimstwo lives Continued on Page 1

Subsequently, Sudhakar'swife Sambalaxmi and otherrelatives went to the fields insearch of them. They werehorrified when they foundthe bodies of the two near thepaddy fields of RajaboinaAilaiah and others who hadput up a wire fence that waslive. The fence had been setup to prevent wild boarsfrom entering the fields.

Police have registered acase on a complaint lodged bySambalaxmi.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The loco pilot who was rescued9 hours after Monday's trainmishap at Kacheguda fromthe mangled remains of hiscabin was on Tuesday bookedfor negligence which reported-ly resulted in the mishap.Sources said that LChandrasekhar, who was crit-ically injured in the train col-lision, is presently on ventila-tor support.

Chandrasekhar was rescuedfrom the crushed cabin of theFalaknuma - LingampallyMMTS (Multi-ModalTransport System) service aftera rescue operation that lastedover eight hours.

On Tuesday, the KachigudaRailway police filed casesagainst Chandrashekhar, 36,for negligence resulting in thecollision. The cases werebooked under section 308(attempt to commit culpablehomicide), 337 (causing hurtby act endangering life or per-sonal safety of others), 338(causing grievous hurt by actendangering life or personalsafety of others) of the IPC fol-lowing a complaint lodged byDasharath, railway superin-tendent. Meanwhile, doctorssaid Chandrasekhar was onventilator as he had sufferedcrush injuries, polytrauma, acondition in which a personhas been subjected to multiple

traumatic injuries, sustainedfractured ribs, besides injury tohis kidney. "He is in hemor-rhagic shock for which we aregiving him continuous renalreplacement therapy. Bloodflow in both his legs is low(lower limb ischemia neuroquora neurovascular bundleinjury) - for this, we havegiven him vascular surgery.The treatment is going on, buthis condition is critical," saiddoctors of Care Hospital,Nampally, adding that he alsohad internal bleeding.

"His urine output has low-ered. Probably due to suffoca-tion and shock, he is in a state

of acute tubular necrosis con-dition," doctors said.

On Monday, the MMTStrain driven by loco pilotChandrasekhar collided withHundry Intercity Express(Kurnool-Secunderabad train)at around 10.30 am near theKacheguda Railway Station.

In the incident, 17 persons,including the loco pilot, suf-fered injuries. In addition toChandrasekhar, anotherpatient, identified as Shekar, isalso reportedly in a criticalcondition. Both of them areavailing treatment at CareHospital.

According to the South

Central Railway's preliminaryinquiry, the accident occurreddue to the negligence ofChandrasekhar. They saidthat Chandrasekhar did nothave the signal to move; yet, heproceeded, ignoring the signal.

A high-level inquiry hasbeen ordered into the incidentand the Commission ofRailway Safety (CRS) is prob-ing the incident. The CRS willsubmit a detailed report withtheir findings by Wednesday.

Meanwhile, several trainshave been cancelled inKacheguda Railway Stationowing to the restoration worksunderway. SCR authorities saidthey had restored the damagedrailway tracks.

According to South CentralRailway, railway staff fromvarious engineering depart-ments undertook works toclear the derailed coaches ofthe MMTS train to completerestoration of the railway lineand help resume rail traffic viaKacheguda. The works werecompleted by Tuesday morn-ing and the track has beendeclared fit for normal rail traf-fic with speed restriction onboth up and down lines atKacheguda Yard, officials said.

Consequent to the same,long distance express trainservices will be running onnormal route from Kachegudatowards Kurnool side, offi-cials added.

CASE AGAINST LOCO PILOTON VENTILATOR SUPPORT

KACHEGUDA TRAIN MISHAP

Chandrasekhar was rescued from the crushedcabin of the Falaknuma - Lingampally Multi-Modal Transport System service after arescue operation that lasted over eight hours

‘Avoid Sec’bad skywalk,its horrifying experience’l HMRL eyes RTC land for developingSec'bad Railway station skywalk furtherPNS n HYDERABAD

Skywalk built fromSecunderabad East metro sta-tion to the Railway station isnot commuter friendly. Theskywalk ends at Rathifile busstand and it is a claustropho-bic experience. The skywalkexits at Rathifile bus stationcomplex. A commuter needsto use stairs to get downalmost three floors to enter theRailway station. It is better forold persons, differently abled,those carrying huge luggage,pregnant woman to avoid thestation. If the station witness-es huge rush, the skywalkcould witness a stampede asthe stairs are very narrow. It iseasier to climb down andcross the road rather than usethat walkway.

A citizen K Srinivas said, "Ihad to catch a train at 5:40pmin railway station and usedMetro skywalk. I was confi-dent that I could enter the sta-

tion on time as was runningshort on time. Once I reachedthe skywalk exit, I realized thatwith a heavy suitcase alongwith my pregnant wife had toget down three floors. It washarrowing experience. I evenwitnessed, old persons holdingtheir knees while using thisskywalk".

Passengers have to travelconsiderable distance to reachthe station and it would takeatleast 10minutes if the sky-walk is free to reach the plat-form number1. Another pas-senger K V S S Prasad said,"Climbing down through theTSRTC building is a horribleexperience. Its suffocation andcarrying luggage is difficult. Itis easier to exit at metro stationand cross the road ratherinstead of using the walk-way". According to senior offi-cial, plans are afoot to makethe skywalk pedestrian friend-ly. Official said, "We are work-ing towards building an alter-

PNS n SURYAPET

One person died and twoothers were seriously injuredwhen the car in which theywere travelling rammed therear of a truck at Garidepallyin the district on Tuesday.The three were on their wayto have darshan at MattapallyNarsimha Swamy temple onthe auspicious occasion ofKarteeka pournami.

The victim was identifiedas K Balakishan (56), ateacher of Zilla ParishadHigh School at Narketpallyin Nalgonda district. Theother two are retired teach-ers, Terla Amar and ShivangiPapa Rao. They sufferedserious injuries in the acci-dent.

According to GaridepallySub-Inspector Meer JafferBaig, the three were on theirway to Mattapally to havedarshan at the temple. Theaccident occured near

Sammakka-Sarakka hotel inGaridepally. Balakishan, whowas driving the car sufferedserious injuries on his chest,and died while he was beingshifted to a hospital atNereducharla for treatment.The injured persons havebeen shifted to a hospital atMiryalaguda for treatment.Balakishan's body was shift-ed to area hospital atMir yalaguda for post-mortem.

The police suspect negli-gent driving as the cause ofthe accident. Garidepallypolice filed a case and havetaken up investigation.

One dead, 2 injuredin Suryapet accident

Kishan Reddy: Guru Nanak’steachings relevant todayPNS n HYDERABAD

Union Minister of State forHome Affairs G KishanReddy on Tuesday visited aphoto exhibition organisedby the Regional OutreachBureau, Ministr y ofInformation & Broadcasting,Hyderabad on the occasionof 550 th Birth Anniversary

of Guru Nanak Dev Ji atExhibit ion Grounds,Nampally.

Kishan Reddy said thatthe teachings of Guru NanakDev were relevant eventoday. Nanak preached thatall human beings were equaland there was only one God.

He believed in hard andhonest work and wanted

people to help the needy,preaching they were thepaths to reach God. Nanakexhorted people to love alland live in harmony, headded. The Minister con-gratulated ROB for organis-ing the photo exhibition onthe life and the religion ofSikhism, which Guru Nanakfounded.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A BBA student who allegedlystole electronic gadgets andother products from deliveryboys of e-commerce portalswas arrested by the Dundigalpolice on Monday. Accordingto the police, the accused,identified as Thungala Sriram.,would follow the delivery boyson a bike after targeting hisvictim. "Once the boys wouldgo to a customer to deliver theproduct by leaving their deliv-ery bag on the bike, Sriramwould run away with the bag,"said the police. DCP BalanagarPV Padmaja said clues fromCCTV cameras played a majorrole in nabbing Sriram. He wasearlier arrested in bike theftcases and was out on bail.

Three killedin collision inKamareddy

Student heldfor robbingdelivery boys

PNS n KAMAREDDY

Three persons were killed andanother was injured in a hor-rific accident when a lorry hitan autorickshaw atKandarpally in Kamareddydistrict on Tuesday.

According to Bichkkonda SIKrishna, the speeding lorryrammed the autorickshaw inwhich the victims were trav-elling. They were all residentsof Degloor mandal in neigh-bouring Maharashtra.

According to the SI,Saddam, Baba and Firdousedied on the spot, while Habibsuffered serious injuries inthe collision. The lorry driverfled the spot.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A TSRTC driver, was award-ed a two year jail term by alocal court in a road accidentthat resulted in a death underKothur police station limits.

The driver, 31-year-oldPutta Krishnaiah Goud ofMahboobnagar was convictedfor two years and a fine of Rs1,000 imposed on him for hisinvolvement in a fatal accidentcase.

The police said thatKrishnaiah Goud was drivinga bus of Kollapur depot on 11May 2017 when the incidentoccurred. He was driving thebus in a rash and negligentmanner and hit a motorcycle.

The bike rider, AmbatiJangaiah (35), died on thespot due to severe headinjuries.

The police had registered acase and arrested KrishnaiahGoud. A charge sheet wasfiled and the court after trialawarded jail term toKrishnaiah Goud.

In another case, Pacharla

Praveen Kumar (26), a resi-dent of Amberpet, was award-ed a one year prison sentenceand a fine of Rs 3,000 wasimposed on him by the court.The court found him guilty ofcharges under 304(A), causingdeath by negligence, of theIPC.

On 20th of October 2016,Praveen was driving rashlyand hit a scooty which Srinivaswas riding. Srinivas (45) sus-tained severe head injuriesand died two days later in thehospital. The police registereda case and filed a chargesheetin the Principal Judicial FirstClass Magistrate ShadnagarCourt, where he was sen-tenced.

2 year jail for TSRTC driver

Two dead inbus truckcollision atShamshabadPNSn HYDERABAD

An APSRTC bus driver and apassenger were killed whileothers sustained injuries whenthe bus rammed a truck atShamshabad on Monday.

The deceased persons wereidentified as 31-year-old SBalaram, the bus driver, andMahboob Shareef, a passengersitting on the front row.

The APSRTC bus fromNandyal bus depot had start-ed from Nandyal in Kurnooldistrict of Andhra Pradesh forHyderabad with 20 passengerson board. The mishap occurredwhen the bus was heading toMahatma Gandhi Bus Station(MGBS) on Monday.According to the police,Balaram lost control of thevehicle and rammed the truckgoing ahead of it near PeddaShahpur village.

Initial investigations revealedthat the truck driver had sloweddown and the bus driver couldnot control the bus although heapplied brakes. Due to theimpact of the crash, Balaramand Mahboob Shareef sus-tained serious injuries and diedon the spot. Five persons wereinjured in the accident andwere shifted to hospital.

The remaining passengerswere shifted safely to the city bymaking alternative arrange-ments, said the police.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Ignoring construction normsled to the collapse of the wallin the marriage hall, wherefour people lost their lives,shaking the city on Sunday,according to a preliminaryprobe. The Pearl Gardenfunction hall managementhad flouted norms by con-structing a 30-feet-high wallusing poor quality material,police said.

"The place is being run byNawaz and owned by Arshad.We have registered cases afterwe found fault with theowner of Pearl Garden func-

tion hall, Harshad, for hisnegligence in constructingthe said wall. We need to ver-ify the detai ls ofowners/organisers before tak-ing action against them,"Inspector Mohan Kumarsaid, adding that the menwere still at large.

The Amberpet Police haveregistered cases underSections 304 part -II (punish-ment for culpable homicidenot amounting to murder)and 337 (causing hurt by actendangering life or personalsafety of others) of the IPCagainst the function hallowner/organisers.

Poor construction led to wallcollapse in marriage hall

Youth mowed downby RTC busPNS n HYDERABAD

A 20-year-old youth was runover by a TSRTC city bus atMoosarambagh in Malakpetearly on Tuesday morning.The deceased was identifiedas J Shekar. A resident ofDilsukhnagar, he wasemployed at a medical storein Secunderabad.

According to the police,Shekar was going on a motor-cycle from Dilsukhnagartowards Malakpet. His bikeslipped and came under theleft rear wheel of the TSRTCbus at Moosarambagh. Hedied on the spot, the policesaid. The Malakpet policeregistered a case and haveshifted the body to theOsmania General Hospitalmortuary for postmortemexamination.

PNS n HYDERABAD

State Governor Dr TamilisaiSoundararajan on Tuesday wentround "Adi Dhwani", an exhi-bition of 124 musical instru-ments of tribals and admiredthem.

Speaking on the occasion,she said that time had come touplift the culture and musicalart of tribals.

"There is an urgent need toprotect folk art and ancient trib-al music instruments, failingwhich they may face extinctionsoon", she opined.

Special measures had to betaken to protect these tribalmusical tunes and instruments,she felt. She assured all possi-ble help to establish a museum

for preserving tribal musicinstruments. The Governorlauded the untiring efforts ofProf. Jayadheer Thirumala Raoover the years in collecting the

musical instruments. She felic-itated Runjha, ThotiBurravadyam, Kikri, Koyadoluartistes. The organisers of theevent, Prof. Jayadheer

Thirumala Rao, Prof. GuduruManoja, Dr. Saibaba Goud andDr. Potlapalli Varaprasada Rao,were also present on the occa-sion.

Guv for preserving tribal music instruments

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Kachiguda Police arresteda couple for kidnapping a 2-year-old girl from her motheron Tuesday. Police said that thegirl and her mother were sleep-ing on the footpath of a templewhen the couple kidnapped thebaby and fled the scene.

The arrested couplewereidentified as K Avinash (34) andhis wife, K Sandhy (34). WhileAvinash was a labourer,Sandhya worked as a maid, saidthe police.

According to the police,Miryala Krishnaveni, a beggar,had come to the RenukaYellamma temple besideChaderghat to seek alms on

Monday. At around 1 PM in theafternoon, she and her daugh-ter, 2-year-old Maheshwari,slept on the footpath of the tem-ple. When Krishnaveni wokeup a while later, her daughterwas missing. After franticallysearching for her in the sur-roundings for some time, shelodged a missing person com-plaint with the police onMonday evening.

The Kacheguda police regis-tered a case and began aninvestigation by visiting thescene and collecting CCTVfootages of nearby cameras.Officials were able to identifytwo persons, a man and awoman, taking the girl andwalking away.

Couple arrested for toddler's kidnap,cops nab them within 24 hours

Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan at ‘Adi Dhwani’ along with its organisers and tribal artistes

PNS n WASHINGTON DC

The US-based TelanganaDevelopment Forum (TDF),which celebrated its 20thanniversar y here fromNovember 8 to 10, has decid-ed to contribute to the devel-opment of Telangana by pro-moting NRI investments intheir motherland. TheForum's board, which met onNovember 10, resolved to actas a bridge to promote invest-ments in Telangana.

Accordingly, the TDF hasdecided to launch Jai Kisanscheme to benefit farmers ofTelangana and Mana Badi topromote rural schools in thestate. The TDF proposes tosensitise farmers on organiccultivation, mobilising invest-ments, procuring seeds, andmarketing agriculture pro-duce and so on.

It has plans to equip ruralschools with computers,chairs and benches and pro-vide toilets to them. At least100 rural schools inTelangana would be devel-

oped initially. The TDF hasalready mobilized US $50,000 for the same.

The TDF has floated a busi-ness forum to mark its 20thanniversary. It wants to takepart in the development of thestate over the next five yearsand wants to play a crucialrole in policy formulation atthe government level andextend support to the gov-ernment in IT sector.

A meeting of the businessforum was held withBoinapalli Anil in chair.Union Water Resources advi-sor Sriram Vedire, TelanganaState Planning Board vice-chairman Boinapalli VinodKumar, attended.

Vinod Kumar, addressingthe gathering, said that, underthe leadership of ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao, Telangana stood second

in terms of ease of doingbusiness. It became possiblewith improved power supplyposition, drinking wateramenities and availability ofother basic amenities.

At a time when the stateswere reeling under the impactof economic slowdown, itsimpact was nil in Hyderabad,he said, adding that therewas no other city l ikeHyderabad in world.

PNS n NEW JERSEY

TPCC working president ARevanth Reddy asserted onTuesday that TRS supremo KChandrasekhar Rao couldbecome the Chief Minister ofTelangana State only by capi-talising on the faults of theCongress party.

Therefore, steps should betaken to ensure that such mis-takes did not recur, heobserved, while addressing agathering at the Meet-and-Greet programme arrangedby NRIs from Telangana inNew Jersey. He accused KCRof looting the state by takingadvantage of the Telanganasentiments of the people.

Revanth said he was afraidthat there was every chance of"a civil war" breaking out in

Telangana, going by the pre-sent situation. KCR, afterbecoming the Chief Minister,had brought disrepute to pol-itics, he said.

The Congress did not grantstatehood to Telangana to seethe state slide and reflect asorry state-of-affairs, he com-mented.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019 hyderabad 04

PNS n HYDERABAD

Discoms are mulling the intro-duction of pre-paid electricitymeters that would let con-sumers set limits on the linesof prepaid mobile bills.

A decision in this regardwould be taken once TSTrasnco CMD DevulapalliPrabhakar Rao returns fromhis overseas trip during thesecond week of November.

Installing pre-paid meterswould mean purchasing powerfrom the energy department,depending on the consump-tion pattern of the consumer.The pre-paid system is avail-able for government offices.The Discoms now want toextend the same to domestic

power connections. If consumers come forward

voluntarily, Discoms wouldaward a concession of 0.10paise per unit. Discoms haveincluded this as part of theirproposal in its Aggregate rev-enue requirement report for2020-21.

Installation of a pre-paidsingle-phase meter would costRs 8000, while the cost ofthree-phase meter would be Rs12,000.

Discoms put their annualdeficiency of revenue at Rs11,000 crore. In fact, Discomsdid not submit the Aggregaterevenue requirement reportfor the year 2019-20.Therefore, the rates fixed in thereport for 2018-19 are beingcollected.

If the government does notextend subsidies to the depart-ment, rationalization of powertariff is likely. This is attributedto poor financial status of theDiscoms and inability to makepayments for the power pur-chased from others.

PNS n SIDDIPET

The RTC workers' strike her-alds the downfall of ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao, BJP State unit presidentDr K Laxman observed hereon Tuesday.

He was speaking to mediapersons after laying the foun-dation stone for BJP office hereon Tuesday. He charged CMwith insulting RTC workerswho had played a crucial rolein the movement forTelangana. The RTC workerswere only pressing for fulfill-ment of the promises made byKCR during the statehoodmovement, he clarified.

Justice was being denied toRTC workers even in theGajwel Assembly constituencyrepresented by KCR. Theflames of RTC strike wouldengulf KCR. BJP alone wascapable of teaching a bitter les-son to CM, he said.

The RTC workers wouldnot mortgage their movementat the behest of ministers or forthat matter RTC Chairman, hesaid. Curses of RTC workers

would affect the state govern-ment, he said.

Referring to RTC workers'suicides in Telangana, Laxmansaid that suicides in Telangana,which emerged from the sac-rifices of many people, wouldmean they are all "state-spon-sored murders", he reasoned.

Referring to KCR's threats

that RTC workers not joiningduty would be sacked, he ques-tioned as to how many timesKCR should dismissed for hisfault of not visiting theSecretariat?

Salaries of MLAs, Ministersand CM were not withheldunlike those RTC workers, hepointed out.

RTC strike heralds beginningof CM's downfall: BJP

BJP State unit president Dr K Laxman laid foundation stone for BJP office inSiddipet on Tuesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana Congress hasdemanded the state unit of BJPto reveal what its relationshipis with the TRS party. Findingfault with the Union Ministersfor praising the state schemes,the Telangana Congress askedthe state BJP to disclose whythey were praising the schemeswhen the local leadership isterming them as scams. TheTelangana Congress allegedon Tuesday that the BJP wasadopting double standards inregard to the ruling party.

CLP Leader Mallu BhattiVikramarka has alleged thatthe state BJP is describing theMission Bhagiratha scheme as'scam'; however, Union JalShakthi Minister GajendraSingh Shekhawat has statedthat they will implement thescheme across the nation. Bhattiasked the BJP to tell whether itwill implement the biggest scam

scheme 'Mission Bhagiratha'across the nation. He said thereis a need to order a CBI inquiryinto the Mission Bhagirathascheme. He asked state BJPleaders to reveal their reactionon Shekawath's statement.

While speaking to the mediaat Assembly Media Hall hereon Tuesday, Bhatti said that the

death like AbdullahpurmetMRO Vijaya Reddy never tookplace in the history of thenation. He wondered howChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, who hadno time to speak with the strik-ing tahasildars, got time to givea presentation on the huge'scam' scheme Mission

Bhagiratha. He alleged that thestate government has closedRs.1000 crore worth drinkingwater schemes in Khammamdistrict. However, the stategovernment had borrowedRs.3 lakh crore debts in thename of fund crisis. Bhattialleged that the state govern-ment is introducing schemeswhich allow scams. UnionMinisters were praising theschemes, but state BJP chief DrK Laxman was terming thesame schemes as scams.

He said there is a need toorder a CBI inquiry into theRs.50,000-crore Mission

Bhagiratha scheme scam.Alleging that Tuglaq rule wasgoing on in the state, Bhattisaid that the revenue employ-ees, who were appointed forthe sake of people, were seek-ing protection from the peo-ple. The people were facing alot of troubles as the ChiefMinister is not conductingreview meetings on thedepartments he kept withhim, he alleged. He demand-ed that a CBI inquiry beordered into the irregularitiestaking place in MissionBhagiratha, Kaleswaram,Seetharama projects.

Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka

T Congress fires BJP on Union Minister'spraises on Mission Bhagiratha scheme

PNS n ADILABAD

Minister for Forests,Environment, Endowmentsand Housing Allola IndrakaranReddy on Tuesday urged peo-ple to protect forests, thesource of life for all beings, andthus avoid the probability ofhaving to buy oxygen in future.

He was speaking after layingthe foundation stone for chain-link fencing works to be takenup in Adilabad Harita Haramor Mavala Urban Park, on theoutskirts of Adilabad, at a costof Rs 2 crore.

Indrakaran Reddy under-scored the need for taking upextensive planting of saplingsand nurturing them in order toensure clean air, rain, waterand build a healthy atmos-phere for posterity. "Givinggood health to our kids is abigger asset than property.The government has taken atough stand when it comes toprotecting the green cover.Awareness among the publicover the need to conservewildlife has gone up," heremarked.

The Minister said the Stategovernment was convertingcertain pieces of reserve forestsinto urban lung spaces to tack-

le the problem of dearth ofoxygen in towns and cities.Attractions were being addedto the parks to draw tourists.The Preventive Detention Actwould be invoked againstsmugglers of teak timber, hewarned. The Minister soughtthe cooperation of locals inkeeping parks as sources ofrecreation.

According to Mavala ForestRange Officer A Appaiah, 5km chain link fencing works,passing through Mavala Park,Durga Nagar, KRK Colonyand Tantoli Road, would betaken up. "It is the first step toconvert degraded forests of thepark into high forest. With the

help of the fence, it can beextended up to two more thou-sands of acres as against theexisting area of 1,000 acres," headded.

Later, Indrakaran laid thefoundation stone for the con-struction of 2BHK houses inBoath Assembly constituency.He was accorded a grand wel-come by Boath MLA R BapuRao who presented a sapling tothe lawmaker.

Zilla Parishad chairpersonJanardhan Rathod, AdilabadMLA Jogu Ramanna, CollectorD Divya, District ForestOfficer B Prabhakar FDO VChandrasekhar and other offi-cials were present.

Save forests to avoid buyingoxygen in future: Indrakaran

Minister Indrakaran Reddy laid foundation stone for chain-link fencing works tobe taken up in Adilabad Harita Haram or Mavala Urban Park, on the outskirts ofAdilabad on Tuesday

TDF to help promote NRI investments in TSPlans to support 100 rural schools initially

A women's workshop tohighlight the problemsbeing faced by womenwas held. Severaldelegates like SilpaVedire, Kavita Challa,Jhansi Reddy, JayaTelukuntla, Gandra Jyotitook part in the workshop

Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has alleged thatthe state BJP is describing the MissionBhagiratha scheme as 'scam'; however,Union Minister Gajendra SinghShekhawat has stated that they willimplement the scheme across the nation

A Revanth Reddy

RTC conductordoubles up as barberPNS n NIRMAL

With no resolution of theRTC strike in sight, a con-ductor who gave up hiscaste-based profession fol-lowing obtaining a job in theRTC resumed the professionto feed his family since he isgoing sans salary for thepast two months.

He was identif ied asMahipal of Ratnapur Kandliin Nirmal district. He joinedthe RTC as conductor in2009. Since then, he stoppedpracticing his family profes-sion. He settled in Nirmal.

As he did not get thesalary for September month,moreover he and his col-leagues are on strike sinceOct 5, he feels pinched formoney.

KCR becameCM capitalisingon Cong faults

Discoms to introduce pre-paid power meters

Shiv Senamoves SCagainst...Continued from Page 1

"The impugnedactions/decisions of theGovernor is violative of Article14 and Article 21 of theConstitution. It is ex facie arbi-trary, unreasonable, capri-cious and a malafide exerciseof the power in order toensure that the Petitioner No.1 (Shiv Sena) is precludedfrom getting a fair and rea-sonable opportunity of prov-ing its majority on the floor ofthe House," the petition filedthrough senior advocate KapilSibal, lawyers Sunil Fernandesand Nizam Pasha said.

According to the petition,Shiv Sena had requested threedays time to give the letters ofsupport to demonstrate that ithas the requisite majority toform the government on thesame day when it has stakedclaim to form the government.

President'srule imposedin Maha...Continued from Page 1

"When all the three parties(Congress, NCP and ShivSena) show that we have thesupport of more than 144MLAs, the governor will haveto invite us to form govern-ment," he said.

Senior Congress leader andformer Union ministerSushilkumar Shinde echoeda similar view, saying "oncewe have letters of support, thePresident's rule can be lifted".

Congress leader and for-mer chief minister PrithvirajChavan said the governorshould have invited his partyto indicate "willingness andability" to form government.

Shiv Sena MLC Anil Parab,however, said if President'srule is imposed, it can bechallenged in court.

File photo

Udandapur landoustees stall works l Delay in disbursal of compensationPNS nMAHABUBNAGAR

Farmers of Kishtaram village ofJadcharla mandal stalled theworks pertaining to UdandapurReservoir, part of the PalamuruRangareddy Lift IrrigationScheme (PRLIS), on the out-skirts of their village onTuesday. The farmers wereprotesting the non-release ofcompensation amounts foraround 300 acres of their agri-cultural lands acquired for con-struction of the reservoir.

The villagers forcefully pre-vented the operation of JCBs

and other machinery at the siteand held a dharna as well as'Vanta-Vaarpu' at the projectsite. Dasharatham, one of thefarmers, had come with a pes-ticide bottle. When he tried toopen it, apparently in an effortto drink the liquid, some fellowfarmers snatched the bottlefrom him and threw it away.Dasharatham said that, afterperforming the weddings of hisdaughters and son, he was leftwith Rs 10 lakh debt. Due todelay in the disbursement ofcompensation, he said his sit-uation had turned worse.

Owaisi ‘has his ownagenda’, says BJPContinued from Page 1

"The judgement was unan-imous. All the Supreme Courtjudges in the matter gave aunanimous statement. This isan example of an inclusiveview of the entire society.Everyone in the society haswelcomed the verdict in thematter," he said.

Subhash said that severalpeople of the Muslim com-munity have welcomed theSupreme Court verdict but MrOwaisi is only trying to "insulthis own community".

"He is setting a platform fornot protecting the interest ofthe country. As an MP, he hastaken an oath to protect theconstitution and the people ofthe country. But he has insult-ed his community by saying

that they don't want the landon a charity basis," he said.

He urged the police to filean FIR against him in the mat-ter on an immediate basis.

The BJP leader said MrOwaisi has taken a lot of landon a charity basis inHyderabad and this act showshis double standards.

Owaisi has taken so muchland in and aroundHyderabad from Telanganaand Andhra Pradesh govern-ment. The institutions run byhim, like the medical college,engineering college and hos-pitals are all built on landtaken by the government on acharity. The land value is veryhigh but you have taken theland from the governmentfor a very small amount," MrSubhash added.

Wives of TRSleaders put on politicalweightContinued from Page 1

Some of these women for-ayed into campaigning dur-ing the elections last year.

All told, politicians' wivesseem to be doing a way bet-ter than their male counter-parts as their financial assetshave surpassed those of theirhusbands. A look at the elec-tion affi-d a v i t sre ve a l st h ef i n a n -c i a lprosper-ity ofpoliticians'wives outdoesthat of their spouses.

Minister IndrakaranReddy is taking steps to fieldhis daughter-in-law DivyaReddy in politics. However,the Kalvakuntla family hasnot been keen on promotingtheir daughters-in-law.

Constructionworkers laysiege to KannaBabu's house PNS n KAKINADA

Construction workers onTuesday tried to lay siege toAgriculture MinisterKurasala Kannababu's housein the second division ofKakinada Urban demand-ing Rs 25 lakh as ex gratiapayment to the kin of theworkers who had committedsuicide and payment of Rs10,000 per month to each ofthe workers who had beenthrown out of employmentbecause of sand shortage.

Earlier, the workers tookout a rally from theSarpavaram Junction to theMinister's residence underthe leadership of AP BuildingWorkers Association districtgeneral secretary. DSP ofKakinada Karanam Kumarthwarted the attempts of theconstruction workers by set-ting up barricades.

The Minister spoke to theconstruction workers overtelephone and asked the offi-cials to resolve their problem.Tahsildar Muralikrishnatried to pacify the irate con-struction workers, but invain. The police whiskedaway the construction work-ers to police station. One ofthe workers was indisposedduring the agitation. He wastaken to government hospi-tal for treatment.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A gang of dacoits belonging tothe Pardhi community was bust-ed after their operative BalajiShriran Shinde, 25, a resident ofSolapur District in Maharashtra,was nabbed at SecunderabadRailway Station by theSecunderabad Rural Sub-Division Police on Tuesdaymorning 9 am. The officialsrecovered one tola gold chainfrom his possession.

According to police, themodus operandi of the gang wasto tamper with signals and trackthe train location throughWhatsApp by browsing railapplications. After observingthe train movement, they tam-per the signals to make the trainstop in outer signals. The gangmembers form a human ladderand commit the offences fromthe windows of the train

"Balaji committed fiveoffences in the trains at Lonavalaof Puna in the year 2016. He,along with the other members,came to Gutti, Anantapur ofAndhra Pradesh in the monthof June 2018 and committed fiveoffences in the trains by tam-pering the signals" police said.

Following interrogation, theother absconding members of thegang were identified as AmolGaitadak, 28, SudhirRamchandra Randhil, 32, RohitGorak Ralebhat, 24, VinodSakram Jadav, 31, and BabuMohan Kasbe, 26. OnSeptember 9, 2018, the Pardhigang tampered the railway signalsat Kaukuntla Railway Station ofMahabubnagar district and com-mitted dacoits in YeshwanthpurExpress and Jabalpur Expresstrains. The dacoits pelted stoneson the passengers and also gavelife threat to some.

PARDHI DACOITGANG BUSTED

PNS n KOLKATA

West Bengal Governor JagdeepDhankhar has given his assentto the Swami VivekanandaUniversity Bill, 2019, whichwas passed by the stateLegislative Assembly onSeptember 1 this year.

The governor has given hisassent in conformity withArticle 200 of the Constitutionof India, a Raj Bhavanstatement issuedhere on Tuesdaysaid.

" T h eSpeaker of theWest BengalAssembly hadpassed the Billon September1, 2019 and itwas forwarded tothe governor for hisconsideration onNovember 6 afterexamination of the concerneddepartment," it said.

As per the SwamiVivekananda University Bill2019, a university named afterSwami Vivekananda will beestablished in Barrackpore in

North 24 Parganas district.The university will be con-

ferred the status of a pri-vate university, which

will be promoted byan educational andcharitable trustregistered underthe Indian TrustAct, 1882.

"After receiv-ing a proposal for

setting up of theuniversity, the Higher

Education Departmenthad constituted a com-mittee headed by the

vice-chancellor of West BengalState University.

"The panel had recommend-ed to the state government thatthe private educational trustmay be allowed to set up theproposed university which will

espouse the ideals and values ofSwami Vivekananda," a HigherEducation Department officialsaid. The official said aftergoing through the panel's rec-ommendations, the HigherEducation Department decidedto allow the private trust toestablish the self-financed uni-versity in North 24-Parganasdistrict.

A Bill to this regard was thenpassed at the state Assembly.

"The state government willnot bear any financial respon-sibilities (of the proposed uni-versity) as it has proclaimed thestatus of a self-financed one," theBill said.

Science, technology, law,management, social sciences,medicine, education, humani-ties and performing arts wouldbe taught at the university.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

Maha: 2 killed inhighway mishapTHANE:Two persons, includinga woman, were killed and twoothers critically injured in amishap on Mumbai-AgraHighway near Shahapur here inthe early hours of Tuesday, thedistrict rural police said. Theincident took place at around8.30 am at Asangaon village inMaharashtra's Thane district,when a tourist car travellingtowards Nashik collided with agas tanker on the highway,station house officer atShahapur police station said.While two persons, including afemale passenger and thedriver of the four-wheeler, werekilled on the spot, two otherswere severely injured and arebeing treated at Shahapur ruralhospital, the official said. Thepolice are in the process ofregistering a case and bodies ofthe deceased have been sentfor postmortem, he said,adding that the tourist vehiclehad a Rajasthan registration.

Rajasthan policearrests illegal armssupplier from MP

Cigarettes worth Rs 7cr from Cambodiaseized at Chennai PortCHENNAI: Foreign cigarettesworth Rs 7 crore allegedlysmuggled from Cambodia wereseized from acontainer at theChennai Port Trust, officials ofthe Directorate of RevenueIntelligence (DRI) said here.Acting on a tip-off, the officialschecked the container carryingdisposable biodegradableplates on Monday and foundthe cigarettes concealed in thecargo, a DRI press release said.The cigarettes, numbering 50lakh and valued at Rs 7 crore,were recovered and aninvestigation was on, therelease said.

Devotees throng ghatsin UP for holy dip onKartik PurnimaLUCKNOW: A sea of devoteesthronged ghats across UttarPradesh to take a holy dip inthe Ganga, Gomti and Saryurivers on Kartik Purnima. In thetemple town of Ayodhya,people began flocking to theghats of the Saryu since earlymorning amid chants of "SitaRam" playing on loudspeakersin the streets, while manydevotees who came fromneighbouring districts of thestate camped overnight nearthe river. This is the firstreligious congregation in theholy city since the SupremeCourt's judgment in the RamJanmabhoomi-Barbi Masjidcase. Devotees in the statecapital took a dip atMankameshwar ghat on thebanks of the Gomti. A hugecrowd also gathered on thebanks of Ganga and Yamuna inAllahabad. Elaborating on thesignificance of Kartik Purnima,the convenor of Allahabad-based organisations Ram NaamBank and Ram Sewa Trust,Ashutosh Varshney, told PTI, "Itis the full moon day in themonth of Kartik". "It is alsoknown as Dev Deepawali, aDiwali celebrated by Gods. Thefestival is celebrated 15 daysafter Diwali," he added.

CJI under RTI Act: SCto pronounce verdicttomorrowNEW DELHI: The SupremeCourt will pronounce onWednesday its verdict on a pleachallenging the Delhi HighCourt decision bringing theoffice of the chief justice ofIndia under the Right toInformation Act. A five-judgeconstitution bench headed byCJI Ranjan Gogoi willpronounce the judgement at 2pm. Other members of thebench are Justices N VRamana, D Y Chandrachud,Deepak Gupta and SanjivKhanna. The notice regardingthe pronouncement ofjudgement was made public onthe official website of theSupreme Court on Tuesdayafternoon.

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Policehas arrested a notorious illegalarms supplier from Badwanidistrict in Madhya Pradesh onTuesday, an official said. Ateam of SOG from Kota was inMadhya Pradesh sinceThursday. They caught BahadurSingh from his nativeUndikhudri village, ADG of ATSand SOG Anil Paliwal said.Singh was involved inmanufacturing and supplyingillegal arms in various statesfor the last two decades, hesaid. As per the Swami Vivekananda

University Bill 2019, a universitynamed after Swami Vivekananda willbe established in Barrackpore inNorth 24 Parganas district

PNS n JALANDHAR

Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh has assuredthe Punjabi diaspora of tryingto set up special courts to expe-ditiously settle cases of thosewho were declared proclaimedoffenders after fleeing the stateduring the Khalistan militancydays. Singh said he would takeup the issue with the chief jus-tice of the Punjab and HaryanaHigh Court as well as theCentral government.

He gave the assurance whileresponding to a request from agroup of NRIs, currently visit-ing Jalandhar in Punjab on the550th birth anniversary of GuruNanak Dev.

The chief minister honouredthe NRIs by giving them bookson the life and philosophy of theSikhism founder, besides acommemorative coin and amemento each on Monday, anofficial statement said onTuesday.

The NRIs expressed concernthat many of the persons who

had immigrated abroad wereunable to visit Punjab and payobeisance at the Golden Templeand other holy places in thestate as they were declaredproclaimed offenders onaccount of their inability toappear before courts in certaincases. Chief Minister Singhalso assured the visiting NRI ofconsulting the Centre to exam-ine the feasibility of setting upsuch special courts in someoverseas Indian missions likethose in the UK, Canada,Germany, France and the USA,the home to a large Punbjabipopulation.

PNS n SINGAPORE

Prime Minister Lee HsienLoong on Tuesday said theteachings of Guru Nanak Devji are very much aligned to thecore values of Singapore andthe principles of an open,inclusive, and diverse society.

In a message on hisFacebook page, Lee greeted theSikh community here on GuruNanak's 550th birthday cele-bration and thanked them fortheir continued contributionsto Singapore.

"I am glad Guru Nanak'sspirit of service continues inthe Sikh community heretoday. The gurdwaras (sevenSikh temples) here serve freevegetarian meals to thousandsdaily, regardless of religion orrace. Also, happy that the localSikh community's year-longanniversary celebrations haveembraced the ethos of volun-teerism and public service to allSingaporeans, he said. "Theseteachings are very muchaligned to the core values ofSingapore, and the principlesof an open, inclusive, anddiverse society, Lee added.

BRICS Summit to focus ontoning up counter-terrorismPNS n NEW DELHI

The BRICS summit will focuson strengthening ties among theworld's five major economies inkey areas such as digital econ-omy, science and technology,and also build mechanisms forcounter terrorism cooperation,Prime Minister Narendra Modisaid Tuesday.

Modi, who will be in Brazilon 13-14 November to attendthe 11th BRICS Summit, said hewill also meet BrazilianPresident Jair Bolsonaro to dis-cuss ways to enhance the bilat-eral strategic partnership.

"I look forward to exchangingviews with other BRICS leaderswith the aim to further strength-en intra-BRICS cooperationparticularly on the theme of theSummit 'Economic growth foran innovative future'," PrimeMinister Modi said in his depar-ture statement. During the sum-mit, the five major economies ofthe world will aim to signifi-cantly strengthen their cooper-ation in science, technologyand innovation, he said.

The BRICS countries willalso look to enhance coopera-

tion on digital economy andbuild mechanisms for counter-terrorism cooperation withinthe BRICS framework, Modisaid.

"Our business and industryplay an important role in Intra-BRICS ties. I will be addressingBRICS Business Forum andinteracting with BRICS BusinessCouncil and New DevelopmentBank," he said.

On the bilateral meeting withthe Brazilian president, he saidBrazil and India share close andever expanding bilateral rela-

tions, including in the spheresof defence, security, trade, agri-culture, energy and space.

Close cooperation betweenthe two countries in multilater-al forums has been a significantaspect of our strategic relation-ship, Modi said.

"BRICS Summit will alsoprovide me with the opportu-nity to hold useful bilateralinteractions with leaders ofother BRICS countries," he said.

This will be the sixth timeModi will be participating in theBRICS summit, his first being at

Fortaleza, also in Brazil in 2014.The prime minister is sched-

uled to hold separate bilateralmeetings with Russian PresidentVladimir Putin and ChinesePremier Xi Jinping. He wouldalso attend the BRICS businessforum closing ceremony and the'closed' and plenary sessions ofthe XI BRICS Summit.

In the closed session, thediscussions are expected to befocused on challenges andopportunities for the exercise ofnational sovereignty in the con-temporary world.

Uddhav, BJP leaders visitailing Sena MP RautPNS nMUMBAI

Shiv Sena chief UddhavThackeray on Tuesday metparty leader Sanjay Raut, whounderwent angioplasty atLilavati Hospital here, and latersaid the Rajya Sabha memberwas recoverig fast but refused tocomment on the political crisisin Maharashtra.

BJP leaders HarshvardhanPatil and Ashish Shelar also met57-year-old Raut at the hospi-tal here following which the lat-ter said it was a courtesy visitwith "no political angle".

The visit came in the back-drop of the stalemate over gov-ernment formation continuingin the state even 19 days afterthe Assembly poll results weredeclared. Thackeray met Rautalong with Patil.

Later, talking to reporters,Thackeray said, "Things aretaking shape, I will speak aboutit at the right time. I cannotcomment on politics right now."

Asked about Raut's health, hesaid, "He is recuperating fast. Hehas also resumed work as the

executive editor of (Senamouthpiece) 'Saamana'."

Former Mumbai BJP chiefShelar also met the Sena MPand later said, "Doctors haveadvised Raut to speak less. I methim out of courtesy. It isMaharashtra's culture, we meetunwell people irrespective ofpolitical differences."

"There was no political angleto this meet. A senior BJPoffice-bearer is also admitted inthe same hospital, I also methim," he added.

Earlier, NCP chief SharadPawar also met Raut at the hos-

pital in the morning. Raut, wholed the Sena's charge to seekequal share in power with theBJP after the Assembly pollresults in Maharashtra, com-plained of chest pain onMonday following which heunderwent angioplasty, a pro-cedure to restore blood flowthrough the artery.

The ailing Sena leader in themorning took to Twitter toquote lines of legendary poetHarivansh Rai Bachchan toreaffirm his party's resolve tosucceed and not give up.

PNS n SULTANPUR LODHI

Saying that Guru Nanak Devlives in "our hearts", PresidentRam Nath Kovind on Tuesdaycalled upon the people to followthe path shown by the Sikhismfounder and work towards elim-inating social disparities.

Kovind, along with his wifeSavita, arrived in the morning inthe holy town of Punjab'sKapurthala district to attend thecelebrations on the occasion ofthe 550th birth anniversary ofGuru Nanak Dev.

He was received by PunjabGovernor V P Singh Badnore,Chief Minister Amarinder Singhand his wife Preneet Kaur.

Later, Kovind drove straightto historic Gurdwara Ber Sahib,where he and his wife paid obei-sance.

He then went to the stage setup by the Punjab governmentfor the celebrations, where hewas honoured with a mementoand a ceremonial sword.

Greeting the gathering with"Sat Sri Akal", the President said,"Guru Nanak Dev lives in our

hearts. He is our common lega-cy. He is the guiding light for theentire humanity."

"It is the responsibility of allof us to follow his ideals andwork towards eliminating socialdisparities," Kovind added.

Kovind said Guru Nanak

spread the light of wisdom withhis teachings and preached'Sarbat Da Bhala' (welfare of all)asking people to rise aboveconsiderations of inequalities,caste and creed. "Guru NanakDev ji's life and teachings give amessage of affection, compas-sion and brotherhood for theentire humanity," he said.

"I extend my heartiest con-gratulations to countrymen andthe Indians all over the world onthe occasion," the Presidentsaid. The life of Guru Nanak

Dev inspires people to build asociety based on his teachings ofequality, compassion and socialamity, he said.

Kovind shed light on howGuru Nanak through his teach-ings enlightened the Indiansociety, which during the 15thcentury was plagued with socialills, including casteism, as dark-ness of ignorance prevailed.

The President said GuruNanak made efforts to build asociety where everyone wasequal.

Jagdeep Dhankhar

Bengal Governor gives assent to Swami Vivekananda University Bill

PNS n NOIDA

Over 5,000 litres of liquorworth around Rs 25 lakh thatwas being smuggled fromPunjab to Madhya Pradeshhas been seized from a truckin Greater Noida, police saidon Tuesday.

The person transportingthe liquor was arrested afterthe truck was interceptedalong the PeripheralExpressway under the Dadripolice station area late onMonday night, officials said.

"The truck was interceptedfor checking and 610 cartonsof liquor were found hiddenunder boxes of kinnow fruit.The truck had started fromRopar district in Punjab andwas bound for Gwalior inMadhya Pradesh," a policespokesperson said. "A total of5,275 litres of liquor, estimat-ed to cost around Rs 25 lakhwas seized," the spokespersonsaid. The driver has beenidentified as Vishnu Ram, anative of Abohar in Fazilkadistrict of Punjab, the policesaid, adding his truck hasbeen impounded.

PNS n KOCHI

The Kerala High Court onTuesday directed the police toconduct a probe into the cir-cumstances leading to thekilling of two suspectedMaoists in an allegedencounter in Agali forests ofPalakkad district last month. Italso gave a direction to ascer-tain whether the officers whotook part in the allegedencounter had committed anyoffence.

Justice R NarayanaPisharadi, however, made itclear that the court has noteven remotely expressed anyview with regard to the cir-cumstances under which orthe manner in which the deathof the two occurred.

He also allowed the stateauthorities to cremate the twoas per prevailing rules andnorms.

The order was passed whiledisposing of a plea by the rel-atives of the duo, challenginga sessions court order permit-ting cremation as per rules andseeking investigation into their

deaths. Whatever be the penaland other provisions men-tioned in the FIRs, the cir-cumstances under which thekillings of Karthik aliasKannan and Manivasakamhad occurred and the cause oftheir death shall be investigat-ed, the judge said.

He also ordered the investi-gating officer to seize thefirearms used by police officersduring the encounter and takesteps for sending them forforensic and ballistic analysis.

Finger prints of thedeceased, if not already takenand preserved properly, shallbe taken immediately byappropriate method, beforecremation of the bodies, theCourt said.

It also said a report of com-pliance shall be sent to theSessions Court in Palakkad,without any delay.

The high court further saidif the petitioners were not sat-isfied or aggrieved at a laterstage regarding the investiga-tion, they were at liberty toapproach the lower court forappropriate relief at that stage.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A Delhi court has issued abailable warrant againstCongress leader Shashi Tharoorfor not appearing in a criminaldefamation complaint againsthim over his alleged 'scorpionon Shivling' remarks referring toPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chief MetropolitanMagistrate Naveen KumarKashyap on Monday issued thewarrant against the Congressleader for November 27, notingthat neither Tharoor nor hiscounsel appeared before thecourt. The magistrate alsoimposed a fine of Rs 500 on thecomplainant, Delhi BJP leaderRajiv Babbar, who was also didnot appear before the court.

However, Babbar was repre-sented by a junior counsel.

“Neither complainant norhis main counsel is present. Anexemption application is movedon behalf of the complainant.The same is vague in nature. It

is stated in the application thathe is in personal difficulty butwhat is such 'difficulty' is notexplained at all in the applica-tion," the court said.

"Still, taking a lenient view,instead of dismissing the presentcomplaint for reasons of non--appearance of complainant,he is burdened with a cost of Rs500 to be deposited with theDistrict Legal Services Authority(DLSA), Central District, TisHazari Court," it added.

The court also referred to thenon-appearance of Tharoor andhis counsel. It said it was takinga "lenient view" and issuing bail-able warrants against theaccused with a sum of Rs 5,000and notice to his surety forNovember 27, 2019.

PNS n IMPHAL

A day after he was releasedfrom a Guwahati jail havingserved his term for nearly adecade, RK Meghen, the formerchairperson of Manipur-basedinsurgent outfit UNLF, wastaken to Delhi by NIA officialson Sunday evening, his lawyerM Gunedhor Singh said.

Meghen, popularly known asSanayaima (son of soil), wasreleased from jail on Saturday,six months before the comple-tion of his 10-year term —awarded to him by a specialNIA court for "waging a waragainst the country".

He was expected to reachImphal on Monday.

The 75-year-old, however,

was taken to the national cap-ital by the officials of the NIA,amid media speculation that hehas been detained, Singh, whoaccompanied Meghen to Delhi,said over phone. "Sanayaima isa free man. There is no reasonwhy he should be detained orarrested. There is no legal mat-ter pending against the leader,"he clarified.

Narendra Modi

Guru Nanak'steaching verymuch alignedOver 5K litre

smuggledliquor seized

Shashi Tharoor

Ex-UNLF chief taken to Delhiafter release from jail: Lawyer

Kerala HC directspolice to probe killingof suspected Maoists

RK Meghen

Delhi court issues bailablewarrant against Tharoor

Will push for specialcourt: Amarinder Singh

CASES OF ‘PROCLAIMED OFFERDERS’

The BRICScountries will alsolook to enhancecooperation ondigital economyand buildmechanisms forcounter-terrorismcooperation withinthe BRICSframework, Modisaid

BJP leadersHarshvardhan Patiland Ashish Shelaralso met 57-year-old Raut at thehospital herefollowing which thelatter said it was acourtesy visit with‘no political angle’

Kovind, along with his wife Savita, arrivedin the morning in the holy town ofPunjab's Kapurthala district to attend thecelebrations on the occasion of the 550thbirth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev

People should follow Guru Nanak's teachings,work to eliminate social disparities: Kovind

DEFAMATION COMPLAINT

The entire focus and preoccupationon Gross Domestic Product(GDP) as a measure of humanprogress and advancement hasobviously been taken much too

far. It was in 1930 that Lord Keynes came upwith the statement, “For at least another 100years, we must pretend to everyone that fairis foul and foul is fair; for foul is useful andfair is not. Avarice and usury and precautionmust be our gods for a little longer still. Foronly they can lead us out of the tunnel of eco-nomic necessity into daylight.”

It must be remembered that this was aperiod when the global economy was in thedoldrums and, perhaps, a measure whichrecorded the output of goods and serviceswould have been useful as a response to thedistress that the US in particular and otherparts of the world were suffering from. Butperhaps Keynes never anticipated that a sys-tem, which became ingrained in the mindsof every individual and which defined thesystems for measuring human progress,would hardly be easy to replace after a 100years. We know today that reliance on GDPhides a lot of negative effects and external-ities and its flawed effects keep growing.

The extent of waste and the impacts onthe environment, which the modern econ-omy generates, are, unfortunately, not fac-tored into GDP at all. Damage to the envi-ronment and the stock of natural resourcesshould, even on the basis of common sense,be deducted from any compilation of GDPfor a particular society or economic system.Further, it is a well-accepted principle thatwhen environmental damage takes place, thepolluter must pay. This, unfortunately, is notthe case all across the world.

The problem of climate change is theresult of Cumulative Emissions of GreenhouseGases (GHGs) since the beginning of indus-trialisation. The sole responsibility for this liesessentially with the industrialised countriesand it is for this reason that the United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) clearly came up with the condi-tion of “Common but differentiated respon-sibility.” This was accepted and agreed onessentially because the developing countriesare no doubt at a stage where their energy con-sumption would perhaps outstrip that of thedeveloped world. Yet, the stock of carbondioxide and other GHGs has been thecumulative contribution of the industri-alised countries to an overwhelming extent.The developed nations are now convenient-ly forgetting the historical responsibility thatthey must accept fully.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)came out with a study earlier this year whereit estimated the extent of subsidies that theworld is responsible for in the pricing of fos-sil fuels. “Globally, subsidies remained largeat $4.7 trillion (6.3 per cent of the global GDP)in 2015 and are projected at $5.2 trillion (6.5per cent of GDP) in 2017.”

The study further states, “About three

quarters of the global subsidiesare due to domestic factors —energy pricing reform thusremains largely in countries’ ownnational interest — while coaland petroleum together accountfor 85 per cent of the global sub-sidies. Efficient fossil fuel pricingin 2015 would have loweredglobal carbon emissions by 28 percent and fossil fuel air pollutiondeaths by 46 per cent andincreased Government revenueby 3.8 per cent of GDP.”

In other words, the world,instead of reducing the emis-sions of carbon dioxide — theprimary GHG which causesclimate change — is generous-ly rewarding the production anduse of fossil fuels and, hence, ofcarbon dioxide. This representsa distortion, which clearlyreflects the power of the fossilfuel lobby over decision-makingin most countries.

It was in 2008 that the thenPresident of France, NicolasSarkozy, set up a commission onthe Measurement of EconomicPerformance and Social Progressunder the chairmanship ofJoseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prizewinning economist, the reportfrom which was submitted inSeptember 2009. While theStiglitz Commission analysedthe flaws and shortcomings ofGDP as a measure, it also cameup with some recommenda-tions, which would help modi-fy and refine this metric. It was

brought out that statistical indi-cators are important for design-ing and assessing policies aimedat advancing the progress of soci-ety as well as for assessing andinfluencing the functioning ofeconomic markets.

It is well-known that whatgets measured, gets managed.Hence, when we get measuresthat are flawed, then decisionswill also be flawed or biased andwe may then deviate substan-tially from what constituteshuman welfare.

The first recommendationof the Stiglitz Commission wasbased on coming up with ameasure reflecting material liv-ing standards, which would beclosely associated with netnational income, real householdincome and consumption.Hence, there is a large range ofvariables that would provide asharp deviation between GDPand the well-being of a house-hold or society.

Another recommendationemphasises the fact that citizens’material living standards arebetter followed through mea-sures of household income andconsumption. In fact, data forOECD countries show that realhousehold income has grownquite differently from real GDPper capita and typically at alower rate. Another recommen-dation relates to consideringincome and consumption joint-ly with wealth. It may be inferred

that if we were to apply this prin-ciple, we should also include esti-mates of natural wealth.

With the recent burning ofthe Amazon forest in Brazil, anymeasure of GDP would beover-estimated if we were toignore the massive destructionof nature’s wealth that Brazilowns. Still another recommen-dation highlights greater promi-nence be given to the distribu-tion of income, consumptionand wealth.

On a practical basis, if wehave to overhaul the measure ofGDP and eliminate its flaws suchan effort needs to be led by theSecretary General of the UnitedNations (UN). The effort shouldinvolve setting up a group ofexperts which would provide aroadmap within a period ofthree months on how to ensurethat the world moves its systemsto a new set of metrics by 2030.This effort should then be takenup by the UN General Assemblyto ensure that a new system isdesigned for implementationacross all the countries of theworld during its first phase ofdesign and detailing during 2020to 2022. The following eightyears would then be given to fullimplementation and to ensurethat by 2030 we give GDP a bur-ial after a hundred years ofdominant existence.

(The writer is former chair-man, Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change, 2002-15)

One wonders whether certain moves aremade to malign the image of JawaharlalNehru University (JNU) as the premier

institute of the country, knowing full well thatits students won’t stop questioning or give upwithout a fight. This time the students, led bytheir unions, are protesting against a slew ofdecisions taken by its administration, whichincludes a steep hike in tuition fees, enforce-ment of a dress code and curfew timings forhostellers. So much so that water cannons had

to be used to disperse agitating protesters, some of whom were detained. Thestudents’ angst over the almost 300 per cent hike in fees is understandable asit’s astronomical and insensitive, instead of being graded and phased out as alltransitions to a new protocol should be. For long, JNU has come to be recog-nised as one of the most liberal institutions, which provides quality education ataffordable rates. It has provided succour to the poorest of families, who couldnot afford a respectable education for their children due to the hefty fees chargedby other eminent institutions, which are only getting more expensive by the day.

On the other hand, it is also a fact that JNU’s fee policy had been operatingunder a differential regime — its fee structure was nothing when compared toits counterparts. Could one imagine staying in one of the prime locations of Delhi,paying a room rent of just `20 per month for a single-seater or `10 per monthfor a double seater, that, too without any utility or service charge? That’s some-thing that was unimaginable back in the decade and even now. Perhaps, this isthe reason why students here over-extended their duration of degrees so thatthey could prolong their stay at the hostels, which is comfortable and cheap,the inexpensive food coming as an additional benefit. Some even take short-term courses while working part-time. Then there are also others, who stay oncampus without permission. The accumulation of old students led to a chron-ic hostel shortage for newcomers. The university, too, was at ease for a lot ofits budget came either from the taxpayers’ money or from international dona-tions. In this sense, it is welcome that the varsity finally woke up to the dangersof big subsidies. Yet it must be accepted that a steep hike, coming after a spanof 19 years, is an injustice when not reasonably executed. No consultations weremade with the stakeholders or the management council to arrive at a commonground. Dress codes or hostel timing rules for students, too, are downright silly.The students admitted to this varsity are adults and must be treated as such.

As Maharashtra hur tles towardsPresidential Rule, it has shown how avalid electoral verdict and ethics can be

subverted by political greed of the day. Not onlythat, it shows how a centrist party, no matterwhat the verdict in States, can use the officesunder its purview to turn any result in its favour.And justify its act as only following a prece-dent of Congress or its coalition governmentsat the Centre instead of correcting it. Althoughthe BJP and Shiv Sena had worked out a pre-poll alliance, which was even endorsed by vot-

ers, the former’s arrogance as the lead partner and the latter’s insistence on anequal role tore it apart. The former willingly let its junior partner drift away andchallenged its ability to prop up an alternative coalition. The Sena tried its bestbut with ideological divergences paring down its chances of forming a stableGovernment with the Opposition Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), itis out in the cold without the numbers. No matter how tempting the opportuni-ty to use the electoral window to jump into governance, the Congress and theNCP are looking beyond local legislators to the larger impropriety of conveniencetarnishing their national image. The BJP, which is a keen believer of one-partyhomogeneity across the nation, is having the last laugh as the only possible choice.So it has lost no time in overturning the ethics of the Governor’s office and ema-ciating a democratic federal structure. The Governor, while giving ample time tothe BJP to stake a claim, didn’t even ask for a floor test and gave in to ChiefMinister-elect Devendra Fadnavis’ inability to procure requisite numbers, whichhe ought to have done according to the rules and spirit of parliamentary democ-racy. While Governor BS Koshyari ticked off the boxes on technicality, he did notgive adequate time to the Opposition parties and even an adrift Sena for crys-tallising their adjustments before committing to furnishing letters of support. Onemust remember that individually none of them had the moral right to begin suchexercises given the decisive nature of the verdict in favour of BJP-Sena. Yet theSena got 48 hours to furnish proof and the NCP just 24 hours, the last a biggertravesty as reports emerged that the Governor had recommended President’sRule even before the latter’s deadline expired. Constitutionally, the Governor shouldhave insisted on floor tests in the House as according to the judgment in theBommai vs Union of India case in 1994, “the assessment of the strength of theMinistry is not a matter of private opinion or any individual, be he the Governoror the President.” The ruling is very clear about “demonstrating” strengths andnot relying on subjective assessments. This has only lent credence to theoriesthat President’s Rule anyway was an extension counter of the ruling party andthe State would still be at BJP’s command, with or without Fadnavis. While Senahas moved the Supreme Court questioning the Governor’s role, the State mayappear to be in limbo but in reality, is in the BJP’s kitty.

Going by latest precedents in States, the BJP has assumed power despitenot emerging as the single-largest party, be it by cobbling up post-poll alliances,breaking Opposition ranks or devouring any claimants. Goa, Manipur and Meghalayastand out as examples where the Congress was actually the single-largest party.Then there was the embarrassment of March 2016, when Congress rebels andBJP MLAs challenged the Harish Rawat-led Congress Government in Uttarakhandover the Finance Bill. The rebel MLAs were later disqualified. Governor KK Paulasked the Modi Government to impose President’s Rule in the State, but UttarakhandHigh Court Judge KM Joseph quashed it and Rawat proved his majority in theHouse. All these examples of violations prove there is an internecine plot to erodethe spirit of alliance politics in general and the regional partners in particular, mak-ing them look like puppets in a shadow play, so facile that the voter changeshis/her pattern in the next round of elections. As political parties hide their ambi-tions with the fig leaf of responsibility, Maharashtra is indeed in a crisis. It stillrecords the most farmer suicides — more than 12,000 in the four years from2015-2019. The largest State economy in the country is in the middle of a halt-ing slowdown, a collapsed real estate sector, agrarian distress and loss of jobsand manufacturing. All talk of Marathi pride is actually a condensation of deep-er aspirations to ride out this morass. And that surely cannot happen with animposition of authority but stakeholdership.

This is no endgame

Judicial reforms

Sir — This refers to the article,“Big ticket reforms need of thehour” (November 8) by VKBahuguna. The writer must becomplimented for stressing on theneed for reforms in our justicesystem to ensure faster and effi-cient delivery of justice to the cit-izens. As the writer said, the needis to review the closed method ofselection of judges to the highjudiciary. But there are also manyother issues that matter to the restof us.

First, besides the enormousdelay in the listing of cases, oneof the prime concerns pertains tothe scanty time given to thecommon man for hearing his/herappeal/writ petition even if theyrelate to some gross error com-mitted by the lower court in read-ing a particular file/document.

Second, it is but natural forthe common man to get frustrat-ed when he/she finds that no rea-son has been cited for the dis-missal of the petition, thus negat-ing the basic premise of justicethat not only must it be done; itmust also be seen to be done.

A serious thought must begiven to the shortcomings that

plague the judicial system of thecountry.

B P SrivastavaNoida

Respect the police

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “For the sake of law”(November 7). Clashes betweenthe public and the police must not

be allowed to become a trend.Policemen are servants of theGovernment when in uniform.On the other hand, lawyers areprofessionals, who, too, have pro-tection of law while on duty.

But a lawyer is with an attireand not uniform. Any assault ona police officer in uniform is cat-egorised in statutes — even arough argument with him/hercan attract the charge of misde-

meanour. This is built on the the-sis that the men in uniform rep-resent the face of a transferredauthority by the Government,which is paramount.

Without such construct, theGovernment will be seen as pow-erless to discharge its primaryremit of maintaining peace andorder. While the Governmentmust invariably sustain theauthority of the uniform, the

police has the greater onus of pre-serving its dignity. Else, there canbe no closure to such aberrationsin a democracy.

R Narayanan Navi Mumbai

Balanced verdict

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Return of maryada” (November11). The unanimous verdict deliv-ered by the Supreme Court notonly paved the way for the con-struction of Ram mandir inAyodhya but also put an end to adecade-long dispute. It is disheart-ening that the issue had to drag onfor far too much. The truthremains that the wheels of our judi-cial system runs very slow. Thecourt’s directive to the UttarPradesh Government to allot fiveacres of land within Ayodhya forthe construction of a new masjidmust not be viewed as charity buta recognition of their right to wor-ship. The court’s ruling is soundand balanced. People must acceptthe judgment wholeheartedly.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

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

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op nionHYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019

06

False data mechanism

RK PACHAURI

GDP as a measure of human well-being and progress is flawed. A new set ofmetrics that can be implemented across the world is the need of the hour

The Congress leadershipalways puts the party beforethe nation. Now they are giv-ing Maharashtra on a platterto the BJP. Its moribund atti-tude will decimate it soon.

AAP leader—Preeti Sharma

The ability to say no is veryimportant which I haverealised. I'd never go back anddisrespect my certain profes-sional choices because at thatpoint for me, they mattered.

Actor—Yami Gautam

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O TT H E E D I T O R

Migratory birds need a safer world

It was sad to learn that as many as 1,500 migratorybirds of over a dozen species were found dead inSambhar Lake, the country’s largest inland saltwa-

ter lake near Jaipur. Officials suspect water contami-nation as one of the reasons for their death but are wait-ing for the viscera test reports. Such a large numberof deaths of migratory birds is rare in recent history.

Earlier, a medical team from Jaipur had collect-ed a few carcasses and water samples for examina-tion. Ashok Rao, a veterinary doctor who was part ofthe investigation team, ruled out the possibility of birdflu saying no secretion had been found. Other possi-bilities like toxicity of the water and bacterial or viralinfection are being looked into. A few days ago, a hail-storm had hit the area, which could also be a possi-bility for the cause of death. Birds form a major partof the earth’s ecosystem. Migratory birds come main-ly from Siberia and Europe when harsh winter seasonsets in there. These birds migrate to India every year

for food, breeding and nesting. After the passage ofwinter, when it gets hot here, they again migrate tocooler areas. Authorities must take necessary stepsto make the environment clean and unpolluted to wel-come these winged guests.

TK NandananChennai

IF WE HAVE TOOVERHAUL THE

MEASURE OF GDPAND ELIMINATE ITS

FLAWS, EFFORTSNEED TO BE

LED BY THE UNSECRETARY-

GENERAL. THEEFFORT SHOULD

INVOLVE SETTINGUP A GROUP OF

EXPERTS WHICHWOULD PROVIDE AROADMAP WITHIN

A PERIOD OFTHREE MONTHS ON

HOW TO ENSURETHAT THE WORLD

MOVES ITSSYSTEMS TO A

NEW SET OFMETRICS BY 2030

Send yyour ffeedback tto:[email protected]

Fee hike unjustGovernor Koshyari has committed a grave travesty ofdemocracy and made a mockeryof the Constitutional process in recommending President'sRule in Maharashtra.

Congress leader—Randeep Surjewala

The Maharashtra Governor has ticked off boxes rather thanhonouring the spirit of a federal, democratic system

It’s not that JNU students are unreasonable, it’sjust that due process must be followed

India and China are a goodexample of the differencebetween the threat posed by free versus unfree Governments.

Former US Ambassador to the UN —Nikki Haley

Learn from great CEOs

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

One can decidedly differentiate between anordinary Chief Executive Officer (CEO)and a great one. Great CEOs are exem-

plary visionaries, with superlative managerial andleadership skills. They are admired by colleaguesand common men alike and are considered idolsby millions of young aspiring leaders dreamingof making it big in the corporate world. Theirgreatness lies in the fact that not only have theycreated profitable enterprises; they have also cre-ated brands that are etched forever in the imag-ination of consumers. So what are the leadershipprinciples and management philosophies thatdrive these icons and enable them to take theirorganisations to stellar heights?

As Brad Feld, an American entrepreneur andventure capitalist, said, “Don’t be afraid to havea big vision, but make sure it’s a clear one”, clar-ity of vision is one of the main traits of greatCEOs.

Taking an example of Steve Jobs, an uncon-ventional leader who demanded excellence fromhis staff and was controversial for his blunt deliv-ery of criticism. However, his sheer genius; hisamazing ability to articulate his vision and dex-terity to take his people, investors and customerswith him on his journey made him an exception-al leader. Jobs had an exceptional clarity of visionand excelled at designing minimalist devices thatbroke barriers in computer speeds. He createdan ecosystem which could stand alone or worktogether in an interconnected way-like an iPodconnected to a Mac connected to an iTunes store.Apple could manage vast amounts of informa-tion through division of labour among the sys-tems. For example, the Mac controlled systemadministration while iTunes fetched content fromcloud storage, freeing the device to concentrateon playing the music. Jobs was motivated morethan anything to feel he had made a solid andpositive impact on the world during his lifetime.And since he had such high expectations fromhimself, he was able to achieve excellence.

Jack Welch, perhaps the greatest corporateleader of the 20th century, was the youngest CEOof General Electric (GE) when he took over in1981. He followed an incremental leadership styleand during his two-decade stint, the net worthof GE improved by a whopping 4,000 per cent.He is a management theorist and strategicthinker who championed new initiatives like SixSigma quality, differentiation and e-business.

Bill Gates, listed as the richest person on thisplanet for 12 consecutive years, is also a man ofcolossal vision. He envisioned every person onthis planet to have a computer and every com-puter, a programme, designed by Microsoft. Sincethen, he has worked tirelessly to achieve hisvision. In this process, he has been instrumen-tal in the IT revolution that the world has wit-nessed. Great CEOs, apart from adding to thebottomline of the company contribute to the soci-ety in a big way. It would be hard to talk aboutthe life of Bill Gates and not discuss philanthropyand humanitarianism. Heeding to his mother’sadvice before she passed away due to breast can-cer, Gates has always taken a selfless approachto his leadership, spending considerable moneyand time in philanthropic efforts to give to oth-ers. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hasdonated billions of dollars to causes all over the

world, making significant differences inthe lives of children and adults. Thislevel of giving back illustrates Gates’character and focus on social respon-sibility as a global corporate citizen. Italso shows that his pursuit of solutionsand making life better went beyond justmaking a profit. Instead, it was aboutdriving significant change in the worldthat would make a difference for thosewho need it the most.

Indra Nooyi, who is an iconicleader, consistently ranked among the100 most powerful women, when shewas the CEO of PepsiCo, the world’ssecond largest food and beverage com-pany in the world, and was at the helmof managing an employee strength of30,000 and selling in around 200 coun-tries around the world. She believed indeveloping two balance sheets: One wasto provide return to shareholders andthe other was to provide return to theenvironment.Under her leadership,PepsiCo focussed on people and plan-et in addition to profit. Nooyi hadworked tirelessly to reduce the use ofenergy, water and packaging and simul-taneously providing a great workplacefor its employees and associates.

Great CEOs show that great worksare performed not by strength but byperseverance. “It’s not where you startout in life that matters, but where youend up”.

This adage fits Ursula Burns per-fectly. Born in the poor neighbourhoodof Manhattan to immigrant parents andraised by a single mother, she rose tobecome the first female AfricanAmerican CEO of a Fortune 500 com-pany, Xerox and also holds the honourof being the first woman to succeedanother woman CEO, Anne Mulcahy.Having joined Xerox in 1980 as amechanical engineering summerintern, Burns progressed through the

corporate echelons to become the CEOfrom 2009 to 2016. At present, she is theChairperson and CEO of VEON, asenior advisor to Teneo, and a non-executive director of Diageo sinceApril 2018. She is also the member ofthe board of directors of Uber. Sheworked very hard to rise above herunderprivileged background and didnot use her background as an excuse.She worked with perseverance to reachthe top of the corporate world andworked hard to return Xerox to prof-itability. NR Narayan Murthy, a rolemodel for every Indian, is an aptexample of “Simple living, high think-ing”. He is a billionaire with net worthof about $230 crore but still flies econ-omy and drives around in a simple car.Murthy’s life is an inspiration to all ofus and gives a strong message thatworld-class businesses can be createdbased on transparency and good gov-ernance. Born in a middle class fami-ly in Sidlaghatta, Karnataka, the oddsof life were no match to this brilliantand enthusiastic person, who, throughhis discipline and determination creat-ed a “Great Indian IT Success Story.”

Infosys, today, is one of mostrespected IT companies in the worldwith footprints all across the globe andis the second-largest IT company inIndia by revenue. But did you know thathis first entrepreneurial venture,Softronics, failed to take off? One of theinitial challenges faced by Murthy wasthe inability to take admission in theprestigious Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT) even after earning ahigh rank and scholarship as the grantwas not enough to cover his studies.Since his father was unable to fund hiseducation, he enrolled into a local engi-neering college but later did his post-graduation from IIT.

Similarly, the failure of his first

entrepreneurial venture, Softronics,did not stop him from establishingInfosys and lead it to stellar heights.Murthy follows Mahatma Gandhi’spolicy of “practice what you preach.” Hehas always led by example and believesthat the primary responsibility of aleader is to give hope and confidencein the face of adversity.

Taking care of people is one of thebiggest attributes of great CEOs.Murthy has been generous in reward-ing employees with stock options.Personally, he has given away stocksworth of `50,000 crore to his employ-ees. He reiterates that performanceshould be rewarded suitably. In Infosys,drivers, electricians and secretaries areamong millionaires due to their stockoptions. Indra Nooyi was also a caring,humane CEO who took care of heremployees by being in touch withthem and understanding their con-cerns. She even wrote “thank you” let-ters to the parents of the employees toshow her appreciation to them.

Similarly, Ken Chenault, the formerCEO of American Express, believed inreaching out to each employee. Hemade it a point to answer to each andevery mail he received from any of hisemployees. He travelled around theworld to meet staff at different locationsfrom around the globe.To further con-nect personally with his people, he usedto run an open operation where any-one could talk to him.

Great CEOs, because of their innatequality of perseverance and contribu-tion to society, ensure stability andgrowth of their organisations makingthem the best in the world. They liveby their principles and lead by exam-ple, making them exemplary leaders ofthe corporate world.

(The writer is Assistant Professor,Amity University)

Their greatness lies in the fact that not only have they created profitable enterprises; they havealso created brands that are etched forever in the imagination of consumers

analysis 07F I R S T C O L U M N

Choose merit, notpatronage

DEBASISH BHATTACHARYYA

Civil servants, both principled and spineless, existin the system; the former serve the country and

the latter politicians and themselves

HIMA BINDU KOTA

GREAT CEOS,BECAUSE OF

THEIR INNATEQUALITY OF

PERSEVERANCEAND

CONTRIBUTION TOSOCIETY, ENSURE

STABILITY ANDGROWTH OF

THEIRORGANISATIONS,

MAKING THEMTHE BEST IN THE

WORLD. THEYLIVE BY THEIR

PRINCIPLES ANDLEAD BY

EXAMPLE,MAKING THEM

EXEMPLARYLEADERS OF

THE CORPORATEWORLD

In the administrative system, the bureaucracy plays a key role as civilservants or babus function to implement the policies of the electedGovernment in a rational, efficient and non-partisan manner. However,

people have often experienced that when it comes to implementationand delivery, the performance is disappointing, leading to almost non-delivery or poor public services. And, one of the many factors attrib-uted to this is the unholy nexus between politicians, bureaucrats andother vested interests. There are compelling reasons to believe that thisis true. And, it is little wonder, the cost is stupefying. While many feelthat the bureaucracy saps initiative, inhibits risk-taking and crushes cre-ativity; there are others who feel that in a vast and diverse country likeours the bureaucracy is unavoidable. And, there is yet another group ofpeople who feel colonial hangovers in bureaucracy represent an utter-ly frustrated scenario as it can’t meet the social and economic chal-lenges that a welfare State like India faces.

It seems worthwhile, however, to quote Queen Elizabeth-I. After mak-ing Lord William Cecil her secretary, Elizabeth advised him, “This judge-ment I have of you, that you will not be corrupted by any manner of giftand that you will be faithful to the state and that, without respect of myprivate will, you would give me that counsel which you think best.” Eventhough policies, projects and programmes drawn up by the Governmentaim at the development of the country and well-being of the people, suc-cessive governments failed to appreciate the fact that leadership maychange, but the engine of governance does not falter on account of hav-ing a new driver in a Government that possesses a relatively-famed bureau-cracy. However, in demanding political systems, there is less pretencethat the country’s bureaucracies are deeply influenced by people’s inter-ests. Civil servants, both principled and spineless, exist in the system;the former serve the country and the latter politicians and themselves.Thus a section of bureaucracy appears to act as a cog in a political machinethat seeks loyalty to the regime as a means to maintain its hold on power,identify solely with the rulers and the official ideology.

Incidentally, there are not many Ashok Khemkas (the IAS officertransferred over 50 times in 27 years of service and still counting) whohave the guts to stand up against hidden agenda, poor policies, corrup-tion and exploitation to remain aligned with democratic ideals. Put dif-ferently, there are civil servants wishing to sail with confidence, com-petence, courage and commitment but are being hounded for doing theirduty. Let’s not lose sight of the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s recentobservation about Khemka who secured a grading of 9.92/10 by theReviewing Authority: “We are of the view that a person of such profes-sional integrity needs to be protected as the professional integrity in ourpolitical, social and administrative system is depleting very fast....” Thatbeing said, I am reminded of a statement by a retired upright IAS offi-cer and writer and columnist whom I met at India International Centre(IIC). As I congratulated him for writing a bold article against a power-ful Central Minister, he laughed in that very contagious way he had. Ialso gave him unsolicited advice that if he continued writing such pieces,he could not aspire to become a Governor or head a Government-appoint-ed committee or organisation. And in response, he said, “I am not amongthose crafty bureaucrats who enjoy the trust of unscrupulous politiciansand ministers. I was sidelined, transferred for not being politically con-venient and pliable. But I never gave in to temptation.”

However that may be, just a few days ago, speaking at a panel dis-cussion on ‘Has the steel frame rusted’, former Chief Secretary of DelhiGovernment, Shailaja Chandra said, “It is easy to say that politicians havefailed the IAS officers. But I feel this is not entirely correct. Those in theservice need to introspect. If they do not have any extraneous interests,nothing can stop them from serving the people.”

So far, the feeble accountability of public and political processes,have defined the character of public administration in India. The chal-lenge ahead lies in finding and meeting the balance between serving cit-izens while upholding the rule of law without falling prey to either obstruc-tionist and lacklustre bureaucracy or clientelism.

Nevertheless, even as we complain about red tape, paperwork andexcessive bureaucratic rigmarole the fact remains that eventually peo-ple rely on it to structure our country. The NDA Government in its sec-ond term, infused churnings in the Indian civil services by pushing forthe lateral entry of domain experts and forced retirements of officers,but it continues to face enormous social and political challenges. In orderto effectively deal with these trials we need an efficient bureaucracy. And,to find that, the Central Government has to think and act big.

Righting the country’s administrative machinery steadfastly is theonly way it’s going to happen. Indian ethos and the laws of the land man-date an efficient bureaucracy. It is now up to lawmakers, the Ministers— whom the bureaucracy is supposed to report to — to ensure thecountry gets it. It’s time for transition from a patronage-based to merit-based bureaucracy, with which will come accelerated progress.

(The writer is former DGM, IIC, New Delhi and GM, InternationalCentre Goa)

The Central GovernmentHealth Scheme (CGHS) isone of the largest health care

systems in the country, which catersto serving and retired CentralGovernment employees, theirdependents, pensioners and alsoMembers of Parliament. On paperand intention-wise it is one of thebest welfare schemes in the coun-try.

Present in 71 locations in thecountry, it caters to 35 lakh bene-ficiaries and the number is alwaysincreasing. Due to unplannedexpansion to new cities each year,the infrastructure, manpower andother resources of the CGHS are

getting strained.In places like Dehradun more

than 25,000 beneficiaries (includingfrom distant places like Haridwarand Roorkie) throng the wellnesscentres daily and many have to waitfrom 5 AM to 2 PM for their turnto be examined by the doctor.However, many have to returnhome without even getting to meetthe doctor, as the main server inDelhi closes at 2 PM and there is noprovision for manually handling thepaperwork. It was complete chaostill a few months ago, when theSurvey of India Dispensary wasmerged with it and things eased abit. There has been a long-standingdemand to improve the CGHS sys-tem by all quarters and from all overthe country. The biggest problemwith the CGHS is excessive red tape,harassment and too much paper-work, which bogs down thepatients, the wellness centres as wellas empanelled hospitals, laborato-ries and drug suppliers.

Taking note of the shortcom-ings in the CGHS, Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan had solicit-ed suggestions from all stakehold-ers for improving the scheme andsubmitting these proposals latest byNovember 30.

To make any scheme effective,the Government needs to ensurethat it can sustain the patient pres-sure and be innovative and patient-centric rather than procedure-cen-tric. Today, the biggest managementproblem in CGHS is lack of prop-er infrastructure and manpower.The Health Ministry has beenopening new wellness centres with-out proper assessment of the infra-structure and the result is the utterchaos that prevails in these new dis-pensaries and the endless sufferingof patients. The plight of senior cit-izens is particularly bad as they haveto wait long hours just to get treat-ment despite their failing health andweakened condition. The doctorsand nursing staff are also under

tremendous pressure. Now thequestion is how to overcome this sit-uation as it is also necessary toextend the CGHS scheme to covernew areas in the country.

The other problem relates torates of various tests and treatmentprocedures for the empanelled hos-pitals and delay in payments to thelaboratories, that is forcing manydiagnostic centres to refuse patients.The third issue relates to the lack ofproper and honest monitoring ofprivate empanelled hospitals assometimes, due to the mischief ofa few, the entire scheme is put inlimbo.

It is therefore, necessary totake some innovative policy deci-sions. To cope with the ever-grow-ing number of CGHS centres theGovernment should enter into apublic private partnership (PPP)mode and select private hospitals,who in turn should be allowed tohave collaborative partnership withthe CGHS on pre-determined

aspects and also appoint privatedoctors for a few hours on contractto treat the patients. At present thisprovision of hiring exists but it iscumbersome and the wellness cen-tre gets caught in the web of red-tapism. There should be an upfrontdecision to fix the number of doc-tors based on the number of bene-ficiaries and requirement of doctorsand support staff and powers shouldbe delegated up to the Chief MedicalOfficer (CMO) level to allow hiringon contract basis.

The rates of pathological testsand radiological procedures shouldnot be fixed in an arbitrary mannerand should be periodically revised.The payments should be made bi-monthly for which an adequatebudget should be sanctionedupfront for the whole year.

Many private hospitals indulgein malpractices and there is a needfor constant and transparent mon-itoring. If the Government inno-vates and ropes in private hospitals,

enhances the powers of CMOs andregional heads and involves privatemedical professionals, the CGHSmedical bureaucracy can be used forbetter monitoring of these hospitals.

There are two-pronged prob-lems faced by the patients. First, theadministrative hassles at the well-ness centres due to too much red-tapism and poor infrastructure.Also, many times, empanelled hos-pitals harass the patients with toomuch paperwork and deny admis-sion or treatment on f limsygrounds.

Second, is the harassmentpatients face in running from theempanelled hospitals to the wellnesscentres, as each time one needs toendorse the expert advice. To rec-tify this, the Government couldallow patients to directly approachthe empanelled hospitals for specif-ically identified diseases, includingchronic ones like diabetes and so on.The Government had allowedsenior citizens above 75 years of age

to approach empanelled hospitalsdirectly without referral. This pro-vision should also be allowed forsenior citizens above 60 years, tomake things easier for them andreduce the pressure on doctors. Thecollection of medicines and distri-bution should also be streamlined.

Though it is a welfare schemeyet there is no involvement of thebeneficiaries. This is specially nec-essary in cases involving cashlesspensioners and the Governmentmight consider setting up a mech-anism for this as it will bring inmore transparency and expertise ofprivate hospitals and doctors.

The Prime Minister and HealthMinister must take this initiative toits logical end as already, theGovernment is spending on anaverage, nearly a lakh annually onthe health care of each of its employ-ees. Fine tuning of CGHS is essen-tial to make the scheme succeed.

(The writer is retired civilservant.)

A litmus test for medical bureaucracyThe biggest problem with the CGHS is excessive red tape, harassment and too much paperwork, which bogs down the patients, the

wellness centres as well as empanelled hospitals, laboratories and drug suppliers

VK BAHUGUNA

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

NARAYANASAMY ‘SELF-APPROVED’ HIS VISIT TOSINGAPORE BYPASSING THE PROTOCOL OF OBTAINING

PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHORITIES CONCERNED.— PUDUCHERRY LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

KIRAN BEDI

I WAS A CENTRAL MINISTER AND AM FULLY AWARE OFTHE NEED TO GET APPROVAL FROM THE CENTRALGOVERNMENT BEFORE FLYING ABROAD.—PUDUCHERRY CHIEF MINISTER V NARAYANASAMY

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

JLR sales dip 6% in October to 41,866 unitsNEW DELHI: Jaguar LandRover (JLR), a part of TataMotors, on Tuesday reported5.5 per cent decline in totalretail sales at 41,866 units inOctober as compared with theyear-ago period. Sales ofJaguar brand were at 10,606units during the month, down22.9 per cent from October2018, Tata Motors said in astatement. Land Rover saleswere at 31,260 units, up 2.4per cent from the same monthlast year, it added. "Theautomotive tradingenvironment remainschallenging globally. Againstthis background, it is all themore encouraging to see ourChina turnaround strategy andwork with the local retailernetwork generating positiveresults as sales have improvedin China for the fourthconsecutive month," JLR ChiefCommercial Officer FelixBrautigam said.

100X.VC to investover Rs 200 cr instartupsNEW DELHI: Venture capitalfirm 100X.VC is planning toinvest over Rs 200 crore instartups in India by the end ofnext year. The company hasrolled out corporate venturecapital (CVC) program forIndia to partner localcorporations who have corpusto invest in startups. "100X.VCteam research surveyestimates that the top 100corporations in India have keptaside anywhere between Rs10-100 crore of capital toinvest in startups. We expectaround 30-40 corporates tojoin us in CVC program andcontribute upward of Rs 200crore for investment instartups," 100X.VC founderSanjay Mehta said. 100X.VC isIndia's first venture capitalfirm to invest in early stagestartups using India SAFENotes (iSafe).

CIL's coalallocation underspot e-auctionNEW DELHI: CIL's coalallocation under spot e-auctionscheme declined 36.4 per centto 11.25 million tonne in April-September period of theongoing fiscal. Coal India(CIL) had allocated 17.69million tonne (MT) of coal inthe year-ago period, accordingto government data. The coalallocated by the PSU underthe scheme in September alsodropped to 1.97 MT,compared to 2.58 MT in thecorresponding month of 2018-19, it said. Coal distributionthrough e-auction wasintroduced with a view toproviding access to coal forsuch buyers who are not ableto source the dry fuel throughthe available institutionalmechanism, as per theinformation available on CILwebsite.

ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

‘India's Jul-Sep quarterGDP numbers crucial’GURDIP SINGH n SINGAPORE

India's July-September quar-ter Gross Domestic Product(GDP) data, scheduled for arelease on November 29, willbe important as headlinegrowth has already slipped toa six-year low, saidSingapore's DBS Bank in itsdaily report on Tuesday.

"Headline growth hasalready slipped to a six-yearlow of 5 per cent Y-o-Y in thequarter ending June," saidthe bank. A disappointingGDP report could l if tUSD/INR above its two-month range between 70.5and 71.5 and bring it closer tothe year's high around 72.5,believes DBS.

The Indian rupee depreci-ated to 71.47 from 71.29 onMonday, noted the bank.

India's industrial produc-tion contracted sharply by 4.3per cent Y-o-Y in Septemberagainst the 2.5 per cent con-sensus. August's contractionwas revised down to 1.4 percent from 1.1 per cent.

The weakness was broad-

based, cutting across capitalgoods, consumer durables,and infrastructure and con-struction. In particular, thesharp 20.7 per cent decline incapital goods production didnot bode well for investment,a sign that the economicslowdown has becomeentrenched, according to thebank.

In its Monday report, DBSsaid it expected the 2QFY20GDP to show that the econ-omy slowed further against 5per cent in the first quarter.

India's industrial production contractedsharply by 4.3% Y-o-Y in Septemberagainst the 2.5% consensus. August'scontraction was revised down to 1.4 %from 1.1 per cent

DHRITI RANJANA RAY n HANGZHOU (CHINA)

E-commerce giant Alibaba'sSingles' Day sales hit anotherrecord of USD 38.38 billion,even amid concerns of slowingeconomic growth and tradetensions with the United States.

The Alibaba Group's variousshopping platforms' total GMVexceeded USD 10 billion in just29:45 seconds, and broke lastyear's record sales figure after 16hours 31 minutes of the GlobalShopping Festival going live.

At the close of the 24-hrshopping extravaganza, thetotal GMV stood at RMB 268.4billion (USD 38.379 billion).

According to Alibaba, theyear-on-year GMV growth reg-istered a 25.7 per cent rise,

while the number of deliveryorders stood at a massive 1.292billion. The sales figure of thisyear's 11.11 Global ShoppingFestival was keenly watchedamid rising trade war concerns

between China and the US."We have maintained rapid

growth in terms of number ofcustomers, new sales. Robustdomestic demand is driving theeconomy," said Fan Jiang

President of Taobao and Tmall.Alibaba's Tmall platform is

China's biggest B2C marketplacefor both Chinese and interna-tional brands and retailers, whileTaobao is a leading Chineseonline shopping website owned

by Alibaba. As many as 15brands surpassed RMB1 billionin GMV including Apple,

Haier, Huawei, Nike, XiaomI,adidas, L'oreal and Estee Lauderamong others, Alibaba said.

During the 11.11 shoppingfestival some of the major coun-tries/regions that bought fromChina in terms of GMV includeRussia, Hong Kong, Taiwan,United States, Australia,Malaysia and Japan, Alibabasaid. The 11.11 shopping festi-val began in 2009 with partici-pation from just 27 merchantshas evolved into a global shop-ping festival, Chris Tung CMOof Alibaba Group said.

Last year it raked in a recordUSD 30.8 billion in GMV, eclips-ing the Cyber Monday sales ofUSD 7.9 billion and Black Friday

sales at USD 6.22 billion.More than 200,000 brands

participated in this year's event. The shopping festival, also

known as Double 11 came to aclose at mid-night on November11. The event is also referred asSingles' Day because of its date,11/11 (November 11) consists offour 'ones', representing four sin-gles, has emerged as the world'sbiggest shopping festival.

The 11.11 Global ShoppingFestival Gala Celebration sawperformance by GrammyAward winning singer-song-writer Taylor Swift and a host ofother international and localcelebrities. More than 200,000brands from 78 countries andregions participated in 11.11 thisyear, with one million newproducts on offer.

Alibaba's Singles' Day sales hit new record of $38 bnAccording toAlibaba, the year-on-year GMV growthregistered a25.7% rise, whilethe number ofdelivery ordersstood at amassive 1.292 bn

PNS n NEW YORK

Boeing on Monday said itexpects the 737 MAX airplane,which was grounded after twocrashes killed 346 people, toresume flying in January, delay-ing its return by one month.

In a statement, the group saidit still hopes to receive certifi-cation next month from theFederal Aviation Administration(FAA), allowing it to resumeMAX deliveries to airline cus-tomers before the end of theyear. "In parallel, we are work-ing towards final validation ofthe updated training require-ments, which must occur beforethe MAX returns to commercialservice, and which we nowexpect to begin in January,"Boeing said. It had originallyplanned for the model toresume flying in December.

The planes have beengrounded globally since mid-March, following the deadlyLion Air crash of October 2018

and the Ethiopian Airlines crashin March this year. The ground-ing has dragged on far beyondinitial expectations as Boeinghas upgraded systems and facedquestions from regulators andpoliticians over the plane.

Southwest Airlines andAmerican Airlines on Fridaypushed back their timeframeagain for resuming flights on the737 MAX until early March.Boeing said Monday it hascompleted the first of five keymilestones it must meet beforereturning to service: a multi-day

simulator evaluation with theFAA to "ensure the overall soft-ware system performs itsintended function." The groupsaid it still needs to run a sepa-rate, multi-day simulator sessionwith airline pilots to "assesshuman factors and crew work-load under various test condi-tions," before FAA pilots con-duct a certification flight of thefinal updated software.

Boeing has notably changedthe aircraft's ManeuveringCharacteristics AugmentationSystem (MCAS), an anti-stall

mechanism that pilots in bothfatal crashes had struggled tocontrol as the jets careereddownwards. Boeing will thensubmit to the FAA all the nec-essary materials to support soft-ware certification.

The final key step before theresumption of commercialflights is an evaluation by amulti-regulatory body to vali-date training requirements.

SouthwestAirlines and

AmericanAirlines onFriday pushedback their

timeframe againfor resumingflights on the 737MAX until earlyMarch

PNS n JERUSALEM

Israel's newly appointed com-missioner to Expo 2020 saidMonday that next year's worldfair in Dubai offers the coun-try a unique opportunity topresent a fresh face to theArab world, just as the Israelis growing closer to the UnitedArab Emirates and other ArabGulf states.

Elazar Cohen presentedplans for the Israeli pavilion atthe world's largest exhibition,in which it aims to project itstechnological, scientific andagricultural innovations tothe 25 million visitors expect-ed to descend upon the glitzycity-state. But Cohen said thetrue target audience was theEmirati hosts and the major-ity Arab visitors, whom hesaid would find great interestnot only in Israeli technologybut in its good intentions andoutstretched hand.

"There is curiosity, mixedwith concern, about this thingcalled Israel and we want toalleviate that concern," he saidin a briefing at Israel's Foreign

Ministry. "We want to projectthat Israel is an open country,that Israel is a democraticcountry, that Israel is a coun-try that respects all its citizens,that everyone finds their placein it."

His presentation, accom-panied by a slick promotion-al video in English, Hebrewand Arabic, delivered by aprominent Arab-Israeli TVpersonality, comes a day afterthe Israeli government offi-

cially confirmed its partici-pation in Expo 2020 andallotted a budget to itsplanned pavilion.

Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu said the participa-tion reflects the country's"continued progress in nor-malization with the Arabstates." Netanyahu frequentlyboasts of warming, behind-the-scenes ties with Gulf Arabcountries, based on sharedenmity for regional foe Iran.But rarely do these ties comeinto the open, due to theyears-long stalemate in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts andIsrael's military occupationof the West Bank.

Egypt and Jordan are theonly Arab countries with for-mal peace treaties with Israel.

Like most of the Arabworld, the UAE does not haveformal diplomatic relationswith Israel. However, it hasbeen at the forefront of effortsto drop the Arab world's his-toric animosity toward Israelas part of burnishing a moreprogressive image with theWest.

Israel: Expo 2020 bridge to Arab worldIndia to cross 200 GWrenewable energycapacity mark by 2022PNS n NEW DELHI

Power and New & RenewableEnergy Minister RK Singhexuded confidence that Indiawill have over 200 GW ofrenewable energy capacity by2022. India has set an ambitioustarget of having 175 GW ofrenewable energy capacity by2022.

"We have decided that by2022 we will establish 175 GWof renewable energy capacity.We are close to achieving thetarget," Singh said at BRICSEnergy Ministers meet inBrasilia, Brazil on Monday.

"The renewable energycapacity which has beeninstalled is 83 GW and underinstallation is 31 GW and 35GW capacity is underbidding.So this becomes around 140-145 GW. In hydro, we haveinstalled capacity of around 45GW and under installationcapacity is about 13 GW, whichmakes it (hydro) around 60GW. So we will cross 200 GWcapacity of renewable energy by2022," the minister said.

Singh said that more than 55per cent of installed powergeneration in India will befrom renewable sources by2030. "India has decided that by2030, about 40 per cent of itsinstalled capacity will comefrom renewables. But we will becrossing that," he added.

"Our Prime Minister at theUnited Nations GeneralAssembly Climate Summitannounced that we will install450 GW or 450 thousand MWof renewable energy capacity by2030...So we have followed a

quick approach towards reduc-ing carbon footprints," headded. Talking about PerformAchieve and Trade (PAT)scheme, Singh said India saved8.63 million tonnes of oil equiv-alent in the first round of thescheme. In the second round,the country achieved a furtherreduction in energy consump-tion of about 3 million tonnesof oil per year.

Under the PAT scheme, theBureau of Energy Efficiencyhad set a target of power sav-ings by designated consumers.

The first round of the schemewas from 2012-13 to 2014-15,while the second round wasfrom 2016-17 to 2018-19.

The designated consumersget energy savings certificateunder the scheme, which can betraded at energy exchanges.

Elazar Cohen presented plans for the Israeli pavilion at the world's largestexhibition, in which it aims to project itstechnological, scientific and agriculturalinnovations to the 25 mn visitors expectedto descend upon the glitzy city-state

RK Singh, Union Minister

We have decided thatby 2022 we willestablish 175 GW of

renewable energy capacity.We are close to achieving thetarget

— RK SINGH Union Minister

PNS n JOHANNESBURG

The world's largest steel makerArcelorMittal's South Africa unithas said it will retrench nearly 1,000workers and shut down itsSaldanha plant due to severe finan-cial losses, amid a global downturnin the steel industry. Global steelmagnate Lakshmi Mittal'sArcelorMittal is the world's lead-ing steel and mining company,with a presence in 60 countries andan industrial footprint in 18 coun-tries.

As part of a strategic review of

its operations, the steel manufac-turer found that its Saldanha oper-ations had lost their competitivecost advantage to compete in theexport market, "mainly due to rawmaterial and regulated prices", thecompany said in a statement.

"This difficult decision wastaken in the context of construc-tive ongoing engagements with keystakeholders, including govern-ment and organised labour, to findalternative solutions to the dire sit-uation in the South African steelindustry," the company said.

The South African government

has expressed "disappointment" atthe decision of ArcelorMittal SouthAfrica (AMSA) to retrench near-ly 1,000 workers across the com-pany and to shut down its opera-tions in Saldanha town.

"This comes despite significantefforts by Government and publicagencies to provide additionalsupport to AMSA over the last fewmonths, and to ensure a solutionwhich would result in the elimi-nation of job losses across the com-pany and the continuation of theSaldanha Works," said Departmentof Trade and Industry.

Edelweiss armgets Rs 525 crfrom SanakaCapital, othersPNS nMUMBAI

The Edelweiss group is a Rs525 crore fund infusion fromgrowth-focused private equi-ty platform Sanaka Capital anda few other co-investors.

The fund raised will bepumped into Edelweiss GlobalI nv e s t m e n tAdvisors, itsinvestmentadvisorybusiness.W h i l eS a n a k aGrowth SPVI has committedto invest around Rs 308 crore,talks are on with others for anadditional Rs 217 crore, thecompany said on Tuesday.

"We look forward to work-ing with the Sanaka team andto capitalise on emergingopportunities and take ourinvestment advisory businessto the next level," group chair-man Rashesh Shah said.

PNS n TEHRAN

Iran accused European nationsof hypocrisy on Tuesday for crit-icising its latest step back froma nuclear deal while failing tofulfil their commitments ofrelief from US sanctions. ButPresident Hassan Rouhani madeno mention of a new reportfrom the UN nuclear watchdogthat reveals that its inspectorsdetected uranium particles ofman-made origin at a unde-clared site in Iran.

Britain, France, Germany andthe EU have been trying to sal-vage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal

since the US unilaterally with-drew from it in May last yearand began reimposing sanc-tions.

A year after the US pulloutfrom the Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action (JCPOA), Iranbegan reducing its commit-ments to the deal hoping to win

concessions from thosestill party to the accord.

Iran's latest measurecame last week,when engineersbegan feedingu r a n i u mhexaf luo-ride gas

into mothballed enrichmentcentrifuges at the undergroundFordow plant south of Tehran.In a joint statement on Monday,Britain, France, Germany andthe European Union said Iran'sdecision to restart activities at

Fordow was "inconsistent"with a 2015 nuclear deal.

"The E3/EU have fullyupheld their JCPOA com-mitments, including sanc-

tions-lifting as fore-seen under theJCPOA," they said.

"It is now criti-cal that Iranupholds its

JCPOA commitments andworks with all JCPOA partici-pants to de-escalate tensions."

Iran's Foreign MinisterMohammad Javad Zarif hitback on Tuesday, "'Fully upheldcommitments under JCPOA'YOU? Really?" he tweeted.

Zarif said Iran had already"triggered and exhausted" a dis-pute resolution mechanism inthe troubled accord. GermanForeign Minister Heiko Masshad on Monday threatened theuse of "all the mechanisms laiddown in the agreement" tomake Iran comply with its oblig-ations under the JCPOA.

Britain, France, Germany and the EU have been trying to salvage the 2015 Irannuclear deal since the US unilaterallywithdrew from it in May last year and began reimposing sanctions

Iran accuses Europeans of hypocrisy over nuclear deal Tata Motors' Indiaoperations face acutechallenges: Moody'sPNS n NEW DELHI

Tata Sons infusing USD 914million (around Rs 6,542 crore)equity in Tata Motors is creditpositive for the company butthe country's largest automobilemanufacturer faces acute chal-lenges in sluggish economicgrowth, weak liquidity, andtight financing norms, Moody'sInvestors Service said onTuesday. Moody's assigned aBa3 rating to the proposedsenior unsecured notes to beissued by Tata Motors. The rat-ing outlook is negative, Moody'ssaid in a statement.

"The Ba3 ratings reflect TataMotors Ltd's (TML) leadingmarket position in commercialvehicles (CVs) in India, 100 percent ownership of the premi-um/luxury car manufacturer

Jaguar Land RoverAutomotive Plc,

a n d

ownership by Tata Sons, whichresults in a one-notch uplift,reflecting our expectation ofcontinued parental support,when needed," says KaustubhChaubal, a Moody's VicePresident and Senior CreditOfficer. On October 25, TMLannounced that it will make apreferential allotment of equityshares and convertible war-rants to Tata Sons for a USD 914million equity injection, ofwhich USD 548 million will bepaid immediately, and the bal-ance over a period of 18 months.

Pro-forma the preferentialallotment and the conversion ofthe warrants, Tata Sons' share-holding in TML will increase to46.4 per cent from the current38.4 per cent. "We view the pref-erential allotment as a creditpositive because TML plans toapply the proceeds towardsreducing its debt," addsChaubal, who is also Moody'sLead Analyst for TML.

Boeing says 737 MAX expectedto resume flying in January

ArcelorMittal to shut Saldanha plant in SA, 1K workers hit

ost people can’teven bear the hotwax from the can-dle when it falls onthe skin. Imaginethe pain a burn

survivor has to bear from theinjuries that cover 30 to 60percent of the body. Manypeople don’t understand thepain and struggle survivorsgo through just to lead a nor-mal life, said Nihari Mandali,a burn survivor and founderof Burn Survivor MissionSaviour Trust, who recentlystarted the Candle DropChallenge initiative to bringawareness among peopleabout burn survivors.

In 2009, Nihari sufferedburn injuries on 90 per centof her body after she set her-self on fire due to the harras-ment by her husband. Shehad to go through extensivecounselling to recover. Later,in 2014, she started the BurnSurvivor Mission SaviourTrust for the rehabilitation ofburn survivors. She said thather vision is to break throughthe social dogma that hasmarginalised the burn sur-vivors in the society.

“Burn victims are strivinghard to lead a normal life.Many make comments aboutus and take our situationlightly. I started the Candle

Drops Challenge to open adiscussion about the physicaland psychological pain thatburn survivors go through.Through this challenge, I askpeople to pour drops of hotwax on their limbs to get aglimpse of what burn sur-vivors go through. I hope thiswill help people to learnabout our pain,” said Nihari,adding that the challenge hasreceived a mixed responsewith some extended theirsupport and others terming itis dangerous.

Through her NGO, apartfrom organising camps toprovide free surgeries to burnsurvivors, she also provides

psychological counselling.She says, “We offer free ofcost surgical care for burnvictims. We have helpedmore than 100 survivors tillnow. Apart from medicalcamps, we have also conduct-ed fashion shows, group dis-cussions, bike rallies, coun-selling sessions acrossAndhra Pradesh, Telanganaand Kerala.”

“Our vision is to worktogether to support the burnsurvivors by helping over-come their fears. Our mis-sion is to provide a specialidentity and a meaningful lifeto every single burn sur-vivor,” she said.

Follow us [email protected]/dailypioneer

M

WednesdayNovember 13, 2019

This expo is about how the two Telugu states witnessedchanges over the last 60 years. It showcases the beauty ofAmalapuram, Vizianagaram and other Konaseema areasduring 1960’s and the traditions of Warangal and other cities ofTelangana during 1970’s.

E. ROHINI KUMAR, SENIOR ARTIST

ant to see thebeauty of theTelugu states fromKonaseema toGolconda? Thenyou can head

towards Gallery 78 inHyderabad where seniorartist E. Rohini Kumar isshowcasing his 60 years of artjourney.

Speaking to The Pioneer,Rohini Kumar says, “This

exhibition explains my jour-ney from Konaseema toGolconda. I am also show-casing some of the workdone by my four gurus —Peri Subba Rao, MadhavaRao, A. Paidiraju and K.Seshagiri Rao — who helpedme become the artist I amtoday.”

“My guru, Peri Subba Rao’squick, deft drawings have fas-cinated and inspired manygenerations of students. Hewas an expert in sketchingand painting still-life sub-jects. A. Paidiraju wasacclaimed as a legendaryartist in his lifetime. He had amastery over all mediums, beit watercolours, oils orcrayons. My another guru, K.Seshagiri Rao studied folkpainting of Andhra Pradeshand published numerousarticles and spoke at radioshows about the traditionalart forms. B. Madhava Raosir always inspires me withhis work, which is bothunique and thought provok-ing,” shares Rohini Kumarwho had studied Fine Artsfrom JNTU, Hyderabad.

Even though he followedthe work of his gurus, RohiniKumar wanted to do it in hisown way and portrayed hiswork through various medi-ums like oil colours, water-colours, pen and ink, knifetechniques and more.

About the exhibition, hesays, “This expo is about howthe two Telugu states wit-nessed changes over the last60 years. I also published abook about the same to reachout to more people. Theexhibition showcases thebeauty of Amalapuram,Vijayanagaram and otherKonaseema areas during1960’s. One can observe dif-ferent livelihoods and tradi-tions in it. It is also displaysthe traditions of Warangaland other cities of Telanganaduring 1970’s. I hope theexhibition helps people recol-lect some of the good memo-ries they had.”

Rohini Kumar also didfour art shows about theDeccan rocks in many citiesin India after seeing howsome of these relics werebeing destroyed in the name

of development. He did his solo art shows

at various art galleries inAhmedabad, Benagluru andmore. For his work onKonaseema, Rohini recievedthe Lifetime AchievementAward in 2018 by KonaseemaChitrakala Parishad.

The exhibition is on tillDecember 8 from 11 am and

8 pm.

KONASEEMAGOLCONDA

Artist E. Rohini Kumar's work aims to bringforth good memories for people in the

Telugu states, reports V SATEESH REDDY

W

Burn survivorNihari Mandali ishelping burnvictims acrossTelugu states gettheir lives backon track, reportsV SATEESHREDDY

Striving forrehabilitation ofburn survivors

Candle Drops Challenge will discussabout the physical and psychologicalpain that burn survivors go through.Through this challenge, I ask people topour drops of hot wax on their limbs toget a glimpse of what burn survivorsgo through. I hope this will help peopleto learn about our pain

NIHARI MANDALI

A MUSICAL NIGHTOF NOSTALGIA

ustaining nostalgia andcelebrating the glory of abygone era demand acertain kind of passionand commitment. A 35-odd team of vintage

Hindi film music lovers managed todo the same for over past threeyears through Dakshin Dhwani.The motto of the group — that wasstarted by a family of die-hardmusic lovers — is to celebrate thepassion for old world tunes ofIndian cinema with others.

Now to be registered as a society,Dakshin Dhwani celebrated its thirdanniversary in October and hasrecently attained the distinction ofhosting 50 programmes onNovember 9. Their recent event,called ‘Tongue Twister’, showcased20 songs, both old and new, ren-dered by 16 singers, between theage groups of 25 to 75. The songscovered various languages includingPunjabi, Marathi, Bengali andTamil, apart from Telugu andHindi.

“For us grammar of a film song ismore important than the glamour.It means we focus on its creationthrough the eyes of the lyricist, themusic director, the playback singer,and the film’s director. We honourtheir efforts by celebrating theirsongs,” said T. Balakrishnan, one ofthe co-founders of the group.

The group proposes to organisedifferent kinds of meet-ups and dis-cussions over the next few months.It also performed at various loca-

tions — from an SEZ at Madhapur,for Women’s Day, to CherlapallyJail, on Prisoner's Welfare Day onGandhi Jayanti last year.

S

10

l The playINDRAJAL isone of themasterpiecesof Hindiwriter JaiShankarPrasad. It is alove storybetween Belaand Goli, members of a travelling community whodream of devoting their entire life to each other andhow different reflections of our society play a role.It will be held at Pheonix Arena on November 16 at7.30 pm.

l Sur-O-Dhwani Foundation is conducting amusical evening Ninaad on November 16 atNritya Forum for Performing Arts, Road No 2,Jubilee Hills from 6.30 pm. Barnali Bhattacharyawill present traditional Khayal, accompanied byDr Abhijit Bhattacharya on tabla and RahulDeshpande on harmonium.

CITY GUIDE

lIndia’s biggest MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) event isback in Hyderabad. Mercury presents to you theBrave 30, at GMC Balayogi Sports Complex. PopularMMA athletes from across the globe shall fight it outon the arena on November 23.

ART AAND SSPORTS

MELANGE

THEATREJOD TODlJod Tod, a Hindicomedy playpresented byKalayan Theatregroup fromBengaluru,is a funfilledcrackling comedyplay aboutquintessentialrelationships andits complications. This light hearted funfilled playwill be held at Lamakaan on November 30 at 7.30pm.

MY FATHER - HIS EXALTED HIGHNESSlA playbased on thelife of thelast Nizam ofHyderabad,once therichest manon theplanet. Itdelves into his relationship with his daughterShehzadi Pasha with the turmoil of accessionlooming in the background. It was written byNoor Baig and directed by Mohammad Ali Baig. Itwill be held on November 15 at RavindraBharathi.

BRAVE 30 - AN MMA EVENT

lLeatherpuppetryworkshop is theshadow theatretradition of AP,Telangana andparts of Karnataka.Stories from epicssuch as Ramayana and Mahabharata shall beenacted. The workshop by B. Raju ofNimmalakunta leather puppetry, will be held onNovember 20 at Alliance Francaise.

WORKSHOP ON PUPPET THEATRE

INDRAJAL

STEPPIN OUT NIGHT MARKET

ARIJIT - LIVE PERFORMANCE

l ‘My music, my country’ is bringing in ArijitSingh for a live performance. It was initiated byHyderabad Talkies as a platform for gifted Indianartistes and to re-introduce the ethnicity of Indianmusic. The event will take place on November 23atLal Bahadur Shastri Stadium.

MUSICAL JOURNEY

l The Steppin Out Night Market, ChristmasEdition in association with CRED Experiences, willbe held at Hotel Taj Krishna. It’s a one-stepgateway to the world of fashion with clothing,jewellery, home decor, and lots more which will beheld on December 14.

PARTY

GET YOUR EVENT LISTED: To get your events listed, please send your detailsalong with a poster and contact number to [email protected]

Hyderabad Wednesday November 13, 2019

Phot

os bb

ySV

Char

y

FUN TIME

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

what’s brewing?

TREND SETTINGSUTRAA fashion and lifestyle Expo returned with its

exclusive designer exhibition — Luxury Edit —recently. Umesh and Monica Madhyan, curators of

the event, hosted over 120 designers at the exhibition.The guests were delighted at being served the bestselection of well curated fashion and lifestyle productsat the exhibition which was held at Hotel Taj Krishna.

l Sushma

l Simran

l Hani Chowdary

l Niharikal Rahasya Gorak

l Priyal Monika and Umesh

lM

ariya

m

undeep Kishan isin a happy space.Six years have goneby without a hit but2019 has beengood to him, with

two of his acting assignments,Ninu Veedani Needanu Neneand The Family Man, provingto be successful. His role inthe latter, a web series for thestreaming giant, AmazonPrime, helped him to connectwith the Hindi audience afterShor in the City. “I’m glad thatThe Family man is a great suc-

cess. Director’s duo Raj-DK alwaysknew they were making a great prod-uct but the magnitude of its successwas what they wanted to see. I alsoearned a good reputation with my roleas an Army Major in the series. I’mhappier that Raj-DK followed up Streewith another success,” Sundeep said.

In fact, the actor wasn’t even on Raj-DK’s mind when they wrote the series.“I put myself in Season 1 because ofthe bond I share with them. I’ve askedthem to cast me as the antagonistMoosa but they didn’t want to showme as a villain and kill me in the end.Which is why, they’ve created the roleof a Major in the series. I will not bethere in Season 2, which is already onsets but will comeback for Season 3,whose screenplay is in place already,”the actor confirmed.

Right now, the actor is awaitingrelease of Tenali Ramakrishna BA BL,directed by G. Nageswara Reddy. Theactor-director have been thinking ofcoming together for a film for manyyears and when they finally decided toteam up, Reddy was keen on an

action-comedy as he felt Sundeephadn’t done one in a long time.

They did search for other

South films to remake but couldn’t findan interesting film. “It was when Iremembered writer Rajasimha’s storyabout a rookie lawyer. I immediatelyarranged a meeting between him andReddy. I was given a narration, which Iliked. It was the director’s idea to set itin Kurnool and give the film a freshlook,” Sundeep says, adding that hehad a blast shooting for the film.

“I play a lawyer who believes in acompromise between the warring par-ties in a civil court to make money.What if, such kind of a person, gets acase that needs him to argue and winat any cost? That is the film’s gist. It’s afunny film with quirky humour andsensible moments as well.”

Post the release of TenaliRamakrishna BA BL, the actor willbegin prepping for A1 Express.Confirming that it is a remake of Tamilhit Natpe Thunai, he says, “We tookthe story idea from the Tamil film butwe gave it a new spin by investing closeto six months in the story. We’ve madearound 50 per cent changes to thescript. I will prep in hockey for 15 dayssoon at Begumpet, Hyderabad. Abunch of coaches have been consultedfor the purpose.”

He admits he isn’t in a rush at thisstage of career, keen on taking one pro-ject at a time. “I will do a film only ifthe script appeals to me, else I will sitat home. I haven’t signed anything afterA1 Express. I would also be taking abreak from Tamil cinema as three ofmy films, which I’ve completed, areyet to be released. I’ve been askedfor some web series and a film inHindi after The Family Man but I

didn’t commit. However, I’mkeen on producing a film

with Priyadarshi andRahul Ramakrishna

in Telugu. I wasrecently narratedan interestingscript for bothof them,” he

signs off. - NG

Hyderabad Wednesday November 13, 2019

11

llari Naresh,who has turnedextremelychoosy after hissupporting actin Maharshi

that received glowingreviews, has finally green-lit a film.

This yet-to-be titledfilm will mark the directo-rial debut of VijayKanakamedala, who hadassisted Harish Shankarfor films like Mirapakay,Gabbar Singh and DJamong others. SatishVegesna, who had co-pro-duced Okka Kshanam andMosagallaku Mosagadu, isproducing the film underhis banner SV2Entertainment.

Speaking to ThePioneer exclusively,Vijay, who hails fromSarapaka, a villagenear Bhadrachalam,called the film a con-cept-driven social

drama. Recalling how heconvinced Naresh tospearhead it, he said, “Ipitched him the film’s sto-ryline a couple of monthsago. He instantaneouslygot hooked to it, as he hasbeen on the lookout forsuch a story. He straight-away said we would bedoing it and was keen onknowing the full story. Igave him a detailed narra-tion 10 days ago and heasked me to proceed withthe pre-production. Theentire film’s shoot will bein Hyderabad and we areplanning to hit cinemahalls next summer.”

Shedding some morelight about film, he said,“Naresh will playing a

common man who has toovercome an issue in hislife. This role demandedperformance that only afew like Naresh can deliv-er. It will not have anyresemblance to any of hisfilms in the past. In fact,there will not be a tinge ofcomedy at all. It will be aserious film loaded withstrong emotions.”

While Naresh has madea career out of comedyentertainers, Vijay believesthe audience mindset haschanged, which is why heis making a film, devoid ofhumour and punchlines.“If you show good content,audience will accept it.The success of recent filmslike Agent Sai SrinivasaAthreya andBrochevarevaruraa provedthat. The fact that Nareshis a popular star shouldauger well for ourfilm’s content,” hesigned off.

Actors wellversed in

comedy can alsoexcel in otherkinds of roles.

Though hisname itself

reminds peopleof his comicability, AllariNaresh nowplans to get

serious, findsNAGARAJ

GOUD

VIJAY SAYS THATNARESH'S MOVIEWILL BE A SOCIALDRAMA LOADEDWITH STRONGEMOTIONS

A

tollywoodGUHAN TODIRECTKALYANRAMAGAIN

roducer Mahesh S. Koneruannounced last month that he wouldbe teaming up with his 118 actorKalyanram again next year.Although he refrained from

announcing the director’s name, informingthat they will be dealing with a different kind

of subject, we’ve learnt that Koneru will berepeating 118 director, K.V. Guhan, for theproject. 118 helped Kalyanram get back towinning ways after three below par venturesin a row. Guhan was also praised for the wayhe portrayed the actor in the film. The newfilm, however, will be a mass entertainer with

a novel story idea, we hear. It will move to setsafter Kalyanram wraps up his fantasy dramawith Venu Mallidi, which will mostly roll nextmonth or in January. The likes of SarveshMurari (cinematography) and ShekarChandra (music) have been roped in for thefilm.

P

Nabha out,Malavika in?

outed to be anew-age massentertainer,BellamkondaSreenivas’ nextwith Kandireega

director Santosh Srinivasseems to be facing problemson the casting front.Apparently, iSmart Shankargirl Nabha Natesh was nar-rated the story and althoughshe liked it, she wanted herrole to get a slight extension.To this, Santosh wasn’t will-ing to budge, according tothe grapevine. The deadlockprevailed and the directorwas left with nooption but tosearch on forotheractresses.As is thecasewithprevious

Bellamkonda Sreenivas’films, the makers of thisuntitled film are adamantthat a happening actress becast opposite him. Theyhave now initiated talks withMalavika Mohanan.Daughter of cinematograph-er Mohanan, who shotMahesh Babu-starrerMaharshi, she was supposedto make her Telugu debutwith Vijay Deverakonda-starrer Hero but as the film’snext schedule was deferredto summer of next year, herdates are available. Eventhough she is committed to

star alongside Tamilsuperstar Vijay’s

next withKhaidi direc-

tor LokeshKanagaraj,she stillhas plen-ty ofdates.

T

I wanted to playMoosa in The FamilyMan: SUNDEEPSundeep Kishan has his hands full withfuture projects, all with interesting andpromising premises. Keen on findingscripts that appeal to him, Sundeep ischalking out his career with ease

ALLARI NARESHSWITCHES TRACKS

S

opular sup-portingactressSana’s son

Sayyad Anwar, whoacted in a handful ofTamil TV serialsbesides producingthem, marriednoted TV faceSameera Sherief inHyderabad onMonday in a low-key ceremony. Thecouple goes by anInstagram handleAnvira which has asizeable number offollowers.

Sana's son ties the knotP

Malavika Mohanan

sport 12HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019

IANS n KOLKATA

Keeping in mind the dewfactors that comes into

play at the Eden Gardens postsunset on winter evenings, theBoard of Control for Cricket inIndia (BCCI) has agreed to theCricket Association of Bengal’s(CAB) request to start thegame at 1 pm and end the day’splay by 8 pm in the Day-NightTest.

A BCCI official confirmedthe development and said thatsessions have been re-planned

keeping in mind the need tocall stumps by 8 pm as the ballwould get really wet if play car-ried on post 8 pm in Kolkata inlate November.

“Keeping in mind the dewfactor, the BCCI approvedCAB’s request to change theplaying hours in the secondTest. While play will start at 1pm, the first session will end at3 pm. The second session willstart from 3:40 pm and contin-ue till 5:40 pm. The final ses-sion will be played from 6 pmtill 8 pm,” the official said.

PTI n INDORE

Skipper Virat Kohli had his firstexperience of negotiating a pinkball as Indian cricketers took

turns to get used to the new colourduring the net session ahead of thefirst Test against Bangladesh, startingfrom Thursday (tomorrow).

The Indian team did not trainunder the lights and the throwdownswith the SG pink ball was part of thetraditional red-ball practice session.

Usually, three adjacent nets areplaced — for pacers, spinner andthrowdowns — for Indian team’spractice. However, on team’s request,the throwdown-net was created on theother side of the ground on separatepractice turfs with a black sight-screen. It was skipper Kohli, who firstfaced the pink ball.

With throwdown specialistsRaghavendra and Sri Lankan NuwanSenaviratne hurling the pink stuff atexpress pace, the skipper lookedcomfortable. He looked more intenton playing defensive shots.

Once Kohli was done and wentinto the main nets, the other top-orderbatsmen incuding Cheteshwar Pujaramixed and matched, facing red andpink ball simultaneously.

Young reserve opener Shubman

Gill seemed to have taken a hit whenone of the deliveries bounced extra butit was not serious.

The Indian team will get only twofull training days ahead of their firstday/night Test at the Eden Gardens,starting November 22.

Aware that not much time is inhand, the BCCI had arranged a cou-ple of pink ball sessions under lightsfor the Test specialists like AjinkyaRahane, Mayank Agarwal, Pujara,Mohammed Shami at the NCA underRahul Dravid’s guidance.

PTI n INDORE

It’s India’s fast bowling unit whichis now feared in Tests but

Bangladeshi batsmen are moreconcerned about handling spintwins Ravichandran Ashwin andRavindra Jadeja during the two-match series, top-order playerMohammed Mithun said onTuesday.

Mohammed Shami, UmeshYadav and Ishant Sharma areexpected to be more than a hand-ful during the series but Mithunseemed more wary about theAshwin-Jadeja threat.

“We all know the strength oftheir bowling line-up. We areworking on how to tackle theirspinners as it is batting-friendly forthe first two days but afterwardstheir spinners come into play asthey try to attack the opposition,”he said.

“We are working on sometechnical aspects keeping our focuson how to handle them,” Mithunsaid.

They are expecting that battingcoach Neil McKenzie will helpthem decode the Indian spinners.

“Let the technical thingsremain inside the dressing room,”he said without parting with thetrade secrets.

Asked to comment on India’sweakness, Mithun said that hepreferred to look at his ownstrength than opponent’s weakness.

“We are looking at our strengthmore than focusing on their weak-ness because no team could do wellagainst them at their home (in therecent past). We are looking for-ward to do well here. Obviously itwon’t be easy and we need to workreally hard,” he said.

“The five bowlers they (India)have, we cannot take anyone light-ly because everyone is world class.”

Mithun has belief in his youngbowling unit that it can take 20wickets to win a Test match.

“Any batsman can get out any-time. If we can bowl as a unit withdiscipline I feel we can pick 20wickets.

While India are favourites by adistance, Mithun feels that theT20 win in Delhi gives them hopeof enjoying a good result.

“If we look at the past no onegave us any chance when it comesto beating India in the T20 and thattoo in their own backyard.

“But our players had that belief.We are disappointed that we couldnot win the last game (in Nagpur)despite creating chances at thesame time now we are looking for-ward to do well in Test series.”

PTI n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Medium-pacer Deepak Chaharfollowed up his hat-trick in

the final India-Bangladesh T20international with almost a repeat,taking three wickets in the space offour balls for Rajasthan againstVidarbha in a Group B match ofthe Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20tournament here on Tuesday.

However, his heroics (fourwickets in an over) went in vain asRajasthan went down by 1 run (viathe VJD method) finishing with105 for 8 in a game to reduced to13 overs due to rain.

The fast-improving DeepakChahar, who on Sunday lastbecame the first India player totake a T20 international hat- trickand also the best ever bowling fig-ures (6 for 7), picked up the wick-ets of Darshan Nalkande, ShrikantWagh and Akshay Wadkar off the

fourth, fifth and sixth balls of thefinal over of Vidarbha’s innings, butmissed the three-peat as he bowleda wide in between.

His performanced helpedRajasthan restrict the opponent to99 for 9 in 13 overs.

After scalping the wicket ofRupesh Rajkumar of the first ballof the over, he dismissed Nalkandeoff the fourth.

However, he delivered a widethe next ball and then dismissedWagh and Wadkar off the next twoto finish with figures of 4 for 18 in3 overs.

Chahar began the over bypicking up the wicket of RupeshRajkumar Rathod to finish withsuperb figures of 4 for 18 in 3overs.

Earlier, Vidarbha chose to batafter winning the toss and aftersome middling performances bythe batsmen, the Vidarbha innings

imploded and Deepak Chahartriggered the collapse.

His first victim was Rathod,who was caught by his cousinRahul Chahar.

He then had Nalkande caughtby Rajnesh Bishnoi, before havingWagh caught by Chandrapal SinghChundawat.

He then bowled Wadkar tocomplete a hat-trick.

Chasing 106 for victory,Rajasthan faltered after a brightstart provided by Manender Singh,who smashed 6 sixes in 17 ballsbefore falling for 44.

Opener Ankit Lamba (15, 11balls, 1 four, 1 six) and Arjit Gupta(12, 9 balls, 1 four, 1 six) were theonly other batsmen to reach dou-ble figures as the team could makeonly 105 in 13 overs.

Vidarbha tops the points tablewith 16 points from 4 matches inan all-win record.

PTI n MUMBAI

Mumbai registered its fourthwin in the league stage at

Wankhede stadium on Tuesday afterbeating Pondicherry by 27 runs.

The title favourites have beatenMizoram, Haryana and MadhyaPradesh in their first three games.

Asked to bat, Mumbai rode ona blazing half century by skipperSuryakumar Yadav (57 off 37 balls)to post a descent 171/6 on theboard.

Their inform openers Jay Bista(29 off 21 balls) and Aditya Tare(20 off 14 balls) conjured 48runs for the first wicket.

Chasing 172, Pondicherryhad a pathetic start and were reel-ing at 29-2.

But then Parag Dogra (45 off 35balls) and opener Arun Karthik (27balls) tried to resurrect the inningswith 28-run stand, before Karthik

was dimissed by Shivam Dube.Anand Subramanian (39 off 31

balls) and Dogra gave a scare toMumbai, but their bowlers heldtheir nerves to eke out a win.

Pacer Tushar Deshpande (2-29)and Shams Mulani (2-25) shared thespoils.

There are no matches onWednesday and the action resumeson Thursday.

In the first game at theWankhede Stadium, Meghalayastunned Assam by four wickets.

At BKC, Madhya Pradeshdefeated Mizoram by 86 runs.

In the second game,Haryana defeated Bengal byfive wickets as they chased the123-run target with 17 balls tospare.

India spinner YuzvendraChahal, who came back to the

Haryana team after national duty,returned with figures of 1-21.

IANS nPERTH

Having managed to end as the highest run-getter for Pakistan in the just concluded

T20I series against Australia, it will be impor-tant for Babar Azam to turn on the screws inthe longer format as his team gets ready to takeon the Aussies in a two-match Test series, whichalso includes a Day-Night game at Adelaide.

And former Australia batsman MichaelHussey believes that the talented batsman canbe spoken of in the same sentence as that whichhas stalwarts like Virat Kohli, Steve Smith andKane Williamson if he improves his Testrecord.

“I honestly believe this guy can be in the sameconversation when we start talking about the bestplayers in the world,” Hussey was quoted as say-ing by Fox Sports. “We start talking about (Virat)Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Rootgets floated around.

“I think if he can start putting together somebig hundreds like this in the Test arena, he’s thatgood ... he’s a brilliant, brilliant player,” he added.

Babar made a brilliant start to the prepara-tion for the two-Test series as he hit a masterful157 in the practice game against Australia A. Thisafter scoring two fifties in the three-match T20Iseries that saw the hosts win the series 2-0 as thefirst game saw no result thanks to rain.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal chief ministerMamata Banerjee are likely to watch 1st day of D/N Test PTI/File Picture

Hasina, Mamata likely to watchtogether in President’s Box

PTI n KOLKATA

Bangladesh PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina

and West Bengal chief min-ister Mamata Banerjee arelikely to watch India’s firstever Day/Night Test togeth-er after ringing the custom-ary Eden Bell to start theproceedings on November22.

A four-member teamled by Bangladesh’s DeputyHigh CommissionerToufique Hasan did a recceof the Eden Gardens onTuesday and checked theseating arrangements for thePrime Minister and her 80-odd delegates who will gracethe historic occasion.

As per the schedule,Hasina will be on a one-dayvisit and she will watch thematch for some time afterringing the Bell and onceagain will come back at theclosing time 8pm when theCricket Association ofBengal will present a grandfelicitation.

Hasan did not confirmwhether Hasina andMamata will watch thematch together but a CABofficial indicated that theywould be seen together inone of the President’s box atBC Roy Club House.

Giving the details ofHasina’s programme, Hasansaid: “Prime Minister willarrive in the morning on thesame day and will come tothe Eden to ring the Bell justbefore the start at 1pm. She

will leave to take rest afterwatching the match for sometime and will return again at8pm for the main felicitationprogramme.”

“She will be seated inone of the central PresidentBoxes near the Bell. We arehappy with the arrange-ments and looking forwardto be part of the historicoccasion. Eden is known asthe Mecca of Cricket and forthe first time both the coun-tries will play a Day/Nightmatch. Bangladesh peopleare really excited,” he added.

Hasina will leave on thesame day after the felicita-tion. The schedule of herpolitical programmes of theday is not yet finalised.

Hasina and Mamata willbe accompanied by BCCIPresident Sourav Ganguly,BCCI Secretary Jay Shah,cricket icon SachinTendulkar, Rahul Dravid,Naimur Rehman, BCBPresident Nazmul Hasanalong with CAB office bear-ers.

“Following the first day’splay, the players who playedthe first Test between Indiaand Bangladesh will be felic-itated followed by speechesby the hon’ble dignitaries,”CAB Secretary AvishekDalmiya said.

In the break, there areplans for a chat show featur-ing the fabulous five ofSourav Ganguly, SachinTendulkar, Rahul Dravid,Anil Kumble and VVSLaxman.

Kolkata’s iconic stadium Eden Gardens PTI/File Picture

D/N Test to start at1 pm & end at 8 pm

Mix and MatchKohli & Co take pink ball throw downs in between red ball nets

Indian players during a practice session ahead of their first Test match against Bangladesh in Indore on Tuesday PTI

Bhuvitrains totest fitnessPTI n INDORE

Recovering from a hamstringinjury and a side strain, pacer

Bhuvneshwar Kumar assessed him-self for a comeback when he partic-ipated in a “skill session” duringIndian team’s practice.

The Indian team managementseem to have taken charge ofBhuvneshwar’s final phase of reha-bilitation.

His injury has been a concernfor the Indian team since he cameback from the West Indies after thelimited overs series. He followed arehabilitation programme at theNational Cricket Academy.

“Bhuvi is here for a skill sessionwith the team. The team manage-ment just wants him to get into thegroove,” a team source said aboutthe pacer’s presence at the net ses-sion.

He had a catching session withfielding coach R Sridhar and thenparticipated briefly in the net ses-sion. He bowled a few deliveriesfrom full run-up but it was evidentthat he wasn’t going full tilt.

However Bhuvneshwar’s pres-ence at the session is a welcomenews considering that the 29-year-old is still an important member asfar as India’s white ball cricket isconcerned.PINK BALL LESSONS

PTI n INDORE

The pink ball is going to be a very “differentball game”, India vice-captain Ajinkya

Rahane asserted on Tuesday, saying its extralateral movement compared to the red cherrywill force batsmen to play late and closer totheir bodies.Rahane had a couple of practice sessions withthe pink ball under the watchful eyes of NCADirector Rahul Dravid in Bengaluru building upto the historic Day/Night Test startingNovember 22.“We had two good practice sessions, actuallyfour but two with pink ball — one during theday and one under lights. It was actuallyexciting,” Rahane said ahead of the first Test.“For me, it was the first time I played with thepink ball and definitely it’s a different ball game as compared to redball. Our focus was to look into the swing and seam movement andalso play close to our body,” Virat Kohli’s deputy observed.Rahane’s assessment after his initial sessions was that the batsmenwill have to tweak their technique slightly.“What we found out after the practice session was that the (new)pink ball does a lot more than the red ball. You have to play slightlylate and close to your body. We had a word with Rahul bhai as hewas also there.”

BENGALURU: Top batsman Cheteshwar Pujarafeels “visibility at twilight” could be an issuewhen India and Bangladesh venture into theunchartered territory called Day/Night Tests laterthis month in Kolkata.The Test at Eden will not only be the firstday/night affair for both the sides but it willalso mark the first official appearance of SGpink balls.“I have played earlier with pink ball in theDuleep Trophy, that was good experience.Playing with pink ball at the domestic levelcould come in handy,” Pujara told ‘bcci.Tv’.Majority of the cricketers will be playing withthe pink ball for the first time in their careers.However, the likes of Pujara, Mayank Agarwal,Hanuma Vihari, and Kuldeep Yadav have

experience of playing with the Kookaburra pink ball in DuleepTrophy.“Visibility is not an issue during the day, it will be an issue intwilight and under lights, the twilight could be a little difficult.Those sessions will be crucial.”Pujara added, “Most players have said that picking the wristspinners’ wrong ‘un is a little difficult.”For another senior player, Ajinkya Rahane, training ahead ofthe match will come in handy as far as acclimatisation isconcerned. PTI

Visibility at twilight couldbe difficult: Pujara

Need to play late againstpink ball: Rahane

Babar has potential to becompared to Kohli, Smith

Tigers preparing to tackle Ashwin-Jadeja

Daniel Vettori supervises Bangladesh’s training session in Indore on Tuesday BCB/Twitter

Cheteshwar Pujara & Ajinkya Rahanetrain at NCA PTI/File Picture

Chahar almost takes hat-trick in Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Deepak Chahar celebrates after hat-trick PTI

Mumbai record 4th win