Cabinet okays renaming Konaseema dist - Daily Pioneer

VIJAYAWADA, SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2022; PAGES 12 `3

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PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Notwithstanding the resistancethat led to the arson and protests,the YS Jaganmohan Reddy-ledCabinet on Friday approved theproposal to name the newly carvedKonaseema district as Dr. BRAmbedkar Konaseema district.Among many other decisions, theState Cabinet that had met onFriday had approved renaming theKonaseema district.

The government’s decision torename the Konaseema districthad led to protests in the otherwisepeaceful Konaseema region lastmonth. The protests also turnedviolent with the mobsters settingfire to the houses of a minister, anda ruling party MLA. They alsotorched a few private vehicles.

Now, an official gazette notifi-cation will be issued renaming thedistrict.

The government on May 18issued a preliminary notificationchanging the name of theKonaseema district to ‘Dr. BRAmbedkar Konaseema’ districtunder the relevant sections of theAP Districts (Formation) Act1974.

The government sought any

objections or suggestions relatedto the name change from thegeneral public from the jurisdic-tion of the district within 30 daysfrom the issue of preliminarynotification. They can submit theobjections and suggestions, if any,to the District Collector in thestipulated period.

Meanwhile, on May 24, a protestlaunched by those opposingrenaming the Konaseema districthad turned violent, pushing theserene Konaseema region to theboil.

Ruling party leaders allegedconspiracy behind the violentprotests. Transport minister,

Pinipe Viswarup whose housewas also burnt by the protestorssaid the government will not spareanyone who had taken part in thearson. He said rowdy elementshad infiltrated into the mob andattacked his house and the govern-ment had all the evidence.

A week before the arson,Section 144 was imposed in theKonaseema district in the wake ofprotests against the proposal torename the district, and alsoKonaseema Sadhana Samithi(KSS) members had called for‘Chalo Konaseema’ on May 24.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

On behal f of YSRCP,Parliamentary Party leader VVijayasai Reddy and the party’sleader in Lok Sabha, P V MithunReddy signed the nominationpapers of the NDA candidateDroupadi Murmu ahead of thePresidential elections. Murmuon Friday filed her nominationpapers for the July 8 poll.

YSRCP, on Thursday, con-firmed its support for the NDAPresidential candidate DroupadiMurmu and signed her nomina-tion papers for the Presidentialelections on Friday morning.YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP VijaysaiReddy and Lok Sabha MPMithun Reddy signed the nom-ination papers. YSRCP holds a4pc vote share in the polls.

BJD and YSRCP were thenon-NDA parties that havetaken part in the nomination ofMurmu in Delhi.

While YSRCP supremo YSJaganmohan Reddy was sup-posed to participate in Murmu’snomination, the plan was laterdropped as he had to attend a

pre-scheduled cabinet meetingon Friday morning in the statesecretariat.

YSRCP had decided to backthe NDA’s candidate DroupaduMurmu for president of India asfor the first time in the historyof India a tribal that too awoman was given such anopportunity, said YSRCP onThursday while announcing itsdecision.

As a party that has been giv-ing importance to social justiceon a large scale in the last threeyears YSRCP had decided tosupport NDA’s candidate, saidYSRCP.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh High Court,on Friday, refused to issue a stayorder to ban ChintamaniNatakam. Narasapuram MPRaghuram Krishnam Rajuapproached the High Court afterthe Andhra Pradesh governmentbanned the 100-year-oldChintamani Padya Natakam inJanuary this year. The governmentbanned the play after Arya Vyshyacommunity representatives wentto court in 2020 alleging that itwas degrading their community.

The counsel for the petitioner,Umesh, argued that banningChintamani Natakam was viola-tion of the freedom of speech. Thecounsel said that many lost theirlivelihoods due to the ban on theplay. The Chintamani Natakamspoke against the Devadasi Actand there was no need to ban theplay, he said. Umesh asked theHigh Court to issue a stay orderon the decision of the AP govern-ment to ban the play.

The High Court, however,rejected the request and did notagree to issue interim orders.The court ordered the submissionof a translated version of the orig-inal book. The case wasadjourned to August 17.

Cabinet okays renaming Konaseema distPNS n AMARAVATI

Calling the bluff of OppositionTDP and its friendly media on theState finances, YSRCP has given astrong rebuttal backed with factsand figures and set the recordstraight on the better government.

Speaking to the media here onFriday, Finance Minister BugganaRajendranath Reddy gave a blow-by-blow account of the Oppositioncharges and said the State had donewell despite Covid and the Statedebt was well in control vis-a-visthe TDP term.

The Minister said the annualdebt growth rate during the previ-ous government between 2014-19was 19.2 percent and it wasbrought down to 15.77 in theYSRCP government. He said thefiscal deficit of the state was 4 per-cent of GSDP on average in theprevious government while it was2.10 percent in 2021-22. andslammed the Opposition for com-paring the state with Srilanka andreminded that the governmenthas disbursed 1.46 lakh croredirectly into the accounts of ben-

eficiaries in a transparent mannerunder Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT ) schemes and spent anoth-er 44,000 crore for Non-DBTschemes.

The Minister said a total of27,448 crore NREGS works weredone in the last three years whileit was 27,340 crore works in theTDP regime between 2014-19. Hesaid the average rate of interest forborrowing loans in the TDP tenurewas 8 percent while it was 7 per-cent in the current government.

State debt well incontrol: Buggana

Snapped HT wire snuffs life out of two siblingsPNS n ELURU

In a tragic incident, two siblingswere electrocuted when a hightension wire got snapped and fellon them when they were goingon a motorcycle at Devulapallivillage in Jangareddygudemmandal of Eluru district onFriday.

Police said that the deceasedVallepali Nagendra (21) andVallepalli Phanendra (19) were

going to their fields on a motor-cycle.

An 11 KV high tension wiregot snapped and fell on them,resulting in the siblings beingelectrocuted.

One of the siblings wascharred along with the motorcy-cle. Nagendra was studying finalyear engineering whilePhanendra completedIntermediate.

Villagers alleged that the indif-

ference of electricity departmentofficials in maintaining the qual-ity and maintenance of the hightension wires caused the acci-dent.

They said that earlier they hadcomplained to the electricityofficials about the high tensionwires problem but they did nottake any action.

They demanded to disburse Rs25 lakh compensation to each ofthe deceased.

HC refuses tolift ban onChintamani

Ratings linked to crash tests for automobiles now PNS n NEW DELHI

To boost road safety in India, Unionminister Nitin Gadkari on Friday saidthe new car assessment program --Bharat NCAP, proposes a mechanismwherein automobiles in India shall beaccorded 'Star Ratings' based upontheir performance in crash tests.

In a series of tweets, Gadkari saidthe Bharat New Car AssessmentProgramme (Bharat NCAP) willserve as a consumer-centric platform,allowing customers to opt for safercars based upon their Star-Ratings,while promoting a healthy competi-tion among original equipment man-ufacturers (OEMs) in India to man-ufacture safer vehicles.

"I have now approved the draft

GSR notification to introduce BharatNCAP (New Car AssessmentProgram), wherein automobiles inIndia shall be accorded Star Ratingsbased upon their performance incrash tests," he said. The RoadTransport and Highways ministerstressed that Star Ratings of Indiancars based on crash tests is extreme-ly crucial not only to ensure structur-

al and passenger safety in cars, but toalso increase the export-worthiness ofIndian automobiles.

The testing protocol of BharatNCAP shall be aligned with globalcrash-test protocols factoring in theexisting Indian regulations, allowingOEMs to get their vehicles tested atIndia's own in-house testing facilities,Gadkari said.

According to him, Bharat NCAPwill prove to be a critical instrumentin making our automobile industryAatmanirbhar with the mission ofmaking India the top automobile hubin the world. Bharat NCAP willencourage manufacturers to partici-pate voluntarily in the safety testingassessment programme and incorpo-rate higher safety levels in new carmodels. The proposed assessment willallocate Star Ratings from 1 to 5 stars.

The initiative is aimed at makingmobility safer amid the country wit-nessing a total of 3,66,138 road acci-dents during the calendar year 2020,causing 1,31,714 deaths. Recently,Gadkari had said the government hasset a target to reduce 50 per cent roadaccident deaths by 2024.

Bharat NCAP will encourage manufacturersto participate voluntarily in the safety testingassessment programme and incorporate higher safety levels in new car models. Theproposed assessment will allocate Star Ratings from 1 to 5 stars

YSRCP’s reps signnomination papersof Droupadi Murmu

Green light for welfare calendar,Byju’s pact & 3,700 MW projectNod for Jyoti Surekha's appointment as Dy Collector

PNS nAMARAVATI

Andhra Pradesh State Cabinet,chaired by Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy, on Friday, has takenseveral key decisions which include‘Amma Vodi’, the pact with Byju’s, andGreen Energy Project of 3,700 MWplant.

Briefing media after the Cabinetmeeting, Minister for Informationand Public Relations ChelluboinaVenugopala Krishna said the Cabinethad approved Jagananna AmmaVodi where Rs 6594.6 crore will bedisbursed, benefiting over 43 lakhmothers for sending their children toschools. He said the State governmentis committed to providing qualityeducation and thus made a pact withByju's to guide students studying fromClasses 4-10, adding that the Cabinethad approved providing tabs to 4.7lakh students studying Class 8.

The Minister stated that the wel-fare calendar for July 2022 wasapproved, where ‘Jagananna VidyaKanuka’ will be given on July 5, ‘YSRVahana Mitra’ on July 13, ‘KapuNestam’ on July 22 and ‘JaganannaThodu’ on July 26.

Ruling party leaders alleged conspiracy behind theviolent protests. Transport minister, PinipeViswarup whose house was also burnt by theprotestors said the government will not spareanyone who had taken part in the arson

2 2 2

PNS n HYDERABAD

The BJP has filed a complaintwith the Abids Police againstfilm director Ram Gopal Varma(RGV) for making a controversialtweet against BJP-led NDA’s pres-idential candidate DraupadiMurmu.

BJP leaders Gudur NarayanaReddy, Nandishwar Goud andothers filed the complaint againstRGV. Police said that they willtake legal opinion before filing acase.

Speaking to the media, Gudursaid that RGV’s mind is notworking properly and that it is notproper to tweet abusively againstthe future president of India.

RGV had tweeted saying, “IfDRAUPADI is the PRESIDENT,who are the PANDAVAS? Andmore importantly, who are the

KAURAVAS?”Goshamahal MLA T. Raja

Singh expressed anger at RGVand described him as a useless

man. He asked the police to filean SC, ST atrocity case againstRGV.

The tweet is painful at the

time an Adivasi woman is goingto become the president. He saidthat RGV tweets after consumingliquor and makes controversialtweets to attract attention.

Andhra Pradesh BJP PresidentSomu Veerraju said that it is notproper to use the presidential can-didate’s name as a noun in a satir-ical manner at a time when theAdivasi woman is going tobecome the president. Heappealed to the police to file a suomotu case against RGV as RGVhad misused his right to freespeech.

RGV later explained that hisintention was not to insultDraupadi Murmu and said that helikes the role of Draupadi inMahabharata a lot. He added thatsome names are rare and that hehad remembered some roles con-nected to the mythical Draupadi.

PNS n MUMBAI

Shiv Sena president andMaharashtra Chief Minister UddhavThackeray on Friday reached out tothe functionaries of his party, whichis currently battling a rebellion, andsought to allay fears surrounding thesurvival of his political outfit and theMVA government.

I left my bungalow,not my resolve,says Uddhav

BJP files plaint against RGV for tweet

PNS n NEW DELHI

Rajya Sabha Chairman M VenkaiahNaidu on Friday adminis-tered oath to five newly-elected MPs fromAndhra Pradesh,Telangana and Odisha.

The oath wasadministered in theRajya Sabha chamber inParliament House here.

Those who took oath areNiranjan Reddy Sirgapoor andRyaga Krishnaiah (both of YSRCP)from Andhra Pradesh, DamodarRao Divakonda and BParthasaradhi Reddy (both of TRS)from Telangana and Niranjan Bishi(of BJD) from Odisha.

While Krishnaiah, Divakonda

and Reddy took oath in Telugu,Sirgapoor did so in English.

Bishi has been elected to theRajya Sabha in the bypoll to fill

the casual vacancy causedin the Rajya Sabha due toresignation of SubhashChandra Singh. He tookoath in Oriya.

Rajya Sabha deputychairman Harivansh and

Minister of State forParliamentary Affairs and

External Affairs VMuraleedharan, Secretary-Generalof Rajya Sabha P C Mody and othersenior officers of the Rajya SabhaSecretariat were present.

The MPs were elected unop-posed from the respective statesearlier.

Venkaiah Naidu administersoath to five Rajya Sabha MPs

2

{NORTHERN ARMY COMMANDER HONOURS

84-YR-OLD FOR SERVICES IN 1962 OPSTWITTER WITHHOLDS COLUMNIST'SACCOUNT ON GOVT'S REQUEST

Twitter has withheld the account of C J Werleman, a columnist whowrites on Islamophobia and issues such as conflict and terrorism, atthe request of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

"@cjwerleman's account has been withheld in India in response to a legaldemand," read a message on the columnist's Twitter handle. An officialsaid the account has been withheld following a request from the Ministryof Information and Broadcasting for comments spreading "anti-Indiapropaganda". Werleman said his account has been withheld in Indiabecause of demands made by the "far-right, Hindu fascist regime ofNarendra Modi".

SHIP-BORNE WEAPON SYSTEM VL-SRSAM SUCCESSFULLY FLIGHT-TESTED

India on Friday successfully flight-tested the VerticalLaunch Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM)from a ship at Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, off

the coast of Odisha, an official statement said. The VL-SRSAM, a ship-borne weapon system, is meant forneutralising various aerial threats at close ranges, includingsea-skimming targets, the statement said. Defence ministerRajnath Singh congratulated Defence Research &Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy onthe success of the mission.

PARAMESWARAN IYER APPOINTEDAS NITI AAYOG CEO

Northern Army commander Lieutenant GeneralUpendra Dwivedi on Friday honoured 84-year-oldArmy porter Tsetan Namgyal for his services

during the 1962 operation in Ladakh, officials said.Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi is currently on afour-day visit to Ladakh to review the operationalpreparedness of troops in the Union Territory, officialssaid. He was working with Param Veer Chakra awardeeLieutenant Col Dhan Singh Thapa during the 1962operation in Ladakh.

Former Drinking Water and Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer, whospearheaded the Swachh Bharat Mission, was on Friday appointed as theCEO of Niti Aayog, according to a government order. He will replace

Amitabh Kant, who will demit office on June 30. Iyer has been appointed fortwo years or until further orders, whichever is earlier, the personnel ministryorder stated. According to the order, Iyer's appointment has been made on thesame terms and conditions as were applicable for Kant. A 1981-batch IASofficer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, Iyer is a well-known sanitation specialist, andbest known for spearheading Prime Minister Narendra Modi government'sflagship scheme the Swachh Bharat Mission between 2016 and 2020.

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

Basra, located on thebanks of the holy riverGodavari near

Nizamabad town inTelangana, is the abode ofGnana Saraswati. Students ofthe Rajiv Gandhi University ofKnowledge Technologies(RGUKT) at Basra deservefull compliments for theirgrit and determination in set-ting the faulty system right.Unable to bear the KCR gov-ernment’s lethargy, indeci-siveness, inaction and negli-gence of the highest order, stu-dents launched a peacefulagitation braving the heat,rain, and police tactics forseven days and brought thegovernment to its knees.

The Basar episode epito-mizes a bigger malady plagu-ing Telangana for the lasteight years. In my view, thereare six key takeaways fromthis awe-inspiring agitation:utter disregard for humancapital; anti-intellectualism;cruel ploy to kill rural talent;

adhocism; student power, andcivil society’s reaction.

Human capital is theknowledge and skills thatpeople accumulate through-out their lives, enabling themto realize their potential asproductive members of soci-ety. In the words of socialreformer and playwrightGurajada Appa Rao, a coun-try does not mean land, acountry means people(deshamante matti kaadoi,deshamante manushuloi).People are not ‘vote banks’,they are wonderful resourcesto build any nation. The omis-sions and commissions of theKCR government suggest thatit does not have much regardfor human capital.

Had it not been the case,KCR and his governmentwould have either actedproactively or reacted withalacrity to fix the issues raisedby Basar students. The plightof more than a dozen univer-sities in Telangana showcases

his utter disregard for humancapital.

The modern world isshaped by people who engagein critical thinking, research,and reflection about the real-ity of society.

These people, called intel-lectuals, propose solutions tothe normative problems ofsociety. It was intellectuals likeKaloji and Prof. Jayashankarwho vociferously voiced theirconcerns over discriminationand inspired generations tojoin the no-holds-barredstruggle to achieve ‘self-rule’

for Telangana people. Havingrealized the power of theseintellectuals, KCR developeda strong aversion to them.Kapilavai Dilip Kumar, authorof the sensational bookAparichitudu, recollects a dik-tat issued by KCR to put aboard in Telangana Bhavan -the TRS party headquarters -barring the entry of intellec-tuals. It suffices to reflect theaversion that KCR hastowards those who use theirbrains to think and question.Otherwise, he would haveappointed VCs and adequate

faculty members at not onlyRGUKT - Basra, but all thepublic universities in the state,long ago.

Established as a universityin combined Andhra Pradeshin March 2008, RGUKT-Basra’s goal is to provide top-class engineering educationfor impoverished but educa-tionally gifted rural youth -the crème de la crème fromevery mandal.

It accepts 1,000 studentswho pass 10th grade into its6-year integrated B.Techdegree program every year.The main objective ofRGUKT is to enable such stu-dents “experience education-al standards in engineeringeducation that are of world-class”.

Such a useful institutemeant for unlocking ruraltalent has been decimated byKCR. The way the parents ofthe agitating students weredealt with by the police isunpardonable.

Another salient feature ofthe KCR government is adho-cism coupled with substan-dard decision-making. Thegovernment’s initial responseto the agitation was to pressofficials into action to pacifythe students. While the ChiefMinister remained indifferent,his son took to Twitter formaking generic assurances.The Education Minister triedto play down the agitation by

dubbing the list of students’demands as ‘silly’. For morethan a week, the governmenttried various methods toweaken the agitation, but thestudents did not budge.Finally, the governmentagreed to ‘soon’ appoint a full-time VC and allocate somefunds to address immediateneeds. To independentobservers, it seemed that thegovernment bought time todilute the students’ cause.

The Basar episode hasbrought back the revolution-ary zeal of student power --the key ingredient for thesuccess of the Telanganamovement. The father-sonduo know very well that uni-versity campuses are potentialthreats to their autocraticfamily rule. Hence, the stategovernment created a riftamong students on the cam-puses of State-run universitiesto silence any kind of resent-ment or dissent. In thisgloomy situation, Basar stu-

dents proved their mettle andinspired students to fight forbetter facilities and justdemands.

The Basar agitation pro-voked civil society membersto discharge their responsibil-ity. Voices that had beensilenced during the past eightyears have become stridentonce again.

Leaders like BJP state unitpresident Bandi Sanjay Kumarwere arrested for extendingtheir support to the studentsof Basar.

The media was denied per-mission to cover the inspiringagitation of these students. Insuch a grave situation, civilsociety members played avital role in building pressureon this thick-skinned govern-ment. The successful agitationin the abode of GnanaSaraswathi will usher in abroader change in Telangana.

(The author is BJP TSspokesperson)

KISHORE POREDDY

Had it not been the case, KCR andhis government would have eitheracted proactively or reacted withalacrity to fix the issues raised byBasar students. The plight of morethan a dozen universities inTelangana showcases his utterdisregard for human capital

Six lessons from Basra RGUKT students’ agitation

PNS n AMARAVATI

Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy was invited toinaugurate ATC Tires Plant,which was set up atAchyuthapuram inVisakhapatnam and ready forthe launch in August thisyear.

ATC Tires Director ToshioFujiwara, along with the rep-resentatives of his companyhave called on Chief Ministerhere on Friday.

ATC - The YokohamaRubber Co. Ltd., is a Japan-based company that formed ajoint tires group (ATG) withsubsidiary companies andhas emerged as a world leaderin the off-highway tire (OHT)business.

Over the years, the compa-ny has spread over to 120countries on six continents,and in India, ATC has twomanufacturing plants one at

Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu)and the other in Dahej(Gujarat).

ATC has come forwardand established a Plant inAchyuthapuram with aninvestment of Rs 1750 crore,an initial production capaci-ty of 135 MT per day, and cre-ating employment for 2,000

people. The company manu-factures Small Tires (AFCSegment), Large Bias Tires(Agri & Cons), Radial Tires(Agri), Radial (OTR), BiasTires, OTR Tires, ForestryTires, and Solid Tires.

Minister for Industries,Investments and CommerceGudivada Amarnath, ATC

Tires AP Pvt Ltd ExecutiveVice Presidents PrahladReddy, Ambareesh R Shinde,PR Head YV. Krishnam Raju,Industr ies DepartmentSpecial CS Karikala Valavan,Director of Industries SrijanaGummalla, and CMO offi-cials were present on theoccasion.

CM invited to inaugurate ATC plantPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The AP High Court dismisseda petition against the arson inKonaseema district on Friday.The High Court expressedanger at the petitioner sayingthat it was provocative andthat filing such petitions wasnot a good practice.

One should think before fil-ing such petitions that wouldprovoke hatred among oneanother, the court said.

The petitioner apologised tothe High Court when thecourt said that it would imposea fine of Rs 50 lakh for filingsuch petitions.

It may be recalled that somepeople had indulged in large-

scale violence in the districtheadquarters of Amalapuramon May 24, opposing the moveto rename Konaseema dis-trict after Ambedkar.

They set the houses ofTransport Minister PViswaroop andMummidivaram MLA PSatish Kumar on fire, besidesdamaging public property.

Petitioner apologises to HC forfiling plea on Konaseema arson

PNS n TIRUPATI

Tirumala TirupatiDevasthanams (TTD)Executive Off icer AVDharma Reddy has direct-ed the employees and offi-cials to strive to providemore facilities to the devo-tees and serve them better.

Addressing a reviewmeeting at AnnamaiahBhavan, here on Friday, theEO asked the officials totake steps to provide morefacilities to the waitingdevotees as queue lines hadcrossed 'AsthanaMandapam' and the rushappeared to becomeunprecedented even onSaturday.

The EO said a pattern hasemerged that fromThursday to Sunday thedevotees' crowds remainheavy to very heavy, drivingthe management to deploymore supervision of crowdmanagement from 'VendiVakili' to 'Mahadwaram'.“Over 90,000 devotees areprovided Srivari Darshanduring peak days. The offi-cials have to ensure thesupply of Anna Prasadamand drinking water to thewaiting devotees withouthassle,” he said.

Dharma Reddy askedthem to ensure food andbeverages, and water supplyin Queue lines, VQC -1 &2, Narayanagiri Gardens.He also instructed on thetraffic management andasked to enhance 'KalyanaKatta' supervision as dailyalmost 40,000 and abovedevotees have been tonsur-ing.

The EO directed the vig-ilance officials to coordinatewith police and health offi-cials in queue maintenance,cleaning, and reception offi-cials to provide rooms.

Continued from Page 1

Despite prohibitory orders in place, the pro-testers attempted to proceed towards theCollectorate in Amalapuram on that day, cross-ing the clock tower area from different directionsand later setting fire to private vehicles and prop-erties including those belonging to the ministerand the MLA.

The period to receive suggestions and objec-tions had ended on June 18 and Friday cabinetapproved the renaming proposal. Konaseema wascarved out of the East Godavari district on April4, 2022, with Amalapuram as the district head-quarters as part of reorganisation of 13 districtsof Andhra Pradesh into 26.

While Kakinada was another district carvedout of the East Godavari with Kakinada town asthe district headquarters, Rajahmundry wasmade the district headquarters of the remainingportion of the East Godavari district.

There had been several demands for renam-ing Konaseema after either former Lok SabhaSpeaker GMC Balayogi or B R Ambedkar. Thegovernment appears to have obliged the demandfor renaming Konaseema as Dr. BR AmbedkarKonaseema district.

Cabinet okays renaming Konaseema...Green signal for welfare calendar,Byju’s pact & 3,700 MW projectContinued from Page 1

Asserting that the governmentwould not shirk its responsibilities inproviding welfare schemes, he saidthat all the welfare schemes are beingimplemented in a transparent man-ner.

The Minister said that ZPChairpersons of 13 districts will con-tinue as Chairpersons for 26 districts.Power subsidy for aqua farmers hav-ing up to 5 acres has now beenincreased to 10 acres. Further, an R& R package for the displaced fami-lies of Vamsadhara Project of Rs216.71 crore was approved. It alsogave the green signal for the changesmade in the PRC GO, as per the rec-ommendations made by the commit-tee.

Also, permission was granted to theGreen Energy Project being set up inAndhra Pradesh with an estimatedcost of Rs 15,000 crore to generate3,700 MW of power in a phased man-ner. Approvals were accorded for therecruitment of 3,530 jobs in medicalcolleges along with 2,558 jobs in hos-pitals under AP Vaidya VidhanaParishad across the State. The Cabinetapproved providing a Group-1 job toArjuna Awardee Jyoti Surekha andappointing her as a Deputy Collector.

State Cabinet gave nod for therecruitments in Raj Bhavan, SIPBapprovals, 75 acres of land allotmentto Wingtech Mobile manufacturingunit in EMC Tirupati, pay scales toaided colleges under AICTE norms,and canceled Disciplinary ProtectionTribunal.

State debt wellin control...Continued from Page 1

The Minister flayed oppo-sition for its malicious propa-ganda on fourteenth and fif-teenth finance commissionfunds and said the state gov-ernment has cleared thepending arrears of Rs 2,200crore electricity charges oflocal bodies. He said theaverage investment between2014-19 in large and mediumprojects was Rs 11,994 crorewhile it was Rs 13,201 crorein the present governmentdespite the Covid pandemic.He also added that the rankof the state in exports hasbeen improved in this gov-ernment.

The data proves that TDPand its friendly media havebeen constantly and blatant-ly misleading the people onState finances.

I left my bungalow, not my resolve: UddhavContinued from Page 1

The Sena has been witness-ing the rebellion within theparty after Eknath Shindebroke away and formed a rebelgroup with the support of sev-eral legislators. Shinde is cur-rently camping with at least 38rebel MLAs of the Sena and 10independents in Guwahati. Hehas claimed that the faction ledby him is the "real Shiv Sena".

In his virtual address to theparty's district unit chiefs and

'sampark pramukhs' assem-bled at the Shiv Sena Bhavanat Dadar in central Mumbai,CM Thackeray said he mayhave vacated the chief minis-ter's official residence, but hisdetermination is intact.

"Despite the rebellions thatthe party has faced earlier, itcame to power twice. I may haveleft 'Varsha', the chief minister'sofficial residence, but not mydetermination," he said.

Thackeray added that inthe last two-and-a-half years,

he battled the COVID 19 pan-demic as well as his own ill-health, but opponents tookadvantage of this situation.

Shiv Sena leader and minis-ter Aaditya Thackeray waspresent at the Shiv SenaBhavan during the chief min-ister's address.

In the wake of the revolt byShinde, CM Thackeray had onWednesday night vacated hisofficial residence in southMumbai and moved to familyhome in suburban Bandra.

TTD to providemore facilitiesto waitingdevotees: EO

PNS n NEW DELHI

India reported a single-dayrise of more than 17,000fresh COVID-19 cases onFriday after a gap of overfour months (124 days),recording a 30 per cent jumpin daily cases, according tothe Union Health Ministry.

A total 17,336 coronaviruscases were reported in aspan of 24 hours, taking thetotal infection tally to4,33,62,294, while the deathtoll due to the disease hasclimbed to 5,24,954 with 13new fatalities being reported,data updated by the ministryat 8 am showed. The dailypositivity rate was recordedat 4.32 per cent and theweekly positivity rate at 3.07per cent, according to theministry.

The count of active caseshas increased to 88,284,comprising 0.20 per cent ofthe total infections, while thenational COVID-19 recov-ery rate was recorded at98.59 per cent, it said.

An increase of 4,294 caseshas been recorded in theactive COVID-19 caseloadin a span of 24 hours, thedata showed.

30 per centjump inCovid cases

PNS n WARANGAL

Teaching, and non-teaching staffof the Kakatiya University (KU),Warangal, working on the contractbasis, staged protests in support oftheir demand that common boardfor recruitment of teaching andnon-teaching staff in State univer-sities should be scrapped.

They also demanded that thegovernment regularise the ser-vices of the contract staff. The agi-tating teachers and non-teachingstaff said that they have beenworking for the last 25 years oncontract basis with the hope thattheir services would be regu-larised one day.They demandedthat the State government scrap

the board and regularise servicesof 1,335 contract teachers in theState. Telangana all Universities'Contract Teachers Associationgeneral secretary Sridhar KumarLodh demanded that the Stategovernment increase the salariesof the contract teachers by 30 percent as it was done with the col-lege teachers.

KU teaching, non-teaching staff demandscrapping Common Recruitment Board

BE students asked to grow as industrialistsPNS n SIDDIPET

District Additional CollectorMuzammil Khan has calledupon engineering students toapply their creativity andgrow as industrialists.

He exuded confidence thatthe youth would be able to doanything if they really want to.

Participating as the chiefguest in the entrepreneurshipdevelopment programme forthe Backward Classes lastyear students here on Friday,

he observed that for the last100 years the world has seenmany inventions and dis-coveries, thanks to creativi-ty of humans, rather rapidlyto register faster growth insociety. In effect, human lifehas become more comfort-able.

The youth should give uptheir stereotype thinking ofsecuring a job and shouldthink in terms of creatingjobs as an industrialist, hefelt.

Developmental projects launched in KCR Eco ParkPNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

The KCR Eco Park atAppannapalle reserve forest inMahabubnagar district is afeast for eyes. Plans are afootto develop its further, accord-ing to Minster for Prohibitionand Excise Srinivas Goud.

There was not even onepark in Mahabubnagar inunited Andhra Pradesh. Notless than 30 parks had beenestablished since Telanganaattained statehood, he said.Srinivas Goud along withMinister for Agriculture SNiranjan Reddy, Lok Sabhamember Manne SrinivaReddy and Rythu BandhuSamithi president PallaRajeswar Reddy launched sev-eral developmental works inthe park.

The Ministers inauguratedpercolation tanks built at acost of Rs 8.71 lakh, solarpumpset established at a costof Rs 1.86 lakh, butterfly selfpoint and Maha Brand Stall

set by women self-helpgroups. The Minister tookself ies at the butterf lypoint.Speaking to the media,Srinvias Goud said there wasnot even a park. Now, a largenumber of parks have beenestablished in Mahabubnagartown. The KCR eco park is thecountry's largest eco park. Itwas established in

Mahabubnagar district. The women self-help

groups are selling over 65different products under thebrand name of 'Maha Brand,'he said. Maha Brand stall willbe established in allShilparamams, he said. Thegovernment has been encour-aging women self-help groupsto flourish.

Minister for Excise V Srinivas Goud and Minister for Agriculture S Niranajan Reddy at butterfly

point in KCR Eco Park in Mahabubnagar on Friday

PNS n KOTHAGUDEM

Childbirths in government hos-pitals went up to 74 per centfrom 68 per cent during the lasttwo months in the district,according to District CollectorAnudeep Durishett on Friday.Presiding over the DistrictCoordination Committee meet-ing here, the Collector saiddeliveries in private hospitalshad come down to 22 per centfrom 30 per cent in the past twomonths. The C-section surgeriestoo came down to 43 per centfrom 45 per cent in governmenthospitals. In private hospitals,the caesarean surgeries camedown from 71 per cent to 61 percent, the Collector said.

Normal childbirthsincrease in govthospitals

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JUNE 25, 2022

PNS n AMARAVATI

TDP national president andformer chief minister N.Chandrababu Naidu on Fridaycondemned what he describedas the YSRCP government-sponsored attack on Chittoorex-mayor and TDP leaderKathari Hemalatha.

Naidu expressed surprisethat some police officers weredegrading themselves to winfavours from the Jagan Reddyrule. What message were theysending by harassing witness-es in the mayor couple's mur-der in Chittoor and by filingfalse cases against them?

In a statement here, theTDP chief asked whether theerring police were trying tosave the culprits. It was atro-cious on the part of the policeto put a bag of ganja in thehouse of Poorna in order tofile a fabricated case againsthim.

Naidu said when ex-MayorHemalatha went there to stopthe police highhandedness,they did not hesitate to run the

police jeep on her. With whatconfidence, the police wereresorting to such atrociousactivities? The Government-sponsored attacks were high-ly condemnable.

Chandrababu Naiduwarned that the TDP wouldnot leave the police officerswho were committing seriousoffences by turning into theruling YSRCP activists.

Meanwhile, TDP nationalgeneral secretary Nara Lokesh,in a separate statement, saidthat their party would fight alegal battle on behalf of thevictimised TDP leaders. Aftercoming to power, the TDPwould take all the necessaryaction against all the erringofficers.

Lokesh asked whether ask-ing for protection to the wit-nesses in a murder case wasthe crime of ex-mayorHemalatha. The police shouldexplain whether they wereliving with the salaries takenfrom the public or just the pri-vate army is run by the JaganReddy mafia.

PNS n AMARAVATI

The parents of slain driverVeedhi Subrahmanyam metTDP national president andformer chief minister, NChandrababu Naidu, at theTDP office here on Friday.

Nookarathnam andSatyanarayana, mother andfather of the slain driver, toldNaidu that the police weretrying to dilute the murder oftheir son.

The accused in the murderof Veedhi Subrahmanyamwas YCP MLC AnanthaBabu, who has been sent tojail.

A TDP press release heresaid that the driver's parentsalleged that the police weremaking every effort to saveAnantha Babu.

The aged parents assertedthat they were prepared for

a legal battle for which theysought the support of theTelugu Desam Party.

Subrahmanyam's parentsstrongly believed that theaccused persons in their son'smurder would get correctpunishment only if the CBI

would probe the case. Theythanked the TDP for givingthem financial assistance ofRs. 5 lakh.

Chandrababu Naiduassured them of all supportfrom the TDP side in theirfuture struggles.

PNS n AMARAVATI

Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy congratulatedace Badminton player KidambiSrikanth and Deaflympian ten-nis player Sheikh Jafrin whomet the Chief Minister at theSecretariat here on Friday.

The Chief Minister laudedKidambi Srikanth for playinga key role in the recent victo-

ry of the prestigious ThomasCup in Bangkok. Also, he con-gratulated Sheikh Jafrin, a ten-nis player from Kurnool whowon a bronze medal at theDeaf Olympics (Defylympics –2022). He directed the officialsto provide a government job toSheikh Zafrin based on meritalong with a cash incentive. Hefelicitated Srikanth and Jafrin,and instructed the CMO offi-

cials to cater to all the requiredfacilities and arrangementsthey need on behalf of the gov-ernment.

The Chief Minister statedthat the Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment was extending all thehelp to the players and encour-aging them to bring laurels tothe State.

AP Badminton Associationpresident Mukkala

Dwarkanath presented a bad-minton kit to the ChiefMinister on behalf of APBA.Tourism and Sports MinisterRK Roja, SAAP ChairmanByreddy Siddharth Reddy,Srikanth's parentsRadhamukunda, KVS Krishna,Sheikh Zafrin's father SheikhZakir Ahmed, SAAP sportsofficer June Galliot and SAAPofficials were present.

PNS n AMARAVATI

TDP former MLA YarapatineniSrinivasa Rao on Friday allegedthat the Jagan Mohan Reddygovernment triggered murderpolitics while the previousChandrababu regime focusedon welfare and development.

Srinivasa Rao said that NaraLokesh had a glorious legacyfrom NTR and ChandrababuNaidu who turnedRayalaseema into 'Rathanala

Seema' (place of jewels).Whereas, Jagan Reddydescended from Raja Reddyand YSR who turnedRayalaseema into a hotbed offaction killings.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, the TDP leaderchallenged YSRCP MLAPinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy toclimb the footsteps of Tirumalahills with the same ease as thatof Chandrababu Naidu. It wasJagan Mohan Reddy who was

fostering murder politics.Srinivasa Rao pointed out

how the ruling party leadersstated at the time of ThotaChandraiah's murder that therewere 10 more persons whoshould be killed. Only as partof this premeditated plan,Kancherla Jallaiah was elimi-nated. However, the TDPwould not be afraid of thethreats and murder politics ofthe ruing YSRCP MLAs.

The TDP leader stronglyobjected to PinnelliRamakrishna Reddy 'twisting'

the statement of Lokesh that hehad got the pride ofRayalaseema. The grandfatherof Lokesh had a bright historywhile that of Jagan's grandfa-ther was very dark and blood-stained. Nobody would be ableto shake the foundations of theTDP.

Srinivasa Rao said that theTDP was a party that wouldfeed the poor people while theYSRCP had a bad history ofsnatching away food from the

mouths of poor families. Whatwas the problem of the rulingparty leaders when the TDPwas giving food to the poorpeople? The TDP activistswould fight like warriorsagainst the boundless corrup-tion of the Jagan regime.

The TDP leader warned thatthe YSRCP would not be ableto stay in power forever. On theother hand, the Jagan regimehad cancelled all pro-peopleprogrammes. They promised

to give Rs. 1 lakh to Muslimbrides under Dulhan. Aftercoming to power, it was total-ly ignored. Such was the betray-al of the Chief Minister.

Srinivasa Rao pointed outthat the Congress party did noteven get opposition status in1994. As it did faction politics,the people gave just 26 out ofthe total 294 seats. At that time,these YSRCP leaders were inthe main Congress party fromwhich it descended.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

As part of their deployment toSouth East Asia, Indian NavalShips Sahyadri and Kamortaunder the Command of RearAdmiral Sanjay Bhalla, FlagOfficer Commanding EasternFleet of Vizag base, are on avisit to Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam from June 24to 26.INS Sahyadri is an indigenous-ly designed and built 6000-tonmulti-role stealth frigate andINS Kamorta is an indige-nously built ASW corvette.

The visit of the Indian Navyships coincides with celebrationsmarking 50 years of diplomat-ic relations between India andVietnam and seeks to bolstermaritime cooperation andstrengthen the bonds of friend-ship between the two navies thatwould contribute toward secu-rity and stability in the region.

During their stay in Ho ChiMinh City, a wide range ofinteractions including profes-sional exchanges and sportsfixtures are scheduled betweenthe two navies.

Indian Navy ships visit Vietnam

YSRCP govt initiated murder politics: Yarapatineni Srinivasa Rao

TDP chief condemns attack on ex-mayor

Slain driver's parents meet Naidu

CM pats Kidambi Srikanth, Sheikh JafrinPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Vijayawada MunicipalCorporation authorities areplanning to set up a cyclingtrack in the city. The officialsare inspecting all possibleplaces for the cycling track inline with walking tracks in thecity. The authorities are likelyto set up a 20-km track inVijayawada. The VMC willformally launch a 500-m trackon MG Road on Saturday.

With the changing lifestyle,people are giving priority tohealth and fitness these days.Apart from walking, peoplehave adopted cycling as the fit-ness mantra. However, forcycling lovers, there is nocycling track in Vijayawada atthe moment.

A meeting held to discussthe setting up of cycling trackswas attended by VMCCommissioner SwapnilDinkar, Additional DCP TSarkar, Sports Officer UdayKumar, and representatives ofcycling associations. They dis-cussed identifying suitablecycling tracks in the city with-out causing any disturbance tothe traffic, with the support ofthe Police Department.

A track was set up from

Lemon Tree Park hotel toPWD grounds covering 500 mon both sides of MG road.Police cones and road mark-ings were set up to help the rid-ers. The VMC authorities haveinformed the cycling clubsand on Saturday, a trial runwould be formally launched.

The VMC authorities areplanning to set up cyclingtracks adjacent to Bandar,Raviz, and Eluru canals in thecity and a survey is beingdone by the engineering staffand urban consultants. The

VMC was planning to set up a20-km cycling track besidecanal bunds and erect bench-es for the cyclists to take a rest.For an ordinary cycling track,it would cost Rs 9 lakh whilefor thermoplastic cycling track,the cost is Rs 45 lakh per kilo-metre.

Swapnil Dinkar said thatsteps were being taken to bringdown pollution in the citywhich was on the rise. As partof it, cycling tracks were beingplanned across the city at allpossible places. He said on

Saturday, a trial run would beheld at 5.30 am from LemonTree Park to PWD groundswith the support of trafficpolice and all cycling clubswould take part in the event.

VMC Sports Officer UdayKumar said that they werestudying the feasibility ofcycling on MG road. He saidthat the VMC was planning tocreate awareness among thepeople about cycling. “Verysoon, cycling tracks will be setup and made available to thedenizens,” said Uday Kumar.

Cycling tracks across city soon

AE arrested inbribery case

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TTD EO AV Dharma Reddyhas exhorted employees andofficials to serve devoteeswith dedication during therush of the summer season.Addressing a review meetingat Annamaiah Bhavan onFriday, the EO urged theofficials to focus on provid-ing more amenities to thewaiting devotees as queuelines had crossed AsthanaMandapam and the rushappeared to become unprece-dented even on Saturday.

He said a pattern hademerged. From Thursday toSunday, the crowd remainsheavy to very heavy, drivingthe management to deploymore supervision of crowdmanagement from VendiVakili to Mahadwaram.

As many as 90,000 devo-tees are provided SrivariDarshan during rush daysand officials are pressed toensure the supply of AnnaPrasadam and drinkingwater to the waiting devoteeswithout hassle. He instruct-ed vigilance officials to coor-dinate with the police andHealth officials in queuemaintenance, cleaning andreception officials to providerooms.

He asked them to ensurefood and beverages and watersupply in queue lines. He alsoasked the officials to enhance'Kalyana Katta' supervision asover 40,000 devotees weretonsuring on a daily basis.

Chief Engineer NageswaraRao, SE-2 Jagadiswar Reddy,VGO Bali Reddy and otherswere present.

Officials asked torender dedicatedservice to devotees

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

NTR District Collector S DilliRao has instructed theAgriculture officials andAgriculture Advisory Boardmembers to build confidenceamong the farmers to get moreprofit through less investmentand overcome various prob-lems being faced by them.

During a meeting with theAgriculture officials and theboard members on Friday, thecollector directed them to giveappropriate and valuable sug-gestions to the farmers as theyhave started the sowing ofKharif crops. He said thatmeasures should be taken tosupply seeds, pesticides and

fertilizers to the farmers andensure that minimum supportprice be given to the farmersproduce.

The collector said that most

of the farmers in the districtcultivate chilli, cotton andpulses. During the previousseason chilli was cultivated in42,000 acres. Farmers suffered

loss with severe pest issues andthe insurance to the farmerswas disbursed on June 14 tothose registered under E-crop.The collector told the con-cerned officials to supply qual-ity chilli seeds through RythuBharosa Kendrams on MRPonly and stern action will betaken if sold more than MRPunder section 6A.

Advisory Board chairman DBamodar Reddy, district agri-culture officers M VijayaBhaskar, Horticulture depart-ment AD B Dayakar Babu,Fisheries AD CS Chakrani,Animal Husbandry depart-ment officer K Vidyasagar andothers were present on theoccasion.

Supply quality chilli seeds to farmers: Collector

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Ruling YSRCP MLA andGovernment Whip PinnelliRamakrishna Reddy has allegedthat Chandrababu Naidu andLokesh are trying to flare up fac-tional politics in the Palnaduregion, where people are living inpeace. He alleged that TeluguDesam-encouraged criminalsand history sheeters in theirparty were creating disturbancesin the Palnadu region.

Speaking to the media personson Friday, Ramakrishna Reddytermed Lokesh ‘a joker’, who did

not know the difference betweenconsole and other casual pro-grammes. Alleging that Lokeshcame to Palnadu on Thursday tocreate disturbance in the society,the MLA asked if Nara Lokeshknew what was going on inPalnadu and what was the actu-al history of Palnadu?

The MLA said that Lokeshcame to console the family mem-bers of deceased Jallayya who wasinvolved in many crimes and tenpolice cases were registered dur-ing the TDP government led byChandrababu Naidu in 2014-19.He said that Jallayya was mur-

dered in personal quarrels butLokesh giving it political colourto flare up disturbances in peace-ful Palnadu.

He further alleged thatChandrababu Naidu appointedBrahma Reddy as Palnadu TDPpresident who was involved in 15faction murders and this is show-ing Naidu’s conspiracy to createlaw and order problems inPalnadu. He alleged that BrahmaReddy, who has a factional back-ground, is sent to Macherla andthe father and son (Naidu andLokesh) are looking to set firehere again and start a riot.

TDP creating disturbancesin Palnadu: MLA Pinnelli

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In an attempt to boost healthinfrastructure inVisakhapatnam, Vedanta hasprovided medical support to thecity’s King George Hospital.As part of its CSR initiative, thecompany donated a CardiolineHolter Monitor to theCardiology Department of thehospital. The device was hand-ed over to the hospitalSuperintendent Dr P Mythili bythe company Chief ExecutiveOfficer C Sateesh Kumar in the

presence of Dr MalladiSrinivasa Rao, Head ofCardiology Department, KingGeorge Hospital, and Dr ShirinRahman, local influencer. DrSrinivas thanked Vedanta for

the benevolent gesture and saidthat the medical device wouldbenefit patients as well as stu-dents.

Sauvick Mazumdar, CEO,Vedanta, said the constantendeavour was to support holis-tic development of communi-ties around through our struc-tured CSR programs, and theybelieved that quality healthcarefacility was an extremely impor-tant aspect of community devel-opment. “This initiative is yetanother step in our efforts tocontribute towards the upgra-

dation of medical infrastructurefor the larger benefits of thepeople of Vizag and peripheralareas,” he said.

Dr Malladi Srinivasa Rao,Head, CardiologistDepartment, King GeorgeHospital, expressed grateful-ness to the benevolent gesturerendered by Vizag GeneralCargo Berth (Vedanta) bydonating the valuable Holterrecorder and analyser to thedepartment of Cardiology, KingGeorge Hospital,Visakhapatnam.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

An Assistant Engineer ofAPEPDCL has landed on ACBnet for demanding a bribe. MChanti Babu, AssistantEngineer at APEPDCL’s DairyForm Substation in Kakinadamandal, Kakinada district, wascaught by the ACB fordemanding a bribe of Rs25,000.

B Devi of Dairy FormCentre, Kakinada mandal, hadlodged a complaint with ACBthrough14400 App stating thatChanti Babu had demanded Rs25,000 as a bribe to shift the HTelectrical line which was pass-ing close to her house.

Medical equipment donated to KGH

Galla Aruna hangsher boots in politicsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Participating in the ground-breaking ceremony of thebuilding for Amara RajaSkill Development Centreat Diguvamagham ofThavanampalle mandal inChittoor district on Friday,senior Telugu Desam Party(TDP) leader and formerminister Gal la ArunaKumari said that her politi-cal career had come to anend. She said there was noth-ing to do in politics now andshe had seen everything inpolitics and held many posi-tions.

She also made an interest-ing comment about GallaJayadev, who is presently TDPMP from Guntur. She said thatJayadev would continue inpolitics. He and his followerscould be there in any partythat has a future.

Aruna made it clear that shewas no more a senior leader in

the party. In the present cir-cumstances, she had no role toplay in the party and that waswhy she had been silent.

Galla Aruna had been withthe Congress party for quitea long time, before switchingover to the TDP after theState bifurcation. She con-tested the Assembly elec-tions from Chandragiri con-stituency in 2014, but couldnot win the seat. In 2019, shedid not contest the electionsat all.

On the other hand, GallaJayadev, who joined the TDP,won as Guntur MP both in2014 and 2019. In October2020, Aruna resigned from theTDP politburo much to theshock of the party workers.

Interestingly, the decisionwas taken after the State gov-ernment retrieved 253 acres ofland leased out to her family-run company Amara RajaGroup, as no industry was setup on the land.

04VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JUNE 25, 2022

PNS n KURNOOL

Arya Vysya Choultries presi-dent Devaki Venkateswaruluthanked BJP leader and MP,TG Venkatesh, for donating Rs20 crore worth of Arya Vysyahostel building to Vasavichoultry.

The Arya Vysya hostelbuilding is located in Kurnoolwhich is accessible to manycolleges. DevakiVenkateswarulu said that TGVenkateswarulu is extendingall kinds of help to Arya Vysyaand he tries to resolve theirproblems. TG Venkateshdonated Rs 20 crore worth ofhostel building to theVasaviChowltries. “On behalfof all Arya Vysyas I thank TGVenkatesh for donating thebuilding”, he said.

On the occasion, theVasavai organisation felicitat-

ed TG Venkatesh at a pro-gramme organised here.Vasavi organisation generalsecretary Uppala Bharataiah,Additional general secretaryElluru Lakshmiah, TreasurerPerumalla Koteswara Rao andmembers PerumallaSubramanyam, BaisaniSubramanyam, VemulaVenkateswarlu and GuturiSubbarayya were present.

PNS n BAPATLA

Bapatla district Superintendentof Police Vakul Jindal hasdirected the police officials totake measures to check roadaccidents in the district.

The SP on Friday personal-ly visited Epurupalem cross-road, Thotavaripalem junc-tion, Burlavaripalem junction,Kothapeta Junction, andPapayapalem junction whichare the accident-prone areas.

District SP instructed offi-cers to arrange sign boards,danger boards, speed breakersand radium sticker pastedsand drums in a zigzag man-ner by the association of con-cerned panchayat officials inthe above-said places. DistrictSP said every Saturday in theweek is observed as NoAccident Day in the districtand black spots on National

Highway 216 and variousplaces prone to road accidentswere visited.

Further, the SP InstructedAuthorities to install sand-filled drums affixed with radi-um stickers in a zigzag manner,arrange Warning boards, andspeed breakers, and police

personnel and officers will beon duty to prevent road acci-dents in the areas frequentlyidentified as black sports onSaturday. Chirala SDPO PSrikanth, DSB Inspector ASrinivas, and other officialswere among those who accom-panied the SP.

PNS n BHIMAVARAM

West Godavari DistrictCollector P Prasanthi under-lined the need for creatingawareness among the farmerson natural farming.

An awareness programmeon natural farming was organ-ised by the AP state ruraldevelopment, Panchayat Raj,and farmers' empowermentcommittee to village sarpanch-es here on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion,Collector Prasanthi said thatsuch a situation prevailedmaking nature farmingmandatory. She said that fer-tilizers and pesticides are beingused in high quantities onhorticulture crops includingvegetables and other cropswhich are polluting the soiland also water. Using hugequantities of fertilizers andpesticides is creating varioushealth problems for people. Ashuge quantities of pesticidesare being used to prevent pestson horticulture crops and veg-etables it causes cancer, sheinformed.

Nowadays, the traders usechemicals to make vegetablesand fruits look fresh which arehazardous to health, sheinformed. The Collector saidthat the farmers invest 50 per-cent on their crops to buy pes-

ticides and fertilizers, theCollector said.

Using pesticides more thanprescribed levels would causethe pests to gain immunity toface the pesticides. In the pre-sent situation, taking natural

farming is imperative, she said.She advised the farmers to pre-pare compost fertilizer tostrengthen the soil.

Village sarpanches of 61 vil-lages attended the awarenessprogramme.

Awareness of naturalfarming underscored

TG donates hostel bldgto Vasavi choultry

Accused in GanjiPrasad murder case escapesPNS n ELURU

One of the accused in the sen-sational murder of GanjiPrasad escaped from theGovernment hospital wherehe was admitted for treat-ment.

Police said that KoduriRaviteja was one of theaccused in the GanjiPrasad murder casewhich took place at GKottapalli in DwarakaTirumala manal a fewmonths ago.

He was arrested inthe case and was onjudicial remand. He waslodged in the districtprison as a remand pris-oner.

He was admitted to theGovernment hospital on June14 for treatment. On thenight of Thursday, he escapedfrom the Government hospi-tal. The police formed specialteams to arrest him. Hebelongs to IS Raghavapuram

in Dwaraka Tirumala man-dal. He was involved in sev-eral criminal cases includingchain snatching and fake cur-rent notes racket. Severalcases were registered againsthim in Lakkavaram policestation. The escape of Ravitejacreated a common among

police officials and spe-cial teams deployed tonab him.

Meanwhile, thepolice arrested theescaped under trialprisoner Raviteja atNallajarla village onFriday.

Superintendent ofpolice Rahul DevSharma suspended a

head constable and three con-stables for dereliction of dutyin connection with the escapeof an under trial prisoner.The police held four personsK Rambabu, UndrajavarapuPravin, P Ramakrishna inconnection with his escapefrom the police custody.

Police officials directed to focuson checking road accidents

PNS n ELURU

Housing DepartmentAdditional Secretary RahulPandy has asked the districtofficials to work in a coordinat-ed manner to complete theconstruction of houses in theJagananna layouts.

Rahul Pandy held a reviewmeeting with district CollectorV Prasanna Venkatesh, statehousing corporation MD MShiva Prasad, and other offi-cials at the Collector’s office onFriday.

Speaking on the occasion,Additional Secretary RahulPandey said that the state gov-ernment was giving utmostpriority to the housing schemefor the poor in the Navaratnaluprogramme. The State govern-ment had given over 32 lakhtitle deeds of house sites to theeligible poor and no other

state in the country had imple-mented such a scheme.

He asked all the officials ofthe concerned departments towork in coordination for thesuccessful implementation ofsuch an ambitious program.He wanted to expedite theconstruction of houses bymaking the beneficiaries fullyaware of the free sand, cement,iron and other constructionmaterials provided by the stategovernment as subsidy for theconstruction of houses.

Rahul Pandy said that engi-neering assistants in the villagesecretariat level should layspecial focus on the construc-tion of houses and educate thebeneficiaries in this regard. Heasked them to expedite theconstruction of approachroads, levelling of low lyingareas, and providing drinkingwater and other basic ameni-

ties to the colonies. Collector Prasanna

Venkatesh said that stepsshould be taken to make thebeneficiaries, who had not yetstarted construction of hous-es in their plots, start construc-tion of houses. The officialsshould motivate the beneficia-ries to take up constructionworks of their houses in theallocated plots, he told the offi-cials.

The Collector said thatefforts would be made toensure that the houses in theJagananna colonies would beconstructed by the prescribedtime. He said that cement,sand, and iron were beingsupplied to the beneficiaries.Joint Collector P Arun Babu,housing PD Venugopal,municipal commissioner Sk.Shahid and other officials werepresent.

Complete houses inJagananna layouts: Addl Secy

PNS n ONGOLE

Telugu Desam Party (TDP)activists, led by former MLAKandula Narayana Reddy,organised a rasta roko atKamalapadu village in Podilimandal on Friday in protestagainst the weeding out ofpensions to 16 Dalits.

The TDP activists squattedon the road blocking the traf-fic in the village. Talking to themedia former MLA KandulaNarayana Reddy alleged thatthe pension of 16 Dalits wascancelled in an unjust manner.

He said that a Dalit familyreceived Rs 21,370 electricitybill, at the same time, theirpension was cancelled.

The ex-MLA demandedthat the pension to the 16 Dalitshould be revived. He said thatthe crop loss compensationwas disbursed only to thefarmers who are affiliated withthe YSRCP. The officialsspoke with the former MLAand promised that theirdemands would be met. Withthe assurances from the offi-cials, the TDP activists calledoff their rasta roko.

TDP blocks road against removal of pension

PNS n ONGOLE

Prakasam districtSuperintendent of policedirected the police officials toexpedite the investigation ofthe SC/ST Atrocities case andresolve them at the earliest.

The SP held a video confer-ence with the DSPs here onFriday on the SC/STAtrocities cases, crimesagainst women, rapes, and

POCSO cases. Speaking onthe occasion, the SP said thatan action plan should beevolved to reduce pendingcases.

The SP reviewed the inves-tigation, arrests of theaccused, and filing of chargesheets in the SC/ST atrocitiesact cases. The SP reviewed thecases registered so far underthe SC and ST Atrocities Actacross the district and

reviewed the investigation,progress of the cases, arrest ofthe accused, and filing ofcharge sheets.

FSL reports in SC and STcases should be filed expedi-tiously and charge sheetsshould be filed within thestipulated time, she told them.

The SP warned that depart-mental action would be takenagainst the officers who wereindifferent in the registering

and investigation of SCs andSTs Atrocities cases.

She inquired the officersabout the pending SC and STcases at various stages. Sheasked them the reasons for thepending cases and issuedappropriate guidelines to theofficers to resolve the old andpending cases quickly and takespecial measures as per theplan to reduce their number.

The SP also reviewed the

POCSO cases, crimes againstwomen, and other cases beinginvestigated by the DSP levelofficers under special investi-gation. It was suggested thatthe investigation in thePOCSO cases should be com-pleted within 7 days and theculprits should be punishedwith proper evidence, with agreater focus on propertycases and recovery of stolenproperty, she told the officials.

Expedite investigation into SC/ST atrocity cases: SP

Rs 16,231.36 cr Nabard-approvedannual credit plan unveiled PNS n TIRUPATI

Collector K VenkataramanaReddy outlined a Rs 16,231.36crore NABARD approved anannual credit action plan for2022-23 and urged officials toimplement the same to bringall-around development to theTirupati district.

The Collector informed thatafter the bifurcation of the dis-trict, the Rs 16,231.36 crorecredit plan for Tirupati includ-ed Rs 8844.73 crore for the

agricultural and allied sector,Rs 2484.24 crore for smalland medium scale Industries,Rs 1074.35 crore forplanned sectors, Rs3728.03 crore for non-plan sectors.

The credit planincluded 15 000 ruraland 4200 urban self-help groups with banklinkage up to Rs 899.89 crore.He said as per 2022-23 officialrecords only 40 percent oftargeted works were complete

and need to speed up the restby 60 percent. Among others,the District Collector urged

officials to take up com-pletion of credit

deployment worksprogramme wise inhousing, BC,SC andST sectors.

NABARD AssistantGeneral Manager said

that a Rs 16,000 crore cred-it plan was embedded in thecurrent fiscal for implementa-tion.

SEB conductschecks againstillicit liquorPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Special EnforcementBureau (SEB) officials regis-tered 558 cases and arrested667 people during weeklonginspections against illegalliquor in Andhra Pradesh.SEB Commissioner RaviSankar Ayyanar said that theSEB had taken key steps torestrain the illegal liquor andganja menace. He said thatstrict and regular checks weretaking place at all borderplaces in the State to preventsmuggling.

Ravi Sankar Ayyanar saidthat with the establishment ofsurveillance using the latesttechnology, the SEC had inten-sified patrols to curb illegalliquor and ganja transporta-tion. He said that the SEB wasconducting surprise inspec-tions, which were helping tocurb illegal liquor menace.

Ravi Sankar Ayyannar saidthat under the supervision ofDIG Ramesh Reddy, the SEBconducted surprise checksfrom June 17 to 23 in the State,in which SEB seized 3,239liters of ID liquor.

667 people arrestedin 558 cases

TRS hopes Hyderabadjinx continues for BJP

PNS n HYDERABAD

After 18years, Bharatiya JanataParty is gearing up to host itsnational executive meeting inHyderabad next month. TRSis hopeful that history repeatsafter the NEC meeting. Thelast NEC was last organised inthe city in 2004, during thetime of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.After the BJP led NDA lostelections. TRS sources hopedthat the scene should hopeful-ly repeat itself. A source saidthat we hope the buck stopshere (Hyderabad) for BJP’sambition of Mission South.

Ahead of general election in2004, BJP organised NEC atHyderabad in January 2004.Akin to the plans of NEC2022, even in 2004, the twincities of Hyderabad andSecunderabad were allspruced up to host the thenPrime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee. At that time, Partypresident was M VenkaiahNaidu who is now the Vice

President. The meeting washeld at Viceroy Hotel, over-looking Hussain Sagar, onJanuary 11 and 12. They haveseen it as Mission 2004 at thatpoint of time and now polls inTelangana as plan. It may bementioned here thatNEC2022, is scheduled onJuly 2 and 3 with who’s who ofthe party including PrimeMinister Narendra Modi stay-ing here.

Already TRS has started itsbattle online, with nation-wide trends on social media.Ahead of the meeting, moretrends and social trends arelikely to come up

It may be mentioned herethat NEC2022, is scheduled onJuly 2 and 3 with who’s who ofthe party including PrimeMinister Narendra Modi stay-ing here. Already TRS hasstarted its battle online withnationwide trends on socialmedia. Ahead of the meeting,more trends and social trendsare likely to come up.

After 2004 NEC in Hyd, BJP lost power

TRS to focus on welfare

PNS n HYDERABAD

IT Minister KT Rama Rao hasdeclared that TRS will go for-ward with its welfare anddevelopment programmes forall regardless of caste and reli-gion.

Addressing representativesof various castes on Friday,KTR said, “I grew up inHyderabad, and was educatedin a convent. I am above nar-row caste and religious consid-erations. I became aware ofthese only after entering pol-itics. Is there any caste or reli-gion for poverty? I became anMLA with your blessings andMinister with KCR’s bless-ings.”

He vowed to fulfil his oblig-ation to the people of the areaand land. KCR gives equal pri-ority to all castes and religions.The second phase of sheepunit distribution will be imple-mented soon, he said, addingthat the development of Gollaand Kuruma communities inTelangana was unprecedented.

Suitable sites have beenidentified and financial assis-

tance will be given toPadmasali and Reddy associ-ations to build their AtmaGourava Bhavans, KTR said.

KTR clarified that the

Reddys are nominally one ofthe top castes but many ofthem are poor. He said that assoon as possible, he will dis-cuss the formation of a Reddycorporation with ChiefMinister KCR and resolve theissue.

KTR addressed the swear-ing-in ceremony of the ReddyAssociation at Rajanna SircillaDistrict Centre.

Similarly, sites would begiven for Mudiraj, Goud,Gangaputra, Golla, Kuruma,Munnuru Kapu and othercastes to build their AtmaGourava Bhavans, he saidevincing interest to knowabout their woes, providedthey invite him to their asso-ciation buildings foundationstone laying ceremonies.

He received representationsfrom the leaders of variouscastes.

ZP chairperson NyalakondaAruna Raghava Reddy,Additional Collector B. SatyaPrasad, RDO Srinivasa Rao,Municipal Chairman ZindamKala Chakrapani and othersattended the event.

m KTR to speak to CM on Reddy Corporation

KCR to openT-Hub2 onJune 28PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao willinaugurate T-Hub2 on June28. He will deliver the inau-gural address at around 6 pm.

The new building comeswith a built-up area of over5.82 lakh square feet whichmakes it the world's largestinnovation campus, the sec-ond largest being the start-upincubator Station F in France.

Established in 2015, T-Hub (Technology Hub) is aninnovation hub and ecosys-tem enabler based inHyderabad. T-Hub hasplanned a day-long panelsession with start-ups andentrepreneurs.

There will be a stand-upcomedy, panel discussionsand exchange of MoUs.

The Telangana IT depart-ment and Koo App willexchange MoUs. T-Hub willexchange MoUs with HDFCBank, ICICI Bank, HeroMotocorp, Pontaq andWeb3.0. T-Hub1 was inaugu-rated by Ratan Tata.

nation 05HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | JUNE 25, 2022

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BJP president J P Nadda on Friday reached out to various opposition leadersand sought their support for the NDA's presidential candidate DroupadiMurmu. Sources said Nadda called up Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge

and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former prime minister and JDS leader H DDevegowda while seeking to build a consensus on Murmu's candidature. Sourcesadd that Nadda has also called NCleader and former Jammu and Kashmirchief minister Farooq Abdullah andsome other opposition leaders. Murmuherself had earlier called senioropposition leaders including SoniaGandhi, Sharad Pawar and MamataBanerjee and sought their support forher candidature for the topconstitutional post in the country.Murmu, if elected, would be the firsttribal and the second woman to occupythe post of President of India.

Nadda seeks opposition leaders'support for Droupadi Murmu

The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the Union EnvironmentMinistry over the impact of air pollution on the life expectancy of people, officials saidon Friday. In a statement, the NHRC said it has taken motu cognizance of media

reports quoting a survey that air pollution is a great threat to human health in India,reducing overall life expectancy by five years and 9.7 years for the people in Delhi. Therights panel has observed that thecontents of the media reports, if true,raise a serious issue of the right to life.Accordingly, it has issued notice to theSecretary of the Union Ministry ofEnvironment, Forest and ClimateChange, seeking a report within fourweeks, including the status of theNational Clean Air Programme,launched in 2019. The commissionexpects the state authorities to take theissue with utmost sincerity in a time-bound manner, the statement said.

NHRC notice to Environment Ministryon air pollution impacting life

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday orally assured the Delhi High Court thatno coercive action will be taken against Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram tillJuly 12, when his anticipatory bail plea in the alleged Chinese Visas scam will be

taken up for hearing. Justice Jasmeet Singh also asked the ED to file a status reporton the matter before the next dateof hearing. At the request ofcounsel for Karti and ED, the courtlisted the matter for further hearingon July 12. Additional SolicitorGeneral SV Raju, representing theED, orally assured the court thatnothing will happen till July 12. "Iwill not make a statement but it isunderstood that nothing willhappen till then. My understandingis only till the 12th (of July)," hesaid, adding that there is noapprehension of the arrest.

Visa scam: ED assures HC no coerciveaction against Karti till July 12

PNS n MUMBAI

Even as the Shiv Sena-ledMVA dispensation is current-ly facing a survival crisis due toa rebellion by Sena ministerEknath Shinde, the statedepartments - mostly con-trolled by ruling allies NCP andCongress - have issued govern-ment orders for the release offunds worth thousands ofcrores in the last four days forvarious development-relatedworks.

Between June 20 and 23, thedepartments issued as many as182 government resolutions(GRs), while on June 17, theypassed 107 such GRs. Theseorders can be seen on the gov-ernment's official website.

Technically, these are calledgovernment resolutions orGRs, which are essentially anapproval order sanctioningrelease of funds for develop-ment related works. However,the opposition BJP soughtGovernor Bhagat SinghKoshyari's intervention to curbthe "rush of GRs" seen over thepast few days, which it termedas "suspicious".

From Tuesday, Maha rash-tra's ruling alliance - the MahaVikas Aghadi (MVA) - startedbattling its worst crisis sincecoming into existence in 2019after Shinde rebelled againstthe party and herded someMLAs to BJP-ruled Assam.

The crisis, which erupted

hours after the LegislativeCouncil polls held on June 20,which saw the opposition BJPmanaging to get its fifth can-didate elected. Shinde hadgone incommunicado follow-ing the results. He and a groupof rebel MLAs first stayed inGujarat, but later moved toAssam. He is currently camp-ing in a Guwahati hotel alongwith 37 rebel MLAs of the Senaand nine independents.Although Shinde's rebellionbecame public on June 21morning, his growing discom-fort had been sensed by theSena's allies - NCP andCongress. NCP chief SharadPawar had even claimed that hehad sounded Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray about thepossible revolt by Shinde andsome MLAs, sources said. Sosince the ruling partners had

sensed what was coming, thedepartments controlled bythese parties went on a spree toissue the GRs, they said.

The water supply and sani-tation department, headed byShiv Sena's Gulabrao Patil,issued over 84 GRs on a singleday on June 17. Most of theorders were pertaining to sanc-tion of funds, administrativeapprovals and for salaries ofstaff working on various watersupply schemes in the state.

Patil was among the lastSena legislators who joinedthe rebel camp headed byShinde by reaching inGuwahati. June 17 was a Friday- the last working day of theweek - and MLC electionstook place on Monday. Duringthe June 20 and 23 period, theleast number of GRs - 28 - wereissued on Monday.

All' tourists' are welcome in Assam, says

Himanta on Maha MLAs in Guwahati

One more Shiv Sena MLA joins rebel Eknath Shinde's camp

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena suffered yet another setback asone more party MLA has joined the camp of rebel legislators headedby minister Eknath Shinde in Assam. A video of MLA Dilip Lande

entering the luxury hotel in Guwahati, where the party rebels have beencamping for the past few days, was shared by Shinde's office here onFriday. The move of Lande, who represents Chandivali Assemblyconstituency in Mumbai, takes the number of Sena MLAs in the rebelcamp to 38. However, Shinde has claimed the support of 40 out of thetotal 55 Shiv Sena MLAs and 12 independents. Shinde, who has claimedthat his faction is the "real Shiv Sena", has sent letters carryingsignatures of 37 MLAs to state Legislative Assembly Deputy SpeakerNarhari Zirwal, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and the legislaturesecretary to inform them about his appointment as the legislature partyleader and that of Bharat Gogawale as the party's chief whip.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday soughtto downplay the camping of Maharashtra's rebel Shiv SenaMLAs in his state saying all "tourists" are welcome there.

Sarma also said he has nothing to do with the politics ofMaharashtra where the survival of the Uddhav Thackeray-ledgovernment is at stake after 38 of his party's MLAs rebelled andare currently camping at a hotel in Guwahati after being flownthere in several flights. "Some people have come to Assam. Theybooked hotels. I am happy for that. You also come, it will helpAssam's economy. Through this, Assam's tourism is alsogetting promoted," he said after accompanying NDA'spresidential candidate Draupadi Murmu while filing hernominations here at Parliament complex. Asked about theongoing political developments in Maharashtra, he said hecannot comment on it as it is a big state. "How can I commenton Maharashtra. It is a big state. I am happy that people arechoosing Assam as a preferred destination," he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Former Congress presidentRahul Gandhi on Fridayshared a tweet by Param VirChakra awardee Capt BanaSingh criticising the Agnipathscheme for military recruit-ment and asked whether only"friends" will be heard 'newIndia' and not heroes.

Sharing the tweet, he alsoattacked Prime MinisterNarendra Modi saying on oneside is his arrogance and dic-tatorship and on the other isthe country's 'Paramvir'.

Last week, violent protestsagainst the Agnipath schemerocked several states, includ-ing Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh, Haryanaand Telangana, while peacefulagitations were held in sever-al places. "On one side is thecountry's Paramvir and onthe other is the arrogance anddictatorship of the prime min-ister. In 'New India', will only

'friends' be heard and not theheroes of the country," Gandhiasked in a tweet in Hindi,while sharing a screenshot ofCapt Bana Singh's tweet.Congress general secretaryJairam Ramesh also shared thescreenshot of Capt BanaSingh's tweet. "The fact that aParamvir Chakra Awardeehad to delete an honest, heart-felt tweet against Agnipathscheme demonstrates that inModindia not only Freedom of

Speech, but Freedom AFTERSpeech is also under peril," hesaid.

Capt Bana Singh, aParamvir Chakra awardee, ina Twitter post, had shared hisinterview saying the Agnipathscheme will destroy the Army.

"Save the country, Agnipathscheme will badly damage us,India is going through a cru-cial stage. Youngsters are thefuture of our motherland," hehad said on Twitter.

SFI protest march turns violensPNS n KERALA

A protest march of the SFI, thestudents wing of ruling CPI(M),against Congress MP RahulGandhi's office here on Fridayturned violent as a group of pro-testors allegedly entered theLok Sabha member's office and

vandalised it. Police said theprotest march contained around100 Students' Federation ofIndia (SFI) activists and theybarged into the office. "Therewere around 80-100 activists. Asof now, eight of them are undercustody. More police have beendeployed," police told PTI. The

student organisation protestedalleging that Gandhi failed tointervene in the issue of creat-ing buffer zones around forestsin the hilly areas of Kerala.Television channels aired visu-als of a group of protestors cre-ating ruckus inside the MP'soffice.

PNS n BENGALURU

A group of 75 people includ-ing eminent personalities havewritten an open letter to ChiefMinister Basavaraj Bommai,expressing concern about"recent developments" thatthreaten to destroy peace anddiversity in Karnataka.

They requested Bommai totake proactive steps to ensurethat a clear message is sent tothose instigating or indulgingin violence and creating fearand that such unlawful behav-iour will not be tolerated andwill be punished. The group,calling themselves 'concerned

citizens', pressed for restoringthe State to a 'Sarva janangadashantiya thota' (a garden ofpeace for diverse communi-ties), as mentioned in 'Naada

Geethe' (state anthem) pennedby Kuvempu.

They said the "current spateof divisive actions aimed atalienating particular commu-nities and denying them theirfundamental rights" will notonly hamper development butalso hurt our state's reputation,hinder progress and innova-tion, erode the confidence ofentrepreneurs and investors,heighten insecurity, suspicion,fear and resentment among cit-izens. The restoration of com-munal harmony is an impor-tant and urgent task, they said,expressing trust that the gov-ernment headed by Bommai

will not wish to go down inhistory as the one that precip-itated a "steep downturn" inthe reputation and fortunes ofour state through inaction.The signatories include retiredcivil servants, writers, artistsand academics like YellappaReddy, Indian Forest Service(retd), Ravivarma Kumar (for-mer Advocate General,Karnataka), Chiranjiv Singh,IAS (retd), Ajai Kumar SinghIPS (retd), Raghunandan IAS(retd), Shashi Deshpande(writer), Vaidehi (writer),Girish Kasaravalli (filmmaker) and RamchandraGuha (historian).

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Fridaysaid there is "no tittle of thematerial" to support the pleathat the 2002 Godhra riotswere a pre-planned eventowing to the criminal conspir-acy hatched at the highest levelin the State.

There is no tittle of thematerial, much less tangiblematerial to support the plea ofthe appellant that the Godhraincident unfolded on February27, 2002, and the events whichfollowed, were a pre-plannedevent owing to the criminalconspiracy hatched at the high-est level in the State, a benchheaded by Justice A MKhanwilkar said.

The apex court said SpecialInvestigation Team had record-ed the statements of all con-cerned including the officialsbefore forming the opinion, asnoted in the final report, to dis-card the allegation.

The top court also said inac-tion or non-responsive admin-

istration, can be no basis toinfer hatching of criminal con-spiracy by the authorities of theState Government.

The Magistrate, as well as,the High Court committed noerror whatsoever in acceptingthe final report presented bythe SIT.

Thus understood, the argu-ment pressed into service aboutthe existence of materialsregarding the build-up of com-munal mobilizations and stock-piling of weapons, arms andammunition even before the

Godhra episode on February27, 2002, being part of the larg-er criminal conspiracy, isdevoid of merits, the bench alsocomprising Justices DineshMaheshwari and C TRavikumar said.

It said, "there is the absenceof clear and direct materialindicative of involvement ofnamed persons in hatching acriminal conspiracy to causemass violence across the Statetargeting minority communi-ty." "The attempt of the appel-lant (Zakia Jafri) is bordering

on the sewing of insignificantunconnected circumstancesand events regarding the fail-ures and in some cases, laxityin administration, which isbeing projected as an act ofconcerted effort of all the Stateofficials up to the highest levelwithout there being any tittle ofmaterial to show that there wasthe meeting of minds of allthese persons at some level, thebench said.

The top court's observationcame while upholding the SIT'sclean chit to then Gujarat chief

minister Narendra Modi and63 others in the 2002 riots inthe state and dismissed a pleaby slain Congress leader EhsanJafri's wife Zakia who hadalleged a larger conspiracy.

Bringing the curtains downon the bid to reopen the probe,

the apex said the material col-lected during the investiga-tion does not give rise to strongor grave suspicion regardingthe hatching of a larger crimi-nal conspiracy at the highestlevel for causing mass vio-lence against Muslims.

Disappointed by SC verdict, says Ehsan Jafri's son

Tanvir Jafri, son of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, on Fridaysaid he was disappointed by the Supreme Court's verdictdismissing a petition challenging the clean chit given by the SIT

to then chief minister Narendra Modi and others in 2002 post-Godhrariots cases. Ehsan Jafri was killed during the riots. Zakia Jafri, hiswife, had filed the petition challenging the Special InvestigationTeam's report giving a clean chit to Modi and 63 others. "I amdisappointed with the court verdict. Since I am out of the country, Iwill give a detailed statement after studying the judgement," TanvirJafri told PTI. As per his lawyer, he was in Mecca for Haj pilgrimage,while Zakia lives in the United States with her daughter. SeniorCongress leader from Gujarat Arjun Modhwadia said there was nooption other than to accept the Supreme Court's verdict. "Manypeople were burnt alive during the riots. One of them was our party'sformer MP Ehsan Jafri. His wife Zakia was fighting the case even atthe age of 85 because she was hoping to get justice.

At least 5 die as buscollides with truck in UP

PNS n LAKHIMPUR KHERI

At least five people died andaround 12 were injured whena bus collided head-on with atruck on the national highwayat Unchgaon-Adlispur cross-ing under the Isanagar PoliceStation area on Friday after-noon, police said.

According to the police,the accident occurred whenthe bus driver while attempt-ing to overtake a pick-up vancollided with the truck com-ing from the opposite direc-tion. Circle officer ofDhaurahra S N Tiwari said

Balchandra Mishra (40), busconductor Nayab Singh (35),passenger Jamal Khan (45)and two unidentified personsdied in the incident. Tiwarialong with SDM DhirendraKumar Singh and Isanagarpolice station in-chargeArvind Kumar Pandey rushedto the spot and made arrange-ments to send the injuredpersons to the hospital.

Two of the injured bus pas-sengers were sent to the dis-trict hospital, while otherswere taken to the Dhaurahracommunity health centre,police said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Lieutenant Governor VinaiKumar Saxena has not yetcleared the Delhi government'sseveral important files, includ-ing one relating to ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal'sscheduled visit to Singapore inJuly to attend World CitiesSummit, official sourcesclaimed on Friday.

This is likely to trigger afresh round of tussle betweenthe L-G office and the ArvindKejriwal dispensation. Therewas no immediate reactionfrom the L-G office on thematter.

Earlier this week, DeputyChief Minister Manish Sisodia

had accused Saxena of "bull-dozing the law" to favour theBJP after the L-G gave his nodto the Anti-Corruption Branchto probe allegations of irregu-larities in the construction ofseven temporary hospitals here

during the Covid pandemic.Official sources said the file

on the chief minister'sSingapore visit has been pend-ing with the L-G office forapproval since June 7.

"Several important files ofthe Delhi government have notyet been cleared by the L-G,including the one about theCM's visit to Singapore.

The file has been lying withthe L-G since June 7. Kejriwalhas to participate in the WorldCities Summit in Singapore,"official sources said.

They claimed that even fileson small issues are "stuck"with the L-G office. It mayaffect governance in Delhi,official sources said.

File on Kejriwal's scheduledSingapore visit stuck with L-G

UP teen endslife after failingClass 10thPNS n SHAHJAHANPUR

A 16-year-old girl ended herlife after failing in Class 10thexams, police said on Friday.The board exam results wereannounced by Uttar PradeshMadhyamik Shiksha Parishad(UPMSP) on June 18. StationHouse Officer (SHO) ofJaitipur police station RajeshBabu Mishra said that a 16-year-old student ended her lifein Bainsla Bainsli village. "Asper her family members, shetook the extreme step onFriday morning. Her bodywas found hanging with a'dupatta' inside a room at herhouse," Mishra said. Policehave recovered the body andsent it for a post-mortemexamination, the SHO added.

Govt depts headed by NCP, Cong issueGRs for sanction of funds worth crores

In ‘New India’ will only‘friends’ be heard and notcountry’s heroes: Rahul

Group of 75 ‘concerned citizens’ strapline saydeeply disturbed by recent developments

No material to support Godhra riots were pre-planned: SC

WRITE LETTER TO K'TAKA CM

AMID MVA'S SURVIVAL CRISIS

Stoking a political controversy, BJP’s Karnataka leader Umesh Vishwanath Kattihas stated that once PM Narendra Modi returns to power after the 2024 elec-tions, the nation will have 50 States. He even elaborated the Union Government’s

purported plans to, at the local level, have North Karnataka as a separate State, and,at the national level, to split Maharashtra into three states and Uttar Pradesh into four.The six-term member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, who currently holds theportfolio in the Ministry of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, isa vocal proponent of separate statehood for north Karnataka. A video of him makingthe statement, which took place at a Belagavi Bar Association event, has since goneviral. Ostensibly, the blueprint primarily takes into account the population numbers ofbigger States; such States would be suitably bifurcated for the ease of governance and

altogether 50 States would come into existence afterthe 2024 Lok Sabha election, as per the so-claimedinitiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It actu-ally is high time that IT companies, who haveBengaluru their home, looked out outside themetropolis, especially since north Karnataka has hugepotential.

Though Katti admitted that it’s not his party’s offi-cial stand, he exhorted the people of north Karnatakato “make it happen”. He may have a point, though.Bengaluru is bursting at seams with its burgeoningpopulation; it lacks water supply for citizens, who haveto spend hours in traffic jams. The statements by Katti,

who represents the Hukkeri Assembly constituency, have reignited the regional dividedebate in Karnataka in which most of the population and leaders from the northernparts of the State have been demanding statehood to get better amenities and devel-opment for the region. But this scheme by the ruling dispensation is quite understand-able provided it’s aimed squarely at providing better governance to the grassroots, bringdevelopment to the remotest regions and benefit the last man standing at the end ofthe spectrum. However, if the end aim is to reap narrow dividends for a particular party,the planned move can’t be condoned. However, as we all know, there’s a lot more tobe read between the lines in politics than in their actual content, so there’s only hop-ing that there’s no mala fide intention behind the purported move.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s concern over “expanding” military ties is not theworry of a statesman who is committed to global peace and rules-based inter-national order; it is the fear of a tyrant who is the lord and master of the world’s

most powerful and dangerous rogue State. Addressing the virtual annual BRICS BusinessForum from Beijing, he denounced the US’ alliance-building in Asia (read Quad) andthe West’s sweeping sanctions against Russia. “In the past century, humanity has gonethrough the scourge of two World Wars and the dark shadow of the Cold War. Thetragedies of the past tell us that hegemony, group politics and bloc confrontation bringno peace or security; they only lead to wars and conflicts,” Xi said at the event in which

there were representatives and business groups fromBrazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. If thereis one country that must learn from the tragedies ofthe past, it is China; it is also the country that needsto realise that hegemony, group politics and bloc con-frontation bring no peace or security. Not just realisebut also act on this realisation and stop propping upother rogue States like Pakistan and North Korea. Butthis will not happen because what Xi wants is hege-mony not peace, confrontation not dialogue. Similarly,he uses the Ukraine crisis, which he calls a “wake-up call for all in the world”, to rant against the expan-sion of “military alliances”.

The BRICS meet not only allows the Chinese President to spread his lies but alsogives an opportunity to Russian President Vladimir Putin to partially regain somerespectability that he lost after he launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine. In hisvideo address, Putin said that his country was “redirecting” its trade flows to BRICSnations and other “reliable international partners”. Unsurprisingly, he slammed thedebilitating sanctions that the western nations had imposed on Russia, calling them“politically motivated” and “contrary to common sense and basic economic logic”.The entire exercise of BRICS meet was galling from the Indian perspective, for PrimeMinister Narendra Modi attended it. The head of the Government of the world’s largestdemocracy sharing platform (though virtual) with the two most dangerous dictatorswas not something many Indians would cherish. In fact, the mere presence of theIndian Prime Minister lends a great deal of legitimacy and even respectability to thetwo tyrants; just like guilt by association, there is also legitimacy by association.Consider the contrast between India on the one hand and China and Russia on theother. In recent times, India has extended everything it could — PPE kits and vac-cines to dozens of countries, aid to crisis-hit Sri Lanka. On the other hand, Chinaexported the deadly virus that killed millions of people and Russia attacked a neigh-bour for no reason. Frankly, India should get out of BRICS which anyway lacks theraison d’etre. Just like the Non-Aligned Movement.

Time to exit BRICS?

OUR SOLDIERS LEARNING MANDARINSir — At a time when modern communi-cation techniques are transforming thelandscape of military warfare, the prospectsof countries are likely to depend on howsoldiers conduct themselves when they facetheir enemy soldiers at an unarmed bor-der. In this respect, basic conversation inenemy language is of utmost importance.The Government’s initiative to train themin the Chinese language is aimed at easingtensions emanating from a lack of properlanguage communication between theborder patrols. Several transgressions likeborder standoffs, first in Doklam and nowin Ladakh, take place every year and suchinscidents highlight the increasing gravi-ty of the situation.

To combat such unforeseen circum-stances, over 60,000 Himveers and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel havealready completed their training inMandarin in order to communicate fluent-ly with the People’s Liberation Army(PLA) soldiers during patrols. Acquiringthe Chinese language skills could helpreduce misunderstandings along the bor-der at a time when relations between thetwo countries are still incendiary.Proficiency in enemy language can help on-the-spot negotiation and contact procedure.This concept needs to be replicated in othernortheastern States bordering other coun-tries, which can help in better communi-cation and can even enhance cultural ties.

Vijay Singh Adhikari | Nainital

WHO IS BEHIND THE MAHARASHTRA CRISIS?Sir — We have heard it straight from thehorse’s mouth. Eknath Shinde has revealedthat the entire operation of splitting the ShivSena was supported by a ‘national party’.There are no prizes for guessing whichparty it is. He gave the clue, of course towhom it was needed, that it was the party,a ‘superpower’ that taught Pakistan a les-son. The strength and confidence ofShinde appears to be emanating more fromBJP’s support than the number of MLAsowing allegiance to him. It falls on the BJP

to convincingly rebut the charge that thethreat of using Central agencies has facil-itated the revolt against the MVAGovernment.

Shinde says that his sole demand is thatthe Sena snap ties with Congress and NCPand join hands with the BJP, its ‘natural ally’.The dilution of Hindutva under UddhavThackeray’s leadership because of the tieswith the Congress and the NCP cited forthe revolt is only a fig leaf. The BJP’s rolein triggering the political crisis might nothave been as explicit as in Karnataka orMadhya Pradesh but the party has lost itsmoral compass and become accustomed totoppling non-BJP State Governments.

G David Milton | Maruthancode

MODI NOT TO BLAME FOR GODHRASir — The Supreme Court has upheld theclean chit given to former Chief MinisterNarendra Modi and 63 others in theGujarat riots, triggered by the burning ofa railway coach in which kar sevaks wereburnt alive. The Godhra carnage was a

spontaneous public reaction to the killingof innocent kar sevaks, like the Sikh mas-sacre. It is easy, and right too, to say twowrongs cannot make one right. But mobfrenzy on an unprecedented scale wouldcause immense damage before the situa-tion is brought under control. This is whathappened both in the Indira Gandhiassassination case and the kar sevaksburning case.

The SIT closure report giving clean chitto Modi and others was challenged by ZakiaJafri, the widow of slain Congress leaderEhsan Jafri. Zakia has fought a relentlesslegal battle to get “justice” for the death ofher husband. But she must concede thatModi had not engineered the Godhra inci-dent. Zakia should come to terms with thereality surfacing now. Just as she is bereaved,the families of kar sevaks are also bereavedby their death. Godhra was an offshoot ofkar sevak killings that spread across the State.

KV Seetharamaiah | Bengaluru

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

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VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JUNE 25, 2022

06

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For progress?A BJP MLA’s proclamation on 50 States after

the LS poll must be for the right reasons

PICTALK

Crowds walk along on the 12th hole at the Travellers Championship tournament, at TPC River Highlands AP

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

India’s continuation in the grouping lendslegitimacy to the regimes of Xi and Putin

Since after the barbaric and gruesomekilling of Rahul Bhat (a PM Packageemployee) by terrorists in the Kashmir

Valley, which was followed by a series of suchdastardly acts by militants in the region, allKashmiri Pandit package employees went onthe streets and are protesting for their one-point demand of being relocated outside theState of Jammu & Kashmir. These packageemployees are peacefully agitating since thelast 45 days in Jammu as well as in Kashmir.Due to the recent spike in the targeted killingsin Kashmir, the PM package employees are

feeling insecure, threatened and totally unsafe.Many Hindu minority employees were mas-sacred at their workplaces and this is indeeda very grave concern.

Thus, rightly, these hapless and unfortu-nate employees are only demanding their relo-cation outside Kashmir, at least as a tempo-rary measure, as there is fear psychosis amongthem. These Kashmiri Pandit employeeshave become soft targets in Kashmir.Therefore, relocation outside Kashmir is theonly viable solution at this juncture to stop fur-ther bloodshed. India is currently under thestrong leadership of PM Narendra Modi andthus all PM package Kashmiri Pandit employ-ees have full trust in his Government. It is nowhoped that the Centre will pay immediate heedto the protesting Kashmiri Pandit employeesand order their temporary adjustments out-side Kashmir in order to save their lives.

ON Koul | New Delhi

PM package employees’ woes

SOUNDBITEWhy are you (BJP)disturbing theAssam Govt whenthey are facingfloods?

West Bengal CM—Mamata Banerjee

The Cold Warmentality mustend. BRICS must oppose the abuse ofsanctions.

Chinese President—XI Jinping

This (`60,000

crore) is one of

the largest trans-

fers to a founda-

tion in Indian cor-

porate history.

Asia’s richest person

—Gautam Adani

In 2020, we were coming up; it was the transitionperiod for the juniors.

Indian cyclist—L Ronaldo Singh

Three films from

down south did

really well. Films

in Hindi have also

done well.

Actor

—R Madhavan

the scheme was implementedwithout putting the scheme totest through a pilot project. Tomeet the cumulative threatfrom China and Pakistan, theIndian forces require young,highly trained and motivatedsoldiers. The pertinent ques-tions are whether the newbreed of Agniveers will be ableto meet this challenge?

What benefits would theretired Agniveers get? Howwould the defence forces gainout of this scheme? Critics feelthat the first casualty would bethe quality of humanresources. Any eligible personwill first compete for jobs incivilian Government, policeand Central forces where sheenjoys assured service till theage of 60 years and pensionbenefits, before opting forthe four-year unsecured stintin the armed forces. The sec-ond casualty would be train-ing — an Agniveer’s six-month stint will be able togain him neither any worth-while expertise in handlingexpensive military equipmentnor understand the nuancesof a modern battlefield of arti-ficial intelligence, cyber war-fare etc. Poor-quality humanresources, inadequatelytrained and poorly paidAgniveers, lacking any moti-vation with a broken regi-

mental system, will be a dis-aster in the making for ourarmed forces.

The scheme’s supportershailed it as a path-breakinginitiative that would replacean aging Army, in whichmore than 60 per cent menare above 30 years of age andwould pave the way for regu-lar intake and availability ofyoung, fit and motivatedyouth who wish to don theuniform and serve the nationfor short periods. The schemeis expected to open up newopportunities for our youth,boost civil-military fusionand pave the way for becom-ing worthy representatives ofthe best regimental traditionsof the armed forces. One ofthe biggest challenges facingthe armed forces is the bud-getary constraints. Ballooningsalary and pension bills haveplaced enormous stress on theavailability of funds for mili-tary modernisation. Theemphasis of the new schemeis on ensuring a youthful andtech-savvy profile of thearmed forces while reducingthe overall burden on pensionand gratuities. Another logicgiven in favour of this schemeis that several foreign modelswere studied before its imple-mentation. The service peri-od ranges from two to eight

years with options for activeand reservist service in manymodern armed forces of theworld, such as the US, UK andFrance. The Israeli army,which is considered to beone of the best in the world,has service of 30 and 20months, respectively, for menand women.

The Government faces anuphill task of tackling thispeculiar situation of meetingexpectations of the frustratedyouth at a time when theeconomy is experiencingsevere recession and job mar-ket is unstable. Unfortunately,the 1.4 million-strong Armyhas faced neglect by allGovernments, defenceexpenditure being relegatedto the “non-plan” categoryand Finance Ministry,instead of finding ways andmeans of raising essential,additional funds for nation-al defence, has passed thebuck to the armed forces anddemanded that they evolvemeasures for reducing thepension bill. All these lacu-nae need to be taken care ofbefore it is too late.

(The writer is a senior journalist and Chairman,

the Panwar Group ofInstitutions, Solan, Himachal

Pradesh. The views expressed are personal.)

The Govt faces an uphill task in meeting expectations of the nation’s youthwhen economy is experiencing severe recession and job market is unstable

POOR-QUALITYHUMAN RESOURCES,

INADEQUATELYTRAINED ANDPOORLY PAID

AGNIVEERS,LACKING ANYMOTIVATION

WITH A BROKENREGIMENTAL

SYSTEM, WILL BE A DISASTER IN

THE MAKING FOROUR VALOROUSARMED FORCES

BRIJENDER SINGHPANWAR

Agnipath schemeGovt’s trial by fire

Much water has flowndown the Ganges sinceunveiling of the new

human resource policy by theDefence Ministry for recruitingsoldiers, sailors and airmen. Thecountry witnessed widespreadprotests, rioting and violence byyouth in many States causingirreparable damage to publicproperty. This abrupt changehas not gone well with the youthaspiring to join the armed forceslured by the earlier system ofjoining service for 17 years andenjoying pension benefits.Taking note of the resentmentamong the youth and theOpposition encashing upon theunrest, the Government wentinto damage control and the agelimit was enhanced from 21years to 23 years. Home andDefence Ministries announced10 per cent reservation to rein-state the retired troops in CentralArmed Police Forces (CAPF)forces, defence Public SectorUndertakings (PSUs) and otherjobs. Some States also assured jobsecurity to Agniveers after theirretirement. Indian business mag-nates justified the Agnipathscheme, claiming that it haslarge potential for employment.

Senior armed forces officersalso sought to clear the doubts.Prime Minister Narendra Modihimself said that some reforms“may look unfair” at first, but willhelp in nation-building later. Hemet the three service chiefs todiscuss the Agnipath scheme.The Army and the Air Forcehave since issued recruitmentnotifications. All these develop-ments indicate that theGovernment failed to do prop-er homework before introducingthe scheme and is now acting inhaste to control the situation.

The scheme has receivedmixed response from the veter-ans and public — those in servicehave supported the decisionwhereas most retired officershave criticised the move. Theyhave raised apprehensions onvarious counts like the trainingduration for Agniveers, whethertheir motivation level will be ashigh as that of regular soldiersand the rehabilitation of retiredtroops. They have also criti-cised the hasty manner in which

sirable products, they are moreinvestment-oriented than insur-ance. Indians need more protec-tion, savings, and annuity prod-ucts than investment productswith some element of insurance.And LIC has been selling moreprotection/savings products, totake the benefits of insurance tothe remotest corners of the coun-try.

Let’s talk a little bit about thetechnicality of this business.Embedded value (EV) is definedas the present value of future prof-its plus adjusted net asset value.EV of LIC was calculated to be Rs5.4 lakh crore before the launch ofIPO. This was arrived at, on thebasis of realistic assumptions onfuture mortality, expenses andinterest rates. Insurers and theirconsultants made pretty conserv-ative assumptions on these para-meters. All these bases of valua-tion are, however, more or less thesame for all the insurers (except tosome extent the expenses).

What then can make the dif-ference? I would say persistencyratios of insurers (especially 61-month persistency) can deter-mine EV of the insurers a lot. ForLIC, this ratio is 48 per cent interms of policies (the industryaverage being 33 per cent and 59per cent in terms of premiums).This is very close to the globalstandard. A satisfactory persisten-cy ratio of LIC means there will bea satisfactory flow of premiumincome in future, resulting inbetter surpluses. If there are bet-ter surpluses, there will be high-er dividends and also higher shareprice.

Nobody can belittle the con-tribution of private insurers. Butpeople need to know certain facts

which prove LIC’s dominance inthe industry across the country.LIC is respected not just for itsholding 66 per cent market sharebut also for its omnipresence inthe country, making it conve-nient for ordinary people to visitthe insurer's offices. The hallmarkof its operations is the honesty andintegrity with which the employ-ees have been discharging theirduties and clean image that theorganisation has been able tomaintain in the midst of corpora-tions getting entangled in recur-ring financial scams. LIC is oneorganisation which has workedfrom their brick-and-mortaroffices even during the worst ofpandemic times, keeping the inter-ests of crores of its customers andone million plus intermediaries insight.

Now, let’s talk about the move-ment of share price of LIC. Ashave already been mentioned,only 10 per cent shares have beensold to policyholders and 5 percent to employees. A bulk was soldto anchor investors. Hence, thepeople reposing faith in LIC aspolicyholders and the peopleinvesting in IPO are completelydifferent.

A section of investors is beingmade to believe that the IPO wasoverpriced and that the pricewould slide even further as thefundamentals of the organisationwere below par. They were also fedon the rumour that anchorinvestors would offload theirshares immediately after lock-inperiod. All such negative public-ity contributed to the fall in shareprice so rapidly. But there is a limitto such fall as regards the shareprice of an organisation as finan-cially sound as LIC.

Let’s remember some basics ofthe investment game. OnceWarren Buffet said, “In the shortrun, stocks behave like a slotmachine, but in the long run, theybehave like a weighing machine.”Now the share price of LIC is mov-ing randomly and is getting deter-mined purely by forces of demandand supply. These random move-ments cannot be used to predictthe long-term value of the stock.

In the long run, the intrinsicvalue of a company remains con-stant, irrespective of what thetraders of stocks do every day inthe market. In the long run, theshare price will be equal to theintrinsic value of a company. Thisis true for all the markets and forall the stocks. The annual reportof LIC is in the public domain andinvestors can access that. All suc-cessful investors of the worldmuster the skill of making senseout of financial and industry data,and wait patiently for the fair valueof a company to emerge.

Every Indian knows what LICstands for. The organisation hasweathered many storms in its 66-year journey since 1956. Yes, thereis a need for the business modelof the organisation to undergochange; it is already workingtowards that.

Finally, we must rememberthat not al l analysts are in the business of misguidinginvestors. JP Morgan said in itsrecently released report on LICthat the market failed to under-stand the strength of LIC. The price to embedded valueratio (P/EV) is unrealisticallylow. This means that both theLIC policyholders and investorswill get their money’s worth incourse of time.

Despite its low shareprice, LIC is valuable

THE WEST IS FOMENTING CRISIS. THE

STATE OF GLOBAL ECONOMY IS DUE TO THE

SELFISH ACTIONS OF INDIVIDUAL STATES.

—RUSSIAN PRESIDENT

VLADIMIR PUTIN

BRICS CAN BOLSTER GLOBAL POST-PANDEMIC

RECOVERY… MUTUAL COOPERATION HAS

BENEFITED THE LIVES OF ALL CITIZENS.

—PRIME MINISTER

NARENDRA MODI

Moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions hasgot another lease of life at the World Trade Organisation’s 12thMinisterial Conference (MC12). Some say this has happened

due to pressure exerted by the United States, others think that India hasbargained this for other gains.

It’s noteworthy that India had pronounced that it would oppose thismoratorium, as it causes a huge loss of revenue, apart from hurting ourdigital development, as domestic players face intense competition fromglobal tech companies.

Significantly, at the time of the start of the WTO, trade in electronicproducts was very limited. In such a situation, the tariff on the trade ofelectronic products was temporarily suspended and it was decided inthe Second Ministerial Conference of the WTO in 1998 to study the issuesrelated to the global electronic trade with reference to the developmentneeds of the developing countries. It was proposed that tariffs on elec-tronic products be postponed till the next ministerial conference.

It is unfortunate that the developed countries kept suspending thedecision on imposing tariffs on the import of electronic products, on sev-eral pretexts. Today the situation is that more than $30 billion of elec-tronic products are being imported into India alone. That is, even if 10per cent tariff is imposed, the government will get revenue of more than$3 billion.

According to a recent study, developing countries could have gen-erated $56 billion from imports of just 49 digitalised products in the peri-od 2017-19. Least developed countries could have generated $8 billionin this period, which is double the amount they need for giving doubledose of Covid vaccine to their populations.

The issue here is not only about loss of revenue, it’s a much larg-er issue for a country like India, where our start-ups and software com-panies are able to make a variety of electronic products, where we canmake movies and other entertainment products in our own country, butwhen all such products are imported undeterred, without tariff, there islittle incentive to produce them indigenously.

Tariff moratorium on e-products is actually killing our efforts ofAtmanirbhar Bharat, benefitting the US, European countries, and China.

At the beginning of MC12, India started with a bold stance andCommerce Minister Piyush Goyal said: “I think this moratorium, whichhas been continuing for 24 years, must be reviewed and re-looked at.”

However, the decision on moratorium in MC12, is read as follows:“We agree to maintain the current practice of not imposing customs dutieson electronic transmissions until MC 13, which should ordinarily be heldby 31 December 2023. Should MC 13 be delayed beyond 31 March2024, the moratorium will expire on the date unless Ministers or the GeneralCouncil take a decision to extend.”

In the earlier Ministerial Conferences of WTO, in the last 24 years,the developed world had been easily getting the moratorium. MC12, wasthe first such conference where they faced some resistance from thedeveloping countries. With this, a hope had arisen that the moratoriumwould end ultimately. But this battle was also lost.

Since 1998, the digital revolution has changed a lot in the world.There are digital products which are fast replacing physical products.Many of the digital products in health, fintech, public services, etc., incor-porate artificial intelligence and 3D printing. Failure to tax them in inno-vative ways is likely to impact the government finances adversely.

\We have started developing our own digital products; the produc-tion linked incentives (PLIs) scheme has been designed to nurture ourinfant digital products industries. Imposition of custom duties can helpthem by providing a level-playing field.

Though MC12 is over, India should leave no stone unturned to endthis moratorium.

(The author is Professor, PGDAV College, University of Delhi)

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JUNE 25, 2022

07

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FIRSTCOLUMN

CUSTOMS DUTY IS MUSTON E-TRANSMISSIONS

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

NIRJHAR MAJUMDAR

It will provide a level playing field to the domestic industry

THE LIC HASCUSTOMERS

AND 30 CROREIN-FORCE

POLICIES ALLOVER THE

COUNTRY ANDACROSS ALLSECTIONS OFSOCIETY. ONTHE OTHER

HAND, NONEOF THE

PRIVATE LIFEINSURERS HASEVEN 1 CRORE

OF IN-FORCEPOLICIES

(The author is an insurance industry

analyst)

US State Departmentspokesperson Ned Pricerecently commented in

favour of advancing the “US-Pakistan partnership” in a man-ner that serves their “mutualinterests.” Elsewhere, at the CNNNews18 Town Hall, S. Jaishankarstated that a "lot of India's prob-lems with Pakistan are directlyattributable to the support thatthe United States gave toPakistan." The link between theUS support to Pakistan andIndia’s problems needs to berevisited.

Theoretically, the power ofthe weak states to attract thegreat powers has been wellestablished. Weak states cannotdefend themselves. Consequen-tly, they seek financial and mil-itary aid in exchange for theirstrategic autonomy and thegeostrategic location. Pakistan is

one such state.Soviet Union leader Stalin

first extended an invitation toPakistan PM Liaquat Ali Khanin 1949 to visit Moscow. Thefundamental differencesbetween an Islamist state and acommunist Soviet preventedthat entente; hence, Pakistansided with the US and played animportant role in containing thespread of communism.

By 1955, Pakistan hadjoined two regional defencepacts, the South East Asia TreatyOrganization and the CentralTreaty Organization (BaghdadPact). A little before 1955, in1953, when Ayub Khan visitedTurkey, he reiterated Dulles's'northern tier defence pact' inwhich the two countries wouldoccupy a prominent position.Later in 1954, the Turko-Iraqiagreement (Baghdad Pact)

superseded the Turko-Pak plan.Consequently, from 1953 to

1961, Islamabad received near-ly $2 billion in US assistance,one-quarter of this in militaryaid. Apart from this data, infor-mation retrieved from theStockholm Peace ResearchInstitute (SIPRI) indicates thatfrom 1955 to 1959, US armsexports amounted to $1.02 bil-lion. When correlated withPakistan's then financial situa-tion, strong indications of avicious cycle of US aid and USarms exports emerge. In thebudding relationship betweenthe two, the core security con-cerns of India, a democraticnonaligned country, were side-lined.

Upon India's vehementprotests, oral assurances weregiven by Eisenhower to Nehruthat the US would take care of

the situation in a case ofPakistan's aggression againstIndia. Thus, while India was ide-alistically following a nonalignedpolicy, Pakistan was hard bar-gaining its geostrategic loca-tion in lieu of military aid.According to the strategicexperts, nearly four-fifths of allthe foreign aid Pakistan receivedduring 1951-60 came from theUS. From the 1960s to the late1970s, there was a brief periodwhen US aid to Pakistandecreased.

The 1979 Soviet invasion ofAfghanistan again allowedPakistan to extract more aidfrom the US. In exchange forPakistan's role in the Afghanwar, a $400-million US aid wasoffered to Pakistan. It was reject-ed by the Zia-ul-Haq regime in1980 and was labeled as'peanuts.' Haq eyed the F-16,

which Islamabad later got.Thus, from 1983 to 1990,

Pakistan received military aid of$3.73 billion along with 1,000Stinger missiles, and the compo-nent of US arms sales was $2.2billion. This was the same peri-od when Pakistan's proxy war inKashmir started, including themassacre of Kashmiri Hindus.

Also, at a regional level,many security experts attributethe birth of the Taliban to ISI andUS agencies. Had the US assis-tance not been there, Pakistanwould not have been so aggres-sive against India and its otherneighbours, such as Afghanistanand Iran. Thus, the relationshipbetween Pakistan and the US hasalways been based on a patron-client state wherein foreign ormilitary aid is given to serve theUS' geopolitical interests.

In the post-Cold War phase,

Pakistan was reeling under sanc-tions due to its nuclear tests andwas denied any military aid.However, the 9/11 attacks in theUS again brought Pakistan to theforefront of Washington's SouthAsia policy. As per the SIPRIdata, during 2002-14 Pakistan,as a major non-NATO ally, gotmilitary aid worth $5.81 billionand the arms sales componentwas $3.2 billion.

This was the same periodwhen the Nandimarg massacreand Mumbai attacks took place.All these attacks were attributedto Pakistan. India collected the'proof ' and gave it to the US,hoping that the US mightacknowledge it and help India.Little did India realise that thegeopolitics of national interests,military aid, and arms trade areclosely interrelated factors.Hence Pakistan was never

labeled as a 'terrorist state' by theUS.

It was only after Pakistan'sbackstabbing of the US inAfghanistan that former USpresident Donald Trumprealised America's mistake andcommented in 2018 that it had"foolishly" given aid and, inreturn, merely got "lies anddeceit."

Today, despite Washington'szero-tolerance policy againstterrorism and the backstabbingby Pakistan in Afghanistan, theUS is all set to re-engagePakistan, which will harmIndia's interests.

Given the evolving situation,India too is changing. The cou-pling of strategic autonomy andAtmanirbhar Bharat in thedefence sector is the answer tothe geopolitics of the patron-client relationship.

Pakistan, which played an important role in containing the spread of communism, continues to be of help to the US

US-Pakistan partnership: Always at India’s cost

(The author is AssistantProfessor, Central University

of Punjab, Bathinda)

NISHTHA KAUSHIKI

ASHWANI MAHAJAN

The insurance industry is now ata crossroads. The regulator isbusy changing the rules of thegame. Insurers are changing busi-

ness models, disrupting the traditionalvalue chain. Foreign insurers and reinsur-ers are taking more interest in the busi-ness, as the insurance market is growing,following the rising prosperity of peopledespite a recessionary situation. Yet,insurers are still at their wits’ end as tohow to take insurance penetration to thenext level.

Amidst this scenario, LIC launched itsIPO by offering 3.5 per cent of its sharesto retail and institutional investors. Thishas enabled the government to mop upabout Rs 21,000 crore from the market.As much as 10 per cent of the offloadedLIC shares have been allotted to policy-holders and 5 per cent to employees. Infact, this was the biggest IPO in India’scorporate history.

About a month has elapsed since thelisting of LIC’s shares in stock exchanges.At the moment, LIC shares are tradedabout 30 per cent below the issue price.Some doomsayer analysts have alreadystarted fear-mongering in the market,proclaiming this as a bad omen for themarket leader. In this article, I would tryto dispel this notion.

Certain facts merit special attentionof those who have invested money inLIC’s IPO. This article is all about instill-ing confidence in LIC policyholders andshareholders by reassuring that they willget their money’s worth in the days tocome.

Let us see how LIC is placed in themarket vis-à-vis its competitors. It hascustomers all over the country and acrossall sections of society. It has 30 crore in-force policies in its books as on date. Onthe other hand, none of the privateinsurers has a strong presence in ruralIndia, as most of them are engaged inpicking up low-hanging fruits of themetro and Tier-I cities. None of the pri-vate life insurers has even 1 crore of in-force policies. Most Indians living outsidemetros and Tier-I cities have not evenheard the names of leading private insur-ers. For them, life insurance means LIC.

Besides, LIC is insuring the lives ofcrores of poorer citizens through low-costgroup insurance schemes. Some financialanalysts go to the extent of saying thatLIC’s products are not innovative enough.The fact is all insurers have innovativeproducts. It is more important to checkwhether the insurers are able to sell thoseproducts in the market. Even on thiscount, LIC is much ahead of the compe-tition. LIC sells all types of insuranceproducts in large numbers—endowment,term, whole life, or even annuities. On theother hand, private insurers as a wholeearn 40 per cent of the premium incomeby selling Ulips only.

While Ulips are not necessarily unde-

The IPO was a failure but LIC policyholders and investors willget their money’s worth in course of time

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JUNE 25, 2022 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

MG Motor India onFriday said it hasinaugurated the first

two residential communitySMART electric vehiclechargers in Jaipur as partof its plans to set up moresuch charging stations inthe Rajasthan capital.Under the company's MGCharge initiative, the

automaker will install 1,000 AC fast chargers at residential localitiesacross India in 1,000 days, it said in a statement.MG Motor said it istaking conscious steps towards green mobility and strengthening theEV charging infrastructure in the country.It provides 6-way chargingecosystem with a plug-and-charge cable onboard, AC fast chargers(installed at the customer's home/office), DC superfast chargers atMG dealerships, public charging network, charge-on-the-go withRSA (Roadside Assistance) and community charger.MG has alsorecently partnered with Jio-Bp and BPCL to add momentum to EVadoption by expanding opportunities for intercity travel whileinstalling EV chargers across highways and cities, it said.The SMARTchargers installed in an NRI colony in Jaipur are Type 2 chargers,sim-enabled and supported through a sharable charger managementsystem while the connected AC charging stations will cater to theresidents and visitors of these societies for their EV charging needsround-the-clock, MG Motor said.

MG Motor inaugurates residentialcommunity EV chargers in Jaipur

Bajaj Auto on Fridayannounced the launchof an all-black variant

of its Pulsar 250 modelwith dual-channel ABS(anti-lock braking system).Pulsar N250 (NakedStreetfighter) and PulsarF250 (Semi-Faired StreetRacer) are priced at aroundRs 1.50 lakh (Ex-showroom Delhi), the

company said in a statement.However, the single-channel ABSvariant of the bike model will continue to sell in the existing colours,it added.The company also said that it has delivered 10,000 units inless than six months of the bike's launch, which is an achievementfor any 250-cc segment motorcycle in the post-BS VI era.The all-newdual-channel ABS variant of the Pulsar 250 is equipped with 300 mmfront and 230 mm rear disc brakes and larger tyre dimensions for animproved grip to provide assured overall safety, it noted."Bajaj Pulsar250 has enjoyed an immense response from riders across thecountry. We will continue to entice them with the newly launchedDual-Channel ABS variant, which comes on top of already existingfeatures.

Bajaj Auto launches all-blackvariant of Pulsar 250

The rupee on Fridayslipped 1 paisa toclose at its all-time

low of 78.33(provisional) against theUS dollar.At the interbank foreignexchange market, thelocal currency opened at78.20 and finally settledat its all-time low of78.33, down 1 paisafrom its previous close.

During the day, the local unit witnessed an intra-day high of 78.19and a low of 78.35 against the American currency.On Thursday, therupee had settled at 78.32 against the US dollar.The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against abasket of six currencies, fell 0.25 per cent to 104.17.Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 1.13 per centto USD 111.29 per barrel.On the domestic equity market front, theBSE Sensex ended 462.26 points or 0.88 per cent higher at52,727.98, while the broader NSE Nifty gained 142.60 points or 0.92per cent to 15,699.25.Foreign institutional investors remained netsellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded sharesworth Rs 2,319.06 crore, as per stock exchange data.Meanwhile, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Michael D Patra on Fridaysaid the Central Bank will not allow "jerky movements" of the rupeeand stressed that the Indian currency has witnessed the leastdepreciation in recent times."We will stand for its stability, and we'redoing it on an ongoing basis even as I speak. We are there in themarket. We will not allow disorderly movements.

Rupee settles at all-time lowof 78.33 against US dollar

PNS n NEW DELHI

Reserve Bank DeputyGovernor Michael D Patraon Friday said the CentralBank is defending the Rupeeagainst volatility and will notallow "jerky movements",though it is not looking at anyparticular level for the domes-tic currency against the USdollar.

Patra, who looks after themonetary policy departmentin the RBI, also stressed thatthe Indian currency has wit-nessed least depreciation inrecent times.

"We don't know where theRupee will be. Even the USFed doesn't know where thedollar will be. But be sure ofone thing. We will stand for its(Rupee) stability, and we'redoing it on an ongoing basiseven as I speak.

"We are there in the market.We will not allow disorderlymovements in the Rupee. Wehave no level in our mind, butwe will not allow jerky move-ments. That's for certain...letit be widely known that we arein the market defending theRupee against volatility," hesaid.

He was replying to a queryon Rupee depreciation at an

interactive session on 'Geo-Political Spillovers and IndianEconomy' organised by indus-try chamber PHDCCI.

Patra further said if onelooks at the depreciation ofRupee, it is one of the least inthe world and that is thepower of USD 600 billiondollar forex reserves.

The rupee on Friday slipped1 paisa to close at its all-timelow of 78.33 (provisional)against the US dollar.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the localcurrency opened at 78.20 and

finally settled at its all-timelow of 78.33, down 1 paisafrom its previous close.

During the day, the localunit witnessed an intra-dayhigh of 78.19 and a low of78.35 against the Americancurrency.

To a question on Rupee-Ruble payment mechanism,Patra said the Reserve Bankwill do whatever the govern-ment decides.

He said the government isseized of the matter.

Patra further said thedecline in India's current

account deficit (CAD) to 1.5per cent of GDP in the fourthquarter, from 2.6 per cent inthe third quarter of 2021-22,augurs well for India's exter-nal viability.

On an annual basis, there-fore, the CAD turned out to bea modest 1.2 per cent of GDPin 2021-22, with the intrinsicstrength of India's foreignexchange earnings mitigatingthe terms of trade shocksimposed by geopoliticalspillovers and the surge inimport demand, the deputygovernor added.

Not targeting any level, but RBI willnot allow ‘jerky movements' of Rupee

PNS n NEW DELHI

Most of the large merchantshave complied with the RBI'scard-on-file (CoF) tokenisa-tion norms and 19.5 croretokens have been issued so far,sources said.

The RBI had directed themerchants to implement itstokenisation norms by June30, 2022. The central bank hastwice extended the deadline ofits implementation in thepast.

Card-on-file or CoF refersto card information stored bypayment gateway and mer-chants to process future trans-actions.

According to the sources,the system is fairly well pre-pared as most large mer-chants have already adjusted.

Some of them are in theprocess of doing it, while forsome foreign entities businessmay not be that large forthem to focus on makingthese changes, the sourcessaid.

There are about 19.5 croretokens have already beenissued so far and it is going upregularly, they added.

Under tokenisation ser-

vices, a unique alternate codeis generated to facilitate trans-actions through cards.

The RBI in last Septemberprohibited merchants fromstoring customer card detailson their servers with effectfrom January 1, 2022, andmandated the adoption ofCoF tokenisation as an alter-native to card storage.

The basic purpose oftokenisation is to increaseand improve customer safety.

With tokenisation, storage ofcard details is limited.

Most large merchants comply with card tokenisation

PNS n BENGALURU

Bharat Electronics Limited onFriday signed an MoU with aBelarusian company and itssubsidiary for supply ofAirborne Defense Suite (ADS)for helicopters of the IndianAir Force (IAF).

The Bengaluru-headquar-tered defence PSU said itinked the MoU with DefenseInitiatives (DI), Belarus, andDefense Initiatives Aero PvtLtd India (a subsidiary of DIBelarus), in the presence of

Joint Secretary (DIP) andsenior IAF officials.

The MoU is aimed at coop-eration between the threecompanies for supply of ADSfor IAF helicopters.

In a statement, BEL said itwould be the prime contrac-tor and supported by DI withtransfer of technology (man-ufacturing and maintenance)for supply of advanced elec-tronic warfare suite for heli-copters under 'Make in India'category.

BEL inks deal with Belarusian firmfor supply of Airborne Defense Suite

PNS n NEW DELHI

Electric two-wheeler makerOla Electric on Friday said ithas crossed Rs 500 crore rev-enue in the first two months ofFY2022-23.

Amid reports that the com-pany's sales have slowed down,Ola Electric asserted that it is ontrack to cross the USD 1 billion(over Rs 7,800 crore) revenue bythe end of this year.

In a statement, Ola Electricsaid it has surpassed Rs 500crore revenue in its first twomonths of FY22-23 withoutsharing the total number ofvehicles sold during the twomonths.It further said it "is ontrack to surpass USD 1 billionrun rate by end of this year".

"As customers' confidence inEV continues to grow, thefuture forecast looks evenstronger for Ola Electric. Wehave also been able to stream-line our manufacturing capac-ity at the Ola Futurefactory,Krishnagiri to 1,000 units perday. We have a strong order

pipeline and will be ramping upfurther," a company spokesper-son said.

However, reports citing vehi-cle registration data from Vahansaid the company's Ola S1 Proregistration fell to 9,196 units inMay this year from 12,683units in April.Ola Electric saidit has so far delivered its scoot-ers to over 50,000 customersacross different parts of thecountry.The company, which inAugust last year forayed into thegreen mobility space with thelaunch of its electric scooters, S1

and S1 Pro priced at Rs 99,999and Rs 1,29,999, respectively,had postponed delivery time-lines for its much anticipatedproducts citing global semicon-ductor shortage issue.

The company, after openingreservations at Rs 499 in Julylast year for its electric scooters,started online purchase processin September and initiallyplanned to start deliveries inOctober but was later pushed toNovember and then again tothe second half of Decemberlast year.

Ola Electric crosses Rs 500 cr revenue in Apr-May

PNS n NEW DELHI

Electric mobility startupMatter on Friday said it hasraised USD 10 million (near-ly Rs 80 crore) in its latestround of funding frominvestors, including Capital2B, a technology fund backedby Infoedge and ClimateAngels Fund.The newinvestors now join thefounders and existinginvestors, including BaringPrivate Equity Partners, thecompany said in a statement.

The fresh capital will bedeployed towards continuoustechnological innovations,manufacturing, and market-ing, it added.

These include launching aline of electric mobility andenergy storage products thatare designed and innovated forIndia and the world using acompletely new ground-upapproach, Matter said, adding

it also intends to launch its firstelectric motorcycle later inthe year.

"Matter is gearing up for itsfirst electric motorcycle launchthis year and we aim to devel-op a world-class portfolio ofEV and energy storage prod-ucts to catalyse the clean ener-gy transition in India," compa-ny Founder and CEO MohalLalbhai said.Commenting onthe investment, Capital 2BPartner, Vibhore Sharmasaid,"Matter, with its home-grown technology stack, isset to redefine the two-wheel-er mobility and energy seg-ments. Matter is one of the firstinvestments from our fund,and is promising of an excit-ing journey..."Baring PrivateEquity Partners IndiaManaging Partner RahulBhasin said Matter has creat-ed products that will make apositive impact on people andthe planet.

Electric mobility startupMatter raises US$ 10 mn

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned NTPC on Fridaysaid its installed renewableenergy capacity has crossedthe 2 gigawatt mark, with thecommissioning of the 92 MWfloating solar capacity inKerala.

The company began com-mercial operations of the lastpart capacity of 35 MW out of92 MW KayamkulamFloating Solar PV Project atKayamkulam, Kerala.

Spread over a 480-acresreservoir, this floating solarproject would generate elec-tricity from more than 3 lakhsolar PV modules, NTPC saidin a statement.

This would be sufficient tolight around 26,000 house-holds. Around 1,73,000 tonsof CO2e would be avoidedevery year during the lifespanof this project.According tothe statement, more than 4GW renewable energy (RE)capacity in 22 projects isunder implementation, whileover 5 GW RE capacity isunder tendering."Work isunder progress at Leh on anintegrated project for mobil-ity where five buses would plyintracity using GreenHydrogen. At NTPC Kawasnear Surat (Gujarat), the workfor Green Hydrogen blendingwith Natural Gas (PNG) iscurrently under progress," it

said.Earlier, in a BSE filing,

NTPC said "Consequent uponsuccessful commissioning, thelast part capacity of 35 MWout of 92 MW KayamkulamFloating Solar PV Project atKayamkulam, Kerala isdeclared on CommercialOperation with effect from.00:00 hours of24.06.2022."With this, thestandalone installed and com-mercial capacity of NTPChas become 54749.20 MW,while group installed andcommercial capacity of NTPChas become 69114.20MW.NTPC, under the min-istry of power, is the country'slargest power producer.

NTPC’S installed RE capacity hits 2 GWwith commercial ops of Kayamkulam

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold prices declined by Rs 70to Rs 50,557 per 10 grams inthe national capital on Friday,according to HDFC securi-ties.In the previous trade,the precious metal settled atRs 50,627 per 10 grams.

Silver prices also declinedby Rs 621 to Rs 59,077 per kgfrom Rs 59,698 per kg in theprevious trade.

"Spot gold prices for 24-carat gold in Delhi fell by Rs70 reflecting overnight fall inCOMEX gold prices," saidTapan Patel, Senior Analyst(Commodities) at HDFCSecurities. In the interna-tional market, gold was trad-ing higher at USD 1,828 perounce and silver was flat atUSD 20.97 per ounce. Spotgold prices were up 0.33 percent at COMEX, Patel added.

Gold declines byRs 70; silverfalls Rs 621

PNS n MUMBAI

On-demand third partylogist ics providerShadowfax Technology hassaid it plans to hire 75,000delivery partners by nextmonth as it expands deliv-ery network.

In addition, the companysaid, it is open to hiringpeople who can not com-mute long distances butwant to earn money/befinancially independent, itsaid.The platform had ear-lier announced its plan tocreate 5,000 delivery part-ner jobs in TamilNadu."Shadowfax wi l lrecruit 75,000 delivery part-ners across India by the endof July 2022.

Shadowfax to hire75,000 deliverypartners by July-end

Forex reserves dipby US$ 5.87 bn toUS$ 590.588 bn

PNS n NEW DELHI

OTT platform AmazonPrime Video has partneredwith US-based entertainmentcompany AMC Networks tooffer its content on PrimeVideo Channels in India, thecompany said on Friday.Aspart of the collaboration,Amazon Prime video willprovide access to advertise-ment-free subscription ser-vice AMC+ and AMC'sstreaming service Acorn TVon Prime Video Channels inIndia on a subscriptionbasis."We are delighted topartner with AMC Networksand offer our viewers aneven wider selection of pop-ular and blockbuster Englishcontent. Prime membershave loved our extensiveselection of premium interna-tional content, available asadd-on subscriptions, andwe are committed to satisfy-ing their diverse entertain-ment needs," Amazon PrimeVideo India, head of PrimeVideo Channels, ChaitanyaDivan said in a statement.

Subscription to AMC+will offer Amazon PrimeVideo customers full access toAcorn TV with crimethrillers, mysteries and dra-mas from Britain etc.

Amazon Prime Videopartners with AMCNetworks for entertainmentcontent in India

PNS n MUMBAI

The country's foreign exchangereserves declined by USD 5.87billion to USD 590.588 billionin the week ended on June 17,the RBI data showed.In the pre-vious week ended on June 10,the reserves had dropped byUSD 4.599 billion to USD596.458 billion.In the reportingweek, the forex reserves fell dueto a dip in foreign current assets(FCAs), a major component ofthe overall reserves, and also ingold reserves, the datashowed.FCA decreased by USD5.362 billion to USD 526.882billion, according to the WeeklyStatistical Supplement, releasedby the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Friday.Expressed indollar terms, the foreign curren-cy assets include the effect ofappreciation or depreciation ofnon-US units like the euro,pound and yen held in the for-eign exchange reserves.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Opposing the Delhi govern-ment's decision to ban entry ofmedium and heavy goodsvehicles in the city, traders andtransport organisations said itwould "grossly and adverselyaffect" businesses in the nation-al capital.

The decision to ban theentry of medium and heavygoods vehicles to the nationalcapital from October 1 toFebruary 28 was aimed atcurbing vehicular pollution.

However, vehicles carryingraw vegetables, fruit, grains,milk and essential commodi-ties will be allowed to enter thecity, they said.

According to an official,vehicular pollution leads todeterioration in the air quali-ty during the winter months.

President of all India Motorand Goods Transport RajenderKapoor demanded the rollbackof the ban and asked the gov-

ernment to consider someother way to resolve the pollu-tion problem.

"Transportation quantity (ofvarious essential commodi-ties) is in hundreds of tons,which can be done only byheavy motor vehicles, not bylight motor vehicles. Heavymachinery and building mate-rials are also brought from var-ious states and that cannot bedone by light motor vehicles,"he said,

The Confederation of All

India Traders (CAIT) has con-vened a meeting of leadingbusiness associations of Delhion June 29 to decide the futurecourse of action over the issue.

Condemning the ArvindKejriwal government's deci-sion, CAIT Secretary GeneralPraveen Khandelwal said themove will ruin the trade inDelhi to a larger extent.

He claimed the traders inDelhi are "anguished and willoppose the arbitrary andobnoxious order".

Traders, transport bodies oppose Delhigovt's move to ban heavy vehicles in city

RBI extends card tokenisationdeadline by 3 months till SepPNS n MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)on Friday extended the card-on-file (CoF) tokenisation deadlineby three months to September30, 2022, given variousrepresentations received fromindustry bodies.Card-on-file, or CoF, refers tocard information stored bypayment gateway and merchantsto process future transactions.The earlier deadline was expiringon June 30, 2022.In a circular,the RBI said the industry

stakeholders have highlightedsome issues related to theimplementation of the frameworkin respect of guest checkouttransactions. Also, a number oftransactions processed usingtokens is yet to gain tractionacross all categories ofmerchants."These issues arebeing dealt with in consultationwith the stakeholders, and toavoid disruption andinconvenience to cardholders," itsaid while extending the timelineof June 30 by three moremonths to September 30, 2022.

9

Vijayawada | Saturday June 25, 2022 what’s brewing?Chris Pratt Says His Super Mario Bros.

Voice Is ‘Unlike Anything You've Heard'A

ctor Chris Pratt says his voiceperformance as Mario in theupcoming feature adaptation of

the Super Mario Bros. video game willbe "unlike anything youve heard".

'Variety' got the chance to catch upwith Pratt at the Wednesday nightpremiere of his new Amazon PrimeVideo series The Terminal List to talkabout finding his voice for the film,which co-stars Charlie Day as Luigi.

There's been much internet discus-sion over Pratt's casting in the ani-mated film as the Italian plumberdespite his non-Italian background,with critics expressing concern thathis accent could potentially be offen-sive.

However, the film's co-producer,Illumination Entertainment's ChrisMeledandri, defended Pratt's castingand vowed that his voice work is phe-nomenal in a recent interview withTooFab. Pratt echoed Meledandri'ssentiment, telling Variety that Mario'svoice has been updated, reports'Variety'.

“I worked really closely with thedirectors and trying out a few thingsand landed on something that I'mreally proud of and can't wait for peo-ple to see and hear It's an animatedvoiceover narrative. It's not a live-action movie. I'm not gonna be wear-ing a plumber suit running all over.I'm providing a voice for an animatedcharacter, and it is updated and

unlike anything you've heard in theMario world before,” Pratt said.

The untitled Universal movie,directed by Aaron Horvath andMichael Jelenic, will hit theatres nextApril. Rounding out the cast areAnya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, KevinMichael Richardson, Fred Armisenand Sebastian Maniscalco.

Pratt hit the carpet on the heels of

another dino-blockbuster. In its sec-ond weekend of release, JurassicWorld Dominion brought in a domes-tic gross of $259 million.

It's Pratt's third film in the six-installment franchise.

He has no plans to reprise the roleof Owen again, but who knows whatthe future could hold.

“It seemed pretty intentional thatthis was just three movies. It felt like

a trilogy,” Pratt said. Sure, but if he wanted another

Jurassic film, he could probably makeit happen, right?

“I'd have to read the script. I canthink of a million ways to contrive tobring Owen back, but I would want itto be authentic and real and be wor-thy of the story. I would say no, but Iguess you can't rule it out 1,000 per-cent,” Pratt said.

ctress Taraji P.Henson is con-sidering leav-ing the USbecause she's

tired of the ‘pressures ofbeing Black’.

According to aceshow-biz.com, in a new inter-view, the 51-year-oldactress shared that she is‘really considering’ find-ing somewhere else tolive because the politicaland social climate in theUS has left her feelingexhausted.

She said on the PEO-PLE Every Day podcast,“I'm really consideringgetting up out of here,leaving and living inanother country. That'ssomething that comeswith 50, you get tired offighting. I'm tired.”

Asked what has lefther tired, the Empire starnoted the ‘pressures ofbeing Black’ and the con-

stant fight for peace andjustice.

She adds, “I just don'twant to have to doanother hashtag a Ifought, I chanted, Imarched. I'm tired.”

The Minions: Rise ofGru star feels she couldlead a stress-free life else-where and is happy she'sachieved so much in herprofessional life that shenow has the freedom totravel if she wants.

“I want to go wherethere's neutral ground. Iwant to just be. And behappy. I want to be called'Bella' every day, drinkwine and swat flies onthe porch. Stress-free,”she said.

“There's somethingthat happens when youturn 50, where all of yourf**** are behind you. I'veaccomplished a lot andI'm going to do what Iwant to do. I'm at the

point now where if I say,I quit, I'm going to gotravel the world, I can.It's so freeing,” sheadded.

Henson still has somecareer ambitions.

She said, “I've alwayswanted to play a villain. Istill want to play a real-life villain like a Marvelcharacter, but I'm happyto be Belle Bottom (inMinions: The Rise ofGru). She is jazzy and hasa big afro.”

Though Henson hasno definite plans in placeto move at the moment,she is looking forward totaking a break with herfriend Mary J. Blige soon.

She said, “I and Maryhave been trying to dothis trip for so long butour schedules just keepgetting crazy. I just toldher Look, enough isenough, I need a vaca-tion.”

a

Taraji P. Henson Wants To Leave US

Due To ‘Pressures Of Being Black'

The Game of Thronessequel starring KitHarington as Jon

Snow will be named afterthe character, according tothe creator of the fantasynovels, George R.R. Martin.

“Yes, there is a Jon Snowshow in development,”Martin wrote in his person-al blog on Thursday, reportsDeadline. He said, “Ourworking title for the show isSnow.”

In the entry on his blog,the author on whose booksthe award-winning block-buster was based, teased outa few more details of thepotential series, whichseems to be much further

along than previously pre-sumed. For one thing, reit-erating what the series' starEmilia Clarke said, Martinshared that it was Haringtonhimself who initiated theidea for the new show.

The scribe once called the‘American Tolkien’ by TimeMagazine also revealed thatSnow is partially staffed up.“Yes, it was Kit Harrington(sic) who brought the ideato us, the self-described waytoo busy,” Martin wrote. “Icannot tell you the names ofthe writers/showrunnerssince that has not beencleared for release yet... butKit brought them in too, hisown team, and they are ter-

rific. Snow has been indevelopment almost as long

as the other three, but forwhatever reason, it was

never announced and itnever leaked... until now,”Martin noted. The trio ofpreviously announced GameOf Thrones spinoffs in theworks is the Amanda Segaldirected 10,000 Ships, 9Voyages aka Sea Snake fromBruno Heller; and the SteveConrad-penned Dunk andEgg prequel series entitledeither The Hedge Knight orKnight of the SevenKingdoms. The first prequelseries, House of the Dragon,stars Matt Smith, OliviaCooke, Emma D'Arcy, SteveToussaint, Eve Best, FabienFrankel,Sonoya Mizuno,and Rhys Ifans and is set topremiere on August 21.

Game Of Thrones Sequel With KitHarrington Gets Working Title Snow

FUN

ARCHIE

GARFIELDREALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

SUDOKU

Rulesl Each row and column can

contain each number (1 to 9)exactly once.

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

SHIKHA DUGGAL

his story narrates theawe-inspiring journeyof MadhuriVardhinedi, an accom-plished entrepreneurand a renowned karate

athlete, who was awarded theblack belt in Shotokan Karate atthe age of 42.

She co-founded EnnobleTechnologies, based out ofHyderabad in 2016, at the age of38. She is an established orator tooin Telugu and has helped edit theTelugu version of Amish Tripathi’sThe Secret of the Nagas.

As for her other interests, she isan avid music lover and a Carnaticclassical singer. She successfullymade a statement by breaking thestereotypes and overcoming vari-ous challenges in her life.

She says, “Learning Karate wasmy childhood fantasy but couldnot pursue it back then, as therewere no academies in Hyderabadin the 1980s. Finally, I realised mydream in my 40’s, when I cameacross Taika Martial Arts Academywhich is very close to my home in2017, and then started my journeyfrom being an entrepreneur tobecoming a National Level KarateChampion and a black belter inKarate. Under the tutelage ofAshok Chakravarthi, I got myselftransformed into a formidableKarate athlete.”

Her life has never been easy. Atevery juncture of her life, she hadto fight to live her life and tosecure her future.

She further says, “My familystood with me during my turbu-lent journey. I underwent a majoroperation at the age of 30 follow-ing which I slipped into depres-sion. I built my health that becamebrittle after I underwent a majorinevitable operation. My mentalstrength and strong resolve helpedme come out of it. My professionaljourney too was eventful as I kepton losing jobs at regular intervalswhile I tried staying strong like arock. During that turbulent phase,I continued acquiring knowledgeas it always keeps me motivated

and inspires me to set higherexpectations.”

The year 2014 was a remarkableyear and a dark year simultaneous-ly in her life. She was fulfilling theresponsibilities of an HR head anda Quality Manager for an MNCwhen her fate laughed at her again.She was the best performer in thecompany that year and that featwas achieved in just ten monthsafter she joined i3 software. Heremployer sold his company to aglobal giant Ebix in December2014 and under that businessdecision many of the non-ITemployees lost their jobsand she was one of them.She felt betrayed anddevastated by whathappened to her.She decided not tolook for anotherjob in India asshe felt shewould behumiliatingherself.

“InJanuary2015, Itrav-eledtothe

USA to pursue acouple of skillenrichment pro-grams and also toexplore the worldon the other side ofthe horizon. I stayedthere for a monthand came back toHyderabad. My for-mer boss at i3launched a companycalled EnnobleGroup Inc., in NewJersey, in and hiredme to head thetraining and staffingdivisions. I startedmy journey again toachieve professionalexcellence. I gotmyself trained inproject nanagementand went on tobecome a certifiedPMP in my firstattempt. OnSeptember 22, 2016,Ennoble India wasco-founded byVenkat and me.After all the set-backs in my career, Ibecame an entrepre-neur and we startedbuilding an IT com-pany. This will

remain as the greatest of all myfondest memory,” she shares.

We hope the story of MadhuriVardhinedi has changed theway we pictured athletesand inspired us tostep up to everychallenge ofour life.

t

he moment a woman dis-covers she is pregnant, shehopes for an uncomplicatedand smooth pregnancy. Formost women, that is exactlywhat happens barring a few

bumps on the road. However, some women may have a

greater chance of experiencing preg-nancy complications and difficulties.A high-risk pregnancy is when thewoman, her baby or both are at ahigher risk of developing unexpectedcomplications during pregnancy orchildbirth. In India, about 20-30% ofpregnancies belong to the high-riskcategory.

Dr. Seema Sharma, MBBS, DGO,MD, F.MAS, MRCOG, FICOG,FRCOG (London, U.K), Obstetricsand Gynecology, Apollo Cradle andChildren Hospital, Moti Nagar said, “Ahigh-risk pregnancy may stem frompre-existing maternal conditions suchas diabetes, hypertension, heart orblood disorder or foetal conditionssuch as birth defects, genetic syn-dromes, anaemia etc. Consumption ofalcohol, drugs or cigarettes, advancedmaternal age or multi-foetal gestationmay also lead to a high-risk pregnan-cy.”

Vaginal bleeding or watery dis-charge

Bleeding or spotting is quite com-mon during the first trimester. Butbleeding in the second or thirdtrimester is often associated with com-plications such as placental abruption,preterm labour or miscarriage. Anybleeding in pregnancy should never beignored and it is best to contact thehealthcare provider immediately.Similarly, women should notify theirdoctors if they see any abnormal clearor coloured discharge from their vagi-na.

Blurred vision or frequentchange in the spectacle num-ber

A temporary loss of vision, lightsensitivity, experiencing flashing lightsor spots and blurry vision are a clearindication of preeclampsia, marked byhigh blood pressure and signs of dam-age to other organs. It is best to callthe doctor or rush to the hospitalimmediately upon the occurrence ofthese symptoms as they can progressrapidly and severe problems.

Severe headaches or dizziness

Getting a headache or experiencingsome dizziness once in a while duringthe first

trimester of the pregnancy is normal.But a persistent and severe headacheaccompanied by dizziness and blur-ring throughout may be a symptom ofpreeclampsia. If not monitored ortreated right away it can lead to seri-ous complications.

Sudden swelling in the face,hands or feet

Gradual swelling in the legs, ankles,feet and fingers is absolutely commonduring pregnancy and often escalatesas the pregnancy progresses further.But a sudden increase in swelling inthe face, hands or feet can be a sign ofpreeclampsia and should be moni-tored right away. During a high-riskpregnancy, it is accompanied by severeheadaches and blurry vision and canlead to serious complications if nottreated immediately.

Pain or cramping in the lowerabdomen

During the first trimester, awoman’s body is preparing for thegrowing baby and pain or cramping inthe stomach is normal. But severe pain

or cramping thatdoes not

go away after 30 to 60 minutes mightindicate a high-risk pregnancy.Persistent cramping that ranges frommoderate to severe pain can be theindication of ectopic pregnancy whichcan be life-threatening. Women expe-riencing extreme pain or cramps alongwith vaginal bleeding should consulttheir doctor immediately.

Decreased foetal movement

Foetal movements become commonas the pregnancy progresses over 20-22 weeks and by the third-semesterwomen should be able to feel foetalactivity regularly. A sudden decreasein the foetal movement may be a redflag that there is a complication. Inabsence of at least 10 foetal move-ments during 2 hours, pregnantwomen should immediately call theirspecialist to make sure that they arenot at a risk for stillbirth or the umbil-ical cord wrapping around the baby’sneck.

A high-risk pregnancy may soundominous of complications but it doesnot necessarily mean that somethingbad will happen. Keeping an eye outfor the warning signs, having thor-ough discussions with your doctor ora specialist and doing your best to stay

positive can promote a healthypregnancy. Extra care and

vigilance can ensure ahealthy birth.

EARLY SIGNS OFHIGH-RISK PREGNANCY

Edtechhasgrow

n rapidly overpast decade and

has 4,600 firms in ahighly fragmented

sector that serves over500 million students

from kindergarten tohigher education, thus

spawning INR 7.5 lakhcrore per annum industry.

This is mainly due toEducation being one of two

sectors in India that has unsa-tiated demand, the other being

Religion. This demand stemsfrom the view (and rightly so)

that Education leads to prosperity.Incorporated in 2020, Ed4All is

a new-age edtech startup thatbrings a comprehensive, advanced,sustainable and inclusive Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Learning,Skilling and Testing platform.Powered by core technology fromMicrosoft, the platform caters to theneeds of K-12, Higher Educationand Vocational markets and aims todeliver affordable and accessibleNextGen education for skilling theLearners and making them employ-able.

Ed4All has two external firms;one for Company Secretarial, andthe other for Accounting. Both

firms runthe roost

through bandying ofarcane rules from board

composition to board meet-ings to GST to audits.

Sanjay Viswanathan, Chairman& CEO, Ed4All says, “When compli-ance can be second largest cost in aFirm’s operations (after productdevelopment), there must be some-thing wrong. And this in a landwhere even some public firms havecupboards with skeletons. India willtruly become a Startup Nation whencompliance is simplified and trans-parency the norm.

Second challenge is Governmentsector’s pro-curement rules.If India trulywants to be aStartup Nation,it needs todesign publicsector procure-ment normsthat will enableStartups to par-ticipate anddeliver services.”

After all 150 years ago even theTatas were a startup. Thus, today’sstartup will be tomorrow’s Tata. Werecognise that when public exche-quer is involved to pay for servicesthere must be a fair and transparentselection process involved. However,India is perhaps the only Nationwhere Government rejects Firmsthat partners with them to deliverrevenues for the public exchequer.

Ed4All is an EdTech Startup thatsolely partners with Government toinvest in low-cost or high-impactlearning, skilling, and testing acrossthe country to drive overall literacyand employability. India needs aninvestment of INR 7.5 lakh crore

over nextdecade or 0.25-0.5% of

annual GDP to make this happen.Ed4All will lead the way for othersto follow, so together we can acceler-ate India’s place as the most educat-ed and prosperous Nation on thePlanet.

He further shares, “Unlike mostEdTech players who are focused onindividual segments of educationcontinuum such as coaching,tuitions, content, or certifications,Ed4All views the comprehensiveprovision of building blocks forhybrid education from software tohardware to connectivity to opera-tions that also include curriculum,content, teaching, and certifications,and capital as central to rewiring ofeducation in India so learning andskilling outcomes can be positively

impacted. To make learners in Tier2, Tier 3 towns, and Rural marketseducated, skilled, and employable,and at warp-like speed, Ed4All willcollaborate with Central and StateGovernments and Industry. Ed4Allwill pioneer Education 4.0, so thisenables Industry 4.0. Ed4All isMade in India, for the World.”

To bring most advanced technol-ogy to Government-sectorEducation in India, Ed4All hasteamed up with most advancedtechnology Firms in Education likeMicrosoft, Hitachi, and Lenovo. Toensure employability based on mostadvanced Skills and Certification,Ed4All has allied with most vision-ary Institutions including CHRIST

University, BritishCouncil, Linkedin Learning,Pearson, and Microsoft. To createand drive internships, apprentice-ships, and jobs, Ed4All has part-nered with India’s oldest (and mostvisionary) trade body, The BengalChamber of Commerce andIndustry will add other local tradebodies in States imminently. Toenable swift execution, Ed4All willbring capital in Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) Model. This com-bination of partner ecosystem andcapital gives Ed4All the competitiveadvantage to swiftly deliver on itspromise to Governments, bothCentral and State.

When seen from a broader per-spective, the impact of digitalizationon young minds is profound.

Consideringthe uncertaintiesof today’s world, theone certainty is thatdigitisation is at the core ofa child’s future. This is evenmore so in the case of Education.If used wisely, Technology andDigital tools can be a blessing forchildren as it provides a rich andimmersive educational experience,thereby enlightening their mindsand embellishing fundamental skillsin them.

In the coming months, Ed4Allplans to expand in two directions.One, go deeper and broader withinIndia and mark its presence in atleast 8 States and Union Territoriesthat will represent15% of learnersacross K-12, higher education andvocational. Through this vector,Ed4All anticipates investing INR8,000 crores to enable Central andState Governments to re-boot andtransform way learning, skilling andtesting is delivered.

The Pioneer forthis week’s

Hyderabondedition, brings to

you a uniquestory about

Madhuri, whohas broken

severalstereotypes andovercomed thechallenges that

she had faced allthrough her life.

Making educationaccessible for all

t

Saga of an entrepreneur-

turned-athelete

SaturdayJune 25, 2022

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

sports 11VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JUNE 25, 2022

AP n MILAN

AC Milan will begin theirSerie A title defence with

the visit of Udinese after the2022/23 season's fixture listwas announced on Friday.

Stefano Pioli's side thenface Atalanta, Bologna andSassuolo before hosting thefirst Milan derby of the seasonin early September.

Milan took the Scudettofrom Inter on the final day oflast season's enthralling titlerace and will likely be doingbattle with their local rivals --who are set to bring backRomelu Lukaku — for the titlein a campaign which starts ear-lier than usual.

The opening round of fix-tures are on August 13, due tothe World Cup which kicks offin Qatar in November, and fin-ishes on June 4 next year.

The first week of the sea-son will be held around whenItalian families traditionallyset off to the seaside, lakes ormountains on holiday to escapethe intense summer heat.

The league will break fromNovember 13 to make space forthe World Cup but unlike thePremier League will not returnin December, with the actionstarting up again on January 4.

Inter start with a trip toSerie B champions Lecce, oneof only three teams from Italy'ssouthern regions, before facingSpezia, Lazio and promotedCremonese before their first

local derby of the season.Should the season go down

to the wire as it did in May,there are some big matches inthe final few weeks whichcould have an impact on thedestination of the title.

BERLUSCONI BACKJuventus, hotly-tipped to

sign free agent Paul Pogba,host Milan in the penultimateround of fixtures, when Interawait rivals Atalanta at the SanSiro.

The week before Inter trav-el south to Napoli, who werewell in the title race last seasonuntil they fell away in the finalweeks of the campaign.

Milan fans will welcomeback former owner SilvioBerlusconi in late Octoberwhen promoted Monza visitthe San Siro during the 11thround of fixtures.

PTI n NEW DELHI

India will play Brazil in aFIFA World Cup. Not in the

world football governing body'sflagship event but in its U-17tournament for women.

Hosts India have beenclubbed alongside the footballpowerhouse, Morocco and theUSA in a tough group for theupcoming U-17 FIFA Women'sWorld Cup, the draw for whichtook place in Zurich on Friday.

The country is slated to hostthe tournament from October11 to 30 across three venues —Bhubaneswar's KalingaStadium, Goa's PanditJawaharlal Nehru Stadium andNavi Mumbai's DY PatilStadium.

India, being the host nation,are an automatic selection andis placed in Group A.

A total of 16 teams acrossfour groups will be participat-ing in the tournament.

India will begin their cam-paign against the USA onOctober 11 (Tuesday) at theKalinga Stadium inBhubaneswar. Their secondmatch will be against Moroccoon October 14 (Friday) at thesame venue. The home team's

last group stage match againstBrazil will be on October 17(Monday).

India were scheduled tohost the 2020 edition of theWorld Cup but the tourna-ment was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

Defending championsSpain, who beat Mexico in thefinal of the 2018 edition, areplaced in Group C along withColombia, China, and Mexico.

Group B consists ofGermany, Nigeria, Chile andNew Zealand. Japan, Tanzania,Canada and France constituteGroup D.

North Korea are the mostsuccessful team in the history ofthe tournament, having won thetrophy in 2008 and 2016, whileJapan, South Korea, and Francehave each won the title once.

Host Mollie Kmita present-ed the official draw and wasjoined by former US women'snational team player and FIFAwomen's World Cup winner,Heather O'Reilly, former coachof the New Zealand nationalteam, Ricki Herbert, as well asJaime Yarza, FIFA's director oftournaments, and SaraiBareman, FIFA chief women'sfootball officer.

PTI n PARIS

Indian archers assured them-selves of a second medal in

the World Cup Stage 3 with aceduo of Abhishek Verma andJyothi Surekha Vennam sailinginto the compound mixed teamfinal here on Friday.

A day after Deepika Kumariand Co. cruised into the final ofrecurve women's team event toconfirm their first medal of themeet, the compound mixedpair of Verma and Jyothi fol-lowed suit, defeating Estonia'sRobin Jaatma and Lisell Jaatma156-151 in a lopsided semi-final.

The Indian duo will facefifth seed France in the com-

pound mixed team final onSaturday.

Making a comeback aftermore than seven months, world

number 3 Jyothi, who was side-lined in the Asian Games trial,is also in the hunt for an indi-vidual medal, having advanced

into the semi-final.A day after Lisell gave Jyothi

a tough fight in the individualquarterfinal, the Estonian alongwith her teammate Robin failedto create much pressure andslipped behind after the Indianpair had a perfect first round.

Maintaining their consis-tency, Verma and Jyothi extend-ed their lead to five points in thethird round that proved deci-sive, even as their rivals levelledit 38-38 in the final set ofarrows.

Having got a bye into thepre-quarters, third seeded Indiabegan their mixed team cam-paign eliminating Puerto Ricoby a handsome eight-point mar-gin (158-150).

PTI nMUMBAI

Young Indian racer JehanDaruvala made a successful

Formula 1 test debut this weekwith eight-time constructors'winner McLaren and is now eli-gible for a Super Lience.

The 23-year-old, who isaiming to become the thirdracer from India to race inFormula 1, drove the Woking-based team's 2021 race-win-ning challenger — the MCL35M— on Tuesday and Wednesdayat Silverstone.

The test was Jehan's firsttaste of F1 machinery and hechalked up over 130 laps com-bined over the two days, overtwice the distance F1 drivers willcover during British GP. Thetrack time helped him earnenough points to apply for a

Super Licence, which is neededto compete in F1.

Jehan, who ran trouble-freeon both the days, currentlyraces with Italian team Prema inthe Formula 2 championship,the feeder series that sits one stepbelow Formula 1, and is third in

the overall standings."I really enjoyed my first

time driving a Formula One car.I felt immediately at home andwhile it was physically moredemanding than anything Ihave driven in the past, I didn'thave any issues with my fitness,"Jehan was quoted as saying in amedia release on Friday.

According to Jehan, theexperience gave him goodunderstanding of how teamsoperate on an F1 weekend.

"As a result, we were able towork through the run plan welland complete everything wehad mapped out. We did a mix-ture of high-fuel long runs andas well as shorter, low-fuel runson different tyre compounds.That gave me a good under-standing of how teams operateon an F1 weekend.

PTI n NEW DELHI

India captain Savita feelsthere is no dearth of moti-vation and confidence in

the national women's hockeyteam as it eyes a historic podi-um finish at the upcomingWorld Cup.

The top InternationalHockey Federation (FIH)tournament will be jointlyhosted by the Netherlandsand Spain from July 1 to 17.

India finished a historicfourth at the Olympics lastyear and Savita said the TokyoGames had instilled a beliefthat they can match the bestin the business on the biggeststage.

"Our performance inTokyo gave us the belief thatwe can finish on the podiumin global events," Savita said.

"Post Olympics, werealigned our focus on takingour performance to the nextlevel. We channelled our ener-gy into doing well in the FIHPro League and finishing thirdin this prestigious league hasgiven us a boost ahead of theWorld Cup."

Indian women's best-everresult at the World Cup is afourth place finish in theinaugural edition in 1974. Inthe 2018 tournament, Indiasecured the eighth spot.

India's splendid show inTokyo has changed the face ofwomen's hockey in the coun-

try. Featuring in its debutFIH Pro League, the Indianwomen gave big shots like theNetherlands and Argentinatough fights to finish a cred-itable third.

"The Indian women'shockey team has never won amedal at the World Cup andit is our mission to make thisdream come alive this time,"Savita said.

The ace goalkeeper saidplaying and fighting togetheras a unit will be key to successin the World Cup.

"We are very excited toplay in the World Cup. We justwant to play as a team. For us,the Olympics was a greatexperience. We learnt a lotfrom there and we believe wehave to play together andfight hard," she said.

"After the Olympics,everyone in our team is somotivated, so focused. Wereally want to play againstgood teams," she added.

In the upcoming quadren-nial event, India are placed inPool B alongside England,China and New Zealand, andwill open their campaignagainst England on July 3 atAmstelveen.

"Of course, England,China and New Zealand aregood teams. We've alreadyplayed against them. But wehave to focus on ourselvesfirst. We will go match bymatch," Savita said.

AP n WIMBLEDON

Serena Williams will beginher Wimbledon comeback

by facing Harmony Tan, a 24-year-old from France who isranked 113th and owns a 2-6career record in Grand Slammatches.

The placement of Williamsin the women's bracket was themost anticipated aspect ofFriday's draw at the AllEngland Club. She is makingher first appearance in singlesat any tournament since shehurt her right leg and stoppedplaying during the first set ofher first-round match at CentreCourt a year ago.

Because of her lack ofactivity over the past 12months, Williams - who hasbeen No 1 in the rankings - isoutside the WTA's top 1,200this week and so could haveended up anywhere in the fieldand against any opponent inthe first round. She onlyreturned to the tour this weekby playing two doubles match-es at a tuneup event in England.

While the 40-year-old

American's trackrecord would merita seeding, the AllEngland Club nowadheres strictly tothe rankings in deter-mining how it seedsplayers.

Williams has wonseven Wimbledon cham-pionships, part ofher totalof 23G r a n dS l a ms i n g l e stitles, a recordfor the professional era.Tan, meanwhile, willbe making her debutat the grass-courttournament.

If Williams gets pastTan, next up could be a matchagainst Sara Sorribes Tormo,who is seeded 32nd but hasnever been past the secondround at the All England Clubor the third round at any majorin 19 past appearances.

The third round potential-ly would put Williams againsta tougher test: No 6-seeded

Karolina Pliskova, who wasthe runner-up to Ash Barty lastyear at Wimbledon and alsoreached the final of the 2016U.S. Open - beating Williamsin the semifinals there.

Barty retired at age 25 inMarch and so is not defendingher title when play begins onMonday. That also leaves openthe question of which womanwill have the honor of playing

the first match at CentreCourt on Tuesday, a slot tra-ditionally reserved for theprior year's champion.

The two most likelychoices would seem tobe No 1 Iga Swiatek,who enters on a 35-

match winningstreak and is

coming off atitle at theFrench Open,or SimonaHalep, whowon the2019 trophy.

AP n PALMA

Top-ranked Daniil Medvedevwill remain without a title on

grass this season after a straight-set loss to Roberto BautistaAgut in the quarterfinals of theMallorca Championships.

Medvedev lost 6-3, 6-2 afterentering the match with an 8-2record on the surface for theyear, with his losses coming inconsecutive finals in Germanyand the Netherlands.

Medvedev, who will notplay at Wimbledon because ofthe ban on Russians over the warin Ukraine, needed to comefrom behind to get past AslanKaratsev in the round of 16 on

Wednesday.Medvedev, the defending

champion in Mallorca, had onlyone break opportunity againstthe 20th-ranked Bautista Agut,who had advanced without hav-ing to play in the last 16 becauseNick Kyrgios withdrew with anabdominal injury.

India can finish on podium in hockey WC: SavitaPTI n NEW DELHI

Indian women's hockeyteam coach Janneke

Schopman is stressing onconsistency, without which,she said on Friday, the sidewill struggle to go far in theupcoming World Cup.

The quadrennial eventwill be jointly hosted by theNetherlands and Spain fromJuly 1 to 17.

India's best-ever result atthe World Cup is a fourth-place finish in the inauguraledition in 1974. In 2018,India finished eighth.

"If we truly play to ourpotential, we play the way weknow we can consistently,anything is possible. Womenhockey at this moment isvery tight, anyone can beatanyone," Schopman said.

"(But) consistency is abig point of attention. If wecan play consistently well,top-4, and who knows apodium in the World Cup isa possibility."

"At the same time if wedon't perform we can missthe quarterfinals."

The coach said the play-ers need to understand their

potential and deliver on thefield in order to achieveconsistency.

"I think we have greatpotential and if we actuallyplay to our potential we area tough team to beat," the45-year-old said.

Schopman, a doubleOlympic medallist defenderfrom the Netherlands, saidplayers will have to shoulderresponsibility to achieve suc-cess in the World Cup.

"If anything I need to see

is players taking up owner-ship on the field and believethat they can perform.

"Realistically, I think weare up there. We are in thetop 6. Our performanceagainst Argentina (recentlyin Pro League) showed thatwe can compete against anycountry."

India finished a cred-itable third in their debutFIH Pro League season andSchopman said the recentback-to-back high-intensitymatches against Belgiumand Argentina augur wellahead of the World Cup.

"Pretty happy with ourpreparation. We have anoth-er week. Last week we hadthe Pro League matches andquite happy with the way weresponded after the Belgiummatches. So preparation isgoing in the right direc-tion."

"It's a great achievementto finish on the podium inyour first Pro League. Wehad good runs against pret-ty much every team weplayed. Apart from pointswe got we learned a lot fromthese games. It was a satis-fying run," she said.

Consistency is paramount forprogress: Schopman ahead of WC

India clubbed with Brazil, USA,Morocco in women's U-17 WC

Serena to begin Wimbledon against 113th-ranked foe

AP n EASTBOURNE

Two-time Wimbledonchampion Petra Kvitova

advanced to her first grass-court final in four years bybeating Beatriz Haddad Maia7-6 (5), 6-4 at Eastbourne onFriday.

Kvitova will face defend-ing champion JelenaOstapenko in the final. Theeighth-seeded Latvian defeat-ed 12th-seeded CamilaGiorgi 6-2, 6-2 in the othersemifinal match.

Haddad Maia had won12 straight matches on grassincluding back-to-back sin-gles titles in Nottingham andBirmingham over the lasttwo weeks.

The 14th-seeded Kvitovareached her first final of 2022and first grass-court finalsince Birmingham in 2018.

Kvitova earned the only

service break of the match tobegin the second set againstthe 15th-seeded Brazilian.

The 32-year-old Czechplayer's only career loss infive grass-court finals was toMarion Bartoli at Eastbournein 2011, when Kvitova wenton to win Wimbledon for thefirst time.

Kvitova vs Ostapenkoin Eastbourne final

Medvedev loses to BautistaAgut in Mallorca quarters

Archery WC Stage 3: Compound mixed pair in final

Milan begin Scudetto defence against Udinese in mid-August Daruvala completes successfulFormula 1 test with McLaren

Aday after singerChinmayiSripada shared

pictures of her new-born twin babies withhusband RahulRavindran, herInstagram account hasbeen suspended.Chinmayi Sripada,

who,however,saw thiscomingafter herDM'swereblocked,had abackupaccountcreatedthroughwhichshe hasstartedpostingher con-tent forquite awhilenow.

Thesesocialmediabusiness-es appar-ently,operatedifferent-ly andtake sur-

prisingactions in the

name of policies.If we are to believe

vocalist ChinmayiSripada, who is bestknown for providing avoice for noted actress-es, especially SamanthaRuth Prabhu, Instagramhas taken extreme mea-sures in her current sit-uation.

“Instagram has basi-cally removed myaccount for reportingmen who send me (picsof) their penises onDMs. Its been going onfor a while where Ireport, but my accesswas barred. Anyway,that's that. Here is mybackup account,” thesinger wrote.

She revealed that heraccount was removedafter she complained onInstagram about malessending her inappropri-ate pictures.Additionally, Chinmayidisclosed the usernameof her backupInstagram account -chinmayi.sripada.

Chinmayi has beensubjected to a lot ofabuse on social mediasince she spoke out forthe #MeToo movementand named someprominent figures inthe Tamil film industrywho exploit womenand attempted toengage in sexual mis-conduct with girls.

The most-awaited Mega154in the crazy combinationof Megastar Chiranjeevi,

the very talented director Bobby(KS Ravindra) and the mosthappening production houseMythri Movie Makers gets itstheatrical release date. Themega update for mega fans andcine goers is that Mega154’spoonakalu in theatres will beginfrom Sankranthi, as the movieis aimed for festival release,2023.

“Kaluddam… Sankranthi kiJan 2023,they announced

through the poster. Official titleand teaser of the movie will berevealed soon. Although hisface isn’t visible, megastarChiranjeevi can be seen holdingan anchor in his hand in theposter and in the background,sea and boats are visible.

Mega154, as of now, has com-pleted 40% of its shoot. Thefilm’s next schedule will beginfrom next month and they willshoot non-stop to wrap it upwithin the deadline.

Bobby who is a die-hard fanof Megastar Chiranjeevi is

putting in maximum efforts topresent his demi-god in a neverseen before mass-appealing andpower-packed role. ThePoonakalu will begin from theday, the title and first look willbe released.

Shruti Haasan is playing theleading lady oppositeChiranjeevi in the movie billedto be a mass action entertainerlaced with all the commercialingredients.

Naveen Yerneni and Y RaviShankar are producing the film,while GK Mohan is the co-pro-

ducer.A top-notchtechnicalteam is associat-ing for the project,while several notableactors are part of it.

#Mega154 has music byRockstar Devi Sri Prasad whoprovided several chartbusteralbums to Chiranjeevi, whileArthur A Wilson handles thecinematography. NiranjanDevaramane is the editor andAS Prakash is the productiondesigner. Sushmita Konidela isthe costume designer.

While story and dialoguewere written by Bobby himself,Kona Venkat and KChakravarthy Reddy pennedscreenplay. The writing depart-ment also include Hari MohanaKrishna and Vineeth Potluri.

12

Vijayawada | Saturday June 25, 2022 tollywood

PNS | HYDERABAD

7Days 6 Nights has alreadyhit the cinemas. The rom-com stars Sumanth Ashwin,

Meher Chahal, Rohan andKrithika Shetty in lead roles.

In this interview, SumanthAshwin talks about his charac-ter, working with his father MSRaju, why the film can bewatched with one's family, hisupcoming movies, and more.

Commencing with, he says,“It has been a decade since Ihave been an actor. I debutedwith 'Tuneega Tuneega' in theyear 2012. The journey has beengreat regardless of the success orfailure of my movies. These tenyears have passed in a blink. Ihave resolved not to essay thekind of characters I have alreadyplayed. Even though I have donenatural characters all the time,they had a tinge of a larger-than-life element to them. Iwant to play very realistic char-acters that the audience can eas-ily relate to from now. Thesedays, the audience have changedtastes, thanks to the exposure tonew formats. We have to givethem next-level things. I hope Iget the opportunity to do that.”

For him, 7 Days 6 Nights is abeautiful, simple, entertainingstory with a proper story. He isvery happy with the story that ittells and the way it tells thestory. Previously, he would real-ize that something was amiss inthe second half of his movies.He promoted such movies witha sense of disappointment. Butthis film is totally satisfying forhim. The entire story takes placeover a span of seven days, as thetitle suggests.

And, “The audience will fall

in love with the characters. Theywill think about the charactersafter watching the movie. I haveplayed an aspiring filmmaker inthe film. He is undergoing a lotof personal and professionalstruggles in life. He is a smoker

and is not taking care of hisphysical fitness. He is leading amessy lifestyle." “

Leading this to an anotheraspect of his life, he recollects, “Iused to be overweight as a child.I used to admire the physical fit-ness of Mahesh Babu, Prabhasand all and used to think that itwas impossible for me tobecome an actor because I wasnot fit. I, therefore, wanted tobecome a technician. I hap-pened to join aerobic classes andsuddenly started losing weight.Around the time films likeNuvvostanante Nenoddantanawere being produced by myfather, the likes of Prabhu Devagaru and Trivikram garu spottedme. At that time, Trivikram garuand my father were planning toproduce a movie with MaheshBabu garu. Sainyam was its title.Trivikram garu commented thatI was looking good. I slowly gotinclined to do something infront of the camera.”

He thinks he is indebted tohis father who has made every-thing for him. “I have never hadto ask for what I need. He isthe best father. I want tobe born to him birthafter birth. He and Ihave always putthe best effortpossible rightsince ourfirst filmtogether.We justworkhardand doourbest.WithDirtyHari,my

father has entered the 2.0 phaseof his career. The transitionphase was a bit confusing.During the transition phase, helearned about the changingtastes and trends. It has been acomplete makeover. 7 Days 6Nights feels like a young film-maker's film. At the same time,it has my father's stamp over it.This is the most realistic moviefrom us.”

Judging a script is not an easything. Even seasoned makers failat it sometimes. The actor want-ed to be a better judge in thefuture. Because, in the past, hehave been influenced badly todo imperfect scripts. “It was myfather's call to cast a newcomerlike Rohan as my buddy. At first,I recommended that someonewho is known be cast. CastingRohan has been a solid decision.Meher Chahal, my heroine, hasdone a great job as well. Wehave also done another movieand it will be released in theatreslater

this year,” he added. Clarifying the rumours

around his father's last directori-al, he clears, “I want to clarifythat 7 Days 6 Nights is a neatfilm. In fact, I watched it withmy sister and mother. Had thecontent been cheap or vulgar, Iwouldn't have done that. This isnot a bold or adult film. Whywould youngsters pay money towatch adult content in a theatrewhen they have plenty of adultmaterial available on YouTube?”

Sati is his next film. It's aDrushyam type family mysterythriller. The story is between ahusband and a wife. The actorwants to go slow even if itmeans he is jobless for a coupleof months. “I have to pick thescripts with thoughtfulness. Ifyou are investing a lot of yourenergy and time, it has to beworth it. I watch all sorts ofmovies, especially sci-fi andgraphics-heavy ones. While lovestories come my way, I love sci-

fi and CG films the most,”he signs off.

I am indebted to my fatherMS Raju: Sumanth Ashwin

Young and versatilestar Nithiin’s massand action enter-

tainer MacherlaNiyojakavargam underthe discretion of MSRaja Shekhar Reddy hascompleted the entireshooting part, except forthe last song. Theremaining song will beshot soon. The post-production works arealso happening simulta-neously for the movie.Re-recording work offirst half of the movie isdone.

Sudhakar Reddy andNikitha Reddy are pro-ducing the movie onSreshth Movies banner.Rajkumar Akella pre-sents the movie billed tobe a pucca mass andcommercial entertainerwith political elements.

The movie is beingmade on high budgetwith lavish productionstandards and top-notchtechnicalities. The teamwill opt for aggressivepromotions and theywill be coming up withupdates on regular

basis.The picture released

by the team shows thelead pair Nithiin andKrithi Shetty in ecstasy.They are seen dancingand needless to say thestill is from a song inthe movie that was shotin an exotic Europelocale. Nithiin looksuber-cool, whereinKrithi Shetty looks gor-geous in the poster.Catherine Tresa is theother heroine in themovie.

Prasad Murella is thecinematographer.Mamidala Thirupathihas provided dialoguesand Sahi Suresh is theart director. KotagiriVenkateswara Rao is theeditor. Three mightmasters Venkat, RaviVarma and Anal Arasuchoreographed actionpart of the movie to behigh on mass and actionelements.

MacherlaNiyojakavargam isscheduled for its world-wide theatrical releaseon August 12.

Macherla Niyojakavargamshooting wrapped up

Mega154 to release

this Sankranthi

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Well-known actorCharan Raj's youngerson Dev, a pilot by pro-

fession, is to make his debut asan actor through his dad'supcoming film Kuppan.

Charan Raj, who has acted inover 600 films in Tamil, Telugu,Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, andBengali, is returning to the filmindustry as a director throughKuppan.

The film is named after aman, whom the director says hebefriended during his morningwalks.

Charan Raj, who has pennedthe story, screenplay and dia-logues for his film, says, “Ihave been living inPalavakkam for over 35 yearsand I go for walks with my dogon the seashore every morning.During my walk, I would chatwith several people on the wayand return home. It was on onesuch walk that I got introducedto a fisherman named Kuppan.My interactions with him mademe want to pen a story on thefisherman. So, after finishingthe script, I named the film aftermy friend. He has also acted ina small role in the film.”

Dev Charanraj, who is thesecond son of Charanraj, was apilot. He underwent special

training at anacting schoolbefore turninghero.

Aadhi Dev ismaking hisdebut as theother hero.Along withthem,SushmithaSuresh and

Priyadarshini Arunachalam arealso making their debut as hero-ines.

Charan Raj is also acting inan important role after a longtime. He plays his son's uncle inthe film.

Sources say Kuppan will be a

love story that will revolvearound a young fisherman and anorth Indian girl in a village.

Cinematography for the filmwill be by Janarthan and editingwill be by SP Ahammed. Thefilm which is being co-directedby K Suresh Kumar, will havemusic by SG Elai.

ActorCharan Raj’s

younger son Devmakes his debut

with Kuppan

The release of ChorBazaar, the newestfilm starring

Akash Puri, has beengenerating a lot of buzzfor its tribute to megas-tar Amitabh Bachchan.

A tweet fromAmitabhBachchanregardingone of thesongs inChorBazaar hascaught theattentionof all. Themovie ChorBazaar has aspecial songdevoted to megastarAmitabh Bachchan, thatis titled ‘Bachchan SaabFan Anthem’, in whichAkash Puri playsAmitabh’s diehard fan.

The tune of BachchanSaab Fan Anthem hasbeen made available as atribute to the illustriousactor.

Amitabh Bachchan

himself has discussedthe song.Earlier onThursday, Amitabhtweeted, “uffff.. what tosay.. this is very gratify-ing.. my love andrespect,” in response to

a user’s tweet about thesong. Directed byJeevan Reddy of ‘GeorgeReddy’ fame, the moviehas Gehna Sippy as thefemale lead in ChorBazaar.

Amitabh Bachchan responds to Bachchan

Saab fan anthem from Chor Bazaar

7 Days 6Nights

released intheatres on

Friday. The

Pioneer

connectswith the lead

SumanthAshwin whoshares with

us about hischaracter,

working withhis fatherand a lot

more