KCR shifts focus back to state - Daily Pioneer

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 4 ISSUE 267*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

}ANASUYA TO PLAY

A PROSTITUTE

IN HER NEXT

Page 11{

www.dailypioneer.com

ANALYSIS 7NATO FACES TWO-FRONT

GEOSTRATEGIC CHALLENGES

MONEY 8RBI LIBERALISES NORMS

TO BOOST FOREX INFLOWS

SPORTS 12INDIA BEGIN PREPS TO PICK

BEST WT20 ELEVEN

HYDERABAD, THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2022; PAGES 12 `3

EU CHIEF WARNS OF DANGER OFCOMPLETE CUT-OFF OF RUSSIAN GAS

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen saidWednesday that the 27-nation European Union needs tomake emergency plans to prepare for a complete cut-off of

Russian gas in the wake of the Kremlin's war in Ukraine. It isobvious: (Russian President Vladimir) Putin continues to useenergy as a weapon. This is why the Commission is working ona European emergency plan, she told legislators in Strasbourg,France. The EU has already imposed sanctions on Russia,including on some energy supplies, and is steering away fromKremlin-controlled deliveries.

AROUND 30 FLIGHT INCIDENTS OCCURPER DAY IN INDIA

About 30 flight incidents happen every day in the country anda majority of them have no safety implications, Arun Kumar,chief of aviation regulator DGCA, said on Wednesday. The

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a show-causenotice Wednesday to SpiceJet after its planes had eight technicalmalfunctions over the past 18 days. In a statement onWednesday, Kumar said: "On an average, about 30 incidents dotake place, which includes go around, missed approaches,diversion, medical emergencies, weather issues, bird hits,runway incursion, runway excursion et al."

NEERAJ CHOPRA COULD BE INDIA'S FLAGBEARER IN CWG OPENING CEREMONY

Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra could beIndia's flag bearer during the opening ceremony of theupcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) may pick the 24-year-oldChopra to lead the country's contingent during the inaugurationof the 2022 CWG on July 28. "The flag bearer may be NeerajChopra. We will check his availability for opening ceremony," IOASecretary General Rajeev Mehta told PTI. The qualification roundof the men's javelin throw competition will be held on August 5while the final will be on August 7.

COPS FACE MUSIC FOR GIVING NODFOR NIGHT PARTY

Two police personnel were suspended by the Nagpur policecommissioner for giving permission for a night partywithout informing their seniors, an official said on

Wednesday. The action was taken after the police conducted araid around 11.30 pm on Sunday at a farmhouse in Khasarmarivillage on Wardha Road when the party, where liquor was beingserved to guests, was on, he said. The suspended personnelwere identified as Head Constable Sanjay Gaikwad andConstable Dhruv Pande, attached to the Hingna police station inNagpur city, the official said.

ALMANAC

Updated: JULY 6, 2022 5:00 PM

Forecast: Scattered thunderstorms

Temp: 26oc

Humidity: 93%

Sunrise: 5:47 AM

Sunset: 6:55 PM

Month & Paksham:

Tithi: Ashtami: Jul 06 07:48 PM to Jul 07 07:28 PM

Navami: Jul 07 07:28 PMto Jul 08 06:25 PM

Nakshatram: Hasta: Jul 06 11:44 AM

to Jul 07 12:19 PM

Chitra: Jul 07 12:20 PMto Jul 08 12:13 PM

Rahukalam: 1:58 PM to 3:36 PM

Yamagandam: 5:51 AM to 7:28 AM

Varjyam: 08:17 PM to 09:53 PM

Gulika: 10:43 AM to 12:20 PM

Amritakalam: 06:11 AM to 07:49 AM

Abhijit Muhurtham:11:55 AM to 12:47 PM

TTOODDAAYY

HYDERABAD WEATHER

SNCN ACHARYULUn HYDERABAD

Keeping in mind the current polit-ical situation in the state, ChiefMinister and TRS supremo KChandrasekhar Rao is understoodto have decided to shift his focusback to state, postponing briefly hisplans to launch a political party atthe national level.

Sources said that KCR wouldconcentrate on national politicsafter the coming General Election,depending on the situation at thattime. He has taken this decision soas to not let things get out of con-trol in the state.

While the Bharatiya Janata Partyis trying to tighten its grip onTelangana, the attitude of certainregional parties with regard to theforthcoming Presidential electionhas prompted the Chief Minister tochange his mind. He will once againconcentrate on Telangana with anaim to achieve a hat-trick in theforthcoming Assembly elections.

KCR will focus on TRS activitiesas well as the administration. Aspart of it, he wants to restore dis-cipline in the party as the leader-ship believes it has been slippingaway of late. On the governmentside, he will make sure that assur-ances made during the previousAssembly elections are fulfilled.

While some of the TRS leadersare switching to BJP and Congress,others are criticising one anotheropenly, tarnishing the image of theparty ahead of the Assembly elec-tions. The TRS leadership is of theopinion that the BJP has no groundin Telangana, but it is creating hypethat it is coming to power in theAssembly elections. Due to thishype, some TRS leaders are "falling

into the trap of BJP", it is felt. TheTRS leadership has decided toprevent such incidents in the com-ing days.

The Congress also is trying togive an impression that it is com-ing to power in the next Assemblyelections. So, the TRS leadership ispreparing to counter the strategiesof BJP and Congress.

The opposition parties are crit-icising that the TRS has failed infulfilling the assurances made dur-ing the previous Assembly elec-tions. In spite of financial hardships,the TRS government has decided toimplement the assurances on pen-sions, double bed room houses andother schemes at the earliest.

Parties are highly critical of the

Dharani portal, which they say hasaggravated land issues. TheCongress has offered to scrapDharani, should it come to power.Against this backdrop, KCR hasdecided to fix issues concerningDharani by conducting revenuemeetings across the state.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government is in the processof reviving and popularising Indianliterature banned during the Britishrule as part of its efforts to celebrate75 years of India's Independence,officials said Wednesday.

As part of the 'Azadi ka AmritMahotsav' celebrations, the CultureMinistry has identified poems,writings and publications that theBritish Raj banned, primarily dueto their patriotic fervour, and putthem together as catalogues forpeople to read and appreciate.

The catalogues have been pub-lished on the official website for theproject. These literary works are indifferent Indian languages, includ-ing Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Kannada,Punjabi, Sindhi, Telugu, Gujarati

and Tamil.These are mostly revolutionary

pieces penned during India's strug-gle for Independence and were con-sidered "dangerous" to the "securi-ty" of the British rule in India.

In a move to make these literaryworks popular among the masses,the Culture Ministry has enrolled

the services of Union ministers torecite poems particular to theirregion which have been uploadedon the official website.

Union Minister of EducationDharmendra Pradhan can be seenreciting the poem 'Daridra Nian' byOdia poet Gangadhar Mishra,Health Minister Mansukh

Mandaviya recited Gujrati poem'Kasumbi No Rang' from the bookSindhudo by poet JhaverchandMeghani and Culture and TourismMinister G Kishan Reddy read'Bharatha Matha Geetham' byTelugu poets VaddadhiSeetharaamanjaneyulu andPudipeddhi Kashi Viswanatha

Sashtri.All these works were banned

during British rule.Officials also highlighted the

Culture Ministry will encouragepeople to hoist the national flag intheir homes in the week ahead ofAugust 15.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union ministers Mukhtar AbbasNaqvi and R C P Singh submittedtheir resignations to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Wednesday, aday before the completion of theirRajya Sabha term, sources said.During a cabinet meeting earlier inthe day, Modi lauded both Naqviand Singh for their contributionsto the country during their minis-terial tenure, sources said. Formerbureaucrat and once a confidant ofBihar Chief Minister and JD(U)supremo Nitish Kumar, Singhresigned on his birthday, one yearafter joining the Union Cabinet

from his party's quota. He waswished by Prime Minister Modi onhis birthday in the morning. Withtheir term as Rajya Sabha MPs setto end on Thursday, both ministerssubmitted their resignations tofulfil the constitutional obligationas they will cease to be parliamen-tarians from Friday.

KCR shifts focus back to state While the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to tightenits grip on Telangana, the attitude of certainregional parties with regard to the forthcomingPresidential election has prompted the ChiefMinister to change his mind.

m CM wants to restore discipline in the party, strengthen it

Four from southget RS nomination

Govt reviving literary works banned during British rule

Naqvi, RCP Singh resign fromUnion Cabinet

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government on Wednesdaynominated four noted personali-ties, including celebrated athlete PT Usha and music maestroIlaiyaraaja, from as many southernstates to the Rajya Sabha, in whatis being seen as the ruling BJP's bigoutreach to recognise prominentfigures from south India.

Veerendra Heggade, the head ofthe famous Dharmasthala templein Karnataka and a philanthropist,and screenwriter K V VijayendraPrasad, who is from Andhra

Pradesh and is known for block-busters like "RRR", the "Baahubali"series and "Bajrangi Bhaijaan",were the two other choices of thegovernment for the Upper Houseof Parliament.

Usha is from Kerala andIlaiyaraaja, a Dalit, is from TamilNadu. The decision came daysafter the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), at its national executivemeeting in Hyderabad, identifiedsouth India as the territory for itsnext phase of growth.

P.T Usha Ilaiyaraaja Vijayandra Prasad Veerendra Heggade

BJP to go without CM facefor 2023 TS Assembly pollsPNS n HYDERABAD

Aside from the winnability ofindividual candidates, the CMface counts for any party in an elec-tion. Amidst rumblings over theCM face for the 2023 TelanganaAssembly elections, the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) is likely to con-test the polls without a CM face.

Sources in BJP said that thehigh command had given strictinstructions to leaders, specifical-ly asking them not to speak aboutCM candidate. According tosources, some of the party mem-

bers are claiming to be CM candi-dates, while others are denying it.

During the NEC meeting, sen-ior leaders tried hard to displaytheir leadership qualities and levelof support to the central leadershipwith an aim to showcase them-selves as potential CM candidate.

Sources said that the nationalleadership told even BJP state unitpresident Bandi Sanjay to avoidspeaking about CM candidate.Pointing to instances in the pastwhen Sanjay had claimed that hewas not in the race for CM post,the BJP national leadership report-

edly gave a feedback asking himnot to respond to such questionswith 'yes' or 'no'.

The camps of Kishan Reddy andEatala Rajender have been contin-uously pitching their leaders as CMface of BJP for the upcoming elec-tions.

After Eatala Rajender metUnion Minister and he was madethe chairman of the panel taskedwith bringing other leaders intoparty, the buzz in his camp is thathe will be made campaign head.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Cooking gas LPG price onWednesday was hiked by Rs50 per cylinder, the thirdincrease in rates since Mayon firming internationalenergy prices.

Non-subsidised LPG nowcosts Rs 1,053 per 14.2-kgcylinder in the national cap-ital, up from Rs 1,003 pre-viously, according to a pricenotification of state-ownedfuel retailers.Common householdspay non-subsidised rates for thecooking gas they buy, after the gov-ernment restricted subsidy to justpoor beneficiaries who got connec-tions under the Ujjwala scheme.

This is the third increase in the

LPG rate since May andthe fourth this year. Theprice was hiked by Rs 50per cylinder on March 22and again by the samequantum on May 7. Rateswent up by Rs 3.50 percylinder on May 19.Prices have gone up by Rs244 per cylinder sinceJune 2021. Of this, Rs153.50 increase happenedsince March 2022. Petroland diesel prices, howev-

er, continue to be on freeze for thethird straight month. The pausefollowed rates being hiked by arecord Rs 10 per litre in a matterof 16 days beginning March 22.

LPG price hiked by Rs 50SECOND HIGHEST PRICE

IN HYDERABADHouseholds in Hyderabad spendsignificantly more money onliquefied petroleum gas (LPG) thanthose in most other metropolitancities. At Rs 1,105, LPG price inHyderabad is the second highest inthe country, after Patna where theprice is Rs 1,151. Adilabad andNirmal households pay Rs 1,130 forLPG; the lowest price being inBhadradri Kothagudem andKhammam, where households payRs 1,092. LPG price in all otherdistricts is higher than in Hyderabad.

2nd, precautiondose gap reducedto 6 monthsPNS n NEW DELHI

The Union Health Ministry hasreduced the gap between the sec-ond and precaution dose ofCOVID-19 vaccine for all bene-ficiaries from nine to six monthsfollowing a recommendation byNTAGI. Corresponding changeshave been made in the CoWINsystem to facilitate the new vac-cine regimen. In a letter to statesand Union Territories, UnionHealth Secretary Rajesh Bhushanon Wednesday said the revisionwas made following a recommen-dation of the Standing TechnicalSub-Committee of the NTAGI.

COVID VACCINE

Culture and TourismMinister G KishanReddy read 'BharathaMatha Geetham' byTelugu poets VaddadhiSeetharaamanjaneyuluand Pudipeddhi KashiViswanatha Sashtri.

India will leadfourth industrialrevolution

P5

A clear case of discriminationNAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

A day after Union Minister PiyushGoyal encouraged states to sowpaddy to grab export opportunities,the authorities of the state dubbedit as a classic example of how theCentre is openly discriminatingagainst Telangana.

IT Minister K T Rama Raoretweeted a tweet by Digital mediadirector Dileep Konatham on thepaddy row. As per the tweet,"Union govt is dilly-dallying onprocuring about 50 lakh metrictons of paddy from Telangana, andyesterday Union Minister Piyush

Goyalji asks states to increasepaddy cultivation!"

Dileep said, "Under the leader-ship of CM Sri KCR, Telangana has

witnessed extraordinary progress inpaddy production.

Farmers are suffering due to Centre's flipflop on paddy: TS

Coast Guardrescues 22 crewmembersPNS n AHMEDABAD

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG)on Wednesday rescued 22 crewmembers from a sinking mer-chant vessel off the Porbandarcoast in Gujarat in a sea-air coor-dinated operation, officials said.

The swift action of the ICGamid adverse weather saved thelives of 22 crew members,including a Pakistani and a SriLankan, who are safe and arebeing brought to Porbandar.

A Dornier aircraft, two indige-nously-built twin-engineAdvanced Light Helicopters, andtwo ships were involved in thesearch and rescue operation, asenior ICG official said.

He said the crew memberswere picked up by the choppersand ships from the sea.

SINKING MERCHANT SHIP

22

2 222

22

2

2

2

Conman cheats700 people, fleeswith Rs 30 crPNS n HYDERABAD

A complaint was filed with theCyber Crime Station in Hyderabadon Wednesday after a con manfrom the city cheated 700 peopleof Rs 30 crore on the pretext of pro-viding them work from homejobs. The accused has been iden-tified as Anil Sharma, who oper-ated 'Diginal India Private Limited'.He would approach people sayingthat if they want to earn Rs 3 lakha month, they will first have to payan advance of Rs 5.5 lakh.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Sleuths of the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA) onWednesday detained theHyderabad man who was ques-tioned by them in connectionwith the Udaipur beheading case.The 36-year-old resident ofSantosh Nagar in the Old City wasand let off on Tuesday evening.

NIA detains Hydman in Udaipurbeheading case

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Phone: 040-23322341, Hyderabad Office: F-502, Diamond Block, Lumbini Rockdale, Somajiguda, Hyderabad - 500 082. Telangana. Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, Plot No.19, IDA Balanagar , Hyderbad-500037, Medchal -Malkajgiri District, Telangana. Executive Editor: Navin Upadhyay. Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any

damage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement before

responding to any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group's will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.

hyderabad 02HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

EGG

RATES

HYDERABAD 385

VIJAYAWADA 385

VISAKHAPATNAM 410

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀33..8855

`̀//110000

CHICKEN

RATES

Dressed/With Skin `308

Without Skin `328

Broiler at Farm `162

`̀//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

PNS n LONDON

A defiant British PrimeMinister Boris Johnson onWednesday vowed to "keepgoing" as he appeared before ahostile crowd of parliamentar-ians, not only from theOpposition benches but fromwithin his own ConservativeParty, just hours after the bigblow of losing his ChancellorRishi Sunak and HealthSecretary Sajid Javid in quick

succession.Johnson, 58, appeared at

the weekly Prime Minister'sQuestions (PMQs) in theHouse of Commons amidstmounting pressure on him toresign over the handling ofallegations of sexual miscon-duct by a member of his gov-ernment. A flurry of juniorministerial and governmentaide resignations, totalling 18,continues to hit the embattledleader even as Javid made a

speech in the Commons call-ing upon his former Cabinetcolleagues to reconsider theirdecision to continue to backJohnson because "enough isenough".

"The job of a Prime Ministerin difficult circumstances,when you've been handed acolossal mandate, is to keepgoing, and that's what I amgoing to do," said a defiantJohnson, in response to repeat-ed demands for him to quit.

PNS n CHIDAMBARAM

Denying claims by some peo-ple that she was insulted in atemple here, GovernorTamilisai Soundararajan saidon Wednesday that she wasreceived by priests and given'prasad'. "No one insultedme," she told reporters herewhen asked on claims doingthe rounds that she was insult-ed by Dikshitars, the heredi-tary priests, of theChidambaram Lord Shivatemple. Though a personinside the temple told her tosit in another spot nearby, sheanswered him that she wouldbe seated only at the very sameplace as her purpose of thevisit was to offer prayers, shesaid. Later, that man movedaway and she did not take himseriously. Priests gave her'prasad' and garlands offeredduring prayers, she said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

NCP chief Sharad Pawar onWednesday reached out toopposition leaders to bolsterthe presidential poll campaignof combined opposition candi-date Yashwant Sinha who is pit-ted against NDA's DroupadiMurmu. Pawar met Congress'Mallikarjun Kharge, CPI-Mgeneral secretary SitaramYechury, CPI's BhalchandraKango and and A D Singh ofthe RJD, besides SudheendraKulkarni, who is managingSinha's campaign, and othermembers of the campaignteam. The meeting, at Pawar'sresidence here, comes in thewake of the "lukewarm"response to Sinha's candidaturefrom Jharkhand Chief MinisterHemant Soren, West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee and her Delhi coun-terpart Arvind Kejriwal afterMurmu, a prominent leaderfrom the tribal Santhal com-munity, entered the fray for theJuly 18 presidential poll.

We all are standing strong-ly with our candidate ShriYashwant Sinha to fight for theissues faced by our country,Pawar said on Twitter, sharingpictures of the meeting with

opposition leaders. Sourcessaid Pawar has taken charge ofSinha's campaign strategy andreached out to opposition lead-ers for their support to Sinha.

An opposition leader admit-ted that Sinha's campaign wasnot getting the expectedresponse, after the NDAnamed Murmu as its candidate.The change of the ruling dis-pensation in Maharashtra hasfurther dampened the opposi-tion's spirit. Soren, who wasamong the early supporters ofSinha's candidature, appears tohave had a change of heart afterMurmu, a fellow Santhal,became the BJP-led NDA'snominee. Murmu was wel-comed warmly by Soren and

his father and JMM founderShibu Soren in Ranchi onTuesday. Last week, WestBengal Chief Minister Mamata

Banerjee had said oppositionparties might have consideredbacking Murmu had the BJPconsulted them before fielding

her.BJP's presidential candidate

Droupadi Murmu has betterchances (of winning presiden-tial polls) because ofMaharashtra development. Ifthe BJP had asked for oursuggestion before announcingthe name of Murmu, we couldhave considered it, too, bearinggreater interests in mind,Banerjee had said. Kejriwal,too, has remained non-com-mittal on supporting Sinha. AtWednesday's meeting chairedby Pawar it was decided thatSinha would visit Uttar Pradeshon Thursday, Gujarat onFriday, and Jammu andKashmir on July 9.

MURMU MEETS NAGALAND MLAS, ASSURED OF SUPPORT IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONThe ruling United DemocraticAlliance (UDA) in Nagaland declaredfull support to NDA's presidentialcandidate Droupadi Murmu onWednesday for the July 18 election.Murmu held a closed-doorinteraction with the legislators ledby Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio,Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton, UDAchairman TR Zeliang and NPFlegislative party leader KuzholuzoNienu at a resort in Chumoukedimadistrict in the evening. She was

accompanied by Union ministersSarbanada Sonowal and PratimaBhoumik, and BJP nationalspokesperson Nalin Kholi. RajyaSabha MP from the state PhangnonKonyak was also present during themeeting. In the 60-memberNagaland assembly, 42 MLAs are ofthe Nationalist DemocraticProgressive Party (NDPP), 12 are ofthe BJP, four of the Naga People'sFront (NPF) and two areIndependent legislators.

No one insultedme, saysTamilisai

Defiant British PM Johnsonvows to 'keep going'

Four from south get...Continued from page 1

The saffron party has beentraditionally weak in southernIndia, barring Karnataka.

Prime Minister NarendraModi congratulated all fourand cited their contributions intheir respective fields.

"The remarkable PT Usha Jiis an inspiration for everyIndian. Her accomplishmentsin sports are widely known butequally commendable is herwork to mentor budding ath-letes over the last several years.Congratulations to her onbeing nominated to the RajyaSabha. "The creative genius ofIlaiyaraaja Ji has enthralledpeople across generations. Hisworks beautifully reflect manyemotions. What is equally

inspiring is his life journey --he rose from a humble back-ground and achieved so much.Glad that he has been nomi-nated to the Rajya Sabha,"Modi tweeted.

For Heggade, the primeminister said he is at the fore-front of outstanding communi-ty service. "I have had theopportunity to pray at theDharmasthala Temple and alsowitness the great work he isdoing in health, education andculture. He will certainly enrichParliamentary proceedings,"he said. Praising Prasad, Modinoted that he has been associ-ated with the creative world fordecades and his work showcas-es India's glorious culture andhas made a mark globally.Official sources said these

nominations show yet anoth-er instance of the Modi govern-ment recognising outstandingIndians who have made a markin diverse fields. The fournominated members have hadillustrious careers in theirrespective fields and receivednational and global recognitionfor their contributions, theysaid, adding that they willexpand the southern region'srepresentation in the RajyaSabha. Citing Modi's "SabkaSaath Sabka Vikas" slogan, theysaid the government has con-sistently ensured adequate rep-resentation for various under-represented groups. The fournominated members include awoman, a Dalit and a memberof a religious minority (the Jaincommunity).

LPG price hiked by Rs 50; rates up by Rs 244Continued from page 1

In May, the government cutexcise duty on petrol by Rs 8per litre and diesel by Rs 6 perlitre to cool soaring inflation.

At that time, the governmentalso stated that Rs 200 percylinder subsidy on cookinggas will be limited to only 9crore poor women and otherbeneficiaries who got free con-nections under the Ujjwalascheme and the remainingusers including householdswill pay the market price (alsoknown as non-subsidised rate).

Originally, non-subsidisedcooking gas was the one thatconsumers used to buy afterexhausting their quota of 12cylinders at subsidised orbelow-market rates. However,the government stopped pay-ing subsidy on LPG to house-holds in mid-2020.

Non-subsidised LPG costsRs 1,052.50 per 14.2-kg cylin-

der in Mumbai, while it ispriced at Rs 1,079 a bottle inChennai and Rs 1,068.50 inKolkata.

Rates differ from state tostate depending on the inci-dence of local taxes such asVAT. Prices are higher in stateswith higher taxes.

Alongside, oil firms alsoreduced the price of commer-

cial LPG cylinders -- the onesused by establishments likehotels and restaurants. It nowcosts Rs 2,012.50 per 19-kgcylinder in the national capital,down from Rs 2,021 per cylin-der.

International oil prices havebeen on the rise this year.They jumped to a 13-year highof USD 140 per barrel in

March before shedding some ofthe gains. Brent was trading atUSD 103.92 per barrel onWednesday.

To compound things, theIndian rupee tumbled to Rs79.24 to a dollar, makingimports costlier.

India relies on overseas pur-chases to meet about 85 percent of its oil requirement,

making it one of the most vul-nerable in Asia to higher oilprices.

While India has surplus oilrefining capacity, it does notmanufacture enough LPG tomeet domestic demand andimports significant quantitiesfrom nations such as SaudiArabia.

Continued from page 1

Even with regard to petrol anddiesel prices, the rates inHyderabad are the secondhighest in the country. On Wednesday, domestic LPGprice was hiked by Rs 50 percylinder -- the third increase inrates since May on firming upinternational energy prices.Minister K T Rama Rao, in atweet, taking a dig at PMNarendra Modi regime, said,"Achhe Din Aa Gaye. LPG over

Rs1,050 and an increase again ofRs.50. Modiji's gift to all Indianhouseholds."Non-subsidised LPG now costsRs 1,053 per 14.2-kg cylinder inDelhi. Non-subsidised LPG costsRs 1,052.50 per 14.2-kg cylinderin Mumbai, while it is priced atRs 1,079 a bottle in Chennai andRs 1,068.50 in Kolkata.

KTR FLAYS NDA

Working president of ruling TRSin Telangana K T Rama Rao onWednesday criticised the NDAgovernment at the Centre overthe hike in LPG price.#AchheDin Aa Gaye Badhai Ho#LPG over ?1050 An increaseagain of ?50 Modi Ji's Gift to allIndian Households, Rama Rao,son of Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, tweeted.

Meanwhile, women leaders of theCongress held a protest at BJP'sTelangana headquarters hereagainst the increase in the LPGprice. The NDA government hasput an immense burden oncommon households, StateCongress women's wingpresident Sunitha Rao alleged.The price of cooking gas - LPG -was today hiked by Rs 50 percylinder, the eighth increase inrates in the last one year thattook the cumulative rise to Rs244.

Second highest...

BJP to go without...Continued from page 1

His followers even went onto say that the campaign headwill be the CM face. However,responding to these specula-tions, sources said that thenational leadership, duringNEC, gave strict instructionsto local leaders to avoid anydiscussion on Chief Ministerpost. Sources said that thenational leadership is keeping

an eye on who is going to rakeup the CM face issue. Sourcessaid: "BJP does not declare theCM candidate. During theprevious elections, no oneknew who would be the CMcandidate in Uttar Pradesh,Haryana, Maharashtra andPunjab as well. Same will bethe case with Telangana, irre-spective of who claims to bethe CM candidate, campaignhead or party head.

2nd, precaution dose gap reduced to 6...Continued from page 1

He said that is has arrived atkeeping in view the evolvingscientific evidence and globalpractices. The recommenda-tion has also been endorsed byNTAGI, Bhushan said."Therefore, it has now beendecided that the precautiondose for all beneficiaries from18-59 years will be adminis-tered after completion of sixmonths or 26 weeks from the

date of administration of thesecond dose at Private CovidVaccination Centres. "For ben-eficiaries aged above 60 yearsand above as well as the health-care and frontline workers,precaution dose would beadministered after completionof six months or 26 weeks fromthe date of administration ofthe second dose at governmentCVCs, free of charge," Bhushansaid. Instructions in this regardmay be issued to all the officials

concerned and it may also bepublicized widely, the Unionhealth secretary said. "I lookforward to your support andleadership for extending thebenefits of the precaution doseto all due beneficiaries at Covidvaccination centres as well ashousehold level during theongoing Har Ghar Dastak 2.0campaign, he said in the letteraddressed to chief secretariesand administrators of all statesand Union Territories.

Naqvi, RCP Singh resign from Union CabinetContinued from page 1

After Naqvi, there will be noMuslim minister at the Centreand the BJP will have noMuslim MP among its nearly400 Members of Parliament.

After Naqvi was not nomi-nated in the recent Rajya Sabhapolls, there has been specula-tion that he is being consideredfor the post of vice president,the election for which is sched-

uled to be held on August 6, orsome other key position.

Singh had fallen out offavour with Nitish KUmar andwas denied a Rajya Sabha tick-et. With his resignation, thereare only two ministers at theCentre from BJP allies --Ramdas Athawale from theRPI(A) and Anupriya Patelfrom the Apna Dal.

Naqvi was holding thecharge of Minority Affairs

Ministry and Singh was UnionSteel Minister. It was yet to bedeclared who would get thecharge of these ministries.

With the Union Cabinetnow having two more vacan-cies and no representationfrom the BJP's biggest allyJD(U), there is a possibility ofa cabinet expansion-cum-reshuffle in near future.However, there was no officialword on it so far.

PRESIDENT ACCEPTS RESIGNA-

TIONS

President Ram Nath Kovindaccepted the resignations ofUnion ministers MukhtarAbbas Naqvi and RamChandra Prasad Singh withimmediate effect, according toa Rashtrapati Bhavan state-ment on Wednesday.

Minority Affairs MinisterNaqvi and Steel Minister Singhsubmitted their resignations

to Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday, a daybefore the completion of theirRajya Sabha term.

According to the RashtrapatiBhavan statement, "...as advisedby the Prime Minister, thePresident has directed thatSmriti Zubin Irani, CabinetMinister, be assigned thecharge of the Ministry ofMinority Affairs, in addition toher existing portfolio."

A clear case of...Continued from page 1

In 2014, Telangana pro-duced about 45 Lakh MT ofpaddy. In 2021, paddy produc-tion from the state touched awhopping 3 Crore MT."

Dileep added, "A series offarmer-friendly initiatives suchas completion of Kaleshwaram& other irrigation projects,Mission Kakatiya, RythuBandhu, 24 hrs free power,new godowns, Rythu Beemaetc have led to the massiveincrease in food grains pro-duction in Telangana. Noother Indian state could

achieve this kind of progressin food grains production inindependent Indian history."Yet, instead of incentivisingsuch a performing state, UnionGovt has been constantly trou-bling Telangana by haltingpaddy procurement severaltimes, Dileep said. He tweet-ed, "Because of frequent flip-flops of Union Government,farmers producing food grainsare suffering a lot. The fact thatthis season paddy cultivationextent has fallen by 27% in ourcountry is a tell-tale indicatorof the Union Govt's lopsidedprocurement policies."

Coast Guard rescues 22...Continued from page 1

Around 8.20 am, the ICGreceived a distress alertabout uncontrolled floodingonboard merchant vesselGlobal King-1, which wasreportedly 185 km off thePorbandar coast, the ICGrelease stated.

Despite the adverse weath-er conditions at the time, aDornier aircraft was launchedfrom the ICG Air StationPorbandar to assess the situ-ation and relay informationto the vessels in the vicinity,it said.

The Dornier, on reachingthe area, dropped a life raftfor the crew, it said.

ICG Ship Shoor, CGOffshore Patrol Vessel(OPV), which was already atsea, was also directed toimmediately reach the area.The ICG ship braving veryrough seas proceeded to thearea with maximum speed,the release said.

The indigenously-builttwin engine Advanced LightHelicopters from ICG AirStation Porbandar were alsolaunched in Search & Rescue(SAR) configuration for anyeventuality.

The crew, after failing tostop the flooding, abandonedthe vessel.

The helicopters operatedclose to their operationalmaxima and braved squallyweather and strong winds toreach the area, it further said.

Thereafter, in a sea-aircoordinated effort, all 22 per-sonnel (20 Indian, onePakistani and one SriLankan) were successfullyrescued. The merchant vesselwas transporting 6,000-tonnebitumen from Khor Fakkan(UAE) to Kar war(Karnataka), it was stated.

ICG Inspector General,(North West), Anil KumarHarbola, said the crew mem-bers were picked up by thechoppers and ships.

Govt reviving literary...Continued from page 1

Officials said the Har GharTiranga' scheme will reach outto over 20 crore homes onIndependence Day. The cam-paign will be officially launchedby mid-July. Senior officialssaid the scheme envisages thatpeople will buy the flags madeby local self-help groups givinga fillip to the economy. Theyalso said the ministry has tied

up with e-commerce firms toensure that flags are sold onlineto meet the anticipated rise indemand. Once the programmeis officially launched, cam-paigns will be undertaken toraise awareness on Tricolour.Culture Secretary GovindMohan said in the last 15months of Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav celebrations over47,000 programmes have beenconducted.

Continued from page 1

Mohammed MonouwarHussain Asarfi was ques-tioned by the NIA after theyconducted searches at amadrassa in Santosh Nagarlimits. Mohammed is anative of Bhagalpur, Biharand has been residing inHyderabad for the past 8-10years. The NIA allegedlyfound Mohammed's contactnumber in the phone of theprime accused arrested inthe case.

The NIA had also issuedsummons to Mohammedasking him to appear beforethe SP, NIA in Jaipur on July14.

The Rajasthan cabinet onWednesday decided to givegovernment jobs to the sonsof Kanhaiya Lal who washacked to death inside hisshop in Udaipur.

NIA detainsHyd man...

Ailing Lalu taken toDelhi by air ambulancePNS n PATNA

RJD president Lalu Prasad onWednesday was taken to Delhiin an air ambulance, a coupleof days after falling critically ill.

The 74-year-old formerBihar chief minister wasaccompanied by a team ofdoctors and his eldest daugh-ter Misa Bharti, a Rajya SabhaMP who is also an MBBS. Hiswife Rabri Devi and youngerson Tejashwi Yadav had left afew hours earlier to oversee thearrangements in the nationalcapital. Prasad left for Delhi ataround 8.15 PM, nearly 45minutes behind schedule. Thedelay was attributed to the airambulance not reaching herein time. Crowds were seen atthe Paras hospital, wherePrasad had been admittedsince Monday morning,besides both sides of the roadthat led to the airport whichwas a 15-minute drive. At theJai Prakash Narayan Airport,slogans in praise of the messi-ah of the poor rent the air asthe ambulance carrying Prasadsped past the crowds, waitingfor their leader despite a driz-zle. Prasad, who turned 74 lastmonth, has been sufferingfrom multiple ailments includ-ing renal and cardiac problems

besides diabetes. On Sundaylast, he had a fall and fracturedhis shoulder after which theaffected area was bandaged.However, the pain worsenedand he was rushed to the hos-pital hours later. He had beenin the ICU and on oxygen sup-port. Visitors in the past cou-ple of days included ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar, hispolitical arch-rival, and ChiragPaswan whose late father RamVilas Paswan had been an oldassociate. Tejashwi Yadav, whois the RJD's heir apparent,expressed his gratitude whilespeaking to reporters earlier inthe day to leaders includingPrime Minister NarendraModi and Congress bigwigsSonia Gandhi and PriyankaGandhi Vadra who had tele-phoned him to enquire abouthis father's health.

SINHA'S FALTERING PRESIDENTIAL BID

BJP's presidential candidateDroupadi Murmu has betterchances (of winning presidentialpolls) because of Maharashtradevelopment. If the BJP had askedfor our suggestion beforeannouncing the name of Murmu, wecould have considered it, too,bearing greater interests in mind,Banerjee had said.

Pawar reaches out to oppn leaders

Conman cheats 700 people, flees with...Continued from page 1

He would say that it was a'Refundable Caution Deposit'which will be refunded afterthe candidate completes 6months of work from home.Playing this trick, AmitSharma baited 700 people into

this loop where people paidhim money. The complaintcopy said: "Out of the 700 peo-ple, 650 belong to middle classand lower middle class house-holds. They paid the refund-able deposit by borrowingmoney from various sources,thinking that it would get

repaid once they get theirsalary." Anil Sharma later wenton to open an office in BanjaraHills, where he succeeded incollection of money, approxi-mately about Rs 30 crore. Thevictims came to know thatAmit had left the city and fledto north India.

hyderabad 03HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

FIRST BBONAM

IN BRIEF

CCMB scientistelected toEuropean body

Minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries & Cinematography Talasani Srinivas Yadav accompanies a devotee carrying thefirst bonam to Mahankali temple in Secunderabed as part of Bonalu festival on Wednesday Photo SSV CChary

SIDDHARTH KUMAR SINGH

n HYDERABAD

The official data from theTelangana health departmentreveals that the state till June2022 has recorded 114 denguecases and with the rainy sea-son kicking off in the wholestate, the numbers are expect-ed to rise.

The 'Seasonal Disease bur-den among Tribal districts inTelangana' report consists ofa total of nine tribal districts.They are Kothagudem,Mulugu, Bhupalapal ly,Mahbubabad, Asifabad,Adilabad, Mancherial,Nagarkurnool and Nirmal.The official data shows that1931 cases of dengue wererecorded in 2019 from thesenine districts in Telangana.

About 80% of the cases

were recorded from four dis-tricts namely Kothagudem(656), Adilabad (423),Mancherial (291) andMahabubabad (202). Duringthe first year of the pandem-ic, i.e. 2020, the cases drasti-cally came down to 431, withmore than half of the casesrecorded in Adilabad district(244).

The cases then increased to1,120 in 2021 withKothagudem standing first(351) and Adilabad being sec-ond (231).

The data also threw light onthe malaria cases in the state.It shows that 1,081 cases wererecorded in 2019, 716 cases in2020 and 730 cases in 2021. Asof June 2022, 163 cases havebeen reported in the state.Majority of the cases in thelast three years have come

from Kothagudem district.Speaking to the Pioneer,

Director of Public Health,Telangana, Dr G Srinivasa

Rao, said "People should fol-low all the necessary precau-tions they have been followingsince the last two years as

symptoms of both Covid andseasonal diseases are similar.People should not neglectfever and get themselves test-

ed as soon as they see anysymptoms. These diseases arecontagious and if properattention is not paid, it mayresult in severe health compli-cations."Diseases like gas-troenteritis, typhoid, diarrhea,hepatitis A&E and choleraare water-borne diseases.

Monsoon is the time whenrain water mixes with sewage,soil and overf lowing ofgroundwater can contami-nate drinking water sourcesand lead to water-borne dis-eases. Malaria, dengue andChickynguniya are vector-borne diseases which spreadusually in June and July due tointermittent rains.

Leptospirosis and skin dis-eases are contact diseasesspread through exposure orcontact with dirty contami-nated water.

Telangana records 114 dengue cases till JunePNS n HYDERABAD

Ixora FM authorities haveclarified that they are payingsalaries month-on-month toall their legitimate onrollstaff at work.

Ixora said that there is alot of sincere efforts beingput in to follow their mis-sion to achieve the highestlevels of sanitation stan-dards.

"We have been workingcontinuously on a man-machine combination, inno-vative approach in publicsanitat ion which a lsoencompasses frequent struc-tured training and best busi-ness practices been sharedwith the team and incorpo-

rated," the company addedin a statement.

It was reported in thenews report titled, 'GHMC'soutsourced workers not paidfor months' on July 3.

The salaries are being paidto all their employees basedon the biometric attendanceand mult iple levels ofchecks, the statement clari-fied. GHMC officials saidthat the employees who putthe biometric by 7am willget their salary credited ontime. If they miss the bio-metric and is not addressedby officials, then it is markedas absent. GHMC officialssaid that the salary varies onbiometric and leaves avail-able.

Ixora FM clarifiessalaries being paid

Four minor childlabour girls rescuedPNS n HYDERABAD

On receipt of credible infor-mation about childrenbetween the age of 11 to 17years who were detained andbeing exploited for labour inRishoub Industries situatedat Mangalpally village underthe limits of Ibrahimpatnampolice station, a team ofMUSKAN-VIII, Rachakonda,along with Assistant Labourofficer, Ibrahimpatnam, joint-ly conducted raids on RishoubIndustries and rescued fourminor girls.

They belonged toChattisgarh state. All the chil-dren were trafficked byaccused persons, detained insheds located within thepremises of the companiesand exploiting them for workinhumanly in contravention ofthe labour laws. As such,Muskan-VIII team ofRachakonda Police has res-cued the child labourers.

The accused have been heldunder CR. No. 277/2020U/S.14 of Child andAdolescent Labour Act-1986under Ibrahimpatnam policestation of Rachakonda PoliceCommissionerate.

The accused Naresh Jain is

a native of Rajasthan state andhas been running a manufac-turing unit of disposable glass-es and thermocol plates styledas Rishoub Industries atMangalpally (V),Ibrahimpatnam mandal in RRdistrict. He trafficked fourvictim children fromChhattisgarh state and he didnot allow them even to go outof the premises. The accusedbeing the owner of companyutilised the services of childlabour for more than 12 hours,as the local labour doesn'taccept it.

Upon that, the owners ofcompanies used to bring thelabour, including child labourfrom other states likeChhattisgarh. In fact, some ofthe poor families who are infinancial crisis also send theirchildren voluntarily for workas there is no alternative tolead their families. Taking thatas an advantage, some of theowners of small scale compa-nies like the accused here col-luded with the labour contrac-tor for bringing the minorchildren for his company. Heexploited them in work from8 am to 10 pm by paying anamount of Rs 270 per day toeach child labour.

NAVEENA GHANATE

n HYDERABAD

Despite all the talk around bal-anced development, skeweddevelopment in westernHyderabad continues. WestHyderabad continued to dom-inate the city's residential space,accounting for a market shareof 62% of the total sales duringH1 2022.

According to half yearlyreport by Knight Frank, the citywitnessed major developmentsin West Hyderabad with 62%of the total units launched inplaces like Kokapet,Peerancheru, Gopanapalle, andNalagandla as homebuyers arepreferring to be close to thecommercial core of the city.

A key role was played byHyderabad's homeowner base,which comprises a strongInformation Technology (IT)workforce that largelyremained unaffected by pan-demic-related interruptions.

Knight Frank India in its lat-est report, India Real Estate: H12022 cited that sales inHyderabad's residential marketincreased by 23% YoY to

14,693 housing units in H12022, recording the highestsales levels since H1 2011.New home launches increasedby 28% YoY to 21,356 housingunits in H1 2022.

Continuously strong salesgraph has strengthened themarket despite the rise in inputcosts. While home sales post-ed a rise of 23% with total salesat 14.693 units, launches roseby 28% to be registered at21,356. From the aspect of theresidential price movement,Hyderabad is the only marketin India that has not seen a sin-gle year of price decline sinceH1 2013. It stood true to itsperformance in H1 2022 as

well, as the residential pricesincreased by 4% YoY, demon-strating the underlyingresilience of its home market.

From the perspective of half-yearly sales, H1 2022 postedthe highest sales volume sinceH1 2011. Low home loan inter-est rates and greater affordabil-ity have been the primary dri-vers for this growth.

Developers were also alignedto the demand momentumand shift in sentiment andlaunched 21,356 units in H12022, 28% higher than H12021.Senior Branch Director -Hyderabad at Knight FrankIndia, Samson Arthur, said,"Despite the pandemic-related

interruptions in 2020,Hyderabad is the only citythat has witnessed a constantprice rise. This truly demon-strated the underlyingresilience of its residential mar-ket. While it is no longer oneof the cheapest marketplaces inthe country, it still remains adesirable destination for end-

consumers and investors.Despite concerns about

overbuilding and the resul-tant overburdening of infra-structure consequent to easingof FSI limitations, sentiment inthe residential market remainspositive with mid segmentprojects expected to drive salesmomentum in the city."

DESIRABLE DESTINATION

Hyderabad registers highest housingsales in a decade: Knight Frank

Video surveillance at 76 rail stationsPNS n HYDERABAD

RailTel finalizes agencies toexecute the work of VideoSurveillance System (VSS) at76 railways stations in theSouth Central Railway juris-diction.

The Nirbhaya Fund at rail-way stations has taken amajor step by finalisingthe agencies for exe-cuting the job. Firstphase of the projectwill cover major sta-tions of category A1,A, B and C, number-ing 756 across theIndian Railways, while 76railway stations will be in theSouth Central Railways juris-diction and is likely to be com-pleted by January 2023.

In order to enhance securi-ty at the railway stations whichare major hubs of transporta-tion, the Indian Railways is inthe process of installingInternet Protocol (IP)-basedVideo Surveillance System(VSS) at stations, that is, wait-ing halls, reservation counters,parking areas, main entranceor exit, platforms, foot-overbridges and booking offices.

Minister for RailwaysAshwani Vaishnaw said, "Weneed to rapidly absorb newtechnology in the railways, be

it for rolling stock, construc-tion, safety, cyber security, orin situations where there is ahuman interface."

This VSS system will be IP-based and will have a networkof CCTV cameras. TheseCCTVs are being networkedon optical fiber cable and the

video feed of the CCTVcameras will be dis-

played not only atlocal RPF postsbut also at a cen-tralised CCTVcontrol room at

divisional andzonal level. The CCTV cam-

eras of stations and videofeeds will be monitored atthese three levels to ensureenhanced safety and securityat the railway stations. The sys-tem comes with ArtificialIntelligence (AI)-enabledVideo Analytics Software andFacial Recognition Softwarewhich will help detect knowncriminals triggering an alertwhen they enter the railwaystations. Four types of IP cam-eras (dome type, bullet types,pan tilt zoom type and ultraHD-4k) are being installed toensure maximum coverage.This will give an extra edge tothe RPF officials for ensuringenhanced security.

IT companies in the city havedeferred their office spaceexpansion plans. Compared to

last year, the IT sector officespace transactions in the city aredown by 39% in H1-2022 whichwas 48% in H1-2021. As per the report by KnightFrank, BFSI sector observed thehighest increase in terms ofshare, as its share of totaltransactions increased from 12%in H1 2021 to 22% in H1 2022.This is a very encouraging signfor the Hyderabad market as thecity continues to successfullyattract big BFSI players

operating in the country. From the aspect of office rents,Hyderabad's office marketrecorded a rise in the averagetransacted rent by 3.3% YoY inH1 2022.From the aspect ofmicro-markets, the WestSuburban Business district drewthe most attention in H1 2022,accounting for an overwhelming71% of all space transactedduring the period. Most of theoffice space transacted inHyderabad was situated inHITEC City, which continues tobe the nerve centre of the city'soffice market.

IT sector players in city deferoffice expansion plans

Dog hit to bleed from mouth forcarrying footwear, milk packetsPNS n HYDERABAD

The cruelty towards animals isgoing up by leap and boundsin Hyderabad. In a bizarre sit-uation on Tuesday night astreet dog was beaten to bleedfrom its mouth.

The front left leg bone wasbroken as a watchman ofAnand Nivas Apartments atSriram Nagar in Kondapurhit the dog with a long andheavy stick. When one of theresidents approached for res-cue, "The watchman ques-tioned, saying will you buy newfootwear and milk packetseveryday? It is carrying awayfootwear and milk packets.People in the apartments heldme responsible for it."

Hearing unusual sounds ofdog crying, Mahesh Kumar,residing in Sai AvenueApartments, noticed that adog was lying in a pool ofblood. When he questionedthe watchman, it was foundthat the dog was brutally beat-en up for carrying awayfootwear and milk packets.

A long, heavy wooden stickwas used to harm the animal.The resident immediately letfree the dog and complained to

Animal cruelty officerGoutham in Stray AnimalFoundation of India, an NGO.Later, Goutham wrote to theStation House Officer ofGachibowli Police Station ofCyberabad Commissionerate.

An FIR has been filedagainst the watchmanVenkateshwarlu underCr.No.719/2022 U/Sec 429 IPCand investigation entrusted toSIP P Narender Reddy.

Later, the volunteers of theNGO found the dog in painfulcondition and handed it overto Breath Animal Rescue. SaiSree, founder of Breath AnimalRescue home said, "It is acruel case and the dog has been

hurt badly. The front left legbone was completely broken.The dog is still finding it dif-ficult to go to humans andshivering if any volunteertouches it. According to ourdoctors, it might be in betweentwo to three years. "

Stray Animal Foundation ofIndia (Safi) is funding the dogfor treatment and care. BreathNGO is taking care of her in ashelter. "This is not the firstcase. Three to four such casesare reported every month.Basically, humans behave likethis due to lack of awarenessthat they can be jailed undercruelty towards animals," saidanimal rescue NGOs.

PNS n HYDERABAD

International demand for airtravel has increased substan-tially as restrictions acrosscountries were eased.Travellers who averaged sixreturn trips pre-pandemic(2019) are beginning to returnto the skies, with an average ofthree self-predicted returntrips planned for 2022, founda new study commissioned byCollinson, a global leader intraveller experiences.

The research seeks tounderstand the latest trendsand travel habits driving AsiaPacific customers and sur-veyed almost 5,400 frequent

travellers across seven majormarkets - Australia, China,Hong Kong, India, Japan,Singapore and South Korea.India saw the largest numberof respondents to the researchout of all the markets includ-

ed, with 1,063 participants(20%).With summer in thenorthern hemisphere usheringin "peak travel season", one canexpect to see a rise in travelaround the region as peoplestart planning their much-

awaited vacations. Althoughmost of these trips are expect-ed to be domestic leisure trips,55% of respondents haveexpressed an interest in trav-elling outside their home mar-ket for at least one trip.Lookingat India specifically, the mar-ket appears to be ahead of thecurve, with Indian airportswitnessing a steep ramp-up ininternational passenger traffic.Travel reached 72% of pre-COVID levels in May thisyear and is expected to reach80-85% of pre-COVID levelsby April 2023. Major destina-tions driving this demand areSouth East Asia, the MiddleEast and Europe.

Easing travel curbs increased global leisure travel: Study

PNS n HYDERABAD

More companies are coming for-ward to take up maintenance oflakes under Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR).Maintenance of MalkamCheruvu is being taken up byM/s Aparna Constructions andEstates Pvt. Ltd and the devel-opment and maintenance ofMeedikunta Lake by M/sFountainhead the Global School.The 12th ordinary meeting ofthe Standing Committee-2021of the GHMC approved entrust-ing the work of developmentand conservation of 25 lakes in

the GHMC limits to variousagencies, civic and beautificationactivities to be taken up theagencies towards rejuvenation oftanks under CSR and authorizedthe Commissioner, GHMC tosign an MoU for a period of 24months.The meeting alsoapproved expression of interestfor maintenance of central medi-ans/traffic island fromMindspace Junction to RollingHills, Gachibowli in Circle No.20, SLPZ, GHMC during theyear 2022-23 under CorporateSocial Responsibility (CSR) byM/s Asian Institute ofGastroenterology Pvt. Ltd.

GHMC gives nod for maintenanceof city lakes by private firms

Dr RajanSankaranarayanan,Scientist at CSIR-Center

for Cellular and MolecularBiology (CCMB) Hyderabad, onWednesday was announced asa one of the elected associatemembers of EuropeanMolecular Biology Organization(EMBO). This year, 67researchers from 22 countries,based on their researchexcellence and achievements,have been elected for themembership. In all, 58 newEMBO members are based in15 of the member states of theEMBC, the intergovernmentalorganization that funds themajor EMBO programmes andactivities. The nine newassociate members, includingDr Rajan, reside in seven Non-EMBC countries: Argentina,Australia, Canada, China, India,Singapore and the USA.Dr Rajan responded to themembership saying "I amhonoured to be elected for theEMBO membership which isone of the top recognitions forscientific excellence.’’

City cops nab 8 persons for selling fake IPhonesPNS n HYDERABAD

The Cyber Warriors team ofTukaramgate police station,Gopalapuram division, Northzone of the Hyderabad city policearrested eight persons in Pune fordeceiving a city woman intosending money for purchasing anIPhone. The police recovered Rs60,000, identified 94 bankaccounts, seized 51 ATM cards, 30

mobile phones, 9 SIM cards, twolaptops, 26 bank QR codes, tworouters, two IP cameras and onecard-swiping machine from theaccused.The incident occurred onMay 29 when the victim, GPravalika saw an advertisementwhile browsing Instagram of 'Buyone Get one' offer on IPhone maxpro at Rs 6,999. Below the ad, aWhatsapp number was providedfor thosewho want to avail the

offer. The police charged all theaccused under Sections 419(Punishment for cheating by per-sonation) and 420 (Cheating anddishonestly inducing delivery ofProperty) of the Indian PenalCode and Section 66 C(Punishment for identity theft)and 66 D (Punishment for cheat-ing by personation using comput-er resource) of the InformationTechnology Act.

Special Chief Secretary ofForest DepartmentA.Shanti Kumari directed

all the departments concernedthat saplings should be plantedas part of the eighth greeningphase so that all vacant areasin the state become green.The Eighth Phase of the State-Level Monitoring andCoordination Committeemeeting on the progress ofHaritaharam for Telangana washeld at Aranya Bhavan. Forest,municipal, irrigation, panchayatraj and senior officials of theGHMC and the HMDAparticipated.Department-wiseplanting targets, availability innurseries, necessary plantingmaterial and progress werediscussed in the reviewmeeting.

All vacantareas shouldbe green: SCS

PNS n HYDERABAD

Gandhi Government Hospitalon Wednesday started a spe-cialty clinic for patients need-ing Cochlear implantations.The clinic will be functioningtwice a week, Wednesday andSaturday at the ENT Out-patient ward from 2 pm to 4pm. The beneficiaries forCochlear implant will becounselled and evaluated bydoing all the necessary inves-tigations like Audiology-Otoacoustic emissions, BERA,ASSR, CT Scans and MRI.

Cochlearimplantation clinicstarted at GGH

04HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

PNS n NAGARKURNOOL

Anuradha S Chagti, JointSecretary in the UnionMinistry of Development ofNortheastern Region, hasadvised the district authoritiesto greatly limit groundwaterextraction and take foolproofmeasures to improve thegrounwater table.

She was addressing officialsof Forest, Rural Development,Groundwater, Irrigation, agri-culture and allied departmentsofficials at a meeting held at theDistrict Collectorate onTuesday. She was apprised of JalSakti Abhiyan implementationin the district throughPowerPoint presentation.

Nagarkurnool district, whichfigured among the districtsfacing acute shortage of waterin the past, is no longer facingthe water scarcity on accountof the irrigation projects taken

up by the State government,construction of watersheds,percolation tanks, rain waterharvesting structures, waterstorage tanks and HaritaHaram programmes, she said.

However, she questioned thedistrict authorities the reasonsbehind tapping of groundwa-ter by up to 129 per cent inUrukonda, Veldanda andUppunutala mandals. Shewanted the district administra-tion to pay special attention onthe three mandals.

District Collector admittedthat there is a need to greatlyreduce exploitation of thegroundwater in the three man-dals.

When Anuradha Chagtiasked authorities present atthe meeting to suggest solu-tions to reduce groundwaterexploitation, a GroundwaterDepartment official told herthat sinking borewells, except

for drinking water purposes,for irrigation and industrialpurposes has been prohibitedin the three mandals. Further,she said, measures have beeninitiated to construct water-sheds, rain water harvestingpits, to tap every drop of rainwater that is incident on theroofs of houses and offices

through rain water harvestingpits to re-charge the groundwater table. Special workswould be taken up as part ofthe NREGA to increase theground water table.

District Collector P UdayKumar recalled how the farm-ers deserted their villages andwent to other places in search

of greener pastures for want ofwater for drinking and irriga-tion. In some areas of the dis-trict, people have been affect-ed by high fluoride content inwater.

With the construction ofMahatma Gandhi LI Scheme,4.34-lakh acres got irrigationfacility in the district. If thePalamuru-Rangareddy LIscheme is ready, an additional1.06-lakh acres would get theirrigation facility. Filling thetanks in chain link mechanismhas been contributing toincreasing the ground waterand helping farmers irrigatetheir fields.

Desiltation of irrigationtanks has been taken up, hesaid.

Lands in Urukonda,Veldanda mandals have beenidentified as tail-end landsunder the ayacut. Therefore,farmers in the three villages are

dependent on ground watertable and rains for agriculture.

To increase ground watertable, several activities havebeen taken up in the district, hesaid adding that the activitiesare yielding fruitful results.Under Haritaharam, annuallylakhs of saplings are beingplanted. Similarly, PallePrakruti Vanams and BruhatPrakruti Vanams have beendeveloped in villages to growmore and more saplings.

Earlier, District Collector PUday Kumar welcomed thevisiting dignitary by presentingher with a sapling.

Additional Collector ManuChowdary, Forest DivisionalOfficer Rohit, DistrictPanchayat Officer Krishna,District Educational OfficerGovindarajulu, DistrictGroundwater official Ramadeviand others took part in themeeting.

Need to limit exploitation of groundwater stressed

Joint Secretary of Union Ministry of Development of Northeast Anuradha S Chagtispeaking at a meeting in Nagarkurnool

PNS n NAGARKURNOOL

District Collector P UdayKumar on Wednesday stressedthe need to curb illegal trans-port of cattle. He directed theofficials to take all measures forthe protection of cattle.

The Collector was reviewingthe measures taken for the pro-tection of cattle in the districtat a meeting with the officialsat the District Collectoratehere.

Speaking on the occasion,Uday Kumar directed thepolice and the officials of theRoad Transport Authority(RTA) to set up check-posts tocurb illegal transport of cattle.He asked the officials to ensurethat transport of cattle from thedistrict does not take place. Hestressed that the police, RTAand Animal Husbandry offi-cials should work in coordina-tion with each other at check-

posts. He asked the officials to shift

the cows which are foundbeing illegally transported tothe protection centre. Officialsshould take all measures toensure that animal waste is notdumped on the streets. Hestressed the need to take up aspecial sanitation drive toensure that diseases do notbreak out.

Udaya Kumar directed the

officials of local bodies to setup centres for performing ani-mal birth control (ABC)surgery on dogs to controlstray dog population.

Additional Superintendentof Police Rameswar, AdditionalCollector Motilal, AnimalHusbandry officer P VRamesh, RTA officer E Swamy,Municipal CommissionerAnvesh and district officialswere present.

Officials told to set up check-poststo curb illegal transport of cattle

Nagarkurnool Collector P Uday Kumar at a review meeting Nagarkurnool on Wednesday

PNS n NIZAMABAD

Nizamabad Lok Sabha mem-ber Dharmapuri Arvind onWednesday urged the officialsto provide details of variousschemes being implementedin the district with Centralfunds. He wanted particularsof all the schemes with statis-tics.

Speaking at the DistrictDevelopment Coordinationand Monitoring Committeemeeting, held at the DistrictCollectorate here, Arvindasked the officials to ensurethat the details of all works,undertaken with the Centralfunds, are included in thereport. He wanted to knowhow many of the sanctionedworks have been launchedand how many of them havebeen completed so far.

Arvind urged officials toensure that premiums for cropinsurance are paid underPradhan Mantri Fasal BhimaYojna. It would help thefarmer to secure compensa-tion for the loss of crops. Heappealed to the officials tocheck the quality of checkdams in the district. He askedthe officials to pay compensa-tion early for crop loss to thefarmers in Balakonda con-stituency due to damage totwo check dams. He made itclear that the students shouldbe distributed eggs under thenutritious programme. Hedrew the attention of theauthorities to the arrest of a'terrorist' in the district on thecharge of hatching a plan toprovide training in 'terrorism'to 200 persons.

A fake passport racket too

was busted in the district inthe past, he said. He suggest-ed that the district administra-tion take measures to suppresssuch 'terrorist' activities withan iron hand. He also suggest-ed that the district administra-tion focus on curbing ganjasmuggling and peddling in thedistrict. District Collector CNarayana Reddy denied thatthe Lok Sabha member wasinvited for inaugural functionsof the projects constructedwith the funds provided by theCentre.

He made it clear that pro-tocol is being followed strict-ly. He said that action wouldbe taken against those respon-sible for protocol violation, hesaid. The Collector said thatsaplings were planted on thelands belonging to NizamSugar Factory at Bhodan.

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT SCHEMES

Arvind demands details ofdevelopmental activities in dist

Nizamabad Lok Sabha member Dharmapuri Arvind at a review meeting in Nizamabad on Wednesday

PNS n HANAMKONDA

All set for the successfulconduct of the KakatityaVaibhava Saptaham, a week-long historical and culturalfestival between July 7 and13.

Minister for MunicipalAdminstration K T RamaRao will attend the valedic-tory function as chief guest atthe UNESCO heritage siteRamappa temple in Mulugudistrict, said GovernmentChief Whip Dasyam VinayBhaskar here on Wednesday.

Addressing a media con-ference here, Vinay Bhaskarsaid that descendant ofKakatiyas Kamal ChandraBhanj Deo, who is theMaharaja of Princely State ofBastar was invited as thespecial guest for the pro-gramme. There will be 700artists and 777 photos to beexhibited at the State galleryin Madhapur in Hyderabad

as a part of this seven-dayfete, he said. He also said thatthe cultural events, includingdramas, Kavi Sammelanam,essay writing competition forthe students, classical danceperformance, and food carni-val would be organised as a

part of the fest iva l atThousand Pillar temple,Aggalaiah Gutta , FortWarangal , AmbedkarBhavan, Public Garden,Ramap Ramappa temple andother places in erstwhileWarangal district.

Meanwhile, some people'srepresentatives appeal to theState government to allotmore funds for the festival.The meagre allotment of Rs50 lakh is not sufficient toconduct the function on agrand scale, they felt.

All set for inauguration of Kakatiya Festival today

Government Chief Whip Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar explaining about Kakatiya Festival in Warangal on Wednesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), State unit, has decidedto make use of Right toInformation (RTI) as a weaponto 'expose the State govern-ment.' It accused the Stategovernment of failing to fulfilelection promises.

As a part of the strategy, BJPState unit president BandiSanjay Kumar and other BJPleaders filed close to 100 appli-cations seeking details on ful-filment of promises made byChief Minister KChandrashekar Rao in the lasteight years on the floor of theAssembly and LegislativeCouncil.

Applications under RTI Actwere filed to the ChiefMinister's Office, Finance,Revenue, Panchayat Raj, WaterResources, Education andMedical and HealthDepartments, besides the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

In the RTI applications filed

by Sanjay on June 28, he soughtto know how many of thepromises made by the ChiefMinister were fulfilled so far.He also wanted to know theconstruction cost of PragatiBhavan.

The applications also relat-ed to job vacancies in variousdepartments as per the Biswal

Committee report and theemployment opportunitiesprovided. He also sought infor-mation regarding subsidiesprovided to farmers and vari-ous caste-based occupations,besides construction and dis-bursement of double bedroomhouses for the poor and pen-sion benefits for the aged, wid-

ows and physically handi-capped. The BJP, the leaderssaid, intended to hold the TRSgovernment responsible for itsfailures. The BJP state unitvice-president G ManoharReddy had sought answers onthe huge money spent by thegovernment on advertise-ments.

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

District Collector R V Karnanhas called upon KendriyaVidyalayas to work with dedi-cation and impart quality edu-cation to the pupils. Hereviewed the facilities availableat the Kendriya Vidyalaya withprincipals and teachers at theLMD Colony branch ofKendriya Vidyalaya. He sug-gested that Kendriya Vidyalayasteach Telugu from class 1 to 5for the students whose moth-er tongue is Telugu. He askedthe principals to take steps toimprove educational standards.He said that the school com-mittee has approved establish-ment of drinking water ROplant, sports facilities develop-ment and creation of otherbasic amenities. KendriyaVidyalaya principalsRamakrishna, GottimukkulaDevender, Gandra LakshmanRao, Balamani, Durga Prasadand others took part in themeeting.

‘Impart qualityeducation topupils’

Baby dies afterswallowing Rs 5 coin

PNS n BHONGIR

In a tragic incident, a 4-year-old girl accidentallyswallowed Rs 5 coin andsubsequently died due to res-piratory problems thatcropped up followingremoval of the coin by doc-tors from her throat region.

She was identified asChaitra, youngest daughter ofa couple residing inVenkataramana Colony inBhudan Pochampally town -Bongu Mahesh and Sarita.

According to reports,Chaitra swallowed a Rs 5 coina week ago while playing ather house.

As the coin got lodged inthe throat region, the couplerushed her to a private hos-pital in Hyderabad.

Doctors treated the girlsand removed the coin, mak-ing parents and other heavea sigh of relief.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Bharatiya Janata Party statesenior leader GudurNarayana Reddy onWednesday criticised ChiefMinister K ChandrashekarRao for failing to fulfil elec-tion promises. He also saidthat the Chief Minister hadinsulted Prime MinisterNarendra Modi with 'sheerarrogance.'

In a media statement, hesaid that it was a shame onthe part of the Chief Ministerfor not attending the wel-coming ceremony of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onJuly 2. On earlier occasionsalso, the Chief Minister hadshown utter disrespect bynot receiving him at the air-port and by not participating

in the programmes beingattended by the PrimeMinister.

Narayana Reddy said thatwhoever the Prime Ministerof the country is, he would beconsidered as the leader ofthe nation and the mostrespected person after thePresident.

'State leaders like the ChiefMinister should show duerespect to the Prime Ministerand follow the protocols evenif the Prime Minister belongsto the rival party. However,Telangana Chief Minister KChandrashekara Rao forgotthis principle and insulted thePrime Minister three timesthis year. He said that theChief Minister and PrimeMinister owe their allegianceto the Constitution of India.

KCR insulted PM by notreceiving him: Gudur

PNS n SANGAREDDY

Demanding allotment ofhouse sites to them, a groupof 500 persons encroachedupon 9.35 acres under surveynumber 435 in Manyakuntaarea of Sadasivapeta town onTuesday.

They staged a novel protestby encroaching upon thegovernment land. They setup sticks in the land. Theyexpressed concern over gov-ernment not allotting themhouse site pattas and claimedto have been residing inrented houses for the pasttwo or three decades. Theyare turning a deaf ear to theirpleas no matter how manytimes they had representedtheir case to authorities. Untilthey get a categorical assur-ance, they said, they are notprepared to leave the place.Revenue, Irrigation officialsvisited the area and tried topacify them.

Novel protest byhomeless poor

25,650 oil palm saplings planted on a single day PNS nNAGARKURNOOL

H o r t i c u l t u r eDepartment officialshave said that arecord of sorts hasbeen created byplanting 25,650 oilpalm saplings in var-ious mandals of thedistrict on a singleday, Hort icultureDepartment officialssaid here onWednesday.

According to offi-cials, a total of 109farmers planted oilpalm saplings in 513acres spreading over34 villages. Of thecost of a plant i.e. Rs193, the HorticultureDepartment g ivessubsidy of Rs 173.

The departmentprovides 100 per centsubsidy to ScheduledCastes and ScheduledTribes farmers to

install drip irrigationequipment in theirfields, while the sub-sidy component forthe small and mar-ginal farmers wouldbe 90 per cent. Thesubsidy that bigfarmers are going toget to get the dripequipment installedwould be Rs 80 percent. Each farmer isgiven Rs 2,100 peracre per year formaintenance of oilpalm gardens and anequal amount wouldbe given to rise inter-crops in the oil palmgarden. With encour-agement f romDistrict Collector,many more oil palmsaplings are going tobe planted in the daysto come to fulfill thetarget, avers horti-culture of f icial GChandrasekhar Rao.

BVRIT celebrates college day PNS n MEDAK

BVRIT enjoys the best place inthe education sphere ofTelangana, said Sri Vishnugroup of educational institu-tions' secretary Aditya.

Speaking at BVRIT CollegeDay celebrations held inNarsapur on Wednesday, hesaid that quality educationwas being provided to stu-dents. The institutions would

introduce new courses, if nec-essary.

Many students of the collegeare securing placements dur-ing campus selections. TheBVRIT tops the list of collegesin providing placements to itsstudents. Students are encour-aged to take part in culturalprogrammes to bring out theirlatent talents.

Vice-chairman of the educa-tional group Ravi Chandran

underlined the need forgrooming students in culturalevents along with providingeducation. College studentstook part enthusiastically invarious cultural events likeBharat Natyam, western danceon the occasion. College prin-cipal Lakshmi Prasad, HoDsRayudu, Manubabu, SanjayDobbe, Manager Bapiraju, pro-fessors and students took partin the programme.

BVRIT students taking part in cultural event during college day function in Medak on Wednesday

MLA Marri Janardhan Reddy planting an oil palm sapling inNagarkurnool on Wednesday

BJP to make use of RTIAct for ‘exposing’ TS govtBJP State unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar and other BJP leadersfiled close to 100 applications under the Right to Information Act

PNS n HYDERABAD

A two-day Travel andTourism Fair (TTF) held atHyderabad InternationalConvention Centre (HICC)on Madhya Pradesh con-cluded on Wednesday. Theevent has provided a uniqueplatform for all tourism andhospitality stakeholders tointeract and transact businessopportunities in the state.The exhibition witnessedhuge footfall, including top-notch industry influencers,travel enthusiasts, corporatestakeholders, business heads,travel operators, and mediaprofessionals.

The visitors exchangedviews and opinions onMadhya Pradesh Tourismand expanded their knowl-edge spectrum around newdevelopments and itineraryofferings.TTF Hyderabad-2022 is India's largest traveltrade show network.

2-day tourism fairon MP concludes

nation 05HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

IND

IA C

OR

NE

R

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases hasarrested two other accused who were allegedly part of a mob that had set a houseablaze during the violence, which had left 127 people dead here. The SIT has so far

arrested 13 people in connection with the violence that took place following theassassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in Delhi.The fresh arrests were made on Wednesdayin a separate case lodged with the Naubastapolice. The SIT was formed by the UttarPradesh government three years ago to re-investigate the cases related to the riots.The arrested accused -- Sidh Gopal Guptaalias Babbu (66) and Jitendra Kumar Tiwarialias Raja Babu (58) -- are residents ofKidwai Nagar. They were produced before acourt, which remanded them in judicialcustody for 14 days, said Deputy InspectorGeneral of Police (DIG) Balendu BhushanSingh, who is heading the SIT.

1984 anti-Sikh riots SIT arrests 2 more accused in Kanpur

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday attacked the government overthe issue of price after LPG rate was hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder, accusing the BJPdispensation of managing headlines but mismanaging economy. His attack came on a

day the cooking gas price witnessed a third increase in rates since May on firminginternational energy prices. Non-subsidised LPG now costs Rs 1,053 per 14.2-kg cylinderin the national capital, up from Rs1,003 previously, according to a pricenotification of state-owned fuelretailers. "Headlines Managed.Economy Mismanaged," Gandhitweeted, with a photo with text tosuggest the BJP's stance on inflationand the depreciation of Indian currencychanged after it came to power. In thetext, he said the BJP used to propagate(prachar) in the past that the currencyof a country goes down if it has acorrupt government.

Headlines managed, economymismanaged: Rahul

In an apparent suicide pact, a couple and their eight-year-old daughter were foundhanging from the ceiling of their home here Wednesday morning, police said. Thecouple leaves behind a six-year-old son, and a purported suicide note which

mentions the man was unemployed. Sonu (30), along with his wife Geeta (28) andtheir daughter Shrishti used to live at thefirst floor of his father's house in sector10 at Awas Vikas, police said SeniorSuperintendent of Police (Agra) PrabhakarChaudhary said Wednesday morning thatpolice received information about theincident and rushed a team to the spot.According to the purported suicide noterecovered from the spot, Sonu wasunemployed and the couple decided tocommit suicide along with their daughter,he said. The couple also has a six-year-oldson, Shyam, who went outside to informthe neighbours about the incident, he said.

Couple, 8-yr-old daughter commit suicide in Agra

Assam Rifles to train studentsfor competitive examsPNS n GUWAHATI

An institute to mentor studentsfrom remote areas and eco-nomically-challenged back-grounds for competitive exam-inations is being established bythe Assam Rifles in Manipur.

The paramilitary forcesigned an agreement onTuesday with NationalIntegrity and EducationDevelopment Organisation(NIEDO), and Axis Bank toestablish the 'Assam RiflesCentre of EducationalExcellence' at Kangvai inChurachandpur district.

The project has been con-ceptualised as a year-long fullyresidential coaching and men-toring facility for studentsfrom economically weaker andunder-privileged sections forcompetitive examinations suchas NEET and JEE, a statementsaid.

The project is expected to befully functional for the firstbatch of 30 students by the firstweek of August, it added. This

will be the second institute ina series of initiatives that aimto transform educationalopportunities in remote loca-tions, with the first one com-ing up in Nagaland.

Governor La Ganesan saidthe initiative will provideaccess to high-quality educa-tion facilities to students whoare deprived of it.

Director-General of AssamRifles Lt Gen PC Nair said theinstitute will not only fulfil theaspirations of the talentedyouths of Manipur but also will

usher prosperity and happinessin society.

He said the mentoring willprovide value-based educa-tion, including soft skill train-ing, critical life competencies,leadership capabilities, per-sonal conditioning, wellnessprogrammes, vocational train-ing, personality developmentand end-to-end grooming.

CEO of NEIDO RohitSrivastava, and Head ofCorporate Affairs of Axis BankRudrapriyo Ray were presentat the programme.

PNS n KOLKATA

West Bengal governor JagdeepDhankhar on Wednesdayurged the Bengali intelligentsiato break their silence on whathe described as the "decima-tion of democratic values" inthe state.

Speaking to reporters afterpaying floral tributes at thestatue of Syama PrasadMookherjee on his birthanniversary, the governorclaimed West Bengal shouldnot become a place "wheredemocracy breathes its last"."We have become a laborato-ry of human rights violations,"he claimed.

Dhankhar, who has had fre-quent run-ins with theTrinamool Congress dispensa-tion in the state since takingover as governor in July 2019,asserted that he will not allowdemocracy to be decimated in

the state, maintaining that hecannot fail in his constitution-al oath. "The greatest threat todemocracy and which we can-not allow to happen, is extremeappeasement," he said.

Holding that Constitutionallows a fair approach andequality for all, he said theCentre has given a categoricalindication towards it throughthe policy of 'Sabka Sath, SabkaVikas'. Calling upon the peo-

ple of the state to rememberMookherjee's contribution atthe time of Partition, the gov-ernor said that it was his sig-nificant role that resulted inwhat West Bengal is at present.

"The threat that was there atthe time of Partition could benullified by the great efforts ofthis great son of Bharat Ma(Mother India)," Dhankharsaid. He said that Mookherjeewas a nationalist, freedom fighter and a great leader who sac-rificed his life in the true spir-it of service to 'Bharat Ma'.

‘We have become laboratory of humanrights violations': West Bengal Governor

PNS n NEW DELHI

The minimum support price onagri crops should continue aslong as markets become compet-itive and efficient, but it shouldbe given through means otherthan procurement, governmentthink-tank Niti Aayog memberRamesh Chand said onWednesday.

Chand -- while addressing aconference on 'Getting agricul-ture markets right' -- organisedjointly by National StockExchange and ICRIER -- said:"Deficiency Pricing Payment(DPP)' is one such means of giv-ing MSP (Minimum SupportPrice) to farmers, but cautionedthat DPP cannot be stopped

once implemented. Under DPP,the difference between the openmarket price and MSP is given tofarmers, he said, adding that ithas been implemented in somestates like Madhya Pradesh. MSP

is a minimum price at which thegovernment undertakes procure-ment. MSP is fixed for 22-23crops. Rice and wheat are large-ly procured crops by the govern-ment. "In some cases, MSP is jus-

tified in times of volatility inprices and glut. I feel what mat-ters is how we give MSP to farm-ers. ...MSP has to be there as longas markets are not competitiveand efficient.

PNS n NEW DELHI

With the Rajya Sabha term ofMukhtar Abbas Naqvi ending onThursday, the BJP will have noMuslim MP among its 395Members of Parliament.

Naqvi, who resigned from theCabinet on Wednesday, wasamong the three BJP Muslim MPswhose term ended during therecent round of Rajya Sabha pollsto 57 seats across 15 states butnone of them were renominatedby the party.

The term of two others, formerUnion minister M J Akbar andSyed Zafar Islam, has alreadyended.

The opposition has beenaccusing the BJP of not givingadequate representation to

Muslims, but the saffron partyhas maintained that its MPswork for all communities and arenot representatives of any reli-gion. Over the decades, Muslim

BJP MPs have had a nominalpresence in Parliament. Naqvihimself has been a Rajya Sabhamember for three terms, NajmaHeptulla for two terms and

Shahnawaz Hussain, currently aminister in the Bihar govern-ment, was elected to Lok Sabhatwice. Naqvi was a Lok Sabhamember for one term as well.

Sikander Bakht, a founder mem-ber of the party and one of itsfirst three general secretaries,was a Rajya Sabha membertwice.

It will be after a considerableperiod of time that the BJP willnot have any Muslim MP.

To questions about the devel-opment, BJP minority morchachief Jamal Siddiqui assertedthat politics should not beattached with religion and thatMPs are elected as representa-tives of the people and not of anyreligion. "So even if someonefrom our religion or caste is notthere, we should understandthat our own countrymen arethere. Responsibilities keep onchanging in the BJP and I amconfident that the party will

ensure representation of all com-munities," he said.

The party also has Muslimlawmakers in some states,including one each in Bihar andUP.

However, there is a buzz aboutthe party's outreach to Muslims,India's largest minority commu-nity, after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi asked BJP lead-ers at its recent national execu-tive meeting in Hyderabad tocultivate deprived sections incommunities other than Hindusas well.

Assam Chief MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma also high-lighted the party's good perfor-mance in local polls in someregions with a sizeable Muslimpopulation.

PNS n CHANDIGARH

Punjab Chief MinisterBhagwant Mann will onThursday tie the nuptialknot for the second time.Mann (48) separated from hisfirst wife in 2015. He has twochildren from his first marriage."The chief minister is getting marriedin a private ceremony here tomorrow.He will tie the knot with Dr GurpreetKaur, who belongs to Pehowa inHaryana's Kurukshetra," AAP's Punjabunit chief spokesperson MalvinderSingh Kang told PTI over the phone.

Only family members, includ-ing Mann's mother, sister,relatives, and a few guestswill attend the wedding,sources said, adding DelhiChief Minister and AAP

national convener ArvindKejriwal is expected to be in

attendance. Sources said that thismarriage is an arranged one. State min-isters Harjot Bains and Aman Arora aswell as the party's senior leader RaghavChadha congratulated Mann onTwitter. "Wishing my Chief MinisterBhagwant Mann Ji a very happy andblessed married life ahead.

India will lead fourth industrialrevolution, asserts PM ModiPNS n GUWAHATI

Prime Minister Narendra Modion Wednesday said that theCentre and the Assam govern-ment are working together tominimise the problems facedby people during the ongoingfloods in the state.

While virtually inauguratingthe Golden Jubilee celebra-tions of Assamese newspaper'Agradoot', he said the state andits people are struggling due tothe devastating floods this year,but Chief Minister HimantaBiswa Sarma and his team areworking hard to provide suc-cour to the affected people.

"I have been regularly speak-ing with the CM and others. Iwant to assure the people ofAssam that the central and thestate governments are workingtogether to minimise people'sproblems," he said.

Modi said that while India

lagged during the last threeindustrial revolutions as mostpeople did not have access toits vast knowledge, which is inIndian languages, the country,backed by digital knowledge,will lead the fourth industrialrevolution of the 21st century.

"Before Independence, our

languages didn't grow. In factthey shrunk as most peopledidn't have access to knowl-edge. The space for innovationand invention was limited.But the fourth industrial rev-olution in the 21st century willbe led by India on the back ofdigital knowledge," he said.

BJP bags 102 of 130 seats unopposedin Arunachal panchayat bypollsPNS n ITANAGAR

The BJP bagged 102 of 130 pan-chayat seats unopposed inArunachal Pradesh where by-elections are scheduled nextweek, Panchayat MinisterBamang Felix said.

By-elections to 130 panchay-at seats and a zilla parishad con-stituency were scheduled to beheld on July 12. Of the 130 pan-chayat seats, BJP bagged 102unopposed. Another 14 seatswere secured unopposed byCongress, NPP andIndependents, Felix said.

BJP candidates have baggedunopposed all the panchayatseats in Tawang, West Kameng,

East Kameng, Pakke Kessang,Kamle, Upper Subansiri, WestSiang, Upper Siang, Namsai,Siang, Lower Siang, Tirap,Changlang and Longding dis-tricts. In Kurung Kumey, theBJP won five seats unopposed,while its ally NPP won one seat.The Congress managed to

secure the Gangte-I gram pan-chayat seat in Kra Daadi uncon-tested, while all the other fourseats were won by the BJP.

Chief Minister Pema Khandutweeted, "Congra tulations andthanks to all karyakartas, sup-porters and sympathisers forelecting 102 @BJP4Arunachalcandidates unopposed in bye-elections to 130 GramPanchayat Constituencies ofArunachal Pradesh."

Union Law minister KirenRijiu said the people ofArunachal Pradesh have fullfaith in the leadership of thechief minister, who is workingtirelessly to fulfill their aspira-tions.

PNS n CHANDIGARH

The Punjab Cabinet onWednesday accorded approvalto giving 600 units of freepower to every household perbilling cycle in the state witheffect from July 1. A decision tothis effect was taken in a meet-ing of the council of ministersheld here under the chairman-ship of Chief MinisterBhagwant Mann, an officialstatement said. Punjab has atwo-month billing cycle forpower supply. "All domesticconsumers in the state will beeligible to get zero bills if theirconsumption is up to 600 unitsin every billing cycle.

600 units of freepower to everyhousehold in Punjab

Naqvi's term ends; no more Muslim among BJP MPs

FIR against MahuaMoitra for ‘Kali remark'; BJPdemands arrestPNS n NEW DELHI

An FIR was registered onWednesday against TMC MPMahua Moitra in Bhopal forallegedly "outraging religiousfeelings" as the row over hercomment on Goddess Kaliintensified with the WestBengal unit of the BJPdemanding her arrest andMoitra daring the saffronparty to "bring it on", sayingshe was not afraid of its"goons". She also said that shewas a "Kali worshipper andnot afraid of anything". Moitraon Tuesday triggered a con-troversy with her remarksthat she has every right as "anindividual to imagineGoddess Kali as a meat-eatingand alcohol-accepting god-dess", as every person has theright to worship god andgoddess in his or her own way.

PM to inaugurate 3-day seminar on National Education Policy today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a three-day seminar atVaranasi on Thursday which will see participation of over 300educationists deliberating on implementation of National Education

Policy, officials said. The Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam will providea platform for leading Indian Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) todiscuss, deliberate and share insights on strategies, success storiesand best practices in implementing the National Education Policy (NEP),2020. Organized by the Ministry of Education in association withUniversity Grants Commission and Banaras Hindu University, theseminar will bring together over 300 Vice Chancellors and Directorsfrom public and private universities, educationists, policy makers, asalso industry representatives to deliberate on how the implementationof National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, can be taken further acrossthe country after successful implementation of several initiatives in thelast two years. Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, willalso attend the summit, a senior MoE official said on Wednesday. "TheMinistry, along with UGC and AICTE, has brought in several policyinitiatives. The MoE official further explained that many universitieshave already onboarded the reform train but there are still many whoare yet to adopt and adapt to the changes.

"The greatest threatto democracy andwhich we cannotallow to happen, is extremeappeasement," he said

Under DPP, thedifference betweenthe open marketprice and MSP isgiven to farmers, hesaid, adding that ithas beenimplemented insome states likeMadhya Pradesh

Over the decades,Muslim BJP MPs havehad a nominal presencein Parliament. Naqvihimself has been aRajya Sabha member forthree terms, NajmaHeptulla for two termsand Shahnawaz Hussain,currently a minister inthe Bihar government,was elected to LokSabha twice

Need MSP till mrkts get competitive: NITI Aayog

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann to get married today

After all thesleaze, the scandals and thefailure, it’s clearthat this Govt isnow collapsing.

Keir Starmer—Britain’s Oppn leader

My son is a rock

star. My daughter

is a chatterbox

and a full-on

momma’s girl.

Actor

—Shilpa Shetty Kundra

As the weather turns scorching and the wind speed picks up, pollution levels inthe summer are supposed to be lower than in the winter. However, pollutants inthe former case are more easily dispersed in the atmosphere thanks to the clear

skies. The increase in dust particles brought on by building activity and vehicle trafficis the main cause of summertime pollution, experts aver. This summer, a case in pointis that India not only faced increased heat but also more air pollution. A new reportreleased on Wednesday stated that the Capital experienced increased summertime airpollution in 2022 compared to 2021, with the city’s particulate matter levels signifi-cantly exceeding the normal limits. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) con-firmed that the allowed levels for PM 2.5 and PM 10 in Delhi during the four summermonths (March, April, May and June) this year were five times higher, according to

an analysis by NCAP Tracker, a project of environ-mental organisations Climate Trends and RespirerLiving Sciences. Interestingly, even abroad, in theLos Angeles region for example, the air quality sig-nificantly declined and remained dangerous afterhundreds of Fourth of July fireworks displays lit upthe skies there.

Due to the fireworks’ high amounts of particu-late matter and metal air pollutants, the South CoastAir Quality Management District issued a particle advi-sory for most of Southern California, from Los Angelesto the Coachella Valley. The South Coast Air Basin’sfine particulate matter levels on July 4 and July 5 are

routinely among the worst of the year. In addition to the fine particles already existingin the basin, mostly brought on by vehicles, fugitive dust and industrial pollutants, fire-works also contribute to smoke and combustion products. It has been well establishedthat the summertime and a warmer environment can affect air quality in a number ofways, with a variety of negative effects on human health and economy. Extreme weath-er conditions, as well as both natural and man-made pollution, run the risk of wors-ening our air quality and having a variety of negative health effects as our planet’s cli-mate changes. Fortunately, we have some control. Environmental insights with a healthfocus help us see the year-round effects of invisible air pollution. With the correct knowl-edge, we can enable individuals to take responsibility for the air they breathe.

The fracas between Chhattisgarh and Noida Police over detention of a news chan-nel anchor is not a healthy development. The arrest preceded high drama at theanchor’s house in Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram on Tuesday morning. The Chhattisgarh

Police had come to arrest him with a warrant for his alleged role in doctoring a videoof Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The doctored video allegedly made it appear thatGandhi indirectly condoned the gruesome murder of the Udaipur tailor by a couple ofjihadists. Around 6.15 am, the anchor reached out to the Uttar Pradesh Police andGovernment, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, through a SoS tweet, sayingChhattisgarh cops had reached his residence to arrest him without informing the local

police. That brought Noida Police on the scene.Meanwhile, the news channel has distanced itself fromthe doctored video. It claimed in a police complaintthat the faux pas happened “due to oversight and inad-vertence”. The company claimed that two employ-ees have been dismissed. “In the given circumstances,the company has reasonable belief and suspicion thatthe aforesaid negligence and dereliction of duties mayhave been committed by (the producers) knowing-ly and intentionally in connivance with each other,”the company said in its police complaint. Only a probecan bring out the truth, but the incident has given voiceto sceptics who are increasingly questioning the inde-

pendence and integrity of several media houses. There is nothing wrong in taking apolitical stand on issues, but when a media organisation — or some of its journalists— is seen as promoting the interests of a party, it ceases to be journalism; it becomespoliticking, with all the attendant consequences. This episode should be seen as a les-son to the entire media: Nobody is outside the jurisdiction of the law of karma.

The political class should also realise that if cops are stopped or harassed whenthey are probing an interstate matter, the enforcement of law will be adversely affect-ed. This happened in May in the case against BJP leader Tajinder Bagga. The PunjabPolice wanted to arrest him for his “provocative statements and promoting religiousenmity”, but Delhi and Haryana police foiled the attempt. His tweets had targetedDelhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party boss Arvind Kejriwal. According to thePunjab Police, he was an offender who should be arrested, but this view was notshared by the police of Delhi and Haryana. Evidently, cops’ understanding of thelaw did not correspond with what is written in statute books but to the interests ofthe politicians they report to. This is not the rule of law; this is the rule of men andwomen who occupy political offices. In effect, it becomes the tyranny of arbitrari-ness, hurting all sooner or later. When editorialists bemoan it, they are often ridiculedas dreamy moralists. But the law of karma also catches up with cynics, includingjournalists and politicians.

Newsmen as news

GOVT-TWITTER FACE-OFFSir — The Government and Twitter havebeen at loggerheads over the new IT rulessince May 2021 and even earlier. The long-running confrontation over content regu-lation has now entered a new phase withTwitter moving the Karnataka High Courtagainst the Government’s ‘blocking orders’under the IT Act. The important questionto ask is, if the Government orders Twitterto take down content in the absence ofsound reasons, don’t undermine the notionof freedom of expression. The paramountand inviolability of freedom of expressionmust be upheld. Twitter has a point — itfinds the Government’s ‘recurring removalrequests’ too much of an interference in thecompany’s affairs

Sometimes the Government asksTwitter to not just block the posts, but takedown the user accounts themselves with-out notice to ‘content originators’. It is wide-ly known that Twitter incurred the displea-sure of the Government when tweets in sup-port of farmers’ protests and tweets criti-cal of the Government’s handling of theCOVID-19 pandemic found space on theplatform. The threat to strip the socialmedia company of ‘safe harbour immuni-ty’ is a blatant attempt to put pressure onTwitter to fall in with the ruling dispensa-tion.

G David Milton | Tamil Nadu

THE VALOUR OF J&K VILLAGERSSir — It speaks of the valour of villagers whooverpowered two hardcore terrorists whowere about to create havoc. The people ofReasi village deserve to be applauded fortactfully handling the case. This is a case ofunarmed and untrained people capturingarmed and trained terrorists. Theannouncement of cash reward of `5 lakhby L-G Manoj Sinha and `2 lakh by theDGP is welcome and the taxpayers' moneyhas been put to best use. Reasi villagers haveset a good example that they can also dowhat security forces can.

The nabbed terrorists were responsiblefor many terror incidents. The erosion of

30-year old terrorism in the Valley by secu-rity forces has been instilling confidenceamong people to live a peaceful life. Yet theterrorists want to prove that they are stillaround to create disturbance. The tribe ofterrorists has perished to a large extent aftersecurity forces were given a free hand to dealwith the situation. A Russian President oncesaid: “It is for God to forgive the terrorists.But it is our duty to send the terrorists toGod.” Also, courts should harness theirenergy in deciding the cases of captured ter-rorists expeditiously.

KV Seetharamaiah | Bengaluru

NEED TO SAVE AAREY FORESTSir — The rescheduled fifth Test of thePataudi Trophy turns out to be a ding-dongbattle. England playing at home was formi-dable and the toss favoured them to putTeam India to bat first. As in the four Testmatches last year, early wickets went cheap-ly and the rearguard action saw the teams

putting up a moderate total. After puttingup 400-plus, India was in the driver’s seat.England folded up for 284-plus and thatgave them a handsome 132-run lead andconsolidated their position.

With a score of 190 for 5, India dictat-ed terms but the sudden rush of blood sawit losing remaining wickets for just 55 runs.That collapse in one session triggered thefear of losing and England started on abright note and amassed 100 runs beforelosing the first wicket. Two more wicketsfell and still resolute batting from Root andBairstow saw the pair adding 269 runs,which saw the team sailing past the 10thhighest target and thereby squared the series2-2 in a convincing way. The absence of anoff-spinner was felt when the left-handersand Root thrived for long. England appliedan attacking policy and won.

CKR Nathan | Ghaziabad

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

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

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

06

Send yyour ffeedback tto:[email protected]

Double troublePeak summer conditions increase pollution levels and risk to environment, human health, economy

PICTALK

Farm workers plant paddy saplings at a field, in South Dinajpur PTI

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

The incident has brought the independence and integrity of several media houses under a cloud

Though India has one of the better air

safety indicators in the world as com-

pared to global average, recent several

flight scares bring to the fore urgency of

further strengthening air safety and need for

a comprehensive safety audit in the aviation

sector, airworthiness of aircraft, pilots’ train-

ing and ground safety. Several recent inci-

dents of midair troubles are scary and high-

light the situation that requires urgent DGCA

attention. A Delhi-Dubai flight had to make

an emergency landing at the Karachi Airport

after it developed a technical fault midair

with the malfunctioning of the fuel indicator;

then there was a fire incident in the aircraft

of Delhi-bound Patna flight while flying.

All this is a really dangerous and scary

thing as there was risk to 185 lives but due

to the pilot’s skill and ability to navigate,

despite the scary situation the aircraft land-

ed safely. Though modern passenger air-

crafts are built to operate even with one

operational engine, it can sometimes result

in catastrophe. The DGCA must put all mea-

sures in place for a robust air safety mecha-

nism. DGCA should conduct a thorough

investigation to find out the reasons for

such incidents. Also, the airlines should give

more attention to regular maintenance of

aircraft and upgrading the training for pilots

and air controllers. For a growing nation, air

safety should be top priority.

Ramesh G Jethwani | Bangalore

Safety audit for aviation sector

SOUNDBITE

lators in each camp. And, inthis case, the legislative wingsnecessarily consist of MPs,MLAs and maybe the count ofMLCs if the EC wants to con-sider. Secondly, the EC willexamine the strength of sup-port that each faction enjoyswithin the party’s organisa-tional setups. Here, the ECmay go a little further and askboth camps to produce thenecessary evidence with doc-umentary support.

The EC’s discretion: Now,the ball is in the EC’s court.When it is about a politicalparty, the EC will certainly lis-ten to all stakeholders, thenwhoever wants to be heard,and it will consider the pre-and the post- factual circum-stances that led to the splinter-ing. Here, the EC’s power willbe certainly at play. TheElection Symbols (Reservationand Allotment) Order, 1968,gives it power to deal with thevery issue. However, the EC’sdiscretion will finally prevailand remain binding.

As far as the EC’s discretiongoes, it doesn’t lack any restric-tion to decide in favour of oneof the factions or neither ofthese. However, in this case, itcan probably rule in favour of

one of the factions based on thereal majority of support itenjoys both in the organisationand in the legislative wings.Then, it can keep the partysymbol reserved for that fac-tion in majority and may askthe other faction to registeritself as a new political partywith a different symbol.

Who is at advantage? Asa recent precedent, a lesson canbe drawn from the SamajwadiParty case where the father-sonduo reached the EC to claimthe party’s symbol. Akhileshwon against Mulayam Yadav,evidencing that he not onlycommanded the Governmentbut also the party.

In this particular case, theE-faction may also be consid-ering to take over the partyeven before the EC steps in.E-faction has validated itsmajority in the legislativewings by establishing a freshGovernment in Maharashtra,followed by winning the floortest in the Assembly. Now, itis for the E-faction then toconfirm its majority in partyorganisation, particularly bybringing the Sena office bear-ers into its fold.

The final batting of the U-fraction: If certain people

break from the party, the anti-defection law comes into play.Under the law, whether it is oneperson or 100, the anti-defec-tion law comes into application.Defection equates to theintended partition from theparty and its membership; andat this very point, the U-frac-tion will surely stick to it.Nevertheless, on the disquali-fication issue, the only optionis to knock at the Speaker’soffice. But then, it is ratherunlikely that the Speaker wouldentertain such a petition.

New surprises: The totalstrength of MaharashtraAssembly is 287 and themajority mark is 144. The E-faction-led Government incoalition with BJP has wonthe floor test with 164.

Many independent MLAsare still roaming around thenegotiation camps as darkhorses. With Congress aswell as NCP as the focalpolitical contenders, the rul-ing faction on the edge mayunfurl added surprises bybreaking into their camp also.

(The author is AssistantProfessor of Political Science inMody University, Rajasthan.The views expressed are personal.)

Till the Election Commission decides who deserves the symbol, the Shinde campremains a faction; the Uddhav camp is nothing more than a diminishing ‘fraction’

THE SAVIOURS OF EITHER CAMP

MUST BE WORKINGOVERTIME TO WIN

THE TECHNICAL-LEGAL EXISTENTIAL

BATTLE AT EC BY ALLMEANS POSSIBLE.

IN PARTICULAR, THE POLITICAL

LEGITIMACY ANDFUTURE COURSE

FOR BOTH CAMPSHANG IN BALANCE

PADMALOCHAN DASH

Of the fractionor the faction?

Though the mainstreammedia equates both theShiv Sena groups withthe same bulk of com-

mand over the splintered party,the fact remains otherwise. It isnow clear that the bigger chunkhas already been taken away byEknath Shinde, and what is leftover for Uddhav is a tiny andstill-diminishing fraction.

Though the ‘faction’ hasalready formed the Governmentand passed the floor test, adeeper political crunch is stillundergoing within the largerShiv Sena Parivaar. The bone ofcontention and the fight forsurvival for both groups nowconcentrate on the most impor-tant question: Who will finallyown the party and its symbol?This will continue till the ECtakes the final call, deciding onwho qualifies to be the owner ofthe Shiv Sena and its symbol.

Now, the saviours of eithercamp must be hectic in exploringall thinkable routes to conquerthat technical-legal existentialbattle at EC by all means possible.In particular, the political legitima-cy and the future course for bothcamps will be on tenterhooks tillthe EC spells the final word.

Principles for the EC: Theopinion of experts shows thesuccess of either group dependson the single available option tothem — how they can successful-ly establish their majority beforethe EC. When the needle of theentire game sags to the evidenceof majority, it is pretty evident thateither faction must be tryinghard to drag it into their favour.

The focused dynamics: Thedynamics of proving the major-ity constitute the following para-meters, and the precedents indi-cate that the EC will certainlyexamine into it. So, the EC willexamine the support each fac-tion enjoys within the party’sorganisation, in the legislaturewing, in the top committees anddecision-making bodies.

Most importantly, beforedeciding on these factors, the ECwill certainly have to learn theShiv Sena constitution for once.As this particular case goes, themost tangible parameter that theEC will take into account is thenumber of lawmakers and legis-

Domestic outputof conventionaland indigenousnano urea willtotally replace theimports.

Union Fertiliser Minister—Mansukh Mandaviya

The BJP can do

what it wants,

but AAP won’t

let it sabotage

democracy.

Delhi Chief Minister

—Arvind Kejriwal

If we go back, ifthere’s no rain inthe first match, wecould have wonthe series.

India’s stand-in captain—Jasprit Bumrah

NATO faces two-frontgeostrategic challenges

THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. I MERELY

QUOTED…THE BANTER THAT ALREADY

EXISTS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

—OSCAR-WINNING SOUND DESIGNER

RESUL POOKUTTY

I DON’T THINK @RRRMOVIE IS A GAY LOVE

STORY BUT EVEN IF IT WAS, IS ‘GAY LOVE

STORY’ A BAD THING?

—BAAHUBALI PRODUCER

SHOBU YARLAGADDA

Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam, which will be held in VaranasiJuly 7-9, will be a ‘Maha Kumbh of Higher Education’. The coreobjective is to extract Amrut (nectar) from a number of quality imper-

atives enshrined in the National Education Policy 2020. The event willalso mark the second anniversary of NEP 2020, which is aimed at mak-ing the youth future ready, while focusing on human values, life skillsand traits of Bharatiya civilisation.

The event would take stock of gains made from the learning sys-tem of India and transform it to empower youth with ‘glocal’ compe-tencies. Deliberations will be focused on mapping interests, abilities anddemands of the younger generation for framing enabling rules for NEP2020 on the basis of the objectives of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. Also, theevent will re-visit and re-strategise already drawn pathways for the imple-mentation of NEP 2020. A key thrust area will be to prepare for a holis-tic perspective for flawless implementation of NEP 2020. Educationalluminaries will look at the ways to ensure speedy and effective imple-mentation of NEP 2020.

In knowledge driven society, the quality of education system pro-vides for economic vitality, health and overall well-being. NEP 2020 waslaunched on 29th July, 2020 with a view to transform the existing learn-ing system and to actualise the needs of the 21st century learners. Theseriousness of this mammoth assembly of Directors and Vice-Chancellorsof the higher educational institutions can be appreciated from the factthat the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself will inaugurate and addressthe gathering. Education Minister Dharmendra Kumar will remain pre-sent during the course of the event.

India can become Atmanirbhar only when we make our youth com-petent enough to contribute meaningfully and purposefully and becomeinstrumental in the Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0 by making use of dis-ruptive digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, AugmentedReality, Virtual Reality, Intelligent Robotics, Big Data Analytics, CloudComputing and so on. In IR 4.0, Cyber-Physical Production System (CPPS)is utilized for industrial production. Education 4.0 envisages co-learn-ing, co-creation and innovation; anytime, anywhere, and any type of learn-ing. Also, it calls for the use of flipped classrooms for transforming pas-sive to active learning at home or outside, while institutions are usedfor skill-development. Besides, the thrust is also on personalized andcollaborative learning, as lesson plans become creative, and continu-ous training ensures updation of domain knowledge and skills.

In nutshell, it can be said that Education 4.0 is outcome-based.Senior academicians and officials at the event will focus on the need

to formulate policies to make youth future-ready to face a highly uncer-tain and volatile future. The speed of changes witnessed by the educa-tion sector is outpacing the ability of the existing system to respond ade-quately and appropriately. Indeed, the educational system faces the riskof becoming outdated if changes are not adopted.

Threadbare deliberations will take place on the student-centric andBharat-centric reforms, with thrust on skill-development and employa-bility, research, innovation and entrepreneurship, capacity building of teach-ers. Also, ways to ensure ranking and accreditation along with digitalempowerment and online education will be discussed. Indeed, equitableand inclusive education within the Indian knowledge system will alsobe addressed.

The Ministry of Education and the UGC are burning midnight oil inmaking provisions/regulations on outcome-based learning with multi-disciplinary curriculum, while offering students multiple exit-entry options.Also, academic bank of credits and education in mother tongue/region-al language at least up to primary level are among top concerns of NEP2020. Emphasis will also be on shift in pedagogy, while learners willhave to evolve to think like employees and employees will need to thinklike learners.

(The author is Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Punjab.)

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

07

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

FIRSTCOLUMN

EDUCATORS TO DISCUSSNEP IMPLEMENTATION

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

NISHTHA KAUSHIKI

The policy is focused on human valuesof Bharatiya civilisation

NATO HASFINALLY

WOKEN UP TOCHALLENGESBUILDING UP

IN EUROPE ONACCOUNT OF

RUSSIANAGGRESSIONS,WHILE CHINA’SEXPANSIONIST

ATTEMPTSHAVE

ALARMEDNEIGHBOURS

IN SOUTHCHINA SEA

It was a piece of news soobscure and implausible thatI missed it when it first sur-

faced last month. The news wasthat the Russians are going toput hypersonic nuclear missilesinto Nicaragua and terrify theAmericans into backing downover Ukraine. Or kill them allif they don’t.

“If American missile sys-tems can nearly reach Moscowfrom Ukrainian territory, it'stime for Russia to roll outsomething powerful closer tothe American ‘city on a hill’,” saidOlga Skabeyeva on the newsshow on ‘Rossiya-1’, the mostpopular Russian TV channel.

The usual crew of pan-elists hugged themselves withdelight at the idea of Americancities being blown away.“Objects like the city of NewYork, a good city, but it would

be gone. Completely gone withone rocket,” said one.

Then they rambled onabout how the Cuban missilecrisis of 1962 had brought theAmericans to their senses (betyou didn’t know that the USlost), and how Russian missilesin Nicaragua might bringAmericans to their senses again.They will give in before theyreally get hurt.

As a substantial majority ofthe Russian television audiencewatches the show, that’s thenews ordinary Russians aregetting. But if these peoplereally represent the Russianelite’s views of what is possibleand necessary, then we’re all introuble. Nuclear war is at hand.

I don’t really think nuclearwar is at hand, but there is a lotof loose talk about it in Russiaat the moment. So let’s examine

the optimistic assumption in theWest that some people in theRussian military and diplomat-ic hierarchies – hopefully quitesenior people – have a bettergrasp of reality than the televi-sion pundits.

Are there really Russiangenerals and senior foreignministry officials who thinkthat “American missile systemscan nearly reach Moscow fromthe Ukrainian territory”? If youmean American nuclear mis-siles, then of course not.

The United States has givennon-nuclear battlefield missilesto Ukraine, but it has deliberate-ly restricted the ammunition totypes that cannot reach any sig-nificant distance into Russia.There are no American troopsin Ukraine, and no nuclearweapons in Ukrainian hands.

The business about moving

American nuclear missiles ‘clos-er’ to Russia is complete tripe:they are just as lethal fromwhere they are now. Russiangenerals and diplomats are notstupid: they know thatAmerican nuclear weapons sys-tems have been able to reachRussia from the US homelandor any of the world’s oceanssince the 1960s.

Well, then, how wouldputting Russian nuclear missilesin Nicaragua, ‘closer’ to theUnited States, give Russia anyadvantage either? It wouldn’t,although it would probablyprovoke the US governmentinto a massive over-reaction.Like Russian nuclear missiles inCuba in 1962, you know?

The difference betweenCuba in 1962 and Nicaraguatoday is that ‘close’ still meantsomething in 1962, when the

United States already had inter-continental ballistic missilesthat could reach the old SovietUnion, but Russia had no long-range ballistic missiles thatcould hit American cities yet.

The Russians sneaked someshorter-range nuclear missilesinto Cuba to even things up, butthe Americans spotted them,imposed a blockade, and threat-ened to invade Cuba. Moscowpulled its missiles out, andeverybody lived grumpily everafter.

Nowadays, both Russia andthe United States have ampleweapons that they can fire ateach other from their home-lands. ‘Closer’ no longer confersany advantages. Besides,Nicaragua has not said it willhost Russian nuclear weapons,or indeed Russian weapons ofany sort.

Nicaraguan PresidentDaniel Ortega published adecree last month authorisingsmall numbers of troops fromRussia, the United States orother Central American coun-tries to deploy to his country fora limited time ‘for purposes oftraining, law enforcement oremergency response’.

Ortega was a Marxist in the1980s. After the Nicaraguanrevolution triumphed, he gotSoviet help, and US PresidentRonald Reagan financed aguerilla/terrorist movement inan unsuccessful attempt to bringhim down, but that was longago.

Now, Ortega is just anoth-er dictator like Putin. He rigselections, jails the opposition,and treats the state budget as hisprivate income. Nicaragua isbroke, so Ortega is happy to take

Russian money, but he’s proba-bly not stupid enough to let theRussians bring missiles in.

Russia’s much-hyped hyper-sonic missiles are irrelevantanyway, since ‘hypersonic’ mis-siles are only useful if a coun-try has good anti-missiledefences. In fact, nobody hasgood missile defences, so, theymake little difference strategical-ly. Dumb missiles with someterminal guidance work justfine.

The rational conclusion,therefore, is that this is all justpropaganda blather by ignorantRussian TV pundits, but awarning. I predicted that Russiawould not invade Ukrainebecause it would be utterlystupid to do. I am still assum-ing that Russian leaders arerational, but now I have somedoubts.

Nowadays, both Russia and the United States have ample weapons that they can fire at each other from their homelands

Bizarre Cuban Missile Crisis redux in Nicaragua

(The author’s new book isThe Shortest History of War)

GWYNNE DYER

RAGHAVENDRA P TIWARI

The Chinese hegemonic intentionsare visible from its deterioratingrelations with the West and India,the growing tensions in the Taiwan

Strait and the South China Sea, apart fromthe human rights issues in Tibet and theXinjiang region.

Financial crises in Sri Lanka andPakistan further worsen matters. In 2020,China replaced the United States as the EU'slargest trading partner. By 2021, Beijing hadbuilt 50 per cent of the total ships in theworld. Through various mechanisms suchas design collaboration agreements, cyberespionage, and acquisitions, China hascopied advanced innovative ship designs,endangering the West's future naval produc-tions. In a nutshell, the world is witnessingChina's coercive policies in internationalpolitics and geo-economics, a deeplyembedded civil-military fusion throughespionage and dual-use production facili-ties, which raises sovereignty issues for sev-eral countries.

On the other hand, from the FrenchPresident's statement in 2019 that NATOis "brain dead" to the 2022 Russia-Ukraineconflict and the completion of the acces-sion protocols of Sweden and Finland, thealliance has been reinvigorated with its newTrans-Pacific identity through the 2022Madrid summit. The heads of the states ofNATO's Asian regional partners —Australia, Japan, New Zealand and SouthKorea — attended the NATO Summit, anew development indicating the expand-ing horizons of Asia's militarization tocounter the Chinese hegemonic designs.The message stands clear, NATO is pivot-ing to Asia. The NATO 2022 'StrategicConcept' minced no words to state that the"PRC's malicious hybrid and cyber opera-tions and its confrontational rhetoric anddisinformation target Allies and harmAlliance security". It strongly indicates thatNATO now prioritizes the Indo-Pacificregion. Before the 2022 summit, the foreignministers of these four countries met at theNorth Atlantic Council (NAC) inDecember 2020 for the first time to pushthe emerging multilateral interoperabilityin the Indo-Pacific. This was in the back-drop of the "NATO 2030" expert reflectiongroup that had labelled China as a "full-spectrum systemic rival, rather than a pure-ly economic player or an only Asia-focusedsecurity actor."

However, President Barack Obamawas the first leader to foresee the Chinesethreat and announced the "pivot" policy in2011, while addressing the AustralianParliament. Further, Secretary of StateHillary Clinton penned an essay titled"America's Pacific Century," where sheargued for a "strategic turn to the region",which indicated relocating the US navyfrom West Asia to the South China Sea. Thepolicy did not receive much attention, giventhe U.S. engagements in West Asia andAfghanistan. Nevertheless, today, theregion's shifting sands, whereby the U.S. has

NATO needs to reimagine its role to defend two fronts, inEurope and the Indo-Pacific region

The author is AssistantProfessor, Central

University of Punjab,Bathinda

snowballed the peace processthrough the Abraham accords andthe Saudi-Turkey peace process,strongly indicate that the upcomingdays in the Indo-Pacific will behighly turbulent. From anotheressential perspective, the militariza-tion of the Indo-Pacific regionwould also provoke China andRussia to react, thereby offsettingthe relative peace on Russia'sEastern and Southern borders.Over the last few decades, Russiahas adopted a relatively peacefulapproach in the two directions toentirely focus on its Western front.The change in NATO's strategy thuswould be testing for the Sino-Russian friendship as Russia ismore focused on Europe.

Nevertheless, the prelude to thenew Cold War, the Russia-Ukraineconflict, has led to a consensus inEurope that it needs to view Russiaas its primary geopolitical challenge.At the same summit, NATO alsodecided to increase its rapidlydeployable troops by 300,000, apartfrom doubling or tripling to thebrigade level in the Baltic States andfive other frontline countries.Further, it plans to increase muni-tions and other supplies in responseto Russia's aggressiveness. Thisoverhauling of the deploymentswould be complete by 2023.Currently, the defence spending ofits members will increase by 1.2 per-cent in real terms by the end of2022. Simultaneously, as Europeintends to reduce its energy depen-dencies, a pertinent question thatneeds to be pondered over is, at thesame point of time, what would bethe proportion of financial and mil-itary commitments of NATOtowards first, the European Defence,and second, the containment of

China in the Indo-Pacific region?Which objective would be a prior-ity for the European countries? Canthey counter two threats at the sametime? The Ukraine-Russia conflictmight continue for a couple of moremonths, if not years.

Moreover, what if Chinadecides to invade Taiwan during thesame period or creates crises in theIndo-Pacific region? It must berecalled that during the Russia-Ukraine conflict's initial phase,France and Germany were reluctantto cut off their gas supplies. Thefuture is hard to predict, and so arethe sustenance levels of multiplemilitary alliances. What then hap-pens to the safety of allies in Asiais worth pondering. Thus, NATOneeds to develop a genuinelytransatlantic China policy in addi-tion to the deployments in the Indo-Pacific, which might make Chinamore reactionary and possibly pro-voke it to test the unity of NATO.

Three crucial issues emergeregarding South and Central Asiaand the recent developments. First,attempts by Russia and China toexpand their joint sphere of influ-ence to include countries having ananti-American perspective, suchas Iran and Pakistan. The emergingcounter quad can present a formi-dable challenge to the West's allies.Second, the destruction of the agri-cultural fertility of Ukraine will leadto increased demand for foodgrains. One of the most criticalinputs for good agricultural produceare phosphates, the supplies dom-inated by China, which can be usedas an essential geopolitical toolagainst the West via the suppliercountries, especially in South andCentral Asia. Third, the impact ofthe conflict would be the rise in the

earth's average temperatures, par-ticularly in the Arctic region; hence,melting the ice would be a newstrategic issue. The opening of thenew sea routes, especially in the arc-tic, would further bring the Indo-Pacific region to the centre of thegravity of the upcoming new con-flicts.

India firmly believes in multi-polarity and hence has its presencein China-led SCO, BRICS, and RICapart from its strategic partnershipin the Quad grouping. The multi-alignment policy of PM NarendraModi has yielded positive results.As the militarization of Asia isimminent and there are increasedchances of confrontations, themoment presents India with anopportunity to delicately balancehegemonic tendencies and demo-cratic ideals without compromisingIndia's security and sovereignty. Forthis, it becomes essential that thecountry adjusts its budget to soonemerge as a self-reliant defenceactor to maintain the strategicautonomy, failing which it might besandwiched between the armstrade geopolitics of the West andRussia. Even for a couple of years,some hard decisions to divertfinancial resources towards indige-nous development and emergencyprocurements of cyber and spacecapabilities is a must. On the flipside, we also need to evolve ourpolicies in case the hegemonictendencies pose an imminentthreat. In such a case, New Delhi’straditional ally, such as Russia,might side with China and hencewould allow India to find militaryand tactical support from the will-ing partners, thereby bringing pro-found changes in the South Asiansecurity architecture.

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022 Money 08

MO

NE

Y M

AT

TE

RS

The finance ministry has extended the exemption of customs duty on raw cottonimports by a month till October 31.On April 14, the ministry had given exemption fromthe duty and Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC) till September 30,

2022, for import of cotton to lower prices in the domestic market.In a notification dated July 4, the ministry extended this till October 31, 2022.Amid rise in cotton and yarn prices, the textilesministry had been pitching for an extension ofthe duty waiver beyond September.Industrytoo had been demanding extension of the duty-free import of cotton. Before April 14, rawcotton imports attracted 5 per cent BasicCustoms Duty (BCD) and an equal percentageof AIDC.The exemption from duty wouldbenefit the textile chain -- yarn, fabric,garments and made-ups -- and provide reliefto consumers.Cotton prices have increasedfrom Rs 44,500 per candy in February, 2021,to Rs 90,000 per candy in March 2022. Eachcandy weights 356 kilogram.

Honda India Power Products Ltd (HIPP) on Wednesday announced its foray into thee-commerce space with plans to sell its products exclusively through its webstoreto cash in on the pandemic-induced digital adoption.The company is making its

products, including generators, water pumps, tillers and brush cutters, available on thewebsite for direct purchase.It is aiming to get closer to its customers by embracing moredigital connectivity and reach out topotential customers who currently findit difficult to visit the nearest company'sdealerships."We have more than 600outlets across India. However, in someplaces customers are 50 kilometersaway from our nearest outlet... Sothrough our website customers canchoose and compare products andmake payments and the dealers willtake care of pre delivery inspection andafter sales service," HIPP Chairman andManaging Director, President, and CEOTakahiro Ueda told PTI.

BMW Group India on Wednesday reported 64.2 per cent growth in its car sales at5,570 units in the January-June period of 2022.The BMW brand posted sales of5,191 units during the period, a growth of 65.4 per cent while the MINI clocked 379

units, an increase of 50 per cent over the comparable period last year, the group said in astatement.The group's luxury motorcycle brand BMW Motorrad registered sales of 3,114units at a growth of 56.7 per cent in thefirst half of 2022, it added."Against allodds, BMW Group is taking rapid andconsistent strides in India. Despite theturbulences caused by various factors inthe domestic and international market, wehave achieved the best-ever half-yearlysales performance for BMW, MINI andBMW Motorrad," BMW Group IndiaPresident Vikram Pawah said.He furthersaid, "This success underpins theenormously strong demand for BMWGroup products in the luxury car andpremium motorcycle segment in India."

FinMin extends duty exemption onraw cotton imports

Honda India Power Products enterse-commerce space

BMW Group India reports 64.2 pcrise in car sales

PNS n NEW DELHI

Domestic coal productionrose sharply by 32 per cent to67.59 million tonnes (MT) inJune 2022 compared to 50.98MT in the same month lastyear, the Coal Ministry saidon Wednesday.

"Coal India Ltd (CIL),Singareni Collieries CompanyLtd (SCCL) and captivemines/others registered agrowth of 28.87 per cent,5.50 per cent and 83.53 percent by producing 51.56 MT,5.56 MT and 10.47 MT,respectively", the ministrysaid citing its provisionaldata.

Of the top 37 coal mines, asmany as 22 mines producedmore than 100 per cent, andproduction at another ninemines stood between 80 percent and 100 per cent, it said.

At the same time, coaldespatch also increased by20.69 per cent to 75.46 MT

from 62.53 MT as comparedto June 2021. During June2022, CIL and captives/othersregistered a growth of 15.20per cent and 88.23 per cent bydespatching 58.98 MT and11.05 MT, respectively.

The despatch to power util-ities has grown by 30.77 percent to 64.89 MT during Junethis year as compared to 49.62MT in June last year due toincrease in power demand.

"The overall power gener-

ation in June 2022 has been17.73 per cent higher than inJune 2021. However, Coalbased power generation in themonth of June 2022 has been95880 MU in comparison to98,609 MU (million unit) inMay 2022 and registered anegative growth of 2.77 percent," the ministry said.

Total power generation hasalso decreased in June 2022 to1,38,995 MU from 1,40,059MU in May 2022.

Coal output grows 32 pc to 67.59MT ; despatches rise 20 pc

PNS n MUMBAI

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)on Wednesday further liber-alised norms to boost inflowsof foreign exchange, includingdoubling the borrowing limitunder the ECB route, amidthe rupee falling against theUS dollar.

In a statement, the centralbank said it has been closelyand continuously monitoringthe liquidity conditions inthe forex market and hasstepped in as needed in all itssegments to alleviate dollartightness with the objective ofensuring orderly market func-tioning.

The measures taken by thecentral bank comes in thebackdrop of rupee depreciat-ing by 4.1 per cent against theUS dollar during the currentfinancial year so far (up to

July 5) amid the ongoinggeopolitical tensions.

"In order to further diver-sify and expand the sources offorex funding so as to mitigatevolatility and dampen globalspillovers", the central banksaid it has decided to under-take five measures to enhanceforex inflows while ensuringoverall macroeconomic and

financial stability.The measures include eas-

ing norms for FPI invest-ment in debt market, andincreasing the ExternalCommercial Borrowing(ECB) limit under the auto-matic route from USD 750million or its equivalent perfinancial year to USD 1.5 bil-lion.

RBI liberalises normsto boost forex inflows

PNS n NEW DELHI

Google on Wednesdayannounced an initiative,Startup School India, that aimsto organise accumulatedknowledge into a structuredcurriculum to enable startupsin small cities overcome vari-ous challenges.

Google hopes that the pro-gramme will help 10,000 star-tups in tier 2 and tier 3 cities(smaller cities).

The nine-week programme,delivered virtually, will havefireside chats between Googleleaders and collaborators fromacross the startup ecosystem,spanning fintech, business-to-business and business-to-con-sumer e-commerce, language,social media and networking,job search and other areas.

The curriculum will feature

instructional modules on sub-jects such as shaping an effec-tive product strategy, deepdives on product user value,building apps for next billionusers in markets like India, dri-ving user acquisition amongothers.

With nearly 70,000 star-tups, India is the third largestbase for startups in the world.As more Indian founders leadtheir companies successfully toIPOs or unicorn status, it hassparked a virtuous cyclewherein their success storieshave ignited aspirations amongyoung Indians across the coun-try.

No longer restricted only tolarger cities like Bengaluru,Delhi, Mumbai or Hyderabad,promising startups are mush-rooming in centers such asJaipur, Indore, Gorakhpur and

other locations.In fact, these account for

nearly 50 per cent of all recog-nised startups in India, at pre-sent.That said, 90 per cent ofall startups fail within the first

five years of their journey,mostly for the similar key rea-sons -- unmanaged cash burn,flawed demand assessment,ineffective feedback loops orlack of leadership, Google said

in a blogpost.The latest initia-tive recognises this void, andacknowledges the need forprogrammes that can organiseaccumulated knowledge into astructured curriculum and

deliver it across a wide foot-print.

"Startup School India - aGoogle for Startups initiativeis designed to do precisely thatas we align our efforts to sup-port this expansion," the com-pany said.Indian entrepreneurshave garnered a wealth ofinstitutional knowledge,Google said, noting that adefining tradition of the com-munity has been knowledgesharing, which helps otherslearn faster, avoid known pit-falls and borrow useful growthhacks.

"Aimed at early stagefounders with a minimumviable product, the programmeprovides the flexibility of a vir-tual curriculum and allowsattendees to pick and choosethe modules they'd like totune in for," the blogpost said.

Google announces Startup School India initiative

PNS n MUMBAI

Benchmark stock indicesSensex and Nifty reboundedover 1 per cent on Wednesdayfollowing buying in FMCG,financials and auto stocksamid softening crude oilprices and foreign funds turn-ing net buyers of domesticequities after a long gap.

The 30-share BSE barom-eter climbed 616.62 points or1.16 per cent to settle at53,750.97 as 25 of its sharesended in the green. Duringthe day, it rallied 684.96points or 1.28 per cent to53,819.31.The NSE Nifty shotup 178.95 points or 1.13 percent to 15,989.80 with 40constituents posting gains.

Among Sensex shares, BajajFinserv, Bajaj Finance,Hindustan Unilever, AsianPaints, Titan, Maruti SuzukiIndia, Kotak Mahindra Bankand Nestle were the majorgainers.

Power Grid, NTPC,

Reliance Industries, Larsen &Toubro and Tata Steel werethe laggards.

Softening crude oil prices,FIIs repositioning to net buy-ers and strong business datafrom lenders boosted domes-tic equities, Vinod Nair, Headof Research at GeojitFinancial Services, said.

Crude prices fell sharply by10 per cent on Tuesday which"boosted the appetite for con-sumption, chemicals, logisticsand OMCs as it will reducethe cost burden of these sec-tors", Nair said.

In the broader market, theBSE midcap gauge jumped1.76 per cent and smallcapindex climbed 0.94 per cent.

Among the BSE sectoralindices, auto jumped 2.73per cent, followed by con-sumer discretionary goods &services (2.47 per cent),FMCG (2.45 per cent), con-sumer durables (2.42 percent) and realty (2.39 percent).

Sensex, Nifty rebound over 1 pcas financials, FMCG shares gain

PNS n NEW DELHI

With an aim to reduce pollu-tion and introduce more fuel-efficient vehicles, the govern-ment has proposed to makeit mandatory for light, medi-um and heavy duty motorvehicles of various categoriesto comply with fuel con-sumption standards fromApril 2023, according to anofficial statement.The state-ment said the continuedcompliance to fuel consump-tion standards shall be veri-fied as per the procedure ofconformity of production,outlined in the AutomotiveIndustry Standard 149.

Govt to implement fuel

consumption standards

KRAs to report cyber attacks within six hours of detecting them

Ban on service charge in food bills without any legal basisPNS n NEW DELHI

The National RestaurantAssociation of India (NRAI)on Wednesday said the govern-ment cannot make changes inlevy of service charge in foodbills by making guidelines andCCPA's decision to bar hotelsand restaurants from suchpractice has created unneces-sary confusion amongst con-sumers and disrupted smoothoperations of restaurants.

It alleged that there is anattempt to start a campaignagainst this restaurant industrypractice without any legal basisthrough "repeated guidelines",while asserting that servicecharge is part of the total priceof a product and neither thegovernment nor any authori-ty can interfere with the deci-sion of the business owner inthis regard.

In a statement, NRAI arguedthat service charge is a part ofthe owner's discretion or deci-sion regarding the total price

payable by a customer withregards to sale or service of aproduct.

"It constitutes one of thecomponents of the total priceof the product. Neither thegovernment nor any authori-ty can interfere with the deci-sion of the business owner inthis regard. It is a universallyaccepted trade practice," itasserted.

NRAI also claimed that thelegality, reasonableness or jus-tification of levying service

charge has been considered bythe Supreme Court, HighCourts, National ConsumerDisputes RedressalCommission, erstwhileMonopolies and RestrictiveTrade Practices Commissionand by the Income TaxAuthorities (ITAT) and hasbeen "upheld in various judi-cial pronouncements".

"It is therefore the owner'sdiscretion as to how to run itsbusiness and what policyshould be put in place regard-

ing pricing of the product. Thegovernment cannot bringabout a change insofar as a levyof service charge is concernedby making guidelines," it said.

Stressing that guidelines bythe very nature of things areonly for guidance, the industrybody said, "in case there is aneed for such change, there hasto be either a new law or anamendment in the existinglaws."

NRAI further said, "It isalso relevant to state that extracharges are being levied bymany other industries, includ-ing some government agencies.However, the guidelines areissued only for the restaurantindustry."On Monday, theCentral Consumer ProtectionAuthority (CCPA) barredhotels and restaurants fromlevying service charge auto-matically or by default in foodbills and allowed customers tofile complaints in case of vio-lation, amid rising consumercomplaints.

Inflation continued to ‘hithard’ FMCG industry : GCPLPNS n NEW DELHI

The country's FMCG industrycontinued to be "hit hard byinflation levels" leading tosuccessive price hikes as wellas impacting volumes duringthe three months ended June,according to GodrejConsumer Products Ltd(GCPL).

In its update for the firstquarter of the current fiscal,the leading FMCG player alsosaid that rural markets wit-nessed slower growth com-pared to urban markets dur-ing the period.

GCPL expects to deliverearly double-digit sales growthon a high base in India and thegrowth will be mostly "price-driven".The company wouldhave "mid-single-digit vol-umes drop on a high base,

with a 3-year volume CAGRclose to mid-single digits," inthe domestic market, as perthe update."The Indian FMCGindustry continued to remainsoft during the quarter. Itcontinued to be hit hard byinflation levels aggravatingdue to geopolitical tensions,leading to successive priceincreases and impacting vol-

umes," GCPL said.In recentmonths, inflation has beenon the rise in most of the mar-kets worldwide.

Among the internationalmarkets, GCPL said that inIndonesia, which is the com-pany's second-largest marketafter India, also faced animpact on consumption andmargins.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The asset base of domesticmutual fund industry witnessedan annual growth of 14 per centto reach Rs 37.75 lakh crore inthe three months ended June onsustained inflows in equityschemes by way of SIPs(Systematic Investment Plans)and lumpsum investments.

Going ahead, the long termtrend and acceptability of mutu-

al funds across different investorsegments will continue tostrengthen taking the AssetsUnder Management (AUM) tonew highs, Abhishek Dev, Co-Founder and CEO of EpsilonMoney, said. According toAssociation of Mutual Funds inIndia (Amfi) data, the industry'saverage AUM rose to Rs 37.75lakh crore in the quarter endedJune 2022 from Rs 33.2 lakhcrore at the end of June 2021.

MF industry's asset base rises14 pc to Rs 37.75 lakh cr PNS n NEW DELHI

Capital markets regulatorSebi has asked the KYCRegistrat ion Agencies(KRAs) to report all cyberattacks, threats and breach-es experienced by themwithin six hours of detectingsuch incidents.

The incident will also bereported to the IndianComputer EmergencyResponse team (CERT-In) inaccordance with the guide-

lines issued by CERT-Infrom time to time, accordingto a circular.

Additionally, the KRAs,whose systems have beenidentified as 'protected sys-tem' by National CriticalInformation InfrastructureProtection Centre (NCIIPC)will also report such inci-dents to NCIIPC."All cyberattacks, threats, cyber inci-dents and breaches experi-enced by KRAs shall bereported to Sebi within six

hours of noticing / detectingsuch incidents or beingbrought to notice about suchincidents," the regulator said

on Tuesday.The quarterlyreports containing informa-t ion on cyber attacks ,threats, cyber incidents andbreaches experienced by thestock brokers and deposito-ry participants and mea-sures taken to mitigate thevulnerabilities, includinginformation on bugs vul-nerabilities, threats that maybe useful for others, willhave to be submitted to Sebiwithin 15 days from the endof every quarter.

Gold falls Rs 760; silver tumbles Rs 1,276PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold prices in the nationalcapital on Wednesday fellby Rs 760 to Rs 51,304 per 10grams, according to HDFCSecurities.In the previoustrade, the yellow metal set-tled at Rs 52,064 per 10

grams.Silver also tumbled by Rs

1,276 to Rs 56,930 per kgfrom Rs 58,206 per kg in theprevious trade.In the interna-tional market, gold was trad-ing higher at USD 1,770 perounce while silver was flat atUSD 19.94 per ounce.

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

ThursdayJuly 7, 2022

PNS | HYDERABAD

he poor have been a partof that section of societywho have been ignoredfor years, leading to noaccess to essential ser-vices. Thanks to organi-

sations like the GrameenFoundation, who are working hardfor the betterment of these people.

Grameen Foundation enjoys aunique position among develop-ment organisations in the country.They have a bottom-of-the-pyra-mid client approach, a deep set ofchannels, and technologies appro-priate for serving low-income andunder-served population segments.

Founded in 1997, Grameen Bankwas inspired by Nobel LaureateProfessor Mohammad Yunus, thefounder of Grameen Bank and aglobal leader in the fight againstpoverty.Over the years, it hasgrown into a global non-profit thathelps the world’s poorest peoplereach their full potential by provid-ing access to essential financial ser-vices and information on agricul-ture and health.

Debopama Sen, the director, tellsus, “I believe that all of us desire toimprove our lives and that all of us,even the poorest among us, canreach our full potential if we aregiven access to the right tools andtimely information.” Globally, theiragriculture programmes providesolutions to the problems that con-front smallholder farmers everyday, whether that is access tofinance, farm inputs, weather infor-mation, technical information forfarm and production management,or markets. They specialise indesigning and implementing inno-vative programmes to facilitateaccess to finance, livelihood oppor-

tunities, health and nutrition infor-mation amongst low-income peo-ple.

They address the barriers on thedemand-side and supply-sidethrough scalable models, the use oftechnology applications, and inno-vative partnerships. In doing so,they work closely with the privatesector, governments, agricultureand health implementers, mobilenetwork operators, financial insti-tutions, and other stakeholders toprime their solutions for adoptionand scale. They believe that whenpoor rural women are empoweredwith knowledge and commensurateresources, they are able to trans-form their lives and the lives oftheir larger communities. Theirprojects have already impactedover 1 million women. And theyare working to impact a billionmore.

She adds, “We have been doingpioneering work in the area offinancial inclusion with low-income communities, especiallywomen. We focus on innovationand digital to offer the last mile offinancial connectivity to reach theunbanked and underserved popu-lation with a range of cost-effectivefinancial services and products.Then, there is a programme thatseeks to transform the agriculturalsector in selected districts by pro-moting a food systems approach toagriculture through nutrition-focused crop diversification, intro-ducing innovative women's-friend-ly and climate-smart technologies,and developing market linkages.”

That's not all. They havedesigned the Lakshyavati pro-gramme to improve educationalattainment and reduce schooldropout rates amongst girlsbetween Grades VII and XII. Girlsbelonging to low-income familiessuffer the risk of having their edu-cation de-prioritised when theyreach middle school, often leadingto early marriages for most ofthem. To address and arrest thisreality, they run a scholarship pro-gramme to provide a fixed monthlybursary, which is transferreddirectly to the bank accounts ofover 65 girls. All the 65 girls havecontinued their education.

Smallholder farmers in Indiaface enormous challenges and highoperating costs due to inefficien-cies in agriculture supply chains,lack of awareness.

Their additional Grameen KisanConnect platform addresses thesechallenges of smallholder farmers,especially women, in improvingaccess to finance, technology, agri-culture inputs, and the market fortheir produce with the ultimateobjective of increasing farmers’incomes.

Changing lives with financialassistance

t

TEJAL SINHA

Content creation has beenone of those industries thathas given a platform to

many people to express them-selves. Of course, nothing comesready-made. Surviving as a con-tent creator is not an easy task.There’s a lot behind those thou-sands of likes and views.

Many content creators felt thepandemic was real-time for themto entertain their followers. Oneamongst them is Harjas Sethi,aka Vellijanani. Harjas has herown journey behind being one ofthe ranting queens on the inter-net. Content creation was neverpre-planned for her, but some-thing that had randomly startedand become her mode ofexpressing herself. She says, “Iwas enjoying it. In fact, I used toput videos up every day, with onevideo every single day. I reallyliked the process of creation. Ireally loved to find a conceptevery night so that I could createit the next morning, and thathappened when I had like 800followers.”

We're sure most working peo-ple had a great time workingfrom home in their most com-fortable ‘pyjamas’. Being a corpo-rate professional, she too hadsome amazing experiences work-ing from home, until shereceived a mail to return to the

office. Isn't it more akin toheartbreak? She made avideo on this which wentviral all over the world, notonly on Instagram but onother social media plat-forms as well. In fact, shewas even in the news.“People in my office werelike, ‘Why does she uploadsuch videos and stuff? Butthen when I received mailfrom my office to get backto the office, I made thisWFH video that just blewup. That was when, I got alot of audiences within aweek. My account wentfrom 800 to 35k followers,and I found new ways ofentertaining my audience.Most of the time, it is myself-expression.”

Harjas believes that herlife has not changed muchsince the time that shestarted making contentand tries to make herselfbe the same person as sheis in her real life.

She says, “It's just that Ihave some people on theinternet who know me. It'snice to share your life withthem sometimes. I try tobe the person I am in reallife. I do not try to fabri-cate or be another person,although there's a side ofme that I portray on theinternet and not all of me,

even then I try to keep it as realisticas possible. There is no change in mypersonal life. My mother still treatsme the same (she laughs). My friendsand my colleagues too still treat methe same. Workwise, yes. I feel reallyexcited about doing new things onInstagram. Content creation for mestarted off as an interest and not ajob, but now it looks like a job, whichwas not the same initially. Initially, itwas something I was doing for fun. Ifsomething I like turns into a goal ofmy thoughts, then I think there isnothing better than that. Career-wiseand goal-wise, I like how my life hasturned.”

According to Harjas, there’s noth-

ing called as ‘Success Mantra’.Different things work for differentpeople. However, one thing for her isbeing herself.

She shares, “Truly accepting thatit's okay is my style. When I startedcontent creation, I would get over-whelmed by seeing this person get-ting so many views, so I even triedsomething like that, but that may notwork for me. Getting to understandyourself or what and how you wantto portray yourself and how youwant to put yourself out there andunderstanding why people arewatching you, what they like aboutyou, and also surprising them withsomething new as well. In my case,that has worked.”

Every time a person expressesthemselves or gives their opinion,trollers are these ever-ready peopleto just troll and pass on vulgar com-ments. In fact, the comments on herposts are filledwith trolls.

Speaking aboutthem, she says,“There are allkinds of people inthe world and onthe internet.Sadly, there's nofilter that you canput in and youhave to be on thereceiving end.There are a lot ofthings you don'tdeserve. There arepeople who aregoing to love youand there are peo-ple who are goingto hate you, andthat's okay.Initially, trolls didaffect me becauseI wasn't used tothem. When thevideo blew up, Ihad no experienceof being a personon the internet. Alot of hate alsocame my way, andI retaliated. Istarted exposingthem and it's

fine.”“I have changed my way of han-

dling them. If there's like a commentfrom a public account, I try to makesomething funny out of it withouthurting them or myself. Sometimesit's important to put your feet downand make people aware of it. In factlast year, I also filed a cybercrimecomplaint against this guy who con-tinuously harassed me on all socialmedia platforms. It got to such apoint that I had to take it to thepolice station. People make fun ofsaying you have grey hairs, aunty, itdoesn't bother me at all (she laughs)but there are things I am insecureabout and if people go to commenton that then it may hurt me. So Ikeep reminding myself that one,social media doesn't tell myselfworth, a person cannot tell myselfworth who doesn't even know me,”she signs off.

The Pioneer connectswith Harjas Sethi, akaVellijanani, whoshares with us herjourney in contentcreation and how shehas her own way ofgiving it back to thetrollers

Sta

rtin

g fro

m s

cra

tch

This is such an exciting phase forIndian FMCG. At no other pointin history have we seen this indus-

try go through such rapid waves of inno-vation and creativity as it is seeing today.Walk out into the market and you seemultiple brands that are unabashedlyIndian and extremely successful.

But who is responsible for this spurtof product-within-product categories?Who’s been ensuring that brands makewhat they want to buy? That's a no-

brainer really.Of course, they are none other than

Generation Z. Love them or hate them,none of us can ignore them. Layingclaim to almost 50% of India’s totalworking population, Gen Y and Gen Z isa totally new breed of consumers, whoare more inclined to buy into an ‘idea’than the product itself.

Gen Z is constantly challenging thestatus quo, influencing change at a poli-cy level, and demanding the higheststandards of quality, ethical practicesand benefits from every brand. Puttogether, these two generations are thebiggest reason for the rapid-fire innova-tion we’ve seen in products that we usein our daily lives. So, when Zoomers buya product, they invest in the idea thathelps them live the lifestyle of theirchoice.

Paramdeep Singh Anand, CEO,FieldAssist says, “They are the first gen-eration, digital natives. 60% of transac-tions from Millennials and Gen-Z arecompleted using online wallets. More

than 63% of Millennials make their pur-chases online because it’s convenient.They get access to products that are notavailable in stores near them and alsobecause they get better discounts andcan make purchases as many times asthey want without having to step out.”

Look around and you’ll notice thatmany new brands today are started ‘ByMillennials and For Millennials’. Andthey are killing it in the market becausethese brands speak their language, they

live where they live, theyknow what makes themtick, and more important-ly, they know what theywill buy.

Considering that Indiahas the largest Millennialand GenZ workforce inthe world today, whichtranslates to significantspending power, the mar-ket is ripe for FMCG star-tups to offer purpose-led,benefit-heavy products.From chemical-free baby

products to zero-calorie flavoured tonicsto packaged cold-brewed coffee to fresh-ly sourced antibiotic-free meats to men’sgrooming kits to made-in-India audioproducts, the FMCG industry in Indialooks like it’s having a party.

It’s so heartening to see these youngbrands not only survive but flourish inthe aftermath of the pandemic. Fromwhat I have observed, it was the sheermarket potential of the Indian marketthat helped companies adjust their sailsand ride out the storm with determina-tion.

Their stories of grit and thinking ontheir feet are motivating hundreds ofother FMCG startups to take their brandfrom idea to product, and carve out aniche of their own. And mind you, noneof these brands is lacking in ambition,capital or the intent to be the best atwhat they do. Most of them can easilycompete for head-on with global brandsin their category. They are here to telltheir own story. They are here to beprofitable. They are here to win.

Love them or hate them;

they’re here to RULE

10

Hyderabad Thursday July 7, 2022 what’s brewing?

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.

PAR

TY

Ph

oto

s b

y S

V C

ha

ry

Nexus Malls has

consolidatedits 17 retail

properties under onenew brand identity. Thismarks one of the most

significanttransformations in the

history of organisedretail in India and Nexus

Malls’ commitment toputting customers first.

Forum Sujana is nowNexus Hyderabad as

part of the rebrandingexercise.

Upholding its reputation of leveraging cutting-edge technologies and innovation to deliver the best, Aakash +BYJU’S has introduced the Aakash AudiPREP, India’s first comprehensive audiobook for NEET aspirants. AakashAudiPREP is an innovative web and app-based audiobook containing podcasts of scientifically designed study

materials designed by experts.

Travel and Tourism Fair Hyderabad, is staging a grand post-pandemic rebound of domestic andinternational travel, with over 150 participants from 4 countries and over 19 Indian states and UnionTerritories.

Lifespan PrivateLimited, gets anapproval from the

department of Ayush, forcarrying out tests for theidentity, purity, qualityand strength of theAyurvedic, Siddha orUnani Drugs, rawmaterials and otherfinished products. It hasalso become the firstNational AccreditationBoard for Testing andCalibration Laboratories,an approved lab inTelangana.

FO

R B

ET

TE

R C

AU

SE

Actress Saanve Meghana along withother fashion enthusiasts, graced thecurtain raiser event of the ‘Wedding

Story’ exhibition, to be held on July 30 andJuly 31 at HICC Novotel in Hyderabad.Proceeds from the exhibition will be utilisedto promote fundings for social activities byJITO Hyderabad ladies wing.

l Vidhi l Sudha Kimtee

l Saanve Meghana

l Ranjana

l Sudha Jain

l Sarala

l Madhuri

11

Hyderabad | Thursday July 7, 2022 tollywoodCinematography helped me understand

how scenes work: Director AnjiIt looks like

before gettinginto directing,

Anji understoodthe A to Z offilmmaking,

which led him todirect 10th

Grade Diaries.The Pioneer

connects withhim, during

which we get toknow that he

will also be doingfilms as a

cinematographeras well

PNS | HYDERABAD

The movie 10th ClassDiaries, directed byGaruda Vega Anji,

stars Sriram aka Srikanthand Avika Gor in leadroles.

In this interview, direc-tor Anji talks about hisnew venture and tells usthat this film is not a fic-tional story. The producer,Achut Rama Rao, wrote itbased on his real-life expe-riences and observations.And that’s the reason whyyou will find a wide rangeof elements in the movie.

The director has previ-ously worked with Sriramtwice as a cinematographer,and they have alwaysshared a strong rapport.This is a story with raresensibilities.

Anji didn't want to debutas a director with a thrilleror a regular commercialentertainer. So he is alsodoing films as a cinematog-rapher simultaneously. Hesays, “My experience as acinematographer helpedme understand the visualappeal of cinema and howscenes work. I have got to

work with several directorsover the years, startingwith Ram Gopal Varma.When the producer of 10thClass Diaries narrated thestory, I decided to go in-depth. I marshalled mywide experience to give mybest shot. Moreover, Ireceived thorough supportfrom my team.”

But it was Garuda Vegathat turned out to be agame-changer for him.How? He narrated,“Cranking the camera forPSV, Garuda Vega changedmy surname. I have sincethen been called as GarudaVega Anji. The credit goesto its director, whoseunique visual sense mademe deliver the output I did.Since then, quite a fewmovies done by me havefetched me a name for mycinematography work.”

For any specific reasons,why did he choose Sriramand Avika for the leadroles? He recalled, “Themale protagonist had tolook middle-aged. That'swhy I chose Sriram for therole. Moreover, I haveknown him for many years.He is handsome and, at thesame time, looks mellow

and emotional. He canmake the audience emo-tionally connect with hisfeelings. And Avika Gorlooks like a girl next door.The character needed thosevibes. After ChinnariPellakuthuru, she had acertain image. That's whywe picked her. She andSriram are superb actors.They also come with vastexperience as actors.”

The director was 15years old when he enteredthe film industry. As such,he doesn't have fond mem-ories of his adolescentdays. While making the10th class diaries, his minddid wander into his child-hood days at times. Thestory was not written byhim. So he had to adapt toit. Moreover, the goodnews is, “My next film as adirector is ready. Seniordirector G NageshwaraReddy has penned its storyand screenplay. The film isBujji Ila Raa, starringSunil, ChandiniTamilarasan, and Dhanraj.I will wield the megaphoneonly if something inspiringcomes my way. Otherwise,I will stick to cinematogra-phy.”

gent, AkhilAkkineni'sgrandiose project,has been in theworks for quite

some time and has hadnumerous delays. The filmhas been postponed yetagain, much to the chagrinof fans.

Production of the picturehas been slow, and the Agentteam is currently consider-ing a December 2022 releasedate.

The main causes of thedelays are Akhil's injuriesand several schedule back-logs. It is also alleged thatthe film has undergoneextensive script modifica-

tions as well as actor replace-ments. This acclaimed pan-India project is being fundedby AK Entertainment andSurender 2 Cinema, and isdirected by Surender Reddy.The producers are notskimping on actionsequences and are spendinga lot of money on them.After the underwhelmingresult of his previous filmMost Eligible Bachelor, Akhilhas high hopes for this prod-uct and hence, is not readyfor any compromises.

Malayalam SuperstarMammootty is playing avital role in the cop storywith an international crimein the backdrop.

Agent postponed, again!

a

he King Khan ofBollywood Shah RukhKhan has three filmslined up to entertain hisfans, out of which Jawan

has been the most hyped project.Jawan, a Pan-Indian film helmedby Atlee has Kollywood lady super-star Nayanthara playing the femalelead.

According to sources, the makershave also approached Uppena actorVijay Sethupathi for an importantrole in the film.

A source close to the develop-

ment has revealed that it is truethat the makers had approachedSethupathi for the role of villain.However, nothing has been con-firmed yet.

“He is yet to give his nod for thefilm so there is no truth about himjoining the shoot soon in Mumbai.He is still working on his dates onlyfor Atlee,” said the source.

The source has also revealed thatNayanthara had also resumed theMumbai schedule which will con-tinue till July 15.

The makers had recently released

the first look of Shah Rukh Khanfrom Jawan. The film is slated tohit the theaters on June 2, 2023.The mega project also stars PriyaMani, Sanya Malhotra, and SunilGrover in important roles.

Sethupathi is currently baskingin the success of Kamal Haasanstarrer Vikram. Apart from this, healso has some interesting Hindiprojects like Farzi co-starringShahid Kapoor, Sriram Raghavan'sMerry Christmas featuring KatrinaKaif in the lead, and Mumbaikarco-starring Vikrant Massey.

Vijay Sethupathi still in talks for Jawan?

t

On the heels of releasingthe first looks of Vikramas Aditya Karikalan and

Karthi as Vanthiyathevan fromdirector Mani Ratnam’s mag-num opus, Ponniyin Selvan, themakers of the much-awaitedepic film on Wednesday releasedthe first look of Aishwarya RaiBachchan as Queen Nandini inthe film.

Lyca Productions, which isproducing the film along withMani Ratnam’s Madras Talkies,tweeted the first look picture ofAishwarya Rai in the film andsaid, “Vengeance has a beautifulface! Meet Nandini, the queen ofPazhuvoor.”

The first part of the film,which will release on September30 this year, will release in fivelanguages; Tamil, Telugu,Malayalam, Kannada, andHindi.

The film is based on the clas-sic Tamil novel Ponniyin Selvanby eminent writer Kalki. Thefilm, called by Mani Ratnam ashis dream project, will be amongthe most expensive projects everundertaken in the country.

Aishwarya Rai’s look as Queen Nandini

from Ponniyin Selvan revealed

Offering a glimpse into differentaspects of love in the form ofstories set in Hyderabad, the

soon-to-be-released Modern LoveHyderabad has renowned actor Revathiessaying the role of Mehrunnisa, a moth-er in one of the episodes. Revathy andNithya Menen are mother and daughterin the episode My Unlikely DreamPandemic Partner, directed by NageshKukunoor.

“She is someone whom I haveplayed all my life, so it was easy forme to play Mehrunisa and it'snothing to do with lockdown,Nagesh told me about the char-acter and I immediately said yesbecause I loved it,” Revathi said.

Speaking about her experienceplaying the role, Revathy said,“Sometimes the characters are just

written as mothers with a very type-cast and typical feel to it which makes itcommon, but sometimes mother reallyhave characterisation to it which makesthe story count their contribution and

changes the feelwhich this

script

has.”The

recently releasedtrailer of Modern LoveHyderabad has kept anticipationlevels up. The series is the secondof the three local editions of themuch-loved international anthol-ogy series, Modern Love. Theanthology is well known forshowcasing different shades oflove with its stories and talentedstar cast.

Modern Love Hyderabad is allset for its release on July 8 onAmazon Prime Video. The six-episode series is produced byElahe Hiptoola with NageshKukunoor as the showrunnerand the episodes are directed byNagesh Kukunoor, VenkateshMaha, Uday Gurrala and DevikaBahudhanam.

Revathyon her Modern

Love Hyderabadrole: She’s

someone I’veplayed all my

life

Actress AnasuyaBharadwaj, whowas most recently

seen in Gopi Chand’sPakka Commercial, is setto appear in an intrigu-ing web series.

Director Krish hasbeen preparing to launcha web series with aninteresting concept basedon the events of a prosti-tute’s life. AnasuyaBharadwaj will reported-ly play a prostitute in theadaptation of Telugunovelist Gurajada AppaRao’s Kanyasulakam.

Kanyasulakam is aplay written in the 1890sand has remained amongthe most popular onesover the years. Anasuyawill play Madhuravani, aprostitute who is thedrama’s protagonist.

The online series will

begin production soonunder director Krish.More information aboutthe same is expected tobe out shortly.

AnasuyaBharadwaj’sappearance inAllu Arjun’sPushpa, andRavi Teja’sKhiladi,marked a sig-nificanthype forher roles.However,it was herrole asRangammaAtha in RamCharan-starrerRangasthalamthat hadbrought hermuch appre-ciation.

Anasuya to playa prostitutein her next

Well-known filmeditor GauthamRaju, who has

worked in over 800 films,passed away at the age of68 on Tuesday.

According to the latestreports, Gautham Rajuwas going through med-ical treatments for somekidney-related issues inHyderabad, for the pastfew days. However, hishealth deteriorated at mid-night and took his lastbreath. The Telugu edi-tor’s mortal remains wereat his residence inMothinagar, Hyderabad,and the last rites tookplace on Wednesday.

Several celebrities andfans have been payingtheir tributes and offeringheartfelt condolences. Theindustry tracker Vamsiand Shekar confirmed thenews about GowthamRaju’s demise. The duotook to Twitter to paytheir last respects to thecelebrated technician.

“Senior EditorGautamraju garu passedaway. May his soul rest inpeace. Strength to family,friends, and loved ones,”they confirmed after shar-ing a photo of GowthamRaju on Twitter.

Sai Dharam Tej paid his

respects and tweeted,“Heartbroken at the loss ofEditor #GauthamRajuGaru,a man of great workand character, with whomI have worked closely dur-ing my initial phase ofcareer.You’ll always bealive in your work sir.Sending my strength tofamily and dear ones.#RIPGauthamRaju Garu."

“Tremendous loss to theindustry.. GauthamRajuGaru.. your work will betreasured forever. Strengthto his family and friends,”wrote Ram Charan.

“Saddened by thedemise of renowned editor#GowthamRaju garu. Mayhis soul rest in peace.Heartfelt condolences tothe family and loved ones,”wrote actor Gopichandwhile sharing a picture ofthe actor.

RRR and Baahubalimusic composer MMKeeravani tweeted,“Saddened by the prema-ture exit of Gouthamrajugaru. Happened to workwith him for Dhammu.Huge respect for hishumility and talent.”

Gautham Raju is bestknown for working forKick, Race Gurram, GopalaGopala, Khaidi No 150,and Adhurs.

Tollywood mournsthe death of senior

editor Gautham Raju

Oscar-winnerResulPookutty's

comment overRajamouli's magnumopus RRR branding ita gay romance led toa huge controversyon social media. Fanshave turned furiousand have starteddemanding hisouster from AlluArjun's prestigiousproject Pushpa: TheRule. Even thoughResul Pookutty triedto calm down thetempers, seems likethings have becomereally worse thistime. Some evenwent on to accuseResul Pookutty ofjealousy as Rajamoulidid not pick him upfor his projects.

Meanwhile, musicdirector Keeravani

who worked for RRRcame up with a sub-tle post and his reac-tion has led to a dis-cussion. Keeravanihad first posted apost and then deletedit and later came upwith another post.

Keeravani's actionsbecame a point ofdiscussion Keeravaniused lower andupper case words inhis post and he delet-ed it. While many feltthat Keeravani gave astrong counter, oth-

ers felt thatKeeravani realisedthat there were somedouble-meaningwords and deletedhis post and came upwith another post.

He said, “I am notable to see Ram andBheem charactersfrom RRR anymore(who looked like hav-ing shared a specialrelationship). All Ican see is a motherwaiting for a lifetimefor her daughterMalli who wasabducted. Hope myvision gets improvedsoon.”

Keeravani's reaction

triggers discussion

sports 12HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

AP n GALLE

Australia's Steve Smith saidWednesday he found

England's new attacking"Bazball" approach entertainingto watch, but questionedwhether it was sustainable.

England have won all fourTests under new coachBrendon "Baz" McCullum andskipper Ben Stokes with a fear-less new mentality, includingthrashing India on Tuesday.

"I've watched a little bit ofit, it's certainly been entertain-ing, they're coming out playingtheir shots," Smith said aheadof Australia's second Testagainst Sri Lanka starting onFriday.

"Even someone like AlexLees started to come down thewicket when he was on noth-ing really to play the way heplayed (against India)," he toldreporters.

Having tongue-in-cheekshouted "Bazball" beforewhacking a shot in an earliernet session, Smith said he was"intrigued to see how long itlasts, if it's sustainable.

"If you come on a wicketthat's got some grass and JoshHazlewood, (Pat) Cumminsand (Mitchell) Starc are rolling

in at you. Is it going to be thesame? We'll see what happens."

England's Joe Root nowhas more centuries to his namethan Smith, but the Australianwas quick to point out that hisrival has played 35 more Tests.

"He's a quality player andlooks like he's pretty tough toget out at the moment," Smithsaid of the prolific run-getter.

The touring Australianteam have themselves playedattacking cricket on turningpitches to go one-up in the two-Test series with a hammering

of the hosts in the opener.Spinner Nathan Lyon led

the bowling charge with ninewickets in the match and thebatsmen took control of theopposition spinners withCameron Green scoring 77 ashe used the sweep shot togood effect.

"We went at a good pace inthe first Test. If you were sittingthere not playing your shots orlooking to score, you wereprobably going to get out even-tually. So it was get them beforethey get us," Smith said.

PTI n SOUTHAMPTON

Experimentation will go out of thewindow as India will get downto finalising their best eleven for

the World Cup during the three-match T20 series against an ultra-aggressive England, beginning here onThursday.

Skipper Rohit Sharma, who missedthe fifth Test in Birmingham after con-tracting COVID-19, will be travellingto the port city on Wednesday and isexpected to feature in the series-open-er.

Test players including Virat Kohli,Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja,Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant will jointhe T20 squad from the second gameonwards.

Their absence would give fringeplayers like Ruturaj Gaikwad and SanjuSamson one more game to make a state-ment though they seem to have fallenin the pecking order in India's list ofprobables for the World Cup inAustralia.

A niggle meant Gaikwad could notopen alongside Ishan Kishan in the twogames in Ireland and if Rohit is back,he will have to warm the bench onceagain.

Kishan has done reasonably well inthe chances that he has got and he willlook to strengthen his position in theteam as a reserve opener with a substan-tial knock against the mighty England.

With Kohli expected to be back atnumber three from game two, DeepakHooda will be aiming for anothermatch-winning effort to keep himselfin the mix.

With a century and 47 not outagainst Ireland, Hooda has certainlymade it tougher for the team manage-ment to keep him out of the eleven.

The uncapped duo of RahulTripathi and Arshdeep Singh have notbeen included for second and third T20and it is unlikely they will get a look inon Thursday.

Suryakumar Yadav, who made acomeback from injury against Ireland,could not get going in the games inMalahide and will be backing himselfto get back to his innovative best. Heand Hooda were amongst the runs inthe warm-up against Derbyshire lastweek.

In the bowling department, pacerUmran Malik will be brimming withconfidence after defending 17 runs inthe last over of a high-scoring secondT20 against Ireland. However, heremains a work in progress and needsto improve on his accuracy.

The pacers including the seasonedBhuvneshwar Kumar and wily Harshal

Patel were stunned by the Irish attackand against a tougher opposition, theywill have to be at their best.

Yuzvendra Chahal will be expect-ed to replace Ravi Bishnoi in the play-ing eleven.

India have about 15 T20 games toplay before the T20 World Cup inAustralia in October -- three againstEngland in the current series, fiveagainst the West Indies (July 29-August7), about 5 in Asia Cup (August-

September) and three against Australia(September).

The England series will mark thebeginning of the process to identify itsbest XI for the marquee event.

For England, the series marks thebeginning of the Jos Buttler era follow-ing the retirement of Eoin Morgan.

Ben Stokes and star of the fifth Testagainst India, Jonny Bairstow, have beenrested from the series.

However, there is enough firepow-er in the England batting to rattle theopposition.

Both Buttler and Liam Livingstoneshowed devastating form in the IPL andwould be looking to build on that.

PTIn PALLEKELE

Aconfident India will look to completethe formalities and assert their

supremacy by completing a whitewash ofSri Lanka in the third and final women'sODI here on Thursday.

Playing ODI cricket for the first timesince the talismanic Mithali Raj retiredfrom the game, the Indian team won theopening two games in contrasting fash-ion to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in thethree-match series.

The visitors had bagged the preced-ing T20I series 2-1.

Chasing similar targets, India lookedmuch more confident in the second ODIas they galloped to 10-wicket win onMonday.

India controlled all aspects of thegame. It was the kind of dominant dis-play expected out of Harmanpreet Kaurand her troops through out the tour ofthe island nation.

After an underwhelming tour bytheir standards, star openers SmritiMandhana and Shefali Verma finallyjoined the party with unbeaten half cen-turies.

The duo, that had struggled to builda decent partnership and provide electri-fying starts in the first ODI and the T20series, would be keen for an encore in thefinal game.

New full-time skipper Harmanpreethas been India's most consistent playerthis series. The all-rounder has shonewith the bat, her innings often turningout to be the difference between the twosides.

While, Indian spinners were rulingthe roost on the slow tracks in the T20s,

the ODI series has belonged to pacerRenuka Singh, who has picked sevenwickets in the two 50-over matches,including a career best 4/28.

In the absence of veteran JhulanGoswami, who has often been the side'sbest pacer, Renuka's performance showsthat that young and relatively inexperi-enced Indian pace unit has potential.

A 3-0 series win will also boost thevisitors' confidence for their next assign-ment — the Commonwealth Games inBirmingham.

Sri Lanka will, once again, be keento pick up a conciliatory win like they didin the T20 series.

Let down by its batters this series, theChamari Athapaththu-led side wouldhope it can navigate the Indian bowlingattack better in the dead rubber.

On the bowling front, the spin duoof Inoka Ranaweera and OshadiRanasinghe have been the stand-out play-ers, doing most of the heavy lifting.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Shikhar Dhawan was on Wednesday namedIndia captain for the three ODIs against the

West Indies in the absence of regular skipperRohit Sharma, while Virat Kohli and RishabhPant were among those who have been restedfor the series beginning on July 22 in Port ofSpain, Trinidad.

Two other senior players, Jasprit Bumrahand Mohammad Shami have also been rested.Hardik Pandya, who recently made his India

comeback following a successful IPL, is also nota part of the side.

Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson, RuturajGaikwad and Avesh Khan, who are not part ofODI squad for the series in England beginningJuly 12, have been included in the 16-memberteam for the West Indies tour.

Shubman Gill, who last played an ODI inDecember 2020, has also got the selectors' nod.

Ravindra Jadeja has been named Dhawan'sdeputy for the series.

Dhawan, who only plays ODI, had first cap-tained the side during the tour of Sri Lanka lastyear when the Test specialists were in England.

There has been criticism from some quar-ters regarding the appointment of too many cap-tains of the Indian team over the past one yearwith Bumrah, Pant, Rahul, Hardik, Dhawanleading the side due to scheduling and injuryissues, and as part of workload management.

All the three games will be played in Portof Spain.

The games in the West Indies are the onlyODIs India will play before the T20 World Cupin Australia and therefore, senior players beingrested doesn't come entirely as a surprise.

After the ODIs, India will play five T20Isagainst the West Indies in the Caribbean and theUnited States, the squad for which is yet to beannounced.

Considering every T20I game is importantbefore the World Cup in Australia, the seniorplayers are likely to return for the five-matchseries to be played from July 29 to August 7. TheT20I matches will be played in Trinidad, St Kittsand Lauderhill in Florida.ODI Squad: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad,Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, SuryakumarYadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), SanjuSamson (wk), Shardul Thakur, YuzvendraChahal, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, PrasidhKrishna, Mohd Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.

PTI n DUBAI

India's star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant blazedhis way into a career-best fifth position in the latest

ICC Test rankings announced on Wednesday, even asthe out-of-form Virat Kohli dropped out of top-10 forthe first time in six years.

Pant's meteoric rise in the rankings comes after hisheroics in the recently-held COVID-delayed fifth Testbetween India and England in which he scored 146 and57 across two innings.

It is worth mentioning that Pant scored two tonsand three half centuries in his last six Test innings.

However, former India skipper Kohli dropped fourplaces to 13th in the batting rankings, thanks to a pro-longed lean run.

Interestingly, it is for the first time in six years thatKohli has found himself out of top 10 in the Test rank-ings.

Current Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who missedthe Edgbaston Test after testing positive for COVID-19, also dropped one place in the rankings.

England batter Joe Root, who reigned supreme atEdbagston with a sublime 142 in England's secondinnings, consolidated his position at the top of the rank-ings with 923 points, with Australians MarnusLabuschagne and Steve Smith taking the second andthird positions respectively.

Jonny Bairstow, who is in the form of his life andplayed a pivotal role in guiding England to a historicvictory with his unbeaten 114, climbed 11 places to 10thin the rankings.

Bairstow has so far scored 1218 runs at an averageof 55.36 with six centuries in the current ICC WorldTest Championship cycle.

PTI n PALLEKELE

Young Indian opener Shafali Verma,who is known for her big-hitting

prowess, says she is making a consciouseffort to improve her strike rotation tobecome a better cricketer.

The 18-year-old slammed a run-a-ball 71 not out, her career-best score inODIs, in an unbroken 174-run partner-ship with Smriti Mandhana (94 not out)as India decimated the hosts by 10 wick-

ets here on Monday to take a unassail-able 2-0 lead in the three match series.

The 18-year-old has not been ableto maintain consistency in her perform-ances, especially in the 50-over format.

"Having seen my past matches, Ithought I lacked in taking singles, so I'veworked on it. I'm trying to be better asI feel taking singles is very important tobuild your innings in ODIs," Shafali saidon the eve of the third and final ODI ofthe series.

"If it's a good ball, it's about takingsingles and rotating the strike. If youkeep rotating strike, scoring boundariesbecome easy. I'm also working a lot onmy fitness."

In the preceding T20 series, Shafalifailed to convert her starts and got outfor 31, 17 and 5 in the three matches.

But in the ODIs, she scored her firsthalf-century in the format since the oneagainst South Africa in the World Cupin March.

PTI n AMSTELVEEN

Alacklustre Indian women'shockey team need to tick all

boxes against New Zealand in itsfinal Pool B match to seal adirect quarterfinal place in theFIH World Cup, here onThursday.

The Indians, who achieveda historic fourth place finish inlast year's Olympics, drew 1-1against Tokyo bronze medallistEngland and China in theirfirst two pool matches.

The Savita-led side is cur-rently placed third in Pool B withtwo points below China andleaders New Zealand, whodefeated England 3-1 onTuesday.

"New Zealand will be atough team to play. They arevery dangerous in their count-er-attack and we will have to beready for that, on the ball wehave to play to our strengths,"chief coach Janneke Schopmansaid.

According to the tourna-ment format, the 16 teams aredivided in four pools of fourteams each. The top four sidesfrom each pool will directlyqualify for the quarterfinals,while the second and third

placed teams will feature in thecrossovers.

The winner of the crossover matches will grab theremaining four quarterfinalspots. So, India would look foran outright win against NewZealand and hope for a Chinesedraw or a loss against Englandto top Pool B.

But going by the way theyplayed in the first two matches,it would be easier said thandone.

While the Indian defence

has impressed in both thematches, denying England asingle penalty corner in thefirst game, it is the performanceof the forwardline and midfieldwhich was found wanting.

Barring Vandana Katariya,who scored India's two goals, noother striker could live uptoexpectations so far with thelikes of Lalremsiami, SharmilaDevi and Navneet Kaur cuttinga sorry figure.

It is not that the Indians did-n't create chances, but they

failed to grab those opportuni-ties.

The midfield too needs toraise their game as it lookedrusty against China.

Penalty corner conversion isalso an area of concern forSchopman as India made use ofjust two out of the 12 earned intwo games, and that too both thegoals coming through indirect-ly from the sticks of Vandana.

While against England,Vandana scored from a rebound,against China she got a beauti-

ful deflection to Gurjit's flick todraw India level.

"I thought we started wellagainst a tight Chinese defense.We were unlucky to not scoreearly on and one moment of notpaying attention defensivelyresulted in us conceding a goal,"Schopman said.

"After that we struggled fora bit but when we found thespace, we were able to playsome good combinations."

"The PC goal was great butfelt like we forgot to pushthrough after that with Chinabeing more aggressive in the endphase.

"We are where we are butobviously, we would have likedto have more points. Our poolis incredibly tough and smallthings will make the differ-ence," she added.

Gurjit Kaur too needs topolish her skills and raise herconversion rate if India have toprogress far in the tournament.

The Black Sticks women,however, would be brimmingwith confidence after the winover England.

Both the sides would havea fair idea about the equationsthey need as China and Englandplay earlier on Thursday.

Pant surges tocareer-best No. 5

SQUADEngland: Jos Buttler (Captain), MoeenAli, Harry Brook, Sam Curran,Richard Gleeson, Chris Jordan, LiamLivingstone, Dawid Malan, TymalMills, Matthew Parkinson, Jason Roy,Phil Salt, Reece Topley and DavidWilley.India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), IshanKishan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, SanjuSamson, Suryakumar Yadav, DeepakHooda, Rahul Tripathi, DineshKarthik (wk), Hardik Pandya,Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal,Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, BhuvneshwarKumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan,Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.

England vs IndiaLive from 10:30pm IST

SONY SIX, TEN 3

INDIA BEGIN PREPS TO PICK BEST WT20 ELEVEN

Dhawan to lead India in WI ODIs India aim to whitewash Sri Lanka

Have made a conscious effort to improve strike rotation: Shafali

Sri Lanka vs IndiaLive from 10:00 am IST

FANCODE

Smith unfazed by ‘Bazball' India eye win against NZ to stay in huntIndia vs New ZealandLive from 11:00pm IST

STAR SPORTS 1