KTR puts ‘Aa Naluguru’ on notice...2021/02/25  · Vani Devi attended the meet-ing. KTR let them in on the strat-egy to be followed for victory of party candidate Surabhi Vani

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HYDERABAD, THURSDAY FEBRUARY 25, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

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TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Magha & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

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Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 01:56 pm – 03:23 pm

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Preparedness of thelocal community is

the best way to manage disasters

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‘Dams, hydroelec-tric projects don’t

harm environment’

8

‘US award a recogni-

tion of vibrant nature

of transparency...

PNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday madehis strongest pitch for privati-sation of non-strategic PSUs,saying the government has nobusiness to be in business andsustaining loss-making unitson taxpayers' money drainsresources that could other-wise have been spent on pub-lic welfare schemes.

He said about 100 under-utilised or unutilised assetswith public sector units(PSUs), such as those in the oiland gas and power sectors, willbe monetised, creating Rs 2.5lakh crore of investmentopportunities.

"It is the government's dutyto support enterprises andbusinesses. But it is not essen-tial that it should own and run

enterprises," the PrimeMinister said at a webinar onthe privatisation approach inthe Budget for 2021-22.

The private sector brings ininvestment, global best prac-tices, top-quality managers,changes in management and

modernisation, he said, addingthe money generated from thestake sales will be routed topublic welfare schemes in areaslike water and sanitation, edu-cation and healthcare.

Modi: Government has nobusiness to be in business

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Finance Ministry onWednesday allowed all privatesector banks to participate ingovernment-related businesslike collection of taxes, pensionpayments and small savingsschemes.

At the moment, only a fewlarge private sector banks areallowed to conduct govern-ment-related business.

This step is expected to fur-

ther enhance customer conve-nience, spur competition andhigher efficiency in the stan-

dards of customer services, anofficial statement said.

“Embargo lifted on grant ofGovt business to private banks.All banks can now participate.Private banks can now beequal partners in developmentof the Indian economy, fur-thering Govt's social sector ini-tiatives, and enhancing cus-tomer convenience," FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamansaid in a tweet.

K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

TRS working president andMunicipal AdministrationMinister KT Ramarao onWednesday put on noticeEducation Minister SabitaIndra Reddy and AnimalHusbandry Minister TalasaniSrinivas Yadav as well as partyMLAs D Sudhir Reddy (LBNagar) and Prakash Gowd(Rajender Nagar) for takingtheir constituencies lightly.

Referring to them as 'AaNaluguru', KTR, during ameeting with Ministers andpublic representatives fromGHMC limits at TelanganaBhavan, said that the party hadfaced defeat in their con-stituencies in the GHMC elec-tions, it is learnt. Hence, theyshould not let their guarddown for the upcoming MLCelections to two Graduatesseats.

KTR made it clear that it wasimperative for the party to winthe elections. So, the quartet(Aa Naluguru) should ensurethat voters enrolled by theparty cast their votes to theparty's candidates.

Ministers, MPs, MLAs,MLCs, Mayor, Deputy Mayor,Hyderabad-R angareddy-Mahabubnagar candidate SVani Devi attended the meet-

ing. KTR let them in on the strat-

egy to be followed for victoryof party candidate SurabhiVani Devi. He directed partyleaders to conduct constituen-cy-level general body meetingsevery Saturday. He asked lead-ers to counter opposition lead-ers' criticism of the govern-

ment. Party legislators had towork as in-charges of theirrespective constituencies, hesaid. Ministers will be appoint-ed as in-charges for three dis-tricts-Hyderabad, Rangareddyand Mahabubnagar to super-vise the Graduates MLC pollcampaign. He asked MLAs toown responsibility for ensuring

victory of TRS candidates inthe ongoing Graduates MLCelections, it is learnt.

Later, speaking to the media,KTR said that the Congressgovernment filled only 24,000jobs during its 10-year rule inthe undivided Andhra Pradeshstate.

KTR puts ‘Aa Naluguru’ on notice

TRS working president KT Rama Rao addressing a meeting with Ministers and public representatives from GHMC limits at Telangana Bhavan on Wednesday

n KTR let them in onthe strategy to befollowed for victoryof party candidateSurabhi Vani Devi

n Ministers will be appointed as in-charges for three districts-Hyderabad, Rangareddy andMahabubnagar to supervise theGraduates MLC poll campaign

Centre lifts embargo, permits pvt banksto participate in Govt-related business

ML MELLY MAITREYI n HYDERABAD

States, apart from taking a dras-tic hit in revenues due to Covid-19, have had to endure theadded hardship of high costborrowings at the auction ofState development bonds con-ducted by the Reserve Bank ofIndia. Even in this, TeluguStates have borrowed muchmore than their borrowings inthe last financial year.

Telangana has already bor-

rowed till date thisfinancial year 46 percent more than thatof last FY andAndhra Pradesh'smarket borrowingsamounted to 36per cent morethan that of lastfiscal, accord-ing to a reportby CareRatings.

Between April7, 2020 and February 23

t h i syear, 28

States andtwo UnionTerritories have

cumulatively raisedRs.6.9 lakh crore via

market borrowings, up 33per cent over that of last yearwhen it stood at Rs.5.18lakh crore,

PNS n SIDDIPET

TS Finance Minister T HarishRao on Wednesday expressedhis concern over childrenneglecting sports, while get-ting immersed in time-wast-ing activities like playingPUBG and surfing onFacebook.

Children, addicted tomobile phones, were becom-ing obese and developingcomplications like BP anddiabetes from young age, heobserved. Physical exercisewas the key to keeping diseasesat bay. He recalled the proverb'Health is wealth' to drivehome his point.

The common perceptionabout sports was that it was atime-waste activity; however,PUBG and Facebook chatting

were time-killing activities.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy's sister YS Sharmila,who has declared her plans tobring back 'RajannaRajyam in Telangana,on Wednesdayasserted that nobodyhad the right to pin-point her birthplace (tosuggest that she is not'local') and questionedwhether Telangana ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao and BJP senior leaderVijayashanthi areTelanganites?

Sharmila said that shewould make an announce-ment regarding the launch ofher party "very soon" and, inthe context, asked scribeswhether it would be good tolaunch her party on May 14 orJuly 9. She said that she wouldgo to Delhi in support offarmers' issues.

Speaking to media personsat Lotus Pond, Sharmila men-tioned that she had full sup-port of her motherVijayamma. "Party announce-ment will take place verysoon. Have the problems of

p e o -ple been

solved after thecreation of a sepa-

rate Telangana state?Telagnana was created

with God's grace. Don't Ihave love for Telangana if I

did not participate in theTelangana movement? I don'tknow whether I have differ-ences or difference of opin-ions. Jagan has no interest inme floating a party. However,

words, rela-t i o n s ,r a k h i swill con-tinue.

Nobody has right to questionmy nativity: Sharmila

‘This came at a time when I was thinking of retirement’ PNS n HYDERABAD

TRS candidate for theHyderabad-R angareddy-Mahabubnagar Graduates'constituency MLC elections SVani Devi on Wednesdaythanked Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao for givingher MLC ticket at a time whenshe was thinking of retire-ment to pursue her interestslike drawing and painting. Shesaid that she got an opportuni-ty at a late stage in life, just likeher father (PV Narsimha Rao),who got the opportunity ofserving as Prime Minister at anadvanced age.

Later, speaking to the media

after participating in themeeting of GHMC limits TRSpublic representatives held atTelangana Bhavan here onWednesday, Vani Devi said: "Ihave no commitments. I strivehard to solve the problems ofthe graduates. Nobody hasqualifications like I have. I willprove myself with the givenopportunity. I have knowledgeon the problems. Public ser-vice was digested in my nervesas a PV's child" (sic). She saidthat she was contesting theelection following the call ofKCR. She said that she hadbeen in service for the last 35years after establishing educa-tional institutions. She said

that students pursuing educa-tion in her institutions had

secured more job opportuni-ties. Her students were work-

ing in all sectors --from atom-ic to aerospace, she added.

Speaking to the media, TRSparty secretary general andRajya Sabha MP K KeshavaRao said that graduates wouldnot be influenced by smallwords. He thanked KCR forallocating ticket to PV'sdaughter. He said that he hadbeen seeing some qualities ofPV in Vani Devi. Vani Deviwas a non-controversial can-didate and she had beenfocused on her work of settingup schools. The TRS partywould not disturb others asthe party had its own voters.The party would do its ownwork, KK added.

SC dismissesplea for extra-chance

SETBACK TO 10K CIVILSERVICES ASPIRANTS

PNS n NEW DELHI

In a setback to over 10,000UPSC civil service aspirants,the Supreme CourtWednesday dismissed a pleaseeking an extra attempt forthose who exhausted theirlast chance in the 2020 pre-liminary exam amid theCOVID-19 pandemic orhave got age barred fromappearing in future tests.

A bench of Justices A MKhanwilkar, Indu Malhotraand Ajay Rastogi dismissedthe petition filed by civil ser-vice aspirants and clarifiedthat its decision would notrestrict the Centre in exer-cising its discretion in futureto deal with the difficultiesas projected to the court.

Consequently, the peti-tion fails and is accordinglydismissed, the bench said.

The top court said that itis not exercising its plenarypowers under Article 142 ofthe Constitution.

Guv wants govt tospeed up probe ofadvocate couplemurder casePNS n HYDERABAD

Governor Dr TamilisaiSoundararajan on Wednesdayaddressed a letter to the stategovernment.

MP womandies hoursafter 2nd doseof vaccinePNS n BARWANI (MP)

A 60-year-old womanemployee of the MadhyaPradesh health departmentdied hours after receiving thesecond dose of a COVID-19vaccine in Barwani district, anofficial said on Wednesday.

The district collector hasasked authorities to ascertainthe exact cause of her death.

Rajni Sen, a clerk with thehealth department, receivedthe second dose of the vac-cine on Tuesday afternoonand her condition deteriorat-ed at night, the district's chiefmedical and health officer(CMHO), Anita Singare, said.

Harish finds ‘sports’route to win people

AP, TS among the highestborrowing States this year

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She said that shehad been in servicefor the last 35 yearsafter establishingeducationalinstitutions. Shesaid that studentspursuing educationin her institutionshad secured morejob opportunities

SARDAR PATEL CRICKET STADIUM INMOTERA RENAMED AFTER PM MODI

The Sardar Patel Stadium has beenrenamed to the Narendra Modi Stadium.It will host its first international match

from today after renovation. President RamNath Kovind inaugurated the newly revampedMotera cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, onWednesday. The Prime Minister was alsoformerly a president of the Gujarat CricketAssociation. Home Minister Amit Shah andSports Minister Kiren Rijiju, along with theBoard of Control for Cricket in India secretaryJay Shah, were also present at the event. Thestadium will be a part of the planned SardarVallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave in the city.

The second phase of the coronavirusvaccination drive will begin March 1, withpriority given to people over 60 and those

over 45 but with co-morbidities, UnionMinister Prakash Javadekar said Wednesday,adding that details of what counted as acomorbidity will be released by the HealthMinistry. The shots will be given at 10,000government-run centres and 20,000 privatecentres. Charges for vaccination at privately-run centres will be confirmed in a few days."From March 1, people above 60 years of ageand those above 45 years with comorbiditieswill be vaccinated,” Javadekar said.

NSE REOPENS AFTER TECHNICALSNAG CAUSES LOSS OF CONNECTIVITY

The National Stock Exchange re-openedfollowing a technical glitch which led tohalt in trading across the equity and equity

futures and option segments. The NSE andBSE remained open till 5 pm. The NSEbenchmark - Nifty 50 index rose 0.6 per centor 88 points to 14,800 after re-opening andSensex climbed 308 points to 50,059. Earlierin the day, the NSE had cancelled all openorders of equity, equity futures and option andcurrency futures after trading was halted.Traders were worried about their positions aday ahead of the monthly expiry of derivativecontracts for February, analysts said.

ED RAIDS DELHI FIRM IN ALLEGED ` 800-CRORE BANK FRAUD CASE

The ED on Wednesday said it hasraided a Delhi-based company and isprobing two other entities in

connection with a money laundering caselinked to alleged bank loan frauds of over`800 crore. It said the agency searchedvarious premises of a firm, Shree BankeyBihari Exports Ltd, and its promotersAmar Chand Gupta, Ram Laal Gupta, RajKumar Gupta, and their families. The caseagainst them is being probed undervarious Sections of the PMLA andinvolves "siphoning and diversion" offunds amounting to Rs 605 crore.

COVID VACCINES FROM MARCH FOR OVER60s, THOSE OVER 45 WITH COMORBIDITIES

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Continued from page 1

According to data collated byCare Ratings. With this, Stateshave so far raised 84 per cent ofthe scheduled market borrow-ings for the fiscal.

At the first auction of Statebonds on April 7, 2020, Keralawas forced to offer 8.96 per centon its Rs.6,000 crore marketborrowing. This happened afortnight after the RBI unveileda slew of measures to ensure liq-uidity. This was the highest anyState paid in interest cost for amarket borrowing in recent

years. Analysts blamed suchhigh cost of debt on the fears ofbanks and other investors ofgovernment debt of massive fis-cal slippage due to the pandem-ic.

In fact, there has been a sus-tained increase in the cost ofmarket borrowings for theStates in the past six weeks eventhough the yields began to riseonly after the budget announce-ment.

At Tuesday's auction, theweighted average cost of bor-rowing across the states andtenures at 7.19 per cent was 18bps higher than a week agowhen it was only 7.01 per centon February 16. The averageweekly borrowings so far thisfiscal has been Rs.14,584 crore.

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. Chief Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

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hyderabad 02HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2021

EGG RATES

` 47, 730 (10 gm)

` 150

GOLD

` 75, 700 (1kg)

` 1300

HYDERABAD 405

VIJAYAWADA 506

VISAKHAPATNAM 480

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..0055

SILVER

HYDERABADBULLION RATES

`̀//110000

CHICKEN RATES

Dressed/With Skin `165

Without Skin `188

Broiler at Farm `114

`̀//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

The Himalayan moun-tains represent one ofthe most fragile ecosys-

tems and frequently facevagaries of nature. In the longlist of disasters, the flood inRishiganga valley on February07, 2021 is unique as it hap-pened when the weather inthe region was fair, except forthe reports of high snowfall afew days prior to the event.There was also no seismicactivity reported at that time.

Analysis of images by theIndian Institute of RemoteSensing (IIRS), Dehradun hasestablished that a mass wast-ing event triggered the flashflood in Rishiganga valley.Most probably, energy creat-ed by this fall on soft glacialmaterial resulted in melting ofsnow. Amateur videos of theevent shot by locals show amighty flood wave approach-

ing the project barrage andswallowing it in no time.Theoccurrence had happened sofast that it hardly gave anyreaction time to anybody tosave lives and property.

The popular public percep-tion is that a disaster isrequired to wakeup the systemfrom slumber. Some noisesare made after a major disas-ter, and after some time thesystem again falls back todeep sleep till the next disas-ter knocks it off. There may bean iota of truth in it, but suchperception is not fully justifiedas we have learnt severallessons from major disastersin the past. Setting up of theNational DisasterManagement Authority(NDMA) and associatedinfrastructure at the state anddistrict levels are the results ofsome of the lessons learnt.

However, much more effortsneed to be made for prepar-ing the local community; thatbeing the first line of defenceagainst such disasters.

It is a fact that disasters, beit earthquakes, flash floods orsomething else, leave us withvery little reaction time. Anyworthwhile response can onlybe made by the local commu-nity in such a short time. Ofcourse, long-term relief andrehabilitation measures can

always be supplemented bynon-local efforts.

How to prepare the localcommunity for providingrapid response? What is theincentive for them to joinhands in disaster prepared-ness? It is high time to revivethe good old system of civildefence in the country. Apartfrom altruistic reasons, buy inof people may be secured bypaying honorarium to thevolunteers of the local com-

munity. The teams should betrained regularly and mockdrills may be held periodical-ly. The local communityshould also be provided withbasic relief and rescue mate-rial as per detailed standard

operating procedures. Theimportant thing is to be pre-pared for various types of dis-asters encountered or likely tobe faced by the local commu-nity in that area. It has to bea highly area-specific drilland needs to be planned inthat manner. In order to pre-pare the community, it is alsoworthwhile to systematicallyconsider all possible details ofpast disasters as per localinstitutional/individual mem-ory. The disaster preparednesshas to be done strictly as perthe local requirements andconditions. This detailing ofincident management is thefulcrum of the effective localdisaster preparedness.

Sometimes, sub-optimumplanning and inappropriatelocations of developmentalprojects also lead to naturaldisasters. Even if it is not so,

activists against developmentargue in that manner. In thisconnection, environmentalappraisal norms need to bemodified. Mandatory publichearings should not be mere-ly a slanging match to have ornot to have a project. Instead,project proponents shouldidentify the local talent whocan give inputs as far as vari-ous project design aspects areconcerned and take them inconsideration. Such consulta-tions should be mandatoryand invariably be part of thedetailed project report.

It is important that scientif-ic and academic institutions inthe Himalayan region arestrengthened and properlynetworked. Accuracy of pre-diction of disasters could beenhanced by proper data col-lection, collation and analysis.Instead of confining to mon-

soon months, hydro meteoro-logical data, including moni-toring of river flows, should betaken up in-situ as well asremotely all round the year.Monitoring lakes in high alti-tudes, changes in snow/glac-iers should also be part of thedecision support system. It isalso necessary to have a goodcommand and control centreto prevent valuable delay incommunicating informationto the functional/field levels.

Responsible tourism andtaking up other developmen-tal activities should beallowed within the carryingcapacity of the eco-system.To sum up, we cannot preventevery disaster despite ourbest efforts, but we can cer-tainly minimise the adverseimpacts of such disasters bybuilding a well-prepared localcommunity.

DR SHAILENDRA JOSHI, Advisor of Telangana govt and former

chief secretary of Telangana

Analysis of images by the IndianInstitute of Remote Sensing (IIRS),Dehradun has established that a masswasting event triggered the flash flood inRishiganga valley. Most probably, energycreated by this fall on soft glacialmaterial resulted in melting of snow.

Preparedness of the local community is the best way to manage disasters

PNS n MEDAK

In an announcement thatshould bring cheer to the farm-ing community in the State,Finance Minister T HarishRao on Wednesday said theState government will imple-ment the loan waiver schemeand grant funds for doublebedroom houses in beneficia-ries' own lands in the 2021-22fiscal post Ugadi festival.

Addressing a gathering afterinaugurating 48 double bed-room houses at Chatriyal andGajulagudem villages inPapannapet mandal, theMinister said the TRS govern-ment had put in all efforts tocontinue with all the welfareschemes though despite thefact that there was a drasticdrop in revenue generation onaccount of Covid-19 pandem-

ic in the current financialyear. "The State governmentcould not implement the loanwaiver scheme and construc-tion of double bedroom hous-es in lands owned by benefi-ciaries on account of this issue,but these two promises will be

fulfilled post Ugadi festival.The TRS government nevercompromised on welfareschemes," Harish Rao assert-ed.

Pointing out that no otherState government or Centrehad implemented schemes like

Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima,Kalyana Lakshmi, double bed-room houses, free round theclock power supply, amongother, the Minister said ChiefMinister K ChandrashekharRao always wanted to see thefarming community and thepoor lead a decent life.

Since the government wasplanning to impound Singurproject with Godavari waterwith the completion ofSangareddy canal underKaleshwaram Lift IrrigationScheme shortly, Rao said thatPapannapet farmers can irri-gate their crops twice a year.District Collector S Harish,MLA M Padma DevenderReddy and others were present.

Earlier, Rao inaugurated132/33KV sub-station atChinna Shankarampet at acost of Rs 12.38 crores.

Farm loan waiver post UgadiPNS n HYDERABAD

The 19-year-old pharmacystudent, who purportedly mis-led the police in Hyderabad byallegedly claiming abductionand gang-rape two weeks ago,died by suicide on Wednesdayin Ghatkesar, the police said.

Sources said the girl con-sumed some pills and wasfound in unconscious state byher parents, who shifted her tothe hospital, where she died.

On receiving information,the Ghatkesar police havereached the hospital to gath-er more information.

It was earlier this monththat the girl, reportedly due tofamily issues decided to leavethe house. For this, she

allegedly staged a drama ofbeing kidnapped and raped byauto drivers.

However, within a few days,the Rachakonda police with the

help of scientific evidenceproved that it was a cooked upstory. The police was also con-templating to book a case againsther for the false complaint.

Actor Balakrishna buys luxury home PNS n HYDERABAD

Film star Balakrishna, who isknown for his roles in actionand faction-related films, haspurchased a three-storeyedluxury building at a cost of Rs15 crore in the upmarketJubilee Hills area of the city onFebruary 11. The tollywoodstar, who is also acting in a rev-olutionary character of Aghorain the flick being directed byBoyapati Srinu, purchased theluxury home with total carpetarea of 9,395 sft.

According to real estateportal zaapko.com, the tolly-wood star purchased thebuilding from NadimpalliSatya Sravani. The buildinghas a ground floor and two topfloors. He paid a stamp dutyof Rs 82.5 lakh and paid a reg-istration fee of Rs 7.5 lakh.

Pharmacy student who fakedkidnap, rape commits suicide

Continued from page 1

However, the TRS governmentfilled 1,32,799 jobs directlyand through regularization injust the last six years. He saidthat he was ready for a debateshould anyone doubt his state-ment. The state governmentfilled more than 36,000 jobsthrough TSPSC and givenresponsibility of filling anoth-er 4,000 jobs to TSPSC.However, the process was stuckdue to court cases. The TRSgovernment had filled jobs ina big way and far better thanany government in the undi-vided Andhra Pradesh state, he

asserted.KTR alleged that the

Bharatiya Janata Party haddone nothing for the state. Heasked BJP to tell as to why theCentre dropped the ITIR pro-ject. He wanted BJP to speci-fy how many jobs were givenby Prime Minister NarendraModi (who had promised 2crore jobs per year), till date.He asked Telangana BJP lead-ers to quantify the funds theyclaimed to have brought fromthe Centre. In contrast, hesaid, the TRS government hadfacilitated the establishmentof more than 14,000 companiesthrough TS-iPASS and given

14 lakh jobs.KTR said that the TRS gov-

ernment had given 43 percentfitment to government employ-ees, unlike any other state acrossthe nation. He said that ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raowould do 100 per cent justice toemployees.

The IT Minister said that thestate government had estab-lished a Lawyers Welfare Boardand asked BJP to tell whetherany BJP- ruled state had estab-lished such a board.

Exuding his confidence thatVani Devi would win the elec-tions with a huge majority,KTR questioned as to why the

Centre had not allocated a sin-gle medical college. He soughtto know why graduates wouldvote for BJP candidates. "Dograduates have to vote for BJPfor drowning BhadradriRamudu?" he remarked sarcas-tically. He said that only VaniDevi had eligibility and posi-tivity to work in the govern-ment. Opposition parties werestating that Vani Devi had allthe qualifications, he said. Hesaid that the election campaignwould be taken up after thegeneral body meeting of theHyderabad-R angareddy-Mahabubnagar district units tobe held on February 27.

KTR puts ‘Aa Naluguru’ on notice

MP womandies hoursafter 2nd...Continued from page 1

The woman died duringtreatment at a private hospi-tal late at night, the officialsaid, adding a post-mortemwill be conducted and areport will be submitted inthree days.

"I got information thatthe woman was adminis-tered the coronavirus vac-cine on Tuesday and died atnight. The CMHO informedme that the deceased mighthave suffered a brain hemor-rhage (bleeding)," districtcollector Shivraj SinghVerma said.

A post-mortem has beenordered to ascertain the exactcause of the death, he said.

"The vaccination drive hasbeen going on since the lastone-and-a half months. I havealso got inoculated. In myopinion, the vaccine is safeand there is no possibility ofside-effects," Verma said.

Nobody has right to question my nativity...Continued from page 1

I was born and brought up inHyderabad and I became themother of my children hereonly. We will continue ourbrother-sister relationship,though the regions are different.Jayalalitha was also not aTamilian", she said.

Sharmila suggested thatscribes should ask Jagan as towhy he had failed to give a posi-tion to her. "I am not an arrowreleased by anyone… Have theaspirations of Telanganites beenfulfilled? Arogyasri scheme hasbeen weakened in the state.Nobody has sincerity in thedevelopment of TelanganaState. One is doing politics inthe name of movement and

another is doing politics in thename of religion. Where isYSRCP in Telangana State?

"The state government didnot concentrate on giving jobs,except giving sheep and buf-faloes. I have full cooperationof my husband Anil in regardto floating a new political party.Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao is con-fined to a farm house. Privatehospitals collected lakhs ofrupees from Covid patients.The Chief Minister failed toconcentrate on hospitals' loot-ing. I will meet the families ofTelangana martyrs. My Yatrawill start from my residence --Lotus Pond. I have a lastingrelationship with Hyderabad.There is a need for a new

political party in TelanganaState. I am a pukka Telangana'sdaughter. I will go to peoplethrough Padayatra", she said.

She said that from Polavaramto Pothireddypadu, the interestsof Telangana were important toher. She alleged that the presentgovernment copied the Rajannascheme only.

Sharmila earlier had a meet-ing with students of variousuniversities. While speaking tostudents, Sharmila said thatshe was trying to correct soci-ety as a sister. "Do not consid-er me as a political leader; treatme as your sister. YSR kept theTelugu people in his heart andfelt that no poor student has tostop his education for lack ofmoney.

Centre lifts embargo, permits pvt...Continued from page 1

Private sector banks, which areat the forefront of imbibing andimplementing latest technologyand innovation in banking, willnow be equal partners in devel-opment of the Indian economyand in furthering the social sec-tor initiatives of the government,the statement said.

"With the lifting of theembargo, there is now no bar onRBI for authorization of privatesector banks (in addition topublic sector banks) forGovernment business, includ-ing Government agency busi-ness. The Government has con-veyed its decision to RBI," itadded.

The government has alreadyannounced its intent to privatisetwo public sector lenders, otherthan IDBI Bank, in the Budget2021-22.

Sitharaman, while presentingBudget 2021-22 earlier thismonth, had announced the pri-vatisation of Public SectorBanks (PSBs) as part of the dis-investment drive to garner Rs1.75 lakh-crore.

“Other than IDBI Bank, wepropose to take up the privati-sation of two Public SectorBanks and one GeneralInsurance company in the year2021-22," she had said.

The government last yearconsolidated 10 public sectorbanks into four and as a result,

the total number of PSBs camedown to 12 from 27 in March2017.

As per the amalgamationplan, United Bank of India andOriental Bank of Commercewere merged with PunjabNational Bank, making the pro-posed entity the second-largestPSB.

Syndicate Bank was mergedwith Canara Bank, whileAllahabad Bank was subsumedin Indian Bank. Andhra Bankand Corporation Bank wereamalgamated with the UnionBank of India.

In a first three-way merger,Bank of Baroda merged VijayaBank and Dena Bank with itselfin 2019.

AP, TS among the highest...

SC dismisses plea for extra-chanceContinued from page 1

The bench said: The datafurnished to this Court by theCommission (UPSC) clearlyindicate that various selec-tions have been held by theCommission for CentralServices in the year 2020during COVID-19 pandemicand...if this Court showsindulgence to few who hadparticipated in theExamination 2020, it will setdown a precedent and alsohave cascading effect onexaminations in otherstreams, for which we are dis-suaded to exercise plenarypowers under Article 142 ofthe Constitution.

Just ice R astogi , who

penned down a 40-page ver-dict on behalf of the bench,however re jec ted theCentre's submission thatwhat is being claimed andprayed for by the petitionersunder the guise of COVID-19 pandemic is nothing buta lame excuse in taking addi-tional attempt to participatein the Civi l S er viceExamination 2021.

The top court said merelybecause as a matter of policy,if the Centre has grantedrelaxation in the past for thereason that there was achange in the exampattern/syllabus then "noassistance can be claimed bythe petitioners in seekingmandamus to the 1st respon-

dent (Centre) to come outwith a policy granting relax-ation to the participants whohad availed a final and lastattempt or have crossed theupper age by appearing in theExamination 2020 as a mat-ter of right .

The Centre and the UnionPublic Service Commission(UPSC) submitted that notonly the petitioners or inter-venors before this Court, butthere are large number ofcandidates who had appearedin the various examinationslast year during the COVID-19 pandemic and everyonemust have faced some con-straints/ impediments/incon-venience in one way or theother.

Guv wants govt...Continued from page 1

In the letter the Governorrequesting it to speed up theongoing inquiry into caserelating to the double murderof advocate Vaman Rao andhis wife, and ensure punish-ment to the culprits so as to dojustice to the victims' family.

Committed to selling...Continued from page 1

Modi said his government wascommitted to privatising allPSUs barring four strategicsectors – atomic energy, spaceand defence; transport andtelecommunications; power,petroleum, coal and other min-erals; and banking, insuranceand financial services, wherethe government will retain abare minimum presence.

"The government has nobusiness to be in the business,"he said. "Modernise and mon-etise is the motto we will fol-low."

Modi also said to speed upthe disinvestment process, anempowered group of secre-taries has been set up to settleinvestor issues.

The government has to focuson development and the pub-lic sector and whenever itengages in business, it leads tolosses, he said, adding severalloss-making PSUs are support-ed by taxpayers' money whichotherwise should have goneinto welfare schemes.

As much as Rs 1.75 lakh-crore is being targeted from thesale of government stake in

firms such as India's second-biggest oil firm BPCL, nation-al carrier Air India, largestshipping line ShippingCorporation of India Ltd, heli-copter services companyPawan Hans, IDBI Bank andContainer Corporation of Indiain the next fiscal year beginningApril 1.

This, along with an initialpublic offering of LifeInsurance Corporation (LIC)and sale of two public sectorbanks and one general insur-ance company, will be thelargest disinvestment driveever.

The government has alreadyreceived "multiple expressionsof interest" for privatisation ofAir India, BPCL and PawanHans. The Prime Minister fur-ther said the current reformsseek to ensure that public fundsare used efficiently.

Stating that PSUs are valu-able assets that have helped thecountry in the past and havehuge potential in future, he saidbest global practices for prop-er price discovery and stake-holder mapping will be fol-lowed for the privatisationdrive.

Harish finds ‘sports’route to win peopleContinued from page 1

Sports would boost confi-dence among children andinject the spirit of competitive-ness among them. Childrenwould develop the habit of tak-ing defeat in their stride, hesaid.

Referring to some students'tendency to take the extremestep of committing suicidefor not passing exams, theMinister suggested that suchthings could be prevented bydeveloping sportive spiritamong children.

Parents should assume the

responsibility of taking chil-dren to the sports grounds,just like taking them toschools, he said.

The Minister congratulatedVishnu Jagati for conductingsports and games events in thename of Chief Minister.

The MinistercongratulatedVishnu Jagati forconducting sportsevents in the nameof Chief Minister

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2021hyderabad 03

To expand the reach of its servicesin areas of technology, education

and other sectors across the State,the Telangana InformationTechnology Association (TITA)appointed new Secretaries and JointSecretaries. Software Sharada, whowas in news recently for herdecision to support her family bytaking up vegetable vending jobs after losing her software job due toCovid-19, has also been appointed as Secretary of the Association.This time around, TITA appointed zonal In-charge Secretaries aspart of the expansion of services across the State. The newappointments are part of the Association's expansion of services inthe wake of the government deciding to allot working space to TITAin all district headquarters, informed TITA Global President SundeepKumar Makthala. Recently, IT and Industries Department PrincipalSecretary Jayesh Ranjan had directed District Collectors to allotworking space for TITA in all district headquarters of Collectoratessaying it will help the benefits of initiatives taken up by TITA invarious sectors reach the masses. The proposed working station intier 2 and tier -3 cities will help in attracting investments with thesupport of TITA's 30 overseas chapters.

CITY LIGHTS

The Organization for Counter Terrorist Operations(Octopus) along with the Hyderabad Policeconducted a mock drill at Ganesh temple in

Secunderabad on Wednesday. The drill is part of theregular exercise taken by the Octopus at importantinstallations and high security places across thestate. The teams took up anti-sabotage exercise,

zeroing in on attackers and targeting or disarmingthem and other task during the mock drill. A senior

police official said that anti-terror unit conducts suchdrill to measure its accuracy and get familiar withimportant installations or offices in the city. The

Octopus was formed in the erstwhile united AndhraPradesh as a special anti-terror unit. The

commandos are taken on deputation from TelanganaState Special Police and are trained on par with the

commandos of elite National Security Guard.

MOCK DRILL

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Forest department hasset a target of planting over 20crore saplings for the seventhedition of Haritha Haaramprogramme in 2021-22 to betaken up during the monsoonseason.

A decision to this effect wastaken at a State-level monitor-ing and coordination meetingconvened at Aranya Bhavanhere on Wednesday. SpecialChief Secretary toGovernment A. Santhi Kumaripresided over the meeting.Officials discussed thearrangements to be made forthe ensuing seventh phaseHaritha Haaram programme.

As many as 210.85 croresaplings were planted in the sixphases of Haritha Haaramprogramme conducted so faracross the state, officials said.Since the objective of the stategovernment was to establish anursery in every village, thenumber of nurseries has nowgone up to 14,924.

As against the target ofplanting 29.86 lakh saplingsduring the sixth phase ofHaritha Haram programmelast year, over 27.31 croresaplings were planted, offi-cials said.

Santhi Kumari directed theofficials to take steps to ensurewater supply for the protectionof the plants during summer.With the coordination of elect-ed representatives, officialsshould take measures toimprove the survival rate ofsaplings planted, she said.

Stating that officials shouldwork for Green Telangana

with the same spirit shownduring Palle Pragathi andPattana Pragathi programmes,she instructed officials to makebig plants available at all thenurseries for planting them onhighways as part of multi-level avenue plantation.

If necessary, the officialscan avail technical assistancefrom the forest department.

Over 20 cr saplings to be plantedunder Haritha Haaram 7th phase

TITA appoints new secretaries,Software Sharada among them

Hyderabad CP wants cops to wear helmet without fail

PNS n HYDERABAD

Governor Dr TamilisaiSoundararajan will meet vir-tually those people who seekappointment.

As she is in Puducherry,where she recently assumed anadditional charge as the Lt.Governor, she has decided tomeet the people through vir-tual appointment mode.

The virtual appointmentswill be fixed by the Raj Bhavanofficials, here, duly followingthe procedures in place.

Reviewing the State affairswith the Raj Bhavan officialsthrough the video conferencemode from Puducherry onWednesday, the Governor stat-ed that the e-office launched inthe Raj Bhavan has been prov-ing very useful in accessingand clearing the files on a dailybasis.

"There are no files pendingin my in-box right now.Though I am in Puducherry, Iam always concerned aboutthe Telangana. On a prioritybasis, I am clearing all the fileswithin no time through the e-

office mode," she added.The Governor urged the

people and other volunteers tocome forward for blood dona-tion to save precious lives.

Dr Tamilisai Soundararajanreviewed the functioning ofRed Cross blood banks and thestatus of blood requirementand supplies with the IRCSstate general secretary MadanMohan Rao.

Dr Tamilisai Soundararajandirected the IRCS to increasethe participation of the YouthRed Cross members andJunior Red Cross members inthe Red Cross activities andurged right training for them.

The Governor also directedthe NIC officials to intensifythe efforts to connect the pos-sibly maximum number ofalumni through the Chancellor

Connects Alumni initiativefacilitated in the Raj Bhavanwebsite.

"The Chancellor ConnectsAlumni initiative is aimed atbenefitting the present stu-dents in the universitiesthrough the services and con-tributions of the alumni," sheadded. The Governor statedthat the alumni were veryeager to join the network andit was for the NIC and otheragencies to gear up and addressall the technical glitches so asto facilitate the seamless con-nectivity of all alumni.

Meanwhile, Moved by theplight of a paralysis-affectedwoman employee of the RajBhavan, the Governor direct-ed the officials to sanction thefinancial help to the stafferfrom her discretionary grants.

Guv: e-office proving fruitful

PNS n HYDERABAD

Perturbed at the rising fuelprices, vehicle owners havebeen patronising city buses,increasing occupancy ratio,which took a beating becauseof the pandemic, of the RTCbuses.

The vehicle owners set asidevehicles and are keen to trav-el by TSRTC buses, improvingthe cash-strapped TelanganaState Road Transport Corpo-ration (TSRTC) revenue.

On March 21, the dailyrevenue earned by the RTCwas put at Rs 13 crore. Aftera long gap, the RTC sur-passed its top earning onFebruary 15 and earned Rs13.25 crore. In between, theRTC daily earning nevercrossed Rs 10 crore.

As vehicle owners havestarted patronising the RTC,the occupancy ratio hasincreased and its revenue hasbeen on the increase duringthe past one week. Prior toMarch 15, the RTC dailyincome moved closer to Rs 13crore. The RTC earned on lastTuesday (February 16) Rs

11.72 crore, as against Rs11.53 crore earned on thecorresponding last year in2020. In fact, the daily earn-ings of RTC on Tuesdays willbe not so good. Before thelockdown, the Tuesdayincome of the RTC rangedbetween Rs 11.50 and 12crore.

The RTC recorded 66 percent occupancy ratio onFebruary 16 as against 63 percent registered on the corre-sponding day last year. TheRTC operated its buses for adistance of 34.69 lakh km inthe state on February 16 lastyear as against 33.80 lakh kmoperated on corresponding

day this year. In fact, the RTCoperated its fleet for less num-ber of km but it earned high-er revenue.

People preferred personaltransport during lockdownperiod as they were afraid ofboarding buses, but there wasno change in their perceptioneven the Covid threat has

subsided. As a result, occu-pancy ratio of RTC buses didnot cross 50 per cent.

District services register 60per cent of the occupancyratio, while the city busesregister only 45 per centbecause of the use of person-al transport in Hyderabad.The traffic congestion asincreased on city roads. Butthe steep increase in fuelprices has forced people toavail city bus services, push-ing up the RTC revenue.

The RTC has decided torestore the city buses, plyingon city roads prior to the lock-down. In fact, many busesresumed after the lockdownhave been cancelled becauseof the poor occupancy ratio.The RTC officials are going tohold meetings RTC depotwise to make the most of theopportunity. The objective ofthe meetings is to sensitisepeople to patronise RTC busservices. The RTC personnelshould conduct themselvesrealising the fact once accus-tomed to travel by RTC com-muters would not prefer to useown vehicles.

Sharp increase in fuel prices,a blessing in disguise for RTC

As against the target of planting 29.86 lakh saplings during the sixthphase of Telangana Ku HarithaHaaram programme last year, over27.31 crore saplings were planted,forest department officials said

PNS n HYDERABAD

Four persons, including awoman were arrested by theBachupally police on Wednes-day, for posing as influentialpeople and duping a business-man to the tune of Rs 11 crore.

The police officials seizedgold and silver ornamentsworth Rs 50 lakh, cash of Rs2 lakh, five luxury cars andmobile phones from them.

The arrested persons wereidentified as Smriti Simha,who posed as the chairpersonof the International HumanRights Commission for SouthIndia, Raghava Reddy, whoposed as the Deputy Commi-ssioner of Police in CentralForce, Ranadhir Reddy andRama Krishna Reddy.

The complainant P VeeraReddy, a businessman fromBachupally got acquaintedwith his neighbour, AR VijayKumar Reddy, the prime sus-pect who allegedly died by sui-cide on February 5 after thecheating came to light, andthrough him got close to

Smriti, Vijay Kumar's fatherRaghava Reddy and the othersuspects, who were his rela-tives. According to VeeraReddy, Vijay Kumar posing asa provisionally selected IPSofficer and his associates hadtrapped him by displayingfalse social status and makingup concocted stories of theirprofessions. By the way ofimpersonation and forged ref-erences, they extorted Rs 11from him.

According to MadhapurDCP M Venkateshwarlu,investigations revealed thatVijay Kumar, a computer pro-grammer, had first got closewith Smriti, who was separat-ed from her husband and wasrunning a supermarket atBorabanda. They eventuallystarted living together.

After the cheating came tolight, Vijay Kumar died by sui-cide at his parents' house atPragathi Nagar in Bachupallyon February 5. Based on VeeraReddy's complaint, the policearrested the suspects, whilefurther investigation is on.

Four imposters held for swindling bizman

PNS n HYDERABAD

A pregnant woman, who wasreturning after consulting adoctor along with her hus-band, was killed while thehusband suffered grievousinjuries when a TSRTC bushit their bike at Himayath-nagar on Wednesday.

The woman was identifiedas Shalini Goud, 35, wife ofSatish Goud, a privateemployee from Gandhinagar.

“The couple and the bushad started moving after thesignal turned green at theHimayathnagar Junction.When the bike slowed downto take a turn ahead, the busdriver hit the bike from behi-nd. The couple came underthe front tyre and sufferedgrievous injuries," police said.

On noticing them,Mallesh, a traffic constableresponded and helped inshifting them to hospital,where Shalini died whileundergoing treatment.

Pregnant woman dies, man injuredas bus hits bike

PNS n HYDERABAD

A total of 26 persons, whowere found driving underinfluence of alcohol inCyberabad police jurisdictionwere sentenced to undergoimprisonment ranging fromone day to four days. The dri-ving licences of all the personsindulged in drunken drivingwere sent to the concernedRegional Transport Office(RTO) for suspension.

Among all the 26 personssome are imprisoned for fourdays, six persons are impris-oned for three days, 11 personsare imprisoned for two daysand five persons are impris-oned for one day.

A fine amount of Rs 10,000was imposed on three persons,Rs 5,000 fine was imposed onsix persons and a fine of Rs2,000 was imposed on oneperson. Among the 26 impris-oned a person from Balanagarwas caught with Highest BAC186 and another person was

caught with 179 BAC inMadhapur area.

“This is a highly dangeroustrend as the motorcyclists areputting their lives at risk bydriving under the influence ofalcohol. They are more vul-nerable to accidents,” an offi-cial said.

All the drunk drivers werecaught during special drives inMiyapur, Kukatpally, Madha-pur, Gachibowli and Balanagarareas under Cyberabad citylimits. Cyberabad Trafficpolice has urged citizens toexhibit self-discipline andresponsibility while drivingon roads.

“As two-wheelers are themore vulnerable category, testsare conducted against the bik-ers too. Not wearing a qualityhelmet properly and drivingunder the influence of alcoholare a lethal combination forbikers on roads,” an officialsaid. The Cyberabad TrafficPolice said the drive wouldcontinue.

26 jailed for drunkendriving in Cyberabad

Birth, death certificate delay worries Old City residents

Hyderabad Police CommissionerAnjani Kumar on Wednesday

issued a circular memo instructingpolice personnel, both rider andpillion riders of two-wheelers, towear helmets. The instructioncomes in the wake of criticismagainst the police department forsome police personnel found notwearing helmets while driving two-wheelers. “On social media,

complaints are received from citizens that the Traffic police arebooking cases against them for not wearing helmets, whereas theyare ignoring the personnel from the department, driving governmentvehicles without helmets,” it said. The Commissioner instructed allthe zonal heads and vertical heads of the city police to sensitizeofficers to wear helmets while driving or riding pillion on two-wheelers, as per sections of the MV Act 1988.

CMRS inspects upgrades to Metro Rail operations in city

The Commissionerfor Metro Rail

Safety (CMRS), JanakKumar Garg and theteam from RailwaySafety Commissionhave concluded athree-day inspectionof new upgrades atvarious metro railstations in the city. The L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited in apress release said that the CMRS inspected the effectiveness of thenew upgrades to signalling and train control system across threemetro rail corridors i.e., Miyapur to LB Nagar, JBS to MGBS andNagole to Raidurg. This integrated system will add operationalefficiency to the entire metro corridor network leading to seamlessoperation of metro services. The inspection also included variouscivil works at the entry and exits and newly commissioned elevatorsand escalators at a few metro stations. The CMRS has expressedsatisfaction to the overall performance of the systems and relatedworks and sanctioned his approval with a certificate of compliance,the press release said KVB Reddy, MD & CEO, LTMRHL, said, “Withthe successful completion of this inspection, we would now beusing our ramped-up systems for better operational excellence,helping us all to serve our passengers with even more reliable andsmooth riding experience.”

ANUSHA PUPPALAn HYDERABAD

To obtain a Birth or death cer-tificate is a huge problem in OldCity.

It is learnt that due to irreg-ularities in issuing birth anddeath certificates, the files of theapplicants are kept pending forsix months with the officialswithout approval.

According to the procedure,the birth or death certificates areto be issued within 15 days fromthe date of application.

Residents living in the vicin-ity of Old City have alleged

about pendency of their appli-cations for birth/death sincelast six months in Circles 9and10 South Zone, Hyderabad.They also alleged that manyapplications were being mis-placed and no one was able toguide properly.

People are often seen in longqueues in these offices to get thebirth and the death certificatesof their family members. Manyof them had also complainedthat their applications were get-ting rejected without any reason.

Women and elderly personsare forced to wait whole day inthese offices due to pending

birth and death certificates.32-year-old Ayesha Begum,

who has been travelling fromNampally to Babanagar office

since December 2020 told ThePioneer, "I am visitingBabanagar office sinceDecember 2020 for name cor-

rection in my daughter's birthcertificate, but so far it has beenpending. I am visiting almostevery week since then but nodevelopment since and I amwaiting to get my daughteradmitted in a school. Don'tknow how long they will take todo the name correction. Everytime I visit they tell to fill theforms again and I have done itso many times but no develop-ment since. I wonder how manytimes I need to visit the officeand wait whole day to get thename correction done. It's beenthree months already".

SQ Maqsood, a social activist

said, "Residents, especiallywomen and elderly persons,are facing difficulties due todelay in issuing of birth anddeath certificates on time in cir-cles 9 and10 SZ. No one is ableto answer or guide people onwhy the certificates are pendingand when those can be issued.Many of these people are com-plaining and running from pil-lar to post to get their certificates,for which they applied two tothree months ago."

"Why the issuing ofbirth/death certificates has beenput on hold in South Zone?"Maqsood questioned.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Nizampet MunicipalCorporation officials have beenpreparing compost using wet aswell as dry garbage and mak-ing arrangements to sell the by-product generated to cementmanufacturing units. Theyhave employed the bio-miningmechanism to manufacturecompost.

The state government allot-ted 10 acres of land in Sy no.186 for dumping yard whenNizampet, Bachupalli andPragati Nagar were gram pan-chayats. Daily 110 tonnes of

garbage will get processed here.As such, the dumping yard

emits a reeking smell andbecame a breeding ground formosquitoes. People living inthe surrounding areas object-ed to location of the dumpingyard there. As if it is not

enough, the state governmentbuilt 2BHK houses for thehomeless poor in the region.

Therefore, the municipalauthorities have been process-ing the garbage using bio-mining mechanism for thepast one month reducing the

heaps of garbage to the valuablecompost, which will be used togrow saplings planted inHaritha Haaram.

A huge bio-mining machinewas deployed at the dumpingyard. With the help of the exca-vator, the garbage is put intothe machine. The machinesegregates the garbage intothree categories and sends itout segregating it into 6 mm,16 mm and 30 mm wastes.

While the 6 mm garbage and16 mm garbage is being usedto convert them into com-post, the 30 mm garbage willbe sold to cement units. The

officials have been processing400 to 500 tonnes of garbagedaily. They even preparedplans to produce bio-gas infuture from the garbage. Inanother six months, the heapsof garbage will get dissolvedand the dumping yard willbecome a good garden.

Nagireddy, assistant munic-ipal commissioner, NizampetMunicipal Corporation, saidthat the dumping yard wouldbe cleaned completely to plantsaplings as part of the seventhphase of Haritha Haaram togroom the area in to a beauti-ful garden.

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2021 hyderabad 04

RAJESH JAIN NIDARKAR

n HYDERABAD

The two-day 6th national youthconvention on innovation andagricultural reforms for farm-ers' prosperity, jointly organ-ised by Professor JayashankarTelangana State AgriculturalUniversity (PJTSAU) and AllIndia Agricultural StudentsAssociation (AIASA), hadbegun here on Saturdaythrough virtual mode. Dr RCAgarwal, Deputy DirectorGeneral (education), IndianCouncil of AgriculturalResearch (ICAR) had deliveredthe chief guest's address,online, from New Delhi.

While speaking at the virtu-al meeting Dr Agarwal, hadsaid that, ICAR was frequent-ly modifying the curricula ofagricultural courses, based onthe present and the futuredemands in the agriculturalsector. He further said that,ICAR was trying to make thestudents self dependent andturn them into entrepreneurs;to ensure that ICAR was fund-ing to establish incubationcentres and experiential learn-ing units in agricultural univer-sities in the country. He urgedall the universities to maintain

the data base of experimentallearning units of various uni-versities and also to establish asmany incubation centers incampuses as possible.

Dr Agarwal had made aclarion call to the youths toengage in agriculture by show-ing their innovative farmingmethods and establishing prof-

it- oriented business units. Dr. Praveen Rao, vice chan-

cellor, PJTSAU , had deliveredthe welcome address on theoccasion. While addressingthe gathering from the univer-sity auditorium Dr Rao saidthat Covid -19 had thrown upseveral challenges as well asopportunities in the agricultur-

al sector. He advised theyoung graduates to utilise theavailable opportunities byadopting innovative ways ofbusiness. He pointed out theneed of safe and nutritionalfood for public and added thatit was essential.

Dr Ashok Dalwai, CEO,National Rainfed Area

Authority, delivered the guestof honour speech. Whilespeaking, Dr Dalwai advisedthat every agricultural univer-sity should start the courses inbasic sciences and studentsmust also have knowledge inbasic sciences. The graduatespursuing agricultural coursesshould not feel shy about theircourses, he said and went on toadd that agriculture was anevergreen subject that paideconomic dividend and thatagriculture could only sustainthe societal development.

As part of this 6th nationalyouth convention severalawards were presented inoffline mode at the universityauditorium at Rajendranagar.Lifetime achievement awardwas presented to Dr. VilasMadhukar Bhale, VC, Dr PRDeshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth,Akola. Best Vice Chancelloraward was presented to profes-sor N Kumar, VC, Tamil NaduAgricultural University,Coimbatore. AIASA NationalAward for outstanding leader-ship in agriculture-2019 waspresented to Dr. GP Singh,Indian Institute of Wheat andBarley Research, Karnal.Several publications were alsoreleased on this occasion.

‘ICAR modifying curriculum of agricourses to meet future needs’

Nizampet civic body produces compost through bio-mining

PNS n MAHBUBNAGAR

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao onWednesday visited Tourismand Excise Minister V SrinivasGoud's farmhouse in the dis-trict in connection with the11th day ceremony of the min-ister's father Narayana Goudand paid floral tributes toNarayana Goud at his grave.

Incidentally, Narayana Goudwas the leader of the firstphase of the movement forstatehood to Telangana.

The CM conveyed his heart-felt sympathies to the bereavedfamily members. Party leadersand activists in large numbersgathered at minister's farmhouse on the occasion.

Agriculture minister SNiranjan Reddy, MLALakshma Reddy, former min-

ister Jupally Krishna Rao,MLAs, party leaders and otheractivists took part in the pro-

gramme. The police beefed up secu-

rity for the CM's visit.

PNS n PEDDAPALLI

The Ramagundam police onWednesday arrested staff man-ning the 108 ambulance servicefor stealing 2.30 kg of gold jew-ellery from an accident victim inRamagundam on Tuesday. Theaccused were brought to bookwithin 24 hours after a complaintregarding the missing of 2.3 kg ofgold jewellery worth Rs 1.15crore was filed.

Ramagundam CP VSatyanarayana explained that twogold businessmen, Kotha SrinivasReddy and Kotha Rambabu, fromGuntur in AP in a car driven bySantosh Kumar were on their wayto distribute gold ornaments tovarious traders in the district. Thecar met with an accident atMalyalapalli Crossing inRamagundam mandal in whichSrinivas Reddy died on the spoton Tuesday morning.

Responding to the distress callmade to the 108 helpline, a teamof ambulance staff, technicianChand and driver Rajender, shift-

ed the body of Srinivas Reddy anda seriously injured driver Santoshto the hospital.

At the hospital, they had hand-ed over gold ornaments weighingone kg recovered from the bodyof Srinivas Reddy toRamagundam S-I Shailaja.Another ambulance manned bytechnician Tajuddin and driver GLaxma Reddy shifted the critical-ly injured Rambabu to theGodavarikhani area hospital.

However, on the way,Rambabu breathed his last. In hisattempt to revive the victim withemergency measures, technicianTajuddin discovered two packetsof gold jewellery worth 2.3 kg. He

informed the driver and bothdecided to keep mum about thegold ornaments with an aim tosteal the gold.

The duo handed over the deadbody to the hospital and returnedto duty. They also informed thepolice that nothing had beenfound either at the accident spotor on the deceased person.

When the police informed therelatives of the victims about therecovery of a total of 3.3 kg of goldornaments, the kin replied thatthe businessmen carried 5.6 kg ofgold ornaments. They raised sus-picion that the remaining 2.3 kgof gold ornaments might havebeen stolen.

PNS n MEDCHAL

Rachakonda cyber crimepolice arrested a person forposting abusive photos andmessages. The accused hasbeen identified as ChembetiCharan, 20, a resident ofVanasthalipuram.

Charan, who is studying B.Pharm second year inGurunanak Institutions,befriended with the com-plainant in the year 2015when they were studying ina private school. On a fineday, the accused proposed thecomplainant which she hadrejected. Later, she got mar-ried and staying away byfrom her parents.

Charan created a fakeaccount in Instagram inOctober, 2020 and startedharassing the complainantout of grudge by sending abu-sive messages and obscenephotos to her. The cybercrime team arrested theaccused on Wednesday aftercollecting all the technicalevidences on credible infor-mation against him.

PNS n MULUG

Mulug district collectorKrishna Adithya onWednesday said that around50,000 devotees participated inmini Medaram jatara on thefirst day. Mini MedaramJathara is being organised asper the schedule announced byMedaram Sammakka andSaralamma Committee presi-dent Siddaboina Jaggarao.

Devotees from Mulug,Warangal Urban, WarangalRural, Jangaon andMahaboobabad districts cameto Medaram to have darshan ofthe Tribal deities.

It is estimated that about 50lakh to 1 crore devotees attendMedaram jatara that is organ-ised once in every two years. Afew years, several devoteesdied in stampede that occurreddue to sudden surge in devo-tee turnout.

The district administrationhas made elaborate arrange-ments and bandobast for

jatara. District collectorKrishna Adithya, SP Dr.Sangram Singh G Patil, ITDAPO Hanmanthu Zandenga,ASPs Ghouse AlamSaichaitanya and other officialsmonitored the arrangements.

Minister of State SathyavathiRathod, MP Maloth Kavitha,Trust Board chairman AlemRammurthy, ZPTCs SakinakaBhavani and Nagajyothioffered prayers to the tribaldeities.

PNS n HYDERABAD

TPCC president Uttam KumarReddy ridiculed BJP's'Operation Aakarsh' of luringCongress leaders into its foldby saying that the defection ofa few leaders to TRS or BJPwould never impact theCongress party.

"Telangana BJP leaders areacting like scavengers search-ing for some disgruntled ele-ments within the Congressparty. Earlier, TRS had servedas a trash can for the Congressparty where all unimportantleaders got dumped. Since TRStrash can is almost full, BJP isproving to be a fresh dustbin ofCongress party," he said.

Describing the Congressparty as a factory which pro-duces leaders at all levels inhuge quantities, Uttam, hesaid TRS, BJP or another partyin Telangana became strongeronly after a few Congressleaders joined those parties.

"Chief Minister KChandrsekhar Rao too beganhis political career from theCongress party and almosthalf of its cabinet, MPs, MLAsand MLCs are ex-Congressmen." The BJP alsohas been trying to gain someprominence in Telangana byluring some disgruntled lead-ers in Congress. Even theBJP's national vice-presidentoriginally belongs to theCongress party," he added.

"We are a cadre-based party.Leaders come and go. But thecadre remains firm at theground level and it neverswitches loyalties for money orany other thing. Each Congressworker is so capable that hisqualities and political under-standing are far better than thestate-level leaders of other par-ties. Congress has the capaci-ty to produce leaders in abun-dance while TRS and BJPcould only survive by behavinglike vultures," he said.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Congress party onWednesday demandedremoval of BC Welfare andCivil Supplies ministerGangula Kamalakar from thestate cabinet for his attemptto encroach upon 15 acres ofprime Wakf property in theoutskirts of Karimnagar city.

"Minister Kamalakar is try-ing to encroach upon theprime Wakf property throughfraudulent means. When hefailed to register 15 acres ofland in his name, he went tocourt against his own govern-ment. Therefore, he should beimmediately sacked from thecabinet for his attempt to grabWakf property and also foropposing the law formed byhis own government," TPCCMinorities wing ChairmanShaik Abdullah Sohail said ina statement. He pointed outthat 55 acres of lands in sur-vey nos. 122, 126, 129, 154 and177 at Qazipur in Karimnagardistrict were Wakf lands andtheir records were available inthe Wakf Gazette issued on11th January, 1990.

50K devotees take part in mini Medaram jatara

Devotees offer jaggery to the tribal goddesses Sammakka and Saralamma aftertheir wishes are fulfilled at mini Medaram jatara.

KCR pays rich tributes to Srinivas Goud’s father

Man held forcyber stalking 108 staff held for stealing 2.3

kg gold from accident victim

PNS n HYDERABAD

Members of TelanganaLegislative Council headed byNizamabad MLC K Kavitha,has decided to seek funds forthe local bodies by giving rep-resentation to Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhar Rao andPanchayat Raj MinisterErrabelli Dayakar Rao.

The MLCs elected by thelocal bodies met the PanchayatRaj Minister Erraballi DayakarRao here at Ministers'Quarters in Banjara Hills toseek funds for Zilla ParishadTerritorial Constituencies andMandal Parishad TerritorialConstituencies by giving amemorandum. The MLCs,earlier, took suggestions fromthe local body representativeslike ZPTCs, MPTCs.

The meeting was attendedby local body quota MLCsincluding P Mahender Reddy,Bhanu Prasad, NaradasuLaxman, Damodar Reddy,Pochampally Srinivas Reddy,Satish Kumar, T Chinappa

Reddy, Kasireddy NarayanReddy.

In order to represent theinterests and concerns of localbody representatives, we as adelegation of local bodies rep-resentatives met MinisterDayakar Rao, tweeted MLCKavitha after the meeting

Addressing the press confer-ence at the Minister Quarter's,MLC Bhanu Prasad said, "Wehave discussed the issuesbrought to our notice by thelocal body representatives inlast few meetings. We thankthe Minister who haveresponded positively and willtake the issues to the notice ofCM.”

‘TRS, BJP dustbinsto dump Cong waste’

MLCs seek funds for localbodies, to meet CM KCR soon

Sack Gangulafor trying tograb Wakfland: Cong

PNS n PATANCHERU

Patancheru MLA GudemMahipal Reddy onWednesday said that the stategovernment was providingquality education and devel-oping infrastructure in gov-ernment schools on par withprivate and corporate schoolsin the state.

Mahipal Reddy felicitatedthe lecturers PatancheruGovernment Junior Collegewho were given promotionsrecently.

Speaking at a meetingorganised at the junior college,the MLA said that the ChiefMinister was happy to providefree education from KG to PGin Patancheru town. He saidthat he was happy to seethousands of students study-ing in Inter, Degree and PGcolleges with the provision ofinfrastructure in governmenteducational institutions indefiance of corporate educa-tional institutions.

Govt providingeducation on par with privateinstitutions: MLA

PNS n HYDERABAD

Former TSgovernment'sadvisor andretired IASofficer RamLaxman diedon Wednesday.

Ram Laxman worked as anIAS officer in united AndhraPradesh and extended hisservices to the newly-formedTelangana state as an advisor.

Ram Laxman also workedactively in the TRS party as apolitburo member.

Ram Laxman had partici-pated in 1,000 days Deekshacelebrations during Telang-ana movement when the TRSChief and Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao took updeeksha. Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao and sev-eral ministers expressed theirdeep condolences on thedemise of Ram Laxmanrecalling his services.

Former IASRam Laxmanpasses away

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2021 nation 05

A70-year-old woman spentan entire night besidesher son's body and

attended to hiswounds,believing he is alive after he gotinjured fatallyduring a fall athome in Mumbai, police saidon Wednesday. The incidenttook place in the wee hours ofMondaywhen the 42-year-oldvictim, who was in aninebriated state,fell in the bathroom at their home in Kalina area. Theman, who hailed from Meghalaya, received fatalhead injuries, a policeofficial said. After some time, when the woman saw him lyingtheremotionless, she dragged him out of the bathroom and laid himnextto her elder son, who is also bed-ridden, he said. Believing him to bealive, she applied turmeric powderon the victim's injuries. Next morning,when he did not wake up, the womaninformed her relatives who rushedto her house. The family members alerted the police who reached thespot and took the victim to a nearby hospital where he was declareddead, the official said. The victim had been out of work following thecoronavirus-induced lockdown and the family was facing a monetarycrunch, he added.

The Delhi High Court onWednesday expressed shock atthe murder of a Tihar Jail inmate

who was knifed to death inside theprison, saying that such things areonly seen in fiction. "I don't know howsomething like this can happen. It isshocking. We see such things only in fiction," Justice Prathiba M Singhsaid while hearing a plea moved by the victim's father seeking Rs fivecrore as compensation for the custodial death of his son. The high courtdirected the prison authorities, represented by Delhi governmentadditional standing counsel Sanjoy Ghose and advocate Naman Jain, andthe police to file a status report indicating whether an FIR has been lodgedin connection with the incident and if so, the status of the investigation.The court further said that the report shall also indicate whether the CCTVfootage of the cell where the victim was housed has been recovered andpreserved and if yes, in what manner. It also asked whether any chargesheet has been filed in the case and if so, the status of the trial in the case.

INDIA CORNER

Karnataka Chief Minister B SYediyurappa on Wednesday saiddemocracy can be successful

only if public welfare is the primarygoal of every elected representative,as he called on them to introspect."Both the ruling party and oppositionhave to work with caution so that nountoward incidents happen in thelegislative assembly and the council,but as public representatives we have to question ourselves whetherwe are following it, we have to introspect," Yediyurappa said. "Ourconduct should be such that it shows the path for the futuregenerations, if we are always conscious about this, mistakes won'thappen," he said adding successful implementation of democracy ispossible with good traditions and practices. The CM was speaking ata meeting on the topic "An introspection-preventing the decline ofparliamentary values", organised by the CommonwealthParliamentary Association, Karnataka Branch, here.

Woman spends night besidesson's body thinking him to be alive

Yediyurappa calls on publicrepresentatives to introspect

Congress leader Rahul Gandhion Wednesday sought toreach out to fishermen in poll-

bound Kerala, assuring them hisparty would include their needs inits election manifesto as he sailedwith a group of fishers andexpressed admiration for theirwork in sea braving odds.During an emotional interactionwith thousands of fisherfolk, including women, at Thangassery beach inthis southern coastal district, he also lashed out at the LDF governmentover the controversial pact for building trawlers, claiming it might affect thelivelihood of fishermen. "I understand and respect what you do. I admirewhat you are doing. Many times, we eat the fish but we will not understandthe hard work behind and how it reached our plate," the Congress MPrepresenting Wayanad in the state said. He ventured into the sea withsome fishermen in their boat from Vadi beach here around 4.30 am andspent nearly an hour with them before reaching the venue of interaction.Gandhi also cast the net with them but could only catch one squid. Clad inblue t-shirt and khaki trousers, the Congress leader could be seen wavinghands to the onlookers from the boat while reaching back to the shores.

Will include fishermen'sdemands in manifesto: Rahul

High Court shocked by murderof inmate in Tihar jail

MP Assembly: Congress stages

walkout over rising fuel pricesPNS n BHOPAL

Congress legislators in MadhyaPradesh on Wednesday stageda walkout from the stateAssemblyto protest against thefuel price hike and rising infla-tion.

Some Congress legislatorsgot up at their places at the endof the question hour, allegingthat inflation and fuel pricehike have been creating diffi-culties for the common people.

They demanded that thestate government provide arelief to the people by reduc-ing fuel prices.

Later, senior Congress MLASajjan Singh announced thathis party would stage a walk-out over the rising prices offuel and essential commodities.

Accordingly, the oppositionparty legislators walkedout ofthe House shouting slogans.Thereafter, they also held a'dharna' (sit-in) protest in frontof the Mahatma Gandhi statuein the Assembly premises forsome time.

Some of the MLAs woreblack jackets with slogansagainst rising fuel prices andinflation written on them.

Earlier during the questionhour, Congress MLASanjayYadav accused the stategovernment of being anti-trib-al, during the discussion ontourism department. In hisreply, Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan, denied the

charges and accused the pre-vious Congress government ofstopping the developmentworks in the areas represent-ed by the BJP MLAs.

Chouhan assured that all theapproved developmentworkswould be carried out and saidthe state government's rev-enue collection has suffered alot due to the coronaviruspandemic.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Punjab government is"shamelessly" protecting gang-ster-turned-politician MukhtarAnsari, lodged in Rupnagardistrict jail in connection withan alleged extortion case, bynot sending him to UttarPradesh to face trial in sever-al cases, the UP governmenttold the Supreme Court onWednesday.

A bench of Justices AshokBhushan and R Subhash Reddyhowever took note of the sub-mission of senior advocateDushyant Dave, appearing forthe Punjab government, seek-ing adjournment in the matteron personal grounds.

Solicitor General TusharMehta, appearing for the UttarPradesh government, said hehas no objection to Dave's pleafor adjournment.

The top court has posted thematter for hearing on March 2.

During the hearing, senioradvocate Mukul Rohatgi,

appearing for Ansari, said thathe (Ansari) was "small fry"being cornered by the "mightof the state".

To this, Mehta said, "You(Ansari) are such a small frythat a state (Punjab) is shame-lessly protecting you."

Ansari is lodged in districtjail Rupnagar in Punjab sinceJanuary 2019. The UP govern-ment also filed written submis-sions in the top court statingthat transfer of Ansari's cus-tody was meticulously plannedand raised a strong suspicionof conspiracy to delay the pro-ceedings before the SpecialJudge (MP/MLA), Allahabad.

The state government said ithas "locus standi" to seek trans-

fer of case pending beforeJudicial Magistrate Mohali, tothe court of Special Judge(MP/MLA) Allahabad, UttarPradesh, as UP is “party inter-ested” under Section 406 ofCode of Criminal Procedure(Power of Supreme Court totransfer cases and appeals).

"There is no specific provi-sion for transfer of an undertrial prisoner under Code ofCriminal Procedure or JailManual still this Court canpass an order of

of Respondent No. 3(Ansari) to District Jail Banda,Uttar Pradesh considering thefacts situation of the presentmatter by exercising jurisdic-tion under Article 142 of theConstitution of India," the UPgovernment said.

It said Ansari's fallaciousplea that he does not want tocome to the state as his life isunder threat, is contrary to theplea of Punjab which contendsthat the accused is unable totravel due to medical reasons.

Punjab protecting gangsterMukhtar Ansari: UP to SC

PNS n BAYAD

A group of persons allegedlypelted stones at the weddingprocession of a Dalit man inGujarat's Aravalli district whileobjecting to a traditional head-gear worn by some of his rel-atives and use of DJ music sys-tem, an official said onWednesday.

The incident took placewhen the procession washeading for the marriage inLinch village near Bayad townon Tuesday evening, followingwhich an FIR was registeredagainst nine men of the Rajputcommunity, inspector R MDamor from Ambaliyarapolice station said.

Some people from Linchallegedly threw stones at themarriage procession when itentered the village, the officialsaid quoting a complaintlodged by a cousin of the

bride. "The accused objectedto Dalit men and women inthe procession wearing 'safa'(traditional headgear). Theyallegedly threw stones at theprocession and also hurledcasteist slurs," the official said.

When the complainant andother family members tried toreason with the accused andurged them to stop the stonepelting, one of the accusedallegedly assaulted a relative ofthe bride, as per the FIR.

"The accused also allegedlywarned the groom's familyand others to refrain fromwearing the traditional head-gear and playing music on DJsystem during the wedding.They also gave death threats tothe complainant and his fam-ily members," Damor said.

A case has been registeredagainst nine persons oncharges of rioting, assault andcriminal intimidation.

9 booked for peltingstones at Dalit man’swedding party in Guj

PNS n NEW DELHI

Two security personnel wereinjured in separate incidentsinvolving Naxals in theinsurgency-hit Narayanpurdistrict of Chhattisgarh onWednesday, a police officialsaid.

A District Reserve Guard(DRG) jawan was injured inan encounter between secu-rity forces and Maoists at aforest along Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra border around10 am, NarayanpurSuperintendent of PoliceMohit Garg told PTI.

In another incident that

occurred around noon,aChhattisgarh Armed Force(CAF) personnel sustainedsplinter injuries in a blasttriggered by Naxals at a for-est in Akabeda police stationarea, he said.

In both the incidents, thesecurity forces were out onanti-Naxal operations, hesaid.

The jawan injured in theblast has been shifted to thedistrict hospital inNarayanpur, while effort areon to evacuate the injuredDRG jawan, he said addingthat further

details are awaited.

Two security personnel hurtin Chhattisgarh

PNS n NEW DELHI

Accusing the BJP of usingmoney power to make theCongress government fall inPuducherry, senior Congressleader M Veerappa Moily onWednesday said the peoplewill give a befitting reply to thesaffron party in upcomingpolls for "subverting" a popu-lar mandate, and asserted thatupholding democratic idealswill be the main issue in theelections.

Moily, who is the Congress'senior observer for upcomingpolls in the Union Territory,also said the party's alliancewith DMK will continue, andtogether they will get a"thumping" majority in theelections.

In an interview with PTI,Moily claimed the Puducherrypolls will mark the "beginningof the fall of the BJP" in thecountry and the strengtheningof democratic power throughthe Congress party.

Lashing out at the BJP, theformer Union minister said

they never allowed theCongress government to func-tion in Puducherry byfronting then LieutenantGovernor Kiran Bedi.

"Her only exclusive missionwas that the Congress govern-ment does not function.

From time to time, theissue was brought to thenotice of Prime Minister(Narendra Modi) and HomeMinister (Amit Shah), eitherthrough media or directly bythe CM V Narayansamy, butthey did not listen," Moilysaid.

‘People will givefitting reply to BJP’

PNS n SAHAGANJ

West Bengal CM MamataBanerjee on Wednesdaylambasted PM NarendraModi, branding him as the"biggest rioter", who willface an "even worse fate"than former US PresidentDonald Trump . Speakingat a rally at Sahaganj inHooghly district, she saidModi and Home MinisterAmit Shah are spreadinglies and hatred throughoutthe country.

"Narendra Modi is thebiggest 'dangabaaz' (rioter) inthe country... What has hap-pened to Trump, he (Modi)will meet an even worse fate.Nothing can be gained fromviolence," she said.

PM biggestrioter, saysMamata

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved a pro-posal to impose President'sRule in Puducherry, daysafter a Congress-led gov-ernment in the union terri-tory lost power during avote of confidence.

Announcing the Cabinetdecision, Union MinisterPrakash Javadekar toldreporters that the decisionwas taken as no partyclaimed to form a govern-ment in Puducherry fol-lowing the resignation of theCMs there.

Subsequently, theLieutenant General had rec-ommended President's Rulein Puducherry and theUnion Cabinet has approvedthe same, the minister said.

After the President's assent,the assembly will get resolved,Javadekar said, while addingthat further necessary steps foradministrative work inPuducherry would be takensoon.

Cabinet okaysPresident’s Rule in Pondi

‘US award a recognition of vibrant nature of transparency movement’

PNS n NEW DELHI

Picked for theInternational Anti-Corruption ChampionsAward by the US admin-istration, RTI activistAnjali Bhardwaj onWednesday said therecognition is "significant"and will help bring focustowards the movement ata time when those speak-ing truth to power are

being "targeted andattacked" in the country.

Bhardwaj, the founderof the Satark NagrikSangathan (SNS), a citi-zens' group with a man-date to promote trans-parency, has served as anactive member of theRight to InformationMovement in India forover two decades.

She is one of the 12"courageous" individuals

named by the Bidenadministration for then e w l y - i n s t i t u t e dInternational Anti-Corruption ChampionsAward.

"It (the award) is arecognition of the vibrantnature of the movementworking for transparencyand extensive use of RTIacross the country. Thiswill help bring focustowards the movement at

a time when those askingquestions to those inpower are being targeted,attacked," Bhardwaj toldPTI.

Nearly 80 transparen-cy activists have lost theirlives in their quest forinformation and account-ability, she said, addingthat this award is a "recog-nition of the collectiveeffort of people andgroups across the country

who hold power toaccount."

The 48-year-old activist,who is also a co-convenerof the National Campaignfor People's Right toInformation (NCPRI), hasplayed a major role inbringing about the Rightto Information Act, 2005,the Whistle BlowersProtection Act, 2011, andthe Lokpal andLokayuktas Act, 2013.

PNS n AHMEDABAD

India's president onWednesday inaugurated theworld's largest cricket arenahere, renamed from SardarPatel stadium to NarendraModi stadium in honour ofthe prime minister who iscredited with conceptualisingthe facility in its current awe-inspiring form.

The state-of-the-art stadi-um, inaugurated by PresidentRam Nath Kovind, canaccommodate a jaw-dropping1.32 lakh spectators and itopened with the third Testbetween India and England, aday-night game fromWednesday. It will also hostthe fourth and final game ofthe series from March 4.

At the toss, India skipperVirat Kohli couldn't help butwonder how it would feel toplay in front of a capacitycrowd here given thatCOVID-19 restrictions haveensured that only half of it is

filled for the pink ball Test."This stadium was concep-

tualised by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi when he wasChief Minister of Gujarat. Hewas president of the GujaratCricket Association at thattime," Kovind said in hisaddress after the inauguration.

The renaming of the stadi-um was kept under wrapsuntil after it was formallyinaugurated. "It representsIndia's aspirations and strength.

India is called hub of cricket, soit is appropriate that we have thelargest stadium. It will giveIndia a new identity," Kovindsaid.

Also present on the occasionwas Home Minister Amit Shahand Sports Minister Kiren Rijijualong with a host of other digni-taries. "We have decided to nameit after the country's PrimeMinister. It was Modi ji's dreamproject," said Shah after the inau-guration.

The President also per-formed the ground-breakingceremony for a sports com-plex in the stadium, to benamed Sardar VallabhbhaiPatel sports enclave, for disci-plines like football, hockey,basketball, kabbadi, boxing,and lawn tennis among oth-ers.

The ambitious 215-acre pro-ject, under which 20 stadiumswill be built will have accom-modation facilities for athletesand coaches. Another sportscomplex is coming up inNaranpura for multi-discipli-nary sporting events in future.

"I am confident that thisenclave will give a new glob-al identity to Ahmedabad interms of world-class sportsinfrastructure," Kovind said.

"These three complexeswill be on 233 acre of landwhich is sufficient to hostCommonwealth Games,Asian Games and evenOlympics. Ahmedabad can beready in six months," assert-

ed Shah.Spread over 63 acres, the

stadium has been built at anestimated cost of Rs 800 croreand with a seating capacity for1,32,000 spectators, it has sur-passed the hallowedMelbourne Cricket Groundwhich can accommodate90,000.

"The total area is equivalentto 32 Olympic size soccer fieldsput together," stated a notefrom the Press InformationBureau giving specifics of theenormous structure.

The facility, which wasclosed for renovation in 2015,was witness to some majormilestones in Indian cricket inits previous avatar.

These included SunilGavaskar reaching the 10,000runs mark in Test cricketagainst Pakistan in 1987 andKapil Dev claiming his 432ndTest wicket to become thehighest wicket-taker in theworld in 1994, surpassing SirRichard Hadlee.

President opens world's biggestcricket stadium in Ahmedabad

PNS n GUWAHATI

The Assam government onWednesday extended theexisting 'disturbed area' sta-tus of the state for anothersix months from February27 under the Armed Forces(Special Powers) Act(AFSPA). "As per powersconferred under section 3of the AFSPA, theGovernor of Assam hasdeclared the entire state ofAssam as 'disturbed area'upto 6 months beyond27/02/2021, unless with-drawn earlier", accordingto a release issued here.

The release did notcite any particular reasonfor the extension, butsources said that it was inview of the assembly elec-tions due in April-Mayand recovery of arms andammunitions from someparts of the state.

AFSPAextended inAssam forsix months

ened the Army’s role in theparliamentary system on thelegal front. Considering thepopularity of Suu Kyi in thenew political order, the Armyhad especially added that aPresident should have a mil-itary background and none ofhis/her spouses be subjects ofa foreign power or citizen of a foreign country to limither chances of holding thePresident’s office as her twosons are British citizens. TheHome and the Defence portfolios can be held only bythe Army, and the 25 per centreservation was to keep the military in full control.The emergency powers havefurther strengthened theArmy’s position.

In the course of a popu-lar public movementdemanding to reinstate ademocratic order, Suu Kyi’srise became synonymous todemocracy. Yet she failed tocondemn and control thegross human rights viola-tions of Rohingyas in theRakhine State. The refugeeRohingyas moved en masse toneighbouring Bangladesh.While the world was lookingat Suu Kyi to emerge as a mes-siah for ethnic Rohingyas, shechose to rescue her own party.More surprisingly, she wasseen labelling Rohingyas as

“illegal migrants” who werealready tagged as “Islamicterrorists” by the Army. WhileAmnesty Internationalstripped away her honours,there were calls to take backeven the Nobel Peace Prize.

Suu Kyi may have beenvocal for democracy inMyanmar but she failed tostand for it while in power. Shecondemned neither a State-sponsored ethnic cleansingby the Army nor the Buddhistlobby that was reportedlyinstrumental in the allegedbrutalities. Therefore, whilethe world is condemning thecoup, international actors arecautious in defending SuuKyi. It is an open secret that theNLD co-existed with theArmy, but the compulsions ofdemocracy had kept them ondifferent paths. In reality, theGenerals never gave up ontheir political aspirations andfailure through the electoralroute made the coup evitable.

India has aired its voice infavour of democracy and nor-malcy in Myanmar. At thesame time, New Delhi hasopted not to slap any sanctionsunlike the US, UK and the EU.As a champion of democracy,India’s appeal for its restorationremains the common elementacross the volatile politicalsurfaces globally. It helps New

Delhi to convey the messageof peace and democracy moreactively. India’s COVID-19vaccine gift to Myanmar isproof of its commitment topeaceful humanitarian causes.

Meanwhile, as an impor-tant country in India’s ActEast policy, New Delhi needsto look at the Myanmar bor-der with utmost caution.India’s challenge will not belimited to tackling an increas-ing bonhomie between Chinaand the Myanmar Army; thelooming political crisis inBangladesh will double India’sEastern challenge.

The recent exposé — ‘Allthe Prime Minister’s Men’ by AlJazeera, revealing an allegedcriminal nexus between theBangladesh Army chief, hisbrothers and Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina-led BangladeshNationalist Party — hascaused an uproar. While theBangladesh Government hasbacked the Army, the allegedclaims in the exposé are ofgrave concerns. Therefore, theAct East policy needs toinclude emergency strategiesof diplomatic, intelligence,security and political nature.

(The author is an ICSSRDoctoral Fellow at the JNU,New Delhi, and Senior Fellow atthe AIDIA, Kathmandu. Theviews expressed are personal.)

It’s happened so frequently in the recent history of public health in India that it’s almostbecome a case of “so near and yet so far”. Every time the authorities, the health-care workers and the good Samaritans show due diligence and together bring COVID-

19 cases under control, either a new strain is detected reaching our country or peo-ple — especially those living away from the metros and tier-I cities — ignore the stan-dard protocols and become victims and carriers of the accursed virus. Now the lat-est news coming in is that the COVID-19 caseload across the country has shown a

northward trend for the ninth successive day, cross-ing 13,000 on Tuesday, which is the longest suchrolling average since infections peaked in Septemberlast year. In more worrying news, the Union HealthMinistry has said that two new strains of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, have been detect-ed in India. These new strains — N440K and E484K— have been detected in Kerala and Maharashtra.However, there is currently no evidence to show thatthe recent spike in COVID-19 cases in parts of thesetwo States is due to these new variants.

Meanwhile, negative COVID-19 test report (neg-ative RT-PCR test) has been made mandatory for enter-ing several States: Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra,

Uttarakhand, J&K, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Ladakh and Chhattisgarh.Meanwhile, with the recent spurt in Coronavirus cases in five States, Delhi will make itessential for those arriving from these States to carry a negative COVID test report. Peopletravelling to Delhi from Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjabby flights, trains or buses will have to show a negative RT-PCR test from Saturday tillMarch 15. But all’s not bleak; there is some good news, too. The Union Cabinet has decid-ed to provide the vaccines for free to certain sections, with Union Minister Prakash Javadekartweeting that beginning March 1 “people over 60 years of age or over 45 with comor-bidities will be able to get vaccinated at 10,000 Government facilities and many privatehospitals”. As of last week, there has globally been a “strong decline” in Coronavirusinfections in the US and the UK since January. Inversely, however, it is very likely thatsuch reports are offering a false sense of security to people to take it easy, which should-n’t be the case. If we let our guard down now, India with its population may find it nighimpossible to break free from the clutches of this virus. It’s now or never!

In a major blow to Nepal’s Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli, their Supreme Courthas ruled that the Himalayan nation’s Parliament, which was dissolved by Oli in December2020, must be reconvened. The court has given Oli two weeks to reinstate the leg-

islature, which was dissolved following protracted internal disputes within his ruling NepalCommunist Party (NCP). In what is being seen as a major slap on the wrist for Oli, thetop court ruled that the PM had overstepped his powers and the dissolution of the Housewas an unconstitutional act. The apex court’s verdict means that Oli will face a no-con-fidence motion when the legislators reconvene because he had dissolved Parliamentabout two years before its mandated five-year term was to end, to head off a no-trust

motion by the rival leaders in his party. Now that hehas nowhere to hide, Nepal has been pushed intoanother round of political instability. As of now, allindications are that Oli will respect the court’s ver-dict and, if his advisors are to be believed, he won’tconsider any undemocratic move like imposing anemergency. However, both India and China will bewatching the developments very closely as Oli hadbeen re-elected in 2017 on the promise of forgingstronger ties with China, a promise he kept all toowell! India, which was once viewed as “big broth-er” to the Himalayan nation, had to play second fid-dle to China as Oli danced to the tunes of Beijing and

Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi and initiated several major development projects aspart of Chinese efforts to boost trade and transit links in the region.

Not only did this end India’s monopoly in Nepal, it also led to increased tensionbetween the neighbours as Oli issued many unsavoury and unwarranted remarks againstIndia. The relations soured further as Beijing’s influence in Nepal and its meddling inOli’s party grew. The last straw was Nepal coming out with a new political map in May2020 claiming several areas in Uttarakhand to be part of its territory. However, to India’scredit, it kept its cool with its long-time ally and made all-out efforts to mend fences.In the end, Oli did come around to better ties with India, particularly after it becameclear to him that China was indifferent to his continuation in the Government if it helpedavoid a split in the NCP. The shift in Oli’s approach could be attributed to an attemptto reclaim the nationalist agenda that was the mainstay of his campaign that resultedin the NCP’s win in 2018. That China lately appeared indifferent to his continuation inthe Government is also believed to have contributed to Oli’s stand. Now India and China,both jockeying for influence in Nepal, will keep a sharp eye on the political develop-ments there. Where India is concerned, a weak coalition Government could be moresupportive of New Delhi than hawkish Oli, who is seen as more interested in remain-ing in power in whatever way he can.

Trouble next door

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

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HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2021

06

Continuing travailsCOVID-19 cases on the rise again, many

States make negative RT-PCR test mandatory

While democracy is the most sought after means of governance, it becomesa farce when core values are compromised, like in the case of Myanmar

PICTALK

A farmer checks mustard flowers at a farm on the outskirts of Amritsar PTI

THE CURRENTCASE OF

MYANMAR ISNOTHING MORETHAN A MATTER

OF COMPROMISEDLEADERSHIP THAT

WAS UNABLE TO BRING IN

FUNDAMENTALCHANGES IN THE ARMY'S

FUNCTIONING

RISHI GUPTA

Nepal’s top court revokes PM Oli’s Parliamentdissolution decision, forcing him to face trust vote

Time to look and act East

The long-awaited goal ofdemocracy in Myanmarwas achieved in 2011after a five-decade strug-

gle led by civil society, interna-tional actors and agencies againstan autocratic military in thecountry. However, the recentcoup d’état by the national Armyhas once again led Myanmar touncertain times. The coup sur-prised the world and it shall beseen as the outcome of a com-promised leadership by AungSan Suu Kyi. Despite registeringa mammoth victory in theNovember 2020 elections, theSuu Kyi-led National League forDemocracy (NLD) was accusedby the Army and Opposition ofpoll irregularities, corruptionand unethical means in “stealing”the victory; hence, the coup.

While the Union ElectionCommission has refuted allclaims of poll irregularities bythe NLD, it was in no way pos-sible that the Army would notact to assert its political victo-ry, considering an uneasy ridewith the NLD Government inthe last six years.

Amid mounting interna-tional pressure, the militaryjunta was forced to pave the wayfor the entry of democraticforces in 2010. The politicalprisoners were released, includ-ing Suu Kyi, but the NLD boy-cotted the elections over allegedirregularities by the military-backed Union Solidarity andDevelopment Party. However,over the next five years, the NLDgained popular support whichwas reflected in the 2015 gener-al elections. The NLD won 168of the 224 seats in the AmyothaHluttaw (House of Nationalities),with 25 per cent seats going tothe Army without any contest. Itindicated more space for pro-democracy leadership andrestoration of the multipartyparliamentary system. In 2011,President U Thein Sein had car-ried out significant political andeconomic reforms though thesewere in sync with the needs anddemands of the military.

For the current fiasco, oneneeds to look at the 2008Constitution of the MyanmarArmy as one of the root causes.The Constitution had strength-

SOUNDBITEDISHA RAVI VINDICATEDSir — While granting bail to activist DishaRavi, Additional Sessions JudgeDharmender Rana demolished almostevery charge levelled against her because“not even an iota of evidence was broughtto the court’s notice”. This a rap on theknuckles of the Centre and the Delhi Police.

Interestingly, before speaking about theconscience of the nation, Judge Rana quot-ed the Rig Veda and reminded the nation:“This 5,000-year-old civilisation of ours hasnever been averse to ideas from varied quar-ters.” For her part, the activist Disha Ravisaid if it was sedition to highlight farmers’protest globally, she was willing to beimprisoned. She also clarified that there wasno question of collaborating with the pro-Khalistani group, Poetic Justice Foundation.

But when the court has thrown this“toolkit” charge into the waste paper bas-ket, one wonders whether it has made theBJP feel embarrassed of its own “toolkit”:Charging innocent citizens with cooked-upstories, unleashing the ED, IT and/or theCBI on political opponents and topplingState Governments by way of horse trad-ing. I strongly feel that the verdict is anencouragement to and booster for DishaRavi to stand up against all concoctedcharges. One should be happy with her bailorder but hope she draws a Lakshman rekhafor herself; otherwise she may keep facingsuch problems in the future, too.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad

PROVIDE FREE JABS TO SENIORSSir — Glad to read about the UnionGovernment’s decision to vaccinate peo-ple above the age of 60 years againstCoronavirus from March 1, besides includ-ing people above 45 who suffer fromcomorbidities in the second phase. As perthe statement made by Union MinisterPrakash Javadekar, India’s vaccinationdrive proposal has been approved by theUnion Cabinet and the above-mentionedgroups will receive the shot at theGovernment’s expense and at its facilities.

The announcement comes at a timewhen there is an alarming spurt in the

number of COVID-19 cases across thecountry, particularly in Maharashtra,Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka andJammu and Kashmir. I believe that theCentre does not have any alternative butto provide free vaccination to the citizensas quite a lot of people would not be ableto afford it, thus preferring to stay backand take recourse to home-made reme-dies. This development, if it comes about,would totally defeat the purpose of theworld’s biggest inoculation programme asthere would be critical gaps left uncov-ered in the chain of vaccinated Indians.Also, the Centre must insist that privatehospitals also give free vaccines to peo-ple aged 60 and above with the cost beingborne by the Government.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

A STADIUM STANDS TALL Sir —In India, cricket is a religion and welook at our cricketers as demigods. To stayat the pinnacle of our global success in thesport, we need to have world-class stadia

for grooming our youngsters on their wayup to the highest level. In this regard, theinauguration of the world’s largest crick-et stadium in Ahmedabad is a giant leaptowards a new era.

The stadium, which was closed forrenovation in 2015, has been a witness tosome major milestones in Indian cricketin its previous avatar. Sunil Gavaskarreached his 10,000 run-mark in Testcricket here against Pakistan in 1987 and,in 1994, Kapil Dev claimed his 432nd Testwicket to become the highest wicket-takerin the world, surpassing Sir RichardHadlee. The ground has a state-of-the-artdrainage system that will take just 30 min-utes from the time it stops raining to flushout the water. Also, it is the only cricketstadium in the world to have four dress-ing rooms for the players so that back-to-back games can be played on the same day.

CK Subramaniam | Navi Mumbai

Send yyour ffeedback tto:[email protected]

This refers to the editorial ‘Shaky leadership’(February 24). With the sun setting for the

Congress in Puducherry, it’s the ninth State the‘Grand Old Party’ has lost since 2014. It nowenjoys power in merely three States — Punjab,Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The story ofCongress’ decline isn’t new; it has virtually beena repeat telecast since the BJP-led NDA cameto power. The ideological bankruptcy of the top

leadership has trickled down to the ranks, lead-ing to a crisis at the grassroots.

Though the BJP has the backing of the RSS-type booth-level workers, who are dedicated toconsolidating votes in favour of the saffron party,the Congress misses its Sewa Dal whose polit-ical significance has been overshadowed by alack of intent and commitment. Also, the top lead-ership needs to acknowledge various inputs bythe think tank within the Congress, mainly theG-23 (Group of 23 leaders) who wrote to demandleadership reforms. The party urgently needs anoverhaul in ideology, besides flexibility to adaptas per the situation’s demands.

By playing the card of soft Hindutva, theCongress is falling for the core competency ofthe BJP and it is bound to boomerang. The partyneeds to bridge the trust deficit, make the organ-isation less of a family enterprise and keep thecadres and alliance partners buoyant even incrises.

Nischai Vats | Sultanpur

Congress needs a major shake-upI cannot build anyother capital (on thedemand that Purniabe the State capital).If anyone elsebecomes the ChiefMinister after me, they can do whatever they wish. I cannot do sucha thing.

Bihar Chief Minister

— Nitish Kumar

I am frustrated that(French company)Naval Group havenot yet been able tofinalise this contractbut it will not bedone at the expense

of Australian industry. Australia’s Defence Minister

—Linda Reynolds

I miss my long hair. Imiss tying that rubberband when I’m bare. Imiss my long walks atthe lake of my home-town’s creek. I miss lis-tening to my old-time playlist.

Actor—Ayushmann Khurrana

We found that they (theCongress, during the pan-demic) had given registra-tion numbers of scootersand three-wheelers. Isthis not a joke on the people?

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister

—Yogi Adityanath

Playing 100 Tests as afast bowler is no meanfeat and playing espe-cially in our condi-tions, things can get sodifficult. But he (Ishant

Sharma) kept working hard. Indian captain

—Virat Kohli

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

Time to tackle onlinegender violence

FOR ME, COMING TO KERALA WAS REFRESHING AS I

FOUND THAT PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN ISSUES. NOT

SUPERFICIALLY BUT GOING INTO DETAILS.

—CONGRESS LEADER

RAHUL GANDHI

A FEW DAYS AGO HE WAS IN THE NORTH-EAST SPEWING

VENOM AGAINST THE WESTERN PART OF INDIA. TODAY

HE IS SPEWING VENOM AGAINST THE NORTH.

—BJP PRESIDENT

JP NADDA

The internet has evolved as an indispensable toolfor transforming our society and culture.Women, especially those living in rural India,

have been empowered to speak about their diverserealities, discuss common concerns and organise forchange. However, the challenges of censorship andoverregulation emanating from actions like block-ing of LGBTQ+ sites or silencing of female voiceson social media through misogynistic hate speechand trolling, make it essential to find sustainable solu-tions to these concerns that are threatening the onlinesafety of vulnerable communities. After all, with theinternet becoming the ultimate manifestation of oursocial reality, attaining online equality is paramountfor ensuring the same offline.

The feminist landscape of online hate: The lastdecade has witnessed instances of cyberstalking, rapethreats and other forms of gendered violenceincrease at an alarming rate on the internet. In starkcontrast to claims that “cyberhate” is predominant-ly innocuous, there are a range of academic studieswhich prove the widespread suffering caused,owing to the consequent social, psychological andeconomic harm inflicted upon women due to thischallenge. The problem of gendered cyberhate hasbecome far more prevalent since the advent of web2.0, which was marked by the shift towards a greateramount of user-generated content, collaboration,interactivity and information sharing over the web.This facilitated online antagonists to get easier accessto their targets in a manner that was never possiblebefore. According to a 2015 report by the UnitedNations, 73 per cent of women have experiencedsome form of online violence. An analysis conduct-ed by a leading daily revealed that out of every 10writers who receive abusive comments online, eightwere women.

Types of online hate: Online abuse can be placedon a wide spectrum of violence, ranging from mild-ly irritating (cyberstalking) at one end to unequiv-ocally criminal (revenge pornography) at the other.One peculiar characteristic of this challenge as seenin India and many other developing economies, isthe dimension of domestic violence which isincreasingly being observed as a major componentof most of the cases of online harassment. Some ofthe most prominent forms of gendered cyberhatefaced by women online include cyberbullying, a chal-lenge whose primary target is mainly school and col-lege girls. Then there is cyberstalking, whichincludes the perpetrator making unwarrantedattempts to contact the target by installing a spywareon her phone or hacking her email/social mediaaccounts. Plus there is denial of service, wherein, theonline platforms disables the person to voice her-self, often due to her unconventional views. Othermajor forms of online harm are doxing, whichinvolves publication of personally identifiable infor-mation about a person that enables online antago-nists to find their targets offline, and the most crit-ically dangerous of all including revenge pornogra-phy (publishing sexually explicit content, often of aformer partner without their consent) and sextor-tion (hacking webcameras, installing malwares orimpersonating as someone’s romantic interest toobtain intimate information and images).

Implications of the harm on users: Extensiveevidence exists to show that gendered cyberhateinflicts significant psychological, social, reputation-al and economic distress and harm upon women.

This includes putting limitations ontheir ability to engage in meaningfulactivism to respond to the challengeof gendered cyberhate itself. Thisleads to serious concerns of violationof both rights guaranteed underinternational human rights laws andthe Constitution of India, includingtheir right to free speech, right toinformational privacy, right to bod-ily integrity and right to reputation,to name a few. As another major con-cern, it is seen that women whodepend on the internet to earn theirlivelihood are more prone to receiv-ing online hate. This causes seriousrepercussions for them to find andkeep access to their jobs and social-ly and professionally network them-selves — causing blatant breach oftheir right to livelihood and genderequality.

Understanding and solving theproblem: We must not forget thatIndia has not only bagged one of thetop ranks for having the highest num-ber of internet users, but it is also thecountry that tops the statistics of glob-al sexual harassment. The harassmentfaced by women in the physicalworld is mirrored by the imageharassment faced by them in theonline world. A survey conducted byFeminism in India underscored that50 per cent of women in major citiesof India have faced online abuse.However, women are not the only vic-tims of such abuse. There is concur-rently rampant online harassment ofindividuals from marginalised gen-ders and sexualities as well. A trulyintersectional view of the issuedemands that it is specifically

addressed through policy and law, asit is evident that the laws at presentthat were created with the purpose ofprotecting women are failing at theirtask to create a safe place online.Cyberhate, specifically, is a growingissue in the Indian online space. Witha charged society polarised by religionand politics, the instances of hateful,violating, or mean comments thatoccur in the comment sections,forums and on other websites orsocial media have multiplied. In thecase of cyberhate not all violationsmay be explicitly against the law, theyare still serious and unacceptable asa part of online presence, as muchas it would be in the physical society.It is important to recognise that totruly tackle the issue of cyberhate, oursociety, platforms and institutionsincluding the Government mustcome together. Cyberhate must bedealt with at a societal level throughawareness and change in mindsetswhile institutions must provide forzero tolerance and also grievanceredressal. It must exist at all levels. Forexample, employers must show aresponsibility and obligation towardsstaff to provide them with tools orresources to deal with the cyberhatethat they might face as a consequenceof the work they are required to doonline. Also, legal measures andinstitutional methods against hatespeech are unlikely to be able to tack-le the sheer volume of online publi-cations. A complete solution wouldbe to work together with ISPs andplatforms i.e. intermediaries to devel-op comprehensive codes of conductor community guidelines based on

which removal of offensive contenttakes place. Platforms have the abil-ity to use their technology to detectsuch content and thereby filter/flag oreven remove it. It is equally impor-tant to enhance their responsibility inthese scenarios to be able to comple-ment the efforts of law enforcement.

The way forward: With the IPC,IT Act and the POCSO rules in placewe have adequate laws to tacklecyberhate. The challenge is to effec-tively implement these laws to ensuresafe online space. The DraftIntermediary Guidelines, 2018, envis-aged under the IT Act receivedextant criticism owing to its delete-rious impact on free speech and pri-vacy of users. If implemented, itwould pierce the encryption-enabledanonymity enjoyed by women andmarginalised groups. This anonymi-ty is crucial to tackle trolls with coun-terspeech and ensure online safety. Arecent study explains how the man-date of proactive monitoring underthe Draft Guidelines by using auto-mated tools and introducing trace-ability, by breaking encryption, wouldundermine the safety of users.

Despite the existence of regula-tory mechanisms, we have not beenable to effectively handle online safe-ty challenges owing to the lack ofproper implementation. The onus ofreform cannot be entirely placed onregulation and also lies on the partic-ipants in the ecosystem who have amajor role in ensuring that progres-sive laws and policies are rightlyimplemented and followed. It is theduty of the State to effectively pros-ecute perpetrators of online hate.

Despite the existence of regulatory mechanisms, we have not been able to effectivelyhandle online safety challenges owing to the lack of proper implementation

GWYNNE DYER

A SURVEYCONDUCTED BY

FEMINISM IN INDIAUNDERSCORED

THAT 50 PER CENTOF WOMEN INMAJOR CITIES OF INDIA HAVEFACED ONLINE

ABUSE. HOWEVER,WOMEN ARE

NOT THE ONLYVICTIMS OF SUCHABUSE. THERE ISCONCURRENTLY

RAMPANT ONLINEHARASSMENT

OF INDIVIDUALS FROM

MARGINALISEDGENDERS AND

SEXUALITIES AS WELL

It’s not funny when people die of the cold but there was some inno-cent amusement to be had from the indignation of Texans unable toboil their drinking water during the ‘Big Freeze’ because the power

was still out. Things like that are not supposed to happen in a modern,developed country like the US of A. How dare they? Others, aware thatTexas has cut every corner in public services that it’s possible to cut,were unsurprised by the five-day mini-disaster that struck the country’ssecond-biggest State. One blogger wrote philosophically: “Occasionally,something will happen in Texas to remind the people who live here thatwe live in a failed State.” A winter temperature 25°C colder than usualfor the time of year is rare, but this is not the first time it has snowed inTexas. The electricity failed, triggering a cascade of other disasters, main-ly because of a long-standing refusal to connect the State power gridwith the two main national ones. (This was done to avoid federal super-vision on prices and standards). Others have cold snaps too. Germany,Russia, Canada, even northern China get much colder than Texas, butthey don’t end up freezing in the dark because they are prepared for it.

Texas could have been prepared for it, too, but somebody in powerwould have had to read science journals for that. Since they almost allgot elected with donations from fossil fuel producers, that was neververy likely. The “explainers” in the media talk about a rogue ‘Arctic vor-tex’, but what’s really happening is much simpler.

It’s just what global warming has done to the northern hemisphere’s‘jet stream.’ The northern jet stream is a high-speed, high-altitude atmos-pheric “river” that flows from the West to the East all the way aroundthe planet. It marks the boundary between the Polar air mass, some-times called the ‘Polar Vortex’, and the warmer air masses of the mid-latitudes. East-bound airliners crossing the North Atlantic and the NorthPacific often hitch a ride on the jet stream, saving up to an hour. Theenergy that drives the jet stream comes from the temperature differencebetween the two air masses it divides. However, the Arctic is warmingmuch faster than the rest of the world, so that difference is shrinkingand, with less energy the jet stream is slowing down. It used to blaststraight East but even then it occasionally developed long S-shaped kinkscalled ‘Rossby waves.’ These are big loops extending far North and Southof its usual track. As it has slowed down (the average speed is now150-225 kmph), the Rossby waves have grown more frequent and big-ger. They are often now great loops deviating from the straight trackand bring with them cold Polar air rarely seen so far South, or warm airnot seen previously so far North. That’s what happened to Texas lastweek: One of those Rossby waves brought cold Arctic air all the waySouth. This pattern will recur and Texans will have to live with it.

Climate change doesn’t care whether you believe in it or not. Andit may get worse. In June-July 2018 record-breaking heatwaves hit west-ern US, Western Europe and the Caucasus-Caspian Sea region, whilethere was extreme rainfall and flash flooding on the US east coast, ineastern Europe and Japan. It was all happening in big Rossby loopsthat had taken over the jet stream. All the loops, containing hot dry airor cool moist air, were stuck for over two weeks. By last year, researchershad found that over the last 20 years the same pattern of seven stalledpeaks and lows over the same regions has lasted seven times for morethan two weeks. In the previous 20 years (1980-2000), that had nothappened even once. This suggests that the pattern is getting stronger.And, since the latitudes where the loops are stalling include most of themajor “breadbasket” regions of the northern hemisphere, the crop-killingdroughts and heatwaves they bring could cause a big loss in world foodproduction. It’s the unknowns that do the worst damage.

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is ‘Growing Pains: The Future ofDemocracy and Work.’ The views expressed are personal.)

Rising fuel prices, anascent electric vehicle(EV) support infra-

structure and the recently-announced vehicle scrappagepolicy amid worrying pollu-tion levels, are creating anunprecedented crisis of sortsfor Indians as far as commut-ing is concerned. These con-ditions are exacerbated by acreaking public transport sys-tem that is bursting at theseams. The seeminglyunstoppable rally of fuel pricehikes is undoubtedly the mostdisturbing development sofar for a nation that is battlinga pandemic-induced eco-nomic downturn and dwin-dling income levels.

In view of a divided andweak Opposition, that repeat-edly fails to take up key issuesthat affect the common man,the Government has mus-tered enough confidence todish out 21 fuel hikes in the

first two months of the newyear, if media reports are to bebelieved. For many of us, therise in pollution levels andfuel prices has come as anindication to shift towardsEVs or public transport, butin these times ofCoronavirus-induced socialdistancing, jostling in acrowded public conveyancedoes not seem to be a natur-al choice.

The finality of making analternative choice for com-muting has been furtherstrengthened by theannouncement of the vehiclescrappage policy whichmakes owning an old vehiclein Delhi-NCR impossible andvery costly elsewhere in thecountry. Though this policyhas delighted auto manufac-turers as new vehicle demandis expected to soar, the citi-zens whose budgets havebeen severely hit by the pan-

demic may not share thesame enthusiasm, as many oftheir perfectly maintainedvehicles will end up in scrap-yards. In the midst of thischaos, the EV industry isemerging as the apt solutionfor all the existent problems,but the Indian EV sector isanything but fully ready tomeet the challenge.

The auto sector, whichwas experiencing a slowdowneven before the virus’ out-break, came to its knees as thefull impact of the COVID-19contagion was unleashed.The Union Budget addressedthe sector’s concerns byfocusing on reliefs such as taxholidays for EV startups. Thesetting aside of `2,217 crorefor ‘Clean Air’, for 42 urbancentres with a million-pluspopulation is also a goodmove that can spread aware-ness about the environmen-tal benefits of EVs.

Similarly, theGovernment’s plan forstrengthening the publictransport sector under thePublic–Private-Partnershipmodel with an outlay of`18,000 crore for operating20,000 buses is encouragingfor the EV industry.

The scheme can helpfight air pollution effectively.But inexplicably, this is wherethe Government’s vision getsblurry as the Budget does notmention any EV-focused ini-

tiative or policy, includingFaster Adoption andManufacturing of ElectricVehicles (FAME).

Other expectations,including the ramping up ofEV charging infrastructure,enablement of retail financingfor EVs and moderation ofthe inverted Goods andServices Tax (GST) structurealong with lowering of taxeson EV input components,including battery, were alsonot addressed.

The EV manufacturerswere hopeful of a firmer pol-icy commitment from theGovernment, especially inthe duty structure pertainingto batteries. The Budget plat-form could have been used tofix the inverted duty structurefor components such as bat-teries from 18 per cent to fiveper cent and forcharging/swapping infra-structure services, too, from

18 per cent to five per cent.For instance, a lithium-ionbattery fitted in an EV attracts12 per cent GST but it is 18per cent GST when sold sep-arately. Correction of suchissues would have lent enor-mous confidence to EV man-ufacturers and provided amuch-needed push to thesector. Similarly, lowering ofimport duties on automotiveparts instead of raising themwould have had the samepositive impact on the spiritof the industry, besides low-ering the critical costs ofproduction.

The absence of an aggres-sive push from theGovernment for the indige-nous EV industry has raisedconcerns for its future. Worldleading EV manufacturerssuch as Tesla are already eye-ing the huge potential of theIndian market. In fact, Teslahas already registered itself as

an entity in India inBengaluru, with the intentionof manufacturing EV cars.Hyundai’s Kona and MorrisGarages’ ZS EV, are alreadymaking inroads in the Indianmarket as we speak. Withcompetition already gettinghot, Indian EV manufactur-ers need more support fromthe Government in the formof sops, tax holidays for four-wheel EV makers, better GSTstructures and lower importduties besides robust financ-ing options for the con-sumers. These measures com-bined with superior nation-wide charging infrastructurecan render fossil fuel carsobsolete, paving the way fortheir phase-out.

EV technology is thefuture of mobility but dither-ing Government measuresmean that this amazing tech-nology is still stuck in neutralin the country.

EV technology is the future of mobility but dithering Government measures mean that this amazing technology is still stuck in neutral

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2021

07

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FIRSTCOLUMN

TEXAS MUST READ UPON GLOBAL WARMINGClimate change doesn’t care whether you believe init or not. And it may get worse

SHRUTI SHREYA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Shreya is Policy ResearchAssistant and Mehta is

Strategic Engagement andResearch Coordinator, The

Dialogue. The views expressed

are personal.

Bumps in the way of adoption of EVs in India

KOTA SRIRAJ

The writer is an environmental journalist.

The views expressed are personal.

SHEFALIMEHTA

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Bharti Airtel onWednesday marked its

entry into advertisingbusiness with launch of'Airtel Ads', a move it saidwill enable brands to pitchconsent-based and privacy-safe campaigns to over 320

million customers across its various businesses like mobile, DTHand homes. Airtel Ads -- that underlines the company's efforts toget a foothold in the booming Indian advertising industry --leverages the company's data science capabilities, and would enablebrands to create deep engagement and high-impact campaigns formost relevant customer cohorts. Airtel asserted that its customerswould receive only the most-relevant brand offerings, and notunwanted spam. "We are not in the quantity mode, we only want tobring it to customers who care. erefore, volumes may be less butquality will be high," Adarsh Nair said.

Airtel enters advertising tech industry with Airtel Ad

Markets regulator Sebi hasgranted exemption to

Pantone Finvest Ltd fromcomplying with certainrequirements of takeover normswith respect to the proposeddirect acquisition in TataCommunications. The

exemption granted is subject to certain conditions and islimited to the requirements of making an open offer and pricingcondition under the Substantial Acquisition of Shares andTakeovers (SAST) Regulations. The order came after Pantonefiled an application with Sebi seeking exemption from theapplicability of certain provisions of SAST norms. TataCommunications has a public shareholding of 25.01 per centand non-public shareholding of 74.99 per cent which is entirelyheld by the promoters and the promoter group.

Sebi offers exemption toPantone from takeover norms

Walmart-owned Flipkarton Wednesday said it

will deploy more than25,000 EVs in its supplychain to completely tran-sition to electric mobilityby 2030. The companyhas partnered with keyplayers including HeroElectric, Mahindra Electric

and Piaggio to procure electric vehicles(EVs) through logistics part-ners for specific vehicles to be eployed for its first and last miledelivery fleet across the country. This is in line with Flipkart's publiccommitment to transition to EVs across its city logistics fleet andhelp set up charging infrastructure around delivery hubs and officesto fast-track the adoption of such vehicles in India, a statement said.

Flipkart to deploy over 25,000 EVs in supply chain

The government on Wednesdayapproved a production-linked

incentive (PLI) scheme for laptops,tablets, all-in-one PCs and servers,as it looked to woo global playersto tap India's manufacturing capa-bilities. The approval of PLIscheme for these hi-tech IT hard-

ware gadgets comes after the Cabinet last week cleared a Rs 12,195crore scheme for telecom equipment manufacturing.Briefing reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet, Communicationsand IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Cabinet cleared the

about Rs 7,350 crore PLI scheme for IT hardware that would coverlaptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs and servers.

Govt clears PLI scheme toboost manufacturing of PCs

PNS n MUMBAI

Trading halted for some time onNSE due to connectivity issuesEquity benchmark Sensexsoared 1,030.28 points and theNifty rallied over 270 points onWednesday, tracking strongbuying in financial stocks, aftertrading hours were extendedfollowing a technical glitch atNSE.

After resumption of trade at3.45 pm, NSE Nifty zoomed274.20 points or 1.86 per centto end at 14,982.

Similarly, the 30-share BSEindex settled 1,030.28 points or2.07 per cent higher at50,781.69.

Axis Bank was the top gain-er in the Sensex pack, surgingaround 5 per cent, followed byHDFC twins, ICICI Bank, BajajFinance and SBI.

On the other hand,PowerGrid, Dr Reddy's, TCSand Asian Paints were amongthe laggards.

Minutes before the scheduledclosure of trade at 3.30 pm, lead-ing bourses BSE and NSE saidtheir equity and derivativesmarkets will remain open till 5pm.

The move came after theNational Stock Exchange (NSE)suffered an outage earlier in theday due to technical glitches.Trading across segments cameto a halt at 1140 hrs due to con-nectivity issues.

However, the broader Indianmarkets were not impacted ascommunication lines at BSEremained operational.

"Technical glitch did notimpact domestic market senti-ment though volatility was highwith a positive prejudice, in thefirst session. During the extrasession, the market gatheredmore strength and hugely out-performing the global peers,triggered by squaring-off F&Opositions a day ahead of the pre-fixed monthly expiry date.

"The global market wasmixed, not very convinced thatworld central banks like Fed willmaintain a flexible monetarypolicy even during rising bondyield and inflation. And theAsian market was negativelyimpacted by a hike in stampduty on equities," said VinodNair, Head of Research at GeojitFinancial Services.

Sensex zooms 1,030 pts, Nifty tops 14,950

‘Dams, hydroelectric projectsdon’t harm environment’PNS n MUMBAI

Power Minister R K Singhon Wednesday brushed asideapprehensions that waterstorage or dam projects,which also generate hydroelectricity, harm environ-ment, and urged experts tocommission an authoritativeand scientific study to findout the truth.

Speaking at a symposiumon sustainable developmentof dams and river basins,Singh said, "I have not seenscience of environmentbeing harmed. I see scienceof progress in this (waterstorage). Punjab andHaryana developed and theyare where they are todaybecause of Bhakra Nangaldam."

He further said, "If you askany person in Bihar, then hisdearest wish is to constructlarge dams on the river Kosiin Nepal. Wherever we con-structed large dams, we haveimproved the lives of peo-ple...generations. This is themessage we need to convey."

He brought attentiontoward pushback to waterstorage or dam projects inthe country by NGOs (non-government organisations)or civil societies which claimthat these would harm envi-ronment.

The minister said, "In ourcountry, there is a decade or

two of push back (to waterstorage projects) by NGOswithout any authoritativestudy that says that dams areharmful to environment."

Currently, India is devel-oping around 14,000megawatts of hydropowergeneration capacity.

He said, "In waterresources, in the past decadealso, we have faced head-winds in harnessing ourwater resources. There wasconcerted movement againstharnessing the water, dams,against any project whichsought to harness our waterresources."

He said the movementstill persists. "That push backagainst dams still persists.That is something which wehave to address."

The minister urged all tofirst accept that humanshave been harnessing waterright from the time ourcivilisation began.

"The earliest dam startedon the Nile (in Egypt)...har-nessing water was therebefore Christ (BC). It is notthat it is happening now," hesaid.

The minister stated thatthe proposition is that ifsome how you stop the nat-ural flow of water, then itharms the environment.

He added that the waterstorage projects do not stopthe natural flow of the waterand just the excess flow ofwater is harnessed throughstorage so that it can be usedas and when needed.

"Does that harm the envi-ronment? Is there any study?I think you need to commis-sion a study and examinewhether it actually harms theenvironment... I think weneed to come out with anauthoritative study on this,"the minister said.

The minister also saidthat in some areas, it isessential to set up waterstorage projects likeBrahmaputra river. If Indiadoes not do it, its rival Chinawould do it, he added.

He said, "They (China)are planning construction oflarge dams. So, we have tostart construction of largedams. If they construct largedams before us then they cansqueeze our (water) sup-plies in Assam and NorthEast."

PNS n NEW DELHI

Professionals in India are con-fident about their careerprogress despite growinguncertainties about the jobmarket and financial future inthe current environment, saysa survey.

According to the latestLinkedIn WorkforceConfidence Index, there hasbeen a decline in India's over-all confidence, as the compos-ite score dropped from 58 inDecember 2020 to 54 inJanuary 2021.

The survey attributes thisdip in optimism to the work-force's growing concerns aboutthe status of the pandemic, sur-mounting expenses, and jobavailability in the present eco-nomic climate.

This professional uncertain-ty comes right after the year-

end holiday season, whenIndia's hiring rate dropped to17 per cent year-over-year inDecember 2020, according tothe latest edition of LinkedIn'sLabour Market update.

The survey findings fromJanuary 1-29, based onresponses of 1,752 profession-als, noted that despite growinguncertainties 80 per cent pro-

fessionals are confident aboutskilling opportunities, while 79per cent are confident aboutthe strength of their CVs.

"Skills are expected tobecome the new professional'currency' this year as workersfrom different generations relyon learning new skills tofuture-proof their careers, at atime when industries continue

to strengthen their remoteoperations," said AshutoshGupta, India CountryManager, LinkedIn.

Sector-wise, professionalsfrom corporate services,healthcare, and software and ITindustries are the most confi-dent about the future of theiremployers.

"Employees from tradition-al sectors such as corporateservices, healthcare, and soft-ware and IT industries arefound to be most confidentabout the future of theiremployers, as companies con-tinue to adopt newer technolo-gies, and revamp their talentstrategies. "Reimaginingemployee skills and roles towelcome the post-pandemicways of working will be crucialto building resilience for com-panies across sectors," Guptasaid.

Professionals confident about career progress

PNS n NEW DELHI

Aditya Birla Fashion and RetailLtd has partnered with fashiondesigner Tarun Tahiliani toform a new entity that willsoon launch a contemporarymen's ethnic wear brand.

"Aditya Birla Fashion andRetail Ltd (ABFRL) hasannounced a strategic partner-ship with India's ace designerTarun Tahiliani to form a newentity that will soon launch acontemporary men's ethnicwear brand. "The new brandwill operate in the premiumoccasion wear segment andwill offer the entire range of

high quality, sophisticated cel-ebration wear for men at acces-sible price points," the compa-ny said in a regulatory filing.

ABFRL will hold 80 percent stake in the new entity,while Tarun Tahiliani will holdthe remaining 20 per cent.

The new brand aims tobuild a Rs 500 crore business

in the next 5 years with morethan 250 stores across thecountry, the statement added.

The brand plans to launchretail stores by September2021.

As part of the deal, ABFRLwill also acquire a 33 per centstake in the existing LuxuryCouture business of TarunTahiliani, with the option toincrease it to 51 per cent in thenext few years. ABFRL MDAshish Dikshit said, "Over thenext few years, ethnic wear isgoing to be an important cat-egory as confident Indiansrediscover their culture andheritage.

ABFRL partners with Tarun tolaunch men's ethnic wear brand

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) is concerned over theimpact cryptocurrenciesmay have on the financialstability in the economyand has conveyed the sameto the government,Governor Shaktikanta Dassaid on Wednesday.

"We have certain majorconcerns about cryptocur-rencies. We have communi-cated them to the govern-ment. It is under consider-ation in the governmentand I do expect and I thinksooner or later the govern-ment will take a call and ifrequired Parliament alsowill consider and decide,"he said in an interview withCNBC-TV18.

"I want to make it clearthat the blockchain technol-ogy is different. Blockchaintechnology benefits haveto be exploited, that isanother thing. But on cryp-

to we have major concernsfrom the financial stabilityangle and we have shared itwith the government. Thegovernment will considerand take a call," Das said.

While Das did not elab-orate further, the centralbank had in the pastexpressed concerns on dig-ital currencies being usedfor money laundering andterror funding.

The government is plan-ning to introduce a bill inParliament to bar compa-nies and individuals fromdealing in cryptocurren-cies while creating a frame-work for an official digitalcurrency.

RBI concernedover impact ofcryptocurrency

PNS n BERLIN

T h e G e r m an e c on omygrew 0.3 per cent in lastyear's fourth quarter com-pared with the previousthree-month period, offi-c i a l d at a s h owe dWednesday — a better per-for m anc e t h an f i r s tthought.

The Federal StatisticalOffice had reported in lateJanuary that gross domes-tic product edged up 0.1per cent in the October-December period.

Wednesday 's revis ionmeant that last year's over-all drop in GDP was atouch less sharp than orig-inally reported — 4.9 percent rather than 5 per cent. That fall ended a decadeof growth and was thebiggest decline since thefinancial crisis in 2009.

Germany's economy didbetter than several othersin the 19-country euro-zone as it was supported bymanufacturing, which hastaken less of a hit than ser-vices during the pandemic.

German economygrew 0.3% in Q4

PNS n BERLIN

Tata Power has raised Rs900 crore through issuanceof NCDs.

The company issued9,000 unsecured,redeemable, taxable, listed,rated NCDs worth Rs 900crore on Tuesday, a BSEfiling said

The series-I debenturesworth Rs 400 crore wouldmature on February 23,2024, while series-IIdebentures of Rs 500 crorewould mature on February23, 2026, it said.

Tata Powerraises Rs900 cr viadebentures

PNS n NEW DELHI

Saltmine, an end-to-end dig-ital workplace platform, onWednesday said it has raisedUSD 20 million (about Rs144.8 crore) in funding thatsaw participation from JLLSpark, the strategic invest-ment arm of commercial realestate services firm JLL.

Existing investors,Singapore-based Jungle

Ventures and Xplorer Capitalalso participated in the seriesA round. In addition to its cap-ital investment, JLL has enteredinto an agreement to sell

Saltmine's software directly toits customers, creating a pow-erful distribution channel forSaltmine's platform, a state-ment said.

Founded in 2017 by Indian-origin Shagufta Anurag, theworkspace management plat-form has grown to have glob-al presence with offices inAsia, Europe and NorthAmerica with headquarters inSan Francisco.

Saltmine raises $20mn fromJLL Spark, Jungle Ventures

PNS n MUMBAI

The rupee gained 11 paiseto settle at 72.35 againstthe US dollar onWednesday supported bypositive domestic equitiesand weakness of theAmerican currency in theoverseas market.

At the interbank forexmarket, the local unitopened at 72.35 againstthe greenback and wit-nessed an intra-day highof 72.26 and a low of72.41. It finally ended at72.35 against theAmerican currency, regis-tering a rise of 11 paisefrom its previous close. OnTuesday, the rupee hadsettled at 72.46 againstthe American currency.Meanwhile, the dollarindex, which gauges thegreenback's strengthagainst a basket of six cur-rencies, fell 0.10 per centto 90.08. On the domesticequity market front, theBSE Sensex was trading191.39 points or 0.38 percent higher at 49,942.80.

Rupee surges11 paise toclose at 72.35against USD

PNS n CHENNAI

Stuttgart-based Daimlerhas delivered 25BharatBenz 1014 buses to aBengaluru-based tour oper-ator, marking a revival inthe economy and the busindustry, according to atop official of the Germancompany.

The delivery of the busesto Sree Travels was also thelargest 10-tonne staff bus tobe handed over to the cus-tomer post-COVID-19pandemic.

"Delighted to have deliv-ered 25 staff buses to SreeTravels. This order demon-strates the customer's faith

in us and points to a recov-ery in the transport seg-ment," Daimler Buses Indiahead Karl-Alexander Seidelsaid.

Sree Travels purchasedtheir first BharatBenz rangeof buses in 2019 and fol-lowed it up with the latest25 buses this year.

Daimler delivers largest 10tonne staff bus post-Covid

Investcorpon-boardsSafari withRs 75 crinvestment

Trading halted for some time on NSE due to connectivity issuesPNS n MUMBAI

The third largest luggageand bags major SafariIndustries on Wednesdaysaid that it has received Rs75 crore equity investmentfrom leading global alterna-tive investment managerInvestcorp.

The transaction is subjectto shareholders and regula-tory approvals, the compa-ny said in a statement.

Set up in 1974, SafariIndustries is the third largestand fastest growing luggagebrand in the country today.

Sudhir Jatia, who is thecurrent chief executive,acquired Safari in 2012.

Gaurav Sharma, head ofprivate equity at InvestcorpIndia, said that this invest-ment into Safari, whichenjoys a strong brand recall,aligns with our thesis of tar-geting unique businesses inmass consumption market.

Jatia said he expects to getshareholders' and regulato-ry approvals soon and closethe transaction next month.

In India, Investcorpinvests in mid-market com-panies across consumption-linked sectors and in the real estate.

hrowball, not manyknow, is a game thattook birth on Indiansoil. It is specificallyknown to be one ofthe most common

games played by both men andwomen, given the least amountof risk and wounds the gamehas. Sadly, it is also one of themost ignored sports in India,and is often considered as abeach sport to be played forcasual recreation.

But did you know throwballteams from India have been win-ning medals and trophies at theWorld Games all along and mostof us hadn’t an inkling about it?No wonder the players ‘don’t getproper funds’, especially the teamfrom Telangana. But thanks to afew individuals who chose torise to the occasion, the team islimping to success.

Telangana ThrowballAssociation still needs morefunds to get to where theydeserve, and have the potential,to be.

Kiran Chary, internationalthrowball player and Office sec-retary, Telangana ThrowballAssociation says the failure ofthe government to help themwith adequate funds had, at onepoint, resulted in players giving

up. “It’s tough for most players tofund themselves, most of themare from middle and lower mid-dle class families. The govern-ment did help at times with afew concessions, but that isalmost never enough,” sharesKiran, who represented India atthe World Games held in Nepaland secured a gold medal. Hehad been giving intensive coach-ing to the Under-15 and Under-19 Telangana state teams justbefore the NationalChampionships and they have,in turn, secured medals atnational platforms.

Even he, who had been repre-senting Telangana state in con-secutive senior nationals till dateand lead the team on manyoccasions, apart from coachingkids in throwball and handball,holds a job as a sales executive tohelp him make ends meet. “Thesport did give me so much, myproudest moment in life is beingable to represent my country onan international platform. Butfinances, not so much. Henceanother job by the day. It’s onlymy passion for the sport thatkeeps me and many others likeme, going. Despite not havingfinancial support from the gov-ernment, team Telangana hasbeen performing excellently. Butwe don’t even have a ground topractise,” Kiran laments.

Many others like him includ-ing Suchetana, who is also aninternational player, make doby coaching Under-15 girlsteam during national cham-pionships.

Kiran, however, is grate-ful for a few individualsand schools in the city thatallow them to the use theirplaygrounds after school hours.Jagan Mohan Goud, GeneralSecretary, Telangana ThrowballAssociation has gone out of hisway and has been rendering hisservices from the very inceptionof Telangana state. “V NaveenYadav, a social worker has spon-sored our expenses severaltimes. Others like D Kalayan

Chakravarthy, MD,Technogence; VSN Raju, CEO,Globarena; Malka Komaraih,Chairman, Delhi Public School;Sunir Nagi, Prinicipal, PallaviModel School; Arundhati,Sangamithra School; andProf. Ranga Rao; aresome of the many whohave been doing all theycan, to encourage, sup-port and help us in timesof need. They never saidno whenever weapproached them forhelp. With their support,we hosted nearly 20 interdistrict championships (allcategories) and 4national levelchampi-onships,”Kirantells us.Their

biggest feat towards raisingawareness about the game, hesays, is hosting the HyderabadThrowball School league inwhich 54 teams participated inunder-16 category and 21 teamsin under-19, which includesboth boys and girls.

“This is something big weachieved recently, wherenearly 300 debutants partici-pated,” Kiran shares with asmile.

It wasn’t long ago whenIndian Football captainSunil Chettri had to make apublic appeal after only afew fans turned up towatch his team’s game. Wesure don’t need anothersportsperson to embar-rass us by pleading us tosupport them, we can dobetter. What you can donext is support them atthe Throwball PremierLeague from March 22 toApril 2, 2021 at Mumbai.

Few players from thecity have been listed torepresent Telangana in theThrowball PremeirLeague and they includeKiran Chary himself, DNCharan Kumar, Sharath

Kumar Reddy,Siddheshwar Reddy, Suraj

Goud and Revanth. It’s time togo do our bit by cheering forthem, talking about them andcelebrating their wins and loss-es.

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

ThursdayFebruary 25, 2021

T

SUPPORTING THROWBALL PLAYERS BEFORE

THEY'RE FORCEDTO THROW IT OFF

ow wonderful it isto acquire knowl-edge from graph-ics! With multipletrends circulatingon various social

media platforms, one of themis the info series that is mak-ing some noise. With the soleaim to convey informationquickly and easily to kids,Ilchi Pilchi is the first-of-its-kind info-series that not onlytalks about the animal king-dom but also about whythey’re important to planetearth through storytellingand scrapbooking!

And to visualise that in aneven better way, the founderof Ilchi Pilchi, Neha GuptaKapoor is creating education-al kits that tell you all aboutanimals through fact-filledstorybooks, an activity-filledscrapbook, and a DIY craft asmemorabilia.

The scrapbook activitieswill challenge the child torecall what was read in thestorybooks and enforce auto-matic learning by enablinghim/her to compare the ani-mals.

“Ilchi Pilchi emerged whenI was unable to find an ency-clopedia that is more like afun storybook that also talksabout conservation for mykid. This is exactly what the

Ilchi Pilchi educational kitsdo — create picturesque sto-rybooks, activities in analbum-like scrapbook with asubtle mention about whyanimals are important to ourplanet. Because learningshould always be fun!Writing has always been mypassion, I had worked withseveral magazines earlier,during which, my skills as aresearcher were perfected. Idecided to keep my career asan editor of a business andtravel magazine on holdwhen I became a mum. Sometwo years later, Ilchi Pilchiwas born, a name by which Ilovingly call my daughter,”Neha shares.

The pandemic also boughtalong with it the multiplechanges in the normal livesof people and amongst themwere parents around theworld. “Parents were always

in search of creative ways tomake a memorable experi-

ence with regards to theirchild’s education. In order tofill this gap, after an extensivesurvey, Ilchi Pilchi came tothe fore, to enhance a child'slearning experience,” sheadds.

A good learning environ-ment always has the greatestamounts of creativity in itand with the right mix of cre-ativity comes better ways tobe innovative in future.Creativity blended well withlearning can really transformthe way kids acquire knowl-edge and allows them toapply them in their real livesas well. Creative expression isa stepping stone for a child'semotional development sowith Ilchi Pilchi, let your kidsmake their way onto thisstaircase towards immensecreativity, and learn with fun.

Creative learning to ignite your child's mind

Learning is anextensive proces.

Teaching a child isdifferent and difficult.

Upon not finding acreative starter pack for

her kid, Neha GuptaKapoor founded IlchiPilchi, which ensures

creative and funlearning. She talks to

The Pioneer's SHIKHADUGGAL about the

birth of the idea, how itbenefits kids and

parents, especiallyduring school-from-

home amid thepandemic.

Cricket, wesay, is one

religion thatunites India.But have we

gone too far inglorifying thatsport alone? A

thoughtfulcommunity ofpeople in thecity are aware

of the needsof other sports

likeThrowball,

and havecome forward

to supportthem in time.

Still a longway to go; yetit has startedsomewhere,

writes The Pioneer's

RACHELDAMMALA

H

he fashion industrywill see hugeamounts of innova-tion in coming yearsas new technologyand changing cus-

tomer trends and demands willtransform the industry whichbrings more new challenges forstudents. Apparel industrymoves at breakneck speed anddue to COVID-19 outbreak hassped up the pace considerablyfashion industry operators havehad to switch to a multi-chan-nel strategy and become moredata-driven in their decision-making. Here are few changesthat must be required in 2021for the professionals working inthe fashion design industry

Data-driven

Many stores and brands usedata to predict the rise and fallof trends. Predictive analyticsconsider everything from cli-mate to color preferences, socialmedia trends and politicalmovements. The benefits ofusing data in fashion arenumerous from only producingpieces consumers will actuallywear to reducing waste andconnecting the right consumerswith pieces they will enjoy.Fashion brands now use data tounderstand and monitor theircustomer preferences, theirshopping behaviour and afteranalysing they create productsthat meet their needs.

Sustainability

Over recent years sustainabilityhas been one of the hottest top-ics in terms of fashion becauseafter all, fashion is one of themost polluting industries on theplanet. With fast-fashion takingover, clothes quickly becomingoutdated, and being made withcheap materials it isn't settingthe world up for much hope.But the tides are changing, andbrands are moving towardsmore sustainable fabrics and

manufacturing methods.Although brands are trying toincorporate more sustainablepractices.

Digitalisation

Due to restrictions of COVID-19, consumers increasingly pre-fer the convenience and speedof online shopping, even if itmeans not being able to try anitem on in person. Successfulfashion brands of the futurewon't just make their clothingavailable online they will alsocreate an immersive digitalshopping experience with virtu-al showrooms, virtual fits or siz-ing tools and virtual style lists.The future of fashion is happen-ing online, and brands will haveto adjust how they create andsell clothing to make it work ina digital world. With moreshoppers taking advantage ofonline shopping, fashion retail-ers have to follow suit.

Fashion brands will alsoleverage technology like AR andVR to allow consumers to tryon items digitally from thecomfort of their own homes.

Simplified

With many people workingfrom home and social distanc-ing for the foreseeable future,mostly fashion brands havetoned down their styling infavour of comfortableloungewear and clothing thatworks for sleeping and living.Even after the pandemic, cloth-ing will likely stay simple andcomfortable.

The new shift in fashion is totwo collections a yearspring/summer and fall/winter.The future of fashion will focuson customers and provide aninnovative experience. Theindustry is continually evolving,but changes in the future willcreate a more sustainable, cus-tomer-centric and efficientindustry.

(The writer is the director atThe Design Institute of India.)

‘The future lies indigital processes'

Fashion industry will seeinnovations as new technology aswell as changing customer needsand demands will transform theindustry challenging students,says TARUN GOEL

T

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PAR

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10

Hyderabad Thursday February 25 2021what’s brewing?

Xiaomi unveiled their 6th MI studio in the city at Ameerpet.Actresses Sai Kamakshi Bhaskarla and Kritya Karda were seenat the venue unveiling the new gadget. Srinivas Nallacheru of

Xiaomi distributor Annapurna agencies spoke about their plans tolaunch a new Mi studio in Kukatpally, Kondapur, Chintal andChandanagar. Many Mi fans were seen gushing over the newproducts and taking home the spanking new products.

ON A LAUNCHING SPREE

Ph

oto

s b

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V C

ha

ry

l Ritu l Srinivas

l Sravani

l Anita Agarwal

l Soni

l Simronl Amit R Vora and Kamksh Gandhi

lD

impe

l

l Sai Kamakshi Bhaskarla

DESIGNERDAZZLE

Desire designer exhibition was open in the

city from February 23-24, presentingfashion lovers with the opportunity to

view and buy awe-inspiring ensemblesranging from opulent festive wear to home

decor. At Taj Krishna's glittering venue,models and fasion enthusiasts

were spotted picking theirfavourites.

l Liza

FUN

ctor Adith, who is awaiting therelease of KV Guhan’s technothriller WWW (Who.. Where..Why), has green-lit a Telugu-Tamilbilingual next. Tamil writer Stalinis directing it from his own script

while another Tamil name Madan, who is thepresident of south India casting association,will be producing it.

A source close to the development tells us,“The film is a travel drama with filming set totake place in parts of Talakona, Karnataka andGoa. Tanya Hope has been finalised oppositeAdith, who will be going for a makeover forthe project. The actress too will be seen in aunique role from the ones she played so far.

The filmingwill start nextmonth and theplan is to wrapit up in 50-55working days.Jaguar 420 isthe title underdiscussion forthe Teluguversion, whileJaguar hasbeen locked asthe title forthe Tamil ver-sion.”

The source adds that the project is anattempt from Adith to balance both Tamil andTelugu films. “His films WWW and DearMegha are shot in Telugu but they will get adubbed release in Tamil too. So the actor feltthe need to do a straight Tamil film. Luckily,the script of Jaguar had the potential to attractTelugu audiences as well, so the makers decid-ed to make it as a bilingual,” the source ends.— NG

11

tollywoodHyderabad Thursday February 25 2021

ctress ShraddhaSrinath says laughteris the best way todeal with the hardreality of patriarchy.This was reflected in

a social media she made short-ly after actor Varun Dhawan’smarriage.

Shraddha had written onInstagram, on January 24:“Another good actor bites thedust. Sad that we will not seehim on screen again.Obviously, his wife and in-lawswill not be okay with him act-ing with other heroines. Maybehe will switch to doing male-oriented films? But how to bal-ance personal life and work-lifeya. Tough. Will miss him.Congratulations though, Varun(sic).”

Asked about what was shethinking while making such apost after Varun’s marriage,Shraddha said, “You know

when I started my career, oneof my well-wishers told methat you are a girl and you onlyhave three to four years toshine as an actress because thecareer span of any actress isshort-lived. Whenever I wouldgo for an audition, I was asked,‘Shraddha Srinath, Srinathwho?’ and I would answer thatit is my father’s name. Why dowe women have to face that?Why we are told that the careerof an actress ends after mar-riage and motherhood? Why isit not the same with men? I seehow I am growing as an actressand I see no end in my growthbecause I am working hard tomake sure I grow.”

“I think my sense of humouris my weapon to bash patri-archy. I have nothing againstanyone, I just wish we reallybroaden and open our mind, itmakes society a better place,”she added.

Is she planning to shifther work base fromTollywood to Bollywood?“Well, I am satisfied as anactress with the kind ofopportunity I am getting inthe South Indian film indus-try and Bollywood is a spacewhere everyone wants to lookfor a chance. But I am notworking here so that I can

head to Bollywood. For me,any opportunity, from anyfilm industry is welcome. Allthat matters is what am Idoing in the film,” Shraddhasigned off.

Humour is the best

For me, anyopportunity, from anyfilm industry is

welcome. All that matters iswhat am I doing in the film

A

he makers ofGopichand-starrerPucca Commercial,which was launchedearlier this month,finalised Raashi

Khanna as the leading lady. Thiswould be the third time that thediminutive actress will be featur-ing in a film opposite Gopi, whilewith Maruthi this is her secondfilm on the trot after PrathirojuPandage, which was a box-officesmash. Raashi was attached to theproject before it was made officialbut back then grapevine wasabuzz with the news that Gopiwas averse to her casting as healready did a couple of films withher.

While it is believed thatMaruthi did try roping in a newface, his search, it seems, didn’tyield positive results. Left with nogreat options, the makers latersigned on Raashi, as they arekeen on completing thefilm on time andrelease it duringOctober.

The princi-pal photogra-phy of thefilm willcom-

mencefrom

March5 in

Hyderabad. Gopi will be seen as acriminal lawyer in the film, an

action-drama laced withhumour. Maruthi will be

working withMalayalam compos-er Jakes Bejoy forthe first time,

while Raveendarwill head the art

department.

s Nani celebrated his birthday Wednesday, the makers of his next, ShyamSingha Roy, unveiled his first look from the film, a period drama. In the look,Nani is seen sporting a moustache while a woman hugs him from behind.

The project is the actor’s first collaboration with Rahul Sankrityan, who madeTaxiwaala earlier. Sai Pallavi and Krithi Shetty are the leading ladies while MadonnaSebastian plays a supporting role.

A

RAASHI AND GOPI AGAIN

FIRST

LOOK

Tamil writer Stalin ismaking his directorialdebut with the project,which will be a Telugu-Tamil bilingual. To rollnext month, it would beshot in Talakona,Karnataka and Goa.

Adith and Tanya Hopeteam up for a road movie

ebutant directorKoushik Pegallapatisays Chaavu KaburuChallaga (CKC) willsee leading lightKarthikeya as a

hearse driver, who falls in lovewith a nurse (played byLavanya Tripathi), who ismourning the loss of a dearone. “The film is told from thepoint of view of the hero anddiscusses life and death in anentertaining fashion.Entertainment aside, it is ahard-hitting story,” the direc-tor said. He was speaking atthe launch of the film’s secondsong in Hyderabad recently.

Karthikeya said acting-wise,the film is a 360 degree turnfor him from the roles heplayed earlier. “For the firsttime in my career I’ve tried

using slang besides adoptingfree style body language forthe role. I was afraid how itwould be received butAravind garu, after watchingthe film, lauded my perfor-mance. I felt happy,” the actorsaid.

Bunny Vas, who is produc-ing the film under GA2Pictures, said it was intention-al from their end to produce ahatke movie away from theregular films. “When Koushikgave me a 10 minute narrationof CKC, I instantly felt theneed to give him a completefreehand in executing it.Otherwise, I generally sit on astory and exchange my ideas.While discussing a novelpoint, the film has all the trap-pings of a commercial enter-tainer,” he pointed out.

Chaavu Kaburu Challaga talks about life and death in anentertaining fashion: Director

PRIYAPRAKASHVARRIEROPPOSITESUNDEEPKISHAN

fter roping inVaralaxmi SarathKumar for the roleof a cop, Veda Vyas,director of SundeepKishan’s next, has

signed on wink girl PriyaPrakash Varrier to play thefilm’s leading lady.

Priya, who is awaiting therelease of her maiden Telugufilm Check this Friday, will beseen in a substantial part inthe untitled action-thriller.“While the film revolves most-

ly around the parts played bySundeep and Varalaxmi, Priyatoo has her prominence in thenarrative, and it is the reasonwhy agreed to be a part of theproject,” reveals a source.

Veda Vyas remainedunavailable for a comment.

Mahesh Koneru, who madeprofits with Vijay-starrerMaster, which he dubbed intoTelugu, is shepherding thefilm under his East CoastProductions. He earlier saidthat Sundeep will be seen in a

complete new role in the film,which has music by Vizag ladSricharan Pakala.

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Shraddha Srinathweapon to bash patriarchy:

sport 12HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2021

BARTY STUNNED BY UNSEEDED COLLINS Adelaide: Unseeded Danielle Collins sent an out of sortsAshleigh Barty crashing out of the Adelaide Internationalin the second round on Wednesday. Collins seized onsome poor serving from the world number one to claima convincing 6-3, 6-4 win in just 65 minutes. It wasCollins' first win over Barty in three encounters.

JYOTI GULIA BEATS WORLD CHAMP New Delhi: Jyoti Gulia (51kg) upstaged two-timeworld champion Nazym Kyzaiby of Kazakhstan to enterthe quarterfinals along with two others but threeIndians bowed out after second-round losses in the72nd Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament. 2017world youth champion Gulia, prevailed 3-2 overKyzaibay, a Gold-winner from the 2014 and 2016 worldchampionships.

BAJRANG, VINESH EYE GOOD OUTING New Delhi: Star Indian wrestlers Bajrang Punia andVinesh Phogat will return to competitive action as theWrestling Federation of India on Wednesdayannounced a 34-member squad for the MatteoPellicone, to be held in Rome from March 4-7. The twoOlympic-bound wrestlers, who had skipped the WorldCup in Belgrade last year, will look for a good outing atthe international ranking series tournament.

SINDHU GETS EASY PASSAGE TO QUARTERS New Delhi: Reigning world champion PV Sindhu hasgot an easy passage to the quarterfinals but hercompatriot Saina Nehwal was not as fortunate, drawinga tougher first-round opponent in the prestigious AllEngland Championships. The tournament is scheduledto be played in Birmingham from March 17-21. Sindhuwill kick off her campaign in the women's singles witha clash against Malaysia's Soniia Cheah.

BHAMBRI RETURNS AFTER TWO YEARS Singapore: Yuki Bhambri made his return tocompetitive tennis after over two years away due to acomplicated injury layoff and put up a good fight beforegoing down in the first round, bringing India's singleschallenge to an end at the Singapore Open onWednesday. Meanwhile, Prajnesh Gunneswaran startedhis campaign at the ATP Challenger in Nur-sultan with awin, after back-to-back opening losses at his last threeChallengers. He beat Dostanbek Tashbulatov 6-2, 6-3and will play Brayden Schnur next. Playing his firstprofessional match since October 2018, Bhambri lost6-3, 7-6 (3) to Australia's Matthew Ebden. AGENCIES

SINGLES

AFP n BUCHAREST

Olivier Giroud’s magnifi-cent bicycle kick broke

Atletico Madrid’s resistanceand earned Chelsea a crucialaway goal on Tuesday, a 1-0 vic-tory giving Thomas Tuchel’sside a slender advantage in theChampions League last 16.

Giroud’s acrobatic strikewas initially ruled out for off-side but stood after VARshowed Mario Hermoso hadgot the final touch, deliveringa huge blow to Atletico’s hopesof reaching the quarter-finals.

“I didn’t know what tothink about the goal, I justfocused on hitting the ball,” saidGiroud. “I love an overheadkick and I was just pleased tosee the ball hit the back of thenet. I had no clue about being

offside or not.”Diego Simeone’s side had

put on a typically disciplined

defensive performance untilthat point but Giroud’s momentof genius means they will have

to score in London on March17 if they are to avoid an earlyexit.

It also continues a worry-ing dip for Atletico, whoselead in La Liga is also underthreat after one win in fourmatches.

Chelsea, meanwhile,passed their biggest test sinceTuchel was appointed at theend of January, backing up astrong run against lesser lightsin the Premier League with apolished display against one ofEurope’s elite.

Giroud’s goal in the 68thminute was only the thirdAtletico have conceded in 14home legs of the ChampionsLeague knockout stages underSimeone, even if this fixturewas at home only in name.

Their defeat makes it threehome losses out of three forSpain’s teams in the ChampionsLeague last 16 so far, afterBarcelona were thrashed byParis Saint-Germain andSevilla were beaten by BorussiaDortmund last week.

AFP n LOS ANGELES

Tiger Woods suffered seri-ous injuries to both legs as

his car flew off the road onTuesday near Los Angeles ina crash he was “very fortu-nate” to survive, law enforce-ment officials who found theUS golf legend said.

Woods did not appear tobe under the influence ofdrugs or alcohol during theearly-morning incident, andunderwent surgery after theroll-over collision, said LosAngeles County Sheriff AlexVillanueva.

No other vehicles or pas-sengers were involved in thecrash which occurred on asteep stretch of road known asa “hotspot” for high-speedaccidents in recent years.

“I will say that it’s very for-tunate that Mr Woods wasable to come out of this alive,”said deputy Carlos Gonzalez,the first law enforcement offi-cial to arrive on scene.

Gonzalez found Woodstrapped in his vehicle butconscious, appearing “calmand lucid” and able to identi-fy himself.

“It is my understandingthat he had serious injuries to

both legs,” said Los AngelesCounty fire chief Daryl Osby.

Firefighters and para-medics extricated Woodsfrom the wreckage of his SUVand transported him with aneck collar and backboard toa local hospital via road,where he underwent surgery.

There was “no evidence ofimpairment at this time”including any influence ofnarcotics, mediciation or alco-hol, said Villanueva, addingthat the crash remained “sub-ject to investigation.”

He added that no bloodwas drawn at the scene of thecrash because the sheriff ’soffice does not have that capa-bility.

Woods, one of the mostsuccessful golfers of all time,has won 15 major golf cham-pionships.

He recently underwenthis fifth back surgery, and saidhe was uncertain if he will beable to play at the upcomingMasters, which he last won in2019.

Woods, 45, was in thearea for his annual GenesisInvitational golf tournamentat the Riviera Country Club,and was driving a courtesy caron the morning of the crash.

AFP n ROME

Holders Bayern Munichbrushed off their recent

poor domestic form by throw-ing down a ChampionsLeague marker with anemphatic 4-1 win at Lazio inTuesday’s last-16 first leg totake a “huge step” towardsthe quarter-finals.

Robert Lewandowskigave Bayern an early leadbefore 17-year-old JamalMusiala scored his firstChampions League goal ononly his fourth appearancein Europe.

Lewandowski’s strikewas his 72nd ChampionsLeague goal, taking himsolo third on the all-timelist ahead of RealMadrid great Raul.

While, Stuttgart-born Musiala, who

turns 18 on Friday, is now theyoungest English goalscorer inChampions League history.

A Leroy Sane strike gaveBayern a three-goal half-timecushion at the Stadio Olimpicobefore Francesco Acerbiscored an own goal just afterthe break.

“We are a huge stepcloser to the quarterfinals,”Bayern coach Hansi Flicktold Sky.

Joaquin Correapulled a goal backearly in the secondhalf to give the score-line somerespectability forLazio.

Simone Inzaghi’sLazio need a near mir-acle in the return gamein Munich on March17 to reach the lasteight.

Woods seriously injuredin roll-over car crash

Workers move a vehicle after a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods onTuesday in Rancho Palos Verdes, a suburb of Los Angeles AP

Advantage ChelseaGiroud’s bicycle kick gives Blues edge over Atletico

Olivier Giroud scores for Chelsea against Atletico Madrid in CL game UEFA/Twitter

Bayern rout Lazio

PTI n AHMEDABAD

India’s president on Wednesdayinaugurated the world’s largest

cricket arena here, renamed fromSardar Patel stadium to NarendraModi stadium in honour of thePrime Minister who is creditedwith conceptualising the facilityin its current awe-inspiring form.

The state-of-the-art stadium,inaugurated by President RamNath Kovind, can accommodatea jaw-dropping 1.32 lakh specta-tors.

“This stadium was conceptu-alised by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi when he wasChief Minister of Gujarat. He waspresident of the Gujarat CricketAssociation at that time,” Kovindsaid in his address after the inau-guration.

The renaming of the stadiumwas kept under wraps until afterit was formally inaugurated.

“It represents India’s aspira-tions and strength. India is calledhub of cricket, so it is appropri-ate that we have the largest stadi-um. It will give India a new iden-tity,” Kovind said.

Also present on the occasionwas Home Minister Amit Shahand Sports Minister Kiren Rijijualong with a host of other digni-taries.

“We have decided to name itafter the country’s Prime Minister.It was Modi ji’s dream project,”said Shah after the inauguration.

The President also performedthe ground-breaking ceremonyfor a sports complex in the stadi-um, to be named SardarVallabhbhai Patel sports enclave,for disciplines like football, hock-

ey, basketball, kabbadi, boxing,and lawn tennis among others.

The ambitious 215-acre pro-ject, under which 20 stadiums willbe built will have accommodationfacilities for athletes and coach-es. Another sports complex iscoming up in Naranpura formulti-disciplinary sporting eventsin future.

Spread over 63 acres, the sta-dium has been built at an estimat-ed cost of `800 crore and with aseating capacity for 1,32,000 spec-tators, it has surpassed the hal-lowed Australia’s MelbourneCricket Ground which canaccommodate 90,000.

PTI n AHMEDABAD

Union Home Minister AmitShah on Wednesday said that

Ahmedabad in Gujarat wouldemerge as the country’s “sportscity” as world-class facilities for allkinds of games are being put inplace here.

Shah made the statement afterPresident Ram Nath Kovind inau-gurated the Narendra Modi stadi-um.

The president also performedthe ground-breaking ceremony ofa sports complex in the stadium,to be named Sardar VallabhbhaiPatel Sports Enclave, for disci-plines like football, hockey, basket-ball, kabaddi, boxing, and lawntennis among others.

Shah said that a complexspread over an area of 17 acres ofarea with world-class facilities

for different sports will also comeup in Naranpura area ofAhmedabad.

“The Sardar Vallabhbhai PatelSports Enclave, the NarendraModi stadium and the sportscomplex at Naranpura will offercomplete facilities within thesame city at the same place for anysports played internationally. Withall these facilities, Ahmedabad will

be in a position to get ready with-in six months to host any interna-tional sports event,” Shah said.

The minister said that thesports enclave will be available toplay all the games that are playedin Olympics, and it will have sta-diums for football and hockey aswell as an indoor stadium.

“Such sports facilities are notavailable in any other city inIndia at present. Ahmedabad,which Modiji transformed intoIndia’s heritage city, is now readyto become the country’s sportscity...Ahmedabad will be consid-ered as India’s sports city.

“With such sports infrastruc-ture, Ahmedabad will be knownas India’s sports city, which is thedream that Prime MinisterNarendra Modiji saw when he wasthe chief minister of Gujarat,”Shah said.

Ahmedabad will emerge as India’s sports city: Amit Shah

President inaugurates Narendra Modi stadium

President Ram Nath Kovind and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the Bhumi Pujan ofSardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave at Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad PTI

India's veteran fast bowler Ishant Sharma on Wednesday was accorded a guardof honour by his teammates ahead of his landmark 100th Test match before thestart of 1st day play of 3rd Test between India and England at Narendra ModiCricket stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday BCCI/Twitter

PTI n BENGALURU

Talented opening batsmanDevdutt Padikkal contin-

ued his sizzling form to notch upa List A career-best score of 152to help defending championsKarnataka register a massive101-run win over Odisha in aGroup E match of the VijayHazare Trophy here onWednesday.

The 20-year-old openersmashed five sixes and 14 foursen route to his third List A cen-tury in his 16th game to propelKarnataka to 329 for five afterbeing invited to bat at the KSCAGround 3 in Alur.

The Royal ChallengersBangalore opener paced hisinnings brilliantly, taking 55balls to reach his half-centuryand 119 deliveries for his ton.

But he took off in the final10 overs as he cracked 52 runsoff his last 21 balls to cruise tohis maiden 150 off 138 deliver-ies.

Padikkal now has 301 runsfrom three matches, averaging100.33 with scores of 52 and 97in the first two matches.

In reply, Odisha werebowled out for 228 in 44 overswith Prasidh Krishna and SheyasGopal grabbing three wicketseach to hand Karnataka theirsecond win from three match-es to move to second spot in thestandings.

In another Group E match,Kerala defeated Railways byseven runs in a high-scoringthriller at the Just CricketAcademy to register their thirdwin on the trot and consolidatetheir position atop the table.

Veteran opener RobinUthappa (100 from 104 balls;8x4s, 5x6s) cracked his secondcentury from three matches incompany of fellow openerVishnu Vinod (107 from 107b;

5x4s, 4x6s) before Sanju Samsontook charge with an explosive 61to power Kerala to a massive 351

for 6.Samson, who was appoint-

ed Rajasthan Royals skipperafter they parted ways withSteve Smith, clobbered six foursand four sixes in his 29-ballknock, while Vathsal Govindremained unbeaten on a 34-ball46 (2x4s, 3x6s).

Half-centuries from MrunalDevdhar, Arindam Ghosh,Saurabh Singh and Harsh Tyagimeant the match went down tothe wire.

But medium pacer MDNidheesh (3/83) took two wick-ets — Amit Mishra and Tyagi —in successive balls in the last overto take Kerala over the line in adramatic finish.

SURAT: Baroda continued theirwinning streak in the VijayHazare Trophy after beatingHyderabad by 110 runs intheir Elite Group A match,courtesy Kedar Devdhar’s hun-dred and impressive show bythe bowlers.

This is Baroda’s third winon the trot after they haddefeated Goa and Tripura.

Put into bat at the LalbhaiContractor Stadium, Baroderode on Devdhar’s stroke-filled131 to post a competitive 316/7on the board, and then bundledout the opposition for 206, withBabashafi Pathan (3/37) doingthe bulk of the damage.

Devdhar was back amongthe runs as he tore apart theHyderabad attack with his 139-ball innings, hammering 14boundaries and two maxi-mums.

PUNJAB BEAT ANDHRAIn Group B matches at

Indore, Punjab bounced backfrom back-to-back defeats to

beat Andhra by seven wicketsto register their first win.

Punjab skipper MandeepSingh won the toss and sentAndhra in to bat. A disci-plined bowling effort fromPunjab meant Andhra inningsnever had the momentum.Kaul picked up four wicketswhile left-arm medium-pacerBarinder Sran took three asAndhra were bowled out for175 in the 49th over.

Chasing the target,Mandeep starred with anunbeaten 64 (81 balls, 8 fours)to take Punjab home in 36overs and register their first winin the tournament.

In the second match of thegroup, Tamil Nadu, the SyedMushtaq Ali Trophy winners,suffered their second defeat inthe tournament after losing by11 runs to Madhya Pradesh.

In the third game,Jharkhand beat Vidarbha bythree wickets to top the stand-ings with three wins from asmany games. PTI

Baroda continue winning streak

Padikkal’s career-best 152hands Karnataka big win

PTI n AHMEDABAD

Axar Patel’s devastatingsix-wicket haul bundledEngland out for 112

before Rohit Sharma’s languidelegance shone through in anunbeaten half century thathanded India the edge on theopening day of the day-nightthird Test here on Wednesday.

The spin combination ofleft-armer Patel and off-spinnerRavichandran Ashwin exploit-ed the turning Motera pitch atthe newly-inauguratedNarendra Modi stadium to thefull and England’s first inningsfolded in just 48.4 overs afterthe visitors opted to bat.

Patel (21.4-6-38-6) grabbedhis second five-for in his sec-ond Test while Ashwin (16-6-26-3) took three.

At stumps, India were 99for 3 from 33 overs with Rohitbatting on 57 off 82 balls.Ajinkya Rahane (1) was givinghim company following skip-per Virat Kohli’s dimissal in thelast over of the day.

Kohli was dismissed for 27off 58 balls by left-arm spinnerJack Leach (10-1-27-2).

India trailed by just 13runs with seven first inningswickets in hand.

Before this, it was a night-mare that unfolded for Englandwith the 47-run stand for thethird wicket being their best.

They lost their last sixwickets in the second session.The last seven wickets yieldedjust 38 runs.

This was after IshantSharma, only the second Indianfast bowler after Kapil Dev toplay in 100 Tests, fittingly tookIndia’s first wicket in the thirdover to open the floodgates for

the hosts.In reply to a below par

score, India negotiated theopening spells of much-vaunt-ed England seamers JamesAnderson and Stuart Broadwithout any damage in thetricky twilight period. Rohitand Shubman Gill (11) did notface too much trouble seeingout the precarious phase.

Anderson and Broad didnot get much the desired move-ment with the pink ball and thedew factor did not have a bigrole either.

But Jofra Archer (5-2-24-1)gave England the breakthrough

in the 15th over with Gill, try-ing a pull shot from the offstump, top-edged for ZakCrawley to end the 33-runopening partnership.

India lost another wicketsoon after in CheteshwarPujara with Leach getting himtrapped LBW for a first-ballduck to reduce India to 34 for2.

After that, Rohit and Viratshared 64 runs for the thirdwicket, rotating the strike andfinding the gaps as well for reg-ular boundaries. Kohli wasdropped by Ollie Pope when hewas on 24. Pope also put down

a difficult chance to dismissRohit when the batsman wason 52.

Earlier, after Ishant had takenthe first wicket, it was an Ashwinand Patel show as the duo bamboo-zled the England batsmen to com-plete the submission. Crawley (53off 84 balls) was the lone exceptionand hit a delectable half-century.

Crawley’s brilliance was, how-ever, neutralised by the Indian spin-ners as England were left reeling at81 for 4 going into tea after an excit-ing opening session.

Two wickets fell in as manyovers after the resumption ofthe second session, with

Ashwin and Patel taking oneeach, to reduce England to 81for 6.

Ashwin sent Pope’s (1) off-stump cart-wheeling with abeauty of a delivery, bowlinground the wicket, before Pateltrapped Ben Stokes (6) LBW inthe next over with a ball thatspun in.

Jofra Archer (11) did a tadbetter as he hit a four off thesecond ball he faced and anoth-er boundary off Ashwin. ButPatel dismissed him soon,cleaning up his off-stump tosend England innings into amess.

Axar’s 6/38 dismantle England for 112 runs before Rohit’s fifty cuts lead

Patel dominates at Motera

3rd Test. Day 2Live from 2:30pm ISTSTAR SPORTS 1 NETWORK