STATE FINANCIAL CONDITION TURNS GRIM - Daily Pioneer

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MONEY 8FITCH REVISES OUTLOOK ON

CAIRN INDIA TO NEGATIVE

OPINION 6UNFULFILLED

GOALS

SPORTS 12SERIES

DECIDER

HYDERABAD, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 11, 2019; PAGES 12 `3

}AR RAHMAN TO COMPOSE ANTHEM

FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

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RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

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HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNVIJAYAWADA

FACES OF SIX STUDENTS‘BLACKENED' OVER POOR MARKS

NO NEED TO WORRY: MIN ON REPORTSOF DEMONETISATION OF RS 2000 NOTE

RS 15 CR RAISED IN FIVE YEARS BYAUCTIONING OFF GIFTS TO PM: MIN

The faces of six Class 4 students, including two girls, were allegedlyblackened and they were paraded in the private school's premises

after securing less marks in a test, police said on Tuesday. The incidenttook place on Friday and one of the girls, a 9-year-old Dalit, informedher parents about it. Her parent told reporters on Tuesday that familymembers went to the school to lodge acomplaint about the treatment meted outto the children, but the authorities failedto take action against the staffresponsible.

The culture ministry on Tuesday informed parliament that Rs 15.13crore were raised from the auction of mementos and gifts presented

to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last five years. In an answer to aquery in Rajya Sabha, Culture Minister Prahlad Patel said that themoney had been raised during threeauctions-- February 18-20, 2015,January 27-April 1, 2019 and September14-October 24, 2019. The proceeds weregiven to the Namami Gange project ofthe Union government, he said.

Dismissing reports that the government is set to withdraw Rs 2000denomination note, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur on

Tuesday said there was no need to worry about it."This is the real worry (about demonetisation)which has surfaced now. I think that you shouldnot worry about it," Thakur told RajyaSabha replying to a question ongovernment's plan to withdraw Rs2000 note in the future. SP memberVishambhar Prasad Nishad said.

BLOCKING OF DOWRY CALCULATORSITE: HC SEEKS CENTRE’S STANDThe Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the Centre's response on a

plea challenging blocking of a website hosting a "dowry calculator",which according to its owner was created as a satirical comment on theexisting dowry demand in society. A bench of Chief Justice D N Pateland Justice C Hari Shankar issued a notice to theMinistries of Electronics and Information Technology,Women and Child Development and Communication,seeking their stand on the website owner's petition,which claimed the site was blocked by government inSep last year without giving him a hearing.

CAPSULE

NEW DELHI: The Centre is duty-bound to set up a new trust for

the development of Ayodhya andconstruction of a Ram temple

within three months as per thedirective of the SupremeCourt, Union Ministerof State for Home G

Kishan Reddy said inthe Lok Sabha on

Tuesday. In a writtenreply to a question, he

said, the November 9 SupremeCourt judgment in the RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid

matter included formulation of ascheme by the Centre with

necessary provisions for thesetting up of a trust with a board

of trustees or any otherappropriate body, the functioning

of the trust, the powers of thetrustees, transfer of land to the

trust and all necessary, incidentaland supplemental matters.

‘GOVT DUTY-BOUNDTO SET UP TRUST

FOR RAM TEMPLE’

NANIGAADU FILMUNIT THREATENS

SUICIDE

OVER 1,000SCIENTISTS

PROTEST CAB NEW DELHI: Over 1,000

scientists and scholarshave signed a petition

demanding that theCitizenship

Amendment Bill in itscurrent form be

withdrawn. The LokSabha passed the bill a little past

midnight on Monday after aheated debate that lasted over

seven hours. It seeks to provideIndian citizenship to non-Muslimrefugees coming from Pakistan,

Bangladesh and Afghanistan afterfacing religious persecution there.

HYDERABAD: Protesting againstthe pirated version of Naanigadufilm going viral on YouTube, theunit of the Durga Prasad-starrer

on Tuesday staged adharna in front of the

Film Chamber, dema-nding the video

streaming websiteremove the upload orelse they would commit

suicide. The film crew expressedconcern over the film going viral

on YouTube at a timearrangements were being made

for its release. The unit said thatthe film was produced at a cost

of Rs 40 lakh and had evenreceived 'U' certificate for the

CBFC.

FINER POINTS

L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

The financial condition ofTelangana state governmenthas turned from bad to worse.

The gap between incomeand expenditure has beenwidening with each passingday.

The expenditure has sur-passed the income as expen-diture currently stands at 50per cent, while the incomefrom all sources stands at 45

per cent. Unless the Centrecomes to the rescue by releas-ing all arrears it owes toTelangana immediately, thegovernment will struggle topay even salaries and pensionsfor staff for the remaining fourmonths of this fiscal, let aloneimplementing slew of welfareschemes like Rythu Bandhu,Aasara pensions etc.

Continued on Page 4

PNS n NEW DELHI

A panel on religion has advo-cated sanctions against India'shome minister Amit Shah ifthe Citizenship AmendmentBill that was passed by the LokSabha on Monday is cleared byParliament.

The contentious Billexcludes Muslims seeks toamend the Citizenship Actand declares only non-Muslimminorities, specificallyBuddhists, Christians, Hindus,Jains, Parsis and Sikhs, whofled Afghanistan, Bangladeshand Pakistan before 2015, eli-gible for citizenships.

The Bill has been widelycriticized at home and abroad,with Opposition claiming thatreligion will play a role ingranting citizenship.

The Bill also goes againstIndia's Constitution that guar-antees legal equality to peopleof all faiths, the U.S.Commission on InternationalReligious Freedom said.

"If the CAB passes in bothhouses of parliament, theUnited States governmentshould consider sanctionsagainst the Home Ministerand other principal leader-ship," the panel said in a state-ment, referring to theCitizenship Amendment Bill(CAB).

The panel is a bipartisanbody that makes foreign poli-cy recommendations to theUSA leadership. India's foreignministry called the panel's

statement inaccurate, sayingthe Bill sought to help perse-cuted religious minoritiesalready in the country.

"It seeks to address their cur-rent difficulties and meet theirbasic human rights," said min-istry spokesman RaveeshKumar.

Hindus in Bangladesh,Christians in Pakistan andSikhs in Afghanistan, allMuslim-majority nations,have faced violence in recentyears, but India's oppositionparties, minority groups andacademics have said the billdiscriminates againstMuslims.

During Monday's parlia-ment debate, AIMIM presi-dent Asaduddin Owaisi rippedup a copy of the Bill, calling ita move by the Modi govern-ment to render Muslims "state-less".

But the BJP, which promisedthe measure in an electioncampaign that swept it topower in May, says the law isneeded to help persecutedminority individuals in itsneighbours.

"If minorities in our neigh-bouring countries are beingpersecuted, then India cannotstay a silent spectator," Shahtold parliament.

India slams USCIRF commentson CAB as ‘unwarranted'NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON:India on Tuesday termed thecomments made by the USCommission on InternationalReligious Freedom (USCIRF) onthe Citizenship (Amendment)Bill (CAB) as "neitheraccurate norwarranted".

Ministry ofExternal AffairsspokespersonRaveeshKumar, in

a statement said, the Bill thatwas passed by the Lok Sabhaon Monday midnight, "providesexpedited consideration forIndian citizenship to persecutedreligious minorities already inIndia from certain contiguouscountries".

He said the Bill "seeks toaddress their currentdifficulties and meet theirbasic human rights"."Such an initiative should be

welcomed, not criticized bythose who are genuinely

committed to religiousfreedom," the statement

said.Continued on Page 3

PNS n NEW DELHI

The YSR Congress Party(YSRCP) has the third highestnumber of lawmakers facingcases related to crime againstwomen, after the BJP and theCongress.

While 21 of the BJP's law-makers faces such charges, theCongress 16 legislators facingcases related to crime againstwomen. Seven of the YSRCP'slegislators faces similar charges,according to election watchdogAssociation for DemocraticReforms (ADR).

The number of Lok SabhaMPs with cases related to

crimes against women hasincreased from two in 2009 to19 in 2019, it also said.

"There are three MPs and sixMLAs who have declared casesrelated to rape... In the last fiveyears, recognised parties havegiven tickets to 41 candidateswho declared cases related torape," an ADR report said.

In the past five years, the BJPgave ticketst o

66 candidates facing cases ofcrime against women to con-test elections for the Lok Sabha,Rajya Sabha and stateAssemblies. The Congressfielded 46 such candidates andBahujan Samaj Party 40.

The ADR and NationalElection Watch said it analysed4,822 out of 4,896 electionaffidavits of current MPs (759)

and MLAs

(4063). The number of LokSabha election candidates withcases of crimes against womenwent up from 38 to 126, anincrease of 231 percent, duringthe period, the report said.

West Bengal reported thehighest number of MPs/MLAs(16) who declared cases ofcrimes against women, fol-lowed by Odisha andMaharashtra with 12MPs/MLAs each.

"In the last five years, a totalof 572 such candidates contest-ed in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabhaand assembly elections. Noneof these candidates have beenconvicted," the report read.

BJP has maximum lawmakers facing casesof crime against women, YSRCP third: ADR

Prez southernsojourn fromDecember 26

Student suspendedfor wearingAyyappa robesPNS n MEDAK

The Don Bosco School(English medium) inNarsapur suspended one ofits students for having attend-ed class wearing Ayyapparobes, according to reportsreaching here on Tuesday.

The Class V student,Prasad, had turned up wear-ing black robes (worn byLord Ayyappa devotees ondeekhsa) two days ago. Theschool management hadobjected to it and the headmaster asked the student notto come to school until com-pletion of the deeksha.

Taking umbrage at theschool's action, someAyyappa protested in front ofthe school demanding thatthe management allow thestudent to attend class indeeksha robes. However, theschool management did notbudge.

In a similar situation in aschool in Bhongir, when theschool management actedtough, the student had nochoice but to remain at home.Later, Ayyappa devoteesstaged protests and ransackedthe school's office room.

PNS n HYDERABAD

As part of his annual southernsojourn, President Ram NathKovind will be reachingHyderabad on December 26.During his visit to theTelangana State capital, hewill be staying at RashtrapatiNilayam at Bolarum.

The Medchal-Malkajgiridistrict collector on Tuesdayheld a review meeting with theofficers of various depart-ments and directed them tocomplete the arrangementsfor the President's stay in thecity. Malkajgiri RDOMadhusudhan has beenappointed as Nodal Officer tooversee the arrangements.

The collector said that thePresident would land atHakimpet Airport onDecember 26. He directedofficials to beautify the routesthat Kovind will be travellingon and immediately resolvethe power issues in the sur-rounding areas. He instructedthe district medical officer toprovide a 108 ambulance andmedical camp at the location.

In order to obtain passes,the officials have to submit IDcard, Aadhaar card, and pho-tos to North Zone DCP andBegumpet ACP.

{

STATE FINANCIAL CONDITION TURNS GRIM

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao has con-vened cabinet meeting atPragathi Bhavan onWednesday to discuss on thegrave financial situation andthe measures to be taken toovercome the situation.

The fact that KCR hasconvened a cabinet meetingto discuss on state's financesshows the alarming situationthe state is going through inmeeting the financial needs.

The CM has already

instructed the officials fromthe Finance department toprepare a detailed note on theState's financial situation andthe funds, which are duefrom the Centre to be placedbefore the State Cabinet onDecember 11. The CM alsowanted the ministers and

officials to follow fiscal dis-cipline in tune with the exist-ing economic situation in thestate.

The CM has instructed thePrincipal Secretary toFinance K Ramakrishna Raoto impose cuts on all thedepartments in tune withthe decrease in funds fromthe Centre. The CM has alsoinstructed all the depart-ments to reduce expenditure.

The cabinet meeting willbegin soon after KCR returnsfrom his Gajwel tour in theevening on Wednesday.

CM seeks PMModi's appointment PNS n HYDERABAD

The CM has sought appoint-ment to meet Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to explain thegrave financial situation beingfaced by Telangana govern-ment and request him torelease the arrears that theCentre owes to Telanganaimmediately.

KCR wants to meetModi either onNovember 12 or 13 ordepending on theconfirmation of hisappointment.

The CM also

wants to take a delegations ofsenior officials to Delhi alongwith him to meet Modi andalso union finance ministerNirmala Sitharaman andapprise her of the financial cri-sis being faced by TS due topending arrears from theCentre.

Recently Principal Secretary(Finance) Ramakrishna Rao rwent to Delhi and brought tothe notice of the Centralgovernment officials that

Telangana State got 8.3per cent less on the taxshare account.

Continued on Page 4

K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

Telangana BJP off icialspokesperson MadhavaneniRaghunandan Rao has opinedthat there is every possibilityof the Supreme Court order-ing a CBI inquiry into theShadnagar 'encounter' todetermine whether it wasreal.

"It is my opinion as anadvocate and as a Post-Graduate Diploma holder inHuman Rights from theUniversity of Hyderabad", hetold The Pioneer.

Rao sought to clarify thathe himself was neither'against ' nor ' for ' the'encounter' killings of thefour accused in the Dishagang-rape and murder case.

Continued on Page 4

BJP sees a possibility of SC orderingCBI probe into alleged encounter

SC to hear ‘Disha’encounter case today Cyberabad CP Sajjanar rushes to Delhi

NAVEEN KUMAR n HYDERABAD

Cyberabad PoliceCommissioner VCSajjnar will appearbefore the SupremeCourt on Wednesdaywhen it begins hear-ing in theDecember 6thS h a d n a g a r'encounter' case per-taining to thedeaths ofthe four

accused in the November27th gang-rape and murderof Disha.

Alongside, the NationalHuman Rights

Commission (NHRC)will submit its report,based on detailedinvestigations that

began four daysago at groundzero, to the coun-try's apex courton Wednesday.

Continuedon Page 4

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

With most of the RTC busesback on roads following therecent withdrawal of 52-day-long strike by employees, rid-ership on Metro Rail has seena dip.

According to HMRL MD NV S Reddy, "Now about 4 lakhpeople are travelling, but weare waiting for the numbers tostabilize. During RTC strike,70,000 extra people travelledusing Metro every day. AfterRTC strike, we have seenabout 30,000 extra footfallsthan normal. Some peoplehave gone back to RTC, whichis good."

Reddy added that overall,subsequent to the opening ofRaidurg Metro station, by andlarge footfalls have grown by40,000-50000 daily. TheRaidurg Metro station wasinaugurated on November29and so far it has witnessedabout 30,000 footfalls, includ-ing entry and exit. "Raidurgalone entry exit footfalls arecoming to 30,000 -- 15,000 forentry and 15,000 for exit. It isrising every day and we wouldlike to watch it stabilize," hesaid.

Evidently there is change inthe footfalls across all availablealternative modes of publictransportation. Despite hike inTSRTC fares, people continueto switch to their originalmode of transport

Likewise, SCR is also look-ing at changes in footfalls inthe wake of RTC strike beingcalled off, but it has not sharedthe details yet.

Continued on Page 2

Metro ridership tanksafter RTC strike ends

Cabinet meet today to takestock of financial situation

n State’s estimated revenueearnings: Rs 1.13 lakh crore

n Realised only Rs 51,355crore by Oct-end

n State’s estimatedspending Rs 1.37 lakh

crore

US panel pushes for sanctions onShah over CAB curb on Muslims

During RTC strike, 70,000extra people travelled

using Metro every day. AfterRTC strike, we have seen about30,000 extra footfalls thannormal. Some people have goneback to RTC, which is good

— N V S REDDYHMRL MD

n Spent only Rs 68,882 crore

by Oct-end

HYDERABADWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated December 10, 2019 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Margashirsha & Shukla PakshaTithi : Chaturdashi: 10:59 amNakshatram: Rohini: 06:22 am (Next Day)Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 12:09 pm – 01:31 pmYamagandam: 08:01 am – 09:24 amVarjyam: 10:14 pm – 11:52 pmGulika: 10:46 am - 12:09 pmGood Time: (to start any

important work)Amritakalam: 03:07 am – 04:45 amAbhijit Muhurtham: Nil

Forecast: Clear with periodic cloudsTemp: 29/16Humidity: 63%Sunrise: 06.35Sunset: 05.42

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HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2019 hyderabad 02

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BC leader VenkateshGoud joins CongressPNS n NEW DELHI

Senior Backward Classesleader of Telangana OrugantiVenkatesh Goud and his sup-porters on Tuesday joined theCongress here in the presenceof Congress state in-chargeRC Khuntia.

Venkatesh Goud, who isthe chairman of TelanganaBC Association Joint ActionCommittee, said he wouldbring the Congress in powerin the coming elections.Venkatesh Goud and his sup-porters joined the Congress,Khuntia said, adding BCleaders of Telangana havereposed faith in the leader-ship of Sonia Gandhi andRahul Gandhi.

Switzerland to be a country partner at BioAsia2020PNS n HYDERABAD

Switzerland will be the coun-try partner at the 17th editionof BioAsia2020, to be heldhere from February 17-19,2020.

Jayesh Ranjan, PrincipalSecretary of Industries &Commerce and InformationTechnology, Telangana, said,"Both Telangana andSwitzerland have inherentstrengths in life sciences, andbringing them together willdrive significant developmentsin the life sciences industryglobally."

Switzerland's strength inhealthtech is unparalleled withover 1,400 companies employ-

ing 58,500 professionals andgenerating CHF 15.8 Billion inrevenue (in 2018). SwissMedTech industry contributes2.3% of the country's GDP. TheSwiss Biotech industry alone ishome to 312 companies, gen-erating revenue of CHF 4Billion whilst investing overCHF 1.5 Billion in R&D, year-ly.

"Switzerland recognizes

India as a strategic partner inhealth tech. Hyderabad, a lifesciences and healthtech hub,has been an attractive ecosys-tem for us to engage with,"Silvana Renggli-Frey, DeputyConsul-General - ConsulateGeneral of Switzerland, toldnewspersons here on Tuesday.

"As a country partner atBioAsia, we're bringing a holis-tic representation of the Swiss

healthtech ecosystem, span-ning corporates to start-upsand academia toinvestors.We're eager to collab-orate with the key players inIndia and pursue new solutionstoday, for tomorrow," she said.

More than a third of Swissexports come from the phar-maceutical industry, making ita significant contributor to theoverall economy ofSwitzerland.

Switzerland has placeditself as one of the mostimportant stock exchangesfor lifescience companies inEurope. Also, there is grow-ing interest from innovationcentres, start-ups and univer-sities to engage with India.

IT Minister KT Rama Rao and Silvana Renggli-Frey, Deputy Consulate General ofSwitzerland, release the poster for BioAsia2020 country partnership.

Switzerland has placed itself as one of themost important stock exchanges forlifescience companies in Europe. There isgrowing interest from start-ups anduniversities to engage with India.

Extra-judicial killingstaken up by the police inthe name of meting out

'instant justice', basing onemotional outpourings of fam-ily members of the deceasedand general public, may bringtemporary boost to rulers, butthey won't ensure permanentpolitical mileage! Be it UtterPradesh, Telangana or AndhraPradesh, the outcomes will bethe same, regardless of therulers.

Culprits in serious cases ofrapes and murders should begiven stringent punishment asper the prescribed provisions oflaw of the land, despite inordi-nate delay. It is not acceptableif the police are allowed to elim-inate the accused.

The Government ofTelangana had to take the'extreme step' in view of theprevailing situation as Disha'sgang-rape and murder sparkedpublic outrage across the

nation. The state governmentdid not want the stigma ofinaction, especially after ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao had gone blank whenmedia persons in Delhi askedhim pointedly why he wasthere to attend a mar-riage, instead of visit-ing and consoling thefamily of Disha. So,the 'scene of recon-struction' may havebeen fixed subse-quently. Noticeably,within 24 hours of facingembarrassing moments inDelhi, the 'muhurat' for'encounter' seems to havebeen fixed.

This is not the first time thatKCR got popularity out of cal-culated acts. Soon after theformation of Telangana, policekilled two terror operatives inNalgonda district. Despitelosing a sub-inspector in thatgun battle, the government

was hailed for theoutcome.

Likewise, the 'encounter'killings of three youths whowere responsible for acidattack on two girls at Warangalin 2008 came in handy for thethen YS Rajasekhara Reddygovernment to boost its imageas protector of women fromharassment. The City of Pearlshad suffered a set-back withterror strikes in 2007 --duringthe same regime. YSR thenacted firmly to avoid the polit-ical fallout. When then UPA

chairperson and Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi soughtto visit the victims of terrorstrikes, YSR advised her not tocome to Hyderabad as therewas possibility of the govern-ment 's reputation gettingdamaged and people becom-ing panicky. Sonia agreed anddropped her plan.

Later, she went to Malegoanof Maharashtra, where anoth-er terror strike took place, leav-ing several people injured.Present Lok Sabha memberSadhvi Prajna Singh

Thakoor(Bhopal) was chargedfollowing the incident. But,Sonia had to face criticism forchoosing Malegoan to visit thevictims of terror strike, insteadof Hyderabad, where dozens ofinnocent people died in terrorstrikes. Later in 2008, threeyouths accused in acid attackon two girls were killed by theWarangal police during his

regime. He reluctantly gavenod to this episode after get-ting advice from his closeunofficial circles.

KCR got credit when thedreaded gangster Nayeem,considered 'Dawood Ibrahim'of Hyderabad, was eliminated.Nayeem had maintained closecontacts with top officials ofthe police department, goingby entries in his personaldiary. Extortion of a very closeassociate of KCR proved to behis nemesis. It came in handyfor the KCR government toproject itself as a governmentthat cracks down anti-socialelements with an iron hand.

Upon coming to power,KCR had appreciated thepolice department. The SHETeams set up by the depart-ment worked well in savingwomen from incidents of eve-teasing and harassment. Withthe purpose of motivating theentire department, KCR had a

direct interaction with 1,500police personnel.Subsequently, incidents ofharassment by police person-nel increased, denting theimage of the government. Thekilling of the four accused inDisha case has enhanced thereputation of KCR govern-ment at the national level.

In the case of YogiAdityanath, Chief Minister ofUttar Pradesh, too the similarsituations played a crucial rolein painting him as a popularruler with real commitment tocracking down on hooligansand anti-social elements toensure peace in society. Thesituation took a turn for theworse when the involvementof BJP personnel and support-ers surfaced in various crimes,including rapes and murders!In the Unnao case, a youngwoman was allegedly raped bynone other than BJP MLAKuldip Sengar. The deadly

attack on the rape victim dent-ed the reputation of the Yogigovernment. BJP took a lot oftime to take a call on expulsionof the MLA. Now the party isnot in a position to control thedamage done to it due to theUnnao incident. Former pres-ident of AICC Rahul Gandhispoke for the legions in thecountry when he said even for-eigners are asking why India isnot able to look after herwomen.

So, the outcome of forcefulacts of rulers for public con-sumption may not always yieldfruits. The executions of AjmalKasab, lone terrorist caughtalive by police in the 26/11Mumbai strikes and AfzalGuru, mastermind in the terror-ist attack on Parliament, did notyield political dividend for theCongress party in the subse-quent elections, though it wasexpected to translate intomajority votes to unfold 'UPA3'!

M D RATNA KUMAR Senior Journalist

This is not the first time that KCR gotpopularity out of calculated acts. Soonafter the formation of Telangana, police

killed two terror operatives in Nalgondadistrict. Despite losing a sub-inspector in that gun battle, the

government was hailed for the outcome

PINPOINT

Encounters bring temporary boost for rulers!

PNS n HYDERABAD

Tuberculosis (TB) is consid-ered as one of the deadliest dis-eases in India. Globally, it isconsidered to be the top 10causes of death. As per the datatabled in the Parliament, therehas been a gradual increase inthe number of TB patients'death during 2016-2018 inTelangana. This is said to bedue to the rise in the numberof Human immunodeficiencyvirus (HIV) cases.

Speaking to The Pioneer, DrMahaboob Khan,Superintendent at ChestHospital Erragadda said thatHIV and TB are directly relat-ed hence there is an increase inthe number of TB patients. Healso mentioned other reasonsfor the increase.

"The TB patients often tendto skip their medicines whichdo not help in their treat-ment. The patients sufferingfrom HIV and TB, their mor-

tality rate is high. The StateGovernment has taken fewsteps to curb down the TBcases as well as the mortalityrate. The Government hasalready started campaigns toeducate people about TB andwhen and whom to approachif a person has symptoms ofTB," he added.

In 2016, there were report-ed to be around 200 deathswhereas the number has

increased to 1,501 and 1,752between 2017 and 2018 respec-tively. According to the data,the number of TB patients inTelangana is reported to be53,684 till September 2019.

Dr Khan mentioned that theGovernment is also increasingthe Microscopic diagnosticcentres in the state to examinethe patients. The treatmentprovided to the patients inthese centres is completely

free. Apart from this, they arealso increasing the campingefforts for case finding, casereporting and monitoring theSputum positive patients.Earlier, many doctors didn'treport the TB cases whereasnow the government has madeit mandatory to report thecase of patients with Sputumpositive or TB treatment.

TB cases on the rise in TSThe number of TBpatients in TS isreported to be53,684 tillSeptember 2019.Government isalso increasingthe Microscopicdiagnosticcentres in thestate to examinethe patients.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The fourth session of the 'Shefor her' initiative taken up bythe Rachakonda Police SHEteams was launched at a con-vention centre in Bhongir byMahesh Bhagwat, Commiss-ioner of Police, Rachakondaon Tuesday.

Nearly 1,000 girl volunteersfrom Bhongir attended thesession. The new initiative bythe Rachakonda Police SHEteams, was done to create asafer environment for girlsinside the college campus.

Despite public places beingtaken care of by the SHE

teams and their decoy opera-tions to ensure a safer environ-ment, girl students in collegesare hesitant to come forwardand reach the police when th-ey face eve-teasing.

Two girl students are select-ed from each college who un-dergo the orientation trainingand are empowered withawareness of Laws and Acts forcrimes against women.

They are then nominated asvolunteer of the college. Theirrole is to act as a bridge betw-een police and students. Theyhelp students with informationon how they can approach lawenforcement officials.

TS police submit report toNHRC on Hyd ‘encounter'PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana Police onTuesday submitted its report tothe National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) on thekilling of all four accused in thegang-rape and murder of a vet-erinarian on the outskirts ofHyderabad.

Officers of Cyberabad PoliceCommissionerate submitted alldetails to the NHRC team,which is probing the December6 'encounter', in which thepolice gunned down all the fouraccused at Chatanpally nearShadnagar town.

The police submitted all thedetails of the investigationsconducted by them into the rapeand murder of the 26-year-oldnear Shamshabad on the out-skirts of Hyderabad, the settingablaze of the victim's body nearShadnagar town on the inter-vening night of November 27

and 28, subsequent arrest of thefour accused, their interrogationand the alleged 'encounter'.

A seven-member NHRCteam continued its investigationinto the 'encounter' for a fourthconsecutive day on Tuesday. Itconducted the hearing atTelangana Police Academy here.

Cyberabad Police, along withits report, is understood tohave submitted to the NHRCpanel the records related to theDNA tests of the victim and theaccused, forensic evidence andother evidence such as CCTV

footage of the truck near thescene of the crime and theaccused buying petrol at apetrol bunk. The police also pre-sented before the NHRC panelthe serviceman of the petrolbunk, who is a witness in thecase.

NHRC, which began itsprobe on December 7, has so farexamined family members of allfour slain accused and the vic-tim. It already visited the crimescenes and the government-runhospital in Mahabubnagar,where the bodies of the accusedwere kept.

On Monday, the bodies wereshifted to Gandhi Hospital inHyderabad on the direction ofTelangana High Court. Hearinga couple of petitions seekingthorough probe into the 'extra-judicial' killings by the police,the court directed authorities topreserve the bodies tillDecember 13.

Older PCs can lead to productivity

loss in SMEs, says Microsoft studyPNS n HYDERABAD

Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs) in South India, usingolder Personal Computers arelikely to experience reducedwork place productivity andsecurity vulnerabilities, accord-ing to a Microsoft study.

SMEs using computers thatare over four years old andrunning older operating sys-tems will experience signifi-cantly reduced workplace pro-ductivity as compared to newerPCs, it said.

The older PCs also exposeorganisations to security vul-nerabilities and IT threats,according to Farhana Haque,Group Director-Devices,Microsoft India. SMEs haveexperienced older PCs beingrepaired almost four timesthan that of new PCs.

This can amount to at least96 hours' worth of productivetime lost, a press release quot-ing her said. Recovering dataand maintaining business con-tinuity is among the topmostchallenges for SMEs in theSouth. In the last year alone, 25per cent of SMEs surveyed in

South India said they hadexperienced a security breach.

Nearly 40 per cent of SMEsin the southern states are usingoutdated PCs and 62 per cent,older versions of Windows, thestudy said. These findings wererevealed in the latest Microsoftstudy in partnership with glob-al SMB IT market research andanalyst organization TechAisle,which polled almost 2,000SMEs across Asia Pacific.

SMEs in the South, whohave embraced a modernworkplace strategy, have expe-rienced multiple benefits forbusinesses and employees,including higher productivity,better security and reduced

operating costs. The study said89 per cent of the southernSMEs saw improved IT effi-ciency by adopting newer PCsand 75 per cent of all SMEsagreed that adopting newerPCs enabled better usage expe-rience through cloud andmobility solutions

"Technology can be a realenabler for businesses, bothsmall and large, and SMEsneed to recognise the valuethat IT investment can bring totheir present and futuregrowth. SMEs employ over110 million people in India,significantly contributing toIndia's economic growth", shesaid.

Agriculture Minister visitsHorticulture UniversityPNS n HYDERABAD

Agriculture Minister SNiranjan Reddy on Tuesdayvisited the HorticultureUniversity at Mulugu, which isgoing to be inaugurated byChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao onWednesday.

The Minister said that theTelangana is the fourth state tohave the horticulture univer-sity after Himachal Pradesh,Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The Chief Minister willbring in changes in state'sagriculture sector with theinauguration of the universi-

ty, the Minister said. Several horticultural plants,

including mango, guava,pomegranate, papaya,tamarind, amla, bamboo andsandal wood trees were plant-ed at the University.

Niranjan Reddy congratu-lated the officials who workedhard for the past two years ingiving finishing touches tothe varsity.

Integrated markets wouldbe developed in Gajwel at acost of Rs 22 crore. The mar-ket sells vegetables, fruits,meat and will have 16 shopsand a super market. It also fea-tures a children's park.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat addresses the gathering of‘She for her’ volunteers at a convention centre in Bhongir on Tuesday.

Fourth session of ‘She for her' held

Two killed as autohits truck in MedakPNS n MEDAK

Two persons were killed in aroad accident after an auto hita stationary lorry atSanaipally village ofPapannapet mandal inMedak district on Tuesday.

According to PapannapetPolice, Kurma Bhupal, 22, aresident of Ramateertham ofPapannapet mandal, wasrunning an auto to eke out hislivelihood. While he was pro-ceeding towards Papannapetfrom Medak with three pas-sengers, he rammed into astationary lorry.

Bhupal died on the spotwhereas the three passengerssustained serious injuries.

Gulab Raana, a native ofMeerut in Uttar Pradesh diedwhile being shifted toGovernment Hospital inMedak. The other passengers,T. Vamshi Goud, a resident ofPapannapet and AthikRahaman, a native of Meerutwere shifted to hospital. Asthe condition of Vamshi tu-rned critical, he was later shi-fted to a hospital in Hyderab-ad for better treatment.

Continued form Page 1

The normal footfalls, whichwere 1.7 lakh, increased to 2lakh per day after the strikewas called off. An official inSCR said, "We are observingthe change in footfalls inMMTS after the strike wascalled off. However, during thestrike, a lot of people pur-chased season ticket, which isvalid for one month to travelin MMTS alone. Now we areobserving if people will switchto MMTS-cum-General BusTicket (GBT) or continue withseason ticket, which will helpus stabilize numbers."

Metro ridershiptanks after RTCstrike ends


RIMEORNERC

HYDERABAD: Three persons,including two children, wereinjured when an auto-rickshawrammed into a lorry atChattanapally in Shadnagar onTuesday afternoon. Theaccident took place at thebypass road. A woman andtwo children travelling in theauto-rickshaw were trappedinside. Locals broke thewindscreen and pulled themout. The injured were shiftedto the government hospital fortreatment.

Three injured as auto rams lorry

HYDERABAD: The CentralCrime Station police ofHyderabad arrested a personwho cheated investors on theguise of gaining profits on thestock market on Tuesday. Theaccused has been identified asMohd Jahangir. The police hadreceived a complaint from aresident of Chandrayanguttaagainst Jahangir and twoothers for cheating thecomplainant and several otherpersons under the guise ofgiving huge profits on thedeposits to their companiesAnsar Perfumes and Cosmeticand Ansar Capital Solutions.Jahangir and his associateshad collected more than Rs 4crores from them andabsconded.

Man held for cheating investors

PNS n HYDERABAD

As the Special InvestigationTeams (SIT) are following upon the 'retaliation shooting' inDisha case, leading to the deathof four accused, doubts are nowraised about the authenticity ofthe age of two accused as con-trasting evidence have surfacedup. As the Aadhar card of JolluShiva Kumar and ChintakuntaChennakesavulu show that theyare born in 2001, a bonafidecertificate from their schoolshow them as minors.

The bonafide certificates werereportedly issued by the head-master of ZPHS governmentschool in Gundigandla ofMahabubnagar district, the doc-uments have surfaced at the timewhen the NHRC team is inquir-

ing into the alleged encounter.The documents showed

accused ChintakuntaChenakeshavulu as 15-years-old. He was a student of ZPHSGundigandla in Mahbubanagardistrict. Keshavulu's date of

birth according to the schooladmission register shows April4, 2004. Notably, Keshavulu'swhose school documents showshim as a minor, is married andhis wife is in her first trimester.However, his Aadhar card

shows his year of birth as 2001,making him 19-years-old.

In the case of Jollu Shiva'sdate of birth, the school regis-ter revealed that he was bornon August 15, 2002 and as perthe school's calculation, Shiva

is 17-years-old. Jollu Shivastudied from Class II to ClassV between 2008- 2012 acade-mic year at Gundigandla ZPHigh School. Meanwhile, hisAadhar card shows that he wasborn in 2001, also making

him 19-year-old. Whenchecked with the ShadnagarPolice, who initially booked anFIR in the case, police inspec-tor A. Sreedhar Kumar saidthat they claimed to be 20 yearsold when asked during the pre-liminary enquiry. "We do notknow about the certificates orAadhar card but they haveclaimed their age to be 20when asked. We did not checkfor Aadhar during the arrest,"said the official.

The Commissioner ofCyberabad, VC Sajjanar saidthat all four were majors. Theauthorities at Cherlapally Jailhave also confirmed that thefour accused were majors asper the identification of docu-ments submitted during admis-sion at the Central Prison.

Disha case: Doubts raised over ages of two accused

ANANTAPUR: Three personswere killed on the spot andtwo others sustained criticalinjuries when a jeep in whichthey were travelled turnedturtle near Kalvapalli inBeluguppa mandal of thedistrict on Tuesday. The injuredpeople have been admitted tohospital. The mishap tookplace when five personsbelonging to the district werereturning from Pavagada inneighbouring Karnataka state. Over speeding is stated to bethe cause for the mishap. In arelated incident, a tomatoes-laden jeep hit a motorcycle atMudigubba by-pass roadinjuring two persons. Theinjured have been admitted inhospital.

Three killed as jeepturns turtle

HYDERABAD: A SeniorAssistant of the AdditionalFamily Court of Hyderabad wasarrested by the Anti-CorruptionBureau officials on Wednesdayfor demanding a motorcycle asa bribe, along with cashamount of Rs 15 lakh. Theaccused, Bojja Rama Krishna,44, was arrested by the ACBofficials for demanding anundue advantage in the form ofmotorcycle for himself and Rs.15 lakhs to the Judge as bribefrom the complainant AlokVardhan Singh, a privateemployee from Kavadiguda toperform an official dutyimproperly and dishonestly."The accused assured forsecuring an order from S.Sreevani, Honourable DistrictJudge, Addl. Family Court, CityCivil courts complex,Hyderabad in favour ofcomplainant if his demands aremet by the complainant.

Bench clerk in ACB net

Hyderabad Metro makingneither profits nor losses PNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad Metro rail is nei-ther making profits nor losses,claim HMRL officials onTuesday.

HMRL MD NVS Reddy saidthat Hyderabad Metro wasoperationally breaking evenwhich is not sufficient. Thismeans tickets, advertisementsand other sources of revenueare covering all of the fixedcosts and variable costs ofoperating the business withoutproducing any profit.

NVS Reddy said, "There ishuge interest burden which iscoming to Rs 1,300 crore perannum. Other Metros havelow interest rates, with somesecuring 1.5 per cent interestrate and JICA loans and sov-ereign guarantee by govern-ment. Here L&T Metro has topay by them so the interestrates are high. It would take 7-8 years to break even."

He said that people are writ-ing to banks not to financeHyderabad Metro and so theyare not sharing the financialdetails. NVS Reddy said, "Weare neither making profits norsuffering losses; we planned forthis. It is physically a success,and now we will work towardsmaking it a financial success."

NVS Reddy added thatincreasing number of coacheswill add to the losses for Metro.He said, "Metro cars cannot beincreased from three to sixcoaches. Once you increase itto six coaches, the losses willincrease. Today also trains areovercrowded only for a shorttime and not throughout theday. We are addressing theissue by increased frequencyand speed of trains, practical-ly every 3-4minutes there istrain."

L&THMRL has developedonly 1.3 mn sft of the 18.5 mnsft of the real estate projectattached to this project. NVSReddy said, "Engineering inno-vation has been done by giving

18.5mn sft to concessionaireL&T. We cannot develop anddump immediately and it willtake 10-15years. For initialfinancial closure, their targetwas 6 mn sft. So far 1.3 mn sft

by building four malls - atPanjagutta, Hitec City,Moosarambagh, and ErrumManzil". On the other hand,the JBS to MGBS metro will belaunched by the end of January.There are 4,000 parking slotsfor 2-wheelers in all stationsand about 500 parking slots forcars.

NVS Reddy said, "Parking isnot the issue there and I won'tencourage parking but forIndian conditions, we provideparking facilities. People, whospeak about parking a car, aretypically not the metro com-muters. I know 2-wheelers andlast mile connectivity issues,people use it. Once last mileconnectivity improves, parkingwill be reduced as per the sug-gestions of traffic and transportexperts."

Now download movies while travelling on MetroHYDERABAD: L&T HMRL partnered with SugarBox Networks to provideentertainment experience to commuters of Hyderabad metro. Thistechnology allows users to access mobile apps and services withoutrelying on internet connectivity. Presently, only one OTT service from Zee5is available. However, Sugar Box is already in discussions with othermajor OTT players. Hyderabad Metro is the first Metro in the country tointroduce such 'in-flight' like facilities for train commuters to watch anddownload movies, games etc., and listen to music while travelling inMetro trains at the click of a button. Launching the facility, HMRL MDNVS Reddy stated that this is a revolutionary technology that allows useof seamless access to apps through a local Wi-Fi Network withoutdepending on Internet connectivity or using mobile data. He also advisedRohit Paranjpe, CEO, SugarBox Networks, that the facility shall not beconfined to entertainment alone but shall be extended to education andknowledge related movies and videos, e-learning, shopping, food delivery,last mile connectivity cab booking etc., to make life easier for the Metrocommuters. SugarBox would introduce these facilities in the next fewmonths. Speaking on the occasion L&TMRHL MD KVB Reddy and COOAnil Kumar Saini promised to bring in a lot more App based and otherdigital facilities to make the travel in Hyderabad Metro trains a morepleasant event. The in-train entertainment facility is now available in allthe trains and on the platforms of Ameerpet, JNTU, Begumpet, Nagole,Uppal, Miyapur, KPHB, Kukatpally and Secunderabad (East) Metrostations.

How doesSugarBox work onHyderabad Metro:

l Look for 'SugarBox'in your WiFi settings&

Connectl Open ZEE5 or

Freeplay App, registerusing your mobile

numberl Stream &

Download movieswithout buffer or data

chargesl SugarBox Zonesare set up inside all

Metro trains & 10Major stations

Kondapur among nation’sresidential hotspots

PNS n HYDERABAD

Kondapur in Cyberabad hasbeen rated as the country'stop 10 active residentialhotspot for the year-2019.Based on the number of newunits launched during 2019,Anarock research revealedonly Kondapur features in themicro-markets apart fromthose in Delhi, Mumbai andBengaluru.

Hyderabad's Kondapur andMMR's Badlapur each saw a5 per cent price rise - from Rs4,353 per sq. ft. and Rs 3,588per sq. ft. in 2016-end to Rs4,590 per sq. ft. and Rs 3,770per sq. ft. currently.

The average size of proper-ties launched in Kondapurwas almost triple at 1,630 sq.ft. Despite being ranked 10 th,average property sizes acrossthe country is highest inHyderabad's Kondapur.Interestingly, no micro-mar-kets in Chennai and Kolkatafeature in the top 10 list ofmost active residentialhotspots. MMR's Dombivliranks 1st, Panvel in Navi

Mumbai ranks 2nd, NCR'sNew Gurgaon was closebehind in the 3rd spot while4th and 5th spot taken byMMR's Badlapur and Pune'sMahalunge respectively.

According to Anuj Puri,Chairman - ANAROCKProperty Consultants,"Developers in all top citiesare now extremely selectivewith their choice of locationsand focus on markets withhigh demand within specificbudget categories".

l According to Anarock research, Kondapur stoodat 10th place across the country

Rank Region/City

1 MMR Dombivli2 MMR Panvel3 NCR New Gurgaon4 MMR Badlapur5 Pune Mahalunge6 Bangalore Sarjapur Road7 Pune Hinjewadi8 NCR Sohna9 Bangalore Electronic City10 Hyderabad Kondapur

Top 10 activeresidentialhotspots of-19

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Commissioner of Police,Hyderabad, Anjani Kumar,distributed cheques to thefamilies of deceased homeguards who died while they

were in service on Tuesday.The home guards contributedfor the welfare cheques dis-tributed to ensure support tothe families of the deceasedhome guards.

Six cheques of Rs 3,01,350

each were distributed. Ofwhich, four cheques werehanded over to families ofdeceased home guards andalso two cheques were hand-ed over to retired homeguard.

No on-screen evaluationfor Intermediate examsPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana State Board forIntermediate Examination(TSBIE) has said that there willnot be onscreen evaluation forthe Intermediate PublicExamination (IPE) 2020 due tolack of infrastructure.

Omer Jaleel, Secretary, Boardof IntermediateE d u c a t i o n ,Telangana has saidthat the onscreenevaluation sys-tem will be madeavailable in thenear future.

He also statedthat the BIE will berendering the services ofCenter for Good Governance(CGG).

The BIE has also appointedElectronic Data Processing(EDP) team, established onthe guidelines of the three-mancommittee, in order to deal withvarious issues that took place

during the IPE 2019 examina-tions TMC had mentioned var-ious issues to the board and alsothe points to be followed. Inorder to follow those points,EDP has been formed.

Omer Jaleel mentioned thatthe pre and post exams worksare on and there is no scope forany speculations from parents

and students. The board isgiving their best in order

to get a good result inthe coming examina-tion.

Omer Jaleel addedthat so far, around

9,62,699 students havealready paid the exam-

ination fees for theupcoming IPE 2020 examina-

tion to be held in March. Thenumber is reported to increaseas the last date for submissionof exam fees is 31 Decemberwith fine. The last date for cor-rection of personal details is 15December after which it willnot be changed.

IIT-Hyd, C-MET sign pact on e-waste recyclingPNS n HYDERABAD

The Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT), Hyderabad,on Tuesday said it has enteredinto a pact with the Centre forMaterials for ElectronicsTechnology (C-MET) todesign and develop state-of-the-art processes and equip-ment for e-waste recycling.

As part of the pact signed byIIT-Hyderabad director profes-sor BS Murty and C-METdirector-general NRMunirathnam, both the insti-tutions are planning to jointlyconduct M Tech programmeon e-waste management andrecycling.

Murty said in the releaseIIT-Hyderabad would collab-orate with C-MET to exploreand develop cost-effective andaffordable e-waste recyclingtechniques.

The other objectives of thememorandum of understand-ing include promoting acade-mic and research cooperationbetween the two institutes forthe enhancement of knowl-

edge and vision for the train-ing of human resources in theniche and advanced areas ofR&D; also promote exchangeof persons, activities and expe-rience in relevant fields ofhigher education and research,the release said.

Further, both institutionswould also conduct jointcourses, workshops and con-ferences in the field, it said.

Munirathnam said that team-ing up with institutes like IIT-Hyderabad would help C-METenhance research component

and skill development in thefield of e-waste management.

Research scientists and staffof C-MET can also pursuedoctoral degree at IIT-Hyderabad as external candi-dates or part-time doctoral stu-dents, the release said. Studentsfrom the IIT can work at C-MET, Hyderabad, for their stu-dent internship (winter/sum-mer), training programmes,project, dissertation or thesisprovided they be facilitatedwith necessary infrastructuralfacilities, the release said.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Indian Institute of TechnologyHyderabad is inviting applica-tions for a short term course on'Nonlocal MechanicsApproaches for ModelingLocalized Deformations' to beheld from 19 to 21 February

2019. The last date to apply is 15December, 2019. Further infor-mation can be obtained fromhttp://nmamld2020.com/home.html. This course will provide anoverview of modelling approach-es used in the mechanics of elas-tic and inelastic materials andstructures, with special attention

to the objective description ofhighly localized deformationmodes such as damage, fracture,and shear bands.

Dr Amirtham Rajagopal,Associate Professor, Departmentof Civil Engineering, IITHyderabad, said, "This course isintended to provide graduate stu-

dents, engineers in aerospace,automotive, civil, mechanicalengineering, and materials andmanufacturing industries withthe theory and applications ofnonlocal and nonlinear mechan-ics approaches for modellinglocalized elastic and inelasticdeformations”.

IIT-Hyd invites applications for short-term course

PNS n HYDERABAD

Following the incident ofMMTS and passenger traincollision in November, SCRis gearing up to implementtrain collision avoidance sys-tem (TCAS). Using RFID,GPS technologies, TCASautomatically apply brakes tothe train without train dri-vers' intervention, if thetrains are plying on sametrack. This will remove thehuman element, which pre-vents collision. Apart fromcollision due to signaling,TCAS would, in addition,also avoid certain other sce-narios like non-interlockedor non-signalled territory.TCAS equipped locomotivesare being attached to sever-al passenger trains to studysystem performance.

Currently the trail runs ofTCAS Development Work isbeing carried out on 250route kms (Lingampalli-Vikarabad- Wadi (excl) -Bidar) section inSecunderabad division ofSouth Central Railway with 40locomotives (20 diesel and 20electric). Stationary and locoequipment uses duplex radiocommunication for exchang-ing the information betweenLocomotives and Stations.TCAS system mainly consistsof 3 components StationaryTCAS unit, LocomotiveTCAS unit and RFID tags atsleepers. This has been indige-nously developed by RDSOfor the first time in India.

SCR toimplementTCAS to avert mishaps

Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar distributed cheques to the families of deceased home guards on Tuesday.

Cheques distributed to kin of deceased home guards

PIL filed to register case against policeHYDERABAD: Telangana state civil liberties committee president Prof.G Laxman on Tuesday filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in theHigh Court challenging the alleged fake encounter of the four accusedof Disha murder case. In his petition, Laxman urged the divisionbench of the HC to issue directions to the state government toregister a criminal case under Section 302 IPC against all the policepersonnel who participated in the encounter. He also urged the HC tohand over the investigation of the case to country's premierinvestigation agency CBI. The PIL is expected to come up for hearingon Thursday. This is the third case filed on the issue of the encounterof the accused by the police.

Continued from Page 1

sHe said the CAB "does notaffect the existing avenues avail-able to all communities interest-ed in seeking citizenship fromdoing so. The recent record ofgranting such citizenship wouldbear out the Government ofIndia's objectivity in thatregard". He clarified that neitherthe CAB nor the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC)process seeks to strip citizenshipfrom any Indian citizen of anyfaith, and added that sugges-tions to that effect are "motivat-ed and unjustified".

"Every nation, includingthe United States, has theright to enumerate and vali-date its citizenry, and to exer-

cise this prerogative throughvarious policies.

"The position articulated byUSCIRF is not surprising givenits past record. It is, however,regrettable that the body haschosen to be guided only by itsprejudices and biases on a mat-ter on which it clearly has littleknowledge and no locus stan-di," the statement added. TheUSCIRF on Monday said it is"deeply troubled" by the passageof the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill (CAB)"given the religion criterion inthe bill". It said if the CAB pass-es in both houses of Parliament,the US government "shouldconsider sanctions against theHome Minister and other prin-cipal leadership".

India slams USCIRF commentson CAB as ‘unwarranted'...

PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for Sports V SrinivasGoud on Tuesday congratu-lated Akula Srija for winningtwo gold medals in table ten-nis event held as part of theSouth Asian Games and theYouth Table TennisChampion Snehit.

Srinivas Goud laudedSnehit for winning the titlefor the first time after a longholiday of 60 years. Hedescribed Snehit as the ray ofhope for the state in table ten-nis. After inducting SomnathGhosh as the SportsAuthority of Telangana coachon the directions of the KTR,the state has been gettingwonderful results, the minis-ter recalled. He appreciatedSomnath Ghosh for hisaccomplishment.

He called Akula Srija whowon gold medals in doubles'events and women's events asthe pride of Telangana.

Minister laudsTable Tennismedal winners


Many political parties,particularly theCongress and the

Left, are always ready to lendreligious colour to whateverthe Bharatiya Janata Partydoes. It is everybody's knowl-edge that the Congress sepa-rated people on religious andcaste lines, and ruled the coun-try for decades. The Congresswas responsible for lynching ofthousands, raping many, andperpetrating many atrocities.Therefore, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah, whilepiloting the Citizenship Act(Amendment) Bill, breathedfire at the Congress.

The introduction of theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill(CAB) would not have beennecessary had the Congressnot divided the country on thelines of religion, Amit Shahsaid. He made it clear that theBill was not against the prin-ciples of equality and secular-ism enshrined in theConstitution.

Successive governments thatruled at the Center had lentsupport to the illegal entry ofMuslim immigrants across theborder and gave them identi-ty, which is not justified, andregarded them as vote banksand remained mute spectatorsas the illegal Muslim immi-grants encroached upon theresources of local people.

The same governmentsregarded the Hindu, Sikh andBuddhist immigrants shel-tered here because of therepression unleashed on themin Pakistan, Afghanistan andBangladesh as 'illegal' immi-grants. To rectify the defectand to grant them citizenship,the Modi-led government hasdecided to amend theCitizenship Act of 1955.

The Hindus, Sikhs,Buddhists, Jains, Parsis andChristians of Indian originsuffered repression in Pakistan,Bangladesh and Afghanistan,leading to their migration toIndia. What is wrong in grant-ing them Indian citizenship?

However, the Congressargues that immigrantMuslims should also be givencitizenship to uphold equalityand secularism. Is there anyinstance of Muslims beingrepressed in Pakistan,Bangladesh and Afghanistan?The Congress has been paint-ing the BJP with religiouscolour, as the BJP has decidedto give citizenship to peoplebelonging to various religiousgroups except Muslims. It isridiculous on the part of theCongress to describe itself as

'secular' since it always sideswith the Muslims.

The Bharatiya Janata Partyintroduced CAB to rectify theblunders that occurred in thecountry's history and to ren-der justice to all sections ofsociety. The Bill is not intend-ed against any particular reli-gion. The interests of anyMuslim are not going to beharmed because of the Bill.

Any person can become a cit-izen of the country. TheBharatiya Janata Party is firm onweeding out illegal immigrantsby undoing the injustice done ingranting citizenship. The objec-tive of BJP is to give identity toall citizens of the country andentitle them to access the coun-try's resources and wealth.

Over the past three decades,BJP has been cautioning thegovernment against the dan-gers of allowing illegal immi-grants into the country. Wayback in 1990, the BJP took partin the movement against thepresence of foreigners inAssam. It gives equal impor-tance to identify true Indians.In its 1996 election manifesto,BJP expressed concern overthe country's demographicprofile undergoing sea-change

because of illegal immigrantsfrom Bangladesh.

In its 2019 electionmanifesto too,BJP mentionedhow people ofthe countryhave beenlosing theircultural andl i n g u i s t i cidentity andl i v e l i h o o doptions in cer-tain regions. In theprocess, BJP has beentrying to amend theCitizenship Act ever since itcame to power for the firsttime with a huge majority.

On July 15, 2016, the draftCitizenship Act (Amendment)

Bill was referred to the Joint-Parliamentary Committee

once the Lok Sabhapassed the Bill.

The JPC, com-prising 30MPs drawnfrom LokSabha andRajya Sabha,toured many

p l a c e s ,i n c l u d i n g

J o d h p u r ,A h m e d a b a d ,

Rajkot, Guwahati,Silchar and Shillong and inter-acted with immigrants, civilsociety organizations, andelected people's representa-tives.

Article 14 of the

Constitution says that thereshould be no discriminationtowards anyone on the groundsof religion. Some skepticsbelonging to the Oppositionargued that the Supreme Courtwould quash the Bill on thebasis of Article 14. However,JPC gave its green light to thebill as the Law Departmentmade it clear that the proposedBill does not harm equality ofany section of society and is notviolative of religious rights ofany community.

On January 8, 2018 the LokSabha passed the Bill. But, theOpposition was successful ingetting the Bill stalled in theRajya Sabha. Later, the Billbecame time-barred.Therefore, BJP, upon comingto power for a second term,introduced the Bill. This is tes-timony to BJP's sincerity toreach its target of protectingthe interests of Indians.

During electioneering thisyear, BJP gave wide publicityto the proposed Bill. This hassent shivers down the spine ofthe Opposition, especiallyTrinamool Congress and Leftparties in West Bengal. Theseoutfits regarded the illegalimmigrants as vote banks,

while paying scant respect tolakhs of Hindu illegal immi-grants from Bangladesh.

For example, thousands ofpeople belonging to Matua, asect of Hindu religion, migrat-ed to India from East Pakistanafter 1970. There were peopleof other faiths too. They spreadacross North-Eastern States,West Bengal and in the north-ern parts of India. It is not dif-ficult to understand the appre-hensions of the Opposition ifthese people get identity as cit-izens of the country.

The opposition parties areputting forward strange argu-ments by comparing therepressed non-Muslimminorities with the illegalimmigrants. They are refusingto set right the historical injus-tice done to them. The oppo-sition has been putting for-ward the argument that theproposed Bill is antagonistic tothe interests of people of theNorth-East. In fact, the Billseeks to protect the interests ofpeople of the North-East. Itexempts people visitingNagaland, Mizoram andArunachal Pradesh fromsecuring the Inter Line Permit.

With the successful piloting

of the Citizenship Act(Amendment) Bill, Amit Shahhas notched up three majorvictories during the past sixmonths. With the abrogation ofthe Article 370, beyond doubtJammu and Kashmir becamethe integral part of the coun-try. The credit for paving theway for construction of Ramtemple at the disputed site inAyodhya goes to this govern-ment, after the SC verdict.The government has succeed-ed in averting any law andorder problem following theverdict. The introduction of theCitizenship Act (Amendment)Bill will lead to ending thedecades-old discrimination.

As a continuation of the Bill,the government seeks to weedout illegal immigrants andimplement the NationalPopulation Register to ensurepeople of the country haveright to access socio-econom-ic benefits. It will also facili-tate the government to main-tain law and order sternly.

The anarchists and thosewho derive benefits by divid-ing the people on the lines ofcaste and religion find the Billhard to digest. Evolution ofmodern India under the lead-ership of Narendra Modi is cer-tain as the people are going toignore such anarchist forces.

(The writer is BJP national secretary)

Any person can become a citizen of thecountry. The Bharatiya Janata Party is firmon weeding out illegal immigrants byundoing the injustice done in grantingcitizenship. The objective of BJP is to giveidentity to all citizens of the country andentitle them to access the country'sresources and wealth

CAB gives identity to minority immigrants

Y Satya Kumar


KCR, who presented the StateAnnual Budget for 2019-20 inAssembly in September, hasestimated the state's revenueearnings from all sources at Rs1.13 lakh crore. However, byOctober-end, the state couldearn just Rs 51,355 crore, whichamounts to just 45 per cent ofthe budget estimates. The bud-get proposed to raise Rs 24,081crore through loans. Of this, Rs17,500 crore was already raisedby October-end. The budget hasproposed to spend Rs 1.37 lakhcrore of which only Rs 68,882crore was spent by October-end,which amounts of half of bud-get estimates, while less thanfour months are left for 2019-20

to end. Collections accruedthrough GST and VAT are themain source of income for the

state government. Even thesecollections took a beating send-ing shock waves among the gov-

ernment. The government hasestimated to earn Rs 31,186crore through GST by October-end, but realised just Rs 14,097crore by October-end, amount-ing to just 45 per cent. Similarly,out of Rs 21,972 crore estimat-ed VAT revenue, it realisedonly 10,656 crore, amounting to49 per cent. The other revenue-earning sources of stamps andregistrations collectionsachieved 60 per cent, excise 57per cent, non-tax revenue 15 percent, share in central taxes 45per cent, grant-in-aid 63 percent and loans 67 per cent of thetargeted revenues. Adding saltto the wounds of state govern-ment, the Centre has drastical-ly cut tax devolution toTelangana.

State financial condition turns grim...Continued from Page 1

In the context, Rao point-ed out that the SupremeCourt had ordered a CBIinquir y into the 2005Sohrabuddin 'encounter' case,five years after the incident,and in connection withwhich present Union HomeMinister Amit Shah evenwent to jail.

Telangana Ministers' andAndhra Pradesh ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy's comments withregard to 'encounter' deathsof the four accused in Dishacase would trouble TelanganaChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao.

The spokesperson of BJPsaid that several petitionswere pending with theSupreme Court in respect ofthe Shadnagar 'encounter'.The apex court may order aCBI inquiry into it.

Telangana Ministers — ChMalla Reddy, Puvvada AjayKumar and Talasani SrinivasYadav had stated that KCRhad released a 'Ram ban'(arrow of Lord Ram) againstthe accused in the Disha caseand that the 'encounter' wasa good message to society.Another Minister said KCRassumed 'Ugra rupam' (fierceappearance). Yet anotherMinister said "Action comesonly from silence".

Such statements had givenroom for doubts as towhether the Shadnagar'encounter' was real, theTelangana BJP off icialspokesperson stated. Jagan

had even found fault with theNational Human RightsCommittee (NHRC) probingthe 'encounter' and praisedKCR.

Going by the SupremeCourt's previous orders inother cases, it might obtainthe statements of TelanganaMinisters and Jagan.

BJP sees a possibility of SCordering CBI probe...

Non-controversial leaderswill become chief: CongPNS n HYDERABAD

Does money matter in selec-tion of TPCC chief?

Congress MLA fromSangareddy T Jagga Reddysays 'no'.

He says the party highcommand will not entertainleaders who say that they willspend Rs 1,000 crore for thesake of party. He also said thatthere is no link betweenthe selection ofTPCC's new chiefand money.

While speak-ing to mediapersons onT u e s d a yevening, JaggaReddy made thesecomments keepingMalkajgiri MP ARevanth Reddy in view.

Jagga Reddy said that therewas nothing wrong in thepublicity that "Revanth Reddyis another power centre in theCongress."

"Congress will strengthenfurther if Revanth Reddy isstrengthened more, he opined.Congress will be benefited ifindividuals grow in the party.The Congress has strong lead-ership from all castes and reli-gions. There is nothing wrongin Revanth Reddy believingthat he should grow personallyin the party. Not only Revanth

but also Bhatti Vikramarka, DSridhar Babu, DamodaraRajanarsimha and anybodycan develop personally," JaggaReddy said, emphasizing thatthere was "no single hero inCongress". Stating that theGandhi Bhavan will dictate theterms to leaders, Jagga Reddysaid that ultimately, they willgrow on their own.

Leaders who are non-con-troversial will become

TPCC chief, he opinedsaying that Sridhar

Babu and T JeevanReddy were non-controversial lead-ers in the party.

The controver-sial leaders would

remain on the list ofTPCC chief aspirants,

he said, making it clear thathis statements were on behalfof PCC only.

Jagga Reddy said that the peo-ple of the state would cast theirvote for the Congress in the 2023elections even if the party can-didates do not distribute money.The people are feeling that theycommitted a mistake by castingtheir vote by accepting money,Jagga Reddy said.

He said that the Congresswill launch a movementagainst the state governmentfor not implementing loanwaiver scheme in the state aspromised to farmers.

IP-based video surveillanceat Begumpet Railway StationPNS n HYDERABAD

The Begumpet railway sta-tion, one of the very few all-women crew railway stations inthe country, has been provid-ed with an Internet Protocol(IP) based Video SurveillanceSystem by RailTel, a MiniratnaPSU under the Ministry ofRailways. The VSS has beeninstalled to strengthen thesecurity at the station. Thework has been done utilizingthe Nirbhaya fund for ensuringbetter safety for women. A totalof 20 IP-based closed circuittelevision cameras have beeninstalled on the station premis-es keeping a tab on all theactivities at station premises24×7. The CCTV cameras areconnected through internetand live feeds are displayed onmultiple screens at the RailwayProtection Force (RPF) controlroom for monitoring. TheRailway Board had entrustedRailTel with the work of pro-viding IP-based VSS with videoanalytics and facial recognitionsystem at stations of A1, A, B,C,D and E category, coaches ofpremium trains and subur-ban EMU coaches.

Talking about the new sys-tem, South Central Railway'sSecunderabad DivisionalRailway Manager AnandBhatia said security of passen-gers, especially women and

children, was of top most pri-ority. The new CCTV surveil-lance would help the SCR pro-vide more proactive security.

Puneet Chawla, Chairmanand Managing Director, RailTel

said: "This is an InternetProtocol based VideoSurveillance system in whichCCTV cameras are networked.This will enhance the safetyand security of women pas-sengers as well as the womencrew of the Begumpet stationwho are on duty 24×7."

The recording of the videofeed form CCTV cameras willbe stored for 30 days for play-back, post event analysis andfor investigation purposes.Important videos can be storedfor longer duration.

The all-women personnel of Begumpet Railway Station give a thumbs-up after installation of the Internet Protocol-based videosurveillance system

l Nirbhaya Fund utilised to ensure better safety for women

The recording of the video feed fromCCTV cameras will be stored for 30 daysfor playback, post event analysis and forinvestigation purposes. Important videoscan be stored for longer duration


The seven-member NHRCteam continued itsinvestigation into the'encounter' for a fourthconsecutive day on Tuesdayand conducted the hearing atTelangana State PoliceAcademy. The Supreme Courthearing is scheduled at 11 amon Wednesday morning, as persources. The Cyberabad Police,along with its report, isunderstood to have submittedto the NHRC panel the recordsrelated to the DNA tests of thevictim and the accused,forensic evidence and otherevidence such as CCTV footageof the truck near the scene ofthe crime and the accusedbuying petrol at a petrol bunk.The police has also presentedbefore the NHRC panel theserviceman of the petrol bunk,who is a witness in the case.NHRC, which began its probeon December 7, has so farexamined family members ofall four slain accused and thevictim.

SC to hear‘Disha’...

PNS n JAYASHANKARBHUPALPALLY

Governor of TelanganaTamilisai Soundararajan inter-acted with the adivasis atBodagudem hamlet inKataram mandal in the districton Tuesday. Bhuplapally MLAGandra Venkataramana Reddyand others welcomed theGovernor. Assuring doublebedroom houses and land forcultivation to adivasis she said,"I came here as your sister andnot as the Governor. I urge youto focus on your health, espe-cially pregnant women byadopting good health practicesand taking nutritious food," shesaid and invited them to visitRaj Bhavan in Hyderabad.

She also distributed blanketsto the elders and uniforms toschoolchildren of the habita-tion. Later, she visited theKaleswara Mukteeswara tem-ple at Kaleswaram where sheoffered special prayers afterreceiving traditional welcomeby the temple priests. DistrictCollector VasamVenkateswarlu, IrrigationEngineer-in-chief of KLIS NallaVenkateswarlu and other offi-cials accompanied theGovernor. The Governor wasapprised by the officials aboutKaleswaram project and shewent round the Laxmi barrageand pump house at Kannepally.

Guv assures twobedroom flatsfor adivasis

PNS n NIRMAL

Minister for Forests,Environment, Endowmentsand Housing, AllolaIndrakaran Reddy told theauthorities concerned to spendgrants of District MineralFund Trust (DMFT) for tak-ing up prioritised works. Hewas participating in DMFTmeeting held here on Tuesday.Zilla Parishad chairperson KVijayalaxmi and Collector MPrashanti accomopanied theMinister.

Indrakaran Reddy saidcommittee of fund trust hadresolved to build several facil-ities, repair irrigation tanksand improve infrastructure ofschools, besides formingroads.

The Minister said the com-

mittee had given its nod toexecute 18 works at a cost ofRs 21.27 crore and worksrelated to formation of roadsat an estimated cost of Rs 18crore. He set a deadline of June2020 for completing the works.He instructed the officials tospeed up tendering of worksproposed by the committee.Collector said the district had17 mineral mining quarries.She said additional classroomsfor 16 schools, drinking waterfacilities, compound walls,sports amenities were createdin educational institutions andrepair of certain irrigationtanks was undertaken with thehelp of grants released byDMFT. She added that white-wash was carried out for 17primary health centres (PHCs)using the funds.

CM seeks PM Modi's appointment Continued from Page 1

He said due to the decrease in the funds allocation, severalschemes in the State would face difficulties. Responding to him,the central government officials said that situation is grim and cau-tioned that the decrease may well go up from 8.3 per cent to 15percent. When the state government officials were upset that thereis a decrease of 8.3 per cent of the funds, the central governmentofficials said that the decrease may further go upto 15 per cent. 15percent decrease in funds from the Centre would mean a decreaseof Rs 2,957 Crore from the funds from the Centre, which are dueto the state government. Ramakrishna Rao briefed his meetingdetails to the CM, who said if this continues, the state's financialposition may turn into a grave situation.

‘Use grants of DMFT fortaking up prioritised works’

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana BJP senior leader DKAruna on Tuesday demandedthe state government to imme-diately impose prohibition in thestate. She alleged that the peo-ple are turning into wild animalsafter consuming liquor.

Aruna demanded the stategovernment ban sale of liquorimmediately in the state toensure that crimes againstwomen are not repeated.

Aruna said that she will takeup two-day deeksha at DharnaChowk in Indira Park onDecember 12 and 13. She urgedall political parties and people'sorganizations and women to

extend support to her deekshademanding the state governmentto ban sale of liquor in the state.

Speaking to the media at theBJP state office here, Aruna saidthat two more incidents tookplace in the state along withDisha incident. She demandedthe state government to establish

fast track courts to initiate actionagainst the culprits involved inthose two incidents.

The senior leader urged thestate government to assist thefamilies of Samatha and Manasa.She said that she had consoledthe families of victims inWarangal and Asifabad.

DK Aruna demands govt to punishculprits of Samatha, Manasa cases

Sunita decries‘encounter’PNS n ALAIR

Giving asensationalturn to theShamshabade n c o u n t e rkilling of Disha rapists, TRSMLA from Alair GongidiSunita kicked off a row onTuesday terming theencounter as painful. Whiletaking part in a programme atAlair, she passed the com-ments and conveyed herheartfelt sympathies to thebereaved families of theaccused. Parents of the youthkilled in the encounter shouldhave pained at the incident.Her video became viral on theInternet.

TABLE TTALK

UoH studentsset new recordin placementsPNS n HYDERABAD

The University ofHyderabad recorded a highdomestic placement seasonwith 154 students placed inthe last four months.

Four students from MCAand M.Tech have beenplaced with a domestic paypackage of Rs.22.80 lakhsper annum by EA, which isthe highest package notonly for this year but also in the histor y of the university.

The university in a pressrelease said it's placementseason (2019-20) started asearly as July end and morethan 42 companies havevisited for campus place-ments. Students from thedisciplines of ComputerScience, Management,Communication, English,Sciences etc. have beenplaced successfully.

Earl ier, two MTech(Integrated CircuitsTechnology) students ofUoH from Centre forAdvanced Studies inElectronics Science andTechnolog y (CASEST),School of Physics receivedinternational placementoffers from Silicon AustriaLabs (SAL), Austria at apackage of Rs. 45 lakhs perannum.

Malakajgiri MP Revanth Reddy interacts with Sonia Gandhi at a dinner organised for Parliamentarians on Tuesday.

Telangana BJP senior leader DK Aruna addressing at a meet on Tuesday

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

Student bodies to holdcountrywide protest onJan 8 against govtNEW DELHI: Various studentbodies have given a call for acollective protest against the"anti-student" policies of thegovernment. The students'bodies will hold the strikeacross India on January 8.Some of the bodies that arepart of the call are theStudents' Federation of India,the JNU Students' Union andthe Samajwadi Chatra Sabha.

Solar panels installedon rooftops of 27 govtbuildings in ShimlaDHARAMSHALA: Solar panelshave been installed on therooftops of 27 governmentbuildings in the state capital ofShimla, Chief Minister Jai RamThakur informed the stateAssembly on Tuesday. In awritten reply to a question byCongress MLA Anirudh Singhon the second day of theongoing winter session here,Thakur said the 1310.8 kilowatt(kW) capacity panels weresetup in the last two years. Ofthem, the highest capacity of500 kW panels were set up onthe rooftop of HimachalPradesh University (HPU), saidThakur, who also holds theadditional charge of the statepower department.To promote solar energy, thework to install 1209.04 kWpanels on 34 other governmentbuildings in Shimla is on, hesaid.

MP: Man's burnt body found in govt school

SMS servicemessages resume in Kashmir SRINAGAR: SMS servicemessages, including 'one timepasswords' (OTPs), resumedon Tuesday for 40 lakhsubscribers in Kashmirfollowing several requests fromthe public, particularly thebusiness community, officialshere said. Though the Jammuand Kashmir administrationallowed service providers toresume machine-basedmessages, subscribers will notbe allowed to send anymessages from their mobiles,the officials said. Theresumption of servicemessages will help the generalpublic, especially business-persons, receive servicemessages from banks, theysaid. Phones fell silent onAugust 5, when the Centrerevoked Jammu and Kashmir'sspecial status and reorganisedthe state into two unionterritories -- Jammu andKashmir, and Ladakh.

BHOPAL: The charred remainsof a man were found inside agovernment school in PansheelNagar locality of MadhyaPradesh's Bhopal city onTuesday, police said. The policesuspect that unidentifiedpersons may have killed thevictim and disposed of hisbody by burning it, an officialsaid. "We have found the badlyburnt body of a 25-year-oldman inside the schoolpremises," deputy inspectorgeneral (DIG) Irshad Wali said.The body has been burntbeyond recognition and a chainwas found entangled aroundthe victim's neck, he added. Aman in his 20s has beenreported missing from the areasince the last four to five days,the senior official said, addingthat the link to the missingperson cannot be establishedas the body is badly burnt.A DNA test would be conductedto ascertain the victim'sidentity, Wali said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress slammed thegovernment on Tuesday afterthe passage of the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill in the LokSabha, with former party chiefRahul Gandhi saying the pro-posed legislation is an attack onthe Constitution and anyonewho supports it is attempting todestroy the foundation of thecountry.

The sharp criticism of theopposition party came after theCitizenship (Amendment) Billwas passed in the Lok Sabha onMonday with 311 membersfavouring it and 80 votingagainst it. The bill will now betabled in the Rajya Sabha for itsnod on Wednesday.

In a stinging attack on thegovernment, Congress leaderPriyanka Gandhi Vadra said"India's tryst with bigotry andnarrow-minded exclusion" wasconfirmed as the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill was passedin the Lok Sabha at midnight onMonday. "Last night at mid-night, India's tryst with bigotryand narrow minded exclusionwas confirmed as the CABwas passed in the Lok Sabha.Our forefathers gave their

lifeblood for our freedom," shesaid in a tweet, recalling hergreat-grandfather JawaharlalNehru's speech at the midnightof August 14-15, 1947, whenIndia rang in its Independence.

"Long years ago, we made atryst with destiny, and now thetime comes when we shallredeem our pledge, not whol-ly or in full measure, but verysubstantially. At the stroke ofthe midnight hour, when theworld sleeps, India will awaketo life and freedom," Nehruhad said in the opening linesof a speech believed to beamong the greatest in the20th century.

PNS n GUWAHATI

Amid widespread protest overthe Citizenship (Amendment)Bill in Assam, state ChiefMinister Sarbananda Sonowalon Tuesday welcomed the pas-sage of the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, 2019, inLok Sabha describing it as a"historic moment".

The Bill was passed in theLower House of Parliament onMonday night as the rulingBJP enjoys a majority there.

"The passage of the Bill inLok Sabha is a historicmoment for us all. It will notonly give relief to six persecut-ed minority communities fromthree neighbouring countriesbut will also pave the way forconstitutional safeguards tothe indigenous people ofAssam," Sonowal tweeted.

The Bill seeks to give Indiancitizenship to members ofHindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain,Parsi and Christian communi-ties, who have come fromPakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan, till December 31,2014, facing religious persecu-tion there.

He also thanked PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andUnion Home Minister AmitShah "for fulfilling a long-standing commitment of Indiaand for taking everyone alongand ensuring protection for all

indigenous people".Assam Finance, Health and

PWD Minister Himanta BiswaSarma also tweeted that the Billwill go down in "history as aglorious historical correctionof a blunder committed by theNehru-Liyaquat Pact".

The then Indian Prime

Minister Jawaharlal Nehru andhis Pakistani counterpartLiaquat Ali Khan signed anagreement, known as theNehru-Liaquat Pact, in 1950 toprotect the minority commu-nities in their respective coun-tries.

Sarma thanked the Unionhome minister for tearing"into the opposition as hemade an inspired speech whilereplying on the CAB in theLok Sabha".

Protests against the Bill haveerupted across Assam - barringthe three districts of Cachar,Karimganj and Hailakandi inBarak Valley where the major-ity of the people are HinduBengalis hailing fromBangladesh and are expectedto benefit from the CAB.

The North East Students'Organisation (NESO), backedby various other bodies andpolitical parties, has called an11-hour bandh from 5 amagainst the Bill on Tuesday.

Indigenous people of theNortheastern states are scaredthat the entry of these peoplewill endanger their identityand livelihood.

Trying to allay apprehen-sions of these people, Shah onMonday said in the Lok Sabhathat the Narendra Modi gov-ernment was committed toprotect the customs and cul-ture of the people of the region.

PNS n MUMBAI

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray onTuesday said the Shiv Senawon't back the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill in the RajyaSabha till there is clarity on theparty's queries posed in theLok Sabha.

The Lok Sabha passed theBill, which seeks to provideIndian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming fromPakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan after facing reli-gious persecution there, a lit-tle past midnight on Mondayafter a heated debate that last-ed over seven hours.

The Sena supported the Billin the Lower House.

Thackeray told reportershere that a detailed discussio-nand debate on the Bill wasnecessary.

The Modi government-needs to worry about theeconomy, job crisis and risingcost of living, especially theonions price rise, more thanthe implementation of theBill, he said.

"We need to change thisnotion that one who supportsthe Bill and the BJP is a patri-ot and one who opposes it isanti-national.The governmentshould answer all the issuesraised on the Bill," he said.

Taking a dig at the BJP,Thackeray wondered if peoplewho have sought refuge inIndia and who will comeunder the Bill's ambit willnow get more onions.

"The BJP feels that any onewho disagrees (with it) is a'deshdrohi' (traitor),Thackeray said.

PNS n MUMBAI

With its Maharashtra alliancepartner Shiv Sena backing theCitizenship (Amendment) Billin the Lok Sabha, the NCP onTuesday said the two are differ-ent parties and it is not possi-ble always for them to hold thesame view on all issues.

NCP chief spokespersonNawab Malik, however, saidthe parties are committed toensure that no injustice ismeted to anyone on thegrounds of religion, caste, lan-guage and region inMaharashtra.

Maharashtra Congress gen-eral secretary Sachin Sawantalso said that though the ShivSena has backed theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill

(CAB) in the Lok Sabha, it washopeful the UddhavThackeray-led party will stickto the common minimum pro-gramme (CMP) while gov-erning the state.

The Sharad Pawar-led party

earlier said the CAB is "anti-constitutional" and the BJP-led Union government ispushing it only for politicalbenefits.

The Shiv Sena, NCP andCongress formed government

in Maharashtra last monthafter the Thackeray-led partysevered its ties with the BJP.

In the CMP formulatedbefore government formation,the Shiv Sena, NCP andCongress mentioned that issuesregarding constitutional provi-sions and having a bearing on

the state and national secularfabric will have to be discussedamong them, and only thenany of the three parties candecide on its position.

According to the CAB,members of Hindu, Sikh,Buddhist, Jain, Parsi andChristian communities, whohave come from Pakistan,Bangladesh and Afghanistan,till December 31, 2014 facingreligious persecution there,will not be treated as illegalimmigrants but given Indiancitizenship.

"We are two different parties.We reached an agreement oncertain issues when it comes togovernance in the state. Twoallies from Bihar too havetaken a different stance onsome issues," Malik said.

Same view as Sena not always possible: NCP on CAB

PNS n NEW DELHI

President Ram Nath Kovind onTuesday flagged the recentincidents of violence againstwomen in the country, sayingsuch heinous crimes force peo-ple to think whether the soci-ety has lived up to the cher-ished universal vision of equalrights for all.

In his address at an NHRCfunction at Vigyan Bhawanhere to mark Human RightsDay, he said the ideal way tocommemorate the occasionwill be for the whole world to"introspect" what more needsto be done to live up in letterand spirit to the "sacred text" ofthe Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights (UDHR).

Human Rights Day is cele-brated on December 10 tocommemorate the UDHR,which was adopted and pro-claimed by the GeneralAssembly of the UnitedNations in 1948 as the sharedstandard yardstick to protecthuman rights across the globe.

In his address, Kovind allud-ed to recent cases of violence

against women in various partsof the country, which have trig-gered shock and protests fromcitizens, demanding thatauthorities ensure safety ofwomen in public places.

The president also recalledthe contribution of Indianreformer and educator HansaJivraj Mehta in shaping thelandmark document onUDHR and ensuring it con-tains a more gender sensitivelanguage.

She is widely credited withmaking a significant change inthe wording of Article 1 of the

UDHR, by replacing the phrase"All men are born free andequal" to "All human beings areborn free and equal."

"In the draft of the UDHR,it mentioned, 'all men...', andHansa Mehta insisted that it bechanged to 'all humans...' mak-ing it universal. Today, we oweit to her," Kovind said, assert-ing that the country also cele-brated 70th anniversary of theadoption of IndianConstitution in November.

The president said moreneeded to be done to com-memorate visionary leaders

like Mehta who championedhuman rights and genderequality.

"We can make a beginningby asking ourselves if we havelived up to her vision of equalrights and equal dignity.Unfortunately, a series of ofevents in the recent past forceus to think again, and incidentsof heinous crimes againstwomen are reported frommany reports of the country,"he said.

He said such incidents arehappening "not just limited toone place or one nation".

"In various parts of theworld. The human rights ofpeople who are vulnerable are

being flagrantly violated," thepresident said, adding, thewhole world needs to "intro-spect" to mark this day.

Along with such introspec-tion, the society also needs toreinterpret the document andexpand the notion of humanrights, he said, adding, "All weneed is our empathy and imag-ination."

"I have children and forcedlabourers, for example, in mymind. Or consider the plightsof those lodged in jail, on trialfor petty crimes. These issuesdeserve urgent attention tomake a harmonious society incompliance with humanrights," he said.

"We can make a beginning by askingourselves if we have lived up to hervision of equal rights and equal dignity.Unfortunately, a series of of events inthe recent past force us to think again,and incidents of heinous crimes againstwomen are reported from many reportsof the country," he said

Cong slams govt,Rahul says ‘attackon Constitution'

CITIZENSHIP BILL

Assam CM welcomes passageof Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

PNS n NEW DELHI

An amount of Rs 4,800 crorehas been approved for 4.5 lakhemployees of erstwhile Jammuand Kashmir for certainallowances under the 7th PayCommission, Lok Sabha wasinformed today.

In a written reply, Ministerof State for Home G KishanReddy said the Centre hasbeen fully committed to theoverall development of theerstwhile state which includesgiving certain 7th PayCommission allowances likeChildren EducationAllowance, Hostel Allowance,Transport Allowance, LTC,

Fixed Medical Allowance tothe employees.

These employees were notgetting these allowances earli-er.

The Centre has nowapproved an estimated cost ofRs 4,800 crore, for all suchemployees, who are now work-

ing in Jammu and Kashmir,and Ladakh, since October31, the day these two UTs cameinto existence.

Reddy also stated that afterthe creation of the two UTs, atotal of Rs 14,559.25 crore asthe balance share of 14thFinance Commission grants,share of taxes that were beinggiven to the erstwhile state ofJammu and Kashmir has beenapportioned among the twonew UTs.

Out of this, Rs 2,977.31crore has already been releasedto Jammu and Kashmir and Rs1,275.99 crore has alreadybeen released to Ladakh tilldate.

PNS n JODHPUR

The passage of the CitizenshipAmendment Bill in the LokSabha brought cheers to theHindu migrants from Pakistanwho are living in the city andthey are now looking forwardto the bill getting a nod fromthe Rajya Sabha.

Premchand, who had shift-ed here from Pakistan in 2005and applied for citizenshiplater, expressed happiness overthis development.

"The government has givena new life to us. We express ourgratitude to Union Home

Minister Amit Shah and theBJP government for giving usa chance to live in India withdignity," he said, adding that hehas applied for citizenship

Hindu Singh Sodha, thepresident of the Seemant LokSangathan, an organisationfighting for the rights of themigrants, said this amend-ment would make moremigrants eligible for citizen-ship.

"This amendment wouldmake more migrants eligiblefor citizenship sooner. Peoplehad earlier been compelled towait for 11 long years in thiscountry before applying for cit-izenship," said .

He said earlier the bill couldnot get the nod of the RajyaSabha.

PNS n MUMBAI

The BJP on Tuesday hit out atMaharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray over his"stay orders" on various pro-jects, and said he should alsotry to put a 'stay' on the risein incidents of crime inthe state.

Since coming topower, Thackeray,who heads the ShivSena, ordered reviewof several big ticketinfrastructure projects,including the multi-billion dol-lar Mumbai-Ahmedabad bul-let train project, and stayedwork on the Metro Line IIIcarshed in the Aarey Colony, a

green lung in Mumbai."He has been issuing stay

orders one after the other, so asimilar step should also betaken for incidents of crime,"BJP leader Ashish Shelar saidin a statement.

"The chief ministershould try to put a

'stay' on the increas-ing crime incidentsin the state," the for-mer minister said,while criticising the

Thackeray-led Sena-NCP-Congress govern-

ment over no portfolio alloca-tion to his ministers even afterover 10 days of coming topower in the state.

Shelar said there have been

some gruesome incidents ofcrime in the state, includingsexual assault and killing of afive-year-girl in Nagpur, kid-nappings in Thane and recov-ery of a chopped body near

Kalyan railway station.A 32-year-old man was on

Sunday arrested for allegedlyraping and killing a five-year-old tribal girl by smashing herhead with a stone in Nagpur.

Besides, the dismemberedbody of a woman was found ina suitcase on Sunday at Kalyanin Thane district.

"The sexual assault andkilling of a disabled girl inJalgaon makes people wonderwhether the state is paying lit-tle attention to internal secu-rity," Shelar said.

BJP's Rajya Sabha memberNarayan Rane on Sundaytermed the Thackeray-led gov-ernment as a "temporary" oneonly issuing "stay orders".

Won't support Bill tillwe get clarity: Sena

The Modigovernme ntneedsto worry about theeconomy, jobcrisis and risingcost of living,especially theonions price rise,more than theimplementation ofthe Bill, he said.

"He has beenissuing stay ordersone after the other,so a similar stepshould also betaken for incidentsof crime," BJPleader AshishShelar said in astatement

The Sharad Pawar-led party earliersaid the CAB is"anti-constitutional" andthe BJP-led Uniongovernment ispushing it only forpolitical benefits

Sarbananda Sonowal

Assam Finance,Health and PWDMinister HimantaBiswa Sarma alsotweeted that theBill will go down in"history as aglorious historicalcorrection of ablunder committedby the Nehru-Liyaquat Pact"

Uddhav should ‘stay' rising crime: BJP

In a stinging attack onthe government,Congress leaderPriyanka Gandhi Vadrasaid "India's tryst withbigotry and narrow-minded exclusion" wasconfirmed as theCitizenship(Amendment) Bill waspassed in the LokSabha at midnight onMonday

PNS n SRINAGAR

Flight operations at theSrinagar airport remained sus-pended for the fourth straightday on Tuesday as all flights toand fro the Kashmir Valleywere cancelled due to poor vis-ibility caused by heavy fog,officials said.

"All flights at the Srinagarairport were cancelled onTuesday and no flight opera-tions took place for the fourthstraight day," an official of theAirport Authority of India(AAI) said.

He said the visibility at theairport was very poor due toheavy fog and the conditionswere not suitable for flightoperations.

"The visibility at the airporthas been hovering around 100to 500 metres only while as therequired visibility is 1000 to1200 metres. So, all flights forthe day were cancelled," theofficial said.

The flight operations havebeen severely affected at theairport for the past five days.

On Friday, several flightswere cancelled, while no flightoperations took place onSaturday, Sunday and Monday.

For 4th day, flight opssuspended at Srinagar

Pak Hindu migrants in Jodhpurcelebrate passage of Citizenship Bill

Crimes against women force us to think of society’s vision

JK and Ladakh employees to getallowances of 7th Pay Commission

It was last week that some events andtelevision programmes were organ-ised to mark the 100th birth anniver-sary of IK Gujral, who served as the12th Prime Minister of India from

April 1997 to March 1998. Those who havevoiced their tributes and eulogies for thishumane and gentlemanly leader havehighlighted not only Gujral’s vision in thefield of international affairs but also hisqualities as a steadfast friend to those whogot to know him. Gujral was not only anintellectual who knew a great deal aboutsubjects that political leaders generally donot read about, but he was also a personwho expressed his opinions without fear orfavour. It is not well-known that Gujralsaheb was a person who held environmen-tal issues close to his heart and fully appre-ciated the need for this country to blenddevelopment efforts with environmentalprotection.

It was in 1995 that The Energy andResources Institute (TERI) launched amajor project called GREEN India 2047 inpreparation for the celebration of 50 yearsof India’s independence in 1997. This pro-ject, which was the effort of almost threedozen researchers working for almost twoyears, estimated and documented thedamage that Indian society had imposedon the country’s natural resources and itsenvironmental quality. It further project-ed what could happen with business asusual 50 years into the future, that is whenIndia reaches 100 years of independencein 2047. A brief presentation on this pro-ject was made before Gujral early inAugust 1997 at Vigyan Bhavan, duringwhich he also assembled a number ofmembers of his Council of Ministers. Atthe end of the presentation, which provid-ed startling facts and figures, Gujral sahebstated that this presentation “should jolt usinto action.”

At that stage, the media, too, report-ed on the stark facts and the disturbingtrends which had been in evidence duringthe first 50 years of India’s independence.One particular editorial in a leading news-paper carried the title as “Filthy at Fifty.”Much of the media coverage, whichundoubtedly supported efforts to informthe Indian public, was clearly the result ofthe attention provided by the then PrimeMinister to the analysis and realities pre-sented to him.

Today it would be useful to revisit someof the findings of the GREEN India 2047project, perhaps as a salute to Gujral’sappreciation of the fact that India cannotdevelop without due attention to its natur-al resources and ecosystems, which not onlysupport human life but a range of biodiver-sity that this country is blessed with. Thetruth is that in a range of vital resources, therehas been rapid degradation as a result of so-called development. Some important factsneed reflection even as 1997 is now 22 years

behind us. Even today, almosttwo-third of India’s populationlives in rural areas and while sev-eral leaders have highlighted thegrowth of India’s population asone factor which imposes alarger and larger footprint on thecountry’s natural resources, wehave really not come to gripswith what would constitute asustainable level of populationgrowth and consumption. India’spopulation, which was 336 mil-lion in 1947, was estimated as953 million in 1997. And today,we are 1.3 billion mindlesslypursuing Western consumptionpatterns, which impose a heavyburden on the country’s natur-al resources.

In this respect, the provi-sion of infrastructure andwherewithal for universal liter-acy and education have beenlacking. So, too, the provisionof adequate healthcare facilitiesin several parts of the country,which would have promoteddifferent fertility decisions. Atthe same time, the consumeristculture, which Gandhiji wastotally against, has not onlyafflicted the growing urbanpopulation but has also perco-lated to our rural areas.

Besides, as it happens, his-torically, industrial develop-ment has been centered aroundchemicals and fertilisers, paper,cement, power generation andaluminium, which are resource-

intensive and polluting.If we look at specific ele-

ments of natural resources,water, as is universally accept-ed, would be heavily stressed inseveral parts of the countrybecause of the impacts of cli-mate change. It is now clear thatwith increased warming oftemperatures, we would notonly see persistent and moreserious droughts but also theeffects of extreme precipitationevents in different parts of thecountry. In several cases eventhose areas, which are drought-prone during most of the year,would see heavy precipitationevents in some seasons. Thesewould lead to recurrent floodswith loss of lives and property.

During Gujral’s interven-tion, after the presentation thatwas made before him, he stat-ed, “Thus, we have come to astage when there are twolifestyles. The elite in the coun-try can drink water out of abottle; the common man candrink municipal water; andthe worst, the slum dwellers candrink untreated river water.This is the picture that isemerging. Therefore, when welook at the coming 50 years —we are now at the goldenjubilee of our independence —we must ask: Is this the lifestylewe are thinking of? Is this thelife that we are offering to ourpeople? Is this the future of our

children? And when I say chil-dren, I do not mean childrenonly of the elite. The child liv-ing in the slum, the child whois walking and sleeping on thestreet, what future are we offer-ing him?”

Sadly, many of the projec-tions that were made in thisproject and presented to thethen Prime Minister have onlybecome more threatening.Whether it is the air quality,chemical and toxic pollution ofour groundwater, dumping ofwaste in our rivers, thinning offorests and the huge mountainsof solid waste being generatednot only by our cities but byour rural areas as well, the out-look for 2047 looks grim andfrightening.

While we have widespreadopportunities, the inertia in oursystem is pushing us in thedirection of business as usual.There is, therefore, a dire needfor Indian society to shift gearsand move towards a path ofsustainable development. Thatwould not only be a fitting trib-ute to Gujral but a reassurancefor our children living a secureexistence devoid of the grow-ing risks from human-inducedclimate change and the cata-strophic destruction of ournatural resources.

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

Vladimir Putin is not a happy man. In fact,the Russian President is extremelyangry. This because the World Anti-

Doping Agency (WADA) has decided to banall athletes competing under the Russian flagfor four years. This is an unprecedented pun-ishment as the ban will cover all major com-petitions, including the Olympics and the foot-ball World Cup. In the case of the latter, evenif Russia qualifies for the 2022 World Cup, theathletes will not be allowed to represent theirnation. And while Russian athletes, who can

prove that they did not submit to what WADA called a systematic State-spon-sored doping regime, can represent themselves at global competitions, they can-not do so under the Russian tricolour. President Putin described this as proof ofa global anti-Russian campaign. But was WADA justified? Yes, thanks to GrigoryRodchenkov, the former head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, who calledout how Russian spies were tampering with results and even managing to breakopen and reseal apparently “untamperable” urine sample bottles. So the casewas strong. This systematic tampering has been going on for years and wasapparently part of an attempt by the Russian authorities to paint the nation as asporting superpower, much like it was done in the days of the Soviet Union. SomeWestern analysts say that the ban doesn’t go far enough with some athletes,who apparently gained from the doping regime but were never caught and werestill able to compete, albeit under the Olympic flag. If the Russian team qualifiesfor the World Cup in Qatar, a workaround will be found. Incidentally, this ban doesnot apply to tournaments not classified as “major” like the Euro 2020 footballchampionship, where the Russian city of St Petersburg will host some match-es and the team has qualified.

All said and done, the sports world has to continue to crack down on drugcheats. The drugs that some athletes use are getting more and more advancedand is easy to hide. Moreover, in a technological arms race between drugs anddetection, the latter is losing. Was Russia just a bit stupid that it got caught? Wouldsuch a punishment ever be imposed on a Western nation? These are questionsthat need some answering. But for now, this is not final as Russia has said thatit will appeal against this decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The problem with identity politics is thatit thrives on resentment and insecuritiesof social groups, fragmenting them fur-

ther instead of galvanising them into a cohe-sive social structure. The manipulative poli-tics of extremism feeds off mutual anxieties,creating an entirely different context of rele-vance that does not depend on governance.So the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB),2019, which was passed by the Lok Sabhaon the strength of the numbers of the rulingdispensation, is a deeply unsettling piece of

legislation as it pits all kinds of otherness versus each other. This is the reasonwhy there’s a huge unrest in the North-east with indigenous groups fearing theinflux of Hindu refugees from neighbouring Islamic countries that the Bill enableswould swamp their culture and economy as it has historically. There have beentorchlight vigils, students have taken to the streets in massive numbers and the12-hour bandh has stalled all North-eastern States. This despite assurances thatthe Bill would not be applicable to Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoramwhere the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system exists and those tribal regions of Assam,Meghalaya and Tripura which are governed under the Sixth Schedule of theConstitution. The Bill proposes to grant Indian citizenship to fleeing Hindus, Sikhs,Buddhists, Jains, Christians and Parsis, who are residents of Pakistan, Afghanistanand Bangladesh and are persecuted there. It does not reference other neighbour-ing countries like Sri Lanka, Myanmar or China from where refugees could comein but predicates it solely on the championship of the post-Partition Hindus, name-ly those left in Pakistan and Bangladesh. So it excludes persecuted Muslim sectsfrom the same countries, the Shias and Ahmadiyas. In other words, non-Muslimimmigrants would not face deportation and Muslims would, making religion akey criterion for asylum. It also proposes to reduce the mandated 11 years ofresidence in India for eligibility to six years, thereby hastening the cooption ofHindu refugees into the mainstream. The BJP wants to neutralise the Musliminfiltration in border States, encouraged by votebank politics of past years, witha Hindu influx and effect a demographic change. But this nationalist spiel, in turn,threatens locals, particularly in Assam.

Ethnic Assamese groups have consistently raised concerns about the Billbeing contradictory to the spirit of the Assam Accord and the just-released NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) list. They argue that the Bill granting citizenship toHindu refugees from across the border till the cutoff year of 2014 would swampAhom identity and the right of indigenous people over their land, opportunitiesand resources. Truth be told, the BJP has been pushing the citizenship Bill sothat lakhs of Hindu families left out of the NRC would automatically be rehabil-itated here. For the Assamese, any facilitation of Bengali Hindu immigrants is aremnant of the colonial legacy that saw Bengali civil servants and businessestake over the socio-economic matrix. For a long time, till 1876, Bengali was theoperable language in the State. By virtue of territorial contiguity, the Bengali-dom-ination meant a continuous infusion of Bengalis, exacerbated by the Partitionand then the 1971 Bangladesh war. So even if their tribal pockets are protect-ed, the Assamese fear that if Bengali-speaking illegal immigrants, especially thosein the Barak Valley, are granted citizenship, they would outnumber the locals, asit has happened in Tripura where Hindu Bengalis have edged out indigenous peo-ple from even claiming the political space. The royal scion of Tripura, PradyotManikya Debbarma, has been spearheading the cause of the tribals. In fact, theBJP may be playing down the dissent in Assam but language and cultural prideof the Assamese have led to emotion-driven mass movements. Let not anyoneforget the Bongal Kheda or the organised ethnic cleansing of Bengali Hindus thatoriginated in the late 1940s and continued into the 1960s. The turbulence sawsignificant property damage, ethnic policing, street violence, conversion of Bengali-medium schools into Assamese and attacks on Bengali students in education-al institutions. Similarly, the Mizos, who have struggled to establish their suprema-cy in power structures, are fearing a massive influx by Buddhist Chakmas. Inturn, the Chakmas fear they could be denied citizenship under NRC and withMizoram exempted from the CAB, protectionist permits would mean that theywould be displaced despite being settlers for decades and have to move to otherStates. With discriminatory attacks, there will be large-scale internal displace-ment of people for which nobody has any answers. The sub-nationalism of eth-nic groups may just take the wind off the sails of Hindu-dominant nationalism.

Task cut out

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Yediyurappa again”(December 10). With the BJPwinning 12 of the 15 seats in theKarnataka Assembly bypolls,Chief Minister BS Yediyurappahas not only ensured stability toits Government but has dealt aheavy blow to the Opposition,particularly the Congress andJanata Dal (Secular), who werehoping to stage a comeback.However, Yediyurappa has histask cut out. He must focus ondelivering a corruption-freeGovernment and work towardsinclusive development in theState.

GajendraVia email

Address the root issue

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “No more tears please”(December 9). Although thecommon man has been heavilyhit by the high prices of onionsand everyone has been groaningabout the Government’s inabil-ity to get the bulk back withintheir reach, it would be wrong to

put the entire blame on theGovernment.

Much of the crop wasdestroyed due to unseasonalrains in key onion-growingregions in Maharashtra,Karnataka and Rajasthan thatleft the year’s kharif crop dam-aged. But it is also true that theGovernment failed to take stockof the situation at the right

time. It could have ordered theimport of onions right at thetime when an increase wasreported. Instead, it chose towait for prices to spiral. It is nowthat we have ordered the importof onions from Egypt,Afghanistan and Turkey.

The way forward for usshould be to find possible solu-tions to increase the production

of onions and one of the mea-sures could be to increase thearea under onion cultivationacross the country.

Onions are the staple foodfor millions of Indians, thepoorest of whom often makemeals of wheat-rolled roti, greenchilli and this vegetable.

Devendra KhuranaBhopal

Business as usual

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Murder most foul”(December 10). The fire in NewDelhi’s Sadar Bazar, that claimedthe lives of 43 labourers, was anaccident waiting to happen. Mostindustrial activities in the coun-try are not regulated and functionin utter violation of labour, safe-ty and environment laws. Thatsuch a cavalier set-up was func-tioning uninterrupted speaks vol-umes about how lethargic oursystem has become.

If the proceedings in theUphaar case are anything to go by,one can very well imagine thetime the courts will take to decideon this case. Moreover, one doesnot even know if the punishmentwill be exemplary. The fund reliefannounced by the Governmentfor the victims in the Azad Mandifire does not matter. The ownerof the factory and its managerhave also been arrested. The realtest, however, will be if we canamend safety laws.

Sahil AgrawalKolkata

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

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

op nionHYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2019

06

Unfulfilled goals

RK PACHAURI

The best tribute to Gujral, who appreciated the need for India to blend development efforts withenvironmental protection, will be to revisit the findings of the GREEN India 2047 project

The last thing he (Dhoni)will want is to impose him-self on an Indian team,having known him. He iswanting to take a break buthe is going to play the IPL.

India coach —Ravi Shastri

I wasn't a household name. Iwas known by my character's name or the guywho spoke very fast. I wasalso known as the ‘monologue guy.’

Actor—Kartik Aaryan

Citizenship Bill is a part of the RSS’s HinduRashtra design of expansionism propagated by the fascist ModiGovernment.

Pakistan Prime Minister—Imran Khan

S O U N D B I T E

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

CAB: A violation of the Constitution

This refers to the report, “LS clears CAB amid pitchedbattle” (December 10). It is sad that the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) is working on an amendment that

could worsen the religious divide in the country. TheCitizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) and the NationalRegister of Citizens both will have serious Constitutionaland social implications, eroding the secular fabric of thecountry. In effect, the amendment to the CAB, when itis adopted by both Houses, will grant citizenship toHindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christianswhile shutting the doors for Muslims.

There is no doubt that the population of Hindus hasseen a drastic decline over the past several decades incountries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladeshdue to the discriminatory measures adopted againstthem. It is also true of the North-eastern States, espe-cially Assam, where the influx from across the borderhas been very high. It goes without saying that in natureand spirit, Indian secularism and its treatment of Islamhave been far more liberal than in the neighbouring coun-

tries. That said, one sincerely hopes the Bill, when it ispassed, would undergo changes that are not inimical tothe basic goals of the framers of the Constitution. Ofcourse, we have the right to frame strict laws in regardto immigrants.

JS Acharya Hyderabad

THE PROJECTESTIMATED AND

DOCUMENTED THEDAMAGE THAT

INDIAN SOCIETYHAD IMPOSED ON

THE COUNTRY’SNATURAL

RESOURCESAND ITS

ENVIRONMENTALQUALITY. IT ALSO

PROJECTED WHATCOULD HAPPEN

WITH BUSINESS ASUSUAL 50 YEARS

INTO THE FUTURE,THAT IS WHEN INDIAREACHES 100 YEARS

OF INDEPENDENCE

Send yyour ffeedback tto:[email protected]

Shut out RussiaIt is regrettable that theUSCIRF has chosen to beguided only by its prejudiceson a matter (CitizenshipAmendment Bill) on which ithas no locus standi.

MEA Spokesperson—Raveesh Kumar

The sub-nationalism of ethnic groups and the fear ofinflux may just deflate Hindu-dominant nationalism

Is the World Anti-Doping Agency's decision to ban itsathletes from international competition justified?

Anxiety in the N-E

Take it into account

WHEN WILL FAROOQ ABDULLAH AND TWO OTHERFORMER CHIEF MINISTERS AND POLITICIANS OF

KASHMIR BE RELEASED FROM PRISON?—SENIOR CONGRESS LEADER

ADHIR RANJAN CHAUDHARY

SHEIKH ABDULLAH WAS KEPT IN JAIL FOR 11 YEARSBY CONGRESS, WE WON’T FOLLOW THEM. ONCE THEADMINISTRATION DECIDES, THEY WILL BE RELEASED.—UNION HOME MINISTERAMIT SHAH

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The world is witnessing an integration ofeconomies like never before. At the sametime, political and economic volatility has

also increased manifold and no country is immuneto the resultant turmoil. Another consequence ofthis global economic integration is the rise of multi-nationals with transnational operations and sub-sidiaries in numerous countries and access to finan-cial markets worldwide.

More than one-third of all financial transac-tions occur across borders and that number isexpected to grow as the search for diversificationand better investment opportunities expands.Different accounting standards mean differentmodels. For example, a company may recogniseprofits under one set of national accounting normsand losses under another, which could ultimate-ly have an impact on its reported financial perfor-mance and position. Without common account-ing standards, cross-border activities were com-plicated in the past that resulted in adding cost,complexity and risk for both companies andinvestors using those financial statements tomake economic decisions. In such an integratedbut impulsive world economy, it is important tohave a common business language that can helpunderstand and compare businesses. Financialreporting is an important way through which com-panies communicate with external stakeholdersand standardisation of such reporting processesworldwide to bring about uniformity is more valu-able today than ever before.

With a view to improve corporate governanceand increase free flow of capital across the globe,in 2001, the International Accounting StandardsBoard (IASB) developed the International FinancialReporting Standards (IFRS), a set of high-quali-ty common accounting rules established to bringabout consistency, transparency, reliability andcomparability in the financial statements world-wide. They define the types of transactions withfinancial impact, their maintenance and reporting.This goal of a single set of high-quality globalaccounting standards is being supported by sev-eral nations, including G20 countries, several pro-fessional accounting organisations and investorsworldwide.

IFRS norms support the three pillars oftransparency, accountability and efficiency.Transparency in financial statements is broughtabout by improving the comparability and the qual-ity of financial information internationally, there-by improving the decision-making capability ofinvestors and other external stakeholders. As asource of globally-comparable information, IFRSnorms are also of vital importance to regulatorsaround the world. By reducing the informationasymmetry between the providers and users of cap-ital, they boost accountability. Improving capitalallocation by helping investors to identify oppor-tunities and risks across the world, these standardscontribute towards better economic efficiency. Theusage of IFRS has become quite widespread withapproximately 120 nations partially requiring thesestandards for their domestic listed companies.However, as many as 90 countries have fully con-formed with IFRS as promulgated by the IASB andinclude a statement, acknowledging such confor-mity in their audit reports. Even those countriesthat don’t apply the standards directly, like China,closely follow the rules that the IASB has estab-lished over the decades. According to a 2018 IFRSFoundation report, 27,000 domestically-listedcompanies on 88 major stock exchanges in theworld use the standards. India’s convergence with

IFRS started with its commitment to themomentum of growth in the G-20 sum-mit held in 2009, following which theMinistry of Corporate Affairs formulat-ed an action plan to implement the con-vergence of Indian Accounting Standardswith International Financial ReportingStandards from April 2011.

However, after initial glitches, from2016, India has implemented a newframework of the Indian AccountingStandards (Ind AS) that are based on andseek to substantially converge with IFRS,although not fully adopt them. Leasing,revenue recognition, foreign currencyconvertible bonds, current vs non-cur-rent liabilities, bargain purchases areamong the areas where India has devi-ated from IFRS.

According to the Ind AS, fromApril 1, 2016, adoption of these standardshas been compulsory for companies witha net worth upward of ̀ 500 crore, whichlater expanded to every listed companyfrom accounting period beginning on orafter April 1, 2017. Even unlisted com-panies with a net worth greater than orequal to `250 crore but less than `500crore came under its purview. Once anycompany starts following Ind AS, eithervoluntarily or on mandate, it cannotrevert to its old accounting method. Ason date, the Ministry of CorporateAffairs has notified 41 standards. Fairvalue and accurate reporting are givenmore importance, while computingfinancial statements in the new account-ing standards and substance are recog-nised to reflect the most current pictureof financials. It has also changed how thekey financials such as revenue, net prof-it, book value, operating profit, goodwilland return on equity are computed. Forinstance, under the old rules, excise dutywas deducted from sales. Conversely, asper the Ind AS, excise duty is now treat-ed as a tax on manufacturing activity.Therefore, it is assumed to be a part ofrevenue, which thereby, increases the rev-enue of companies but depresses oper-

ating margin, without, however, affect-ing Earnings per share (EPS).

Several studies have been conduct-ed worldwide to examine the usefulnessof IFRS in realising the three pillars oftransparency, accountability and efficien-cy and to help economic decision-mak-ers and stakeholders alike to makeinformed decisions. In Germany, theimpact of IFRS adoption was studiedduring 1998 to 2002 by Hung andSubramanyam where they concludedthat the value of total assets and equityand variability of net earnings are signif-icantly higher under IFRS compared tothe German Accounting Standards.However, changes in financial ratios werenot supported by their study.

Agca and Aktas conducted a pre andpost-adoption study on impacts onfinancial ratios of 147 listed firms on theIstanbul stock exchange during 2004-2005 and found out that ratios that weremajorly affected were the current and netasset turnover ratios. In contrast to otherindividual surveys by country, analystsCallao and Jarne, conducted two stud-ies comparing results in Spain and theUnited Kingdom (UK).

The results revealed that the quan-titative impact on financial ratios is sig-nificant in both countries and that it ishigher in the UK. Blanchette, Racicot andGirard, in their research, examined var-ious financial ratios of liquidity, leverage,coverage and profitability and theirimpact on the adoption of IFRS in com-panies operating in Canada and did notfind any difference. Although surveyresults showed differences in means,medians and volatility in most financialratios of companies but statistical signif-icance could not be established in manycases. When they specifically evaluatedtheir results by groups of companies whoadopted IFRS at different dates, no sig-nificant variations were found in theirresults.

Arouri researched the IFRS impactson return on equity (ROE) and value rel-

evancy over 40 French listed firms in2004 utilising the longitudinal analysisand found that ROE and net income areincreased by decrease inequity value dueto the concept of fair valuation. Also, theydid not observe any evidence of improve-ment in transparency and value rele-vance. In India, Achalapathi and BhanuSireesha studied several firms andshowed that IFRS adoption has led to anincrease in most of the liquidity, prof-itability and valuation ratios, whichwere statistically significant and were ableto conclude that an opportunity for cap-ital maintenance and protection againstfailure risk may have been provided tocompanies due to the transition toIFRS. Although standardisation andharmonisation of financial reporting isimportant in this globalised world, com-plete integration may not be possible asthere is an increasing focus among dif-ferent stakeholders on the future.Therefore, in an environment that ishighly volatile and ever-changing, it israther difficult for companies to makeaccurate predictions. Thus, more flexi-bility is needed in this area and the pos-sibilities of standardisation become lim-ited. Besides, non-financial aspects, likeCorporate Social Responsibility andSustainable Development Goals, havestarted to play a major role in companyreporting, the informative value ofwhich may vary greatly from one indus-try to another and one country toanother. The individual characteristics ofeach firm and their complex valuechains must be taken into account here,as well as the industry, sector and coun-try-specific requirements. Adequate flex-ibility is vital for coherent, stringent andappropriately-structured reporting.While standard accounting norms are allabout creating a level global playing field,adequate freedom to differentiate eacheconomy through our reporting is alsovital.

(The writer is Assistant Professor,Amity University)

While standard accounting norms like IFRS are about creating a level global playingfield, the freedom to differentiate each economy through reporting is also vital

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

EVs are the nextbig thing

PANKAJ M MUNJAL

Improved battery technology and concerns overclimate change are set to make electric vehicles

the dominant force in the automobile space

HIMA BINDU KOTA

WITH A VIEW TOIMPROVE

CORPORATEGOVERNANCE

AND INCREASEFREE FLOW OF

CAPITAL ACROSSTHE GLOBE, IN

2001, THEINTERNATIONAL

ACCOUNTINGSTANDARDS

BOARDDEVELOPED THEINTERNATIONAL

FINANCIALREPORTING

STANDARDS, ASET OF

HIGH-QUALITYCOMMON

ACCOUNTINGRULES

ESTABLISHED TOBRING ABOUTCONSISTENCY,

TRANSPARENCY,RELIABILITY ANDCOMPARABILITY

IN THE FINANCIALSTATEMENTSWORLDWIDE.

THEY DEFINE THETYPES OF

TRANSACTIONSWITH FINANCIAL

IMPACT, THEIRMAINTENANCE

AND REPORTING

The increased use of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is the first majorgame-changing revolution sweeping the automobile industry eversince the internal combustion engine changed the sector’s

dynamics. Powered by improved battery technology and madeextremely relevant by growing concerns over climate change, EVsare slowly but steadily moving towards becoming the dominant forcein the automobile space. In 2018, the global sale of plug-in vehiclesreached 2.1 million units, which constituted a 64 per cent increaseover the previous year. Of this, 69 per cent were all-electric modelswhile 31 per cent were plug-in hybrids, indicating that the consumeris increasingly preferring pure EVs. Electric bicycles (e-cycles) areanother category that is fast catching the public’s imagination glob-ally. According to a recent report by a leading market research organ-isation, the global e-cycle market is expected to touch $21 billionby 2024, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of12.5 per cent between 2019 and 2024.

Interestingly, a bulk of this growth in the EV category is com-ing from China, which accounted for more than 50 per cent of glob-al sales. It is the Scandinavian countries, however, that lead the waywhen it comes to adoption of EVs. In Norway, a whopping 40 percent of new car sales in 2018 comprised EVs while in Iceland it stoodat 17.5 per cent and in Sweden 7.2 per cent. In India, the Governmenthas already provided a major boost to the EV sector by announc-ing major investment goals for realising the objective of creating req-uisite charging infrastructure for them. The last Budget also announcedsignificant income tax breaks for people buying EVs. As the trans-port sector globally tilts towards them, a great amount of churningis expected to take place in the automobile industry, which is cur-rently dominated by internal combustion engine-powered vehicles.

An increasing shift to alternative energy is transforming differ-ent aspects of the automotive industry. With EVs clearly emergingas the future of the industry, automobile sector players are alreadyexpected to invest billions of dollars in this emerging technology. WithEVs becoming a reality sooner than it was expected, investing in thistechnology will be key for all major players to stay relevant. Currently,the EV divisions of most automobile manufacturers form a minis-cule part of their overall businesses. Most manufacturers have justone or two variants of EVs in place. However, as this is likely to changein the near future, the next 10 years will be very critical for conven-tional automobile manufacturers. It is not that the automobile tech-nology has not witnessed any transformation in a century. However,the transformation was ushered by continuing development of exist-ing technology. A shift to EVs, however, marks a complete changein automobile technology as well as major disruption in the auto-mobile ecosystem. For example, automotive parts manufacturers arelikely to be hit since EVs use fewer parts than other vehicles.

The coming years will witness a huge boost in Research &Development (R&D) in the EV sector as an increasing number ofconventional car manufacturers work overtime to improve their EVtechnology. The battery supply issues, need for fast-charging bat-teries as well as long distance charging concerns need to be addressednow. Most R&D efforts in the automobile sector are, therefore, expect-ed to focus on improving battery performance and reducing batterycosts to make EVs more affordable. The e-cycle space is also like-ly to witness a greater churning and growth. The bulkier lead-acidbatteries have already made way for much lighter nickel-cadmiumand lithium-ion batteries that have made newer models much moreviable and acceptable to the end consumer. Newer emerging trendsin the e-cycle space include luxury folding e-bikes and high-tech bikeswith smartphone integration.

With much-improved battery lives, e-cycles offer a highly sus-tainable and effective solution to the air pollution-cum-traffic con-gestion woes of countries like India. E-cycles launched in the coun-try are already offering a viable, versatile and eco-friendly alterna-tive to motorised bikes. These e-cycles come with substantial bat-tery life and can easily be pedalled back manually in case of loss ofbattery. Interestingly, most path-breaking innovation in battery tech-nology is coming from startups and not from established automo-bile players which also indicates that the latter might have to fightharder for survival.

Another interesting shift might be observed in the global cen-tres of automobile manufacturing. With countries like China and Indiagiving a major policy push to EVs, a lot of automobile manufactur-ing is likely to shift to these countries over the next 20 years. Thenext Detroit might as well emerge in one of these countries.

The emergence of EVs in a big way also gives a shot in the armto the alternative fuel sector in general. An increasing yearning for acarbon-neutral world has prompted greater work in the direction ofmaking a basket of clean fuels workable. An ethanol-powered bikehas already been launched in India. The decline of fossil fuels in gen-eral and a shift towards a greener economy will, therefore, providea boost to biofuels as well as solar energy.

(The writer is Chairman & MD of a major motor company)

In William Shakespeare’s famousdrama Julius Caesar, Cassius, anobleman, speaking with his

friend, Brutus confides in the latterthat in the best interests of the pub-lic, Julius Caesar must be stopped frombecoming the monarch of Rome.Cassius tells him, “The fault, dearBrutus, is not in our stars, but in our-selves, that we are underlings.” Howapt is this quotation today! The solu-tion to the increasing number of rapesand atrocities on women lies with usnot elsewhere. This was my intro whilewriting about the Nirbhaya rape case.

Unfortunately, since then, despitepublic outrage, rape and molestationcases have been on the rise and theyhave become more violent. The recentTelangana rape-murder case and theburning of the Unnao rape victim andher subsequent death in a hospital,show that nothing has changed. Delhiis now considered the rape capital ofthe world. Foreign countries like theUS and the UK have sent advisoriesto tourists travelling to India. In thesecountries too, there are crimes andrapes but by and large, the public isaware that the “big brother” is watch-ing and the perpetrators will becaught sooner or later.

Sadly, this is not the case in Indiaas criminals seem to have no fear ofthe authorities.

The public outrage followingthese unfortunate incidents is huge, asit should be. Asha Devi, mother ofNirbhaya, went on record and vent-ed her frustration over the fact that her

daughter’s rapists had still not beengiven capital punishment after all theseyears. In the meantime, there havebeen many high-profile rape casesallegedly involving some politiciansand gurus.

However, the way some parlia-mentarians clapped their hands insupport of the police encounter of thefour alleged rapists in Telangana andthe public support for the extrajudi-cial killings reveals the frustration ofthe people with the county’s criminaljustice system which takes years tomete out punishment.

But many apprehend that policeencounters often end up thwarting jus-tice and are often misused as a quick-fix by the security establishmentunder public pressure.

After the Nirbhaya incident, TheCriminal Law (Amendment) Act,2013 was amended and is held as oneof the most concrete steps taken by theGovernment to curb violence against

women. After the Telangana andUnnao incidents there has been clam-our for even more stringent punish-ments. The question is, do we needmore laws?

In reality, what is needed is strin-gent implementation of the existinglaws by the police, Government, lawenforcement agencies and awarenesscampaigns by women’s organisations.The cases drag on for years. In themeanwhile, the perpetrators getemboldened and attack infants, chil-dren, girls, women and even grand-mothers, to satiate their lust. Manywomen still do not go to the police toreport these incidents for lack of faithin the criminal justice system.

The spate of atrocities againstgirls/women is indeed a wake up callfor the judiciary. The StateGovernments and the High Courts(HCs) must support the Centre’s pro-posal to set up 1,000 special courts tofast-track nearly 1.67 lakh rape cases,

of which the maximum crimes werethose involving hapless children. It isalso important to note that the con-viction rate is a dismal 32 per cent andthe other perpetrators are roamingfree.

Poor investigation and shoddycase build-up by agencies result in cul-prits getting away scot-free. In short,there are failings in the entire crimi-nal justice system. The police are notprompt in dealing with rape cases, theprosecution fails to get the perpetra-tors convicted and the courts do nothave enough judges to take up cases.

The Centre and States need toaddress the issue of women’s safety ona war footing as the public has lostconfidence in the system. It is a sadcommentary that despite the SupremeCourt’s observations that judicialreforms were needed urgently, theGovernment is dragging its feet on it.

Archaic laws need to be amend-ed. It is appalling that when a toddler

is raped and is unable to give evidence,the culprits go scot-free because themother’s evidence is considered sec-ondary. How can a two-year-old childgive evidence of rape? The onus ofproof should not lie with the victim.It is this kind of incongruity within thelegal system which needs to beaddressed.

Last, but not the least, there isneed to change the mindset of thepublic. Society should strongly supportthe victims of rape and not blame orshame them. The moral fabric of thecountry is tearing up slowly and thisneeds to stop. Boys should be taughtto respect women in a country wherethe Shakti (divine feminine creativepower) cult is still relevant.

We should introspect in the after-math of Hyderabad and Unnao inci-dents and put the fear of God in theminds of perpetrators and provide jus-tice to the victims.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

Time for collective introspectionSociety should strongly support the victims of rape and not blame or shame them. The moral fabric of the country istearing up slowly and this needs to stop. Boys must be taught to respect women by their parents at an early stage

KALYANI SHANKAR

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

Sri Lanka, while dealingeffectively with any nationtrying to interfere in itsinternal affairs, needs tochange its goals onUniversal Declaration ofHuman Rights issues, andas the 2019 theme saysbring our creative,enterprising, imaginativeyouth to the front and centreof key human rights issues,including decision-makingand poverty alleviation.

(Courtesy: Daily Mirror)

BRING YOUTH TOTHE FOREFRONT

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

Now, BoB lowersMCLR lending ratesby 20 bpsMUMBAI: Following its peerslike SBI, HDFC Bank and Bankof India, state-run Bank ofBaroda also has lowered itsmarginal cost of funds-basedlending rates (MCLR) by up to20 bps across various tenors,effective December 12. The ratereduction comes even as theRBI in a surprise move had leftthe key policy rates unchangedat the last meeting onDecember 5. But the city-basedlender has reduced its one-yearMCLR rates, to which all retailloans are linked to, onlymarginally by 5 bps to 8.25percent, the bank said instatement on Tuesday. OnMonday, while SBI cut its one-year MCLR by 10 bps to 7.90percent, HDFC Bank did a 15bps cut to 8.15 percent, andBank of India reduced the sameby 20 bps to 8.20 percent.

Chinese inflationhits 8-year high aspork prices doubleBEIJING: Consumer prices inChina accelerated at theirfastest pace for almost eightyears in November as theAfrican swine fever epidemiccaused pork prices to morethan double, data showedTuesday. The consumer priceindex (CPI) — a key gauge ofretail inflation — came in at4.5 percent for November, theNational Bureau of Statistics(NBS) said, up from 3.8percent in October and thehighest rate since January2012. Analysts surveyed byBloomberg News had forecastan increase of 4.3 percent on-year. The widespread outbreakof swine fever since August2018 has disrupted the porksupply in China, sending theprices of the staple meat up110.2 percent last monthNovember. With China's pigherd down by about 40percent, authorities last weeklaunched a plan to restore porkproduction to pre-swine feverlevels by 2021.

Aditya Birla Fashiongets board nod forhiring HimanshuNEW DELHI: Aditya BirlaFashion and Retail Ltd onTuesday said that its board hasapproved the appointment ofHimanshu Kapania as vicechairman of the company witheffect from January 1. "Theboard of directors vide theirresolution dated December 10,2019, has approved theappointment of HimanshuKapania as an additional (non-executive) director and vice-chairman of the company wefJanuary 1, 2020, liable to retireby rotation," the company saidin a regulatory filing. Thedevelopment is subject to theapproval of the shareholders atthe ensuing thirteenth annualgeneral meeting of thecompany, the filing said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Borrowers defaulting on mak-ing EMI payments are claim-ing that the delays are causeddue to delay in receivingsalaries from their employers,while those in business blameit on the poor business fortheir default. These observa-tions have come out from asur vey conducted byCreditMate, a fintech com-pany belonging to the PaytmGroup. According to a HinduBusiness Line report,CreditMate surveyed over 2lakh defaulters from acrossthe country and has pub-lished the findings titled 'TheIndia Delinquency Report2019'. The period coveredfor this survey is May toNovember 2019. The broadfinding is that 54% defaulterson EMI payments, thoughthey miss the pay by date, arestill not non-performingassets (NPA), while the

remaining 46% have not paidfor over 90 days and thereforeare categorized as NPAs.

The ratio of sa lar ieddefaulters to business ownersis 36% to 29%. Some of theother reasons being attrib-uted by those sur veyedinclude medical emergencies(13%), loss of job (12%) andbeing out of the city or out ofthe countr y (10%).

CreditMate said in a state-ment regarding the findingsthat the economic slowdownbeing witnessed currently isthe major reason for thisextent of default among bor-rowers. The survey alsoshowed that men wereresponsible for more defaultsthan women. 82% of thedefaulters were men, whileonly 18% were women.

Rajan's ‘diagnosis’ of economy absolutely correct: SenaPNS nMUMBAI

The Shiv Sena today said thatcentralisaton of power in thePrime Minister's Office or PMOwas one of the main reasons forthe "poor" economic health ofthe country. The central gov-ernment wants the finance min-ister and RBI governor under itscontrol, an editorial in ShivSena's mouthpiece 'Saamana'claimed, adding that the presentBJP-led dispensation in theCentre is not ready to listen to economists as it considers theeconomy as a "share marketgamble".

It supported concerns raisedby former RBI governorRaghuram Rajan, who recentlysaid India is in the midst of a"growth recession" with signs of

deep malaise in the economythat is being run throughextreme centralisation of powerin the PMO and powerless min-isters.

India's economic growthslowed to a six-year low of 4.5per cent in the July-September

quarter. With inflation rising,fears of stagflation - a fall inaggregate demand accompa-nied by rising inflation - haveresurfaced. The Shiv Sena saidformer Prime MinistersJawaharlal Nehru and IndiraGandhi cannot be held respon-sible for the country's presenteconomic situation.

"Centralisation of power inPMO and powerless ministers -

this situation is not good for theeconomy," the Marathi publica-tion alleged.

"The present government isnot ready to listen to economistsas it considers the economy likea 'share bazaar satta'. What isNirmala Sitharaman's contri-bution as finance minister - 'Idon''t eat onion, you also do thesame'," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said in taunting

remarks. The government wantsthe finance minister, RBI gov-ernor, finance secretary andNITI Aayog chairman under itscontrol, it claimed, adding thatthis is the main reason for thecountry's "poor" economichealth. The economy is "paral-ysed" and former RBI governorRaghuram Rajan's "diagnosis" isabsolutely correct.

"The government is not readyto accept the economic slow-down. When the onion pricestouch Rs 200 per kg, the financeminister says 'I don't eat garlic,onion, so don't ask me'," itquipped.

The Sena said Prime MinisterNarendra Modi was "not trying"to improve the situation.

"When he was the ChiefMinister of Gujarat, he had

expressed concern over the ris-ing onion prices," it noted.

The Sena claimed that whenPM Modi was the ChiefMinister of Gujarat, he had saidonion is an essential commod-ity and it has become so costlythat it will have to be "kept inlockers". "The situation haschanged and Modi is now thePrime Minister and the econo-my is in a 'crisis'. An uncon-scious person is brought back tosenses by being made to smellonion, but this is not possiblenow since onions have disap-peared from markets," it said insarcastic comments.

The Sena also blamed deci-sions like demonetisation and"unnecessary focus" on projectssuch as the bullet train for thecurrent economic situation.

Loan defaulters blame it ondelayed salaries, downturn

The government wants the financeminister, RBI governor, finance secretaryand NITI Aayog chairman under itscontrol, it claimed, adding that this is the main reason for the country's ‘poor’economic health

PNS n NEW DELHI

Fitch Ratings has revised its out-look on Cairn India HoldingsLtd (CIHL) to negative fromstable saying in its assessmentthe consolidated credit profileof the company's owner,Vedanta is expected to weakenon lower metal prices.

Vedanta owns half of its 70per cent in the prolificRajasthan oil block throughCairn India Holdings Ltd(CIHL). In a statement, FitchRatings said it has revised itsoutlook on CIHL to negativefrom stable and affirmed theLong-Term Issuer DefaultRating (IDR) of 'BB-'.

"The Outlook revisionreflects Fitch's assessment thatthe consolidated credit profileof CIHL's owner, Vedanta Ltd(VLTD), is expected to weakenin the financial year endingMarch 2020 (FY2020) andFY22, after we recently loweredour long-term mid-cycle met-als and mining price assump-tions, including aluminium andcopper price assumptions, dueto falling demand," it said.

This has reduced CIHL'sheadroom at the current ratinglevel. CIHL's rating is alignedwith the consolidated credit

profile of Vedanta, which owns100 per cent of CIHL, reflect-ing their strong linkages.

"Our assessment reflects thegroup's complex shareholdingstructure and the risk of cashleakages other than dividenddistributions to parties outsideof ultimate parent VedantaResources," Fitch said.

In January 2019, CIHLinvested in a structured prod-uct of Volcan Investments Ltd,a shareholder of VedantaResources, although the invest-

ment was subsequentlyunwound profitably in August2019. "The transaction raisedconcerns from investors,including Vedanta Ltd's minor-ity stakeholders, and led todeclines in its share and bondprices.

Vedanta Resources has sincecommitted to abstain fromsimilar transactions; Fitch willmonitor Vedanta Resources tosee if any group entities providefurther support to Volcan thatcould weaken their liquidity and

hence VLTD's credit profile.The current assessment doesnot factor any cash outflowaside from dividends toVedanta Resources," it said.

CIHL has participatory inter-est in an oil and gas block inRajasthan where all fields areproducing. CIHL's productionscale, based on its 35 per centshare of the block, is small atabout 66,000 barrels of oilequivalent per day (boepd) and comparable to that of oiland gas producers in the 'B' category.

CIHL, however, benefitsfrom the low-cost structure ofthe Rajasthan block with oper-ating costs of around USD 7.5per barrel (bbl) and finding anddevelopment costs of aboutUSD 5-6/bbl. "The cost positionis significantly lower than thatof peers and supports its strongoperating cash flow. This under-pins CIHL's positive free cashflow - despite its planned invest-ments of around USD 1 billionover the next four years - andits continuing strong financialprofile with a net cash position,"it said. Fitch said CIHL's invest-ments at the Rajasthan block areexpected to increase theirproven (1P) and probable (2P)reserves.

Fitch revises outlook onCairn India to negative

In a statement, Fitch Ratings said it hasrevised its outlook on CIHL to negativefrom stable and affirmed the Long-TermIssuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘BB-'

PNS n NEW DELHI

The country's largest lenderState Bank of India (SBI) onTuesday reported about Rs12,000 crore divergence intheir bad loans for the last fis-cal.

As per the assessment doneby the RBI, the gross NPA ofthe SBI was 11,932 crore moreat Rs 1,84,682 as against Rs1,72,750 reported by the bankfor 2018-19, SBI said in a reg-ulatory filing.

Similarly, the net NPA was77,827 crore as compared todisclosed figure of Rs 65,895crore, reflecting divergence ofRs 11,932 crore, it said.

As a result the bank has tomake additional provisioningof Rs 12,036 crore in the bal-ancesheet and the notionalloss would have been at Rs6,968 crore.

SBI had posted a profit of Rs862 crore for 2018-19 in Maythis year.

It further said after subse-quent slippage or upgrada-tion during the current finan-cial year, the remaining impact

on the gross NPAs during thethird quarter of current fiscalis Rs 3,143 core.

The impact on provisioningduring the third quarter stoodat Rs 4,654 crore, it added.

In recent months, there havebeen several instances ofunder-reporting of bad loansby lenders, prompting regula-tory action by the ReserveBank of India.

Last month, SBI in a circu-lar noted that disclosures inrespect of divergence and pro-visioning are in the nature ofmaterial events and hencenecessitate immediate disclo-

sure. Further, this informationis also price sensitive, requir-ing prompt disclosure by a list-ed entity.

Accordingly, the regulatorhas decided that "listed banksshall make disclosures of diver-gences and provisioningbeyond specified threshold,as mentioned in aforesaid RBInotifications, as soon as rea-sonably possible and not laterthan 24 hours upon receipt ofthe Reserve Bank's Final RiskAssessment Report (RAR),rather than waiting to publishthem as part of annual finan-cial statements".

SBI reports loan divergenceof Rs 11,932 crore for FY19

PNS n NEW DELHI

Hyundai Motor India onTuesday said it will increaseprices of its entire productrange from next month toprimarily offset impact of ris-ing input costs. "The extent ofprice increase may vary for dif-ferent models and fuel types,"Hyundai Motor India Ltd(HMIL) said in a statement.

However, did not sharedetails of model wise pricechange. The increase has beennecessitated on account ofrise in input and materialcosts, it added. The companyis working out on details andwould share the details of themodel wise price hike later thismonth. Maruti Suzuki andTata Motors have alreadyannounced to hike prices fromJanuary.

Hyundai toincreasevehicle pricesfrom January

PNS n NEW DELHI

Drug firm Panacea Biotec onTuesday said it has launchedits VilACT brand tabletsavailable in four formula-tions, for treatment of type 2diabetes in India.

The four formulations areVildagliptin 50 mg,Vildagliptin 50 mg +Metformin HCL 500 mg,Vildagliptin 50 mg +Metformin HCL 850 mg andVildagliptin 50 mg +Metformin HCL 1,000 mg,Panacea Biotec said in a fil-ing to the BSE.

Vildagliptin product patentin India has expired onDecember 9, 2019 , it added.

"Diacar Strategic BusinessUnit (SBU) has launchedViLACT brand family. Thiswill open up a new segmentfor accelerated growth of theSBU," Panacea Biotec MDRajesh Jain said.

Panacea Biotec has engi-neered its sales and market-ing network for pharmaceu-tical formulations into SBUs,which comprise Oncotrust,Critical Care, Diacar, Procareand Growcare.

Panacea Bioteclaunchesgeneric diabetestreatment drug

Passenger vehiclesales slip again intonegative territory in NovPNS n NEW DELHI

Domestic passenger vehiclesales slipped into negative ter-ritory once again in Novemberafter registering a slight recov-ery in the preceding month, asmuted demand conditionsforced companies to reducetheir dispatches to dealers.

According to data releasedby the Society of IndianAutomobile Manufacturers(SIAM), passenger vehicle(PV) sales declined 0.84 percent to 2,63,773 units inNovember from 2,66,000 unitsin the year-ago period.

The PV sales figure wouldhave been much lower duringthe period under considera-tion, if it had not been aidedby the utility vehicle segment,which saw despatches grow by32.7 per cent to 92,739 units inNovember as compared with69,884 units a year-ago.

Domestic car sales weredown 10.83 per cent to1,60,306 units as against1,79,783 units in the year-agoperiod while van sales weredown 34.32 per cent to 10,728units as compared to 16,333 inNovember 2018.

"Challenges continue in thepassenger vehicle segment.we have to remember that thecurrent numbers are on acomparatively low base of lastNovember," SIAM DirectorGeneral Rajesh Menon toldreporters here. New launchesin the utility vehicle segmenthas helped prop up sales inOctober and November, headded. PV sales had risenmarginally in October aidedby positive festive season sen-timent and introduction ofnew models in utility vehiclespace, just about managing tosnap 11 continuous months ofdecline in sales.

Honda launches BS-VI-compliant CityPNS n NEW DELHI

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL)on Tuesday introduced BS-VIcompliant version of its premi-um sedan Honda City pricedbetween Rs 9.91 lakh and Rs14.31 lakh (ex-showroomDelhi). Petrol version of the BS-VI compliant Honda City isavailable in both manual andautomatic transmissions, whilediesel versionwill be intro-duced subse-q u e n t l y ,HCIL said ina statement.

The com-pany said it has

introduced Digipad 2.0 — anadvanced infotainment system,in V, VX and ZX variants of thecar, which now comes with 17.7cm advanced touchscreenaudio, video and navigation sys-tem with smartphone connec-tivity through Apple CarPlayand Android Auto.

Commenting on the intro-duction, HCIL Senior VicePresident & Director,Marketing and Sales Rajesh

Goel said,"The launch ofBS-6 Honda City will be

followed by sequen-tial introduction ofBS-VI versions ofother models in ourline-up".

Grofers expandsoperations to 27 citiesPNS n NEW DELHI

SoftBank-backed Grofers onTuesday said it has expanded itsservices to 27 cities in thecountry, including Vadodara,Meerut, Rohtak, Panipat,Agra and Durgapur.Grofers, which waslaunched in 2014by AlbinderDhindsa andSaurabh Kumar,previously had pres-ence in 14 Indian cities.

"With this expansion, weplan to reach out to consumersin non-metro cities and intro-duce them to the world ofvalue-for-money groceries.Increased smartphone pene-

tration has already set the pathfor digital adoption and we arehopeful that we would be ableto dominate this space, just likewe have done in our existingmarkets," Grofers co-founderand CEO Dhindsa said. Over

the last two years, Grofershas seen its annualisedgross merchandise value(GMV) grow to USD700 million (about Rs4,900 crore), the state-

ment said. "Focussed onthe price sensitive Indian

consumers who are primarilydriven by savings, the compa-ny believes this expansion willhelp Grofers to deepen thepenetration of its wide portfo-lio of own brands," it added.

PhonePe receives Rs 585.6-cr infusionfrom parent firmPNS n NEW DELHI

Flipkart-owned digital pay-ments company PhonePe hasreceived a fund infusion ofabout Rs 585.66 crorefrom its parent firmin another round,according to regu-latory filings.

PhonePe Pvt Ltd,Singapore, (formerlyFlipkart Payments PvtLtd) was allotted 13,81,278shares and the total amountpaid was Rs 585,66,18,720,according to documentssourced by business intelli-

gence platform Tofler. Thecompany declined to com-ment on the fund infusion.

In July this year, PhonePehad received a fund infu-

sion of about Rs 698crore from its parentfirm.

The latest fundinfusion is expectedto provide PhonePe

more muscle to com-pete in the burgeoning

payments segment in India.It competes against the likesof Paytm, Google Pay,Amazon Pay and others inthis space.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Telecom company BhartiAirtel on Tuesday launchedvoice over Wi-Fi service, andsaid the industry-first offer-ing wil l "signif icantlyenhance" indoor voice callingexperience for smartphonecustomers at no extra charge.

'Airtel Wi-Fi Call ing'enables Airtel smartphonecustomers to switch seam-lessly from LTE (Long-TermEvolution) to Wi-Fi basedcalling when they are insidetheir homes/offices, the com-pany said in a statement,adding that there will be noextra charge for voice callsmade with the service.

The offering currentlyavailable in Delhi/NCR, andit will be rolled out across thecountry in coming days.

"With 'Airtel Wi-FiCalling', customers with Wi-Fi at home or office will getexcellent signal quality

indoors. There will be noextra charge for calls madeover 'Airtel Wi-Fi Calling' and the applicationconsumes minimal data," thestatement said.

Commenting on the devel-opment, Randeep Sekhon,Chief Technology Officer ofBharti Airtel said, "Seamlessindoor coverage has been akey ask from mobile cus-tomers but getting permis-sions for site installations hasalways been a big challengefor mobile operators, partic-ularly in top metros. 'AirtelWi-Fi Calling'...will go a longway in making the voice calling experience moreseamless".

Airtel launches Voice over Wi-Fiservice for better indoor voice call

Follow us [email protected]/dailypioneer

WednesdayDecember 11, 2019

Time does fly doesn't it? Aswe come to the end of

another year, we look backat what made us laugh, goaww, cry or feel outraged

about 2019. From the muchanticipated Chandrayaan-IIto the Lok Sabha elections,

there was entertainmentgalore for people of all agegroups. Adding to this are

trolls on Twitter who actlike the beacon of joy

amidst the otherwise boring,mundane lives we lead,

writes K RAMYA SREE

unning a fleetingglance throughTwitter, we noticethat the GoldenTweet of the year wasModi’s. The tweet by

Modi, which was the most likedand most retweeted, was rightafter BJP’s Lok Sabha victorywherein he thanked the peoplefor voting for development.

After politics, if there issomething all Indians activelyparticipate in, it is cricket. And

the year cannot end without atweet or mention by asportsperson. The most retweet-ed sports tweet of the year wasof Virat Kohli, when he wishedformer Indian cricket captainMS Dhoni on his birthday.

Indians are also known fortheir love of cinema, and right-fully so. Tamil actor Vijay’stweet showcasing his movieposter Bigil was the mostretweeted when it came toentertainment.

R

NaMo, Bigil, Viratwinners of the

TWITTER RACE

COMING TO THE 10 TOPICSTHAT GOT INDIA TAKING TO

TWITTER THIS YEAR WERE

n #LOKSABHAELECTIONS2019 This does need an introduction.As mentioned earlier, this issomething that Indians are reallypassionate about. This electionhad a lot riding on the shouldersof the two national political par-ties and anything and everythingthey said was made into a tweetfor or against each other.

When it comes to people trending on the social media website,veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan took the top spot among malesand Sonakshi Sinha grabbed the numero uno spot amongfemales. Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, badminton champPV Sindhu were also trending for the most of the year. When itcame to politicians Smriti Irani stood first among her adversarieswhile Modi remained the most trending politician on Twitter inIndia this year.

In conclusion it is safe to say that the year 2019 was a momen-tous one for Twitteratis, who now look forward to continuing thetrolls, tirades and hashtags and keep us all enthralled.

n #CHANDRAYAAN2India’s ambitious, though failed,mission to land on the moonwas a moment of pride andhonour for all Indians. The factthat the investment made was afraction of the cost of othernations is something that speaksvolumes of our space agency.

n #DIWALIThe festival of lights, as it is pop-ularly known, is always a reasonto meet one’s extended familyand gorge on sweets. This yearwas no less as people took toTwitter to share how they cele-brated and spent time with family.

n #AYODHYAVERDICTThe catchphrase “Mandir YahinBanega” started out as a way forpolitical parties to gather votes.But with the Ayodhya verdicttaking eons (literally) to reachclosure, the phrase ended upbecoming a satire on theaforementioned parties and theverdict ended up trending formost of the year, despite beingdelivered only in November.

n #PULWAMAThe attack on CRPF men in thePulwama region of Kashmir inFebruary and the consequentblame game between us andour neighbouring nation wasmuch talked about not just byIndians, but by netizens theworld over.

n #BIGILAs mentioned earlier, actorVijay has consistently beentopping the charts when itcomes the buzz that moviesgenerate for the last threeyears. This year was no less ashis movie Bigil was the mosttalked about in entertainment.

n #CWC19Well here comescricket again. Thegaming extravaganzaruled the roost formonths and all televi-sions at homes weretuned in to watch it.

n #AVENGERSENDGAMEThe Marvel CinematicUniverse, which makes theAvengers franchise of movies,had a good run both in theatresand on Twitter. Along with fantheories, Twitter was floodedwith a healthy dose of disap-pointment over how the movieended and the situation the leadcharacters were in by the end.

n #EIDMUBARAKRounding up the list of the mosttrending Tweets is the festival ofEid. Like Diwali, this is also a fes-tival that brings together familiesand encourages building relations.People wished each other EidMubarak on the festival andhelped it reach the tenth spot.

n #ARTICLE370Kashmir was in thenews again after theCentre revoked thespecial status the stateenjoyed under Article370 and split the stateinto two UnionTerritories.

an you decode theevolution of mar-ried relationshipsin India and theimportance oftrust and loyalty

between partners? Well,Hotstar in partnership withMindshare and Unomerrecently released an indepen-dent research that seeks tounderstand India’s view oninfidelity.

Soon on the heels of its latest show Out of Love thatdeals with the aftermath ofinfidelity and the myriadchoices that people are facedwith, the study tried to deci-pher the mindset of Indianmarried individuals acrossage groups and cities. Almost50 per cent of Indians areinsecure in marriage,revealed the research. As perthe survey, insecurity inmarriage looms over as halfof all respondents feel theneed to pry, with 45 per centof people wanting to checktheir partner’s phone withouttheir knowledge and 55 percent people who have alreadydone it.

Interestingly, almost 62per cent people in love mar-riages feel the need to checktheir partners’ phones.

The survey further report-ed that suspicion of infidelityis higher in the North andEast with 32 per cent and 31per cent respectively, where-as West and South reported a22 per cent to 20 per centsuspicion rate. Around 52per cent respondents fromMumbai and 56 per centfrom Delhi claimed to havechecked their partner’sphone without their knowl-edge.

Dr Ramon Llamba, lifecoach, therapist and quantummedicine doctor, said, “We ashuman beings are naturallydriven by behavioural mecha-nisms called emotional dri-vers. People who have securi-ty and control as their prima-ry driver have this innatedesire to feed their emotions,be in control of their environ-ment and feel secure by find-ing out information. Thismechanism at a subconsciouslevel drives them to spy ontheir partner’s phone or

email.” For 50 per cent of Indians,

infidelity is not just about aphysical relationship. Overthe past few years, the defini-tion of ‘an affair’ has evolvedbeyond the physical aspect ofa relationship which nowincludes emotional andsocial media engagement aswell. While 47 per cent ofpeople claim that physicalintimacy is the worst form ofcheating, 37 per cent feel thesame way about emotionalinfidelity. As social mediadominates personal time, 16per cent respondents arebothered by social mediainfidelity.

Dr Llamba said, “Thereare various types of infidelity,some that happen out ofpurely physical needs andsome where emotions have astronger meaning. Cheatingis not planned. It happensbecause humans have nocontrol over their feelings oremotions. Often they realisethere is a void that they aretrying to fill which could beeither psychological, emo-tional or physical.”

When faced withinfidelity, willIndians forgive, for-get or fight? As perthe survey, 78 per centwill be bold about con-fronting infidelity.Having said that, almost50 per cent are willing toforgive their partnerswhereas 20 per cent arewilling to forget and therest 30 per cent claim theywill fight it out. Reasons toforgive range from accep-tance citing it as a ‘one-time thing,’ to kids andfuture holding primeimportance or evenfeeling societal or fami-ly shame. Delhi has oneof the higher rates of peo-ple who will choose to fightwith 38 per cent, while 48per cent from Mumbai willchoose to forgive.

The survey was carriedout with 1,088 marriedrespondents in the age-group of 18-64 yearsfrom across metros andtier 1 towns witha 50:50 male:female ratio.

CWhy cheat?

Is the need tocheat on one’s

partner a naturalsymptom of an

unhappy wedlock?Or is it just a desire

that goes beyondthe physical needs.

A survey revealsthat the definition

of an affair hasevolved beyond

physical and nowincludes emotional

and social mediaengagement too.

By PNS

AR RAHMAN to

compose anthem for global

climate change initiativendia’s Oscar-winning musicmaestro AR Rahman ispitching in with a creativecontribution for Hollywoodmusic veteran and humani-tarian Ken Kragen’s climate

change effort. Rahman, along with a

team of international composers, will

create a track titled Hand in hand for

the initiative.Kragen, who was honoured with

United Nations Peace Medal in 1985

for producing the historic charityanthem We are the World, has joined

hands with entertainment entrepre-

neur Neil Morgan to set up an aug-

mented reality (AR) project named

Hands Around The World.The project aims at raising money

and awareness for the cause of climate

change. The initiative will be launched

on April 22 next year, on the occasion

of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

The AR app will also be launched the

same day, reports variety.com.While details about

Rahman’s compositionare awaited, it hascome to light thatthe number willthematically bereminiscent of Weare the world.

“The mind ofthe human raceis hard wired toseek higherideals andwisdom. Forthat, thevery firststep isto pro-tect

that which holds us — planet earth,”

Rahman said.Kragen added, “It is easier to

accomplish the impossible than the

ordinary.”The AR app will allow people to

download 3D volumetric-captured

celebrity holograms and take pho-

tographs standing beside them, hold-

ing their hands. They will then com-

bine users’ photographs with hun-

dreds of millions of others to form a

virtual selfie chain that will become

the digital “Hands Around the World”.

Users will be prompted to spread

the word and encouraged to donatetowards ending cli-

mate change.“There arepeople thatwill deny cli-mate changebut they can’tdeny pollu-tion. Our pro-

ject intends togalvanise andunite people like

never before,in a positiveand fun wayto help savethe planet,”saidMorgan.

I

CELEBRATINGMOTHERHOODKIMS Cuddles mother

and childcare centreheld a ‘Mrs. Mom

contest' for pregnantwomen recently. Several

mothers-to-beenthusiastically walkedthe ramp. The panel of

judges comprised ofexperts from healthcare,fashion, politics and the

business world. Theyearly rendezvous, KIMSCuddles Mrs. Mom, was

held at Kondapur.Guests and participantsat the event enjoyed the

show.

10

Hyderabad Wednesday December 11, 2019

l Tanvi

lThe 19th edition of Ruhaniyat is all set to take off.Ruhaniyat is being performed in cities throughoutIndia since its inception in 2001. The soulful Sufisession shall be held on December 15 at 6.30 pm atTaramati Baradari Amphitheatre, Gandipeth.

CITY GUIDE

ART

EVENTS

HYDERABAD COMEDY FESTIVALlStage adda brings to you Hyderabad's biggestcomedy festIval ever. More than 35 artistes will beperforming in the city during this three-day festival.All events that will begin from December 13 will beheld at Oakwood Residence Kapil Hyderabad andBhaskara auditorium.

lGallery Space, Banjara Hills is presenting a groupart show Space Time Continuum by Sachin Jaltare,Ramesh Gorjala, Anjaneyulu G and Bratin Khan untilDecember 20 between 10 am and 6 pm.

SPACE TIME

RUHANIYAT

GET YOUR EVENT LISTED: To get your events listed,please send your details along with a poster andcontact number to [email protected]

FUN TIME

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

what’s brewing?

Phot

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Hyderabadiyoungster,designer Pinkey

Agarwal, launched‘Purple Feathers’, aflagship store at BanjaraHills recently. PurpleFeathers, founded in2014, has alreadygarnered a significantclientele with its qualityproducts, fair pricing andwide range of clothing.The launch attractedseveral fashionenthusiasts from acrossthe city.

PART

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l Viajayalakshmi Goodapati

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l Pinkey Agarwal and Ram l Silpi Reddy

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umita

fter achieving a rare distinction of being the first south starto have the Hindi-dubbed versions of three of his films —Nenu Sailaja, Vunnadi Okate Zindagi and Hello GuruPremakosame — cross more than 100 million views onYouTube, actor Ram Pothineni has added another featherto his cap. His Hello Guru Premakosame (dubbed Dumdaar

Khiladi), directed by Trinadha Rao from a script of Prasanna KumarBezawada, has garnered more than a million likes, making him thefirst south Indian actor to achieve such afeat. The romantic-drama set in a fami-ly backdrop has clocked more than140 million views and counting.“The fact that it’s a neat love storywith romantic moments aplentyworked in its favour, attractingmany repeat viewings,” said anindustry observer.

Chuffed to bits with the devel-opment, the actor, in a video,thanked all the people who havewatched it. “Thank you for all themad love. And I hope to keep youall entertained,” he added.

The actor is now shooting foraction-thriller Red; a remake ofTamil hit Thadam. Producedby Sravanthi Movies, itis being directed byKishore Tirumala.

he might not have had a major releasethis year but it has been an extremelyproductive year for Keerthy Suresh.From heading a couple of female-cen-tric Telugu films — Miss India andGood Luck Sakhi to her Hindi debut

with Ajay Devgn, she had her plate full for theyear. She has also signed Nithiin-starrerRang De! which goes to floors next year.Rounding off the year on a high, she hasannounced that she will be featuring oppo-site superstar Rajinikanth in his 168th

endeavour with Siruthai Siva. Althoughnames like Jyothika and Manju Warrier

were bandied for the coveted hero-ine’s role, the Mahanati girl pipped

them. “Extremely happy toannounce this magical milestone

in my journey. From being awestruck of @rajinikanth sir tosharing screen space withhim will be my most cher-ished memory in my life.Thank you @directorsiva sir@sunpictures (sic),” anexcited Keerthy tweeted.

The likes of Meena,Prakash Raj and Sooriare on board for sup-porting roles in the film,a Sun Pictures produc-tion.

Known for popcornTamil entertainers likeVeeram, Vedalam andViswasam among oth-ers, Siva has penned asignature rural dramathat will be high onentertainment andaction for Rajini.The shoot will beginlater this monthand the makers, it isunderstood, arekeen on releasing itfor Diwali next year.D. Imman is themusic composer.

he Pioneer was thefirst to report (onDecember 5) thatVijay Deverakonda’snext, Fighter, withPuri Jagannadh will

be made in Hindi as well, mark-ing the actor’s Bollywood debut.Impressed by the story,

Bollywood heavy hitter KaranJohar has come forward to asso-ciate with it in Hindi and a dealto this end is also on the verge ofbeing signed. The latest is thatPuri has shifted base to Mumbai.Also, some dynamics of the filmtoo have been changed afterDharma Productions agreed tocome on board.

A source says, “Along with acouple of his assistants, Puri leftto Mumbai on Tuesday. Thedirector initially planned toshoot some portions of the filmin Europe but that is going tochange now. With Dharma beinga partner, he decided to go bigand instead will be filming thesame portions in the US. A mas-sive Mumbai schedule too is onthe cards.”

In Fighter, an emotionalaction-drama, Deverakonda willbe seen as a youth with a stam-mer. Professionally, he will beseen as a martial arts exponent.With the film being made inHindi now, Puri has plans torope in Hindi actors as well forcrucial supporting roles. Thecasting will be dealt by a pro-fessional Mumbai castingagency. The film will begin

shooting next month. Purihad plans to release itin summer next yearbut the release mightget deferred. — NG

Hyderabad Wednesday December 11, 2019

A

T

11

tollywood

or a major part oflast year, S.S.Rajamouli’s periodaction-drama RRR,starring Jr NTR andRam Charan, was

shot predominantly in special-ly erected sets in Hyderabadand some parts in Bulgaria.Although the makers havebeen discreet about the shoot-ing locations, fearing that fansmight visit the places and dis-turb the shoots, The Pioneerhas learnt that the shootinghas now shifted toVisakhapatnam.

“Beginning Tuesday, the

new schedule will last for aweek. Sequences involvingNTR will be shot during thisouting. Paderu and its neigh-boring coffee plantations willbe hosting the shoot. The unitreached Vizag on Monday,while Tarak joined the loca-tion on Tuesday morning. Infact, the current season servesas a perfect setting for crucialclimax portions of the film.Rajamouli discovered thelocation when he visited thesets of his son Karthikeya’smaiden production venture,Aakashavani, earlier this yearand decided to use it for RRR.

The next schedule will seeAjay Devgn and Alia Bhattjoining the team for the firsttime,” said a source close tothe film’s unit.

Being made on a budget ofRs 400 crore, RRR, set in early1920s, is a fictional storybased on two real-life heroesand freedom fighters —Alluri Seetharama Raju andKomaram Bheem. Tarak willbe playing the youngerBheem, with English actressOlivia Morris paired alongsidehim, while Charan will beseen as the younger Ramaraju,with Alia Bhatt as his leading

lady. The likes of Ajay Devgn,P. Samuthirankani and Irishactors Alison Doody and RayStevenson are essaying signifi-cant roles. The film, one of themost anticipated venturesacross the country, has a July30, 2020, release date. But,with the shooting set to con-tinue till the onset of summernext year, the date might bepostponed. But there is noofficial confirmation from themakers about this. BesidesTelugu, Tamil, Malayalam andHindi, the makers are plan-ning to release it in six otherlanguages simultaneously.

Rajamouli has alwaysbeen secretive about

his shoots, be itlocations or dates. But

now, NAGARAJGOUD finds out the

next destination forthis epic RRR team

RRR

F

MOVES TOSCENIC

PADERU

Dharma pushfor Puri's Fighter

KEERTHYon cloudnine

SHWETAends marriagewith Rohit

ctress ShwetaBasu Prasad, whois known for herroles in films likeKotha BangaruLokam and Ride,

has announced separationfrom her husband RohitMittal.

The two had tied the knot-as per Bengali rituals- atPune in an intimate affair onDecember 13 last year. Beforetying the knot, they’ve datedfor four years.

Sharing the news onInstagram on Mondayevening, Shweta said thatthey came to the decision-after months of contempla-tion, stating that it was intheir ‘best interests’. “Hieveryone, Rohit Mittal and Ihave mutually decided topart our ways and end our

marriage. After months ofcontemplation, we arrived atthis decision a few monthsago in each other’s best interests, as individuals. Not every book is supposedto be read cover to cover, that doesn’t mean the book isbad, or one can’t read, somethings are just best unfin-ished. Thank you Rohit forthe irreplaceable memoriesand always inspiring me.Have a great life ahead, for-ever your Cheerleader (sic),”her post read.

A popular child artist withtwo national awards to hername, Shweta met Rohit, adirector at Phantom filmsand the two had an instantconnection. It is believedacclaimed filmmaker AnuragKashyap played cupidbetween them.

Haathi Mere Saathi a ‘big actionspectacle' with 12 elephants

ctor RanaDaggubati is excit-ed about hisupcoming action-spectacle HaathiMere Saathi as the

film focuses on environmentalissues and deforestation crisis.

Directed by PrabhuSolomon, the lavishly-mount-ed movie will release acrossthree languages — Hindi,Tamil and Telugu — in thesummer of 2020.

“Haathi Mere Saathi is astory of a man living in the

jungle for 25 years. The crux isa problem which is evidenttoday — the issue of deforesta-tion, and a wall which is beingmade in the middle of the jun-gle which breaks nature andthe elephant corridor.

“It’s a story of a man whofought for the jungle, the ani-mals, against the society. It haslots of action. It’s a big specta-cle film, with me and 12 ele-phants,” Rana told PTI in aninterview.

The movie is a tribute ofsorts to the late legendary

actor Rajesh Khanna, whostarred in the 1971 film of thesame name, but will have afresh storyline.

The Baahubali star said thefilm is one of the many suchstories that he would like topresent to the audiences today,especially in the time of OTTplatforms.

“The stories I want to tellare very specific. Whether it’sBaahubali, Ghazi or HaathiMere Saathi. These aren’t thefilms you’ll find in marketsomewhere. It’s not like I’m

running in any competition. Ican make a Telugu film, aHindi film... it doesn’t matter,as long as it’s an interestingstory.

“I am doing a love story inTelugu, then Haathi MereSaathi, a tri-lingual film that’sout next summer. I’m able todo unique things, becausetoday the entertainment busi-ness has also become so big,with films and OTT platforms,the excitement is to find newerstories to tell,” Daggubati,added.

S

A RAM is adubbing king

A

PTI n MUMBAI

India will have to address the manyinadequacies laid bare by a resoluteWest Indies in the second T20

International when the two teamsmade up of power-hitters square offin what promises to be an enthrallingseries-finale here today.

The rubber is locked 1-1 aftertwo-time world champions WestIndies turned on the style in the sec-ond T20 International inThiruvananthapuram following aVirat Kohli special in the lung-open-er in Hyderabad.

For India, the focus will onceagain be on young guns like off-spin-ner Washington Sundar and under-fire wicketkeeper-batsman RishabhPant.

The spotlight on Pant, especially,has been obsessive and it is expectedto be no different when the team takesthe field at the Wankhede Stadium.

As for Sundar, it would be inter-esting to see whether the team man-agement persists with him or giveschinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav agame.

Sundar has taken only three wick-ets in the last five T20s that he hasplayed (two against West Indies andthree against Bangladesh) and leaked144 runs in 23 overs that he bowled.

He also ended up wicket-less inthe two T20 Internationals againstSouth Africa.

Sundar's fielding is another aspectabout which skipper Virat Kohliwould be worried. In the last game, hedropped a sitter of Lendl Simmons,whose 45-ball 67 laidthe foundationof the West Indies' eight-wicket tri-umph.

Kuldeep last played a T20 againstNew Zealand in Hamilton back inFebruary. He warmed the benches inthe first two games.

For Pant also things are only get-ting tougher. The focus on him hasbeen unrelenting and it won't be easyfor him to regain the early form thatmade him seem like Mahendra SinghDhoni's heir apparent.

Coming in at No.4, Pant madescores of 33 not out, 18, 6, 27, 19, 4in the last seven T20s that he featuredin.

His last T20 fifty came againstWest Indies in August, in Providence.With the likes of Sanju Samson wait-

ing in the wings, Pant will have tocome good sooner than later.

But in overall analysis, India's bat-ting has never been a problem.Opener Rohit Sharma, who had arare-twin failure, would be raring togo before his home crowd.

K L Rahul and skipper Kohli arealso among the runs. Shivam Dube,who slammed his maiden T20 fifty,showed he can hit towering sixes andhe would want to perform before hishome crowd and so Shreyas Iyer.

However, bowling is a slight con-cern. A profligate pace duo of DeepakChahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumarleaked runs in the first two matches.

Chahar had a memorable series

against Bangladesh but has not man-aged to repeat the show this timearound. With Mohammed Shamiaround, Chahar will have to step up.

Also, India's fielding was waybelow par. The dropped catches andseveral mis-fields prompted Kohli tosay if the performance does notimprove, no score would be enough.

The hosts are also good chase-masters but will need to learn how todefend targets.

On the other hand, West Indieswill also fancy their chances to clinchthe series after the terrific comeback.

Their top-order batsmen, partic-ularly Simmons, are in splendid form.Also the likes of Evin Lewis, Nicholas

Pooran and Shimron Hetymar areamong the runs and they will look tocontinue the form.

Add to it, the firepower of BrandonKing, Jason Holder and skipper KieronPollard, the West Indies can lookunbeatable on their day.

Even their bowlers, includingpacer Sheldon Cottrell, are among thewickets. Along with Cottrell, KesrickWilliams, leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jrand Holder, will have to bowl in theright areas to stem the flow of runs.

The West Indies also have fondmemories of playing T20s at theWankhede as in the 2016 ICC WorldCup semi-final, they defeated India andwent on to win the title.

SQUADSIndia: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KLRahul, Rishabh Pant, Manish Pandey,Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube,Ravindra Jadeja, WashingtonSundar, Yuzvendra Chahal,Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar,Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shami,Sanju Samson.West Indies: Kieron Pollard(captain), Fabian Allen,Brandon King, DeneshRamdin, Sheldon Cottrell, EvinLewis, Sherfane Rutherford,Shimron Hetmyer, KharyPierre, Lendl Simmons, JasonHolder, Hayden Walsh Jr, KeemoPaul, Kesrick Williams.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2019 sport 12

PTI n MUMBAI

West Indies coach PhilSimmons on Tuesday

said the team would be bank-ing heavily on skipper KieronPollard in the series-decidingthird T20 International againstIndia as his understanding ofthe pitch due to IPL exposurewill be “invaluable” for thebowlers.

Pollard has played a lot atthe Wankhede Stadium as hehas been part of the MumbaiIndians IPL squad andSimmons said his experiencewill help the visiting bowlers.

“(Kieron) Pollard hasplayed a lot at this venue, theothers have not played thatmuch. I think the experiencewhich they have got from hereis invaluable and especiallythe captain (Pollard), as he hasbeen here for 10 years,”Simmons said in the pre-matchpress conference here.

“He knows things insideout and that will definitelyhelp our bowlers mainly, thereare a few youngsters in this for-mat. It will definitely help,” headded.

There have been lot ofdropped catches from boththe sides and Simmons saidthere should be no excuses forfielding lapses.

“You will not win games ifyou drop them. The playerswill have to tell you if it is thelights or whether it is their exe-cution or their position,” hesaid.

“...I do not like excuses. Ithink if you drop a catch it isyour fault. You can blame thelights but I think we just have tokeep working hard so we do notdrop any,” he added.

Pollard replaced JasonHolder as the captain of the ODIteam, while he replaced CarlosBrathwaite to become skipper ofthe T20 side and Simmons said

he has been doing well in thetwin roles.

“I didn’t have Jason (Holder)a lot in the ODIs when I wasthere (as a coach) before. Kieron(Pollard) is proactive with all the

players. He lets them knowexactly what he wants fromthem. He’s been good in the

sense that they know that he’llgive everything for the team,”Simmons said.

PTI nMUMBAI

The Indian team might betreating every bilateral T20

assignment as an audition fornext year’s World Cup but vice-captain Rohit Sharma prefers tofocus on the present instead oflosing sleep over a marqueeevent, which is still 10 monthsaway.

India will lock horns withtwo-time world T20 championsin the series-deciding thirdmatch here even as the efforts tofind the right combination forthe marquee event continue.

“See, I don’t want to keepsaying that we are trying to builda squad for the (T20)WorldCup. It is still a long, long wayahead. We just need to focus onwinning the series and that willkeep us in good state, movingforward,” Rohit said on Tuesdayahead of the series-finale.

“If we keep winning games,keep doing the right things onthe field, the composition of the

team will take care(of itself),” Rohitadded.

The stylish batsman thengave his rationale for why hewants to take one series at a time.

“We are playing against aquality team and hereafter SriLanka is coming, then we go toNew Zealand and thereafterthere are a lot of T20s to focuson. If we focus on the present,that will help us more than any-thing else.

“Right now, we need to seewhat are the mistakes we aremaking so that when we comeout and play every fresh game,we look like a different side.”

Talk about chasing, Rohitagreed that India have been bet-ter while batting second com-pared to defending totals asone found out in the first twogames in Hyderabad (won whilechasing) andThuiruvananthapuram (lostwhile defending).

“Yes, of late our chasing hasbeen good compared to postingtargets. It was a good target thatwe posted but again it’s a new setof guys.

“There are a lot of inexpe-rienced players along with expe-rienced players but that is whatevery T20 team now has, bit ofinexperience, along with thatsome experience. Those twoelements need to come togeth-er to form a very composition

(composite) side.”He gave West Indies

credit for chasing a tar-get of 171 on a slow track.

“When you talk aboutsetting targets, on that pitch (in2nd T20 Intl), a target of 170 plus(171) looked decent. When westarted batting, the wicket wason the slower side, the shot-

making was not thateasy although

the WestIndies made itlook veryeasy.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

India coach Ravi Shastrisays none can “mess around

with” Mahendra Singh Dhoniif he decides to be in con-tention for next year’s T20

World Cup but the enigmat-ic former captain would“never impose himself ” onthe team.

In a soon-to-be-telecastinterview on ‘India Today’channel, Shastri was asked

about the much-speculatedfuture of Dhoni, who hasbeen on a sabbatical eversince India’s semifinal exitfrom the ODI World Cup inEngland earlier this year.

“That (Dhoni) guy is alegend. The last thing he willwant is to impose himself onan Indian team, havingknown him.

He is wanting to take abreak but he is going to playthe IPL,” Shastri said on theshow ‘The Inspiration’.

Asked if he isn’t rulingout a comeback by the 38-year-old, Shastri answered,“The amount of sport he hasplayed... If he puts himself incontention... If he feels afterthe IPL that ‘I am goodenough to play for India’,don’t mess around with that.”

Dhoni, after maintain-ing a stoic silence on hisfuture plans for months, hadrecently stated that, “Don’t askanything till January.”

PTI n RAWALPINDI

The return of Test cricket toPakistani soil is an emotion-

al occasion, captain Azhar Alisaid on Tuesday but that willnot come in the way of histeam’s efforts to make amendsfor a disastrous tour ofAustralia.

Pakistani players will playTest cricket at home after a gap

of 10 years whenthey take on SriLanka in a two-Testseries starting heretoday.

“All the players are veryemotional about this Test series.It is great to be back to ourhome grounds and I just hopethat Test cricket returns regu-larly to Pakistan now,” Azhartold a media conference.

Azhar alsoconceded that theseries is a make-or-break situation for

his team it has not been play-ing well in Test cricket forsome time now. Pakistan lost 0-2 to Australia

“It is unacceptable the waywe lost in Australia. The lasttwo series in South Africa andAustralia have been tough for

us. We know how importantthis series is.

“We need to turn to reverseour results and get back on thewinning track as there is a lotof pride in Pakistan cricket andwe need to win back the confi-dence of the fans,” he said.

The under-pressurePakistan skipper also made itclear that Sri Lanka would be atough side to beat even inhome conditions.

“Sri Lanka has always beena tough team because they playdisciplined cricket. We alsohave to play disciplined crick-et in every department. Testcricket demands disciplinedcricket. You can’t win a test inone session but you can lose atest in one session. So one has

to be disciplined to beat SriLanka at home or away,” he said.

“We have to rely on ourbowling attack. Yasir Shah did-n’t do well in Australia but hehas won us many matches andI think he will return to his oldself in this series. We haveconfidence in our attack and weare backing them,” he added.

There is a forecast of rainhere on the second and thirddays of the match.

Azhar said one can’t say forcertain how much time isrequired to rebuild the team.

“We have never keptpatience and we don’t give therebuilding process time. I thinkthese players have a lot ofpotential and they will sooncome out of their comfort zoneonce they play under differentconditions. We have to keeppatience instead of calling forchanges,” he asserted.

PTI n RAWALPINDI

Sri Lankan Test skipperDimuth Karunaratne feels

the presence of former Pakistancoach Mickey Arthur in theircamp will be a “big advantage”when his side take on Azhar Ali’smen.

“Mickey is with us and pre-viously he was the coach of thePakistan team as well so it is apositive thing for us that heknows the Pakistan team veryclosely and that has given us a lotof confidence for this series,” hesaid on the eve of the match.

However, the skipper saidthe onus will be on the his play-ers to execute plans properly.

“His presence is a big advan-tage to us as he knows each andevery player very closely. Howthey think. How they prepare.

But we have to do things right inthe middle and implement ourplans properly.”

"Our bowlers have to bowlin the right areas to every bats-man and we have to also applyourselves in batting and fielding.Pakistan has never been an easyside to beat at home. The goodthing is we know their game wellhaving played regularly againstthem in gome or UAE,” he said.

He added that playing inPakistan for the first time servesas a motivation for him do wellin the series.

“I am in Pakistan for the firsttime and that is also a motiva-tion for me to do well as I haveplayed against them at home andin UAE. But this will be a differ-ent experience for me and mostour guys who are playing herefor the first time,” he said.

‘WC is long way away,let's focus on present’SERIES DECIDER

Rohit Sharma, top left, Kuldeep Yadav, right, Ravindra Jadeja, front left, Deepak Chahar, right, warmsup during a training session AP/File Picture

Pollard’s IPL experience will benefit WI

Pollard looks on during training AP

‘Pollard is a smart thinker’PTI n MUMBAI

Rohit Sharma has seen acapable leader in Kieron

Pollard from close quarters andbelieves that his longtimeMumbai Indians teammate hasbeen responsible for a trans-formed West Indies side inwhite ball format.

Rohit termed the WestIndies captain as a “smartthinker of the game”.

“I know Pollard really welland he has a great knowledgeabout the game. I know as aleader what he would be expect-ing from the team. Under hisleadership, it is a different teamthat we are seeing now, so yes,we have to be at our best when

we play them,” said Rohit.“He (Pollard) is a very

smart player, smart thinkerand he has been the captain ofthe team. When it comes toMumbai (Indians), he hasalways been part of the leader-ship group and last year whenI wasn’t available for one game,he captained MI. So, he hasalways been part of the leader-ship group and I know how hethinks.”

Rohit agreed that theCaribbeans are unpredictable asa side.

“They are very unpre-dictable as a team, you neverknow what they can come upwith on a given day, like we sawthe other day,” said Rohit.

Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali with his Sri Lankan counterpart Dimuth Karunaratne pose with trophy before start of Test series PCB

No more int’l cricketat neutral venuesRAWALPINDI: Pakistan willno longer look for neutralvenues to stage home inter-national cricket matches.

“The onus will be onthe other teams to tell uswhy they can’t play inPakistan,” Pakistan CricketBoard chairman EhsanMani told the AssociatedPress on Tuesday.

“Our default positionwill remain that Pakistan issafe. We play cricket inPakistan (and if) you wantto play against Pakistan youhave to come to Pakistan.”

“It’s only logical thatcricket comes home,” Manisaid. AP

Micky Arthur explains some bating techniques to Niroshan Dickwella AP

Mickey’s presence is bigadvantage: Karunaratne

Don’t mess with Mahi

Ravi Shastri and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a file picture AFP

PCB invite CA for Test seriesPTI n KARACHI

The Pakistan Cricket Boardis trying to convince

Cricket Australia to send itsnational team for a Test seriesin Pakistan in 2022, accordingto its CEO Wasim Khan.

“Cricket Australia hasagreed in principle to playthree Tests in Pakistan’s homeseries. Obviously, we aredoing everything to ensureAustralia agrees to play inPakistan in 2022 and it is anongoing process,” Khan toldreporters.

He added that under thenew Future Tours Program,whenever Pakistan andAustralia play a bilateral seriesit will include three Tests.

Australia has not touredPakistan since 1998, forcingthe 1992 World Cup champi-ons to conduct their homeseries’ at neutral venues,including Sri Lanka, England,and UAE.

The PCB official lament-ed that whoever from theboard had agreed to the exist-ing Future Tours Programschedule has not givenenough importance to Testmatches.

“It is unfortunate that weare among those countrieswho play the least number ofTest matches in a season.Whereas other leadingnations play 8 to 14 Tests ina year we don’t even get six toseven,” he said.

Khan also confirmed thatthe PCB has dispatched theproposed itinerary of the ICCTest Championship Tests tothe Bangladesh Cricket Boardto be played in January.

“We have sent the itiner-ary and are awaiting aresponse. After Sri Lanka’sarrival to play the two Testswe don’t foresee any problemsin the Bangladesh boardagreeing to send their team inJanuary,” he said.

It’s an emotional moment: Azhar on return of Test cricket to Pak

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India face Windies in winner takes it all contest at Wankhede

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