www.thehansindia.com
00
WINDOWS
Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad
The Proud Indian
RS bids
emotional
farewell
to Azad
NeW Delhi: leaders from
across parties bid an emo-
tional farewell to senior Con-
gress leader Ghulam Nabi
Azad on his retirement from
the Rajya Sabha. Mentioning
Pakistan in his retirement
speech, Azad, 71, said he was
among the fortunate people
who never went to Pakistan
and he felt proud to be an in-
dian Muslim. “i am among
those fortunate people who
never went to Pakistan.
When i read about circum-
stances in Pakistan, i feel
proud to be a hindustani
Muslim,” Azad said. Attribut-
ing his success to indira
Gandhi, Azad said the former
prime minister and Sanjay
Gandhi gave him opportuni-
ties to work in the Congress.
he also noted the opportuni-
ties given to him under the
leadership of former Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi, cur-
rent Congress president So-
nia Gandhi, and Rahul
Gandhi. he also lauded for-
mer Prime Minister Atal Bi-
hari Vajpayee for his ability
to seek solutions by including
everyone. “i learned from Va-
jpayee how to solve problems
by giving something to both
the opposition and the ruling
party,” Azad said. “it was very
easy to manage parliament
under his leadership due to
this.” Azad highlighted that
people will keep their trust in
the lawmakers till the time
they do work for them and
pass laws. “if we only keep on
fighting amongst ourselves,
we will lose the trust of peo-
ple,” he said. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said the Con-
gress leader had “has set very
high standards as MP and
Opposition leader”.
Citizens will spy on citizens online
NEW DELHI
uNTil now, law-enforce-
ment agencies mainly re-
lied on the cyber police to
watch over social media or
address online crime in that
country, but that is chang-
ing now.
in a bid to keep an eye on
the cyber world in a ‘coordi-
nated and comprehensive
manner’, the union govern-
ment has asked common
people to register as cyber-
crime volunteers to help
Simultaneously published from Hyderabad | Warangal | Tirupati | Amaravati | Visakhapatnam | Khammam | Kurnool | Delhi
Sharmila to launch LANDSLIDE TRIGGERED
YSRTP in April GLACIER DISASTER: SHAH
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
“RAJANNA Rajyam is
coming and it will be pos-
sible only by me,” with this
one sentence, Y S Sharmila,
daughter of former Chief
Minister Y S Rajasekhar
Reddy, made her intention
clear that she was all set for
political entry with YSR
Telangana Party. According
to sources, the YSRTP
would be launched in April.
A lot of consultations,
suggestions and arguments
are leant to have taken
place before she decided to
launch her party in Telan-
gana. According to the chief
advisor to the Government
of Andhra Pradesh, Sajjala
Ramakrishna Reddy, there
was a difference of opinion
in the family on this issue
for the past three months.
Ramakrishna Reddy said
there was a proposal to ex-
pand the activities of YS-
RCP in Telangana but Ja-
gan felt that it would not be
proper to do so because
once the State is divided
and has different govern-
ments, the two govern-
ments will have to work in
coordination and coopera-
TWITTER
REACHES
OUT TO GOVT
NEW DELHI: Social media
giant Twitter on Tuesday
reached out to the Union
government in view of
the request to remove
over 1000 accounts over
the charges of spreading
hate propa-
ganda in the
nation
against the
ongoing
farmers'
protest. Twitter officials
have contacted the gov-
ernment to hold a formal
dialogue. It also iterated
that the security of its
employees is the top-
most priority for the
company. "Safety of our
employees is a top prior-
ity for us at Twitter. We
continue to be engaged
with the government
from a position of re-
spect and have reached
out to the Honourable
Minister, Ministry of
Electronics and Informa-
tion Technology for a for-
mal dialogue," a Twitter
spokesperson said.
The development
comes after the govern-
ment ordered Twitter to
take down 1,178 ac-
counts for allegedly
spreading misinforma-
tion around farmers'
protests. The govern-
ment, on February 4,
had ordered Twitter to
block 1,178 accounts
with links to Pakistan
and Khalistan support-
ers that were spreading
misinformation and
provocative content on
farmers' protest.
CENTRE LAUNCHES PROJECT I4C
check posts against the sov-
ereignty of the nation, on
child and women abuse and
attempts to disturb the law
and order situation.
The project known as in-
dian Cyber Crime Coordi-
nation Centre (i4C) is an
initiative of the Ministry of
home Affairs. it was started
in militancy-hit Jammu
and Kashmir last week
where the police issued a
circular asking citizens to
register themselves as vol-
unteers.
VOL. 10 | NO. 205 | WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2021 | HYDERABAD| PAGES 14 | `5.
Follow @ /thehansindia |
Y S Sharmila, daughter of former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara
Reddy, waves at her supporters in front of her residence at Lotus
Pond in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Photo: Srinivas Setty
tion on several issues. if the
same party exists in both
States, it will lead to
strained relations in both
the States and the govern-
ment will lose leverage and
hence there was no ques-
tion of having YSRCP in
Covid unlikely to have KCR to launch Sagar
leaked from China lab bypoll campaign today
BeiJiNG: Coronavirus is
unlikely to have leaked
from a Chinese lab and is
more likely to have jumped
to humans from an animal,
a World health Organiza-
tion expert said on Tuesday.
WhO food safety and an-
imal diseases expert Peter
Ben embarek made the as-
sessment at the end of a
visit to the central Chinese
city of Wuhan, where a
team of scientists is inves-
tigating the possible origins
of the coronavirus. The first
cases were discovered in
the city in December 2019.
The Wuhan institute of
Virology has collected ex-
tensive virus samples,
leading to allegations that
it may have caused the
HMDA erected a sculpture in the form of human hands in a symbolic way protecting nature at Narsingi as part
of ORR beautification drive. Photo: Adula Krishna
The volunteers are asked
to keep an eye on posts
which are against the sover-
/thehansindiaweb | /thehansindia | /thehansindia | /thehansindia
Telangana. The same was
repeatedly conveyed to
Sharmila. They also ex-
plained to her about the
problems involved in
launching and running a
political party, said Reddy.
Continued on Page 7
Peter Ben Embarek, of the World
Health Organization team holds up
a chart showing pathways of
transmission of the virus
original outbreak by leak-
ing the virus into the sur-
rounding community.
China has strongly re-
jected that possibility and
has promoted other theo-
ries that the virus may
have originated elsewhere.
The team is considering
eignty and integrity of in-
dia, against the defence of
india, against the security
Forecast: Sunny.Temp: Max.32°C. Min.20°C. Humidity: 15% Sunrise: 06:45 Sunset: 06:15
EFFORTS ON TO RESCUE TRAPPED PEOPLE IN TUNNEL
NEW DELHI
eVeN as 31 bodies have been
recovered after the glacier dis-
aster near Joshimath in ut-
tarakhand so far, union home
Minister Amit Shah told the
Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that
a landslide triggered the snow
avalanche leading to the tragic
incident in the state.
The minister said the ava-
lanche covering approximately
14 square km area caused a
flash flood in the Rishiganga
river downstream in uttarak-
hand's Chamoli district.
Sharing details of the disas-
ter in lok Sabha, the home
Minister said, "About 25-35
people are feared to be
trapped in the second tunnel
of the National Thermal
Power Corporation (NTPC)
project. The efforts are under-
way on war footing to rescue
them." he said the incident was
observed from the satellite data
(Planet lab) of february 7, 2021
(Sunday) in catchment of Rishi
Ganga river at the terminus of
the glacier at an altitude of
5,600 metres.
Continued on Page 7
several theories for how
the disease first ended up
in humans.
“Our initial findings sug-
gest that the introduction
through an intermediary
host species is the most
likely pathway and one
that will require more
studies and more specific,
targeted research,” em-
barek said.
“however, the findings
suggest that the laboratory
incidents hypothesis is ex-
tremely unlikely to explain
the introduction of the
virus to the human popu-
lation,” embarek said.
Transmission through the
trade in frozen products
was also a likely possibility,
embarek said.
of the state, against friendly
relations with foreign
states, content aimed at dis-
turbing public order, dis-
turbing communal har-
mony and child sex abuse
material.
A spokesperson of
Jammu and Kashmir police
said that any indian citizen
can get associated with this
programme by registering
in any of three categories of
cyber volunteers — Cyber
Volunteer unlawful Con-
tent flagger, Cyber Aware-
NDRF personnel carry the body of a victim who died in the massive floods
caused after a glacier broke off in Joshimath in the Dhauli Ganga river, near
Raini village in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on Tuesday
TOLL CLIMBS TO 32
DEHRADUN: The death toll in
the Uttarakhand glacier dis-
aster rose to 32 with the re-
covery of five bodies on Tues-
day, the State Emergency
Operation Centre said, even
as the operation to rescue
around 30 workers feared
trapped inside a tunnel at the
Tapovan power project in
Chamoli district continued.
The State Emergency Oper-
ation Centre said 175 people
are still missing after the
HANS NEWS SERVICE
NAGRJUNA SAGAR
Chief Minister K Chan-
drasekhar Rao will launch
the TRS poll campaign for
Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly
by-election on Wednesday
by addressing a huge public
meeting where he will be
highlighting how Nalgonda
has been transformed dur-
ing the last six years.
KCR will be listing out
developments that the dis-
trict had witnessed in the
last six years which in-
cludes improvement in
paddy production. Before
bifurcation, the district
used to produce only 2 lakh
metric tons of paddy but
now it is producing around
Prestigious
honour for
RG Intl Airport
GMR-run Indira Gandhi Interna-
tional Airport (IGIA) in New
Delhi and Rajiv Gandhi Inter-
national Airport (RGIA) in Hy-
derabad have received the
ACI (Airports Council Inter-
national) world's prestigious
'Voice of Customer' recogni-
tion. Both airports have been
recognised for their continu-
ous efforts to listen to their
passengers, engage and
gather feedback to under-
stand their needs and ensure
customers' voice was heard
during the Covid-19 pan-
demic in 2020. P3
ness Promoter and Cyber
expert. While the first cate-
gory will help identify ille-
gal and unlawful online
content like child pornog-
raphy, rape, gang rape, ter-
rorism, radicalisation, anti-
national activities etc, the
second category will help
create awareness about cy-
bercrime among citizens,
including vulnerable
groups like women, chil-
dren, the elderly, rural pop-
ulation, etc.
Continued on Page 7
Sunday's disaster, apparently
caused by a glacier burst.
The National Disaster Re-
sponse Force (NDRF) earlier
said its personnel recovered
two bodies from debris in
Raini village on Tuesday
morning.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister
Trivendra Singh Rawat visited
Lata in Chamoli district on
Tuesday to meet the resi-
dents of the avalanche-hit vil-
lages. Continued on Page 7
Minister Jagadish Reddy along with MLAs Gadari Kishore and Bhoopal
Reddy checking with the officials concerned about the arrangements
for public meeting at Halia on Tuesday
12 lakh metric tons. The
district has become fluo-
ride free now.
"There is development
which people can perceive,"
said minister Jagdish
Reddy, who is supervising
New labour codes to
allow 4-day week!
HANS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI
eMPlOYeeS will now
be able to opt for four-
day week as the union
labour Ministry has de-
cided to allow compa-
nies to offer flexibility
clause by incorporating
changes in the labour
codes.
According to labour
Secretary
Apurva
Chandra,
many com-
panies are
interested
in providing
a four-day
work shift.
"We have
tried to give flexibility
in working days. it is
entirely possible that
some employers may
want to provide a five-
day week. We have also
come across employers
who said they are keen
to provide a four-day
working week," Chan-
dra said,
he clarified that com-
panies can't increase
the workings hours be-
yond the mandated 48-
hour limit for the week.
Radioactive
device behind
disaster?
DehRADuN: Villagers
of Raini village in Tapo-
van area of Chamoli
have expressed con-
cerns that Sunday’s
flash floods may be the
result of heat produced
by a radioactive device.
Raini village lies near
the area which saw the
maximum destruction
caused by the flash
floods.
The device was lost
in 1965 during a secret
expedition to Nanda
Devi conducted by the
CiA and iB to plant nu-
clear-powered surveil-
lance equipment on the
summit of the moun-
tain, india’s second-
highest (after
Kanchenjunga) for spy-
ing on China.
Continued on Page 7
the arrangements for the
public meeting.
Over 6 lakh farmers are
expected to attend the meet-
ing to be held at BC residen-
tial school in Nagarjuna
Sagar. Continued on Page 7
Companies enabling
four-day workweek will
have to provide three
days of consecutive hol-
idays after that, said
Chandra. Companies
will have the flexibility
to either allow four, five
or six-day workweek, he
said, adding that com-
panies and employees
must agree to the four-
day week schedule.
he said
unions would
oppose the
move only if
companies
don't allow
employees a
three-day
consecutive
leave. No-
tably, the Centre had
passed four labour
codes in Parliament in
September 2020, fol-
lowing draft rules for-
mulated in December.
The government re-
ceived comments con-
cerning these rules in
January.
Chandra has said the
ministry is giving final
touches to the labour
rules and that states are
also coming with the
draft of their own rules.
2 HyDerAbAD weDneSDAy 10 februAry 2021

BJP to field Mayor NATURAL IMMUNITY BUILDING UP UFBU calls for bank
& Deputy Mayor
candidates
NAMPALLY
1 in 4 in State found to have antibodies strike on March 15-16
HANS NEWS SERVICE
KOTI
SENIOR BJP leader and MLC N Ra-
machender Rao said that his party Sero positivity implies that the tested person UnITeD Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella organ-
would put up candidates for the
Mayor and the Deputy Mayor posi-
has developed antibodies against Covid isation of unions in banking sector, met on Tuesday at hyder-
abad to chalk out course of action against the move of bank
tions in the GHMC on Wednesday. privatisation. The meeting decided to oppose the decision of
In a statement here on Tuesday, he WHY SERO SURVEILLANCE? the government. Two-
said that people have given the BJP day bank strike will be
49 seats in the GHMC elections and
there is only a few thousands of dif- S erologic tests measure the antibody response in an
individual. Antibodies to COVID-19 are produced over days
to weeks after infection with the virus. The presence of
observed on March 15
and 16. The strike will be
ference between the votes polled to preceded by different
the ruling TRS and the BJP. As much antibodies indicates that a person was infected with the programmes like poster-
as the TRS has a right, the BJP too
COVID-19 virus, irrespective of whether the individual had ing, badge wearing,
has the right to contest the election
severe or mild disease, or even asymptomatic infection. demonstrations, day-
for these posts. Irrespective of
Surveillance of antibody seropositivity in a population can long dharnas in state
allow inferences to be made about the extent of infection and
whether the party will win or lose, it capitals and other cen-
about the cumulative incidence of infection in the population.
would field its candidates as per its ters, said a press release.
The use of serology in epidemiology and public health
own political strategy, he added. The UFBU, since its
research enables understanding of:
formation, more than
two decades ago, had
• The occurrence • How many people have mild been relentlessly oppos-
of infection or asymptomatic infection, ing any move of privati-
among different and who may not have been zation of public sector
populations; identified by routine disease banks. With Finance Minister nirmala Sitharaman’s proposal
surveillance; of bank privatisation in the union budget, the bank employees
and officers across the country observed protest demonstra-
• The proportion of fatal • The proportion of population tion 4th instant at the call of UFBU, said union leaders at the
infections among those who may be protected against meeting . While announcing ‘Atma nirbhar Package', the Fi-
infected; infection in the future nance Minister stated that the government will come out with
a policy of strategic disinvestment of public sector enterprises.
The first round of the sero-survey, conducted led by the National Institute of Nutrition in May 2020 in the same districts showed a sero In her budget speech, she mentioned that the government ap-
prevalence of 0.33 per cent while the second round in August showed 12.5 per cent prevalence and the latest round in December showed 24.1 proved the policy, which amounts to outright sale of central
public sector enterprises (CPSes).
per cent prevalence. The sero-survey was conducted in Jangaon, Nalgonda and Kamareddy districts The policy provides a roadmap for disinvestment in all non-
strategic and strategic sectors. Four areas have been identified
KOTI SARS-CoV2) at 24 per cent. as strategic sector, where bare minimum CPSes will be main-
The sero-survey was con- The sero-prevalence at the national level went up 3.1 times between tained and rest will be privatised or merged or subsidiarised
One in every four persons ducted in Jangaon, nalgo- August and December but in Telangana, this went up by two times. with other CPSes or closed. In the remaining sectors all CPSes
in Telangana has antibodies nda and Kamareddy dis- Telangana's sero-prevalence (24.1 per cent) as of December 2020 was similar are proposed to be privatised or closed. Banking, Insurance
against Covid-19 virus, the tricts. to that of the national average (24 per cent). This shows the effectiveness of and financial services have been categorised as one of the four
Indian Council of Medical Sero positivity implies strategic sectors. The banking and financial services employees
Research's sero-survey in that the person has devel- robust containment measures in the state including quarantine, contract are strongly opposing the proposed measures of the Central
the State has revealed. The oped antibodies against the tracing and testing strategies - Dr R Hemalatha, Director, NIN government.
third round of sero-surveil- virus. It means that the per-
lance, led by the national In- son was infected at some showed a sero prevalence of of December 2020 was sim- adopting universal mask
stitute of nutrition (nIn) point and developed immu- 0.33 per cent while the sec- ilar to that of the national wearing and other Covid-19
conducted in three districts nity against it. ond round in August average (24 per cent). "This protocols before the survey
of Telangana in December The ICMR strategy has showed 12.5 per cent preva- shows the effectiveness of ensured that infection
2020 as part of the national been to do repeat cross-sec- lence and the latest round robust containment meas- transmission remained slow
sero-survey by the Indian tional sero-studies in the showed 24.1 per cent preva- ures in the state including and steady in the state. Since
Council of Medical Re- same geographic locations lence. quarantine, contract tracing three-fourths of rural pop-
search (ICMR), has put the so that the infection trans- The sero-prevalence at and testing strategies," said ulation is still susceptible, all
sero-positivity rate (IgG mission trends could be doc- the national level went up Dr R. hemalatha, Director non-pharmacological
positivity indicative of umented and studied, 3.1 times between August of ICMR-nIn. Covid-19 measures like
silent, prior exposure to ICMR-nIn said on Tuesday. and December but in Telan- ICMR nodal officer Dr wearing masks, hand saniti-
The first round of the sero- gana, this went up by two Laxmaiah said that good sation, physical distancing
survey, conducted in May times. Telangana's sero- compliance and coopera- should be continued, he
2020 in the same districts prevalence (24.1 per cent) as tion shown by the public in said.

Man awarded death for rape & murder of minor

HANS NEWS SERVICE
LB NAGAR A migrant worker committed the heinous act on five-year-old girl

A city court here on Tuesday handed

down a death sentence to a man found
guilty of raping and murdering a five-
year-old girl.
Dinesh Kumar Dharne (23), a mi-
grant labourer from Madhya Pradesh,
had raped and killed daughter of an-
other migrant labourer from Odisha
on December 12, 2017. he was con-
victed under Sections 363, 366,
376(A), 302 of Indian Penal Code
(IPC) and Section 5 read with 6 of
Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences (POSCO) Act-2012 for kid-
napping, rape and murder.
Cyberabad Police Commissioner
VC Sajjanar said that both the victim's
family and accused were residents of
Aryamitra labour camp at Alkapuri
Township. The victim's mother had
lodged a complaint with narsingi po-
lice station stating that Dharne had
taken her to a kirana shop to buy her
a chocolate but later returned alone
and claimed that he had dropped her
back at the labour camp. The police
grilled the accused and investigations
revealed that the accused, after buying
a chocolate for the victim, took her to
nearby bushes beside compound wall
of Sri Shiridi Sai Prem Samaj hospital,
narsingi heights, narsingi Village and
committed the rape and murder.
The Police Commissioner said the
police completed the investigations
in a speedy manner and filed the
charge sheet. “The accused had got
bail and he was absconding. We sent
a special team to Madhya Pradesh and
brought him back. Covid-19 situation
led to the delay in the trial," he added.
Sajjanar said Telangana Police was
paying special attention to safety of
women and children. he pointed out
Cyberabad
Police
Commissioner
Sajjanar says
Telangana
Police is paying
special
attention to safety of women
and children. He points out
that during last six years, eight
accused of such crimes were
sentenced to death in the State
that during last six years, eight ac-
cused in heinous crimes were sen-
tenced to death in the State.

Feb 25 last date to pay SSC exam fee

The candidates can pay the fee with a late fee of `50 till March 3, with a late fee
of `200 till March 10 and with a late fee of `500 till March 16
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
The Board of Secondary education (BSe)
announced schedule for the remittance of
fee for SSC Public examinations, May-
2021.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Director
of Government examinations said that the
last date for remittance of examination fee
by the candidates without late is till Feb-
ruary 25. The candidates can pay the fee
with a late fee of Rs 50 till March 3, with a
late fee of Rs 200 till March 10 and with a
late fee of Rs 500 till March 16.
The Board of Secondary education on
Tuesday published the schedule for the
SSC Public examinations, with examina-
tions starting on May 17 with the first lan-
guage article.
The SSC examinations will end with the
Social Studies paper on May 22, according
to the schedule. The OSSC assessments
will take place on 24 and 25 May, while the
SSC vocational (theory) course is sched-
uled to take place on 26 May.
 hyDerabaD weDnesDay 10 february 2021 3
Mayoral polls; GHMC briefs parties
Heritage well wallows HANS NEWS SERVICE
ADARSHNAGAR

To brief the procedure to be followed by the

Lokesh Kumar informed that
the Mayor and Deputy Mayor

in a state of neglect candidates for the Mayor and deputy Mayor

Water conservation activist takes up restoration work, seeks govt support
MOHAMMED HUSSAIN
GACHIBOWLI
AFTER finding plastic and debris
dumped in the Gachibowli heritage
well, a conservation activist has taken
up its pre-restoration work. ‘Gachi’
means limestone plaster and ‘bowli’
stands for well. The name of the place
Gachibowli in IT corridor is derived
from this well. Languishing in apathy
for years, the well is beside the Di-
lawar Shah Begum mosque in Tella-
pur, 10.7 km from Gachibowli. It was
lost due to decades of neglect. Kalpana
Ramesh, the activist, has decided to
clean up garbage and debris. After
restoring the MJ Market, IT Industry
and Municipal Administration Min-
ister KT Rama Rao promised revival
of stepwells (bowlis) in the City. The
Gachibowli well is waiting for its
restoration.
The well is amid a variety of Nizam
period architecture. It is well within
a well which has three flights of steps,
two on each storey. It is in the shape
of a square with four arches. The well
is not on the State heritage list of the
Hyderabad Metropolitan Develop-
ment Authority (HMDA). It is a bit
dislocated with continuous dumping
of debris due to which the square
shape got disturbed and the edges
have been damaged. Beside the well,
two borewells were dug causing more
damage to it. Adding to the damages,
locals have laid a concrete road near
the well. “No one knows deep down
inside how much damage was caused
to the well, as the beautiful steps are
not visible,” shares Kalpana.
Under the ‘Rainwater Project,’ a
start-up launched by her, with the
‘Blue Hyderabad’ campaign,
Kalpanana has decided to revive the
elections would be held at
Elections to be held on Thursday, an all party 12:30 pm and clarified that the
meeting was held at GHMC head office. elections for Mayor and Deputy
GHMC election officer and GHMC commis-
sioner, DS Lokesh kumar briefed the members Mayor will be only held when
on the procedure to be followed in electing the there is full quorum and count
Mayor and Deputy mayor. He elaborated on should be at least 97 including
protocols to be followed during and after
swearing in of the new corporators and mem- Ex-officio
‘Gachi’ means limestone plaster and ‘bowli’ stands for bers. Those who would undertake swearing
well. Gachibowli in IT corridor derives its name from the
on February 11 were asked to come by 10:45 Mayor and Deputy Mayor will be only held
well. Built during the Asafjahi period, it is around 200
years old. It is beside the Dilawar Shah Begum mosque in am with their identity cards and follow the when there is full quorum and count should
Tellapur. Once, it was a water resource for the entire guidelines in the notice issued by the GHMC. be at least 97 including Ex-officio. The Mayor
area. Now, it is completely neglected and left to decay The swearing-in ceremony will be held in four and deputy Mayor will be elected by show of
languages Telugu, Hindi, English, Urdu. hands and the entire election process will be
Lokesh Kumar informed that at 12:30 pm video graphed. MLCs, V Srinivas Reddy (TRS),
the Mayor and Deputy Mayor elections will Syed Aminul Hasan Jafri (MIM), G Niranjan
be held and clarified that the elections for (Congress) and others were present.
Kalpana Ramesh, an activist, is trying to involve IT
professionals, heritage activists, students and others to
preserve the well. An awareness camp conducted at the well,
in coordination with Society for Advancement of Human
Endeavours (SAHE), was attended by the British Deputy High
Commissioner Dr Andrew Fleming, among others
the well, as the same should left to decay.
be used to restore it. A mosque committee member,
Kalpana is trying to engage Mohammed Afzal, said: “The well is
IT professionals, heritage ac- under the mosque. The committee
well by tivists, students, and others to pre- has given several representations to
cleaning up garbage and debris. She serve the well. An awareness camp the government for preserving the
told The Hans India: “Under the conducted at the well, in coordination heritage well as it can be used for per-
‘Rainwater Project’ we have taken up with Society for Advancement of Hu- forming ‘Wudu’ ablution for namaz,
the pre-restoration work of the her- man Endeavours (SAHE), Hyder- but all requests went in vain.”
itage stepwell. We were surprised to abad, was attended by the British Anuradha Reddy, INTACH (Indian
see the large amount of garbage Deputy High Commissioner Dr An- National Trust for Art and Cultural
dumped in the well. We were only drew Fleming, among others. old Heritage) convener, Hyderabad chap-
able to remove some garbage.” maps with the mosque committee ter, said: “In the surroundings of the
Kalpana says the goal is to preserve members show that this land, includ- well there are several borewells dug
the well and try to revive its water so ing the well, was a ‘maqta’ Gachibowli, up due to which water is completely
that it can be used by devotees who a gift given to the wife of Dilawar Shah drained out from the well. In these
come to offer namaz at Jama Masjid- those days. Built during the Asafjahi days of increasing prices of land in
E-Dilawarsha Begum, who can see period, it is around 200 years old. Gachibowli, the well may soon disap-
the well. She stated that limestone of once the well was a water resource pear. The government must restore
the well would be sent to a laboratory for the entire Gachibowli area; as res- the well, as it is heritage and symbol-
with help of architects to ascertain idents used to drink and use its water. ises the name ‘Gachibowli’.
what type of lime was used to build Now, it is completely neglected and

Prestigious honour for RG Intl Airport

SHAMSHABAD

GMR-run Indira Gandhi Interna-

tional Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi
and Rajiv Gandhi International Air-
port (RGIA) in Hyderabad have re-
ceived the ACI (Airports Council In-
ternational) world's prestigious 'Voice
of Customer' recognition.
Both airports have been recognised
for their continuous efforts to listen
to their passengers, engage and gather
feedback to understand their needs
and ensure customers' voice was
heard during the CoVID-19 pandemic
in 2020.
CoVID-19 has virtually affected
every sector in the world and aviation
was a sector which took a hard hit.
With the objective of restoring pas-
senger trust in air travel, GMR-run
Delhi International Airport Limited
(DIAL) and GMR Hyderabad Airport
Limited (GHIAL) went all out to
quickly adapt to the new normal situ-
ations and implement several passen-
ger-friendly measures for safe travel.
Passenger feedback was constantly
monitored and worked upon. Various
channels to garner passenger feed-
back to address concerns were acti-
vated to make the journey through the
airport a memorable experience.
It has been recognised for
continuous efforts to listen to
their passengers, engage and
gather feedback to understand
their needs and ensure
customers' voice was heard
during the COVID-19 pandemic
in 2020
Both GHIAL and DIAL also imple-
mented several passenger-friendly
measures such as contactless eleva-
tors, contactless information desks,
promotion of digital transactions, app-
based technologies for shopping and
food ordering through HoI App, UV
sanitization of passenger baggage,
strategic placement of disinfectant
mats, ensure higher input of UV dis-
infected fresh air (filtered through
'high-efficiency particulate air'
(HEPA) filters) in the terminal build-
ings and sanitization of cabs were put
in place.
To ensure social distancing norms
are being followed inside the IGI Air-
port, DIAL installed XoVIS Passenger
Tracking System (PTS), which alerts
airport staff in case of crowding.
RGIA, which is the only airport in
the country to have an advantage of
the paperless e-boarding facility for
several years for all domestic trav-
ellers, extended this contact-less
boarding for international passengers.
The 24x7 social media command
centre emerged as eye and ear of Delhi
Airport. It listened to passenger needs
and provided them with support or
guidance whenever they were ap-
proached by flyers in need.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

TIFFIN BOXES BACK TO SCHOOL
SABYA SINGH
SECUNDERABAD
EVEN though the mid-day meal
scheme (MDM) is back in force follow-
ing the reopening of schools beginning
this month, parents are preferring to
provide home food to their wards ow-
ing to CoVID pandemic.The parents of
Photo: Ch Prabhu Das coronavirus. They
Many parents do not want their wards to partake of mid-day meals
students of government schools have thought it was not safe to eat outside
been sending their wards with lunch food. “Earlier I used to have the food
boxes, fearing that the managements provided by the school, but now I am
are not adequately geared up to ensure bringing tiffin box. My mother has also
strict adherence to the Covid protocols. instructed me to avoid sharing with my
“Since many people come into contact friends,” said a class X student, on con-
during cooking and distribution of dition of anonymity.
food, there remains a Speaking to The Hans India, N Ram
question of hygiene Reddy, Headmaster of Zila Parishad
hence we prefer High School, Bachupally, said the
home cooked food,” school has been putting in efforts to as-
said M Karnakar, fa- sure the parents that the management
ther of a class 9 stu- has been following covid-19 protocols.
dent in Secunder- “Parents remain cautious even now
abad. about covid-19. So, they want to be ex-
At one of the tra careful over food, a few students
schools, students of come with their own lunch. The overall
Class X said that they attendance on day six was 65 percent,
were bringing their of which, 45 per cent brought their own
own lunches as their lunch.” He further said that despite a
parents were appre- few students bringing their own lunch,
hensive about the the number of students eating Mid-Day
Meal has been increasing day by day.
4 HYDERABAD WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Probe remarks of 15th FC on TS govt: Shabbir
Finance Commission observations on irregularities vindicate Congress stand
NAMPALLY
FOrMer Minister and ex-
Leader of Opposition in Telan-
gana Legislative Council Mo-
hammed ali Shabbir demanded
a high-level probe into the obser-
vations made by 15th Finance
Commission on Telangana Gov-
ernment in its report submitted
in the Parliament last week.
addressing a press conference
at Gandhi bhavan on Tuesday,
Shabbir ali said that the Finance
Commission exposed several in-
stances of financial irregularities
committed by the TrS govern-
ment. "The 15th FC made serious
comments on many issues, in-
cluding the kaleshwaram Proj-
ect. It vindicated the stand of
Congress party that kalesh-
waram Project was not finan-
cially viable and it would not
benefit the farmers," he said.
The 15th FC has observed that,
"at an estimated cost of rs
80,000 crore, the kaleshwaram
lift irrigation project aims to
serve over 18 lakh acres of farm-
land. Lift irrigation invariably
notches up a massive electricity
bill, bringing to question the fi-
nancial viability of the project in
HMDA to focus on
OU Arts College repairs
HANS NEWS SERVICE
OSMANIA UNIVERSITY
aFTer restoring Moazzam Jahi
(MJ) market, the Vice-Chancel-
lor of Osmania University (OU)
and acting Commissioner of Hy-
derabad Metropolitan develop-
ment authority (HMda) ar-
avind kumar on Tuesday decided
to take up the restoration works
of 88-year-old arts college build-
ing of OU,
kumar who is also Principal
Secretary of Municipal adminis-
tration & Urban develop-
ment (Ma&Ud) sanc-
tioned the amount of rs
3 crore and handed over
the repair works to the
HMda.
according to the
HMda officials the works
would be soon initiated in
a phased manner in co-
ordination with students, teach-
ing and non-teaching staff.
The three-story arts college
building at OU which was built
with limestone during Nizam’s
period has now developed cracks
at most of the places and is grad-
ually becoming a cause of water-
7,000 Cyberabad police
to get vax in 3 days
HANS NEWS SERVICE
GACHIBOWLI
Cyberabad Police Commis-
sioner VC Sajjanartook Covid-
19 vaccine Jab along with other
frontline officers at Primary
Health Centre here on Tuesday.
The first shot of COVaXIN was
given to the Cyberabad Com-
missioner.
addressing the frontline of-
ficers of CyberabadSajjanar
said, "I would like to congratu-
late each and every frontline
worker who has been risking
their lives to keep people safe.
and I would also like to extend
my special compliments to
the absence of a guaranteed rev-
enue stream." It has also directed
the Telangana government to
"generate adequate revenue (say,
through user charges) to at least
cover the operations and main-
tenance cost of the project."
Shabbir ali said that the Fi-
nance Commission also observed
that the “huge investments made
in irrigation have not yet re-
sulted in commensurate returns
in terms of crop yield improve-
ments." He said these observa-
tions clearly show that the TrS
government took up those proj-
ects and escalated their costs
only to benefit the contractors.
The Central government should
order a probe to ascertain as to
why thousands of crores of pub-
lic money was wasted and who
gained from it. Further, he said
that the TrS government should
explain as to why it did not follow
the norms set by the Central Wa-
ter Commission in executing
those projects which could have
saved several thousand crores.
He said that the TrS govern-
ment has burdened the common
people through wasteful expen-
diture on kaleshwaram Project.
He said the average cost of farm-
logging on the floor due to water
leaks.This initiative was taken af-
ter the OU registrar Gopal
reddy and arts College Principal
ravindar have brought the issues
to the aravind kumar notice.
The historical structure was
built in 1934 by the 7th Nizam
Commissioner V C
Sajjanar vaccinated
bharat biotech for coming up
with the vaccine within a span
of less than one year with the
efforts they have put in. I am
sure the day is not far when we
shall overcome the pandemic
menace."
In the coming three
days,about 7,000 Cyberabad po-
lice would get vaccinated. The
commissioner urged the people
to come forward and make this
vaccination drive a successful
one as the made in India vac-
cines are safe.
ing through kaleshwaram Proj-
ect comes to nearly rs 73,000 per
acre while a farmer earns about
rs 35,000 to rs 40,000 per acre.
Therefore, the State government
incurs a loss of about rs 30,000
per acre if it utilises the kalesh-
waram Project for cultivation.
These are recurring losses which
the State government needs to
bear every season. TrS govern-
ment went ahead with the proj-
ect by rejecting the advice given
by opposition parties and ex-
perts. Now the same mistake has
been officially pointed out by the
15th Finance Commission, he
said.
Make first SFC report public
after the creation of the new
State, the First SFC was consti-
tuted in 2015. However, its re-
port is yet to be submitted. He
alleged that the SFC was delib-
erately avoided by the Chief
Minister as it would have
stopped fudging of budget fig-
ures. CM kCr created a false il-
lusion of growth and resorted to
indiscriminate borrowings so
that the TrS leaders could get
huge commissions from con-
tractors of various projects.
Mir Osman ali khan
who built the arts college
on five-acre.earlier the
HMda has taken up a
massive plantation drive
as part of the Haritha
Haram programme un-
der which planted
around 12 lakh plants at
the OU campus.
aravind kumar said, “The aim
of the restoration works is to re-
main the prestige of Osmania
University as it’s a major heritage
of the Hyderabad.”The OU cam-
puses also have natural resources
at its greenery fields like rabbits,
peacocks, and other wild birds.
Pressure on govt for resumption of all classes
Private schools claim they need fees for survival and to pay salaries
VRC PHANIHARAN
HYDERABAD
are schoolchildren consum-
able goods for the revival of pri-
vate school sector in Telangana?
If the goings-on are any indica-
tion, pressure is mounting
from the school manage-
ments and teachers unions on
the State government
for physical reopening
of schools for all classes
right from primary
level.
Private school man-
agements argue that
they are not able to
pay rent for buildings
and other overheads.
also, they have to
clear bank eMIs,
current bills and a
host of other ex-
penditure dues
pending since the lockdown.
Unless children physically at-
tend schools, the managements
feel that they cannot mount
pressure on parents to pay fee.
That apart, the schools argue
that unless there is a full physi-
cal reopening of all classes they
cannot pay salaries to teachers.
However, the Telangana Private
School Teachers’ Forum (TP-
STF) president Shabbir ali call-
T he Congress leader says the critical
observations on irrigation projects and
their viability clearly show that the TRS
government took up those projects and
escalated their costs only to benefit the
contractors. The Central government should
order a probe to ascertain as to why
thousands of crores of public money was
wasted and who gained from it, he demands
v Average cost of farming v But, a farmer earns
through Kaleshwaram comes to about `35,000 to
nearly `73,000 per acre `40,000 per acre only
v But, a farmer earns about `35,000
to `40,000 per acre only
v State incurs a loss of about
`30,000 per acre every season
v TRS govt went ahead with
project, rejecting advice of
oppn and experts
Same mistake has been
officially pointed out by the
Finance Commission
IACC organises webinar on higher edn
HANS NEWS SERVICE
Consulate General in Hyder-
SECUNDERABAD abad and the United States-In-
dia educational Foundation
THe Indo-american Chamber (USIeF) and focused on key pa-
of Commerce (IaCC), Telan- rameters relevant to student
gana and andhra Pradesh on community such as - selecting
Tuesday hosted an interactive U.S. colleges and universities,
webinar entitled “Higher edu- study options, test preparation,
cation in the United States and the application process, finan-
Student Visa Session”. cial aid, and the visa process.
The webinar witnessed the Johanna Sanchez, Vice Con-
presence of officers from the US sul at the US Consulate Gen-
World Unani Day to be
ni-msme to hold
loan mela today
YOUSUFGUDA
THe National Institute for
MSMe (ni-msme) is organis-
celebrated tomorrow
HANS NEWS SERVICE
ing 'MSMe Loan Mela' for mi-
cro, small and medium enter- CHARMINAR
prises, existing and budding
entrepreneurs at its campus MarkING the 153rd birth an-
on on February 10 from 10 am niversary of Maseeh-ul-Mulk
to 5 pm. The event exclu- Hakeem ajmal khan, which is
sively intends to support celebrated as ‘World Unani
MSMes who have suffered day’ on February 11, the all
due to COVId -19 pandemic. India Unani Tibbi Congress
a huge participation from (aIUTC) Telangana is going to
business community and en- celebrate the event at Salar-e-
trepreneurs is expected. Millat auditorium in khilwat
Nearly 8 major banks and 2 near Lad bazar on Thursday.
public financial institutions aIUTC Telangana President
have confirmed their partici- dr a a khan and General Sec-
pation in the mela. retary Hakeem Husamuddin
Telangana Private School Teachers’ Forum terms claims of
private schools a ploy to collect full academic year's
fee.Though they are insisting on full fees for classes 9 and
above, which are started at the fag-end of academic year,
they have not taken back teachers who were removed earlier.
Teachers are being paid pittance on hourly basis
earlier. also, some
teachers were called
back and they were en-
gaged for one or two
periods by paying an
hourly remuneration
of rs 250-300. This
way, a teacher can
earn a maximum of
rs 7,500 a month, he
added.
Shabbir ali de-
mands that the
State government
hold a meeting
with both parents and
school managements for per-
sthe claims of private school centage cut in collection of
managements a ploy to collect school fee for academic years
full academic year's fee from 2002-21.
parents.He said the physical re- Hyderabad School Parents
opening of school for Classes IX association (HSPa) member
and X started from February 1. ramanjit Singh said the State
However, private schools had government has smartly lobbed
already collected full year’s fee the ball into the court of par-
from parents. On the other ents. It accepted the physical re-
hand, they did not take back opening of schools for Classes
teachers who were removed IX and X. However, it put a
149 new Covid cases,
1 death in Telangana
KOTI
TeLaNGaNa logged 149 new
Covid cases and one death dur-
ing the last 24 hours, health offi-
cials said on Tuesday. The fresh
cases pushed the state's total
tally to 2,95,831. The death toll
mounted to 1,612. Greater Hy-
derabad reported 25 new cases.
The count in the remaining 32
districts was in single digits.
according to
the director of
Public Health
and Family Wel-
fare, the fatality
rate remained
0.54 per cent
against the na-
tional average of
1.4 per cent.
While 44.96 per
cent of deaths oc-
curred due to
Covid, 55.04 per
cent had co-mor-
bidities. a total of 186 people re-
covered from the virus during
the period, taking the cumula-
tive numbers to 2,92,415. The
state's Covid recovery rate im-
proved further to 98.84 per cent
against the national average of
1.4 per cent. The number of ac-
eral, Hyderabad, spoke about
the student visa process and
took questions from the audi-
ence. She said that the con-
sulate is currently scheduling
limited visa appointments, as
well as limited routine ameri-
can Citizen Services, to ensure
the health and safety of appli-
cants. The consulate is process-
ing some H-1b, H4, student/ex-
change visitor cases, and
Talat lauded Hakeem ajmal’s
services to the Unani medicine
and several other fields.
The National Vice-Presi-
dent of aIUTC, Prof dr
ataullah Shareef, aIUTC
Telangana patron dr Mohd
Start all classes this month: Teachers
HANS NEWS SERVICE
DOMALGUDA
THe Telangana State United
Teachers Federation (TSUTF)
has written a letter to Special
Chief Secretary (School edu-
cation) Chitra ramachandran
demanding starting of upper
primary and primary classes.
requesting the government
to recruit ‘service persons’ for
ensuring sanitation manage-
ment in all government
schools, TSUTF president k
Jangaiah and general secretary
clause that students can attend
classes only with permission of
parents. In turn, the schools are
telling parents to pay full fee
since they have physically re-
opened schools. However, "I
tive cases dropped further to
1,804 including 694 who are in
home/institutional isolation.
during the last 24 hours that
ended 8 p.m. Monday, 31,831
samples were tested - 29,419 in
government labs and 2,142 in
private labs. With this the cumu-
lative number of tests conducted
in the state rose to 81,54,347.
Tests per million population
climbed to 2,19,085.
Over 92 per cent of the beds
in hospitals treating Covid cases
remained vacant. as many as
8,158 beds out of 8,577 beds in
62 government hospitals were
vacant. Similarly, in 217 private
hospitals, 6,975 out of 7,666 beds
were vacant.
limited tourist and business
(b1/b2) appointments, as well
as accepting interview waiver
(IW) applications for all visa
classes. “In order to qualify for
a student visa,” said Sanchez,
“applicants must convince the
Consular Officer that he or she
is a credible and qualified stu-
dent, is able to pay for the
planned studies, and has credi-
ble post-education plans”
Ghulam ahmed Iqbal, the
president of Pharmacy Wing
dr Syed Misbahuddin, Treas-
urer Safiullah baig, Shahana
khan and dr Mohd Jahangir
ali and others were also pres-
ent in the conference.
Chava ravi wanted the govern-
ment to allow teachers to start
other classes in the State as
well. The TSUTF State com-
mittee advised the government
to start the upper primary
schools (6,7,8 classes) from
February 15 and primary
schools a week later.
Classes of 9 and 10 standards
and above have been running
smoothly since February 1.
even in neighbouring andhra
Pradesh physical classes have
already started, they pointed
out.
will not send my child to school
at the fag-end of the academic
year. Nothing is going to hap-
pen, if a child of primary classes
does not go to school for a year,"
he said.

Practise sports to stay fit, HM tells police
GOSHAMAHAL
hOMe Minister Mahamood Ali on
Tuesday stated that the police offi-
cials and staff have to practice any
sports regularly to remain fit and
offer friendly services to people.
Telangana police, he said , is top in
the country in discharging their re-
sponsibilities in a citizen friendly
manner and maintain law and or-
der.
The home Minister inaugurated
a Police Sports Meet at Goshamahal
Police Stadium here with DGP Ma-
hender Reddy, CP Anjani Kumar
and other officials. Speaking on the
occasion the home Minister gave a
pat to police top brass, officials and
staff for their efforts and great serv-
ices during Corona pandemic pe-
riod.
Mahamood Ali said that Telan-
gana state has achieved better
growth in seven years in terms of
business and economic develop-
ment through better policing and
friendly services. This can be attrib-
uted to vision of Chief Minister K
Chandrashekar Rao, Mahamood Ali
claimed. "Our police adopt latest
HydERABAd wEdnESdAy 10 fEBRuARy 2021 5
Inaugurates police sports meet at Goshamahal Police Stadium
Our police adopt latest
technologies to decrease crime
rate and punish culprits
through CC Cameras and
footage. The police in our State
is top in the country as it offers
a citizen-friendly services. To
continue to serve better, the
police should practise any
sports regularly to remain fit
and healthy, said
Mahamood Ali
technologies to decrease crime rate
and punish culprits through CC State has been witnessing rapid Mahender Reddy said that law
Cameras and footage. The police in growth due to peace and conducive and order is under control as the po-
our State is top in the country as it atmosphere for businesses. huge lice use technology to bring down
offers a citizen-friendly services. To investments coming into the State crime rate with team spirit and ef-
continue to serve better, the police and the government offers many forts.
should practise any sports regularly jobs and employment opportuni- Anjani Kumar said that latest
to remain fit and healthy," Ma- ties. "Unless we maintain law and technologies are being used while
hamood Ali said. This will help order and peace prevails, the State every police station has a gym for
them provide speedy and timely cannot get investments from inter- its staff. Our aim is to deliver citizen
services. national level companies and busi- and people-friendly services, he
The Minister said that Telangana nesses," he noted. added.

MEWAT GANGS BEHIND

MOST ATM BREAK-INS
HANS NEWS SERVICE
CHAND AHMED
MewAT is a region in
haryana covering 1,860 sqkm
falls under Nuh district. This
region has earned a lot of in-
famous reputation amongst
the hyderabad city police be-
cause the increasing number
of ATM thefts in and around
the city are linked to the of-
fenders from Mewat.
Sudakhar Reddy, an Inspec-
tor, said that in the recent
thefts of cash from ATM ma-
chines, it was found that most
of the burglars belonged to the
Mewat region. he noted,
“Very recently a team of offi-
cers from the city went to the
region to nab the offenders,
but they faced a lot of resist-
ance from the locals. The
drawback of this region is that
the locals do not allow police
to enter their area to arrest the
offender as they keep throw-
ing chili powder, block their
path by throwing stones,
wooden planks, chairs etc.….
and the offenders who are
mostly from this region know
it very well that once they
When city police trace them, the
locals obstruct and local cops do
not offer any help
commit and offence and go
back to their area then they
can go scot-free.”
Another officer on condi-
tion of anonymity said that
the villages in Mewat house
these criminals and collect
commission from them. Also,
most of the criminals, though
not being from Mewat, know
about the specialty of it and if
the criminal gangs are from
neighboring areas then they
seek refuge in Mewat after
committing the crime by pay-
ing a share from their bounty.
The most challenging part for
the city police is that the local
police also does not support
them even when they are in-
formed about the miscreants.
Instead of providing the city
police cover, they just tell the
teams to be on their own.
The cop tells that, “In most
Though the Hyderabad police
department has time and
again informed bank officials
to deploy security guards at
ATM centres which are at
isolated spots, the officials
have not taken the advice
seriously
of the ATM theft cases, the cul-
prits are daily wage labourers
but they know the technique
of cutting ATM machines with
help of gas cutters. Moreover,
after committing the offence,
they use the wrong number
plate for their vehicles or hide
it with plaster in order to es-
cape from the scene of offence
and seek refuge in Mewat re-
gion by travelling half-way on
their vehicles and by hitchhik-
ing on some trucks.”
Though the hyderabad po-
lice department has time and
again informed bank officials
to deploy security guards at
ATM centres which are at iso-
lated spots, the officials have
not taken the advice seriously
and even till date there are no
security guards at most of the
ATMs at isolated spots, added
the officer.

Human trafficking racket busted • Accused tried to send

RACHAKONDA
The Special Operations
Team of the LB Nagar Police
on Tuesday raided Al-hay-
ath Tours and Travels at
Malakpet and arrested four
persons on charges of hu-
man trafficking after they al-
legedly tried to send a
woman from Medipally to
Muscat in Oman on a visitor
visa instead of a work visa.
Officials seized 40 passports,
cash, mobile phones and
other material from them.
The arrested persons
were Shaik Mohammed
Imtiyaz (35), N Subbamma
(27) both travel agents, G
Subba Rayudu (38), a driver,
all from Kadapa in Andhra
Pradesh, and Mohd haroon
(52), an office assistant at
the travel agency in
Malakpet. The MD of the
agency, Mohd Naseer, and
his daughter Sumaiaya
Fathima (23), who is also
the owner of the travel
agency and one Sayed were
absconding.
Rachakonda Police Com-
missioner Mahesh Bhagwat
said Imtiyaz, Subbamma
and Subba Rayudu had
lured the victim, a native of
Andhra Pradesh's Nellore
district, to offer a job. “Po-
lice have found that based
on instructions from
Naseer, the suspects had
collected passports from
nearly 40 persons including
a woman on a visitor
visa instead of a work
visa
• Cops seize 40
passports, cash,
mobiles and other
material from them
• Four persons arrested
and three are
absconding, inform
the police
12 women promising to get
them visas for different
Middle east countries.
Naseer and two other travel
agencies in Kadapa were
found to be involved in the
racket, and were trafficking
women to Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia, Oman, Dubai and
Qatar,” he added.

HELPING POOR
BRAHMINS
Telangana Brahmin Samkshema Parishad (TBSP)
Chairman KV Ramana Chary handed over a
passenger Car to Kondapaka Ranga Charaya of
Kodurupaka village in Sulthanabad mandal,
Peddapalli district, under TBSP Best Scheme, at
Endowment Office (Brahmin Parishad) in Tilak
Road, Boggulakuna on Tuesday. On the occasion,
he called upon Brahmins to avail of TBSP
schemes. Brahmin Seva Samiti state convener
Valluri Pavan Kumar, Vinnakota Raj Kumar,
Mothukuri Sai Sravan, Arutla Karunakarachary,
TBSP office staff and others were present.
6 hyderABAd WedNesdAy 10 feBruAry 2021
BioAsia-2021 to focus on Covid, global health Sabitha participates
Asia's largest life-sciences and healthcare conference virtual meet on February 22-23
BEGUMPET
THE 18th edition of BioAsia,
Asia's largest life-sciences and
healthcare conference, will be
held virtually from February 22-
23 with a focus on Covid-19,
global health, pharma and med-
ical technologies.
The conference will provide an
opportunity to pharma and
biotech companies, contract re-
search organisations, contract
manufacturing organisations,
contract development and man-
ufacturing organisations, biotech
start-ups, academic institutions,
scientists and researchers, poli-
cymakers, and regulatory ex-
perts across the globe to dis-
cuss coronavirus and other
insightful topics related to
the life sciences industry.
The two-day event will
witness a wide array of
panels focussing on the
Covid-19 pandemic and
how it has led to various
changes in the life sciences
industry across the globe. The
conference will offer insightful
sessions on india's current and
future potential in immunising
the world and key actions taken
to become the future global inno-
vative vaccines provider, the or-
ganisers said in a statement on
Tuesday.
The participants will also hear
the experts discussing innovation
at the intersection of healthcare,
HRC summons GHMC
official over lake issue
SOUL alleges that the public money is being squandered
even as NacharamPedda Cheruvu encroachmentsare going
unabated and pollution increasing at the water body
HANS NEWS SERVICE
NAMPALLY
Following petition filed by
SoUl (Save our Urban lakes)
representatives, The State Hu-
man Rights Commission (HRC)
on Tuesday summoned the
gHMC Superintending Engi-
neer (lakes) to attend hearing
on February 12.
The petitioners alleged that
the public money is being
squandered even as
nacharamPedda Cheruvu en-
croachmentsare going unabated
and pollution increasing at the
water body. They
filed 28 pages reply
on December 22,
2020 with facts and
maps, in response to
the gHMC commis-
sioner report. But,
the gHMC and
other authorities
failed to
respond.The HRC
on Tuesday issued
notice to gHMC counsel and to
Superintending Engineer who is
in charge of 189 lakes of gHMC
INFO ON SPORTS
VILLAGE
DR Rajesh Kumar, Principal and
Head, University College of
Physical Education, osmania
University (extreme right), re-
leasing a booklet of Academia
Sports Village regarding their
revamped infrastructure devel-
opment activities on osmania
University campus, Hyderabad,
on Tuesday. Also seen are Prof
lB laxmikanth Rathod, Princi-
pal of nizam College, Prof K
Deepla, Department of Physical
Education, osmania University
(extreme left), and Mohammad
Shamsuddin, CEo of Academia
Sports Village.
v The two-day event will witness a
wide array of panels focussing on
the Covid-19 pandemic and how it
has led to various changes in the
life sciences industry across the
globe
v It will offer insightful sessions
on India's current and future
potential in immunising world and
key actions taken to befuture global
innovative vaccines provider
technology, and finance, promot-
ing affordable and accessible in-
novation in the healthcare sector.
They will also focus on the learn-
ings from Covid-19 to develop ro-
bust healthcare systems and for
responding better to the next
pandemic.
An interesting session will fo-
to be present and to give expla-
nation to petitioners’ represen-
tations.
2-day national webinar
on Urdu from today
GACHIBOWLI
THE Directorate of Trans-
lation & Publications
(DTP), Maulana Azad na-
tional Urdu University
(MAnUU) is organising a
two-day online national
seminar on ‘Urdu Mein
Maloomati Adab’ (knowl-
edge literature in Urdu).
The seminar is sponsored
by the national Council for
Promotion of Urdu lan-
guage (nCPUl). The inau-
gural session will be held
at 3 pm on February 10.
Prof Muzaffar Shahmiri,
Vice Chancellor, Dr Abdul
Haq Urdu University,
Kurnool, AP, will be the
chief guest and Prof Mohd
naseemuddin Farees,
Dean, School of languages,
linguistics and indology,
MAnUU, will be the guest
of honor while Prof M
Shafey Kidwai, Head, De-
partment of Mass Commu-
nication, Aligarh Muslim
cus on the prospects of medical
technologies becoming the next
big opportunity for india that can
accelerate the journey from the
primary importers to large scale
exporters as india has proven
frugal innovation as evidenced by
innovative Covid-19 diagnostic
solutions.
MLC Alugubelli to take out padayatra
HANS NEWS SERVICE
NAMPALLY
TEACHERS Constituency MlC
in the Telangana legislative
Council, Alugubellinarsireddy
will take out a Pada Yatra from
his constituency nalgonda to
the State capital Hyderabad,
from February 13 to 16.
in a statement here on Tues-
day, he said his Padayatra will
start at 10.30 AM on February
13 and will reach Hyderabad on
the evening of February 16.
He said that he is taking out
the Padayatra demanding the
State and Central government
GITAM to increase fellowships
for research scholars
PATANCHERU
GITAM University on Tuesday an-
nounced that it is going to in-
crease the number of fellowships
for the research scholars. This was
announced by Dr Raja P Pappu, Di-
rector, Research & Consultancy of
GITAM, who, along with Dr C Vijaya
Shekar, Dean, Engineering, inter-
acted with GITAM Hyderabad fac-
ulty on developing a five-year
strategy. “The management has
agreed to provide seed grant to
the faculty for their research work
University, will deliver the
keynote address. Prof SM
Rahmatullah, Vice Chan-
cellor i/c, MAnUU, will
preside over the meet. Prof
Mohd. Zafaruddin, Direc-
tor, DTP, will deliver a wel-
come address and the sem-
inar convenor, Dr Aslam
Parwez, will propose a vote
of thanks.
The first session will be
held on February 11 from
10.30 am to 1.00 pm and
will be chaired by Prof Sid-
diqui Mohd Mahmood,
Registrar i/c, MAnUU, and
Prof. Moinuddin Jinabade,
Center for indian lan-
guages, Jawaharlal nehru
University. The second
session will be held from
2.30 pm to 5.30 pm and
will be chaired by Prof Mn
Sayeed and Prof Farooq
Bakhshi. Seminar will be
telecast live on iMC,
MAnUU Youtube Channel,
according to a press re-
lease.
Over the years, BioAsia has played a critical part in uniting the
worldwide business pioneers, scientists, policymakers,
academia, and investor community together on one platform
talking about the new opportunities and creating systems to
succeed
– Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary (Industries & Commerce)
With the theme of 'Move the Needle', the event will
provide a platform to deliberate on topics of importance
for the life sciences industry like India's role in vaccines,
learnings from Covid-19, digital health, and trends in the
pharmaceutical and medical devices industry
– Shakthi Nagappan, CEO of BioAsia and Director of
Telangana Life Sciences
The CEo conclave for the 18th
edition of BioAsia will deliberate
on supply chain resilience, inno-
vation and research, and access
to innovative medicines, among
others."over the years, BioAsia
has played a critical part in unit-
ing the worldwide business pio-
neers, scientists, policymakers,
academia, and investor commu-
nity together on one platform
talking about the new opportu-
nities and creating systems to
succeed," said Jayesh Ranjan,
Principal Secretary, industries &
Commerce, government of
Telangana."we have worked to-
wards making Telangana a hub of
the life sciences industry, with
significant success. Today, Telan-
gana is seen as one of the top life
sciences destinations in the
to takesteps to address his de-
mands.
Among the demands need to
be addressed by the State gov-
ernment, he asked the govern-
ment to announce the PRC with
an appropriate percentage of
fitment before the MlC elec-
tion notification is issued. And,
he also urged it to apply the
sameto 9,36,976 government
employees, teachers, pension-
ers, contract and outsourcing
employees.
The MlC demanded an-
nouncement of schedule for the
promotion of government, Zilla
and Mandal Parishad, modal
up to Rs.2 lakhs, institutional re-
search up to Rs.25 lakhs for setting
up labs, centres etc,” he said. “GI-
TAM has subscribed to Science Di-
rect, Emerald on top of the existing
resources, for that we have spent
more than Rs.2.5 crores when com-
pare with the last year budget to
acquire these journals. Faculty will
have access to more than 10,000
new journals including old ones.
As a university, we are trying to
spend this money. GITAM is going
to organize a symposium in the
month of May.
Gruelling wait for body of man from Saudi
MOHAMMED HUSSAIN
KOTI
FAMilY members of a migrant
labourer from Telangana have
been waiting for the past 99
days to see the mortal remains
of their loved one who died in
an accident in Saudi Arabia.
Vontari narsareddy, a resi-
dent of Sirnapally village in in-
dulwai Mandal of nizamabad
district, died in an accident at
workplace on november 1 last
year in Saudi Arabia. Since then
his family members are trying
to reach out to the State and
Central government officials
seeking return of his mortal re-
mains.
Even after submitting several
representations to the govern-
ment, left with no option
narsareddy’s wife laxmi filed a
petition in the High Court of
Telangana recently. “we were
told Vontari died in an accident,
he was the only bread earner for
the family of seven members,”
says laxmi.
After a long wait for the body,
the family members finally ap-
world," he added.
Shakthi nagappan, CEo of
BioAsia and Director of Telan-
gana life Sciences, said they ex-
pect the 18th edition of BioAsia
to be bigger than all previous edi-
tions. "with the theme 'Move the
needle', the event will provide a
platform to deliberate on topics
of importance for the life sciences
industry like india's role in vac-
cines, learnings from Covid-19,
digital health, and trends in the
pharmaceutical and medical de-
vices industry," he said.
over the course of 17 years,
the event has witnessed partici-
pation from more than 20,000
leaders representing over 93
countries and has conducted
more than 20,000 partnering
meetings.
and Aided schools. He wanted
the government to complete the
transfers of teachers, applica-
tion of minimum basic pay for
the teaching and non-teaching
staff working in the KgBVs and
the employees working under
the SamagraSikha Abhiyan and
Model schools and hostels.
His other demands include
appointment of VCs in the State
universities, completion of re-
cruitment of professors and as-
sistant professor posts, pay-
ment of remuneration to the
guest lecturers and hourly-
based teachers, teaching assis-
tants and part-time teachers.
Six gamblers held
HANS NEWS SERVICE
MOINABAD
THE SoT police and Moin-
abad police on Tuesday ar-
rested six persons for gam-
blingat a farmhouse near
Amdapur village in Moinabad
mandal. According to SoT in-
spector Venkat Reddy, the
SoT officials and Moinabad
police on a tip off conducted a
raid and arrested the gamblers
named Dayanand, Swaroop,
Raju, Dinakar, Amarender and
Pentaiah. The police seized an
amount of Rs 65,000 and reg-
istered a case.
proached Pravasi Mithra
labour Union and Deekonda
Kiran. The migrant labour lead-
ers reached Hyderabad on Feb-
ruary 3 along with the family
members of the deceased.
They met P Shashi Kiran, a
human rights activist and advo-
cate of the High Court. They
also submitted a petition to an
official of Ministry of External
Affairs, Mukesh Koushik, who is
the protector of emigrants at
Hyderabad.
Swadesh Parkipandla, presi-
dent of Pravasi Mithra labour
Union, appointed an advocate
seeking immediate repatriation
of the mortal remains in a coffin
from Saudi Arabia to india.
in PalleNidra
HANS NEWS SERVICE
MANNEGUDA
EDUCATion Minister Sabitha
indra Reddy on Monday partic-
ipated in Pallenidra program-
meat Manneguda village. The
Minister inspected nedunuru
Model School and interacted
with students besides having
lunch with them to ascertain
the quality of midday meals.
Speaking on the occasion, the
Minister said that the Pal-
lenidraprogramme was being
held to know the problems in
Night temp of 15 deg C
forecast for 2 days
No large change in temp in most parts of
State, despite low-level easterlies
HANS NEWS SERVICE
BEGUMPET
THE minimum temperature in
the city of 15 degrees Celsius is
forecast for February 10 and 11,
with the outlook of fog/mist in
the morning and partly cloudy
sky later. it is to go up to 16, 16,
17 and 17 degrees Celsius re-
spectively during February 12
and 15, the Met department
bulletin said on Tuesday. The
day temperatures in Hyder-
abad are to be 32, 30, 31, 31, 31
and 31 respectively during the
period February 10 to 15.
According to the bulletin,
during the last 24 hours ending
at 8.30 am, there was no large
change in temperatures in
most parts of the State, despite
the prevalence of mainly low-
level easterlies/north-easter-
lies prevail over the State. it
said the temperatures were be-
low normal ranging from -1.6
to -3 degrees Celsius in some
parts. They were appreciably
below normal by -3.1 to -5 deg
C in some other parts and were
markedly below normal by -5
deg C or less in some others.
The lowest minimum tem-
perature of 8.2 degrees Celsius
was recorded in Adilabad,
point five degrees more than
the previous day. The other
night temperatures registered
in the State were: Medak 11.8,
Ramagundam 12, Dundigal
13.9, nizamabad 13.8,
Hanamkonda 13.5, Hyderabad
Swadesh said a bench of jus-
tice Abhinand Kumar Shavili
will hear the case on wednes-
day. it will be the 100th day of
Vontari death.
on november 5, 2020, the
family members of the deceased
sent petitions to The Ministry
of External Affairs in Delhi, the
indian Embassy in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia and the nRi Cell
of the Telangana government
requesting to repatriate the
mortal remains.
They also requested MlA,
MlC, MPs and The Ministers of
State and Central governments
but the human remains have not
been received even after three
months of death, said Swadesh.
villages and solve them. Sabitha
interacted with people and en-
quired about villagers receiving
the benefits of welfare schemes
introduced by the govern-
ment.After inspecting the
school, the Minister directed
the officials to construct a li-
brary at a cost of Rs 20 lakh.
The Covid-19 norms should
also be followed strictly, she
said.The Minister spent the
night in school located in the
village.local leaders and offi-
cials participated in the pro-
gramme.
l Lowest min of 8.2 deg
C recorded in Adilabad,
Medak registers 11.8,
Ramagundam 12,
Dundigal 13.9,
Nizamabad 13.8,
Hanamkonda 13.5,
Hyderabad 14.6,
Bhadrachalam 15.6,
Hakimpet 16.2,
Khammam 17,
Mahbubnagar 17.1,
Nalgonda 19
l Mahbubnagar hot at
32.4 deg C, Medak 32,
Bhadrachalam 31.8,
Khammam 31,
Ramagundam 30.4,
Hyderabad, Nalgonda
& Nizamabad 30 each,
Adilabad 29.8,
Dundigal 28.7,
Hakimpet 28.6,
Hanamkonda 28.5
14.6, Bhadrachalam 15.6,
Hakimpet 16.2, Khammam 17,
Mahbubnagar 17.1, nalgonda
19.
The bulletin listed the day
temperatures as: Mahbubnagar
32.4, Medak 32, Bhadrachalam
31.8, Khammam 31, Ramagun-
dam 30.4, Hyderabad, nalgo-
nda & nizamabad 30 each, Adi-
labad 29.8, Dundigal 28.7,
Hakimpet 28.6, and
Hanamkonda 28.5.
Vontari Narsareddy,
a resident of
Sirnapally village in
Indulwai Mandal of
Nizamabad district,
died in an accident
at workplace on
November 1 last
year in Saudi Arabia.
Family pleads with
Central & State
govts to bring the
body home
Though several letters were
sent to the Secretary of the Min-
istry of External Affairs, gov-
ernment of india and the indian
Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Ara-
bia but wife of deceased, laxmi
is still waiting for husband's
mortal remains. She demanded
the government to take steps to
send the body from Saudi to in-
dia immediately.
HYdeRABAd WedNeSdAY 10 FeBRuARY 2021
AP AGRI REVIEW
SEC told to hold back its
‘Protect farmers from cheating’ e-Watch app till Feb 17
CM tells officials to
coordinate with police in
setting up special police
stations to protect farmers
Directs them to make
arrangements for setting up
crop insurance company
HANS NEWS SERVICE
AMARAVATI
CHIEF Minister YS Jagan Mo-
han Reddy instructed the officials
to ensure that various laws
brought for the benefit of farmers
were implemented strictly.
During a review on agriculture
activities at his camp office here
on Tuesday, the Chief Minister
said asked the officials to take
steps to support farmers and en-
sure they were not cheated and
also to plan for setting up special
police stations for farmers.
He said the police department
should coordinate with agricul-
tural department in this regard.
Awareness should be created
among tenant farmers under Po-
lambadi programme on cultiva-
tor rights Acts and also that they
would not have any problem with
crop cultivator rights card and
the posters with this information
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy reviewing agriculture, Amul project and Janata Bazaars with officials at his camp office in
Tadepalli on Tuesday
should be displayed in Rythu
Bharosa Kendras (RBKs).
The Chief Minister said hoard-
ings should be placed at RBKs,
village clinics and village secre-
tariats with details of services be-
ing provided under them so that
awareness could be created
among people on it.
He asked them to take steps on
setting up of insurance company
on behalf of the government for
crop insurance and a special offi-
cer should be appointed for it.
The Chief Minister told the of-
ficials to take steps for the pay-
ment of insurance premium for
Kharif 2020–21. He also directed
release the first tranche of Rythu
Bharosa Scheme in May.
Special focus should be laid on
organic farming and the crops
should be purchased under
RBKs, he said adding that regular
monitoring should be done on
the same.
The message that millers
should come directly to RBKs to
buy the crop, should be strongly
conveyed, the Chief Minister
said.
He also reviewed AP Amul
Project and setting up of aqua
hubs, fund pooling and setting up
of multi-purpose facility centres.
The Chief Minister discussed
Janata Bazaars and proposals to
setup them in an area of 500 sqft
to 5,000 sqft.
It was decided to set up a
Janata Bazaar for a population of
5,000 in first phase and buildings
NEWS
should be constructed for them.
The Chief Minister said quality
items should be available in
Janata Bazaars at prices lower
than in open market. He said
farmers should get minimum
support price for their items and
the same should be made avail-
able to consumers at lower prices
benefitting both farmers and
consumers.
Agriculture Mission vice-
chairman M V S Nagi Reddy, agri-
culture special chief secretary
Poonam Malakondaiah, market-
ing and co-operation department
special secretary Y Madhusudan
Reddy, agriculture marketing
commissioner P S Pradyumna,
AP DDC MD Ahmad Babu and
others were present.
HANS NEWS SERVICE
AMARAVATI
THE Andhra Pradesh High
Court adjourned the matter of
usage e-Watch app launched by
State Election Commission for
monitoring panchayat elections
to February 17 stating that the
app developed by the SEC can-
not be used until the security
certificate is obtained while di-
recting the SEC to reply to the
queries raised by the AP Tech-
nology Services (APTS) which
is tasked with certifying the app.
The public interest litigation
(PIL) relation to the e-Watch
app was taken up by the High
Court on Tuesday. Matter was
heard by the bench comprising
Chief Justice Arup Kumar
Goswami and Justice Praveen
Kumar
On behalf of the state govern-
ment, C Suman submitted that
based on the request made by
the SEC, the APTS conducted
preliminary tests and a report
had been sent to the SEC on
flaws and the security concerns
found in the app. The most glar-
ing security concern was that
the source code of the AP social
welfare department was used in
7
Govt counsel informs the High Court that AP Technology
Services which is asked to issue technical clearance to the
app is yet to receive many clarifications from the SEC
SEC advocate submits that the commission is ready
to use ECI’s ‘C-Vigil’ or the State govt’s ‘e-Nigha’, but the
latter is not working
the development of the e-Watch if it is allowed to do so. He fur-
app. He also told the court that ther said that the app developed
the SEC had not produced any by the state government, e-
document to show that the so- nigha, was not working.
cial welfare department had When the court enquired as
consented to use its source code to whether the state govern-
for developing the e-Watch app. ment has any objection if the
If no permission was given, the app developed by the state is
app would be vulnerable to se- used by the SEC, the govern-
curity breach. ment counsel Suman said he
SEC counsel submitted to the had no instructions on the sta-
court that the commission was tus of the app developed by the
willing to use the services of the state but the state will not have
e-Vigil app developed by the any objection if the SEC wants
Election Commission of India to use it. The case

Vijayasai expresses regret Lifting stay on Amaravati SIT probe

over remarks against V-P Apex court to hear plea on March 5
NEW DELHI
YSRCP Rajya Sabha member V Vi-
jayasai Reddy on Tuesday ex-
pressed regret for the comments
he made against the Rajya Sabha
chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, say-
ing he never intended to cast any
aspersions on the Chair and had
uttered them in a state of anguish.
Vijayasai Reddy on Monday
sought expunging of certain com-
ments made by a TDP MP K
Ravindra Kumar a few days ago.
He went on to make the objection-
able comments when Chairman M
Venkaiah Naidu asked him to give
a notice for examination.
"I never intended to bring any
disrepute or make the chair dys-
functional sir. I am no one to make
the chairman of Rajya Sabha dys-
functional,” he said in the House
on Tuesday. He said he was in a
state of anguish when he made
those comments on Monday and
The YSRCP member on
Monday cast aspersions
on the Rajya Sabha
Chairman during
proceedings
now wishes to take back his words.
“I sincerely regret my comments
made yesterday. They were unin-
tended and made on a spur of an-
guish. I had become emotional,"
he said. “I had no intention to hurt
the chair or cast aspersions on the
chair. I, therefore, regret it once
against and assure you sir it will
not be repeated again." After Vi-
jayasai Reddy expressed regret,
Naidu said “the issue is closed.”
Earlier, when the House met for
the day, Parliamentary affairs min-
ister Pralhad Joshi said Monday’s
episode was condemnable. “We
have all respect and regard for you,
especially for the Chair,” he told
Naidu. “Whatever happened is un-
acceptable. Throwing aspersions
on the Chair is not at all accepted.
This is very commendable.” The
minister requested the YSRCP
member to apologise. On Monday,
Vijayasai had ignored Naidu’s plea
for writing to him on the remarks
that he had found objectionable in
the TDP MP’s submission a few
days back. He had continued to
speak despite his mike being
turned off and the Chair ordering
that nothing would go on record.
During this time, Vijayasai cast as-
persions on the Chair.
NEW DELHI
THE Supreme Court on Tuesday said it
would hear on March 5 a plea filed by
the Andhra Pradesh government chal-
lenging the High Court order which
stayed SIT probe into alleged irregu-
larities in land deals in Amaravati
Capital Region during the previous
TDP regime of N Chandrababu Naidu.
The apex court said it would also
hear on March 5 the separate petition
filed by the state government against
another High Court order in a matter
which relates to alleged illegal land
transactions during shifting of the
state capital to Amaravati. These pe-
titions came up for hearing before a
bench comprising Justices Ashok
Bhushan and R S Reddy. The AP High
Court on September 16 last year had
granted a stay on the actions of the
Special Investigation Team (SIT) con-
stituted by Chief Minister Y S Jagan
Mohan Reddy-led government to con-
duct a comprehensive probe into vari-
ous irregularities, particularly the
state capital to Amaravati. During the
A bench comprising Justices Ashok hearing in the apex court earlier, the
Bhushan and R S Reddy will also hear counsel appearing for Andhra
another plea by the State govt against the Pradesh government had said that
AP High Court order which restrained the the HC had erred in staying the oper-
media from publishing details of FIR ation of SIT as it was a policy decision
to look into the alleged irregularities
regarding alleged irregularities in land deals committed in the land deals in Amar-
during shifting of capital to Amaravati avati after state’s bifurcation into
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
land deals in the Amaravati Capital after. Separately, the AP government The Jagan Mohan Reddy govern-
Region. has also moved the apex court ment had constituted the 10-member
The top court had on November 5 against the September 15 last year or- SIT, headed by a Deputy Inspector
agreed to hear the state’s plea chal- der of the state High Court which had General of Police rank IPS officer, to
lenging the High Court order and had restrained the media from publishing conduct a comprehensive investiga-
sought responses including from two news regarding an FIR lodged in con- tion into various alleged irregulari-
TDP leaders, Varla Ramaiah and Alap- nection with alleged irregularities in ties, particularly the land deals in the
ati Rajendra Prasad, a former minis- land transactions in Amaravati. The Amaravati Capital Region, during the
ter, on whose petitions the High Court top court had on November 25 last previous Chandrababu Naidu regime.
had stayed the probe initiated by the year stayed the High Court direction The report of a Cabinet Sub-Commit-
SIT. When the plea against the High restraining the media from publishing tee on the procedural, legal and fi-
Court's September 16 last year order news regarding the FIR. nancial irregularities and fraudulent
came up for hearing on Tuesday, the The apex court had also said that transactions concerned with various
top court granted last opportunity to the HC shall not decide till January projects, including the issues related
the respondents to file their replies last week the pending matter which to land in the CRDA region will form
within two weeks and said that rejoin- relates to the alleged illegal land the basis for the SIT probe, the gov-
der be filed within one week there- transactions during shifting of the ernment had said.

Naidu warns against

Radioactive device behind disaster?
Continued from P1
However, the mountaineer-
ing team conducting the expe-
dition got caught in a blizzard
and had to return, leaving the
device at the base of the moun-
tain. A year later, when they
went back to the area, they
could not find it; subsequent ex-
peditions have also not been
able to trace the device, which
has a life span of over 100 years
and is believed to be still some-
where in the area.
On Sunday, the day the flash
floods struck the area near
Raini village in Chamoli dis-
trict, which is situated in the
Nanda Devi Biosphere, vil-
lagers said they noticed an ex-
tremely pungent smell in the
air as muck and rubble from
the mountain came rolling
down and fell into the Rishi-
ganga river.
“The smell was so intense
that we were not able to breathe
for some time. Had it been only
debris and snow, it would not
have carried such a smell. This
has triggered concerns in our
village that the long-lost ra-
dioactive device – about which
our elders used to tell us – may
be behind the incident,” said
Deveshwari Devi, a resident of
Jugju village, from where sev-
eral men had served as porters
during the 1965 expedition.
Incidentally, Imarti Devi,
wife of one of the porters of the
expedition, Kartik Singh, who is
now 90-year-old, also died in
Sunday’s flash floods after being
swept away in the raging waters
of the Rishiganga.
The villagers’ concern about
the radioactive device also
stems from the fact that the
Nanda Devi (West) base camp is
situated right at the spot where
the Rishiganga gorge is located,
from where the Rishiganga
river emerges.
“During the 1965 expedition,
we are told that the moun-
taineering team faced bad
weather while they were above
the base camp and they had to
leave the device at a safe place
there. If the device is buried un-
der the snow somewhere in the
area and is radiating heat, then
of course there would be more
melting of snow and further av-
alanches. We urge the govern-
ment to immediately start a
search operation for the device
before there are more disas-
ters,” said Sangram Singh
Rawat, another villager who
along with his family has been
spending the night in the forest
near Raini village in fear ever
since Sunday’s disaster.
Notably, in 2018, Tourism
Minister Satpal Maharaj had
raised the issue of the radioac-
tive device polluting the snow
trickling down from the Nanda
Devi range into the Ganga and
had urged Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to take urgent
action in the matter.
Citizens will spy
on citizens online harassment of BCs by the govt
KCR to launch
Sagar bypoll
Continued from P1
HANS NEWS SERVICE favour of the YSRCP-supported
candidates in the home minis-
campaign today
AMARAVATI
Cyber Expert category volunteer will help ter’s Assembly constituency, he Continued from P1
deal with specific domains of cybercrime, TDP national president N said. The TDP chief decried the The meeting will be-
forensics, network forensics, malware analy- Chandrababu Naidu on Tues- arrest of Garikapadu sarpanch gin at 2pm. Prior to
sis, memory analysis and cryptography. day warned of serious conse- candidate’s husband Sunil Ku- that KCR laid the foun-
While there is no prior verification required quences if the ruling YSRCP mar and mandal TDP president dation stone for 18 lift
for the first category, a background verifica- leaders continued to target and in the Guntur district. De- irrigation schemes of
tion of volunteers of other two categories will harass the Backward Classes manding that the arrested TDP Nagarjuna Sagar,
be done as per the norms of Know Your Cus- (BC) leaders as part of their po- leaders should be immediately Miryalguda, Kodad and
tomers (KYC) by the respective state govern- litical suppression. He repeated released to ensure a free and Devarakonda con-
ments and union territories. his allegation that false cases fair election, he said authorities stituencies with an
The volunteers are required to furnish per- were foisted on K Atchannaidu should take stringent action estimated cost of
sonal particulars like full name, father’s and he was arrested. Naidu against the errant police offi- Rs 3,585 crore.
name, mobile number, email address, resi- spoke to Atchannaidu on the cials. He enquired from the Along with district
dential address. Once the registration process phone after he was released on party leaders from different collector Prashanth
is complete, the details of the volunteers bail on Tuesday. parts of the state about the Jeevan Patil and SP AV
would be accessible to the Union Territory Addressing a teleconference progress of the polling in the Ranganath, Jagdish
Inspector General of Police (crime branch) with party leaders here, Chan- first phase panchayat elections. Reddy inspected the
who is the nodal officer for cybercrime. The drababu Naidu said that the Naidu said that the State Elec- arrangements at the
I4C is an idea conceived to fight against cy- ministers and ruling party tion Commission should take helipad located in Na-
bercrime in a coordinated and comprehen- MLAs were resorting to arm action against the officials who garjuna Sagar.
sive manner. ‘One of the important objectives twisting tactics by causing ille- did not publish the final lists of Top police officials
of I4C is to create an ecosystem that brings gal detentions of the rival can- contesting candidates in the are supervising the se-
together academia, industry, public and gov- didates and their supporters. panchayat polls in the Tambal- curity arrangements
ernment in prevention, detection, investiga- The police force was acting in lapalli Assembly segment. for the event.
tion and prosecution of cybercrimes,’ a doc-
ument of the home ministry said.

TOLL CLIMBS TO 32 Sharmila to launch YSRTP in April

Continued from P1
Rawat, who reached Tapovan on
Monday evening to review rescue
efforts, undertook an aerial survey
of the affected areas on Tuesday
and also met 12 workers who were
rescued from the tunnel on Sun-
day evening.
Around half a dozen people
were injured in the Sunday ava-
lanche.
Thirteen border villages of
Joshimath block were cut off fol-
lowing the avalanche in Rishi
Ganga river on Sunday.
Chennai drones for
Chamoli rescue ops
CHENNAI: Drone-as-a-Service
company Garuda Aerospace will
deploy three drones in rescue and
relief operations spearheaded by
National Disaster Response Force
(NDRF) in relation to the Nanda
Devi Deluge in Uttarakhand’s
Chamoli District, said a top com-
pany official. “We were ap-
proached by the NDRF to deploy
three drones in the rescue and re-
lief operations at Uttarakhand’s
Chamoli disaster,” Agnishwar
Jayaprakash, Managing Director
of city-based Garuda Aerospace,
said. He said the company will de-
ploy three types of drones to sup-
port the NDRF’s rescue and relief
measures. Jayaprakash said one
drone will be for video surveillance
to assess the extent of damage
caused and relaying real time in-
formation to ground forces. It will
also provide information on the
trapped workers of NTPC who
were building a power plant there.
The other two drones will be used
for stringing cables and for deliv-
ery of food and emergency sup-
plies, he added.
Landslide triggered
Continued from P1
But Sharmila apparently felt otherwise
and must have taken a “conscious deci-
launch of the party.
When asked what made her think of
entering the political arena in T State, her
glacier disaster: Shah
Continued from P1 stream at Tapovan on the of Home Affairs are moni-
sion,” to float her own party. Sajjala said only reply was that "there was no Rajanna Speaking in the Rajya river Dhauli Ganga," Shah toring the situation round
as a well wisher of the family, he was offer- Rajyam. During his rule the farmer was a Sabha on the tragedy that further said. the clock, ensuring possible
ing his personal congratulations to her. king and students got scholarships to pur- occurred at 10 am on Sun- Citing information help to the state."
He also said that he feels that she would sue higher studies. Now no one is happy.” day, the minister said the shared by the Uttarakhand He said that Indo-Ti-
also have the blessings of Jagan Mohan A senior legislator of YSR Congress avalanche hit the upper government, the minister betan Border Police (ITBP)
Reddy. At the same time, he added that party from Andhra Pradesh on condition catchment of Rishiganga said there was no danger of has set up its Control Room
YSRCP will have no role in her party and of anonymity said she harbours political river, a tributary of Alak- downstream flooding and and 450 ITBP personnel
she would be responsible for her deci- ambitions. Several banners with portraits nanda river in Chamoli, the rise in water levels has with all necessary equip-
sions and whatever the outcome of float- of Sharmila and Rajasekhar Reddy were leading to a sudden rise in been contained. ment are engaged in rescue
ing a new party would be. erected at the residence. Jagan's image the water levels of Rishi- Shah said the Centre and and relief operations.
However, Sharmila took the first step was conspicuously missing in the ban- ganga river. Due to flash the state government have Five National Disaster
towards floating a political party and dur- ners and flex boards. floods on account of rising been keeping a strict vigil Response Force (NDRF)
ing the 'Atmiya Sammelan' held at the A YSR Congress worker from Utnoor of water levels in the Rishi- on the situation which is teams have also reached the
Lotus Pond residence, she said she in Adilabad said he strongly wants ganga, the minister said, a being monitored round the spot and are engaged in res-
wanted to understand the ground reali- Sharmila to float a party in order to bring functional Rishiganga small clock by the Central gov- cue and relief operations,
ties and take the suggestions of those who "Rajanna Rajyam" (Rajasekhar Reddy's hydro project of 13.2 ernment at the highest said the Minister, adding
still were YSR loyalists. regime) in Telangana also. megawatt was washed away. level. eight teams of the Indian
She also said that she had convened Meanwhile, the BJP and Congress par- "The flash floods also af- "The Prime Minister Army, including one Engi-
the meeting to hear their opinion and not ties said that it was KCR's game plan to fected the under construc- himself is monitoring the neer Task Force (ETF), are
to give a lecture. She also proposes to tour split the anti-incumbency votes in the tion 520-megawatt NTPC situation closely and both carrying out rescue opera-
some districts before announcing the next elections. Hydro Power Project down- Control Rooms of Ministry tions at the site.
8 EDIT HYDERABAD WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2021

Will retail investors lap up G-Secs?

of this exemption, ’New MSME borrowers’ shall be de-
fined as those MSME borrowers who have not availed
of any credit facilities from the banking system as of
January 1.

E NCOURAGING retail participation in the Govern-

ment securities (G-Secs) market has been a focus
area of the central government and RBI, of late. Keep-
ing it in view, a host of initiatives like the introduction
of non-competitive bidding in primary auctions, per-
mitting stock exchanges to act as aggregators/facilita-
tors for retail investors and allowing odd-lot segment
in the NDS-OM secondary market have already been
taken in the past.
It was in this context that the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI), in its bi-monthly review of annual monetary
policy last week, decided to provide retail investors ac-
cess to the online trading of the government primary
securities market along with the facility to open their
gilt securities account on its portal. the idea is to in-
crease retail participation in the gilt market, which is
normally flooded by institutional investors. Still, lots
of confusions persist about its modalities. Normally,
government securities have lot sizes over Rs 1 crore
something that warrants further simplification to en-
sure retail participation. RBI is currently working out
on the details of the facility to be issued separately.
Further, this move is expected to help apex bank to
raise requisite funds to meet the central government’s
borrowing target for the next fiscal.
But debt mutual funds, EtFs, and fixed deposits con-
tinued to be a better option for retail investors. So, it is
to be seen whether retail investors will lap up G-Secs.
If it works out well, then it will potentially help increase
the country’s financial savings to 21.4 per cent of GDP
for FY21 from merely 7.9 per cent in Q1FY20.
Apart from revealing its plans to allow retail in-
vestors into G-Secs, RBI also came out with a new step
to incentivise new credit flow to MSME borrowers. Un-
der this, commercial banks will be allowed to deduct
credit disbursed to ‘new MSME borrowers’ from their
NDtLs (net demand and time liabilities) for the cal-
culation of CRR (cash reserve ratio). For the purpose
the exemption will be available only for exposures
up to Rs 25 lakh per borrower (for credit extended up
to the fortnight ending October 1, 2021. Besides, the
exemption will be applied for a period of one year from
the date of origination of the loan or the tenure of the
loan, whichever is earlier. Still, it will provide a cushion
to the lenders to increase their advance books, rather
than parking their idle money with RBI. More credit
disbursement will mean more economic activity which
will ultimately help grow the country’s economy.
Furthermore, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das main-
tained that India’s economy would move only in one
direction now and ‘that is upwards’.the apex bank pro-
jected a GDP growth rate of 10.5 per cent for the next
financial year while revising retail inflation outlook to
5.2 per cent for the current quarter and to five per cent
A BUDGET OF
ASPIRATIONS
in the first half of next financial year i.e. FY22. Overall,
the steps taken by RBI in the last week’s policy are
likely to spur economic growth.

TARUN CHUGH

CCP has digitised its dictatorship t HE first Budget of this decade comes at a time when our nation is
commemorating the 75th year of Indian independence, 60 years
of Goa’s accession to India, 50 years of 1971 India- Pakistan War, Eighth
census of Independent India (also the first digital census), India’s turn
at the BRICS Presidency, Chandrayaan-3 Mission and celebration of
BINAY KUMAR SINGH the border without approval. It Haridwar Maha Kumbh. Under this scenario in the post Covid era,
also mandates web based busi- India has a vital role to play as an Asian economy in the new economic

H
AVING unveiled its am-
bition of emerging as
the top Artificial Intel-
ligence (AI) superpower by
2030, the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) has taken rapid
strides in digitising every con-
ceivable sphere of its activity, so
much so even its dictatorial
form of governance. With CCP
ideology pervading the state-run
and data driven Chinese econ-
omy, it is but natural that giant
Chinese tech companies and
foreign companies with signifi-
cant presence in China, have
been arm twisted by CCP into
sharing sensitive consumer
data. this helps the CCP to
maintain an eagle eye vigil on its
1.4 billion citizenry through in-
stallation of a humongous num-
ber of surveillance devices
throughout the country, imple-
mentation of the dubious Social
Credit System and using digital
media to indoctrinate people to
its ideology while crushing any
form of dissent within the coun-
try. the story of CCP's transfor-
mation from a traditionally re-
pressive dictatorship since
inception to the digital dictator-
ship of President Xi Jinping
needs careful study, especially
to safeguard nations from the
pitfalls of the CCP's irredentist
ambitions.
Historically in 1949, Mao Ze-
dong had proclaimed the foun-
dation of the People's Republic
of China (PRC), a single party
state controlled by the Commu-
nist Party of China (CPC). He re-
mained in power till his death in
1976, during which he slowly
consolidated his control
through suppression of land-
lords, targeting political oppo-
nents and capitalists with the
'three-anti' and 'Five-anti' cam-
paigns, enforcing his vision of a
planned economy, purging
rightists within the CPC and
bringing in the infamous 'Cul-
tural Revolution' to remove
counter-revolutionary elements
in a violent 10-year class strug-
gle. While Chairman Mao set
China on the path of growth and
industrialisation, his regime will
always be remembered as being
'autocratic' and 'totalitarian' and
it had a terrible dark side, of
bringing about mass repression
and millions of deaths through
starvation, persecution, prison
labour and mass executions.
Fast forwarding to more re-
cent times, Xi's rise from being
the Party Chief of the Zhejiang
province of the Communist
Party from 2002-2007 to his ap-
pointment as Vice President in
2008 to elevation as President
in 2012, has been meteoric. By
2013, in true dictatorial style, Xi
acquired all three leadership
Xi's rise from being the Party Chief of the
Zhejiang province of the Communist Party
from 2002-2007 to his appointment as
Vice President in 2008 to elevation as
President in 2012, has been meteoric. By
2013, in true dictatorial style, Xi acquired
all three leadership roles in China -- Gen-
eral Secretary of the Communist Party of
China, Chairman of the Central Military
Commission and President of the People's
Republic of China
roles in China -- General Secre-
tary of the Communist Party of
China, Chairman of the Central
Military Commission and Pres-
ident of the People's Republic of
China. the first major policy in-
troduced by Xi in 2013 was a far
reaching anti-corruption policy
against high ranking officials
and local civil servants. What re-
ally cemented his dictatorship
was promulgation of CCP's offi-
cial Political doctrine in 2018
called 'Xi Jinping thought',
which strengthened power at
three levels namely, the nation,
the CCP and Xi himself. If that
was not enough, the National
People's Congress (NPC) on De-
cember 26, 2020, amended the
National Defence Law (NDL)
expanding the power of its
armed forces headed by Xi to
mobilise military and civilian re-
sources to defend its national in-
terests both at home and abroad.
'Disruption' and protection of
'development interests' has
been added as grounds for mo-
bilising and deploying troops
and reserve forces. Such sweep-
ing powers with a life long
tenure give Xi a dictator's
stature which even surpasses
the Dictatorship of Chairman
Mao.
In his first year as President,
Xi announced the CCP's ambi-
tious One Belt One Road
(OBOR) Project, only to rename
it as the Belt and Road Initiative
(BRI) a few years later based on
feedback from participating
countries that the term OBOR
sounded too authoritarian. the
vision articulated by the CCP for
the more inclusive sounding
BRI was to undertake infra-
structure development and in-
vestment in over 70 countries
across the continents of Asia,
Africa and Europe with likely in-
vestment of about $1.3 trillion
over the next 10 years. this was
followed in 2017 by the release
of Xi's 'New Generation Artifi-
cial Intelligence Development
Plan', which outlines develop-
ment of a domestic AI industry
worth $150 billion in the next
few years and to emerge as the
leading AI power by 2030. Such
is the importance accorded to AI
by the CCP, that it has also been
included as a national priority
in the 'Xi Jinping thought'.
therefore, the CCP's quest of
achieving world dominance in
AI perfectly complements the
BRI. China has already invested
about $22 billion in the semi-
conductor industry which
makes chips to power AI sys-
tems. It is predicted that China's
share in the AI market is likely
to expand to about $50 billion
by 2022 with raw material
sourced from BRI countries.
In reality, AI has given rise to
intensified societal surveillance
and a clampdown on free ex-
pression. A shocking and chill-
ing use of AI has been to quell
the Uyghur-Han Chinese
clashes in the north western au-
tonomous Xinjiang province,
which has caused widespread
unrest. the CCP has used AI to
incarcerate without trial over
one million Uyghurs and other
Muslim minority ethnic groups
in 're-education camps' also re-
ferred to as Vocational Educa-
tion and training Centers, much
like those in existence during
Chairman Mao's 'Cultural Rev-
olution'. Surveillance cameras,
Facial Recognition software etc.
have effectively been used to
segregate, track and restrict the
freedom of the turkish Muslim
minority in Xinjiang.
the same AI tools are also
used to monitor the lives of in-
nocent Chinese citizens through
data mining of giant companies.
CCP's intelligence agencies reg-
ularly use the data processing
capabilities of private compa-
nies such as Alibaba, tencents,
Huawei, Bytedance, Baidu, ZtE
etc. to derive actionable
intelligence in quick time.
this arrangement obviates du-
plication of expensive data-pro-
cessing functions by CCP's In-
telligence agencies. CCP has
given legitimacy to this practice
by enacting the Internet Secu-
rity Law in 2017, which man-
dates all data collected in China
to be stored within the country
and bans transfer of data across
nesses to share data which may
affect the 'security of the nation',
which grossly violates privacy of
individuals. the Social Credit
System introduced by CCP os-
tensibly aims to standardise the
assessment of economic and so-
cial reputation of citizens and
businesses. It goes without say-
ing that the Social Credit System
would reward pro-CCP activi-
ties and restrict the freedom to
travel and also social liberties of
the so called dissenting voices.
It is due to this digital totalism
that despite poor handling of the
Covid-19 pandemic by the CCP
administration, only highly sani-
tised reports came out from
China.
the CCP Dictatorship has not
restricted itself to using these
'virtues' of Digital Authoritari-
anism on its own citizens. two
recent global examples of ad-
verse effects of Chinese AI sys-
tems can be seen in Zimbabwe
and the Philippines. In Zim-
babwe, Hikvision's facial recog-
nition technology has been used
for border security purposes and
for creation of surveillance cam-
eras enabled smart cities. the
Chinese firm CloudWalk tech-
nology, sanctioned by the US
government for its human rights
abuse against the Uyghur com-
munity, has also developed a fa-
cial recognition system for the
Zimbabwean government. Sim-
ilarly, the Philippines launched
the 'Safe Philippines' project at
Manila under which about
12000 surveillance cameras us-
ing AI tools would be installed
in partnership with the Chinese
companies Huewei and CItCC,
with an amount of about US $
400 Million borrowed from the
CCP government. today, it is es-
timated that at least 18 countries
are developing mass surveil-
lance systems with CCP's assis-
tance. Embracing the CCP AI
Model could well mean the end
of democracy and the rise of dic-
tatorship in these countries.
One can only imagine the
enormous destructive potential
of the debt trap scheme of BRI
coupled with the sinister facet
of CCP AI dominance. We thus
have a brilliantly conceived for-
mula for modern day colonisa-
tion of weak democracies
through Digital
Dictatorship...and all this
achieved without having to fire
a single gunshot let alone fight a
war!!! the only counter to this
is to develop a democratic digital
model which will, while enhanc-
ing security, still preserve the
privacy and human rights of in-
dividuals and safeguard the sov-
ereignty of nations.
(Binay Kumar Singh is an
author and columnist)
order.
the Union Budget 2021-22 along with the mini-budgets, Pradhan
Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana and the AatmaNirbhar Bharat packages,
presented by the Finance Minister to stabilise the economy during the
critical pandemic period has prepared our country in the right direction.
Under the guidance of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the
Budget addresses the imperative of resetting of priorities and identifies
the emergence of opportunities by devoting an “all-inclusive budget”
as a guide to “self-reliant India”.
the development of any nation depends on the transportation net-
works and the ways in which they are being maintained. the same
holds true for the development of a huge and populous nation like
India. One of the most crucial announcements was with regard to in-
frastructure development projects across various States and union ter-
ritories. For connecting the areas and maintaining smooth flow of
traffic, the construction of new and developed roads are a must. the
infrastructure projects are not just connectivity specific, like the pro-
posed highway works and up-gradation of existing 675- km long
Kolkata-Siliguri highway across the state of West Bengal, but are also
employment opportunities
The Union Budget has generators.
provisioned `30,757 crore Further, as the Union ter-
for Jammu and Kashmir, the ritories receive 100 per cent
funding from the central gov-
highest among the Union ernment long stalled projects
Territories. The are being revived and new
announcement of maiden welfare projects are being im-
plemented. Also, the Union
gas pipeline in Jammu and Budget has provisioned
Kashmir has further `30,757 crore for Jammu and
rekindled hopes for the Kashmir, the highest among
the Union territories. the an-
revival of the project which nouncement of maiden gas
due to paucity of fund and pipeline in Jammu and Kash-
lack of administrative push mir has further rekindled
hopes for the revival of the
showed no progress for a project which due to paucity
decade. This gas pipeline of fund and lack of adminis-
project will create base for trative push showed no
progress for a decade. this gas
increased beneficiary pipeline project will create
coverage under the Ujjwala base for increased beneficiary
Yojana as well as decrease coverage under the Ujjwala
Yojana as well as decrease car-
carbon footprints by bon footprints by increasing
increasing utilisation of clean utilisation of clean fuel for
fuel for cooking purpose cooking purpose.
this connectivity upgrada-
tion also envisions the development of modern fishing harbours and
fish landing centres along the banks of rivers and waterways. the gov-
ernment has provisioned to develop five major fishing harbours – Kochi,
Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat –as hubs of economic
activity. the development of fishing harbours would help in exploitation
of rich fishing grounds, create adequate infrastructure facilities for op-
eration of mechanised fishing vessels, mitigate navigation hazards, save
fishermen life and fishing vessels from the rough sea, handle fish and
crustacean in hygienic conditions, thereby enhance the export earnings.
the first-ever paperless Budget 2021 deliberated on the sharp focus
on boosting the Start-up ecosystem in the country, with the objective
of encouraging economic activity and fostering growth. It is imperative
to note here that recently 11 Indian start-ups managed to bag the uni-
corn tag in a pandemic year as they crossed the 1 billion valuation mark.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji while congratulating the nation
on this achievement underscored that the start-ups are changing the
demographic characteristics of today’s business. Further, start-ups
played a major role in ensuring availability of sanitisers, PPE kits and
related supply chains, played a sterling role in meeting local needs like
grocery, medicine delivery at doorstep, transportation of frontline
workers and online study material.
thus, appreciated their spirit of finding opportunity in adversity,
the Budget provided further boost to start-up investments in the coun-
try by extending the eligibility for claiming tax holidays for start-ups
along with the capital gains exemption for investment in start-ups till
March 31, 2022 to incentivise funding. this will encourage many start-
ups to engaged and explore more sectors of growth such as harnessing
clean energy and power infrastructure maintenance, use artificial in-
telligence to promote the efficient use of energy and reducing the cost
of the consumers.
Shri Narendra Modi ji ushered in a wave of behavioural change
among the people with the launch of ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. the

LETTERS such natural calamities are occuring? this requires se-

rious introspection and scientific studies and analysis.
At the same time, looking at another angle, some ob-
servations appear not irrelevant. Nation bestowed by
God, provided huge resources to harness for the welfare
and wellbeing of humanity at large. But what are we are
doing? Nature is misused and abused.
this aspect requires introspection and to apply the
correct remedies. God is being forgotten. His teachings
are conveniently ignored. Moral values and morality
have taken the back seat. It seems people have no fear of
God, no love for God.
God advised us to acquire- Daiva Preeti ( Love for God)
and Paapa Bheeti (Fear of sins). Further for the pros-
perity of any nation, the index level of national character
need to be as high as possible. to achieve this all con-
cerned and who matter most have extraordinary and
A tragedy of Himalayan special responsibilities.
Y G Krishna Swamy, Rajahmundry
proportions
not at all related to them or they don't know even the al-
pha and beta of the issue. Yet, they try their level best to
disturb the law and order situation in the society. Our
PM Modi has rightly used the term 'Andolanjivi' to refer
to them. the government should initiate stern actions
against such traitors (this term aptly suits them).
Venkata Seshasai Deevi, Narasaraopet
Good move by PM
I t is good that the Prime Minister appealed to the
protesting farmers to initiate talks to resolve the three
farmer laws issue. It is equally good that the farmer lead-
ers responded to PM's invitation for talks positively.
(End stir, hold talks: PM. Feb. 9) Now that there is a con-
ducive atmosphere for discussions, both Government
and the agitating farmer leaders should think afresh. lis-
ten to each other’s point of view, and discuss the problem
without digging the past.
this meeting should be the last and final one to resolve
pandemic made ‘Swachhta’ an integral lifestyle practice and increased
community participation to further the achievement of key govern-
ment initiatives, especially in urban areas. For further Swachhta of
urban India, the government in its budget outlay increased focus on
complete faecal sludge management and waste water treatment,
source segregation of garbage, reduction in single-use plastic, reduc-
tion in air pollution by effectively managing waste from construc-
tion-and-demolition activities and bio-remediation of all legacy dump
sites. the Urban Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 is being implemented
with a total financial allocation of `1,41,678 crores over a period of
five years from 2021-2026.
Amidst a global pandemic, India’s overall allocation for health and
well-being increased by 137 per cent in the financial year 2021-22,
thus boosting capacity of health-care system to detect and cure new
and emerging disease in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. In
this regard the government while underscoring the importance of
strengthening the healthcare infrastructure launched PM Aatmanirb-
har Swasth Bharat Yojana with an outlay of about `64,180 crore over
6 year. the scheme will concentrate on bridging the heath infrastruc-
ture gaps at the village, block and panchayat level and integrate them
with the centralised healthcare facilities.

I t is very unfortunate that Uttarakhand glacier burst

that occurred on 7th Feb 2021 resulted in the death
/missing of about 200 persons in that area. this figure
is likely to go up in the final count. In addition to the
huge loss of human lives, due to different reasons, two
hydel projects were damaged and some houses were
badly affected; resulting in huge loss to the nation. Why
Rent-a-cause activists abound
all the issues related to the three farmer laws and end
the stalemate once for all. In short this is Now or Never
today India has indigenously manufactured vaccine and has begun
medically safeguarding not only her own citizens against Covid-19, but
I N our country, of late, it has become a profession for
some people to poke their nose in each and every issue.
Let it be a religious issue, political issue, academic issue,
situation for both the parties.
G V N Murthy, Hyderabad
also those of 100 or more countries under its Vaccine Maitri outreach.
Our nation has strengthened its ethos of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’
while turning a crisis into an opportunity of being ‘self-reliance’ and
farmers' issue, they at once jump into action and start thehansreader@gmail.com also presented a Budget with an eye on future growth trajectory.
making loud hues and cries. In some instances, they are (The author is National General Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party)
HYDERABAD WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2021
New party by Sharmila in TS
keeps Oppn on tenterhooks
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
WHo is behind the proposed
party of YS Sharmila in Telan-
gana? is the question that has be-
come a hot topic of discussion
among the political circles in the
State on Tuesday. While opposi-
tion parties alleged that chief
Minister K chandrashekar Rao
was behind the proposed move,
the TRS leaders have kept mum
owing to their leader’s diktat.
The Telangana BJP has alleged
that this was a move by K chan-
drashekar Rao to save his post.
“congress senior leader KVP Ra-
machandra Rao has entered the
scene to save K chandrashekar
Rao by making Sharmila float a
party. Definitely the new party of
Sharmila is in the direction of
KcR and thoughts of KVP,” BJP
leader NVSS Prabhakar.
Similarly, Telangana congress
working president A Revanth
Reddy alleged that Sharmila was
an arrow shot by the chief Min-
ister. He said people of the state
might not accept Sharmila. “KcR
shot the arrow only to dent the
chances of congress party.
Sharmila should first clear her
stand on Pulichintala, Pothired-
dypadu and Sangameshwaram
Podu farmers stage protest
HANS NEWS SERVICE
MAHABUBABAD
ARouND 60 tribal farmers
squatted on the road near bus
station centre in Gudur on Tues-
day, in protest against the high-
handedness of the forest offi-
cials, who prevented them from
podu cultivation on 63 acres in
line Thanda under Gudur man-
dal.
Banoth Parvathi, one of the
protestors, attempted suicide by
consuming pesticide and later
jumping into agriculture well.
it all started when the forest
officials tried to construct
trenches after demarcating the
forest land boundaries. The vil-
Podu farmers staging a protest on the road near bus station centre in Gudur on
Tuesday
TSHRC comes to the rescue of elderly woman
HANS NEWS SERVICE
KOTHAGUDEM
TelANGANA State Human
Rights commission (TSHRc)
has come to the assistance of an
elderly woman in the district,
whose name was removed from
her ration card.
The woman, Boda lakshmi
(70), native of Duginepalli vil-
lage of Pinapaka mandal in the
district, has submitted a peti-
tion to the commission com-
‘Academic standards plunging’ Bring land grabbers in Huzurnagar
HANS NEWS SERVICE
WARANGAL
AcADeMic standards have
plunged to a new low since the TRS
government took over the reins of
Telangana, Aicc Secretary and
former MP Madhu Yashki Goud
said, speaking at the NSui urban
district meeting here on Tuesday.
Referring to the growing unem-
ployment, he criticised both the
centre and State for their failure
to fulfill their election promise to
fill vacancies in the government
service.
There are three lakh odd vacant
posts at the State and 12 crore
posts at the central level, Goud
said, accusing the TRS and the BJP
of deceiving unemployed youth.
“in Telangana, there are 10 lakh
unemployed youth. But there was
no effort to create jobs or to fill the
vacant posts,” he said. on the other
hand, academic standards con-
tinue to plunge in the State, Goud
said, reminding the TRS govern-
“KCR shot the arrow only to dent the While BJP and
chances of Congress party. Sharmila Congress say
before starting her party in
Telangana. Why KcR is not talk-
ing about the party of Sharmila?
He is helping Sharmila start the
political outfit only to split the
anti-government votes,” said Re-
vanth Reddy.
Meanwhile, the TRS leaders
are maintaining stoic silence over
the proposed party as they have
been asked to refrain from mak-
ing any comments. Further, the
lagers stated that they have been
practicing podu for about eight
decades and opposed the forest
officials’ move. The protestors
said that they have been receiv-
ing financial assistance provided
by the State government under
Rythu Bandhu for the said land.
The protestors demanded po-
lice to register a case against for-
est officials. Ravi, one of the pro-
testors, said that they will not
allow the authorities snatches
their land, and are ready to sac-
rifice their lives for the cause.
Sub-inspector Satish prom-
ised to take the issue to the no-
tice of the higher officials and
urged the protestors to call off
their protest.
plaining that her name was re-
moved from the ration card a
few months ago.
She submitted the petition
with the help of an RTi activist,
Manideep Nallapu of edulla
Bayyaram village in the mandal.
in her petition, she stated
that despite several complaints
to the local tahsildar, the issue
was not addressed.
Responding to her petition,
the commission has directed
Tahsildar Pinapaka to investi-
AICC Secretary and former MP Madhu Yashki Goud and Warangal DCC president Naini
Rajender Reddy giving away mementoes to NSUI leaders in Warangal on Tuesday
ment’s promise of KG to PG free
education.
He demanded the government
to appoint vice-chancellors to all
the universities besides filling
teaching and non-teaching staff.
He alleged that chief Minister
K chandrashekar Rao bowed to
BJP-led central government to
should first clear her stand on
Pulichintala, Pothireddypadu and move to dent
Sangameshwaram before starting the growing
her party in Telangana. He (KCR)
prospects of
is helping Sharmila start the
political outfit only to split the
anti-government votes,” says
Revanth Reddy, TPCC
working
president remain mute
social media team of the party
also ensured that there are no
talks about the proposed political
outfit.
if Sharmila was unhappy with
her brother, she should have
formed a party in AP. She will not
even secure deposit in Telangana,
said Dileep Konatham, director
of Telangana Digital Media, in a
tweet, which he later deleted.
However, the political analysts
PEACOCK
FOUND DEAD
HANS NEWS SERVICE
JANGAON
A peacock was found dead on
the suburbs of Jangaon town
on Tuesday. The residents,
who found the dead bird near
St Mary's High School early
in the morning, informed the
forest officials.
According to Jangaon For-
est Range officer D Shankar,
the peacock, which struck in
the traps placed by the locals,
died. He said that efforts are
on to nab the poachers with
the help of ccTV footage
available in the nearby vicin-
ity. it’s learnt that a group of
poachers were moving in the
region to poach the wild
boards and birds by placing
traps. The officials warned
the locals not to support the
poachers and told them to in-
form forest department if
they come across any such
incident.
it may be mentioned here
that the national bird pea-
cock is protected under Sec-
tion 51 (1-A) of the Wildlife
Protection Act 1972. Hunting
and killing of the bird is pro-
hibited.
gate the matter and take neces-
sary action within three
months of the receipt of the or-
der, which the concerned par-
ties received a couple of days
ago.
Boda lakshmi was issued a
ration card a few years ago
along with the names of her two
children, but for reasons un-
known her name was deleted
depriving her of her quota of
food items given through ration
shop.
protect himself from corruption
charges.
NSui Telangana in-charge
Naveed Khan, State president Bal-
moor Venkat, Warangal Dcc pres-
ident Naini Rajender Reddy, sen-
ior leaders eV Srinivas Rao and B
Srinivas Rao were among others
present.
TELANGANA
it’s a KCR
opposition
parties in
State, TRS
leaders
owing to their
leader’s
diktat
opine that this was a game plan
by the political strategist
Prashant Kishor to stop the
growth of the saffron party in the
two Telugu-speaking States.
Based on his advice, Andhra
Pradesh chief Minister YS Jagan
Mohan Reddy along with his
Telangana counterpart could
have made this plan to counter
the BJP growth in the State, said
a political analyst.
BC Welfare Minister Gangula Kamalakar speaking at a press meet at Mee-Seva centre in Karimnagar on Tuesday
‘KCR to Telangana, like Gandhi to nation’
HANS NEWS SERVICE
KARIMNAGAR
PeoPle of Bc community were
treated like slaves before Telan-
gana State formation but now
they are living with self-respect,
stated Bc Welfare Minister Gan-
gula Kamalakar while speaking at
a press meet at Mee-Seva centre
here on Tuesday.
The Minister informed that Bc
community building is being con-
structed at Kokapet in Hyderabad
with crores of rupees following
chief Minister K chandrashekar
Rao’s orders. if BJP leaders are
committed for the welfare of Bc
community, then saffron party
MPs Bandi Sanjay Kumar and
Dharmapuri Aravind along with
Bc leaders must go to Delhi and
Boda Lakshmi
to book, demands State BJP chief
Bandi Sanjay seeks withdrawal of cases filed against tribals
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
TelANGANA BJP chief Bandi
Sanjay Kumar on Tuesday
sought clarification from chief
Minister K chandrashekar Rao
in the wake of his proposed
tour to Nagarjunasagar Assem-
bly constituency in Nalgonda
district.
in a statement released here
on Tuesday, he demanded the
TRS chief to tender an apology
for trampling upon the rights of
tribals in the Sagar Assembly
constituency. He said that
thousands of acres of land be-
longing to tribals in Gurram-
bodu Thanda under Huzurna-
gar Assembly segment has been
UTTAM SEEKS DESIGNATED
FUNDS FOR LOCAL BODIES
Nalgonda MP and TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy participating in the briefing & interactive session by
Chairman N K Singh & members of 15th Finance Commission in Parliament New Delhi on Tuesday. During the
briefing of MPs of all parties, Uttam Kumar Reddy pleaded that State governments should immediately transfer
the designated funds to local bodies and asked the governments not to impose their own conditions on spending
of Finance Commission funds by sarpanches. He also said reckless & indiscriminate borrowing by Telangana
government will result in State getting into debt trap
Transport Minister condoles death of his PA’s mother
HANS NEWS SERVICE
KHAMMAM
TRANSPoRT Minister
Puvvada Ajay Kumar has
condoled the death of the
demand Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi to set up separate Bc
Welfare Ministry at the centre,
he challenged.
Kamalamar reminded that it
was cM KcR, who added 17 oBc
castes into Bc category. Since BJP
is in power at the centre, its lead-
ers also must exert pressure on
the government for providing
reservations in both the Houses,
he pointed out. ‘The State govern-
ment is allotting Rs 9,000 crore
for Bc scholarships but the cen-
tre is sanctioning Rs 500 crore
only.’
The State government had es-
tablished as many as 261 Gurukul
Schools in just five years of its rul-
ing and provided education to
about 1.1 lakh students. Steps will
also be taken for allowing parents
Financial assistance for injured artist
HANS NEWS SERVICE
MAHBUBNAGAR
NoTeD philanthropist and so-
cial worker Pawan Kumar Yadav
extended Rs 20,000 financial
assistance to an artist, who was
severely injured in an accident.
The injured artist Janardhan,
resident of Tatikonda village of
Devarkadra mandal, is a theatre
artist. Recently he met with an
accident and lost his livelihood,
besides he has to bear the bur-
den of treatment costs. After
illegally occupied by the big in-
dustrialists and investors.
He further alleged that lands
assigned to tribals have been
taken away in the name of plan-
tation programmes and have
been acquired for other gov-
ernment projects without pay-
ing full compensation. Further,
mother of his personal as-
sistant (PA) ch Kiran Ku-
mar.
The Minister visited Ki-
ran Kumar's residence at
Sri Nagar colony on Tues-
to pay fees for four months only
for their wards studying in
schools and colleges.
Telangana is the only State,
which is sanctioning Kalayana
lakshmi cheques to the women
of weaker sections, after under-
standing their problems unlike
any other State in the country and
the credit for this goes to KcR, he
stated.
“There is no opposition within
the party against to cM KcR. Just
like Mahatma Gandhi for the na-
tion, KcR is for Telangana. What-
ever KcR says, is like a law for all
the party workers,” he an-
nounced. As KcR already an-
nounced that there is no question
of changing party leadership, we
cannot give any statement on this
issue, he clarified.
learning about his plight, Pawan
Kumar visited Janardhan’s
house on Tuesday and gave him
Rs 20,000 for his treatment.
Pawan Kumar said that the-
atre artists are already facing
many problems due to lack of
employment. ‘As a gesture of
humanity, it is our duty to res-
cue and support them,’ he
stated.
Palamuru Art Theatre Secre-
tary Krishna thanked Pawan
Kumar for his financial help to
the injured artist.
they were sent to jails foisting
false cases whenever they ques-
tioned the same, he said. The
BJP State chief cited how tribal
lands were taken away for the
Haritha Haram programme in
the chandapet mandal of Dev-
erakonda Assembly segment
near Nagarjunasagar. He de-
manded an assurance to deliver
justice to tribals who lost their
lands.
He alleged that the State gov-
ernment has failed to imple-
ment the order of the State
High court which upheld the
lands in an extent of 6,000
acres assigned to tribals af-
fected due to displacement un-
der the Nagarjunasagar project.
However, the ruling party lead-
9
day and paid homage to
PA's mother ch Damayanti.
He even carried the bier
along with the family mem-
bers during the funeral
procession.
21 copper wire
thieves arrested
HANS NEWS SERVICE
KOTHAGUDEM
Police have arrested 21 of-
fenders, who have been stealing
copper wire from different con-
struction sites in the district.
SP Sunil Dutt, speaking to the
media here on Tuesday, in-
formed that thieves were steal-
ing copper wire from the con-
struction sites of Sitarama lift
irrigation project, Guptha
Power infrastructure limited
and Pennar Solar Private lim-
ited in the district.
Following a tip off, police
team comprising ccS, Koth-
agudem, two-town and Julur-
pad cis and Annapureddypalli
Sub-inspector have conducted
vehicle inspections at Anna-
pureddypalli. The team caught
the offenders, who confessed to
their crimes during interroga-
tion. The SP informed that the
offenders have revealed that
they formed a gang to steal cop-
per wire under the leadership
of a scrap contractor at Sccl,
Godishela Venkateshwarlu of
chaman Basti in Kothagudem.
The offenders further in-
formed that they used to sell
stolen material to logu Satya-
narayana and Gorla Naresh at
Paloncha and to Venkatesh-
warlu in Hyderabad. cops re-
covered Rs 17.20 lakh property,
including 13 quintals of copper
wire worth Rs 8 lakh and Rs
9.20 lakh cash from the posses-
sion of the offenders. in all, 25
persons were involved in the
case and four others involved
in the case were yet to be ar-
rested. An auto rickshaw and a
mini cargo carrier were also
seized.
SP Dutt appreciated the po-
lice team for nabbing the of-
fenders. Bhadrachalam ASP Vi-
neeth G, ccS inspector l
Adinarayana and two-town in-
spector B Satyanarayana were
present.
ers have encroached the lands
located under the Huzurnagar
Assembly segment, he alleged.
He demanded action against
the government and revenue
officials who have stalled the
survey of forest lands in an ex-
tent of 6,200 acres. He ques-
tioned the need for police pro-
tection to an iron shed
constructed in Survey No 540
in Gurrambodu Tanda and
sought action against the police
official for lathi-charge and
false cases on tribals.
He demanded the chief Min-
ister to institute a comprehen-
sive inquiry into land grabbing
in Huzurnagar Assembly seg-
ment and bring those responsi-
ble to book.
10 NATION HYDERABAD WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2021

Army dogs to sniff out Covid-19 on basis of urine, sweat samples

Scientifically, it is evident that affected body tissues release unique volatile metabolic biomarkers which are used as
disease signatures for detection by the dogs. More than 3,000 samples have been screened so far by these dogs
SUMIT KUMAR SINGH based in Meerut, told IANS that Indian Army undertook biomarkers emanating from urine and sweat samples of screened so far by these dogs over there," he said.
NEW DELHI trials for detection of Covid-19 using the army dogs in positive patients. Scientifically, it is evident that af- Keeping in mind the success of trial, around eight
controlled conditions after seeing the global trend of fected body tissues release unique volatile metabolic more dogs have been incorporated in training for Covid-
INDIAN Army has trained canines to detect Covid-19 using medical detection dogs for various diseases like biomarkers which are used as disease signatures for 19 virus detection. In India, it is the first time the olfac-
virus for a quick and a real time situation for easier cancer, malaria, diabetes, Parkinson's disease and oth- detection of disease by the medical detection dogs. tory capability of canines have been exploited to detect
movements of troops. These canines -- 'Chippiparai' ers. There after a concerted effort was made to train an The sensitivity and specificity of both the dogs ob- tissues infected with pathogens releasing volatile meta-
and 'Cocker Spaniel' -- have been deployed at transit indigenous breed of dog 'Chippiparai' and a 'Cocker tained from screening of 279 urine and 267 sweat sam- bolic biomarkers. "The effort will turn out to be the part
camps of the force in Delhi and Chandigarh. Spaniel' to detect the volatilome of Covid-19 disease ples during the initial trial procedure was found to be of detectable disease signatures, thereby paving the
The Cocker Spaniel is two-years-old and is named from urine and sweat samples of positive cases by com- very high. After the training, the dogs were first de- way forward for real time detection of various medical
Casper, and Chippiparai is one-year-old and is named parative method. "Positive and suspected samples were ployed at a Transit Camp in Delhi for screening of tran- diseases by use of trained medical detection dogs," the
Jaya. Till date, 22 samples have been found positive by obtained from the Military Hospital, Meerut Cantt and sients and a total of 806 were screened during their de- officer said. He also said that currently various coun-
the Covid-19 detection dogs after screening around Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Subharti Medical College, ployment here. Further, both dogs were deployed in the tries like Britain, Finland, Russia, France, the UAE, Ger-
3,806 troops at both the places. Meerut for the purpose of training," Lieutenant Colonel transit camp in Chandigarh. They were used for screen- many, Lebanon have started training dogs for Covid-19
Explaining how all it started, Lieutenant Colonel Surinder Saini said. ing of transients moving to operational areas through detection by screening passengers at the airports and
Surinder Saini, Instructor at Remount Veterinary Corps These two dogs were successfully trained on specific the transit camp. "More than 3,000 samples have been railway stations.

Punjab MPs demand repeal of farm laws

Private Members’ Bill soon

SC panel holds consultations with ITC and Amul
‘203 MPs in LS, 64 in RS are farmers by profession’
NEW DELHI
CONGRESS' Lok Sabha member Manish Tewari on
Tuesday said that the party MPs from Punjab have
decided to bring private members' Bills in Parlia-
ment to seek the repeal of three new central farm
laws opposed by the farmers.
Tewari said: "Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke
on the farm laws in the Rajya Sabha on Monday but
no farmers is willing to believe him. We have no al-
ternative, so we decided to adopt this path."
The Congress MPs will meet Lok Sabha Speaker
Om Birla and request him to allow discussion on the
Bills submitted to the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
The Congress leader said that they will also
meet the Rajya Sabha Chair on the issue. Another
Congress MP Praneet Kaur, who is the wife of
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, said that they
stood by their demand for the repeal of these laws.
The Punjab MPs appealed to other members of
Parliament to initiate such Bills on the farm laws.
Congress MP Jasbir Singh Gill said: "Those MPs
who have written their profession as agriculture
should bring in private member's Bills."
Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu said: "There are
203 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 64 in the Rajya Sabha
who have shown agriculture as their profession. So,
we appeal to them to help with these private mem-
ber's Bills by coming out of partisan politics."
The Supreme Court-appointed committee on
farms laws issue on Tuesday said it held consulta-
tions with agro-processing industries including ITC
and Amul on the legislations.
Sachin urged to tweet
in support of farmers
AMID the ongoing debates over Sachin Tendulkar's
tweets over farmers issues, the Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) has urged the cricket legend to tweet in
favour of the agitating farmers. In an open letter to
the legendry batsman, AAP National Executive Mem-
ber and Mumbai Prabhari, Preeti Sharma Menon Actor Deep Sidhu (centre), accused in the violence on Republic Day during a farmers' tractor rally, arrested by Delhi Police
wrote, "You are India's pride. This nation of 1.3 bil- special cell in New Delhi on Tuesday
lion people has prayed for you, wept for you, and re-
joiced in your success. In this country where Cricket
is a religion, you are God for us. I am certain, as our
Bharat Ratna and a MP your heart must want to bat
Sidhu held, police gets 7-day custody
for all multitudinous hued people of this country NEW DELHI of thousands of farmers broke barriers to storm the na-
who have worshipped you," Menon also endorsed tional capital on January 26, their tractor parade to high-
Swabhimani Shetkari Saghtana worker Ranjeet Ba- A Delhi court Tuesday sent actor-activist Deep Sidhu to light their demands dissolving into unprecedented
gal's request to the Sachin to tweet in support of the 7-day police custody in connection with the Red Fort vi- scenes of anarchy as they fought with police, over-
farmers against the farm laws. "So I, a humble citi- olence on the Republic Day during farmers' tractor pa- turned vehicles and delivered a national insult hoisting
zen, request you to heed the appeal of Ranjeet rade against the Centre's three new agri laws. a religious flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort, a priv-
Bagel, a farmers son, who travelled all the way from Metropolitan Magistrate Prigya Gupta sent Sidhu to ilege reserved for India's tricolour.
Solapur to your door. He came from Pandharpur, the the custody after the police alleged he was one of the Thousands of protesting farmers who reached ITO
'DevNagri' where all us Maharashtrians go for a pil- main instigators of the violent incidents at the Red Fort. from the Ghazipur border clashed with police. Many of
grimage, on a pilgrimage to Bandra, Mumbai where Sidhu's counsel, however, claimed he had nothing to do them driving tractors reached the Red Fort and entered
his God Sachin Tendulkar resides with a simple with the violence and was at the wrong place at the the monument, where the religious flag was also
prayer - a tweet in support of our Anndaatas, the wrong time. The police had announced a cash reward of hoisted. Over 500 police personnel were injured and one
farmers who are protesting against the Farm Laws Rs 1 lakh for information leading to Sidhu's arrest. Tens protestors died.
that will rob them off their livelihood."

SC stays arrest
of Tharoor,
Shahnawaz in ‘Vaccinating Covid-19
Sardesai
Nitish Cabinet recovered patients
NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Tuesday

stayed the arrest of Congress MP
PATNA

THE much awaited expansion of the Nitish Kumar cabinet in Bihar

Shashi Tharoor and six journalists
including Rajdeep Sardesai in con-
nection with FIRs lodged against
them for their allegedly "mislead-
ing" tweets on the violence during
the farmers' tractor rally here on the
Republic Day. A bench headed by
Chief Justice S A Bobde issued no-
tices and sought responses from the
Centre and others on the peti-
tions filed by Tharoor, Sardesai
and journalists Mrinal Pande, Zafar
Agha, Paresh Nath, Vinod K Jose
and Anant Nath. When the
bench said it was issuing notice in
the matter, senior lawyer Kapil
Sibal, appearing for Tharoor, said
that no coercive action be taken
against them in the meantime.
“Nothing is going to happen.
Where is the danger,” said the
bench, also comprising Justices A S
Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
Sibal objected to the observation of
the bench that nothing would hap-
pen to the petitioners in the mean-
time, saying Solicitor General Tuh-
sar Mehta is appearing for Delhi
Police and the cops of other states
might “knock at my doors and arrest
me in the meantime”.
"Kindly protect us in the mean-
while," Sibal said, prompting the
bench to ask the law officer whether
the police was planning to arrest
Tharoor and others. Mehta said that
“horrendous” tweets were made.
took place on Tuesday with the induction of 17 members, including
a wasteful exercise’ NEW DELHI
Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, the high-profile Muslim face of the BJP.
The expansion turned out to be a message for ally BJP, which INDIA has vaccinated over six million healthcare workers within 24 days.
had been out to grab the dominant position in the alliance after its Interestingly, health experts and virologists say that vaccinating a person who
big win in last year's assembly elections. has already recovered from Covid-19 is a wasteful exercise as antibodies devel-
Of the 17 ministers in- oped naturally are better and last longer than the ones developed with the help
ducted, the BJP got nine of vaccines. They believe that vaccines should be preserved for those who need
berths, the Chief Minister's it most and they base their arguments on two basic scientific observations.
Janata Dal United, eight. But Firstly, very few cases of Covid-19 re-
the BJP's numerical advan-
Court orders to recover the money from those who infections have been reported across
tage -- in the assembly and the globe. Secondly, scientific evidence
the government -- was lost burnt the temple so that they may learn a lesson regarding some respiratory viral dis-
as all the important depart- eases such as chicken pox and influenza
ments, like Home, Personnel,
Education, Rural Develop-
ment, Rural Works, Water Re-
Rebuild vandalised suggest that natural antibodies work
better than artificial ones acquired
through a vaccine.
sources, remained with the
JD(U).
The BJP now has 16 minis-
Hindu temple: Pak SC Noted epidemiologist Dr Jayaprakash
Muliyil says, just 44 cases of Covid-19
re-infections have been reported glob-
ters with 22 portfolios ISLAMABAD ple, The Express Tribune reported. ally, which confirms that natural anti-
among them. The JDU has 13 During the proceedings, Justice Gulzar bodies provide long-lasting protection.
ministers with 21 portfolios. A berth each has gone to Jitan Ram PAKISTAN'S Supreme Court has ordered said, "Inform us if any recovery or arrest Meanwhile, as far as influenza is con-
Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha and the Vikassheel Insaan the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to has been made on the temple issue in cerned, Dr Muliyil is of the view that
Party. immediately start rebuilding a century- Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa?" In January, the natural antibodies provide better immu-
The expansion had been hanging since last year's assembly old Hindu temple that was vandalised by apex court had ordered the provincial nity when compared to vaccines be-
polls in the state as the BJP was having trouble finalizing the a mob in the province, and submit a government to recover the money for the cause influenza viruses constantly
names of its candidates. timeline for its completion. construction of the temple from those change and mutate.
The BJP, which was the junior partner in the state, had taken the The attack on the temple in Terri vil- who had burnt it. Evacuee Trust Property “So, you have to create a new vaccine because of the high mutation rate,” he
role of the big brother after its spectacular results in the election lage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Karak dis- Board lawyer Ikram Chaudhry apprised said adding that at present Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 infection,
following the solo contest by Chirag Paswan's Lok Janashakti trict by members of radical Jamiat the bench that no recovery has been has shown a very low mutation rate, which is good for vaccine development. Dr
Party. The LJP had cut into the votes of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal Ulema-e-Islam party (Fazal ur Rehman made so far on the temple issue, the pa- Sanjay Rai, President, Indian Public Health Association (IPHA), says that current
United, pushing it down from 71 seats to 43. It also gave the upper group) in December drew strong con- per said. scientific studies on Covid-19 show that natural immunity lasts very long and so
hand to the BJP, which won 74 seats. The JDU had squarely blamed demnation from human rights activists "The government had approved Rs Covid-recovered population should be excluded from the current vaccination
the LJP for its poor performance. and the minority Hindu community lead- 30.41 million for the reconstruction of the drive. “As India is very close to herd immunity, we should not waste taxpayers’
The JD(U) gave preference to experienced hands though there ers, prompting the apex court to order its temple," Chaudhry informed the bench. money on inoculating those people who have already recovered from Covid-19,”
were also a handful of debutants, including Zama Khan who got reconstruction last month. A three-judge Justice Ijazul Ahsan said that the court Dr Rai, who is also one of the principal investigators of a vaccine clinical trial,
elected on a BSP ticket but joined the party recently, and Inde- apex court bench, headed by Chief Jus- had ordered to recover the money from said. He seconds Dr Muliyil and says that scientific evidence states that the hu-
pendent MLA Sumit Singh who has pledged full support to the tice Gulzar Ahmed, heard the suo motu those who burnt the temple so that they man body produces long lasting antibodies against all such viruses which spread
chief minister. case regarding the burning of the tem- could learn a lesson. through respiration such as smallpox, measles and influenza.

Boost to small agricultural fields

IIT researchers develop solar-powered pest control system
NEW DELHI spraying, and also to reduce drudgery to the op- wheeler trolley," said hifjur Raheman, professor sprayers are used, while manually operated knap-
erator and dependency on fossil fuels for carrying at IIT Kharagpur. "As compared to conventional sack sprayer is used for smaller tracts. This im-

A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of

Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has developed
an energy-efficient pest controlling device for
smaller agricultural tracts owned by marginal
farmers.
The team has built a self-propelled boom-type
sprayer that can be operated using solar energy
while safely guided through the crops in smaller
tracts of land.
According to the team, which has also filed a
patent, the semi-automated device is aimed at in-
creasing field capacity and uniformity in liquid
out spraying in cropped areas. "The system com-
prises a propelling unit fitted with a liquid storage
tank, a DC motor operated pump to pressurise the
knapsack sprayers, the developed sprayer has a
higher field capacity and more uniformity of spray-
ing with less drudgery to the operator. It can be
pacts the efficiency of spraying as it depends on
the skill of the operator, leading to non-uniformity
in spraying.
liquid to be sprayed. easily operated in the field using solar energy with Further, it requires intensive labour capacity
Multiple numbers of spray nozzles are mounted a maximum speed of 2 km/hr and can cover a and operation time. Using tractor-mounted
on a boom fitted to the front of the machine to width of 1.5 metres at a time with a field efficiency sprayers in smaller tracts on the other hand would
cover wider width at a time. of 81 pc, thus saving time, human involvement and make the crops prone to damages due to their
"A set of solar-powered battery acts as the power chemicals," he added. higher turning radius. "Also, it leads to wastage of
source of the DC motor to propel the spraying unit Raheman explained that prevention of pests chemicals due to lower control on automated
as well as for running the pump. Unlike a knapsack and diseases during different growth stages of spraying. Not to mention the environmental pol-
sprayer, the liquid storage tank is of bigger capac- crops is an important process to increase its yield. lution due to the fuel emissions from the tractor,"
ity, and it is carried on a solar-powered three- "For larger tracts of farmlands, tractor-mounted he said.
 TODAY’S QUOTE LOSS FOREX (buy rates in `)
US Dollar 77.26 South
10% of LIC IPO for policyholders Dhanlaxmi Bank Q3 net plunges 44%
It has been proposed to have a reservation on a competitive dhanlaxmi bank on Tuesday registered 44.5 per cent Euro 92.66 African Rand 5.67
basis, to an extent of up to 10 per cent of the issue size, in favour dip in net profit to rs 11.81 crore in the third quarter
ended december 2020 on muted retail business even UAE Dirham 21.83 Hong Kong Dollar 10.81
of life insurance policyholders of LIC. The government will
remain the majority shareholder and will continue to retain as bad loan ratio declined. The bank's net profit was rs
21.28 crore in the year-ago period. The total income Thai Baht 2.8 Japanese Yen 0.8
management control safeguarding the interest of policyholders. was almost flat at rs 286.21 crore during Q2.
– Anurag Thakur, Union Minister British Pound 104.46 New Zealand Dollar 55.32
Australian Dollar 59.08 Saudi Riyal 21.36
Canadian Dollar 60.11 Swedish Krona 10.04
Swiss Franc 84.85 Singapore Dollar 57.64

hyderabad Wednesday 10 february 2021

biz briefs FOREIGN INVESTORS Banks unions call

for 2-day strike Markets snap
Housing.com,
Propdial in pact Amazon-Ambani from March 15
NEW DELHI 6-session rally
over profit taking
housing.com has announced a THE United Forum of Bank

spat tests patience

partnership with Gurugram-
based property and rental
management technology com-
pany, Propdial. This tie-up will
help housing.com to offer
property management support
to its clients who are looking to
opt for property management
services ranging from renting,
leasing to tenant background
verification to rental agree-
ment and rent collection, bill
payment. “This partnership is
another landmark the com-
pany has achieved to service
its clients in a more holistic
manner. This tie-up will be par-
ticularly beneficial for our nrI
homeowner clients, who find
it difficult to manage their
properties from abroad,” said
Mani rangarajan, Group COO,
housing.com, PropTiger.com
and Makaan.com.
Sharp unveils
new printer
sharp, an Indian subsidiary of
sharp Corporation, announced
the launch of a compact smart
color multifunctional printer,
bP-30C25Z, for office use. The
C-Cube IT is the smallest busi-
ness copier of its kind and has
been specially designed for
sMe, education, healthcare,
bfsI, legal and corporate seg-
ments. The product offers print
speed of 25 pages per minute
in color and black/white with a
built-in 100 sheet reversing sin-
gle pass feeder that makes
sharing information quick and
simple. shinji Minatogawa,
Managing director, sharp busi-
ness systems (India) Pvt Ltd,
said: “during these challenging
UPMANYU TRIVEDI
THE tussle between two of the
world’s richest men - Jeff Bezos and
Mukesh Ambani - to dominate in-
dia’s estimated $1 trillion retail mar-
ket is testing foreign investor pa-
tience with flip-flopping court
rulings. This week saw new devel-
opments in Amazon.com inc.’s legal
battle to block Ambani’s Reliance
industries Ltd. from acquiring Fu-
ture Retail Ltd.’s assets, in what
would be the country’s largest retail-
sector deal. Last week, a single judge
at delhi High Court restrained Fu-
ture Group firms from selling their
assets. On Monday, a set of judges at
the court overruled that decision.
Amazon can appeal the latest ruling
in the country’s Supreme Court.
The keenly watched case may set
an important legal precedent for in-
vestors on whether emergency de-
cisions by foreign arbitrators are
valid in india. Amazon had peti-
tioned indian courts with an order
from an emergency arbitration
court in Singapore that barred Fu-
ture Retail from making a deal with
Reliance. it could also help overseas
investors judge the validity of agree-
ments in india, which the World
Bank has ranked among the bottom
15 per cent of countries in terms of
enforcing contracts, worse than
Venezuela, Syria and Senegal.
“not giving effect to a foreign ar-
bitration award undermines india’s
already floundering reputation as a
good place to invest and do business
Unions (UFBU), an umbrella
body of nine unions, on Tuesday
gave a call for a two-day strike
from March 15 to protest against
the proposed privatisation of two
Sensex dips 19 points, Nifty slips 6 points;
state-owned lenders. Mahindra & Mahindra stock shines
in the Union Budget pre-
sented last week, Finance Minis- MUMBAI ing the weakness seen in the Euro-
ter nirmala Sitharaman an- pean market and outflows in equity
nounced the privatisation of two SnAPPinG their six-session win- mutual funds. Most of the sectors
Public Sector Banks (PSBs) as ning streak, equity benchmarks ended hitting rough weather with
part of its disinvestment plan. Sensex and nifty ended marginally auto, pharma and media stocks be-
The government has already pri- lower on Tuesday following fag-end ing the worst affected.
vatised idBi Bank by selling its profit-booking in iT, FMCG, fi- "However, banking and finance
majority stake in the lender to nance and auto stocks. stocks were in positive territory. US
LiC in 2019 and merged 14 public After rallying 487 points to touch markets remained firm on hopes of
sector banks in the last four its lifetime intra-day high of the additional stimulus package and
years. it has been decided to op- 51,835.86, the 30-share BSE Sensex swifter economic recovery contin-
pose the government's decision pared all gains to end 19.69 points ued to maintain optimism," said
to privatise banks during the or 0.04 per cent lower at 51,329.08. Vinod nair, Head of Research at
in,” said Bharat Chugh, a while its 5.6 per cent meeting of UFBU held on Tues- Similarly, the broader nSE nifty Geojit Financial Services. BSE auto,
former civil judge in The 2025 dollar bonds day, All india Bank Employees slipped 6.50 points or 0.04 per cent realty, FMCG, metal, healthcare
delhi and now a keenly watched rose 5.9 cents on Association (AiBEA) general sec- to 15,109.30. it touched a record and iT indices ended in the red,
lawyer practicing case may set an the dollar, and retary C H Venkatachalam said. peak of 15,257.10 during the day. while consumer durables, telecom,
in india’s top are now set for "The meeting discussed the M&M was the top drag in the Sen- capital goods, finance and bankex
important legal
court. Speedy
enforcement of precedent for investors
their biggest
rise since Jan.
various announcements made in
the budget of the central govern-
sex pack, shedding 3.62 per cent,
followed by Bajaj Finance, iTC, Sun
finished with gains. Broader BSE
midcap and smallcap indices
contracts and on whether 21, to 83.54 ment regarding reform measures Pharma, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finserv slipped up to 0.26 per cent.
foreign arbitra- emergency decisions by cents as of like privatisation of idBi Bank and TCS. On the other hand, Asian Global equities were mixed as in-
tion rulings are noon in Hong and two PSBs, setting up of bad Paints, OnGC, Titan, L&T, Axis vestors monitored progress of the
important for
foreign arbitrators Kong, according bank, disinvestment in LiC, pri- Bank and UltraTech Cement were $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill in
overseas investors are valid in India to Bloomberg- vatisation of one general insur- among the gainers, climbing up to the US. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses
when assessing the at- compiled prices. The ance company, allowing Fdi in 3.70 per cent. "The market in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo
tractiveness of an invest- rulings in Amazon’s case insurance sector up to 74 per failed to hold on to its up- ended with gains, while Seoul
ment destination, he said. come after two big foreign ar- cent, aggressive disinvestment ward rally to close flat closed lower. Stock exchanges in
Spokespeople at Reliance indus- bitration awards against india. in and sale of public sector under- due to heavy selling to- Europe were trading on a negative
tries, Amazon’s local unit and Future September, an international arbitra- takings, etc," he said. The meet- wards the close, note in mid-session deals. Mean-
Group weren’t able to comment im- tion tribunal said india acted un- ing observed that all these meas- mirror- while, the global oil benchmark
mediately on the latest ruling. Fu- fairly in a $3 billion tax dispute with ures are retrograde and hence Brent crude was trading 0.40 per
ture Retail’s lawyers have argued in Vodafone Group Plc and in another need to be opposed, he added. Af- cent higher at $60.94 per barrel.
court that the deal is their only ruling ordered india to return $1.2 ter deliberations, it was decided The rupee gained 10 paise to set-
chance to avoid bankruptcy and save billion to Cairn Energy Plc for a sim- to give the call for a two-day- tle at 72.87 against the US dol-
jobs. ilar failure. india has challenged the March 15 and March 16 - strike lar on Tuesday on the back
Future Retail’s shares climbed as Vodafone ruling in Singapore, in- against the government's moves, of sustained foreign fund
much as 10 per cent to Rs 80.5 in dia’s federal government informed AiBOC general secretary inflows and a weak Amer-
Mumbai, the most since november, Parliament on Monday. (Bloomberg) Soumya datta said. ican currency overseas.

times, sharp’s contribution to
business continuity in India is
to be in the forefront in helping
make office communications
easier”.
Forevermark’s
new collection
forevermark unveiled its
bridal Collection crafted with
timeless and beautiful
forevermark diamonds. Keep-
ing the spirit of Valentine’s day
in mind, a unique social media
contest #MakeaVow is
launched on facebook mes-
senger. all you need to do is
send forevermark your vows
along with a photograph of
you and your loved one that
best tells the story of your
beautiful relationship and win
an exclusive gift hamper while
you get featured by forever-
mark. sachin Jain, Managing
director, de beers India, said:
“The bridal Collection is repre-
sentative of the personal ex-
pression of modern women.
The collection includes soli-
taire rings with minimalistic
designs and extraordinary de-
tailing. The uniqueness lies in
its versatility as it can be
adorned at various occasions.”
AdiGroup’s new
Adani Ports Q3 net HCL Tech is set for high growth
zooms to `1,576 cr
NEW DELHI
AdAni Ports and Special Eco-
nomic Zone Limited (APSEZ) on
Tuesday reported a 16.22 per cent
increase in its consolidated profit
to Rs 1,576.53 crore for the third
quarter ended on december 31,
2020.
The country's largest integrated
logistics player had clocked a con-
solidated profit of Rs 1,356.43
crore in the corresponding period
a year earlier, the company said in
a regulatory filing to the BSE.
its total consolidated income
increased to Rs 4,274.79 crore for
the third quarter, as against Rs
3,830.43 crore in the year-ago pe-
riod. The company's total ex-
penses during the quarter under
review increased to Rs 2,258.62
crore, compared to Rs 2,091.40
crore in the year-ago period.
Karan Adani, Chief Executive
Officer and Whole Time director
of APSEZ said,
"The strong and lasting recov-
ery at APSEZ has been the corner-
stone of our journey in the recent
past. it's a proven certitude that
our business now operates closer
to a pure-play utility. Our portfolio
of assets, increasing market share
in india, and preeminence of our
network with leadership positions
have an unparalleled value propo-
sition."
He said the team at APSEZ con-
tinues to innovate and establish
operational excellence as the key
differentiator, thus improving
margins. "For instance, at KPCL,
which was acquired in October, we
have improved the EBidTA mar-
gin from 55 per cent to 71 per cent.
APSEZ is well on course to achieve
500 MMT (metric million tonne)
of cargo throughput by FY25," he
said.
IT major steadily closing gap with its bigger peers like Infosys
DEBASIS MOHAPATRA
BENGALURU
HCL Technologies is steadily clos-
ing the gap with its bigger peers as
the company crossed the $10 bil-
lion revenue mark in the calendar
year 2020. Experts believe that the
iT services firm is likely to clock
higher growth in coming quarters
as its product and platform busi-
ness gained momentum.
“digital transformation is bene-
fitting all software services compa-
nies due to higher spending by en-
terprises. Apart from this factor,
HCL Technologies has slightly dif-
ferentiated its service offerings by
betting on product and platform
business. As the product business
gains momentum, we believe that
the company will return to indus-
try-leading growth rate in the com-
ing years,” said Sanjeev Hota, Head
of Research at Mumbai-based bro-
kerage firm, Sharekhan by BnP
Paribas.
HCL Technologies acquired se-
lect iBM software products in 2018
for $1.8 billion in its bid to push its
product and platform business.
Management of the company had
said that around $650 million of
annual revenue would accrue to its
turnover post this deal. “The iT
firm has already achieved $650
million annual revenue milestone
from this acquisition and the port-
folio is growing strongly as seen in
recent quarters. in the future, the
company will be able to cross-sale
these products to other clients,”
Hota of Sharekhan said.
The noida-headquartered com-
pany posted revenue of $7.5 billion
in the first nine months of the cur-
rent financial year FY21. Taking
into account the revenue guidance
given for the fourth quarter (Janu-
ary-March), the iT services firm is
expected to cross the $10 billion
revenue mark in the current finan-
cial year. its bigger peer infosys
clocked revenue of $9.95 billion in
the first nine months of the current
financial year. Considering its rev-
enue growth guidance, the Ben-
galuru-headquartered firm is ex-
pected to end FY21 with around
$14 billion of annual revenue.
Experts said though both com-
panies are growing strongly, HCL
Technologies can close the gap with
infosys in revenue terms if its
‘products and platform’ business
sees strong momentum.
Drop in LIC's biz
caps industry
growth at 8%
MUMBAI
A massive 45 per cent plunge in
Life insurance Corporation's
(LiC) individual annual pre-
mium equivalent (APE) in Jan-
uary capped the industry growth
at 8 per cent for the month, ac-
cording to a report.
industry leader LiC saw its in-
dividual APE growth plummet
to 45 per cent, due to a massively
high base of 99 per cent growth
in January 2020. Yet, at 8 per
cent, individual APE for the life
insurance industry in January is
higher than the 3 per cent it had
managed to grow in december
and 7 per cent decline in novem-
ber 2020, as per report by Kotak
Securities. However, this pick-
up in individual business indi-
cates a gradual increase in de-
mand for Ulips, which has been
the bane of the industry for quite
sometime, said the report. Mod-
eration in growth of protection
business from peak levels seems
to have been arrested, as indi-
vidual non-single sum assured
to individual non-single pre-
mium for private players was 25
times in January.

edu platform
London-based business con-
glomerate adiGroup in associ-
ation with sV Group initiated a
new chapter in the education
segment by launching ed4all, a
digital formal education plat-
form, with singular focus to
eliminate education inequali-
ties by powering every individ-
ual with formal education. as a
first step the company is set to
bridge educational inequalities
in K12 by introducing bLeaP, a
digital formal school education
product supported by artificial
intelligence and machine
learning with content, delivery
and device packaged together,
at extremely low cost. It is
powered by Microsoft and de-
livered on flipkart and Jio plat-
forms. sanjay Viswanathan,
Chairman adiGroup and co-
founder, ed4all, said, “This is a
new and exciting chapter in
the journey of ed4all. I loved
the name ed4all because it
meant education for all, the
most crucial element of a living
human’s life that makes them
empowered.”
No proposal to
raise excise duty
on cigarettes,
‘bidis’: Govt
NEW DELHI
THE Centre informed the Rajya
Sabha on Tuesday that there was
no proposal to raise the excise duty
on cigarettes, ‘bidis’ and smokeless
tobacco. in a written reply to a
question, Minister of State for Fi-
nance Anurag Thakur said that
there was no recommendation by
the GST Council to raise the Goods
and Services Tax (GST) on these
tobacco products.
"The GST rates on goods are
fixed on the basis of GST Council
recommendations. At present,
there is no such recommendation.
Also, there is no proposal to in-
crease the excise duty on such
products," Thakur said. Finance
Ministry data showed that the
overall GST collection from these
products, including cess, during FY
2019-20 was Rs 53,540 crore and
excise collection Rs 1,610 crore.
MSME parks set to boost industrial growth in VZM
KOPPARA GANDHI
ViZiAnAGARAM district being
close to Visakhapatnam, the indus-
trial hub and one headquarters for
several large industries, offers big op-
portunity for industrial growth.
MSME parks have been identified
in all the nine assembly constituen-
cies in an area of 735.96 acres. Out of
which three MSME parks are under
active implementation at Marupalli
of Gajapathinagaram mandal, Kan-
divalasa of Pusapatirega mandal and
Balighattam of Kothavalasa mandal
with in area of 273.16 acre.
A total of 15 entrepreneurs from
the district entered into an agree-
ment with the State government in
January three years ago to set up in-
dustries with an estimated invest-
ment of Rs 1,100.24 crore. These in-
dustries would create employment
for 4,527 people. Only four of the
proposed 15 units are operational
now. They are Vijayanagaram Wheat
Products Pvt Ltd., north East infra-
structure Pvt Ltd., danica Aqua Ex-
ports Pvt Ltd., Talli Suvarna Foods
with an investment of Rs 78 crore are
in operation. These units, which pro-
vide employment to 978 people, are
under active implementation.
These units undertake cashew
processing, soya products prepara-
tion, wheat flour making and fish
processing. Even tourism projects
are likely to come up near Tatipudi
reservoir, which is en-route to
‘Andhra Kashmir’ Araku valley.
PatanjaliAyurved Ltd has been al-
lotted 172.84 acres of land in Chi-
naraopalli village of Kothavalasa
mandal in 2017.
A growth centre was established
at Bobbili in 1994 in 1,100 acres to
promote industries. All basic ameni-
ties such as water, power, road and
telecommunication connections
Kotakki of RB Puram mandal,
V
Mushidipalli of S.Kota mandal,
BIZZ TAKE I
Z
I
Tekkali of nellimerla mandal and
Marupalli of Gajapathinagaram
A mandal by APiiC.
N
A The district does not have a single
G unit run under either Union govern-
A ment or State government. But there
R is a huge scope for setting up of
On various investment A tourism based industries because of
opportunities in districts M
the proximity of the district to the
airport and even the proposed inter-
ANDHRA PRADESH national airport coming up in this
district.
have been provided at the growth The district has huge tracts of gov-
centre. ernment land to be allotted to either
As many as 510 plots have been iT companies or agri based firms at
handed over to various industrialists subsidised rates. Vizianagaram town
to run their units. A mango jelly clus- is well connected with rail and road
ter is proposed to establish at Bobbili facility, enabling ease of travel to any
in 50 acres. corner to the country.
A vast land bank to the tune of There is scope for the iT and some
1,315.18 acres is identified for devel- small scale industries in sea food sec-
opment of industrial parks at Kon- tor as the district is adjacent to
gavanipalem of Bhogapuram man- Visakhapatnam port and tourism
dal, Katakapalli, Chinaraopalli, sector has a tremendous scope here
Pedaraopalli of Kothavalasa mandal, as the district has long seacoast.
 HYDERABAD WEDnEsDAY 10 fEBRuARY 2021

TWEET PATROL
MADHURI DIXIT NENE
@MADHURIDIXIT
I had the opportunity of working with #Rajiv
Kapoor in the film PremGranth. It was a difficult
subject which he handled with great maturity
though it was his first film. Remembering the
wonderful moments we shared. My heartfelt
condolences to the Kapoor family. RIP

Kurti styling tips for tall girls

KURTIS ARE LOVED BY EVERY INDIAN GIRL, AND BECAUSE THERE
VERSATILITY THEY ARE GAINING POPULARITY ABROAD AS WELL
PUJA GUPTA look unique and trendy. But, sometimes find- the many styles gaining popularity some-
ing the most suitable designs depending on times one can get it wrong. Each design suits

B e it a casual outfit or a beautiful dress for

a special occasion, one always wants to
our body type can be tedious. Kurtis are
loved by every Indian girl, and because of
a particular body type and many times tall
girls find it hard to pick the right kurti.

Anuj Mundra, Chairman & MD, Jaipurkurti.com shares a few tips and styles to help select a look:

Asymmetric Thigh length kurta - For

a proportionate torso
kurta - Flaunt
Thigh length kurtis are a
the hemline tall girl’s best friend. They el-
evate your look by making
To make a the torso proportionate,
statement which the short kurta
nothing can beat fails to do. You can High

STEPS TO
an asymmetric style them in dif- slit kurta -
kurti. The ferent ways, Best for every
amazing hemline some of the best occasion
are with skinny If you are looking
gives it a modern for a kurta that is a
jeans, palazzo
touch. One can pants, a perfect fit for every
pair it with skinny occasion, it would be

MORE EFFECTIVE
sharara, or
denims or even with a a high slit kurta.
leggings for a patiala shal- These are best to
casual outing in war. highlight your height
as well as your long
style. legs. Pair it with skin
tight denims or

PARENTING
trousers for a
boost in
confidence.
Waste tie - An amazing
styling accessory

B
ringing up youngsters is
perhaps the most trou-
blesome and remunerat-
ing occupations on the planet,
and for which you may feel less
arranged.
Be flexible and willing to
adjust your parenting style
If you often feel "let down"
by your child's behaviour, per-
haps you have unrealistic ex-
pectations. Parents who think
in "shoulds" (for example, "My
kid should be potty-trained by
now") might find it helpful to
read up on the matter or to
talk to other parents or child
development specialists.
Kids' environments have an
effect on their behaviour, so
you might be able to change
that behaviour by changing the
environment. If you find your-
self constantly saying "no" to
your 2-year-old, look for ways
to alter your surroundings so
that fewer things are off-lim-
its. This will cause less frustra-
tion for both of you.
As your child changes, you'll
gradually have to change your
parenting style. Chances are,
what works with your child
now won't work as well in a
year or two.
Teens tend to look less to
their parents and more to their
peers for role models. But con-
tinue to provide guidance, en-
couragement, and appropriate
discipline while allowing your
Blurb: Kids' environments have an effect on
their behaviour, so you might be able to
change that behaviour by changing the
environment. If you find yourself constantly
saying "no" to your 2-year-old, look for
ways to alter your surroundings so that
fewer things are off-limits. This will cause
less frustration for both of you
teen to earn more independ-
ence. And seize every available
moment to make a connection!
Show that your love is
unconditional
As a parent, you're responsi-
ble for correcting and guiding
your kids. But how you express
your corrective guidance
makes all the difference in how
a child receives it.
When you have to confront
your child, avoid blaming, criti-
cising, or fault-finding, which
undermine self-esteem and can
lead to resentment. Instead,
strive to nurture and encour-
age, even when disciplining
your kids. Make sure they know
that although you want and ex-
pect better next time, your love
is there no matter what.
Know your own needs and
limitations as a parent
Face it — you are an imper-
fect parent. You have strengths
When it comes to
accessories, a tie around
the waist can be perfect
for beautiful day kurtis.
These can be used to
create a curve or flaunt
your beautiful waste line.
If you want to try
something different then
this is your go to style.
and weaknesses as a family
leader. Recognize your abili-
ties — "I am loving and dedi-
cated." Vow to work on your
weaknesses — "I need to be
more consistent with disci-
pline." Try to have realistic ex-
pectations for yourself, your
spouse, and your kids. You
don't have to have all the an-
swers — be forgiving of your-
self.
And try to make parenting a
manageable job. Focus on the
areas that need the most atten-
tion rather than trying to ad- Long kurta - Just
dress everything all at once. made for you
Admit it when you're burned Maxi type kurtis, commonly
out. Take time out from par- known as the long kurti as well,
comes in long sleeves are a match Jacket/shrug - A perfect
enting to do things that will styling partner
made in heaven for tall girls. While
make you happy as a person
choosing one, ensure that you go for When it comes to being stylish, a
(or as a couple).
long styles as they will help in jacket or a shrug are the best
Focusing on your needs does highlighting your height as well as
not make you selfish. It simply options. Choose some vibrant
gorgeous legs in the best colours to create a perfect contrast.
means you care about your possible way.
own well-being, which is an-
other important value to
model for your children.

l CROSSWORD l SUDOKU NEWS ROUNDUP

Across
1 Himalayan guide (6)
5 Employ (3)
8 Discharge (4)
9 Eyeliner powder (4)
10 A political exile -
"regime" anagram ? (6)
11 Bring into play (9)
13 Pod vegetables (4)
15 Electrically charged
atom (3)
16 Greek philosopher (5)
17 Receded (5)
34 Eggs (3) Shilpa Shetty: Everyone you meet is
35 Aslant (6) fighting a battle you know nothing about
Down B ollywood actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra on Tuesday suggested
that we should always be kind to whoever we come across in life
because we are unaware of their battles and struggles.
1 Cleans with a broom (6) "Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.
2 Tomb inscriptions (8) Be kind, always!" Shilpa wrote in an Instagram post.
She continued: "There's so much we experience... so much that
3 Persian fairy (4) happens in our daily lives. But, we put on a brave front, continue to
fight our battles, and move ahead. Not many know what we're going
4 Agreeableness (7)
through; likewise, we may also not know what someone else is go-
5 Driving reversal (1-4) ing through."
"The loss of a
6 Barely managed (4) loved one, the stress
7 Dense growth of shrubs at work, the pres-
sures of life, or any
(7) kind of personal is-
12 Additionally (3) sues can wreak
havoc with a per-
14 Thick piece (4)
SOLUTION TO FEBRUARY 9

son's mind. The best

SOLUTION TO FEBRUARY 9

20 "Tea" in India (3) way to maintain

18 Bird's bill (4)
22 Consume (3) peace & harmony is
19 Noisy uproar - blatant by being kind to
23 Military fur hat (5) publicity (8) everyone we meet.
Be humble, under-
24 Deadly (5) 20 Superficial (7) standing, patient,
26 Mongrel (3) 21 North Indian state (7) and accepting. You
never know who
27 Ku Klux __ ? (4) 24 Enjoyment (3) may need it.
Have you ever experienced an unexpected, kind gesture when
28 Pen name (9) 25 Fallacious (6) you needed it the most? Let us know in the comments," she added.
31 Writer (6) 26 Spain's ____ del Sol (5) Shilpa keeps sharing life lessons for her social media followers.
The actress recently suggested that we should not blindly believe or
32 Being dry (4) 29 Loosen (4) be influenced by all that we see on social media.
33 Chinese dynasty (4) 30 Attacks and robs (4) The actress is set to make a comeback to films after 13 years with
the films 'Hungama 2' and 'Nikamma'.

A culinary guide from
India’s Eastern hills
It features over
75 recipes that
represent a mix
of Bengali, Khasi
and Nepali
cuisine
SIDDHI JAIN
S
piced, Smoked, Pick-
led, Preserved: Recipes
and Reminiscences
from India’s Eastern
Hills", a new book by
Indranee Ghosh, is a delectable
collection of stories with over 75
recipes from India’s eastern hills
including North Bengal, Gang-
tok and Shillong for food enthu-
siasts to savour.
Published by Hachette India,
the 248-page book brings to-
Sara Ali Khan sends out birthday
love to mom Amrita Singh
A
ctress Sara Ali Khan
has shared love and
birthday wishes for her
mother, actress Amrita Singh,
who turned 63 on Tuesday.
Sara dropped the birthday
message on Instagram, along
with several images of their
holiday in Maldives. One im-
age also features her brother
Ibrahim. In the pictures, Sara
and Amrita Singh are seen
twinning in blue outfits.
"Happy Birthday to my
whole world. Thank you for
being my mirror, strength
and inspiration. I lo-blue the
most," she captioned the im-
ages.
She shared the post with
the tags with #likemother-
likedaughter, #twinning,
#blessed, #winning, #soul-
sisters, #bosslady, #beauti-
fulmaa and #travelbuddy.
Sara was recently seen in
the OTT-released film
The business of food How to select flooring for each room in your home
Chef Sanjyot Keer talks about
his journey in the industry and
how Your Food Lab came into
being
F
rom being the Food Pro-
ducer for MasterChef India
to starting one of the most
popular food channels ‘Your Food
Lab’ on social media, Chef Sanjyot
Keer has come a long way. Mum-
bai-based Keer also featured in
‘Forbes India's Tycoons of Tomor-
row’ in the year 2018.
We speaks to Keer to know
about his journey and future
plans. Excerpts:
Tell us more about your journey and
the ‘Your Food Lab’ initiative?
In 2014, right after my gradua-
tion, I was offered to be the food
producer of MasterChef. It was a
really interesting and amazing
amalgamation of visuals and
videos for me. After the show, I did
get other offers, but I wanted to
pursue something of my own. It
was then Your Food Lab came into
being.
I started work-
ing with my fa-
ther for a while
and started
working on my
culinary skills
on the week-
ends. I decided
to upload one of
my cooking
videos on Face-
book and to my sur-
prise it gained mil-
lions of views in just
24 hours.
gether charming vignettes from
her youth in the densely forested
Khasi Hills and then in Bengal’s
plains with a delectable selection
of family recipes passed down
over three generations to weave
an utterly engaging narrative.
Ghosh was born in Shillong,
"Coolie No. 1" along with ac-
tor Varun Dhawan, and she
has started shooting for her
next, "Atrangi Re". The film
From there, I went ahead and offi-
cially launched Your Food Lab.
In a week's time, the third video
went viral and garnered over a
million views and then there was
no looking back. That is how the
journey began for YFL. We diver-
sified into Instagram and
YouTube as well. Today, YFL has
become one of YouTube's biggest
channels where people see my
content and connect with it. The
journey has been strong and it is
growing at a significant pace. We
look forward to an amazing
growth on all the platforms.
What are your
future plans?
We will surely
produce a series
for an OTT plat-
form in India and
see how it goes. It
could be about
food or a combina-
tion of both food and
travel. Also, I want to
venture into virtual ed-
ucation. I’m planning to
start with YFL Academy
where one can
learn cooking
and how
to be-
P O T P O U R R I
the capital of Meghalaya and the
erstwhile capital of Assam. A
taste for local cuisine in the
Northeastern hills of India com-
bined with an early interest in
cooking, nurtured by her mother
and uncle, led to various experi-
ments in the kitchen. The
recipes in the book contain
some instances of this, says the
publisher.
Tales of eccentric kith and
kin, family folklore from the
time of the Second World War
and memories of Partition jostle
with stories of kitchen adven-
tures, reminiscences of cher-
ished gatherings where food al-
ways took centre stage and
fascinating nuggets on hard-
learnt culinary techniques.
Featuring over 75 recipes that
represent a mix of Bengali,
Khasi and Nepali cuisine, this
collection will introduce readers
to host of exciting fare – from es-
sential spice mixes to forgotten
dishes reinvented over time;
co-stars Akshay Kumar,
Dhanush and Nimrat Kaur,
and is directed by Aanand L.
Rai.
come a creator on an online media
platform. But currently, we are
working on the YFL online pres-
ence apart from social media in
terms of applications and a dedi-
cated website.
How did you utilise the lockdown
period to channelise YFL?
A lot of things changed during
the lockdown. In the initial lock-
down phase, not many people
come out of their houses. So they
used to cook with whatever ingre-
dients they had. And that's how a
lot of different recipes came into
being. We also did a lot of ‘jugaadu’
recipes that means cooking with-
out all the ingredients available.
Any advice for aspiring chefs?
I think you learn through the
way. I started my journey from
scratch. You will need to stop com-
paring yourself with others. Sec-
ondly, whatever ideas you're going
to have, what you want to do in the
future, try it out before really giv-
ing it up. Never kill your ‘stupid’
idea. Believe in yourself and do
whatever it takes to make your
idea a real thing. Don't make pre-
assumptions about how the path
will teach you, because if you are
open to learning, you will evolve,
you will grow, and you will always
be successful.
from fermented delicacies like
shidol in pumpkin leaves to the
sizzling flavour of a pan-roasted
telapiya; from hearty fish stew to
mouth-watering pork in plum
sauce; and from the sweet-and-
sour magic of fish roe ambal to a
delicious tangerine payesh.
Whether one is an intrepid
food-lover willing to take their
kitchen adventure just that bit
further, or a comfort-food en-
thusiast looking for a bowl of
goodness, or simply want to
tickle their tastebuds with a
fresh flavour – this treasure
trove of treats is a must-have
culinary guide.
The author's translations of
selected poems by the Bengali
poet Joy Goswami have been
published by Worldview Books
in India, and Whale and Star in
the US. She has also translated
the memoirs of Kanan Devi, one
of the earliest Bengali film ac-
tresses, published as My Hom-
age to All.
"Atrangi Re" is written by
Himanshu Sharma and is
billed as a cross-cultural love
story.
A
re you upgrading the flooring
in your home? Each room and
space has different levels and
types of activity, so it’s always a
good idea to select different flooring
finishes for different rooms. The
choices you make will impact your
décor budget and the aesthetics of
your home, and there are several im-
portant considerations you must
keep in mind.
Ask yourself these questions:
l Which rooms are most used?
l How often are you willing to vac-
uum or sweep and mop the room?
l What is your budget?
l Do you have elders or pets in the
house?
Dipti Das, AVP-Design , HomeLane
India's preferred home interiors
brand shares some practical tips and
flooring ideas for each room in your
home!
The foyer
Your foyer usually receives a lot of
foot traffic, and needs durable floor-
ing that is easy to clean. Think of
pets or kids who never wipe their
feet and track in mud, and also think
of dripping umbrellas during the
monsoons. Ceramic or vitrified tiles
of the non-skid variety are your best
bet. Also, if you are using an area
rug, be prepared to vacuum often.
Pro tip: Make sure that you have a
doormat right outside the door to
take the worst of the beating!
Living and family rooms
These spaces are where you can
really exercise all your options! Here
you can consider using wooden or
laminated flooring, vitrified tiles or
natural stone. If you are using tile or
stone floors, in order to avoid monot-
ony, you could try inlay work in mar-
ble or granite. Create a focal point
and work your patterns around it, or
try a border all around the room with
a ‘carpet’ pattern in a different
colour. Different spatial definitions
HYDERABAD WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2021
The pandemics effect on fashion,
beauty trends and lifestyle
H
yderabad’s biggest
fashion fiesta, Fashion
Yathra, the fashion ex-
hibition with a purpose, will
be held on 13th February at Taj
Krishna, Banjara Hills, Hyder-
abad
It will be one of the first few
Fashion and Lifestyle Exhibi-
tions that is going to be held
in the city post the pandemic.
It raises a lot of curiosity
among the fashion conscious
people, and will shed some
light on how the pandemic will
shape the fashion world. The
exhibition will answer these
and many more questions
Over 60 top designers labels
from across India and abroad
will be showcasing their col-
lection. Fashion Entrepre-
neurs, Social Enterprises,
start-ups and lifestyle brands,
designer labels will showcase
their products
Some of the exhibitors in-
clude: Ghanasingh; The
Blooming Lily; Sanam
Tamanna, Dubai; Tasuvure by
Sonal Saraf; Preevin Designs;
Anshikaa Jain; Pink Polka;
Kaveri; Amazing Jewel; Alok
Baid; Siddh Couture by
Deepa Goel; Aida by Priyanka
Jain; Soup by Sougat Paul;
Ektaar; Renuka Fine Jew-
ellery; Gaurika Mosi Jew-
ellery; Shivani Tijori; White
Pvt. Ltd. Fashion entrepre-
neur Kamini founded an ex-
ion Show was born.
Giving details, Kamini Saraf
Jewel; Alankrit Weaves;
Breeze Sarna; Medha ; Love.
P Organics; and Selcouth by
Richa Shah
clusive Fashion Yathra in
2006. Before Fashion Yatra
she used to do trunk shows
that is when the thought of
said, the future of fashion will
be around natural, sustain-
able, durable and biodegrad-
able.
Fashion Yatra is a brainchild bringing
of Kamini Saraf. Kamini is a several de-
fashion designer, owner of An- signers un-
gasutra, Founder of Fashion der one roof
Yatra and Pretx. She is also the and that's
director on Radha Smelters how Fash-
ment of dining chairs on the floor
can cause scratches. For these rea-
sons, you should avoid carpets and
wooden or laminate flooring in these
areas.
Pro tip: Remember that if the sur-
face of marble is not sealed well, it
will react with any acidic materials
(lime, citrus, some harsh cleaners)
and with coloured substances like
The choices you make turmeric. So avoid using marble in
kitchens and food prep areas.
will impact your
décor budget and the Bathrooms
aesthetics of your Bathroom tiles must be anti-skid
home, and there are as the floors can get very slippery
several important when wet, especially in the wet ar-
considerations you eas of your bathroom. This is espe-
cially important if you have elders in
must keep in mind the house. Vitrified or ceramic tiles
are the most practical options, and
can be created with area rugs. eas need durable surfaces that can are available in a wide variety of
Pro tip: Remember that your floor- be cleaned easily, but should also be colours and patterns to suit your
ing colour should match your overall soft underfoot. You can afford to be taste. Avoid tiles with a glossy sur-
colour palette for the room. at your creative best and play face and polished granite.
around with colours and finishes. Pro tip: Surface- flamed granite slabs
Bedrooms Many people like to use vinyl floors are a good option if you wish to use
For those of us who are used to in children’s rooms, but do keep in natural materials in your home.
turning on the air conditioning at mind that it is not a natural material.
night, fully carpeted floors work very Low-quality vinyl could let out
well in bedrooms. Bedrooms do not toxic emissions for a few days or
get very dirty and carpeted floors weeks after the floor is installed.
are easier to maintain in bedrooms Interlocking tiled rubber mats
rather than in rooms with heavier are a lovely option for the play ar-
footfalls. Dust levels will be typically eas. Rubber ticks all the right
low and it is very easy to vacuum boxes in a children’s room: it
these rooms often. cushions falls, is hard wearing and
Pro tip: Fluffy shag rugs feel great can be cleaned easily.
underfoot, especially first thing in Pro tip: Choose a high quality
the morning—so do think of placing product that does not give off the
an area rug close to the bed. Your characteristic rubber odour, as it
bare feet will thank you for it! could get irritating after some
Hardwood floors or wooden lami- time.
nate floors also work very well in
bedrooms and add an air of cosiness Kitchen and dining areas
and warmth that is conducive to Kitchen and dining areas with
great sleep. Don’t forget the soft rug hard floors are practical, and vitri-
next to the bed, for your feet to sink fied or ceramic tile or stone floors
into when you wake up! work best. It should be possibly to
easily mop up spills, and the floor
Children’s rooms should be hard wearing and durable.
Children’s bedrooms and play ar- Keep in mind that repetitive move-
14 SPORTS hYDerabaD WeDneSDaY 10 FebruarY 2021

INDIA BITE DUST AT HOME CHENNAI

LeFT-arm spinner Jack Leach (four wickets) and vet-

Leach, Anderson star in England’s 227-run win;
eran speedster James anderson (three wickets) on
Tuesday bowled england to a massive 227-run win on Visitors take 1-0 lead in four-match Test series
the fifth and final day of the first Test here, and take a 1-
0 lead in the four-match series. ben stokes taking one scalp each.
Chasing an extremely difficult target of 420 runs on Leach was the pick of the england bowlers in the sec-
a crumbling and dusty Ma Chidambaram stadium
pitch, India in their second innings were bundled
out for 192 in 58.1 overs in the second session on
ond innings as he returned with figures of 4/72 in the
25 overs he bowled. He was ably supported by anderson
who scalped three wickets, conceding just 17 runs in
the fifth and final day. his 11 overs. dominic bess, ben stokes and Jofra archer
Having set India a 420-run target to picked one wicket each.
win, england bowled a listless India earlier, england had scored 578 runs in their first
out for 192 in 58.1 overs, with 29- innings in reply to which India posted 337, thus con-
year Leach taking four for 76 and
anderson bagging three for 17. all
five bowlers took wickets,
ceding a lead of 241. The visitors were then bundled
out for 178 to set a 420-run target for the Indian team.
This was India's first Test defeat at home since 2017
with fast bowler Jofra when they had suffered a 333-run loss against australia
archer, off-spinner in Pune. after that, they played 14 Tests in between,
England's dominic bess, registering win in 11 while three matches ended in a
bowler Jack and pacer draw.
Leach in action This was India's fourth Test defeat against england at
during the 5th and the Chepauk, first after 1985 when the visitors registered
final day of first Test win under david Gower's captaincy. before this Test
against India at MA match, India had faced england in 60 matches at home,
Chidambaram Stadium
registering win in 19, losing 13 and drawing 28.
in Chennai on Tuesday.
Overall, India and england have competed in 123
Tests, out of which India have won 27, england 47
while 49 matches have ended in a draw.
(Below) England's fast earlier on the fifth and final day on Tuesday,
bowler James Anderson India resumed their chase at 39/1 but lost
celebrates after claiming Cheteshwar Pujara early as he was caught
the wicket of Indian in the slips against Leach, after scoring 15
batsman Rishabh Pant runs off the 38 ball he faced.
shubman Gill (50) and skipper Virat
Kohli then shared a 34-run stand and tried
to steady the ship. However, just after
reaching his third Test fifty, Gill was
bowled by a ripper from an-
derson.
SCOREBOARD
England 1st Innings 578 all out
India 1st Innings 337
England 2nd Innings: 178
India 2nd innings: (Overnight 39/1)
Rohit Sharma b J Leach----------------------12
Shubman Gill b J Anderson ----------------50
C Pujara c Stokes b J Leach ----------------15
Virat Kohli b B Stokes ------------------------72
Ajinkya Rahane b J Anderson ----------------0
Rishabh Pant c Root b J Anderson --------11
Washington Sundar c Buttler b D Bess ----0
R Ashwin c Buttler b J Leach ----------------9
Shahbaz Nadeem c Burns b J Leach--------0
Ishant Sharma not out ------------------------5
Jasprit Bumrah c Buttler b J Archer --------4
Extras (B-8, LB-5, NB-1)----------------------14
Total: (all out in 58.1 overs) ----------192
Fall of Wickets: 1-25, 2-58, 3-92, 4-92, 5-110,
6-117, 7-171, 8-179, 9-179
Bowling: Jofra Archer 9.1-4-23-1, Jack Leach 26-
4-76-4, James Anderson 11-4-17-3, Dominic
Bess 8-0-50-1, Ben Stokes 4-1-13-1.
after the lunch break, ashwin -- after sharing a 54-
run partnership with Kohli -- got out after scoring nine
runs while attempting a square cut against Leach, leav-
ing India reeling at 171/7. Kohli, who was fighting the
lone battle with the lower order, then got out bowled
to a stokes delivery that kept low and disturbed the
wood. shahbaz Nadeem and Jasprit bumrah got out
after scoring 0 and 4 while Ishant sharma remained
not out at 5. The two teams will now face other in the
second Test beginning saturday at the same venue in
England keep WTC
final hopes alive,
India slip to 4th
DUBAI
ENGLAND's 227-run win over India in the first Test of the ongoing four-
Test series has kept their hopes alive of making the World Test Cham-
pionship final scheduled to be held in London in June.
The victory at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday
lifted England to first place on the points table with 70.2 percentage
points. They've improved their chances of securing one of the three se-
ries results -- 3-1, 3-0 or 4-0 -- that would help them qualify for the final.
New Zealand have already qualified for the final winning 70 per cent
of their matches (with no other series scheduled) while India and Aus-
tralia remain in contention for the other place along with England.
India, who have slipped to fourth position with 68.3 percentage
points, cannot afford another loss in the four-match series and will be
looking to win at least two of the remaining three games to secure a 2-
1 or 3-1 result and a place in the final. Australia will get to feature in a
Trans-Tasman summit clash if the India-England series is drawn or if
England win 1-0, 2-1 or 2-0.
Pakistan's 2-0 home win over South Africa sees them finish the se-
ries in fifth position with 43.3 percentage points, while South Africa
slip to sixth position with 30 percentage points. West Indies are sev-
enth with 23.8 percentage points after their epic victory in the first Test
against Bangladesh, who are last on the table and yet to win a point.
We wanted to bowlers. We knew from the outset it

front of spectators. (IaNs)
It (wicket) was flat and slow.
The quality of balls honestly
take India's
was going to be a good wicket. The
first partnership got us going. At dif-
win out of the ferent stages, guys came in and
contributed. That's got to be the

Vice-captain ajinkya rahane
once again failed to perform with the
bat as he got out in the same over against
anderson, thus leaving India in a precarious
situation. rahane, who had scored just one in
the first innings, went back to the dressing
room without troubling the scorers.
rishabh Pant, India's batting hero in the
first innings, scored 11 off 19 before he became
the third scalp of anderson. Washington sun-
dar, the next batsman in, also couldn't stay long
and got out for a duck against dom bess. ashwin
then faced some blows on his body but made sure
that he didn't give his wicket away as India went
into Lunch needing 276 runs with just four wickets
in hand.
wasn't something that we equation: Root
were pleased to see because CHENNAI: England skipper Joe
Root on Tuesday defended team's
that has been the issue in the approach in their second innings,
past as well. Just for the ball to get stating they wanted to take In-
destroyed in 60 overs is not something dia's win out of the equation in
the first Test which the visitors
that you experience as a Test side and eventually won by 227 runs here.
it is not something any Test side could "It was a crucial toss but from
that point we had to follow
be prepared for. That was the reality of through and make the most of a
the first two days. But having said that, very good wicket. We did that
it is no excuse. England played better very well," said Root speaking af-
ter the match.
than us, they deserved it (to win) "To take 20 wickets in alien condi-
—Virat Kohli tions is a brilliant job from the
way - if we're going to win out here,
someone has to do that. Fortunately
it was me this week," he added.
"We know that India are going
to come back hard at us. The idea
was to get to 400. It didn't quite
materialise like that. But having
spent some time out there, I
knew the wicket had changed
drastically and knew it was going
to change again," said Root while
talking about England's approach
in their second innings.
"We wanted to take India's win
out of the equation. As a bowling
group we didn't want to worry
about the run rate," he added.

Dedeepya through
in AITA singles, doubles
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
Hyderabad’s upcoming young talent y.sai dedeepya entered into the singles
prequarters and doubles quarters of the all India Tennis association (aITa) rs 1
lakh women’s tennis tournament being held in Chennai on Tuesday.
dedeepya made it to the pre-quarters by defeating ananya of Tamil Nadu in
straight sets during the first round clash with the scoreline reading 6-4, 6-4. she
will now take on sharanya shetty of Maharashtra in a second round faceoff with
an eye on the quarterfinals.
In the doubles, dedeepya along with her partner Pooja Ingale of Maharashtra
sent the duo of anushya and Harini of Tamil Nadu packing with an hands down
6-1,6-2 win in the pre-quarters. dedeepya-Pooja pair will clashed with sai samhita
and shrichandrak Tentu of Tamil Nadu.

Jamshedpur, Chennaiyin desperate Nadal, Barty advance in

for win to stay in playoff race
BAMBOLIM (GOA)
JaMsHedPur FC will be look-
ing to strengthen
their credentials to
make it to the playoffs
of Indian super
League (IsL) season when they
face Chennaiyin FC at the GMC
stadium on Wednesday.
Jamshedpur are placed sev-
enth on the IsL table on 18 points,
five points behind 4th-placed Hy-
RESULT
Bengaluru FC lose to
ATK Mohun Bagan 0-2
ISL STANDINGS
CLUB M W
Mumbai City FC ..............16
ATK Mohun Bagan ..........16
FC Goa ..............................16
Hyderabad FC ..................16
NorthEast United FC ......16
Bengaluru FC ..................17
Jamshedpur FC ..............16
Chennaiyin FC ................16
SC East Bengal ................16
Kerala Blasters FC ..........16
Odisha FC ........................15
derabad FC. Chennaiyin, mean-
while are placed 8th and trail
Jamshedpur by a point. Chen-
naiyin have been hurt by their
misfiring attack with the goalless
draw against bengaluru in their
last match being the ninth time
they have failed to score this sea-
son -- the most by any team.
Now, they find themselves in
desperate need of results if they
aspire to reach the playoffs for the
second straight time.
TODAY’S MATCH
Chennaiyin FC vs Jamshedpur FC
at GMC Stadium Bambolim 7.30pm
D L GF GA GD PTS
....10 ........4 ......2 ........25 ......11 ....14......34
....10 ........3 ......3 ........22 ......10 ....12......33
......5 ........8 ......3 ........24 ......19 ......5......23
......5 ........8 ......3 ........20 ......16 ......4......23
......5 ........8 ......3 ........21 ......20 ......1......23
......4 ........7 ......6 ........19 ......21......-2......19
......4 ........6 ......6 ........15 ......19......-4......18
......3 ........8 ......5 ........11 ......16......-5......17
......3 ........7 ......6 ........14 ......21......-7......16
......3 ........6 ......7 ........20 ......27......-7......15
......1 ........5 ......9 ........14 ......25....-11........8
straight sets at Aus Open
Melbourne: Facing a break point late in the third
set, rafael nadal sprinted to his left and hit a running,
around-the-post forehand that landed just inside the
line. the lingering back soreness that bothered the 20-
time major champion ahead of the australian open
wasn't going to stop him from finishing his first-round
match as quickly as he could. laslo Djere, ranked 56th,
shrugged, his head dropped and he no doubt won-
dered what more he needed to do to win a point.
he'd had three break points when nadal was serving
for the second set, and didn't get close to cashing in
one. he'll next play american qualifier Michael Mmoh,
who outlasted Viktor troicki 7-6 (3) 6-7 (3) 3-6 7-6 (3)
7-5. While nadal has been slowly building into the
tournament, russia's atP Cup-winning teammates
have been on a roll. Fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev
extended his winning streak to 15 matches with a 6-2
6-2 6-4 win over Vasek Pospisil and seventh-seeded
andrey rublev beat Yannick hanfmann 6-3 6-3 6-4.
While Sofia Kenin struggled with nerves in her first
match as a defending champion at a Grand Slam tour-
nament before beating 133rd-ranked wild-card entry
Maddison inglis 7-5 6-4, top-ranked ash barty domi-
nated in her first Grand Slam match in more than a
year, dropping only 10 points in a 6-0 6-0 rout of
Danka Kovinic. barty lost to Kenin in the semifinals last
year and then skipped the uS open and her title de-
fense at the French open because she stayed in aus-
tralia during the CoViD-19 pandemic. after her 44-
minute opener on rod laver arena, barty said she'd
missed tennis "every single day" during her time away
from the sport. "the competitor in me missed what
this is all about," she said. (aP)

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