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 ROUND 1 OF LOCAL POLLS
YSRTP in April PASSES OFF PEACEFULLY
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-
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
Telangana. The same was
Landslide triggered glacier disaster: Shah
EFFORTS ON TO RESCUE TRAPPED PEOPLE IN TUNNEL
NEW DELHI
eVeN as 31 bodies have
been recovered after the
glacier disaster near
joshimath in Uttarakhand
so far, Union home Min-
ister Amit Shah told the
Rajya Sabha on Tuesday
that a landslide triggered
the snow avalanche lead-
ing to the tragic incident
in the state.
The minister said the av-
alanche covering approxi-
mately 14 square km area
Covid unlikely to have
leaked from China lab
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
Organization expert said
on Tuesday.
whO food safety and
animal diseases expert Pe-
ter Ben embarek made the
assessment at the end of a
visit to the central Chinese
city of wuhan, where a
team of scientists is inves-
tigating the possible ori-
gins of the coronavirus.
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. 6 | NO. 253 | WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2021 | KURNOOL | PAGES 8 | `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
repeatedly conveyed to
Sharmila. They also ex-
plained to her about the
problems involved in
launching and running a
political party, said Reddy.
But Sharmila appar-
ently felt otherwise and
must have taken a “con-
scious decision,” to float
her own party. Sajjala said
as a well wisher of the
family, he was offering his
personal congratulations
to her. he also said that he
feels that she would also
have the blessings of ja-
gan Mohan Reddy. At the
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
The first cases were dis-
covered in the city in De-
cember 2019.
The wuhan institute of
Virology has collected ex-
tensive virus samples,
leading to allegations that
it may have caused the
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.
Continued on Page 7
The volunteers are asked
to keep an eye on posts
which are against the sover-
/thehansindiaweb | /thehansindia | /thehansindia | /thehansindia
same time, he added that
YSRCP will have no role
in her party and she would
be responsible for her de-
cisions and whatever the
outcome of floating a new
party would be.
however, Sharmila took
the first step towards float-
ing a political party and
during the 'Atmiya Samme-
lan' held at the lotus Pond
residence, she said she
wanted to understand the
ground realities and take
the suggestions of those
who still were YSR loyalists.
Continued on Page 7
eignty and integrity of in-
dia, against the defence of
india, against the security
Forecast: Morning clouds. Temp: Max.34°C. Min.22°C. Humidity: 20% Sunrise: 06:45 Sunset: 06:19
HANS NEWS SERVICE
AMARAVATI
POlliNG for the first
phase of panchayat elec-
tions passed off peacefully
on Tuesday. The first phase
of polling for 2,723 pan-
chayats in Andhra Pradesh
ended peacefully with 81.78
per cent turnout, the State
election Commission said
here on Tuesday. "elections
were conducted in 18 rev-
enue divisions across 12
districts in Andhra
Pradesh. Krishna district
recorded the highest per-
centage of 85.06," the SeC
said.Polling began at 6.30
am and ended 3.30 pm,
while counting of votes be-
gan at 4 pm. Polling was
also held to elect 20,157
ward members.
with the completion of
Twitter reaches
out to govt
NEW DELHI: Social media giant
Twitter on Tues-
day reached
out to the
Union govern-
ment in view of
the request to re-
move over 1000 accounts over
the charges of spreading hate
propaganda in the nation
against the ongoing farmers'
protest. Twitter officials have
contacted the government to
hold a formal dialogue.
Continued on Page 7
caused a flash flood in the
Rishiganga river down-
stream in Uttarakhand's
Chamoli district.
Sharing details of the
disaster in lok Sabha, the
home Minister said,
"About 25-35 people are
feared to be trapped in the
second tunnel of the Na-
tional Thermal Power
Corporation (NTPC) proj-
ect. The efforts are under-
way on war footing to res-
cue them."
Continued on Page 7
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-
Women voters showing identity cards at polling station in
Kammapalli in Chittoor district during Phase-1 polling on Tuesday.
Photo: Kalakata Radhakrishna
the first phase, the polls will
be conducted till February
21 in another three phases.
The SeC hoped that the
same trends would con-
tinue in the subsequent
phases. According to the
Panchayat Raj department,
elections were to be held
for 3,249 posts of panchayat
sarpanchs.
SAVE STEEL PLANT
They didn’t give up until their voice
was heard, they will not do so now
VASU POTNURU
VISAKHAPATNAM
DeCADeS ago, 32 people
had laid down their lives to
establish Visakhapatnam
Steel Plant in the shore city.
As the battle to save the
plant from private hands
gets longer, agitators make
it clear that they will not
give up until the Centre
takes back its proposal even
if it costs their dear life.
in 2012, thousands of
employees of Rashtriya is-
pat Nigam ltd (RiNl) had
called for a day-long strike
to protest against disin-
vestment plans. A few
years down the line, VSP
employees and trade union
leaders went on indefinite
strike for the manage-
ment’s decision to intro-
duce Total Maintenance
Contract (TMC) at various
facilities across the plant.
They observed shift-wise
strike then. employees
used to cut short their shift
timings for a couple of
hours to join the strike
against TMC.
Continued on Page 7
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
however, since 525 were
unanimously elected and
no nomination was filed for
a village in Nellore district,
polls were held for 2,723
panchayats.
As many as 7,506 candi-
dates contested
sarpanch posts and 43,601
for
were in the fray for ward
members.
D Adi Narayana, general
secretary of All India Trade
Union Congress
J Ayodhya Ram, president
of the recognised Union of RINL
Mantri Rajashekar, national
secretary of Indian National
Trade Union Congress
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.
The elections were held
using ballot paper and with-
out any political party sym-
bols. A total of 29,732
polling stations were set up,
of which 3,458 were identi-
fied as sensitive and 3,594
hypersensitive, the depart-
ment said.
All necessary precau-
tions were taken as per
Covid-19 protocol amid
tight security and PPe kits
were provided to voters in-
fected by the virus, it added.
webcasting was set up in
about 7,000 centres. State
election Officer Girija
Shankar monitored the
election process from the
Command Control Centre
through webcasting.
NOTA was made avail-
able for the first time in
these elections.
Continued on Page 7
IF NEED BE AP
WILL BUY VSP:
SAI REDDY
HANS NEWS SERVICE
VISAKHAPATNAM
THE Govern-
ment of
Andhra
Pradesh if
need be will
buy the
Visakhapatnam Steel
Plant. This was the
tweet by leader of the
YSRCP Parliamentary
Party Vijaya Sai Reddy
on Tuesday. In his tweet,
Reddy said, "Everyone
welcomes Jagan's con-
structive suggestions on
the privatisation of
Vizag Steel. He wrote to
the Prime Minister that
Vizag Steel would come
into profits if the mines
were allocated. The
state has shown a rare
courage to go ahead and
buy the Vizag steel plant
itself if necessary."
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.
 KURNOOL 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'.
KurnOOl weDneSDAy 10 FeBruAry 2021 CITY/REGION 3

Kurnool records 83.58% polling Rathasapthami on Feb 19

2,68,567 voters out of
total 3,21,312 exercise
their franchise to elect
142 sarpanches
Collector and SP say
no untoward incidents
reported even
in faction-ridden villages
HANS NEWS SERVICE
KURNOOL
THE first phase of polling passed
off peacefully with no untoward
incidents, said district collector G
Veera Pandiyan. He addressed the
media along with superintendent
of police (sP) Dr Fakkeerappa
Kaginelli at the collectorate here
on Tuesday.
total of 83.58 percent polling was
registered by the end of voting.
The collector said it was a good
development that such a large
number of people had turned out to
vote following Covid norms.
Thanking the district level officials
for making the voting process a
grand success, he said they the
same spirit would continue until
the deputy sarpanch election was
completed.
sP Dr Fakkeerappa Kaginelli
said 12 mandals witnessed the polls
in the first phase without any
incidents. He said no untoward
incident was reported in faction-
District Collector G Veera Pandiyan addressing a press conference in Kurnool on Tuesday. ridden villages.
SP Dr Fakkeerappa Kaginelli is also seen. He made it clear that no victory
celebrations by taking out rallies,
Veera Pandian said in the first conducted to 142 gram panchayats bursting crackers, beating drums
phase, of the total 193 gram in which 2,68,567 voters out of the and others were strictly prohibited.
panchayat, 52 were declared total 3,21,312 exercised their If anyone violates the norms, they
unanimous. The polling was franchise in a peaceful manner. A would be taken to task, the sP said.
HANS NEWS SERVICE
TIRUMALA
As part of surya Jayanti cel-
ebrations, the TTD is organ-
ising Rathasapthami, which
is popularly known as mini
or Upa Brahmotsavams at
Tirumala on February 19.
On the auspicious day, the
processional deity sri
Malayappa swamy will be
taken in procession atop
seven vahanams, commenc-
ing His celestial and majes-
tic ride on surya Prabha Va-
hanam in the form of
suryanarayana Murthy be-
tween 5.30 am and 8 am
along four Mada streets, fol-
Lord Malayappa tha Vahanam (1-2 pm),
Swamy will ride on Chakrasnanam (2 pm-3 pm),
Kalpavruksha Vahanam (4
seven Vahanams on pm to 5 pm), sarvabhhupala
the festival day Vahanam (6 pm-7pm) and
Chandraprabha Vahanam
The predawn rituals
(8-9 pm).
will be held, but the In view of Rathasapthami
Arjitha Sevas have fete, the TTD cancelled all
been cancelled on the Arjitha sevas being per-
the occasion formed at the shrine includ-
ing Kalyanotsavam, Arjita
lowed by other vahanams. Brahmotsavam, Unjal seva
The schedule of the seven and sahasra Deepalankara
Vahana sevas is: seva on February 19.
suryaprabha vahanam However, the predawn rit-
(5.30-8.00 am), Chinna se- uals - the suprabata seva
sha Vahana (9-10 and Tomala seva will be held
am),Garuda Vahana seva (11 in Ekantham following the
am to 12 noon), Hanuman- age old temple tradition.

WOMAN CANDIDATE STAGES Polling goes of

PROTEST WITH PETROL
HANS NEWS SERVICE
KURNOOL
TENsE situation prevailed at Yagan-
tipalli polling station in Banagana-
palle constituency as an independent
sarpanch aspirant, Bandi Vijayalak-
shmi, staged a protest with petrol bot-
tle in hand over withdrawal of her
nomination with forged signature by
unidentified persons. Polling will be
held for the gram panchayat in the
second phase.
According to information, Bandi
Vijayalakshmi of Yagantipalli village
filed nomination for sarpanch post as
an independent candidate. On Feb-
ruary 8, Monday, she went to the
polling station to collect certificate of
symbol allotted to her. But to her as-
tonishment, her nomination was
withdrawn. Vehemently denying she
CAMPUS SELECTION
withdrew her candidature, she de-
manded the officials show her with-
drawal form. When they showed the
form with her signature, she said the
signature was forged.
Upset by the development Vijay-
alakshmi immediately staged a
protest on Monday evening at the
polling station. Again on Tuesday, she
resumed her protest with petrol bot-
tle in hand demanding reinstatement
of her candidature. On ‘withdrawal’
of only independent candidate from
the contest, authorities on Monday
declared the remaining candidate as
unanimous winner.
On Tuesday, some other women
from the village also reached the spot
in support of Vijayalakshmi and par-
ticipated at the protest triggering
tense situation in the area.
As the situation deteriorated, Ba-
Says her nomination as
independent sarpanch
candidate of Yagantipalli
gram panchayat was
withdrawn by someone with
forged signature
Women of village join her
in protest sparking tension
in the village
Police pacify the agitators as
Nandyal Sub-Collector takes
up the matter
naganapalle police rushed to the spot
and tried to pacify the agitating
women. During the process a heated
argument took place between the po-
lice and the villagers. However, after
a great effort, police were able to pla-
cate the agitators.
As many as 26 students
from Balaji College of
Pharmacy, Anantapur,
got selected for medical
coding jobs at Omega
Health Care, Bengaluru,
in the campus interviews
held at the college
on Monday
smoothly in
Kadapa barring
minor incidents
KADAPA
ExCEPT a few stray incidents,
elections held for 155 village
panchayats and 1,058 wards in
14 mandals in the first phase on
Tuesday were by and large
peaceful in the district. Ten-
sion prevailed at Badripalle vil-
lage of Chapadu mandal fol-
lowing supporters of YsR
Congress and the TDP entering
into heat exchanges over de-
ployment of election booth
agents. The polling process was
disrupted for some time. How-
ever, normalcy was restored af-
ter the police arrived at the
spot. In Nelaturu village of
Duvvuru mandal, police have
recovered gold ornaments (90
nose studs) from a section of
people while there were dis-
tributing them in the village to
woo the voters.
In Kamalapuram, police
seized unaccounted cash of Rs
10 lakh from the motorcycle of
one sK syed Umar at the elec-
tion check-post on bypass road.

Incident-free polling
Polling percentage
recorded is 82.03
Collector Gandham Chandrudu
points out that the arrangements

in Kadiri division for the panchayat polls have been

voter and employee-friendly
exception of those voters who are out-
side the district on migration in
search of work and better avenues.
Polling commenced at 6.30 am in the
morning and ended by 3.30 pm. Al-
though the voting was dull in the first
and second hours due to cold weather,
the turnout picked-up after 8 am.
Each voter has cast two votes one for
the ward member and another for the
sarpanch.
As many as 726 candidats are in the
Voters waiting in queue line at a polling centre at Patnam village in Kadiri revenue division in the fray for 169 sarpanch posts in the 12
first phase panchayat elections in Anantapur district on Friday mandals in the Kadiri revenue divi-
sion. According to unconfirmed
HANS NEWS SERVICE ful, thanks to the foolproof arrange- sources, as many as 715 ward members
ANANTAPUR ments made by the district adminis- in 1714 panchayats are said to be
tration and the police. The division unanimously elected in the absence
POllING for 169 gram panchayats recorded a polling percentage of of rival candidates.
and 983 wards in the Kadiri revenue 82.03. The turnout of voters in the In all, 5,696 polling personnel
division was incident-free and peace- panchayats was fairly good with the worked in the first phase of the pan-
chayat polls. District
Collector and Election
Officer Gandham
Chandrudu meanwhile
visited several polling
stations since morning
including Nallamada
polling centre in Nalla-
mada mandal and in-
teracted with voters to
know whether they ex-
perienced any hassles
for voting.
He also met the mi-
grant labour who re-
turned to their village
to cast their vote and
congratulated them for
taking trouble to reach
their native village just
to vote.
He told the media at
the village that the
arrangements for the
panchayat polls were
voter and employee-
friendly and that was
the reason why the voter
turnout was quite high.
He said that DWAMA
officials contacted mi-
grant labourers for par-
ticipating in the voting
and made transport
arrangements for their
arrival in time.
4 EDIT KURNOOL 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)
KuRnOOl wedneSdAY 10 FeBRuARY 2021
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
AP
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
5
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 S.I.T. PROBE

over remarks against V-P Apex court to hear plea on March 5
NEW DELHI
YSRCP Rajya Sabha member V
Vijayasai Reddy on Tuesday ex-
pressed regret for the com-
ments he made against the Ra-
jya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah
Naidu, saying he never intended
to cast any aspersions on the
Chair and had uttered them in
a state of anguish. Vijayasai
Reddy on Monday sought ex-
punging of certain comments
made by a TDP MP K Ravindra
Kumar a few days ago. He went
on to make the objectionable
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 dysfunctional,” he said in
the House on Tuesday. He said
he was in a state of anguish when
he made those comments on
Monday and now wishes to take
back his words. “I sincerely re-
gret my comments made yester-
day. They were unintended and
made on a spur of anguish. I had
become emotional," he said. “I
had no intention to hurt the
chair or cast aspersions on the
The YSRCP member on
Monday cast aspersions
on the Rajya Sabha
Chairman during
proceedings
Venkaiah Naidu expresses
pain over the comments
saying they are intended
to make the Chair
‘dysfunctional’
On being ‘requested’ by
Parliamentary Affairs
Minister, Vijayasai on
Tuesday expresses regrets
over the remarks saying it
will not be repeated
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
minister Pralhad Joshi said
Monday’s episode was con-
demnable. “We have all respect
and regard for you, especially for
the Chair,” he told Naidu.
“Whatever happened is unac-
ceptable. Throwing aspersions
on the Chair is not at all ac-
cepted. This is very commend-
able.” The minister requested
the YSRCP member to apologise.
On Monday, Vijayasai had ig-
nored 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
aspersions on the Chair. “You
are saying the chairman is bi-
ased,” Naidu had remarked on
Monday. Naidu had said such
comments were made to make
the chairman “dysfunctional”
and he felt “really sad”. “But I
will not be cowed down by this
sort of effort to make the chair-
man dysfunctional,” he had said.
NEW DELHI
THE Supreme Court on Tuesday
said it would hear on March 5 a
plea filed by the Andhra Pradesh
government challenging the High
Court order which stayed SIT probe
into alleged irregularities 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 peti-
tion filed by the state government
against another High Court order in
a matter which relates to alleged il-
legal land transactions during shift-
ing of the state capital to Amara-
vati. These petitions came up for
hearing before a bench comprising
Justices Ashok Bhushan and R S
Reddy. The AP High Court on Sep-
tember 16 last year had granted a
stay on the actions of the Special
Investigation Team (SIT) consti-
tuted by Chief Minister Y S Jagan
Mohan Reddy-led government to
conduct a comprehensive probe
into various irregularities, particu-
larly the land deals in the Amara-
vati Capital Region.
The top court had on November 5
agreed to hear the state’s plea
challenging the High Court order
and had sought responses includ-
ing from two TDP leaders, Varla Ra-
A bench comprising Justices
Ashok Bhushan and R S Reddy
will also hear another plea by
the State govt against the AP
High Court order which
restrained the media from
publishing details of FIR
regarding alleged irregularities
in land deals during shifting of
capital to Amaravati
On SIT probe stay, the apex court asks Varla Ramaiah and
Alapati Rajendra Prasad, on whose plea the inquiry was
stayed, to file their replies in two weeks, saying the rejoinder
be filed within one week thereafter.
maiah and Alapati Rajendra Prasad,
a former minister, on whose peti-
tions the High Court had stayed the
probe initiated by the SIT. When the
plea against the High Court's Sep-
tember 16 last year order came up
for hearing on Tuesday, the top
court granted last opportunity to
the respondents to file their replies
within two weeks and said that re-
joinder be filed within one week
thereafter.
Separately, the AP government
has also moved the apex court
against the September 15 last year
order of the state High Court which
had restrained the media from pub-
lishing news regarding an FIR
lodged in connection with alleged
irregularities in land transactions in
Amaravati. The top court had on
November 25 last year stayed the
High Court direction restraining the
media from publishing news re-
garding the FIR.
The apex court had also said that
the HC shall not decide till January
last week the pending matter
which relates to the alleged illegal
land transactions during shifting of
the state capital to Amaravati. Dur-
ing the hearing in the apex court
earlier, the counsel appearing for
Andhra Pradesh government had
said that the HC had erred in stay-
ing the operation of SIT as it was a
policy decision to look into the al-
leged irregularities committed in
the land deals in Amaravati after
state’s bifurcation into Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana.
The Jagan Mohan Reddy govern-
ment had constituted the 10-mem-
ber SIT, headed by a Deputy Inspec-
tor General of Police rank IPS
officer, to conduct a comprehen-
sive investigation into various al-
leged irregularities, particularly the
land deals in the Amaravati Capital
Region, during the previous Chan-
drababu Naidu regime. The report
of a Cabinet Sub-Committee on the
procedural, legal and financial ir-
regularities and fraudulent transac-
tions concerned with various proj-
ects, including the issues related to
land in the CRDA region will form
the basis for the SIT probe, the gov-
ernment had said. Challenging the
state governments order, the TDP
leaders had contended before the
High Court that constitution of SIT
was “arbitrary, illegal, without ju-
risdiction and unconstitutional”
and consequently sought that it be
set aside. (PTI)

IS STEEL PLANT SALE JUSTIFIED?
I
t is
evident
that the
Central
government has
already decided to
privatise VSP at any cost. As a result,
many employees may also lose jobs. At
this juncture, a State-wide agitation is to
be considered involving all political
parties to dissuade the Union government.
M Devarajulu Naidu, Controller,
APSRTC, Chittoor
T here will
be many
disadvan-
tages to the state
and employees of
Vizag steel plant if
the plant is handed over to the private
parties. There is a scope that steel prices may
go up if the plant goes into private hands and
the consumers have to shell out high prices.
Employees will have no job security under
private managements. We got the Vizag steel
plant after a prolonged struggle. I strongly
advocate that it should be run by the
government only and demand the Union
government to drop the proposal.
N Narasimha Murthy,
teacher, Vijayawada
Naidu warns Speaks to party State chief Atchannaidu, who was released from jail
against harassment Alleges that election violations are rampant in Tamballapalli
Condemns illegal detentions of Opposition candidates
of BCs by the govt
t is a
I
complete
ly wrong
HANS NEWS SERVICE
AMARAVATI
decision to TDP national president N Chandrababu
privatise RINL in Naidu on Tuesday warned of serious conse-
quences if the ruling YSRCP leaders contin-
Visakhapatnam.
ued to target and harass the Backward
The plant has been a major source of Classes (BC) leaders as part of their political
employment for thousands of families. If suppression. He repeated his allegation that
all these revenue generating industries false cases were foisted on K Atchannaidu
are privatised in the state, then there and he was arrested. Naidu spoke to Atchan-
naidu on the phone after he was released on
would be no scope for industrial growth bail on Tuesday.
and livelihood security for the people. Addressing a teleconference with party
YV Ramana Kumar, leaders here, Chandrababu Naidu said that
the ministers and ruling party MLAs were
businessman, resorting to arm twisting tactics by causing
Nellore illegal detentions of the rival candidates and
their supporters. The police force was acting
in favour of the YSRCP-supported candi-
dates in the home minister’s Assembly con-
stituency, he said.
I
t is very
sad that
instead of
The TDP chief decried the arrest of
Garikapadu sarpanch candidate’s husband
Sunil Kumar and mandal TDP president in
the Guntur district. Demanding that the ar-
expanding and rested TDP leaders should be immediately
developing the released to ensure a free and fair election,
Vizag steel plant, he said authorities should take stringent ac-
tion against the errant police officials.
the Central government has proposed the
He enquired from the party leaders from
disinvestment. I insist that the plant
different parts of the state about the
should not be privatised. There will no job progress of the polling in the first phase pan-
security to the employees and the costly chayat elections. Naidu said that the State
Election Commission should take action
lands of the steel plant. I demand that the
against the officials who did not publish the
Union government take initiative to
final lists of contesting candidates in the
develop the plant instead of giving it to panchayat polls in the Tamballapalli Assem-
the private parties. bly segment. He alleged that violations were
made by MPDO Diwakar Reddy, SI Saha
D Srinivas,
Devi, MLA relative Bhanu and his PA He-
private employee, Vijayawada manth Kumar. Additional police forces
should be deployed in Tamballapalli for en-
suring a peaceful election.
 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

Kurnool 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.
KURNOOL WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2021 NATION/WORLD/NEWS 7

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."

Shahnawaz in Landslide
triggered glacier
Sharmila to launch YSRTP in April
Continued from P1 anonymity said she harbours po-

Nitish Cabinet PATNA

disaster: Shah
Continued from P1
He said the incident was observed
She also said that she had con-
vened the meeting to hear their
opinion and not to give a lecture.
She also proposes to tour some
litical ambitions. Several banners
with portraits of Sharmila and Ra-
jasekhar Reddy were erected at
the residence. Jagan's image was
from the satellite data (Planet Lab) districts before announcing the conspicuously missing in the ban-
THE much awaited expansion of the Nitish Kumar cabinet in Bihar of February 7, 2021 (Sunday) in launch of the party. When asked ners and flex boards.
took place on Tuesday with the induction of 17 members, including catchment of Rishi Ganga river at what made her think of entering A YSR Congress worker from
Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, the high-profile Muslim face of the BJP. the terminus of the glacier at an al- the political arena in T State, her Utnoor in Adilabad said he
The expansion turned out to be a message for ally BJP, which titude of 5,600 metres. only reply was that "there was no strongly wants Sharmila to float
had been out to grab the dominant position in the alliance after its Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Rajanna Rajyam. During his rule a party in order to bring "Rajanna
big win in last year's assembly elections. the tragedy that occurred at 10 am the farmer was a king and stu- Rajyam" (Rajasekhar Reddy's
Of the 17 ministers in- on Sunday, the minister said the av- dents got scholarships to pursue regime) in Telangana also. Mean-
ducted, the BJP got nine alanche hit the upper catchment of higher studies. Now no one is while, the BJP and Congress par-
berths, the Chief Minister's Rishiganga river, a tributary of Alak- happy.” A senior legislator of YSR ties said that it was KCR's game
Janata Dal United, eight. But nanda river in Chamoli, leading to a Congress party from Andhra plan to split the anti-incumbency
the BJP's numerical advan-
Court orders to recover the money from those who sudden rise in the water levels of Pradesh on condition of votes in the next elections.
tage -- in the assembly and Rishiganga river.
the government -- was lost burnt the temple so that they may learn a lesson Due to flash floods on account of
as all the important depart- rising of water levels in the Rishi-
ROUND 1 OF PANCHAYAT POLLS
ments, like Home, Personnel,
Education, Rural Develop-
ment, Rural Works, Water Re-
Rebuild vandalised ganga, the minister said, a func-
tional Rishiganga small hydro proj-
ect of 13.2 megawatt was washed PASSES OFF PEACEFULLY
sources, remained with the
JD(U).
The BJP now has 16 minis-
Hindu temple: Pak SC away.
"The flash floods also affected the
under construction 520-megawatt
Continued from P1
The interesting part of the
polling was that people in large
A polling agent Noor Basha died
of a heart attack in Kakumanu
mandal at Garikapada in Guntur
ters with 22 portfolios ISLAMABAD ple, The Express Tribune reported. NTPC Hydro Power Project down- numbers, including aged and dis- district. He died on the way to the
among them. The JDU has 13 During the proceedings, Justice Gulzar stream at Tapovan on the river abled came out in large numbers. hospital after suffering a heart at-
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 Dhauli Ganga," Shah further said. A 106 -year-old woman named tack. Juttika Srinivas, a contender
Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha and the Vikassheel Insaan the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to has been made on the temple issue in Citing information shared by the Gonesani Papamma of Ped- for sarpanch post in Tokalapudi
Party. immediately start rebuilding a century- Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa?" In January, the Uttarakhand government, the min- dayammanur, Uyyalawada man- village in Veeravasaram mandal
The expansion had been hanging since last year's assembly old Hindu temple that was vandalised by apex court had ordered the provincial ister said there was no danger of dal in Kurnool district came for- in East Godavari district, was ar-
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 downstream flooding and the rise in ward to cast her vote with the help rested on charges of luring voters
names of its candidates. timeline for its completion. construction of the temple from those water levels has been contained. of local police. with money.
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 Shah said the Centre and the state
role of the big brother after its spectacular results in the election
following the solo contest by Chirag Paswan's Lok Janashakti
lage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Karak dis-
trict by members of radical Jamiat
Board lawyer Ikram Chaudhry apprised
the bench that no recovery has been
government have been keeping a
strict vigil on the situation which is
They didn’t give up until their voice
Party. The LJP had cut into the votes of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal
United, pushing it down from 71 seats to 43. It also gave the upper
Ulema-e-Islam party (Fazal ur Rehman
group) in December drew strong con-
made so far on the temple issue, the pa-
per said.
being monitored round the clock by
the Central government at the high-
was heard, they will not do so now
hand to the BJP, which won 74 seats. The JDU had squarely blamed demnation from human rights activists "The government had approved Rs est level. Continued from P1 ward, the family members of the
the LJP for its poor performance. and the minority Hindu community lead- 30.41 million for the reconstruction of the "The Prime Minister himself is Despite staging a protest in var- employees will also join the agi-
The JD(U) gave preference to experienced hands though there ers, prompting the apex court to order its temple," Chaudhry informed the bench. monitoring the situation closely and ious forms in the past few days, tation,” says J Ayodhya Ram pres-
were also a handful of debutants, including Zama Khan who got reconstruction last month. A three-judge Justice Ijazul Ahsan said that the court both Control Rooms of Ministry of production did not get affected at ident of the recognised Union of
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 Home Affairs are monitoring the sit- the plant. This is largely due to RINL. Uncertainty looms large
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 uation round the clock, ensuring the protestors not calling for a with the proposal of privatisation.
chief minister. case regarding the burning of the tem- could learn a lesson. possible help to the state." strike. But now the scenario is “People had lost their lives to set
likely to change. In order to make up the plant. Their sacrifice will
their voice heard by the Centre, go down the drain if the company
Citizens will spy on citizens online Covid unlikely to have Twitter reaches out to govt the plant employees and the
union leaders say that they will
gets privatised now. Moreover,
there will not be any job security
Continued from P1 residential address. Once the leaked from China lab Continued from P1 not hesitate to go for a strike even for the personnel if RINL gets
Cyber Expert category volun- registration process is com- Continued from P1 It also iterated that the security of its employ- if it affects production at RINL. into private hands. This apart, lo-
teer will help deal with specific plete, the details of the volun- The team is considering several theories for how the ees is the topmost priority for the company. Even when POSCO, the South cals will not be accorded priority
domains of cybercrime, foren- teers would be accessible to the disease first ended up in humans. "Safety of our employees is a top priority for Korean steel joint, came up with when it comes to providing job
sics, network forensics, mal- Union Territory Inspector Gen- “Our initial findings suggest that the introduction us at Twitter. We continue to be engaged with a proposal of setting up a special opportunities,” opines Mantri Ra-
ware analysis, memory analysis eral of Police (crime branch) through an intermediary host species is the most likely the government from a position of respect and grade Greenfield steel plant at jashekar, national secretary of In-
and cryptography. While there who is the nodal officer for cy- pathway and one that will require more studies and more have reached out to the Honourable Minister, Ukkunagaram, employees dian National Trade Union Con-
is no prior verification required bercrime. specific, targeted research,” Embarek said. Ministry of Electronics and Information Tech- protested on a massive scale, im- gress. If the privatisation proposal
for the first category, a back- The I4C is an idea conceived “However, the findings suggest that the laboratory in- nology for a formal dialogue," a Twitter pacting the production of the becomes realty, union leaders feel
ground verification of volun- to fight against cybercrime in a cidents hypothesis is extremely unlikely to explain the spokesperson said. plant to an extent. that locals will be completely neg-
teers of other two categories coordinated and comprehensive introduction of the virus to the human population,” Em- The development comes after the govern- To extend support to the agita- lected as there is a larger scope for
will be done as per the norms of manner. ‘One of the important barek said. Transmission through the trade in frozen ment ordered Twitter to take down 1,178 ac- tors, family members of the em- biased employment opportuni-
Know Your Customers (KYC) by objectives of I4C is to create an products was also a likely possibility, Embarek said. counts for allegedly spreading misinformation ployees will join the protest. “The ties. “Agitation is not new to us.
the respective state govern- ecosystem that brings together Members of the World Health Organization (WHO) around farmers' protests. agitation is sure to continue until We are ready to sacrifice our lives
ments and union territories. academia, industry, public and team, tasked with investigating the origins of the coron- The government, on February 4, had ordered the Union government withdraws to protect the plant from the
The volunteers are required government in prevention, de- avirus disease (COVID-19), don personal protection suits Twitter to block 1,178 accounts with links to its proposal on privatisation. Cur- clutches of privatisation at any
to furnish personal particulars tection, investigation and pros- during a visit at the Hubei Animal Epidemic Disease Pre- Pakistan and Khalistan supporters that were rently, RINL employees, trade cost,” confirms D Adi Narayana,
like full name, father’s name, ecution of cybercrimes,’ a docu- vention and Control Center in Wuhan, Hubei province, spreading misinformation and provocative con- union representatives, political general secretary of All India
mobile number, email address, ment of the home ministry said. China February 2, 2021. tent on farmers' protest. leaders are protesting. Going for- Trade Union Congress.
8 SPORTS Kurnool 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

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