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bank deposit insurance programme 6
In brief
‘No errors’, CBSE says
amid uproar over
class 10 English paper
C
BSE Class 10 English Exam 2021:
Amid uproar over the Central
Board of Secondary Education
(CBSE) Class 10 English paper went
without questions, Controller Sanyam
Bhardwaj told Careers360.com that "it
was unnecessarily highlighted as the
instructions are given at the beginning of
the questions, and there are no errors in
the question numbers 13 and 14 in the
paper today." Question numbers 13 and
14 are part of Section A, passage
number II. Though questions numbers
11 and 12 start with an instruction-
study the following statements, there are
no instructions in questions numbers 13
and 14. However, the passage starts with
the following statement- "Read the
passage given below and answer the
questions/ complete the statements that
follow by choosing the most appropriate
option out of the given ones."
Over 50 dead after
tornado hits US state
of Kentucky
ornadoes ripped through five US
T states overnight, leaving more
than 50 people feared dead
Saturday in Kentucky and causing
multiple fatalities at an Amazon
warehouse in Illinois that suffered
"catastrophic damage" with around 100
people trapped inside. The western
Kentucky town of Mayfield was "ground
zero" of the storm -- a scene of "massive
devastation," one official said. Entire city
blocks there were flattened, with houses
and buildings ripped apart, and twisted
metal, shattered tree limbs and bricks
scattered across streets, according to
pictures and videos shared on social
media. "I fear that there are more than 50
dead ... probably closer to somewhere
between 70 and 100, it's devastating,"
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said,
adding that it was the most severe
tornado event in the state's history.
Kin of 42 activists who
died in Maratha quota
agitation to get govt jobs
he next of kin of 42 persons who
T died during the agitation for
Maratha reservation will be given
government jobs, state public health
minister Rajesh Tope said here on
Saturday. He will speak to Chief
Minister Uddhav Thackeray in this
regard, he said. The government has
already given compensation of Rs 10
lakh to their families, he told
reporters here. Maratha
organizations carried out a state-wide
agitation for quota for the community
in jobs and education between 2016
and 2018. The state government
eventually provided quota for the
Marathas, but the law was struck
down by the Supreme Court.
TODAY
ALMANAC
Month & Paksham:
Margashirsha & Shukla Paksha
Tithi : Navami 20:01
Nakshatram : Uttara Bhadrapada 23:59
Rahukalam : 4:16 pm - 5:39 pm
Yamagandam : 12:09 pm - 1:32 pm
Varjyam : 8:43 am - 10:25 am
Gulika : 2:54 pm - 4:16 pm
Amritakalam : 6:54 pm - 8:36 pm
Abhijit Muhurtham : 11:47 am - 12:31 pm
HYDERABAD
WEATHER
Forecast: PARTLY CLOUDY
Temp: 28oc
Humidity: 60%
Sunrise: 06:36 AM
Sunset: 05:43 PM
Updated DECEMBER 11, 2021 5:00 PM
OBTUSE ANGLE
facebook.
PM Modi to address P PC takes dig at Minister over
High ‘seropositivity' rate to
help India against Omicron
PNS n HYDERABAD
Observing that data on the new
SARS-CoV2 variant, Omicron, is
still emerging, an expert has said the
very high rate of 'seropositivity'
should keep the country in good
stead even as he emphasised on
increased vaccination coverage and
adhering to COVID-appropriate
behaviour.
"Because, India has the advantage
of very high rate of 'seropositivity'
of 70, 80 per cent, and in big cities
more than 90 per cent people
already have antibodies," Rakesh
Mishra, former Director of CSIR-
Centre for Cellular and Molecular
Biology (CCMB) here, told PTI.
In view of the protection avail-
able to people, even if they get
infected, it will be very mild and
most of the time asymptomatic,
Mishra, currently Director, Tata
Institute for Genetics and Society
(TIGS), Bangalore, said.
It would help the cause in a big
way if vaccination coverage is fur-
ther expanded and if vaccines for
children are rolled out, he noted.
The spread of Omicron almost
looks certain in the country though
data is still emerging, but the situ-
ation would be better than with
Delta as the symptoms appear to be
only milder.
However, there is no scope for
lowering guard as the virus should
be prevented from becoming more
virulent. The only way to do that is
wearing masks properly, maintain-
ing social distance and vaccination,
SC designates retired HC CJs, judges,
18 lawyers as senior advocates
PNS n NEW DELHI
The Supreme Court has designat-
ed seven retired chief justices and
judges of various high courts
and 18 advocates-on-record and
advocates as senior advocates.
The decision was taken
by Chief Justice of India
(CJI) N V Ramana and
the top court judges at
a meeting of the full
court held on
December 8.
A letter has been
written regarding
the same by the
secretary of the
C ommittee for
Designation of
Senior Advocates
AP govt announces
Rs 50 lakh ex gratia to
Lance Naik Teja’s kin
PNS n AMARAVATI
The Andhra Pradesh govern-
ment on Saturday announced an
ex-gratia payment of Rs 50 lakh
to the family of Lance Naik B Sai
Teja, who lost his life in the trag-
ic helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu.
Sai Teja, hailing from Chittoor
district in Andhra Pradesh, served
as Personal Security Officer of the
Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin
Rawat.
He was among the 13 deceased
in the incident, along with Gen.
Rawat and his wife.
In a tweet, the AP Chief
Minister's Office said the gov-
ernment announced the Rs 50
lakh ex-gratia to the Lance
Naik's family.
2 Zooming vegetable prices are
he stressed.
Asked about the possibility of a
third wave hitting the country in
February or March next year as pre-
dicted by some, coupled with the
threat of Omicron, he said waves
are happening in Europe even
without Omicron.
Waves can happen even without
a new variant, he said.
The country has the advantage of
a heavy rate of infection from the
second wave, Mishra said.
Even if the number of cases
increase, he said he does not see the
possibility of increased hospitalisa-
tions and problems of oxygen aris-
ing.
In the same breath, the former
official of CCMB emphasized on
COVID-appropriate behaviour,
including avoiding exposure in
closed spaces, and vaccination.
He warned of a mild wave if there
is laxity in following the safety
to the registrar generals of all the
high courts, the secretary of the
Bar Council of India and the sec-
retaries of all the state bar coun-
cils.
According to the letter, the des-
ignation has been done under
section 16(2) of the
Advocates Act, Supreme
Court Rules, 2013 and
Supreme C ourt
Guidelines to Regulate
C onferment of
Designation of
Senior Advocates,
2018 framed in
terms of the judg-
ment passed in a
case filed by senior
advocate Indira
Jaising.
Congress will include Dalit Christians in SC list, says Revanth
PNS n HYDERABAD
The Congress, if it comes to power
in the next elections, will include
Dalit Christians among Scheduled
Castes, TPCC President A. Revanth
Reddy said on Saturday.
Addressing a programme on
Christmas celebrations at the
Gandhi Bhavan here, Revanth
praised the services of Christian
organisations throughout the coun-
try providing quality education and
medical care.
He said that the Congress has
been working hard to maintain
communal harmony and unity in
the country. He said that the
Congress believed in unity in
Veg prices going beyond the reach of common man
PNS n HYDERABAD
burning a hole in the pockets of
commoners.
The poor say that they are not
able to buy vegetables and are
adjusting their meals according-
ly. Daily wage labourers feel that
their income is hardly sufficient to
buy vegetables.
In fact, a kg of vegetables cost
Rs 50 at least. Prices are going up
with each passing day. Those who
used to buy a kg are buying only
half a kg now. Those who used to
buy half a kg are now buying only
a quarter.
People feel that earlier they
used to buy a bagful of vegetables
for only Rs 100 to Rs 150 a kg.
Now, even after spending Rs 500,
the bag is not full.
HYDERABAD, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2021; PAGES 10+16
www.dailypioneer.com
‘no proposal to scrap sedition law’
norms.
Noting that new variants are
bound to emerge, he said the gen-
eral tendency is that newer variants
should be milder and more infec-
tious.
However, it is possible that an
unexpected bad variant may
emerge.
Not wearing masks and not tak-
ing vaccination would help the virus
grow which would be harmful to
people with weak immunity or the
unvaccinated people, Mishra said.
On the testing mechanism to
detect Omicron, Mishra said, "at
the moment genome sequencing is
the only way to detect Omicron."
But, many institutes and those in
foreign countries are developing
specific RT-PCR kits that can
detect Omicron-specific infection.
But, it will be weeks before they
are available in the country, he
added.
ALLOTMENT TO NEW DISTRICTS
Teachers restive over seniority lists
ML MELLY MAITREYI
n HYDERABAD
Even as the State government has
initiated the process of allotment of
employees to district and zonal
cadres based on the new zonal sys-
tem, some sections of government
employees, particularly teachers,
have raised concerns over the sen-
iority lists being prepared by the gov-
ernment. Demands have been made
that, along with seniority, nativity
should be taken into consideration
while allotting employees.
The Telangana State United
Teachers Federation State
Committee, for instance, has
demanded that comprehensive sen-
iority lists be prepared considering
diversity and while in power it had
taken steps to provide equal growth
opportunities to everyone.
Revanth recalled that former
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had
given the call 'Gharibi Hatao' to
address the needs of all sections of
Many families have been com-
promising on their meals and
make do with chutney and broth
instead of curries.
Farmers throughout the State
P Football legend Maradona’s
5 stolen Rs 20L watch...
TRS set to fill nominated posts to
appease dissidents, scuttle BJP plans
SNCN ACHARYULU
n HYDERABAD
The TRS leadership is planning to
appease dissidents by appointing
them to various nominated posts
to thwart the BJP's ‘Operation
Akarsh.’
After it came to power, the TRS
Government did not give much
importance to filling nominated
posts during its first and second
terms. Many TRS leaders at the dis-
trict and State-level and cadres
have been waiting for
nominated posts for a
long time.
The TRS has
filled some impor-
tant nominated
posts. There are
about 67 corpora-
tions in the State
and among them,
about 25 to 30 are
important ones like the
TSRTC.
At present nominated posts in
around 40 corporations are vacant.
If the TRS Government fill all the
More firms have shut shop this year, compared to last 2 years
NAVEENA GHANATE
n HYDERABAD
37K companies have shuttered
in Telangana since 2016 In all,
1,498 companies have shut-
tered till date since April 1 this
year in Telangana. This number
is higher than the closures wit-
nativity so as to remove confusion
prevailing among teachers.
The state committee said that
seniority lists being prepared to
allot teachers to new districts
society.
He said AICC President Sonia
Gandhi has been striving hard to
protect the interests of all citizens.
He said that Sonia, who lost her
mother-in-law Indira Gandhi and
then her husband Rajiv Gandhi
tragically, knows the value of life.
She granted statehood to
Telangana as she wanted to stop
youth and students from commit-
ting suicide, Revanth said.
He assured that the Congress
would give prominent positions to
Muslims, Christians and other
minorities both in the party and
government.
2 ing workers are also demanding that
cultivate vegetables and sell them
in the city. But the recent heavy
rains damaged all crops including
vegetables. The yield has come
down substantially widening the
`5
HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOW
BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH
BHUBANESWAR RANCHI
DEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA
nominated posts around 500 party
workers can be accommodated.
After the victor y in the
Huzurabad Assembly by-
election, the BJP has
stepped up its aggres-
sion. The BJP is now
trying to attract TRS
dissidents through
its ‘Operation
Akarsh.’ Some
important TRS lead-
ers at the district and
state-level are in touch
with the BJP.
The BJP is also play-
ing mind games with the
TRS along with
Operation Akarsh.
BJP leaders are open-
ly saying that 25 TRS
MLAs are in touch
with them and they
are ready to join their
party.
The TRS leadership knows
that it is the BJP's mind game but
at the district-level TRS leaders and
cadres can get confused by the
BJP's statements and they may get
nessed in the past two years. In
2019-20, only 118 companies
shut shop, while in 2020-2021,
774 companies shuttered.
Apart from Telangana, other
states like Maharashtra, Gujarat,
Jharkhand, Odisha, West
B engal, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh
were lopsided and in many dis-
tricts, time was not being given
even for making an appeal.
2 2
Centre's attitude towards
Telangana ‘vindictive': Suman
o Govt Whip Balka Suman says TS being weakened in every
sector; farmers were targeted first, now coal workers
o PM Narendra Modi conspiring to allot Singareni coal
blocks to his friend and industrialist Adani
PNS n HYDERABAD
The strike launched by Singareni
coal mine workers, against the
Union Coal Ministry's decision to
auction four coal blocks in the state
for commercial mining, entered the
third day on Saturday. The protest-
demand and supply gap.
Vegetable prices have been
going out of control since the last
20 days. A week ago, there was a
marginal decrease in prices, but
soon they rose. Housewives com-
plain that families are not able to buy
vegetables for a week even after
spending Rs 500.
In Ranga Reddy district, farm-
ers had cultivated vegetables and
fruits on 49,768 acres. In
Ibrahimpatnam division, farmers
mainly cultivate green and leafy
vegetables, tomatoes and gourds.
The farmers of Shaad Nagar cul-
tivate tomatoes, brinjals, and
green chilies. The farmers in
Chevella division cultivated cab-
bage, cauliflower, carrot, beet-
root and tomatoes.
2 2
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Established 1864
Published From
*LATE CITY VOL. 4 ISSUE 63
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P
10
attracted to the BJP. Keeping this
in mind, the TRS leadership is
planning to fill nominated posts.
The TRS Government
can appoint some top
leaders as Chairmen
of corporations and
active party workers
can be appointed as
members and direc-
tors in them.
Apart from State-
level corporations
there are district-level
nominated posts like mar-
ket committees, temple commit-
tees and Zilla Grandhalaya
Samsthalu having nominated posts.
After MLC election results the TRS
leadership will be able to know the
impact of dissidents.
In its second term, the TRS
Government has appointed nom-
inated bodies in around 20 corpo-
rations. The government has reap-
pointed nominated bodies for four
corporations after the completion
of their term.
2
also witnessed an increase in the
number of companies that shut-
tered compared to the last year.
Across the country, since
April1, 22,557 firms closed their
shop, against 14,674 companies
which shut down in 2020-2021.
2
Bodies of 6 more
chopper crash
victims identified
PNS n NEW DELHI
The bodies of six more victims of
the IAF chopper crash near
Coonoor were identified and the
last rites of all but one of them
were conducted on Saturday at
their native places with appropri-
ate military honour.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen
Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika
and his Defence Adviser Brigadier
LS Lidder were among the 13 peo-
ple killed in the crash on
Wednesday. Gen Rawat, his wife
and Brig Lidder were cremated at
Delhi's Brar Square Crematorium
Friday evening.
the four coal blocks be allocated to
the company, among others.
According to sources, about
23,000 workers of the state-owned
Singareni Collieries Company
Limited are on strike, with 3,500
employees attending to just essen-
tial duties.
2
84,187 Covid
patients treated
at Gandhi Hospital
PNS n HYDERABAD
In all, 84,187 Covid patients got
treatment in Gandhi Hospital.
State Minister Harish Rao, who
shared this vital detail on Saturday,
was all praise for the doctors in the
hospital and the slew of Covid-
related services they provided.
Harish said: "When private hospi-
tals gave up on the (Covid)
patients, Gandhi Hospital has
given a rebirth to many".
After the formation of the state
of Telangana, Rs. 176 crore had
been sanctioned for Gandhi
Hospital and till date works worth
Rs. 100 crore had been completed.
HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2021
TRS set to fill
nominated...
Continued from page 1
The government appointed
TRS MLA Bajireddy
Govardhan from Nizamabad
district as TSRTC Chairman.
Some MLAs will be appoint-
ed as Chairmen of important
state-level corporations if
they do not get berths in the
Cabinet after the reshuffle.
The TRS Government may
fill some nominated posts
before the Cabinet reshuffle
and some posts after that.
AP govt announces
Rs 50 lakh ex...
Continued from page 1
Meanwhile, the mortal remains
of Sai Teja were brought to
Bengaluru, from where it
would be taken to his native
village, Yeguvaregadipalli for
cremation. According to
Defence officials, Teja's body
will be kept at the Command
hospital in Bengaluru and will
be taken to Chittoor on
Sunday. The 27-year-old Lance
Naik is survived by wife and
two children.
TRS, Congress likely to
forge alliance: Bandi Sanjay
PNS n HYDERABAD
BJP Telangana unit chief
Bandi Sanjay Kumar has said
that there is a possibility that
the TRS and the Congress
would contest the next elec-
tions jointly and that an
agreement has been reached
between the two regarding
this.
Speaking to the media here
on Saturday, Sanjay alleged
that the TRS and the Congress
were not different and that
they are one, and hence the
Congress had extended its
support to the TRS in
Parliament. He said that both
the TRS and the Congress had
an alliance with each other in
the past.
Sanjay said that Chief
Minister K. Chandrasekhar
Rao might be angry with his
MPs and hence he had been
thinking of making the TRS
MPs submit resignations.
He said that TRS MPs tore
the placards they had dis-
played in Parliament and went
out throwing them on TRS
Lok Sabha Party leader Nama
Nageswara Rao.
Sanjay said that TRS MPs
had boycotted Parliament’s
winter session to attend mar-
riage functions. Piyush Goyal
said that the image of the TRS
was tarnished after he
answered their questions in
the House. That is why they
did not speak on the paddy
procurement issue. KCR
could not even hold a press
meet on the issue, Sanjay
said.
Sanjay said that KCR had
signed an agreement with the
Centre stating that the state
would not give boiled rice to
the FCI. The agreement on
sharing Krishna Waters was
also signed in the same way,
but later KCR started criticiz-
ing the Centre. KCR signed
papers regarding Krishna
River waters, and in the same
manner he signed papers stat-
ing that he would not supply
parboiled rice, Sanjay said. “I
don’t know what papers he
will sign in the future in the
same manner,” he comment-
ed .
Sanjay said that KCR had
gone back on his word to
purchase ever y grain of
paddy from farmers. He
alleged that TRS leaders were
spreading rumors that KCR
would b e come Vice-
President of the nation.
However, people hated the
statements of the Chief
Minister and his Ministers,
he pointed out. He suggest-
ed that the Chief Minister
and Municipal
Administration Minister KT
Ramarao should change their
language as people hated it.
Revanth sees scam in the construction of
Telangana Martyrs Memorial, seeks probe
PNS n HYDERABAD
Alleging a huge scam in the
construction of the Telangana
Martyrs' Memorial, Telangana
Pradesh Congress Committee
(TPCC) President A. Revanth
Reddy has demanded a high-
level enquiry to probe the role
of Chief Minister K.
Chandrashekhar Rao and his
family in embezzling public
funds.
Accompanied by AICC
spokesperson Dr Dasoju
Sravan and other senior lead-
ers, the TPCC chief visited the
site of the Martyrs' Memorial
on Saturday to check con-
struction status.
Speaking to the media after
that, he alleged that KCR had
hiked the cost of the Martyrs'
Memorial from Rs 60 crore to
Rs 180 crore and had assigned
the work to an AP contractor.
By earmarking six per cent
of the total cost as consultant's
fee, the KCR Government had
indulged in huge corruption in
the name of Telangana mar-
tyrs, Revanth said.
Finding flaws in the old
Secretariat building, Chief
Minister K. Chandrashekhar
Rao had ordered the con-
hyderabad 02
Mahila Congress sore with outcome
of meeting with Revanth
he Telangana Mahila Congress is not happy with the outcome of
Tthe meeting with TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy held Saturday at
the Gandhi Bhavan as the PCC chief made it clear that Mahila
Congress leaders have to inform TPCC Working Presidents if they
have any grievances. The TPCC chief, A. Revanth Reddy, had a
meeting with Mahila Congress leaders to know the problems of
Mahila Congress leaders. However, the TPCC chief made it clear that
he will not use the phone to respond to Mahila Congress leaders
when they make calls to him. Revanth advised Mahila Congress
leaders to inform their problems to TPCC Working Presidents instead
of him. Telangana Mahila Congress chief Sunitha Rao had raised the
problems of Mahila Congress leaders with Revanth and had asked
him to solve them. It is learnt that she told Revanth that party leaders
are not giving priority to the Mahila Congress in party programmes.
Even party leaders including Revanth are not participating in Mahila
Congress programmes, she told Revanth. She asked Revanth to
solve the problem of male leaders using abusive language towards
Mahila Congress leaders. It is also learnt that Sunitha Rao
complained that TPCC leaders including TPCC working president and
Sangareddy MLA T. Jagga Reddy, who is in-charge of Mahila
Congress, were not extending cooperation to the Mahila Congress.
Minister. building. He had even suggest-
KCR has visited the new ed which granite stones should
Secretariat premises to review be used.
the status of the construction. The CM violated several
But the Chief Minister has environmental laws to speed
never visited the Telangana up construction so as to com-
Martyrs' Memorial site which plete the structure by next
is near the Secretariat,” he said. Dussehra. But KCR never

Cong organises Tiranga Rally in Old City struction of a new Secretariat

building to enable his son KT
Rama Rao to become the Chief
Revanth said that KCR was
quite particular about several
aspects of the new Secretariat
showed the same enthusiasm
in constructing the Telangana
Martyrs' Memorial, he said.

demanding 12 % quota for Muslims

PNS n HYDERABAD
The Telangana Congress organ-
ised a Chalo Charminar Tiranga
Rally on Saturday, which is the
first of its kind tiranga rally, in
the Old City demanding that
the State government should
implement 12 per cent reserva-
tions for Muslims and the assur-
ances given to Muslims by
Chief Minister K.
Chandrasekhar Rao.
The rally was held from
Chandrayangutta Cross Roads
to Shalibanda Asha Depot.
Although the rally was named
Chalo Charminar permission
was not given for it. Permission
was given to hold the rally
from Shalibanda
Chandrayanagutta.
to
Speaking on the occasion,
rally organiser TPCC General
Secretary Uzma Shakir said
that it was a peaceful protest
demanding 12 per cent reserva-
tion for Muslims. In the rally
about 500 women and men par-
ticipated raising slogans for 12
per cent reservation.
Uzma Shakir requested the
people of Old City to change
their leader as the current lead-
ers were busy roaming in other
states.
She asked why Assaduddin
Owaisi is not saying anything
about reservations in Telangana.
She asked whether the Muslims
of Telangana don’t deserve
reservations.
Congress leaders Uzma
Shakir, Essa Misri, Rashed
Khan, Khaja Nayeemuddin,
Shakeel Dayani, Shaik Afzal
and others participated in the
rally.
84,187 Covid patients...
Continued from page 1
The rest of the work would be
completed on a war-footing,
he said. Gandhi Hospital, aug-
mented with additional latest
equipment, would be made
available to the public, he
said. The 200-bed MCH hos-
pital on Gandhi premises
would be made available soon.
"We will complete it in four to
six months," Harish Rao said.
had not been registered in
Telangana.
"About 3,235 people from
nearly 11 high-risk countries
came to Hyderabad, of which
15 tested positive for
Coronavirus. Thirteen of their
samples tested negative for
Omicron. Two more results
are yet to come", he said.
Harish said, "We are also
increasing Corona tests. The
number of tests in the districts
Bodies of 6 more chopper...
Continued from page 1
Officials said efforts are on to
"positively identify" the
remaining four bodies kept in
the mortuary of the Army
Base Hospital in Delhi
Cantonment.
The mortal remains of
Junior Warrant Officer (JWO)
A Pradeep, Wing Commander
P S Chauhan, JWO Rana
Pratap Das, Squadron Leader
Kuldeep Singh and Lance Naik
Vivek Kumar were consigned
to flames while Lance Naik B
Veg prices
lighting the pyre. His mortal
remains were brought to Sulur
going beyond
airbase in Coimbatore from
New Delhi around 11 am and
the reach of
taken to Kerala by road.
Thousands of people gath- common man
ered on both sides of the Continued from page 1
National Highway to pay
homage to the departed soul. But the heavy rains damaged
Hundreds paid their last vegetable crops in their flow-
respects to the soldier when his ering and subsequent stages.
mortal remains were brought to Although vegetable prices
his school in Puthur around 3 are increasing, farmers are
pm. Later, the body was taken encountering problems due
to his residence for cremation. to lack of returns.
Twelve-year-old Aaradhya Vegetable prices now range

Teachers restive
So far 4.6 crore people have
More firms have been vaccinated across the
state. Officials and public rep-
shut shop this... resentatives were working
will be increased in the com-
ing days. Irrespective of the
variant, mask is mandatory
and everyone should take vac-
Sai Teja will be cremated on
Sunday.
JWO Pradeep was cremat-
ed this evening at the premis-
lit the funeral pyre of her
father, wing commander
Prithvi Singh Chauhan, in
Agra's Tajganj crematorium
between Rs 50 and Rs 80 a kg.
Daily wage labourers find it
difficult to buy vegetables.
With the prices of vegetables

over seniority lists

Continued from page 1
As many as 37,301 compa-
nies went out of business in
Telangana in the past nearly
six years, according to data
shared in the Lok Sabha.
When it comes to compa-
nies which have been
opened, compared to last
five years, this year the num-
ber has been lower. About
7,030 companies opened up
this year. A total of 47,176
new firms were registered
during the same period that
witnessed demonetisation,
GST rollout, and Covid pan-
demic.
Beginning April 1, 2016,
maximum of 18,073 compa-
nies were shuttered in 2017-
18, followed by 16,646 in
2018-19 and 1,491 in 2021.
Sources indicated that the
number of closures is high-
er because the government
included in the category of
'closed' companies firms that
had not filed financial state-
ments or annual returns for
two years. MSMEs have been
impacted most by Covid,
demonetization, and GST
rollout.
Even though the term
“closed company” is also not
defined under the Act, as per
the provisions, if the
Registrar has reasonable
cause to believe that compa-
nies that are not carrying on
any business or operation for
a period of two immediate-
ly preceding financial years
and has not made any appli-
cation within such period for
obtaining the status of a dor-
mant company under section
455, shall, after following
the due process of law, strike
off those companies from the
Register of Companies.
CHICKEN
RATES `/KKG
Dressed/With Skin
Without Skin
Broiler at Farm
EGG
RATES `/1100
HYDERABAD 460
VIJAYAWADA 479
VISAKHAPATNAM 483
RETAIL PRICE `4.60
(IN HYDERABAD)
Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any
damage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement before
responding to any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group's will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.
Continued from page 1
They said a meeting would be
held with Education Minister
on December 13; so, they were
hopeful that the field level
practical problems would be
discussed in the meeting and
solutions provided.
However, as the allotment to
districts was being made with-
out addressing their concerns,
it was creating confusion and
uncertainty, they said.
Teachers are worried about
the statement that in the local
cadre allotment, teachers would
be sent to the new districts
based on seniority, but without
taking the nativity factor into
consideration. Since the senior-
ity lists were not being compiled
properly, teachers are restive.
Some teachers resorted to spon-
taneous protests at the office of
District Education Officers.
In other departments, the
number of employees is small
and most of the posts are in
zonal cadre. However, the num-
ber of teachers to be allotted is
above one lakh and bulk of
them are SGT and School
Assistant and equivalent posts,
all of which are all under the
district cadre.
Dividing them on the basis
of erstwhile districts and
preparing category-wise senior-
Celebrations break out as farmers head home after ‘victory’
PNS n CHANDIGARH
Farmers from Punjab and
Haryana were on Saturday
accorded a rousing welcome
with sweets and garlands, and
showered with flower petals
from an aircraft on their return
journey for the "victory" of their
protest against the central farm
`210 laws which were later repealed.
`200
Families of farmers along with
fellow villagers at many places on
`160 the Delhi-Karnal-Ambala and
Delhi-Hisar national highways
along with other state highways
enroute honoured the peasants
coming in tractor trolleys with
garlands, 'ladoos', 'barfi' and other
sweets.
The supporters of the farm-
ers' agitation carried flags of
various farmer bodies and
showered petals on the peas-
Dividing them on the
basis of erstwhile
districts and
preparing category-
wise seniority lists
were not easy tasks,
sources said.
ity lists were not easy tasks,
sources said. Those who had
joined service under direct
recruitment should be enlisted
based on their ranks, while
those who got the posts
through promotion should be
enlisted without compromising
their previous seniority and also
on the basis of subject-wise
seniority, it was pointed out.
However, as the lists are
being prepared in a rush to
meet the deadlines, they are
going by the date of joining and
if the date of joining is same,
then it is based on the date of
birth to decide seniority, said
some teachers. This is giving
scope to new controversies.
The authorities should take
time to prepare comprehensive
list while also taking nativity
into account to allot teachers to
the new districts, said TS UTF
State president K Jangaiah and
general secretary Ch Ravi.
ants as they assembled on the
roadside of the highways to
welcome them.
National Highway Authority
of India project director
(Haryana) Virender Sharma
said all the four toll plazas locat-
ed between Chandigarh and
Delhi will be functional with-
in two to three days.
The farmers had staged
'dharnas' at the toll plazas,
thereby not allowing them to
function for over a year.
Farmer leader Balbir Singh
Rajewal was given a warm
welcome at Shambhu border
upon his return and he con-
gratulated the farmers for their
“victory”.
“I congratulate all the
Punjabis and the countrymen.
A big battle has been won...
Also thanks to those who sup-
hard to complete the vaccina-
tion one hundred per cent,
Harish said. Omicron cases
Centre's attitude towards Telangana...
Continued from page 1
.Reacting strongly to the
Centre's decision, TRS leaders
alleged on Saturday that the BJP
government, which had dealt a
severe blow to farmers on
paddy procurement by refusing
to purchase the Rabi crop, had
now targeted Singareni work-
ers.
At a media conference at
TRS Legislature Party Office
here on Saturday, Government
Whip Balka Suman said the BJP
government at the Centre had
adopted a vindictive attitude
towards Telangana State in all
aspects. Singareni workers
should confront BJP MPs
should they venture anywhere
near coal blocks, he said. Youth
of Singareni should question
the double standards adopted
by BJP leaders and workers
should revolt against BJP, he
suggested. BJP leaders in Delhi
should talk to Singareni work-
ers and heed their demands, he
said.
Singareni coal mines were a
blessing to Telangana State and
the public sector SCCL stood at
the top in every parameter and
was earning huge profits. Yet,
ported it (agitation)," he told
reporters.
“We have won the 'morcha'...
the central government was
forced to bow down,” he said.
Rajewal also remembered the
“sacrifices” of farmers in the
fight against the Centre's farm
cine. The Corona vaccination
process is continuing every-
where in Basti hospitals."
the Centre, with a vindictive
attitude, had conspired to auc-
tion coal mines of Singareni, he
alleged.
TRS legislators expressed
their solidarity with workers'
unions that had given a call for
a three-day strike ending
Saturday. Chief Minister K
Chandrasekhar Rao has per-
sonally written a letter to
Prime Minister Narender
Modi requesting him to drop
the proposal for auctioning
four coal blocks of Singareni.
Yet, there was no response
from the Centre to the Chief
Minister's request. Suman
sought to know why Union
Minister Kishan Reddy and
State BJP president and MP
Bandi Sanjay were not raising
the Singareni issue with the
Centre, and asserted that TRS
would not keep quiet if they
evaded the issue. The TRS
party would announce its
future course of action after
the end of the strike, he said.
The BJP government was
harming the power sector in
Telangana by depriving the
state of its coal blocks and
thereby creating shortage of
coal, Suman said. He pointed
laws and paid tributes to them,
adding that more than 700
farmers laid down their lives.
A small aircraft showered
flower petals on a cavalcade of
farmers when they reached
near Punjab-Haryana border,
Shambhu, said Ambala
es of his residence at
Ponnukkara village in Kerala's
Thrissur district with his son
out that in Gujarat, the Centre
did not auction the coal blocks,
but allotted them to the State
PSU Coal India. As BJP was in
power in Gujarat, the Centre
accepted the decision of that
State government. However,
since TRS was in power in
Telangana, the Centre was in
favour of privatizing the coal
blocks of Singareni, he rea-
soned.
Besides, the Prime Minister,
at the behest of the Chief
Ministers of Odisha and
Jharkhand, had stopped the
auction of coal blocks in those
States. Obviously BJP leaders
were spiteful towards Telangana
State and Telangana society
should observe and under-
stand the malicious intent of the
BJP government at the Centre
towards people of Telangana, he
said.
Suman alleged that Modi
was conspiring to allot
Singareni coal blocks to his
friend and industrialist Adani.
The BJP government had done
great injustice to Telangana
State in the case of roads as well
as irrigation projects. The BJP
MPs had no intention of doing
justice to Telangana.
Bhartiya Kisan Union president
Malkit Singh. The aircraft was
stated to be arranged by a
non-resident Indian.
A family came all the way
from Chandigarh to welcome
the farmers near Singhu on the
Delhi-Haryana border.
"We are elated and our hap-
piness cannot be described in
words. It (the victory) was the
result of 'tapasya' (penance) of
farmers who faced all sorts of
hardships, including harsh
weather conditions," said a
Chandigarh resident, who
actively supported the farmers'
stir.
Because of the large convoy
of tractor trolleys and other
vehicles, vehicular traffic
slowed down at many places on
Delhi-Ambala and Delhi-
Rohtak national highways.
along with her brother Aviraj
(7) and cousin Pushpendra
Singh.
ABP-C Voter predicts
BJP win in four states
PNS n NEW DELHI
The third opinion poll by ABP
News-CVoter (Centre for
Voting Opinion & Trends in
Election Research) predicts
closely fought victories for the
BJP in four states — Uttar
Pradesh, Manipur, Goa and
Uttarakhand — in the 2022
assembly elections. The fifth
state going to polls early next
year is Punjab, which appears
to be heading towards a hung
assembly with no party being
able to cross the majority mark,
according to the December
survey.
While Punjab has an India
National Congress (INC) gov-
ernment in power, the other
four states are being ruled by
the BJP. AAP continues to be in
the driver's seat in Punjab, with
INC close behind, the survey
conducted in the first week of
December shows.
According to the ABP News-
CVoter third opinion poll in UP,
Yogi Adityanath and Akhilesh
Yadav remain the two leading
candidates for the CM post.
Congress will include Dalit...
Continued from page 1
Senior leaders former PCC
President & MP Uttam Kumar
Reddy, Working President Dr J.
Geetha Reddy, MLC T. Jeeven
Reddy, former minister
Mohammed Ali Shabbir, ex-
increasing they feel that they
no longer can afford vegeta-
bles.
In Punjab, the repeal of three
contentious agriculture laws
and the suspension of farmers’
protests could change some
dynamics. The December
tracker puts AAP in the lead,
maintaining its position with
50-56 seats now. The incum-
bent INC is second with 39-45
seats.
The ABP News-CVoter third
opinion poll in Uttarakhand
shows BJP is consistently main-
taining its lead position, and is
set to retain power. The INC is
a close second, and AAP a dis-
tant third. In terms of vote
share, BJP is leading with 39.8%
votes, followed by INC with
35.7% and AAP with 12.6%
vote share.
In Goa too, BJP continues to
remain the most popular party,
winning 17-21 seats. AAP and
INC are in a tight battle to
become the second largest
party, with the former appear-
ing to win 5-9 seats and INC 4-
8 seats. Other regional parties
and the new entrants are also
going to be a major factor, win-
ning 6-10 seats.
MP Ponnam Prabhakar, AICC
Spokesperson Dr Dasoju
Sravan, Youth Congress
General Secretary Anil Kumar
Yadav, AICC Minorities
Department Co-convener Anil
Thomas and other leaders par-
ticipated in the programme.

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Phone: 040-23322341, Hyderabad Office: F-502, Diamond Block, Lumbini Rockdale, Somajiguda, Hyderabad - 500 082. Telangana. Printed at
Sree Seshasai Enterprises, Plot No.19, IDA Balanagar , Hyderbad-500037, Medchal -Malkajgiri District, Telangana. Executive Editor: Navin Upadhyay. Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.
HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2021
Ayushman Bharat Yojana is a game-
changer, say public health experts
PNS n HYDERABAD
Dr Tamilisai Soundarajan, the
Governor of Telangana and
the Lieutenant Governor of
the Union Territor y of
Puducherry, has hailed the
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana,
the world’s largest govern-
ment-funded healthcare
scheme.
The Governor was speaking
at the third edition of the
Ayushman Bharat e-conclave
2.0 organised by the Integrated
Health and Wellbeing (IHW)
Council with the support of
NITI Aayog.
Dr Tamilisai spoke at the
virtual event that also saw the
participation of many eminent
doctors from across the coun-
try.
Highlighting the govern-
ment’s steadfast commitment
Will bring Cath Lab, MRI facility
in 45 days, states Harish
PNS n HYDERABAD
Medical and Health Minister T
Harish Rao has announced to
install a Cath Lab in Gandhi
Hospital at a cost of Rs 6.5
crore and an MRI facility at a
cost of Rs 12.5 crore. Efforts are
to bring them for use by
patients of the hospital in 45
days.
Speaking after inaugurat-
ing a CT-Scan machine at the
hospital installed at the cost of
Rs 2 crore along with Ministers
Talasani Srinivas Yadav and
Home MinisterMahmood Ali
on Saturday, the minister said
Chief Minister K hospital and interacted with
Chandrasekhar Rao has been
pa ying special attention to
developing the hospital and he
also will give priority to solve
the problems of the hospital,
which is working on a par with
Remove illegal structure in lake Ahmedabad
Chinnamaisamma Cheruvu woman
PNS n HYDERABAD
Water war r ior Ka lp ana
R am e s h h a s c a l l e d on
municipal authorities to
take action against the ille-
gal religious structure at
Ch i n n am ai s am m a
Cheruvu.
She said that while a
reconnaissance survey is
being conducted at the Ch
innamaisamma L ake in
Moosapet, environmental-
ists had pointed out that
they are seeing religious
structures right on the lake
bed and that their con-
struction is being speeded
up.
Raising a complaint on
Twitter she said, “The con-
struction of the illegal reli-
gious structure has been
speeded up at
C h i n n am ai s am m a C h e
ruvu. It is breaking natural
rock formations, spoiling
the lake’s ecology and vio-
lating the buffer zone of the
lake.”
Electric vehicles inevitable in future,
asserts Minister Jagadish Reddy
PNS n HYDERABAD
Energy Minister G Jagadish
Reddy on Saturday asked the
people not toentertain any
misgivings about the use of
electric vehicles as these will
become inevitable in the
future.
Inaugurating an exhibition of
electric vehicles on the neck-
lace road along with energy
special secretary Sunil Sarma
and TSREDCO Vice
Chairman and Managing
Director Janaiah and others
said that these vehicles are use-
ful in safeguarding the envi-
ronment besides becoming
economic to buy for the peo-
ple.
Welcoming the introduc-
tion of electric vehicles in the
market, he said that humans
have been posing threat to the
environment. To check it, the
release of CFCs into the
atmosphere with the use of
vehicles run on petroleum
products should be stopped
in reaching out to the more
vulnerable citizens in reducing
their astronomical out-of-
pocket medical expenses
through the Ayushman Bharat
scheme, Dr Tamilisai said,
“The fact that more people are
coming forward to embrace
corporate
hospitals. Later, he went
round various blocks in the
doctors, patients and patients’
attendants. A 200-bed mother
and child family is under con-
struction on Gandhi Hospital
premises and the works are
going to be completed in five
She added, “Temples and
religious institutions protect
the environment. How can
they be built in places that
destroy nature? We need to
realign our sensibilities and
understand the true mean-
i ng of re l i g i on w h i ch
pre a ch e s prote c t i on of
nature.”
G H MC of f i c i a l R av i
Kumar said that they will
coordinate with concerned
departments and action will
be taken.
forthwith. That is why the use
of electric vehicles has
become inevitable, he said.
CM KCR is the first to recog-
nise the problem to environ-
ment in the state, he said
adding that he devised the pro-
gramme of Haritaharam to
such a life-changing healthcare
scheme testifies to the Centre’s
commitment to ensure equi-
table healthcare access for all.”
Highlighting how
Ayushman Bharat Yojana has
been a success in Telangana
and Puducherry, Dr Tamilisai
or six months, he said. The
Gandhi hospital saved the lives
of 84,127 persons during the
Covid pandemic situation, he
said thanking the hospital staff.
When private hospitals
threw their hands off, the
Gandhi hospital came to the
rescue of Covid patients, he
recalled.
held for cheating
PNS n HYDERABAD
The cybercrime police of
Hyderabad have arrested a
woman from Ahmedabad
for cheating a man of
Hyderabad.
The woman named
Hemali, (33), was arrested
and brought to Hyderabad
on Friday. The cybercrime
police went to Ahmedabad
to arrest her.
Police said that a man
who lives in the Golconda
area received a WhatsApp
message. The display pic-
ture of that account was
that of his friend. He
believed that it was her
account.
He said that there was a
message that she had met
with an accident and that
money was required imme-
diately. So he transferred Rs
2 lakh to the specified bank
account.
check the pollution.
In fact, Haritaharam is being
implemented in Telangana
with a missionary zeal.
To sensitise people on the use
of electric vehicles, the exhi-
bition has been arranged, he
said.
added, “Both Telangana and
Puducherry have shown that
by implementing the
Ayushman Bharat scheme,
everyone benefits.”
Shedding light on how the
Ayushman Bharat health
scheme has proved to be a
game-changer for the poor, Dr
Y.K. Gupta, the President of
the All India Institute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS),
Bhopal, said, “Even a few
years back, hardly anyone
knew what this scheme is all
about. Now the people have
understood what Ayushman
Bharat stands for and how it
benefits everyone.”Echoing the
sentiments of Dr Gupta, Dr
Nitin Nagarkar, Director,
AIIMS, Raipur said, “The
Ayushman Bharat Yojana is
indeed a revolutionary step in
ensuring that more Indians are
healthier.”
Shilpa conducted only cash
deals via third persons
PNS n HYDERABAD
On Saturday, the second day
of her custody, the Narsingi
Police questioned Shilpa
Chowdary.
The police tried to get
details from Shilpa. The
police found that she had
done only cash transactions
and that too through a third
person.
This will be a problem for
the police and the com-
plainants as it will be difficult
to prove the case in court.
The victims have to provide
the source of funds and a rea-
sonable explanation for the
huge cash transactions.
Shilpa Chowdary used to
arrange kitty parties with
women belonging to the fam-
ilies of the rich and celebrities.
She used to arrange huge
parties during weekends and
also sent gifts.
Three from Sudan held
with 7.3 kg gold at RGIA
PNS n HYDERABAD
The Customs officials of Rajiv
Gandhi International Airport
have seized 7.3 kg of gold
worth Rs 3.6 crore from three
passengers who belong to
Sudan. They had kept the
gold in their rectums and
had tried to smuggle it into
India.
The suspects reached
Hyderabad from Dubai on
flight No: AI 952. After the
arrival of the flight on Friday,
“The very objective of
Ayushman Bharat is to reduce
the out-of-pocket expenses of
those who cannot afford to
meet their medical expenses.
The level of awareness that
people have of Ayushman
Bharat makes me extremely
confident that more people
will be eventually reached,”
said Dr Madan Gopal, Senior
Consultant (Health), NITI
Aayog. “The Ayushman
Bharat scheme has facilitated
approximately 2.2 crore hos-
pital admissions costing Rs
26,450 crore through a net-
work of nearly 24,000 empan-
elled hospitals across the
country. Most importantly,
over 8.3 lakh COVID-19 cases
were treated under the
Ayushman Bharat scheme in
these two years,” Kamal
Narayan, the CEO of IHW
Council said.
After establishing friend-
ship with the women she
used to make investment
offers in a logical and intelli-
gent manner, police said.
Shilpa used to present her
case in such a manner that
her friends used to come for-
ward and give her money for
investment expecting huge
returns, police said.
The police are inquiring
about the persons whose
names were mentioned by
Shilpa. The police custody of
Shilpa will end on Sunday.
Customs officials started
checking the passengers as
they had received a tipoff.
The Customs found two
men and two women passen-
gers from Sudan who had
come from Dubai. As they
were walking in a strange
manner, the officials stopped
them. After checking them
Customs officials found gold
in their rectums.
The Customs officials
arrested them and are inves-
tigating further.
Medchal-Ranga
Reddy local
teachers allege
injustice
PNS n HYDERABAD
Government teachers from
Medchal-Ranga Reddy dis-
tricts have alleged that non-
local teachers would get more
benefits than local teachers
from GO No: 317 which
grants priority to seniority.
They alleged that local
teachers have been subjected
to severe injustice in the allo-
cation of teachers to new dis-
tricts and that the government
is not following the local, non-
local (80:20) guidelines in
the allocation of teachers.
Local teachers submitted a
memorandum to Telangana
BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar
urging him to render justice
to them.
Reacting to their memo-
randum, Sanjay found fault
with the government for allo-
cating teachers to the new dis-
tricts against the spirit of
Presidential Orders.
Tech enabling police to crack
crimes, says DGP Mahender Reddy
PNS n HYDERABAD
The rapid strides in technol-
ogy is enabling law enforce-
ment agencies to successfully
crack crimes, the Director
General of Police, Telangana,
M. Mahender Reddy, IPS, said
here Saturday.
The DGP was speaking at
the third annual conference of
the Hyderabad Chapter of the
Association of Certified Fraud
Examiners (ACFE). The con-
ference’s theme was ‘Unfolding
Fraud Deterrence.’
The DGP said the govern-
ment has also recognised the
need for enhanced skillsets
and had set up an exclusive
National Forensic University at
Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
Referring to ‘Report to the
Nations 2020’ of ACFE, the
DGP said that organisations
with CFEs have detected
frauds 50 per cent sooner and
have cut losses significantly.
He said that 75 per cent of
Fortune 500 companies
employ CFEs.
As the corona pandemic
has not completely subsided,
the ACFE conference was
organised at the Lemon Tree
Premier Hotel at the Hi-tech
City here in hybrid mode
where physical presence was
limited to 100 people and
others accessed it online.
In his keynote address, the
Police Commissioner of
Cyberabad, Stephen
Raveendra, IPS, said that as
head of the Cyberabad
Commissionerate he regular-
ly interacts with CFEs.
He said that by using tech-
Wife thrashes
spouse for illicit
affair
PNS n HYDERABAD
Illicit relationships have been
destroying the lives of many
young couples.
These relationships have
been driving people to com-
mit murders and sometimes
leading to people committing
suicides. In the majority of
the cases, either the husband
or the spouse catch red-
handed their partners in a
compromising situation with
their lovers and turn them
into the police. In the latest
development, a husband had
an affair with another women
keeping wives in the dark
about it.
But, the wife caught hold of
her husband and thrashed
him black and blue before
handing him over to the
police. According to details of
the case, the couple Anil and
Rameshwari lives in
Jagadgirigutta for the past
several days. But, Anil has
had an affair with another
woman.
Moreover, he often used to
harass his wife for addition-
al dowry. Ra meshwari, who
got the scent of her husband’s
relationship with another
woman closely monitored
his day-to-day activities. She
traced her husband while he
was spending time with
another woman in Bank
Colony in Qutubullahpur.
She thrashed him and hand-
ed it over to the police. The
police have been investigating
the case.
UoH Prof Sathya Prakash
bags Fulbright-Nehru Award
PNS n HYDERABAD
Dr Sathya Prakash Elavarthi,
Associate Professor in the
Department of
Communication at the
University of Hyderabad, has
been selected for the
Fulbright-Nehru Academic &
Professional Excellence Award
(2021-22).
The Fellowship supports
his visit to the University of
Hartford, Connecticut in the
US where he will be teaching
in the spring semester of 2022.
He will be teaching ‘Media
Economics & Management –
Global & Indian Perspectives.’
hyderabad 03
nology on a large scale, eco-
nomic offences and tradition-
al crimes are being cracked.
He asked the participants to
visit the website www.cyber-
abadpolice.gov.in for infor-
mation on various crimes
including cybercrimes and
DOs and DON’Ts.
Bruce Dorris, the President
of ACFE, spoke in detail about
the fraud triangle. He brought
in a new concept of justifica-
tion of psychological distance
connected to physical dis-
tance in fraud deterrence.
Aloka Prabhakar, IPS, and
former Special DG of IB,
spoke on the role of ethics in
fraud deterrence.
He stressed the importance
of the thin line between ethi-
cal and unethical thinking
and that one should be con-
scious of the fact that whether
they are on the line or have
crossed it.
International cyber securi-
ty expert Amit Dubey spoke
on ‘Cyber frauds –
Transformative Trends and
Mitigation Methods.’ He
Police raid Club Tollywood;
33 men, 9 women nabbed
PNS n HYDERABAD
The Hyderabad police raid-
ed a pub named Club
Tollywood on the premises of
the C ountr y Club at
Begumpet and arrested nine
women and 33 men on
Friday night. The owners of
the joint were also held.
Police said that the pub
management used to organ-
ise indecent dances regular-
ly even after several raids and
arrests by the police. The pub
had cases earlier too. Police
said the management recruits
women for indecent activity
and pays them for it.
This is the third time the
police have registered a case
and made arrests in the last
two years.
After receiving credible
information the
Commissioner’s Task Force,
West Zone Team, Hyderabad,
raided Club Tollywood Pub
(previously Lisbon Pub) and
the C ountr y Club at
Begumpet on Friday mid-
night. The police found that
the pub management was
allowing women to expose
their bodies in an indecent
manner and do obscene acts,
and was also creating nui-
sance to others.
The women were engaging
in obscene acts with male
customers in two separate
rooms. The management of
the pub was allowing inde-
cent activities, police said.
N. Venu Gopal, (43), the
owner of Club Tollywood
Pub, Country Club, R. Sai
He will also be conducting
a three-day workshop on inde-
pendent documentary film-
making in India and a couple
of research talks.
demonstrated online tools to
identify personal information
that had been compromised.
Shri Na Vijayshankar, pop-
ularly known as Naavi, an
expert in cyber law and data
protection laws, spoke on
‘Data Privacy – A Hindrance
to Fraud Investigation?’ He
spoke extensively on the
Personal Data Protection Bill,
2019.
The Association of Certified
Fraud Examiners is the world's
largest non-profit Anti-Fraud
Organisation and provider of
anti-fraud training and edu-
cation. The ACFE’s mission is
to reduce fraud and white-col-
lar crime and to assist its
members in fraud detection.
The ACFE is based in Austin
in the US and has chapters all
over the world including India.
ACFE has around 90,000
members worldwide.
The Hyderabad Chapter of
ACFE was started in April
2018 and caters to the needs of
its members in Telangana and
AP. The ACFE has around 250
members in both States.
Bharadwaj, (30), a partner of
the club and 33 male cus-
tomers and nine ladies were
arrested by the police. Ramu,
the manager of the pub is
absconding.
On February 5, 2021, the
West Zone Task Force team
had raided the Lisbon
Restobar & Pub (Lisbon
Pub), Country Club, and had
apprehended 30 people of
which seven were women.
Police said the women
were exposing their bodies in
an indecent manner and
were doing obscene acts and
also creating nuisance to
others with their obscene
acts.
In December 2019, the
West Zone Task Force had
raided the Lisbon Restobar &
Pub, C ountr y Club at
Begumpet and had arrested
30 people of which 21 were
women for allegedly engag-
ing in obscene acts. In 2021,
the management of the pub
changed its name to Club
Tollywood Pub and allowed
indecent activities, police
said.
During the course of the
investigation, the police
found that the women were
acquainted with the pub
owner. As per instructions of
the pub owner the women
used to come to Lisbon Pub
daily wearing short dresses
and to attract customers they
used to move closely and
dance with them and allow
the customers to touch their
private parts to make them
spend money at the pub.
Techie kills her
2 kids, commits
suicide
PNS n HYDERABAD
A techie committed suicide
after hanging to death her two
children on Saturday at
Rajendranagar.Police said that
the software engineer couple,
Swati and Sai Kumar, were stay-
ing at Rajendra Nagar and
had two children Shreya and
Tanvi.The couple had been
fighting each other at home
since some months.
As per the suicide note left by
Swati, Sai Kumar had been
harassing her as he doubted her
character.She said that Sai used
to doubt her even if she talked
to her sisters on the phone,
police said.Swati had said in her
suicide note that Sai used to
behave like a psycho and that
Sai who had debts had sold the
family’s gold.On Saturday, too
Sai picked up a fight with
Swati and left home.
Immediately after that Swati
decided to end her life. She
hanged both her children and
then hanged herself, police
said.
HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2021
Farmers losing hopes under KCR rule ‘Stop coal blocks’ auction’
YSRTP leader Sharmila sits in dharna, demands Rs 1cr compensation to a bereaved family
n MEDAK
YSR Telangana Party presi-
dent YS Sharmila on
Saturday demanded KCR
government pay a compen-
sation of Rs 1 crore to the
next farmer Ravi Kumar who
committed suicide by con-
suming pesticide in his farm
in Bhupatipur village on
Friday. It may be recalled that
the farmer was deeply dis-
turbed over state govern-
ment discouraging cultiva-
tion of paddy took the
extreme step as he find no
other way to come out of his
debts.
Sharmila visited the
bereaved family in Bogudu
Bhupatipur in Havelighanpur
‘Hike the numbers of students
in SC welfare hostels’
PNS n JAYASHANKAR
BHUPALAPALLY
District Collector Bhavesh
Misra on Friday and SC
Welfare Hostel authorities to
take steps to increase the
strength of the inmates in 15 SC
boys and girls hostels. In a
meeting to review the ameni-
ties in the hostels for students
with officials of the two depart-
ments, he expressed concern
over only 413 students being
there in the hostels against the
required strength of 1500.
Therefore, he asked the author-
ities to draw up an action plan,
visit the SC habitats and sensi-
tise the parents about amenities
in the hostels and ensure that
more students take admission
in the hostels. He asked the offi-
cials to ensure that the atten-
dance of the hostellers should
Just clap to start
agricultural pump sets!
n NAGARKURNOOL
Putting his acumen to test, a
rural youth has invented an
electronic equipment that will
respond to his clapping of
hands and switches on and
switches off the agricultural
pump set located far away in
his fields.
Earlier, we have come across
another example of useful
invention by another youth
who controlled agricultur-
alpump sets with the help of
his mobile phone.
Controlling the pump sets
through clapping of hands
goes one step further in the
invention.
Robotic surgery ‘Naidu diluted SCS demand’ Shashi Tharoor calls for
treatment for
colorectal cancer
PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM
Apollo Cancer Centre offers
advanced robotic surgery
treatment for colorectal can-
cers in Andhra Pradesh with
specialised surgeons.
Colorectal cancer is the
seventh most common can-
cer in India and the second
most commonly diagnosed
cancer in women and the
third most common in men.
According to the data, over
31,000 new cases have been
registered in 2020 with a high
mortality rate.
T Narayana Rao, who is a
senior consultant–surgical
Avoid inconvenience to farmers: KrishnaAditya
PNS n MULUGU
District Collector S Krishna
Aditya has asked the civil sup-
plies officials, revenue author-
ities and others to see to it that
the paddy procurement centres
are run property and directed
the officials to take steps to pro-
vide MSP in lieu of the paddy
procured from the farmers.
Care should be taken to ensure
that the farmers' dis not suffer
any loss in the process.
Addressing civil supplies
department officials, rice
millers, district revenue officials
in a review meeting held here
village of Medak district to
console the family and staged
a sit-in there demanding the
be 100 percent and monitor
their studies so that the sC stu-
dents get good marks.
He called for recording the
students' attendance online and
providing food to the students
in the hostels as per the pre-
scribed menu.
He asked them to take steps
to clear the bushes, garbage
from the hostel premises and
take steps to get minor repairs
He was identified as Kalyan
of Yelikatta village. His devi-
ceis being lauded by the farm-
ers.
Kalyan procured the elec-
tronic spare parts needed for
his invention and regulating
the pump set.
Opposition unity
gastroenterology and robot-
ic surgeon at Apollo Cancer
Centres and former professor
and chief surgeon at Andhra
Medical College and King
George Hospital,
Visakhapatnam, said that
colorectal cancers are the
seventh most common can-
cers in India. The mainstay
of treatment for colorectal
cancer is surgery and mini-
mally invasive techniques
including robotic colorectal
surgery are the latest treat-
ment. Robot-assisted surgery
has its own advantages com-
pared to open or laparo-
scopic surgeries.
he said that out of the targeted
38,829 tones of custom-milled
rice only 19,777 tons was deliv-
ered so far and asked the
millers to take steps to supply
State Government to pay Rs
1 crore compensation to the
family.
done in 10 days. The hostel
walls should be painted with
patriotic quotations. If there is
any vacant space, a kitchen gar-
den should be developed. He
asked the officials to encourage
the day-scholars to apply for a
pre-Matric scholarship. Camps
should beconducted on college
premises to encourage students
to apply for post_matric schol-
arships.
DRM installed as
Waltair Div Scouts
& Guides chief
PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM
Waltair Divisional Railway
Manager Anup Satpathy
assumed charge as President of
Bharat Scouts and Guides of
Waltair division at a ceremoni-
al function held at Rail Club in
the city on Saturday.
Parijata Satpathy, president,
East Coast Railway Women’s
Welfare Organisation, Waltair
division, and Kavita Gupta were
installed as vice-presidents and
Sudhir Kumar Gupta, ADRM,
was installed as Chief
Commissioner of Waltair
Division. Amisha, Divisional
Operations Manager, was
installed as ADC of guides.
PNS n VIJAYAWADA
Asserting that it was the
Opposition leader N He said that Chandrababu had
Chandrababu Naidu who dilut-
ed the demand for Special
Category Status (SCS) by agree-
ing to a Special Package putting
State benefits at stake, Minister
for Agriculture Kurasala
Kannababu said the Opposition
has no moral right to speak on
bifurcation promises.
Addressing a press confer-
ence here on Saturday, he said
that the same Chandrababu
Naidu who is now accusing the
State government over SCS
had indeed welcomed the
financial package for the State,
which was announced by the
Centre and even thanked the
Union government by passing
a resolution in the State
Assembly.
He slammed the previous
the rest of the quantity of the
rice. He asked the paddy pro-
curement centers to procure
paddy as per the norms. He
said that all 170 procurement
Braving odds like truant
monsoons, scarcity of seeds
and fertilisers, resolute farm-
ers have been practicing agri-
culture, she said alleging that
KCR administration has
been failing the hearts even
the most resolute farmers.
Farmers who should have
sowed paddy has been hang-
ing from the tree branches,
she said expressing concern
over the fate of farmers in
Telangana under the pre-
sent regime.
She blamed the despotic
rule of KCR for the farmers
to take the extreme step.
Unable to sell the paddy
harvested, many farmers
breathed their last on paddy
heaps guarding them against
Lorry goes berserk Counting should be transprant: DC
claims life of BE student
n MEDCHAL MALKAJGIRI
A 21-year-old engineering stu-
dent died when a lorry which
is heading for Vijayawada
from Hyderabad lost control
and went haywire and barged
onto a foot-path at
Abdullapurmet on Saturday,
according to the police. The
deceased was identified as
Puli Pranay, a fourth-year CSE
student of Vignan Engineering
college in Deshmukh village.
He belonged to Pragati
Nagar in Sircilla district but
used to live in Chintalkunta in
LB Nagar to pursue BE.
Around 3.30 pm, he was on
his way to home in
Chintalkunta from the college,
riding on Bullet Motorcycle,
when he was hit by an iron
rods-laden lorry and dragged
him for a distance. Pranay who
‘Procure paddy unconditionally’
PNS n JAYASHANKAR
BHUPALAPALLY
Manthani MLA D Sridhar
Babu on Saturday visited the
paddy procurement center at
Regulagudem in Kataram
Mandal of Bhupalapalli district
and demanded the officials
there to procure paddy uncon-
ditionally from the farmers and
maintained that the Congress
would not keep mum if the
paddy was discounted on one
pretext or the other.
He demanded the officials to
immediately give a receipt to
the farmers soon after the
procurement with no connec-
tion whatsoever with the rice
millers. As per the receipt, the
farmers should be paid imme-
diately. He alleged that dis-
TDP government for mort-
gaging SCS for Andhra Pradesh
in exchange for a special pack-
age that solely benefitted Naidu
and his benamis. He said that
the State lost its privileges
because of Naidu and the gov-
ernment is now forced to plead
for special status.
Recalling that it was YS Jagan
Mohan Reddy, who made the
centers should have the
required equipment. If the
equipment given to the pro-
curement centers were out of
order the center in charge
would have to be held account-
able, he said.
The procurement centers
should keep tarpaulins ready.
So far, 20lakh gunny bags have
been supplied to the procure-
ment centers and asked the offi-
cials to take steps to keep ready
another 10 lakh, if necessary.
He said the progress of the
Srimata Rice Mill at Abbapur
and Atchuta Rice Mill at
Mallampalli has been slow in
rains.
Farmers who are at a loss
of comprehension how they
should repay the loans and
take care of the family have
been committing suicide,
she said putting the number
of such farmers recently to
30. She quoted the example
of Chinna Beerlaiah and
Rajaiah in Kamareddy dis-
trict, Kumar inMulugu,
Ailaiah in Karimnagar, and
today, Ravi Kumar joined the
list from Medak district.
The Police foiled her fast
towards in the evening and
rushed her to Ramayampet.
While shifting her to the
police station, there ensued
an argument between the vil-
lagers and the police.
sustained critical injuries died
on the spot. The body was sent
to Osmania University for
post-mortem.
counting 2 kg per quintal in
the name of empty grains and
discoloration of the paddy. As
such, the farmers are being
exploited, he pointed out.
He demanded the district
collector Bhavesh Misra to
YSRCP MPs resign and protest
for SCS, he said Chandrababu
Naidu didn't take such a step.
pocketed the announced special
package and looted public
money. He questioned Naidu
for maintaining silence in the
past and now criticising the
chief minister.
In this regard, the Minister
said that Amaravati is an asset
for Chandrababu and his
benamis, which is worth over
Rs 2,00,000 crore and has been
inciting people of that region to
protect their ill-gotten proper-
ties. He said that the entire State
was mortgaged by
Chandrababu only to safeguard
his 30,000 acres in Amaravati.
He said that Naidu will not
agree even if the government
wants to set up a single capital
somewhere other than
Amaravati.
delivering the custom-milled
rice and asked the officials to
ensure that these mills stepped
up the supply of the rice.
There are many complaints
against the rice millers, he said
asking the millers to
improve their conduct.
District Rice Millers’
Association president Satish
Kumar, Secretary Vasudeva
Reddy, treasurer Vijayender,
district revenue officer
Ramadevi, district civil supplies
officer Aravind Reddy, district
manager of the department P
Ramulu, and others took part
in the meeting.
n PEDDAPALLY
Protesting against the privatisa-
tion of four coal blocks of the
SCCL, CPM activists on Saturday
consigned an effigy of the Centre
to flames. Activists of the CPM
Godavarikhani East and West
Committee took part in the pro-
gramme. District unit secretary Y
Yakaiah led the party activists in
launching the protest. Addressing
the protesters, he said that the
SCCL trade unions called for
observing a 72-hour strike that
concluded on Saturday. He
thanked the industrial workers
who have taken part in the
protest.
The BJP government at the
Centre wants to wash off its
handsprivatising the PSUs. The
farmers fought for over one year
to get the three agricultural laws
withdrawn by the Centre.
n NALGONDA
The returning officer, District
Collector Prashanth Jeevan
Patil said that the counting of
MLC local bodies elections
counting to be held on
December 14th should be
done transparently and in
accordance with the rules. He
was speaking after attending
a training program for count-
ing staff at the counting cen-
ter at the District Women's
Federation (DRDA) building
in the district headquarters on
Saturday. TheCollector said
that the counting of votes
will begin at 8 am and the con-
cerned counting staff was
asked to report to the count-
ing center by 6:30 A.M. He
said only those who have
been vaccinated with two
doses will be allowed into the
counting center. If not, the
Covid test will be conducted
at the counting center and
solve the farmers’ problems
immediately. The state and
central governments have been
causing much agony to the
farmers who feed the nation.
Manthani MPP Smmaiah and
others were present.
n PATANCHERU
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor
has called for unity among
opposition parties for two
years to take on Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in
the 2024 LS elections.
Taking part in a face-to-face
programme with Gitam stu-
dents here on Saturday, he said
that Modi’s BJP polled only 31
per cent and 37 per cent of the
total votes in the last two LS
polls.
This means that 69 percent
and 63 percent of voters were
against the BJP, Tharoor said.
He was interacting with
the students as part of a pro-
gramme conducted by former
NDTV editor and Gitam’s
strategic programme imple-
mentation and expansion
director Nidhi Rajjani.
Tharoor identified the eco-
nomic downturn, rise in
unemployment, inability to
handle the covid crisis leading
to the death of many patients
for want of oxygen, the inabil-
ity to dispose of the dead due
to Covid, and throwing bod-
ies into the Ganges as some of
the failures of the Modi
Government.
Moreover, Modi was arro-
gant while dealing with the
farmers’ issue, he said.
The Congress has the
record of implementing
NREGA and Jan-Dhan
schemes, he said.
On Mamata joining the
Congress, he exuded confi-
Deriving inspiration from the
farmers, the SCCL workers made
the 72-hour strike successful. He
demanded the state government,
Rasta roko on Rajiv Rahadari
In protest against privatisation of coal blocks, activists and leaders of Indian
Federation of Trade Unions, Godavari Valley Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham
and many other trade unions on Saturday staged rasta roko for about one
hour on the Rajiv Rahadari here affecting the movement of vehicular traffic.
They said that the three-day strike observed by the SCCL workers should
serve as an eye-opener for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
only those who were negative
would be allowed inside. He
said, in MLC elections voters
would vote in order of prefer-
ence in the election, so an ini-
tial count would be carried out
first as part of the counting.
He said four tables have been
set up for counting to count
eight polling centers votes.
Assistant Returning Officer
YSRCP MPs should quit for SCS: TDP
PNS n VIJAYAWADA
Leader of the Opposition N
Chandrababu Naidu on
Saturday demanded that Chief
Minister YS Jaganmohan
Reddy make all his party MPs
resign in order to bring pres-
sure on the Union government
to confer the Special Status on
Andhra Pradesh. Naidu said
the TDP MPs would also
resign and join the fight for
achieving all major reorgani-
sation promises like Special
Status, Polavaram and Vizag
railway zone.
Addressing a press confer-
ence here, the TDP chief said
the time has come for the
Chief Minister to decide
whether to fight for the bifur-
cation promises or not. The
Central Government has said
in the Parliament that Special
dence and said that Trinamool
Congress had worked as a
partner of UPA in the past and
that both the parties are on the
same page on many issues.
He pointed out that
Mamata had exhibited the
same style of functioning in
the recent polls in West Bengal
as was done by Congress ear-
lier.
Social media is impacting
people’s thought patterns, he
said, adding that ruling parties
have been trying to protect
their image through social
media publicity.
The 200-year British rule
looted USD 200 trillion from
India, he said.
At that time, 90 percent of
the people of India lived below
the poverty line and the aver-
age life expectancy was just 27
years, he said.
However, some regions of
the country became well
developed. Besides developing
04
which has 51 percent of the stake
in the SCCL should lead the
workers from the front to get the
auction of the coal blocks stopped.
and Additional District
Collector Vanamala
Chandrasekhar, R.D.O.
Jagadishwar Reddy,
Collectorate Administrative
Officer Mothilal, Nalgonda
Mandal Tahsildar Mandadi
Nagarjun Reddy, Election DT
Vijay Kumar, Master Trainers
Tarala Paramesh, and Balu
were presen.
Status was a closed chapter.
The Union Minister said in the
House that the railway zone
would not be granted for
Vizag. On the other hand, the
Vizag Steel Plant was being
privatised with total disre-
gard for the people's senti-
ments.
Naidu recalled that the then
BJP government at the Centre
also had majority on its own
at that time. As of now, they
were dependent on support in
the Rajya Sabha. Jaganmohan
Reddy and YSRCP MPs
should explain what they had
achieved for the State in the
past two and half years.
The TDP chief asserted that
many promises were made
for AP during and after reor-
ganisation only to ensure that
it would develop on a par with
other States.
ports, railways, roads, and
other infrastructure, sanita-
tion and public health should
also improve, he said.
There is no medical facili-
ty within a radius of five km
even now, he said and added
that only 26-27 percent of stu-
dents are able to pursue a col-
lege education. Achieving uni-
versalisation of primary edu-
cation, three square meals a
day, own house, good educa-
tion for children, and employ-
ment with decent salary are
essential for the country to
develop, he said.
He also spoke on his child-
hood, education, touring var-
ious parts of the country, his
student phase, his activities
during the Emergency, joining
the Congress, and controver-
sial tweets.
Tharoor said that he gives
top priority to his writing
from 8 am on Sundays till
midnight.
HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2021
Maintain strict vigil on Covid
situation with focussed steps
PNS n NEW DELHI
Drawing attention towards three
states where eight districts have
been reporting over 10 per cent
Covid positivity rate, the Centre
has asked all states and union
territories to maintain strict
watch on the situation with
focussed district level measures
for containment of clusters of
new cases.
In a letter to states and union
territories (UTs), Union Health
Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said
19 districts in Kerala, Mizoram,
Rahul in centre of Cong posters ‘Varun is a fighter, he will win battle and come out’
PNS n JAIPUR
As the Congress prepares for its
national-level rally against
inflation in Rajasthan's capital
Jaipur on Sunday, Rahul
Gandhi's image occupies the
central position in banners and
posters and senior party leader
Saryu canal project: Akhilesh
says Yogi govt arrogating credit
PNS n LUCKNOW
Samajwadi Party (SP) presi-
dent Akhilesh Yadav on
Saturday took potshots at the
BJP government over the
Saryu Nahar National Project,
saying three-fourths of its
works were completed during
his government.
According to the Centre, the
project was launched in 1978
but got delayed for four
decades due to "lack of conti-
nuity of budgetary support,
interdepartmental coordina-
tion and adequate monitoring".
"The BJP government in
Uttar Pradesh took five years
to complete the remaining
works of Saryu Nahar National
Project which was three-
fourths completed during the
SP government," Akhilesh
tweeted in Hindi, hours before
PM opens Saryu canal
project; hails natural farming
PNS n BALRAMPUR
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Saturday invited
farmers across the country to
watch a mega programme on
natural farming on December
16, saying it would prove ben-
eficial for them.
Addressing a rally in poll-
bound Uttar Pradesh's
Balrampur after inaugurating
the Saryu Canal National
Project, he paid tributes to
Chief of Defence Staff Gen
Bipin Rawat and said his
demise is a great loss to the
nation.
The prime minister also
prayed for the early recovery
of Deoria-born Grp Capt
Varun Singh, the lone survivor
NC passes resolution for Pandits’ return
PNS n JAMMU
The minority cell of National
Conference on Saturday passed
three resolutions, which
among others called for return
and rehabilitation of Kashmiri
migrant Pandits in the valley
and their political empower-
ment.
The resolutions, which also
demanded passage of a bill for
managing the affairs of temples
and shrines of the communi-
Happiness and joy as farmers return home
PNS n NEW DELHI
Forty-year-old Bhupender Singh
was all smiles on Friday as he
rode a tractor back home in
Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district
after over a year of protest at
Delhi's border and said it would
bring an end to his ordeal of
hanging up on his children on
numerous occasions, unable to
answer their persistent pleas for
his early return.
Singh and hundreds of other
farmers at Ghazipur -- one of the
three main sites of farm laws
protest at Delhi's borders --
were happy and relieved as they
CENTRE TO STATES / UT’s
Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry,
Manipur, West Bengal and
Nagaland have been reporting
positivity rates between five and
V Narayanasamy says everyone
wants him to become the party
president again. Gandhi had
resigned as the Congress pres-
ident after the party's debacle in
the 2019 Lok Sabha elections
and the chorus for him to be
reappointed to the post has
been growing of late.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's arrival in Balrampur
here to inaugurate the project.
"There are basically two
types of people in the world,
some who really work and
some who appropriate others'
work. This is the difference
between the government of SP
and today's 'Kainchijivi' (rib-
bon cutting) government.
That's why in 2022 elections
the BJP is going to be com-
of the Wednesday helicopter
crash in Tamil Nadu that
killed 13, including Gen
Rawat, his wife and 11 armed
forces personnel.
In an apparent dig at the
Samajwadi Party (SP), Modi
said for some the priority is to
cut ribbons at inauguration,
while for "us the priority is
completion of projects on
time."
ty, were presented at the start
of the day-long convention
chaired by party president
Farooq Abdullah here.
headed back to their families
after their arduous but success-
ful struggle. The excitement was
apparent on the face of Singh
10 per cent in the last two
weeks.
The COVID-19 positivity rate
has been more than 10 per cent
PNS n BHOPAL
The health condition of IAF
Group Captain Varun Singh,
the lone survivor of the heli-
copter crash that killed Chief
of Defence Staff Gen Bipin
Rawat and 12 others, being
treated at Command Hospital
pletely wiped out," Akhilesh
said in another tweet.
He said 2022 will usher in a
new era for of the SP and the
state will prosper with "canals
of development".
Earlier in a series of tweets,
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
said Uttar Pradesh is the first
state to realise former prime
minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's
dream project of linking rivers
through the Saryu canal pro-
ject. At least four aspirational
districts will also benefit from
the project, he said.
In a related tweet, he said,
"The Saryu canal project con-
necting five rivers Ghaghara,
Saryu, Rapti, Banganga and
Rohini is the biggest project
under 'Pradhan Mantri Krishi
Sinchayee Yojana' to ensure
proper utilization of water
resources."
One of 2 deputy
CMs to be from
BSP if SAD-BSP
forms next govt
PNS n BANGA
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief
Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday
said if the SAD-BSP alliance forms
the next government in Punjab, one
of the two deputy chief ministers will
be from the Mayawati-led party. "I
have announced that one of the
deputy chief ministers will be from
the BSP," Badal told reporters after
addressing a public gathering at
Banga. The SAD had earlier said if
its alliance with the Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP) comes to power in
Punjab after the 2022 Assembly
polls, then a Scheduled Caste (SC)
MLA and a Hindu MLA will be
sworn in as deputy chief ministers.
"The Kashmiri migrant
Pandit community is yearning
for their honourable return
and rehabilitation for the past
three decades. The issue is very
important," senior leader Anil
Dhar said as he presented the
“politically important” resolu-
tions that were passed by a
voice vote.He said the National
Conference is the only party
that can ensure return and
rehabilitation of the Pandits in
the valley.
who said he had lost count of the
times he had to hang up on his
children because all that they
would ask him was about his
in eight districts in Mizoram,
Kerala and Sikkim in the last two
weeks, he said.
"Thus, these 27 districts need
to be monitored very closely,"
Bhushan said in the letter.
He said that in this context, it
is imperative for states and UTs
to maintain a strict watch on the
situation with focussed district
level measures for containment
of clusters of new COVID-19
cases. "In case of any district
reporting a surge in cases, or rise
in positivity rates, intensive
action and local containment as
in Bengaluru is "fluctuating",
but he will win the battle and
come out as he is a "fighter", his
father said on Saturday.
CDS Rawat, his wife
Madhulika and 11 armed
forces personnel were killed in
the Mi-17V5 helicopter crash
near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu
Mahants can't
own 'Kabir
Mutt' land: Trust
PNS n PATNA
Land belonging to the `Kabir-
panthis' (a sect which follows
the teachings of medieval saint
Kabir Das) worth hundreds of
crores of rupees may have
been illegally transferred by
Mahants (temple heads) and
individual, said the chairman
of Bihar Religious Trust Board,
Akhilesh Kumar Jain. The
Board has ruled that the land
spread over wide-swathes of
Bihar is to held by the sect as
a whole and ownership claims
by individuals will be treated as
illegal. The move will check
widespread unlawful sale and
purchase of the land of these
maths. The decision was taken
after consulting heads of four
Kabir Mutt (monastric order)
of Samstipur, Siwan, Vaishali
and Varanasi, he said.
Take up entrepreneurship, youth told
PNS n HAMIRPUR
Union Minister for Education,
Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship Dhar men-
dra Pradhan on Saturday urged
the youth to take up entrepre-
neurship to create livelihood
for the people.
Addressing the students and
staff during the 12th annual
convocation of National
Institute of Technology (NIT)
Hamirpur virtually from New
Delhi, the minister said an
entrepreneur is also a job cre-
ator.
A total of 1,057 degree cer-
tificates were awarded during
the convocation. The institute
honoured the meritorious stu-
dents for their academic
achievements.
A student of BTech in
Hisar: Two Punjab farmers killed in
accident while returning home from Tikri
PNS n CHANDIGARAH
Two Punjab farmers were killed
when the tractor-trailer on
which they were travelling was
hit by a truck in Haryana's
Hisar while they were returning
home from a protest site near the
Delhi's Tikri border on Saturday.
Police said one farmer was
seriously injured in the accident
at Hisar's Dhandoor village. The
farmers belonged to Punjab's
"day of return".
"My children are very excited.
We'll finally get to meet each
other. I am very very happy. Over
the phone they would always say
'Papa, ghar kab aaoge? Jaldi aa
jao!' (Papa, when will you come
home? Please come fast!) I am
glad it is happening today. But
the fact that I am heading home
after victory is something I am
particularly proud of," he said.
Making the long journey back
home on his tractor, Singh said
he couldn't be more thankful to
his tractor for being his "home
and best companion" for the past
one year. "It (the tractor) became
per the containment framework
must be initiated," Bhushan said.
"The strategic containment inter-
ventions in identified areas with
test positivity rate of over 10 per
cent or over 60 per cent bed
occupancy on either two sup-
ported or ICU beds, include
night curfews, restricting inter-
mingling of people, prohibition
of congregations (social, politi-
cal, sports, entertainment, acad-
emic, cultural, religious, festival-
related), curtailment of attendees
in marriages and funerals or last
rites, etc," he said.
on Wednesday. Group Captain
Varun Singh, a decorated offi-
cer, was on board the Russian-
made chopper as the liaison
officer for the visit of Gen
Rawat, India's senior-most
military officer, to the Defence
Services Staff College in
Wellington.
‘Modi govt restoring
Hindu centres of faith’
PNS n AHMEDABAD
Union Home Minister Amit
Shah on Saturday said the
centres of faith of the Hindu
community were left humil-
iated for many years
and nobody cared to
bring back their
glory until the gov-
ernment led by
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
came to power in
2014, which is now
working "fearlessly" for the
renovation of such sites.
He said earlier people used
to be ashamed of visiting tem-
ples, but a new era began with
the Modi government.
Shah was speaking here at
the foundation stone laying
ceremony of the Umiyadham
temple, dedicated to Maa
Umiya, the reigning deity of
the Kadva Patidar sect. The
Electrical Engineering, Charu
Sehgal was awarded the
Director Medal for her achie
vements as the best all-rounder
student for 2021.
The institute conferred 36
gold medals, 10 silver medals,
and 11 bronze medals to mer-
itorious students for their out-
standing performance and dis-
Muktsar district and were
returning home after their year-
long agitation against the
Centre's farm laws came to an
end, days after the contentious
laws were repealed.
“Two farmers were killed
while another one was serious-
ly injured when the tractor-
trailer they were riding was hit
from behind by a truck,” Hisar
Police Inspector Kaptan said
over the phone.
my home and stood by us like a
true companion. It is the unsung
hero for every farmer, we just
cannot do without it -- neither
here nor in our fields back
home," Singh said, bidding adieu
to the protest site.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha
(SKM), an umbrella body of 40
farmers' unions that spearhead-
ed the agitation, on Thursday
decided to suspend the move-
ment after the government
repealed the farm laws and
acceded to their other demands
such as a panel on legal guaran-
tee for minimum support price
(MSP) for crops.
nation 05
PC takes dig at Minister over ‘no
proposal to scrap sedition law’
PNS n NEW DELHI
Senior Congress leader P
Chidambaram on Saturday
took a swipe at Law Minister
Kiren Rijiju for stating that the
home ministry has no propos-
al under consideration to scrap
the sedition law, saying what
he did not state was that it has
proposals to book many inno-
cent people under the law.
Rijiju hit back at
Chidambaram, asking how
many thousand sedition cases
were slapped on people by the
Congress government.
The law minister on Friday
said in Lok Sabha that the
Ministry of Home Affairs has
no proposal under considera-
tion to scrap Section 124A of
the Indian Penal Code (IPC)
dealing with sedition.
Responding to a question by
Assam MP Badruddin Ajmal
on whether the Supreme
Court has recently termed the
sedition law as colonial and
has made an observation that
it is being misused, Rijiju
said,"No such observations
have been found in any
judgment or order deliv-
ered by the Hon'ble
Supreme Court of India."
temple and other buildings are
being built a cost of Rs 1,500
crore on 74,000 square yards
of land.
"For many years, the centres
of faith of the Hindu com-
munity were left
humiliated, and
nobody took the
initiative to bring
the glory back
until Modi came
to power at the
Centre with full
majority," he said
while addressing a gath-
ering.
Shah mentioned the Kashi
Vishwanath corridor project at
Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh that
Modi will inaugurate on
December 13, and the founda-
tion stone ceremony of Rs 150
crore Vindhyachal Corridor
Project (VCP) in Mirzapur
that he performed in August
this year.
tinguished achievements in
various under-graduate and
post-graduate programmes.
Pradhan congratulated the
degree holders and applauded
that NIT Hamirpur has done
a good job on education,
research, and development
front.
He was happy to note that
the New Education Policy
(NEP) has been partially
implemented as the institute
has allowed multiple-entry
and multiple-exit from the
various programmes being
offered as of date.
Six faculty members of NIT
Hamirpur have been listed in
the world's top two per cent
scientists in their respective
areas by the report released by
Stanford University, the min-
ister pointed out.
3 ex-Sena
corporators get
two years’ RI for
disrupting work
PNS n THANE
The sessions court in
Maharashtra's Kalyan has
sentenced three former Shiv
Sena corporators of the
Kalyan Dombivili Municipal
Corporation (KDMC) to two
years of rigorous imprison-
ment for disrupting civic
demolition work.
Additional sessions judge S
S Gorwade convicted the
accused on Friday for
offences punishable under
section 353 (assault or crim-
inal force to deter a public
servant from discharge of
his duty) and other relevant
provisions of the IPC. Apart
from sentencing them to two
years of rigorous imprison-
ment, the court also fined
them Rs 50,000 each, addi-
tional public prosecutor
Sachin Kulkarni said.
According to the prosecu-
tion, the incident took place
in 2006, when a KDMC team
was demolishing unautho-
rised stalls at a complex in the
Dombivili MIDC area.
Reacting to Rijiju's written record of the Supreme Court
reply in Lok Sabha, making any observations on
Chidambaram tweeted, "The the sedition law, the Congress
Minister of Law said that leader noted.
MHA has informed him that "What he (law minister)
there is no proposal to repeal did not say was that he does
the sedition law (Section not read newspapers reporting
124A). What he did not say the proceedings of the SC,"
was that MHA has proposals Chidambaram said.
to book many innocent peo- Tagging Chidambaram's
ple under the sedition law!" tweets, Rijiju hit back and
The law minister also said asked how many thousand
that there sedition cases were slapped on
is no people by the Congress gov-
ernment.
"Law Minister may not
read newspaper but Law
Minister knows that
media reports do not
become part of official
Depart records.
Hon'ble SC is aware of
how to make
observations &
how to pass for-
mal orders!"
Rijiju
tweet-
ed.
INDIA CORNER
Sharad Pawar had said 25
years ago that BJP is divisive
CP chief Sharad Pawar
N had said 25 years ago
that BJP was a divisive
party but Shiv Sena realised
about this reality only two
years back, Sena MP Sanjay
Raut said on Saturday
apparently referring to the
Uddhav Thackeray-led party
severing ties with BJP and
forming a government with NCP and Congress after the 2019
Assembly polls in Maharashtra. Raut was speaking at an event after
a book titled “Nemkechi Bolane”, a collection of Pawar's speeches in
Marathi at various political rallies was released. “Some 25 years ago,
Sharad Pawar had said that BJP did not want unity in the country. Its
methods are divisive. We realised this two years back. He had also
said that BJP's policies were regressive which would take the
country back. However, we took a long time to realise it,” the Shiv
Sena MP said.
TMC announces Rs 5,000 per
month cash transfer scheme
he Trinamool
T Congress (TMC)
on Saturday
announced to roll
out a direct cash
transferscheme for
women in Goa if it is
voted to power in the
state after the
Assembly polls due
in February next
year. Under the
scheme titled Griha Laxmi, Rs 5,000 would be transferred to a
woman of every household per month as guaranteed income
support to counter inflation once the party comes to power, TMC
leader Mahua Moitra said. The party would soon start distributing
cards for the scheme, she said, adding that these cards carrying
unique identification numbers would become operational once the
TMC forms a government in Goa.
Coonoor crash: IAF officer's
mortal remains reach Odisha
hief Minister Naveen
C
Patnaik and other
dignitaries paid floral
tributes to Junior Warrant
Officer (JWO) Rana Pratap
Das, who was killed in the
helicopter crash in Tamil
Nadu's Coonoor, as his
mortal remains arrived at the
Bhubaneswar airport on
Saturday morning. Das, a native of Talcher in Odisha's Angul district,
was killed in the helicopter crash on December 8 along with India's
first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 11 others. The
Indian Air Force (IAF) officer was given a guard of honour by the
personnel of the 120 Infantry Battalion. State ministers, MLAs and
top police officers, including Director-General of Police Abhay, were
among those who paid floral tributes to JWO Das at the airport.
The body was then taken to his native village of Krushnachandrapur
in Kundala panchayat area in Talcher.
Kolkata flyover in poster
tweeted by Tripura govt
he opposition CPI(M) and
T TMC hit out at the Biplab
Kumar Deb government in
Tripura on Saturday after a
poster tweeted by an official
handle had the photo of a
flyover of Kol kata. The oppo
sition parties claimed that the
state government was "renting"
the development works of other
states to flaunt its success after Kolkata's Sealdah flyover found a
place in the poster of a slogan writing competition on Motor Vehicle
Driving Regulations. Amid the opposition attacks, the poster, tweeted
by the MyGov Tripura handle, was deleted. "It is a very shameful act
by the BJP-led government in Tripura to showcase West Bengal's
flyover for highlighting Biplab Kumar Deb government's success. It
looks like a rented campaign by the BJP government," said TMC's
state steering committee convener Subal Bhowmik.
HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2021
PIO charged with victimising
thousands of workers in US
PNS nNEW YORK
The US Department of Justice
has charged a former aero-
space outsourcing executive of
Indian-origin for conspiring
with engineering firms not to
poach each other's workers, a
conspiracy he was orches-
trating for well over a decade
that is said to have hit thou-
sands of workers.
Mahesh Patel, a resident of
Glastonbury, Connecticut,
and a former director of glob-
al engineering services at a
major aerospace engineering
company had enforced this
agreement along with other
suppliers to keep labour costs
down and reap profits, the fil-
ings in a federal court in
Connecticut on Thursday
Mobile internet enabling inclusive
growth: Nobel laureate economist
PNS nKOLKATA
Nobel prize winning econo-
mist Michael Spence said that
mobile internet is enabling
inclusive growth and opening
up employment opportuni-
ties.
Speaking at a webinar
organised by National Stock
Exchange (NSE) and New York
University (NYU) Stern
Business School on Friday
night, Spence said that in
recent times there had been
unusually rapid expansion in
digital transactions due to
access to mobile internet in
India.
Describing mobile internet
as a "quasi public good",
Spence said "opening up of the
digital space has thrown up
employment opportunities in
Meta, WhatsApp scout for CEO who fired 900 on Zoom call to take time off
chief compliance officer
PNS n NEW DELHI
Meta (formerly Facebook) and
WhatsApp are scouting for
candidates for the roles of
nodal contact and grievance
officer as well as chief compli-
ance officer — positions that
have been mandated under
India's IT rules for large social
media companies.
These positions are being
advertised on LinkedIn, and
have been posted over the
course of the past few days.
The new IT rules, which
came into effect in May this
year, mandate that significant
social media intermediaries
(those with other 50 lakh
users) appoint a grievance
officer, nodal officer and a
chief compliance officer. These
personnel are required to be
resident in India.
At that time, WhatsApp
had named Paresh B Lal as its
grievance officer for India on
its website, while Facebook
had named Spoorthi Priya as
its grievance officer for India
on its website. While
Facebook's page names Priya
as the grievance officer,
WhatsApp's website shows
Varun Lamba as the grievance
officer.
When contacted, Meta and
WhatsApp in an e-mailed
statement said, "We have
‘The internet is on fire' as techs race to fix software flaw
PNS n BOSTON
A critical vulnerability in a
widely used software tool —
one quickly exploited in the
online game Minecraft — is
rapidly emerging as a major
threat to organisations around
the world.
“The internet's on fire right
now," said Adam Meyers,
senior vice president of intel-
ligence at the cybersecurity
firm Crowdstrike. “People are
scrambling to patch,” he said,
"and all kinds of people scram-
bling to exploit it."
He said on Friday morning
that in the 12 hours since the
bug's existence was disclosed
that it had been "fully
weaponised”, meaning malefac-
tors had developed and distrib-
uted tools to exploit it.
The flaw may be the worst
computer vulnerability discov-
ered in years. It was uncovered
said.
According to the Wall
Street Journal, Patel was a for-
mer employee of Pratt and
IT areas".
According to him, the key
parameters for expansion of
mobile internet have been due
to decline in cost of equipment,
cost of data and increase in
speed.
Spence said mobile pay-
appointed officers as per the
requirements of the
Intermediary Guideline Rules.
We are actively engaged in a
continued dialogue with the
government on the new IT
rules and we remain commit-
ted to keeping our users safe
on our platform."
They further said: "We
reserve the right to seek new
candidates as needed because
the officers are critical roles
and include the recruitment of
uniquely qualified personnel
to lead these responsibilities".
Meta (formerly Facebook)
counts India among its biggest
markets for its family of apps.
According to data cited by the
Indian government earlier this
year, there are 53 crore
WhatsApp users, 41 crore
Facebook subscribers and 21
crore Instagram account hold-
ers in the country.
in a utility that's ubiquitous in
cloud servers and enterprise
software used across industry
and government. Unless it is
fixed, it grants criminals, spies
and programming novices alike
easy access to internal networks
where they can loot valuable
data, plant malware, erase cru-
cial information and much
Whitney, a firm that supplies
engines to Airbus and military
aircraft manufacturer
Lockheed Martin.
ments systems generate huge
data while artificial intelli-
gence and machine learning
have the potential to close
information gaps in the mar-
kets.
He said penetration of
mobile will continue by
spreading the internet eco-
system. The economist said
internet has a great impact on
improving the healthcare and
education sectors of the coun-
try and India is at the frontier
of many aspects of a digital
economy and it is just a start.
Mobile internet has also led
to a huge investment by the
private sector and generates
social returns.
Spence also said that India
has a big advantage of a big
market which gives scale to
companies.
PNS nNEW YORK
Vishal Garg, the Indian-origin
CEO of US-based homeown-
ership firm Better.com, who
recently laid off 900 employees
over a Zoom call and triggered
widespread outrage, is taking
time off from the company as
it looks to build a "positive cul-
New age markets: CCI to level playing field
PNS n NEW DELHI
Competition Commission's
role in cases emanating from
new age markets is to ensure
that platforms remain neu-
tral, offer a level playing field
and allow enterprises, big or
small, to compete on merit, a
top regulatory official said on
Friday.
Noting that the regulator has
examined more than 1,100
cases of anti-competitive agree-
ments and abuse of dominant
position in diverse sectors
since its inception, CCI
Chairperson Ashok Kumar
Gupta said the instrument of
enforcement has been applied
judiciously.
Competition Commission
of India (CCI) has the mandate
to keep a tab on unfair business
practices across sectors.
According to him, there has
been a steady rise in cases
reviewed by CCI emanating
more.
“I'd be hard-pressed to
think of a company that's not
at risk,” said Joe Sullivan, chief
security officer for Cloudflare,
whose online infrastructure
protects websites from mali-
cious actors. Untold millions of
servers have it installed, and
experts said the fallout would
During the last decade,
there have been instances
when Patel has confronted
and berated suppliers who
backtracked on this agree-
ment by threatening to pun-
ish them by blocking valuable
access to projects, according
to a press release from the
Justice Department.Patel was
arrested and produced before
a federal court in Hartford via
a video link.
He was released on a USD
100,000 bond and placed
under travel restrictions.
“No one should be illegal-
ly denied the opportunity to
pursue better jobs, higher pay
and greater benefits,” said
Peter Jongbloed, an official in
the Connecticut federal pros-
ecutor's office.
S Krishnan appointed
as additional director
PNS n NEW DELHI
Leading watch and jewellery
maker Titan's board has
approved the appointment of
S Krishnan, Additional Chief
Secretar y, Industries
Department, Tamil Nadu
Government as an additional
director.
His appointment has come
in place of N Muruganandam,
a nominee of the Tamil Nadu
ture", according to media
reports.
Garg's leave is also effective
immediately, according to a
Friday email from the compa-
ny's board of directors. Day-to-
day operations will be taken
over by the company's CFO
Kevin Ryan, the CNN report-
ed.
from new-age markets, which
range from search engines,
online marketplace platforms,
app stores and payment gate-
ways to online travel, food
aggregators, cab aggregators
and social networking.
"Such cases involving search
bias, predatory pricing, deep
discounting, self-preferencing
and leveraging have a direct
not be known for several days.
Amit Yoran, CEO of the
cybersecurity firm Tenable,
called it “the single biggest,
most critical vulnerability of
the last decade” — and possi-
bly the biggest in the history of
modern computing.
The vulnerability, dubbed
Log4Shell, was rated 10 on a
scale of one to 10 the Apache
Software Foundation, which
oversees development of the
software. Anyone with the
exploit can obtain full access to
an unpatched computer that
uses the software.
Experts said the extreme
ease with which the vulnerabil-
ity lets an attacker access a web
server — no password required
— is what makes it so danger-
ous.
New Zealand's computer
emergency response team was
among the first to report that
the flaw was being “actively
“Given the significance of
major defence and aerospace
companies to Connecticut's
economy, it is vital that the
labour market in this indus-
try remain fair, open and
competitive to our workers,”
said Peter S. Jongbloed,
Counsel to the US Attorney
for the District of
C onnecticut. Assistant
Attorney General Jonathan
Kanter said that “thousands of
workers have been victimised
over a long period of time” by
the alleged scheme under
which corporate executives
undermined the careers of
their own workers in order to
reap undeserved profits and
deprive our fellow citizens of
opportunities to earn a com-
petitive wage”, it said.
Industrial Development
Corporation Limited
(TIDCO) -- co-promoter of
the Titan, with effect from
December 10, 2021.
"S Krishnan will hold office
up to the date of the next
Annual General Meeting
wherein his appointment as a
director, liable to retire by
rotation, will be placed before
the shareholders for their
approval," it said.
Better.com is hiring a third
party firm to do a "leadership
and cultural assessment",
whose recommendations "will
be taken into account to build
a long-term sustainable and
positive culture" at the compa-
ny, it said on Friday, citing an
email from the digital mort-
gage company's board.
interface with competition law
regime.
"The Commission's role in
such cases is to ensure that
platforms, which act as a cen-
tral point of interaction
between different sides in dig-
ital markets, remain neutral,
offer a level playing field and
allow enterprises, big or small,
to compete on merit," Gupta
exploited in the wild" just
hours after it was publicly
reported Thursday and a patch
released.
The vulnerability, located in
open-source Apache software
used to run websites and other
web services, was reported to
the foundation on Nov 24 by
the Chinese tech giant Alibaba,
it said. It took two weeks to
develop and release a fix.
But patching systems around
the world could be a complicat-
ed task. While most organisa-
tions and cloud providers such
as Amazon should be able to
update their web servers easi-
ly, the same Apache software is
also often embedded in third-
party programs, which often
can only be updated by their
owners.
Yoran, of Tenable, said
organisations need to presume
they've been compromised and
act quickly.
Working on job opportunities
for 17 lakh artisans, craftsmen
PNS n SURAT
In over last five years, 'Hunar
Haat' provided employment
opportunities to more than
seven lakh indigenous artisans
and craftsmen, and the target is
to take this number to 17 lakh
in the next two years, Union
minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
said on Saturday.
Addressing the media ahead
of a 10-day Hunar Haat --the
Centre's initiative to promote
India's traditional crafts, cuisine
and culture -- to be organised
here in Gujarat beginning
Sunday, Naqvi said this initiative
has helped craftsmen to connect
to their traditional, ancestral
skills and generate employment.
"More than seven lakh arti-
sans and craftsmen have been
provided employment and
employment opportunities
through the organisation of
Hunar Haat in different parts of
the country. Our effort is to
increase this number to 17 lakh
in the coming two years," Naqvi
said.
"Hunar Haat" is a successful
and meaningful campaign to
provide opportunities to artisans
and craftsmen from different
parts of the country for the pro-
tection, preservation and pro-
motion of their traditional and
Over 50,000
MSMEs in
Coimbatore to
down shutters
PNS n COIMBATORE
Over 50,000 MSMEs in the
district would participate in
the one-day closure of indus-
tries on December 20 to draw
the attention of the Centre on
issues, including skyrocketing
price of raw materials. All the
industry-associations such as
the Coimbatore District Small
Industries Association,
Southern India Engineering
and Manufacturers
Association, and Indian
Chamber of Commerce and
Industr y-Coimbatore
(ICCIC), would participate in
the closure. There would be a
one-hour demonstration in
front of the district
Collectorates across the coun-
try, said ICCIC sources said.
said.
In these fast-evolving and
dynamic markets, he said the
regulatory stance needs to be
nuanced, and the enforcement
toolbox needs to be adapted to
these changes so that the
instrumentality remains fit for
purpose.
"The challenge is to keep
abreast of the developments in
these markets and continue to
evolve and refine the tools.
This will help make timely
interventions and strike a fine
balance so that efficiency and
innovation are not stifled and
markets remain free from anti-
competitive practices," he
added.
Speaking at a conference
organised by industry body
CII, he also said that in correct-
ing market-distorting prac-
tices, the regulator has used an
effective mix of the twin instru-
ments of enforcement and
advocacy.
The first obvious signs of the
flaw's exploitation appeared in
Minecraft, an online game
hugely popular with kids and
owned by Microsoft. Meyers
and security expert Marcus
Hutchins said Minecraft users
were already using it to execute
programs on the computers of
other users by pasting a short
message in a chat box.
Microsoft said it had issued
a software update for Minecraft
users. “Customers who apply
the fix are protected,” it said.
Researchers reported find-
ing evidence the vulnerability
could be exploited in servers
run by companies such as
Apple, Amazon, Twitter and
Cloudflare. Cloudflare's
Sullivan said there we no indi-
cation his company's servers
had been compromised. Apple,
Amazon and Twitter did not
immediately respond to
requests for comment.
money 06
‘HUNAR HAAT’
ancestral heritage, the Union The next "Hunar Haat" will be
minister said. organised at JLN Stadium in
"Governor of Gujarat New Delhi (from December
Acharya Devvrat will inaugurate 22, 2021 to January 2, 2022).
the Hunar Haat in Surat tomor- In the coming days, “Hunar
row where more than 600 arti- Haats” will also be organised in
sans, craftsmen from more than Mysuru, Guwahati, Pune,
30 states and Union Territories Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Patna,
are participating. Union minis- Puducherry, Mumbai, Jammu,
ters, MPs, Gujarat ministers, Chennai, Chandigarh, Agra,
MLAs and other dignitaries Prayagraj, Goa, Jaipur,
will also remain present," he said. Bengaluru, Kota, Sikkim,
The 34th “Hunar Haat” will
see a display of hand-made
indigenous products, tradition-
al dishes, various cultural and
Srinagar, Leh, Shillong, Ranchi,
Agartala and other places, Naqvi
said. A meeting of the ministry's
parliamentary consultative com-
musical programmes of
renowned artists where more
than 600 artisans from 30 states
mittee and a two-day meeting of
social welfare and minority wel-
fare ministers, secretaries and
and UTs will participate, he said. senior officials of the state and
Among other attractions UT governments will be held on
will be cultural and musical pro- January 20-21, 2022 at the
grammes by various artists. "Kutch Rann Utsav" in Gujarat.
MONEY MATTERS
PM Modi to address bank deposit
insurance programme
rime Minister Narendra
P Modi will address a
programme, "Depositors
First: Guaranteed Time-bound
Deposit Insurance Payment
up to Rs 5 Lakh," on Sunday
at Vigyan Bhawan here, his
office said.Deposit insurance
covers all deposits such as
savings, fixed, current and
recurring deposits in all
commercial banks. Deposits
in state, central and primary
cooperative banks, functioning in states and union territories are
also covered, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) noted.In a path-
breaking reform, bank deposit insurance cover was enhanced from
Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, it added.With deposit insurance coverage of
Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank, the number of fully protected
accounts at end of previous financial year constituted 98.1 per cent
of the total number of accounts as against the international
benchmark of 80 per cent.The first tranche of interim payments
has been released by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee
Corporation recently against claims received from depositors of 16
Urban Cooperative Banks which are under restrictions by the
RBI.Payout of over Rs 1,300 crore has been made to alternate bank
accounts of over one lakh depositors against their claims, the
statement said.
‘Sri Lanka will not default on debt
repayments despite forex crisis’
ri Lanka will not default
S on its debt repayments in
2022 despite being faced
with a severe foreign reserves
crisis, finance minister Basil
Rajapaksa has
assuredParliament.Winding
up the 2022 budget debate,
Basil Rajapaksa, the youngest
of the top three Rajapaksas
running the country, also
ruled out that Sri Lanka will seek a bailout from the International
Monetary Fund (IMF).“I will assure that every dollar that we have to
pay will be paid," he assured the lawmakers.He said the country was
in a major foreign reserves crisis. “I admitted in my budget speech
that we are in a serious situation.Analysts say the island nation's
foreign reserves had fallen to USD1,587 million or one month of
imports. Rajapaksa said the government has to make a USD 500
billion debt payment in January 2022 and another billion dollars by
June . “We have a plan to pay”, Rajapaksa said responding to the
Opposition lawmakers who had demanded the finance minister to
reveal to the House how the government would face the
unprecedented balance of payments crisis. Rajapaksa said the
government would slowly build up reserves through imports
substitution. He ruled out seeking an IMF bail out of the present
crisis. He said an IMF team was in Colombo doing their routine
reviews. “We are their members and we do some of their things”,
Rajapaksa said.
U.S. government deficit down
17% from same period a year ago
he U.S. budget deficit totaled
T USD356.4 billion in the first two
months of the budget year, down
17per cent from the same period a
year ago as a sharp jump in
government revenues offset a
smaller increase in spending.
In its monthly budget report, the
Treasury Department said Friday that
the government's deficit in October and November was USD72.9 billion
below the deficit in the same two months last year. The government's
budget year starts on Oct. 1. The improvement reflected the fact that
government revenues have been rising at a faster pace than government
spending over the past two months.For the October-November period,
tax revenues totaled USD565.1 billion, a sharp 23.6per cent above
revenues in the same period last year and a record for the first two
months of the budget year.The big increase reflected an improving
economy that has seen corporate profits rise and millions of people
going back to work, which boosts individual tax payments. In addition,
the revenue increase reflected the fact that businesses are having to
make up for their portion of Social Security tax payments which were
deferred last year as part of the tax relief Congress granted during the
pandemic-triggered recession.
sunday
magazine
HYDERABAD, December 12, 2021
Maldives & coral propagation
With its unique marine environment, the
Maldives is ideally placed to be a big
player in the coral propagation business
THE NEW
MARKETING
MANTRA
Post-pandemic climate is brimming with opportunity. By tilting our perspective and analysing the
trends, we can best capitalise on the opportunities, writes ZEENAH VILCASSIM
any of us have seen and experi-
M enced more change in the last
year and a half than we have in
our entire careers or lives for
that matter. As human beings we
are hardwired to resist change, our brains inter-
pret change as a threat that makes us fear it,
fight it, or run away from it. However, when
embraced smartly, change can lead to progress,
innovation, and growth.
I’ve come to realise that among the chaos
and uncertainty of the past year, there have been
incredible learnings and successes that I remind
myself to celebrate. Now that we are coming out
of the pandemic slowly, we are all experiencing
a shift in mindset, which in the future will
hopefully prove to be fruitful and effective not
just professionally but also personally.
EMBRACING CHANGE SMARTLY IS TO
EMBRACE IT WITH EMPATHY
To take care of your business, you must take
care of your employees. For most people and
companies, there has been a massive shift in
strategy, along with business growth the focus
also lies in building a healthy and safe work
environment with consumer and employee well-
being being the priority. In other words, the
human element of every business — flexibility,
resilience, empathy, trust, collaboration, and
transparency should be the key qualities
required to create a modern and successful
work culture, that reassures employees and con-
sumers that a business is more than just a place
of work, but a community that rallies around
each other when the chips are down. We moved
from being pinned to our office desks to keep-
ing global businesses running from the com-
forts of our homes overnight, quite literally. This
came with both positive and negative aspects to
it. On the one hand, many companies were
inspired to place an increased level of trust in
their employees and further the understanding
of their personal lives. On the other hand, it
meant people were working and investing
longer hours as they physically weren’t checking
out — like you would when you leave an office.
Previously you had offices with gyms so
employees could focus on their physical health,
but now with the need to isolate, mental health
was at risk. Businesses had to evolve the way
they saw employee health and well-being. At
our workspace, we made our ‘primos’ (the
Spanish word for ‘cousin’ and how we refer to
our colleagues) health and wellbeing top of the
agenda. We shifted to an extremely flexible
working style that let team members dictate the
F R O M
8 9
best times to conduct meetings and what their
preferred mode of communication would be.
We also offered our primos, and their families,
free access to confidential counseling, an infor-
mational service helpline, and an internal emer-
gency helpline. This is something that will now
be a permanent offering moving forward.
Having more empathy for our primos is some-
thing that is here to stay in our company for
good and we hope it will only get stronger. An
approach such as this can also be adopted as we
— globally — aren’t completely out of the
woods with respect to the pandemic.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO INNOVATE (READ: ‘FAIL’)
Fearless failures can lead to shining success-
es. If there’s one thing we all had to learn to do,
it is to constantly adapt — feeling comfortable
in the uncomfortable. The most successful busi-
ness leaders were quick to realise that their busi-
nesses needed to analyse and evaluate their ways
of working overnight — and they took the risk
to make drastic changes despite the uncertain-
ties. Throughout our 159-year history, we have
weathered quite a few storms, which have only
motivated us to rebuild even stronger. Resilience
and fearlessness are ingrained in our way of
operating. Our marketing teams were fearless in
their approach to innovating during unprece-
dented times. As quick thinkers, we moved a
music festival that would accommodate 40,000
plus people to a fully immersive digital and AR
format, featuring avatars, gaming, and virtual
reality experiences. We brought beverage
experts to screens across the country who
shared their skills and imparted valuable and in-
depth knowledge in cocktail building, taste pro-
files, and food pairings. We had created home
delivery kits with on-trade partners to give con-
sumers the feeling of a luxury dine-out whilst
dining-in. We connected families and friends
across cities with streaming entertainment and
virtual celebrations and brought together com-
munities.
All of this, from the comfort and safety of
their homes. We explored unusual digital for-
mats and tested creative executions, which
helped us remain more connected with our con-
sumers than ever in a physically distanced
world. All while, we ensured this was executed
seamlessly in line with the brand’s ethos.
CONSUMERS ARE THE BEATING HEART OF
EVERYTHING WE DO
Our consumers are the centre of everything
we do and they above all unlock growth for us
as a business — but only when we truly add
The greater your
capacity to love, the
greater your capacity
to feel the pain
— Jennifer Aniston
T H E I N S I D E
Rise of sexism in Australian Parliament
The recent cases of rising sexism in the
Australian Parliament are uncovering a shocking
reality in the top law-making body of the country.
value to their lives. Virtual celebrations,
upskilling, mass digitisation, premiumisation,
convenience, live streaming — these were just a
few of the changing trends that were witnessed
during the lockdown. While many may inter-
pret this as ‘putting the consumer first’, we must
strive to take this further as it is the consumers
who guide the way we do business — from the
products we introduce to the way we communi-
cate, to the experiences we create, and the
works. From the sourcing of ingredients to
telling interesting brand stories, to how to make
the perfect cocktail, consumers are becoming
more and more educated about spirits. We saw
that consumers came out of the lockdown
stronger but also sharper, many dwelled into
their hobbies and some even discovered new
interests. Having said that, consumers today are
a lot more well-versed with culinary and mixol-
ogy — which is great because now we can con-
nect with our consumers on a whole new level.
FOR MOST PEOPLE We held various virtual sessions during the
AND COMPANIES, lockdown with our mixologists to keep the
interest and education alive for our consumers.
THERE HAS BEEN A We will only introduce, execute, or create any-
MASSIVE SHIFT IN thing if we’ve listened and learned from our
consumers and know it will add value in their
STRATEGY, ALONG lives.
WITH BUSINESS IT’S ALL ABOUT PREMIUMISING
GROWTH THE FOCUS In the last few years, the population of the
ALSO LIES IN middle-class segment has grown, giving a rise to
consumers with more disposable income. This
BUILDING A HEALTHY increase has resulted in the demand for premi-
AND SAFE WORK um products and experiences. Another factor
that has contributed to this demand is the rise
ENVIRONMENT WITH in consumer knowledge. Consumers now edu-
CONSUMER AND cate themselves to know what to consume and
how to consume, they are open to exploring
EMPLOYEE new flavors and categories too. As brands, it is
our responsibility not just to educate them but
WELLBEING BEING also to be transparent in what we offer, and so
THE PRIORITY this knowledge drives a consumer to be more
value driven, wanting to consume premium and
buy premium, so much so that home bars now
look like luxury back bars with variety. Earlier
consumers would spend by stepping out, dining
at a restaurant but now consumers have redi-
rected their expenses to buy for the home con-
sumption occasion. With premiumisation set-
ting into the market, we at Bacardi are launch-
ing our premium products soon.
MEMORIES TRUMP MERCH
The new generation wants to grow, educate,
learn and connect with each other through
experiences more than anything else. For them,
moments are more valuable than material pos-
sessions. They look at experiences to connect
them with others, whether it’s a music festival, a
celebration, or a unique cocktail. It is no longer
about what we own, rather it has shifted to what
story we can tell. And this shift has come into
play due to a rise in disposable income and an
increase in usage of social media. Everyone now
wants to share their experience online.
Consumers demand an extraordinary experi-
ence to shape them further.
CONVENIENCE AS WAY OF LIFE
As we all know, we live in a world where
everything is reachable at a click of a button or a
tap onto our smartphones. Having said that,
consumers demand a hassle-free and quick
transaction with brands. Anything that requires
too much time or effort drives consumers away.
Covid has fueled this consumer behaviour.
Convenience is a prerequisite. Nowadays, con-
sumers expect everything to reach them in the
comfort and safety of their homes, giving com-
panies like us a great opportunity for home con-
sumption. We want to deliver the best with the
simplest consumer journey experience.
Whether it’s hosting virtual workshops to edu-
cate consumers on mixology or just content that
keeps them entertained — we make it a point to
constantly be in touch with our consumers
keeping their convenience in mind. Our take on
home entertainment is to uplift celebrations for
our consumers in the comfort of their homes.
By tilting our perspective, it can easily be
considered that the post-pandemic climate is
brimming with opportunity. And we must capi-
talise on these opportunities, we must analyse
which trend or behaviour is here to stay and act
on it before it’s too late.
Although there is an influx of innovative
technology at our fingertips to enhance con-
sumer experiences virtually, it is in times like
this that human strategy prevails and guides
how we do business. And it is with this human
strategy in mind (and a little bit of creative
rebellion) that our marketing strategies can
truly flourish.
With no rulebook at our disposal around
what the next “new normal” may be, so we must
continue to be agile and work towards aligning
our objectives using comprehensive strategies to
execute and drive our business growth. The
room this leaves for integrating creative strategy
with traditional business models is abundant.
The writer is Marketing Director,
Bacardi India
 sunday
magazine
HOW MALDIVES CAN CREATE A NEW
INDUSTRY IN CORAL PROPAGATION
With its unique marine environment comprising of thousands of coral reefs, the Maldives is ideally placed to be
a big player in the coral propagation business. If we can get coral propagation right, it could become a
booming international industry, writes SONU SHIVDASANI, as he suggests ways to garner support
aldivian coral reefs are in trouble.
M Almost everywhere you look, the
reefs are damaged, degraded or in
danger. Recent spikes in sea tem-
peratures, including a devastating
2016 El Niño, ravaged the country’s corals.
Climate change is making these sea temperature
spikes more severe, and more frequent. The prog-
nosis is bleak.
Maldivian reefs do more than just provide a
fun place to snorkel: they act as subterranean
water-breakers, protecting the islands from ero-
sion; they nourish the beach with new sand; they
provide a home for reef fish, which in the case of
baitfish, sustains the tuna industry. And then there
is the snorkeling.
Tourism began in the Maldives because we
became known as a diver’s paradise. Even today,
tourists still visit because of the coral reefs (30%
of tourists told a recent Ministry of Tourism sur-
vey they visited specifically to see the country’s
underwater beauty). Considerable revenue is
generated from coral-related tourism, whether it
is the dive schools, liveaboards, or the marine biol-
ogists who take guests on snorkeling trips. This
must generate at least USD 200 million a year of
gross national income.
Up to 50% of the world’s coral reefs have died
in the last 30 years. Scientists predict that if glob-
al temperatures rise above 1.5 degree C from pre-
industrial times — the temperate ceiling world
leaders agreed must not be breached, in the Paris
Agreement on climate change — the coral will
decline by a further 70-90%. The world is already
1.2 degree C hotter than it was in the pre-indus-
trial era, and we are due to cross the 1.5 degree C
threshold by 2030. If temperatures soar past 2
degree C, 99% of the world’s coral will die.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE WHERE WE MUST PROAC-
TIVELY RESPOND TO A CRISIS IN ORDER TO
THRIVE
The Covid crisis over these past 18 months is a
fantastic example of where, thanks to the
Government’s brilliant policies, we have over-
come a catastrophe and thrived. We took pre-
cautions, and then borders were reopened with
a perfect balance of policy that kept our indus-
try and citizens safe, whilst making the
Maldives an attractive tourist destination.
Today, arrival numbers are at the same level as
they were pre-pandemic. The Maldives has
become a Covid recovery success story.
With the global warming crisis, the Maldives
has little influence over the actions of the big green-
house gas emitting countries, like China and
America, whose decisions dictate how high the
temperature will rise. We can’t bet our future on
a wish and a prayer that the big countries decar-
bonise their economies in time to halt climate
change before it wipes out our coral reefs. We need
a back-up plan.
That back-up plan is coral cultivation — in
particular, developing corals that can better with-
stand sea temperature rises and other climate
impacts, and deploying them at scale across our
reefs.
Over the next year at Soneva Fushi, we will cul-
tivate a coral farm comprising of 50,000 new corals
(which will ultimately be used to repair the house
reef). When finished, this coral farm will be 1
hectare in size — one of the largest coral farms in
the world. For the ensuing years, it is our goal to
cultivate 1 hectare of coral each year at each of our
resorts. This is the scale that is needed in order
to have a meaningful impact.
For the past 24 months, we’ve been studying
coral propagation in other countries, with a view
to bring the best methods to the Maldives. What
is most striking is how underdeveloped this sec-
tor is.
There are few experts, and most of the tech-
niques are either stuck in the science lab, or being
deployed at a tiny scale. If our aim is to save the
reefs, we need to massively step up our coral prop-
agation efforts. This represents a huge opportu-
nity for the Maldives: to become a global leader
in an activity that will likely have considerable
future demand.
WHAT ARE THE CORAL PROPAGATION OPTIONS?
Most existing coral propagation activities are
small gardens of little consequence, and which tend
to rapidly deteriorate at any slight rise of temper-
atures. Very few organisations have ventured
beyond simply that; taking some broken coral,
putting it on a structure, and allowing it to grow.
These activities ignore the fact that the sea tem-
peratures are rising, bleaching events are becom-
ing more frequent, and the seas are becoming more
acidic.
That said, there are a handful of organisations
doing promising work. Here in the Maldives, we
have a few Mineral Accretion Technology (MAT)
projects where electricity is attached to coral to
stimulate its growth. The electrolysis of seawater
helps coral to grow faster than normal. There have
been examples where some corals grew three to
five times faster under the influence of MAT com-
pared with two control treatments. The examples
in the Maldives have shown that whilst the coral
is still attached to the electricity, apart from stim-
ulating more rapid growth, it also has survived
recent warm water temperatures of up to 33 degree
C. Unfortunately, we only have limited experience
of what happens when the coral is detached from
THE FIRST RULE OF
SUSTAINABILITY IS TO ALIGN
WITH NATURAL FORCES, OR AT
LEAST NOT TRY TO DEFY THEM
— PAUL HAWKEN HYDERABAD, December 12, 2021
the electricity, and it is impossible to electrify all
the reefs in the country.
There are other promising technologies that
focus on trying to create coral that both grow
rapidly and tolerates a more challenging environ-
ment.
Assisted evolution: This combines five ele-
ments: stressing the larvae as well as the adult
corals by increasing temperature levels in tanks,
and seeing which corals can survive in these hot-
ter conditions.
Other experimental solutions include using
environmentally-friendly 3D printing and coating
methods to fabricate structures with novel lime-
UP TO 50% OF THE stone-based material composites and then peptide-
based bioorganic adhesives for coral growth and
WORLD'S CORAL REEFS restoration.
In the US, Dr. David Vaughan discovered micro
HAVE DIED IN THE LAST fragmentation, a process of cutting coral into small
pieces and growing them under optimal conditions
30 YEARS. SCIENTISTS to produce fast-growing corals. Using the process
PREDICT THAT IF GLOBAL along with something called coral reskinning, Dr.
Vaughan claims that giant corals that normally take
TEMPERATURES RISE 25 years to grow, can be grown in 2-5 years.
ABOVE 1.5 DEGREE C AN ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR THE
MALDIVES
FROM PRE-INDUSTRIAL The Maldives is not the world’s only coral
nation. There are more than 50 other small island
TIMES — THE countries that are home to large coral reefs, not to
TEMPERATE CEILING mention huge reef systems in big countries, such
as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and the reefs off
WORLD LEADERS the coast of Florida. All of these places, like the
Maldives, are desperate to protect their valuable
AGREED MUST NOT BE coral reefs.
If we can get coral propagation right, it could
BREACHED, IN THE PARIS become a booming international industry. It has
AGREEMENT ON CLIMATE been difficult to develop other industries beyond
tourism and fisheries in the Maldives because of
CHANGE — THE CORAL geographic limitations. However, with its unique
marine environment comprising of thousands of
WILL DECLINE BY A coral reefs, the Maldives is ideally placed to be a
big player in the coral propagation business.
FURTHER 70-90% The Government should help encourage such
an industry to develop, just as governments in
other countries provide support to promising
industries that have the potential for exponential
growth. Germany’s renewable energy sector
thrived after the German Government’s introduc-
tion of the Renewables Energy Act in 2000. Today,
Germany is a leader in all forms of renewable ener-
gy. The Maldives could have an equivalent success
in coral propagation.
Here are four-way the Government could
support an emerging coral propagation indus-
try in the Maldives:
l Loans and grants: The Government could apply
for grants for coral propagation, as part of its efforts
World 8
to adapt to climate change. Funds are available
under the Green Climate Fund, and from devel-
opment banks, such as the World Bank and Asian
Development Bank. The Maldives should ask these
organisations to fund the most development of the
promising coral technologies, just as they might
ask these banks to fund a road or a reclamation
project.
l Reduced taxes: India allows companies to
deduct 50% of the investment they make in a tar-
geted sector from their tax bill. For example, if a
company were to invest USD 1 million in a tar-
geted sector in India, the Indian Government
would allow them to reduce their tax bill by USD
500,000. The Maldives should consider a similar
scheme to attract private investment in coral prop-
agation.
l Tax holidays for coral propagation business-
es: In many countries, tax holidays are granted to
developers investing in a favoured sector. For
example, in Thailand, companies developing
hotels in certain regions of the country were
offered a tax holiday of 10 years. This meant they
did not have to pay any corporate tax on any
income earned for this initial period.
l Duty exemptions: Import duty can be quite high
in the Maldives, so duty exemptions are impor-
tant. The Government has already reduced import
duty on things such as solar panels and other
renewable energy components, in order to help
spur this emerging industry. Likewise, it should
reduce to zero import duty on the equipment need-
ed for coral propagation.
Our fate here in the Maldives is not necessar-
ily sealed. There is a chance to avoid the coral reefs
from collapsing. The Maldives is blessed with a
population of creative, dynamic, and entrepreneur-
ial people. If the Government can support these
people, by creating a conducive environment for
coral propagation, then we might be able to change
our fate.
I suspect that some reading this might con-
sider that I am too optimistic about the potential
of the Maldives to be the world leader in coral
propagation. However, 30 years ago, when Eva and
I started on the first luxury resort in the country,
people also thought we were mad and believed lux-
ury tourism would never work. Today, the
Maldives is the Silicon Valley of luxury resorts.
Maldivian resort hotels are the best on the plan-
et. Likewise, in 30 years’ time, the Maldives could
be the definite leader in coral propagation.
To quote Margaret Meade: “Never doubt that
a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens
could change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing
that ever has.”
The writer is the CEO and Joint Creative
Director of Soneva
 sunday
magazine

HYDERABAD, December 12, 2021

opinion 9

Rise of sexism in Australian Parliament

he recent cases of rising
T sexism in the Australian
Parliament are uncovering a
shocking reality in the top
law-making body of the coun-
try. The larrikins in the power
corridors must be retold that
they are shaming the whole
nation. At the very outset, we
are to admit candidly that
women still struggle for their
space in public institutions
and become victim of male
dominance simply because of
their gender. Once the much
sought-after place of fame,
prestige and reverence, the
Australian Parliament has now
turned into dark corridors of
grotesque acts of sex by popu-
larly elected representatives
and their other male col-
leagues. Will the halls of power
get back the honour and trust
earlier reposed by the com-
moners, especially the
Australian women, has
remained a vexed question
today in Australia.
The toxic “male culture”
prevalent in the Australian
Parliament is hitting the head-
lines around the world. Many
say it is a “woman problem” in
Australian politics. More than
four thousand people work in
the Australian Parliament on
any given working day. And
thousands more work on many
other locations around the
country to support the work of
the Parliamentarians. Making
politics a “Boys Club” will her-
ald and construct a purely
negative narrative in advanced
democracies like Australia.
Thus, women rights activists
across the country expressed
their concern about the pre-
vailing male-dominated envi-
ronment in public spaces. To
them, it is purely a growing
“institutional culture” that
strongly supports male-bias in
politics.
A latest report titled “Set
the Standard: Report on the
Independent Review into
Commonwealth Parliamentary
Workplaces”, released by the
Australian Human Rights
Commission in November
2021, highlights the widespread
improper behaviour prevailing
inside the Australian
Parliament. The report was
commissioned by the
Australian Government in
March this year shortly after a
former employee named
Brittany Higgins’ story of being
raped in the Parliament
shocked the world. In fact, this
happened inside a Minister’s
office after a night out with
Conservative Liberal Party col-
leagues in the year 2019. Her
allegations are still under judi-
cial scrutiny, and were fol-
lowed by a litany of complaints
of rape and sexual harassment
against politicians and their
staff members. Higgins, now a
visiting fellow at the prestigious
Australian National University,
welcomed the report released
by the Australian Human
Rights Commission. She said:
“I hope all sides of politics not
only commit to but imple-
ment these recommendations
in full.”
The report says one in
three people, i.e. 40 per cent
women working on the
Parliament premises experi-
ence sexual harassment.
Further, nearly one per cent of
more than 1,700 people who
participated in the enquiry
process told that they had been
the victim of attempted or
actual sexual assault. This
includes 63 per cent of the
women parliamentarians of
the country. One of the inter-
viewees said, “Aspiring male
politicians who thought noth-
ing of in one case picking you
up, kissing you on the lips, lift-
ing you up, touching you, pats
on the bottom, comments
about appearance, you know
the usual….the culture allowed
it.” This shows how male coun-
terparts normally take advan-
tage of the helplessness of
woman inside the Parliament.
The report authored by
Sex Discrimination
Commissioner Kate Jenkins
has recorded that many have
shared memorable experiences
of working in the Parliament.
But some shared horrific expe-
riences of bullying, sexual
harassment and sexual assault.
These workplaces are not safe
environments for many work-
ing there. Mostly, these are
caused largely because of power
imbalances, gender inequality,
exclusion, and a lack of
accountability. This seven-
month long investigation has
revealed that such harrowing
experiences of women, includ-
ing the high-profile MPs and
other staffers, leave a trail of
devastation for individuals, the
very working spirit and ethics
of parliamentary democracy
around the world.
Jenkins concluded that the
prevailing situation has made
the Parliament a hostile work-
place for many employees,
especially the young female
staffers. The report has given
nearly 28 recommendations.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister
Morrison said the government
would review the recommen-
dations, including the creation
of an independent central
complaints body, a code of con-
duct and alcohol policies. Sadly,
he did not commit that his gov-
ernment would accept the rec-
ommendations.
Notwithstanding what is
underway in Australian politics
now, one must note that sexual
abuse is nothing new in the
recent history of the country.
Way back in 2012, then
Australian Prime Minister Julia
Gillard accused then Opposition
leader Tony Abbott of display-
ing sexist behaviour towards her.
What was shocking was that she
was regularly targeted not only
for being a woman but also for
not being unmarried and not
having children. Once in one of
her famous speeches she direct-
ly targeted Abbott and said, “I
will not be lectured about sex-
ism and misogyny by this man;
I will not. If he wants to know
what misogyny looks like in
modern Australia, he
does not need a motion in the
House of Representatives, he
needs a mirror.”
This clearly indicates how
socially inappropriate behav-
iour towards women have pen-
etrated even the highest offices
and the top echelons of society.
Like Brittany Higgins, there are
countless women who suffered
sexual assault and rape in
Australia. In fact, Attorney
General Christian Porter was
accused of raping a 16-year-old
girl in 1988 and this literally
rocked the Australian
Parliament only after a fort-
night of Higgins’ revelations
came out in public.
Unfortunately, the Porter’s
accuser committed suicide in
June 2019. According to
Australian law, Porter can now
no more be dragged to a crim-
inal court for prosecution.
Another man named Frank
Zumbo, a staffer to Craig Kelly,
a Liberal MP, was alleged to
have sexually abused nearly six
young women. Surprisingly,
one of the accused Anna
Hobson, who was just 16-year-
old when she joined Zumbo’s
office as intern, said in an inter-
view in the ABC channel of
Australia that young female
interns were needed to greet
him with kisses and hugs on a
regular basis. And she com-
plained that Zumbo inappro-
priately touched her on many
such occasions. Therefore, it
has been obser ved that
unwanted advances towards
women staffers, colleagues and
MPs are commonplace inci-
dents in Australian Parliament.
Probably, large scale par-
ticipation of women in public
institutions is truly unaccept-
able to their male counterparts.
There were large demon-
strations across Australia in
recent times against rising sex-
ism in the countr y.
Interestingly some of the ban-
ners carried by the protesters
said: “Patriarchy is the worst
pandemic”; “Enough is
enough”, etc.
It is appalling and disturb-
ing at best. Way back in 2017,
another #Me Too Movement
just hit the Australian streets
like this. These rallies mainly
came out in top cities like
Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane
and Hobart. These “March 4
Justice Demonstrations” were
really unique. They all flagged
the concerns of the country’s
women in a way it was never
done before. The protesters
demanded purely independent
investigations into all com-
plaints of gendered violence.
They also wanted the Morrison
Government to fully imple-
ment recommendations made
in the Australian Human
Rights Commissions “National
Enquir y into Sexual
Harassment in Australian
Workplaces 2020”.
Besides, they called for
immediate action into gen-
dered violence prevention and
a nationwide Gender Equality
Act. Only two years since then,
Higgins came out with her
unbelievable revelations that
literally shook not only
Australia but the entire world.
No one knew till then that the
working environment inside
the Australian Parliament was
so toxic, unsafe and abusive.
Today, Australia has quietly
tumbled down the global rank-
ing for women representation
in Parliament. On parliamen-
tary gender diversity, Australia
has fallen from 15th to the 50th
rank in the last 20 years, sim- On parliamentary gender
ply because of the toxic polit- diversity, Australia has
ical environment for females
accompanied by a slew of alle- fallen from 15th to the
gations of sexist bullying and 50th rank in the last 20
misogyny within the precincts years. A recent report
of the Assembly. The widely highlights the
published report says that the
environment within the widespread improper
Parliament is alcohol-soaked behaviour prevailing
wherein powerful male col- inside the Australian
leagues blurred lines and
crossed boundaries with
Parliament. Hope the
impunity. Morrison Government
Morrison for now has tried would bring stringent
to defend his government’s legislations to control
actions on rolling out gender
equality measures in public rambunctious nature of
institutions. Good that he has man within the four walls
accepted gaps in handling the of the Australian
widespread dissatisfaction of Parliament. It is an acid
the public over recent out-
burst on the growing sexist cul- test for him as the
ture in the country. Thus alle- general election is
gations of mistreatment of approaching the very
women in public squares have next year
become an accepted reality
across Australia.
In a nutshell, this study has
brought home the fact that gen-
der inequality in workplace
must be addressed. Besides, the
very boisterous nature of the
menfolk must be regulated.
Because balancing gender gap
may take years and generations.
But in an advanced democra-
cy like Australia, a frontrun-
ning Commonwealth nation,
must pay due respect to their
womenfolk. It’s all about MAKHAN SAIKIA
respecting the other half and
sharing office space with dig-
nity. Hope sooner or later,
Morrison Government would
be bringing stringent legisla-
tions to control rambunctious
nature of man within the four
walls of the Australian
Parliament. It is an acid test for
him as the general election is
approaching the very next year.
(Dr Makhan Saikia has
taught political science and
international relations for over
a decade in institutions of
national and international
repute after specialisation in
globalisation and governance
from Tata Institute of Social
Sciences, Mumbai. He is the
chief editor of the Journal of
Global Studies, an internation-
al research journal)

PERSPECTIVE

Is China squeezing out India from resurgent African market?

Ioverndian companies have been
exporting to African continent for
a century, boasting of a $117 bil-
lion bilateral trade. However, we are
looking at early disturbing trends
with reference to exports by India to
the African continent at a time
when we are looking forward to
resurgence in its economy and per
capita income. If we study the signals
that portend imminent threats, it can
help craft strategies for taking advan-
tage of opportunities or ward off
those threats emanating from the
changing situation.
First signal. The demand for
ceramic tiles in Africa rose to over
one billion square metres in 2019,
growing 46 per cent, since 2008.
However, African production in
2019 amounted to 759 million square
metres that is 76 per cent of its total
demand.
During 2020, India exported
12.54 per cent of the total tiles
imports in Africa, which was $1.18
billion. However, at the rate Chinese
entrepreneurs are setting up ceram-
ic tiles factories in Sub-Sahara Africa,
the total Indian imports may go
down after a few years, certainly after
2025. At present, 10 Chinese green-
field factories (or possibly 13) are in
the pipeline and six have already
been commissioned in Tanzania,
Kenya, Uganda and Ghana (2 plants).
The ceramic tiles exporters and
other stakeholders in India, world’s
second largest producer and the
fourth largest exporter, are unaware
or unwilling to take cognisance of
this development that soon they will
lose the market at a time when the
continental market will boom due to
favourable demographic and eco-
nomic activity indicators.
Nigeria imported 74 million
sqm from China in 2014 but it fell
to 5 million sqm in 2018, with
domestic production expanding
rapidly to reach 100 million
sqm/year. Kenya, Angola, Ghana,
Tanzania and Uganda have reached
10 million sqm/year to 30 million
sqm/year output because of direct
and indirect Chinese investments.
There is no doubt this invest-
ment in ceramic tiles will be followed
by sanitary ware, another strong
export from India.
The attractiveness of the resur-
gent African market has lured
Chinese companies, prospecting tar-
iff free exports to the US and the
European Union. China has also
entered Saudi Arabia, our largest
export market. Two large ceramic
tiles factories are under construction
at a total cost of $100 million which
will produce 200,000 square metres
per day. Possibly, the stiff anti-
dumping duties on Indian imports
announced by the Saudi
Government are pointing towards
protecting its nascent ceramic
industry.
Another big export from India
is pharmaceuticals and there are sim-
ilar signs emanating from China in
this sector also. China’s first move has
built a pharma industrial park in
Ethiopia, with its government want-
ing the country to become the phar-
maceutical hub of Africa. Two
Chinese companies have built world-
class modern billion tablet/capsule
plants in Ethiopia, the first overseas
venture. Soon, these companies will
petition the government to restrict
or ban import of drugs.
Similar moves are also being
considered in other countries like
Kenya. Two Indian companies Cadila
Pharma and Kilitch operate plants in
Ethiopia but these are smaller in
comparison to the Chinese invest-
ment.
India must ensure that it retains
at least 30-40 per cent of the total
continental market via indigenous
production of commonly used drugs
& vaccines and the export of high
value products. Indian pharmaceu-
tical companies have been manu-
facturing products in the continent
for decades but have largely con-
centrated in South Africa. The cen-
tre of gravity has now shifted to the
Sub-Sahara and the engine of its
growth, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and
Tanzania will spearhead this trans-
formation. Indian companies should
open a common warehouse, one
each on the East & West Coast and
enter distribution and retail. The ser-
vices sector is a strength of India and
it will provide depth to our compet-
itiveness. One company is already
successfully following this strategy.
Recent events in China have
shown that there is no independent
private sector in that country and all
companies work towards an overall
strategy developed by the Chinese
government.
A resurgent Africa will grow out
of recently signed and implemented
Africa Continental Free Trade Area.
This will create a borderless conti-
nent-wide single trade entity of 1.2
billion people and create scaled up
indigenous manufacturing oppor-
tunities. In 2015, Africa had just six
cities with more than 5 million
inhabitants whereas in 2030 it will
have 17, including 5 with a popula-
tion of more than 10 million. The
process is already under way with 24
million Africans moving to the cities
each year.
As Africa develops self-suffi- India must ensure that it
ciency in many products by the end retains at least 30-40 per
of this decade, India must ensure that
it is a major partner of manufactur- cent of the total
ing activities in the continent. This continental market via
will create a different type of export indigenous production of
market which will feed the light man- commonly used drugs &
ufacturing sector such as interme-
diate chemicals, including pharma- vaccines and the export
ceutical API, machinery, training, of high value products in
consultancy and professional man- Africa
power.
India should also change its aid
strategy and focus on “visible” aid
such as healthcare facilities, medical
& pharmacy colleges, IT infrastruc-
ture, African entrepreneurship, etc,
which will employ thousands of
Africans and improve their skill
sets and remain “visible” for decades
to come. India cannot compete with
China on large infrastructure but
with “invisible” projects such as
dams, railways and electricity gen- SUHAYL ABIDI
eration, etc. India should help the
Africa create more entrepreneurs
who can utilise Indian expertise to
create wealth in the continent. We
must build on this goodwill for the
well-being of the people of Africa. It
will diversify our exports and as an
additional bonus act as a springboard
for tariff free exports to the EU and
the United States.
(Suhayl Abidi is Consultant,
VUCA Studies, Amity University;
and Manoj Joshi is Director, Centre for MANOJ JOSHI
VUCA Studies, Amity University)
 kaleid scope backpage
HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 12, 2021

Jayalalithaa’s niece takes over

Football legend Maradona’s stolen Chennai residence after legal battle
Rs 20L watch recovered in Assam
heritage luxury limited edition watch believed to have been used by football legend
A late Diego Maradona was recovered from Assam this morning after it went
missing from Dubai. The watch, worth around Rs 20 lakh, was recovered from the
possession of an Assam resident who used to work in Dubai and had returned to India
recently, the Assam Police said. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was the
first to share the story on Twitter. "In an act of international cooperation @assampolice
has coordinated with @dubaipoliceHQ through Indian federal LEA to recover a heritage
@Hublot watch belonging to legendary footballer Late Diego Maradona and arrested
one Wazid Hussein. Follow up lawful action is being taken."

DEEP-SEA MINING D eepa Jayakumar,

the niece of late
chief minister of Tamil

MAY WIPE OUT Nadu J Jayalalithaa,

took possession of her
aunt's Poes Garden res-
idence on Friday

EXTRAORDINARY SPECIES
eep sea hydrothermal
hydrothermal vent struc-
evening after the
Chennai district
administration handed
over the keys to her.
"This is the first time
threat. I am visiting in the

D vents harbour some of

the most extraordi-
nary species on our planet.
tures. The International
Seabed Authority, the UN
body responsible for manag-
The obvious choice was to
collaborate with the world's
foremost conservation
absence of my aunt.
The house looks barren
and empty now. The
Lying at two to three kilome- ing the seafloor beyond authority, the International furniture used by my
tres below the surface, these national jurisdictions, has Union for Conservation of aunt has been
extreme, insular ecosystems already granted 31 Nature (IUCN), which pub- removed," Ms Deepa
are powered, not by the sun- exploratory deep sea mining lishes the Red List of said, expressing her
light-driven photosynthesis contracts, seven of them at Threatened Species. interest in living at her
Cuban family finds that we're used to, but by
energy from superheated
hydrothermal vents. It is still
unclear exactly how these
The IUCN Red List uses a
series of universally
aunt's house.
The keys were hand-
welcome, refugee mineral-rich seawater jetting
from cracks in the seafloor.
This supports thriving and
huge mining machines will
impact the deep seafloor. But
there's no reason to expect it
renowned categories like
“endangered” or “critically
endangered” to raise aware-
ed over to her after a
single-judge bench of
the Madras High Court
status in distant Serbia unique animal communities
with a density of life that
will be any more eco-friend-
ly than mining on land. At
ness of threats and inform
everyone of the extinction
on November 24 paved
the way by setting aside
elquis Gonzales and her family enjoy some- rivals tropical rainforests or the very least, mining will risk facing species. the order to acquire
B thing close to celebrity status in a small
town in Serbia, where they live after fleeing
coral reefs. From giant red
tubeworms to iron-
destroy habitats and release
toxic sediment plumes, so
We then applied the Red
List criteria to all 184 vent- South African doctors see signs Veda Nilayam, the resi-
dence of Jayalalithaa,
Cuba five years ago. armoured snails, these scientists agree it's not good restricted mollusc species and ordering that it be
They reached the Balkan country by an
unlikely migration route that led through
species were once considered
to be untouchable by human
news for deep-sea creatures.
With these growing con-
(snails, bivalves, and so on),
one of the most dominant
Omicron is milder than Delta handed over to the legal
heirs. The earlier
Russia, one of the few places in Europe for activity, but that may not be cerns, my colleagues and I groups at hydrothermal s the omicron variant those with health problems AIADMK regime in the
which Cubans don't need a visa.
While most emigrants from the Caribbean
the case for very long. There
is growing industrial interest
saw a need for a simple but
effective approach to help
vents. We found that almost
two-thirds are threatened
A sweeps through South
Africa, Dr Unben Pillay is
that can make them more
vulnerable to becoming
state had taken over the
house and converted the
island go to the United States or Spanish-speaking in the deep sea. Most impor- identify conservation priori- with extinction by deep- seeing dozens of sick severely ill from a coron- building into a memori-
countries, Gonzales and her husband chose Serbia tantly, this includes mining ties and clearly communicate sea mining, with more patients a day. Yet he hasn't avirus infection, he said. In al, without consulting
— again due to the lack of a visa requirement. for metals like copper, lead the mining than 20% listed as crit- had to send anyone to the the two weeks since omi- Jayalalithaa's family.
“We didn't know anything about Serbia,” and zinc ically endan- hospital. That's one of the cron first was reported in The court's decision
Gonzales told The Associated Press at the fami- which form gered. reasons why he, along with Southern Africa, other doc- came after petitions
ly's home in Lajkovac, a town about 80 kilome- the tower- other doctors and medical tors have shared similar were filed by Ms Deepa
tres (50 miles) southwest of the Serbian capital, ing experts, suspect that the stories. All caution that it and her brother
Belgrade. omicron version really is will take many more weeks Deepak, challenging
"We had many doubts and many fears as well, causing milder COVID-19 to collect enough data to be the acquisition of the
but things have been a lot better than we had than delta, even if it seems sure, their observations and bungalow by the previ-
expected.” to be spreading faster. the early evidence offer ous AIADMK govern-
Still struggling with the aftermath of wars “They are able to manage some clues. According to ment. The Madras
and sanctions in the 1990s, Serbia is far from a the disease at home," Pillay South Africa's National High Court had ruled
promised land for people seeking to build new said of his patients. "Most Institute for Communicable that the property
lives after fleeing violence, repression or pover- have recovered within the Diseases: — Only about should go to them and
ty at home. While over a million refugees and 10 to 14-day isolation peri- 30% of those hospitalized also asked the state
migrants have arrived since the big migration od,” said Pillay. And that with COVID-19 in recent government to take
wave into Europe in 2015-16, most were only includes older weeks have been seriously back the compensation
on their way toward wealthy European Union patients ill, less than half the rate as cash it had deposited in
nations further north and west. and during the first weeks of the court payable to the
Mirjana Milenkovski, who works in Serbia As previous pandemic waves. family.
for the UN refugee agency UNHCR, said just a Salvation Army band played Christmas
3,700 people have formally applied for asylum Top carols, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss with
in the country since 2008, while 212 have greeted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
received it.
diplomats
from the
Group of Seven
and other G-7 counterparts with fist bumps in
the rotunda of the modernist Museum of
respect to
Ukraine.”
Truss told
Dead man gets Covid
industrialised nations Liverpool at the start of the two-day talks.
gathered beside the River
Mersey in Liverpool,
Truss warned before the meeting, amid
concern about a buildup of Russia's troops
broadcasters that a
military move on Ukraine
would be “a strategic
vax certificate in MP
near Ukraine, that “free democratic nations”
General Rawat's daughters England, for a meeting on
Saturday that host country Britain
called “a show of unity against
global aggressors.”
must wean themselves off Russian gas and
Russian money to preserve their independence.
She said the G-7 meeting of diplomats from
mistake” with “severe
consequences” for Moscow.
The US and its NATO allies are
A dead senior citizen allegedly received
a message about having taken the
second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and
got a certificate for the same in Madhya
concerned the movement of Russian

immerse parents' ashes The UK is seeking elusive unity from

the wealthy nations' club in response to
tensions with China and Iran, and what it
the UK, the United States, Canada, France,
Germany, Italy and Japan would be “a show of
unity between like-minded major economies
troops and weapons to the border
region may be a prelude to invasion and
have said they would inflict heavy
Pradesh's Rajgarh district, an official
said today. The authorities have cited
computer error as a reason for the

in Ganga at Haridwar says is “malign behaviour” by Russia that we are going to absolutely be strong in our sanctions on Russia's economy if that goof-up, in which Purushottam
towards Ukraine. stance against aggression, against aggression happens. Shakyawar (78) of Biaora town, who
died in May, received a message on

A day after India bid a sombre farewell to the country's first Chief
Defence of Staff, General Bipin Rawat and his wife - killed in a
UK seeks unity at G7 meeting over Russia's ‘malign behaviour’ his mobile phone number that he
was administered the second dose
of the vaccine on December 3.
chopper crash on Wednesday - General Rawat's daughters took his According to the dead man's son
ashes to Haridwar today for immersion. Phool Singh Shakyawar, they
The ashes were collected from Delhi's Brar Square crematorium this received the message on
morning, where the last rites were performed, by General Rawat's December 3 and were also able to
daughters - Kritika and Tarini, news agency ANI reported. They were download the vaccine certificate,
immersed in the Ganga at Haridwar in the afternoon. reported news agency PTI.
With full military honours, General Rawat, 63, and his wife Shakyawar said his father had
Madhulika were cremated on Friday after a solemn procession from taken the first dose of the vaccine
his house on a ceremonial gun carriage. on April 8. He had died on May 24
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress's Rahul Gandhi and UP while undergoing treatment in
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were among several top political leaders Indore. When asked about the
who visited his Delhi home to pay final respects. goof-up, District Vaccination
Officer Dr PL Bhagoria said he had
received information about the mat-
ter and was inquiring into it, reported
Press Trust of India.

33 Omicron cases in India, Zimbabwe traveller tests +ve in Delhi

elhi logged its second case of
D Omicron as a traveller who
returned from Zimbabwe tested pos-
itive. With the latest infection, India
has so far logged 33 cases of the new
variant that has sparked fresh worry
worldwide. Vaccines and masks are
important, the government said in a
cautionary note Friday. "WHO is
warning against the decline in mask
usage. The global scene of Omicron
is disturbing... We are now operating
at a risky level," said Dr VK Paul,
who heads the centre's Covid task
force.
In Maharashtra, a three-year-old
was among seven new patients con-
firmed by the state government on
Friday; Mumbai has banned large
gatherings for two days amid scare.
All fresh cases in the state are either
asymptomatic or have mild symp-
toms. A majority of cases in India
are also mild.