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Max/Min deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle Vol. 34 No. 318 Established 1938 | 16 PAGES | C6.00
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ASTROGUIDE
Shobhakrut; Uttarayana
AP, TS to jointly inspect -DJDQXUJHV0XVOLPVWR
Tithi: Chaitra Bahula Trayodasi
till 1.29 pm
Star: Uttarabhadra till 1.01 am
(Wednesday)
Polavaram affected sites SUD\IRUVWDWHÙVJURZWK
Varjyam: Nil DC CORRESPONDENT FACT-FINDING VISIT its catchment areas. Such
Durmuhurtam: 8.34 am to 9.24 VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 17 a scenario could persist
am; 11.06 pm to 11.52 pm
Rahukalam: 3 pm to 4.30 pm The governments of And-
● SENIOR ENGINEERS
from water resources
for days. AP authorities
maintain that the sub-
Dy CM Amjad praises Jagan, says he strives for welfare of all
HIJRI CALENDAR hra Pradesh and Tela- departments of AP and mergence of low-lying SAMPAT G.
Ramzan 26,1444 H ngana would jointly unde- TS would study possib- areas along the course of SAMRITAN | DC
PRAYERS (SHAHI MASJID) rtake a fact-finding visit ility of submergence of Kinnersani and Murredu VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 17
Fajar: 5.50 am to six streams located low-lying areas in parts rivers, especially when
near Bhadrachalam, tow- of Badrachalam and also the Godavari river is flo- Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan
Zohar: 1.30 pm ards Dummugudem, to oded, is a temporary phe- Mohan Reddy has greeted
in areas close to streams
Asar: 5.00 pm gauge the impact of nomenon. Once the water Muslims marking the occa-
Maghrib: 6.20 pm Godavari floods. AP, how- ● AP AUTHORITIES level recedes in the river, sion of Ramzan festival and
Isha: 8.30 pm ever, does not agree for a maintain that the subm- stagnant rainwater would offered special prayers at
SUNRISE TOMORROW 05.50 AM fresh joint survey as such ergence of low-lying are- flow into it and the issue an iftar programme hosted
SUNSET TODAY 18.23 PM
surveys had already been as along the course of of submergence gets by the state government at
conducted vis-vis adjoin- Kinnersani and Murredu solved in a natural man- a mini-stadium in Vidyadh-
MOONRISE 04.28 AM ing riparian states. ner. The Supreme Court arapuram area here on
rivers, especially when
MOONSET 17.43 PM Senior engineers from recently issued a direc- Monday.
Godavari is flooded, is a
water resources depart- tion to the Union Jal The Chief Minister, in his
ments of AP and TS would temporary phenomenon Shakti ministry to engage address, called upon
study the possibility of the riparian states includ- Muslims to pray for devel-
submergence of low-lying joint team of experts. It is ing AP, TS, Odisha and opment of Andhra Pradesh
RAMZAN areas in parts of Ba- noted that floodwater Chhattisgarh on the issue and wished all the people
TIMINGS drachalam and also in failed to get emptied into of submergence of low- well with blessings from
IFTAR: areas close to the six the Godavari from these lying areas during the God the Almighty. He also
6.30 PM (TODAY) streams. Such a fear was streams as the water level Godavari floods. wished that the prayers of
SEHRI: expressed by the Tela- in the river would be high Muslims be heard. The
ngana government, neces- when the river is flooded ■ Page 2: Ready for joint chief minister wore a tradi-
4.30 AM (TOMORROW) visit: Polavaram CE
sitating the visit by the due to heavy rainfall in tional cap and shawl and
offered namaz along with
COUNTER POINT his Muslim brethren.

CBI SUMMONS Deputy chief minister

TMC LEADER TSHCallows CBI Amjad Basha lauded the

chief minister saying he
was striving hard for the
welfare of all the denizens
Muslims offer fruits to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at the iftar hosted by
state government in Vijayawada on Monday. —BY ARRANGEMENT

SHORT TAKE
BJP: AP FAILED
TO CURB PDS
RICE DIVERSION
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 17
AP BJP chief Somu
Veerraju has slammed the
state government for its
“failure” to control illegal
export of rice that was
originally meant for the
state’s public distribution
system,
abroad.
to markets
Taking part in a pro-
gramme in Guntur on
Monday, at which nearly
150 minority leaders from
several political parties
joined the BJP, Veerraju
said though Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
had asked the state gov-
ernments to provide good
quality rice to the poor
free of cost, AP was wit-
nessing scam in the distri-
bution and export of PDS
rice.
This involved a scam of
`5,000 crore every year,
the BJP leader alleged.
Veerraju also alleged
that huge quantities of
sand from Krishna river
were being illegally mined
and sold.
ABHISHEK
RAJIB CHOWDHURI | DC
KOLKATA, APRIL 17
West Bengal Chief Min-
ister Mamata Banerjee’s
nephew and MP
Abhishek Banerjee has
been summoned by the
CBI for questioning in
the teachers’ recruit-
ment scam even after he
got an interim relief
from the Supreme Court
to face the agency’s
grilling on Monday.
Abhishek who earlier
faced questioning by the
Enforcement Directorate
in the coal smuggling
scam, found fault with
the CBI notice and
claimed that it amounted
to “contempt of court.”
On Monday afternoon,
Banerjee was served the
summons, which is dated
on April 16, at his resi-
dence at Harish
Mukherjee Road.
Knife attack on Jagan: NIA
court posts case to April 20
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 17
The special court of the
National Investigation
Agency (NIA) heard the
2019 knife-attack case on
then leader of opposition
– and present Chief Min-
ister -- Y.S. Jagan Mohan
Reddy here on Monday
and posted the next hear-
ing to April 20.
Counsel for Jagan,
Venkateswarlu, said sev-
eral issues raised by
Jagan Reddy were not
properly investigated by
the NIA before it filed the
to quiz Avinash
VUJJINI
VAMSHIDHAR I DC
HYDERABAD, APRIL 17
The Telangana High
Court on Monday facili-
tated YSRC MP Y.S.
Avinash Reddy to appear
before the CBI on
Tuesday, after hearing
his anticipatory bail peti-
tion in relation to the
probe into the murder of
Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy.
The CBI had arrested
his father Y.S. Bhaskar
Reddy on Sunday and his
close aide G. Uday
Kumar
Saturday.
Reddy on
Avinash Reddy was
supposed to appear
before the CBI at 10 am
on Tuesday but Justice
K. Surender of the
Telangana High Court,
who was dealing with the
petition, changed it to 4
charge-sheet. The knife
attack took place on
January 23, 2019.
“When Jagan Reddy fil-
ed an affidavit through
counsel alleging a consp-
iracy angle and seeking a
thorough inquiry, the
NIA filed a counter affi-
davit ruling out any con-
spiracy and claimed there
was no need for a th-
orough inquiry. We
sought inquiry as to how
the Airport Entry Pass
was given to accused J.
Srinivasa Rao without
properly verifying his
antecedents.”
including the minorities.
“The minorities in the state
are availing several wel-
fare schemes in an
educational institutions to
pursue studies and even
political empowerment to
said Jagan cared for
Muslims. “I was made
deputy chief minister while
seats have been given to
Muslim brethren by the
CM.
pm so as to hear the mat- unprecedented manner, Muslims.” a Muslim woman func- Several MLAs, MLCs,
ter in the morning. thanks to Chief Minister Basha said under Jagan, tioned as the deputy chair- leaders, officials and a
Avinash Reddy had Jagan. He has provided AP was the only state that person of the Legislative large number of Muslim
requested release on bail reservation to the minori- provided huge funds for the Council. elders took part in the Iftar
in the event of his arrest. ties, fee-reimbursement in welfare of minorities. He This apart, four MLC programme.
His senior counsel T.
Niranjan Reddy alleged
that the CBI was leaking
case details to the media.
Electronic media had
already flashed the news
that Avinash was co-ac-
cused when it was not so.
He submitted that CBI
had arrested Bhaskar
Reddy even though his
petition was pending
before the High Court.
Except for the statement
of Shaik Dastagiri, a dri-
ver and accused who has
since turned approver,
the CBI had no evidence
against Avinash Reddy,
he said.
■ Page 2: CBI: Avinash role
key in destroying evidence
Counsel said the NIA
played down such issues.
NIA did not take up an
inquiry into the letter
written by the accused to
his parents, urging them
to donate his organs in
case anything happened
to him, counsel noted.
However, accused Srini-
vasa’s counsel Abdus
Saleem said that the then
airport official Dinesh
Kumar had already given
statement before the
court. He sought the pre-
sence of both the victim
and Chief Minister Jagan
in the court.

OLDEST | ROCKS Researchers analyse composition shallow, inland sea

Tracing Earth’s prehistoric past

Bengaluru, April 17:
What did the Earth look like
about two billion years ago,
when the planet’s atmos-
phere was being oxygenat-
ed? By analysing an-
cient dolomite (carbonate)
deposits found in Vempalle,
in the YSR Kadapa district
of Andhra Pradesh, res-
earchers at the Indian
Institute of Science (IISc)
and the University of Ten-
nessee have estimated the
temperature and composi-
tion of a shallow, inland sea
that most likely existed
back in that time, called the
Palaeoproterozoic era.
Their findings provide
insight into how the condi-
tions during that time pro-
vided just the right ambi-
ence for the emergence and
bloom of photosynthetic
algae, Bengaluru-based IISc
said in a press release on
Monday. It also shows how
a wealth of data about our
planet's past remains hid-
den inside ancient rocks.
The story of our planet is
written in the different stra-
ta of rocks, explains
Prosenjit Ghosh, Professor
at the Centre for Earth
Science (CEaS), IISc, and
corresponding author of the
study published in ‘Chem-
ical Geology.’
Planet Earth hasn’t
always been this hospitable
for life. It has been through
different phases of climatic
extremes, including periods
when carbon dioxide levels
were almost too toxic for
living creatures, just like
our neighbour, Venus.
However, various studies of
fossils from the Palaeop-
roterozoic era have shown
that some life might have
existed even under these
harsh conditions. The large
amounts of CO2 in the
atmosphere were absorbed
by the sea and trapped as
carbonates in dolomites,
says Yogaraj Banerjee, a
former PhD student from
CEaS and one of the
authors.
(Dolomite) is a direct pre-
cipitate from seawater. It
provides a signal not only of
seawater chemistry but also
of seawater temperature,
explains Robert Riding,
Research Professor at the
Department of Earth and
Planetary Sciences, Univ-
ersity of Tennessee, USA,
and another author of the
study. The team of
researchers collected dol-
omite samples from chert
hard rocks formed by the
interaction of microbes
with seawateras well as dep-
osits underneath them
called dolomitic lime-mud.
Having first identified the
strata of rock where the
dolomitic mud could be
found, the researchers
extracted and transported
them back to the lab. Then,
they used a state-of-the-art
technique known as
clumped isotope thermome-
try to analyse them. — PTI
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | 18 APRIL 2023
6+257 TAKES
NAIDU TO HOLD
MEETING IN
KADAPA TODAY
DC CORRESPONDENT
ANANTAPUR, APRIL 17
TD president N. Chandrababu
Naidu is scheduled to attend
the Zone-V meeting at Kadapa
on Tuesday. The programme
will be held at Putha Estate in
Kadapa.
About 2,700 leaders from 35
Assembly segments and 5 Lok
Sabha segments are from the
Rayalaseema region. After the
zonal meeting, Naidu will visit
Pedda Darga at Kadapa in the
evening and take part in Iftar
in the darga premises. Naidu
will reach Badvel and stay in
the night. Police alerted the
TD meeting in view of the
ongoing issue over Y.S.
Vivekanda Reddy's murder
case, and Avinash Reddy
blamed Naidu's role in a con-
spiracy against him.
SC TRANSFERS
AP VOLUNTEERS’
CASE TO DELHI HC
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 17
The Supreme Court trans-
ferred the case dealing with
the purchase of a newspaper
by village/ward volunteers in
Andhra Pradesh to the Delhi
High Court.
A division bench headed by
Chief Justice D.Y.
Chandrachud heard the peti-
tion on Monday in New Delhi
filed by Ushodaya Publications
challenging the G.Os. issued
by the AP government to allow
village/ward volunteers to
purchase a newspaper every
month and issued a direction
to transfer the case to the
Delhi High Court.
The AP government earlier
issued two G.Os. permitting
the village/ward volunteers to
purchase a newspaper at a cost
of `200 per month.
The division bench observed
that it was not going into the
merits of the case and asked
the Delhi High Court to take
up final hearing in the case.
AVINASH ROLE KEY
IN DESTROYING
EVIDENCE: CBI
FROM PAGE 1
How can the CBI implicate a
person or arrest him in a mur-
der case based on the state-
ment of an accused, Avinash
Reddy's counsel Niranjan
Reddy wondered.
Niranjan Reddy claimed that
Vivekananda Reddy had been
involved in illegal commercial
transactions and was a wom-
aniser but the CBI was looking
into the political angle and not
into the victim’s family dis-
putes. He argued that Dr
Suneetha Nareddy, daughter of
the deceased, was trying to
divert attention away from her
husband.
CBI counsel said the agency
had not only depended on the
statements of the accused but
had found that Avinash Reddy
had played a key role in
destruction of evidence. The
CBI has some text messages
exchanged from the MP’s
phone with the accused, coun-
sel said and added that if the
agency felt it necessary it
would arrest him.
Dr Suneetha requested that
she be heard on Avinash
Reddy’s plea. Justice Surender
then rescheduled the CBI’s
summons and adjourned the
hearing to Tuesday morning.
SUPPLY 100 GUNNY
BAGS PER ACRE:
APRS TO GOVT
DC CORRESPONDENT
KAKINADA, APRIL 17
The farmers led by AP Rythu
Sangham (APRS) and Tenant
Farmers Association district
committees staged a protest in
front of “Spandana’’ program-
me at Narayanapuram in Ung-
uturu mandal in Eluru district
on Sunday demanding the gov-
ernment supply 110 gunny
bags to the farmers per acre to
carry the paddy crop to Rythu
Bharosa Kendras, setting up
purchasing centres for Maize
crop and clear the bills for
“Mini-Gokulam’’ sheds.
They raised slogans demand-
ing the government expedite
the purchase of paddy, sorting
out farmers’ issues and open-
ing Maize Purchasing Centres.
APRS secretary K. Srinivas
said due to the delay of the
paddy procurement, farmers
are facing severe hardships.
He alleged the government
has restricted the officials to
purchase only 60 per cent of
the paddy in the command
area crop.
Art exhibition
Suma Meena, wife of Chief Electoral officer Mukesh Kumar Meena, inspects the artwork of Pichwai at the exhibi-
tion in Cultural centre in Vijayawada on Monday.
3HUQLTXHVWLRQV3DZDQ
RQVXGGHQORYHIRU76
Says CBI probe in Viveka case not going in fair manner
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 17
In a strong reaction to
Jana Sena chief Pawan
Kalyan asking YSR
Congress leaders to tender
an apology to Telangana
people for their unsavoury
remarks against them, for-
mer minister and Machili-
patnam MLA Perni Venk-
ataramaiah expressed wo-
nder at why he developed
love for Telangana people
suddenly.
He also pulled him up for
his remarks on the Vizag
Steel Plant and said that
they lacked substance.
Referring to the ongoing
investigation by the CBI in
the Y.S. Vivekananda
Reddy murder case, Perni
Venkataramaiah said that
it was not going in a fair
manner and wished that
justice would prevail.
Speaking to the media at
YSRC headquarters at
Tadepalli on Monday, the
former minister made it
clear that their party had
no anger either towards
the Telangana people or
their government. He ask-
ed Pawan why he was rea-
cting on the issue when it
took place a few days ago.
Perni reasoned out by
saying that though he
launched his campaign
vehicle 'Varahi' on a grand
note, he was unable to
launch his political cam-
paign as he was perhaps
ordered by the Telugu
Desam supremo N.
Chandrababu Naidu not to
take it up as his son N.
Lokesh was taking up
padayatra.
He also pulled him up for
making statements
against the YSRC without
knowing the facts and
asked him to explain in
detail to the people in AP
how the remarks made by
the YSRC leaders hurt the
Telangana people.
Playing the video clip-
pings of Pawan Kalyan's
reactions on the bifurca-
tion of erstwhile AP,
claiming that he was
inconsolable and did not
eat food for 11 days follow-
ing the bifurcation of AP,
the former minister asked
him how he suddenly
developed love for
Telangana. He asked JS
chief to explain to the peo-
ple of AP about the bond
he developed with
Telangana of late.
He asked the Jana Sena
chief why he failed to get
FEEL | GOOD
AP to buy Bondalu variety of paddy
VADREVU SRINIVAS | DC
KAKINADA, APRIL 17
The AP government,
which discouraged culti-
vation of Bondalu variety
(MTU-3626) of paddy for
the past six to seven years,
is ready this season to buy
the variety from farmers
to an extent of 5 lakh met-
ric tonne. This, after the
central government gave
its nod for procurement.
By the time of Kharif
season, an indication had
been given by the YSRC
government to farmers
that Bondalu variety
would be procured on a
large scale. Farmers in
Kakinada, Konaseema and
East Godavari district
Apologise for anti-TS
remarks: PK to YSRC
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 17
Jana Sena chief Pawan
Kalyan asked the ruling
YSRC to tender an uncon-
ditional apology to the
people of Telangana for
making certain remarks
against them.
Telangana health minis-
ter T. Harish Rao recently
commented against both
the ruling YSRC, the oppo-
sition Telugu Desam and
other parties for not car-
ing about the problems of
the people of Andhra
Pradesh and also for fail-
ing to raise their voice
against the Centre even
though it failed to grant
Special Category Status
(SCS) and also going
ahead with the privatisa-
Why silent on TS
min.: Appalaraju
DC CORRESPONDENT
VISAKHAPATNAM, APRIL 17
Minister for animal hus-
bandry
Appalaraju
Dr Seedari
questioned
why Jana Sena chief
Pawan Kalyan was keep-
ing silent when Telangana
ministers were offending
Andhra Pradesh.
``What should we infer
if Pawan Kalyan moves
hand in hand with
Telangana minister T.
Harish Rao? He asked.
Jana Sena chief also
should explain what
secret understanding he
has with BRS leaders, he
said.
“I saw a video clip which
says Pawan Kalyan struck
angry when the self-
respect of people in
Andhra Pradesh was
affected due to the
remarks made by the
Telangana leaders and
asked him whether the
people in AP should toler-
ate such humiliation from
Telangana.
State govt takes step after Centre’s nod for procurement of 5L MT
have cultivated Bondalu
variety in 2 lakh acres.
The per-acre yield is
expected to be some 55
bagfull.
This variety of paddy
used to be grown on a
large scale in the second
crop. This is a boiled vari-
ety and rice millers used
to purchase it at higher
prices, paying more than
the MSP. Notably, this has
a high demand in Kerala.
But in Kerala and to an
extent in Tamil Nadu too,
the farmers are growing
the same variety. The
prices of paddy in AP
remained high. As a
result, Tamil Nadu rice
millers and traders
reduced the quantity of
— C. NARAYANA RAO
Pawan Kalyan
tion of Vizag Steel Plant .
Pawan Kalyan found
fault with the remarks
made by some leaders of
YSRC in reaction to a
statement made by Harish
Rao. He said he was
unhappy about the way in
which YSRC leaders and
ministers blamed the peo-
ple of Telangana and used
derogatory words against
Telangana self-respect.
The actor-politician asked
a deal for thousands of
crores with BRS. It is time
Pawan Kalyan should
explain to the people his
dealings with BRS in
Telangana and
Chandrababu Naidu in
Andhra Pradesh,’’ the
minister said.
He said that it was
strange Pawan Kalyan
kept silent when a girl
died by suicide in
Warangal and a patient
was dragged to a hospital
in Telangana due to the
lack of availability of
wheelchairs. He was also
silent on the Godavari
water disputes. Mere talk-
ing in support of Harish
Rao needs to be explained,
Appalaraju said.
He also opined that as
Pawan Kalyan was living
in Hyderabad and doing
films there, he was show-
ing love and respect for
Telangana. He asked him
why he was involved in
politics in AP when he had
no love or respect for the
people of AP.
● BY THE time of Kharif
season, an indication had
been given by the YSRC
government to farmers
that Bondalu variety would
be procured on a large
their purchases.
FCI also used to procure
the boiled variety of rice.
Yet, all things considered,
the state government dis-
couraged the cultivation
of paddy in the last five to
six years.
Meanwhile, the state gov-
ernment through civil
supplies minister
Karumuri Nageswara,
tried to sign an MoU with
the Kerala government in
this connection. This did
YSRC leaders to mind
their language.
"YSRC leaders are tar-
geting the people of
Telangana. If the
Telangana minister has
made remarks which are
insulting to Andhra
Pradesh, criticise him but
don't involve the people of
Telangana into any con-
troversy," the JS chief
said. He also pointed out
that several YSRC leaders
and ministers, including
AP education minister
Botsa Satyanarayana were
having their houses and
business interests in
Telangana. Pawan said if
a minister uses some
adverse remarks, his col-
leagues and the Chief
Minister should condemn
such remarks.
HARISH SLAMS
AP MINISTERS
AGAIN ON VSP
DC CORRESPONDENT
HYDERABAD, APRIL 17
Finance minister T. Har-
ish Rao lashed out at AP
ministers yet again on
Monday, telling them to
fight for special category
status to AP and against
privatisation of the Visak-
hapatnam Steel Plant “if
they have guts” instead
criticising him and the TS
government.
“I fail to understand why
AP ministers are so agitat-
ed on my comments on
VSP, special category sta-
tus and Polavaram proj-
ect. I only questioned why
the YSRC and the TD are
keeping mum despite the
the Centre going ahead
with the disinvestment of
VSP, denying special cate-
gory status to AP and non-
completion of Polavaram
project nine years after
bifurcation,” he asked.
“Instead of answering my
questions, they are indulg-
ing in mindless criticism.
They are making objectio-
nable and insulting com-
ments on Telangana.”
not progress as desired.
“I, on behalf of the state
government, held discus-
sions with the central gov-
ernment and got an order
from it for 5 lakh metric
tonnes of paddy. As much
would be procured by FCI.
Farmers will get `1530 per
75kg bag, as per MSP. The
rice millers are giving
less; `1200 per 75 kilo bag.
The government would
purchase what’s available
with the farmers. There
are no limits,” said the
minister Nageswara.
The minister told the
Deccan Chronicle that the
cultivation of Bondalu
variety of paddy had been
banned during the Telugu
Desam rule. The YSRC
Tribals in ASR intensify
agitation against AP govt
K.M.P. PATNAIK | DC
VISAKHAPATNAM, APRIL 17
Intensifying their agita-
tion against the govern-
ment, which proposed to
include Bentho Oriyas
and Boi Valmikis in the
ST list in a resolution in
the Assembly last month,
the Adivasis in ASR dis-
trict began preventing
MLAs, MPs, and other
elected representatives of
the YSRC from carrying
out mass contact pro-
grammes like ‘Gadapa
Gadapaku Man Prabh-
utvam and Jagananne
Maa Bhavishyathu.
The angry Adivasis even
stopped Paderu MLA
K. Bhagyalakshmi from
garlanding the statue
of Dr B.R. Ambedkar
on the occasion of his
birth anniversary on
April 14. The tribal asso-
ciations that were organ-
ising dharna at the site
also chased away former
minister M. Balaraju and
two ZPTCs who came to
participate in the garland-
ing event.
They have been asking
the MLAs why they did
not oppose the resolution
in the Assembly when
Speaker reviews
PR, RWS works
DC CORRESPONDENT
VISAKHAPATNAM, APRIL 17
Speaker Tammineni Sita-
ram held a review meet-
ing with the officials of
panchayat raj and rural
water wupply scheme in
Amadalavalasa in Srika-
kulam on Monday. He
stressed completing all
the pending works on a
war footing and warned
of action against those
whose negligence causes
delay in the execution of
the works.
The Speaker was specif-
ic on works in Burja and
Ponduru villages that
face flood threats during
the monsoon season. He
asked the engineers to
supervise the results
daily until the works were
completed.
Expressing unhappi-
ness over the delay in the
works, he asked the
supervising engineers to
issue notice to the con-
tractors and get the work
done faster,
He also mentioned the
road connectivity in the
villages on which Chief
Beating the heat
City police commissioner Dr C.M. Trivikrama Varma distributes buttermilk sachets to the
police personnel during a programme organised by East Shiridi Sai Temple on the Beach
Road to beat the summer heat, in Visakhapatnam on Monday. — P. NARASIMHA MURTHY
government revived it.
“Previously, there was a
short-supply of the
Bondalu variety and the
rice-millers used to pur-
chase it at rates higher
than the MSP. Now the
farmers have grown the
variety in lakhs of acres
and hence the supply is
more,” he said.
Nageswara felt that the
present quantity available
with the farmers would
not suffice to reach the
state’s purchase target of 5
lakh metric tonnes. After
the paddy purchase, it
would be given by the state
government for custom
rice milling for boiled rice,
which would finally reach
FCI.
● ADIVASIS IN ASR dis-
trict prevent MLAs and
MPs from participating in
mass contact programmes
like ‘Gadapa Gadapaku
Man Prabhutvam and
Jagananne Maa
Bhavishyathu.
they knew the inclusion of
Bentho Oriyas threatened
their existence.
R a m p a c h o d av a r a m
MLA Dhanlakshmi had
also similar experiences
in Kunavaram and
Rajavommangi villages
under Rampachodavaram
division during the past
week, where the local
Adivasis did not allow her
to conduct the mass con-
tact programme.
Posters and flexies have
surfaced everywhere in
the district asking the
elected leaders not to ven-
ture into their villages to
organise mass contact
programmes. One such
poster was pasted on the
house of Paderu MLA
Bhagyalakshmi, which
said “YSRC Sticker Gang,
Go Back.”
MLAs Bhagyalakshmi
and Chetti Palguna began
convincing the people that
● THE SPEAKER was spe-
cific on works in Burja and
Ponduru villages that face
flood threats during the
monsoon season. He ask-
ed the engineers to super-
vise the results daily until
the works were complet-
ed. Expressing unhappi-
ness over the delay in the
works, he asked the sup-
ervising engineers to issue
notice to the contractors
and get the work done.
Minister Y.S. Jagan
Mohan Reddy has been
concentrating. He said if
the quality of the work on
the roads were poor, it
would bring a bad name
to the chief minister.
The Speaker also
enquired with the RWS
engineers on the status of
tap connections to every
home in his constituency
for which the foundation
stone was laid a few
months ago.
He said the government
has embarked on a presti-
gious project of providing
drinking water to every
home in the State.
Ready for joint
visit: Polavaram CE
FROM PAGE 1
The AP water resources
department is maintain-
ing that three surveys
involving professional ag-
encies had been conduct-
ed on the issue of sub-
mergence of areas under
the impact of Godavari
river floods -- with a dis-
charge of 36 lakh cusecs
of water from Sir Arthur
Cotton barrage in 1986.
The subsequent floods
registered discharges of
only 28 lakhs in the bar-
rage in 2006 and nearly 22
lakhs in 2022.
Hence, they say there is
no major issue of submer-
gence along the course of
the river even in vulnera-
SJ 
the resolution passed by
the Assembly need not be
approved by the Central
government.
In another development,
a state-level JAC commit-
tee was formed in
Visakhapatnam on
Sunday under the chair-
manship of former IAS
officer T. Babu Rao Naidu.
"We will campaign
against the Assembly res-
olution in every village
and visit Delhi to meet
central leaders not to
approve the resolution,''
said a committee member,
M. Rajababu.
The district convener of
JAC, Rama Rao Dora, said
the resolution was the sec-
ond blow to the Adivasis.
Earlier, when the court
struck down G.O. No. 3,
which made 100 per cent
reservation of jobs for
Adivasis mandatory, the
state government failed to
file a review petition.
“The tribals voted for
the ruling YSR Congress
enmasse in the 2014 and
2019 elections. But now we
may have to look for an
alternative party which
will serve our interests,”
Dora told this correspon-
dent.
NEW PAY SCALES
TO WARD, VILLAGE
FUNCTIONARIES
DC CORRESPONDENT
VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 17
AP government declared
probation to village/w-
ard functionaries recr-
uited under notifica-
tions issued in 2020, with
effect from May 1, 2023.
Special chief secretary
to the department of vil-
lage/ward secretariats
Ajay Jain issued an
order on Monday stating
that the probation of vil-
lage, ward secretariat
functionaries who were
appointed under notifi-
cations issued during
the year 2020 on consoli-
dated pay of `15,000 per
month, those who have
completed the minimum
period of two years of
service and those who
passed the prescribed
departmental tests, on
completion of verifica-
tion of antecedents and
not facing any crimi-
nal/disciplinary cases,
be declared by April, 30,
2023 as a specified case
in relaxation of Rule 18
(a) of AP State and Subo-
rdinate Service Rules,
1996.
ble areas in AP, TS,
Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
They also note that the
Polavaram dam is coming
up at a maximum height
of 45.72 metres with back-
waters impact at a dis-
charge of 36 lakh cusecs.
We are ready to initiate
all requisite steps, like
providing protection wal-
ls in areas vulnerable for
submergence, as also rel-
ief and resettlement as
per norms of Right to Fa-
ir Compensation and Tra-
nsparency in Land Acq-
uisition, Rehabilitation
and Resettlement Act,
2013.Odisha and Chhatt-
isgarh are not coming up
with any concrete propos-
als, say AP officials.
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA
HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | 18 APRIL 2023 SJ 
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | 18 APRIL 2023
,1 BRIEF
Train services
cancelled
Visakhapatnam: Several
trains were affected in the
zone due to traffic cum
power block for bridge
rebuilding works over the
Titlagarh-Therubali section in
the Sambalpur division.
The trains cancelled include
08527 Visakhapatnam-
Raipur passenger special
train leaving Visakhapatnam
on April 21, train No. 08528
Raipur-Visakhapatnam
Passenger Special train leav-
ing Raipur on April 21.
STRAY DOGS KILL
SPOTTED DEER IN
NELLORE DISTRICT
DC CORRESPONDENT
TIRUPATI, APRIL 17
A spotted deer was killed by a
pack of
Narikellapalli
stray dogs at
village
Venkatachalam mandal in
in
SPSR Nellore district on
Monday. The dogs roaming
around the village have
attacked the deer, which
strayed out of the
Venkatachalam Forest for fod-
der and water.
According to forest officials,
the locals who noticed the pack
of stray dogs attacking the
deer chased them away and
rescued the deer. They report-
ed the incident to village secre-
tary Yastani Bhasha, who
rushed to the spot and handed
over the deer to the local police
station.
Receiving information about
the incident from the police,
forest beat officer Srinivasulu
and section officer Seshaiah
rushed to the spot and took the
wild animal to the govern-
ment’s regional veterinary
hospital for treatment.
Assistant director and veteri-
narian Nirmala immediately
started treatment. However,
the deer succumbed to
injuries.
The forest officials said that
the age of the deer was around
four years. They informed that
the wild animal would be
taken to the Venkatachalam
Forest for cremation after the
post-mortem.
SCHOOL HEAD
DRIVES CAR
INTO GORGE
DC CORRESPONDENT
ANANTAPUR, APRIL 17
A private school correspon-
dent here died by suspected
suicide by driving his car into
a deep gorge at Kondameeda
Rayudu Venkataramana
Swamy temple in BK
Samudram area on Monday.
Police said 56-year-old
Umapathi, correspondent of
Vidyanikethan High School in
Uma Nagar area, went to the
Kondameeda Rayudu temple
along with his driver.
After having darshan,
Umapathi sat in the car and
asked the driver to remain
away from the car for some
time. He said he wanted to
make a personnel call on the
phone.
“He suddenly drove the car
and took a left turn on the ghat
road. The car ran into the deep
gorge. The driver stood back,
stunned. The car caught fire
instantly and Umapathi was
charred to death,” police said.
The BK Samudram police
registered a case based on a
complaint from the deceased’s
family. Police suspect he was
unable to clear his huge debts
and hence took the extreme
step.
The body was shifted to
Anantapur general hospital for
post-mortem.
Meanwhile, the video of
Umapathi driving into the
gorge from the ghat road went
viral on social media.
YOUNGSTER
DROWNS IN
WELL IN ADONI
DC CORRESPONDENT
KURNOOL, APRIL 17
Police and fire department per-
sonnel recovered the body of
an youngster who drowned in
the local well in Adoni town on
Monday who went missing
after failing to swim in it.
According to local police,
Nagaraju, 20, of the town visit-
ed Chowdary Baavi for swim-
ming in the evening and
drowned in it. His friends
raised an alarm and the local
municipal ward councillor
alerted the police and fire per-
sonnel to take up search opera-
tions. Finally, police and fire
personnel strived hard for
more than three hours and
recovered the dead body of
Nagaraju. Police warned the
local people not to enter the
wells or other water bodies.
Praying for prosperity
Muslims participate in namaz at iftar hosted by the state government at Vidyadharapuram in Vijayawada on
Monday.
&DQFHU,QVWLWXWHZRUN Techies prefer
PRYLQJDWVQDLOÙVSDFH low-salary jobs
Foundation laid in 2019; one-third of works still pending
DC CORRESPONDENT
KURNOOL, APRIL 17
Cancer cases are rising
steadily but the work on
the state cancer institute
here is dragging for the
past four years. No one is
serious about completing
the project and one-third
of the work is still pend-
ing.
It takes more time to
complete the construction
followed by the process of
installation of modern
equipment to support
patient-care.
The state-level cancer
institute was conceived as
a joint project of the state
and central governments,
with its base in the
Rayalaseema region. With
an estimated budget of
around `120 crore, the
foundation was laid in
January 2019 and `90
crore was sanctioned for
the works. The Centre’s
share was `54 crore and
the state’s `36 crore.
The project is construct-
ed under the national pro-
gramme for prevention
and control of cancer, dia-
betes, cardiovascular dis-
eases and stroke (NPCD-
CS). Some 9.5 acres of land
was set apart for the facili-
ty in the Government
General Hospital premis-
es and the construction
was taken up by AP med-
ical services and infra-
structure development
corporation.
The initial plan was to
complete the institute
with a bed capacity of 200
within 13 months. In four
years, some 60-65 per cent
of the civil works have
Guts and glory
Table Tennis champion Charvi Phalgun of Rajamahendravaram has been selected
for getting advanced training for TT in Japan, one of the famous countries in the
sport of table tennis under the expert guidance of the coaches especially noted
for training in TT. She along with four TT players was selected from Andhra
Pradesh under 19 girls.
Organic farming sees
more green shoots
AVINASH P.
SUBRAMANYAM | DC
TIRUPATI, APRIL 17
Organic farming is
steadily gaining popu-
larity among farmers of
Tirupati district, thanks
to guidance being pro-
vided by the AP govern-
ment’s Rythu Sadhikara
Samstha (RySS).
Many farmers in the
district have stopped
using fertilisers and pes-
ticides. Instead, they are
using organic inputs.
Around 44,000 acres are
SJ 
Man sentenced to 10 years
in jail for raping 8-year-old
DC CORRESPONDENT ● On March 15, 2019, the tered a case and Central
KAKINADA, APRIL 17 victim was offered choco- Zone DSP N. Rama Rao
late and raped several investigated the case and
Erstwhile East Godavari later the DSP
district Pocso special times, when her parents J.V.Santhosh filed charge-
court judge were not in the house. sheet in the court. Pocso
L.Venkateswara Rao sen- After knowing the infor- court special public prose-
tenced 10 years imprison- mation, her mother lodged cutor Pithani Srinivasa
ment and `2,000 fine to an a complaint with one town Rao argued and proved
accused Potnuru police station. A close the charge.
Sathiraju, 26, of monitoring of trial cases The superintendent of
Rajamahendravaram for has given good results. police Ch. Sudhir Kumar
raping an 8-year-old girl. Reddy said that stringent
On March 15, 2019, the vic- punishment would be
tim was offered chocolate given against the accused
and raped several times, plaint with one town of crimes against girls
when her parents were police station at and women. He said that
— BY ARRANGEMENT not in the house. After R a j a m a h e n d r av a r a m close monitoring of trial
knowing the information,
her mother lodged a com-
where Sub-Inspector
K.Viswanath Babu regis-
cases has given good
results.
CS CALLS FOR
PROMOTION OF
MILLETS IN AP
DC CORRESPONDENT
to MS abroad VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 17
Chief Secretary
Jawahar Reddy called for a
K.S.
DC CORRESPONDENT ● A majority of the massive campaign to bring
KAKINADA, APRIL 17 about awareness of the
students could not usage of millers among the
Many students are not qualify the tests con- general public in the state.
keen on going for MS ducted by the universi- In a meeting held with the
programmes abroad ties. Univer-sities have officials from agriculture
unless placements are not given any spot and allied sectors here on
also on offer after admissions. Monday, the CS referring to
study, even at less-than the UNO declaring 2023 as
expected pay. the International Year of
Jawaharlal Nehru the tests conducted by Millets, called for the cultiva-
Technological the universities. tion of millers in 1.27 lakh
University Kakinada, Universities have not hectares in the state.
the AP State Council of given any spot admis- He asked the officials from
Higher Education sions to the students agriculture and allied sectors
(APSCHE) and Upskills due to the poor per- to provide remunerative
organisation held a formance. prices to the farmers who cul-
Study Abroad Fair-2023 Earlier, APSCHE sec- tivate them in addition to pro-
at JNTUK premises on retary Y. Nazir said viding marketing facilities to
Sunday, at which near- study-abroad fair pro- encourage their cultivation.
ly 20 foreign university grammes have been He felt the need to provide
Construction works of State Cancer Institute in progress at GGH, Kurnool. representatives partici- taken up as a part of incentives to those who
pated. bringing reforms in process them and suggested
● The state-level cancer institute was conceived as a such as Computed The programme education and that this setting up stalls for millets in
joint project of the state and central governments, with Tomography (CT), aimed at providing would help students to district headquarters etc.
its base in the Rayalaseema region. With an estimated Ultrasound, Positron admissions to MS and mould their career in
budget of around C120 crore, the foundation was laid in Emission Tomography MBA programmes in better ways.
(PET) scan, Bronchi their respective univer- He said the state gov- CHANGE OF NAME
January 2019 and C90 crore was sanctioned for the I, K. LAKSHMI spouse of Ex No.
Therapy, linear accelera- sities. The representa- ernment would imple-
works. The Centre’s share was C54 crore and the state’s 14815111M Naik (TS) KARUMURI
C36 crore. A major portion of the construction is over
tor, ICU etc.
“The state government
tives explained the
strengths of their insti-
ment fee-reimburse-
ment for those study- 4X3
NAGESWARA RAO. Resident of
and the next phase would see installation of sophisticat- D. No. 2-381,LOCAL
Sundaram Peta, ADVuyyuru (P.O)
plans to have two regional tutions. ing abroad. The univer-
ed equipment such as linear accelerators etc that would centres under the NPCD- Students asked them sities that are in the top CON
& Mandal, Krishna Dist, A.P. - 521165.
Have changed my name from K. LAKSHMI
require to be imported from the US, Germany etc. CS. One is the cancer-care when they can be given 200-rankings have par- (Old Name) to KARUMURI LAKSHMI
facility at SVIMS, placements once they ticipated in the pro-
been completed. Once
ready, the hospital would
that would require to be
imported from the US,
Tirupati, and the other is
to be readied in Kurnool
complete the MS and
how much salary can
gramme.
JNTUK vice chancel-
(New Name) and my date of birth is
28 OCT 1982 vide Affidavit dated 17/04/2023.
serve the cancer patients
from Rayalaseema dis-
Germany etc for treat-
ment of the cancer cases
for advanced cancer treat-
ment,” said Dr Prabhakar
be expected.
Representatives of for-
lor G.V.R. Prasada Raju
said such a fair was
tricts, Mahbubunagar,
Wanaparthy, Gadwal in
on modern lines.
The Tata Cancer
Reddyy, deputy superin-
tendent of GGH, Kurnool.
eign universities did
not give any assurance
organised in the uni-
versity for the first
Telangana and nearby dis- Hospital, Mumbai, under Family member of a can- to students on place- time and the pro-
tricts of Karnataka. the Department of Atomic cer patient, Ramana ments. The students gramme would create
An official from the Energy is providing the Reddy from Kodumuru, said placements are a awareness among stu- 4X5
Kurnool General Hospital technical support for lamented. must even with lesser dents and parents LOCAL AD
said the Covid pandemic installation of the equip- “We are incurring a salaries. about opportunities CON
affected the construction ment and their mainte- huge amount for treat- More than 2,500 third- vis-a-vis foreign educa-
works. A major portion of nance. ment now. Fast completion year and fourth-year tion. Director of aca-
the construction is over The state government of the institute would be students and some of demic planning
and the next phase would has filled the vacant posts of help to the local com- the passed-out students K.V.S.G. Muralikrishna
see installation of sophis- such as surgical oncolo- munities.” A cancer wing attended the event. A presided over the meet-
ticated equipment such as gist, and deputed staff for in the GGH is currently majority of the stu- ing, Up-Skills MD, P.V.
linear accelerators etc running departments serving the patients. dents could not qualify Rao was chief guest.
16X19
CHART AD
KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK
currently under organic She has several cus-
farming in Tirupati dis- tomers who lift the prod-
trict. With farmers ucts from her farm
showing interest in this itself. Post all expendi-
farming, another 20,000 tures, she says she is
acres will be going able to save ?2 lakh
organic this year. annually. “Nutritional
L. Desamma, who has quality of organically
taken up organic farm- grown vegetables is
ing in Tirupati Rural higher. They also taste
with inputs from RySS, better,” says Desamma.
is growing vegetables Her advice to other
like cluster beans, okra, farmers planning to go
lemongrass, spinach, organic is: “Put your
peppermint, spring money, energy and dedi-
onions, cabbage, kasuri cation into organic
methi, amaranthus and farming. It will pay you
betel leaves. great dividends.”
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | 18 APRIL 2023
SHORT TAKES
2ND BJP MLA
QUITS GOVT POST
IN MANIPUR
Imphal, April 17: BJP MLA
Karam Shyam on Monday ten-
dered his resignation as chair-
man of Manipur Tourism
Corporation Limited alleging
that he was not given any
responsibility.
In a video clip shared with
the media, the MLA from
Langthabal constituency,
alleged that he had been side-
lined in various tourism-relat-
ed programmes in the state.
He also claimed that his res-
ignation letter, as shown in the
video, has been sent to Chief
Minister N. Biren Singh.
“During the time when the
state was gearing up for the
Sangai festival, I could hardly
do anything and remained a
useless chairman,” Karam
said. Karam served as a minis-
ter in the N. Biren Singh gov-
ernment in 2017. He joined the
BJP in 2021, one year before the
Manipur assembly elections.
The development comes a few
days after another BJP MLA
Thokchom Radheshyaam ten-
dered his resignation from the
post of personal assistant to
the chief minister for not being
assigned any responsibility.
INDIA RECORDS
9,111 NEW
COVID CASES
New Delhi, April 17: India
has recorded 9,111 new
Coronavirus infections, while
active cases have increased to
60,313, according to the Union
health ministry data updated
on Monday. The death toll has
increased to 5,31,141 with 27
deaths.
While six deaths were report-
ed from Gujarat, four were
from Uttar Pradesh, three each
from Delhi and Rajasthan, two
from Maharashtra, one each
from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Hi-
machal Pradesh, Jharkhand,
Kerala and Tamil Nadu and
three reconciled by Kerala, the
data updated at 8 am stated.
The Covid case tally was
recorded at 4.47 crore
(4,48,27,226). The daily positivi-
ty was recorded at 8.40 per cent
and the weekly positivity rate
was pegged at 4.94 per cent.
The active cases now com-
prise 0.13 per cent of the total
infections and the national
recovery rate has been record-
ed at 98.68 per cent.
SC: HOLD MEET FOR
WAZU FACILITIES AT
GYANVAPI MOSQUE
New Delhi, April 17: The
Supreme Court on Monday
asked the Varanasi district
collector to hold a meeting for
providing congenial working
arrangements for ‘wazu’ (ritu-
al ablution) for Muslim devo-
tees at the Gyanvapi mosque
complex.
Solicitor General Tushar
Mehta, appearing for UP gove-
rnment, informed a bench of
Chief Justice D.Y. Chand-
rachud and justices P S
Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala
that a meeting will be held on
Tuesday and the direction for
providing facilities for ‘wazu’
on the premises will be imple-
mented.
The court was hearing a plea
by the Anjuman Intezamia
Masjid committee, which man-
ages the mosque, seeking per-
mission for ‘wazu’ inside com-
plex during Ramzan.
The SC referred to its order
of May 20 last year where it
had directed that facilities for
‘wazu’ and washrooms be pro-
vided to devotees following the
sealing of certain areas inside
the premises.
TRICOLOUR ON FACE:
WOMAN ‘STOPPED’
AT GOLDEN TEMPLE
Amritsar, April 17: A video
has surfaced on social media
purportedly showing a woman
being stopped from entering
the Golden Temple because
she has the colours of the
national flag painted on her
face, triggering a row on
Monday.
A man who is partly seen in
the video is heard asking an
SGPC employee at the temple
complex entrance, “Is this not
India?” The employee replied
that “it’s Punjab”.
According to the Shiromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee (SGPC), which is
the apex religious body of
Sikhs, sewadar asked the
woman to follow the
decorum of the religious
place.
The SGPC said it has started
investigation into the matter
and alleged that some people
are deliberately giving a
wrong twist to the incident.
The sewadar reportedly
objected to the flag painted on
the woman’s face. SGPC gener-
al secretary Gurcharan Singh
Grewal said the painting was
not a national flag.
.KDUJHZULWHVWR0RGL
GHPDQGVFDVWHFHQVXV
Census was to happen in 2021, but hasn’t been done so far
KARNATAKA
DECIDES
ASHHAR KHAN I DC
NEW DELHI, APRIL 17
Congress president Mall-
ikarjun Kharge on Mon-
day wrote to Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi dem-
anding an “up-to-date ca-
ste census”. The BJP had
earlier this month had ac-
cused the Congress leader
of being “anti-OBC”.
In the letter, Kharge
pointed out that the regu-
lar decennial census was
to be carried out in 2021,
but it had not yet been
conducted. “I am writing
to you to once again place
on record the demand of
the Indian National Cong-
ress for an up-to-date caste
census. My colleagues and
I have raised this demand
earlier in both Houses of
Parliament on a number
of occasions, as have the
leaders of many other
Opposition parties,” he
wrote. The letter said: “In
the absence of an updated
caste census, I am afraid a
reliable database so very
essential for meaningful
social justice and empow-
erment programmes, par-
ticularly for OBCs, is
incomplete. This census is
the responsibility of the
Union government.”
Congress leaders have
started campaign of “Jitni
Aabadi Utna Haq” as the
party plans to make the
Modi government’s reluc-
tance to conduct the caste
census a key focus of its
campaign for the 2024 gen-
eral election. Addressing a
rally in Katnataka’s Kolar,
Rahul had on Sunday
dared PM Modi to release
the 2011 caste-based cen-
sus data in the public
domain and demanded
that the 50 per cent cap on
reservations be removed.
“UPA in 2011 did the
caste-based census. It has
the data of all castes. Modi
you talk of OBCs. Make
that data public. Let the
nation know how many
OBCs, Dalits and tribals
are there in the country,”
Rahul said.
UP govt sets up SIT to Jawan arrested in
probe Atiq, Ashraf killing connection with
AMRESH
SRIVASTAVA | DC
NEW DELHI, APRIL 17
Nearly 48 hours after
three assailants posing as
a media crew killed gang-
s t e r- t u r n e d - p o l i t i c i a n
Atiq Ahmad and his
brother Ashraf
Prayagraj, the
Pradesh police has formed
a Special Investigating
Team (SIT) to probe the
killing. This will be in
addition to the three-
member judicial commis-
sion announced by the
state government
Sunday.
The SIT has been formed
on the instructions of
Prayagraj commissioner
of police Ramit Sharma.
“In the investigation of
the case pertaining to the
murder of Atiq Ahmad
and his brother Khalid
Azim alias Ashraf on
April 15 (Saturday) in
police custody… investi-
gation is being carried out
by the SHO of Shahganj
police station,” Sharma
said in a statement on
Monday. “In order to
ensure (recording)
statements/evidence of
ORDER | ORDER
SC to hear same-sex plea today
PUNEET DESHWAL | DC
NEW DELHI, APRIL 17
The Supreme Court
bench headed by Chief
Justice of India D.Y.
Chandrachud agreed to
hear on Tuesday applica-
tions filed by the Centre
and some other states,
including Gujarat, rais-
ing preliminary objec-
tions as to maintainabili-
ty of the petitions con-
cerning recognition of
same-sex marriage in the
country. Solicitor Gene-
ral Tushar Mehta men-
BJP RELEASES ANOTHER LIST
CASH ARRIVED IN
HELICOPTER, ALLEGES
KARNATAKA CONG
LEADER
● Senior Congress
leader Vinay Kumar
Sorake on Monday
alleged that a bag con-
taining huge amount of
cash has arrived in a
helicopter in which
Tamil Nadu BJP presi-
dent and state BJP elec-
tion in-charge
Annamalai landed in
Udupi.
● Sorake, the Congress
candidate from Kaup
said the party has
informed the election
officials about the mat-
ter.
BJP NAMES 10 MORE
CANDIDATES, FIELDS
LIMBAVALI’S WIFE
● The BJP on Monday
released its third list of
10 candidates for the
Karnataka assembly
polls and fielded its
state general secretary
Mahesh Tenginkai from
Hubli-Dharwad Central,
a seat held by veteran
Jagadish Shettar who
has joined the Congress
after being denied a
ticket by the ruling
I deserved graceful exit, says
Shettar after joining Cong.
M.B. GIRISH I DC
BENGALURU, APRIL 17
Senior BJP leader and for-
mer Karnataka chief min-
ister Jagadish Shettar on
Monday joined the
Congress in the presence
of party president
Mallikarjun Kharge here.
Shettar, a six-time MLA
representing Hubballi
Central Assembly seat,
was denied a ticket by the
BJP to contest the coming
● THE SIT has been
formed on the instruc-
tions of commissioner of
police Ramit Sharma.
witnesses, compiling of
records/electronic evi-
dence, scientific/forensic
in evidence, examination
Uttar carried out in the forensic
science laboratory and to
ensure impartial and
qualitative investigation,
this investigation will be
carried out by a Special
Investigation Team
(SIT),” the statement
on adds.
Additional deputy com-
missioner of police
(crime) Satish Chandra
will be the SIT’s chief
investigator while the
ACP (Kotwali police sta-
tion) Satyendra Prasad
Tiwari and Inspector Om
Prakash of the Inves-
tigation Cell of the Crime
Branch, will be members
of the SIT, it added fur-
ther.
UP director-general of
police R.K. Vishwakarma
on Sunday also formed a
three-member team of
supervisors to ensure
quality investigation and
Centre says petitions seeking recognition reflect elitist views
● THE CENTRE said,
choice not to recognise
same-sex marriage is
simply a facet of the
legislative policy.
tioned the application on
behalf of the Union of
India, before a Bench
which also comprised
Justices P.S. Narasimha
and J.B. Pardiwala. In its
application, Central gov-
ernment said that the
recognition of “mar-
riage” is essentially a leg-
islative function and the
BJP and RSS are
spreading hatred
and violence in India, and
they are taking away
money from poor people
and giving it to rich
— RAHUL GANDHI
Congress leader
MODI LIKELY TO VISIT KUMARASWAMY,
UDUPI ON MAY 4 WITH SHIVAKUMAR FILE PAPERS
YOGI ADITYANATH
● Prime Minister Narendra
● Former Chief Minister
and JD(S) leader H.D.
Modi is likely to arrive in Kumaraswamy, state
Udupi on May 4 to take Congress president D.K.
part in a conference of BJP Shivakumar and BJP veter-
workers, party sources an B.S. Yediyurappa’s son
said. B.Y. Vijayendra were
among the prominent
● Uttar Pradesh Chief
leaders who filed their
Minister Yogi Adityanath is
nominations on Monday
also expected to accompa-
for the May 10 Assembly
ny Modi.
polls in Karnataka.
Assembly polls.
After joining the
Congress, Shettar said, “I
deserved a graceful exit or
retirement from the BJP.”
But that did not happen
and he added, “I was driv-
en out of the party
in
manner.”
a systematic
Over the denial of a tick-
et by the BJP, Shettar
said, “I have won for six
consecutive times and
won the election with a
time-bound action.
The additional director-
general of police of
Prayagraj will head this
team whereas the other
two members are the
police commissioner of
Prayagraj and the direc-
tor of the Forensic
Science Laboratory,
Lucknow, the statement
said.
The development comes
a day after the state gov-
ernment set up a three-
member judicial commis-
sion to probe the shooting.
The commission will be
headed by a retired high
court judge, Justice
Arvind Kumar Tripathi,
and retired judge Brijesh
Kumar Soni and former
DGP Subesh Kumar Singh
will be its members. It will
submit its report to the
state government within
two months.
Atiq and Ashraf were
shot dead at point-blank
range by three men posing
as journalists in the mid-
dle of a media interaction
on Saturday night while
police personnel were
escorting them to a med-
ical college in Prayagraj
for a check-up.
court cannot create any
institution called “mar-
riage” by way of judicial
interpretation. “What is
presented before this
Hon’ble Court is a mere
urban elitist views for
the purpose of social
acceptance,” it said.
The competent legisla-
ture will have to take into
account broader views
and the voice of all rural,
semi-rural and urban
population, the views of
religious denominations
keeping in mind personal
laws as well as and cus-
SJ 5
Oppn blames Shinde govt
for 13 deaths at Maha event
BHAGWAN PARAB | DC
MUMBAI, APRIL 17
ground in Kharghar area
of Navi Mumbai on
Sunday morning, which
timing for the award func-
tion,” Pawar said. Pawar
said the function could
With the number of
deaths in the
was attended by several
lakh people, most of them
have been held in the
evening and Amit Shah
followers of social worker could have taken a chop-
Maharashtra Bhushan
award tragedy rising to 13 Appasaheb Dharmadh- per to reach the venue.
on Monday, the Eknath
Shinde-led government
ikari who was conferred
with Maharashtra’s high-
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader
Sanjay Raut said, “The
has come under severe est civilian award by Amit award function could have
flak from all quarters in Shah. been held in the evening,
the state. Leader of Opposition in but since Amit Shah had
Opposition leaders have the Maharashtra Vidhan no free time, the pro-
blamed the government Sabha Ajit Pawar sought gramme was held during
alleging lack of proper an inquiry into how the the day time and people
arrangement and prepa- award event was organ- got exposed to the scorch-
ing heat and sunlight."
ration to deal with the ised at noon time when
presence of lakhs of peo- the temperature is very Maharashtra Congress
ple, who braved the high. “It is a fact that dur- chief Nana Patole said a
scorching sun while ing April-May, the temper- case of culpable homicide
attending the event. ature is very high. Hence, must be registered
The award ceremony it needs to be probed as to against the government
was held in the open who had fixed the noon for the sunstroke deaths.
Former Karnataka chief
minister Jagadish Shettar
along with Congress
Flavours of India
president Mallikarjun
Kharge during a press
conference after joining
Party at KPCC office in
Bengaluru on Monday.
— PTI
Ahead of the opening of Apple’s maiden retail store in India, the company’s chief
executive Tim Cook arrived in Mumbai on Monday. Beside his other engagements, he
managed time to have Vada Pav with actor Madhuri Dixit at an eatery which is
margin of about 25,000
Ambani family’s favourite.
votes, and there was no
mention of my name even — Twitter
in the second list of nomi-
nees.”
He asked, “Is this the LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?
way to treat a senior
leader of the party who We have
strived hard to build it
in north Karnataka it for you
region?”
Shettar said that he was
“hurt” after BJP leaders DECCAN
denied him a ticket at the
last minute.
CHRONICLE
Bathinda incident
DC CORRESPONDENT
● TO MISLEAD the
NEW DELHI, APRIL 17
investigation, Gunner
The Punjab police has claimed to have been
arrested Indian Army the sole witness to
gunner Desai Mohan the incident and had
for killing four soldiers falsely told police that
at the Bathinda he had seen 2 masked
Military Station last
week with a stolen men wearing white
INSAS gun to avenge kurta- pyjamas com-
harassment. ing out of barracks.
To mislead the inves-
tigation, Gunner to the police,”
Mohan had claimed to the Army’s South
have been the sole wit- Western Command
ness to the incident s a i d .
and had falsely told the The statement said
police that he had seen that the initial investi-
two masked men wear- gations indicate the
ing white kurta- pyja- killings were “appare-
mas coming out of the ntly due to personal
barracks and escaping reasons.” However,
to the nearby forest reports coming from
after the firing. Punjab quoting
“After sustained sources in the local
interrogation, one police said the accused
individual named had committed the
Gunner Desai Mohan,
from the Artillery unit
killings to avenge
alleged sexual harass-
where the incident had ment.
occurred, has con- The accused had con-
fessed to his involve- fessed to having stolen
ment in stealing of an an INSAS rifle along
INSAS rifle and killing with a filled magazine
four of his colleagues on April 9.
toms governing the field ed the court to prelimi-
of marriage,” it said. nary decide if a constitu-
The Centre said the tional court can legislate
petitions seeking recog- to create a separate socio-
nition of same sex mar- legal institution of mar-
riage merely reflect riage between persons
“urban elitist” views and not contemplated by the
the same cannot be com- existing legislation.
pared with view of the It said that the legisla-
legislature that reflects ture, which represents
the voices of a far wider the democratic mandate,
spectrum across the should decide the cre-
country. The choice not to ation of an institution
recognise same-sex mar- like marriage based on
riage is simply a facet of societal ethos, societal
the legislative policy, it values and larger societal
added. acceptability in the
The Centre has request- Indian context.
 EDIT
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | 18 APRIL 2023
pg 6

Subhani

18 APRIL 2023

A midsummer political
thriller in Karnataka
N
early in the middle of 2023, a year before the general elections,
India is witnessing a highly interesting state-level poll in
Karnataka, the only state the saffron party has ever won in the
south, which is turning out to be a midsummer political thriller
for all the three parties.
The BJP has formed the incumbent government, under Chief Minister
Basavaraj Bommai, but it is not completing a full term after a fractured
mandate five years ago. Though the people gave a strong pro-BJP man-
date, it fell short of a majority. Once the Congress and the JDS decided to
come together, the BJP could not form government and its strongman
Lingayat leader and former CM B.S. Yediyurappa found his political
career coming to a sudden end. Once the BJP sneaked back to power, it
nominated Mr Bommai, a relative lightweight, who completed the remain-
der of the term, and is reportedly, as per early surveys, facing a strong
wave of anti-incumbency.
For the first time in any big state, the
It is significant for Congress is being seen as having a clear edge,
the BJP to retain but would it win comfortably, get a majority,
the state, it’s only fall short of it and yet emerge the single
foothold in the largest party, and be forced into an alliance
LETTERS
south of India; and government, or not, remains to be seen. But
the current position is the first validation for
for an urban party, the Grand Old Party, where a change of guard
it would mean con- is even a likelihood, in a state where it is tak-
trol over only two ing on the BJP directly, and after the Rahul
Panama Papers: Nothing ARVIND KEJRIWAL
KILLINGS IN U.P.
Delhikilling
The Chiefof Minister
Atiq AhmadArvind
— Bengaluru and Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra spent consider-
able time in the state.
Mumbai — of the The Congress, after its current PCC presi-
six major metros. dent D.K. Shivakumar took charge during
bleak times and turned it around, and despite
his rivalry with former CM and leading contender Siddaramaiah, ensured
done; no questions asked The UAE is also be categorised in terms of
Kejriwal says that
and Ashraf Ahmad while
called corrupt, then
judicial custody raises
is no one
many in the world
questions.
if he

This who
unprecedented eventtough-
is honest (Kejriwal’s
is in
there

com-
the party managed its internal rifts reasonably well. The party not only the largest source those having outstandings est test, or
promises biggest
the safetyoppor-
and
released its first and second lists ahead of the BJP but also has a strange of over `5,000 crores.
reversal of political events — with several significant BJP leaders quitting Mohan of legal and illicitly These businesses include tunity?,ofApril
liberty 17). The
citizens, andrul-rule
the party to join the Congress. Amongst them are former CM Jagadish imported gold. Last Essar, Reliance ADAG, ing dispensation
of law. The only hope at thenow
Shettar and former deputy CM Laxman Savadi, besides several legisla-
tors, adding to the perception of winds seeking change.
Guruswamy year India officially Jaipra-kash Associates,
Adani, Vedanta, GVK,
Centre
is says it is the only
the judiciary.
imported over 900 party rooting out corrup-
The JDS is fighting for strength in its traditional strongholds of the
tonnes of gold
GMR and Lanco. Sravana Ramachandran
southern part of the state but would also need a hung Assembly to stay rel- Of the big companies or tion. Central agencies Hyderabad are
evant. If the winds of change, however, also shift the state from giving a worth $35 billion. groups, only the Tatas,
mandate split three ways to a strong result in favour of either the The mysteriously Reliance Industries and claiming that they are
UMA, SUPER
doing their duty.HERO
The man

T
Congress or the BJP, the regional party would find its future bleak. he Panama Papers
It is significant for the BJP to retain the state, it’s only foothold in the had been briefly
south of India; and for an urban party, it would mean control over only back in the news
two — Bengaluru and Mumbai — of the six major metros in India — the in India after the
remaining four being run by Opposition parties — Delhi (AAP), Kolkata Enforcement Directorate
(TMC), Chennai (DMK) and Hyderabad (BRS). (ED) questioned Bolly-
However, the BJP is banking on its biggest weapon, Prime Minister wood actress Aishwarya
Narendra Modi, whose popularity in the state is extremely high, to win Rai Bachchan in Decem-
them this battle. And if anyone can, he sure can, even against these odds. ber 2021. Among the rich
and famous Indians nam-
ed in the Panama Papers
many kleptomaniac tinpot owned AV Birla can be consid-
dictators made Panama ered free of financial on the street is perplexed
even more attractive. Till corporations stress. Most if not all the Konda Uma is a real hero (Guard’s
not long ago, the entire incorporated in tax money earned by gold and wishes
daughter to know
alerted who
residents, is
April
Canal Zone was under the havens like plating plant and machin- 17). Modernfrom
straight society worships
the shouldersuper
protection of US troops, Panama mostly ery, under-invoicing of heroes in fiction. Sometimes, we
and that too served as an exports and over-invoic- and whom
forget that trueto believe?
heroes walk among
incentive for Americans
finance these ing of imports is retained us. They may not C. wear
Ghanshyam
capes or
seeking an offshore tax exports. abro-ad. Has anyone won- shoot a web from their wrists, but
haven. dered why the UAE is the
Visakhapatnam
their feats are far more impressive.
Panama is a tax haven, These are now the home second largest destination
HONESTY CLAIM
Uma must be appreciated for keep-

Sunak under Labour fire so far are DLF billionaire

property baron Kushal Pal
Singh, billionaire Gautam
which means it is a coun-
try that offers foreign indi-
viduals and businesses lit-
of hundreds of corporate
entities that act as a con-
duit for funds being held
of India’s merchandise
exports ($33 billion) and
third largest source of
ing a cool head and saving lives.
Delhi Chief K. Minister
Nirosha Arvind
Kejriwal said he willSecunderabad
Reddy
sue CBI, ED
officials for falsities (Kejriwal

H
is personal polling is much better than that of his Conservative Adani’s brother Vinod
Party. Maybe that is one reason why the Labour Party chief Keri
Starmer had chosen to make personal attacks against the British
Adani, and billionaire real
estate magnate Sameer
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in advertisements that blamed him Gehlaut. The list also
for many things, including bizarrely of him not wanting child sex abusers includes Gujarat’s brand
to go to prison. ambassador, Amitabh
The advertisements also attacked Sunak”s wife Akshata Murthy, an Bachchan. According to a
obvious soft target but one who may have left herself vulnerable with her report, over 500 Indians
non-domicile tax status that saw her avoid paying income-tax in Britain on are associated with the
her considerable earnings and assets till it became a matter of public “Mossack Fonseca” firm,
debate and then she relented to pay tax in the UK. and the ED has seized over
The attacks got to a point of triggering whispers within the Labour Party 230 Indian passports that
itself over such personal attacks for the sake of possible electoral gains as were deposited as part of
local polls are due in early May. Such campaigns at the hustings and even the company’s formalities.
on the floor of Parliament are not unknown in democracies, In fact, they The ways of India’s rich
are par for the course. Even so, it appeared lines were being freely crossed
in pointed advertisements.
and famous are increas-
ingly becoming public
Targeted unfairly or not, and probably thankful that some Labour MPs knowledge. The disclosure
revolted against the campaign of Starmer and his inner team, Sunak has that as many as 500 promi-
been going about his job as a technocrat in the PM’s seat, solving prob- nent Indians, including
lems, or at least boldly attempting to, however uncomfortable or ironic Incredible India’s latest
some may have seemed like his attempts to stop illegal migrants in cross- brand ambassador Ami-
Channel boats and his support of migrant centres in Rwanda. tabh Bachchan, owned off-
“To run as fast and as hard as we can” is said to be his mantra and it does shore companies in Pana-
appear that the gigantic problems of inner Tory party skirmishes for ma is just the latest of the
power before and after Boris Johnson and of the economy now seem to be unravelling. All that one
in the rear view mirror rather than appearing to be up ahead and insur- can say is that he is in the
mountable. good company of the likes
Labour, which has never had anyone heading it except white males, of Vladimir Putin, David
might be displaying its dislike of Britain’s first Hindu Prime Minister, but Cameron and Nawaz
its campaign may just backfire considering how opinion polls are getting Sharif, among others.
somewhat kinder to the Tories ahead of this year’s local polls and next Panama is a small sliver
year’s big showdown in the general elections. of a country in Central
America joining North
tle or no tax liability in a overseas for Indians or by merchandise imports
fairly politically and eco-
nomically stable environ-
Indian entities. These
countries are little more
($26.2 billion)?
The UAE is also the
RAHUL IS UNFIT
quizzed for 9 hours by CBI, says
nothing to hide, April 16). Entering
ment. Tax havens also pro- than a cut-out for monies largest source of legal and Ipolitics is like
fully agree entering
with a coalletter
P.J. David’s mine
vide little or no financial held in other more distant illicitly imported gold. from where
(Cong. never no one April
learns, can come
17). Itout
is
information to foreign tax tax havens like Panama, Last year India officially without
true thatathe
black mark. had
Congress Kejriwal
faileddid
to
authorities. This in short the Cayman Islands, Ber- imported over 900 tonnes get besmeared
win 2014 and 2019 by the CBI and
elections underthe
is the reason Panama is so muda and Lichtenstein. of gold worth $35 billion. ED leadership
the on seemingly cooked-up
of the Gandhiallega-
fami-
important to our moneyed The smaller the country, The mysteriously owned tions.
ly. He must
Election get his
strategists hadimage
said
people, who have good rea- the more pliable the offi- corporations incorporated cleared
that if by
thetheCongress
courts andwanted
fight withto
son to hide their real cials. in tax havens like Panama a cleanits
retain slate in the elections.
popularity among voters
wealth. The 14 PSU banks con- mostly finance these K. Nehru Patnaik
it should make changes.
Why do the rich then trol almost 80 per cent of exports. And a good part of Visakhapatnam
Omar Mustafa
want to hide their wealth? the commercial credit the illicitly exported gold Hyderabad
This is simply because advanced in India. In addi- also. MONEY POWER
officially they are not as
wealthy as they really are.
tion, the government also
owns the two big project
According to a leading
pink newspaper, Indians
ATTRACTIVE STATUE
Rahul Gandhi’s doubt is very vivid
And if they honestly finance institutions, IDBI were estimated to have (Fear
Dr post-poll
B.R. corruption
Ambedkar’s by BJP,
125-foot-tall
declared their true wealth, and IFCI, and large insti- illicitly sent out $83 billion says Rahul
statue nearGandhi, April 16). The
the Secretariat is
they would not only be tutional investors like the in 2020. Where does this BJP is very
attractive dextrous
with in poaching
well-chiselled fea-
liable to pay more income- Life Insurance Corpora- money go? Countries like MLAs.Artisans
tures. It is very
whorich party.
made it soItskil-
can
tax but could also open tion and general insur- Switzerland that offer buy money-minded
fully must be honouredMLAs. It wants and
many of them to various ance companies like banking secrecy usually power by hook
rewarded by theorstate
by crook. People
government
charges of corporate fraud Oriental and GIC. The do not pay any interest on aretheir
for well aware of it.
fine craftsmanship.
and malfeasance that state ownership of these, such deposits. So, money Dr Syed Sarmad
J. Vijay Kumar
could earn them hefty jail with powers vested with goes to corporations in tax Kurnool
Secunderabad
terms. To comprehend the political and bureau- havens from where they
this one must understand cratic powers that be in are invested in businesses Email your letters to
how most of our “captains New Delhi, ensures that world over. Have you ever info@deccanmail.com,
of industry”, many of the projects are suitably wondered how many of
whom sit on the Prime “gold plated” without any our top businessmen have editor@deccanmail.com.
Minister’s Council of scrutiny. And why scruti- managed to become so big
Trade and Industry, actu-
ally became rich and pow-
nise them when projects
seldom fold up, and partic-
overseas so soon?
This is where the coun-
50 YEARS AGO IN

DECCAN CHRONICLE and South America. A 77-
km man-made canal
KAUSHIK MITTER
Editor
which is capable of accom-
modating large ships joins
the two oceans. The rev-
DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at: enues from this were for
Hyderabad: 36, Sarojini Devi Road, Secunderabad - 500 003, Ph: 040-27803930-4; Fax : 040-27805256
long the nation's biggest
Vijayawada: No.C-3 & 4 Patamata, Industrial Estate, Auto Nagar, Vijayawada (A.P.), Ph: 0866-2555284. source of income since the
Visakhapatnam: Survey No.1/3A Beach Road, Near Kailasagiri Ropeway, Sector-9 MVP Colony, canal opened in 1914.
Visakhapatnam - 530 017 (A.P), Ph: 0891-2552333/2552334; Fax: 0891-2755285 Panama soon found that
Rajahmundry: Vemagiri, Dhawaleswaram Rd, Rajahmundry, Ph: 0883-2417618/2417208; Telefax: 0883- becoming a tax haven that
2417208 assured investors of their
Anantapur: Thapovan colony, Bangalore By-Pass Road, Anantapur - 515004, Ph: 08554-276903; Fax: privacy provided a much
08554-276904 more lucrative income.
Karimnagar: H. No. 1-21-12/1, Cheralabhutkur Road, Mugudhumpur Village, Karimnagar-505186, PH.
The proximity to the
NO. 9121181123.
Nellore: Survey No.527/2, Burranpur Village, Venkatachalam (M), Chemmudugunta Panchayat, Nellore, Americas, and the balmy
Ph: 0861-2348581/82; Telefax: 0861-2348580 Caribbean islands, and
Chennai: SP-3 Developed Plot, Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai - 600 032, Ph: 044-22254747/ 48/50/51; countries like Colombia
Advt Fax: 22254765/22254766/42305325 with its huge cocaine pro-
Coimbatore: Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, No. 2/22 Sengalipalayam Road, N.G.G.O Colony Post, duction and export busi-
Kurudampalayam village - 641 022 ness, and Latin America’s
erful. When an “industri-
alist” launches a new pro-
ject, the project costs are
usually hugely overstated.
The suppliers of plant and
machinery then pay the
promoter kickbacks,
which become the promot-
er capital. Thus, the more
the number of projects an
individual promotes, the
wealthier he or she
becomes. But it is not
income that you can
declare. So, it gets hidden
in a tax haven and snakes
its way back through
Mauritius (27 per cent),
Singapore (21 per cent)
and Cyprus, etc., as for-
eign investment.
ularly in a system where
restructuring means lend-
ing more money to ever-
green the loans?
The list of NPAs includes
almost the entire roster of
top Indian companies. The
total amount of Gross
Non-Performing Assets
(NPAs) for public and pri-
vate sector banks is over
`7 lakh crores. According
to RBI estimates, the top 30
loan defaulters currently
account for one-third of
the total gross NPAs of
PSU banks. The country’s
top five PSU banks had
outstandings of `4.87 lakh
crores to just 44 borrow-
ers, if borrowers were to
tries like Panama come in.
There was a time when
Panama, in India, was syn-
onymous with a leading
brand of cigarettes manu-
factured by the Dalmia-
owned Golden Tobacco
Company. That Panama
too is now forgotten. Now
Panama is synonymous
with offshore corporations
and assured secrecy. The
times have changed.
The writer, a policy ana-
lyst studying economic and
security issues, held senior
positions in government
and industry. He also spe-
cialises in the Chinese
economy.
Pak to try Bengali army
officers
NEW DELHI, April 17
Pakistan will put a number of
Bengali military officers and civil
servants on trial for treason if
Bangla Desh goes ahead with its
war crimes trials, the Voice of
America reported today.
The radio quoted a high
Pakistan Government official for
the report. The report came with-
in hours of the announcement in
Dacca of the Bangla Desh
Government’s decision to try 195
Pakistani prisoners of war for
criminal offences.

T
here are two directions in which our pre-
sent enthusiasm for majoritarian politics
can go. I have long thought that there is
only one place we can land up in, and we
will come to that briefly at the end, but there is
another view that we should consider. It was put
forward a few weeks ago through a speech on the
Aakar Patel judiciary by Prof. Mohan Gopal, a former head of
the National Law School.
His speech was reported by Live Law under the
headline ‘Theocratic Judges Who Find Source of
Law In Religion Than Constitution Increased’.
His basis for saying this was an examination of
the record of all judges appointed to the Supreme
Court from 2004 to the present time (the speech
was made on February 21, 2023). Of the 111 judges
identified those individuals who looked beyond
the Constitution to find sources of law in Hindu
religious texts. He could find none from the UPA
period, and nine from those appointed by the
NDA government, of whom five were still on the
bench. These individuals have sent down judg-
ments that have found sources of law outside the
Constitution of India and in religion. The
Ayodhya judgment went much beyond the law to
adjudicate the case, and the Supreme Court’s
hijab judgment also finds authority in religious
texts.
Prof. Gopal’s thesis is that he sees a Hindu
Rashtra coming to fruition by 2047 in two steps.
The first phase is by appointing judges who are
open to looking at religious sources beyond the
ference in the terms ‘dharma nirpeksh’ and
‘panth nirpeksh’. ‘Panth’, or sect, symbolises
devotion towards any specific belief, way of wor-
ship or form of God, but ‘dharma’ symbolises
absolute and eternal values, which can never
change, like the laws of nature. ‘Dharma’ is what
upholds, sustains and results in the well-being
and upliftment of the ‘praja’ (citizens) and soci-
ety as a whole.”
Constitutional law is thus ‘dharma’. In
Karnataka schools, “homa” is allowed but hijab
is not, and the reason is that hijab is religion but
“homa” is dharma, for the benefit of all
mankind. Prof. Gopal explains the rise in the
number of judges who are constitutionalists
under the NDA by saying that the Supreme
to capture because it is itself lacking in diversity
whether of religion, caste, gender or region.
Being composed essentially of upper caste Hindu
males, it has in some ways helped to further the
project.
That said, Prof. Gopal believes that the imme-
diate goal should be to protect the Collegium
from any kind of governmental interference in
judicial appointments.
My view of what the end-state of the present
majoritarianism focus of India is I have written
about here and in my books. It is that Hindutva
is minority-focused and plays itself out in perse-
cution alone rather than internal reform. Both
judgments Prof. Gopal has used to illustrate his
case — Ayodhya and hijab — also go after minor-

Hindu Rashtra via appointed, 56 came in the UPA’s decade and 55

under the present BJP government, so the num-
ber is even. Next, he looked at the impact that the
judges made, and whether the judges were
Constitution. The second phase is by appointing
judges who will identify the sources of religious
law. Thus, Hindu Rashtra will come not by over-
throwing the Constitution but by the reinterpre-
Court’s collegium is not blind to the direction
that the BJP is taking the country. That resis-
tance is playing out in the present tussle between
the collegium and the government in the
ity rights. It will be interesting to see if, assum-
ing that he is correct, the Hindu Rashtra pro-
duced through judicial reinterpretation also
addresses things like caste and chaturvarna,

reinterpretation of biased. Not biased in their outlook, which Prof.

Gopal accepts can only be determined through
subjective interpretation, and therefore difficult
tation of the Constitution as a Hindu document.
The hijab judgment, Prof. Gopal says, was one
such instance. That judgment says that “dhar-
appointment of judges. Two other important
points he makes can be taken up briefly. First,
that the oligarchy that rules India finds opposi-
which will result in a seismic shift in Hindu soci-
ety.
To be clear, Prof. Gopal does not exclude

the Constitution? if not impossible to arrive at. But looking at bias

only through their judgments. His finding was
that during the UPA period there were six judges
who were constitutionalist, meaning that they
believed in the primacy of the Constitution alone
and no other source of law. This number had
gone up to nine under the NDA.
Next, again going only by their judgments, he
ma” applies to the Constitution because the
Hindi phrase used for secularism in the
Preamble is not “dharma nirpeksh” but “panth
nirpeksh”, referring to sect. The Constitution
was thus not “dharma nirpeksh” but dharma
itself, meaning Sanatan Dharma.
The judgment says: “The use of word ‘panth
nirpeksh’ in the Constitution brings out the dif-
tion in the Constitution, which stresses values
like equality, secularism, dignity, and so on.
Unlike Pakistan, where the oligarchy and the
constitution are aligned, the primary resistance
minority persecution from his thesis. He adds a
second element which I had not considered. His
speech is clear, precise and direct, and is avail-
able on YouTube. It requires being listened to,
to the capture of the State by India’s oligarchy understood and debated.
comes from the Constitution. And so, the energy
of the BJP is primarily focused there. The writer is the chair of Amnesty
Lastly, that the judiciary has become amenable International India. Twitter: @aakar__patel
 WORLD
DECCAN CHRONICLE | VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | 18 APRIL 2023
SHORT TAKES
CHINESE HELD
FOR BLASPHEMY
IN PAK
Peshawar, April 17: Pakistani
police arrested a Chinese natio-
nal on blasphemy charges after
he allegedly insulted Islam and
the Prophet Muhammad.
Under Pakistan’s controversial
blasphemy laws, the offence
carries the death penalty.
Police identified the man only
as Tian from China and said he
was arrested after residents
and labourers working on a
dam project blocked a highway.
SUNAK PROBED
OVER WIFE’S
SHAREHOLDING
London, April 17: British
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is
being investigated by Parliam-
ent’s standards watchdog over
whether he properly declared
his wife’s shareholding in a
childcare company which stan-
ds to benefit from new govern-
ment policy.
Parliament’s Commissioner
for Standards began the inves-
tigation over a “declaration of
interest” on April 13.
Opposition parties had raised
questions over media reports
that Sunak’s wife Akshata
Murthy was a shareholder in a
company set to benefit from
support for the childcare sector
announced in March’s Budget.
FLOYD KILLING:
CONVICTION FOR
CHAUVIN UPHELD
Minneapolis: The Minnesota
Court of Appeals on Monday
upheld the most serious murd-
er conviction against Minneap-
olis ex-police officer Derek Ch-
auvin for the killing of George
Floyd. Chauvin is serving a 22
1/2-year sentence.
His attorney had asked the
appeals court to throw out the
convictions for several reasons,
including the massive pretrial
publicity. He also argued that
legal and procedural errors de-
prived Chauvin of a fair trial.
VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | 18 APRIL 2023
quick 6HDUFKIRU%LQJRQPRELOHV 20% from 2022’s
6DPVXQJPD\GURS*RRJOH
%,7(6 Move likely to affect $3 billion for Alphabet in revenue Akshaya Tritiya
INDICATORS
Sensex 59,910.75
Nifty 50 17,706.80
S&P 500* 4,136.58
*PHHWUHMHFWVDJJUHVVLRQ
E\&KLQD5XVVLD1.RUHD
Diplomats firmly nix unilateral attempts to change status quo by force
Karuizawa, April 17: Top
diplomats from the Group
of Seven wealthy democra-
cies are vowing a tough
stance on China’s increas-
ing threats to Taiwan and
on North Korea’s
unchecked tests of long-ra-
nge missiles, while buil-
ding momentum on ways
to boost support for Ukra-
ine and punish Russia for
its invasion.
Russia’s war in Ukraine
will consume much of the
agenda on Monday as the
envoys gather in this Japa-
nese hot spring resort
town for Day Two of talks
meant to pave the way for
action by G-7 leaders when
they meet next month in
Hiroshima.
The world is at “turning
point” on the fighting in
Ukraine and must “firmly
reject unilateral attempts
to change the status quo by
force, and Russia’s ag-
gression against Ukraine
and its threats of the use of
nuclear weapons,” Jap-
anese foreign minister
Yoshimasa Hayashi told
his colleagues, according
to a Japanese summary.
— AP
Sudan fighting: 100 dead Robot transplant
Khartoum, April 17: Ex-
plosions rocked the Suda-
nese capital Khartoum on
Monday as fighting betwe-
en the army and paramili-
tary forces led by rival ge-
nerals raged for a third
day with the death toll sur-
passing 100.
The violence erupted on
Saturday after weeks of
power struggles between
the two generals who seiz-
ed power in a 2021 coup,
army chief Abdel Fattah
Gold price rose
% Seoul, April 17: Micro-
soft Corp.’s Bing may
-0.86 replace Alphabet Inc.’s
-0.68 Google as the default
search service on Sam-
-0.03 sung Electronics Co. devi-
TRANSIT BY USS MILIUS ROUTINE, SAYS U.S. 7TH FLEET
US sails warship through
Taiwan Strait after
China’s drills
The United States Navy
has sailed a warship
through the Taiwan
Strait in its first known
transit since China car-
ried out an encirclement
exercise around self-
ruled Taiwan. The US
7th Fleet said the transit
through the strait by the
USS Milius on Sunday
was routine.
US, allies conduct more
drills in face of
North Korean threat
The United States, South
Korea and Japan
conducted a joint missile
defence exercise on
Monday in waters near
the Korean Peninsula as
they expand military
training to counter the
growing threats of North
Korea’s nuclear-capable
missiles.
al-Burhan and his deputy,
Mohamed Hamdan Daglo,
who commands the power-
ful paramilitary Rapid
Support Forces (RSF).
The conflict has seen air
strikes, tanks on the stree-
ts, artillery fire and heavy
gunfire in crowded neigh-
bourhoods both in Kharto-
um and other cities across
Sudan. It has triggered
international demands for
an immediate ceasefire.
On Monday, UN Secreta-
CHATGPT EFFECT
● Bing’s threat to Google’s
search dominance has
grown more credible in
SJ 7
Putin critic sent
to 25 yrs in jail
Moscow, April 17: Outs-
poken Kremlin critic Vla-
dimir Kara-Murza was
jailed for a quarter of a
century by a Moscow co-
urt on Monday, the harsh-
NO BAIL FOR OZ est sentence of its kind
since Russia invaded Ukr-
aine, after being found gu-
BIZMAN WHO ilty of treason and other
offences he denied.
TOOK CASH FROM Kara-Murza, 41, a father
of three and an opposition
Vladimir Kara-Murza
CHINESE SPIES politician who holds
Russian and British pass-
ports, spent years speak-
criticised what Moscow
calls its “special military
operation” in Ukraine.
Sydney, April 17: Two
suspected Chinese spies
ing out against President
Vladimir Putin and lobbi-
In a CNN interview bro-
adcast hours before he
gave a Sydney businessm-
an envelopes of cash for
ed Western governments
to impose sanctions on
was arrested, he had
alleged that Russia was
information about subjec-
ts including a government
Russia and individual Ru-
ssians for purported hum-
being run by a “regime of
murderers”.
deal with the United States an rights violations. He had also used speech-
and UK to build a fleet of State prosecutors, who es in the United States and
(Clockwise from up C) Japan’s foreign minister (FM) Australian nuclear-po- had requested the court across Europe to accuse
Yoshimasa Hayashi, Canadian FM Melanie Joly, French wered submarines, prose- jail him for 25 years, had Russia of bombing civil-
FM Catherine Colonna, Italy’s FM Antonio Tajani, deputy cutors told a court on accused him of treason ian targets in Ukraine, a
secretary-general of the European External Action Monday. and of discrediting the charge Moscow has reject-
Service Enrique Mora, British foreign secretary James The businessman, Alexa- Russian military after he ed. — Reuters
Cleverly, German FM Annalena Baerbock and US secre- nder Csergo, was refused
tary of state Antony Blinken at a G7 FMs’ meeting in
bail when he appeared by
video link from prison in CRITICS: DEAD, JAILED, EXILED
Karuizawa on Monday. — AFP Sydney’s Downing Centre
DEAD JAILED
Local Court charged with
Suspected gunpowder has been one count of reckless for- ● 2015: Boris Nemtsov, 55, ● 2020: Russia’s main
‘GUNPOWDER’
FOUND AT HOME found at the home of a man, named eign interference. The cha- a Kremlin critic and a opposition politician,
as 24-year-old Ryuji Kimura, who is rge, included in laws ag- former deputy prime Alexei Navalny, 46,
OF JAPAN PM ainst covert foreign interf-
BLAST SUSPECT accused of throwing an explosive at minister, was shot dead as was poisoned on a trip
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio erence and espionage that he walked home. Nemtsov to Siberia. He under-
angered China when they had criticised Putin’s
Kishida during a campaign event in Wakayama. Kishida were legislated in 2018, ca-
went treatment in
was unharmed in the attack. annexation of Crimea. Germany and returned
rries a maximum 15-year
prison sentence. — AP ● 2006: Anna Politkovsk- in January 2021, when
aya, a reporter at Novaya he was arrested.
Gazeta, and a critic of ● 2022: Opposition po-
Kremlin’s tactics in
Chechnya, was killed
outside her Moscow home.
litician Ilya Yashin was
jailed for spreading
“false” information
ry-General Antonio Guter-
res again called on Suda-
n’s warring parties to “im-
mediately cease hostiliti-
lung in new route EXILED
● Ex-oil tycoon Mikhail Kh-
odorkovsky lives in London.
about the Russian
army.
2022: Yevgeny Roiz-
man, 60, the former
es”. He warned that furth- Madrid, April 17: A Spa- used a four-arm robot
● Many of Navalny’s allies mayor of the Urals city
er escalation “could be de- nish hospital carried out a dubbed “Da Vinci” to cut a
vastating for the country lung transplant using a small section of the pa- fled Russia after his org- of Yekaterinburg, was
and the region.” As the pioneering technique with tient’s skin, fat and muscle anisations were banned. detained for his
fighting showed no sign of a robot and a new access to remove the damaged ● TV presenter and entert- criticism of Russia’s
abating, Daglo took to Tw- route that no longer lung and insert a new one assault on Ukraine.
itter to call for the interna- requires separating the through an eight-centime- ainer Maxim Galkin, 46,
tional community to in- ribs and opening up the tre incision in the lower based in Israel uses However, following
tervene against Burhan, chest, experts said. part of the sternum, just Instagram to denounce the protests, he was
branding him a “radical Surgeons at Vall d’Heb- above the diaphragm. Russian army’s offensive. released to await trial.
Islamist”. — AFP ron hospital in Barcelona — Reuters
Apple’s India
sales near
$6 bn ahead
of retail push
Lara Levin, a Google spok-
eswoman, said in a state-
SANGEETHA G
CHENNAI, APRIL 17
Mumbai, April 17:
Apple Inc.’s sales in
ment. A Google represen- India hit a new high of
tative did not comment on Someone, who had bought almost $6 billion in the
the company’s negotia- gold and silver last year through March,
tions with Samsung. A Akshaya Tritiya, is sitting highlighting the mar-
Dollar (C 81.97 0.13 ces, according to a New recent months with the representative from Sams- on returns of 20 per cent ket’s increasing impor-
Pound Sterling (C) 101.78 0.60 York Times report on addition of OpenAI’s ung declined to comment. and those who had bought tance for the iPhone
Sunday. technology to provide Between its Samsung them five years back have maker as CEO Tim
Euro (C 90.07
Gold (10gm)* (C) 60,570▼241
Brent crude ($/bbl)* 85.91
IN 10-Yr bond yield 7.247
US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 3.541
* As of 8:30 PM IST
Infy, other IT cos
take Sensex
520 points down
A steep fall in the share prices
of Infosys and other IT majors
dragged the stock market
down, ending the nine consec-
utive sessions of gains. Infosys
fell 14.67 per cent in the open-
ing move to C1,185.30 on the
NSE based on the company’s
weak earning outlook. Later, it
recovered losses partially to
end the day at C1,258.30. The
Sensex, meanwhile, ended the
day 520 points down at
59,910.75.
-0.18 Suwon-based Samsung,
0.40 the world’s leading smart-
phone maker, is consider-
-0.46 ing making the switch,
0.018 putting at risk roughly $3
0.019 billion in annual revenue
for Google, the report said.
Bing’s threat to Google’s
search dominance has
grown more credible in
recent months with the
addition of OpenAI’s tech-
nology to provide
ChatGPT-like responses to
user queries.
Samsung shipped 261
million smartphones in
2022, according to IDC
data, all running Google’s
Android software. The
Korean company has long-
established partnerships
with both Microsoft and
Google, and its devices
come preloaded with a
library of apps and servic-
Wholesale inflation dips for 10th time for a free trade deal
MADHUSUDAN SAHOO
NEW DELHI, APRIL 17
With the continuous mod-
eration of input prices,
mostly on the food index,
India’s annual wholesale
price index or WPI-based
inflation eased to a 29-
month low of 1.34 per cent
in March 2023. This is the
tenth straight month of
decline in the WPI-based
inflation. It was 3.85 per
cent in February, 4.73 per
cent in January 2023, and
ChatGPT-like responses to
user queries.
● Google is working on
several projects to update
and renew its search serv-
ices to avoid losing
ground. Those include
adding artificial intelli-
gence features to its
existing offerings
es from both, such as ground. Those include
OneDrive and Google
Maps. Negotiations are
still ongoing and Samsung
adding artificial intelli-
gence features to its exist-
ing offerings, under a proj-
may yet decide to keep ect named Magi, which
Google as its default has more than 160 people
provider, according to the working on it, the Times
report. reported.
Google is working on Google is “excited about
several projects to update bringing new AI-powered
India, Russia in talks
and renew its search serv-
ices to avoid losing
features to search and will
share more details soon,”
14.63 per cent in March respectively. “The decline
2022, the government data in the rate of overall
showed on Monday. wholesale inflation in
Generally, the WPI meas- March is primarily con-
ures change in the overall tributed by a fall in prices
price of goods before they of basic metals, food prod-
are sold at retail outlets. ucts, textiles, non-food
However, the data showed articles, minerals, rubber
that the headline WPI & plastic products, crude
inflation reading has been petroleum & natural gas
on a downward movement and paper and paper prod-
for last three months this ucts,” said the ministry of
year — coming in at 4.80 commerce & industry.
per cent, 3.85 per cent and The data further said
1.34 per cent in January, that the rate of inflation
February and March based on WPI food index
deal and one with Apple
Inc., which the Times rep-
ort valued at roughly $20
billion in annual revenue,
California-based search
provider has commanding
market share in mobile
devices in the US and
much of the rest of the
world. Large language
models, such as the one
underpinning ChatGPT
and the chatbot function-
ality in Microsoft’s Bing,
are not new to Google.
It has been using LLMs
to anticipate the intent of
users’ queries, Google’s
chief business officer said
on the company’s fourth-
quarter earnings call in
February. Google is rolling
out Bard, its chatbot
search assistant, though
doing so at a cautious
pace. — Bloomberg
slowed from 2.76 per cent
in February 2023 to 2.32
per cent in March. “For
the primary articles seg-
ment, the inflation rate
eased to 2.40 per cent to
3.28 per cent in the previ-
ous month. Besides, the
prices of non-food articles
declined by 2.05 per cent
in March 2023 as com-
pared to February 2023.
Similarly, inflation in
wheat and pulses was
recorded at 9.16 per cent
and 3.03 per cent.
seen the value doubling.
Both the precious metals
— gold and silver — have
gained 20 per cent since
last Akshaya Tritiya and
prices of these metals
have almost doubled in
five years.
A few more days for
Akshaya Tritiya, gold
prices have seen levels of
`61,000 per 10 gm and as of
last week were trading
around `60,800 with the
outlook remaining bull-
ish. Last Akshaya Tritiya
on May 3, gold prices were
trading at `50,808 per 10
gm – a growth of 19.6 per
cent.
Similarly, silver prices
New Delhi, April 17:
India and Russia are dis-
cussing a free trade agree-
ment, ministers said on
Monday, a move that
would further deepen
bilateral commercial ties
that have flourished since
war broke out in Ukraine.
Foreign minister S.
Jaishankar told an event
in New Delhi his govern-
ment was in “advance
agreement” on a trade
treaty that Russia’s trade
and industry minister
too have made similar
gains. As on April 13, 2023,
silver prices were trading
around `76,200 and on
May 3, last year prices
stood at `63,049 per kg –
gains of 20.8 per cent in a
year, as per the data from
Kedia Commodities.
Both the metals have
seen prices almost dou-
bling in the past five
years. Gold prices were
trading at `31,383 per 10
gm on April 17, 2018.
Prices have appreciated
over 93 per cent in the past
five years. Similarly, the
silver price went up by 93
per cent.
Denis Manturov said
would bring a guarantee
of bilateral investment.
India has not explicitly
criticised Russia’s inva-
sion of Ukraine and has
called for a peaceful reso-
lution of the conflict
through dialogue.
Russia also displaced
Iraq last month to become
India’s top supplier of
crude oil. Indian imports
from Russia increased
almost fourfold to $46.33
billion in FY23. — Reuters
Cook arrives in the
country to open its
first local stores.
Revenue in India
grew by nearly 50 per
cent, from $4.1 billion a
year earlier, according
to a person familiar
with the matter, who
asked not to be named
as the information is
not public. Apple is
scheduled to post quar-
terly earnings on May
4 and has signaled it
expects total global
revenue to decline.
Cook is set to inaugu-
rate India’s first Apple
stores this week, seek-
ing to accelerate gro-
wth in a country
where the company’s
smartphones and com-
puters have never held
more than a minuscule
market share due to
their high cost. With
tech demand slowing
globally, Apple has
identified India’s expa-
nding middle class as
an attractive opportu-
nity and it’s also add-
ing local production at
an increasing rate.
Apple launched its
online store in India in
2020 and its sales drive
is set for a boost as it
opens its first local
store Tuesday in an
upscale business dis-
trict in Mumbai. Two
days later, it plans to
open an outlet in New
Delhi. — Bloomberg

ORANGE
Faf du
Plessis, RCB 259
Venkatesh
234
Iyer, KKR
Shikhar
Dhawan, PK 233
PURPLE
Mark Wood,
LSG 11
Yuzvendra
11
Chahal, RR
Rashid
Khan, GT 11
Short Takes
Sachin advises son
Arjun to work hard
B atting legend Sachin
Tendulkar has advised his
son Arjun, who made his IPL
debut in Mumbai Indians’
match against Kolkata Knight
Riders here, to continue work-
ing hard and respect the game.
The 23-year-old Arjun, an all-
rounder, opened the bowling
attack for MI in his first IPL
match and sent down two
impressive overs in which he
got the ball to move into the
right-handed batters early in
the innings.
He gave away 17 runs without
taking a wicket in the match on
Sunday.
“Arjun, today (Sunday) you
have taken another important
step in your journey as a crick-
eter. As your father, someone
who loves you and is passionate
about the game, I know you will
continue to give the game the
respect it deserves and the game
will love you back,” Tendulkar
tweeted.
“You have worked very hard to
reach here, and I am sure you
will continue to do so. This is
the start of a beautiful journey.
All the best!” wrote the iconic
batter.
Tendulkar — who was present
at the MI team dugout on
Sunday — and Arjun became
the first father-son pair to fea-
ture in the 15-year history of
IPL, and that too for the same
side.
Sanju’s 3 sixes on trot
swung it,says Sanga
R ajasthan Royals head coach
Kumar Sangakkara feels
captain Sanju Samson’s three
sixes on the trot against Gujarat
Titans premier leg-spinner
Rashid Khan proved to be the
game changer during their suc-
cessful run chase in the Indian
Premier League here.
Samson (60 off 32 balls) hit
three successive sixes off
Rashid in the 13th over of RR’s
chase of 178 to bring down the
asking rate.
“Not just you got us through
the powerplay, but that Rashid
Khan over and then how you
kicked on from there, that was
the game changer. Their best
bowler, some say the best T20
spinner in the world, was com-
pletely caught off the guard,”
Sangakkara told Samson in a
post-match video uploaded on
the Royals’ social media
accounts.
Regd. No. AP/VJA/41/24/2000.
Regd. No. H/SD/509/2021-23
Printed and published from on
Printed and Published by K. Sudhakar
Vijayawada
behalf by K.Sudhakar
of Deccan Chronicle
Holdings Limited.
behalf
Printed at Deccan Chronicle PressHoldings
of Deccan Chronicle
Limited at Deccan
at Rajahmundry: Chronicle
Vemagiri,
Holdings Press, No. C 3 & 4
Dhawaleswaram Rd, Rajahmundry,
Patamata, Industrial Estate,
Ph: 0883-2417618/2417208;
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Telefax: 0883-2417208. RNI Registration
RNI Registration No.45061/90
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Board:
Editor: Kaushik Mitter
Editor: Kaushik Mitter
OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST TO
COACH INDIAN ARCHERY SIDE
Kolkata, April 17: In a big
boost to Indian archery ahead
of the 2024 Paris Games, the
national federation has hired
Olympic gold medal-winning
coach Baek Woong Ki to work
with the recurve team. The
South Korean, who oversaw
his country’s double gold
medal-winning show in
women’s individual and team
sections at London Olympics,
will begin his India stint with
the season-opening World Cup
Stage 1, slated in Antalya,
Turkey from Tuesday.
This is the first time after the
2014 Asian Games that India
have hired a foreign coach.
SEASON-16
SUMMER BALL
CHENNAI EXPRESS
Conway, Dube shine; CSK chug into top four
Bengaluru, April 17:
Chennai Super Kings
defeated Royal
Challengers Bangalore by
eight runs in their Indian
Premier League match
here on Monday. Set an
imposing target of 227,
RCB looked on course
until the departure of
Glenn Maxwell (76 off 36
balls) and skipper Faf du
Plessis (62 off 33) in quick
succession. The duo added
126 runs for the third
wicket to raise hopes of an
RCB victory.
Earlier, Devon Conway
slammed a blistering 83 off
45 balls while Shivam
Dube blazed away to a 27-
ball 52 as Chennai Super
Kings posted an imposing
226 for six.
Opting to bowl, it was a
struggle for RCB’s bowling
attack as the CSK batters
went hammer and tongs
from the onset.
CSK started on a bright
note thanks to Conway
who first whipped Wayne
Parnell to the mid wicket
boundary in the second
over and, three balls later,
lifted the South African
over the fine leg fence.
Ruturaj Gaikwad strug-
gled as he departed in the
third over, finding Parnell
in the outfield from a
Mohammed Siraj delivery.
Conway was unper-
turbed as he went about
his business in style,
scooping Vijaykumar
Vyshak over the keeper for
a four, and a ball later,
Ajinkya Rahane (37 off 20)
executed a perfect hook
shot to send the ball into
the stands.
Rahane looked in a mood
to prove a point as he clob-
bered Parnell for two
boundaries and a six to
pick up 15 runs from the
sixth over.
Introduced into the
attack in the seventh over,
Glen Maxwell was hit out
of the park by Conway.
The duo looked in omi-
nous form as they gath-
ered a boundary or a six in
all most every over of
Mumbai Indians eye a Sundowner
MOSES KONDETY | DC
HYDERABAD, APRIL 17
It’s the Sunrisers vs
Mumbai Indians. Both
teams are coming off two
successive wins, those
that have given them the
only points of the tourna-
ment so far, in which they
lie eighth and ninth —
Sun below. In that context,
it will be a keen contest as
the Blues and Oranges
look to edge ahead of the
other in what will be the
fifth game for both teams
on Tuesday night.
The Rajiv Gandhi
International Cricket
Stadium here is loaded
with memories for quite a
few players. Hyderabad is
where Mumbai captain
Rohit Sharma made his
mark in the IPL, with erst-
while Deccan Chargers
during the early editions
and has quite a connect
with the crowd. So does
on
hometown boy Tilak
situated Varma, who has shown a
lot of promise and led the
charge for Mumbai. The
left-hander tops the team’s
batting chart with 177
runs at an average of 59.
Another interesting
In fact, the Archery
Association of India (AAI) also
have roped in two-time Italian
World Cup winner Sergio
Pagni, who is accompanying
the compound team to the
Turkey World Cup.
Woong Ki was initially part
of the Centre of Excellence in
SAI, Sonipat and now he has
been given a contract till the
Olympics.
“He has been made India
recurve coach and will be till
Asian Games and then the
Olympics,” Indian archery
high performance director and
Dronacharya Awardee
Sanjeeva Singh said. — PTI
TUESDAY | 18 APRIL 2023 | VIJAYAWADA | DECCAN CHRONICLE
Devon Conway of Chennai Super Kings plays a shot during the Indian Premier League
match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru on Monday.
their partnership.
Conway was at his brutal
best as he smoked
Wanindu Hasaranga de
Silva over midwicket for a
huge six in the 10th over,
before the Lankan spinner
broke the dangerous-look-
Sunrisers Hyderabad players during a practice session at the Rajiv Gandhi
International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday.
match-up would be that of Tim David can surely too helped himself to a
the Jansen brothers. whack the ball in the mid- half-century in that game
Marco has been striking dle.
crucial blows for
Sunrisers while Duan too dangerous with the captaincy debut against
made his debut for ball though, with Jason the Lucknow Super Giants
Mumbai against Kolkata Behrendorff and Riley the week before.
Knight Riders on Sunday. Meredith at the top. It
The Mumbai batting remains to be seen if leg-spinner
seems to have clicked, Arjun Tendulkar will fig- Markande
with SKY and Ishan ure in the attack.
Kishan getting among the
runs. Suryakumar Yadav Harry Brook’s century with six against his name.
has managed to overcome against
his batting blues in the Knight Riders has come as pacers Umran Malik,
previous game against a breath of fresh air. The Jansen and Bhuvneshwar
KKR. Now, Surya would be Englishman should be Kumar, who would be itch-
eager to outshine the Sun. pumped up for more. ing to sprint ahead on the
Then, Cameron Green and Captain Aiden Markram night.
Leaders Barca drop more points
Barcelona (Spain), April
17: A subdued Barcelona
could not break down
Getafe in a 0-0 draw on
Sunday, dropping more
points but still sitting 11
clear of Real Madrid at the
top of La Liga.
Third-place Atletico
Madrid beat Almeria 2-1 at
home with Antoine
Griezmann netting a
brace as he continued his
sparkling form.
Valencia sunk deeper
into the relegation mire
with a 2-0 home defeat by
Sevilla, who host
Manchester United in the
Europa League on
Thursday.
— AP
ing partnership by clean- 97 for two at the halfway
ing up Rahane. Conway stage. Shivam Dube
brought up his second fifty marked his arrival at the
on the trot with a double crease with a huge six off
in the same over. Maxwell, while Conway
The New Zealander then continued his onslaught
smashed Hasaranga for a and smashed rookie
boundary as CSK reached Vijaykumar for back-to-
— P. SURENDRA
and has turned it around
Mumbai do not appear after his first ball duck on
On the bowling front,
Mayank
has been
admirable and leads the
For the hosts, opener home list of wicket-takers
the Kolkata A few paces behind are
Champions Madrid beat
Cadiz on Saturday to cut
top flight, with Getafe,
15th, not creating much
back Barcelona’s lead, and danger.
with nine games remain- “Here you suffer,
ing it seems highly unlike- because the grass is high,
ly they will catch the usual tricks, so it’s
Barcelona — but Xavi hard, the clear chances
Hernandez’s side are limp- you have — you have to
ing over the line. put them away,” Barca
Barcelona drew 0-0 at goalkeeper Marc-Andre
home against Girona on ter Stegen told DAZN.
Monday and followed that “It’s a dry pitch, so it’s
up with a second consecu- difficult. We did things dif-
tive stalemate, the team ferently to normal.”
still wallowing after their Xavi echoed Ter Stegen’s
Copa del Rey semi-final complaint that the low
thrashing by Madrid earli- quality of the pitch played
er in April. a part in the result, but
The one positive for said Barca could not hide
Barca was a 22nd clean behind it.
sheet of the season in the “It’s not an excuse, we
SCORECARD
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj
Gaikwad c Parnell b DC
Mohammed Siraj 3, Devon
Conway b Patel 83, Ajinkya
Rahane b de Silva 37, Shivam
Dube c Mohammed Siraj b
Parnell 52, Ambati Rayudu c
Karthik b Vyshak 14, Moeen
Ali not out 19, Ravindra
Jadeja c sub (SS
Prabhudessai) b Maxwell 10,
MS Dhoni not out 1. Extras
(lb-1, nb-2, w-4) 7. Total (for
6 wkts in 20 overs) 226.
FoW: 1-16, 2-90, 3-170, 4-178,
5-198, 6-224.
Bowling: Mohammed Siraj 4-
0-30-1, Wayne Parnell 4-0-
48-1, Vijaykumar Vyshak 4-0-
62-1, Glenn Maxwell 2.4-0-
28-1, Wanindu Hasaranga de
Silva 2-0-21-1, Harshal Patel
3.2-0-36-1.
Royal Challengers
Ba
angalore: Virat Kohli b
Akash Singh 6, Faf du Plessis
c Dhoni b Ali 62, Mahipal
Lomror c Gaikwad b
Deshpande 0, Glenn Maxwell
c Dhoni b Theekshana 76,
Shahbaz Ahmed c Gaikwad b
Pathirana 12, Dinesh Karthik
c Theekshana b Deshpande
28, Suyash Prabhudessai c
Jadeja b Pathirana 19, Wayne
Parnell c Dube b Deshpande
2, Wanindu Hasaranga de
Silva not out 2. Extras (lb-5,
w-6) 11. Total (for 8 wkts in
20 overs) 218.
FoW: 1-6, 2-15, 3-141, 4-159,
5-191, 6-192, 7-197, 8-218.
Bowling: Akash Singh 3-0-
35-1, Tushar Deshpande 4-0-
45-3, Maheesh Theekshana
4-0-41-1, Ravindra Jadeja 4-
0-37-0, Matheesha Pathirana
4-0-42-2, Moeen Ali 1-0-13-1.
back fours. It turned out to
be a nightmarish outing
for young Vijaykumar as
Conway clobbered the
bowler over fine-leg
boundary for another
maximum.
Dube was not to be left
behind as he slammed
Harshal Patel over long-on
for another six. The
Indian batter carried on
and carted Siraj over mid-
wicket for a four and then
hooked a slower bouncer
from the bowler over
square leg for a maximum.
— PTI
ACTION TODAY
SRH VS MI
FROM 7.30 PM,
LIVE ON STAR SPORTS
HEAD to HEAD
Matches 19
MI 9 SRH 9 NR 1
FOR THE RECORD
● Harry Brook’s first century
(100 not out, against Kolkata
Knight at Kolkata) in the IPL
was the second century in 97
innings of 103 matches in
Twenty-20 cricket. It was also
the first century in this edition
of IPL.
● Ishan Kishan, who scored
3969 runs at an average of 28.76
and a strike rate of 130.51 with
three hundreds and 22 fifties in
148 innings of 155 matches,
needs 31 runs to become 25th
Indian and 141st batter overall
to score 4,000 runs in Twenty-
20 cricket.
LAST YEAR’S MATCH
● Sunrisers Hyderabad beat
Mumbai Indians by three runs
at Mumbai.
— S. PERVEZ QAISER
weren’t accurate, we made
chances but we could not
finish them,” said Xavi.
After a slow start, the
Catalans created the first
clear chance at the
Coliseum Alfonso Perez,
when Raphinha fired
against the post, with
Balde’s follow-up also
striking the woodwork.
Sergi Roberto pulled up
injured, seemingly with a
hamstring issue, adding to
Barcelona’s long list of
absentees. The league
leaders have badly missed
explosive winger
Ousmane Dembele and
creative midfielder Pedri
in recent weeks. — AFP
● Chennai Super Kings
● Delhi Capitals
● Gujarat Titans
● Kolkata Knight Riders
● Lucknow Super Giants
● Mumbai Indians
● Punjab Kings
● Rajasthan Royals
● Royal Challengers Bangalore
● Sunrisers Hyderabad PAGE
POINTS TABLE
Teams P W L N/R Points Net RR
RR 5 4 1 0 8 +1.354
LSG
CSK
5
5
3
3
2
2
0
0
6
6
+0.761
+0.265
GT 5 3 2 0 6 +0.192
PBKS
KKR
5
5
3
2
2
3
0
0
6
4
-0.109
+0.320
RCB
MI
5
4
2
2
3
2
0
0
4
4
-0.318
-0.389
SRH 4 2 2 0 4 -0.822
5 0 5 0 0 -1.488
Gavaskar heaps
praise on Dhoni
New Delhi, April 17:
Batting legend Sunil
Gavaskar has named
Chennai Super Kings
skipper Mahendra Singh
Dhoni as the best captain
in the Indian Premier
League history, saying
“there hasn’t been a cap-
tain like him and will
never be one like him in
future”. Dhoni completed
200 matches as captain of
CSK in the match against
Rajasthan Royals in
Chennai on April 12,
which they lost by three
runs. The 41-year-old for-
mer India captain was the
first player to achieve the
feat in IPL history.
“CSK know how to get
out of tough situations.
This has been possible
only under M. S. Dhoni’s
captaincy. Captaining 200
matches is very difficult.
Captaining so many
matches is a burden and
it could have affected his
performance as well,”
Gavaskar, himself a for-
mer India captain, said.
“But Mahi is different.
He is a different captain. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
There hasn’t been a cap-
tain like him and there and one no result till the
will never be one like him match against RR on
in the future,” said April 12.
Gavaskar. Gavaskar also praised
Dhoni has been part of star batter Virat Kohli for
CSK from the beginning giving his side Royal
of IPL, except for the two Challengers Bangalore a
years (2016-17) the team flying start in their
was suspended due to the matches so far this sea-
involvement of their offi- son.
cials in illegal activities. “Virat Kohli is giving
He led now-defunct RCB flying starts at the
Rising Pune Supergiants start of the innings. He
in the 2016 season in 14 deserves a lot of credit for
matches, taking his total the starts RCB is getting
match as captain to 214. and the runs the team is
Dhoni’s CSK have won
the IPL title four times.
His record as CSK skip-
per is 120 wins, 79 losses
managing to post on the
board because of his
starts. These are good
signs for RCB.” — PTI
MOEEN FEELS DHONI
CAN PLAY NEXT YEAR
New Delhi, April 17: ‘ESPNcricinfo’.
England’s seasoned all- “The way he’s playing,
rounder Moeen Ali feels
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
I don’t think it’ll be his
batting that stops him
“could definitely” fea- from playing, even if it’s
ture in the IPL next year, in two, three years’ time.
playing down the wide- “I wasn’t surprised at
spread supposition that how he played (against
the ongoing season will Rajasthan). I’ve been
be the Chennai Super watching him in the
Kings captain’s last nets, and he’s been bat-
appearance in the T20 ting unbelievably well.
league. At 41, the World “It’s just amazing to
Cup-winning former see from somebody at
India skipper continues that age. It’s not easy
to attract massive fol- when you come in so late
lowing across the length - people forget that a lot
and breadth of the coun- of the time, but that’s
try, and last week came what makes him so good
close to lifting CSK to a at his role.”
win over Rajasthan Moeen also drew a par-
Royals, with batting that allel between Dhoni and
reminded everyone of his former England
his best years. white-ball skipper Eoin
“He could definitely Morgan, under whom
play again next year,” the team won its first 50-
Moeen was quoted as over World Cup, in 2019.
saying by — PTI
Nithya, Nitesh win gold
at Brazil Para-Badminton
Sao Paulo, April 17: India’s Nithya Sre Sumathy
Sivan claimed twin gold medals following a stellar run
at the Brazil Para-Badminton International here. The
18-year-old Nithya defeated Peru’s Giuliana Poveda
Flores 22-20, 21-11 in the women’s singles SH6 category
finals to win the gold medal. She also combined with
Sivarajan Solaimalai to beat Hong Kong’s Chu Man
Kai and Choi Wing Kei 21-11, 21-17 in the mixed dou-
bles SH6 final.
The participants of SH6 classification comprises
‘standing/short stature’ players.
Tokyo Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat and
Sukant Kadam also struck gold in the men’s doubles
after defeating Korean pair of Joo Dongjae and Shin
Kyung Hwan 22-20, 21-19 in finals of SL3-SL4 class.
The SL3/SL4 class has players who play standing
with severe/minor lower limb impairment.
Bhagat also signed off with a singles silver after los-
ing 12-21, 13-21 to fellow Indian Kumar Nitesh in SL3
category, while Sukant secured a bronze. — PTI