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VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD

YSRCP honarary president YS VIjayalakshmi gives cake to her son and Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy during theChristmas celebrations, at Pulivendula in Kadapa district on Wednesday.

MOM’S LLOVE

VIJAYAWADAWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated December 25, 2019 5:00 PM

ALMANACMonth & Paksham:Margashirsha & Krishna PakshaTithi : Amavasya: 10:42 am Nakshatram: Mula: 04:51 pmTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 01:38 pm – 03:01 pmYamagandam: 06:47 am – 08:09 amVarjyam: 03:14 pm – 04:51 pm,

07:00 pm – 04:21 amGulika: 09:32 am - 10:54 amGood Time: (to start any

important work)Amritakalam: 10:24 am – 12:01 pmAbhijit Muhurtham: 11:54 am – 12:38 pm

Forecast: Mostly SunnyTemp: 32/19Humidity: 59%Sunrise: 06.43Sunset: 05.49

TODAY

BRAZIL PREZ ‘LOST MEMORY’AFTER HE FELL IN BATHROOM

FIRE RAVAGES OIL PROCESSINGPLANT IN EAST GODAVARI DISTRICT

SOLAR ECLIPSE WATCHERS SHOULDUSE SAFE VIEWING EQUIPMENT

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro temporarily lost his memory afterhitting his head in a fall at his official residence, he said in an

interview on Tuesday. The 64-year-old slipped Monday night in abathroom at the Alvorada Palace, the latest health scare for the Brazilianleader who was wounded in a knife attack in September2018 while campaigning for the presidency. "At thatmoment I lost memory," he said of the fall. "Thefollowing day, this morning, I managed to get back a lotof things and now I am fine," Bolsonaro said in atelephone interview with Band television.

When the annular solar eclipse takes place onDecember 26, sky watchers should use safe

viewing equipment and proper techniques to view thecelestial event as the infrared and ultraviolet rays of theSun can cause severe retinal damage, a seniorastronomer has said. A solar eclipse occurs when theMoon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally orpartly obscuring the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipsetakes place when the moons apparent diameter is smaller than that ofthe Suns and blocks most of the Sun’s light.

Amajor fire broke out in an oil processing plant in Andhra Pradesh'sEast Godavari district on Wednesday. According to police, the fire

engulfed the plant belonging to Sri Chakra Oils & Extraction PrivateLimited at Peera Ramachandrapuram village in the Anaparthy block. Firetenders rushed to the spot anddoused the flames. There were nocasualties. Police said the cause ofthe fire was under investigation. Thecompany is estimated to havesuffered huge loss in the fire.

WHATSAPP DARK MODE FINALLYREADY FOR SOME ANDROID USERSWhatsApp's long-awaited dark mode feature is finally ready for

release and reportedly some of its users have alreadytested it. Website WaBetaInfo, which follows developmentswith the beta version of the app, has revealed that the darktheme update is ready for the Android version of WhatsApp.Additionally, the iOS dark theme is also nearly set for release. WhatsAppis also testing a new beta update for iOS users which would bringfeatures like hide muted status update, splash screen and app badgeimprovements, among others. WhatsApp's new splash screen would letiPhone users see its logo whenever they open the app.

All administrative organsshould be at one place: V-PPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Disfavouring Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's plan tohave "three capitals" forAndhra Pradesh, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naiduon Wednesday said adminis-tration should remain cen-tralised while developmentshould be decentralised.

The state Secretariat, HighCourt and Legislature shouldall be in one place, the Vice-President asserted, adding itwas for the state government todecide where it should be.

"I am telling this with my 42years of (political) experience.Don't see this from a politicalor controversial viewpoint,"Venkaiah Naidu said, in aninformal chat with media at hisfamily-run Swarna BharatTrust at Atukuru near here.

Last week, the Chief

Minister hinted that the statecould have three capitals, likein South Africa, with the exec-utive capital in Visakhapatnam,legislative capital in Amaravatiand judiciary capital inKurnool.

Three days later, a commit-tee of experts appointed by thestate government too came

out with recommendations onsimilar lines, suggesting thatthe "capital functions" could bedistributed among the variousregions of the state.

This triggered protests, par-ticularly in the Amaravatiregion, with farmers who gaveaway over 33,000 acres of theirfertile agricultural lands for

building the capital city, oppos-ing the state government'smove. The farmers met theVice-President on Tuesdayevening and pleaded with himto see that the capital is notrelocated.

Venkaiah Naidu, in his chatwith reporters, recalled that healways stood for decentralizeddevelopment.

"After the state bifurcation,when I was the Union Minister,I saw to it that various nation-al institutions were establishedin different districts of thestate. That's how developmentshould be decentralised. Butmy firm opinion is that alladministrative functionsshould be in one place so thatit becomes easier," he noted.

To another query, he said, "Ifthe Centre asks me, I willexpress the same view."

Continued on Page 2

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Demanding that the AndhraPradesh government govern-ment drop the plan to relocatethe capital, women onWednesday recited 'VishnuSahasranama' and offered spe-cial prayers at the village wherePrime Minister Narendra Modilaid the foundation-stone onOctober 22, 2015 for develop-ment of Amaravati.

The women belonged to thefamilies that surrendered theirfertile agricultural lands for thedevelopment of the capital.

Vishnu Sahasranama is acompilation of thousand

names of Lord Vishnu.The women conducted spe-

cial pujas in a traditional man-

ner at Uddandarayunipalemvillage, praying that their futurenot be pushed into darkness.

They cooked sweet pongal asan offering to God on theoccasion.

The farmers and their fam-ilies have been on an agitationpath since December 18demanding that the YSRCongress government drop itsmove to shift the executivecapital to Visakhapatnam.

In Tulluru, youth playedsports and games in the openas part of the protest againstthe proposal to shift the capi-tal.

Sporting face masks ofPrime Minister NarendraModi and Union HomeMinister Amit Shah, someyoungsters were seen doingexercises on the road.

Continued on Page 2

Women protest by reciting Vishnu Sahasranama

PNS n LUCKNOW

Condemning violence overthe new citizenship law, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onWednesday said the problemover the CitizenshipAmendment Act was one of"legacy issues", asserting that"we will challenge the chal-lengers".

More than a dozen peoplehave died across Uttar Pradeshin protests against the law. Thedamage to public property isestimated around Rs 100 crorein seven districts of the state.

Addressing a gathering inthe state capital after inaugu-rating the 25-ft tall bronze stat-ue of former PM Atal BihariVajpayee at Lok Bhawan, thestate secretariat, Modi said

the legacy problems includedArticle 370, Ram temple issueand Citizenship AmendmentAct.

"We have solved some of theproblems that we got as lega-cy...We will challenge the chal-lengers," he said, adding the

way to give citizenship torefugees from Pakistan,Bangladesh, Afghanistan hasbeen cleared.

"So far, we have focused onour rights. But now, we shouldfocus on our duties.

Continued on Page 2

CAA is a legacy issue, we willchallenge the challengers: PM

BJP will notbacktrackon NRC: PuriPNS n SAMBALPUR (ODISHA)

BJP National SecretarySuresh Pujari Wednesdaysaid the party will not back-track on implementing thenational register of citizens(NRC) as it is essential for thesecurity and self respect of thecountry.

NRC, he said, is in theinterests of the country.

Pujari, who is the MP ofneighbouring Bargarh, told apress conference here thatintruders are availing of allthe government benefits andthe political parties are usingthem as vote banks.

NRC is an ideological issueand the party will not back-track in implementing it.NRC is in the interest of thecountry, he said.

The number of theBangaldeshi intruders areincreasing remarkably inWest Bengal and it will grad-ually face a Kashmir-like sit-uation. It is essential to iden-tify the intruders and deportthem, he added.

Describing the CitizenAmendment Act (CAA) as a"historical law", Pujari said itis a positive one and argu-ments against it is not accept-able under any circumstance.

Stating that some politicalparties are giving wronginformation on the aboutthe Act, he said Hindus,Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains andParsis are minority commu-nities in Islamic countries likePakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan.

PNS n HYDERABAD

AIMIM President AsaduddinOwaisi on Tuesday appealed toTelangana Chief Minister K.Chandrashekhar Rao to staywork on National PopulationRegister (NPR) as done by theKerala government.

Addressing a meeting atMahabubnagar on Tuesdaynight to protest against theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and National Registerof Citizens (NRC), he hopedthat the Telangana RashtraSamithi (TRS) governmentwill not allow NPR, which is

scheduled to begin in Aprilnext year.

"With folded hands I amappealing to the Chief Minister

to stop NPR which is not goodfor the country," he said, hoursafter the Union Cabinet gave itsapproval for NPR.

All India Majlis-e-IttehadulMuslimeen (AIMIM) chief

lauded TRS for opposingCitizenship Amendment Bill inthe Parliament.

"The Chief Minister toldme he will not do politics onHindu-Muslim," said Owaisi,who along with leaders ofUnited Muslim ActionCommittee addressed themeeting.

The Hyderabad MP is like-ly to lead a delegation of ActionCommittee to meetChandrashekhar Rao onWednesday to request him tostay NPR and oppose pro-posed NRC.

Continued on Page 2

Owaisi urges KCR to stay work on NPR

Asaduddin Owaisi

I am appealing to theChief Minister to stopNPR which is not goodfor the country,Asadudding Owaisisaid, hours after theUnion Cabinet gave itsapproval for NPR

Pondy CM petitionsKovind to recall BediPNS n PUDUCHERRY

Puducherry Chief MinisterV Narayanasamy onWednesday sought theintervention ofPresident Ram NathKovind to immediate-ly recall Lt GovernorKiran Bedi, saying she hasbeen "impeding" implementa-tion of various welfare mea-sures and decisions of his cab-inet. Talking to reporters here,the Chief Minister said he had

presented a detailed memo-randum to the President dur-

ing the latter'svisit to theUnion Territory on

December 23 to partic-ipate in a convocation.

"I have requested thePresident to intervene

and recall Kiran Bedi asLt Governor," he said.He said he had pointed out

in the memorandum that Bedihad not contributed anythingto the development ofPuducherry.

PNS n DUBAI

Two Indian students werekilled in a road accident inDubai in the early hours ofChristmas Day on Wednesday,according to media reports.

Rohit Krishnakumar, 19,and Sharat Kumar, 21, bothfrom Kerala, were returningfrom a Christmas party whenthey met with the accident,The Khaleej Times reported.

Both died on the spot, thepaper said.

While Krishnakumar waspursing higher studies in the

UK, Kumar was studying in auniversity in the US, it said.

They were spending theiruniversity break in Dubai withfamily.

The two had completedtheir schooling in DelhiPrivate School, Dubai, theGulf News reported.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy onWednesday laid the founda-tion stones for a slew of pro-jects in Pulivendula con-stituency in Kadapa district.

Addressing a public meetingat the Government JuniorCollege Grounds inPulivendula, the ChiefMinister said he laid the foun-dation for a number of projectsduring the first phase of devel-opmental works to be taken upin the constituency.

Foundation was laid for Rs347 crore GovernmentMedical College. In order tostabilise an ayacut of 15,000acres, a lift irrigation projectlinked to the Galeru-Nagari

Sujala Sravanthi (GNSS) pro-ject canal would be construct-ed, a Rs 58 crore drinkingwater project on GNSS and a1.1 tmc feet reservoir was

being constructed atGiddangulavaripalle at a costof Rs 350 crore, the ChiefMinister said.

Continued on Page 2

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy laid the foundation stones for a slew ofprojects in Pulivendula on Wednesday

‘Chief Minister’s touch’ forPulivendula constituency

Foundation stones laid for a slew of projectsdesigned to usher in development of the region

Actingthatleaves a lastingimpression

World'scheapest,biggest telecommarket faces crisis

Modiunveils statueof former PMVajpayee

9

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2019 Rewind: Wantedopposition

{

2 Indian students killedin road accident in Dubai

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AP proposes seaport worthRs 10k-cr at RamayapatnamPNS n HYDERABAD

The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment is proposing to set up aGreenfield seaport atRamayapatnam in Prakasamdistrict with an outlay of Rs10,000 crore.

According to the minutes ofthe meeting held by an ExpertAppraisal Committee (EAC)under the Ministry ofEnvironment, RITES Ltd, astate-owned engineering con-sultancy company, specialisingin the field of transport infra-structure made an applicationfor necessary permissions toprepare Terms of Reference(ToR).

"The Government ofAndhra Pradesh is proposingto develop a Greenfield port atRamayapatnam in AndhraPradesh to meet the everincreasing cargo demand inthe State. It is proposed to bedeveloped as a non-major state

port at Ramayapatnam alongAndhra Coast," the EAC said.

It has planned to develop theport as an all-weather portwith world class terminal facil-ities well suited to meet thepresent and future needs of thetrades and also suitable todevelop as a major port.

It will have an artificial deepsea harbour along an openstraight sea coast, the panelsaid.

The Ramayapatnam portwill be developed over an areaof 802 acres during first phaseand 3,437 acres for the ultimateprojected traffic, for the cre-ation of permanent marinefacilities for mechanized cargohandling, transportation andstorage / retrieval to meet thedemands of trade and shippingactivities, it said."Investment/Cost of the projectis Rs 10,000 crore..," it said.

Prized birds fetch handsomereturns for fights organisers PNS n MACHILIPATNAM

Sankranti festival in AndhraPradesh is synonymous withcockfights.

As the festival is barely threeweeks away, those who arekeen to stake their birds forcockfights are scouring themarkets to spot the roostersthat they feel holds the bestchance of victory.

Everywhere, discussion iscentered around cockfightsand the winning prospects ofvarious breeds of birds. Thosewho take part in cockfights aremaking arrangements to buythe best roosters available inthe market, spending anythingbetween Rs 10,000 and Rs15,000 per bird, depending onthe colour, size and breed.

Some of the stakeholders arefeeding their game birds with

cashew nuts, pistachio, eggsand other costly feed, treatingthem like their own babies.

Depending on the colour ofthe game birds, the stakehold-ers are spending from Rs 5,000to Rs 10,000 on each bird toacquire them. If the birdbelongs to a prized breed, the

price goes up to even Rs 8,000to Rs 15,000 per game bird.

The contenders don nothesitate to buy the birds if theylike the colour.

During the past two weeks,a large number of the gamebirds are being seen at theSunday market in the city.

Right from 4 am onSundays, those who are keen tofield their birds in the cock-fights are visiting the marketfrom Machilipatnam andneighbouring areas and pur-chasing the birds depending ontheir size, colour and breed.

Depending on thecolour of the gamebirds, the stakeho-lders are spendingfrom Rs 5,000 to Rs10,000 on each birdto acquire them.They expect theirinvestment to bearfruit

SCR to ply specialtrains to clear rushPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Vijayawada divisionof the South CentralRailway on Wednesdayannounced 18 Suvidhaspecial trains betweenHatia and BengaluruCantonment (viaVizianagaram, Duvvada,Vijayawada, Nellore) inorder to clear extra rushof passengers.

Accordingly, Train No.80635 Hatia - BengaluruCantt. Suvidha specialwill depart from Hatia at11 pm on January 3, 10,17, 24 and 31 andFebruary 7, 14, 21 and 28(Fridays) and arrive atBengaluru Cantt at 12.15on Sundays.

In the return direc-tion, Train No. 80636Bengaluru Cantt - HatiaSuvidha Special Trainwil l depart f romBengaluru Cantt at 10

pm on January 5, 12, 19and 26 and February 2, 9,16 and 23 and March 1(Sundays) and arrive atHatia at 12 pm onTuesdays.

En-route, these spe-cial trains will stop atRourkela, Jharsuguda,Sambalpur, Bargarh Rd,Balangir Jn, Titlagarh,Kesinga, Muniguda,Rayagada, Parvatipuram,Bobbili, Vizianagaram,

Kottavalasa, Duvvada,Tuni, Samalkot ,R a j a h m u n d r y ,Tadepalligudem, Eluru,Vijayawada, Ongole,Nel lore, Gudur,Sullurupeta, Perambur,Katpadi and Jolarpettaistat ions in both thedirections. These specialtrains will consist of AC IITier, AC III Tier, SleeperClass and General SecondClass Coaches.

Free WiFi to all villages connected via Bharat Net till March 2020: PrasadPNS n REWARI (HARYANA)

WiFi services being providedthrough BharatNet in villagesacross India will be free ofcharge till March 2020,Telecom and InformationTechnology Minister RaviShankar Prasad said onWednesday.

"We have already connected1.3 lakh gram panchayatsthrough BharatNet optical fibrenetwork... Our target is to takethis to 2.5 lakh gram panchay-ats. To promote utilisation ofBharatNet services, we willprovide WiFi free in all villagesconnected through BharatNettill March 2020," the ministersaid.

Currently, 48,000 villagesconnected under the BharatNetproject have WiFi access.

The minister said all com-

mon service centres (CSCs)will offer banking services. Assuch, CSCs act as access pointsfor delivery of digital servicesand the number of these cen-tres has increased from about

60,000 in 2014 to 3.60 lakh cur-rently. Haryana itself has 11,000CSCs offering an array of 650services.

CSC e-Governance ServicesIndia Ltd is implementing the

Digital Village initiative inrural and remote areas of thecountry. Overall, one lakh vil-lages are set to be transformedinto digital villages.

Gurawara village in the

Rewari district of Haryana hasbeen developed as a digital vil-lage by CSC. The CSC unitthere, operated by village levelentrepreneur Sonu Bala, facil-itates access to government-to-

citizen services through thedigital seva portal.

CSC e-Governance ServicesIndia Ltd CEO Dinesh Tyagisaid, "The Digital Villagescheme has the potential totruly transform the villageeconomy and reduce the digi-tal divide."

A DigiGaon or digital vil-lage was conceptualised as aconnected village where citi-zens can avail various e-ser-vices of the central govern-ment, state governments andprivate players.

These villages are projectedto be change agents, promotingrural entrepreneurship andbuilding rural capacities andlivelihoods through communi-ty participation and collectiveaction.

The scheme focuses onempowering the entire village

community by providing accessto education, health or finan-cial services through the digi-tal medium.

In a digital village, residentsare encouraged to become dig-itally literate. Residents canavail quality healthcare throughtele-medicine consultationsunder allopathy, homeopathyand ayurvedic systems.

The digital village also pro-motes a financially inclusivesociety by providing banking,insurance and pension ser-vices at the doorstep of citizens.In addition, the entire village isWiFi enabled, so residents aredigitally connected.

Such villages are alsoequipped with an LED assem-bly unit, a sanitary napkin unit,a paper bag-making unit and arural BPO to promote employ-ment among the youth.

Protests continue to rock AmaravatiPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Amaravati capital region hasbeen put on high alert even asthe agitation of the farmersagainst the proposal of threeCapitals in the State entered itseight day on Wednesday.

The protesters staged a mahadharna at Tulluru onWednesday and continuedtheir relay hunger-strike atVelagapudi.

Farmers have intensifiedtheir agitation over the past few

days and several political par-ties, people's organisations andstudents unions have pledgedsupport to the struggle.

Dharnas, rasta rokos andrallies have become a regularfeature in the Capital villagesover the last one week. Withthis, the police have heightenedtheir vigil and arranged pick-ets in all the 29 villages underthe purview of CRDA.

In a fresh development onWednesday, the police pro-mulgated ban orders under

Section 144 of CrPC andSection 30 of the Police Act.

As such, dharnas, rallies,assembly of more than five per-sons, rasta rokos and publicmeets cannot be organised inthe area, according to theGuntur Urban police.

In view of the route march,dharna and other forms ofprotest being contemplated bycertain organisations on thePrakasam barrage, the policeannounced imposition of banorders under Sections 144 and

30 in the area.As no organisation has

obtained permission for theirprotest programmes, the policehave deployed additional forceson the barrage for bandobustduty.

Stoppers and barricadeswould be used to prevent theprotesters from going aheadwith their protest programmes.

The police said if anybodyviolated orders, action wouldbe taken against them as perthe relevant laws.

A DigiGaon ordigital village wasconceptualisedas a connectedvillage wherecitizens can availvarious e-servicesof the centralgovernment,stategovernments andprivate players

Jagan gives ‘CM's touch' to Pulivendula

‘Administrationcentralised and devptbe decentralised’

Continued fromPage1

On another issuethat has also raked upa controversy in AP inrecent days, the Vice-President stressed thatpr imar y educat ionshould be in the moth-er tongue only.

"My opinion on pri-macy of the mothertongue remains firm.

Telugu should be themedium of instructionin al l governmentschools at the primarylevel , the Vice-President said.

Even Prime MinisterNarendra Modi hasbeen emphasizing onthe importance ofmother tongue,"

Venkaiah Naidu point-ed out.

The YSR Congressgovernment plannedto do away with Telugumedium of instructionin all schools for class-es 1 to 6 from the nextacademic year byintroducing Englishmedium.

It planned to scale itup gradually over thesubsequent four yearsup to class X.

There has been avociferous demandfrom various quartersthat English mediumbe introduced only asa parallel to Telugumedium.

The issue is nowpending in the HighCourt.

Continued from Page1

He said Rs 63 crore wouldbe spent to lay drinkingwater pipelines on a stretchof 142.5 km. JaganmohanReddy said that foundationstones was laid for Rs 114crore project pertaining tobeaut i f icat ion of thePulivendual town, construc-tion of Anganwadi Bhavans,laying of CC roads, provid-ing better infrastructure atthe Government JuniorCollege and construction offive lift irrigation projects atvarious places in the con-stituency.

These works would be takenup with PADA funds, headded.

Disclosing that seven ware-houses were being set up in thePulivendula constituency, theChief Minister said Rs 13.2crore would be spent on pro-

viding basis infrastructure atthe market yards inPulivendula andSimhadripuram.

The CM said a 132 KV elec-tric substation would be com-ing up at Nallacheruvupalli ata cost of Rs 27 crore and thiswould benefit 14 villages.

He said five 33/11 KV sub-stations were being set up tosupply power for pump sets inabout 10 villages and about10,000 domestic users. Forthis, foundation-stone waslaid for works that will cost Rs19.6 crore, he said.

Similarly, foundation-stonewas laid for a Rs 100-croreUnderground Drainage pro-ject in Pulivendula at a cost ofRs 57.6 crore.

Jaganmohan Reddy laid thefoundation stone for manymore developmental projectsin the constituency duringthe day-long programmes.

CAA a legacy issue,we'll challenge thechallengers: PM

Continued from Page1

A government should not work only forfive years but also for five generations," hesaid, adding those who damage public prop-erties should question themselves. Peopleshould not believe in rumours and misin-formation," said the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister also praised UttarPradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath fordevelopment works he has undertaken inthe state. "Good governance is possible onlywhen one takes an inclusive view. And, I amglad that Yodi Adityanath is followingthis," he said.

Modi also laid the foundation of AtalMedical University in Lucknow and under-lined the importance of preventive health-care. He said programmes such as SwachchBharat, Yoga and Fit India are a part of this.

"Preventive healthcare for animals isgood for human health too," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the priority ofhis government is "affordability of health-care" and Ayushman Bharat is the biggestsuch scheme in the world.

He also said as an MP, Vajpayee had givena new identity to Lucknow and now (UnionDefence Minister) Rajnath Singh is carry-ing forward the the good work.

Owaisi urges KCR to stayNPR work, slams Centre

Continued from Page1

Owaisi slammed both PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andUnion Home Minister AmitShah for hiding truth relatingto NRC, NPR and detentioncentres.

"CAA, NPR and NRC are allinterlinked. What they (Modiand Shah) are saying is untrue,"he said.

The MP even played anaudio of Amit Shah's statementin Lok Sabha that NRC willdefinitely be carried out acrossthe country as it was part ofBJP's election manifesto.

Owaisi said the same wassaid in the Presidential addressto both houses of Parliamentand Modi himself stated it aninterview to a television chan-nel.

He also disputed their claimon detention centres. He

recalled that then MaharashtraChief Minister DevendraFadnavis had stated that adetention centre was beingbuilt in Navi Mumbai.

"A detention centre is beingbuilt in Karanataka while inAssam a detention centre ofthe size of seven football fieldsis being constructed," he said.

Owaisi quoted from thewebsite of Union Ministry ofHome Affairs to say that NPRis the first step towards cre-ation of NRC.

"Then Minister of State forHome Kiren Rejiju had alsotold Parliament on November26, 2014 that NPR is the firststep towards NRC," he said.

Explaining the link betweenNPR and NRC, Owaisi saidunder NPR even a low-rankofficial could write a remarkthat the information providedby a household is doubtful and

depending on this such nameswill be deleted from NRC.

He claimed that CAA isaimed at ensuring that all thenon-Muslims missing fromNRC are granted citizenship.He referred to the state byAssam's Finance Minister that5.4 lakh Bengali Hindus, whowere missing from NRC,would get citizenship underCAA.

He said it was unfortunatethat Modi did not say anythingabout 18 people killed in UttarPradesh, two in Karnatakaand the police excesses onstudents of Jamia MilliaIslamia and Aligarh MuslimUniversity.

Owaisi alleged that innocentpeople were killed in theexcesses committee by policein Uttar Pradesh. He demand-ed independent judicial probeinto the killings.

Women protest byreciting VishnuSahasranama

Continued from Page1

In Velagapudi, children joined theirelders in the relay fast, while the farmerswrote letters to the MunicipalAdministration Secretary and the CapitalRegion Development AuthorityCommissioner, stating they were theones who gave up their lands for the cap-ital development.

"We are not paid artistes," they assert-ed, rebutting the claims of YSRC leaders.

At Tallayapalem village, the protestorsconducted a "jala deeksha", standingwaist-deep in river Krishna and demand-ing that Amaravati be continued as thestate capital.

BJP state president KannaLakshminarayana met the agitating farm-ers and extended solidarity.

"The state capital should not be changedwhenever a regime changes. The Uniongovernment granted funds for the devel-opment of the capital after the farmerssurrendered their lands. Development ofthe state will be hit if the capital is relo-cated," Lakshminarayana said.

CLP seekspolice nod forDec 28 rally PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana CongressLegislature Party (TCLP) hassought permission fromTelangana police to organisea rally from Gandhi Bhavanto Dr BR Ambedkar Statue,Lower Tank Bund onDecember 28 on the eve ofIndian National CongressCommittee Formation Day.The rally will be held underthe slogan 'Save Nation- SaveConstituency'.

CLP leader Mallu BhattiVikramarka addressed a let-ter to the DGP M MahenderReddy and City PoliceCommissioner AnjaniKumar in this regard.

Bhatti mentioned in theletter that they will hold arally from Gandhi Bhavanvia Nampally, NizamCollege, Basheer Bagh FlyOver to Ambedkar Statue,Lower Tank Bund.

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 26, 2019 vijayawada 03

Given Andhra PradeshChief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy's

vision of having three capitalcities, there is need to have arelook at the core idea of a'grand' Amaravati, nurtured bythe previous government. Thelarger question now is whetherAmaravati is feasible at a timewhen the state is reeling underhuge debts and is beset withmany socio-economic, finan-cial and developmental chal-lenges.

Jagan has said that whileAmaravati could function as alegislative capital;Visakhapatnam may be madean executive capital, andKurnool could be developed asa judicial capital by establish-ing the High Court there.

Revisiting Amaravati The previous TDP govern-

ment had a grand vision ofdeveloping Amaravati as agreenfield megalopolis at anestimated cost of over Rs 1.09lakh crore. It pooled 33,000acres of land through LandPooling Scheme (LPS) andnotified 8,603 sq km of area as

the capital region and anoth-er 217 sq km of area as corecapital city. The city is project-ed to host a population of 3.5million people in 35 years.

Today, the need for a megacapital to serve as a growthengine of the economy isdebatable, considering thatmany mega cities in India arefacing huge infrastructuralbottlenecks and a host of otherproblems associated withurbanisation, leave alone thefragile ecology on whichAmaravati is envisaged.

Get priorities right The state is obliged to spend

heavily on social and physicalinfrastructure as it fares poor-ly in key indicators of develop-ment. For example, with justabout 67.4 percent, AndhraPradesh's literacy rate leavesmuch to be desired and islower than the national aver-age of 74.04 percent.

The 2018 CAG Report onState Finances highlighted thatthe share of expenditure oneducation in the state as a pro-portion of total expenditurewas lower than the corre-

sponding average of otherGeneral Category States in2016-17, while that on Healthwas only marginally higher.The quality of expenditurehas also been a problem withthe state's share of capitalexpenditure to total expendi-ture being just 11.48 percent in2016-17. For the same year, thecapital expenditure in thesocial sector, covering educa-tion, health and family welfare,water supply and sanitation,among others, was just 4.62percent of the total expendi-ture.

Andhra Pradesh is facing afiscal quandary, with mount-ing debts totaling about Rs 3lakh crore on the one hand andpoor and declining quality of

expenditure on the other hand.The need of the hour for APis to get its priorities right. Thestate must spend more oncore public and merit goods,while adopting measures torationalize expenditure.Amidst this dire requirement,the moot question is: Does APhave the fiscal space andcapacity to build a 'grand'capital?

Decentralisation as mantraPerhaps no other state in

India has seen the negativeconsequences of over-central-ization as Andhra Pradesh did,when the state lost Hyderabadpost bifurcation. The rulers oferstwhile Andhra Pradesh haddeveloped Hyderabad as an IT

and Industrial hub, virtuallyignoring the development ofother regions of the state. Postbifurcation, AP has beenreduced to an agrarian econo-my with low industrial and ser-vice sector base.

Can AP now afford to devel-op Amaravati along the linesof Hyderabad and face thelurking danger of anotherbifurcation, especially whenfeelings of alienation are strongamong the people ofRayalaseema?

Decentralized developmentis the sine qua non for Andhra

Pradesh as seven out of its 13districts are backward. Thiswas factored during bifurca-tion with the talk of specialpackage and incentives forRayalaseema (four districts)and North Coastal Andhra(three districts). On February20, 2014, former PrimeMinister Manmohan Singhassured that backward areas inAP would be given a specialpackage on the lines ofBundelkhand region and KBKdistricts of Odisha.Subsequently, the Centreagreed to give only Rs 350crore per year for the develop-ment of the seven backwarddistricts, against the proposalsfor Rs 24,350 crore sent by thestate government for imple-mentation over five years.

Himachal Pradesh modelAndhra Pradesh would do

well to take a leaf out of thetransformation of HimachalPradesh. The mountain state,despite having a difficult ter-rain with 90 percent of its pop-ulation spread over rural areas,could achieve remarkable eco-nomic growth and improve

human development out-comes, especially in the lasttwo decades. Its educationalattainment, especially amongexcluded groups, is amongthe highest in India and theshare of women in workforceis among the largest whencompared to most other states.

A 2015 World Bank report,titled Scaling the heights:Social Inclusion andSustainable Development inHimachal Pradesh, attributesthe success of HimachalPradesh largely to cohesivesociety, accountable bureau-cracy, and committed leader-ship.

Himachal is of course small-er than AP; yet, its develop-ment is largely an outcome ofpolitical will, efficient andresponsive bureaucracy, anddecentralized development.

The idea of three capitals Decentralization of admin-

istration through three capitalscould be the first step. It holdsthe promise for a larger schemeof decentralized development.Decentralized administrationis in practice in many states in

one form or another. In abouta dozen states, the High Courtsare located outside their capi-tal cities. For example, KeralaHigh Court is located inCochin and Rajasthan HighCourt is located in Jodhpur.

Experience from other statessuggests that it is not always thecapital city that should shoul-der the responsibility of drivingthe industrial and service sec-tor-led growth. For example,Ahmedabad is the growthengine of Gujarat and Cochinis the financial capital of Kerala.

Similarly, Andhra Pradeshshould leverage the strength ofits urban centres likeVisakhapatnam, Vijayawada,and Tirupati, among others, tospur the industrial and servicesector growth, rather thanbuilding a megalopolis from ascratch. AP must channelize itsenergy in addressing regionalimbalances and investing inareas like education, health,and irrigation to foster inclu-sive development.

(The writer is an independentjournalist. He can be contactedat addprudvi@gmail.com)

PRUDHVI VEGESNA

The 2018 CAG Report on State Financeshighlighted that the share of expenditure oneducation in the state as a proportion of totalexpenditure was lower than thecorresponding average of other GeneralCategory States in 2016-17, while that onHealth was only marginally higher

Decentralised development should be AP's priority

Give capital or statehoodto Rayalaseema: MysooraPNS n HYDERABAD

Political leaders fromRayalaseema region onWednesday wrote to ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan Reddydemanding that he declareGreater Rayalaseema as thecapital of the state.

In a meeting held atHyderabad, former ministersfrom the region, MV MysooraReddy and S Sailajanath, alongwith former DGP Dinesh Reddyaffixed their signatures to the let-ter.

They noted that people ofKurnool region made sacrificesfor the state and felt that thesesacrifices should not go waste."Therefore, we have put forwardthe demand to set up the statecapital in greater Rayalaseemaregion," the letter said.

Pledging their support todecentralised development, they

urged Jaganmohan Reddy togive weightage to Rayalaseemaregion in the issue of the statecapital.

Even when the High Courtwas being shifted fromHyderabad, some advocates andpeople's organizations staged aprotest and demanded the gov-ernment set up the state capitalin Kurnool.

Mysoora Reddy urged the

government to fulfil the justdemand of the people ofKurnool who have sacrificed thecapital city for the unity ofTelugus.

He pointed out that the peo-ple of north coastal Andhranever put forward the demandto set up capital city in the regionand contended that the peopleof Rayalaseema region havebeen demanding the govern-

ment to set up the capital city inthe region.

In the event of the govern-ment not declaring the state cap-ital in Rayalaseema region, theyurged the government to grantstatehood to Rayalaseema.

Mysoora Reddy said that for-mer Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu introducedthe system of land pooling inHyderabad prior to implement-ing it in Amaravati region.

Mysoora Reddy alleged thatChandrababu Naidu resorted toreal estate business in Amaravatiregion.

Referring to Srisailam pro-ject , he said that theRayalaseema region wasflooded when the project wasunder construction. Thoughthe project is in Rayalaseemaregion, it feeds the lands incoastal region, the formerminister lamented.

Kanna says BJP will blockmove to shift state capitalPNS n AMARAVATI

BJP state president KannaLakshminarayana onWednesday extended solidarityto the farmers staging protestsagainst the three Capitals propos-al.

Speaking in this connection,he said while the farmers donat-ed their fertile lands for construc-tion of the Capital, the previousgovernment did not take the pro-ject seriously wasted time.

"On the other hand YSRCPpresident Jaganmohan Reddypromised the moon if his partywas elected to power, but later heunveiled vindictive politics," theBJP leader said.

Branding the Chief Minister'sapproach 'sadistic',Lakshminarayana said it wasfoolish on his part to think thathe would come back to powerwith this kind of approach.

"Let alone the law and ordersituation in the state, the creditof making the people spend

sleepless nights for the past sixmonths goes to the CM," he said.

"The Centre had released Rs2,500 crore for building theCapital in Amaravati, not any-where else," he said.

Lakshminarayana said theruling party had invested moneyduring the elections and wasnow doing business but thepeople would not remain silent.

The BJP leader said peoplewould stand to lose because ofdecentralisation of governance."If the Capital was changed

every time the governmentchanges, investors would notshow interest in setting up indus-tries in the State," he added.

Demanding that ChiefMinister Jaganmohan Reddyshould rethink about setting upthree Capitals in the State, he saidthe BJP would not remain silentif the government went ahead towith its plans to shift the Capitalfrom Amaravati.

He said BJP would movecourt over the issue and bring theissue to the notice of the Centre.

There was noprecedent for changeof capital with thechange of the CM,Kanna said, accusingJagan of mooting sucha proposal out ofsheer immaturity.

Amaravatiresidents seekLeft parties' helpPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Protesting against the deci-sion of the State governmentto set up three Capitals in AP,members of AmaravatiParirakshana Samithi JACon Wednesday met leaders ofthe CPI, CPM and Jana Senaand other parties and gaverepresentations seeking theirsupport in their fight againstthe government.

The JAC members, head-ed by A Siva Reddy and GTirupathi Rao, said that thefight was against GN Raocommittee recommendationson three capitals for the State.They said that such a movewould hamper the develop-ment of the State.

The JAC leaders said thatthe issue was not only per-taining to the farmers ofAmaravati, but also the peo-ple of entire State and for thedevelopment of the futuregenerations.

They said that CPI leaderspromised all support to them.

MLA Vishnu urged to fightfor one capital at AmaravatiPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Members of the AmaravatiParirakshana Samithi JAC onWednesday appealed to thegovernment not to change thecapital from Amaravati andvowed to continue their move-ment with the slogan 'SaveAndhra Pradesh'.

According to JAC convenersA. Sivareddy and G TirupathiRao, a delegation metVijayawada Central MLAMalladi Vishnu at hisSinghnagar office and gave arepresentation. They demand-ed that the State go for a sin-gle capital and the governancebe continued from Amaravatifor the benefit of the people ofthe State.

Speaking on the occasion,

the JAC leaders said thatthere were 26 representa-tives from various sectorslike hospitality, medicalestablishments, builders,workers, student organisa-tions, chamber of commerce

and others in the Samithi.The JAC was formed risingabove caste and politics andit strongly objected to threecapitals for AP.

The conveners said that forthe past three days leadersfrom various political partieslike BJP, TDP, Jana Sena,CPI and CPM were support-ing the movement and thegovernment shouldannounce Amaravati as theonly capital at the Cabinetmeeting on December 27.

The JAC leaders said MLAVishnu responded positivelyand said that YSRCP was notagainst Amaravati and thegovernment would take adecision for the overall devel-opment of 13 districts in theState.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Padmasali InternationalWelfare Association statepresident S Pulla Rao onWednesday said that thegovernment should estab-lish Padmasali Corporationand contribute to the upliftof the members of the com-munity.

Addressing the gathering ata programme organised atTummalapalli Kshetrayya KalaKshetram, Pulla Rao said thatthe association had around2,300 members. For the past10 years, they had been doingvarious development activitieswith the interest accrued fromRs 1.3 crore funds belongingto the association.

He appealed to all members

of the Padmasali communityfrom across the world to jointhe association and help devel-op the poor and the needy inthe community.

Pulla Rao expressed hisgratitude to Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy for theschemes launched for the wel-fare of Padmasalis.

He said that a separate cor-poration for the Padmasalisshould be established with acorpus fund of Rs 2,000 croreand advance loans up to Rs 2crore to weavers.

Kurnool MP Dr S SanjeevKumar, IRS officer VKoteswaramma, former mayorP Anuradha, associationmembers G Rammurthy,Narayana, J Shiromani Raoand others were present.

Padmasalis demandseparate Corporation

CPI to oppose shifting of capitalPNS n AMARAVATI

CPI leader MuppallaNageswara Rao onWednesday said that the peo-ple should not confuse decen-tralisation of governance withdecentralisation of develop-ment.

Addressing a meeting hereon Wednesday, he said thatCPI was opposed to shiftingof the Capital. The party waslending its support to theagitation by the AmaravatiParirakshana Samithi,Nageswara Rao made it clear.

He said CPI would launchits movement against thethree Capitals proposal onThursday and the futurecourse of action would bechalked out after the decisiontaken by the government atthe Cabinet meeting onDecember 27. Nageswara Raosaid Visakhapatnam had

developed even without aCapital being set up there.The region had enoughresources, so it developed onits own, he said.

Shifting of the Capitalwould not accelerate develop-ment in the region, he saidand demanded that the gov-ernment drop its plan on

three Capitals. NageswaraRao said CPI favoured decen-tralisation of developmentand not governance.

He recalled that whenAndhra was divided from theMadras Presidency, the CPIhad demanded thatVijayawada be made theCapital of Andhra Pradesh.

Malladi Vishnu

PNS n RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM

After onions, it is the turn ofgarlic to make people shedtears not because of the pun-gent smell but over exorbitantrates the commodity is tradingat, in wholesale as well as retailmarkets.

Garlic is one of the compul-sory ingredients in Indian cui-sine, especially in the prepara-tion of chutneys and pickles. Itis competing with the onionand prefers to remain inacces-sible to the common man.

Both the onion and garlic arevying with each other in mak-ing the poor shed tears.

Onions traded between Rs10-20 a kg sometime back, butnow settled above Rs 100 a kgafter hitting a high of over Rs200 a kg for a while. Similarly,garlic, which was sold at Rs 40a kg some months ago, is nowbeing sold between Rs 200-250a kg.

The Rajamahendravaram

market is famous for garlic.Small sized garlic sell at Rs 100-Rs 110 a kg at the wholesalemarket here, while the biggersize garlic is traded between Rs120- Rs 130 a kg. The Laduva

variety is a bit costlier and sellsat Rs 150-Rs 160 a kg.

On the basis of quality, thereare four or five varieties of gar-lic. The small variety is beingsold at provisional stores at Rs

200 a kg. In Pithapuram, theprice exceeds Rs 250 a kg. Thepeople prefer quality garlic tosmall variety. Therefore, thisvariety is being traded betweenRs 200- Rs 250 a kg. The

wholesale market price of qual-ity garlic is put at Rs 160- Rs180 a kg.

The unprecedented hike ingarlic prices is attributed to thecharacteristic of garlic to loseits weight as days pass. Theweight of garlic bag getsreduced over a period of time.For every three kg, the loss inweight is likely to be aroundone kg. Hence, the tradershike the price of the spice.

In Madhya Pradesh, garlic isharvested but the fresh stocksare yet to reach the wholesalemarket here.

The more the commodity isstored, the more it turns black,the traders say. Tadepalligudemmarket has emerged as themain market for garlic. It willtake some more time for thecommodity to reachRajamahendravaram marketfrom there.

Garlic is not produced else-where except in the villagesbordering Maharashtra and

Telangana. Garlic is importedto East Godavari district fromMP, Gujarat, UP andMaharashtra. The commodityshould be disposed of withintwo months of the arrival ofthe stock. Otherwise, its qual-ity suffers.

Traders attribute the hikecost of garlic to drop in theyield due to the recent heavyrains. There is a mismatch ofdemand and supply and hencethe price hike.

After the Pongal, stocks ofgarlic are expected here fromUjjaini in MP, Gujarat and UP.

If the yield is very high,prices will come down other-wise the existing prices willremain.

Since the pickles season isgoing to commence fromMarch, the demand for thecommodity will be very high.Even if more and more stockshit the market, the pricedecrease will only be margin-al, say the traders.

Now, garlic brings tears to common man Rajani counterattacks,asks TD MLAs to resignPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Responding to the TDPdemanding resignation ofYSRCP MLAs from Krishnaand Guntur districts,

YSRCP MLA fromChilakaluripet, VidudalaRajani, on Wednesdaylaunched a blistering counter-attack on the TDP, demandingthe party's MLAs from northcoastal AP and Rayalaseemaregion to tender their resigna-tions and seek re-election.

Defending the three statecapitals proposal for the state,the MLA accused formerChief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu responsi-ble for the agitation of farm-ers in the capital region ofAmaravati.

In the name of the state cap-ital, TDP leaders tried toamass assets and had thrownthe farmers of the region into

confusion and ultimatelyduped them, she alleged.

Jaganmohan Reddy onlyannounced the scope of thestate having three state capi-tals, but not yet taken a deci-sion, Vidudala Rajani said.

The TDP leaders purchasedassets in Amaravati regionand hence are in the grip offear, apprehensive that theirassets would lose sheen if thestate capital was to be shiftedelsewhere, Vidudala Rajani,said giving the reasons forapprehensions among theTDP leaders on relocation ofthe state capital.

Vidudala Rajani's demandthat the TDP leaders of NorthCoastal AP and Rayalaseemato resign assumed significancein the light of TDP leaders KEKrishna Murthy and GantaSrinivasa Rao welcoming thethree state capitals for APproposal.

K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

While returning to power witha thumping majority may havesatisfied anyone else, for TRSpresident K. ChandrasekharRao, an overwhelming vote fora second successive term isseemingly not enough.

Soon after his electoralsweep, the Chief Ministerlaunched efforts to attract theopposition MLAs. So success-ful was KCR in this effort thatboth the Legislative Houses inthe state, the Assembly and theCouncil, now have noOpposition.

Doing his, KCR had ensuredthat his statement made in theAssembly during his first termthat the Congress will not geteven the main Opposition sta-tus came true. To do this, hewooed two-thirds of theCongress Legislature Party(CLP) to join the TRS.Accordingly, 12 of the 19Congress MLAs joined theTRS ensuring the Congress lostits status of the mainOpposition party in theAssembly.

While this was happening,the Telangana Congress lead-ership could do nothing butremain a mere spectator. BothCLP leader Mallu BhattiVikramarka and TPCC chiefN. Uttam Kumar Reddy failedto stop their 12 MLAs fromjoining TRS.

The number of TRS mem-bers in the Assembly shot upto 104 with two Independentsand one TDP MLA joining itand the 'gift' in the form of

Huzurnagar seat.The BJP did not face any

such poaching since it hasonly one MLA in the TSAssembly, Raja Singh fromGoshamahal. The party's sit-ting MLAs G. Kishan Reddy,Chintala Ramachandra Reddy,

Dr K Laxman and NVSSPrabhakar lost.

However, the people of thestate saved both the Congressand the BJP blushes by votingthree Congress candidates andfour of BJP to the Lok Sabha.This sent huge shockwaves in

the TRS leadership, which wasconfident of making a cleansweep of the LS polls too.

However, the happiness ofthe Congress and BJP vis-à-viselections in the state was short-lived, with both parties failingto perform well in the follow-ing elections for Sarpanch,MPTC, ZPTC and recentHuzurnagar by-election.

The TRS grabbed a hugemajority of the above postsbesides clean sweeping the ZPChairperson positions.

The Congress and the BJPalso failed to trouble the rulingparty during Intermediate andRTC agitations though theissues were extremely seriouswith more than 20Intermediate students and over30 RTC employees breathingtheir last during their agita-tions.

The two parties were con-fined to making mere state-ments and failed to take up theissues seriously.

Surprisingly, the BJP took 'U'turn in regard to RTC strikegiving a shock to the RTCworkers. The state BJP chief K.Laxman stated that the Centrewill intervene in the RTCstrike issue but nothing hap-pened.

Congress too issued severalstatements against the gov-ernment during the RTCstrike.

These statements remainedjust that - statements.

The series of statementscontinues, and internal squab-bles are spilling over into thepublic domain, especially overthe TPCC chief post.

A senior leader from AICCsaid on condition of anonymi-ty that the high command isleast bothered about the activ-ities of Telangana Congress.

Both of these parties nowclaim to be an alternative to theTRS, but have failed to don themantle of the main Opposition,especially during the time sucha role mattered the most.

Leaders in Congress and BJP arelobbying for the state chief positionsin their respective parties and thecompetition is fierce

K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

For politicians like TPCCchief N Uttam KumarReddy, B Vinod Kumar andK Kavitha, 2019 cannot passby quickly enough.

While Uttam KumarReddy met personal successby winning the NalgondaLok Sabha seat, his perfor-mance as president of theTPCC was dismal, to put itmildly. The TPCC chiefcould not lead his party toeven a single election victo-ry, right from the Assemblypolls to recently-heldHuzurnagar by-election.

Uttam had won theHuzurangar Assembly seat,but his party won just 19seats, two less than 2014.

Uttam's wife PadmavathiReddy lost from Kodad andagain from Huzurnagar inthe by-election, a huge set-back for the family.

The Congress also failedto perform well in the elec-tions for Sarpanch, MPTCand ZPTC across the state.The Congress failed to wina single ZP chairperson post,a pointer to the extent ofUttam's failure as TPCCchief.

Former MP BoinpallyVinod Kumar too had a

year that he would preferforgetting. Vinod Kumarlost to BJP's Bandi Sanjay inKarimnagar, a constituencythat is considered a bastionof Velamas, the community

he hails from. However, insome solace, he was appointvice-president of the statePlanning Commission later.

The biggest shock wasthe defeat of K. Kavitha atthe hands of BJP's Dharma-puri Arvind from theNizamabad Lok Sabha con-stituency.

Arvind had made his elec-toral debut this year and hisvictory over Kavitha was allthe more stunning since sheis not only heads theTelangana Jagruthi, but isalso the daughter of TRSpresident and Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhar Rao. Herdefeat left KCR and theentire TRS cadre stunned.

Kavitha, who confined

herself to her home formonths after shocking loss,gradually began to be seen inpublic again.

The year 2019 turned outto be a major disappointm-ent for Nara Lokesh, the onlyson of TDP supremo NChandrababu Naidu.

In fact, 2019 was a setbackfor Lokesh both politicallyand personally.

Lokesh who was madeparty's general secretary andalso an MLC by his father,faced the first direct electionof his political career in2019 by contesting fromMangalagiri Assembly seat.

His loss gave scope to hisdetractors to claim that hewas not a successor to hisfather.

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 26, 2019 04

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTFOR ‘STALWARTS’ IN 2019

KCR’s state-ment said tohave cost VinodKumar heavilyfrom his owncaste ‘Velama'bastion

Uttamdisappointedthe party withpoor show in allelections. Butpersonally, hewon twoelections

Turmericfarmers not onlyshockedKavitha but alsoentire TRScadres votingfor ArvindMangalagiri

voters shockedTDP and itschief bydefeatingLokesh

TELANGANA:

Wanted opposition n 12 of the Congress’ 19

MLAs joined the TRS,ensuring that the GrandOld Party lost itsstatus as themainopposition

n Both BJP andCongress failed towin electionslike Sarpa-nch,MPTC,ZPTCand

KCR effectivelyturned bothHouses of the TSLegislatureopposition-free .The TRS swept allelections in 2019,except the Lok

Sabha polls anddid not giverivalsscope ofvictory

The year 2019 has witnessed some landmark Bills being passed both at the state and Central-level. While some were extensively debated,others have been welcomed as path-breaking. Be it the Municipal Act in Telangana, 75per cent reservation for locals or Disha Act in AndhraPradesh, Telugu states have brought in Acts that have been widely discussed.

Bill giving 75%reservation forlocals in APIn order to meet the demands from

land losers, besides the local popu-lation, for providing employment andlivelihood as industrialisation, AndhraPradesh Legislative Assembly in Julypassed the AP Employment of LocalCandidates in Industries/Factories

Bill. This legislation is about pro-viding for 75 per cent

reservation to localyouth in industries andfactories, and train eli-gible candidates forbridging the skill gap.

While this bill was ini-tially met with criticism,

the AP Chief Minister defended it say-ing the policy was investment-friend-ly and flexible. It is applicable to allindustries and factories and also PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) projectsalready established and those set upafter it becomes an Act.

- NAVEENA GHANATE

Telugu-EnglishMedium SchoolsPointing that English as a

medium of instruction isvery essential for students, par-ticularly those hailing frompoorer sections of the society,the AP Legislative Assemblypassed a bill related to conver-sion of all schools from ClassesI to VI to English medium ofinstruction from academic year2020-21. English medium willbe introduced for Classes VII to

X in the subse-quent four

years from2021-22. Themove gar-nered criti-

cism as it wasdeemed detri-

mental to thecause of mother tongue Telugu.However, AP government saw abias against poor in keepingTelugu as the medium ofinstruction in 45,000 govern-ment schools.

Disha ActWith demand for quick action on

rape crimes increasing, the APAssembly in December passed theDisha Bill to put an endto the atrocitiesagainst womenand children bydisposing caseswithin 21 daysof the crime.The Bill lists

death penalty to per-petrators of heinouscrimes against women such as gang-rape. The proposed new law hasbeen named the 'Andhra PradeshDisha Act Criminal Law (AP

Amendment) Act, 2019 as a tributeto the veterinarian who wasraped and murdered recently in

neighbouring Telangana state.Fast-track courts would be

set up in each of the 13districts of the State

to deal with suchcases and the

e n t i r eprocess.

Article 370 scrappedThe Central government stunned everyone by

revoking nearly all of Article 370, remov-ing Kashmir's complex relationship withIndia for some 70 years. The abrogation wasfollowed by the Centre introducing theJammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill inParliament. The state of Jammu and Kashmirwas divided into two Union Territories - Jammuand Kashmir, which will have a legislature, and Ladakh, whichwill be without a Legislature.

Merger of APSRTC into the governmentAndhra Pradesh Assembly in December

passed the Bill absorbing State RoadTransport Corporation employees into gov-ernment service. APSRTC (Absorption ofEmployees into Government Service) Bill,2019, will enable absorption of 51,488 RTC staffinto the new Public Transport Department being created. Thestate government will take over a financial responsibility ofRs 3,600 crore per annum on account of the absorption ofRTC staff.

Telangana Municipalities ActStating that the time to 'amend archaic por-

tions of our Acts and Laws' has come, theTelangana Municipalities Act, 2019 was passedunanimously in September. TheAct has several major changeswith the most prominentbeing formation of sevennew municipal corpora-tions, taking the total countup to 13. The Act givesimportance to use of technolo-gy and increasing greenery. Aimed at zero cor-ruption, it specifies use of online delivery mech-anism and self certification to address citizen'spain points - property tax, building permis-sions, trade licence, birth and death certifi-cates - are made available online with nohuman interface. About 10 per cent ofannual Budget will be earmarked as "GreenBudget". Each city will havecity sanitation plan withfocus on garbage collec-tion and scientific pro-cessing includingsolid waste manage-ment.

NAVEEN KUMAR n HYDERABAD

The year 2019 had its share of brutal, gruesome anddespicable crimes, but some stood out for

their sheer barbarity and the resultant pub-lic outrage. One of these was the rape-murder of a 26-year-oldveterinarian whose bodywas later set on fire.

The case took severaltwists and turns and madeheadlines on a global scaleafter the Cyberabad policekilled the four accused in an'encounter'. The case alsothrew up fake identities andbackground of the men,claims of the accused being aminor and the kin demandinggovernment jobs and monetarycompensation.

The Cyberabad Police named the vic-tim 'Disha' to conceal her identity somedays after the heinous crime.

It was at Chatanpally that Md. Arif, JolluShiva, Jollu Naveen and Chintakuntla Ch-ennakeshavulu, allegedly burnt the body ofDisha, on the night of November 27, after rap-ing her on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The gruesome incident triggered national out-rage and calls for instant justice that ended withteh ‘encounter’.

DISHA INCIDENTMOVED EVERYONE

HAJIPUR IN NEWS FORTHE WRONG REASONS Aserial killer who had gone about bru-

tally murdering and raping minorgirls and women for years, was finallyarrested by the Rachakonda police inJune after the cops investigated andsolved the sensational murder a minorgirl whose body was found in a well inBommalaramaram of Yadadri Bhongirdistrict.

Investigations revealed Marri SrinivasReddy, a 28-year-old lift mechanic hadraped and murdered three minor girlsand dumped their bodies in wells onthe village outskirts. The investigatingofficials later recovered the clothes ofhis victims, schoolbags, books, IDcards.

The accused confessed to the brutalrapes and murders and revealed thatsince 2015, he had killed three minorgirls and a woman after sexuallyassaulting them, police said.

The killer was arrested following amissing complaint lodged by PamulaNarasimha, 40, on April 25, about hisdaughter, Pamula Sravani, 14, a class IXstudent. Accordingly, a case was regis-tered and on April 27, a SIT wasformed to investigate.

HORRIFYING MURDEROF MRO VIJAYA REDDY

RAPE OF 9-MONTH-OLDIS HEIGHT OF DEPRAVITY

The horrific murder of Mandal RevenueOfficer (MRO) Vijaya Reddy in

Telangana's Abdullahpurmet, who wasset on fire at her office in broad daylight,sent shockwaves through the nation.

Vijaya Reddy had two children, a 10-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son, andwas the first tahsildar of Abdullahpurmetafter the office was opened three years ago.

A former government teacher, she wasreported to have resigned to pursue further

studies and qualify as an MRO.She had also received the best

MRO award in 2018.According to officials,

there was a dispute over sev-eral acres of land between

Gowrelli and Bacharam vil-lages with around 30 families

staking claim.The man who set Vijaya Reddy on fire,

K Suresh, and his brother too were involvedin the dispute. The attack also claimed thelives of Suresh and the MRO's driver, whotried to douse the flames in a bid to saveher. A member of Suresh's said that therewas a delay in processing their query onpattadar passbooks and the case had beenpending for years.

One gruesome incident that left the peo-ple sick to their stomachs was reported

in Warangal in June wherein a nine-month-old baby was raped and killed.

The case led to the Warangal court award-ing the death penalty to K. Praveen theaccused, after finding him guilty of rapingthe baby.

Terming the crime "inhuman" and"heinous", the Warangal Bar Association hadannounced that none of its advocates willdefend the accused.

On June 19, Praveen, a resident ofHanamkonda in Warangal, abducted thebaby when she was sleeping with her parentson their terrace. He took her to a secludedplace nearby gagged and raped her. He wascaught red-handed by the family and neigh-bors who had by then begun searching forthe baby.

The incident had led to widespread out-rage and anger, with protests breaking outacross the state, demanding strict actionagainst the accused.

The trial, which took less than two mo-nths, was possible because the Warangalpolice filed a charge sheet in the case by colle-cting all the necessary evidence and produ-cing witnesses, which proved Praveen guilty.

LAWS THAT CHANGED THE FACE OF STATESn Telangana approved

Municipal Act and withseveral major changes.

n AP Assembly passedthe Disha Act thatevoked nation-wideinterest

CRIMES THAT SHOOK THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NATION

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 26, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

Modi unveils statue offormer PM Vajpayeein Lucknow on hisbirth anniversaryLUCKNOW: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Wednesdayunveiled a statue of formerPM Atal Bihari Vajpayee at theLok Bhawan here. He also laidthe foundation stone for theAtal Bihari Vajpayee MedicalUniversity in the Uttar Pradeshcapital. The state governmenthas given 50 acres of land forthe varsity. The eventcoincided with the birthanniversary of Vajpayee, whorepresented Lucknow in theLok Sabha five times.

Cold wave continuesin Rajasthan, Sikarcoldest at 2.50C

Vajpayee is aninspiration for us:PatnaikBHUBANESWAR: Odisha ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik onWednesday paid tribute toformer prime minister AtalBihari Vajpayee on his 95thbirth anniversary and said he isan inspiration for all. Patnaik,who served as a Union ministerin the Vajpayee government in1997, said the former primeminister was also amultifaceted personality."Humble tributes to formerPrime Minister#AtalBihariVajpayee on his birthanniversary. #Atalji was acharismatic leader, aparliamentarian par excellence,exceptional poet, eloquentorator. #Atalji's multifacetedpersonality & distinguishedstatesmanship is an inspirationfor us," Patnaik said in a tweet.Patnaik, who also heads theregional outfit, Biju Janata Dal,was part of the NDA underleadership of Vajpayee, and thealliance between BJD and BJPcontinued till 2009. However,the alliance ended between thetwo parties over seat sharingbefore the 2009 generalelections. Vajpayee, born onDecember 25, 1924 at Gwailorin Madhya Pradesh, hadbreathed his last on August 16,2018 at AIIIMS in Delhi.

JAIPUR: Cold wave continuedin parts of Rajasthan whereSikar was the coldest place,recording a minimumtemperature of 2.5 degreesCelsius on Wednesday. Pilani,Churu, Jaisalmer, Ganganagarrecorded minimumtemperature of of 4.3 degreesCelsius, 4.5 degrees Celsius,5.4 degrees Celsius and 5.8degrees Celsius respectively.Night temperature in Bikaner,Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur andDabok was 6.1 degreesCelsius, 7.1 degrees Celsius,9.5 degrees Celsius, 10.2degrees Celsius and 12.2degrees Celsius, according tothe meteorological departmenthere. The weather conditionswould remain the same duringthe next 48 hours.

21-year-old Nagpur womanconcocts own kidnapping storyPNS n NAGPUR

A young woman from Nagpurconcocted a story about herown abduction to hide the factfrom her family that she hadgone out with her boyfriend,said police on Wednesday.

Sunil Gangurde, Inspectorof the Gittikhadan PoliceStation, said the 21-year-oldwoman along with her parentsfiled a kidnapping complaint at8 pm on Monday.

The parents alleged thatfour men forced their daugh-ter into a four-wheeler whileshe was on way to college, andtook her to a secluded place,from where she somehowmanaged to escape, he said,quoting from the complaint.

Soon after, the police swunginto action and took thewoman to the spot where shewas ostensibly taken. NagpurCrime Branch teams alsojoined the probe and rushed tothe spot.

However, the police grewsuspicious after finding contra-diction in her statements.

The police then checked

CCTV footage of near hercollege and noticed thewoman, a BA second year stu-dent, going with a young manon a motorcycle, Gangurdesaid.

The police confronted thewoman with the evidence infront of her family after whichshe confessed to cooking upthe kidnapping story, he said.

After attending classes, thewoman came out of the collegeand left with her boyfriend forWaki, a place on outskirts ofNagpur city, police said.

The woman's boyfriend laterdropped her near her house inthe Seminary Hill area, theysaid. Realising she will bescolded by family members forgoing out without informing

them, the woman came upwith the fake kidnapping story,the police said.

The woman thought thematter would end up withparents believing her story.However, her parentsapproached the police, leadingto the entire 'abduction' dramacoming out in the open, theysaid.

A police official said nocase has been registered in thisregard so far.

PNS n RANCHI

Former Jharkhand ministerSaryu Roy has become thesecond politician in the stateto defeat an incumbent chiefminister, after Gopal KrishnaPatar who beat the then chiefminister Shibu Soren in 2009.

Denied re-nominationfrom his sitting Jamshedpur(West) seat by the BJP, Royhad quit from the RaghubarDas Cabinet and fought

against Das from Jamshedpur(East) as an independent can-didate.

Roy trounced Das by over12,000 votes in the just-con-cluded Assembly elections.

Jamshedpur (East) seat hadbeen a stronghold ofRaghubar Das who had beenwinning from here since 1995,while Roy had represented theadjoining Jamshedpur (West)seat for two terms.

This was for the first timein Jharkhand's history when aleader who served under a

chief minister crossed swordswith him in the polls. Royheld the Food, PublicDistribution and ConsumerAffairs portfolios for the lastfive years in the BJP-led NDAgovernment.

In January 2009, the thenchief minister Shibu Sorenwas defeated in a by-poll forthe Tamar Assembly seat bypolitical novice Gopal KrishanPatar, alias Raja Peter, of theJharkhand Party by a margin

of over 9,000 votes.Soren, who became chief

minister in August, 2008 hadto become a member of thelegislature within six monthsof assuming the post. Hisdefeat in the Tamar by-pollforced him to resign.

Patar, now in jail in connec-tion with a murder case, con-tested from Tamar constituen-cy as Nationalist CongressParty candidate this time andlost it.

Saryu Roy second leader to defeat incumbent CM in J'khand

Royal scion in Tripura launches‘apolitical' outfit to fight for tribals PNS n AGARTALA

Amid public outcry over the cit-izenship law, former stateCongress chief and royal scionPradyot Kishore ManikyaDebbarman has announced theformation of a new 'apoliticalorganization' -- The IndigenousProgressive Regional Alliance(TIPRA) - aimed at "protectingthe rights of tribal communities"in Tripura.

He contended that the orga-nization would launch a‘peaceful movement’ on Ja-nuary 8 against the Citizenship(Amendment) Act, 2019.

A page on Facebook byTIPRA on Tuesday welcomedpeople to join the organization.

"Our aim is to uphold therights and identity of our peo-ple. Bubagra (king) PradyotManikya is the chairman ofthis organisation and everyoneis welcome to join it. This is asocial organisation and not apolitical party," it said.

Debbarman said that hehad invited the leaders of trib-al bodies to take part in theanti-CAA agitation.

"We think the indigenouspeople of the state would bebadly affected if amendedCitizenship Act was implement-ed. As part of our protest againstthe law, we have decided to formcommittees to hold protest atblock and booth levels, begin-ning January 8," he added.

Meanwhile, Pijush KantiBiswas, the acting president ofTripura Pradesh CongressCommittee, on Wednesdayasserted that his party wouldlaunch a protest against BJP's‘anti-people policies’ during thefirst week of the New Year.

CBI starts probe intoYamuna Expressway scamPNS n NEW DELHI

The CBI has taken over theinvestigation into the YamunaExpressway IndustrialDevelopment Authority(YEIDA) land scam case andnamed former CEO P CGupta and 20 others in its FIR,officials said on Wednesday.

According to procedure,the agency has re-registeredthe Uttar Pradesh Police's FIRthat alleges YEIDA had paidRs 85.49 crore for 57.15 acresin seven villages in Mathurafor development activities aro-und the 165-km long express-way connecting Greater Noidawith Agra, they said.

Police had alleged thatGupta in criminal conspiracywith his relatives and associ-

ates first purchased the landfrom farmers and later sold itto YEIDA within four to sixmonths of their purchase,causing loss to the exchequer.

YEIDA, in its internal inves-tigation had pegged a report-ed loss of Rs 126 crore to theexchequer, but the FIR refersto the payment of Rs 85.49crore from the authority toalleged cronies of Gupta, whowas CEO during 2013-15. Hehas served in YEIDA as addi-tional CEO and deputy CEO.

The police report, now partof the CBI FIR, states thatGupta's relatives and croniespurchased land at cheaper ratesthrough sham companies andsold it more than twice theirpurchase price to YEIDA caus-ing loss to the exchequer.

Seven-coach glass-enclosed vistadometrain launched on Kalka-Shimla routePNS n CHANDIGARH

The railways on Wednesdaystarted a seven coach glass-enclosed vistadome train onthe heritage Kalka-Shimlaroute.

The red-coloured train,which was decorated with bal-loons, chugged off from theKalka railway station inHaryana at around 7 am, a rail-way official at the Kalka stationtold PTI.

The 'Him Darshan' train hasa seating capacity of over 100passengers and the bookingsare full over the next few daysin view of the peak tourist sea-son and New Year being roundthe corner, the official said.

Earlier this year, theRailways had put only onesee-through vistadome coachon the narrow-gauge route, but

in view of the huge response,now the entire train has suchcoaches, he said.

Along the route, one of the

few heritage Railways in theword, tourists headed toShimla will be able to experi-ence snow and rainfall in theseglass-enclosed coaches.

"It feels so nice to enjoy thenature with transparent roofsas it gives a panoramic view.We will also return in a fewdays. Hope we get a chance towitness snowfall while we areon this train," a family told themedia in Kalka after boardingthe train.

The vistadome coaches weretastefully decorated with plushinteriors and tourists will alsoget a chance to feel close to thenature on the 95.5 km routewith big glass windows in theair-conditioned train.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Flagging concerns over unpaiddues, an Air India pilots' unionhas urged the government toallow their members to quitthe debt-laden carrier withoutserving notice period.

As the government worksout the modalities for the saleof the national carrier, theIndian Commercial Pilots'Association (ICPA) has alsowarned that they are in noposition to work amid uncer-tainty over the airline's future.

The grouping representnearly 800 Air India pilots whofly narrow body planes.

They have written a strong-ly-worded letter to Minister ofState for Civil Aviation Har-deep Singh Puri regardingtheir dues.

"...your statement that if

Air India is not privatised by31st March 2020 then Air In-dia will be shut down, is a mat-ter of concern," the letter said.

Citing the uncertainty overthe airline's future, the group-ing asked the minister toensure that they "are not treat-ed like bonded labour and all-ow us to quit Air India with-out serving the notice periodand clear all our dues imme-diately". The notice period issix months.

Air India has a debt burdenof more than Rs 58,000 crore.

The ICPA has also asked forclearing their legitimate dueswithout any further delay.

In a warning, the groupingsaid, "our patience is runningthin and we are in no positionto continue working withuncertainty looming large atAir India".

AI pilots ask Centre topay dues immediately

PNS n BENGALURU

Amid nation-wide protestsover the controversial citi-zenship law, the first deten-tion centre in Karnataka,reportedly meant to lodgei l legal immigrants andmigrants overstaying in thecountry, has been opened inSondekoppa village nearhere.

The facility with severalrooms, a kitchen and toiletshas been kept ready on thedirections of the govern-ment, a social welfare depart-ment official said.

However, Home MinisterBasavaraj Bommai objectedto the term 'Detent ionCentre'.

Speaking to reporters onTuesday, he had said, "Inqualified terms, it is not adetention centre. There is nopurpose per se to detainsomeone on the issue of cit-izenship."

He ruled out that the cen-tre has been operationalised.".. please check with thesocial welfare department.At least I have no informa-tion that it has started. If ata l l it has been opera-tionalised then there shouldbe some detenue there? Noone is there," he added.

According to Bommai, thepurpose to keep the facilityready was to lodge Africannationals overstaying in Indiaand indulging in drug ped-dling. He said their illegalactivities create a law andorder situation in the coun-

try. "It is only to keep them(African nationals) there andsend them back to theirnation," he added. A socialwelfare department officertold PTI on condition ofanonymity that they havegot the direction to keep the'Central Relief Centre' (CRC)ready before January 1.

The 20-year-old buildingwas a hostel for more than 18years for the poor and down-trodden community but asthe number of studentsdwindled, it was lying vacantfor almost two years waitingfor the habitants. Explainingthe reason behind includingthe Social WelfareDepartment in this project,the off icer said, "Food,accommodation and clotheswill be provided to thedetenus by our Social WelfareDepartment."

But, Foreign RegionalRegistration Officer Labhu

Ram, said, "Please check withthe Social WelfareDepartment.

The detention centre islooked after by the socialwelfare department."

First detention centre in K’takato house illegal immigrants

Raut asks Uddhavto look into workersremoving uterus

PNS n MUMBAI

Maharashtra Minister NitinRaut has written to ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackerayseeking his intervention toaddress the issue of womensugarcane workers removinguterus in their bid to ensurethey dont lose wages.

According to Raut, theMarathwada region in centralMaharashtra has the highestnumber of sugarcane workers,a substantial number of themwomen.

A large of women labourersdo not work during theirmenstrual cycle and dont getwages for the days they areabsent and hence, they opt forremoval of uterus, he noted inthe letter written on Tuesday.

The minister, a Congressleader, pegged the number of

women who took such step at30,000.

Raut said women will nottake such a step if sugarcanefactories provide them wagesfor the four days of menstru-al cycle during the six-month-long sugarcane harvestingperiod.

Requesting you to issueorders to the department con-cerned to solve the problemsfaced by women sugarcaneworkers in Marathwada onhumanitarian ground, Rautsaid in the letter.

The minister handles a slewof portfolios, including PWD,tribal welfare, women andchild welfare, textile, reliefand rehabilitation. Thackerayis heading a Shiv Sena-led gov-ernment in which theCongress and the NCP are keypartners.

‘Khojis' on their last leg in RajPNS n BAWLIYANWALA (RJ)

'Khojis' who specialise in track-ing people by examining foot-prints on sand are becomingrare in the deserts of Rajasthanowing to wire- fencing andimpregnable security along theIndo-Pakistan border, a seniorBSF official has said.

A 'khoji' is trained to trackpeople from their footprintson sand and he uses his uncan-ny ability to identify a personby his or her style of walking.

"It is a strenuous job thatrequires high level of intelli-gence, ability to calculate theweight of a person and trackhim from the different foot-prints that are left behind onthe desert sand," the officialtold PTI.

The Border Security Forcehad hundreds of 'khojis' whopatrolled the 471 km-longinternational border withPakistan from first light every-day but now they have beenreduced to only about 25, hesaid at this border outpost inJaisalmer district of Rajasthan.

Wire-fencing, floodlightingof the international border inthe mid-1990s in Rajasthanand round-the-clock vigil havereduced illegal cross-bordermovement to zero, the senior

BSF official said.Naseeb Singh, one of the few

'khojis' left in the BSF fold, sayshe goes on foot patrol daily inthe morning.

"Each trooper covers 10 kmin every two-and-a-half hours,"Singh, who joined the force in1988, said. "Everyone has a dif-ferent style of walking and thefootprint left by him helps meto identify a man from amongseveral others," Singh said.

The depth of a footmark andthe way he places his feet on theground are unique to everyperson, Singh said. The BSF

also employs locals who are'khojis' for generations andpass on their skills to their off-springs. But they are alsobecoming rare owing to lesserrequirement and many of thempursuing other professions, theofficial said.

The senior BSF officer saidthat it is very difficult for any-one to cross the border andreach a locality in the verysparsely populated desertregion, with the aerial dis-tance from the border to thenearest town being severalkilometres.

"In Jaisalmer, the nearesttown of Ramgarh from theborder is 70 km in aerial dis-tance.

"If anyone is able to cross theborder during the night, hisfootprints can be detected atfirst light during foot patrol.The 'khoji' follows the trail andleads to the person who isthen apprehended," he said.

Round-the-clock vigil ismaintained by BSF troopers toprevent illegal crossing of bor-der or any kind of crime in theregion, he said.

"In Jaisalmer sector, there is

no cross-border crime, but wehave to keep an eye on any pos-sible espionage or other activ-ities," he said.

Earlier, there used to be a lotof incidents of smuggling ofnarcotics and gold in theregion, but it has stopped total-ly since the completion ofbarbed wire fencing at the bor-der in the mid-1990s, the offi-cial said.

Though there has been noincident of cross-border fir-ing or shelling between the BSFand the Pakistan Rangers forseveral years, constant vigil ismaintained since the area isstrategically very important,the official said.

"Given the past record of the1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak warswhen Jaisalmer was attacked,this area is very sensitive," hesaid.

The area has mainly perma-nent sand dunes and some shift-ing dunes with almost no vege-tation. Very little population inthe region leads to isolation ofthe BSF personnel, he said.

Extreme weather conditionsranging from over 50 degreeCelsius in the summers andnearly freezing conditions dur-ing winter nights prove to bechallenging for the troops, headded.

Wire-fencing,floodlighting ofthe internationalborder in the mid-1990s inRajasthan andround-the-clockvigil havereduced illegalcross-bordermovement tozero, the seniorBSF official said

The parents allegedthat four men forcedtheir daughter into afour-wheeler while shewas on way to college,and took her to asecluded place, fromwhere she somehowmanaged to escape,he said, quoting fromthe complaint

Explaining thereason behindincluding theSocial WelfareDepartment inthis project, theofficer said,"Food,accommodationand clothes willbe provided tothe detenus byour SocialWelfareDepartment"

The year 2019 was dominated byinternal political considera-tions that impacted India’srelationship with neighbouringcountries, which typically

requires magnanimity, accommodationand beneficence for it is the dominantnation in the subcontinent and theregion, too. 2019 was also the year whenthe 17th General Elections were held.Certain hardening of positions and pos-tures by national parties, to the detrimentof sentiments across the international bor-ders, was inevitable given the high elec-toral stakes involved.

Earlier misadventures by Pakistan inthe form of Pulwama had already fore-closed any possibility of rapprochementin the deeply-hyphenated realm of India-Pakistan dynamics. Besides the Pulwama-Balakot reciprocity and din, matters per-taining to neighbourhood affairs reacheda low ebb in the months leading up to theelections in May. Post the polls, the sur-prise selection of former diplomat SJaishankar as the Minister for ExternalAffairs promised the much-needed states-manship, maturity and domain knowl-edge to heal the simmering and unad-dressed restiveness in the region. Whileit has been barely seven months since thenew Government assumed office, neigh-bourhood relations remain a matter ofgrave concern.

The year 2019 was also the onewhen new Governments were formed inthree key neighbouring nations. The yearbegan with the Sheikh Hasina-ledAwami League registering landslidevictory in Bangladesh. It is decidedly amore pro-India dispensation than a pos-sible Bangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP)-led by Khaleeda Zia, whichcould not even participate in the elec-tions. What was even more reassuringto further India’s strategic concernswas the fall of the Abdulla YameenGovernment in Maldives, which hadworryingly forsaken its traditional“India-first” stance in favour of theChinese. It was replaced with India’s tra-ditional ally, Mohamed Nasheed-ledMaldives Democratic Party (MDP),which made a comeback with a two-thirds majority. It won 65 of the 87 seatsat the hustings.

However, India’s luck with the newleadership ran out in Sri Lanka with thereturn of the Rajapaksa clan in the pres-idential elections. The Rajapaksas, as it isknown, have a pro-China legacy. Now,Gotabaya Rajapaksa has won presi-dentship and paved the way for MahindaRajapaksa to take charge as the PrimeMinister of Sri Lanka. Riding on the waveof the Sinhalese ethnic-religious majori-tarianism, which got instigated during thehorrific Easter Sunday bombings,Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the former military

strongman with a questionable track, setalarm bells ringing in New Delhi with hisascendancy.

Relations with our neighbours in theEast, like Myanmar and Bhutan, haveremained robust with the continuation ofthe India-Myanmar Bilateral ArmyExercise (IMBAX) and Naypyidaw’s sup-port for the Indian armed forces in fight-ing insurgent groups based in Myanmar.

India’s measured response on the sen-sitive Rohingya issue with Myanmarand the evolving economic opportunitiesin treaties like the Bay of Bengal Initiativefor Multi-Sectoral Technical andEconomic Cooperation (BIMSTEC),ASEAN and Mekong Ganga Cooperationhave helped it maintain momentum.

India also seems to have struck a finebalance with Aung San Suu Kyi’s NationalLeague for Democracy (NLD), the civil-ian Government, the still-powerful Armyin Myanmar and even the erstwhilejunta, with whom cross-border operationsare facilitated. Bhutan’s strategic conver-gence with Sino-wariness (Doklam shad-ows still lurk) and the hydropower oppor-tunities got a further fillip with theSunkosh Project, which is four times thesize of the 720MW Mangdechhu Projectthat was completed recently.

However, relations with Nepal remainless than satisfactory as China aggressive-ly keeps baiting Kathmandu with devel-opment sops that are irresistible for theideologically-aligned Communist regimeover there. The counter-lever is openlyflaunted in Kathmandu and the memo-ries of the 2015 “Indian blockade” are notcompletely forgotten. The recently-updat-ed and released map of India led to freshcontroversy in Nepal on the inclusion ofKalapani. But it is the long freeze in theIndia-Pakistan relationship that seems

irreconcilably poised with the oddKartarpur bonhomie getting fritteredaway as there’s no forward movement hap-pening.

Electoral politics on both sidesalong the Line of Control (LoC) areincreasingly predicated on the ability ofboth nations to sabre-rattle, instigateand flex muscles at each other for short-term gratification. Neither side is will-ing to “risk peace” as that path is litteredwith perceptions of political weakness.Meanwhile, the Chinese are contentplaying with its “all-weather-friend”,Islamabad, and is ready to fructify itsstrategic China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor (CPEC) imperatives that willfurther beholden Pakistan to China.

The year 2020 will test India’s foreignpolicy mandarins. The serendipitouspro-India regime ushering in Male andDhaka notwithstanding, the Chinese willcontinue bearing down in the region withan eclectic mix of charm (take the exam-ple of Nepal), development aid (example,Sri Lanka), coercion (example Bhutan),intimidation (example, Myanmar) anddebt-traps (example, Pakistan) continu-ously wenching out neighbouring coun-tries from improving stances with India.

The spirit of accommodation andoptics of problem-resolution, that havebeen waning in recent times, have to begiven top priority. Nepal and Bangladeshin particular, where murmurs of India’spolitical intransigence have gained cre-dence. The recent hullabaloo over theCitizenship Amendment Act (CAA) andNational Register of Citizens (NRC) hasraised concerns in Bangladesh and SriLanka. Concerted engagement to clarifyand allay fears are urgently called for.Already, the Bangladeshi Foreign Ministercalled off his trip to India in the wake of

these concerns. This has flagged poten-tial red flags.

If there is one major shift required in2020 in dealing with neighbouring coun-tries, it will be to conduct foreign policythat is bereft of short-term electoral con-siderations. Recent accusations of med-dling in Madhesi issues in Nepal, suppos-edly “influencing” Government formationin Sri Lanka and Maldives, unsettled ripar-ians issue with Bangladesh — all aresymptomatic of an unhealthy “big-broth-er” perception that New Delhi is increas-ingly getting accused of.

India has to posture neutral prefer-ence in the impending Myanmar NationalElections in 2020 as these are sensitivetimes with a potential to damage sover-eign credentials. Pakistan and Chinashould not be expected to be resolved butonly managed better. The subtle inclusionof international pressure via groupings likeQUAD (US, Japan, Australia and India),UN watchdog bodies like FATF (it threat-ens to “blacklist” Pakistan on supportingterror) and increasing economic engage-ment with the Gulf Sheikdoms to neu-tralise the emotive and traditional Pakistanbias for them will be key in upping the antewith Islamabad without directly taking onthe same. “Management” rather than“resolution” will necessitate realpolitik thataggressively taps into India’s “pivot” or“counter” status in a fractured world thatstares nervously at the permutations andcombinations that await the US presiden-tial elections, Brexit and other geopoliti-cal upheavals. These need to be put in adiplomacy calculus which is still managedprofessionally, unhindered and without aneye on domestic elections.

(The writer, a military veteran, is aformer Lt Governor of Andaman &Nicobar Islands)

The Indian Meteorological Department came out witha fascinating statistic earlier this week. It said thatthe cold wave that has engulfed the northern part

of the country has led to a record 17 consecutive freez-ing days in the national capital. These are days wherethe recorded temperature is significantly below the aver-age. With warnings that the coming week will also seerecord low temperatures and predictions that thermome-ters might touch 2-3 degrees, we could be in for thecoldest winter in recent memory. In fact, it has beenso cold that the predicted heavy fog has stayed awayfor the most part. After years of unseasonably warm

winters, a nice cold winter is not such a bad thing but the weather does take its toll onthe population. The very young, the elderly and the infirm suffer immensely and becauseIndian homes are not designed to keep out the heat, they also feel much colder thanhomes located in the northern latitudes. In this weather, the homeless suffer more thanmost and here, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should be complimented for hisgovernment’s establishment of covered shelters for the homeless across the city.Administrators in other north Indian cities should take inspiration from this.

India still has millions of people in abject poverty who cannot afford to keep warmin winters and while governments can do their bit, it falls upon every one of us to helpout. This can be done by donating old jackets, sweaters and blankets, to donating foodto such shelters. At the same time, we should not forget that there are millions of ani-mals on the streets as well who could do with some warmth. We should all reach outto those working with the homeless and with stray animals and do our bit to ensure thatthis bitterly cold winter passes by smoothly and we can enjoy the cold instead of lament-ing the weather.

Rarely has a year been so tumul-tuous where democracy hasbeen upended, unsettled, chal-

lenged and feudalised as it has beenin India. But perhaps we needed the

chaos and confusion rather than status quo and complacence to wake up to the idea ofour roles as citizens. May be even take charge now. It would be easy enough to attributethe rise of Narendra Modi to a global spiral of absolutism and protectionism across nationstates but the muscle of his leadership has simply grown because we have allowed it.First, it has to be the traditional politics of votebank, castes and quotas, which engen-dered a policy paralysis of sorts in compromised governments for years, that spookedpeople about entrusting their lives to the same parties. The little noise about develop-ment that the ruling BJP made in its first stint was enough to cover its larger non-per-formance, which it conveniently dismissed as a legacy of wasted years by predeces-sors. Besides, the Opposition’s facelessness of purpose made Modi, not the BJP as much,more attractive as he went out to seek a second term in office. Despite the desolatenessof a top-down, handout prescription of governance, Modi could humanise it as emanat-ing from the people themselves through some smart PR campaigns, populist schemesand chaupal conversations through Mann Ki Baat. The Opposition just could not answerthe question “Modi versus who?” despite a pan-India movement and public angst againsteconomic policies and crony capitalism. That vacuum dispiritedly created by an Opposition— mainly the Congress which was egoistic about its role rather than making commoncause with regional leaders — was quickly filled in by Modi as the only functioning alter-native, making him even taller than he intended to be. Hypernationalism, post the Pulwamaterrorist attacks, in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed, and communal polarisation, theresult of BJP’s otherisation politics of lynching and cow vigilantism, did the rest. Everybodywilfully signed up for the identity politics of the times because overnight they were givena new enemy to think about, one that was eating into their majoritarian bloodstream likea “virus” and bigger than any national crisis before it. He crafted a world of post-truthswhere people believed whatever absurdity they were told simply because dissent wasquashed ruthlessly as a lie and a by-product of the poison spread by the “virus.” TheHindu sense of self-esteem was never lowered to such an extent that it needed to feara mere 14 per cent of “others.” Nor was Hindu tolerance so derided that it needed toproclaim its insecurities. Never was Hindu politics so virulent, giving the BJP a mam-moth Lok Sabha majority in May and altering civil discourse forever. The vocabulary ofpublic life plunged to new lows of barbarism but was still legitimised, even as institu-tions, be it the Election Commission or the Supreme Court, chose to flow with the “emo-tion” of the times. The May verdict was, therefore, like a temblor that challenged the fun-damental tenets of our Constitution. The “born-again” Hindu purification, be it throughpolitics or culture, is a miraculous strategy, simply because it absolves the ruling dis-pensation from accounting for its past and focusses the gaze from this moment on asa regenerative attempt.

But the problem with becoming an enabler of hate politics is that you become its vic-tim when it acquires monstrous proportions. A majoritarian votebank can be just as trou-bling as a minority one. This happened in the last quarter where reset and default set-tings kicked in. First, the regional parties, which were too shell-shocked by their Lok Sabhaperformance, went back to working their home turfs. By sticking to core issues like liveli-hood, jobs, climate disasters, land and farmers’ rights, they have individually generateda federal swell of a counter-movement. This despite the BJP’s persistent Hindu narra-tive and implanting its key poll promises, the abrogation of Article 370, the Ayodhya tem-ple, rehabilitating persecuted Hindus elsewhere and a compilation of a reformed dossierof citizens as a National Register of Citizens (NRC), in our minds. But the polls in Haryana,Maharashtra and Jharkhand have shown that these do not matter as governance imper-atives. They also showed that the Opposition, when organised and bound by a strongleadership, could defeat the BJP at its own game, its local leaders as doers and sons ofthe soil than a distant and centrist Modi, their rootedness of more consequence than anationalist vision. And if the protests over the NRC compilation are any indication, thenthe pushback from States via non-cooperation could trouble even a majoritarian Governmentgreatly. The Congress needs to realise that it either has to cede ground or humbly cre-ate a new identity with new leaders; familiarity only breeds contempt for it in the mindof the voter. It can be a catalysing force provided it doesn’t repackage tired talent butnew energies. Internationally, for all the diplomatic strides the Modi regime made in termsof curating stronger ground with the US, France, Russia and China, intensifying ties withneighbours on a one-to-one basis, and blitzing opinion makers with events like HowdyModi, its police excesses during protests have cost us our image. Loyalists would dis-miss it saying how does it matter when authoritarian regimes like to go on with theirways despite getting lambasted. But much of India’s respect is dependent on how weuphold our civilisational ethos, not how we erode it. Can we really afford that loss andbe bracketed as a nation with a dubious record at world fora? The impassioned students’movement has given us hope at the end of the year as they have reclaimed ownershipof the idea of India as it should be, rushing in where politicians failed. Do not misunder-stand their position, they just want to do away with structures that privilege exclusionover inclusion and remind us of a Rashtra dharma. And give power to what “I” can do,here and now, with “others” rather than running away by speaking in the third person.

Handle the situation

Sir — This is with referenceto the soaring prices ofonions, which have touched`150 per kg. The steep risein the prices of onions ishurting a vast segment of thepopulation. To contain therunaway prices, both theCentral and StateGovernments must immedi-ately intervene and work intandem. The Centre shouldalso consider giving a hugesubsidy on onions to grantsome relief to the citizens.

Harminder SinghGumbhirLucknow

Lessons in defeat

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Lessons from Jharkhand”(December 24). The BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) needs tounderstand that State electionsare different and cannot be a ref-erendum on the Centre or thePrime Minister. The role ofregional allies cannot be over-emphasised, as at the Centre, theBJP may not need allies as

Narendra Modi remains thetallest leader in the country.

However, it might be theother way round for State elec-tions. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) won 26 out of the 28 seatsreserved for Scheduled Tribes(ST) and the BJP has faredpoorly in rural areas. This goesto prove that issues like poverty,unemployment do matter to thevoters and it is time the BJP

picked up lessons from thisdefeat and did a course correc-tion in its policies and priorities.

As far as the Opposition isconcerned, if they join hands andput egos aside, then the BJP canbe challenged in most States. Thenext elections are due in Delhiand West Bengal. Both are goingto be tough ones for the party.

Bal GovindNoida

Deal with challenges

Sir — This refers to the article,“Challenges galore for a risingstar” (December 25) by KalyaniShankar. Truly, big positionscome with big responsibilities.Hemant Soren, who has emergedfrom the shadow of his fatherand Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) chief Shibu Soren, to

take charge as Jharkhand’s newChief Minister, has to face a myr-iad of challenges. Despite havingfulfilled the same responsibilitiesfor 18 months in 2013-14, juniorSoren has to face a different sit-uation this time as circum-stances have changed. He has tokeep his flock together, keep theallies in good humour and main-tain a trade-off in power-sharingwhile allotting portfolios judi-ciously among his partners, whomight dissent anytime.

Azhar A KhanRampur

Living in fear

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Still many questions”(December 25). Justice shouldnot only be done but should alsobe seen to be done. Governmentsworld over may not criticise theverdict for fear of earning the dis-pleasure of the oil-rich nation,but people outside the kingdomcannot be silenced by the dictum“the king can do no wrong.”

ShivanshVia email

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

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op nionVIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 26, 2019

06

Neighbourhood watch

BHOPINDER SINGH

I always try to have a novel experiencewith each film I do. But it hasn't been easybecause when you are known for a particular cinema, and you want to ventureout and try something new, in our indus-try, it is like swimming against the tide.

Actor—Emraan Hashmi

S O U N D B I T E

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

A partial victory for protesters

The students-led massive protests against theCitizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) have already achieved par-

tial victory, in that they have convinced people of the per-ils of the two and forced Prime Minister Narendra Modito contradict his second-in-command Amit Shah on theNRC and distance himself from the proposed exercise.Chief Ministers of various States have also started todeclare that they won’t carry out the NRC exercise.

Now, it will be extremely difficult for the ModiGovernment to go against public opinion. The Governmentof the day/Parliament cannot ride roughshod over “We,the People.” In fact, Modi has had to make a statementthat pan-India NRC was never on the table, much to Shah’sembarrassment. The latter issued the imminent threatof NRC at the all-India level in an ill-disguised commu-nal tone. Had Modi overruled the Home Minister thenand there, the nation could have been spared much ofthe upheaval. Nevertheless, Modi is yet come out with

the much-needed assurance that his Government hasdecided to shelve the NRC exercise. One hopes that thenationwide protests will persuade the Modi Governmentto shelve the CAA and the NRC and work towardsstrengthening national unity, acting on its promise to usherin achche din and raise the country’s happiness index.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

The big freezeWinter of 2019-2020 is already setting records. Things may getcolder. We should not forget the less fortunate at such a time

The BJP’s declining map and the facelessness of the Opposition, theCongress in particular, defined the larger political trend of 2019

Turbulent politics

A survey conducted three years ago has shown a massive rise in the number of Tibetan Buddhists in China. We have the power of truth while the communist regime in China has the power of the gun.

Spiritual leader—Dalali Lama

They (the vandals) should ask themselves was it right. Whateverwas torched, was it not of theirchild's use? What has happened tothose common people and policemen who got injured?

Prime Minister—Narendra Modi

If there is one major shift required in 2020 in the way India deals with its neighbours,it is to maintain a foreign policy that is bereft of short-term electoral considerations

Tryst with the youth

THEY (BJP) ARE DOING NPR ACCORDING TO THECITIZENSHIP ACT, 1955. IS IT NOT CONNECTED TO

NRC? WHY IS SHAH MISLEADING THE NATION? —AIMIM CHIEF

ASADUDDIN OWAISI

I AM NOT SURPRISED BY THE STAND TAKEN BYOWAISIJI. BUT I WANT TO ASSURE HIM THAT THE NPR IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE NRC.—UNION HOME MINISTERAMIT SHAH

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

That’s not important.” These were the threewords that chilled me to the bone.Spoken by my friend’s father, who hasknown me since I was knee-high, theyreferred to Junaid, the boy from

Ballabhgarh, who was killed on his way back homein a train after shopping for Eid. He was lynchedto death because he was wearing a skull cap. It didnot matter to him that his grandchild was exactlyof the same age. All that was important was thatthe 14-year-old did not come from a particularcommunity. In other words, he was “expendable.”Many moons after these words were uttered, theenormity is yet to sink in. The insensitivity, a lackof empathy, and to a large extent indifference, if notoutright hatred of the minority, is an undercurrentthat has been on the rise beneath the calm of the“unity in diversity” of the social fabric since the 2002Gujarat riots and more so after the current rulingdispensation came to power in 2014. Sadly, amongthe so-called educated as well or rather, more so.For someone, who despite being religious does notwear the symbols of faith on the proverbial sleeve,it often invites the comment, “But you don’t looklike a Muslim.” I am sure, those who do so have itworse.

Until now. For, sometimes, things need to reacha nadir before being rescued and then the only wayis up. Moreover, it is never the old guard, whichwill challenge the existing practices but rather theyoung, or who the Government would have usbelieve, the naive. The spontaneous protests thatbroke out in response to the police action in JamiaMillia Islamia/Aligarh Muslim University andagainst the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)National Register of Citizens (NRC) in campusesacross the country have often faced restrictions bythe State, which believes that the students are mis-guided and misled. But any mass movement hasthe ability to take on a character of its own and whatthis one does is restore the faith that the idea of an“inclusive”, “sensitive” and “empathetic” country, asenvisaged by the framers of the Constitution, is aliveand kicking. This was reinforced in every protestthat was attended by me.

The first one, at the Police Headquarters atITO in Delhi, was certainly an eye-opener. Theconviction of the group, consisting more than2,000 people, who had assembled within an hourof a WhatsApp forward doing the rounds, did notperceive my Muslimness as equivalent to other-ness, took time to register. The call was to protestagainst the students at the Jamia Milia Islamiabeing brutalised. Though I’ve never worn a hijab,that day, the anger in me swelled. Heading outof the house, I decided to tie my stole like onefor if people believed I was “different” then I want-ed the difference to be on their face. When Ireached, along with a cousin, the crush of human-ity was daunting but never intimidating. Peoplemade way for us. Two women were without amale companion in tow in a city which is notknown to be open to the idea of us stepping outalone at night. But amid this crush of humani-ty, we felt safe. Somewhere along the night, myhijab was back to where it usually is, hangingaround my neck for it was no longer important.

Ordinary people, many of whom were noteven born when the excesses of 1984 took placeor were just children during the 2002 riots, flood-ed the streets in a show of solidarity and reassur-

ance to those who feel threatened in the currentatmosphere, which is rife with fear mongeringpursued by the State. It is no longer a questionof the survival or citizenship of a community butrather a collective rejection of the bigoted ideasof statecraft.

Young India is reclaiming the objective, whichtook birth a 100 years ago when Mahatma Gandhiled India’s freedom struggle powered by “inclusive”nationalism as opposed to that of an “exclusive”nation promoted by the likes of the Muslim Leagueand the Hindu Mahasabha. While the Governmentseems to be on a path of head-on collision withthose ideas as well as the ones incorporated in theConstitution by BR Ambedkar, the youth havedecided to make the safeguarding of the same theirbattle cry. But in their own way, where the old ideais reinforced in their own Instagrammable fashion.

For students have decided to “redeem ourpledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very sub-stantially,” for a nation that is more “inclusive” ofits minorities and backwards. So, at the protests,they sang songs, armed with nothing more than adaphli and the strength of their voices, which theyhope would pierce the high walls of privilege andentitlement. And if anyone is mistaken that it is theyouth from a particular community that “can beidentified by their clothes”, a stern reminder hasbeen sent out by the likes of Indulekha Parthan, afirst year law student, who decided to wear a hijabat a protest while holding aloft a banner challeng-ing attire-based identity. Another unknown manstripped off his shirt to display his janeu, the mark-er of a high-caste Hindu despite the biting cold.More were to join the ranks. People wearing skullcaps along with tilaks or burkhas with bindis, ask-ing which of the two offended the onlooker more.This was a unique direction that the protests havetaken. It could only be expected from the youngergeneration to challenge the bigotry that exists onboth sides of the religious divide.

But then, the barriers crumbled in more waysthan one. At a protest at India Gate, two young girlswere distributing chicken rolls “to fellow protest-ers” since people pooling in their resources to buy

food has become the norm as an army does notmarch on an empty stomach. What heartened mewas when at least five of them said, “I am a vege-tarian.” The binary of “alleged cow killers” beingdifferent and separate without a meeting groundfrom the “pure vegetarians” was effectively trashed,coincidentally at a site that has the names of Indiansacross the divide fighting shoulder to shoulder ina foreign land. The marker should not be lost onthose who seek to divide us.

At the same protest, I heard the idea reiterat-ed by a young woman while speaking to a TVreporter. She asserted, “Why is there no violencewhen the protests have mixed communities but thepolice unleashes its full scale strength at places likeJamia, Daryaganj and Seelampur? It is nothing morethan an attempt to communalise the protest, makeit a Muslim issue and portray the community asviolent. We aren’t buying it. Everyone has an equalclaim on the country and not any particular com-munity.”

It is the same thought from Dr Rahat Indori’spoem, Agar khilaaf hai hone do jaan thodi hai (Itdoesn’t matter if people are against for it is not life),which was written 30 years ago and has gained anew lease of life. At every protest there are alwayssome holding up a banner saying,

“Lagegi aag to aayenge ghar kai zad meYahan pe sirf humara makan thodi hai,” (A fire will engulf everything in its vicinity and

not just houses of one person/community.)or “Sabhi ka khoon shaamil yahan ki mitti meKisi ke baap ka Hindustan thodi hai.”(Everyone has shed blood in pursuit of the idea

of India which doesn’t belong to one community.)Moreover, it is young women who are at the

forefront in many of these protests. At one, I metPallavi, a bright young one who was accompaniedby two of her male friends. During the course ofthe discussion, I stated that I had taken a consciousdecision not to attend the protests which were exclu-sively Muslim because I believe that it is not a com-munity issue but rather a fight to save theConstitution. “But do you realise that as a person

who is privileged, that is where you should be?Those voices need to be heard,” she replied. Yes,the young can and are showing the way.

And that is what many set out to do. After thefracas at Daryaganj, a primarily Muslim majorityarea, when a large number of people were detained,not a single lawyer who turned up to get themreleased or the doctors who queued up to treat themcame from the minority community. I met a groupof students exiting the Metro station near the thanawho were there to support them. Again, they werethere in their capacities as activists, who believedin humanity being beyond the borders of religion.If this isn’t proof that my country refuses to be divid-ed then what is?

Then, of course, there are the brave heartsacross colleges, who might not be attending theprotests but in their own way, are making their voic-es heard. Jadavpur, Pondicherry and Banaras HinduUniversity are some names that come to one’s mindwhere students have registered their protest. AtJadavpur, a student while accepting her degree toreup the CAA with the words, “Hum kaagaz nahindikhaenge (We won’t show our papers),” the poemby comedian Varun Grover. The protesters havefound a creative outlet not just in cheeky and intel-ligent banners but also in a lot of poetry and songsbeing written in opposition to the act.

Last but not the least, the most enduringimage from the protest emerged from the JamaMasjid, the largest mosque in the capital, where33-year-old Chandrashekhar Azad, the leader ofBhim Sena, bounded up the steps holding in hishand a copy of the Constitution rather than theGita or the Quran and the people heeded to hiscall rather than that of their Imam. This, myfriend, is certainly the idea of India. So while theGovernment is insisting upon an idea of what itwants the country to be, young people, like every-where else in the world, refuse to listen and showin their own way that they do not want to be sad-dled with cleaning up the divisive mistakes thatthe present generation is saddling them with. Andthank Allah, God, Ram and Wahe Guru for that.

(The writer is Assistant Editor, The Pioneer)

The protests across the country have demonstrated that young people refuse to bebogged down by the dogma of schisms and bigotry

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

Education trendsand beyond

RACHIT JAIN

Let’s brace ourselves for the new era, backed bytechnology to pave the way for creating levers for a

stronger education system in the future

SAIMI SATTAR

The education sector is all set to go through a massivechange in the coming years. There will be a shift frommarks-based academic curriculum to life-based over-

all development. This formula aims to reduce the large gapbetween what students study and what the industries expectof them. Technology will serve the objectives of the NewEducation Policy (NEP), which is aimed at making educationaffordable for all. Its focus areas include providing free edu-cation for girls, developing a world-class industrial workforcethat strengthens the higher education industry partnership,holistic education that ensures literacy life skills andemployability and helping students, who do not have the nec-essary funds.

Let’s take a look at some of the education trends thatwill thrive in 2020 and beyond:

Augmented reality: AR is being used in education withan aim to impart knowledge of abstract lessons that are dif-ficult for the students to grasp. AR changes the timing andlocation of learning, which keeps dullness at bay that usu-ally settles in an environment that students are subjected toon a daily basis. Time and again professors and teachers havestated that theoretical knowledge alone cannot help in acquir-ing practical skills. AR helps students break from the mouldof passive learning. It helps them perform in virtual practices,engages students with highly interactive exercises as well asshows real time examples with the help of digital modelingand augmented simulations that make for situation-basedlearning.

Gaming in education: In recent times, the world of gam-ing in education has exploded with amazing apps and onlineprogrammes that cater to every educational concept underthe sun. It provides the students the best of both work andplay. Video games and educational simulators teach skills likecomputer programming, flight training as well as breaks downtrick algebra and trigonometric questions into engaging prac-tices. Learning through games not only aids students in lev-eling up their knowledge but makes the whole process of learn-ing fun and efficient. It also helps students imbibe technicalskills with reality games that provide an immersive experi-ence through a rich combination of digital technology, realworld game play and strong narrative. Moreover, high defi-nition gaming allows students to build things and look close-ly at their final outcome to understand what they did rightand what went wrong.

Interest-based learning: This form of learning refers tostudents pursuing subjects that they are inclined towards.For example, if a student is more into mathematics than sci-ence, then he/she will be encouraged to learn more aboutthat subject so that he/she can excel and not be scolded fordoing that well in other subjects. This type of education tapsinto the inherent passion that the person has for that partic-ular subject.

Social and emotional learning: This refers to that formof learning that helps improve a student’s behaviour as it isall about ingraining a positive outlook towards society andits members include fellow students, teachers and parents.It fosters better motivation towards learning as well as deep-er commitment to school activities. By making everyone feela part of the group, it encourages them to participate andshare ideas and their beliefs.

Self-paced learning: Technology has enabled users tostudy at their own pace and grasp contents with personalisedlearning. This removes the pressure of matching their peersand instances of rote learning as students are not studyingonly for exams but for comprehension that will make theirunderstanding of the subject quite deep. Many institutionshave come up with courses and certification programmesthat are exclusively taught in online mode, which enables stu-dents to view recorded lectures, participate in live sessionsand study from any location.

While there has been an increasing trend for e-learningcontent, most available content has been ineffective in engag-ing the students and improving learning outcomes. It is herethat parameters to evaluate the content will have to be set.The role of Government bodies is paramount in promotingsuch initiatives.

(The writer is founder and CEO of a leading online plat-form that is helping the youth to become employable)

One of India’s most dazzlingachievements during the year2019 has been in the field offinancial inclusion. The numberof Basic Savings Bank Deposit

(BSBD) accounts increased from 73 millionin 2010 to 574 million in 2019 following theintroduction of the Pradhan Mantri Jan DhanYojana (PMJDY). Eighty per cent of the peo-ple of over 15 years of age now have a bankaccount. According to an assessment by theEconomist Intelligence Unit (EIU), India hasthe fifth most conducive environment amongemerging countries for inclusive finance. Weshould now strive to consolidate these gains.Let us not reduce them to mere flag posts andconsign our financial revolution to the drift-wood of history. Lessons from past experi-ences caution us against the danger of back-sliding on the groundbreaking accomplish-ments we have achieved.

India’s aggressive drive in financial inclu-

sion has increased banking access dramati-cally, driven as it is by a strong regulatorypush. While efforts to improve financialaccess and promote usage have brought astaggering number of individuals into the for-mal financial services sector, the usage of theseaccounts and the uptake of formal financialservices beyond savings accounts have beendifficult. Millions have signed up but few usethe accounts. Financial inclusion is certain-ly at the crossroads on account of its myopicvision of restricted role to mere access. If peo-ple do not use these accounts, it can be sur-mised that the policies are ineffective. Thislack of usage underlines the importance ofcreating products and engagement strategiesthat are better designed to meet the needs ofthe people so that they can use them in theirdaily financial lives. Access is one data pointamong many. It should not serve as the ulti-mate objective for financial inclusion.

Access to a bank account cannot by itselfimprove the financial health of vulnerablegroups. We have to simultaneously make peo-ple aware how they should handle theirfinances. Change in attitude and efficient sav-ings practices need to be imbibed. The cus-tomer must make this account his financialdiary and conduct transactions, which cangrow into a credit history. Else all theseaccounts will remain deadweight. Withoutgreater and consistent usage of bank accounts,

the promises of financial inclusion — equi-table economic growth, growing successfulbusinesses and improving financial securityand prosperity — will remain elusive.

There is a need to shift the intervention-al focus from simple access-oriented measurestowards utilisation and engagement-orient-ed measures. It is vital that we keep in mindthat financial inclusion is a means to an end,not an end in itself. It is only when peopleuse financial tools to make their lives betterand help their community grow that finan-cial inclusion will be relevant. Arguably, thebest way to increase usage of accounts is tofully digitise payments for Governmenttransfers of social benefits. If one is a recip-ient of a cash transfer from the Government,he/she will receive that cash transfer electron-ically, which means one needs to have a bankaccount or some kind of transaction account.These payments include everything from fer-tiliser and cooking gas subsidies to oil, ruralemployment wage to scholarships.

With digitisation of Government-to-per-son transfer (G2P), user frequency is expect-ed to increase. They will give people a rea-son to use those accounts. However, wher-ever this has been done, such accounts haveremained merely a payment channel ratherthan bringing a fundamental change in cus-tomer use of financial services.

Going beyond mere access: As access

increasingly becomes a reality, a second gen-eration of challenges has emerged — to cap-italise on the openings made possible throughaccess to offer products and services that trulyimprove lives. We have to go beyond merephysical accounts if we want to catalyse finan-cial inclusion into broader economic andsocial growth. People, who regularly use abank account, are more likely to be financial-ly literate than those who do not as there isa direct correlation between financial knowl-edge and financial services.

The Jan Dhan Yojana (JAM) is reshap-ing the financial landscape and has enabledIndia to surge new heights. The take-off ofdigital financial services has largely driven thisgrowth. It has also enabled one of the biggestpieces of reform ever attempted in India —direct subsidy transfers. Innovative solutionsthat can take into account the peculiaritiesof the people at the bottom of the pyramidare needed. We need to use our natural pow-ers of persistence, concentration, insight andsensitivity to do work, think deeply and solveour problems. As with most trumpeted inter-ventions, our programmes are scrambling toturn rhetoric into reality. We don’t have toreinvent the wheel. Policy-makers can learnlessons from those who have achievedimpressive success. The choices of these vul-nerable communities are heavily influencednot just by socio-economic and demo-

graphic status and geography but also by theircontext. Hence, financial institutions, whichhope to alleviate their financial problems,must have a deep understanding of theirmotivations and obstacles so that theydesign products and services that address theconsumers’ real needs.

An equally important area is reliable,timely, adequate and fairly-priced credit.Having a bank account is just one side offinancial inclusion. Access to credit is anoth-er. Credit is an important rung on the finan-cial ladder that can help move people frompoverty to the middle class. In fact, business-es face great constraints to access financebecause of market imperfections such asinformation asymmetries and transactioncosts. Merely making credit available andglamourising stories of poor women pullingthemselves up with the help of a few dosesof credit have been counterproductive.

The biggest obstacle to credit expansionis the lack of tangible data points, which canhelp the credit bureaus put together betterunderwriting models for unbanked cus-tomers. The proliferation of unique creditmodels backed by increasing data availabil-ity for traditional agencies is establishing anew paradigm for lenders. Increasingly, weare seeing large numbers of unique borrow-ers, who have been beneficiaries of the newlending models built around technology. A

large part of the incremental credit is nowgoing to individuals rather than corporatehouses, which form the bulk of the outstand-ing credit. We are now seeing what is beingcalled as the “democratisation of credit.”

It is, therefore, important that we keepin mind the lessons of the past — such as thepointlessness of cheap credit and imprudentlending practices — as also of the present suchas the aggressive marketing of expensive cred-it as a panacea for the poor. To enable the poorto work their way out of poverty, they needto be enabled to move from one step to anoth-er of the financial ladder to another throughgraduated credit. Credit should be made avail-able in staggered doses, with every newtranche disbursed after satisfactory repaymentbehaviour of the clients. This will alsoensure that the vulnerable groups do not getinto a debt trap; it will also make credit dis-pensation more efficient and qualitative. Thefinancial inclusion community now has ahuge tent. It is heartwarming that the sub-ject is dominating the mainstream policyagendas. However, we need to be on guardagainst any unrealistic hype as has happenedpreviously. To quote Nobel Prize winningauthor, VS Naipaul, “India’s financial inclu-sion space is ripe for a billion mutinies now.”

(The writer is Member, NITI Aayog’sNational Committee on Financial Literacy andInclusion for Women.)

Mapping financial progress and prospectsGreat strides have been made toward financial inclusion but instead of resting on our laurels, we must lead the revolution to its logical conclusion

MOIN QAZI

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 26, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com analysis

PNS n NEW DELHI

Government think-tank NitiAayog member R ameshChand on Wednesday madea case for only two slabsunder the goods and servicetax regime as against themultiple slabs currently, andsaid rates should be revisedannually if required. Thegoods and ser vices tax(GST), which replacedalmost all the indirect taxes,came into force from July 1,2017, and the rates on goodsand ser vices have beenrevised several times sincethen.

Currently, there are fourGST rate slabs — 5 per cent,12, per cent, 18 per cent and28 per cent. Several items fallin exempt category or nilduty. Besides, cess is alsolevied on five goods.Chand said thatwhen a large taxa-tion reforms likeGST are brought in,there are a lways"teething problems"but soon theys t a b i l i s e .He saidmost oft h ec o u n -t r i e s

took long time for GST sta-bilisation.

The Niti Aayog member,who looks after the agricul-ture sector, is also strictly

against frequent changesin GST rates as it leadsto problems. The all-powerful GST Council,presided over by the

Union finance ministerand comprising state

f inance ministers ,

decides on rate for particu-lar goods and services.

Besides frequent demandfor reduction in the rates onvarious goods and services,there has also been clamourfor a slash in the number oftax slabs. "It has becometendency of every sector toask for lower GST. I feel GSTissues are much larger thanasking for rates," Chand said.

And, "we should not fiddle

with rates or change ratesfrequently... We should nothave many rates. Have onlytwo rates," he said. Chandsaid the focus should be onsteady increase in revenuecollection from the new indi-rect tax regime rather thantinkering with rates. He pre-scribed that if at all ratesneed to be changed, it shouldbe done annual ly. Ondemands of lower GST onprocess food, like dairy prod-ucts, Chand, an agri econo-mist, said the 5 per cent GSTon such products is "veryvery reasonable".

Chand said that whileevery sector is demandinglower rate, they should alsounderstand governmentsneed revenue to spend ondevelopment works. "Wealways ask from the govern-ment and forget to give back.This trend is not good. Fromwhere will the governmentget the money to spend fordevelopment," said Chand,who is also a member of the15th Finance Commission.

He said that in the agri-culture sector alone, the cen-tral government is providinga subsidy of Rs 1.2 lakhcrore and the states puttogether spend about Rs 1lakh crore.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Mutual funds have added astaggering over Rs 4 lakhcrore to their asset base in2019 and the industry expectsthe growth trajectory to con-tinue in the new year on theback of strong inflows in debtschemes and measures takenby regulator Sebi for boostinginvestors' confidence.

It was because of strong inz-into debt-oriented schemesthat saved 2019 from being a"dark-dull year of investing" asinflows into equity funds hasdropped this year due to avolatile market.

Going ahead, the industryshould witness growth in therange of 17-18 per cent in2020 and equity funds should

see robust inflows as expec-tations are high aboutimproved equity markets and

a revival in economic growth,industry body AMFI's CEO NS Venkatesh said. The asset

under management (AUM) ofthe industry rose by 18 percent (Rs 4.2 lakh crore) to anall time high of Rs 27 lakhcrore in 2019 by November-end itself, up from Rs 22.86lakh crore at the end of

December 2018, as per the lat-est data available with theAssociation of Mutual Fundsin India (Amfi). Some indus-try experts said the finalDecember-end figure mightbe slightly lower than the

November-end level, as liquidfunds could see some dip dueto a quarter-end phenome-non. Kaustubh Belapurkar,Director Manager Research atMorningstar InvestmentAdviser India said, "Whilethe mutual fund industry sawa significant growth post-demonetisation, there hasbeen steady but not spectac-ular growth in 2019. But giventhe backdrop of the pessimismdue to slowing economicgrowth, credit crisis andvolatile markets, this growthis quite admirable."

The investor count is esti-mated to have grown by over62 lakh during 2019, to 8.65crore this year. In 2018,investors' folio grew by morethan 1.3 crore.

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 26, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

NMDC aims tomake Rohne,Tokisud minesNEW DELHI: State-ownedmining major NMDC aims tostart commercial operations atthe two coal blocks allotted toit in Jharkhand last week bynext 12 months, a companyofficial has said. Last week,the Ministry of Coal allottedRohne and Tokisud North coalmines in the Hazaribaghdistrict of Jharkhand to thestate-owned iron miner. "Thecompany will first develop themines and begin commercialoperations at the mines in oneyear," the official said. Theofficial also said that NMDCwill be at advantage in termsof developing a commoninfrastructure for both minesdue the distances betweenthem is just about 10 km.

National ProductivityCouncil to assessperformance of power NEW DELHI: The NationalProductivity Council willundertake an evaluation studyto assess the performance offour power loom sectorschemes for a period fromApril 2017 to March 2020, tohelp the Centre makeimprovements in futureschemes to achieve betteroutcomes for the sector byidentifying existing gaps. "Thestudy would focus on detailedfield-level interactions withcentral agencies involved inimplementation of the projectsand various stakeholders. Fieldstudy would be conductedthrough structuredquestionnaire/checklists at thecluster level on a pan-Indiabasis," the Office of the TextileCommissioner has said. Thefour schemes whoseperformance will be evaluatedinclude PowerTex India,Converged Group Insurance,Revised ComprehensivePowerloom ClusterDevelopment and North EastRegion Textile PromotionScheme that are in place tillMarch 2020.

TVS Motor launchesNTORQ 125 RaceEdition in NepalNEW DELHI: Chennai-basedTVS Motor Company onWednesday said it hasintroduced NTORQ 125 RaceEdition scooter in Nepal. TheRace Edition comes withvarious design elements andfeatures like LED DRLs andheadlamp, hazard lamp amongothers. "Since its launch, TVSNTORQ 125 has become adarling of its Gen Z customersin Nepal," TVS MotorCompany Executive VicePresident InternationalBusiness R Dilip said in astatement. The scooter is builton a rich pedigree of 37 yearsof TVS Racing and the RaceEdition is launched tocelebrate the same, he added.Launched in September2018, TVSNTORQ 125comes with124.79 ccengine thatchurns out9.4 PS ofpower.

We should not fiddle with rates or changerates frequently... We should not havemany rates. Have only two rates

— RAMESH CHAND, Govt think-tank Niti Aayog member

NITI Aayog member bats for 2 GST slabs, annual revision

PNS n NEW DELHI

From being the world's cheap-est and fastest growing market,India's telecom sector is sput-tering as it faces life-threaten-ing liability running into bil-lions of dollars, a crisis that mayalter the character of an indus-try that has already seen apainful price war destroyingprofits and push several oper-ators out of the market.

The Supreme Court orderfor including non-core revenuein telecom groups' gross adjust-ed revenue — the figure onwhich the levies are charged —revived the rivalry betweenthe old operators and MukeshAmbani's low-cost upstartReliance Jio during 2019, butthere are signs of a truce withthe rival camps agreeing toraise tariffs and also favouringregulator's intervention in fix-ing floor or minimum tariffs.

"We have fundamentallygone from an all (mobile) voice(calling) network to a hybridnetwork (of voice and internetdata), to soon an all data net-work," said Rajan Mathews,Director General of CellularOperators' Association of India

(COAI). And to survive, afloor price is needed quickly,before March 2020, he said.

With 1 gigabyte (GB) ofmobile data costing just USD0.26 compared to USD 12.37 inthe US and USD 6.66 in theUK, India in 2019 emerged asthe nation with the cheapesttelecom tariff in the world. Itwas also the fastest-growingtelecom market.

But below the surface, aprice war since the 2016 launchof Jio had ringed the sector hal-low. And when on October 24,the Supreme Court, on a peti-tion moved by the government,ordered payment of past duesaccording to its new definition

of AGR, the country's second-biggest carrier Vodafone-IdeaLtd warned of shut down if norelief is given.

The total dues for the indus-try ran into a whopping Rs 1.47lakh crore. For an industry thathas come from 7-8 operators tojust three private players andstate-owned fourth operator,the warning by Vodafone-Ideasounded like a death knell.

The year saw resurfacing ofa bitter war of words betweenthe old and the new operator,and intense lobbying by tele-com czar Sunil Bharti Mittaland billionaire KumarMangalam Birla of Vodafone-Idea.

Mutual funds add over Rs 4 lakh cr to asset base in 2019

PNS n NEW DELHI

Nearly 1,100 scientists, practi-tioners and experts in ground-water and related fields from92 countries have called on thegovernments and nongovern-mental agencies to "act now" toensure global groundwatersustainability.

In a statement, the groupnoted that groundwater rep-resents 99 per cent of theEarth's freshwater.

This makes it critical forsupplying drinking water,ensuring food security, adapt-ing to climate variability, sup-porting biodiversity, sustainingsurface water bodies and meet-ing the UN's SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs).

"Unfortunately, in manyregions, groundwater isincreasingly depleted or pol-luted, hampering socio-eco-nomic development andthreatening water and foodsupplies and ecosystems,"according to the statement.

"At the same time, advancesin research, technology andpolicy offer innovative solu-tions. There is a unique, butshrinking window of oppor-tunity to act — and now is thetime for action to ensuregroundwater continues to ben-efit society today and in thefuture," it said.

Abhijit Mukherjee, who is a

part of the global scientistgroup and an Associate pro-fessor at Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT) Kharagpurtold PTI "we, in India, are

abstracting the largest volumeof groundwater in human his-tory and are rapidly depletinga relatively non-renewable nat-ural resource that is essentialfor our survival."

Mukherjee and other signa-tories noted that groundwaterchallenges and opportunitiesare often overlooked in nation-al and international strategiesfor sustainable development,climate adaptation and biodi-versity. "As a global group ofscientists, practitioners andother experts in groundwaterand related fields, we call oninternational and national gov-ernmental and non-govern-mental agencies, developmentorganisations, corporations,decision-makers and scien-tists to address three actionitems,” the statement said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Housing sales in the nationalcapital region went up by 6 percent to 46,920 units during2019 on higher demand foraffordable homes and com-pleted flats, according to prop-erty consultant Anarock.

Prices in Delhi-NCRremained stagnant at nearly Rs4,600 per sq ft, while unsoldinventories fell by 6 per cent to1,75,079 units from 1,86,714units. Across seven majorcities, sales rose by 5 per centto 2,61,370 units in 2019 com-pared to 2,48,310 units in theprevious year. Sales droppedby 22 per cent in the secondhalf of this year to 1,47,120 asagainst 1,14,250 units duringJanuary-June period this year.

"Unrelenting liquidity crisis,lower-than-expected buyersentiments and faltering GDPgrowth eventually put brakeson the overall housing growth

in the second half of 2019,"said Anuj Puri, Chairman –Anarock PropertyConsultants.

According to the data, hous-ing sales rose maximum by 22per cent in MumbaiMetropolitan Region (MMR)to 80,870 units this year from66,440 units in 2018.

Pune saw 18 per cent rise insales to 40,790 units from34,460 units during the peri-od under review.

Sales in Delhi-NCRincreased to 46,920 units from44,300 units, while sales inChennai rose by 4 per cent to11,820 units from 11,340.

However, Bengaluru wit-nessed 12 per cent drop insales to 50,450 units from57,540 units.

Sales in Kolkata andHyderabad decreased by 11per cent each and were record-ed at 13,930 units and 16,590units, respectively, in 2019.

Housing sales up 6% at 46,920 units in Delhi-NCR during 2019

NTPC to investRs 50K cr toadd 10GWsolar energy

PNS n NEW DELHI

Piramal Enterprises onWednesday said it willraise up to Rs 2,750 croreby issuing bonds on pri-vate placement basis.

"A meeting of theA d m i n i s t r a t i v eCommittee of the Boardof Directors of theCompany will be held onSaturday, 28th December,2019, to consider andapprove the issue ofsecured non-convertibledebentures on privateplacement basis amount-ing up to Rs 2,750 crore,"it said in a regulatory fil-ing. Piramal Enterprisessaid the money can beraised in one or moretranches from time totime.

Piramal to raiseRs 2,750 cr byissuing bonds

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned power giantNTPC is planning to add10GW of solar energy gener-ation capacity by 2022, whichentails an investment ofaround Rs 50,000 crore, to befunded mainly by greenbonds, a source has said.

At present, NTPC hasinstalled renewable energycapacity of 920 MW, whichincludes mainly solar energy.It has formulated a long termplan to become a 130 GWcompany by 2032 with 30 percent non-fossil fuel or renew-able energy capacity.

"The company will com-plete tendering of 2,300 MWof solar energy capacity by theend of this fiscal. Thereafter ithas planned to add 4GW eachin 2020-21 and 2021-22.

"The company is open toany borrowing option in themarket, which is economical.However, the company wouldmainly rely on green bondswhich are offered for pureclean energy projects. Thecompany wants to raise moneythrough domestic greenbonds," the source said.

Govt constitutes expert panel to resolveoil, gas disputesPNS n NEW DELHI

With overhang of disputeschoking investments in the oiland gas sector, the govern-ment has constituted an expertcommittee for time-bound res-olution of exploration and pro-duction disputes without hav-ing to resort to tardy judicialprocess. The 'Committee ofExternal Eminent Persons/Experts' for dispute resolutionwill comprise former oil secre-tary G C Chaturvedi, Oil IndiaLtd former head Bikash C Boraand Hindalco Industries LtdManaging Director Satish Pai,according to an official notifi-cation. The panel will have atenure of three years and theresolution will be attempted tobe arrived at within 3 months.India's oil and gas sector has

been plagued by disputes fromcost recovery to production tar-gets, and companies as well asthe government have resortedto lengthy and costly arbitrationfollowed by judicial review —a process that takes years toresolve differences.

The notification said thecommittee will arbitrate on adispute between partners in acontract or with the govern-ment over commercial or pro-duction issues for oil and gas.

"Any dispute or differencearising out of a contract relat-ing to exploration blocks/ fieldsof India can be referred to thecommittee, if both parties to thecontract agree in writing forconciliation or mediation andfurther agree to not invoke arbi-tration proceedings thereafter,"it said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The NCLAT has dismissed peti-tions filed by the Income TaxDepartment, which raisedobjection over the approvalgranted to Reliance JioInfocomm scheme to hive off itsfiber and tower business intotwo separate units.

The Ahmedabad-bench ofNational Company LawTribunal (NCLT) had earlier thisyear granted permission to thecomposite scheme of arrange-

ment, through which two com-panies were proposed to bedemerged — Jio Digital FibrePvt Ltd and Reliance Jio InfratelPvt Ltd. This was opposed bythe IT department by challeng-

ing it before the NationalCompany Law AppellateTribunal (NCLAT). The ITdepartment has contended thatby scheme of arrangement, thetransferor company RelianceJio Infocomm has sought toconvert the redeemable prefer-ence shares into loans.

According to it, conversion ofequity into debt is not only con-trary to the well settled princi-ples of the company law but alsowould reduce the profitability orthe net total income of the

transferor company, causing ahuge loss of revenue to theIncome Tax Department.

However, the NCLAT dis-missed it by saying that theNCLT has already dealt with theissue. "Mere fact that a Schememay result in reduction of taxliability does not furnish a basisfor challenging the validity of thesame. "…We are not inclined tointerfere with the Scheme ofArrangement as approved by theTribunal. Both the appeals aredismissed," the appellate tri-

bunal said. aReliance JioInfocomm submitted that itpreviously had separate unitshousing its optic fiber and towerinfrastructure undertakings.Each of these units had distinctassets and liabilities and wereinvolved in separate business.

On April 2, Reliance Jio saidthat it has transferred control ofits fibre and mobile tower unitsto two infrastructure invest-ment trusts set up by RelianceIndustrial Investments andHoldings Ltd (RIIHL).

NCLAT dismisses IT dept plea against Reliance Jio

It was because of strong inzinto debt-oriented schemes that saved2019 from being a ‘dark-dull year ofinvesting’ as inflows into equity funds has dropped this year due to a volatile market

l Momentum may continue in new year

LIFE-THREATENING LIABILITY RUNNING INTO BILLIONS OF DOLLARS

World's cheapest, biggesttelecom market faces crisis

Experts call for global actionon ‘depleting' groundwater

This makes it critical for supplyingdrinking water,ensuring foodsecurity, adapting toclimate variability,supportingbiodiversity,sustaining surfacewater bodies andmeeting the UN'sSustainableDevelopment Goals

ThursdayDecember 26, 2019

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dailypioneer

J Sunny akaArun Reddy hasnow become ahousehold namein many Teluguspeaking homes

for his acting chops as Jaiin the daily soap, KalyanaVaibhogam. Speaking toThe Pioneer, Sunny nar-rates his journey from alifestyle journalist to turn-ing VJ and his growth asan actor.

BIG BREAKSSunny was passionate

about acting since child-hood. He started his careeras a lifestyle journalistwhere he managed to knowthe who’s who of theindustry throughinterviews of a num-ber of celebrities.

Sunny says, “My dreamwas always to enter cine-ma. I interviewedmany celebrities as ajourno. To fulfil mydream of seeingmyself as an actor, Istarted my path withanchoring. Gradually,as I began to meet more

and more people I began toprove my talent as an actorand managed to get intomainstream television. Outof all the career markers inmy life, I enjoyed anchor-ing the most.”

HOUSEHOLD NAMESpeaking about his role

in Kalyana Vaibhogam,Sunny says, “Acting on tele-vision is like becoming amember of each and everyTelugu family. Women,especially, are big fans ofthe daily soaps and the castinvolved. Generally, peoplewatch a movie and forgetabout it in a few dayswhereas serials make aday-to-day impression thatlasts for years. KalyanaVaibhogam has

been

the number one serial fortwo years and has broughtme more recognition thanwhen I was a VJ. I neverexpected this much affec-tion from people and Ibelieve this is a gift for mefrom God.”

Sunny says he learnt act-ing while he was a theatrestudent and also creditshours of solo practise infront of the mirror for hisperformances.

RISE OF TV ACTORSSunny feels TV requires

a different level of actingwhose nuances changeevery day. “So, as an actor,I feel everyday is my firstday at work,” he says.Sunny adds, “In otherstates, many cinemacelebrities have a televisionbackground. But in Teluguthat is not happening forsome reason. Even KGFstar, Naveen KumarGowda aka Yash, alsocame from TV back-ground. In recent timesTV actors are being wide-ly appreciated when itcomes to other media.”

When asked aboutwhich medium poses achallenge for him as anactor, Sunny says that anymedium, whether it is TVor cinema, requires a regu-lar practise without whichperfection can’t beachieved.

RACINGSunny is a big fan of

high-end racing bikes andraces in his free time.

“Just like acting, I wasalso interested in racingsince my childhood. Alongwith participating in racingevents, I also go kartingevery weekend. I hope thegovernment would set uptracks to encourageupcoming racers in thestate,” he says.

THE DREAM Sunny hopes to prove

himself on the big screenone day. “I attend manyauditions for my actingcareer. I’m looking for arole that gives me space togrow as an actor. I don’thave any dream role per seand I would love to do out-

of-the-box characters. Ibelieve that we can giveour best through essayingdifficult roles,” says Sunnyadding that his love for TVwill continue even if hebegins acting in films.

MORE THEATRESunny wishes that there

are more avenues for the-atre in Hyderabad. Heshares, “We don’t havemany venues to show-case Telugu theatre inHyderabad. In placeslike Delhi, theatre isgiven utmost impor-tance and actors getgreat response. Thegovernment mustallocate space for the-atre artistes to show-case their talent.”

Acting that leaves a lasting impressionSpeaking to V SATEESH

REDDY,journalist-

turned-actor VJSunny speaks

about hisdream to play

out-of-the-boxroles in moviesand television,

the need torevive Telugutheatre in thecity and more

V

Out of the

BOX

SUNNY FEELS TVREQUIRES ADIFFERENT LEVELOF ACTING WHOSENUANCES CHANGEEVERY DAY

ndian Cinema has longbeen known for its

bling, blitz and buzz,presenting larger-than-

life characters, and basi-cally attempting to

make almost every movie agrand spectacle.

However, the last few yearshave seen several movies that

have challenged the conven-tions of a typical Indian cine-

ma. Unmistakably, Bollywood,as the Hindi film industry is

known, has played a key role inthis, churning out non-conven-

tional narratives like Lagaan,Rang De Basanti, Gangs of

Wasseypur, Barfi, A Wednesdayand several others.

Film industries down southalso caught up and especially in

2019, several path-breakingmovies were made.

GAME OVER (multi-lin-gual): A game-changer

The Tapsee Pannu-starrerGame Over which was simulta-neously shot in Tamil, Teluguand Hindi, is the tale of an avidgamer who suffers from PTSDand extreme nyctophobia,both of which stemfrom a traumaticepisode in her past.The psychological-thriller is composedof layers upon layers ofstories, each with itsnarrative, yet sewntogether seamlessly, tak-ing the viewer on an emo-tional and intellectualroller-coaster ride.

The movie has set a stan-dard for itself through itsattempt to capture elements ofpsychological stress and relay-ing it to the audiences in a man-ner that seemed more realisticand could be easily comprehend-ed by the audiences.

Despite the intensively blend-ed clever plotlines and the hyperimaginative encounters through-out the movie, the filmmakerssucceeded in connecting theaudiences to the protagonist andthis is what made Game Over aclass apart.

AGENT SAI SRINIVASAATHREYA (Telugu): a no-nonsense crime-thrillerthat is blatant to its core

While Game Over revolvedaround an extremely fictionalnarrative with several paranor-mal sequences, Agent SaiSrinivasa Athreya is the epitomeof a brutally realistic film despitehaving elements that are far-fetched. Agent Athreya (NaveenPolishetty) is a detective grievingover the death of his mother andrunning a detective agency inNellore. Both Agent Athreya andhis assistant Sneha (Sruthi) solvecases which visibly for everyone,including the protagonist and theaudience, are not worth his timeor efforts. He continues to yearnfor cases of a higher order, andeventually stumbles upon justthat.

He finally finds a gruesomecase which is intertwined to thelife of the protagonist at a per-sonal level that forms thecrux of the story. Arefreshing

crime-thriller among

a plethora of detective movies,Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya doesnot view the murderer’s chasethrough rose-tinted glasses nordoes it romanticise the profes-sion of a detective which is whattakes the movie into the list ofone of the rawest crime-thrillersamong south Indian movies.

MOOTHON (Malayalam):an attempt to establish amore realistic and relat-able dialogue about gen-der identity

A film which brings about thenecessity of establishing a dia-logue about several crucial issuesthat go unaddressed in society,Moothon is the directorial debutof Geethu Mohandas intoMalayalam cinema. Written anddirected by Geethu, the filmshows a lot of promise. Moothonis a film about the search of afamily member. At the face of it,Mulla, a 14-year-old transgender,from Lakshadweep decides to setout in search of an older brotherwho ran away to Mumbai.Moothon in its very essence is apowerful story that revolvesaround gender identity and love.And to add to thestory the

audienceis thenserved with astriking con-trast between thelifestyle that is wit-nessed by Mulla inMumbai andKamathipura. The audi-ence is offered a new per-spective about gender iden-tity and being empathetic

toward the protago-nist.

PERANBU (Tamil): Whencinematography is used asa mirror for introspection

Peranbu shows its audiencethe fallacy of normalising injus-tice. It is the embodiment of thetendency displayed by the soci-ety in general, where discrimina-tory or other unjust behaviour,despite being unethical, isaccepted to be right justbecause it is the presentnorm.

Peranbu shows us thejourney of an estrangedfather and his attemptsat reconciling withhis daughter, whohas cerebral palsy.It portrays thedistance societyplaces bet-ween thosewho it has

deemedfit and normal andthose who are different

from the society,those that it consid-ered different,hence flawed.

The movie’s char-acters are not unlike

any of us in the realworld. Each character is

flawed in their own waybut the flaws are depictedthrough the lens of human-ity which is what makesPeranbu a novel watch.Though the movie is

dark and deep, itretains enough

humour to lightenthe mood of the

audience butjust enough tomake sure that

they don’t swayfrom the major

point of the story,which doubles up as a

mirror to the

peo-ple show-ing how theircollective actionsaffect and shape indi-viduals.

SUPER DELUXE (Tamil): abold idea, a bold narrative,a bold statement.

Super Deluxe is when the livesof couple in marital agony, atransgender trying to reconnectwith family, a former sex workerand a pious tsunami survivor getintertwined to bring forth thecrises of everyday life. Despitethe complexity of the plot, thestory is gritty enough to hold theinterest of the audience. Everycharacter in the story hasenough control over the role totruly portray the emotion of eachunfolding plotline in the movie;ample proof of the skill and

command of the

actors inthe movie.Despite the highexpectations due tothe high profile crew,Thiagarajan Kumararaja does-n’t disappoint by holding up hisend in the emotional storytellingand social commentary toppedwith a bit of black comedy. Thesuccess of the movie despite thebold depiction of heavily stereo-typed issues and characters with-in is what sets this film a classapart.

These were just a few men-tions. The year 2019 has beenmore or less defined by innova-tive hyperlocal narratives that

havedone wellat the box off-ice and have also b-een critically acclaimed.

Bold and gritty, funnyand witty, 2019 gave us all. Andnow as 2020 is on the horizon,we are eager to see the next set ofunconventional plots and innov-ative stories.

I If the films lined up for release in 2020 isanything to go by, remaking South Indian

films has been on top of the minds ofdirectors. This has proven to be another yearof super hits with regional films giving ample

fodder for Hindi film narratives, finds ANUSHKA PRADEEP

10

Vijayawada Thursday December 26, 2019 what’s brewing?

inger-actress MileyCyrus and actorLiam Hemsworthhave reportedlyworked out thedetails regarding

their divorce.“It’s a relief for both of

them that they can move onlegally from one another and

fully put this behind them,” asource told eonline.com.

“It was not a complicateddivorce because of their pre-nup and it was all handled byattorneys. Their earnings werekept separate while they weremarried and that was helpful.They are both very muchready to move on and untan-

gle whatever affairs were leftto figure out. They are happyto close this chapter of theirlives,” added the source.

The Hunger Games actorfiled for divorce in August2019 after less than a year ofmarriage. Hemsworth cited“irreconcilable differences” asthe reason for the split.

Miley Cyrus, LiamHemsworth reachdivorce settlementS

inger Jessie J says theonly part of her bodythat is fake are her“teeth” and “everythingelse is natural”, including

the “cellulite”. The 31-year-oldtook to Instagram to share a videoof her curves during a photoshoot, reports dailymail.co.uk.

The singer, who recently splitfrom boyfriend Channing Tatum,

flaunted her figure in a sheer blackdress as she wrote that “everythingelse” on her body is natural,adding: “The cellulite too.”

In the video, Jessie prominentlydisplayed her behind. It seemedlike she was hitting back at claimsshe may have had some surgicalhelp.

She did not directly referenceany reason behind her post, but

did affirm that she has had herteeth whitened after being com-pared to Bugs Bunny as a child.

Alongside the video she wrotein the caption: “The only thing onmy whole body that is fake are thetwo teeth next to my big teeth.They used to look like baby sweetcorns. Now they light up when Igo bowling. Everything else is nat-ural. The cellulite too.”

JESSIE J REVEALS WHAT PART OF HER BODY IS FAKE

S

tar couple KimKardashian andKanye West giftedtheir 6-year-olddaughter NorthWest a custom

black velvet jacket thatbelonged to late singerMichael Jackson forChristmas.

Kim posted on herInstagram story a video of the

jacket on Christmas Eve,reports eonline.com. “North isa really big Michael Jacksonfan and we knew she wouldlove this,” Kim said. “We wonthis at an auction for Northiefor Christmas.”

The jacket was sold for awinning bid of $65,625 inNew York in October. Jacksonwore it in 1997, once to hisfriend Elizabeth Taylor’s 65th

birthday celebration and alsoto the screening of his movieGhost at the 50th CannesFilm Festival.

The jacket zips in the frontand features a sparkling vinemotif across the right shoul-der, and white stones andpearls on the chest. It also hasthree suspending rhinestonetassels, two crown decora-tions on the collar, and a bur-

gundy satin band on the rightarm.

Kim said the jacket wastemporarily altered to fitNorth, with the option oflengthening the body andsleeves as she grows older.

“It can grow with her andshe can have this for herwhole life. And she is sograteful and so excited,” saidKim.

SMJ'S JACKET IS A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR NORTH

WONDER WOMANGadot to adapt bannedIsreali novel into film

onder Womanstar Gal Gadot ispartnering withKeshetInternational ona film adapta-

tion of a novel All theRivers — which is bannedfrom school reading lists bythe Israeli governmentbecause of its depiction ofan Israeli-Palestinianromance.

Gadot and her husbandJaron Varsano will be co-producing the film withKeshet Studios throughPilot Wave, the productioncompany the couple found-ed together, reports vari-ety.com.

The project is based onthe controversial 2014Hebrew novel Borderlifeby Israeli author DoritRabinyan, which was pub-lished in English byRandom House as All theRivers.

It tells the story of an

Israeli woman and aPalestinian man who meetin New York and fall inlove, hiding their romancefrom their friends andfamily as they struggle tocome to terms with theirrelationship.

The book set off afirestorm of controversyin Israel when right-wing

Education MinisterNaftali Bennett banned itfrom mandatory schoolreading lists in Israel in2015. Ironically, the bangave the book a majorsales boost in the country.

Gadot is visiting Israelright now on a breakbetween filming a newadaptation of AgathaChristie’s Death on theNile with KennethBranagh and Red Noticewith Dwayne The RockJohnson.

Wonder Woman 1984,the sequel to the 2017superhero movie that cat-apulted Gadot to interna-tional fame, is due in the-aters next summer.

Keshet did not disclosewhether Gadot wouldhave a starring role in theadaptation of All theRivers, saying only thatcasting announcementswould be made at a laterdate.

W

FUN TIME

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

ost marriage, Samantha Akkineni hasbeen treading a cautious path regardingwork. She is only picking roles thathave something for her to explorewhich is evident in her choosing films

like Super Deluxe, Majili, Oh! Baby, and theTelugu remake of Tamil movie ’96. There is nowconsiderable buzz about she being in talks withTamil filmmaker Ashwin Saravanan who haddirected praiseworthy female-centric films likeMaaya and Game Over. Apparently, the film willbe another thriller from the director and will beshot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil, justlike Game Over.

Besides her acting chops, the fact thatSamantha — who only has the season 2 of TheFamily Man in her kitty as of now — commandsa good market in Telugu as a solo heroine meantthat Ashwin was firm on her, it is said.

When The Pioneer reached out to Chennai-based Ashwin for a comment, he neither refusednor confirmed the project.

“I can’t confirm it right now. I’ve been gettingcalls about it but it’s in the initial stage. We

discuss projects with a lot of peopleand until something concreteemerges, we can’t official confirm it,”he said.

—NG

P

espite their wealth of experience in the indus-try, actor and politician Pawan Kalyan andmusic composer M.M. Keeravani, have neverjoined forces for a film. That is going tochange soon. Krish, who will be directingPawan’s period action-drama later this year,

has roped in the ace composer for the film’s musicalaccompaniment. A source says the film’s story need-ed someone of Keeravani’s expertise as it is set dur-ing the time of the Mughal Empire. When Krishapproached him, the composer jumped at theopportunity. “Keeravani has become extremely

selective of late with his work. But it is Krish’sscript and the fact that he will be working

with Pawan for the first time sealed thedeal for the composer. He felt that

besides songs, the story has a greatscope for his background score

and he is keen to ace it. Pawantoo gave his consent when

Krish mentionedKeeravani’s name as

he is a great admir-er of the com-

poser’s work,”adds thesource.

In thefilm, Pawan

is rumouredto be playing a

thief. It is likelyto roll later this

summer, with pre-production going on in

full swing. To be producedby A.M. Ratnam, it will most-

ly be filmed by Krish’s frequentcollaborator V.S. Gnana Sekhar.

Vijayawada Thursday December 26, 2019

D

11

tollywoodVISHWAK'Scop act for Hit

he makers of Hit,starring Vishwak Senand Chi La Sow fameRuhani Sharma,unveiled the leadactor’s look from the

film on Christmas. According to the makers, he is

essaying the role of aSuperintendent of Police namedVikram Rudraraju in the film.We hear he will be investigatinga hit and run case in the filmwhich will make the film a sus-

pense thriller. Having gone to floors in late

October, Hit, which marks thedirectorial debut of SaileshKolanu, has completed a majorchunk of the shooting. Themakers have also announcedthat the film’s teaser will be outon January 1.

On the technical front, the lat-est addition to the film, a jointproduction venture betweenNani and Prashanti Tipirneni, iscomposer Vivek Sagar.

fter he attained nationwide famewith Baahubali, every move Prabhasmakes is now being keenly watchedwith eagerness. While he is yet tostart the second schedule of his peri-od love story Jaan (tentative title),

with Jil fame Radha Krishna — a project thatwill keep him busy for the first six months of2020 — we hear that the actor has lined up aproduction house for his next assignment. Hehad earlier teamed up with UV Creations,which is run by his friends Vamsi, Pramod andVicky, for past six years. Now, news is that hehas given his commitment to Mythri MovieMakers. Leading producer Dil Raju too was inline for producing the actor’s next after Jaan butit seems Naveen and Ravi Shankar (of Mythri)have narrowly beaten Raju to the finish line.

A highly-placed source close to the develop-ment exclusively tells us that, “It has beenMythri’s pending wish to work with Prabhas.They’ve even paid him an advance some timeback and the actor will be honouring his com-mitment next year. Sandeep Vanga was initiallyconsidered to helm the project. As Sandeep’sfilm with Ranbir Kapoor might take anotheryear to hit the floors, Mythri, last month, asked

him if he could commence work on Prabhas’film at the earliest. Sandeep responded posi-tively but T-Series, which signed him forhis film with Ranbir, wasn’t willing to lethim go. So, it’s back to square one for

Mythri. They’ve began their hunt for adirector. If they sign a director thatPrabhas approves, Mythri willbankroll the actor’s next. In themeanwhile, if Sandeep convinces T-

Series to let him go for a year, chances ofhim directing Prabhas cannot be ruledout either.”

Prabhas is one of the few SouthIndian stars who has become a

household name across the country.That only means his work will come

under more scrutiny now. NAGARAJGOUD finds how the productionhouse is working towards finding

the best for Prabhas

Mythri leaving nostone unturned for

PRABHAS

A

Game Over director

for SAM’S next?

KEERAVANI,PAWAN team upfor the first time

resently awaiting the release of Thagithe

Thandana, actor Adith Arun has green-lit

another film. Titled Katha Kanchini Manam

Intiki, the film will mark the directorial

debut of choreographer Venkat aka

Chanakya Chinna who also penned the

story. It was launched a couple of weeks ago in a low-

key ceremony in Hyderabad. Vizag girl Pujita Ponnada

is cast opposite Arun, while it will also see Satyam

Rajesh and Satya in key supporting roles. D. Suresh

Babu, who produced a bunch of Kannada films will be

shepherding the film under Swathi Cinemas, while

Bheems will be the music director.

Talking to The Pioneer, Adith

said, “The film is a horror-

thriller which is right for me as

I have been having this itch to

do an out-and-out horror

drama for a while now. One of

my earlier releases, L7, was a

horror thriller but despite

looking good on paper, the

visuals couldn’t match up to

the script and worse, it was

badly sold. From then on,

I’ve been waiting to nail

the genre and this film is a

step in that direction. We

are going to floors from

Boxing Day and will wrap

up the whole shoot by

February. It would predom-

inantly be shot in

Hyderabad.” — NG

Adith, Pujitaforay thehorror genre

P

T

AFP n MELBOURNE

Australia could play five special-ist bowlers against New

Zealand during the second Test,captain Tim Paine said onWednesday, with the decisionbeing left until the last moment.

The Melbourne CricketGround track has been lifeless dur-ing the past two Boxing Day Tests,making it hard to take 20 wickets,although a Sheffield Shield matchthere thismonth wasa b a n d o n e ddue to a dan-gerous pitch.

With thisin mind, Paine said a decisionwould only be made after a lateinspection.

But one scenario could be afive-pronged attack, in whichQueensland seamer Michael Neserlikely makes his debut.

“We’ll find out tomorrow. Thewicket is a bit unknown... but we’vegot a plan in place for both scenar-ios (with five bowlers or without),”Paine told reporters onWednesday.

“We’ve probably got two dif-ferent teams (in mind), to behonest, so we’ll make the final calltomorrow.”

Australia traditionally playonly four frontline bowlers —three quicks and spinner.

According to Cricket Australia,they have only fielded five oncebefore in the past decade — at the2013 Sydney Test against SriLanka.

If they go down this routetoday, Neser is set to line upalongside Mitchell Starc, PatCummins and Nathan Lyon, withJames Pattinson replacing theinjured Josh Hazlewood.

Travis Head is expected to bethe fall guy, with wicketkeeperPaine moving up the batting orderto six. “Our batting team has beenscoring a lot of runs so if we wereto go one more bowler, we wouldbe comfortable they could do thejob,” said Paine. “The bowlers wewould be bringing in can all bat sowhile we’re taking a batter out,we’re probably lengthening ourline-up.”

Australia head into theMelbourne clash on the back ofthree wins at home this summer —two against Pakistan before their296-run thrashing of New Zealandin the first Test at Perth, a day-night affair.

Marnus Labuschagne has beentheir star batsman, smashing his

third century in a row at Perthbefore a second-innings 50.

In contrast Steve Smith, theirhero during the Ashes againstEngland this year, has managedonly 43 and 16 in his last twoinnings, out twice to short ballsfrom Neil Wagner.

It followed a quiet seriesagainst Pakistan and he is keen topile on some runs in Melbourne.

“I’ve been facing a fair bit ofshort stuff in the nets because I’mexpecting a bit (in Melbourne),”Smith said.

“It’s going to be completely dif-

ferent with the red ball as opposedto the pink ball, particularly (com-pared) to the second innings inPerth when it was a bit up anddown with cracks and stuff.

“It’s going to be different, butI’m looking forward to it.”

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 26, 2019 sport 12

AFP nMELBOURNE

New Zealand made two changeson Wednesday for the Boxing

Day Test with fast bowler Trent Boultback from injury and Tom Blundellreplacing Jeet Ravel at the top of theorder.

The dangerous Boult missedthe first Test in Perth, with a ribinjury that also kept him out of theirfinal clash against England.

But he has worked his way backto fitness, desperate to play in theBlack Caps first Boxing Day Test atthe Melbourne Cricket Ground since1987, with a crowd of more 75,000expected on day one.

Williamson also confirmed

Blundell, usually a middle-orderbatsman, would open alongside TomLatham in place of the out-of-formRavel. “He’s a positive player and asmart cricketer so it’s just trying toadapt to the conditions. It’s impor-tant he goes out and plays his natur-al game,” Williamson told reportersof Blundell.

“He’s been a very good player fora long time and he’s a mature head… it’s a really exciting opportunityfor him.”

New Zealand have had 10 daysto recover from their Perth day-nightTest thrashing, which saw their bats-men skittled for 166 and 171.

Williamson said they hadlearned from their mistakes.

“Perth was tough and Australiaare very good and tactically sound,”he said after his team were putthrough their paces in the nets onChristmas Day.

“It’s important we learn fromsome bits of Perth but turn our focusto Melbourne and changing condi-tions and perhaps not be too reac-tive to that performance.”

Williamson was also keen toensure his players do not get carriedaway with playing in front of such abig crowd during one of the mostprestigious days on the cricket cal-endar.

IANS n MELBOURNE

Marnus Labuschagne hascemented his position at the

number 3 slot in Australia’s Testteam after amassing 1,103 runswith an average of 58.05, whichincludes three centuries in his pastthree Tests. And in the secondTest which starts from today,Labuschagne has the chance tojoin an elite list of Australian play-ers.

If he manages to slam a ton atthe MCG, he will join an elite listof Aussie cricketers who havescored a century in four consec-utive innings.

While the legendary DonBradman did it thrice, JackFingleton (1936), Neil Harvey(1949-50), Matthew Hayden(2001-02 and 2005) and SteveSmith (2014-15) are the otherAustralians to have slammed cen-turies in four straight Tests.

IANS n PRETORIA

England captain JoeRoot said that he is

confident of the teambeing able to do well inSouth Africa despite thenumber of absences crop-ping up before the start ofthe series.

Fast bowlers StuartBroad, Jofra Archer, ChrisWoakes and spinner JackLeach have all contracteda flu-like illness which isspreading in the team.Despite Archer, Broad andLeach being quarantined,Woakes somehow con-tracted the virus.

Additionally, allrounder Ben Stokes’ avail-ability in the first Test isalso in doubt due to hisfather Gerard Stokes being

hospitalised inJohannesburg.

“It’s been quite frus-trating in many ways, butwe have to handle it,” JoeRoot told reporters aheadof the first Test. “We haveto get on with it and makesure that the guys that areselected are ready to go.”

Root believes that the

players who have beencalled in as replacementswill be “desperate to provea point.” Pacer CraigOverton has been called inalongwith off spinner

Dom Bess.“We are very

lucky that wehave got a bigsquad out here

and anu m b e ro f

players in a really goodplace and ready to go,” hesaid.

“It’s important we usethese next two days tomake sure everyone is inthe best possible place togo and win this game. Wehave got some very com-petitive players who will bedesperate to prove a pointif given the opportunity.”

Root also said that theteam is determined tomake sure that Stokes andhis family get all the sup-port they need.

“We are here to playcricket and to win theseries but most impor-tantly we want to makesure that Ben and his fam-ily have got all the supportthey can get. It’s crucialthat that comes first.”

IANS n CENTURION

South Africa skipper Faf duPlessis on Tuesday confirmed

that right-handed batsman Rassievan der Dussen will make his Testdebut in their opening Test of thefour-match series against England,starting at the SuperSport Parktoday.

The Proteas skipper said thatVan der Dussen will bat at No 5behind Zubayr Hamza at three andhimself at four.

Addressing mediapersons onthe eve of the first Test, du Plessisalso hinted that all-rounderDwaine Pretorius could make hisdebut, batting at No 7.

While the 30-year-old Van der

Dussen has played 18 ODIs andnine T20Is for South Africa,Pretorius has featured in 22 ODIsand six T20Is.

Commenting on Van derDussen, the skipper said: “He wasa mature cricketer when he start-ed for us in ODIs and is someonewho knows his game very well.”

“He came into internationalcricket looking very comfortableand over the last season and a halfhas been very fruitful and scoreda lot of runs in white ball cricket,”added du Plessis. However, duPlessis said the only uncertainty in

his team is with regard to the com-position of the bowling attack anda call will be taken in the morningof the contest after his side has alook at the wicket.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Battle-hardened ShikharDhawan was all guts and gritwhile negotiating tough

“English conditions” as he boost-ed Delhi’s morale with a well-con-trolled 137 against Hyderabad intheir Ranji group A match atArun Jaitley stadium onWednesday.

A spicy Feroz Shah Kotlatrack to deal with on a chilly Delhiwinter morning was a stiff chal-lenge and Dhawanresponded with anunbeaten century thattook his side to a safe269 for six on a curtailedopening day.

Dhawan’s knockwould do a world of goodto the confidence of a side,which was spiralling southwards,as he hit 19 fours and two sixes inhis 198-ball innings.

“It was more like English con-ditions. It’s satisfying to score runsin these conditions. With experi-ence you get idea of what shots toplay on what kind of track. Theshots that I would have playedwhen I was a 21 or 22 years old, I

didn’t play here. Ididn’t drive anyof those deliver-ies,” Dhawan,playing his first

first-class game in 15 months, toldreporters.

Dhawan’s body language nevergives away what’s on his mind andhe says his uncluttered mind is thesecret of his success.

“I had nothing on my mind. Jocheez aani hai woh aa jati hain (Ireact to situations). I am a veryrelaxed person and I don’t makemy mind heavy with extrathoughts. The way you guys think,I don’t think like that,” he laughed.

With ball seaming aroundthroughout the day and most ofthe Delhi batsmen looking uncom-fortable, the skipper walked thetalk as he had said on the eve of thematch that he hasn’t forgotten tobat.

“Today, I played what we call‘Box cricket’ which means playingclose to your body. I didn’t playmost of the deliveries outside theoff-stump. Some of our youngguys, fiddled with those deliveries.Now this comes with experience.You have a look at the wicket andyou know what shots you will play,”said the left-hander, who scored his30th first-class hundred.

Using the early morning con-ditions, Mohammed Siraj (2/60 in

16 overs) removed KunalChandela (1) and Dhruv

Shorey (0) in quick succes-sion with seaming deliv-eries — one that wentaway and one that camein.

Dhawan was hardlyperturbed as the first daz-

zling stroke was a backdrive offseamer M Ravi Kiran.

It was a test of patience forDhawan when left-arm spinnerMehedy Hasan was in operation asDelhi were 128 for five at one stage.

He only opened up whenmoved to 70s, having got a reprieveoff a ‘no-ball’ from Ravi Kiranwhen he was on 67. He first liftedTanay Thyagrajan into the standstowards the Delhi Gate end. Thenext six was even more regal offMehedy as he deposited him overthe deep mid-wicket boundary.Hasan was also punished with afew pull shots.

“I changed my game (accord-ing to situation) because when theleft-arm spinner (Mehidy Hasan)was bowling, I was itching to hithim. But looking at the overall sit-uation, I curbed my instincts asthere wasn’t much batting left.”

Anuj Rawat (29), who shareda 84-run stand for the sixth wick-et with Dhawan, was the only bats-man who showed positive intentwhile batting. But the Delhi skip-per shielded the likes of Shorey andNitish Rana (25), saying that someof them got good balls on a “juicymorning track”.

“I try to mix and interact withthem at their level. I share myexperiences. I talk to the batting

unit about what all can be doneand Ishant talks to the bowlers.

“The experience that we havegained in so many years, it’s niceto give it back to the players. If guysbenefit from it, it feels great. Nowthat we have come, the momentumthat was needed, we got that,” saidDhawan, who feels 269/6 is also agood score on this track whereDelhi is yet to bowl.

“Whatever we get is a goodscore as there was a time when itdidn’t seem like we can even score200. On this wicket even 269 is agood score,” he said.

Brief Scores: Delhi 269/6 in 66overs (Shikhar Dhawan 137 notout, Anuj Rawat 29, KunwarBidhuri 22 not out) vs Hyderabad.

South Africa vs EnglandLive from 1:30pm IST

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PTI n MUMBAI

Test specialist Ajinkya Rahaneand young prodigy Prithvi Shaw

failed with the bat as Railways bun-dled out Mumbai for a paltry 114 onthe opening day of their Elite GroupB game at Wankhede stadium onWednesday.

This is perhaps the first time thatthe 41-time Ranji trophy championshave been shot out before lunch inMumbai or elsewhere.

However, Mumbai bowlers, ledby debutante Deepak Shetty (3-20)initially came hard on Railwaysbefore their captain Karn Sharma (24not out) and 33-year-old ArindamGhosh (52 not out) rallied theirinnings with their unbroken 73-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Their partnership ensured thatRailways took the first-innings leadand ended the day at 116/5 as badlight stopped the play at 3:54 pm.

Earlier, the famed Mumbai bat-ting line-up collapsed as little-knownright-arm medium pacer Pradeep T(6-37) ran through their line-up ona greenish Wankhede wicket.

Railways were rewarded forbowling a disciplined line and inright areas.

Mumbai openers- Shaw (12) andJay Bista (21)— conjured just 18 for thefirst wicket before Shaw’s leading edgewas caught by Pratham Singh at gullyoff medium pacer Amit Mishra (3-41).

One-down Rahane had an oppor-tunity to get runs under his belt, but hefell for just 5. Rahane, too, edged to sec-ond slip, giving Pradeep his first-wicket.

Immediately after that, Pradeepdismissed Bista, who was caught bywicket-keeper Nitin Bhille as the hostswere reeling at 40-3.

Mumbai’s crisis man SiddheshLad (14) and skipper SuryakumarYadav (39) tried to rebuild the inningswith their 30-run stand, but medium-pacer Himanshu Sangwan (1-33) brokethe partnership as he cleaned up Lad.

Mumbai batters Aditya Tare (4),Akash Parkar (2), Shams Mulani (1)and Shardul Thakur (0) made a bee-line to the pavilion as Railways had aclear advantage.

Skipper Surya top scored forMumbai and struck five boundariesin his quick-fire 40-ball knock.

Surya was bowled by Pradeep ashe tried to play across the line.

After Surya fell, it was just a mat-ter of time as Mumbai's innings fold-ed up at 114 in 28.3 overs.

RAMAN SSCORES 22ND TTONKOLKATA: Left-handed openerAbhishek Raman held the Bengalinnings together with a gritty unbeat-en 110, taking the hosts to 241 forfour against Andhra on day one oftheir Elite group A fixture.

Raman survived some anxiousmoments especially in the 90s beforepulling KV Sasikanth over square legto score his second successive cen-tury.

Raman, who scored 110 inBengal’s win over Kerala in their pre-vious match, got good supportfrom former skipper Manoj Tiwaryas they revived the innings in thepost-lunch session after beingreduced to 99 for two.

While Raman batted through theday, facing 255 balls, Tiwary too wasat his fluent best, striking a six andsix fours. They added quick 87 runsfor the third wicket before Tiwarywas done in by a short one from CVStephen, the most impressive Andhrabowler.

“I’m sure he will not sleep welltonight. He could have converted itinto a big one,” Bengal coach ArunLal said of Tiwary's dismissal.

Shikhar’s 137 keeps Delhi afloat Railways bundleout Mumbai for 114

Vidarbha batsman Akshay Wakhare congratulatesteammate Ganesh Satish after he scored hundredagainst Punjab on day 1 of Ranji game PTI

Skipper Dhawan scores unbeaten hundred in ‘English conditions’ to gain confidence ahead of India return

Ganguly asksBumrah to skipRanji gameIANS n SURAT

Indian pace spearhead JaspritBumrah, who was supposed

to prove his fitness during theRanji Trophy match betweenGujarat and Kerala, did notfeature in the game whichbegan at the LalabhaiContractor Stadium onWednesday.

Bumrah, who has beenout of action post India’s tourof West Indies in July-Augustdue to a stress fracture on hisback, was expected to mark hisreturn in the Elite Group Agame of the ongoing tourna-ment.

However, reports emergedthat Bumrah was asked byBCCI President SouravGanguly to stay away fromGujarat’s game and a BCCIfunctionary that the pacerwas indeed asked to skip theRanji match and focus onwhite-ball cricket.

Ranji Trophy Live from 9:30pm IST

HOTSTAR

Delhi skipper Shikhar Dhawan plays a shot during his unbeaten 137-run innings PTI

Australian pacers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins during team’s training session ICC/Twitter

Australia vs New ZealandLive from 5:30am IST

SONY SIX NETWORK

Labuschagnecould join elite list

NZ make two changes

Kiwi pacer Trent Boult Blackcaps/Twitter

IANS nMELBOURNE

Australia skipper Tim Painereckons his teammate and

pacer Pat Cummins is the ‘bestbowler’ in the world currently.Cummins is presently the top-ranked bowler in Test cricket.

The 26-year old has enjoyed agreat year as he had become thesecond-fastest Australian pacemanbehind Charlie Turner to a 100 Testwickets.

“He is clearly the best bowlerin the world, his stats will proba-bly back that up. Not just for oneseries, or one Test, or two Tests hereor there, he has done it every game,”Paine was quoted as saying by crick-et.com.au. “I think he is getting bet-ter with experience as well, I thinkyou are noticing he is not alwaysbowling high-140s anymore, whichis a great, great attribute and skill,”he added.

Cummins clearly bestbowler in world: Paine

Aus mull five specialist bowlers Van Dussen ready for SA Test debutAnderson toplay 150th Test

IANS n CENTURION

England’s leading pacer JamesAnderson will make his 150th

Test appearance when he makes areturn from injury today.

Anderson will be the ninthcricketer to reach the 150-Testmilestone — joining the likes ofSachin Tendulkar, Steve Waughand Jacques Kallis. The right-handed bowler last played in thefirst Ashes Test when he had toleave the field after bowling justfour overs. After that, he alsomissed two-Test series againstNew Zealand.

Anderson, who made his Testdebut at the age of 20, had lastmonth said he wanted to contin-ue through to the next Ashes series,which will start at the end of 2021in Australia.

He is the leading wicket-takerfor England in Test cricket with575 wickets.

Former captain Alastair Cookholds the distinction of being themost capped Test player forEngland. Cook played 161 Tests inwhich he scored 12,472 runsincluding 33 centuries.

Eng replacements determined to prove a point