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HYDERABAD, MONDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

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IN GENERAL INSURANCE FIRMS

ANALYSIS 7NEED FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING

AND MICROFINANCE FOR ALL

SPORTS 12ASHWIN SPINS

OUT ENG

}RAM PICKS N LINGUSAMY FOR HIS NEXTPage 11

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Current Weather ConditionsUpdated february 14 , 2021 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Magha & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Chaturthi: 03:36 am (Next Day)

Nakshatram: Uttara Bhadrapada: 06:28 pmTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 08:12 am – 09:38 am

Yamagandam: 11:04 am – 12:30 pm

Varjyam: NIL

Gulika: 01:56 pm - 03:22 pm

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 01:17 pm – 03:01 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham: 12:07 pm – 12:53 pm

FFoorreeccaasstt:: SunnyTemp: 32/18Humidity: 37%Sunrise: 06:42 amSunset: 06:17 pm

FASTAG MUST FROM TODAY; TWICETHE TOLL FEE IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT

The automatic toll plaza payment systemFASTag will become mandatory fromtomorrow midnight, the centre said today

in a statement. Those who don't install FASTagin their vehicles or have a tag that does notwork will have to pay a fee equal to twice thefee for the category of the vehicle they aredriving. To ensure smooth transition to theFASTag system, the government said all feelanes in toll plazas on National Highways willbe able to read the tags. "Ministry of RoadTransport and Highways has decided that alllanes in fee plazas on National Highways shallbe declared as FASTag lane,” an order said.

ACTIVIST DISHA RAVI, 22, ARRESTED OVERTOOLKIT, FACES CONSPIRACY CHARGE

A22-year-old student and climate activist fromBengaluru, Disha Ravi, has been arrested bythe Delhi Police in the case involving "Toolkit"

tweeted earlier this month by Swedish teen activistGreta Thunberg to show support for protestingfarmers. The police -- which earlier said "Toolkit"was a Khalistani conspiracy to wage war againstIndia -- have accused her of being a keyconspirator in the document's formulation anddissemination and alleged that she is trying torevive a Khalistani group. "I did not make Toolkit.We wanted to support the farmers. I edited twolines on February 3," Disha Ravi told the Delhicourt where she was produced earlier Sunday.

OMAR ABDULLAH SAYS HIS WHOLEFAMILY ‘LOCKED UP AT HOME’

Former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullahtweeted to say he and his family have beenkept locked up" in their home. "It is bad

enough they've locked my father & me in ourhome, they've locked my sister & her kids in theirhome as well," his post read. "This is the "naya/new J&K" after Aug 2019. We get locked up inour homes with no explanation. It's bad enoughthey've locked my father & me in our home,they've locked my sister & her kids in their homeas well," he tweeted. "Chalo, your new model ofdemocracy means that we are kept in our homeswithout explanation but on top of that the staffaren't being allowed in...,” a second tweet said.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION APPOINTSTWO PIO EXPERTS TO KEY POSITIONS

Two Indian-origin experts in public servicehave been appointed by the Biden admin-istration to key positions at AmeriCorps,

the federal agency for volunteering andservice. Sonali Nijhawan has been namedDirector of AmeriCorps State and National,and Sri Preston Kulkarni, 42, was appointedthe new Chief of External Affairs. Despitehaving run for Congress twice unsuccessfullyfrom Texas, Mr Kulkarni was noticed by theleadership in Washington. His appointment,along with Ms Nijhawan and Dan Kohl's,reflects "the Biden administration's commit-ment to diverse leadership", a release said.

Snapchat crosses

60 mn users

milestone in India

5

TRS deceived all sections, alleges

Uttam Kumar

4

J&K simplifiesnorms for setting up

industries

8

11% of global road accident deaths in India: WB PNS n NEW DELHI

With just 1 per cent of theworld's vehicles, India accountsfor 11 per cent of the globaldeath in road accidents, thehighest in the world, accordingto a report by the World Bank.

The country accounts forabout 4.5 lakh road crashes perannum, in which 1.5 lakh peo-ple die.

"India tops the world inroad crash deaths and injuries.It has 1 per cent of the world'svehicles but accounts for 11 percent of all road crash deaths,witnessing 53 road crashesevery hour; killing 1 personevery 4 minutes," the reportsaid.

In the last decade, 13 lakhpeople died and another 50lakh got injured on Indianroads, it said.

"Considering the underreporting phenomenon andusing the crash ratios for theMinistry of Road Transportand Highways crash numbers",the report estimates the crashcosts at Rs 5.96 lakh crore or3.14 per cent of gross domes-tic product (GDP).

The 2019 World Bankreport, titled 'Guide for RoadSafety Opportunities andChallenges: Low- and Middle-Income Countries CountryProfiles', puts the road crashand serious injury cost estimateat 7.5 per cent of India's GDP

or Rs 12.9 lakh crore for 2016.It is more than twice the figure

cited by the government at 3per cent of GDP or Rs 4.3 lakh

crore, it added.

14 dead as minibuscollides with truckPNS n KURNOOL

Tragedy struck a group of pil-grims on their way to Ajmerdargah as 14 of them, includ-ing eight women and a child,were killed and four injured ina road mishap in Kurnooldistrict in Andhra Pradeshearly on Sunday, police said.

The accident occurredwhen a minibus in which thevictims, all relatives and hail-ing from Madanapalle inChittoor district of the state,were travelling collided with alorry at Madapuram around 4am, Kurnool DistrictSuperintendent of Police K.Fakirappa said.

The passengers were ontheir way to the Ajmer Sharifdargah in Rajasthan, he said.

Prime Minister NarendraModi and Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy wereamong those who expressedgrief over the loss of lives.

The Chief Ministerannounced ex gratia of Rs 2lakh each to the kin of thedeceased and Rs 1 lakh to theinjured. Preliminary investiga-tion suggested the driverapparently lost control and thebus first crashed into the roadmedian, rolled to the otherside and hit the lorry, the SPsaid.

Investigatorsexamine the

mangled rem-ains of the ill-fated minibus

that claimedthe lives of 14

people inKurnool on

Sunday.

India tops theworld in road crashdeaths andinjuries. It has 1%of the world'svehicles but acco-unts for 11% of allroad crash deaths,witnessing 53 roadcrashes every hour;killing 1 personevery 4 minutes

K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

All India Majlis-e-IttehadulMuslimeen chief AsaduddinOwaisi's tendentious remarksin the Lok Sabha on Friday thatthe BJP-led NDA governmentwould convert Hyderabad,Chennai, Bengaluru andLucknow cities into UnionTerritories created a flutteramong political circles, apartfrom stoking fears amongsome sections of people.

Asad's comments irkedTelangana BJP leaders in par-ticular. Member of Parliamentfrom Secunderabad and Union

Minister of State for HomeAffairs G Kishan Reddy con-

demned the comments ofAsaduddin and made it clear

the Centre had no such plans.Both MIM and TRS leadershad the habit of 'spreading liesand distorting facts', he saidand immediately left the Houseafter concluding his speech.

BJP legislator fromGoshamahal Raja Singh vent-ed his ire at Asaduddin for his"baseless allegations againstthe Central government". Asadwas making provocative state-ments, instead of speaking ondevelopment, he decried. Heasserted that the Centre had noplans for making Hyderabad aUnion Territory.

Asad remarks on Hyderabadas UT stir a hornet's nestn TS BJP leaders irked; Centre has no such idea, says Kishan n Congress says it will fight any such move

PNS n NEW DELHI

Senior Congress leader andformer defence minister A KAntony on Sunday alleged thatdisengagement in both theGalwan Valley and Pangong TsoLake areas and the creation ofa buffer zone was a "surrender"of India's rights.

Addressing a press confer-ence, he also said that at a timewhen India was facing multiplechallenges at the border and wasfacing a two-front war-like sit-uation, the increase in defencebudget this year is meagre andinsignificant and was a "betray-al" of the country.

The government had onFriday emphatically stated thatIndia has not "conceded" anyterritory following the disen-gagement agreement withChina in Pangong lake areas ineastern Ladakh.

Antony said he was sad that

the Narendra Modi govern-ment was not giving proper pri-ority to national security at atime when China was gettingbelligerent and Pakistan contin-ued to promote terrorism.

He said disengagement wasgood as it reduced tension butit should not be done at the costof national security.

"Both disengagements inGalwan and Pangong Tso are a

surrender," he alleged, addingthat it amounted to surrender-ing of areas traditionally con-trolled by India.

"We are surrendering ourrights," he alleged, noting thatGalwan Valley as Indian terri-tory was never a disputed landeven in 1962.

"Disengagement and bufferzone means surrender of ourland at the moment," he alleged,while warning that the govern-ment is not understanding theimportance of this disengage-ment and creation of the bufferzone. He warned that China canplay mischief anytime by help-ing Pakistan in Siachen.

"We want to know from thisgovernment when there will bestatus quo ante as on mid-April2020 in the entire India-Chinaborder," he said, asking whatwas the government's plan inthis regard.

PNS n AURANGABAD

The rate of petrol with addi-tives has crossed the Rs 100mark for a litre in Maharash-tra's Parbhani district onSunday, an office bearer of apetrol dealers' association said,even as prices crossed Rs99/litre in Rajasthan, whilediesel was sold at Rs 91 per litreafter rates were increased forthe sixth day in a row.

After a 28 paise rise onSunday morning, the per-litrerate of petrol with additives forretail sale crossed Rs 100.

Parbhani District PetrolDealers' Association President

Amol Bhedsurkar told PTI,"The rates of petrol with addi-tives in Parbhani has reachedto 100.16 rupees for one litre.The cost of unleaded petrol is

97.38 here."The cost of petrol in

Parbhani is one of the costliestin Maharashtra. The cost ishigher due to longer distance

of transportation.Fuel in Parbhani comes from

Manmad in the Nashik district,which is at a distance of 340km.

"We need Rs 3,000 extra forevery tanker if prices go up by10 paise. Hence, the investmentin buying fuel has also goneup," Bhedsurkar said.

The transportation cost forfuel stands at nearly 21 paise alitre now, he added.

Petrol price was increased by29 paise per litre and diesel by32 paise, according to a pricenotification of state-ownedfuel retailers.

PNS n BHUBANESWAR

A day after Andhra Pradeshconducted rural polls in somevillages under Odisha territo-ry, Union minister Dharm-endra Pradhan expressedconcern over the matter andcautioned the state governm-ent that situation may aggra-vate if required pre-emptivemeasures were not taken toresolve the inter-state dispute.

Pradhan alertsOdisha overAP holdingpolls in state

PNS n KOCHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday dedicated tothe nation a Rs 6,000 crorepetrochemical complex of oilmajor Bharat Petroleum hereand Ro-Ro vessels of InlandWaterways at WillingdonIslands, asserting these projectswould energise India's growthtrajectory.

On a brief visit to Kerala, thePrime Minister also inaugurat-ed the Cochin Port Trust'sInternational Cruise Terminaland Cochin Shipyard's VigyanaSagar, a campus for MarineEngineering Training Institute.

At a function here, he alsolaid the foundation stone ofCochin Port Trust's SouthCoal Berth and said these pro-

jects covered a wide range ofsectors and will energise India'sgrowth trajectory.

PM dedicates to nation BPCL'spetro-chem complex in Kerala

PNS n WASHINGTON

The US Senate hasacquitted a defiantDonald Trump inhis secondimpeachment trialin just over a year,after the Democratsfailed once again tomuster enough votes toconvict the former presidenton a charge of inciting thedeadly insurrection at theCapitol on January 6.

The Senate voted 57-43 onSaturday to convict Trump ona single impeachment countincitement of insurrection.

But that majority of all 50Democrats in the upper cham-

ber of the US Congress,joined by sevenRepublicans, fell 10votes short of the 67needed for a convic-tion, two-thirds of the

100-member Senate.The Senate acquitted

the 74-year-old Republicanleader of inciting insurrectionat the US Capitol last monthafter he urged hundreds of hissupporters to confront law-makers as they were certifyingthat he had lost the November3 presidential election toDemocrat Joe Biden.

Senate acquits Trumpof January 6 violence

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy speaking at the Hyd-Rangareddy-Mahbubnagar Graduate MLC polls preparatory meeting on Sunday

Disengagement in easternLadakh is surrender: Antony

Petrol breaks psychological Rs 100 barrierAfter a 28 paise rise

on Sunday morning, the

per-litre rate of

petrol with

additives for

retail sale

crossed

Rs 100

PNS n HYDERABAD

The brass of Telangana RashtraSamiti and its members at alllevels are getting ready to cel-ebrate party supremo and ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao's birthday on a grand scalewith accent on green initiativesacross the state. Party cadreacross the State will conductmultiple mass contact pro-grammes on February 17, cen-tral to which are 'KotiVruksharchana' and 'Aadhi

Sravana Yagam' that was lastperformed six centuries back.

Yagam, planting of croresaplings on February 17

KCR'S BIRTHDAY

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GIC to gift medicinal plantsto passengers at RGIA P:3

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hyderabad 02HYDERABAD | MONDAY | FEBRUARY 15, 2021

With the continued improve-ment in the geo-political situ-ation all over the world, theprecious metals looked up dur-ing the week ended Saturday.However, buoyancy alsoreturned to other segments ofmarket. Consequently, NewYork gold appreciated andclosed at US $ 1824.30 (perounce), while silver followedthe suit and closed at $ 27.35(per ounce). Platinum andpalladium closed at $ 1,246(per ounce) and $ 2,318 (perounce) respectively.Other economic parametersremained moderate. Brentclosed at US $ 62.43 (per bar-rel) and Crude MCX oil wasquoted at Rs.4,331 (per barrel).While Gold MCX stood atRs.47,345 (per 10 gms), MCX

Silver closed at Rs.69,184 (perkg), Copper MCX closed at Rs.640.35 (per kg). Sensex andNifty 50 closed at 51,544.30and 15,163.30 points. Leadingforeign currencies’ exchangerates were, US $: Rs.72.59,British Pound: Rs.100.48,Euro: Rs.87.98, Singapore$: Rs.54.79, SwissFranc: Rs.81.43,Australian $:Rs.56.32, SaudiRiyal: Rs.19.35,N e wZ e a l a n dD o l l a r :Rs.52.54, Kuwaiti Dinar:Rs.239.99, Omani Rial:Rs.188.56, UAE Dirham:Rs.19.76, Japanese Yen: Rs.0.69and Hong Kong Dollar:Rs.9.36.

According to reliable sources,the government has prepareda blue print to provide boost tothe gold monetization scheme.Under the new plan banksincluding the public sectorbanks will be required toencourage the investors toavail this scheme. Jewelers will

be associated to promotethe new plan wherein an

investment of as littleas 10 gms of gold

also will be accept-ed. Accordingto an estimateIndia has over

13,000 tons of gold held by pri-vate entities, including trusts. In local markets, standard gold(24 carats) appreciated byRs.240 and closed at Rs.48,300(per 10 gms). Ornamental gold

too, followed the suit and wasquoted in the range ofRs.44,160 – Rs 44,260 on theclosing day. Silver (0.999)declined by Rs.100 and closedat Rs.73,300 (per kg).

Commodities:The sentiment in principalwholesale commodity mar-kets in twin cities remainedmoderate despite the ongoingfarmers’ protests in the North.Rythu Bazaars and the variouscommodity markets locatedin Begum Bazaar, Kishangunj,Mukthyargunj, RisalaAbdullah, Mir Alam Mandi,Dilsukhnagar, Kukatpally,Bowenpally, General Bazaarrecorded brisk trading.During the week, commonpulses such as tuar dal, masoor

dal, moong dal and urad daland commodities like chilliesand garlic remainedunchanged at their respectivelast week’s closing levels, whilestaple food-grains and com-mon edible oils recorded amarginal increase.Common vegetables such ascabbage, cauliflower, ribbedguard, snake guard, lady fin-gers, cucumber, potatoes,onions, tomatoes and Frenchbeans, along with other leafyvegetables ruled at the higherlevels.The NECC wholesale egg-price in Hyderabad appreciat-ed by Rs.41 and closed atRs.416 (per 100). The highestprice of Rs.483 was recorded atKolkata, while Ludhianarecorded the lowest of Rs.405.

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW

Govt. readies blueprint for gold monetization scheme

HC UPADHYAY

n HYDERABAD

The ongoing tusslebetween the BarCouncil of India (BCI)

and the consortium of lawuniversities over regulation ofLLM course is, to say the least,unwarranted. The statutoryregulatory body BCI has beenempowered by the AdvocatesAct,1961, not only to regulatethe legal profession, but alsoto see that the law educationin the country reaches newheights. On the other hand,the consortium comprising22 law schools and universi-ties also have been concernedwith the promotion and excel-lence of legal education in thecountry.

It is unfortunate that augustbodies, entrusted with thecommon task of achievinghigher standards of legal edu-cation have locked horns overLLM course. In fact, the dis-pute if any, stemmed from theego of the respecting laworganisations rather thanfrom any substantial or seri-ous matter of dispute. The real

issue seems to be establishingthe supremacy and this willdecide that in future who willcall the shots.

Going by the statute, theAdvocates Act 1961, whichgives teeth to the BCI is abun-dantly clear that section 7(h)gives an apprehend to theBCI. Section 7(h) reads as fol-lows, “To promote legal edu-cation and to lay down stan-dards of such education inconsultation with the uni-versities in India impart-ing such education andthe State Bar Councils”.Thus, the BCI is fullyempowered toembark upon acourse for achiev-ing excellence inhigher education,particularly thelegal education. Theposition of the uni-versities is of con-sultative nature. Therefore,there is no question ofmonopolising higher educa-tion imparted by the univer-sities.

This legal position has beenfurther clarified by the factthat the BCI has jurisdiction

over the universit ies to‘inspect the colleges impartinglegal education and recog-nise’ the degrees awarded bythem. This position furtherreinforces the mandate givento the BCI for recognising for-eign qualifications and organ-ising events in the field of law.

Therefore in the interest oflegal profession and future ofjudiciary it is desirable that

both the statuary bodiesnamely BCI and the uni-versities should cooperatewith each other and sup-

plement each other’sefforts ratherthan indulgingin unneces-

sary acrimony.

No right toprotest anytime

and everywhere:SC

Dismissing the reviewpetit ion against the

Shaheen Bagh judgment, theSupreme Court has statedthat right to protest is notabsolute and unlimited andthere is no right to protestanytime in everywhere.

A three judge bench com-prising Justice Sanjay Kishan

Kaur, Justice Niruddha Boseand Justice Krishna Murariheld, “We have consideredthe earlier judicial pronounce-ment and recorded our opin-ion that the constitutionalscheme come with a right toprotest and express dissent,but with an obligation to havecertain duties...there may besome spontaneous protestsbut in case of long dissent orprotest, there cannot be con-tinued occupation of publicplace affecting rights of oth-ers.”

Hike in alimony if hus-band’s income increases

In a judgment delivered onFebruary 9, the Punjab andHaryana High Court hailedthat the wife is entitled to anincrease in alimony if thehusband’s salary increaseseven after the divorce.

Dismissing a petition filedby a husband, Varun Jagota,Justice H.S.Madan upheld theorder of the family courtincreasing wife’s interimallowance from Rs.20,000 toRs.28,000 consequent upon anincrease in the salary of hus-band from Rs.95,000 toRs.1,14,000.

Action against AP MPdemanded

The Rajya Sabha memberKanakamedala RavindraKumar in a letter addressed tothe Chairman of the RajyaSabha has expressed anguishover the allegations made byV.Vijaya Sai Reddy, anotherMP against the Chairman ofthe House on February 8;“This came as a shocker to allthose who respect our parlia-mentary democracy and holdthe presiding officers in thehigher esteem”, saidMr.Kumar.

In his five page letter,Mr.Kumar came down heav-ily on the arm-twisting tacticsallegedly adopted by the pre-sent government in AndhraPradesh. Stating that theJudges of the High Court ofAP were being subjected toinsult and abuse as severalunsustainable orders of thestate government have beenoverturned by the Court, theMember of Parliament addedthat the state government hadbrazenly removed the StateElection Commissioner, aconstitutional functionary

after he called off the electionsto local bodies. It was onlyafter the intervention of theHigh Court that the SEC wasreinstated.

Mr.Kumar vehementlydemanded immediate actionfor the misconduct againstand termination of member-ship of V.Vijaya Sai Reddy inthe House on February 8,resulting in the denigration ofthe august office of theChairman.

MP High Court rejects stayplea against ‘Tandav’The Madhya Pradesh HighCourt on February 8 disposedoff a plea seeking direction tostop streaming of the webseries, entitled ‘Tandav’ fromthe Amazon’s OTT platform,Prime Video, hearing the pleaof one Aditya Tiwari, by theDivision Bench comprisingChief Justice MohammadRafiq.

SC on injunctionIn a significant affirmation ofMadras High Court judge-ment, the Supreme Courtrecently held that even a tres-passer, who is in establishedpossession of the propertycould obtain injunction.

LEGAL

ROUNDUP

Tug of war between BCI and Universities will lead us nowhere

Monday Mirchi Shaken govt to shake upadministration n in TS?

One unavoidable pitfall for administrators,regardless of their individual capabilities andaccomplishments, is that some day or the otherthey will be sacrificed at the altar of efficiency.This is done under the mistaken impression thattheir political bosses are infallible. So, babus dobecome bakras willy-nilly when things gowrong or do not yield expected results, withcourts/tribunals passing strictures against thegovernment. Following lacunae in the imple-mentation of several initiatives, the TelanganaState government, shaken by the High Court’sadverse comments, is seriously thinking of shak-ing up the administration. The High Court’srebukes in land registration, regularization,building permissions and the like have forced thegovernment to step back. Some of the ‘bright’ideas that babus occasionally get are at timesgreen-lighted by the state government at jetspeed; and, when others down the line do nottake it as seriously as the blue-eyed babu or theenthusiastic political boss who finds the idea greatand implementable; the so-called initiative maybecome a millstone around the government’sneck. In TS too, some of the ‘bright’ ideas ofbeloved babus have caused major embarrassmentto the government, denting the image of ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who, believingin the transformative power of the idea, startedbatting for them prematurely. For instances,issues concerning Pay Revision and the relatedbacklash from government employees; Dharaniportal and the bite-back (instead of feedback)from property owners have unnerved the gov-ernment. In several key aspects, the governmentwas found to be on the wrong track, resultingin widespread criticism from the opposition par-ties and also the general public. Following intro-spection at the top level, the wreckers-in-chiefbehind some of the failed initiatives were iden-tified. The powers that be are now convincedthat ‘thokkalo ideas’ given by a couple of offi-cers have pushed the government into a tightspot. Basing on this, an exercise has beenlaunched to change the composition of the ‘team’by bringing in new faces. A little bird told us that‘major changes’ will take place after the NagarjunaSagar by-poll and hinted that heads may roll attop echelons of the administration.

Buzz about return of theMishras

Some couples in the civil services hit it off atboth central and state levels. Their chemistry on-and off-site become the stuff of legends inadministrative circles. IAS circles in Telanganaare abuzz with the indications that Rajiv RanjanMishra and Vasudha Mishra, currently on cen-tral deputation, are returning to Hyderabad. Thetwo officers are currently enjoying ‘very good’positions in New Delhi. Yet, top sources hint-ed, an ‘irresistible’ offer has been made to oneof them and so both are seriously consideringthe location switch. In fact, only a few monthsback Vasudha Mishra was made Secretary to theUnion Public Service Commission and the gov-ernment upgraded her post to the secretarycadre. Rajiv Ranjan Mishra is holding a crucialpost in the Jal Shakti or Union Water ResourcesMinistry. Both are having wonderful time intheir present assignments. Still, there is a felt needin administrative circles and concurrence

among their political bosses that the Mishras’services should be utilized for the developmentof Telangana. Both of them have been in NewDelhi for more than seven years and have plen-ty of time for changing things in TS before theirsuperannuation. Close friends of Mishras toldus that, given the ‘irresistible’ offer made to them;they are weighing the pros and cons of relocat-ing to Telangana once again.

Dashing Das gets well-deserved pat

Given the scale and length of adversarial rela-tions between the SEC and the AP government,babus sandwiched between the two have had atough time for very long. Their longing to bein the good books of the Chief Minister as wellas their anxiety not to rub SEC on the wrongside have kept them edgy all these days. Thosedays seem to be over now. For, Chief SecretaryAdityanath Das has deftly handled the situation,with visible results. Administrative circles averthat he definitely deserves a pat on his back foralmost defusing the Govt vs SEC crisis. Themeeting between senior colleagues and the ChiefMinister that he had recently organised to boostthe downbeat babus’ confidence levels was theicing on the cake. The ice-breaking get-togeth-er came in for praise at all levels. The very factthat CM had lunch with the babus suggested thatthe jittery babus need not stomach any moreinsults henceforth. Babus are on cloud nine andthey can’t stop singing peans to CS. To cap it all,the CM too appreciated dashing Das for organ-ising the meeting. For poor Das, the meetingwas a small breather. For, ever since he took overas CS, he has been preoccupied with the pollsfor panchayats and got embroiled in the con-troversy surrounding it. Now that SEC is readyto hold polls for urban local bodies as well, Dashas his plate full for the next few months.

‘T 20’ in AP

If all goes well, one can expect a thrilling ‘T20 match’ involving Chief Minister JaganmohanReddy and his team, which got a pep talk fromthe boss who is now in form. Team captainJagan recently used the metaphor of the nail-biting pace of a T 20 match to drive home hispoint succinctly. Senior bureaucrats whorecently got from Jagan tips and parallelsdrawn from the cricketing field are still in aweof the captain’s sagacity. During a review withsecretaries of all the government departments,Jagan emphasized the importance of teamwork.He appreciated them for putting in their best,which he asserted was behind his success in thelast 20 months. He compared the past 20 monthswith the opening overs. The team had playedan excellent innings in the opening overs, heplaced on record. But the team should not relax,he cautioned, pointing to middle overs, whichhe underlined, were as important as the open-ing ones. He conceded that the captain alonecould not win matches and that teamworkcounted. That said, he said he was fortunate tohave the ‘best’ team. After the meeting, babusrealized that the captain has tasks cut out forthem. In the coming days, the Chief Ministerwill monitor the babus’ performance against theambitious targets he had set keeping in mindthe next polls. Polls are more than three yearsaway; yet, the captain has sounded the bugleearly. The match is on!

Your’s truly

Agri Minister promotespotato cultivationPNS n WANAPARTHY

Farmers can reap good profitsin the State with the cultivationof potatoes, said Minister forAgriculture S Niranjan Reddy.The minister had cultivatedpotato at his agriculture land inWanaparthy district. On anexperimental basis, the crop wascultivated in a quarter acre andthe minister expressed satisfac-tion over the quality and quan-tity of the yield.

“There is a good demand forpotatoes in the market and ourlands and atmosphere are con-ducive for potato cultivation,”the Agriculture Minister said.Due to constant demand in themarket, the price for the veg-etable is also stable all throughthe year. Farmers can get a yieldof 100 to 120 quintals per acre.Accordingly, the price for aquintal ranges from Rs.1,000 toRs.1,200 all through the year. At

times, the price can escalate toRs.2000 per quintal, he pointedout.

After deducting the invest-ment, farmers can manage toget profits to the tune of Rs 1lakh per acre, he informed.Among all the vegetables, con-sumption of potatoes consumeda lot across the country. Since

potato cultivation is not takenup extensively in southernstates, we are depending onnorthern states for sufficientsupplies, the minister said.

About Rs.45,000 investmentis required for the cultivation ofpotatoes in an acre. After plan-tation, the crop can be reapedin about 85 to 90 days, he added.

Minister for Agriculture S Niranjan Reddy displays potatoes from his farm at hisresidence in Wanaparthy on Sunday

Disengagement...Continued from page 1

He also said that the govern-ment must take the countryand the people into confidenceon restoration of status quoante at the borders.

He said the governmentalways consulted leaders of allpolitical parties before takingsuch a decision and mustkeep national security in mind.

Antony alleged that thegovernment did not increasedthe defence budget to"appease" China and to give amessage that it did not want toconfront them.

Continued from page 1

He reasoned that Asaduddinwas making such controversialstatements to benefit TRS inupcoming MLC Graduatesconstituency elections.

Senior Congress leader VHanumantha Rao declared thathis party would fight against theBJP should it try to makeHyderabad a UT. It may berecalled that Asaduddin Owaisihad submitted, before bifurca-tion, a memorandum to the SriKrishna Committee suggesting

that Hyderabad could be madea Union Territory should TS getstatehood. Surprisingly, heseems to be opposing the ideaof making Hyderabad a UnionTerritory now.

According to political ana-lysts, there is more to it thanmeets the eye in the MIMMP's statement. In fact, hisstatement has become a hottopic of discussions among thegeneral public. They feel thatHyderabad, with its heritagemonuments galore and Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, has always

been in the spotlight for theright reasons. It was only dur-ing the peak of the Telanganamovement that people fromAndhra Pradesh wanted theCentre to make Hyderabad aUnion Territory.

But, for reasons best knownto politicos at the Centre,Hyderabad was not declared asa Union Territory. In any case,Telangana people and the TRSwould never want to loseHyderabad, considering thecity yields maximum revenue tothe state government.

Asad remarks on Hyderabad...

Petrol breaks...Continued from page 1

This pushed retail rates, whichdiffer from state to statedepending on incidence oflocal sales tax or VAT andfreight charges, to their high-est level.

In the national capital,petrol climbed to Rs 88.73 alitre and diesel soared to Rs79.06, the notification showed.

Rajasthan, which levies thehighest VAT on fuel in thecountry, had the highest petroland diesel prices.

In Sriganganagar town ofthe state, petrol soared to Rs99.29 and diesel jumped to Rs91.17 per litre.

The Rajasthan governmenthad late last month cut VATon petrol and diesel by 2 percent. Despite this, the state hasthe highest VAT at 36 per centplus Rs 1,500 per kilolitreroad cess on petrol. On diesel,the state levies 26 per cent andRs 1,750 per kl road cess.

Branded or premium petrolat Sriganganagar was priced atRs 102.07 a litre and similar

grade diesel at Rs 94.83.The main difference

between regular and premiumfuel grades is the octane num-ber. Regular fuel has a loweroctane number -- 87, whilepremium fuel generally gets a91 octane rating or higher.

Octane number is a mea-sure of the ignition quality offuel -- higher the number, theless susceptible is the fuel to'knocking' when burnt in astandard engine.

Regular petrol in Delhicomes for Rs 88.73 per litrewhile premium fuel is pricedat Rs 91.56. Against Rs 79.06a litre price of regular diesel,branded fuel comes for Rs82.35.

In Mumbai, regular petrolprice soared to its highestever level of Rs 95.21 and thatof diesel rose to Rs 86.04.Premium or branded petrol inthe city comes for Rs 97.99 andsame grade diesel for Rs 89.27a litre. In six straight days,prices have gone up by Rs 1.80per litre for petrol and Rs 1.88for diesel.

11% of global road...Continued from page 1

A recent study commissionedby the Ministry of RoadTransport and Highways(MoRTH) estimates the socio-economic costs of road crash-es at Rs 1,47,114 crore inIndia, which is equivalent to0.77 per cent of the country'sGDP.

"Considering the underreporting phenomenon andusing the crash ratios forMoRTH crash numbers, thesame study estimates the crashcosts at Rs 5.96 lakh crores i.e.equivalent to 3.14 per cent," itsaid.

At the individual level, roadcrash injuries and deathsimpose a severe financial bur-den and push entire (non-poor) households into pover-ty and the already poor intodebt.

As per the ministry, 76.2 percent of people who are killedin road crashes are in theirprime working-age, 18-45years.

Globally, road trafficinjuries (RTIs) are the eighthleading cause of death.

According to the WorldBank, the road crash fatalityrate is three times higher inlow-income countries com-pared to high-income coun-tries, and statistics from Indiafurther reinforce this globaltrend.

There is a distinct correla-tion between socio-economicstatus and road use patterns inlow- and middle-incomecountries like India and "poorpeople are more likely to beinvolved in a road trafficcrash", it said.

In a country like India,where vulnerable road usersare forced to share space withother less vulnerable roadusers, the income level of anindividual has a direct bearingon the mode of transportused.

This in turn further deter-mines the level of risk faced bya particular road user. Thereport said daily wage work-ers and workers employed ascasual labourers in informalactivities are more prone to bedefined as vulnerable com-pared to workers engaged inregular activities.

14 dead as...Continued from page 1

Only four children survivedthe crash and all had beenadmitted to a hospital wherethe condition of one of themwas stated to be critical, hesaid.

"The accident might havebeen due to over speeding ofthe minibus or its drivermight have been drowsy.Fourteen people died onthe spot and another four(injured) were shifted tohospital. One of the childrenis said to be in a critical con-dition," Fakirappa added.

Kurnool Collector GVeerapandian said theadministration would alsoexamine if there was anydefect in the vehicle.

A tweet posted on PMOIndia handle said: "The roadaccident in AndhraPradesh’s Kurnool district issaddening. In this hour ofsadness, my thoughts arewith those who lost theirloved ones. I hope that theinjured recover at the earli-est: PM."

Pradhan alerts...Continued from page 1

Pradhan in a statement saidthat though the Odisha gov-ernment has taken legalrecourse to resolve the borderdiscord, it should be taken toa conclusive end.

"We may encounter moreworse situations if timely mea-sures are not taken at propertime," he said, adding the APholding panchayat polls in theborder villages by includingpeople of Koraput, Ganjamand Gajapati, has certainlycreated bitterness between thetwo states. Ignoring oppositionfrom Odisha govt, AP onSaturday conducted gram pan-chayat polls in Kotia area ofKoraput district, the region onwhich both the states havebeen staking their claim.

Even though district magis-trate of Koraput Abdaal Akhtarhad written a letter to hisVizianagaram counterpartrequesting not to hold electionsin the disputed Kotia region asthe matter is sub-judice in theSupreme Court, the AP govtset up polling booth at PotuSenari and voting was heldunder a thick security cover.

Yagam, planting of crore...Continued from page 1

Sports Authority of TelanganaState (SATS) chairmanAllipuram VenkateshwarReddy will conduct 'AadhiSravana Yagam' on February17 at NTR Stadium wishinggood health for KCR andfurther development of theState. According to the organ-isers, the yagam was per-formed 600 years ago inKerala by NambudriBrahmins.

The Yagam would be con-ducted under the supervision

of Duvvuri Ganesh with theblessings of SringeriShankaracharya SharadaPeethadhipathi JagadguruVidushekara Bharati MahaSwami. Eshawaragari SukheshSharma would perform Vedicprogrammes and MaharudraYaga pujas. The programmewill start at 6 am and end at 12pm, with 'Poornahuthi' and'Prasada Vitharana'.

TRS representatives havedecided to plant one croresaplings across the State onFebruary 17 under the 'KotiVruksharchana' programme.

PM dedicates to nation BPCL's...Continued from page 1

Referring to the PropyleneDerivative PetrochemicalProject (PDPP) located close toits Kochi Refinery that willproduce Acrylic Acid, Oxo-Alcohol and Acrylates, whichare predominantly imported, atpresent, he said it would saveconsiderable foreign exchange

every year. Besides, a widerange of industries would gain,and employment opportunitieswill be generated, he noted.

According to BPCL, theseproducts have applications inpaints and coatings, solvents,adhesives, water treatmentchemicals, construction indus-try and super absorbent poly-mer among others.

Speaking on the two newRoll-on/Roll-off vessels,deployed between Bolgattyand Willingdon Island onNational Waterway-3, Modisaid a distance of almost 30 kmon road would become 3.5 kmthrough waterways, leadingto less congestion and moreconvenience, commerce andcapacity-building.

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | FEBRUARY 15, 2021 hyderabad 03

Hyderabad-based digitalmarketing company

Brightcom Group reported anet profit of Rs 138.60 crorefor Q3 FY 2020-21, adecrease of 3.64 per centyear-on-year. The company'srevenue for the third quarterof FY 2020-21 amounted toRs 878.55 crore, an increase

of 2.21 per cent per year. Revenue from digital marketing segmentfor third quarter of FY 2020-21 was Rs 796.13 crore, an increase of6.24 per cent while the revenue from software developmentsegment for the same quarter was Rs 82.42 crore. The company'sEBITDA for third quarter of FY 2020-21 stood at Rs 250.78 crore,an increase of 4.24 per cent on annual basis. The company said thatit has set up a new European office in Berlin during the quarter.

CITY LIGHTS

CPI national secretary K Narayana met former governor of Telangana ESLNarsimhan, who discharged his duties amid tensions during Telangana statehoodmovement and even after formation of the state, in Hyderabad on Sunday.

ICAI president CMA Biswarup Basu inaugurating the renovated CMA Bhavan ofThe Institute of Cost Accountants of India, Hyderabad Chapter, at Himayatnagaron Sunday.

COURTESY CCALL

The insurance sectorregulator, Irdai, has asked

the insurers to issue digitalpolicies to theirpolicyholders and also tellthem how to use thesedocuments. The regulatorhas reasoned that the stepwill not only bring down the

cost but also help speed up claim settlement process. In its circularissued to all insurers excluding GIC Re, Lloyd's (India) and FRBs(foreign re-insurance branches), Irdai said that Digilocker will drivereduction in costs, elimination of customer complaints relating tonon-delivery of policy copy, improved turnaround time of insuranceservices, faster claims processing and settlement, reduction indisputes, reduction in fraud and improvement in customercontactability. On the whole it is expected that it will lead to bettercustomer experience, said the Insurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority of India (Irdai). In order to promote theadoption of Digilocker in the insurance sector, the Authority advisesall insurers to enable their IT systems to interact with Digilockerfacility to enable policyholders to use Digilocker for preserving alltheir policy documents. The insurers should inform their retailpolicyholders about Digilocker and how to use it.

Irdai asks insurers to issuedigital to policies

Continuing DentalEducation (CDE)

Programme on 'Basic lifesupport and medicalemergencies in Dentalpractice' was organised hereat Army College of Dental

Sciences (ACDS) on the occasion of International Oral andMaxillofacial Surgeon's Day on Sunday. The lecture on Basic LifeSupport (BLS) was delivered by the guest speaker, Dr RamakanthReddy Dubbudu who is a renowned professor, consultant, Oral andMaxillofacial surgeon holding various international degrees androyal society memberships to his name. This was followed by ahands-on course, where the delegates were given a practicaldemonstration on the Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) trainingdummies, a defence release here said on Sunday. Dr RamanaReddy, Professor and Head of the Department, Department of Oraland Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) gave an informative lecture andshared his life experiences on dealing with Medical Emergencies inDental Practice.

Brightcom Group's third quarter net profit drops

ACDS holds CDE on life supportand medical emergencies

Dundigal in Telangana recorded a lowest minimum temperature of15.6 degree Celsius on the intervening night of Saturday andSunday, Meteorological Centre said on Sunday.

In a bulletin here, it said that Anantapur in Rayalaseema of AndhraPradesh recorded the lowest minimum temperature of 13.5 degreesCelsius. Medak in Telangana recorded a lowest minimum temperatureof 15.6 degree Celsius while it was 16.6 degree Celsius in the capitalcity of Hyderabad. The bulletin said Mist or Haze is likely to prevail inthe morning hours at isolated places in Telangana during the next twodays. Light to moderate rain or thundershowers is likely to occur atisolated places in Telangana on February 17 and 18. Dry weather islikely to prevail in Coastal Andhra Pradesh & Yanam and Rayalaseemaduring the next five days, the bulletin added.

Dundigal records lowesttemperature of 15.6 deg C

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Union Ministry of Powerhas delivered shock treatmentto the power utilities of the stategovernment by suspending thedisbursement of loans to themfrom Power FinanceCorporation (PFC) and RuralElectricity Corporation (REC).

Sources in state govern-ment's Energy Departmentattribute it to the state govern-ment not subscribing to theElectricity Amendment Act,not fixing metres to agricul-tural pump sets, defaultingsubmission of ARRs by

Discoms to the APERC for thepast four years.

The Centre suspendedrelease of loans to the tune ofRs 12,600 crore to be releasedto the state for execution ofYadadri and Bhadradri thermalpower plants and the loanspromised by the Centre to theDiscoms under theAtmaNirbhar package sincethe last month.

Telangana Transco andGenco chairman-cum-manag-ing director D Prabhakar Rao,TSSDCL chairman-cum-man-aging director Raghuma Reddywent to Delhi on Thursday last

and tried to get the appoint-ment of the Minister for PowerRK Singh, but could not meethim as he was not available inthe national capital. Officials of

the Union Power Ministrywere reported to have told DPrabhakar Rao and RaghumaReddy that the government ofTelangana had no alternative

but to subscribe to theElectricity Amendment Actand fix meters to agriculturalpump sets to get loans releasedto the power utilities.

Disbursement of loan to the4000-MW Yadadri ThermalPower plant and to the 1080-MW Bhadradri ThermalPower Plant from the PFCand REC has been suspended.

On an average, Rs 500 croreworth works are being exe-cuted in Yadadri thermalpower plant. For the past fouryears, the state government hasbeen submitting relevant billsto get the loans sanctioned. As

the loans remained suspendedthe state government is notable to clear the bills of con-tractors, who executed works.The TSGENCO has beencaught in a debt trap unable toclear the bills.

There is every likelihoodthat BHEL will be suspendingYadadri and Bhadradri thermalpower plants in the absence ofclearing of the bills. The distri-bution companies owed over Rs12,000 crore to various elec-tricity agencies. Last year, theCentre announced Rs 12,600crore to the Discoms under theAtmaNirbhar package.

Centre suspends disbursement of loans to power utilities in TS

M L MELLY MAITREYIn HYDERABAD

Will the city be witnessing awelcome culture of not sparingfans and supporters of politi-cal leaders and celebrities, whoput their loyalty on display byerecting huge hoardings oftheir leaders indiscriminatelywithout prior permission fromthe civic authorities?

Banjara Hills corporatorGadwal Vijayalakshmi's electionas Mayor saw a jubilant TRSsupporter putting up celebra-tory banners, hoardings andadvertisements in Khairatabad,Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills,Himayathnagar etc.

But the tweets by some neti-zens, who took to the socialmedia platform with the pic-tures of hoardings across the cityand questioned the action of'dirtying' the city saw theEnforcement, Vigilance andDisaster Management(EV&DM) wing of the GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) onSaturday taking immediateaction of issuing e-challans and

slapping a fine of over Rs. 3 lakh.The tweets that tagged

MA&UD Minister KT RamaRao, Chief Secretary SomeshKumar and MA&UD PrincipalSecretary Arvind Kumar,Secretary at CMO SmithaSabharwal drew the attention ofmany. Endorsing the action ofimposing fines, MayorVijayalakshmi tweeted from herofficial handle, "Everyone isequal before law and we mustadhere to the rules and regula-tions of the city".

GHMC sources said thatthe Enforcement and Vigilance

wing which had 20 teamsmonitoring all circles have notbeen sparing people, who putup hoardings and bannerswithout permission from thecompetent authorities. It is anoffence under sections 420, 421of the GHMC Act and as perGO Ms No.68 dated April 20,2020.

The Directorate of EV andDM sources said that afterissuing e-challans, the illegal-ly put up hoardings and ban-ners were being removed andthe person would be usuallygiven 15 days time to pay the

challan. Responding to a query,they said compliance in termsof removal of hoardings wasgood and the realization ofchallans was on par with thatof traffic penalties.

Ever since the GO wasissued, the guidelines werebeing strictly enforced.Accordingly all the advertise-ment elements above 15 feetfrom the ground level in theGHMC area would have to beremoved in view of incidents inthe past where they collapseddamaging vehicles and causinginjuries to people during galesand heavy downpour.

The advertisement hoard-ings on the buildings that arepermitted will be allowed for astipulated term for a fee afterensuring that they compliedwith the safety norms.

When asked if the citizensexpect the same response toother civic issues and viola-tions, they said, "@CEC_EVDM handles onlymunicipal enforcement e-chal-lans. The citizens can useGHMC App or Twitter handlefor sanitation issues".

Mayor sends message thatall are equal before law

Focus onrevenue drive, CommercialTaxes staff toldPNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Secretary SomeshKumar on Sunday called uponthe officials of the CommercialTaxes department to focus onrevenue drive and rededicatethemselves to the task of rev-enue realisation during thenext 45 days to achieve thedesired targets.

Addressing a meeting ofofficials of the CommercialTaxes department held atProfessor Jaishankar UniversityAuditorium on Sunday, he saidthat 460 teams with 1,376 per-sonnel have been constitutedthroughout the state in thisregard. The Chief Secretarycomplimented the commercialtaxes department for being atthe forefront in technologydrive in the country.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Cyberabad Pol iceCommissioner V C Sajjanaron Sunday felicitated thefamily members of V NarsiReddy who had donated histwo kidneys, liver, heart,lungs and corneas.

Sajjanar visited Mothkur ofYadadri Bhuvanagiri districtand felicitated the familymembers of Narsi Reddy topromote the cause of organdonation in the society,

Narsi Reddy was declaredbrain dead at a hospital in thecity on February 1.

His family members tooka bold step and expressedtheir willingness to donatehis organs (kidneys, liver,heart and lungs and cornea)which could save the lives ofnearly eight persons sufferingfrom various ailments relat-ed to these organs. Recently,Narsi Reddy's heart wastransported in theHyderabad Metro Rail andtransplanted to anotherpatient at Apollo Hospital inJubilee Hills.

Sajjanar appreciated theentire family for being rolemodels to the society in

understanding the impor-tance of this noble cause andcoming forward to donatethe organs of the Narsi Reddyeven when they were in grief.

Explaining that theJeevandan scheme was beingorganised in a transparent,efficient and effective man-ner, he said: "It is a veryrobust system. TelanganaJeevandan has become a rolemodel to the entire country.

He also appreciated the

efforts of Dr Swarnalathacoordinator Jeevandan forexcellent coordination.

The CP urged the public toshed all apprehensions andtraditional misconceptionsabout organ donation anddevelop a rational approachtowards this magnanimouswork.

In 2021, till now, 23 per-sons have donated organs inthe state under Jeevandanscheme of Telangana.

Sajjanar felicitates familymembers of organ donor

Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar felicitating the family members offarmer V Narsi Reddy, whose organs were donated at Mothkur in YadadriBhuvanagiri district on Sunday.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Green India Challenge organ-isers are going to gift medicinalplants to the passengers arriv-ing at the Rajiv GandhiInternational Airport onFebruary 16 and 17 to mark thebirthday celebrations of ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

Green India Challenge aimsat motivating people to take upthe plantation to protect theenvironment with the samespirit and commitment shownby the people during separate

Telangana statehood move-ment. On the call given byparty working president KTRama Rao and party generalsecretary Joginapally SantoshKumar, TRS cadre made all the

arrangements for planting onecrore saplings within an houron the occasion of KCR'sbirthday.

Legislative CouncilChairman Gutta Sukhender

Reddy, Assembly SpeakerPocharam Srinivas Reddy, allministers, MLCs, MLA andcorporation chairmen are goingto participate in the 'KotiVruksharchana' on February 17as the part of celebrations.

RS MP Joginapally SantoshKumar stated that the ChiefMinister has provided nurseryand tractor to every village topromote greenery all overTelangana. He requested allthe people to nurture theplants by watering them andhelp them grow.

PNS n HYDERABAD

As many 146 new Covidinfections have been regis-tered till 8 pm on Saturdayand the total number of casesin Telangana reached 2,96,574as on date.

The cumulative toll mount-ed to 1,616 after two patientsdied of Covid in the past 24hours translating a case fatal-ity rate of 0.54 per cent asagainst the countrywide mor-tality rate of 1.4 per cent,according to a state healthdepartment bulletin onSunday.

The total number of recov-eries in the state surged to2,93,210 with 177 peoplerecovering from the coron-avirus in a span of 24 hoursconstituting a recovery rate of98.86 per cent while thenational recovery rate was

97.3 per cent. Currently, the number of

active cases in the state standat 1,748 including 749 indi-viduals in home or institu-tional isolation, the bulletinsaid.

In all, 26,274 samples havebeen detected in the last 24hours in the state to detect thecontagious virus out of whichthe results of 656 swab sam-ples are pending.

Cumulatively, more than82.95 lakh Covid tests havebeen conducted in the state asof Saturday since the out-break of the coronavirus pan-demic.

The GHMC contributed amaximum of 29 coronaviruscases in the last 24 hours fol-lowed by Rangareddy with 11.The remaining cases havebeen registered in other dis-tricts in the state.

TS records 146 new Covidcases, two fatalities

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Institute of CostAccountants of India (ICAI)president CMA Biswarup Basuon Sunday inaugurated reno-vated building of ICAI-Hyderabad Chapter atHimayatnagar.

Speaking to media on theoccasion, CMA Basu said thatthe ICAI-Hyderabad Chapter isone of the best Chapters inIndia and its Excellence Centrewould be utilised in a profitablemanner.

Central Council MemberCIA Dr K Ch AVSN Murthysaid that the ICAI has enteredinto a MoU with many inter-

national bodies to promoteeducation in the fields of arti-ficial intelligence, data analyt-ics, cost management andfinancial management for ourstudents from India.

CMA Basu said, "ICAI is theleading premier institute in thecountry. It has been in the fieldfor 70 years. It teaches man-agement and costs to the stu-dents. Its courses are popular-ly known as Cost Accountancyor CMA in the country. Thecourse period is three years.Students who passed 10+2 orIntermediate are eligible for thecourse or any graduate also canjoin in the course."

Shedding light on employ-

ment opportunities, he saidthat the qualified student couldchoose to practice cost accoun-tancy or choose employment inthe fields of internal auditor,internal accounts, costing con-trol, cost management and oth-ers.

The course fees is Rs 58,000- foundation (Rs 8,000),Intermediate (20,000) and Final(Rs 30,000), he added.

Vice President-ICAI & CMAPapa Rao said that ICAI wasfirst formed in 1944 as a regis-tered company under theCompanies Act with the objectsof promoting, regulating anddeveloping the profession ofcost accountancy.

GIC to gift medicinal plants to passengers at RGIA

Biswarup opens new ICAI-Hyd Chapter building

Final productionbatch of LRSAMmissiles flaggedoff at DRDL

PNS n HYDERABAD

In an attempt to do away withthe existing archaic laws tomeet the present day require-ments, the Department forPromotion of Industry andInternal Trade has directed theState Governments to reviewthe various laws pertaining toseven departments - labour,legal metrology, factories, boil-ers, electricity, municipalityand commercial taxes andsubmit a report. The CentralGover-nment officials havedirected the state officials toconduct the by March 31 andupload the concerned reportson DPIIT website.

As the PM Narendra Modiis keen on making changes tothe existing laws, DPIIT hasasked the states to conduct acomprehensive study of theexisting laws. Taking cue fromthe Centre, CM KCR hasinstructed the officials tostudy the laws of all depart-ments involving civic servicesand not to confine the studyto just seven departments.

As per the instructions ofKCR, officials of 25 depart-ments of the state govern-ment, participated in theworkshop organised by theDPIIT on Friday and Saturdayin Hyderabad to chalk out themodalities for simplifying andamending the existing laws.

Centre keen on amendingarchaic laws of seven depts

DPIIT WORKSHOP

PNS n HYDERABAD

The final production batch ofLong Range Surface to AirMissiles (LRSAM), designedand developed by DRDO incollaboration with variousindustry partners and inte-grated by BDL, was flaggedoff on Sunday at DRDL, APJAbdul Kalam MissileComplex, here.

The event took place in thepresence of Dr C SatheeshReddy, Secretary, DDR&Dand Chairman DRDO, andRear Admiral V Rajasekhar,VSM Director, DefenceMachinery DesignEstablishment (DMDE).

A Defence statement saidhere that LRSAM was joint-ly developed by DRDO andIAI Israel to equip the latestships of the Indian Navy.

This LRSAM Missile sys-tem can provide point andarea defence against variousaerial targets, including fight-er aircraft, subsonic andsupersonic cruise missiles.

The Missile is powered byindigenously developeddual-pulse rocket motor anddual control system toimpart the requiredmanoeuvrability at the ter-minal phase. This state-of-the-art weapon system isdesigned with active RadioFrequency (RF) seeker toidentify, track, engage anddestroy the target with highkill probability.

The LRSAM system's end-to-end performance hasbeen successfully demon-strated through a number ofuser flight trials from IndianNaval ships. This weaponsystem has been successful-ly productionised and deliv-ered to the Indian Navy.

Dr Reddy highlighted theimportance of indigenous pro-duction efforts and comple-mented the industries thathave established the manufac-turing facilities and successfullyexecuted the production ordersin achieving the goal towards'Make in India'.

n The people of Telangana would notbelieve the national party leaders, whosubserve the interests ofthe rulers, said Ministerfor Finance T Harish Rao

n He asked the partyleaders to compete withone another in enrollingmembers. He askedthem to ensure thatpeople from all sectionsof society are registeredas members of the party

Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi giving a bouquet to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan in Hyderabad on Sunday

MAYOR GGREETS GGOVERNOR

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | FEBRUARY 15, 2021 hyderabad 04

WARANGAL RURAL: RouthuManohar (90), former secre-tary of the CPM Parakala divi-sion died at his residence inParakala on Saturday night.He was born on June 5, 1930at Issipeta village in theMugullapelli zone. He servedas the CPM taluka secretary,CPM taluka committee mem-ber for five years andMugullapelli zonal secretaryfor two terms, led land strug-gles in several villages in thezone, actively participated inthe peasant labour movementand worked to increase thewages of agricultural labour-ers in 1996. He is survived bythree sons and a daughter.TRS MLA Challa DharmaReddy, Library chairmanBochu Vinay, CPM leadersRangaya, CPI leadersNedunuri Rajamouli, TRSKVdistrict leaders NakkaChiranjeevi and others paidtributes to the departed leader.

CAPSULE

PNS n HYDERABAD

TPCC working president andMalkajgiri MP A RevanthReddy has shot another letterto Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao urginghim to conduct enumerationto identify the eligible for thepensions as lakhs of personswere not getting pensions forthe past two years though thegovernment has decreasedthe age limit from 60 years to57 years. He alleged that theChief Minister assured in thisregard in 2018 Assembly elec-tions, but in vain.

Revanth Reddy, who is onRajeev Raithu Bharosa Yatrain Mahabubnagar district,alleged that elderly personsand lonely women are notgetting pensions though theyare eligible. On the otherhand, the government isgranting old-age pension onlyto one member of a familythough two are eligible. Thegovernment is not extendingthe pension to the eligible sec-ond one even after the deathof the pensioner.

He demanded that theChief Minister initiate stepsand ensure the eligible getpension. He urged the gov-ernment to grant a pension totwo persons in a family if theyare eligible.

PNS n HYDERABAD

CLP leader Mallu BhattiVikramarka alleged thatChief Minister KChandrasekahr Rao hasbrought Zamindar’s rule inthe State in the name of‘Bangaru Telangana’.

Unfortunately, vultures aregrabbing the lands of Dalitsin the State, he lamented.

It is painful that Dalits aresubjected to fears, insults andmurders in separateTelangana state, he alleged.Addressing the gathering atKamalapur in Nizamabad dis-

trict on Sunday as part of hisface-to-face with farmers,Bhatti alleged that once againDoras have been suppressingthe democracy in the State.Instead of giving three-acre toDalits, the TRS leaders aregrabbing the lands of Dalits,he alleged.

PNS n MEDAK

Minister for Finance T HarishRao has exhorted the partyleaders to compete with oneanother to enrol new membersas the TRS upon voted topower is competing with otherStates to develop the State.

He was addressing anextended meeting of the TRSactivists at VenkateswaraGardens here on party mem-bership drive on Sunday.Undivided Medak district in-charge and MLC and ChiefWhip Venkateswarlu presidedover the meeting.

He handed over the partyactive membership to MLAsPadma Devender Reddy,Madan Reddy, MLC SeriSubhash Reddy, IFFCO direc-tor Devender Reddy andMunicipal chairmanChandrapal Yadav.

Addressing the gatheringon the occasion, he asked theparty leaders to compete withone another in enrolling mem-bers. He asked them to ensurethat people from all sections ofsociety are registered as mem-bers of the party. TRS activists,who agitated for Telangana,would salute the people.

The people of Telangana

would not believe the nation-al party leaders, who subservethe interests of the rulers, hesaid.

On the padayatras beingundertaken by Congress lead-ers, he said that the objectiveof the yatra was to grab power,but not to protect the interestsof the farmers. The party lead-ers, who heckled the farmerssuicides as the ones done withan eye on compensation, arenow undertaking padayatrafor farmers, he commented.

He accused the Congress of

shedding crocodile tears onwoes of farmers. He pointedout how the TRS governmenthas been providing 24x7 qual-ity power to the agriculturesector.

He accused the Congressand BJP as the parties who sub-serve the interests of the Delhileadership.

On the occasion of ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao’s birthday on February17, he exhorted the party work-ers to plant saplings as a markof birthday gift.

Earlier, MLAs PadmaDevender Reddy and MadanReddy spoke. They exudedconfidence of surpassing themembership in undividedMedak district enrolling moremembers this time comparedto those enrolled in the lastdrive.

Medak MP Kotta PrabhakarReddy, ZP chairpersonHemalata, vice-chairmanLavanya Reddy, Municipalchairman Chandrapal andothers were present on theoccasion.

Minister for Finance T Harish Rao hands over membership from to MLA PadmaDevender Reddy in Medak on Sunday

‘Cong leaders embark onpadayatras to grab power’ PNS n HYDERABAD

TPCC chief N Uttam KumarReddy alleged that the TRSgovernment has deceived allsections in the State. The BJPwas indulging in politics in thename of religion, but not car-ing for the unemployed youth.He alleged that Chief MinisterK Chandrasekahr Rao andPrime Minister NarendraModi the deceived unem-ployed youth as the former hadassured one lakh jobs while thelatter two crore jobs.

Both the State and Centralgovernments have failed inproviding jobs to the youth. Healleged that the BJP, which isstating that it will constructRam temple at Ayodya, is notdoing anything for the devel-opment of the Bhadrachalamtemple.

While participating in theGraduate MLC elections

preparatory meeting held atGandhi Bhavan on Sunday,Uttam alleged that the Stategovernment in the PRC reportstated to reduce the houserent allowance where houserents are increasing across theState.

Advising the Congress socialmedia activists to take up anextensive campaign strategical-ly, Uttam said that the youthwill get jobs only if they defeatthe TRS and the BJP candi-

dates in Graduate MLC elec-tions.

He said that the party hasgiven a ticket to Ramulu Naikis based on social justice. Heasked the party leaders towork actively in the two con-stituencies. The TRS govern-ment deceived the unem-ployed assuring that it will givean unemployed allowance.The BJP has never spoken forTelangana and not fulfilledthe promise of establishingthe Bayyaram Steel Plant,Kazipet Coach Factory andTribal University.

He alleged that TRS MLCcandidate Palla RajeshwarReddy is trying to buy thevotes. Congress MLC candi-dates Ramulu Naik and GChinna Reddy, important lead-ers from two Graduate MLCconstituencies, DCC presi-dents and others participatedin the meeting.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Union Minister of State forHome Affairs G Kishan Reddyhas exuded confidence that theBJP will win two GraduateMLCs. The government hasannounced filling up of vacan-cies keeping graduate MLCelections in view, he allegedquestioning the Chief Minister

to tell as to why the latter hadfailed to fill the vacant teacherposts in the last seven years.

While participating in theHyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahbubnagar Graduate MLCelections preparatory meetingheld at Khairathabad con-stituency on Sunday, alongwith party MLC NRamchander Rao, Kishan

Reddy said that the TRS haswon the Mayor post with thesupport of MIM.

Later participating in formerUnion Minister late SushmaSwaraj birth anniversary cele-brations at State BJP office,Kishan Reddy said thatSushma Swaraj had strivedfor the formation of separateTelangana.

PNS n PEDDAPALLI

Minister for Welfare KoppulaEswar has said that TRSpresident K ChandrasekharRao took the membershipdrive programme so that theparty leaders at various lev-els approach the people andtake part in the activity vig-orously.

He was the chief guest at theparty 11th membership drivehere on Sunday on the occa-sion of the TRS 20th anniver-sary. MLC Baswaraj Saraiah ,membership drive in-charge,was also present on the occa-sion.

Koppula Eswar said thatthe party activists are thestrength of the TRS and the

onus of protecting the partyrested entirely on the shoul-ders of the activists. He laidemphasis on building theparty from the grassroots levelto the State level with the helpof the membership drive. TheTRS implementing insurancecover for the party activists. Hewanted the party rank and fileto take part in the membership

drive, a party programmelaunched after 11 months,with more enthusiasm.

He said that the party wouldsupport the committed partyworkers. During the past sixyears, unprecedented develop-ment and welfare schemeswere implemented inTelangana, he said. The Stateis marching ahead in all sec-tors of activity under the lead-ership of KCR. He warned theOpposition parties to consid-er the goodness of the TRSleaders as a sign of weakness.

He appealed to all partyleaders and activists to remainunited under the umbrella ofthe TRS. He told the gather-ing that all committees wouldbe constituted by March.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The local body MLCs have metat Nizamabad MLC KalvakuntlaKavitha’s residence here onSunday. They have decided tomeet Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao and Ministerfor Panchayat Raj ErrabelliDayakar Rao to submit amemorandum after one, or twomeetings to request the latter toallocate funds to the ZPTCs andMPTCs in the coming budget.The local body MLCs--PatnamMahender Reddy, Bhanu Prasad,

Naradasu Laxman Rao,Damodar Reddy, PochampallySrininvas Reddy, SatheeshKumar, Thera Chinnapa Reddy,Kasireddy Narayana Reddy,Shambipur Raju, Balasani LaxmiNarayana-- attended themeeting. It is learnt that theMLCs have discussed theproblems of the ZPTCs andMPTCs and also solutions. TheZPTCs appealed to thegovernment to allocate a roomin the mandal offices. The MLCsalso discussed the constructionof mandal offices and Zilla

Parishad offices in the newlycreated mandals across theState. According to sources, theMLCs would invite Zilla Parishadchairpersons to participate inthe next meeting to know theirproblems further. After the finalmeeting, the MLCs would meetthe Chief Minister andPanchayat Raj Minister tosubmit a memorandum. It maybe recalled that the ChiefMinister had a meeting with theZP chairpersons after the TRSState executive committeemeeting held on February 7.

Local bodies constituencies MLCs to meet CM

Challa pays tributes toCommunistleader

TRS deceived all sections,alleges Uttam Kumar

Injustice meted out to Dalits: Bhatti

Revanthdemandsenumeration of pensioners

Kishan Reddy exudes confidenceof BJP winning Graduate MLC polls

Take part in membershipdrive, Koppula tells workers

n Koppula Eswar said thatthe party activists arethe strength of the TRS and the onus ofprotecting the partyrested entirely on theshoulders of theactivists

KAMAREDDY: In all, 13 peoplewere injured, four of themseriously when Telangana StateRoad Transport Corporation(TSRTC) bus in which theyweretravelling lost control andoverturned at Tekrial in thedistrict on Sunday, said police. The TSRTC bus with 36passengers was proceeding toHyderabad from Nanded,Maharashtra when the accidentoccurred, The injured wereshifted to the GovernmentHospitalhere for treatment. Fourpeople who injured seriouslywere shifted to Hyderabad forbetter treatment.A case hasbeen registered and aninvestigation is underway,policeadded.

PNS n MEDAK

Minister for T Harish Rao onSunday directed the authoritiesof Sri Vana Durga Bhavani tem-ple at Edupayala to install 50CCTV cameras for increasedsurveillance during the annualJatara, which is slated fromMarch 9.

The Minister, who held areview meeting with officialsand elected representatives at thetemple, said devotees wereexpected from Nagasanpallyand Kulcharam this year, andthese areas, too, needed to be putunder surveillance. He gave afiat to the officials to completeall the development worksundertaken in and around thetemple at a brisk pace.

Stating that the influx of

devotees has been increasingevery year, Harish Rao said theturnout of devotees this year wasexpected to touch 10 lakhs dur-ing the seven day utsavamscommencing on March 9, twodays ahead of the auspiciousMahashivarathri. He asked themto complete the 100-feet roadworks on the precincts of thetemple on a war-footing besidescompleting the works of foursheds.

Advising the irrigation offi-cials to release water fromSingur to Ghanpur anicut dur-ing the Jatara, Harish Rao direct-ed the temple officials to installbarricades along the Ghanpuranicut to prevent any unto-ward incident.

Asking them to provide allthe facilities to those coming to

the temple, the ministerinstructed them to place tempo-rary toilets besides providingdrinking water available at allcorners. He suggested the pan-chayat officials to depute work-ers from neighbouring pan-chayats at the temple to keep thepremises clean.

He asked the health depart-ment officials to place five healthcamps to attend to the sick devo-

tees besides spraying the bleach-ing powder all over the place.Asking them to carry out fog-ging to control the mosquitomenace, he has suggested thehealth department to keep threeambulances ready at the templeduring the Jatara.

He has also instructed theRTC authorities to operate fiveshuttle services from Medak busstation to temple located at

Nagasanpally in Papannapetmandal to provide safe trans-portation. The Minister suggest-ed the Police, Fire, Endowmentofficials and other wings of thedistrict administration to keeptabs on the movement of thedevotees to avoid any untowardincident. He has also suggestedthat they take all precautionarymeasures to prevent the spreadof Covid-19.

MP Medak Kotha PrabhakarReddy, Collector Medak SHarish, Superintendent of PoliceChandana Deepthi, MLC SheriSubhash Reddy, MLAs MedakM Padmadevendar Reddy,Naraspur C Madan Reddy,Deputy CommissionerEndowments Ramakrishna Rao,Temple Executive Officer SaraSrinivas and others were present.

Elaborate arrangements for Edupayala Jataran Harish Rao said the

turnout of devotees thisyear was expected totouch 10 lakhs during theseven day utsavamscommencing on March 9,two days ahead of theauspicious Mahashivarathri

n He asked them tocomplete the 100-feetroad works on theprecincts of the temple on a war-footingbesides completing the works of four sheds

CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka pays a visit to a farm in Kamalapur village in Nizamabad district on Sunday as part of hisface-to-face with farmers

Renowned writerVasala Narsaiahpasses awayPNS n KARIMNAGAR

Renowned writer and KendraSahitya Akademi awardeeVasala Narsaiah passed awayhere on Sunday. He was 80.He breathed his last in theearly hours of Sunday due toprolonged illness.Born onJanuary 26, 1942 atChavulamaddi village in erst-while Karimnagar district,Narasaiah won the presti-gious Bal Sahitya Puraskar in2017. The Kendra SahityaAkademi announced theaward recognising his contri-bution to children’s literaturein Telugu. Narasaiah wonseveral awards, including theState Bala Sahitya Puraskar in2009, constituted by Potti SriRamulu Telugu University.

He was drawn to literatureat a younger age and startedhis literary work at the age of12. Besides continuing his lit-erary journey, Narasaiah alsofelicitated children’s authorsthrough ‘Vasala NarasaiahBala Sahiti Puraskar’ since2009, in a bid to encouragemore writers to take up chil-dren’s literature. He retired aspostal superintendent in 2002.

13 injured asbus overturns

PNS n HYDERABAD

Out of the 98.3 per cent deliver-ies that take place in governmentand private hospitals across thecity, 59.7 per cent of the deliver-ies are conducted throughCaesarean. Furthermore, amajority of the deliveries con-ducted through C-section arebeing done in Hyderabad.

The private hospitals, on tech-nical grounds, have been ‘threat-ening’ expectant mothers andtheir relatives of adverse conse-quences unless deliveries areconducted immediately throughsurgery. These hospitals havebeen accused of discouraging the

expectant mothers to undergonatural delivery and promotingC-section deliveries for money.

There were instances ofwomen frequently sufferingfrom stomach pain, over weight,menstrual cycle-related prob-lems after the delivery throughsurgical means.

Majority of women, who havehealth insurance, are incliningtowards delivering babiesthrough caesarean section. Aswomen consider Mondays andFridays as auspicious to deliverbabies through surgery, major-ity of C-section deliveries areconducted on these days. Thenumber of such deliveries con-

ducted on Sundays is meagresince doctors would avail theirday off.

As the delivery date nears,expectant mothers would under-go anxiety neurosis. There wereinstances of them suffering fromhigh blood pressure and diabetes.They are reportedly giving pri-ority to delivering through C-section for the second time also.

Gynaecologist Dr Sangita saysthat the delivering babiesthrough C-section leads towomen suffering from long-term health problems in spite ofdelivery through surgical meansprovides temporary relief tothem.

Private hospitals promoteC-section deliveries in Hyd

Minister for Welfare Koppula Eswar addressing the 11th membership drive in Peddapalli in on Sunday

PNS n NEW DELHI

The All India Muslim PersonalLaw Board has moved theSupreme Court against a pleaseeking laying down of "genderand religion neutral" uniformgrounds to award maintenanceand alimony in matrimonialdisputes as per internationalconventions and Constitution.

The Board has opposed theplea filed by advocate and BJPleader Ashwini KumarUpadhyay which also seeksdirections to the government totake appropriate steps to removethe prevailing anomalies in thegrounds of maintenance andalimony, and make them uni-form for all citizens without dis-crimination.

"The applicant would like tosubmit that the expression and'Custom and Usage' in Article 13of the Constitution does notinclude faith of a religiousdenomination embedded in per-sonal laws," the All India MuslimPersonal Law Board (AIMPLB)plea said. "The constituentassembly was aware of the dis-tinction between personal law'and the 'Custom and Usage' andchose advisedly to exclude per-sonal law and include Customand Usage in Article 13 of theConstitution," it said while seek-ing impleadment in the petitionfiled by Upadhyay.

The AIMPLB opposedUpadhyay's plea on the basis thatpersonal laws cannot be testedon the anvil of Articles 14, 15, 21and 44 of the Constitution. Thetop court on December 16 lastyear had issued notice to theCentre on the plea filed by

Upadhyay. Upadhyay's petition,filed through advocate AshwaniKumar Dubey, said that despitethe eloquent provisions in theConstitution, the central govern-ment has totally failed to provideeven gender-neutral, religion-neutral uniform grounds ofmaintenance and alimony for allcitizens.

Maintenance and alimony isthe only source of livelihoodhence discrimination on thebasis of religion, race, caste, sexor place of birth is a direct attackon the right to life, liberty anddignity, guaranteed underArticle 21 of the Constitution,it said.

"Even after 73 years ofIndependence and 70 years ofIndia becoming a socialist sec-ular democratic republic, lawsrelating to maintenance andalimony are not only complexand cumbersome but alsoagainst the constitutional man-date of being equal, rational andjust," the plea said.

"Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs,Jains are governed by the HinduMarriage Act 1955 and the

Hindu Adoption &Maintenance Act 1956.

Muslims are dealt as per sta-tus of valid marriage & prenup-tial agreement and governedunder the Muslim Women Act1986. Christians are governedunder the Indian Divorce Act1869 and Parsis under the ParsiMarriage & Divorce Act 1936,but none of these laws are gen-der neutral," it said.

The PIL stated that discrimi-natory maintenance and alimo-ny reinforce patriarchal andstereotypical notions aboutwomen and thus any provisionthat perpetrates or reinforcesdiscriminatory stereotypes againstwomen is manifestly arbitrary.The plea has sought directions todeclare that the discriminatorygrounds of maintenance andalimony are violative of Articles14, 15, 21 of the Constitution.

It has also sought directions tothe Law Commission to exam-ine domestic and internationallaws and prepare a report on"uniform grounds of mainte-nance and alimony" within threemonths.

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | FEBRUARY 15, 2021 nation 05

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) that lost 40troopers in the 2019 Pulwamaterror attack said on Sundaythat the country "did not for-give" and "will not forget" thesupreme sacrifice made by thepersonnel.A wreath-laying ceremony washeld at CRPF camp in Lethporain Jammu and Kashmir tomark the second anniversary ofthe deadly attack.

Senior officers of the para-military based at its headquar-ters in Delhi participated in theevent in the virtual mode,CRPF spokesperson deputyinspector general (DIG) MosesDhinakaran said. "Did notForgive, will not Forget: Saluteto our brothers who made thesupreme sacrifice for the nationin #PulwamaAttack. "Indebted,we stand with the families ofour valiant Bravehearts," theforce said in a Twitter post.Soon after the Pulwama attack,the Indian Air Force had car-ried out an airstrike inPakistan's Balakot on February

26, 2019, targeting terroristcamps. CRPF Director GeneralA P Maheshwari also unveileda video book dedicated to the40 personnel killed in the lineof duty. "We have inheritedbravery which flows like bloodin our veins," he was quoted assaying by the spokesperson.

"The video book has a con-

tent of 80 episodes and 300minutes. A copy of the bookwill also be sent to the familiesof each of the personnel killedin the Pulwama suicide bomb-ing attack," Dhinakaran said. ACRPF bus in the fifth positionof a 78-vehicle convoy was tar-geted by a Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM) suicide bomber who

detonated his explosives-ladenSUV near it on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Pulwamaon February 14, 2019. Theconvoy was ferrying over 2,500personnel and all 39 in the ill-fated bus and a sub-officer sta-tioned on the ground, as partof a road sanitisation party,were killed in the blast.

CRPF Assistant SubInspector (ASI) Mohan Lal, 50,who had "chased and fired" atthe explosives-laden car, wasnamed for the highest policemedal for bravery, thePresident's Police Medal forGallantry (PPMG), thisRepublic Day.

The around 3.25 lakh-per-sonnel-strong force is theworld's largest paramilitarywith about 65 battalions orabout 70,000 personneldeployed in the Kashmir Valleyfor undertaking counter-ter-rorism operations and ren-dering law and order duties.

As per official data, a total of2,224 CRPF personnel havebeen killed in action till now.

The force was raised in 1939as the Crown Representative'sPolice (CRP) during the BritishRaj and was re-named theCentral Reserve Police Force adecade later in 1949.

Did not forgive, will not forget:CRPF on Pulwama terror attack

PM MODI PAYS TRIBUTES TOPULWAMA MARTYRSCHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modion Sunday paid tributes to the CRPFjawans who were killed in the terrorattack in Pulwama district of southKashmir in February, 2019. "No indiancan forget this day. Two years ago, thePulwama attack happened. We payhomage to all the martyrs. We are proudof our security forces and their braverywill continue to inspire generations," hesaid at a function here. He said thecountry's armed forces had shown timeand again they were fully capable ofprotecting "our motherland".Forty CRPF personnel were killed in theterrorist attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammadin Pulwama on February 14, 2019.

FILM PERSONALITIES PAY TRIBUTES Mumbai : Several Bollywood actors,including Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan andRajkummar Rao on Sunday paid tributes tothe martyrs of the Pulwama terror attackand said the country will forever remainindebted to the bravehearts.Forty CRPFpersonnel were killed in the terrorist attackcarried out by Pakistan-based terror groupJaish-e-Mohammad in Pulwama onFebruary 14, 2019 Kumar took to Twitterand shared a picture of the martyrs."Remembering our bravehearts of#PulwamaAttack, we will always remainindebted for your supreme sacrifice," the 53-year-old actor tweeted.Dhawan shared thesame image on Instagram and captioned"Jai Hind".Actor Kartik Aaryan prayed for thefamilies of those who were killed in theterrorist attack.."

VENKAIAH NAIDU PAYS RESPECTS

TERROR PLAN AVERTED

IN JAMMU ON PULWAMA

ATTACK ANNIVERSARY

New Delhi: Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu on Sunday paid tributes to the martyrsof the Pulwama terror attack, saying hestood in solidarity with the families who losttheir loved ones in the incident. Two yearsago on this day, Pakistan-sponsored Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out the dastardly attackon a CRPF convoy of 70 vehicles resulting inthe death of 40 jawans."I join the nation in paying my humbletributes to the CRPF personnel who weremartyred in the dastardly Pulwama terrorattack. The grateful nation will alwaysremember their patriotism & supremesacrifice," the Vice President Secretariattweeted quoting Naidu. "My solidarity withthe families who lost their loved ones in theattack," the vice president said.

PNS n JAMMU

A major terrorist plan to setoff an explosion at a crowd-ed place here on the secondanniversary of the Pulwamaattack was scuttled with therecovery of a powerful IEDfrom a nursing student whowas arrested along with threeothers, a top police officersaid on Sunday. InspectorGeneral of Police, JammuRange, Mukesh Singh alsosaid six pistols and 15 smallImprovised ExplosiveDevices (IEDs) were seizedfrom Samba district in a sep-arate operation.

"Over the past four days wewere on high alert becausethere was general intelligenceinput that terror groups wantto trigger a major blast inJammu city on the secondanniversary of the Pulwamaattack. The security aroundall important locations werestrengthened and checkingintensified," he told reportershere. Singh, who was alsoflanked by Director Generalof Police Dilbag Singh, said ayouth was found moving insuspicious manner along witha bag in the general busstand area and it led to therecovery of nearly seven kg ofIED which was, however,not activated as yet. The IGPidentified him as SuhailBashir Shah, a resident ofNewa village of Pulwama,who was pursuing nursingcourse in a college inChandigarh and was assignedthe task to plant the IED inJammu by his Pakistan-basedhandler affiliated with Al-Badr terror outfit.

Accusing the BJP and RSSof dividing Assam,Congress leader Rahul

Gandhi on Sunday said thathis party will protect everyprinciple of the Assam Accordand will never implement theCitizenship (Amendment) Actif voted to power in the state.Addressing his first public rallyin Assam ahead of theassembly elections due inMarch-April, Gandhi said thatthe state needs its "own chief minister" who will listen to the voice of thepeople and not one who listens only to Nagpur and Delhi. "The Assam Accordhas brought peace and it is the protector of the state. I and my party workerswill protect each principle of the Accord. There will not be a single deviationfrom it," he said. Gandhi said illegal immigration is an issue in Assam andexuded confidence that the people of the state have the capability to resolvethe issue through dialogue. Alleging that BJP and RSS are trying to divide thestate on the issue of Assam Accord, he said, "If Assam is divided, then PrimeMinister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah will not beaffected, but the people of Assam and the rest of India will be affected."

A50-year-old farmer herehanged himself afterallegedly being slapped by

Electricity Department officialsand served an inflated power bill,according to the victim's family.The incident took place atSunaira village in Atrauli tehsil onSaturday when the officialsturned up at Ramji Lal's houseand handed over a power bill of Rs 1,50,000. In protests against theincident, people placed the body in front of the local ElectricityDepartment office and refused to proceed w