skills development tdp’s ke, ganta welcome jagan’s 3 ......2019/12/19 · mahesh babu as a...

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VIJAYAWADA, THURSDAY DECEMBER 19, 2019; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 48*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPALRAIPUR CHANDIGARH BHUBANESWAR

RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD

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any important work)Rahukalam: 01:35 pm- 02:57 pmYamagandam: 06:44 am – 08:06 amVarjyam: 06:47 am- 08:17 am07:00 pm - 07:59 amGulika: 09:28 am - 10:50 amGood Time: (to start any important work)

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UP BJP MLA SUGGESTS A UNION FOR LEGISLATORS

WILL NOT SUPPORT NRC, SAYS ODISHA CM NAVEEN PATNAIK

EVERYONE KNOWS WHO INSTIGATESRIOTS IN INDIA: KEJRIWAL

Aday after a BJP MLA alleged that he was being harassed by officialsin the Yogi government and caused embarrassment to the ruling

party, another BJP MLA put up a post on his Facebook page askingwhether legislators should also form their own union.Shyam Prakash, BJP MLA from Hardoi, wrote on hisFacebook page on Wednesday that , "Peons to IAS, homeguards to IPS - all officers and employees in variousdepartments, village heads, farmers and traders havetheir unions. Should legislators also form their ownunions now? In politics today, it is the MLA whois the weakest link."

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday accused theopposition BJP of spreading violence in Delhi, saying

everyone knows who instigates riots in the country. Onbeing asked about the involvement of the AAP leadersin the violent protests in the city, he said his party willnot gain anything from the violence. The BJP leadershave alleged that the AAP leaders are responsible forthe violence in Delhi since Sunday. "The Oppositionwhich is making the accusation (against AAP) is theone spreading violence.

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and Odisha Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik on Wednesday made it clear that his party will not support the

National Register of Citizens (NRC).He also appealed to the citizens tomaintain peace and not to indulge in rumour-mongering."The Biju Janata Dal MPs both in the LS and RS have madeit clear that we do not support the NRC," Patnaik toldreporters before leaving for New Dehli. The Chief Ministerwould attend the second meeting of the committee forcommemoration of 150th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi in Delhi on Thursday.

BANDI NARAYANA SWAMY TO RECEIVESAHITYA AKADEMI AWARD 2019

Eminent Telugu writer Bandi Narayana Swamy has been conferred with the coveted Sahitya Akademi Award 2019 in the

Telugu language category for his novel “Septabhoomi”.The awards were announced on Wednesday. NarayanaSwamy’s book revolves around the history ofRayalaseema region, whose culture, and ‘samsthanpolitics’ that existed in 8th Century, have been dulycaptured. The novel retraces the emergence andgrowth of of Palegar system (factionism),when Hande kings ruled the region.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A new lab study by the Centrefor Science and Environment(CSE) has found dangerouslevel of salts and fats in packagedfoods sold in India. The levelshave been found to be muchhigher than the threshold set bythe Food Safety and StandardsAuthority of India (FSSAI), butnot notified.

In the study, the EnvironmentMonitoring Laboratory (EML)has tested salt, fat, trans fat andcarbohydrate levels in 33 pack-aged food items which includechips, namkeen, noodles, burg-ers, pizzas, wraps, sandwichesand fried chicken. Officials atCSE alleged that despite FSSAIbeing aware of the situation, it'sdragging its feet in notifyinglabels for junk foods owing to

pressure from the industry lob-bies.

"We have found dangerouslyhigh levels of salt and fat in allthe packaged food and fast foodsamples that we tested. We con-sumers have a right to knowwhat is contained in the pack-age. This is not acceptable. Thisis compromising our right toknow and our right to health,"CSE director general SunitaNarain said in a release.

A draft notifying labelling reg-ulations has been under prepa-ration since 2013. AmitKhurana, programme director,food safety and toxins team, saysthe committee brought out adraft on label regulations in 2018which it again sought to revisethis year due to industry con-cerns.

"The 2019 draft, prepared by

a committee headed by BSesikeran, former director of theNational Institute of Nutrition,is much compromised and dilut-ed. In 2018, FSSAI had publiclyadmitted that there were con-cerns about the red label (an

indicator for the levels of salt andtrans fat in junk food) from thefood industry. However, consid-ering the non-communicablelifestyle diseases that India isnow struggling with, we cannotafford to ignore the warning that

the CSE has given," Khuranasays.

According to RecommendedDietary Allowance (RDA), if wehave three meals and two snacksa day, each snack must not addup to more than 10 per cent of

the RDA. From the lab reportsof CSE, majority of junk foodthat we consume exceeds therecommended levels of salt andfats in our diet.

According to CSE's labreports, Too Yumm MultigrainChips (which Indian cricketcaptain Virat Kohli advertises asa "smart snack") had the maxi-mum salt content- 1 g in 30 g ofchips while the permissible levelof salt intake from snacks in aday is just 0.5 grams. Amongnamkeens, Haldiram's ClassicNut Crackers scored high on thesalt content. Instant noodlesand soups (Maggi and Knorrproducts were tested) alsorevealed very high salt levels, sodid samples of burgers(McDonald's, Burger King), piz-zas (Domino's, Pizza Hut), andsandwiches (Subway).

The 2018 draft had made redlabel on packets mandatory ifsugar provided more than 10%of energy provided by 100g ofthe product. However, in therevised draft of 2019, the samethreshold applies, but only foradded sugars. "It is clear that thepowerful food industry is notsatisfied and wants to weakenthe draft further. Our studyshows why they are worried. Alltheir most popular foods wouldbe labelled RED. We wouldknow and we would protect thehealth of our children," SunitaNarain says, adding, "It is clearthat the Union Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfare andFSSAI must decide on whoseside they are: industry or pub-lic health. If the stakes are highfor industry, they are even high-er for public health."

Study finds high levels of salt, trans fat in packaged food in IndiaAmit Khurana,programme director,food safety and toxinsteam, says thecommittee brought outa draft on labelregulations in 2018which it again soughtto revise this year dueto industry concerns

Cyrus Mistryrestored as Tatachairman 3 yearsafter being sacked

Full report in Page 8



PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme CourtWednesday dismissed the pleafiled by one of the four convictsin the Nirbhaya gang rape andmurder case, seeking review ofits 2017 judgement upholdinghis death penalty.

With this verdict on theplea by Akshay Kumar Singh,

the review petitions ofall the four deathrow convicts in thecase stand dis-missed by the topcourt. The convictsare yet to file cura-tive petition in theapex court that is thelast legal recourse availableto a person and it is generally

considered in-chamber.On July 9 last year, the

apex court had dis-missed the reviewpleas filed by theother three convicts— Mukesh (30),

Pawan Gupta (23) andVinay Sharma (24) — in

the case, saying no groundshave been made out by them

for review of the 2017 verdict.A three-judge bench, headedby Justice R Banumathi,Wednesday said there are nogrounds to review the 2017verdict and the contentionsraised by Akshay were alreadyconsidered by the top court inthe main judgement.

Continued on Page 2

Farmers hit the roads opposing 3 capitals proposall Angry protesters chase, thrash ‘dissenter’ black and blue, call for bandh today in Amaravati capital region SEELAM AROZIn VIJAYAWADA

Expressing their anger at ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy's statement in theAssembly on Tuesday that theState could have three separateCapitals, farmers fromMandadam and Rayapudiunder the Capital RegionDevelopment Area (CRDA)staged a protest on Wednesday.

The farmers also called abandh in the Amaravati capi-tal region on Thursday to exertpressure on the governmentnot to go ahead with the pro-posal of three separate capitals.

They warned that theywould intensify their agitationif the government failed towithdraw the proposal andbuild only one Capital inAmaravati capital region.

The farmers staged a sit-inprotest, squatting on the roadat Venkatayapalem with pesti-cide bottles in their hands.Traffic on the seed capital

access road came to a halt onaccount of the protest for sev-eral hours. The protesters alsobadly roughed up a personhailing the CM's statement onan Executive Capital inVisakhapatnam.

When the police rushed himto the police out-post, the iratefarmers demanded that the'dissenter' be handed over tothem. They said that the ChiefMinister had poured cold water

on their hopes in one stroke byannouncing three Capitals forthe State. "Things are falling

apart for us. Our future hascrumbled in front of our eyes.What will the government do

with 33,000 acres of landpooled from us?" asked a youngfarmer.

Wondering why the CM hadmade such a statement, theangry farmers said that theCapital construction workshave been stalled and appealedto Jagan to complete them. "Wedid not participate in the landpooling scheme initiated byChandrababu Naidu for ourselfish ends. We had, in fact,

parted with our lands in thelarger interests of the develop-ment of the State. It is not pos-sible to set up three Capitals.Jagan should stop vindictivepolitics and not use our landsto settle scores with the TDP.We are prepared to lay downour lives for the sake of a sin-gle Capital at Amaravati," a farmer said.

Continued on Page 2

PNS n AMARAVATI

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy onWednesday said that the stategovernment will set up a SkillsDevelopment University atTirupati and also a high-endSkills University atVisakhapatnam to impart job-orientation training in the final lap of education forstudents.

The Skills University will bean umbrella organisation forthe 25 Skills DevelopmentCentres that would be comingup in all the Parliamentaryconstituencies while the high-end Skills University will pro-

vide advanced courses inRobotics and ArtificialIntelligence (AI), Jagan saidduring a review meeting hereon Wednesday.

Continued on Page 3

Kamal Haasanvisits MadrasUniversity,extends supportto agitatingstudents

Skills developmentvarsity to come up atTirupati, says CM Jagan

PNS n NEW DELHI

The situation along the Line ofControl can escalate at anytime, Army Chief Bipin Rawatsaid today, adding that thearmy is prepared for aresponse. "The situation alongthe LoC can escalate at anytime. We are prepared for aresponse along the retaliatorymatrix," said the outgoingarmy chief.

The statement comes amidreports of ceasefire violationsand increased firing at the LoCsince August, when the gov-ernment ended special statusto Jammu and Kashmir andsplit the state into two unionterritories.

India facing ‘GreatSlowdown', witheconomy in crisis:Ex-CEA AravindSubramanian

Army Chief:Situationalong LoC can escalate

When the police rushed him to the police out-post, the irate farmers demanded that the'dissenter' be handed over to them. They saidthat the Chief Minister had poured cold water ontheir hopes in one stroke by announcing threeCapitals for the State

Guntur lodge chowrasta Velagapudi Mandadam

Supreme Court confirms death penalty for Nirbhaya convicts

NEW DELHI: Nirbhaya's mother broke downoutside the Patiala House court on Wednesdayafter the court adjourned for January 7 thehearing on the issuance of death warrantsagainst the four convicts in the Delhi

gangrape-and-murder case. She said she was"upset" at the court's decision. "The convicts have

been given one more chance. Continued on Page 2

NIRBHAYA'S MOTHER BREAKS DOWN

PNS n AMARAVATI

While TDP president NChandrababu Naidu is breath-ing fire on the CM's statementon three state capitals, TDPsenior leader and former min-ister KE Krishnamurthy onWednesday welcomed theproposal of judicial capital atKurnool.

He said that he is in favourof High Court being locatedin Kurnool.

"Right from the beginning,I have been putting forwardthe demand. At the time of thestate's bifurcation, I raisedthe demand of High Court atKurnool," Krishnamurthysaid.

Administrative decentrali-

sation will pave the way formore development, he said.

Former Minister GantaSrinivasa Rao also welcomedthe CM's decision of makingVisakhapatnam the executivecapital of AP.

It may be recalled thatJaganmohan Reddy on thefloor of Assembly hinted atthe state having three capitals- legislative (Amaravati), exec-utive (Visakhapatnam) andjudicial (Kurnool).

TDP’s KE, Ganta welcomeJagan’s 3 capitals statement

JC asks Naiduto be moreaggressivePNS n ANANTAPUR

Former MP JC DiwakarReddy on Wednesday saidthat TDP president NChandrababu Naidu shouldchange and become moreaggressive.

Taking part in the TDPreview meeting held herewith Naidu in the chair,Diwakar Reddy accused theparty supremo of preachingpeace to the detriment of theparty cadre and leaders.

He wanted to know therelationship between Naiduand Jagan. "Is Jagan yourson or your younger brotheror your well-wisher? Idemand that you adopt amuch more aggressive stanceagainst Jagan," DiwakarReddy said.

Continued on Page 2

SC says nostay on CAA,next hearingon January 22PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onWednesday said there wouldbe no stay on the CitizenshipAmendment Act and fixedJanuary 22 as the date toconduct hearing on nearly 60 petitions challenging the Act.

The Centre will file affi-davits on the validity of thelaw and will also file a replyon the petitioners' prayerseeking stay on the Act.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice S.A. Bobde orallyinstructed Attorney GeneralK.K. Venugopal to publicisethe aims and objects of theamended Act as people don'tknow about it.

The court observed thisrequest has been made by apetitioner, though it isunusual, but it is worth con-sidering. The A-G replied"We are happy to do it."

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CM wants Machilipatnam portto be executed at ‘jet speed’PNS n AMARAVATI

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Wednesday askedofficials to prepare plans forconstruction ofD u g a r a j a p a t n a m ,R a m a y a p a t n a m ,Machilipatnam, Nakkapalli,Kalingapatnam andBhavanapadu ports. He want-ed them to take steps to buildBhavanapadu, Machilipatnamand Ramayapatnam ports inthe first phase andMachilipatnam port to be builtas fast as possible.

Reviewing the developmentof ports and proposals forstarting new ports with officialsof industries department athis camp office, Jagan saidthat land has already beenacquired for theMachilipatnam port and asked

the officials to acquire lands forother ports on an urgent basis.

The officials told the CMthat they would be completingthe financial closure for theMachilipatnam andRamayapatnam port by Junenext year.

The CM said the foundationstone be laid for the two portsby May-June of next year. TheCentre promised to build aport for AP as per the StateReorganisation Act. Therefore,the officials should strive to getfunds from the Center for the

port, he said. Jagan said his priority would

be implementing Navaratnaluand Nadu-Nedu programmeand construction of six lakhhomes for the homeless poorwould be his second priorityand widening of the irrigationcanals wetting lands inRayalaseema region would behis third priority.

He identified his other pri-orities as building UttarandhraSujala Sravanti project per-taining to Left canal of thePolavaram project, briningGodavari waters fromPolavaram to Bollapalli reser-voir and from there toBanakacharla and implement-ing Water Grid project toquench thirst of people of alldistricts.

These programmes willbring stability to agriculture

sector besides bringing relief tothe drought-affected areas.

The Navaratnalu pro-gramme would improve livingstandards of the poor andmiddle classes. He also spokeon power sector reforms at themeeting.

Putting the quantum of sub-sidies being given to AP Transcoannually at Rs 10,000 crore, hesuggested instead of giving Rs10,000 crore, the state govern-ment could give 12,000 MWsolar power to Transco. He said12,000 MW of power would bemade available at a cost of Rs35,000-Rs 37,000 crore.

Further, Jagan elaboratedthat the amount being given toTransco in the form of subsi-dies would mean making avail-able 12,000 MW of power inthree years. He wanted officialsto think along these lines.

PNS n AMARAVATI

BJP state unit president KannaLakshminarayana onWednesday opined that he threecrucial wings -the Assembly,Secretariat and administrativewing - should be located inAmaravati. The BJP hasbeen advocating rightfrom the beginning thatthe High Court shouldbe located in Kurnool,he said, adding that theparty remained committedto the idea. "The idea of havingAssembly at one place and theSecretariat at another place isunacceptable," Kanna said. TheBJP state president suggested set-ting up of regional administra-tion centres in Rayalaseemaregion besides having the exec-utive capital at Visakhapatnam.

He suggested setting up ofmini-Assembly buildings at

Rayalaseema and north coastalAP. Kanna also demandedmini-Assembly and mini-Secretariat in Kurnool besideslocating the HC. "People livingin Rayalaseema will find it dif-ficult to go to Visakhapatnam,

the executive capital.Similarly they will find itarduous to go toKurnool to attend theHigh Court, he said jus-tifying the need to have

regional centres in allregions. He said that the BJP

would resort to an agitation if itsdemands were not met.Meanwhile, welcoming the CM'sidea of three state capitals, BJPMP TG Venkatesh said that theJoint Action Committee to ful-fil the rights of people ofRayalaseema during the unitedAndhra movement demandedestablishing three state capitals inthe three regions of the state.

BJP wants Assembly,Secretariat at Amaravati

AP, NMDC ink pact on supplyof iron ore to Kadapa Steel PlantPNS n AMARAVATI

The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment has signed aMemorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) withNational MineralDevelopment Corporation(NMDC) for supply of iron oreto the Kadapa Steel Plant forwhich the Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy will belaying the foundation stone.

The MoU was signed in thepresence of Chief Ministerhere on Wednesday by AlokKumar Mehta on behalf ofNMDC and P MadhusudhanCMD of AP Hygrid Steel

Limited represented the Stategovernment.

Kadapa Steel Plant wouldcome up betweenSunnapurallapally and PedhaNandaluru villages inJammalamadugu mandal ofYSR Kadapa district.

The Chief Minister earliersaid that the plant would becompleted within three yearsand provide employment forabout 20,000 local persons.

The plant has been sanc-tioned due to the pursuance ofthe issue by the Chief Ministerwith the Centre as it waspromised in the APReorganisation Act.

NMDC Director(Commercial) Alok KumarMehta and AP High-GradeSteel Limited CMD PMadhusudan signed the MoUin the presence of the ChiefMinister, who termed it historic.

The integrated steel plantwill have a production capac-ity of three million tonnes perannum. It requires at least 4.5million tonnes of iron oreevery year.

If not from neighbouringKarnataka, the NMDC isexpected to supply the orefrom its mines in Chhattisgarhthough the cost would behigher, official sources said.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

GITAM Deemed to beUniversity has signed MoU withone of Russia's biggest researchand educational centre UralFederal University (Ranked 376in QS World Universities) hereon Wednesday.

GITAM University RegistrarProf. KVGD Balaji and UralFederal University AcademicAffairs Director ProfessorAleksei Kliuev exchanged theMoU document in the presenceof Vice-Chancellor Prof. K.Sivarama Krishna.

The MoU facilitates MBAstudents of Ural FederalUniversity to study at GITAM forone semester from this academ-ic year. The MoU will helpRussian students to get greatlearning opportunities by expe-riencing areas of innovation in

Fintech and BioMedical. In addition, the MoU will help

both the universities to developgraduate and undergraduateprogrammes of common inter-est, faculty collaboration forresearch assignments, studentcollaboration for advanced stud-ies and transfer of academiccredits.

Prof. Alexander Yashin, direc-

tor, Graduate School ofEconomics and Managementexpressed satisfaction with theacademic and residential facili-ties offered at GITAM.

While interacting withGITAM officials, Prof. Yashinsaid that they are very keen toenhance cooperation withGITAM Deemed University onInternational Research Projects.

Russian university inks pact withGITAM on student exchange

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Illegal gambling (playing cardsand putting bets) is thriving inNorth Andhra region despitethe crackdown on gamblingactivities on a regular basis.And, mango orchids are turn-ing out to be secret dens forthe gamblers.

The Vizianagaram policehad nabbed as many as 34 pe-ople for playing cards at a ma-ngo orchard under Kunaya-valasa area under BadangiMandal in Vizianagaram dis-trict last Saturday. The policealso seized Rs 6.44 lakh incash, 38 mobile phones and 18bikes from the gamblers.

Vizianagaram District

police chief B Raja Kumarisaid that they have registeredover 100 cases of gambling andseized over Rs 45 lakh incash.

Organisers of the gamblingdens used to change the loca-tions of the dens to evade thepolice raids. As per law, gamesof skill are allowed but gamesof chance where betting takesplaces are not allowed, RajaKumari added.

ACP (Task Force), Vizag, ATrinad Rao observed that onaverage they raid at least threegambling activities in a weekin Vizag city limits. There is noparticular area where gam-bling is more prevalent in thecity, he added.

Gamblers turn orchardsin N. Andhra into dens

Bikes seizedby CID to beauctionedPNS n VIJAYAWADA

As per the instructions by theMetropolitan Session Judgehere, the Crime InvestigationDepartment (CID) will, onDecember 21, auction eightmotorcycles seized in con-nection with criminal casesregistered against SubhadarsiChit Funds Private Limited,according to a communiquéfrom the CID, Vijayawada.

Those interested can par-ticipate in the auction thatwould be conducted atKrishnalanka police station at10 am, the CID officials said.The participants may contact9493986137 for details.

Telugus in America keen to invest in VizagPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

With 974 km of coastline of nat-ural beauty, well connected byrail, road and air with all regions,Andhra Pradesh indeed hashuge investment potential in allsectors especially in Port sector,said G. Sambasiva Rao, Past Pr-esident of AP Chambers of Co-mmerce and Industry Federation(APCCIF) at the American Tel-ugu Association (ATA) Businessseminar here on Wednesday.

The seminar was aimed atshowcasing Andhra Pradesh ingeneral, and Visakhapatnam inparticular, to prospectiveinvestors and provide a platformfor venture capitalists and start-up companies

In his welcome address, Raosaid with AP Maritime Boardtaking its shape, port led devel-

opment will propel with supportservices like ship breaking, shipbuilding will add to the region'sgrowth and help generateemployment. With dedicatedberth for cruise tourism, an areauntapped before, will attractmore investments in future, Raoadded.

Explaining the advantages of

Special economic Zones in hiskeynote address, A Rama MohanReddy, DevelopmentCommissioner, VSEZ said itemsmanufactured here are fitted tointernational brands.

Going by the state of the artinfrastructure provided here,countries like China and Tha-iland are setting up their units he-

re. For that, approvals are beinggiven in 30 days so that they canstart operations without delay.

"In the past seven months, wehave given 64 approvals, onaverage of 5 in a month, with aninvestment of Rs 8,600 crore andprojected employment of 40,415in the next years," he said. Headded that in times of econom-ic recession, VSEZ attained firstposition with an 37 per centgrowth in exports when com-pared to the previous fiscal.

Pydah Krishna Prasad,President Elect, AP Chamberssaid: As the state's apex chamberbody, we are working tirelesslytaking up the genuine issues ofthe entrepreneurs with the stateand national government, somewhich were resolved and imple-mented be it Income tax, GSTand other issues."

Participating as a Chief Guestfor the Seminar, VMRDA chair-man Dronamraju Srinivas Raosaid, Visakhapatnam is cos-mopolitan in nature with peaceloving people and well developedinfrastructure certainly attractingmore inflow of investments inthis region.

Exuding confidence at beingfinalised as Executive Capital wi-th a long term vision, Raju saidthat this will be a boon to decen-tralised development of all dis-tricts.

To this effect, a committee hasbeen formed to take inputs fromthe stakeholders to give a con-crete shape. With land availablefor setting of industries, he reit-erated ATA to explore businessopportunities by way of signingMoU so that requisite infrastruc-ture can be provided.

ATA is lookingto partner withAndhra Unive-rsity to createnew courses totrain youth andthem makeemployable

SC confirms death penalty for Nirbhaya convictsContinued from Page1

The bench, also comprisingjustices Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna, said the review peti-tion is not "re-hearing of appealover and over again" and the topcourt had already considered themitigating and aggravating cir-cumstances while upholdingthe death penalty.

The apex court said it found"no error" on the face of the mainjudgement requiring any review.

As soon as the bench pro-nounced the verdict, advocate AP Singh, appearing for convictAkshay, sought three weeks tofile mercy petition before thePresident.

Solicitor General TusharMehta, appearing for the Delhigovernment, told the bench thatone week is prescribed under thelaw for filing the mercy petition.

"We are not expressing ourview in this regard. If as per thelaw any time is available to thepetitioner, it is for the petition-er to avail the remedy of filingmercy petition within that stip-ulated time," the bench said.

While pronouncing the judge-ment, the bench said the convict

has again sought to assail theprosecution case and the find-ings of courts on it and this can-not be permitted.

The bench said the groundsraised by Akshay were almostidentical to the grounds taken bythe other three convicts in thecase whose review pleas wererejected by the top court last year.

On Singh's submission aboutthe alleged flaws in the investi-gation, the bench said, "All thesethings have already been wellconsidered by the trial court,High Court and the SupremeCourt."

Singh questioned the probeconducted in the case and toldthe bench it was "flawed andunreliable".

"Can you challenge the inves-tigation after whole trial is over,"the bench asked.

Singh then questioned theprocedure of arresting and testidentification parade (TIP) con-ducted in the case and said "therewas public, media and politicalpressure to falsely implicate theaccused".

"Media pressure is still there,"he said and referred to therecent Telengana encounter

where four accused in a gangrape and murder case werekilled in an alleged fakeencounter by the police.

Nirbhaya's parents were alsopresent in the courtroom duringthe hearing.

Singh referred to a sting oper-ation of 2019 and alleged thatcomplainant in the Nirbhayacase, who is the sole eye-witnessof the incident, had taken lakhsof rupees for giving statementsto various media channels whenthe trial in the case was going ata Saket district court here.

He also referred to a recentbook and claimed that a formerofficer of Tihar jail had said thatdeath of accused Ram Singh,who had committed suicide inTihar jail, was suspicious andTIP proceedings in the case wereflawed.

"This evidence was not thereduring the trial. TIP was chal-lenged in the trial and specialleave petition and it has alreadybeen decided," the bench said.

"Criminal trial is based on theevidence which is brought beforethe court. We cannot go by whatsome writer writes in his book.It is a very dangerous trend if

somebody write books and saysthese things after the trial is over,"the bench said.

Singh then questioned the"hurry" with which Delhi gov-ernment was moving to executethe Nirbhaya case convicts andsaid that death row convicts inother heinous crimes were notsought to be executed.

He then referred to air andwater pollution in Delhi-NCRand said when age of citizens wasalready decreasing due to thesefactors then "why award deathpenalty".

Mehta opposed the reviewplea and said that trial court,high court and the apex courthad already given its verdicts inthe case and awarded themdeath penalty.

"There is specific evidenceagainst the accused and all thesewere considered by the trialcourt, high court and theSupreme Court," he said. Mehtasaid that forensic and DNA evi-dence conclusively establishedAkshay's involvement in theheinous crime.

Referring to the apex court's2017 judgement and the verdictdismissing the review pleas filed

by the three other convicts in thecase, Mehta said, "The SupremeCourt has said that it is a fit caseto award death sentence as it israrest of rare case."

Nirbhaya'smotherbreaks down

Continued from Page1

Why are their rightsbeing considered? Whatabout our rights?" she asked.Earlier in the day, she hadwelcomed the SupremeCourt decision to dismissthe plea filed by one of thefour convicts in the case,seeking review of its 2017judgment upholding hisdeath penalty. After the SCverdict, the AdditionalSessions Judge Satish KumarArora commenced the hear-ing on a Delhi governmentplea seeking issuance of thedeath warrants for executingthe four convicts.


He alleged that a policeconstable threatened a TDPworker that he would puthim behind bars if he did notjoin the YSRCP. "But theissue fizzed out since the SPis a good of f icer. InAnantapur district, all policepersonnel, with the excep-tion of the SP, are bowingbefore the ruling party lead-ers," Diwakar Reddy said.

He predicted midtermpolls, within two-and-a-halfyears.

"I will remember all thosewho created problems for

TDP workers and avengethese insults. I would ensurethat only those police offi-cers who serve the interestsof the TDP would be postedin the district," DiwakarReddy said.

He said that excise caseswould be filed against thosewho caused trouble to theTDP workers. Prior to theelections, Chandrababu wasadvised against giving tick-ets to some of the MLAs buthe failed to pay heed to theadvice, the businessman-politician said.

He alleged that Naidu wasbeing cheated by one and all.

JC asks Naidu tobe more aggressive

Farmers hit theroads opposing 3capitals proposal


Another farmer said the CM hadfailed to take up any development workin the State during his six months of rule."While June 2, 2014 was a black day inthe history of the State, December 17,2019 was another tragic day in the State,"another farmer said.

The protesters found fault with Jaganfor not including the proposal for threeCapitals in the YSRCP manifesto that heclaims to consider as a holy scripture.

Meanwhile, farmers called a bandh onThursday in all the 29 villages of theAmaravati capital region. The farmerssaid that they have decided to take upindefinite relay fast at the Secretariat atVelagapudi and continue with the protestprogrammes like dharnas. The farmersalso called upon the locals to take partin the protest programme.

They are appealing to political lead-ers not to play with their lives for the sakeof politics. Earlier in the day, the farm-ers staged protests in villages that comeunder the CRDA like Mandadam,Velagapudi, Rayapudi, Kistayapalemand also at Uddandarayapalem wherePrime Minister Narendra Modi laid thefoundation stone for Amaravati.

SCR to run 38 specialsfor holiday seasonPNS n AMARAVATI

The South Central Railwayson Wednesday announced38 special trains betweenNarsapur - Hyderabad -Vijayawada and Secunde-rabad - Machilipatnam andKacheguda - KakinadaTown to clear extra rush ofpassengers during the festi-val season.

Accordingly, Train No.07258 Narsapur - Hyd-erabad Special will departfrom Narsapur at 6 pm onJanuary 5, 12 and 26, 2020(Sundays) and arrive/departSecunderabad at 3.55 am /4 am the next day and reachHyderabad at 4.45 am.

Enroute this special trainwill also stop at Palakollu,Viravasaram, BhimavaramJn, Bhimavaram Town,Akividu, Kaikaluru,Gudivada, Vijayawada,Guntur, Sattenapalle,Piduguralla, Nadikudi,Miryalaguda and Nalgondastations.

This special train will

consist of AC II Tier, AC IIITier, Sleeper Class andGeneral Second ClassCoaches.

Also, Train No. 07257Hyderabad - VijayawadaSpecial will departHyderabad at 11 pm onJanuary 6, 13, 20 and 27(Mondays) andarrive/depart fromSecunderabad at 11.25 pm/23:30 pm and reachVijayawada at 6.35 am thenext day.

Enroute this special trainwill also at Kazipet,Warangal, Dornakal andKhammam stations. It willconsist of AC II Tier, AC IIITier, Sleeper Class andGeneral Second ClassCoaches.

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2019 vijayawada 03

ON AALERT

I feel sorry for people livingunder Jagan rule, says NaiduPNS n ANANTAPUR

TDP supremo N.Chandrababu Naidu onWednesday expressed con-cern over the "condition ofthe people of the state" andreminded them that he hehad worked hard for fiveyears day and night jet-set-ting across the world fordevelopment of the state.

Addressing party workershere, Naidu said that YSRCPleaders would not havereached their present statushad he been vindict ivetowards them when he wasthe Chief Minister. Theobjective of politics is tousher in change in society, hesaid.

Getting nostalgic abouthow he shifted to AP fromHyderabad though the statewas "ruined with mountingdebts", Naidu accused YSRCPof unleashing malicious pro-paganda about TDP workerswhom he credited with mak-ing him and party founderNTR world famous.

Reminding that he was thelongest served CM of AP, heclaimed that none would beable to break his record.

The TD chief alleged thatYSRCP slung mud onPayyavula Kesav accusinghim of buying land nearAmaravati and describedeach YSRCP MLA as a mav-erick. Under the YSRCPregime, the police have filedcases against victims insteadof taking action against theculprits he said, and advised

the police to resign fromtheir jobs if they do notknow how to go about fulfill-ing their responsibilities.

Naidu said that ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy does not know how torespect elders, adding that aday that the TDP wouldrepay the insult heaped onhim along with interest wasnot far off.

Calling the Assembly asMaaya Sabha, he termedYSRCP MLAs as Kauravasand felt that the ultimatevictory would be that of thePandavas (TDP MLAs).

"The TDP would not becowed down by foisting offalse cases," Naidu said, alleg-

ing that development worksin the state came to a stand-still.

He questioned whether atleast one unit of concreteworks has been executed dur-ing the past six months of thenew regime. He said the gov-ernment could realise only 33per cent of the targeted rev-enue during the past sixmonths.

Assembly SpeakerTammineni Sitaram ignoredthe TDP's privilege motionagainst the CM, Naidu said.

He claimed to havebrought Kia Motors toAnantapur district to trans-form the contours of theregion.

Vizag as Executive Capital plandraws a mixed bag of response

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy's plan of three separatecapitals for Andhra Pradeshwith Vizag as its ExecutiveCapital has drawn mixedresponse from the public atlarge.

Chairman of VMRDADronamraju Srinivas wel-comed the idea saying it wouldbe a great boon for NorthAndhra, which remained mostbackward region in the Statefor decades.

"Vizag will have a new inter-national airport atBhogapuram, a coastal corri-dor and an upgraded MetroRail and the development willtrickle down to Vizianagaramand Srikakulam,'' said theVMRDA chairman.

He said the master plan for2020-40 was ready and thedraft plan would be released inMarch next year and the per-spective plan for 2050, the fol-lowing months. Even tribalareas in the agency will witnessdevelop in terms of tourismand horticulture.

"Every inch will be devel-oped in north Andhra andeducation sector and industrieswill get a great boost," Srinivasadded.

Commissioner of GVMCG Srijana said the city wouldget a great boost in all dimen-sions and the corporation willhave a greater role in makingcity livable for the people.

"Making Amaravati the leg-islative capital, Vizag theadministrative capital and

Kurnool the judicial capitalpartially restores regional bal-ance in governance," she said.

However, there are disad-vantages in decentralised gov-ernance, whether it is legisla-tive, administrative or judicial.As far as the people are con-centrated, it imposes hugecosts.

"Had the CM consideredrequesting the Supreme Courtto locate benches of the HighCourt in each of the threeregions and set up an admin-istrative sub-centre in eachregion, taking advantage ofmodern communications facil-ities, he would have paved theway for decentralised gover-nance, by taking governancenearer to the people in eachregion. The legislative capitalcan rotate among the threeregions," former Union secre-tary and social activist EASSarma said.

Well known builder J Balaji,

who saw development ofVisakhapatnam since his uni-versity days, said the land costwould shoot up as there is lit-tle land available in the citylimits.

"However, services willimprove as all the departmentheads would be living here,"Balaji said.

District secretary of CPM KLokanadham said a capitalwith all the babus would notserve the peoples' interest. Asthe land costs would go up,people living in slums would beevicted and forced to move tofar off places.

The city has 750 notifiedslums and all of the people liv-ing in them would lose theirhomes, Lokanandham said.

Senior TDP leader and statevice-president of the partyPasarla Prasad admitted thatland value would shootthrough the roof and the citywill lose its peaceful tag.

While many opposition leaders criticised, TDP’s Ganta welcomed the planBoth political leaders and common people alike feel land price will surge

CM wants MSP displayedat Rythu Bharosa centresPNS n AMARAVATI

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Wednesday said thatthe government was makingefforts to see that quality seedsand fertilisers are delivered tofarmers through the digitalkiosks at the Rythu Bharosacentres in the State.

Addressing a review meetingon Rythu Bharosa centres at hiscamp office here, the ChiefMinister said that transparencywas maintained at the RythuBharosa centres to ensure thatthere was no corruption. He saidstringent action would be takenif graft was found at any of thecentres.

He directed officials to followstrict standards in maintainingthe quality of seed and fertiliz-

ers at the godowns.The Chief Minister directed

the agriculture and veterinarystaff at the village secretariats towork from the Rythu Bharosacentres and to disburse agricul-ture insurance from them.

He asked the officials to dis-play the list of minimum support

price declared by the govern-ment for various agriculturalproducts at the Rythu Bharosacentres.

The Chief Minister said dig-ital information regarding theirrigation facilities at the centresand to set up weather stationsthere for the benefit of farmers.

Forum: Jaganhad acceptedAmaravatias CapitalPNS n AMARAVATI

Andhra Medhavula Forumconvener Chalasani Srinivason Wednesday remindedthat YS Jaganmohan Reddy,when he was the Leader ofthe Opposition, had givenhis approval for Amaravatias the state Capital.

Responding to Jagan'sstatement on three capitalcities, he told the media thatcomparing AP with SouthAfrica was atrocious.

Srinivas said that the CMshould not give the tag ofdecentralised administra-tion to his decision on threecapital cities for AP.

Stating that none wouldfind fault with decentralisa-tion of administration, theMedhavula Forum conven-er said that the YSRCP gov-ernment put the state cap-ital issue on the backburn-er for the past six months.

He demanded that con-struction of the capital cityand decentralisation of theadministration take placesimultaneously.

People losingconfidence inAmaravati:NarayanaPNS n HYDERABAD

CPI national secretary K.Narayana on Wednesday feltthat a person of the rank ofthe CM should not have anybad blood towards anyone,but YS Jaganmohan Reddyhas been bringing forth astrange problem.

The people of the statehave no confidence that thecapital city would remain atAmaravati and all develop-ment works in the region hascome to a standstill, he said.

He opined that the pro-posed new capital city shouldcome up between Vijayawadaand Guntur cities.

Many people have pur-chased lands at high pricesexpecting that the new capi-tal city will come up atAmaravati. "Farmers alsogave their lands anticipatingthat the land prices will spi-ral," Narayana reminded.

All panels should functionunder the watchful eyes of theCM, hence the statement onstate capital, he said.

The people of Kurnooldistrict dream of havingtheir city become the statecapital since long, Narayanapointed out.

PNS n AMARAVATI

Transport and InformationMinister Perni Venkatramaiahon Wednesday said that theState government has passed 22bills in the Assembly, includingthe Disha Bills, merger ofAPSRTC with the government,introduction of English medi-um in government schools,implementation of prohibitionin phases, and separate SC, STcommissions.

Addressing a press confer-ence at the Secretariat here,Venkatramaiah said AP hasbecome the role model forother States in bringing in astringent Bill on women's safe-ty. He said the government wasreceiving messages hailing theAP Disha Bills.

Venkatramaiah lashed out aLeader of the Opposition NChandrababu Naidu for repeat-edly trying to stall the

Assembly while the govern-ment was trying to bring inrevolutionary legislations.

He said when the govern-ment, under the leadership ofChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy, was bringing in path-breaking legislations like DishaBill to take stringent actionagainst the perpetrators ofcrime against women, Naiduwas trying to stall the House byraising the prices of onions.

Venkatramaiah said thewomen's organisations and the

social media in the countrywere all praise for the new Billbut Naidu was the only onewho did not respond to it.

"Naidu and his son Lokeshare talking against the govern-ment in public fora. Moreover,while Naidu was saying some-thing in the Assembly, Lokeshwas contradicting it in theCouncil. Naidu claimed that hehad gone to Delhi several timesto talk to the Central govern-ment, but why did he not raisethe issue of SC categorisa-tion?" Venkatramaiah asked.

Despite claiming that hehad 40 years of political expe-rience, Naidu had not shownhis calibre except politicisingevery issue for personal gain,the minister said.

He said Naidu has no rightto speak about the increase inRTC bus fares, as he had raisedthe ticket prices five timesduring his five-year tenure.

Winter session most productive, says Nani

PNS n AMARAVATI

CPI leader K. Ramakrishna onWednesday opined that the gov-ernment should have taken adecision on the state capital afterreceiving the Cabinet subcom-mittee report. He advised thegovernment to take suggestionsfrom one and all on the statecapital.

Addressing the media in lightof Chief Minister YS Jaganm-ohan Reddy's statement on threecapital cities, Ramakrishna felt

that ministers shooting theirmouth off as they liked on theissue of state capital was not jus-tified. "Varying statements on ca-pital have been creating confusi-on among the people," he said.

The veteran leader also foundfault with Minister BotsaSatyanarayana, who describedAmaravati as a "burial ground".

The ruling party has beenpoliticising the issue but isnot able to do anything inspite of the fact that it is inpower, he claimed.

Jagan should take viewsof all on Capital, says CPI

Secretariat ideally atAmaravati: CongressPNS n AMARAVATI

Congress leader Tulalsi Reddyon Wednesday felt that formerCM N Chandrababu Naiducreated the illusion ofb u i l d i n g'Vaikuntham' inAmaravati for thepeople while hissuccessor YSJ a g a n m o h a nReddy has beentrying to create theillusion of creatingKailasam declaringthat the state to have threecapitals.

Talking to media here onWednesday, he sought to knowwhy Jaganmohan Reddy madea statement on state capitaleven before the Cabinet sub-committee submitted its

report to the government. However, he welcomed the

establishing of High Court inKurnool and exhorted thegovernment to set up a HC

bench in Visakhapatnam. Tulasi Reddyopined that the

Secretariat shouldremain inAmaravati andadvised the gov-ernment to set up

State LegislativeAssembly and

Council inV i s a k h a p a t n a m .

"Jaganmohan Reddy making astatement on state capital evenbefore the designated sub-committee submitted itsreport is not proper as thepanel is supposed to submit areport within a week," he said.

Passing 16 Bills in 1 day historic: AvantiPNS n AMARAVATI

Tourism MinisterMutthamsetti Srinivas onWednesday said that theGovernment has made histo-ry by passing 16 Bills in theAssembly on a single day.

Speaking to the media at theSecretariat here, he said thegovernment was marchingahead with overall develop-ment of the State as its mainagenda. Alleging that theOpposition was creating hur-dles in every good initiative,Srinivas said while the entireworld had welcomed theDisha Bill, the TDP had stageda walkout from the Assemblywhen it was passed.

"Naidu, who served two

terms as CM cannot tolerateany other person occupyingthat position," Srinivas said.

The Centre did not releasefunds for the Capital as cor-ruption had peaked duringNaidu rule, the TourismMinister said, and comment-ed that the TDP president was

always hatching conspiraciesagainst his political oppo-nents. "In contrast, Jagan is asincere politician. As such, hehas already fulfilled 80 percent of the Navaratna promis-es," Srinivas said.

Half of the 23 TDP MLAshad failed to attend theAssembly sessions as they hadlost confidence in the Naidugovernment, the minister said.

He said the CM had hintedat three capitals with compre-hensive development of allregions of the State in mind.

"Jagan will take any deci-sion with overall develop-ment in mind," Srinivas said,and cr it ic ized theOpposition for making ahue and cry over the issue.

Calling the Assembly as ‘MaayaSabha’, Chandrababu Naidu termedYSRCP MLAs as ‘Kauravas’ and feltthat the ultimate victory would bethat of the ‘Pandavas’ (TDP MLAs)

Skills development varsity tocome up at Tirupati, says Jagan


"By bringing all the activ-ities of Skill Developmentunder one university, itwould be easy to review andmonitor activities and itwould be corruption-free.The Skills University willdecide on aspects of trainingto be g iven at Ski l lDevelopment Centres andstudents would have com-plete understanding of what

kind of training is availablethere," the Chief Ministersaid.

He directed the officials toselect one or two polytechniccolleges from each parlia-mentary constituency andconvert them into skill devel-opment centres and train formore skills to the peoplewho have completed techni-cal courses like Engineering,Diploma and ITI courses.

"Select one polytechnic

from each parliamentaryconstituency by the nextmeeting, develop infrastruc-ture in that college andensure that all the skill devel-opment activities are con-ducted at the college," theChief Minister said.

He instructed the officialsto identify local industriesand their requirements andtrain the students according-ly. Local industry representa-tives should be made board

members in the respectiveparliamentary constituenciesto boost the training activi-ties.

The Chief Ministerstressed the need for estab-lishing another university forhigh-end skills and told thatskills related to Robotics andArtificial Intelligence (AI)would be taught at the uni-versity. He ordered the offi-cials to prepare a plan to setup the university.

PNS n AMARAVATI

Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyanon Wednesday opined thatChief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy has cre-ated more confusion overAmaravati by hinting at threeseparate Capitals in the State.

Taking to Twitter on theissue on Wednesday, PawanKalyan said during his tour ofVisakhapatnam districtbefore the elections, localstold him that many parcels ofland were transferred to thenames of YSRCP leaders.

"After YSRCP came topower, disputed lands weregrabbed by them throughlocal settlements (panchay-ats)," Pawan Kalyan alleged,adding that the new govern-ment had relieved JointCollector Shivasankar fromhis duties and humiliatedhim by sending him to a sub-ordinate post.

"Venugopal Reddy wasbrought in his place, a movewhich did not go well evenwith IAS officers," PawanKalyan said.

He alleged that Jagan wasplanning to turn theLegislative Assembly inAmaravati into somethinglike the Kolleru Lake where

migratory birds make season-al visits. "Likewise, MLAsand MLCs will descend on itthrice a year and when thesession concludes, they willgo back to their respectiveplaces. And, for the rest of theyear, it will be under lock andkey. This is how the CMwants to kill Amaravati,"Pawan Kalyan said.

He said that the Secretariatemployees were yet to settlein Amaravati with most ofthem still to come to termswith their transfer fromHyderabad. Pawan Kalyansaid a few of them had admit-ted their children in schoolsand colleges in the Capitalregion. "If the children areagain moved to the ExecutiveCapital, what will happen tothem?" the Jana Sena chiefquestioned.

Jagan is planning to turnAmaravati into a desert: Pawan

OCTOPUS personnel inducted into Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy's security detail. A decision to step up the ChiefMinister's security and replace the special protection force personnel with six OCTOPUS commandos was taken at a meetingcomprising Home Secretary, DGP, Law and Order IG, Intelligence chief and other officials. OCTOPUS is a specialised andelite force of the State used in counter-terrorism activities.

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2019 nation 04SHORT READS

No threat to citizenshipof any Indian Muslimor any other citizenunder CAA: NaqviNEW DELHI: Minority AffairsMinister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvisaid on Wednesday that thereis no "question mark" on orthreat to citizenship of anyIndian Muslim or any othercitizen due to the Citizenship(Amendment) Act. "CAA is toprovide citizenship and not totake away citizenship of anyperson," he said at an eventhere.

Man sentenced to lifeimprisonment within17 days of raping girl

Accident victim's kinawarded Rs 30 lakhrelief after 9 yearsTHANE: The family of a 25-year-old man, who was killed ina road accident in 2011, hasbeen awarded a compensationof Rs 30 lakh by the ThaneMotor Accident Claims Tribunal(MACT). Member of the MACTat Kalyan S R Pahade recentlydirected the owner of theoffending vehicle and theinsurance company to pay thecompensation along with 7.5per cent interest per annumfrom the date the claim wasfiled. Victim's fatherChandrakant Virajlal Davda, hismother Indumati and brotherRohan are claimants in thecase. The accident took placeon May 15, 2011 at Dombivli-Kalyan road when a speedingcar rammed into the stationaryvehicle the deceased MayurDavda, an employee of aprivate airline, was sitting in,killing him on the spot. Theinsurance company must paythe compensation first and thenit is entitled to recover theamount from the errant vehicleowner, the tribunal stated.

JAIPUR: In one of the fastesttrials, a special POCSO courthas sentenced a man to lifeimprisonment for raping a four-year-old girl in Rajasthan'sChuru district 17 days ago. Thecourt convicted and sentenced21-year-old Dayaram Meghwalon Tuesday. Meghwal hadraped the girl on November 30and was arrested the next dayunder relevant sections of theIPC and Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences Act(POCSO). Police had filed acharge sheet on December 7and the verdict waspronounced on Tuesday. Hewas awarded life imprisonmentunder POCSO. "Police tookprompt action and completedinvestigation and filed chargesheet in seven days. The trial inthe court was conducted on aday-to-day basis. Scientificevidence and the victim'sstatements played crucial rolein the case," SP, Churu,Tejaswani Gautam, said onWednesday. She said theconvict's father was alsoinvolved in a rape case in thepast and had been sentencedby a court.

PNS n AHMEDABAD

Amid raging protests againstthe new citizenship law, theCongress on Wednesdaywarned Narendra Modi gov-ernment against attempting a"Hindu-Muslim" (divide) orraising a India-Pakistanrhetoric, which it said cannotbe the solution to the concernsof jobless youth and to otherissues.

Speaking to reporters,Congress chief spokespersonRandeep Singh Surjewala alsosaid that the ongoing protestsby the students communitywill "grow stronger" if theCentre government fails tohold talks with them.

Surjewala was inAhmedabad to attend a courthearing in connection with acriminal defamation case. Hewas granted bail after he plead-ed not guilty.

"While students and youthof the country are holding

demonstrations, the Modi gov-ernment is responding withbatons, tear gas and bullets,instead of talking to them.Hindu-Muslim or India-Pakistan is no reply to theyouth's questions on unem-ployment, rising cost of educa-tion, and trampling ofConstitution," Surjewala said.

He was referring to the vio-lent protests against the newcitizenship law in Delhi and the

resultant police action on stu-dents of the Jamia MilliaIslamia University (JMI) andthe Aligarh Muslim University(AMU).

Taunting the prime minister,Surjewala said such policecrackdown was unprecedentedin the last 72 years, because"Modi hai toh mumkin hai"(anything is possible underPM Narendra Modi)".

"I would like to ask PM

Modi. What his government istrying to prove by baton-charg-ing, firing bullets and teargasshells on youth and studentsinside a girls' hostel andlibraries (of JMI varsity)," hesaid.

Surjewala said the studentcommunity and youth are agi-tated over the lack of employ-ment and rising cost of educa-tion.

"Parents do not have moneyfor education of their wards.They have no opportunity.They are agitated that theConstitution is being trampledupon...You (Modi) mustunderstand, and also considerit as a warning, that if theystand against you, they caneven change the government,"he said.

Surjewala further said that ifthe Centre doesn't hold talkswith the agitated students "theprotests will only growstronger, and you cannot sup-press them".

Hindu-Muslim, India-Pak rhetoric noanswer to students' concerns: Congress

PNS n JAMMU

Every household in seven outof the total 20 districts ofJammu and Kashmir will geta water connection by June2020, a senior official said onWednesday.

He also said there will be 100per cent piped water supply toall the households in the 20 dis-tricts of the union territory byDecember 2021, against thenational target of 2024.

During a one-day work-shop on the implementation ofthe ambitious 'Jal Jeevan' mis-sion in the union territory hereon Tuesday, CommissionerSecretary, Public HealthEngineering, Ajeet KumarSahu said a three-phased strat-egy has been devised toachieve objectives under thisinitiative with Phase I to becompleted by June 2020.

The seven districts --Srinagar, Ganderbal, Shopian,Pulwama, Reasi, Poonch andSamba -- and 52 additionalblocks from other districtswould be taken up for provid-ing tap water connections toall the households, he said.

"To achieve the outlinedobjective, a detailed action

plan has been prepared by thedepartment. Phase I is alreadyunder implementation whileother phases are under prepa-ration," Sahu said.

Detailed deliberationsregarding the implementationstrategy of JJM in the unionterritory were held during theworkshop which was alsoattended by Chief Secretary BV R Subrahmanyam,Additional Secretary, UnionMinistry of Jal Shakti, BharatLal and Deputy SecretaryDepartment of DrinkingWater and Sanitation,Government of India, ManojKumar, an official spokesper-son said.

The chief secretary request-ed for Centre's continued sup-port so that JJM can be madea success in Jammu andKashmir, he said.

Lal, who is also the JalJeevan Mission Director, askedthe PHE department officialsto increase the pace of workand ensure geo-tagging of thecreated assets to review theirprogress in real-time.

With 30.5 per cent tapwater coverage, Jammu andKashmir ranks 12th at thenational level.

‘100 pc tap waterconnectivity for 7 J-Kdistricts by June 20’

Maha will consider law likeAndhra Pradesh's Disha: ShindePNS n NAGPUR

The Maharashtra governmentwill consider bringing a law onthe lines of the proposedAndhra Pradesh Disha Act,which mandates disposal ofcases of atrocities againstwomen within 21 days andhanding out the death penal-ty.

Home Minister EknathShinde told the LegislativeCouncil on Wednesday thatthe government was firm onthe strict implementation ofthe existing laws to makewomen feel secure.

"Besides, the governmentwill seriouslythink aboutbringing a lawon the lines ofthe Disha Act in AndhraPradesh for ensuring speedyjustice in cases of atrocitiesagainst women," he said.

The home minister wasreplying to a question raisedthrough a calling attentionmotion on the "growing num-

ber of crimes against womenand children".

"The government is sensitiveand serious about this. It is ourintention that women livewithout fear in the state. Thegovernment will think aboutimplementing a law to protectwomen and children fromatrocities on the lines of the(Disha) Act being implement-ed by the Andhra Pradeshgovernment," Shinde said.

The Andhra PradeshLegislative Assembly had lastweek passed the AndhraPradesh Disha Bill which man-dates disposal of cases of atroc-ities against women within 21days and handing out thedeath penalty.

The proposed new law hasbeen named the 'AndhraPradesh Disha Act CriminalLaw (AP Amendment) Act,2019 as a tribute to the veteri-nary doctor who was rapedand murdered recently inTelangana.

On steps being taken by theMaharashtra government todeal with the crime againstchildren, Shinde said that 25special courts and 27 fast trackcourts have been set up toensure speedy justice. "Apartfrom courts, 43 police stationsare functional in investigatingcyber crimes. Some 164 postsin cyber crime (department)will be filled within twomonths," said Shinde.

PNS n MUMBAI

Actor Varun Dhawan onWednesday said he did nottake a stand on the nationwideprotests against the CitizenshipAmendment Act because as apublic figure, he wants to be"responsible" with his state-ment.

The actor said many ver-sions about the protests arebeing reported and it would bewrong to express an opinionon the subject when one is indoubt.

Many from the film frater-nity including actorsMohammad Zeeshan Ayyub,Farhan Akhtar, ParineetiChopra, Richa Chadha, veter-an screenwriter Javed Akhtar,filmmakers Reema Kagti,Vishal Bhardwaj and AnuragKashyap, and Hollywood actorJohn Cusack expressed solidar-ity with the Jamia MilliaIslamia University studentsagainst the police action amidprotests against the contentiousAct.

Varun also reacted on theprotests on Tuesday by sharinga photo of men belonging todifferent religions holdinghands with 'India' written inthe middle. He captioned thephoto as: "Jai Hind".

Asked if he will be taking tothe streets to protest with thestudents, the actor said,

"What's happening in thecountry is being reported. Thereason why I don't want tocomment exactly on what'shappening is because thereare four-five versions floating.

"We are sitting here inMumbai, right now somethingelse is happening in otherparts of the country. It's wrongof us to comment about what'shappening over there until wedon't see that, until we are 100per cent aware what's happen-ing."

However, Varun con-demned the use of forceagainst peaceful agitation butsaid there were also reports oflaw and order issue from dif-ferent parts of the country.

Jamia turned into a warzone on Sunday as policeentered the campus and usedforce to quell student protestsagainst the Act.

Thousands of studentsacross India took to the streetsdemanding a probe into theuse of teargas inside the Jamialibrary as well as police enter-ing the campus without per-mission from universityauthorities on Sunday.

On the same Sundayevening, police entered thecampus of Aligarh MuslimUniversity and used force.

On Tuesday, protests inDelhi's Seelampur area turnedviolent after demonstratorsclashed with police followingprotests against the Act.

"Any kind of force usedagainst peaceful protestors iswrong. We are 100 per centagreeing with that. Now, otherlaw and order situations whichare occurring, the people younamed, even they commentedabout that and said that's alsowrong.

"There are two sides to it.Right now, it's such a sensitivematter that it's easy to speakand say something or to slamsomeone. When you're a pub-lic personality, people followyou, kids follow you. Once thesituation has been studied, Iwill definitely give my view-point concerning something,"the actor added.

He was speaking at the trail-er launch of "Street Dancer 3D"here. Varun said he is "not proor against" anyone.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Calling for environment protec-tion and development to bedone simultaneously, UnionEnvironment Minister PrakashJavadekar took a dig at Congressleader Jairam Ramesh onWednesday alleging he createda false notion that "environmentprotection and country's devel-opment are each other's enemy".

"We have to ensure growthand environment protectiontogether. In the last few years, itwas portrayed that environ-ment protection and develop-ment are enemies. At the timeof Jairam Ramesh (when he wasenvironment minister), it wasshowed as if environment pro-tection and development of thecountry cannot be done togeth-er. This is not true," Javadekarsaid at 'Sustainability Summit'organised here.

The minister said the bestexample of sustainable model ofgrowth and environment pro-tection is Delhi Metro.

"Delhi Metro has in 20 yearsbuilt 274 stations with 50 lakhfootfall which has reduced traf-fic of four lakh vehicles on theroad. Five times the trees whichwere cut during the building ofthe stations, have also beenplanted and are fully grown alsoin the last 20 years. This is the

best example. So developmentand environment protectionare not enemies," Javadekarsaid. Ramesh was the Ministerof State (independent charge)for environment, forests and cli-mate change from May 2009 toJuly 2011.

Addressing the summitorganised by Panchjanya, aweekly magazine published byRashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghin Hindi, Javadekar said climate

change has begun to result inrising temperatures, droughtsand unseasonal rains and flood-ing, causing damage to proper-ties and lives in different coun-tries.

The minister, who has justreturned from Madrid afterattending the 25th conference ofparties (COP) on climatechange, said that he urged thenations to ratify the ParisAgreement to fight climate

change. Javadekar said devel-oped nations should cut carbonemissions more to help fight cli-mate change and provide thefunds as promised during themeet in Copenhagen.

"In Copenhagen summit,developed countries promisedUSD 100 billion every year forfighting climate change but ithas not been done. There is acost to reduce carbon emissionsand developed countries mustgive it to the developingnations," he said.

Javadekar said India is mov-ing aggressively on carbon emis-sion reduction and will reduceemissions by 30 per cent by2030. On the energy front, theminister said India has taken aleap in generation of energyfrom renewable sources –- windand solar -- and said PrimeMinister Narendra Modi has setan ambitious target of generat-ing 4,50,000 MW of energythrough renewable sources.

"We are walking the talk" onthe sustainable developmentgoals, he said.

The minister also said thatprior to 2014, India had a verynegative image of opposingevery issue but under the lead-ership of Narendra Modi, Indialed from the front on the issuesof environment protection andclimate change.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Election Commission(EC) on Wednesday told theDelhi High Court that the pollpanel has no role to play inthe matter pertaining to dis-qualification of former AAPMLAs Anil Bajpai andDevender Sehrawat.

The EC has said it had norole to play in the petitionsmoved by Bajpai andSehrawat challenging theirdisqualification by DelhiAssembly Speaker Ram NiwasGoel as it was a constitution-al body whose function was toconduct free and fair elec-tions.

The submission by the pollpanel was made on an affi-davit placed before Justice

Navin Chawla who had onSeptember 30 sought the EC'sreply to the petitions of thetwo disqualified MLAs.

The ex-AAP MLAs havechallenged in the high courttheir disqualification under

the anti-defection law.The court had earlier dis-

missed their pleas seekingrecusal of the legislativeassembly speaker from thedisqualification proceedingsagainst them, saying it finds

no reason to entertain them.The two had alleged that

the speaker was not supposedto have political inclinations,but he was seen attendingevents and protests of theAam Aadmi Party (AAP).

AAP MLA SaurabhBharadwaj on June 10 moveda petit ion in the DelhiAssembly and sought dis-qualification of its two rebelMLAs — Anil Bajpai fromGandhi Nagar and DevinderSehrawat from Bijwasan seat— who had been openly crit-ical of the party and hadjoined the BJP on May 3 andMay 6 respectively. Thespeaker had on June 17 issuednotice to the two MLAs ask-ing them to file their responseby July 8.

Javadekar said developed nationsshould cut carbon emissions more tohelp fight climate change and providethe funds as promised during themeet in Copenhagen

Eknath Shinde

Rising rapecases: SC seeksstatus reportfrom states, HC

PNS n NEW DELHI

Taking serious note of risingrape cases in India, theSupreme Court onWednesday took suo motu(on its own) cognizance forassessment of the criminaljustice system in response tosexual offences.

Referring to the gruesome2012-Nirbhaya gang rape andmurder case, the top courtsaid it had shocked the con-science of the nation anddelay in such matters inrecent times has created agi-tation, anxiety and unrest inthe minds of people.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde soughtresponse and status report byFebruary 7, 2020 from all thestates and high courts on sev-eral aspects in such casesincluding probe, collection ofevidence, forensic and med-ical evidence, recording ofstatement of victim and timeframe for trial.

The bench, also compris-ing Justices B R Gavai andSurya Kant, said it needs tocollate information and sta-tus for holistic implementa-tion of provisions of rape lawand appointed senior advo-cate Siddharth Luthra as ami-cus curiae for assisting it inthe matter.

11 fishermenrescued afterboat capsizePNS n THANE

Eleven fishermen had amiraculous escape after theirboat capsized 35 kms offUttan coast in Maharashtra'sThane district on Sunday,but they kept floating in thesea using plastic drums tillthey were rescued by anoth-er vessel within an hour, anofficial said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred onSunday morning, two daysafter the fishermen had setsail from Satpati coastal vil-lage in Palghar district, theofficial said. "The fishermenhad set out for fishing ontheir boat- Sai Laxmi- onFriday.

‘Average wealth expectancy ofaffluent Indians is just Rs 3.6 cr’PNS n NEW DELHI

The average wealth expectan-cy of those in India withenough disposable income tosave and invest is just Rs 3.6crore and this would give themRs 93,000 per month to liveduring retirement, a reportsaid on Wednesday.

The report used a propri-etary economic model thatconsidered other macroeco-nomic factors such as GDPgrowth and interest rates tocalculate how much the wealthcreators are set to be worth atthe age of 60. This wealthexpectancy figure is then used

to calculate how much individ-uals can live off each monththroughout their retirement.

According to StandardChartered's new WealthExpectancy Report 2019, theaverage wealth expectancywith enough disposableincome to save and invest is Rs3.6 crore, or Rs 1.3 crore for theemerging affluent, Rs 2.6 crorefor the affluent and Rs 6.9 crorefor high-net-worth individuals(HNWIs).

On an average, this wouldgive the affluent class Rs 93,000to live on per month duringretirement, which is less thanboth their current income and

wealth aspirations."If they were to spend at the

average monthly rate to whichthey aspire, their wealthexpectancy would last theemerging affluent 6 years ofretirement, and the affluent 9years, while HNWIs would beable to fund 5 years," it added.

The report further notedthat already, almost one-third(32 per cent) are on track toachieving more than half oftheir wealth goal at age 60. Forthe 68 per cent that are furtheraway, it is still possible to nar-row the gap with well-definedgoals and a considered wealthmanagement approach.

Nitish Writes toRajnath opposingplan to shut Gaya OTAPNS n PATNA

Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar on Wednesday shotoff a letter to Defence MinisterRajnath Singh registering astrong protest against theCentres decision to shut downthe Officers Training Academysituated in Gaya. In the letter,Kumar said he came across thenews of proposed closure ofthe OTA, Gaya, in some news-papers and digital media. TheChief Minister, whose JD(U)is an alliance partner of theBJP, termed the developmentas "shocking and very disturb-ing". The OTA, Gaya, whichwas set up in 2011, "not onlyprovided employment oppor-tunities in the region but alsocontributed towards economyand sense of security in thearea", he added.

Javadekar: Growth, environmentalprotection go together

Says Ramesh painted wrong picture

‘No role for EC in plea againstdisqualification of MLAs by Speaker’

I'm trying to be responsible: Varunon taking stance in anti-CAA srit

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

‘Amit Shah has todouse fire caused bynew citizenship law’KOLKATA: West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee onWednesday lashed out at UnionHome Minister Amit Shah overthe new citizenship law, whichshe said has left the countryburning, and asked him todouse the fire. The TMCsupremo said if Aadhaar is nota proof of citizenship as per thehome minister, then why was itlinked to welfare schemes andthe banking system. "I urgeAmit Shah to ensure that thecountry does not burn. Yourjob is to douse the fire," shesaid after leading a protestmarch against the amendedcitizenship law from HowrahMaidan to Esplanade in Kolkata.The chief minister alsoappealed to Shah to take careof the country and "control"BJP cadres. In a dig at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi's‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas'slogan, she said the BJPgovernment has brought"satyanaash" (disaster) foreveryone in the country. "Theywant to turn the entire countryinto a detention centre. But wewill not let that happen," shesaid, reiterating that she won'tallow the implementation of thecitizenship law and the NRC inWest Bengal.

Guj: Three seniorcitizens killed byspeeding car

Eight arrested forSeelampur violenceNEW DELHI: The Delhi Policeon Wednesday arrested twomore persons in connectionwith the violence that ensuedin Seelampur followingprotests over the CitizenshipAmendment Act, taking thetotal number of arrests toeight. Police had alreadyarrested six people inconnection with the matter.Three FIRs were registered inconnection with the case onTuesday. Police andparamilitary personnel onWednesday carried out flagmarch in northeast Delhi'sSeelampur and Jafrabad whichwitnessed large scale violenceby protestors demandingscrapping of the amendedCitizenship law a day earlier.

GODHRA: Three senior citizenswere killed after being hit by acar when they were out for amorning walk in Gujarat'sPanchmahal district onWednesday, police said. Theaccident took place at RenaMorva village in Godhra taluka,where the driver lost control ofhis four- wheeler and in bid toevade the oncoming vehicle,rammed into the trio, an officialfrom Shehra police station said.While the elderly men werekilled on the spot, the cardriverfled the scene, he said. Thedeceased have been identifiedas Suresh Patel (62), GunwantPatel (60) and RanchhodMahanbhai (60), he said,adding that their bodies havebeen sent to the governmenthospital in Shehra for post-mortem. The police are on thelook out for the abscondingdriver, he added.

PNS n DEHRADUN

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birlaon Wednesday said legisla-tures are temples of democra-cy where issues related to peo-ple are raised and they shouldnot be reduced to arenas ofpolitical slugfest. Assertingthat he always tried to maintainthe dignity of the lower houseof Parliament, the speaker saidthe first session of the 17th LokSabha recorded productivity of125 per cent and the Housewas not adjourned even once.

Birla wasaddressing the7 9 t hConference ofP r e s i d i n gOfficers ofL e g i s l a t i v eBodies in India.He said thereshould be discus-sion, debate and dissentin the House but no distur-bance.

"Legislatures should not bereduced to arenas of politicalslugfest… they are temples of

democracy to raiseissues related to peo-ple," he said.

People of thecountry expect thatthose they haveelected should pre-

sent their views andraise issues related to

them in Parliament, headded.Talking about the first ses-

sion of the 17th Lok Sabha,Birla said the House sat for 37days during which 35 billswere passed and it was not

adjourned for even a single day.The House recorded produc-tivity of 125 per cent in the firstsession and 115 per cent in thejust concluded Winter Session,he said. Speaking aboutQuestion Hour and Zero Hour,the speaker said for the firsttime since 1972, all 20 ques-tions laid on the table wereanswered on November 27during the Winter Session.Efforts were made to ensurethat first-time MPs got chanceto speak on the floor of theHouse, he said.

Assamese people in Maha protest, say CAA will erode culturePNS n Pune

Members of the Assamesecommunity staged a protesthere on Wednesday againstthe Citizenship (Amendment)Act, saying the new lawendangers the culture ofAssam and has been broughtwithout considering senti-ments of people of the north-eastern state. The new law will"wreak havoc", create misun-derstandings among people,and question the sole exis-tence of the original Assameseculture, they said.

The new legislation willalso lead to "erosion of ethnic,cultural and linguistic identi-ty" of the Assamese people,one of the protesters said.Over 200 members of theAssamese community, most-ly students and working pro-fessionals from the north-eastern state, gathered outsidethe Sambhaji Garden on J MRoad here and staged a peace-ful protest against the CAA.

The protest was organised byLUIT - an Assamese Societyin Pune.

Bidyut Saikia, one of theprotesters, said, "We opposethis new law and the govern-ment has enacted it withoutconsidering sentiments of thepeople and the harmony ofthe multi-communal state ofAssam," he said.

"This Act directly endan-gers the culture of Assam asthe inclusion of immigrants

under the Citizenship(Amendment) Act will notonly wreak havoc and createmisunderstanding amongpeople, but also question thesole existence of the originalculture of Assamese people,who are already in minority intheir own state," Saikiaclaimed. The new legislationwill lead to erosion of ethnic,cultural and linguistic identi-ty of the indigenous Assamesepeople, he said. People from

various communities/reli-gions, such as Hindus,Muslims, Christians, Sikhs,Buddhists and others, whohave been living along withmembers of the Assamesecommunity in peace and har-mony have adopted theAssamese culture in duecourse of time and vice-versa.

"The inclusion of immi-grants, who have a mere or infact no idea about our cultureand heritage, is a direct threatto our identity and our peace-ful balance in socia topogra-phy," said Saikia, who worksat a private firm in Pune. He

said their protest was not onany religious lines. "We areagainst illegal immigrants andwe do not want anybody, be itMuslims or Hindus, fromBangladesh," he said.

Saikia said there was a bigagitation against Bangladeshiimmigrants in Assam between1979 and 1985.

"When the Assam Accordwas signed, it was decided thatBangladeshis who came tothe state before 1971 will onlybe allowed here and it wasdecided that after 1971, noone should be allowed," hepointed out. "But during the

Congress regime, i l legalimmigrants from Bangladeshkept coming and now it hasbecome such a big issue thatAssam's indigenous peopleare in minority in 14 districts,"Saikia claimed.

He also said that in 2014,when the BJP came to power,it promised that al lBangladeshi immigrants willbe driven out of the state.

"But it has been five yearsand not a single Bangladeshihas been driven out," he said.

"Now with the help of CAA,there are attempts to providecitizenship to BangladeshiHindus, who are staying hereillegally," he said.

Tonmoy Goswami, anotherprotester from the communi-ty, said the amendedCitizenship Act also nullifiesthe Assam Agitation (1979-85), an honorary movementfor Assam in which 855 peo-ple sacrificed their lives in thehope of an infiltration-freestate.

This Act directly endangers the culture ofAssam as the inclusion of immigrants underthe Citizenship (Amendment) Act will not only wreak havoc and createmisunderstanding among people, but alsoquestion the sole existence of the originalculture of Assamese people, who are alreadyin minority in their own state

Police conducts flagmarch in Seelampur

PNS n NEW DELHI

Police and paramilitary person-nel on Wednesday carried outa flag march in northeastDelhi's Seelampur and Jafrabadarea which witnessed largescale violence by protestorsdemanding scrapping of theamended Citizenship law aday earlier. Schools and shopsin some markets of the areaopened on Wednesday morn-ing. Police maintained a tightvigil to ensure that the situationremained under control even asuneasy calm prevailed in thearea, officials said.

Delhi Police and paramili-tary personnel have beenpatrolling the area in groups toensure situation remains peace-ful, they said.

According to the police, pro-hibitory orders have beenimposed in northeast Delhi asa precautionary measure bar-ring areas under two police sta-tions - Harsh Vihar and SoniaVihar. Under the orders, assem-bly of four or more people isprohibited.

The police have appealed topeople to maintain peace andnot to pay attention torumours. "Section 144 hasbeen invoked in North East

district. The police undertookflag march. People are appealedto maintain peace and harmo-ny and not to lend credence torumours," the DCP office(northeast) tweeted.

Police have arrested eightpeople in connection with theviolence that ensued inSeelampur and Jafrabad onTuesday. Two FIRs have beenregistered in this connection.

Five persons were arrestedfor Seelampur and Jafrabadincidents, while one was arrest-ed late night for the Dayalpurincident. Two persons werearrested on Wednesday.

l Prohibitory orders imposed in northeast New Delhi

PNS n NEW DELHI

A Delhi court Wednesdaydirected Tihar jail authoritiesto seek response within a weekfrom four death row convictsin the sensational 2012Nirbhaya gang rape-cum-mur-der case as to whether they arefiling mercy pleas against theirexecutions with the Presidentof India.

The development assumessignificance as the SupremeCourt today dismissed theplea of Akshay Kumar Singh,one of the four convicts, say-ing review petition is not "re-hearing of appeal over and overagain" and it had already con-sidered the mitigating andaggravating circumstanceswhile upholding the deathpenalty. The 23-year-old para-medic student was gang rapedand brutally assaulted on theintervening night of December16-17, 2012 inside a movingbus in south Delhi by six per-sons before being thrown outon the road.

She died on December 29,

2012 at Mount ElizabethHospital in Singapore.Additional Sessions JudgeSatish Kumar Arora com-menced the hearing on Delhigovernment's plea seekingissuance of death warrants forexecuting the convicts justafter the apex court verdict,and said that it will wait for thecopy of the judgement.

The court then adjournedthe hearing for January 7,2020. As the hearing com-menced, the court wasinformed about apex court's

decision dismissing reviewplea of Akshay. The court,however, said, "Let order ofSupreme Court be officiallycommunicated".

The lawyer appearing forNirbhaya's mother said thatthere was no impediment in issuing death warrants in the case. Consoling Nirbhaya'scrying mother, the judge said,"I have full sympathy withyou. I know someone has diedbut there are their rights too.We are here to listen to you butare also bound by the law".

FILING MERCY PLEAS IN NIRBHAYA CASE

PNS n BENGALURU

Former Karnataka ChiefMinister HD Kumaraswamyalleged on Wednesday saidthe BJP government at theCentre was targeting a commu-nity for vote bank politicsthrough the NRC and CAAand destroying the "legacy ofsecularism" in the country.

He also blamed theCongress for being part of"the mischief ".

"They are targeting onecommunity to mobilise theother community. This is themischief," the JD(S) leader,son of former Prime MinisterH D Deve Gowda, toldreporters here.

Kumaraswamy recalled thestruggle of the freedom fight-ers to protect the interests ofcitizens and claimed that theyare in danger now.

"We have instances of howour leaders struggled at thetime of independence to pro-tect the interest of every citizenand framed the constitutionaccordingly but these people

(Congress and the BJP) aredestroying everything becauseof their selfishness,"Kumaraswamy said.

He said the NRC (NationalRegister of Citizens) and CAA(Citizenship Amendment Act)were the "mischief " of theCongress and the BJP.

"Congress and the BJP areplaying mischief here to get

vote share. These two partieswant to increase their voteshare by showing that they arethe saviours of this communi-ty and that community,"Kumaraswamy said.

He reminded that the Stateshave different challenges to

grapple with andtheir problems

cannot be com-pared witheach other asthey are

unique.

NRC, CAA are ‘mischief’ of Cong, BJP

We have instances of how our leaders struggled atthe time of independence to protect the interest ofevery citizen and framed the constitution accordingly

but these people (Congress and the BJP) are destroyingeverything because of their selfishness

— HD KUMARASWAMY, Former KKarnataka CCM

PNS n KOLKATA

The DRI has busted a smug-gling syndicate here andseized gold, smuggled fromBangladesh, among other pre-cious metals worth nearly Rsfive crore, a statement issuedon Wednesday said.

It said specific intelligencewas gathered that sub-stantial quantity offoreign origingold smuggledinto India fromB a n g l a d e s hwas kept atvarious loca-tions in theBurrabazar areaof Kolkata.

In a coordinatedsearch conducted at thesepremises, 80 gold biscuitsweighing 9.33 kg valued at Rs3.63 crore, 0.58 kg gold coinsvalued at Rs 21.89 lakh, 49.93kg silver granules and 135.5kg of silver coins of assortedsizes and weight cumulative-ly valued at Rs 83.8 lakh, andRs 2.77 lakh cash were seized,

the Directorate of RevenueIntelligence (DRI) statementsaid.

The value of the totalseizure is Rs 4.71 crore, it said.

A man, who was the custo-dian of the keys to the premis-es and was also present dur-ing the searches, could notproduce any documents forpossession of the goods and

also admitted that theywere smuggled from

Bangladesh, theprobe agency said.He was arrestedunder the provi-sions of the

Customs Act. Theagency said that the

accused, as a part ofwell orchestrated fraud,

would even try to deface theforeign origin markings.Investigations reveal that theaccused was also closelyinvolved as a supplier in con-nection with a seizure of42.17 kg of gold worth Rs16.42 crore effected by theDRI on December 8 and 9,the agency said.

DRI busts syndicate,seizes smuggled gold,other metals

PNS n New Delhi

Former Union ministerSaifuddin Soz on Wednesdaysaid Pakistan's judiciary hasshown itself in verypoor light by sen-tencing to deathformer presi-dent General(retd) PervezMu s h a r r a f ,whose 'formu-la', he claimed,would havesolved theKashmir problemfor good long ago.

A three-member bench ofa special court, headed byPeshawar High Court ChiefJustice Waqar Ahmad Seth,pronounced the verdict onTuesday in the landmarkhigh treason case launched

against the ex-Pakistan Armychief in 2013 by the previousgovernment of former primeminister Nawaz Sharif there.

"Pakistan judiciary hasonce again shown itself

in very poor light byproposing death

sentence toGeneral PervezMusharraf fortreason," theformer minis-ter said.

Soz, who hadbeen a long-term

Parl iamentar ianfrom Jammu and

Kashmir, said GeneralMusharraf is known widely inIndia and Pakistan.

"Nobody will agree withPakistan judiciar y thatMusharraf be charged withtreason," he claimed.

PNS n BALSORE

A man was founded dead athis house in Odisha'sBalasore district onWednesday, said police whosuspect it to be a case of mur-der. Badha Marandi who wasworking as a security guardat the office of the FoodCorporation of India (FCI)here was found lying in apool of blood at his house inGudipara area inSahadevkhunta police sta-tion limits, they said.

Officials said Marandi,who was from Sorishabaniarea in Maurbhanj district,used to stay alone at therented house. But, for the lasttwo months a woman wasstaying with him. The womanhas gone missing now, theysaid. Police said a case hasbeen registered and investiga-tions are underway.

Man found deadin Odisha'sBalasore, policesuspect murder

‘Pak judiciary has shownitself in very poor light’

Jamia Teachers Associationtakes out peace marchPNS n NEW DELHI

Members of the Jamia Teachers'Association on Wednesday tookout a peace march to thank alluniversities which have sup-ported JMI students in theirprotest against the amendedCitizenship Act and theNational Register of Citizens.

Around 200 teachers carriedplacards reading "I stand withJamia", "I am against CAA"and messages expressing grati-tude to all supporting universi-ties.

The marchers also carried alarge map of India showingsites of campus protests acrossthe country.

Assam rightsbody directschief secy toprobe deathsPNS n GUWAHATI

The Assam Human RightsCommission has directedthe chief secretary to consti-tute a high-level panel forprobing deaths of five pro-testers in police action dur-ing protests over the amend-ed Citizenship Act here last week.

In a notice issued by thecommission on Tuesday,Chief Secretary Alok Kumarhas also been asked to probethe injuries to 27 protestorsin baton-charge by the police.

The chief secretary hasbeen asked to submit areport within a month "afterenquiring into the incidentsto find out the circum-stances" leading to theinjuries, deaths, arrests anddetentions.

The commission citedlocal media reports that saidtwo boys — Dipanjal Dasand Sam Stefford — werekilled at Lachit Nagar andHatigaon, respectively, inpolice firing and no weaponwas found from them.

Delhi Police and paramilitarypersonnel havebeen patrolling thearea in groups toensure situationremains peaceful,they said

Court directs Tihar authoritiesto seek convicts' response

DEATH SENTENCE TO MUSHARRAF

PNS n CHENNAI

Makkal Needhi Maiam chiefKamal Haasan on Wednesdayvisited the Madras Universitypremises here and expressedsolidarity with students protest-ing against the CitizenshipAmedment Act.

Haasan was, however, notallowed to enter the main cam-pus and spoke to the agitatingstudents from behind the maingate of the university, oppositethe Marina Beach.

The MNM chief said he wasat the varsity to express solidar-ity with the students, who are on

the protest for the third day onWednesday. When asked aboutHaasan not being allowed into

the premises, a police officialsaid they had no role to play inallowing or disallowing anyone.

Kamal Haasan visits Madras University,extends support to agitating students

‘HOUSES SHOULDN'T BE REDUCED TO ARENAS OF POLITICAL SLUGFEST’

Recently, Sun Weidong, theChinese Ambassador to India,declared that the positive effectsof the second informal summitbetween Chinese President Xi

Jinping and Prime Minister NarendraModi were gradually showing. He furthersaid that China was keen to promotedefence and security cooperation withIndia for regional peace and stability.This declaration, however, does not tallywith the facts. Though he asserted thatChina’s position on Kashmir was “consis-tent and clear”, Beijing is planning to raisethe Kashmir issue when the SpecialRepresentatives (SRs) of India and Chinameet to discuss the boundary issue onDecember 21.

It is doubtful if any progress can bemade during these talks between AjitDoval, the Indian SR and Wang Yi, hisChinese counterpart, especially after Chinarequested the UN Security Council(UNSC) to discuss the situation in theValley again. According to Reuters,Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah MahmoodQureshi said, “China would like to echo therequest of Pakistan and request a briefingof the Council ...on the situation of Jammu& Kashmir.” (On France’s insistence, themove was, however, dropped later).

In these circumstances, it is not onlydifficult to believe that the effects of theChennai Connect are positive but to trustits hurtful actions such as internationalis-ing an internal issue of India.Unfortunately, successive IndianGovernments have not articulated a prop-er response to this doublespeak.

Take Tibet with its centuries-old rela-tionship with the Himalayan belt, whichfaded away at the end of 1950s for no faultof India. It brought unbelievable hardshipto the local Indian frontier population. Inthe years preceding the arrival of the DalaiLama in March 1959, traditional trade aswell as cultural and religious contactsbetween Tibet and India gradually collapseddue to the harsh Chinese occupation ofTibet. By early 1962, the situation was so badthat India had to refuse to prolong the“Agreement on Trade and Intercoursebetween Tibet Region of China and India”,infamously known as the PanchsheelAgreement. The principles of the loftyPreamble have never been respected byChina. Recently, I came across a telling“Monthly Report from Tibet for October1960” sent by Apa Pant, the Political Officer(PO) in Sikkim to the Ministry of ExternalAffairs in New Delhi. At that time, theChinese were fast consolidating their pres-ence on the plateau and Indian interests weredismissed. The report says, “The pro-gramme of mass settlement of Chinese inTibet has started. There are rumours inLhasa that about two-and-a-half lakhChinese civilians will be brought in and set-tled in Tibet in the near future. At the

moment, the Chinese popula-tion, both in Lhasa and Gyantse,has increased considerably.”

While traditional tradewith India was progressivelystopped, infrastructure alongthe Indian borders was built ona war-footing (probably to pre-pare for the border war, whicherupted two years later).Though New Delhi pretendedto have been taken “by sur-prise”, reading Pant’s report, onerealises that the IndianGovernment had all the neces-sary information to see thewriting on the wall.

In the report, Pant notesthat Chinese cadres continuedto pour into Tibet in increas-ing numbers. Slowly, thedemography of the plateauchanged and put India and theworld in front of a fait accom-pli. Tibet was Chinese.

Women cadres were alsobrought in from the main-land: “Lhasa now looks like aChinese city where Tibetansform only an insignificantminority. The lamas have beentaken out of the monasteriesand put to work as labourersand the monasteries are beingused as public offices by theChinese.”

If this was the situation inOctober 1960, one can imaginehow the Tibetan capital resem-bles today. The report contin-ues, “The Ramoche Monasteryin Lhasa is now the headquar-ters of the traffic police, while

the Kundeling Monastery,which had been damaged inthe March 1959 struggle (at thetime of the uprising against theChinese occupation), is beingutilised to house the Chinesecadres after repairs. The hous-es vacated by the KashmiriMuslims have also been occu-pied by the Chinese cadres.”

Pant asserts that theChinese “now appear to be incomplete control of the admin-istration.” The members of theformer Tibetan nobility “are inconcentration camps, exceptfor those who had cast their lotwith the Chinese Communistsprior to the March 1959 con-flagration. The latter have beengiven official positions andcan be seen moving about inmotor vehicles in Lhasa.” It wasa luxury at that time.

What is surprising is thatNew Delhi kept quiet all theseyears, trying to negotiate withChina an elusive agreement onthe border, (still elusive 59years later). In 1960, theTibetans in Lhasa were made toadopt the Chinese dress, “theclose collar coat and trousers,while the traditional Baku isbeing discarded… sartorialreforms were being ushered ongrounds that they are more eco-nomical on clothing material.”

Tibetan children above theage of 12 were sent “in largenumbers for education andtraining to China, which is tolast for a period between three

and five years… these Tibetanchildren would be systematical-ly indoctrinated.”

The border trade, former-ly carried out by Indian andNepalese traders, was gradual-ly taken over by the Chinesethrough restrictive policies andheavy taxation. The KashmiriMuslims were particularly tar-getted: “A large number ofKashmiri Muslims have alreadyleft Tibet or are on the way outto India,” writes Pant but NewDelhi remained silent.

At the same time, troopskept arriving from China:“About 60 vehicles ply each waydaily between Lhasa and theChinese mainland. There arereports of considerable move-ment of troops on the newLhasa-Gyantse road. All thesetroops appear to be fresharrivals from the mainland.About 10,000 of them havepassed through Gyantse duringthe course of a few days. It issuspected that this movementis towards Bhutan.” Many of thenew roads led to Tawang in theNorth-East Frontier Agency(today Arunachal), says Pant.China was advancing towardsthe border but probably not tohurt the Chinese feelings, Indiawas keeping mum. When todayChina continues to hurt Indianinterests and feelings, should itcontinue to keep silent? It canonly lead to a new disaster.

(The writer is an expert onIndia-China relations)

Like every year, food inflation is back in thenews but this time it has reached a 71-month high. It would be anybody’s guess

as to what accounted for the increase: A steeprise in prices of vegetables battered by the mon-soon deluge is the main reason. Given the dra-matic price rise of onion and milk across thecountry, the spike in wholesale and retail foodprices isn’t surprising. Onion imports and agradual increase in domestic supplies havearrested the spiral. The seemingly tone-deafresponse to the crisis, particularly by Finance

Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, was like pouring fuel into the fire, at least on socialmedia. Clearly, long-term solutions have to be found. The Narendra Modi-led admin-istration has shown that it can act on commodity prices. Its actions on the puls-es crisis a few years ago saw the country move from being a net importer tothat of a net exporter. Better management of the onion crop and an investiga-tion into whether the crisis was manufactured have to be undertaken.

Nevertheless, food inflation has now become a reality of life. Controlling pricestoo much may eventually lead to farmers facing the brunt. And this wouldn’t bepolitically sound, too. Plugging gaps in procurement and managing the supplychain system can help mitigate the price increases and enhance efficiency. However,what has worsened the problem this time is the economic slowdown. With jobsgrowth at a standstill and people’s wallets facing more competitive pressures,even a small rise in the prices of essential food item tends to hurt the peoplemore. For example, the repercussion of the milk crisis will be felt in a few weekswhen prices of not just packaged pouches but dairy products like cheese andpaneer will rise. This, coupled with increasing fuel rates, will likely pinch the com-mon man even more in the coming weeks. What then should be done? Can aReserve Bank of India cut help? Previous rate cuts have not spurred spending,nor have they encouraged banks to increase lending. Given the state of the finan-cial sector, a reduction in interest rates will hardly help. The Government has alsomanaged to tie itself up in knots, desperate as it is to increase taxes without real-ising the impact it will have on discretionary spending. The only way out is tosplurge in the next wave of reforms, increase agricultural productivity and strength-en cold storage and distribution networks. With year-long restrictions imposedon retail traders and wholesalers on volumes they can trade, farmers are unableto sell their produce when they have a bumper crop. During shortages, distrib-utors make money by hoarding. If the Government increases its own stocks andbased on predictive analysis, grades export restrictions, it can arrest sharp pricefluctuations.

There is reverse classism in the currentestablishment, negating the educated asprejudiced, damning liberalism as an elite

obsession, diagnosing inquiry as a compul-sive disorder and trusting the apparent as theonly explanation. While humanism by itselfwants an equitable society, it doesn’t come withdominance and subversion, it comes with ahealthy respect for each other, dialogue andengagement. So though Home Minister AmitShah may insist upon our Indic responsibilityto save our people persecuted elsewhere, as

promised by the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), he doesn’t want us to makemuch of the mindset behind the religion-based approach to asylum seekers. Orthink that once linked with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which relieson a complex process of documentation and could push out existing citizens asit has in Assam, it demonises the minority. Or that the majoritarian nationalismcould swamp ethnicities as it has in Assam and Tripura. And if civilisational mem-ory is what we need to revive, then exclusion was never our credo, somethingthat students are reminding us because we ourselves have failed them in uphold-ing what we preach. It is this failure to listen to the full story that is having a rip-ple effect on civil society. Now the protests in campuses over CAA have foundechoes in top global institutions, including Oxford, Harvard, Yale and MIT. Over400 students from different US universities have issued a joint statement express-ing solidarity with Jamia and AMU students and condemned the brutal policeviolence as a gross violation of human rights. Students and scholars at OxfordUniversity even staged a protest march to India House in London over a “directattack on foundations of a democratic society.” Protests are also being plannedin Zurich and Berlin, the last a crucible of how a polarised world could crumbleunder the weight of rigid lines. The Government would probably dismiss theseas disruptive voices from the extended family of “urban Naxals” and considerthem inconsequential to its larger purpose of Hindu revival. By that logic then,the entire community of academics and premium centres of learning are irrele-vant to the Hindu cause simply because they don’t translate into votes. If thebull-headed short-sightedness of the Government is to be believed, then studentseverywhere have been delusional enough to be fooled by a country-specific agen-da of India’s fragile Opposition. The establishment must realise that this is a col-lective conscience call of a democratic society that has come under the sharpestattack in recent memory. It is, perhaps, the first non-political hitback of the fearand distrust of the Modi Government in its current Hindu-only overdrive.

The brutalisation of students has clearly cost us our global perception as atolerant society and though it would be easy enough to draw comparisons withcrackdowns elsewhere, do we really want to be in the company of autocracies?Whether the Government admits it or not, it has had trouble explaining itself onlockdowns in foreign capitals, even in nations which had respected its right toabrogate Article 370 within its Constitutional space. Perhaps, more questionsare being raised about India’s societal churn as we are blitzed with conquest-like images of a Howdy Modi event. But crushing students, who are the first-line protectors of a democratic legacy everywhere in the world, has been ourundoing. Apologists would argue that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, some-one whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi considers a personal friend, had topostpone the proposed summit meeting here because Guwahati was supposedto be the venue. Couldn’t that be shifted? Two Bangladesh Ministers called offtheir visits although their Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is “friendly” towards India.Anti-India travel advisories and positions taken in Western capitals against oursectarian approach have impacted our international image. The Government hasclearly overreached itself in pushing both NRC and CAA down our throats. Fora while, there has been no big bang talk of reforms or projects that fires the nation-al imagination. What we forget though is that we do not have the heft of Chinayet to live down the war of perception. That’s precisely because the world respectsus as a different Asian power and expects us to keep democracy alive.

Global chorus

Diverting attention

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Jackboots vs Ahimsa”(December 17). The Citizenship(Amendment) Act (CAA) hasstirred up a hornet’s nest, trigger-ing protests across the country.Instead of dousing the flames andaddressing the concerns of theprotesters, the Centre has set thedeadline for the construction ofa sky-high Ram Temple inAyodhya within the next fourmonths. It’s unfortunate thatUnion Home Minister Amit Shahdid not speak a word on thealleged police brutality on stu-dents of Jamia Millia Islamia. Acomforting statement from himcould have assuaged the angerand anxiety among the students.

What is the tearing hurry tobuild a temple in Ayodhya? At atime when the twin projects of theCAA and National Register ofCitizens (NRC) have put lakhs ofpeople in trouble, should India beworrying about finishing theRam temple hastily? What peo-ple want is peace. Dousing the firewill be a tall task for theGovernment now.

JS AcharyaHyderabad

Address shortcomings

Sir — The conviction of formerBJP legislator Kuldeep SinghSengar for the abduction and rapeof a minor girl in Unnao tookcare of national anxieties.

However, it is sad that pursuinga case to trial remains a horrify-ing ordeal. The victim had tostruggle against the very systemwhich was supposed to deliverjustice to her. There was nowoman officer during investiga-tion. As noted by the top court,

the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) investigationitself “suffered from a patriarchalapproach” and had a mindset of“brushing the issues of sexual vio-lence against children under thecarpet.” Meanwhile, the girl losther father in custody.

The political clout of theaccused gave him immunityfrom being charged for theheinous crime for a long time.Such is the fate and struggle ofrape victims. Things have cer-tainly changed after the horrif-ic Nirbhaya gang-rape case in2012 but there are loopholes inensuring the registration of suchcrimes, witness protection andabove all, fast-tracking process-es and convictions.

N Sadhasiva ReddyBengaluru

Why we need debates

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Jackboots vs Ahimsa”(December 17). Had theGovernment ensured a healthydebate and accepted theOpposition’s suggestion to sendthe Citizenship Amendment Billto the Select Committee, theconfusion, violence and destruc-tion could have been avoided. Itis now up to the Government toensure peace and dialogue.

SresthVia 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 19, 2019

06

End the culture of silence

CLAUDE ARPI

It is surprising that successive Indian Governments preferred to remain mum even as Chinakept on making advances towards the border. If this continues, a new disaster may unfold

Legislatures are temples ofdemocracy where issuesrelated to people areraised. They should not be reduced to arenas of political slugfest.

Lok Sabha Speaker —Om Birla

As Indians, our conscience isdead. We don’t get angry at anything. Do whatever with us,unless Nirbhaya is killed or anincident like Hyderabad happens.Then we retreat in our shell.

Actor—Sushant Singh

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

Charting the road to Hindu Rashtra

This refers to the editorial, “Jackboots vs Ahimsa”(December 17). It needs to be understood that theCitizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), read with the

proposed pan-India National Register of Citizens(NRC), is not such an innocuous piece of legislation asis being portrayed by saffron leaders. Caught in an end-less struggle to exist, illiterate masses — both theHindus and Muslims — had never ever imagined a threatto their citizenship in independent India. The CAA canincapacitate and disenfranchise the poor and illiterateMuslim, who has no documents to support his/her birthhere. Assurances that no Indian citizen will becomeStateless are diabolically dishonest suggestions intend-ed only to mollify. And in the Hindu Rashtra, now beingthought about, with the ancient Indo-Aryan India as itsblueprint, the “other” and “non-Vedic” people are des-tined to be outsiders. Naturally, the South Indians, whoare deemed or known as the descendants of the pre-Vedic Dravidian civilisation, could well become aliensin their homeland eventually.

The mindless assault on the students inside the JamiaMillia Islamia university confirmed the subtext that protestsfrom the student community in such universities should

be quelled instantly to prevent the spread of dissent. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s unrefined words, the people“creating violence” could be “identified by their clothes,”jelled well with the ideological essence of the CAA. Asthe Israeli political philosopher, Joseph Raz, said, “It con-tains norms, the purpose of which is to give binding forcewithin the system to norms which do not belong to it.”

Haridasan RajanKozhikode

IN A REPORT, PANT NOTES THATCHINESE CADRES

CONTINUED TOPOUR INTO TIBET

IN INCREASINGNUMBERS.

SLOWLY, THEDEMOGRAPHY OF

THE PLATEAUCHANGED AND PUT

INDIA AND THEWORLD IN FRONT

OF A FAITACCOMPLI. TIBET

WAS CHINESE

Send yyour ffeedback tto:[email protected]

Inflationary pressure

Pakistan's judiciary hasshown itself in poor light byproposing death sentenceto Gen Musharraf. His for-mula would have solved theKashmir problem long ago.

Former Union Minister —Saifuddin Soz

The brutalisation of students has unnerved academiccommunities in Ivy League institutions and Oxford

It’s ironic that an economy on the verge of meltdown is nowwitnessing a spike in food prices. A solution has to be found

If Aadhaar will not work thenwhy have they (BJP) spent somuch of money on it? Don’tunderestimate me bhaiyya.NRC and CAA are not goingto be implemented in Bengal.

West Bengal CM —Mamata Banerjee

No cover-up for black cash

I CHALLENGE THE CONGRESS AND ITS FRIENDS. IFTHEY HAVE COURAGE, LET THEM SAY THAT THEY

WILL GIVE INDIAN CITIZENSHIP TO ALL PAKISTANIS.—PRIME MINISTER

NARENDRA MODI

I CHALLENGE MODI FOR A DEBATE WHERE WE WILLHIGHLIGHT WHO EMBRACED NAWAZ SHARIF ANDWHO RELEASED THE TERRORISTS.—SENIOR CONGRESS LEADERKAPIL SIBAL

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

For long, widespread use of black or unac-counted money in elections has been thefountainhead of corruption. Fighting elections

— be it a Member of Parliament (MP) or Memberof the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or any otherelected body — costs huge sums which a candi-date/political party is unable to garner.Businessmen and industrialists (even other enti-ties engaged in undesirable activities) exploit thisvulnerability of candidates and political parties togive contributions, expecting good returns, eitherby way of favourable policies or support in otherforms such as award of contracts and so on. Ongetting elected, the latter returns the favour. Thegrant of such benefit results in the generation ofmore black money which gets funnelled into thesystem, resulting in a vicious cycle of political fund-ing on an increasing scale and intensification ofcorruption. The subsisting fairly liberal thresholdof permitting contribution per person up to`20,000 in cash has paved the way for crores to begiven to political parties in cash even while keep-ing the identity of donors anonymous. To rein inuse of unaccounted money and bring “transparen-cy” in election funding, in its first term, the ModiGovernment took two major initiatives. First, basedon the recommendation of the ElectionCommission (EC), it lowered the limit for anony-mous cash donations from `20,000 to `2,000.Second, in the Union Budget for 2017-18, itannounced an Electoral Bond Scheme (EBS) aspart of the Finance Bill. The scheme was imple-mented from January 2, 2018. Both the initiativeshave come under strident criticism. In particular,critics have targetted the EBS saying, “this has legit-imised the role of black cash in elections and keptthe identity of donors anonymous, even as an over-whelming share of this money has gone to the rul-ing party (BJP) at the Centre.”

The issue was raised in the ongoing WinterSession of the Parliament even as the SupremeCourt (SC) has posted a writ petition challengingthe constitutional validity of the scheme for hear-ing in January 2020. Meanwhile, scrutiny of theinitiatives is in order. The first measure won’t makeany dent. If, both the giver and receiver are deter-mined to engage in exchange of cash, they will doso even with a lower threshold. To escape beingseen as a violator, all that the receiver needs to dois to show in records 10 times more entries thanit was doing earlier. For instance, a party whichreceives `1 crore from a single donor, will showit as receipt from 5,000, donors, each giving ̀ 2,000instead of the earlier 500 entries of `20,000 each.

That apart, given the circulation of currencyon a mammoth scale (in the aftermath of demon-etisation, though bulk of it was sucked out of thesystem, it is now back with vengeance) and absenceof any credible mechanism to check its movement,even if the Government were to completely barcontributions in cash and insist that every singlerupee has to be paid by cheque or electronic mode,even then, it won’t be possible to make any denton use of cash. Coming to the EBS, the bond is abearer instrument like a Promissory Note that ispayable to the bearer on demand and is interest-free. The bond can be purchased by any citizen —

singly or along with other individuals —or a body incorporated in India. Theinstrument is issued in denominationsof ̀ 1,000, ̀ 10,000, ̀ 1 lakh, ̀ 10 lakh and`1 crore and its sale is opened once inevery quarter for 10 days, and a monthahead of general elections or as notifiedby the Government. They are valid foronly 15 days. To purchase the instrument,the donor has to submit the ElectoralBond Application Form along with thedeposit slip, citizenship and KYC docu-ments and cheque or demand draft at anyauthorised branch of the State Bank ofIndia (SBI). Alternatively, the instrumentcan be bought online throughNEFT/RTGS visiting the SBI website.The donor can give the bond to a partyof his/her choice. Only registered polit-ical parties that secured at least one percent of the votes polled in the last gen-eral elections are eligible to receive thisinstrument, which can be encashed byeligible parties through accounts inauthorised banks, currently only the SBI.

All parties are required to maintainaccounts of receipts and expenditure andsubmit them to the EC. The sale of thefirst batch of electoral bonds took placein March 2018. For six months during2018, SBI sold bonds worth `1,056crore. During January-March, 2019, thevalue of bonds sold increased to `1,716crore. The charge against the scheme isthree-fold. First, it legitimises the use ofblack cash. Second, it lacks transparen-cy and keeps the identity of the donoranonymous. Third, an overwhelmingshare of such contribution is cornered bythe ruling party. The first charge isuntenable. This is because a person or anentity keen to buy bonds can pay for it

only by cheque or electronic transfer,implying that the amount used for thepurpose has an address. It is visible to theauthorities who can ask, if need be, fur-ther questions on its source and ascer-tain whether tax has been paid on it.When the donation is made from aknown source of income through bank-ing channels and the money is fullyaccounted for and legitimate, the ques-tion of legitimising it (allegedly throughEBS) does not arise.

The second charge, too, is withoutany valid basis. The authorised bankfrom where the donor purchased thebonds has all the particulars viz. citizen-ship, KYC of the latter. Though the infor-mation is not in the public domain, thiscan always be accessed, if need be, byauthorised agencies viz. Income TaxDepartment, Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI), EnforcementDirectorate (ED) and so on, in criminalcases under directions of the court.Notwithstanding the above, the allega-tion may have to do with an objectionraised by Urjit Patel, then Governor,Reserve Bank of India (RBI) vide his cor-respondence with the then FinanceMinister, Arun Jaitley (September 14,2017) wherein he had insisted on issu-ing bonds in “Demat” form only and theRBI to be the only issuing authoritywhereas, the Ministry wanted these to bein physical form and issued by the SBIas well.

The RBI also wanted a unique iden-tifier and an additional security feature-based ID to be incorporated in the bond.Patel’s proposal could be a shade betteras issuing a bond in Demat form ensuresthat the information on the buyer/donor

is indestructible, unlike a physical doc-ument which can be destroyed. Besides,making RBI the issuing authority wouldensure that the Government of the daywould not enjoy the sole discretionregarding the use of the information —something which is possible under thepresent arrangement of the SBI (whollyowned by GOI) being the issuing author-ity.

However, just because a better optionwas on the table, it can’t be inferred thatthe dispensation put in place in any waycompromises on the fundamentalrequirement of knowing the identity ofthe donor. The only safeguard is that thisis not disclosed to the public, on whicheven the RBI did not disagree. In anycase, the information can always beaccessed under directions of the court.As regards the third charge, this is incon-sequential as to whom a particular enti-ty wants to donate and how much isentirely its prerogative.

Merely because one party gets a lion’sshare, that fact can’t be a valid argumentfor lambasting the scheme. There is thusno valid reason to doubt the credibilityof EBS. It helps in increasing the role of“legitimate” sources in funding electionseven as authorities know who suchdonors are.

However, the real hard nut to crackis donation in cash which can’t bereined in by a simple act of reduction inthreshold or even making it zero. It couldbe cracked only when people themselvesminimise use of cash in their day-to-dayactivities. For now, that appears to be apipe dream.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based pol-icy analyst.)

Making RBI the issuing authority will ensure that the Centre won't enjoy the solediscretion on information use, which is possible now with SBI being the issuing authority

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

Save the precioussound of nature

KOTA SRIRAJ

We pay for the rising decibels not just with ourhealth but also with the loss of urban wildlife.

Sound pollution is preventable

UTTAM GUPTA

THE REAL HARDNUT TO CRACK

IS DONATIONIN CASH WHICH

CAN'T BE REINEDIN BY A

SIMPLE ACTOF REDUCTIONIN THRESHOLD

OR EVEN MAKINGIT ZERO. ITCOULD BE

CRACKED ONLYWHEN PEOPLE

THEMSELVESMINIMISE

USE OF CASHIN THEIR

DAY-TO-DAYACTIVITIES. FOR

NOW, THATAPPEARS TO BE A

PIPE DREAM

The one thing that strikes people the most when they visitWestern nations is the systematic functioning of the civicinfrastructure that is clean and not overburdened with a huge

population. Another aspect in which these countries score overdeveloping nations is the efficiency, punctuality and superior con-nectivity of public transit. Besides all these factors, one partic-ular feature that becomes instantly evident on stepping out intopublic spaces is the relative reduction in ambient noises as com-pared to any of the Indian metropolises.

This relative calm is even more overwhelming as you pro-ceed towards the city’s outskirts. This low level of urban noiseis not incidental to these nations; they worked for it and got itthrough strict regulations and even stricter execution of the same.These efforts are increasingly helping these nations to co-existin harmony with nature.

Urban tranquillity in the case of India is virtually unheard ofand so is noise control. Multiple sources of noise exist in theform of vehicular, commercial and industrial activities, noisy wed-dings and religious functions — the list is endless. These dis-cordant noises result in a nightmarish situation where neithercan one take a deep breath freely thanks to the ambient air pol-lution in megapolises, nor can one keep the nerves calm amidthe cacophony. However, the focus has always been on air pol-lution because it is visible and, therefore, immediately concern-ing. But noise pollution is not treated with the same seriousness,even though it is just as harmful as air pollution.

In simple terms, noise or sound pollution is the generationof sound waves that harm humans and animals. If one startsobserving how much of unwanted noises one is subjected toin a day, it will be a shocking discovery.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has specifiedthat noise levels in residential areas cannot be more than 55 deci-bels during the day and 45 at night. However, these levels arebreaching 100 decibels at most locations across Delhi-NCR.These conditions exist not because we have inept laws butbecause we have a lax implementation regime. Implementationof existent laws has always been the Achilles’ heel as we havea great set of rules and regulations but they are mostly circum-vented or “managed.”

The worst part of noise pollution in India is that it can eas-ily be reined in and controlled, yet, it is allowed to proliferate.Be it loud weddings or religious processions or the carefree usageof diesel generators, there is virtually no control on volumes.This has severe health repercussions in the form of rising cog-nitive and hearing disabilities, stress and high blood pressurelevels besides heart diseases and sleeping disorders. Owing tothese conditions, we now have an urban fabric comprising sleep-deprived and unhealthy citizens, who are unable to lead a qual-ity life which happens to be their fundamental right as well.

Besides, due to these loud environs in urban India, nature,too, has been slowly withdrawing from our lives. Many birdspecies, such as the common house sparrow, have alreadybecome absent in cities thanks to the worsening air quality andrising decibel levels. Additionally, the exponentially increasing num-bers of cell phone towers have made matters worse. The ris-ing radiation levels, which are increasing the disease burden ofhumans, are exceedingly detrimental for urban wildlife. The factthat compared to a decade ago we don’t hear much of eitherbird calls or squirrels chattering in the trees, is a clear indica-tion of how much the cityscape has changed.

Smart cities that are replete with the latest technology andinfrastructure facilities are the dream of every citizen but this can-not come at the cost of the urban flora and fauna. The IndianGovernment must take a page out of Singapore’s urban devel-opment plan that is in sync with nature.

Singapore is one of the few city-States that had been ableto balance lush green urban spaces full of teeming species ofnatural life forms with soaring skyscrapers. This model of co-existence can ensure that the very flora and fauna that is con-served and protected will, in turn, negate to some extent the impactof air and noise pollution.

Urban India must also strive to bring down noise pollutionactively, re-introduce itself to nature, be one with it and bringback the rhythm of life as it is meant to be.

(The writer is an environmental journalist)

Four baby elephants are aboutto begin an arduous journey ofover 2,000 km from Assam to

Gujarat. Separated from their fam-ilies, confined in cages and loadedon trucks, they will be bumped andjolted for days until they reach theirdestination at the Lord JagannathTemple in Ahmedabad.

Earlier this year, the GuwahatiHigh Court, based on the heatwaveconditions in north-west India,had mercifully put this journey onhold. The temperature may havechanged but the basic trauma ofwhat these young elephants will beput through has not — and thebleak prospects of the life for whichthey are destined.

This is illustrated by anotherelephant, very far apart in age andlocation. Padmanabhan is one of the

venerated temple elephants of thefamed Guruvayoor Devaswom, partof a large anakotta of over 50 cap-tive elephants in the temple com-pound. At the age of 80,Padmanabhan has spent an entirehuman lifetime in captivity. As perthe recommended Kerala CaptiveElephant Management Rules, tem-ple elephants should be retired at 65years of age. Padmanabhan is 15years above this age limit but withthe onset of the winter Pooram sea-son, in breach of every Governmentand forest department guideline, hewas allegedly paraded on December8 and 9 through the crowds andchaos of the Ekadasi rituals.

All animals are sentient beingswith real feelings and emotions.Opposed to popular belief, it can bestated with conviction that justbecause animals cannot expresstheir pain as well as human beingscan, that does not in any way entailthat they cannot feel pain. Forexample, their sense of smell andtheir heightened hearing is sostrong that the same noise that maynot bother the average humanbeing will bellow and echo in theirears with a greater impact.Elephants are advanced cognitive

species that communicate in thewild through songs, by thumpingon the ground, by leaving andtracing smells across kilometres —things that we humans cannot evenconceive.

Elephants also have a very highemotional quotient, a deeply sensi-tive understanding of things and avery specific, inherent sense ofself. They are highly complex socialand sentient beings, and their expe-rience of captivity is no less than aloss of free will, autonomy and free-dom comparable to humans. Andlike humans, they need the supportof families.

Elephant herds are well-definedsocial structures whose interac-tions impact the growth and well-being of each elephant, just as liv-ing in a family shapes human lives.Captivity in any form is a denial ofliving free, in the wild, in a herd —core and essential elements of beingan elephant.

Once devoid of a sense of self,any creature would find them-selves lost and rootless and turn intomere “living things” and not “livingbeings.” We recognise that ele-phants have a traditional religioussignificance in India and that the

wealthy devotees who “gift” them totemples like Guruvayoor mightfeel they are acting in a benevolentway, especially compared to theeven greater cruelties that ele-phants are subjected to in circusesor tourist locations or used for beg-ging on the hot, dusty streets ofIndian cities. Yet even if we assumefor the sake of argument that tem-ple elephants are comparatively“well-kept” we have to ask how well-being can truly flow from denyingelephants the natural, community-driven lives they were born to livefree in the wild? “Transfer of youngelephants from their homeland toan alien location is always a badidea,” says Suparna Ganguly ofBengaluru-based animal rightsorganisation CompassionUnlimited Plus Action (CUPA).

Years of working on issues ofcaptive elephants have convincedher that elephants cannot be lookedupon as toys to be played with bybrokers and end-users under thegarb of commerce, livelihood andculture. Ganguly also points to theparticular harm caused by remov-ing elephants from the habitats thathave wider significance for Indiantraditions that revere nature and

environment. “Without elephants — forests,

rivers and wilderness spaces willgradually disappear to mankind’sdestruction. To enslave such ani-mals in intensive confinement forman’s petty uses is cruel and illog-ical.” India has the highest numberof Asian elephants and the second-highest captive elephants at 2,650(approximately) after Myanmar.Despite a clear national policyagainst further captivity of wild ele-phants and numerous regulations toprotect them from cruelty, youngwild calves continue to come undercaptivity and private ownership.

Assam is known to be a hotbedfor the illegal capture and taming ofwild elephants especially when theyare calves. There are numerous ille-galities reported on how elephantsfrom Assam are “given” to otherStates for short periods, never toreturn. Most captive elephantsfound across Indian temples or pri-vate possession trace a single own-ership certificate to Assam, butsomehow their possession is alwaysin the hands of someone else inanother State.

MN Jayachandran of theSociety of Prevention of Cruelty to

Animals (SPCA) states emphatical-ly that, “There is no such thing suchas ownership of an elephant now.The elephants that are ‘owned’ areonly illegally transferred. In its2015 court order, the SupremeCourt of India clearly states that thetransfer of private ownership of ele-phants is illegal.” Moreover, the cer-tificate of ownership must berenewed every five years.

“In Kerala, not a single certifi-cate has been renewed,” saysJayachandran. “Hence any elephantthat is being privately held captivehere is illegal and undocumented.In spite of a statement given by theforest department stating that theelephants shall not be transferred toanother custodian, they are beingtransferred,” he says.

Under the Wildlife ProtectionAct, 1972 the forest departments arecustodians of all thing wild. No pri-vate individual or body can own awild animal — but somehow we tol-erate an exception for elephants tobe owned while also treating themas a national heritage and worship-ping them as quasi-gods. The fourbaby elephants that are about tostart their journey to Gujarat arehence also on a path which goes

against their natural interests, whichis morally dubious and which maybe inviting illegality, if not just thiscase, but the general way in whichthe idea of “private” ownership isbeing perpetuated.

It goes against the core belief ofFIAPO (Federation of IndianAnimal Protection Organisations)that animals have an inherentintrinsic value and deserve to betreated with dignity.

FIAPO is committed to achange in people’s perception of ani-mals from commodity to sentientbeings who are subjects of equalrights. Thereby, FIAPO stronglyaffirms that all animals must beentitled to a range of legal and con-stitutional rights, namely bodilyintegrity, autonomy, liberty anddignity. These core rights will pro-hibit ownership of animals asthings, prevent their commercialexploitation, torture, cruel anddegrading treatment and ensuretheir right to physical and mentalwell-being. At the very least, thesecore rights allow for equal consid-eration of interests of animals.

(The writer is Executive Director,Federation of Indian AnimalProtection Organisations)

Animals are born free, let them live freeElephants have a high emotional quotient and a very specific, inherent sense of self. They are highly complex social and sentient beings

and their experience of captivity is no less than a loss of free will, autonomy and freedom comparable to humans

VARDA MEHROTRA

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

Infosys launchesblockchain-powereddistributed apps NEW DELHI: Infosys onWednesday announced thelaunch of three blockchain-powered distributedapplications for governmentservices, insurance, andsupply chain managementdomains. "Thesecomprehensive applicationsdesigned as ready-to-subscribe business networksensure quick deployment,interoperability acrossdisparate systems of valuechain stakeholders and a widevariety of use cases involvingother digital technologies likeIoT, Analytics as well," it said.They are equipped withpredictive return oninvestment (ROI) analytics forbusiness investments that canbe tailored to meet numerousindustry-specific needs, theBengaluru-headquartered ITservices major said in astatement.

Bank of Barodaraises Rs 1,747 crfrom Basel III bonds NEW DELHI: Bank of Barodaon Wednesday said it hasraised Rs 1,747 crore byissuing Basel III compliantbonds on a private placementbasis. The bank has issuedand allotted Basel III compliantadditional tier I bonds, Bank ofBaroda said in a regulatoryfiling. A total of 17,470 '8.99per cent unsecured rated listedsubordinated fully paid upadditional tier I Basel IIIcompliant non-convertibleperpetual taxable bonds,Series XI' were allotted to 18allottees on December 18,2019, the state-run bank said.To comply with Basel IIIcapital regulations, banks needto improve and strengthentheir capital planningprocesses.

ABL Workspacesinvests Rs 7 cr onco-working centreNEW DELHI: Startup ABLWorkspaces on Wednesdaysaid it has invested Rs 7 croreto start a new co-workingcentre, comprising 800 seats,in Noida. This will be thecompany's 9th centre in thenational capital region. ABLWorkspaces has taken onlease 40,000 sq feet fromlandlord to open a co-workingcentre with 800 desks inNoida, Uttar Pradesh, thecompany said in a statement.Starting with 50 seats in2017, the company now has5,000 seats and is targetting15,000 seats by the end of2020. Ankur Gupta, co-founder and CEO of ABLWorkspaces, said co-workingspace is in high demand inthe nation.

PNS n MUMBAI

Concerned over the Centraland state departments with-drawing deposits from IDBIBank and also not offeringfresh business to the LIC-owned lender, the finance min-istry has suggested thesedepartments to continue to dobusiness with the strugglinglender.

In a letter to these depart-ments, the finance ministryhas assured them of thebank's ability to serve themas before because the pre-sent promoter LIC isfully owned by the gov-ernment, and thenational insurer alongwith the government

holds as much as 97.46 per-cent in the bank.

"It has been broughtto the notice of the

department thatpursuant to the 51percent stake acqui-

sition inI D B I

B a n kb y

LIC,

many Central/state govern-ment departments and gov-ernment agencies/institutionshave either withdrawn theirfunds or deposits from thebank or have not invited thebank to offer bids for deposits,or have expressed inability tocontinue grant of governmentbusiness to the bank," thedepartment of financial servicessaid in a letter, dated December18, to all the Central and

state departments.

Sensex, Nifty hitfresh lifetime highPNS n MUMBAI

Equity benchmarks Sensex andNifty surged to fresh highs onWednesday, tracking gains inindex heavyweights HDFCBank, RIL and ITC amidunabated foreign fund inflows.

After rallying to its recordintra-day peak of 41,614.77,the 30-share BSE Sensex set-tled 206.40 points, or 0.50 percent, higher at its all-timeclosing high of 41,558.57.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty advanced 56.65 points,or 0.47 per cent, to its recordclosing high of 12,221.65.

M&M was the top gainer inthe Sensex pack, surging 3.37 percent, followed by Sun Pharma2.53 per cent, Asian Paints 1.88per cent, ITC 1.66 per cent,HDFC Bank 1.58 per cent andTech Mahindra 1.51 per cent.

On the other hand, TataMotors plunged 3.05 per centafter the National CompanyLaw Appellate Tribunal(NCLAT) on Wednesdayordered restoration of CyrusMistry as the ExecutiveChairman of Tata Sons.NCLAT also held appoint-ment of N Chandrasekaran asExecutive Chairman illegal.

Other Tata group stocks

including Tata Power, TataChemicals and Tata GlobalBeverages too fell up to 4.14per cent. HUL, SBI and YesBank fell 1.79 per cent each.NTPC, PowerGrid and BajajFinance also ended in the red.

Besides stock-specificaction, sustained foreign fundinflows boosted market moodhere, traders said.

On a net basis, foreign insti-tutional investors bought equi-ties worth Rs 728.13 crore,while domestic institutionalinvestors sold shares worth Rs796.38 crore on Tuesday, dataavailable with stock exchangeshowed.

Bourses in Shanghai, HongKong, Seoul and Tokyo endedon a mixed note, while thosein Europe saw tepid tradingsentiment.

Similarly, thebroader NSENifty advanced56.65 points, or0.47 per cent, toits recordclosing high of12,221.65

PNS n NEW DELHI

India is facing a "GreatSlowdown" with its economyheaded for intensive care unitprimarily due to a "secondwave" of the twin balance sheetcrisis at banks, former ChiefEconomic Adviser ArvindSubramanian has said.

Subramanian, who wasModi government's first chiefeconomic adviser but quit inAugust last year, in new paperco-authored with the formerhead of the InternationalMonetary Fund's India officeJosh Felman said India is fac-ing a "Four Balance Sheet"challenge -- comprising banks,

infrastructure, plus NBFCs andreal estate companies -- and istrapped in an adverse interestgrowth dynamic.

"Clearly, this is not an ordi-nary slowdown. It is India's

Great Slowdown, where theeconomy seems headed forthe intensive care unit," hewrote in a draft working paperof the Harvard University'sCentre for InternationalDevelopment.

Subramanian had flaggedthe twin balance sheet (TBS)problem - debt accumulated byprivate corporates becomingnon-performing assets (NPA)

of banks - back in December2014, while he was CEA to theNarendra Modi government.

In his new paper, he hasmade a distinction between theoriginal TBS and "TBS-2".

TBS-1 was about bank loansmade to steel, power, and infra-structure sector companiesduring the investment boom of2004-11 turning bad. TBS-2 islargely a post-demonetization

phenomenon, involving non-banking financial companies(NBFCs) and real estate firms.

"Since the Global FinancialCrisis, India's long-termgrowth has slowed as the twoengines propelling rapidgrowth -- investment andexports -- sputtered. Today, theother engine -- consumption -- has also stalled. As a result,growth has plummeted pre-cipitously over the past fewquarters," he wrote.

India's GDP growth in theJuly-September quarter slowedto a six-year low of 4.5 per cent.This was the sixth consecutivequarter when the growth ratehad fallen.

‘India facing ‘Great Slowdown', with economy in crisis’

Study: Indian enterprises not fully preparedfor risk-proof digital transformation journeyPNS n BENGALURU

The digital transformationjourney of Indian organisationsis getting increasingly hin-dered by cyberattacks, accord-ing to a study conducted bycybersecurity companyForcepoint along with IT ana-lyst firm Frost & Sullivan.

The study revealed that 95per cent of organisations haveembarked on a digital trans-formation journey.

However, 61 per cent ofrespondents shared that therisk of cyberattacks is stallingtheir digitalisation progress.

For those organisations thathave begun executing theirdigital transformation projects,46 per cent of them have

encountered a security incidentand 20 per cent of the organi-sations didn't conduct breachassessment regularly in the

last 12 months, it said.In fact, only 18 per cent

respondents thought aboutcyber security at the early

stages of the digital transfor-mation projects indicatingthe less mature approach byorganisations to involve cybersecurity when designing digi-tal transformation project,according to the study.

Seventy per cent of organi-

sations think about cyber secu-rity only at the latter stages ofthe projects, the study revealed.

Kenny Yeo, IndustryPrincipal, APAC ICT, Frost &Sullivan, said incorporatingbehaviour modelling into ITsecurity architecture of organ-isations is certainly a way toidentify potential risks andfend off cyberattacks.

"Adopting a behaviour-cen-tric security approach thatfocuses on understandingusers' behaviour on the net-work and within applicationsto identify behavioural anom-alies can mitigate cyberattacksbefore they happen," said AlvinRodrigues, senior director andsecurity strategist at ForcepointAsia Pacific.

"Keeping in view this fact, Central/statedepartments/ agencies/institutions maycontinue to consider IDBI Bank for grantof government business," the letter said

CYRUS MISTRY RESTORED ASTATA SONS HEAD BY NCLATPNS n NEW DELHI

In a big win for Cyrus Mistry,the NCLAT on Wednesdayrestored him as executivechairman of Tata Sons andruled that appointment of NChandrasekaran as the head ofthe holding company of salt-to-software conglomerate wasillegal.

The NCLAT however stayedthe operation of the orderwith respect to reinstatementfor four weeks to allow Tatas toappeal.

Setting aside a lower courtorder, the National CompanyLaw Appellate Tribunal(NCLAT) also quashed theconversion of Tata Sons into aprivate company from a pub-lic firm.

Mistry, a scion of wealthyShapoorji Pallonji family, wasin a coup removed asChairman of Tata Sons inOctober 2016. He was thesixth chairman of Tata Sonsand had taken over in 2012after Ratan Tata. He was lateralso removed as director onboard of Tata Sons.

However, Mistry and Tatafamily patri-arch RatanTata hadr e p o r t e d l yfalling out overkey investmentd e c i s i o n s ,i n c l u d i n gmanufacturingof world'scheapest car Nano.

Mistry, whose family owns18.4 per cent stake in TataSons, challenged his removal inthe National Company LawTribunal (NCLT). The case ofoppression and mismanage-ment against Tata Sons and 20

others, including Ratan Tata,filed by Mistry family entities- Cyrus Investments andSterling Investments - were

however inMarch 2017 dis-missed by theNCLT ruling thatthey were not eli-gible to pursuethe allegations.

Section 244 ofthe CompaniesAct, 2013 allows

a shareholder of a company tobring an oppression and mis-management case against thefirm if it holds not less thanone-tenth of the issued sharecapital.

On appeal, the Cyrus Mistryfirms had secured a partial win

at the NCLAT, which waivedthe 10 per cent shareholdingrequirement but remitted thematter to the NCLT.

In July last year, the NCLTrejected Mistry's petition toreinstate him and found nomerit in his allegations ofoperational mismanagementand oppression of minorityshareholders.

Mistry had approached theappellate tribunal against theverdict of Mumbai NCLT. TheNCLAT had reserved its judg-ment after completion of argu-ments from both sides in Julythis year. The judgment waspronounced by a two-judgebench headed by Justice S JMukhopadhyay onWednesday.

Setting aside a lower court order, theNational Company Law AppellateTribunal (NCLAT) also quashed theconversion of Tata Sons into a privatecompany from a public firm

Sebi rejigscommittee oninvestoreducationPNS n NEW DELHI

Market regulator Sebi hasrevamped its advisory com-mittee that provides sugges-tions on issues related toinvestor educa-tion and pro-tection activ-ities.

The eight-member com-mittee on InvestorProtection and Education Fund(IPEF) is headed by AbrahamKoshy, former professor ofIIM-Ahmedabad, according toinformation available with theSecurities and Exchange Boardof India (Sebi).

The panel is mandated torecommend investor educa-tion and protection activitiesthat may be undertakendirectly by the market regu-lator or any other agency forutilisation of IPEF.

Other members of thepanel include -- N L Bhatia,President Emeritus, InvestorEducation and WelfareAssociation; ABalasubramanian, MD andCEO at Aditya Birla Sun LifeAMC; M G Parameswaran,founder of brand-building.com, RameshNarayan, founder of Canco.

The committee also com-prises three Sebi officials --executive directorsNagendraa Parakh and V SSundaresan -- and chief gen-eral manager N Hariharan

In 2013, the regulator hadset up a committee to find outways and means to best utilisethe investor protection andeducation fund.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The National HighwaysAuthority of India (NHAI) haslaunched a new ad-campaignby Bollywood actor AkshayKumar to educate generalpublic and induce behaviour-al changes for using FASTag.

The ad-campaign waslaunched last night, the NHAIsaid adding that till December17 a total 10 million FASTagshave been issued."In its endeav-our to educate general publicand induce a behavioral changeon a large scale, the NHAI haslaunched the new TV com-mercial- ‘FASTag Lagao – AageBado, India Ko Aage Badao' inpresence of Road Transport,Highways and MSME MinisterNitin Gadkari and brandambassador Akshay Kumar," astatement from NHAI said.

The campaign aims to cre-ate an awareness about smoothmobility across national high-ways by promoting the use ofFASTag, a tool that facilitatesdigital payments to ensureshassle-free movement.

The statement said this newcampaign is set to add a newdimension to India's digital storyand to encourage cashless trans-actions across 523 toll boothsspread across the country. Variousstudies have shown that smoothpassing without stopping at tollplazas is likely to save thousandsof crores every year for thenation, it said.“We believe thiscampaign will bring about apositive change in society andhelp us make Indian trans-portation a pleasant experiencefor everyone. We are sure thatpeople will come forward inlarge numbers and welcome thisnew initiative that connects thetransportation sector to India'sdigital story," Gadkari said

Devesh takescharge as CMD of GIC PNS n NEW DELHI

Devesh Srivastava onWednesday took charge asthe Chairman and Managingdirector of General InsuranceCorporation of India.

His name was recom-mended by Banks BoardBureau in August this year,and the government issuednotification for his appoint-ment on Tuesday.

Srivastava, a direct recruitofficer of 1987 batch, beganhis career with OrientalInsurance Company Ltd.Subsequently, his serviceswere transferred to GIC in1999.

Chronology of eventsOctober 24, 2016: Cyrus Mistryousted as Tata Sons chairman,Ratan Tata is interim Chairman.December 20, 2016 : Two Mistryfamily backed investment firms,Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd andSterling Investments CorporationPvt Ltd, move the NCLT Mumbai,alleging oppression of minorityshareholders and mismanagementby Tata Sons. They also challengedMistry's removal.January 12, 2017 : Tata Sons namesN Chandrashekaran as Chairman, thethen TCS Chief Executive Officer andManaging Director.February 6, 2017 : Mistryremoved as a director on theboard of Tata Sons, holdingcompany of Tata group firms.March 6, 2017 : NCLT Mumbaisets aside plea of the twoinvestment firms of Mistry familyover maintainability issue, citingthey didn't meet the criteria 10per cent ownership in a companyfor the filing of a case of allegedoppression of minorityshareholders under theCompanies Act. The Mistry familyowns 18.4 per cent stake in theclosely-held Tata Sons but theholding is less than 3 per cent ifpreferential shares are excluded.April 17, 2017: NCLT Mumbaialso rejects plea by the twoinvestment firm's plea seekingwaiver in the criteria of having atleast 10 per cent ownership in acompany for filing case of allegedoppression of minorityshareholders.April 27, 2017: The investmentfirms move the NCLAT, challengingNCLT order which rejected theirpetitions over maintainability. They

also challenged rejection of theirwaiver plea.October 5, 2017: Two investmentfirms approach the principalbench of NCLT at Delhi, seekingtransfer of the matter fromMumbai to Delhi citing likelihoodof bias. The principal benchreserves order on the plea of thetwo investment firms.October 6, 2017: The Principalbench of NCLT dismisses the pleasand imposed a cost of Rs 10 lakhon the two investment firms, whichwas to be shared by both.July 9, 2018: NCLT Mumbaidismisses pleas of Mistrychallenging his removal as TataSons chairman as also theallegations of rampantmisconduct on part of Ratan Tataand the company's Board. NCLTsaid it found no merit in hisallegations of mismanagement inTata group firms.August 3, 2018: The twoinvestment firms approach theNCLAT against the order of theNCLT dismissing his pleachallenging his removal aschairman of the company.August 29, 2019: The NCLATadmits petition filed by CyrusMistry in his personal capacityand decided to hear along withthe main petitions filed by the twoinvestment firms.May 23, 2019 : The NCLATreserves its order after completingthe hearing in the matter.December 18, 2019 : The NCLATrestores Mistry as executivechairman of Tata Sons, butsuspended its implementation forfour weeks in order to providetime for Tatas to appeal.

Sugar output drops 35% to 4.58 mn tonne PNS n NEW DELHI

India's sugar production stoodat 4.58 million tonne tillDecember 15 of the ongoingmarketing year, down 35 percent from the year-ago period,owing to sharp fall in outputin Maharashtra andKarnataka, industrybody ISMA said onWednesday.

Sugar marketingyear runs fromOctober toSeptember. Mills hadmanufactured 7.05 mil-lion tonne of sugar in the sameperiod of the 2018-19 mar-keting year.

According to the IndianSugar Mills Association(ISMA), 406 sugar mills were

crushing sugarcane as onDecember 15, as against 473mills on the year-ago same day.

Mills in Uttar Pradesh, thecountry's largest sugar pro-ducing state, have manufac-tured 2.12 million tonne of thesweetener till December 15, upfrom 1.89 million tonne in the

year-ago period. The UPmills had begun crush-ing operations a weekearlier in the currentseason.

However, there hasbeen a sharp fall in pro-

duction in Maharashtra,the country's second largestsugar producer. Mills wereable to manufacture 7,66,000tonne as against 2.9 milliontonnes in the same period ayear ago, ISMA said.

The ad-campaignwas launched lastnight, the NHAIsaid adding that tillDec 17 a total 10million FASTagshave been issued

Ad campaign onFASTag launched

The studyrevealed that 95per cent oforganisationshave embarkedon a digitaltransformationjourney

Clearly, this is not an ordinary slowdown. It is India'sGreat Slowdown, where the economy seemsheaded for the intensive care unit

—ARVIND SUBRAMANIAN, Former CChief EEconomic AAdviser

FM asks govt agencies to bank on IDBI

When passion turns profession:

any people believebike racing is adangerous sportand don’t encour-age their childrento pursue it as a

career. This opinion is due tothe lack of awareness aboutracing and the safety mea-sures a racer follows duringraces.

Hyderabad-based bikeracer Sandeep Varma isreaching new heights bywinning various nationalbike racing championshipsincluding the KTM OrangeCup Championship 2019, Ps300-400 cc NationalChampion 2018, KTMOrange Cup 1st runner-up2018, Honda One MakeNational Champion 2017and more. Although he wasselected for many interna-tional racing events likeAsian Road Racing,Malaysian Super BikeChampionship and others,due to the lack of funds, hecouldn’t participate in thoseraces.

Speaking to The Pioneer,Sandeep says, “I have beeninterested in bike racingsince childhood but got toknow my skills only in 2016

when I participated in a bikerace in Hyderabad and won.I had used my friend’s bikefor the race. It helped mepursue racing seriously and Istarted participating in racesacross the country.”

Sandeep completed hisengineering fromMallareddy College in 2019.He shares, “I won my firstnational title in 2017 inCoimbatore. This race washeld in Chennai, Delhi andCoimbatore simultaneouslyover six months. Everynational championship has10 races and the racer whoscores most points isdeclared the champion. Mymajor winnings are KTMOrange Cup Championship2019, Ps 300-400 cc NationalChampion 2018 and HondaOne Make NationalChampion 2017.”

When asked about wherethey practice for the races,Sandeep shares, “We practiceon national-level race tracksin Delhi and sometimes inGo-Kart tracks inHyderabad. For a day’s prac-tice in Delhi, it costs aroundRs 2 lakh including travel.Our bike costs Rs 20 lakhand needs modifications

costing 10 lakh. Racing is anexpensive sport and we needsponsorship and encourage-ment from government. Thegovernment encouragesother sports and providesthose players with jobs andland to practice. We alsoneed this kind of support toexcel.”

Sandeep is currently usinga 1,000 cc Kawasaki NinjaZX-10R for his races.Speaking of the risk factorSandeep adds, “Many peoplethink racing is dangerousbut it’s not true. We are well-equipped with safety mea-sures like leather jackets,certified helmets and otheraccessories. Even if an acci-dent happens during therace, there is no worrybecause of these measures.”

Sandeep is also helpingbudding racers by startinga group and sharing tipswith them. He shares,“The Rasis group has beenstarted to bring all the racerson a common platform andhelp them with racing tech-niques and information. I’mlooking for sponsors to rep-resent India in internationalracing events and make thecountry proud.”

Racing in India is often mistaken forrash driving. But Hyderabad-basedbike racer Sandeep Varma who has

won many national-level racingchampionships is on his way to

disprove that belief. He is currentlyawaiting sponsors to prove his mettle

at the international-level, finds V SATEESH REDDY

M

THE LIFE OF A RACER

Preserving HERITAGEand CULTURE

RespectingMARTYRS

overnor ofTelangana DrTamilisaiSoundararajancalled upon thepeople to respect

the sacrifices made by mar-tyrs of the police and theArmy.

She said, she appreciatesevery single effort made bypeople that gives duerespect to the martyrs whoput their best foot forwardfor the welfare of people.

She was speaking at theclosing ceremony of an artexhibition ‘Reminiscences(Kashmir on Canvas)’ byartist Sireesha Srinivas atthe State Gallery of Art.

She said that sacrificingmindset always pays divi-dends in the society andapplauded the way Sireesha

captured the beauty ofnature onto the canvas anddedicating the entire effortfor the cause to support thefamilies of martyrs.

The four-day art exhibi-tion culminated with thesale of worth Rs 12 lakh

paintings, which were dis-tributed among families ofmartyrs belonging to J&KPolice and Telangana statepolice by Tamilisai, DGP MMahender Reddy andCommissioner AnjaniKumar during the closingceremony.

Speaking on the occasion,DGP M Mahender Reddysaid, “It is very difficult forthe police to perform theirduties in troubled placeslike Kashmir. It is equallychallenging to their familiesas well. Families of martyrshave to go through a lot oftrauma and several othersocial challenges.”

This exhibition has paint-ings that include landscapes,figurative, still life, drawingsand abstract work withKashmir on Canvas. — PNS

very year, AakrutiKathak Kendrahosts the AntarangFestival inHyderabad toshowcase artistes

ranging from internationallyrenowned ones to buddingtalent. As part of their annualevent, the city played host totheir annual dance and musicrecital to honour renownedKathak exponent Pt DurgaLal Ji.

The two-day festival wasinaugurated by V SrinivasGoud, Minister for Excise &Prohibition, Sports, YouthAffairs, Tourism, Culture &Archeology, Government ofTelangana.

As many as 400 music anddance aficionados attendedthe first day of celebrations.The event was graced by K VRamanachary, IAS (Retd.),Advisor to Govt. ofTelangana and BShivakumar, Chairman,Sangeet Nataka Academy,Telangana.

The event that began witha musical recital concludedwith a Kathak dance perfor-mance by Nalini KamaliniAwasthi (Duet) and Praharby Aakruti Kathak Kendra(Kathak Group). The perfor-mance ended with a fantasticjugalbandi which receivedresounding applause.

Kathak exponent, guru,Choreographer and Directorof Aakruti Kathak KendraMangala Bhatt says, “Afterwitnessing the success of

Antarang earlier, we werevery happy to host a well-designed event this year aswell in the city. We are hon-oured to have the presence ofso many dignitaries for theevent who encourage art andliterature in the city. We, as a

team are committed to per-forming arts and showcasingthe culture and heritage ofIndia through these artforms.”

Antarang festival providesa platform for young andestablished artistes represent-

ing the rich cultural heritageof India to present their art-work to the people ofHyderabad. Over the years,numerous artistes from dif-ferent parts of the countryhave performed andenlivened the stage of

Antarang. To the cityscape ofHyderabad, Antarang strivesto provide a one of a kindartistic experience for her-itage music and dance lovers.

Initiated in the 1990s,Antarang was conceptualisedas an annual showcase forKathak artists to present theircreative talent. As creative-ness explorers ourselves, westrive to make every editiondistinct from the previousone. Antarang follows a set ofthemes for each year's festivaland work on compositionsaccordingly. — PNS

Antarang, anannual dance

and musicfestival, was

hosted in thecity in honourof renowned

Kathakexponent PtDurga Lal Ji

ANTARANG FESTIVALPROVIDES A PLATFORMFOR YOUNG ANDESTABLISHED ARTISTESREPRESENTING THERICH CULTURALHERITAGE OF INDIA TOPRESENT THEIR WORKTO THE PEOPLE OFHYDERABAD

THE FOUR-DAY ARTEXPO CULMINATEDWITH THE SALE OFRS 12 LAKH WORTHPAINTINGS, WHICHWERE DISTRIBUTEDAMONG FAMILIES OFMARTYRS OF J&KAND TS POLICE

E

G

ThursdayDecember 19, 2019

Follow us [email protected]/dailypioneer

10

Vijayawada Thursday December 19, 2019 what’s brewing?

hile education and careerdevelopment are top priori-ties for women Internetusers in India, 40 per cent ofthem fear irrelevant com-ments, being trolled and fol-

lowed on smartphones which hasbecome a preferred choice for them toremain online, a new report said.

While 44 per cent of women inIndian metros access online content inEnglish to improve their soft skills andstay “job-ready”, this focus is sharperamong younger women between the18-23 age group, said the the VerizonMedia survey conducted by Nielsenwith 1,300 respondents in 12 cities.

Women users spend time onlinebetween 3 pm and 9 pm — a signal forbrands on when to reach and engagewith women audiences, according tothe survey.

Across locations, younger womenwere found to access more contentrelated to education, career growth andskill development, while older womenbetween 29-35 years of age accessedmore online video content related topersonal well-being.

“The internet is empowering a newbreed of Indian women who are com-ing online and preparing to take theirplace in the workforce. The right plat-form and support as a community willenable greater inclusion, boosting par-ticipation of Indian women at theworkplace,” said Nikhil Rungta,

Country Manager, India, VerizonMedia.

Smartphones are the device of choicefor women users in India, with 60 percent of women accessing the Internetonly on these devices. This numberspikes to over 75 per cent of women inTier 1 cities.

According to the survey, women inIndia spend an average time of 145minutes on their smartphones everyday. Interestingly, women in Tier 1cities spend about 25 minutes more onInternet compared to women in met-ros.

Of the total women surveyed, nearly80 per cent users access online contentin English as well as local languages.

Given the popularity of video andOTT content in the country, there is aclear preference towards watchingvideos over reading content onlineamong women Internet users.

More than two-third of women sur-veyed had watched videos related tocareer development or social causes orpersonal well-being in the last onemonth.

Health and fitness are priority areasfor them, especially for women in the35 and over age group.

“Environmental conservation andchild abuse-related content were ratedas high affinity content apart from edu-cation, women empowerment andcareer development,” said the survey.

— IANS

40% Indian womenfear online trolls asthey embrace Internet

Instagram may developfriendships in real life: Study

Artificial sweetenersmay be contributing totype 2 diabetes

acebook-owned photo andvideo-sharing platformInstagram helps youngadults develop friendshipsin real life, especially thosewho are more hesitant to

try new experiences, a new study sug-gests.

In the study published online inComputers in Human Behavior, theresearchers at Washington StateUniversity analysed survey responsesof nearly 700 college-going adultsabout their perceptions and use of thesocial media site.

“Our findings are optimistic: thatself-disclosure on Instagram couldfacilitate friendship development, evenif followers were just casual acquain-tances at the start,” said study leadauthor Danielle Lee from WashingtonState University.

The analysis found that the youngadults liked how Instagram was easy touse as well as the many features of thehighly visual platform.

This encouraged them to expressthemselves on the social media site,which in turn led to new and deeperrelationships offline.

The results of the study suggestedthat Instagram had a greater effect onpeople who ranked low on the person-ality trait of “openness” meaning theytend to be more reserved and closed tonew experiences than those whoranked high in this trait.

“Studies have shown that in generalpeople who are not extroverted, whomight be somewhat shy, find socialmedia platforms an easier way tointeract with other people,” said studyco-author and researcher PorismitaBorah, Associate Professor at theWSU.

“Instagram is such a visually richplatform and that really helps in self-presentation,” Borah said.

A large majority, 71 per cent, ofyoung Americans age 18 to 24 useInstagram, according to a 2018 PewResearch Center survey.

As the WSU study notes, users canfollow other people on Instagramwithout their approval, if theiraccounts are public, allowing for peo-ple to interact who don’t have strongsocial ties outside of the platform.

Instagram also distinguishes itselffrom other social networks with itsfocus on images: users cannot create apost without a visual as they can onFacebook and Twitter. The platformalso provides easy ways to control howusers present themselves.

“In Instagram, you can change theimage the way you want with filtersand many different tools before post-ing it,” said Borah.

“Both media richness and user-friendliness come together inInstagram, which is probably whatmakes it so appealing to the youngergeneration,” Borah added.

$2.2 billion industry to helppeople lose weight throughartificial sweeteners may becontributing to type 2 dia-betes, researchers havewarned.

The study, published in th journalCurrent Atherosclerosis Reports, alsofound that people who use low-caloriesweeteners (LCS) are more likely togain weight, the exact opposite of whatconsumers expect.

This is despite controlled clinical tri-als showing that artificial sweeteners dolead to weight loss, the research added.

“There has been a 200 per centincrease in LCS usage among childrenand a 54 per cent increase amongadults in the past 20 years,” said studyresearcher Peter Clifton from theUniversity of South Australia.

Low calorie sweeteners are used inplace of sucrose, glucose and fructose.

They have an intense sweet flavourwithout the calories, but recent studieshave highlighted potential adversehealth effects.

According to the researchers, a USstudy of 5,158 adults over a seven-yearperiod found that those who consumedlarge quantities of artificial sweeteners

gained more weight than non-users.“Consumers of artificial sweeteners

do not reduce their overall intake ofsugar. They use both sugar and low-calorie sweeteners and may psychologi-cally feel they can indulge in theirfavourite foods,” Clifton said.

“Artificial sweeteners also change thegut bacteria which may lead to weightgain and risk of type 2 diabetes,” headded.

Artificially sweetened beverages(ASB) are also linked with increasedrisks of death and cardiovascular dis-ease, and strokes and dementia amongolder people, but it is not clear why.

Study researcher Clifton cites 13studies which investigated the effects ofASB intake on the risk of type 2 dia-betes, all of which found either no linkor a positive one.

One study found that substitutingASB for sugar-sweetened beverages orfruit juices was associated with a five toseven per cent lower risk of type 2 dia-betes.

“A better option than low-caloriesweeteners is to stick to a healthy diet,which includes plenty of whole grains,dairy, seafood, legumes, vegetables andfruits and plain water,” Clifton said.

W FA

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

ctress Kriti Sanon says doingcomedy is not a laughing mat-ter, but a serious business.

Kriti has featured in come-dies such as Bareilly Ki Barfi,

Arjun Patiala and the recent Diwalirelease, Housefull 4, which also fea-tures Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol,Riteish Deshmukh, Kriti Kharbanda,Pooja Hegde and Rana Daggubati inimportant roles.

“Comedy is, indeed, seriousbusiness but thanks to theamazing mentors I found inAkshay Kumar, RiteishDeshmukh and Bobby Deol;they made it seamless for me

to pull off certain scenes.People can now enjoy the

movie on the streaming plat-form and hopefully it’ll add a bitto their holiday cheer,” Kriti said.

Sharing his Housefull 4 experi-ence, Bobby said: “Being part ofprojects that are larger than life isfun. The Housefull franchise is a tes-tament to that. It was fun reconnectingwith Akshay and Riteish on-screen aftermany years and we had a lot of fun whileshooting, which the viewers will see.”

Directed by Farhad Samji, the fourthinstalment of Housefull tries spoofing theBollywood formula of reincarnationromance, through the story of three cou-ples whose love stories started in 1419.

which will have its digital premiere onDecember 20 on Hotstar VIP.

— IANS

uperstar MaheshBabu, who will be on athree-month breakafter SarileruNeekevvaru opens incinemas, will begin

Vamshi Paidipally’s untitled filmin summer. Although detailsregarding the project are underwraps, sources inform that thesuperstar will be seen as a gang-ster in the film, a gritty action-drama with a realistic feel to it.“The film will be another attemptby Paidipally to present Maheshin a completely new light just likethe way he did in Maharshi. Thecharacter graph of the roleimpressed Mahesh the most andit’s something that he hasn’t done

in his career. He is game for thechallenge,” said a source in theknow.

The untitled project also has aproducer. Dil Raju’s name hasbeen attached to it for the past sixmonths, and we can confirm thatit is indeed Raju who will don theproducer’s hat. “Maharshi initiallystarted as a project between Rajuand Aswini Dutt but later PVPtoo entered it after a court ruling.Ever since, the actor promisedRaju a solo film. He is honouringhis words,” added the source.

We also hear a major part ofthe film will be shot inVisakhapatnam and that Devi SriPrasad is the top contender tocompose music. — NG

n Allu Arjun’s 36th birth-day earlier this year, pro-duction house SriVenkateswara Creationsannounced Icon. Whatwas supposed to be Venu

Sreeram’s next project after MCAhas ran into rough waterssoon after and due to rea-sons guarded, it wasshelved. Sreeram laterwent on to commencework on Pink Teluguremake with PawanKalyan in the lead.But the latest isthat Arjun is verymuch keen tostar in Icon andhe will take it tofloors one day.

“Bunny wasimpressed withthe story of Iconbig time and itwill be revivedone day. Wedon’t knowwhen. He tookan assurancefrom Sreeramnot to narrate it toothers,” AlluArjun’s formermanager and GA2Pictures chief BunnyVaas said to aYouTube channel whilepromoting his latest pro-duction venturePrathiroju Pandage.

Bunny will beginSukumar’s next after wrap-ping up AlaVaikunthapuramlo. A project with ARMuragadoss and SurenderReddy will keep him occu-pied for the rest of 2020. Itremains to be seen whenIcon will go in front ofthe cameras.

Vijayawada Thursday December 19, 2019

O

11

tollywoodRAJINI SIR

advised me to nottake up small films:

The filmmaker shares with NAGARAJ GOUDthe reason for not taking up small budgetfilms, drafting script for Balakrishna's next,mellowing down on sets and others

nown for pop-corn entertain-ers, filmmakerKS Ravikumarwas contentdoing acting

assignments in the first halfof this year when producerC Kalyan approached himto do another film withNandamuri Balakrishna.The trio earlier teamed upfor the successful Jai Simha.“After Jai Simha, I was surenot to do small-budgetedfilms in the range of Rs 5-10 crore despite receivingmultiple offers. I need acertain budget for my filmsbecause my technicianshave become sought-afternow. Plus, I started mycareer with small films andthen went on to do bigfilms. So, why go back tosmall films at this stage ofmy career? Rajini sir alsoadvised me not to do smallfilms. He rather asked meto wait for big films,”Ravikumar tells us.

After he acceptedKalyan’s offer, the directorbegan working on a scriptfor Balakrishna but he hadto put it aside as his teamcouldn’t crack the climax.“Later Paruchuri Muralinarrated a story. It’s aboutthe injustice Telugu peopleface in Jhansi, UP and howa cop comes to their rescue.I liked it but we changedthe climax a bit. It was alsofleshed out keepingBalakrishna’s mass image inmind. However, I’m confi-dent that it will be lappedup by general audience too.Bhoomika’s role in the sec-ond half drives the storytowards the climax,” heinforms.

Like Balakrishna, thedirector is known for hisoutbursts on sets but heinforms over the years, hehas mellowed down. “Ishout only if things don’tgo as per plan. I believe ifyou shout at people whoare not doing their tasks by

the book they won’t feelbad,” he informs, admittingthat there were times onsets where he lost his coolmore than Balakrishna.“But I won’t slap anyonethough,” he jokes.

For a large part of hisnear 30-year career,Ravikumar has stuck tomaking commercial cine-mas. And he has his owntake on it. “If a film hassongs, it is nothing but acommercial film. Do peo-ple in real life sing songs?No, right? Asuran is a real-istic film but it has songs. Itautomatically, in my view,falls in a commercial filmcategory. I debuted inTamil with a murder mys-tery Puriyaadha Puthir. Itdid reasonably well butwasn’t a box-office smash.My second film CheranPandian was a super hit,running for 100 days inmany centres, including ‘B’and ‘C’ Centres (It wasremade into Telugu asBalarama Krishnulu). Eversince, I’ve confined myselfto commercial cinema.However, my filmsNattamai (remade asPedarayudu in Telugu),Padayappa (dubbed intoTelugu as Narasimha), andAvvai Shanmugi (dubbed asBhamane Satyabhamane)always possessed a flavorwhich was distinct to otherfilms in the same genre.Moreover, I’ve alwaysensured there’s comedy,romance and emotions inequal measure in my filmsand that my actors havewell-written roles.”

He is open to try anykind of cinema but willproducers’ approach him isthe million dollar questionfor him, as they have tokeeping audience expecta-tions from him on mind.

Ravikumar is alsorenowned for wrapping uphis films at a fast clip. Hehas completed Ruler in 77days, with filming taking

place inBangkok,Hyderabad andMunnar. Heattributes his speedto planning and his stintas an assistant director.“During my 10-year stint asan assistant director, I’velearned what I shouldn’t doif I do direct one day. I’veanalysed what went wrongwith some films and what Ishouldn’t be doing story-wise and it paid rich divi-dends to me as a filmmak-er,” he states.

He hasn’t committed toany other actor for his nextdirectorial, saying that hetakes work when it comesto him. “I was into exportbusiness before I startedmy assistant director career.So, I’m kind of shy to askanyone to work with me.I’ve accepted work when itcame to me,” he maintains.

His last Tamil film,Lingaa, with superstarRajinikanth, failed to lightup the box-office. Is hekeen on making up to it?“We keep discussing story-lines often. Four months

ago,he dialled me andupon insistence I narratedhim the story of Rana again(The film which wasshelved after muhurat). Hesang praises about it. It isset on a grand scale andneeds more than Rs 200crore. Also, it needs some-one with a physical stami-na. Rajini sir is now 70. Heis doing Siva’s film now andwill do one more filmbefore he completely shiftsattention to politics,” hepoints out.

On a lighter note, will theaudience get to see him in ashort appearance in Ruleras well? He has been a con-stant figure in most of hisdirected ventures, appear-ing in blink-and-miss parts.Smiling, he mentions, “I’vedid shot for it but as it wasnot going in sync with thestory, I chopped it off.”

KS RAVIKUMAR

K

ICONisn'tshelvedpermanently

Mahesh Babuas a gangster

S

Cinema is a cultureand tradition in Telugustates: Rakshit Shetty

annada star RakshitShetty’s AthadeSrimannarayana(dubbed version ofAvaneSrimannarayana), a

cop-action adventure set in 1980,will be releasing on New Year 1stin the Telugu states. At a presserin Hyderabad on Wednesday,

Rakshit, one of the popularyoung stars of Kannada, said hisengineering friend fromVisakhapatnam, Vamshi Krishnaintroduced him to Telugu films.“Growing up, I watched films ofChiranjeevi garu, Nagarjunagaru and Venkatesh garu but Icouldn’t differentiate them fromTamil cinema. It was Vamshi whointroduced me to Telugu cinema.He was a big movie buff. I wantedto be famous as an actor andmake money but the kind of pas-sion he had for films surprisedme. When I asked him about thesame, he replied saying, ‘I comefrom a place which celebratescinema. We have to watch a cou-ple of films at least a week’. Thatwas kind of fascinating. His state-

ment travelled with me. As Imade short films and later gradu-ated to feature films, I realised mypassion for cinema. Cinema is aculture and tradition in Telugustates, a factor which drove us tocontemplate dubbing our filmhere. I want to see my film cele-brated here as well,” the actorsaid.

He extended his thanks to pro-ducer Dil Raju who is releasingthe film, directed by debutantSachin. “His name brings a valueto the project and it’s a big thingfor us that he associated with us,”he added.

K

Growing up, I watchedfilms of Chiranjeevi garu,Nagarjuna garu and

Venkatesh garu but I couldn’tdifferentiate them from Tamilcinema. My friend Vamshiintroduced me to Telugu cinema.He was a big movie buff. Hepassion for movies surprised me

A

KRITI SANON: Comedyis serious business

PNS n NEW DELHI

Sweden outplayed his side 0-3 in theleague match but head coach Thomas

Dennerby on Wednesday said thatIndia will push for a win in the summitclash of U-17 women’s internationalfootball tournament at the MumbaiFootball Arena today.

“We will go for the win againstSweden. No matter who we play, wealways strive to win, not for a draw orto lose by just one or two goals. We canchange tactics for different games andthat is to win and not to let in lessergoals. We are going for it,” Dennerbysaid at the pre-match press conference.

India sealed their spot in the finalwith a 1-0 win against Thailand onTuesday, which Dennerby termed as“crucial”.

“It was a crucial win and means alot for the team’s self-confidence. Youcan win by luck or by deserving it andin this case, we deserved it. We playedwell, created many chances and shouldhave scored at least three more goals,”he said.

The former Sweden and Nigeriahead coach also reserved a specialword for goalkeeper Manju Ganjhu, say-

ing, “Our keeper was very good andmade crucial saves. We were looking toattack towards the end of the match andThailand could have scored on thebreak.”

Manju spoke about how the teamwas preparing for the next game and

credited goalkeeping coach PreciousDede for helping her improve.

“We are working extremely hardand we will give our all in the finalagainst Sweden. I have learned a lotfrom Precious ma’am, such as gripping,diving, etc, and want to keep doing bet-

ter for my team,” she said.Talking about the challenge at hand,

Dennerby said that the previous matchwas much closer than what the score-line suggests and that his players will bebetter prepared this time around.

“Sweden will come out strong butthe difference will be that our girls havethe first game in mind. Now, they knowbetter how to handle the pressure. In thefirst 10 minutes versus Sweden, we werea little bit anxious. Now, I hope we canmanage them better. We were closerthan the result — 2-1 instead of 3-0would have been better.

Sweden coach Par Lagerstromshared his reading of India's game aswell over the last two matches and saidthat he was “impressed” by their game-play.

“It is difficult to compare the Indianteam over the two games. I wasimpressed by India - they have a greatkeeper, left-winger and centre-backs. Wehave a lot of respect for them and I’msure they will play a good game tomor-row.”

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2019 sport 12

PTI n VISAKHAPATNAM

Rohit Sharma captivat-ed with his languidbrilliance in company

of an equally graceful KLRahul before Kuldeep Yadavtopped it up with a hat-trickin India’s series-levelling107-run victory against theWindies in the second one-dayer here on Wednesday.

The Indian vice-captainhit his 28th ODI hundred —159 off 138 balls — andadded 227 for the openingstand with fellow centurionRahul (102 off 104 balls) asIndia put up an imposing387 for 5 in 50 overs.

Rishabh Pant (39 off 16balls) and Shreyas Iyer's (53off 32 balls) thoroughlyentertaining 72-run stand inonly four overs also provid-ed the impetus requiredduring a final flourish.

In reply, the West Indies,who looked good at 192 for3 in the 30th over, werebowled out for 280 in 43.3overs.

It was MohammedShami (3/39 in 7.3 overs),who removed the dangerousNicholas Pooran (75 off 47balls) and skipper KeironPollard (0) off successivedeliveries to spark a WestIndies collapse.

Kuldeep (3/52 in 10overs) then removed thedogged Shai Hope (78 off 85balls), Jason Holder (11)and Alzarri Joseph (0) offsuccessive deliveries to sealthe issue in favour of India.This was his second hat-trick in ODIs. He becamethe first Indian player toclaim two hat-tricks in inter-national cricket.

On a shirtfront of atrack, West Indies was nevergoing to make a comebackafter losing five wickets for18 runs and it was only amatter of time before Indiaended their four-match los-ing streak at home. The

decider will now be playedat Cuttack on December22.

Rohit, as usual, batted athis own pace and lookedlike the bandmaster of anorchestra, who made theCaribbean bowlers danceto his tune.

Sheldon Cottrell (2/83in 9 overs) was punishedwith such ferocity that hedidn’t have energy to do acustomary ‘Cottrell Salute’once Iyer was out and it wasmore or less similar for allothers like Alzarri Joseph(0/68 in 9 overs) and KeemoPaul (0/62 in 9 overs).

It was also a perfectdemonstration on how topress the accelerator in thisformat — first 50 off 67, thenext off 40 balls and the lastoff only 25.

The innings had 17boundaries and five sixesand Rohit played the sameshot again and again.

The West Indies bowlerswere wary of pitching it upto him fearing his drives butended up bowling short onthe hips and the Indiangleefully played the shotagain and again.

At times, they didrealise the mistake andpitched it up but then ‘RetroRohit’ came out fromnowhere playing 1980s slogshots, shuffling towards leg-stump and making room tohit over cover boundary.

Incidentally, Rohit wasmuch behind Rahul in therace for half-century butreached the three-figuremark before the Karnatakabatsman.

When Rahul reachedhis hundred, he made agesture which was some-thing like shutting his earsfrom all the humdrum sur-rounding him. Whatever hemeant, it seemed to haveworked well for him.

PTI n HUBLI

Karnataka pacer Abhimanyu Mithunscalped six wickets, as the hosts bundled

out Uttar Pradesh for 281 on the second dayof their Elite Group B game.

Mithun (6-60), who had taken three wick-ets on the opening day, ran through their lowerorder to scuttle UP out for 281.

In reply, Karnataka openers DevduttPadikkal (74 off 108 balls, 10x4) and DegaNischal (36 off 90 balls; 4x4) conjured a strong91-run stand for the first wicket.

However, later in the day, UP bowlersmade inroads and left Karnataka teeter-ing at 168/4 despite a strong openingstand by Karnataka openers, as thehosts still trail by 113 runs with six wick-ets in hand.

The fight today will be to grab the cru-cial first-innings lead.

In another game at Visakhapatnam, Testspecialist Cheteshwar Pujara stuck a patientunbeaten half century against Railways forSaurashtra.

Pujara is batting on 69 off 136 balls withArpit Vasavada (11 not out)as their side trailsby only 37 runs after dismissing Railways fora paltry 248.

ANDHRA OOVER DDELHIONGOLE: Ricky Bhui cracked an unbeaten 70to guide Andhra Pradesh to 249 for six againstDelhi at stumps on day two of their Group Agame.

Resuming at 16 for 2, Andhra rode onRicky’s unconquered 164-ball 70 and someuseful contributions from Manish Golamaru(42), skipper G H Vihari (38) and KaranShinde (48) to take a first innings lead of 34runs.

In other Group A matches, opener

Abhishek Raman (110) scored a century whileManoj Tiwary (51) hit a fifty as Bengal reached236 for 6 in reply to Kerala’s first innings scoreof 239.

Bengal thus trailed Kerala by just threeruns with four wickets remaining in their firstinnings at stumps.

TN OOUT FFOR 996DINDIGUL: Himachal Pradesh hit back strong-ly to bundle out Tamil Nadu for 96 andreached 133 for 7 in the second innings to seizethe advantage at stumps on day two the Group

B match.At stumps, Himachal extended the

lead to 195 runs.Vaibhav Arora (3/21) was the best

bowler for HP, while Rishi Dhawan(2/30), Mayank Dagar (2/17) and A P

Vashist (2/22) chipped in with wickets.Test star Ravichandran Ashwin (24) was

the top-scorer with his 60-ball knock.

HARYANA WWIN BBIGROHTAK: Skipper Harshal Patel returned withcareer-best figures of 12 for 53 as Haryanainflicted an innings and 125 run defeat onTripura inside two days in their group Cmatch.

Patel followed his first innings effort of 7for 29 with a five-wicket haul in the second,while his pace colleague Ashish Hooda alsoreturned with figures of 8-3-21-5 as Tripurafolded for 49 all out to hand Haryana sevenpoints.

In Pune, Jammu & Kashmir shot outMaharashtra for 109 in the first innings andmade 155 for 4 in the second innings at stumpson day two, to gain an overall lead of 255 runs.

Resuming at 51 for 3, Maharashtra wasbundled out for 109 in 41.1 overs as medium-pacer Umar Nazir picked up five wickets.

PTI n JOHANNESBURG

Legendary all-rounderJacques Kallis was

on Wednesday appoint-ed as South Africa’s bat-ting consultant for theentire duration of theirhome summer.

Cricket South Africa(CSA) also announcedthat Charl Langeveldthas been appointed asbowling consultant forthe season.

“Former StandardBank Proteas al l-r o u n d e r ,@jacqueskallis75 hasbeen named as theteam’s batting consul-tant for the duration ofthe summer. He willjoin the squad for theircamp starting inPretoria today(Wednesday),” CSAannounced on its offi-cial Twitter handle.

“Cricket SouthAfrica (CSA) is pleasedto confirm the return offormer Standard BankProteas bowler, CharlLangeveldt as bowlingconsultant to the nation-al men’s team this sum-mer. He will join thesquad in camp as quick-ly as can be arranged,”CSA tweeted.

Kallis played 519

international matchesacross formats for SouthAfrica, aggregated25,534 runs and took577 wickets. He featuredin 166 Tests, 328 ODIsand 25 T20Internationals.

The former all-rounder is the latesthigh-profile name to beinducted in SouthAfrica’s coaching set-upafter Mark Boucher’sappointment as headcoach for the nationalteam.

Langeveldt, who wasa prolific bowler in histime, took 100 ODIwickets in his 72 appear-ances for his country.

“The former pacerresumes the bowlingcoaching role that heplayed for SA from 2015to 2017 before consult-ing for Afghanistan andsettling in Bangladeshunder Russell Domingo,”CSA tweeted.

During the homesummer, South Africawill first host Englandfrom mid-Decemberuntil mid-February forfour Test matches, threeODIs and three T20s.After that, the Proteaswill host Australia forthree T20s and as manyODIs.

PTI n MELBOURNE

Australia’s limited-overs skip-per Aaron Finch has backed

all-rounder Glenn Maxwell tomake a comeback to the nation-al team soon, saying that a“three-dimensional” cricketerlike him can’t be kept out forlong.

Facing mental health issues,Maxwell took a short break fromthe game in October this year butrecently made himself availablefor the tour of India. He was,however, not picked and MarnusLabuschagne got his first call-up

following his outstanding formin Test cricket.

Finch said the door isn’tshut for any player who was notpicked for the short India tripearly next year. The team willplay three ODIs starting January14.

“Obviously he’ll (Maxwell)be disappointed, like everyonewho missed out is but at the endof the day he just hasn’t got theruns required of a top order play-er in one-day cricket recently,”Finch told Cricket Australia.

“No doubt he’ll be back.He’s a gun. A three-dimension-al player that can have such ahuge impact. It’s just a matter oftime, he’ll get some runs and beright back up there in the frameagain,” he added.

Usman Khawaja, ShaunMarsh and off-spinner NathanLyon, Nathan Lyon were alsoignored for the tour while JasonBehrendorff is injured.

But the Australia skippersaid the door isn’t shut for any-one. He said Ahston Agar waspicked ahead of experiencedLyon as the selectors wanted totry the spin bowling all-rounderin Indian conditions.

AFP n KARACHI

Pakistan skipper Azhar Alion Wednesday said that

he wants the return of Testcricket to the country to be amemorable one as his teamseeks victory over Sri Lankain Karachi starting today.

Their series is the first inPakistan since a militantattack on the Sri Lankanteam bus killed eight peoplein March 2009, leading to thesuspension of internationalcricket in the country as for-eign sides refused to visit oversecurity fears.

The return of Test crick-et to Pakistan last week wassomething of a washout, withtheir first encounter badly hitby the weather in Rawalpindibefore stuttering to a tamedraw.

After 10 years playingaway, Azhar said Pakistandesperately wanted to makethe most of playing at home.

“We are playing a homeseries and need to capitaliseon that home advantage,” hetold reporters.

“We want to win thisseries and make the occasionmemorable.”

Despite the Rawalpindiwashout, Pakistan gained a

India level series with massive winRohit, Rahul struck tons while Kuldeeppicked up a hat-trick to seal 107-run win

Batsman M Runs AVG HS` 100 50 150+Rohit Sharma (India) 220 8881 49.06 264 28 42 8David Warner (Australia) 116 4990 45.77 179 17 20 6Chris Gayle (West Indies) 301 10480 37.83 215 25 54 5Sachin Tendulkar (India) 463 18426 44.83 200* 49 96 5Hashim Amla (S.Africa) 181 8113 49.46 159 27 39 4Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) 445 13430 32.36 189 28 68 4Viray Kohli (India) 241 11524 59.70 183 43 54 4

TOP SCORE FFOR IINDIA AAGAINST WWIScore Batsman Venue Date Result219 Virender Sehwag Indore 08- 12- 2011 Won162 Rohit Sharma Mumbai 29 -10- 2018 Won159 Rohit Sharma Vizag 18- 12- 2019 Won 157* Virat Kohli Vizag 24- 10- 2018 Tied152* Rohit Sharma Guwahati 21- 10- 2018 Won

MOST 1100S IIN AA CCALENDAR YYEARBatsman Year M Runs AVG HS` S/R 100 50Sachin Tendulkar (IND) 1998 34 1894 65.31 143 102.15 9 7 Sourav Ganguly (IND) 2000 32 1579 56.39 144 82.75 7 6 David Warner (AUS) 2016 23 1388 63.09 173 105.47 7 4 Rohit Sharma (IND) 2019 27 1427 57.08 159 89.52 7 5

FAISEL FEATURES

MOST 1150 PPLUS SSCORES IIN OONE DDAYERS

Former South African pacer Charl Langeveldt CSA/Twitter

Kallis, Langeveldtjoin SA as consultants

Rohit Sharma, left, and batting partner KL Rahul share a light moment as they stand between the wickets during the second ODI AP

K'taka bundle out UP for 281

Vidarbha batsmen Mohit Kale & Akshay Wadkar run between wickets during second day of Ranji match PTI

3D Maxwell will returnto squad soon: Finch

Glenn Maxwell in a file picture AP

Sri Lankan batsman in nets session PCB/Twitter

Pakistan vs SL (2nd Test)Live from 10:30am IST

SONY ESPN NETWORK

Pak search memorable home success

psychological edge againstthe Sri Lankans with AbidAli and Babar Azam notch-ing hundreds to steer theirteam to 252-2 in reply to SriLanka’s 308-6 declared.

Pakistan will l ikelymake one change from thefirst Test, with leg-spinnerYasir Shah replacing fastbowler Usman Shinwari,who has been ruled outwith typhoid.

Sri Lanka are aiming tospoil Pakistan’s homecom-ing following a string ofstrong performances.

Skipper DimuthKarunaratne said the teamis looking to continue theirwinning ways as part of theWorld Test championship.

“We look forward togiving good competition toPakistan, but know that itwill be tough to beat them,”he said.

The visitors will bewithout their pace spear-head Kasun Rajitha, whopulled a hamstring and islikely to be replaced byuncapped fast bowler AsithaFernando.

‘We’ll go for win against Sweden’

India and Sweden coach pose for photo after press conference ahead of the final match

skills development tdp’s ke, ganta welcome jagan’s 3 ......2019/12/19 · mahesh babu as a...

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