Bishop T Joseph Raja Rao of the Vijayawada Diocese leads Mass on the concluding day of the three-day Feast at the MaryMatha Shrine at Gunadala on Thursday.

HAIL MMARY

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MONEY 8ADITYA MITTAL NAMED ASCEO OF ARCELORMITTAL

ANALYSIS 7GOVT MUST BRIDGE THE GAP

IN UNDER-INSURED INDIA

SPORTS 11KENIN FAILS TO DEFEND

AUS CROWN

VIJAYAWADA, FRIDAY FEBRUARY 12, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

}KAJAL WOULD ‘WAKE UP

PETRIFIED’ AFTERSHOOTING

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 3 Issue 92*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

{

VIJAYAWADAWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated february 10 , 2021 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Paush & Krishna Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Pratipada: 12:29 am (Next Day)

Nakshatram: Dhanishtha: 02:23 pmTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 11:04 am – 12:30 pm

Yamagandam: 03:21 pm – 04:47 pm

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Modi's ‘Vikas’ vs

Mamata's ‘Vinash’ in

WB polls: Shah

5

State has no role inVSP privatisation:

Ambati

3

Sensex jumps 222points

to fresh closinghigh

8

PNS n NEW DELHI

More than five decades sincethe first status quo order on ter-ritorial jurisdiction dispute withAndhra Pradesh over 21 vil-lages, Odisha moved theSupreme Court once again onThursday seeking contemptaction against AP officials fornotifying gram panchayat pollsin three villages controlled by it.

The Naveen Patnaik govern-ment has said the notificationamounts to invading Odisha'sterritory.

The dispute over territorialjurisdiction over 21 villagespopularly called as Kotia Groupof villages first reached the topcourt in 1968 when Odisha onthe basis of three notifications- December 1, 1920, October 8,1923 and October 15, 1927 -claimed that Andhra Pradeshhad trespassed its well-definedterritory.

During the pendency of suitfiled by Odisha, the top courthad on December 2, 1968directed both the states to main-tain status quo till the disposalof suit and said, there shall be nofurther ingress or egress on theterritories in dispute, on the part

of either party.The suit filed by Odisha

under Article 131 of theConstitution was finally dis-missed on technical ground bythe top court on March 30,2006, and with the consent ofboth the states it directed thatstatus quo be maintained tillthe dispute is resolved.

Now, the Odisha govern-ment has sought contemptaction against AndhraPradesh's three senior offi-cials - Mude Hari Jawaharlal(contemnor-1), collector ofVizianagaram district;Adityanath Das, ChiefSecretary of AP (contemnor-

2), and N Ramesh Kumar,State Election Commissionerof Andhra Pradesh (contem-nor-3).

"Apparently, the said notifi-cation issued by contemnor-1in unison with contemnors 2and 3 is to invade into the ter-ritory of the petitioner state atthe cost of wilful and violationof order of this court. Thereforethe contemnors are to be calledupon to explain as to why con-tempt proceedings shall not bedrawn against them and appro-priate punishment shall not beawarded to them," it said.

A bench of Chief Justice SABobde and Justices AS

Bopanna and VRamasubramanian listed thematter for hearing on Fridayafter senior advocate VikasSingh and advocate SibuSankar Mishra, appearing forthe Odisha government,sought urgent listing of theircontempt plea.

The Odisha governmentsought notice to the contem-nors as to why contempt pro-ceedings not be initiatedagainst them for wilfully vio-lating orders dated December2, 1968 and March 30, 2006passed by the court in the orig-inal suit.

It also sought punishment tothem for having committedcontempt of this court.

The petitioner state ofOdisha is invoking the con-tempt jurisdiction of this courtagainst the alleged contemnorfor having wilfully and delib-erately violated the order datedDecember 2, 1968 and thejudgement dated March 30,2006 passed by this court inoriginal suit filed by State ofOrissa and State of AndhraPradesh, the plea said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In an important development,the state government onThursday evening constituteda high-level committee head-ed by Chief SecretaryAdityanath Das that will decidethe fate of unfinished buildingsthat were taken up by the pre-vious TDP government in thecore capital area of Amaravati.

With present Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddyproposing three capitals —Vizag as executive capital,Amaravati as Legislative andKurnool as judicial capital —all the important office build-ings, including the stateSecretariat will move to Vizag.

Only the Assembly build-ings and accommodation for

elected representatives will berequired in Amaravati area.

As the Naidu governmenthad envisaged many iconicbuildings and some of thebuildings planned to accom-modate HoDs and AIS officers

are under construction, thepresent dispensation constitut-ed a nine-member high levelcommittee to decide the wayforward.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

After the completion of thefirst phase of panchayat elec-tion in the state, ChiefSecretary Aditya Nath Dasand DGP Gautam D Sawangon Thursday met StateElection CommissionerNimmagadda Ramesh Kumarat latter's office in Vijayawada.

The SEC appreciated themfor taking steps to ensure con-duct of the elections in a cor-dial atmosphere. They dis-cussed the conduct of the

remaining three phases of localbody elections with specialfocus on the procedures thatshould be adopted by seniorofficials for the subsequentphases.

The SEC also discussed thearrangements made for secondphase panchayat elections to beheld on February 13.

Ramesh Kumar expressedoptimism of complete cooper-ation of the State Governmentfor the remaining phases ofpanchayat elections.

Principal Secretary

(Panchayat Raj and RuralDevelopment) Gopal KrishnaDwivedi and senior IPS officerSanjay were also present.

Earlier meetings betweenthe Government representa-tives and the SEC had beenheated. It is well known thatthere was a tussle between theAP government and the SECover the conduct of the pan-chayat elections. The ChiefSecretary and the DGP werealso dragged into the contro-versy.

State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar shares a lighter moment with Chief Secretary Adityanath Das and DGPGautam Sawang at his office on Thursday.

C PRADEEP KUMARn VIJAYAWADA

The State ElectionCommission on Thursdayissued gag order on YSRCPMLA Jogi Ramesh till February17, on charges of threateningvoters.

The poll panel said thatthree political parties lodgedcomplaints against the rulingparty MLA along with proof inthe form of electronic mediafootage clearly showing that the

MLA threatening the contes-tants not to file their nomina-tions and further threateningthat government benefits to

them would be stopped. In its orders, the SEC said

that the alleged incident tookplace at Nellipudi village ofKruthivennu mandal inKrishna district in the eveningof February 10. It said that theutterances of the Legislatorwere meant to include threatsagainst the prospective candi-dates and it could be conclud-ed that the utterances vitiatedthe free and fair polls.

In this backdrop, the SECpassed an order stating that the

YSRCP MLA Jogi Ramesh wasrestrained to speak to themedia till the elections werecompleted in the affected areatill February 17 and alsorestrained him from speakingto any group or groups ofpeople or in meetings withimmediate effect.

The SEC asked the Krishnadistrict Collector and SP toserve the proceedings on theMLA and implement the order.It further asked them to reportcompliance on its order.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Election Commission ofIndia on Thursday releasedthe schedule for the electionsto the Legislative Councils ofAndhra Pradesh andTelangana States.

Accordingly, notificationwill be issued on February 16where elections for two teach-ers’ constituencies in AP andtwo graduate MLC con-stituencies in Telangana aredue. If required, polling will beheld on March 14 and resultswill be declared on March 17.

The last date for submis-sion of nominations isFebruary 23. With the releaseof notification, the electioncode of conduct has comeinto force in ten districts ofTelangana and four districtsin Andhra Pradesh. The lastdate for filing nominations isFebruary 23 and the last datefor withdrawal of nomina-tions is February 26.

The EC has released theelection schedule for theteacher MLC positions inEast and West Godavari dis-tricts, Guntur, Krishna dis-tricts in Andhra Pradesh.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy has direct-ed officials to focus onimproving the revenue sourcesof the State to implementNavaratnalu and otherwelfare schemespromised in theYSRCP manifesto.

During a reviewmeeting held atcamp office here onThursday, the ChiefMinister asked officialsto expedite working on minesacquired by APMDC inBramhadiha coal block inJharkhand, Suliyari in MadhyaPradesh and Madanpur SouthCoal Mines in Chhattisgarh

and complete them withinthe stipulated time. He askedthem to focus on high revenuemining activities and expeditethe works related to silicasand by coordinating with theAPIIC.

The Chief Minister direct-ed forest department offi-

cials to try and securepermission from theCentral governmentsoon to sell the redsanders stocks in the

state. He wanted theofficials to take steps on a

war footing to get the workdone with transparency with-out giving room for corrup-tion.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

After a review meeting withlocal MPs and trade unionleaders in Vizag city onThursday, YSRC Parliamen-tary Party leader V VijayasaiReddy stated that the decisionto privatise VisakhapatnamSteel Plant (VSP) was a con-spiracy hatched by UnionSteel Minister DharmendraPradhan and the OdishaGovernment.

Vijayasai Reddy saidPradhan, who hails fromOdisha, with the help of keyofficials of RINL who alsohappen to be from Odisha,hatched a conspiracy to pri-vatise the RINL, the pride ofAndhra Pradesh.

AP invaded, changed namesof villages: Odisha tells SC

CS-led panel to take call onunfinished capital buildings

CS, DGP meet SEC, get praisefor smooth conduct of Phase-I

ECI releasesschedule forpolls to TS,AP Councils

Vijayasai blamesPradhan, OdishaGovernment forVSP decision

CM tells officials totap more sources ofrevenue for schemes

Results of first phase pollsexpose BJP’s lack of baseMARTHI SUBRAHMANYAM n VIJAYAWADA

Unofficial ‘seat adjustments’ bysupporters of the TDP, BJP andJana Sena in the ongoing localbody polls have brought to thefore the fact that the BJP, whichis yearning to replace the YSRCPin AP, has no support whatso-ever at the grassroots level.

The ongoing elections havesprung many surprises — inGuntur and Godavari districts,TDP, Jana Sena and BJP cadreswork shoulder to shoulder evenas their leaders trade charges.

At some places, there is anunderstanding between BJPand TDP supporters while atother places, the understand-ing is between the TDP and

Jana Sena in the two districts. Despite this, the first phase

polls proved that the BJP has nostrength at the grassroots level.

At many places, Jana Senawon more seats than the BJP,which is indicative of thedependence of the BJP sup-porters on Jana Sena cadres.

SEC gags Jogi Ramesh for threatening voters

2

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INDIVIDUALS, CORPORATES TO BE FINED FORUSING CRYPTOCURRENCIES: DRAFT LAW

Indian companies and individuals are unlikelyto be allowed to pull a Tesla and stash excesscash in cryptocurrencies that have been on an

eye-popping surge if a new bill proposed by thegovernment is cleared by parliament. A draft billexpected to be introduced in this session ofparliament proposes a complete ban on allprivate cryptocurrencies - decentralised digitalmoney that is prized for being untraceable and abuoyant valuation, sources said. The bill will alsolay the groundwork for an official digitalcurrency - which are different because they canbe regulated by a country's central bank - andits ties to the Reserve Bank of India or RBI.

UTTARAKHAND TUNNEL RESCUE WORKHALTED AS RIVER SURGES AGAIN

Rescue operation at a tunnel in Uttarakhand'sTapovan – where more than 30 people arethought to be trapped for more than three

days -- has been temporarily halted as severalrivers in the area have surged again days afterSunday's flash-floods. Orders have been givento vacate the areas downstream, officials havesaid. More than 200 people went missing afterflash floods in Chamoli district on Sunday,believed to be brought on by a glacier burst atNanda Devi. Two power plants and five bridgeswere washed away in the torrent of water thatsurged downstream on Alakananda andDhauliganga rivers towards mid-morning.

ROW AFTER MAHARASHTRA GOVERNORREFUSED STATE PLANE, WAITS 2 HOURS

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat SinghKoshyari reportedly had to wait for overtwo hours at the Mumbai airport this

morning to take a flight to Uttarakhand as hecould not use the state government aircraft. TheGovernor took a commercial flight to Dehradunbecause permission for the special aircraft didnot come until the last minute, say reports.Reports suggest the Governor was to take aflight at 10 am to Uttarakhand, his home state."Accordingly, a state government plane wasbooked earlier. But, the permission did notcome till the last moment," news agency quoteda source as saying.

UK KENT COVID VARIANT WILL LIKELY“SWEEP THE WORLD”: TOP SCIENTIST

The coronavirus variant first found in theBritish region of Kent is a concernbecause it could undermine the protection

given by vaccines against developing COVID-19, the head of the UK's genetic surveillanceprogramme said. She also said the variantwas dominant in the country and was likely "tosweep the world, in all probability". Thecoronavirus has killed 2.35 million people andturned normal life upside down for billions,but a few new worrying variants out ofthousands have raised fears that vaccines willneed to be tweaked and people may requirebooster shots.

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Phone: 040-23322341, Hyderabad Office: F-502, Diamond Block, Lumbini Rockdale, Somajiguda, Hyderabad - 500 082. Telangana. Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, Plot No.19, IDA Balanagar , Hyderbad-500037, Medchal -Malkajgiri District, Telangana. Chief Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA| FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 12, 2021

EGG

RATES

` 48, 600 (10 gm)` 210

GOLD

` 72, 900 (1kg)` 1500

VIJAYAWADA 423

HYDERABAD 395

VISAKHAPATNAM 410

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..2233

SILVER

VIJAYAWADA

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`̀//110000

CHICKEN

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Dressed/With Skin `148

Without Skin `168

Broiler at Farm `102

`̀//KKGG

(IN VISAKHAPATNAM)

Gunadala shrine feastconcludes on a grand notePNS n VIJAYAWADA

The famous Gunadala MaryMatha celebrations concludedon a grand note here onThursday, with lakhs of devo-tees from across AndhraPradesh and also neighbour-ing states visiting the shrineduring the three-day feast.

Addressing the huge gath-ering of devotees at BishopGrassi High School,Vijayawada Diocese BishopT Joseph Raja Rao said thatthe Covid-19 pandemic hastaught a lesson to peopleacross the world, makingthem realise that life is mere-ly a bubble.

The Bishop said that Covid-19 pandemic has affected10.76 crore people worldwide,irrespective of caste, religion,

race, colour, rich and the poorwhile 23.58 lakh people suc-cumbed to the pandemic.

He said that in India, 1.17crore people were affectedwhile 1.5 lakh have lost theirlives and even their relativeswere unable to get a lastglimpse. With the Coronapandemic, human beings haverealised that they need to be

transformed and peopleshould lead a God fearing life,the Bishop said.

Bishop Raja Rao said thatmany devotees were blessed bythe Mother Mary who visitedGunadala shrine.

"It is said that Mary con-quered sin by the Grace ofGod," he said.

The Bishop said that Pope

Francis has expressed concernover the environment andcalled on all nations to worktogether for the conservationof nature.

Later, Bishop Raja Rao,Bishop R Vijaya Kumar,Monsignor M Prasad, Fr MGabriel, Fr William Jayaraju,Fr P Thomas and others tookpart in the Holy Mass.

GVL seeks research centrefor chilli in Guntur PNS n VIJAYAWADA

BJP Rajya Sabha member GVLNarasimha Rao has urged theCentre to establish a NationalResearch Centre for chilli.Raising the issue during ZeroHour in the Upper House ofParliament on Thursday, GVLsaid that India is the largestproducer of chilli, accountingfor over 40 percent of world'sproduction. India alsoaccounts for over 50 percent ofworld chilli exports.

"Our exports have morethan doubled from Rs 2722crore in 2013-14 to Rs 6,222crore in 2019-20. I would liketo congratulate theGovernment and the Prime

Minister for encouraging cul-tivation of cash crops likechilli and giving huge empha-sis and impetus to chilliexports," the MP said. He saidthat though the crop is wide-ly cultivated and for over sev-eral decades, farmers suffer onaccount of lack of disease (leafcurl virus) resistant varieties.There is a lack of research sup-port available for introductionand popularisation of suchvarieties.

"In addition, farmers areforced to adopt labor intensiveand unhygienic post harvestdrying practices that havedetrimental impact on qualityof chillies," GVL said.

He said that lack of proper

machinery and post harvestprocesses like drying, stemremoval have increased costsand reduced returns for farm-ers.

"There is an urgent need toset up an ICAR NationalResearch Centre on chilli to actas a nodal institution forresearch and development onchilli focusing on production,processing, value addition,"the MP said.

"I call upon the Ministry ofAgriculture to set up under theaegis of ICAR a NationalResearch Centre on chilli inAndhra Pradesh and locate itin Guntur district, the largestchilli producing district in thecountry," GVL said.

87 fresh Covidcases in APPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh posted 87new coronavirus cases, tak-ing the aggregate to over8.88 lakh, the governmentsaid on Thursday.

No death was reportedand the toll remained 7,161.

The state also reported 79recoveries in 24 hours end-ing 9 am on Thursday, ahealth department bulletinsaid.

With 30,527 tests, thetotal number conducted sofar in the state stood at over1.34 crore. The total con-firmed Covid-19 cases were8,88,692 while the recover-ies stood at 8,80,678, itsaid.

The active cases havedropped below 1,000 to853. Visakhapatnam dis-trict accounted for themost number of positiveswith 18 , fo l lowed byChitto or and WestGodavari with 12 each. Docs take Mixopathy

protest to New DelhiPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Doctors from Andhra Pradeshtook part in a protest against'Mixopathy' conducted byIndian Medical Association atNew Delhi on Thursday.

IMA-AP secretary DrGarlapati Nandakishore, IMAnational representative DrDaggubati Srihari and othersexpressed concern over allow-ing non-allopathic doctors toconduct surgeries underMixopathy as a major threat tothe lives of patients.

Dr Nandakishore and DrSrihari said that the allopathicdoctors started 14 days relayhunger fast under the aegis ofIMA and are staging protestsacross the country.

They said that allowing

Ayurveda doctors to practiceallopathy giving the opportu-nity to study PG (allopathic)courses is unethical and unsci-entific as ayurvedic proceduresare not from modern medicine(Allopathy). They said thatthey are not against Ayurvedabut are opposing allowingAyurvedic practitioners to con-duct surgeries as they don'thave that awareness and train-ing.

The doctors condemned thepredatory poaching on modernmedicine and its surgical dis-ciplines by the Central Councilof Indian Medicine (CCIM) byallowing non-allopathic doc-tors to practice allopathic treat-ments and demanded animmediate withdrawal of theMixopathy decision.

Builders toprotest againstrising cement,steel pricesPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Builders Association ofIndia (BAI), Confederationof Real Estate DevelopersAssociation of India(CREDAI), National RealEstate Development Council(NAREDCO) and theWorkers Association JAC havecalled for a mega protest onFriday demanding the govern-ment to appoint regulatoryauthority to control the spi-ralling cement and steel prices.

The leaders of JAC saidthat cement and steel manu-facturers have been abnor-mally raising prices anddemanded formation of aRegulatory Authority.

BAI state chairman andJAC leader D Pankaj Reddysaid that there was no hugedemand for cement and steelin the market but the compa-nies have formed a nexus andcreated artificial shortages.

"They have caused a 40 percent increase in cement andsteel prices in the past sixmonths. We demand forma-tion of a Regulatory Authorityto control prices to help con-struction and real estate sec-tors," Pankaj Reddy said.

He said that already the realstate sector and constructionindustry was adversely affect-ed due to demonetisation,GST, RERA, sand shortage,absence of skilled workersand Covid-19 and 40 per centincreased prices further caus-ing a slump in the industry.

CREDAI Vijayawada chap-ter chairman RV Swamy saidthat the construction sectorprovides employment on alarge scale, next only to theagriculture sector, but the sky-rocketing cement and steelprices forced it into huge loss-es.

He alleged that formingsyndicates, the cement andsteel companies increasingprices abnormally anddemanded intervention ofCentral and State govern-ments by forming RegulatoryAuthority to restrain theunethical increase of cementand steel prices.

Results of first phase polls expose...Continued from Page 1

In P Vemavaram village ofEast Godavari district, TDPsupported the candidatebacked by the Jana Senaleading to Jana Sena support-er getting elected.

In Lol la v i l lage ofAmalapuram constituency,the TDP-supported the can-didate backed by the BJP,who won. The village ishome to industr ia l is tKantipudi Sarvarayudu, whosupported the candidatebacked by the BJP. On tech-nical grounds, the YSRCP-supported candidate had toopt out of the race makingthe contest between TDPand the BJP nominees .Kantipudi worked out acompromise formula, lead-ing to BJP getting elected

unanimously. TDP MLA Jogeswar Rao

garlanded the BJP candidateand declared him the winner.The photographs soon wentviral. However, BJP statepresident Somu Veerraju wasnot happy about this.

In Brahmana Koduru ofGuntur district, the TDPsupported candidate won.Predicting future problems,in the presence of BJP stateleader Patur iNagabushanam, the electedcandidate was drafted intothe BJP and photos of TDPcandidate sporting BJP shawlwent viral on the Internet.

In Chandurthi village ofKakinada LS constituency,YSRCP and BJP leadersworked together to the sur-prise of all.

In the first phase of pan-

chayat polls, the BJP candi-dates did not contest in manyseats. The YSRCP, TDP madeit public the number of seatseach of them backed, whilethe BJP kept it secret, indi-cating its weakness at theground level.

A major ity of thesarpanches elected were sup-ported by the Jana Sena.They won by virtue of seatadjustments between theTDP and the Jana Sena.

An analysis of the firstphase results makes it clearthat the BJP benefited due tothe Jana Sena and not vice-versa.

Moreover, the BJP was notable to back candidates inmandals represented by theparty’s top leaders.

In D Purandeswari’s vil-lage Karamchedu, TDP can-

didate Baliga Shiva Parvatiwas elected sarpanch. Herethe contest was mainlybetween YSRCP and theTDP. The BJP was not evenable to constitute booth com-mittees.

In Kadiyam constituency,where Somu Veerraju hadtested his luck, no BJP sup-porter was elected. In EastGodavari district, Jana Senawinners outnumbered theBJP.

In Kakinada rural mandal,BJP s tate leaderVenkataramana’s village, thepar ty backed candidatepol led 19 votes . InThimmapuram, the BJPnominee polled 25 votes. InKadiri, which is representedby Vishnuvardhan Reddy, anABVP leader was electedsarpanch.

Vijayasai blames Pradhan, Odisha...Continued from Page 1

He said RINL paid Rs 360crore to Odisha MiningCorporation 10 years ago foriron ore and subsequently paidanother Rs 1,000 crore aspenalty but till date there wasno talk about the ore or returnof the money.

Another set of officers madeRINL to invest Rs 2,000 for aforge wheel factory at RaeBareli in Uttar Pradesh, theproject which is yet to becommissioned.

“In all RINL lost Rs 5,300crore capital which would havehelped the company during thecurrent crisis,’’ Vijayasai Reddysaid, adding that the companywent for massive expansionwithout the Centre’s help.

Stating that YSRCP wasstrongly opposed to the pri-vatisation move, VijaysaiReddy said as a first step tomove ahead, the MPs repre-

senting YSRCP, TDP, CPI,CPI(M), AAP and LJP wouldseek appointment to meetPrime Minister NarendraModi to explain how the steelplant was important to thepeople of Andhra Pradesh.

As a prelude to this meeting,all the YSRCP MPs wouldmeet Union Home MinisterAmit Shah on Friday and sub-mit a memorandum in thisregard.

He said another delegationcomprising top union leaderswould meet Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy soon todiscuss the privatisation issue.

Minister for TourismMuttamsetti Srinivasa Rao saidYSRCP government was notaware of the MoU enteredbetween RINL and POSCO.The State government wascompletely in the dark.

He appealed to TDP chief NChandrababu Naidu, BJP andJana Sena leaders not to politi-

cise the issue under these cir-cumstances.“YSRCP is oppos-ing privatisation tooth andnail and we are quite clearabout it,’’ the minister said.

Explaining the dangers ofprivatisation, the minister saidaround 4,500 employeesbelonging to SC, ST and otherweaker sections would losetheir jobs.

State president of CITU ChNaringa Rao appealed to theState government to explorethe possibility of exploitingiron ore mines at Obulapuram,Ongole and West Godavaridistricts.

He said POSCO in its coun-try runs fully automated plantswith just 4,000 employees forproducing 41 million tonswhereas RINL employs morethan 20,000.

“Per capita income inGajuwaka is the highest in theState due to the steel plant,’’Narsinga Rao said.

CM tellsofficials to tapmore sourcesof revenue...Continued from Page 1

“Officials should focus onrevenue generating sourcesfor the state, conduct regularreviews on these and prepareestimates from time to time.The officials should be readywith the necessary plans toincrease revenue sourceswithout burdening the peo-ple,” Jagan said.

CS-led panel to take call onunfinished capital buildingsContinued from Page 1

After scrapping the CRDAAct, the YSRCP governmentbrought in AmaravatiMetropolitan RegionDevelopment Authority(AMRDA).

“AMRDA Commissionerhas informed that during thereview meeting on AMRDAheld on August 13, 2020, theCM among other things, hasdirected to constitute a com-mittee under the chairman-ship of Chief Secretary toexamine the buildings/hous-ing units which are essential-ly required for the LegislativeCapital and also suggestfuture course of act ion

regarding other unfinishedApartment units/bungalowsi.e., whether to fully executeor to explore means forreducing burden on exche-quer,” said a government offi-cial.

The MetropolitanCommissioner of AMRDAhas further informed that adecision may be needed inrespect of Secretariat andHoD towers and permanentHigh Court building in viewof the Act 28/2020 and also inrespect of future course ofaction regarding unfinishedApartment units/bungalows.He has requested the govern-ment to expedite the processof implementation of the

direct ions of the ChiefMinister.

“Government after care-ful examination, hereby con-stitute a Committee underthe Chairmanship of ChiefSecretary to Government toexamine the buildings / hous-ing units which are essential-ly required for the LegislativeCapital and also suggestfuture course of act ionregarding unf inishedApartment units/bunga-lows/other essential build-ings for the Legislative capi-tal i.e., whether to fully exe-cute or to explore the meansfor reducing burden onexchequer,” said the GOissued on Thursday.

AP invaded, changed names of villages...Continued from Page 1

The Odisha government fur-ther claimed that administra-tively and otherwise, it hasbeen in control of these villagesbut of late clandestinely thecontemnors have entered intothe impugned act of contemptby which the order of this courthas been violated.

It further said that Jawaharlalhad on March 5, 2020, issuedvarious notifications to con-duct local body elections in theVizianagaram district in whichSalur is one of the Mandal,where the Panchayat electionwas also notified to be held onthe scheduled date.

"In the notification deliber-ately, contemnor-1 roped in

three villages from the KotiaGroup of villages' falling underthe territory of Koraput districtof Odisha into Salur Mandal ofVizianagaram district (AP).Clandestinely, the contemnorschanged the name of the threevillages of Kotia GramPanchayat," the Odisha govern-ment alleged.

It added: "Tactfully the con-temnors converted these threevillages of one Gram Panchayatfalling under territory ofOdisha to three different GramPanchayats. The three GramPanchayat created by the con-temnor were made part ofSalur Mandal."

Odisha said that althoughthe notification was issued onMarch 5, 2020, the contemnors

made sure that it was kept adeadly secret so that localauthority of the Petitioner Stateshall not get to know about it.Therefore, for these three self-created Gram Panchayats,nomination centre has beenkept at 20 kilometre away inthe district of Vizianagaram(AP) from these villages name-ly at GP Building(Sachivalayam) Kurukutti andGP Building (Sachivalayam)Thonam, the plea said.

The Odisha governmentsaid that out of the three GramPanchayats, Sarpanch andother members are electedunopposed in two. However, inone Gram Panchayat electionis to be conducted as perschedule.

That the contemnor tactful-ly issued the impugned notifi-cation and attempted to con-duct election during the pan-demic time when the entirestate machinery was engagedto fight Covid-19 pandemic.

"The impugned offendingaction of the contemnors onlycame to knowledge of the peti-tioner on February 2, 2021when the local Tahsildar wentfor a field visit to the 'KotiaGroup of Villages'," it said.

It said that the attempt onthe part of the contemnor toconduct election in the newlyself-named three villages per-taining to the territory of peti-tioner state is nothing but awilful attempt to sabotage thedictum of this court.

CS, DGP meetSEC, getpraise for...Continued from Page 1

Following the release of theelection notification, the SEChad ordered transfer of sev-eral senior officers, includingChittoor and Guntur collec-tors.

This has heated up theatmosphere between the gov-ernment and the ElectionCommission. In response tothis, Ramesh Kumar recent-ly said that he personally hasclose relations with the ChiefSecretary and the DGP.

According to sources, theatmosphere at the SEC'soffice was cordial and warm.

PNS n THAKURNAGAR (WB)

Union Home Minister AmitShah Thursday said the processof granting Indian citizenship torefugees under the CAA,including to the Matua com-munity of West Bengal, willbegin once the process ofCOVID vaccination has ended.

Accusing the opposition par-ties of misleading the minori-ties about the Citizenship(amendment) Act, he said, itsimplementation will not impactthe citizenship status of Indianminorities.

Shah said the Modi govern-ment had in 2018 promised itwill bring in a new citizenshiplaw and kept it when the BJPwas voted to power in 2019.

He said, after the country washit by the COVID-19 pan-demic in 2020, its implementa-tion had to be kept in abeyance.

"Mamata didi said we madea false promise. She startedopposing the CAA and sayingshe will never allow it. The BJPalways fulfils the promises itmakes. We have brought this

law and refugees will get citi-zenship.

"As soon as the COVID vac-cination process ends theprocess of granting citizenshipunder CAA will begin. All ofyou will be respected citizens ofthis country," he said, address-ing a rally here in the bastionof the Matua community.Matuas, originally from EastPakistan, are weaker sectionHindus who migrated to Indiaduring the Partition and afterthe creation of Bangladesh.Many of them have beenaccorded Indian citizenshipbut a sizeable section of thepopulation has not got it.

The Matua community, withan estimated population ofthree million in the state, can tilt

the scales in favour of a politi-cal party in at least four Lokseats and more than 30 assem-bly seats in Nadia, and Northand South 24 Parganas districts.It once stood solidly behind theTMC but had supported theBJP in the 2019 Lok Sabhapolls.

A section of state BJP lead-ership is apprehensive that thedelay and confusion over theimplementation of the CAAcould make them turn againstthe saffron party.

Shah asserted that Banerjeewill not be in a position tooppose implementation ofCAA as she will cease to be CM.

Mamata didi said we made afalse promise. She started

opposing the CAA andsaying she will never

allow it. The BJP always fulfilsthe promises it makes. We have

brought this law and refugeeswill get citizenship.

— AMIT SHAH

Union Home Minister

PNS n NEW DELHI

Over 26,100 Indian websiteswere hacked during 2020,compared to 24,768 websitesattacked in the previous year,Parliament was informed onThursday.

As per the informationreported to and tracked byIndian Computer EmergencyResponse Team (CERT-In), atotal number of 17,560; 24,768and 26,121 Indian websites

were hacked during the year2018, 2019 and 2020, respec-tively, Minister of State forCommunications andIT Sanjay Dhotresaid in a writtenreply to the RajyaSabha.

"There have beenattempts from time totime to launch cyber attacks onIndian cyberspace," he added.

Dhotre said it has beenobserved that attackers are

compromising computer sys-tems located in different partsof the world and use mas-querading techniques and hid-

den servers to hide the iden-tity of actual systems fromwhich the attacks are beinglaunched."According to the logs

analysed and made available toCERT-In, the Internet Protocol(IP) addresses of the comput-ers from where the attacksappear to be originated belong

to various countries includingAlgeria, Brazil, China, France,Indonesia, Netherlands, NorthKorea, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia,South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand,Tunisia, Turkey, USA, Vietnametc," the minister said.

Dhotre noted that CERT-Indevises response measures incoordination with its counter-part agencies in foreign coun-tries for resolution of incidentsinvolving systems outside thecountry.

26,121 Indian websites hacked in ’20

CAA will be implementedafter vaccination: Amit Shah

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Changing his tone, Leader ofthe Opposition NChandrababu Naidu onThursday strongly criticisedthe State Election Commissionfor 'failing' to prevent electionoffences, forced unanimousresults and false police casesagainst the Opposition leadersin the ongoing panchayat elec-tions.

He stated that TDP filed apetition in the High Courtagainst the election offencesbeing committed by thepolling staff in connivancewith the ruling party.

The tone of Naidu changedon Thursday as he accusedState Election CommissionerNimmagadda Ramesh Kumarof not restraining the YSRCPfrom making a mockery of theelections.

Naidu demanded that theSEC issue a fresh notificationfor conducting re-polling in allthe panchayats in the threeAssembly segments ofPunganur, Thamballapalle andMacherla. He alleged thatPanchayat Raj MinisterPeddireddy Ramachandra

Reddy and YSRCP leaderscommitted massive violationsin these segments to force anunprecedented number ofunanimous results. Naiduaccused the SEC of failing totake required action thoughthe ruling party leaders con-tinued their offences and madea 'mockery of the elections'.

He stated that there was nouse of the elections when theSEC could not create confi-dence among the people tocast votes in a free and fairmanner. Naidu also statedthat the TDP has written anumber of letters from time totime bringing to the notice ofthe SEC violations by theYSRCP but there was noexpected action.

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 12, 2021

SHORT TAKES

SUMIT ONKA n VISAKHAPATNAM

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy’s welfare programmesare not only a hit in his state butare also tempting people resid-ing in the disputed villages onthe Andhra Odisha border tocome under the jurisdiction ofthe Telugu state.

This is despite the SupremeCourt ordering status quo in

2006 on the disputed villagesincluding Kotiya, when both APand Odisha claimed them astheir territory.

When the villagers in Kotiyapanchayat were asked whythey were inclined towardsAndhra Pradesh, they rea-soned that their area wasneglected with no road commu-nication and other basic ameni-ties and faced an identity crisisdue to the dispute in the court.

“Hence, whoever takes care ofus, we will go to that side,” thevillagers said.

Citing an example, the vil-lagers said: “Jagananna AmmaVodi scheme provides Rs15,000 annually to mothersfor sending their kids toschool; free school bags, uni-

form, books and shoes for stu-dents and land patta and otherschemes, are a boon for the peo-ple. We want our children to get

these benefits and they can doso if they take residency docu-ments from AP.”

The villagers continued: “TheOdisha government is no doubtlaunching various developmen-tal projects and built roads butthat would not suffice.”

Some of the residents of thedisputed villages are said to havebeen keeping the voter identi-ty of both the states and availdual benefits too.

Recently, in a bid to attractthe villagers into its jurisdiction,the Odisha governmentunveiled projects worth over Rs150 crore.

Ores and natural resourcedeposits are said to be presentin and around the Kotiya area,located at the bottom of thehills. The possibility alsoremains high as it is also closeto the bauxite mines beingmined by NALCO in Koraput.

Jagan’s sops tempt disputed villages on AOB to AP fold

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Brushing aside allegations lev-elled by the Opposition on thestate's role in privatisation ofthe Visakhapatnam Steel Plant(VSP), the YSRCP onThursday said that the ChiefMinister has made his point ofview clear in his letter to thePrime Minister.

“The allegations that thestate is selling VSP to theKorean company POSCO arebaseless as it is the Centre thatgoverns the steel plant,” YSRCPspokesperson AmbatiRambabu told the media.

He affirmed that the stategovernment meeting repre-sentatives of POSCO was notregarding the steel plant but forinvestment options.

“The steel plant is a Centralgovernment undertaking andthere is no possibility of thestate government selling it toa private company,” Rambabusaid.

Refuting the allegations thatthe state government wasinvolved in talks with POSCOto sell the steel plant, Rambabusaid that representatives of thecompany had also met NChandrababu Naidu when hewas the chief minister forinvestments, and they metJagan to explore investmentopportunities.

He said that the Union gov-ernment has taken the decisionto privatise the steel plant in2018 when Naidu was thechief minister. Rambabu stat-ed that the steel plant was mak-ing profit until 2015, and start-ed running into losses duringthe TDP rule.

The MLA also slammedJana Sena supremo PawanKalyan for finding fault withthe letter written by Jagan tothe Central government urgingto reconsider the decision ofdisinvestment in Vizag SteelPlant.

He asked Pawan Kalyanwhether he took up the disin-vestment of steel plant issuewith Union Home MinisterAmit Shah during their meet-ing or was it for securing a tick-et in Tirupati by-election.

Rambabu said that it was the

responsibility of Pawan Kalyanto convince the Union govern-ment to change its decision onprivatisation of the VSP, sincehe is an ally of the BJP.

The YSRCP spokespersonreiterated that the ChiefMinister works only for thedevelopment of the state pri-oritising the interests of theState in the first place.

Rambabu said that the ChiefMinister in his letter to thePrime Minister suggested mea-sures to reduce the losses of thesteel plant. He wondered whyNaidu remained silent thenwhile the Union Governmentwas considering disinvesting inVSP.

Speaking in regard to localbody polls, he said that YSRCPwill win over 90 percent of theseats, and TDP will be con-fined to less than 10 percent.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP MLC Nara Lokeshon Thursday slammed theYSRCP Government,accusing it of 'not bringingpressure' on the CentralGovernment to stall theongoing privatisation ofthe Vizag Steel Plantdespite the increasingintensity of protests fromthe people.

Lokesh asserted that thesteel plant should remainin Government control,considering how the APpeople waged prolongedagitations and farmers sac-rificed thousands of acresof their ancestral landsfor it.

“The Jagan regime isplaying a dubious role inthe whole privatisationplan,” he alleged.

Lokesh visited SriLakshmi NarasimhaSwamy temple inMangalagiri.

Lokesh: Govtnot doingenough

Vizianagaramcops catchtemple thieves

State has no role in VSPprivatisation: Ambati PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

To engage citizens to givetheir inputs in the civic bodybudget, the GreaterVisakhapatnam MunicipalCorporation has launched a‘’My City My Budget’’ cam-paign.

GVMC’s budget for Vizagcity is around Rs 4,000 croreand involvement of the publicwill help the corporation takeup the projects suitable for thepeople.

Citizens can give the topthree priorities they want thebudget to be utilised fromoptions such as Roads, WasteManagement, Water Supply,Stormwater Drain, Streetlights,Footpaths, Public Toilets,Parks and Playground andAir Quality.

GVMC and JanaagrahaCentre For CitizenshipDemocracy (JCCD) enteredinto a three-year MoU for

urban transformation.Janaagraha will be workingwith the GVMC to introducea participatory budget processfor citizens ‘MyCityMyBudget’and other initiatives tostrengthen city finances.

“MyCityMyBudget enablescitizens to provide budgetinputs through WardSachivalayam supported byward volunteers that willinform the city budget andreflect citizens’ aspirations forthe city and their neighbour-hood. Starting from February11, citizens are encouraged togive their inputs eitherthrough the ward volunteersor by onlinehttps://www.janaagraha.org/vizag” said Srinivas Alavilli,Head Civic Participation,Janaagraha.

Srinivas said thatJanaagraha will work withGVMC on three major aspectslike participatory budget in

which citizens will play a keyrole in making the city budget.They will also undertake astudy on GVMC finances andwork towards improving itsfinancial health. Apart fromthis, the effort will be toimprove GVMC’s own rev-enues using technical analysisand process improvements.

“We believe that when citi-zens engage constructivelywith City Corporation, byparticipating in budget cre-ation, they become an integralpart of city governance. Wehope to be part of the transfor-mation that offers superiorquality of life to every citizenin Vizag,” said Srinivas.

The ‘MyCityMyBudget’campaign was launched byJanaagraha, as a pilot projectin 2015, in a few wards inBengaluru. That year, theyreceived 6,037 citizen inputson how the BBMP budgetcould be utilised.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Retired employees of AndhraPradesh Government are get-ting increasingly worried overthe delay in releasing theirpensions for February andhave appealed to ChiefSecretary Adityanath Das tointervene and get the fundsreleased.

In a statement on Thursday,Pensioners’ Association pres-ident Alfred and other leadersBopparaju and YV Rao notedthat this has been the casealmost every month of late.“On a number of occasions,the finance department offi-cials were impressed upon torelease pension first andsalaries to the governmentemployees later but, in vain,”they said.

In all four-lakh odd pen-sioners used to receive pensionon the 1st of every month.Sometimes, payment wasdelayed for two or three daysdue to unforeseen or unavoid-able circumstances, they said.

However, of late there is noguarantee when the pension-ers would receive their pensionevery month. As far asFebruary was concerned, manypensioners in the state are yetto receive pension even 11 daysof the month have elapsed.

The pensioners have beenwaiting to receive the pension

to meet various expenses dur-ing the prevailing pandemicperiod.

Earlier, the AP JACAmaravati had urged theFinance Minister to pay thegovernment staff only after dis-bursing pension because theemployees would be able toraise loans against their job,whereas it was not the casewith pensioners.

The Finance departmentofficials implemented the sug-gestions just for one or twomonths. “A majority of thepensioners in the state do notreceive their pension on the 1stof every month. This is attrib-uted to failure of the financedepartment,” they said.

Delay in disbursement ofretirement benefits, securingGPF loans, payments of sur-render leaves and other billshave piled up in the Finance

department for months togeth-er, pending clearance by theFinance Secretary.

“Consequently, pensionersare worried and forced toborrow money from privatelenders and are finding it dif-ficult to pay interest on thefunds borrowed. Some otherpensioners have postponedcelebration of family occa-sions pending clearance oftheir bills,” they said.

The matter was brought tothe notice of the ChiefSecretary by AP JACAmaravati who promised thedelegation to hold a meetingof Finance Department offi-cials to discuss the problem.

The pensioners reiteratedtheir demand appealing tothe CS to issue orders to paythe pensioners first and takesteps to clear the pendingbills.

SNV SUDHIRn VISAKHAPATNAM

Andhra Pradesh has until nowspent a meagre Rs 169.85crore of the total Rs 905 crorecollected in the last five years— ever since District MineralFoundations (DMF) wereestablished across the state.

DMF is a trust set up as anon-profit body to work forthe interest and the benefit ofpersons and areas affected bymining-related operations inthe districts affected by themining works. It is fundedthrough contributions fromthe holder of major or minormineral concessions in thedistrict where mining opera-tions have been taken up.

The Union Ministry ofMines issued guidelines onSeptember 17, 2015 and theState Governments wereinstructed to incorporate theseguidelines into the rulesframed by them for theDistrict Mineral Foundation.

As per the guidelines, min-ing affected areas have been

classified into directly andindirectly affected areas. It isalso stipulated for spending 60percent of the funds on worksin High Priority Areas whichdeal with improving the basichuman development index inthe areas directly affected bymining.

As per the data accessedfrom the Union Ministry ofMines, as many as 11,011mining projects, both majorand mineral, have been sanc-tioned in AP. As per theamendment of the Mines andMinerals (Development andRegulation) Act in 2015,DMFs were established in allthe 13 districts of the state.

Until now Kadapa, Kurnooland Krishna districts havereceived the highest contribu-tions with Rs 217.79 crore, Rs157.12 crore, and Rs 102.09crore respectively among allthe districts.

DMFs of Kurnool, Kadapaand Prakasam had utilisedmore funds among others at Rs49.21 crore, Rs 27.82 crore, andRs 19.65 crore respectively.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Tensions prevailed at theProddutur vegetable marketin Kadapa district onThursday when civic bodyofficials went with a JCB todemolish rooms in the mar-ket.

The traders tried to pre-vent the municipal officialsfrom demolishing the roomsin the marketplace, leading toa scuffle between the twosides.

Following this, theMunicipal commissionerlodged a complaint withCircle Inspector Nagarajuthat the traders had peltedstones on the civic body offi-cials.

Following this, police per-sonnel were deployed at themarket.

Meanwhile, local MLARachamallu Shiva PrasadReddy reached the spot andenquired about the situationthere. Demolition work iscurrently underway in themarket.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Enabled by the CCTVinstalled in the temple, theVizianagaram police arrestedfour persons, including threejuveniles, for stealing moneyfrom temples. The accusedwere also involved in theft inshopping malls inVizianagaram.

Vizianagaram police chiefB Raja Kumari said that someunidentified persons enteredthe Maridamma templelocated at Rangaraju Street inthe Town on February 8 bybreaking the locks anddecamped with the offeringsto the temple.

The police, led byInspector of One-Townpolice station J Murali, inves-tigated the case by examiningthe CCTV footage at thetemple and a few other loca-tions.

The police observed thattwo persons gained entryinto the temple anddecamped with the hundi.The police identified one ofthe accused as Durga Prasad,a habitual offender, who wasarrested in 2000 for thefts.Durga Prasad confessed thathe along with three juvenilescommitted the propertyoffences at few other places inthe Town.

The police recovered Rs1,000 cash, the stolen hundi,two bikes and other valuablesfrom the accused.

Teach a lessonto YSRCP:TDP PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Telugu Rythu state presi-dent Marreddy SrinivasaReddy on Thursdayappealed to the voters inthe State to teach a lessonto the Jaganmohan Reddyregime for its “multiplemisdeeds and atrocities” inits 20 months of ‘misrule’.

Srinivasa Reddy allegedthat the YSRCP has destr-oyed the future of AP,attacked Constitutionalinstitutions and threwlakhs of constructionworkers and their familieson the roads without anywork opportunities. “Theartificial sand shortage hasruined the constructionindustry and demolishedthe common man's dreamof building a house for hisfamily,” he said.

Elaborate arrangements forphase-II of local body pollsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The police department hasmade elaborate arrangementsfor the smooth conduct of thesecond phase of the gram pan-chayat polls, said SP MRavindranath Babu here onThursday.

Informing the media aboutthe various measures andarrangement made for con-ducting the second phase pollspeacefully in Gudivada rev-enue division, the SP said thatpolling will be held in ninemandals of the division(Gudivada, Gudlavalleru,Mudinepalli, Kalidindi,Kaikaluru, Mandavalli,Nandivada, Peddaparupudiand Pamarru)

The elections for the secondphase will be conducted on thelines of phase one in 211 grampanchayats in 2,008 pollingcentres in 466 polling loca-tions. As many as 118 sensitivepolling locations have beenidentified, of which 93 havebeen designated ‘very sensitive’.

Section 144, Act 30 will be

in force at all the police centresand the red zone will be main-tained 100 metres from thepolling centre, said the SP andadded that special focus iskept on sensitive and verysensitive polling centres.

The SP said that duringchecks as part of election code,Rs 1.48 crore in cash, 20 gramsgold, 23 kg silver, 23,927 liquorbottles, 1,810 ID liquor, 630 kgjaggery and 76,239 litres ofjaggery wash was seized. Also,12 cases of violating electioncode were booked, he said.

In all 4,104 bind over caseswere filed in 716 cases.

Bandobast is provided at thepolling stations by deploying1,704 police personnel and1,068 staff.

VIJAYAWADA: Anti Corruption Bureau sleuths on Thursday uneartheddisproportionate assets from Koneru Sai Krishna, the Superintendent cumAuditor in the office of Commissioner of Intermediate Education, Guntur,following a raid at his residence at Patamatalanka in Vijayawada.The ACB officials conducted simultaneous searches at 8 places inVijayawada, Guntur and Hyderabad belonging to Sai Krishna and his familymembers, relatives and friends.The ACB officials said that Sai Krishna was appointed as Allwyn worker(redeployment) on May 03, 1993, subsequently he was promoted as ajunior assistant on May 3, 1996 and as senior assistant on March 18, 2013and superintendent on June 5, 2015 and is working in Deportment ofIntermediate Education.During the course of searches, it was revealed that Sri Krishna and hisfamily members were in possession of three houses, five flats, four vehicles,1,279 grams of gold, household articles worth Rs 14 lakh anddisproportionate assets worth approximately Rs 2.19 crore.

ACB snares officer from Guntur

Vizagites to decide theircivic body budget allocation

DMFs in AP collected`905cr, spent `169cr

SEC failed to check pollviolations, alleges Naidu

Traders blockdemolition at Proddutur

VIJAYAWADA: An IIIT-Nuzvid student died by suicide in his hostel room inKrishna district on Thursday. The victim was identified as T Parameshwar, a resident of Gojalam village ofS Kota Mandal in Vizianagaram district. He was a student of PUC secondyear and took the extreme step of hanging himself from the ceiling fan in hishostel room.Other students and the security personnel noticed Parameshwar hangingfrom the ceiling fan and immediately shifted him to the general hospital inNuzvid. After examining, the doctors declared him dead.Nuzvid inspector Narayana registered a case and started investigations. Thereason behind the student taking the extreme step is not yet known.

IIIT-Nuzvid student ends life

VIJAYAWADA: ACB sleuths on Thursday caught red-handed K Devatha,VRO serving at Mulagapudi Village, Rowthulapudi mandal in East Godavaridistrict while he was accepting a bribe.According to the ACB, Devatha demanded and accepted the bribe amount ofRs 5,000 for processing the application for mutation of seven acres of landof the complainant B Veera Nagababu of Annavaram village in East Godavaridistrict.Alerted by the complainant, the ACB sleuths laid a trap on Thursday andcaught him red-handed at MRO office, Rowthulapudi mandal.Chemical tests conducted on the fingers of both hands of the AO and innersurface of his hand bag yielded positive results. The bribe amount wasrecovered from the hand bag.The accused officer was arrested and produced before the Special Judge forSPE & ACB cases, Rajahmundry. The case is under investigation.

VRO caught taking bribe

HYDERABAD: The Valentine's Day which is better known as the day ofinternational love, attracts a lot of organisations who find different ways andmeans to harass the young couples celebrating their love on differentlocations. On the eve of Valentine's Day, Bajrang Dal has warned the youthto stay away from celebrating Valentine's Day in any form. Just like everyyear, this year also moral policing will take place on February 14, whereyouth will be facing harassments on celebrating the occasion. Bajrang Dalactivists do not believe in celebrating Valentine's Day, rather according tothem it is against the Indian culture. This is not the first time that suchwarnings have been given to the youngsters, even last year the activists ofthis organisation assaulted and misbehaved with the youth on celebratingValentine's Day. In the past, the Bajrang Dal activists caught many couplesfrom public places on the V-day and attacked them. As part of its yearlydemand, the Bajrang Dal's state unit on Wednesday demanded the stategovernment to put a ban on the upcoming Valentine's Day celebrations onFebruary 14 of this month. The activists from the group released a poster onthe issue in the city. Addressing media persons on the occasion, staffconvenor of Bajrang Dal, Subash Chander, said that they would organise theburning of Valentine's Day greeting cards on February 12. He said that theywould instead organise an 'Amar Jawan Diwas' programme on the same dayto pay tributes to the martyrs of the country.

Will marry off lovers on V Day, says Bajrang Dal

Pensions pending, pensionersget increasingly anxious

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 12, 2021 telangana 04

PNS n WARANGAL RURAL

Warangal Rural District YouthCongress president KoyadaSrinivas warned of laying siegeto the Assembly if ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raodid not implement the unem-ployment dole immediately.

The Chief Minister hadfailed to implement thepromises he had made in theelection manifesto, he said. Hereminded that he hadpromised to render justice tothe youth by providing jobs tothem, but left the youth in thelurch by not issuing recruit-ment notifications. Furthermore, he demanded that theCentral government repeal

the new farm laws, as they willnot benefit the farmers.

Youth Congress leaderGundala Kranti, general secretaryAnil Yadav, Raj Kumar, MadhavaReddy, SC Cell mandal presidentand others were present.

CAPSULE

‘Make arrangementsfor VasanthaPanchami'

Govt to construct

hotel at

Madikonda IT Park

PNS n MEDAK

Devotees offered prayers toGoddess Vanadurga Bhavanito mark the MaghamaAmavasya at the famousEdupayala shrine on the banksof the River Manjira. MedakMLA Padma Devender Reddyand Narsapur MLA MadanReddy performed pujas andrituals on the occasion onThursday.

Earlier, temple priests wel-comed the MLAs with templehonours. Temple executiveofficer Sara Srinivas felicitat-ed the MLAs with shawls.Speaking on the occasion,Padma Devender Reddy saidthat everything will be fine ifone takes a holy dip in theriver on Magha AmavasyaParva.

It is believed that taking aholy dip in Yedupayala, a trib-utary of Manjira, on MaghaAmavasya is sacred.Vanadurga Mata temple isbeing developed with specialcare. In addition to building a

convention centre, construc-tion of CC roads is underway.She recalled that ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao had recently sanctionedRs 12.31 crore for the con-struction of CC road from

Potam Shetty Palli toEdupayala. The road will becompleted ahead of MahaShivaratri Jatara for the conve-nience of devotees.

The Medak MLA said thatshe would take the lead in the

development of the temple incoordination with MLAMadan Reddy.

Devotees from across theMedak district, includingHyderabad, neighbouringStates of Maharashtra and

Karnataka, came in large num-bers to pay obeisance toGoddess Bhavani. Policebeefed up security to preventany untoward incident on thetemple premises and in sur-rounding areas.

MLAs pay obeisance to Durga Bhavani at Edupayala Jataran It is believed that taking

a holy dip in Yedupayala,a tributary of Manjira, onMagha Amavasya issacred.

n Medak MLA recalledthat Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao hadrecently sanctioned Rs12.31 crore for theconstruction of CC roadfrom Potam Shetty Pallito Edupayala. The roadwill be completed aheadof Maha Shivaratri Jatara

n Devotees from acrossthe Medak district,including Hyderabad,neighbouring States ofMaharashtra andKarnataka, came in largenumbers to payobeisance to GoddessBhavani. Police beefedup security to preventany untoward incidenton the temple premisesand in surrounding areas

Medak MLA Padma Devender Reddy offers silk robes to Goddess Bhavani

Devotees taking a holy dip in the Edupayala, the tributary of the River Manjira

A large number of devotees throngEdupayala Jatara in Medak on Thursday

PNS n HYDERABAD

Tacit understanding betweenthe TRS and the MIM came tothe fore yet again with the lattersupport to the TRS in theGHMC Mayor and DeputyMayor elections held onThursday, alleged BJP State unitchief Bandi Sanjay Kumar.

He reminded that his state-ment during the GHMC pollshas proved correct. He opinedthat the TRS would have won afew seats in case the TRS and theMIM contested GHMC electionswithout understanding.

The TRS steering certainlywould be in the hands of theMIM in the GHMC, he opinedalleging that both the parties wereindulged in campaign shameless-ly during the GHMC electionsthat they are separate.

He opined that both the par-ties would have allied openly ifthey wanted to do ethical politics.Both the parties are hatching a

conspiracy to loot theBhagyanagar, he criticised statingthat the BJP will protect its cor-porators. Sanjay made it clear thatthey will pull the TRS and MIMto the streets if they indulged incorruption and encroachment oflands in GHMC limits. He saidthat the people of the Statewould not tolerate the TRS’cheap politics anymore and readyto give a shock treatment when-ever they get an opportunity. BJP

MLA Raja Singh alleged the TRSdeceived the people telling liesand took the support of the MIMfor the Mayor election.

Why the MIM, which statedthat it will field its candidates forthe Mayor and the DeputyMayor elections, backtracked,and supported the TRS now, hequestioned?

Nizamabad MP DharmapuriArvind alleged that the secretagreement between KCR and

MIM’s chief Asaduddin Owaisicame to light with the Mayor'selection. Exuding confidenceover the victory of the BJP ingraduate MLC elections andNagarjunasagar bypoll, Arvindalleged that KCR is an anthill ofcorruption.

Vijayashanthi said that whatshe predicted happened in theMayor and Deputy Mayor elec-tions. She alleged that the TRSand the MIM is Siamese and

they proved it in GHMC Mayorpolls.

GHMC MAYOR POLLS

n The TRS steering would bein the hands of the MIM inthe GHMC, alleged BJPState unit chief BandiSanjay Kumar

n BJP MLA Raja Singh saidthe TRS deceived thepeople by telling lies andtook the support of theMIM for the Mayorelection

n The secret agreementbetween KCR and MIM’schief Asaduddin Owaisicame to light with theMayor election, lamentedNizamabad MPDharmapuri Arvind

n Vijayashanthi said that theTRS and the MIM areSiamese and they provedit in GHMC Mayor polls

TRS struck secret deal with MIM: BJPPNS n HYDERABAD

The selection of GadwalaVijayalaxmi as the new Mayorof GHMC surprised the TRSleaders and newly-elected cor-porators as once again ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raohas given a chance to a corpo-rator from Munnuru Kapucommunity though there aremany corporators elected fromthe Reddy community.

Many expected that theMayor's post will be given to aReddy candidate. Several cor-porators from the Reddy com-munity (like Sindhu AdarshReddy, Manne Kavitha Reddy,P Vijaya Reddy, Mothe SrilathaReddy and others) approachedthe Chief Minister and TRSworking president and ITMinister KT Rama Rao.However, the party Chief KCRhas given an opportunity toTRS secretary general KKeshava Rao’s (Munnuru Kapu)daughter and Banjara Hillscorporator GadwalaVijayalaxmi, though she mar-ried a Reddy.

It is learnt that KTR, too, bat-ted for the candidature of a cor-porator from the Reddy com-munity for Mayoral post, how-ever, KCR has given a big sur-prise to the party leaders andopponent parties, too, by givinga chance to Vijayalaxmi.

Many assumed that the ChiefMinister may not give a chanceto Munnuru Kapu corporatoras former GHMC MayorBonthu Rammohan was fromthe same community. Evenparty leaders stated that theTRS working president didn’tlook happy on Thursday on the

day the Mayor election washeld.

The discussion is going on inthe state that the selection ofcorporator from MunnuruKapu community by the TRShappened only keeping BJPchief Bandi Sanjay Kumar inview. Bandi Sanjay Kumar isfrom the Munnuru Kapu com-munity and became a headachefor the TRS after becomingTelangana BJP chief. EvenBandi Sanjay Kumar defeatedTRS candidate Boinpally VinodKumar, who is from the Velamacommunity, in MP electionsfrom Karimnagar, which is thebastion of the Velamas.

One of the TRS leaders stat-ed that selection of Vijayalaxmiwill help the TRS to give an

impression that even the TRS isalso giving top priority toMunnuru Kapus and BCsassuming that many MunnuruKapus are inclining towards theBJP after Bandi Sanjay wasappointed the Telangana BJPchief.

Munnuru Kapus are in largenumbers in Telangana State andare active in politics and they willgive a tough competition to anycommunity if they unite like theVelama community. As of now,Munnuru Kapus are not united.However, Munnuru Kapus willbecome a strong political forceif they are united, he opined. TheChief Minister succeeded inattracting the Reddy communi-ty by giving their leaders top pri-ority in the party, he reminded.

ELECTION OF GADWALA VIJAYALAXMI AS MAYOR

Is KCR wooing MunnuruKapu leaders to check Sanjay?

n Many expected that the Mayor post will be given to a Reddycandidate. Several corporators from the Reddy community(like Sindhu Adarsh Reddy, Manne Kavitha Reddy, P VijayaReddy, Mothe Srilatha Reddy and others) approached theChief Minister and TRS working president and IT Minister KTRama Rao

n However, party Chief KCR picked TRS secretary general K Keshava Rao’s (Munnuru Kapu) daughter and BanjaraHills corporator Gadwala Vijayalaxmi, though she married aReddy

IMPLEMENTATION OF DOLE

K VENKATESHWARLU

n HYDERABAD

The GHMC Mayor post haslost its sheen for the past sev-eral years. Whatever the rea-sons might be, but the leadersand other people are expect-ing more from the newlyelected Mayor to bring backthe lost glory to the post.

In the past particularly duringdirect elections, the Mayor hasgreat importance as the personsitting in the seat is consideredas the first citizen of Hyderabad,however, it had lost its sheenafter indirect elections.Everybody used to accord toppriority in terms of protocol anddevelopment of the city.However, the Mayor's positionhas become a political positionlosing its honour year after yearwhere the Hyderabad city isspreading leaps and bounds.

Speaking to The Pioneer,AICC official spokespersonDasoju Sravan said that theMayor should work like the firstcitizen of Hyderabad and not likea puppet in the hands of the gov-ernment. BJP senior leader NIndrasena Reddy said that thethen Congress government hadstarted reducing the powers ofMayor and it reached now to itspeak. The new Mayor has towork with proper plans regard-ing policies and budget, he said.

Mass Communication andJournalism head Prof Stevenson,said: “The new Mayor shouldwork towards transforming thecity into a global city. As the firstcitizen of Hyderabad, she shouldrise above partisan politics andaddress the concerns of thelowest denominators. Sheshould be above the corruptionand ensure speedy redressal ofpeople's grievances.”

BJP MP D ArvindBJP leader Vijayashanthi BJP MLA Raja Singh

Gadwala Vijayalaxmi Bandi sanjay

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Polavaram project, the lifeline ofAndhra Pradesh, has reached yet anoth-er milestone with the completion of spill-way pillars construction on Thursday.

With this, the dream of the people willbe realised soon. The government waskeen on completing the project in thestipulated time. Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy and the ministersare reviewing the progress of the projectregularly and directing the authoritiesconcerned to complete the works at abrisk pace.

The Megha Engineering andInfrastructure Limited (MEIL) is work-ing on three shifts to complete the pro-

ject. The spillway, which is useful torelease the floodwaters, requires the con-struction of 52-metre-high pillars. Theconstruction of 'Fish Ladder' in the sec-ond block of the spillway delayed theconstruction of the second pillar due toa delay in approvals for its designs.

With the approval of all the designsrecently, the MEIL has completed theconstruction of all the pillars to a slablevel of an average height of 52 metres.

Bridge slab works on spillway pillars arenearing completion.

Satish Babu Angara, GeneralManager, MEIL, said, "We are happy toannounce the completion of 52 pillarsconstruction work. We also construct thesecond pillar to a height of 52 metres assoon as the design required for theinstallation of the fish ladder wasapproved. This completes the construc-tion of 52 pillars on the Polavaram pro-ject spillway. The project was delayeddue to heavy rains, floods and COVID-19. In these challenging conditionsalso, we can complete the works as perthe schedule. We are confident of reach-ing the goal."

The MEIL has begun the Polavaram

project concrete works on November 21,2019. The spillway bridge slab length is1,128 metres, and 1,095 metres havealready been completed. Out of 192 gird-ers to be placed on the spillway pillars,the MEIL already installed 188 girderson the pillars. Only four girders are tobe placed on the pillars.

The Megha Engineering has complet-ed the spillway works less than fourmonths of record time. The spillwaybridge slab concreting works werelaunched on September 9, 2020. In July2020, it began installing girders on spill-way pillars. In all, 45 slabs have beencompleted on the spillway bridge and theremaining three slabs are ready to becompleted in a short time.

PNS n JAGTIAL

Chief Minister K Chandra sekharRai is according priority to thesafety and welfare of physicallychallenged, said Minister forScheduled Castes Development,Minority and PhysicallyChallenged Welfare KoppulaEshwar.

The minister on Thursdayvisited the Bhagwan MahaveerVikalang Sahayata Samithi in

Jaipur. Inspired by the teachingsof Lord Mahavira, the non-prof-it organisation was founded in1975, which provides free pros-thetic limbs to the physically chal-lenged. The minister and a teamof officials examined the manu-facture and performance of pros-theses.The minister met the man-agers and enquired about theorganisation's aspirations andongoing service. Speaking on theoccasion, the minister said that

Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao is takingnecessary steps for enhancing theself-respect of the physically chal-lenged, their security and welfare.

“We are providing a pension ofRs 3,016 per month like nowhereelse in the country. We are pro-viding tricycles, wheelchairs, lap-tops, hearing aids and 4G smart-phones worth Rs 90,000 free ofcost to physically challenged,” theminister stated.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Circle of the postaldepartment on Thursdayissued a notification to recruit1150 gramin dak sevaks on anad hoc basis.

The gramin dak sevaks willwork in the rural areas wherethere is no access to post-offices.

Those who are appointedbranch post master are entitledto receive Rs 14,500 if theywork for five hours and Rs12,000 per month if they workfor only four hours a day. Thesalary of assistant branch postmaster/gramin dak sevak is atRs 12,000 if they work for fivehours a day and will receive atRs 10,000 a month if theywork for four hours.

1150 gramindak sevaks tobe recruited

‘Mayor needs to rise above politics’

Dasoju Sravan

N Indrasena Reddy

n Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddyand the ministers are reviewing theprogress of the project regularly anddirecting the authorities concernedto complete the works at a briskpace

CONSTRUCTION OF POLAVARAM SPILLWAY PILLARS

MEIL reaches yet another milestone

PNS nHYDERABAD

YS Sharmila is set to holdAtmeeya Sammelan with YSRfans belonging to Khammamdistrict on February 20. YSR hasa good number of fans and fol-lowers in the district if theYSRCP winning an MP seat andthree Assembly seats in the dis-trict was any indication.

Sharmila is going to treadcarefully in enrolling the people.Youth and freshers would receivepriority. Her party name istipped to be YSRTP. She is goingto announce her party name in March.

Sharmila tomeet Khammamdistrict leaders

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

The backbone of any party isits party activist, as per theorders issued by ChiefMinister K ChandrashekarRao, the party workers mustcomplete the membershipdrive within 15 days,appealed HealthMinister EtelaRajender onThursday.

The ministerattended theHuzurabad constituen-cy TRS party meeting held inJammikunta of Karimnagardistrict on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion,Eatala Rajendar said that hekept a target of enrolling at

least one lakh members in theparty during the membershipdrive in the Huzurabad con-stituency and the party work-ers must strive hard to fulfil it.

After giving a membershipto a person, he said it is the

TRS in the country, whichstood by the party

workers. Whileenrolling the peopleas members, theparty leaders shouldnot make any mis-

takes, as if they faceany problems in the

future, the mistake, whichwas made during the member-ship drive, will not help them.

If anyone takes active mem-bership, they will be given aspecial identity card.

Workers backbone of party:Eatala

PNS n NIRMAL

Collector Musharraf AliFaruqui asked the authoritiesconcerned on Thursday tomake the requiredarrangements for VasanthaPanchami festivities at theancient Sri Jnana SaraswathiDevathanam of Basar fromFebruary 14 to 16.Addressing a review meetingwith officials of the templeand other departments here,Faruqui instructed theexecutive officer of the templeVinod and others to makeelaborate arrangements forthe devotees and ensuresmooth conduct of thefestivities with strictimplementation of Covid-19pandemic guidelines. He toldthe authorities to createdrinking water, lighting andmedical facilities at the shrine.

PNS n WARANGAL RURAL

Stressing on the need for athree-star hotel nearMadikonda IT Park underGreater Warangal MunicipalCorporation (GWMC) limits,Minister for Panchayat Raj andRural Development ErrabelliDayakar Rao has directed theofficials concerned to identify10 acres of land for the hotel.He also directed the officials tocomplete the land acquisitionprocess for construction ofInner Ring Road (IRR) andOuter Ring Road (ORR) at theearliest and complete theworks within the deadlinewithout compromising onquality. Addressing officials ata review meeting on thedevelopment of Warangal cityat his camp office inHanamakonda on Thursday,Dayakar Rao directed theofficials to undertake floodrelief works worth Rs 100crore by completing thetendering process. The bio-mining works at the dumpingyard at Madikonda (Rampur)at a cost of Rs 36 crore shouldalso be started, he said.

People’s welfare is govt’spriority, says ChallaPNS n WARANGAL RURAL

The TRS will protect everyactivist, who works for thestrengthening of the party,asserted Parkal MLA ChallaDharma Reddy. The TRSwas emerged as the undis-puted party in the Stateunder the leadership of partypresident and Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhar Rao.

Former Telangana StateAgros chairmanLingampally Kishan Raoand Telangana State TRS

party secretary MettuSrinivas were present at theparty meeting here onThursday.

The Chief Minister ismoving ahead with the aimof public welfare as the mainagenda. The people of theState are living happilyunder his rule. The govern-ment is credited with deliv-ering the fruits directly tothe beneficiaries, he said. Healleged that the Oppositionwas indulging in mud-sling-ing for their political gain.

Minister enquires about ‘Jaipur foot’ in Rajasthan

Minority and Physically Challenged WelfareKoppula Eshwar interacting with an official at theBhagwan Mahaveer Vikalang Sahayata Samithion Thursday where 'Jaipur foot' being made

Warangal YC chiefwarns of layingsiege to Assembly

Warangal Rural District YouthCongress president Koyada Srinivasaddressing a meeting in Warangal onThursday

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 12, 2021 nation 05

PNS n NEW DELHI

Under the India-China agree-ment on the disengagementprocess in eastern Ladakh, theChinese army will pull back itstroops to east of Finger 8 areasin the northern bank ofPangong lake, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh said inParliament on Thursday, inwhat is seen as a significantstep to dial down tensions inthe key face-off site.

Reciprocally, the defenceminister said, Indian troopswill be based at their perma-nent location at Dhan SinghThapa post near Finger 3 areas.

Singh's statement clearlyimplied that the areas betweenthe Indian position in Finger 3and Finger 8 will effectivelybecome a no patrolling zone tilla resolution on future deploy-ment is reached, defenceexperts said.

The Chinese military builtseveral bunkers and otherstructures in the areas betweenFinger 4 and 8 and had blockedall Indian patrols beyondFinger 4, triggering strongreaction from the Indian Army.

In the nine rounds of mili-tary talks, India was specifical-ly insisting on withdrawal ofChinese troops from Finger 4to Finger 8 on the North bankof Pangong Lake. The moun-tain spurs in the area arereferred to as Fingers.

Dr Laxman Behera, associ-

ate professor at the NationalSecurity Centre in JawaharlalNehru University described assignificant the announcementthat Chinese army will pullback troops to Finger 8 areas.

"It is a significant develop-ment. I think it will be a majorstep in taking forward theoverall disengagement processthough it came verylate,"Behera told PTI.

In his address in RajyaSabha, the defence ministersaid similar action would betaken in the South bank of thePangong lake areas by bothsides.

Around five months ago,Indian troops occupied a num-ber of strategic heights in theMukhpari, Rechin La and

Magar hill areas around thesouthern bank of the Pangonglake after the Chinese militaryattempted to intimidate themin the area.

"A similar action would betaken in the South bank area byboth sides. These are mutualand reciprocal steps and anystructures that had been builtby both sides since April 2020in both North and South bankareas will be removed and thelandforms will be restored," thedefence minister said.

He said it was also agreed tohave a temporary moratoriumon military activities by bothsides in the North bank ofPangong lake includingpatrolling to the traditionalareas.

"Patrolling will be resumedonly when both sides reach anagreement in diplomatic andmilitary talks that would beheld subsequently.The imple-mentation of this agreementstarted yesterday in the Northand South Bank of the PangongLake," he said.

Singh said it was also agreedto hold the next meeting ofSenior Commanders of thetwo armies within 48 hoursafter complete disengagementin Pangong lake areas to resolveany remaining issues.

In addition, the Chinese sidehad mobilised a large numberof troops and armaments alongthe LAC as well as in the depthareas. Our armed forces too hadmade adequate and effectivecounter deployments in theseareas to ensure that India'ssecurity interests were fullyprotected.

In his address, Singh alsopresented a genesis of thestandoff and said the Chineseside had mobilised a largenumber of troops and arma-ments along the LAC as well as

in the depth areas, addingIndian armed forces too hadmade adequate and effectivecounter deployments to ensurethat India's security interestswere fully protected

"I am proud to say that ourarmed Forces have respondedto the challenges posed by theunilateral Chinese action andhave shown valour and courageon both South and North bankof Pangong Tso," he said.

"Many strategically impor-tant points were identifiedand our troops positionedthemselves at those hill topsand at locations which werevery important from our pointof view. It is because of thisgreat bravery of our ArmedForces in the face of harshadverse climatic conditionsthat we maintained the edge,"Singh said.

He said the Armed Forcesproved yet again that territor-ial integrity of India remainssafe in their hands and theirgrit and determination to safe-guard our borders is unwaver-ing.

China to move troops to ‘Finger 8’The Chinese military built severalbunkers and other structures in theareas between Finger 4 and 8 and hadblocked all Indian patrols beyondFinger 4, triggering strong reactionfrom the Indian Army.

PNS n COOCHBEHAR

Branding West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee a"failed administrator", UnionHome Minister Amit ShahThursday said the upcomingassembly elections in the statewill be a contest betweenNarendra Modi's "developmentmodel" and her "destructionmodel". He said the BJP's'Parivartan Yatra' is not forchanging a chief minister, MLAor minister but ending infiltra-tion and transforming WestBengal's condition.

Addressing a rally in thisNorth Bengal town, he said theyatra is also aimed at endingcorruption patronised by "Bua-Bhatija" combine. The BJP hasbeen accusing Banerjee andher nephew Abhishek, the LokSabha MP from DiamondHarbour, of "institutionalisingcorruption".

He also spoke about thekilling of BJP workers andwarned that the perpetratorswill be thrown behind bars.

Claiming that MamataBanerjee will not be the ChiefMinister after May (by when theassembly elections will get over),Shah said she too would startchanting "Jai Shri Ram" bythen.

"This 'Parivartan Yatra' is notfor changing a CM, MLA or aminister. It is for ending infiltra-tion, it is for ending violence andbuilding 'Sonar Bangla', it's for

the transformation of Bengal."You vote the BJP to power

in Bengal. Leave alone illegalimmigrants, not even a birdfrom across the border will beallowed to enter the state,"Shah said addressing a rallybefore flagging off the fourth ofthe five 'Parivartan Yatras'planned by the BJP ahead of theassembly polls.

Shah claimed large-scale

infiltration into Coochbehardistrict, which shares borderwith Bangladesh, has causedsignificant changes in itsdemography.

The upcoming assemblypolls, he said, will be a fightbetween the "Vikas (develop-ment) model of the NarendraModi government and MamataBanerjee's Vinash (destruction)model".

He asserted the BJP will bagmore than 200 of the state's 294seats."Mamata didi will loseelection even only on the issueinfiltration," he said.

Referring to the January 23incident, when Banerjeedeclined to speak at an officialevent attended by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toobserve Netaji Subhas ChandraBose's 125th birthday after 'JaiShri Ram' chants greeted her,Shah said her stand was aimedat appeasing a particular com-munity.

Modi's ‘Vikas’ vs Mamata's‘Vinash’ in WB polls: Shah

Claiming thatMamata Banerjeewill not be the CMafter May (bywhen the pollswill get over),Shah said she toowould startchanting "Jai ShriRam" by then

PNS n NEW DELHI

Koo has in the last few weeksseen a massive surge in userbase as Union Ministers andgovernment departments haveendorsed the homegrownmicroblogging platform amid aspat with Twitter.

From information technolo-gy ministry using Koo to broad-cast its stand on Twitter not fullycomplying with its order to takedown inflammatory content toministers, including PiyushGoyal, urging people to switchplatform, these developmentshave led to a surge in the user-base of the Indian rival.

Koo, which has startling sim-ilarities with Twitter, now hasover three million users.Downloads of Koo app surged10-fold this week. Koo has a yel-low bird as its logo in contrastto the blue bird of Twitter.

"We had two million userswith about 1.5 million activeusers. Now, we have nowcrossed 3 million-mark," Kooco-founder Mayank Bidawatakatold PTI.

Twitter has 17.5 million usersand is ardently used by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andhis Cabinet ministers to com-municate with the public.

Interestingly, Koo co-founderAprameya Radhakrishna tookto Twitter to highlight the ris-ing popularity of the platformand tweeted, "Our systems arefacing more load than ever.Thank you for placing yourtrust in us. Our team is work-ing on overdrive to fix it".

Koo, founded by AprameyaRadhakrishna and MayankBidawatka, was launched lastyear to allow users to expressthemselves and engage on theplatform in Indian languages. It

supports multiple languagesincluding Hindi, Telugu andBengali, among others.

Radhakrishna had foundedonline cab booking serviceTaxiForSure that was later soldto Ola. Last week, Koo -- whichis backed by former Infosys

executive TV Mohandas Pai --had raised USD 4.1 million inseries A funding from Accel,Kalaari Capital, Blume Venturesand Dream Incubator, and3one4 Capital. It was also oneof the winners of theAatmanirbhar InnovationChallenge introduced by thegovernment last year.

The company is also strong-ly positioning the app as part ofIndia's self-reliant journey, as itrides on the growing senti-ments for indigenous productsand services.

"Koo is an India registeredcompany with Indian founders.Raised earlier capital 2.5 yearsago. Latest funds for BombinateTechnologies is led by a trulyIndian investor 3one4 capital.Shunwei (single digit share-holder) which had invested inour Vokal journey will be exit-ing fully," Radhakrishna tweet-

ed.The duo had launched online

vernacular question and answerplatform Vokal in 2017.

That said, Koo's platformhas a similar look and feel toTwitter, including the user inter-face. When it comes to the logo,Koo has a yellow bird as its mas-cot while Twitter has blue-coloured 'Larry' (inspired bypopular basketball player, LarryBird) representing the brand. Asignificant strength for Koo,however, is allowing users topost content in multiple Indianlanguages.

While ministers and gov-ernment departments havebeen leveraging social mediaplatforms like Twitter andFacebook, there have been callsfor homegrown platforms toemerge in this space, and appslike Koo could be likely bene-ficiaries.

Koo crosses 3 m, popularity surges amid Twitter row

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhion Thursday said there will be nopeace and tranquillity if there isno status quo ante at the Line ofActual Control (LAC) withChina.

He also asked why the govern-ment is insulting the sacrifices ofIndian soldiers.

"No status quo ante = Nopeace and tranquility. Why isGovernment of India (GOI)insulting the sacrifice of ourjawans and letting go of our ter-ritory?" he wrote on Twitter.

The former Congress chief 'sremarks came soon afterDefence Minister Rajnath Singhmade a statement in the RajyaSabha, saying India and China

have reached an agreement ondisengagement in the north andsouth banks of the Pangong lakein eastern Ladakh that mandatesboth sides to cease forwarddeployment of troops in a"phased, coordinated and verifi-able" manner. Sharing details of

the pact to defuse the tense mil-itary face-off in eastern Ladakhthat severely strained the tiesbetween the two Asian giants,Singh also assured the UpperHouse of Parliament that thecountry has not conceded any-thing in the s