PNS n NEW DELHI

India on Saturday criticisedTurkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan for raking upthe Kashmir issue during hisaddress at the PakistanParliament, and asked him todesist from interfering inIndia's internal affairs.

External Affairs Ministryspokesperson Raveesh Kumarsaid India rejects all refer-ences made by the TurkishPresident on Jammu andKashmir, asserting that theunion territory is an integraland inalienable part of India.

In his address at a joint ses-sion of Pakistan's Parliamenton Friday, Erdogan comparedthe "struggle" of Kashmiri peo-ple with that of the fight byTurkish people against for-eign domination during theWorld War I.

Kashmiri people have suf-fered for decades and their suf-ferings have increased follow-ing "unilateral steps taken inrecent times", Erdogan saidreferring to India revokingthe special status of Jammuand Kashmir last year.

"India rejects all referencesto Jammu and Kashmir,which is an integral andinalienable part of India,"Kumar said.

He was responding to a

question on Erdogan's com-ments on Kashmir as well as itsreference in a joint declarationby Turkey and Pakistan.

"We call upon the Turkishleadership to not interfere inIndia's internal affairs anddevelop proper understandingof the facts, including thegrave threat posed by terrorismemanating from Pakistan toIndia and the region," Kumarsaid.

Home calendar,appointment ofethics officer,ICA funding onagenda

‘Budget unlikelyto have muchinflationaryimpact’

2

6

5

‘ALL ANDSUNDRY’

BJP bossesembarrass localleaders by cosyingup to Jagan

Top WHO experts are set to arrive in Beijing this weekend to assistChina to contain the coronavirus outbreak as the death toll climbed to

1,523 in China and France reported the first fatalityoutside Asia, fuelling concerns about the epidemic.More than 66,000 people are now infected from thevirus in China, health officials said. On SaturdayChina's Health Commission said the death toll inChina rose to 1,523 after 143 more people diedin the country, most in Hubei, the epicentre of thecoronavirus outbreak.

WHO TO JOIN BATTLE IN CHINA ASCORONAVIRUS TOLL CROSSES 1500

DEPUTY CM THREATENS TO QUITIF YSRCP JOINS NDA GOVERNMENTDeputy Chief Minister Amzath Basha on Saturday said that he would

resign from the State Cabinet if the YSRCP joins the NDAGovernment at the Centre. Basha's comments come onthe back of rumours gaining ground that the YSRCPwould be joining the NDA. Expressing his opposition tothe CAA, NRC and NPR, Basha took out a huge rally inKadapa on Saturday. The rally culminated in a publicmeeting, where he vowed to go to any extent tooppose the NRC. He said that positions and partyare not important for him, but the people.

TS ANNOUNCES EAMCET DATESFOR ENGINEERING ASPIRANTSEamcet for engineering admissions in Telangana will be held on May

4, 5 and 6 and for agriculture and veterinary courses on May 9 and11, according to the schedule released by Eamcet convener Govardhanhere on Saturday. Notification will be issued on February 19 andapplications can be submitted online from February 21 to 30.Applications can be submitted with a late of Rs 500 till March 6 and tillApril 13 with a late fee of Rs 1,000.Similarly, they can also be submitted tillApril 20 with a late fee of Rs 5,000 andtill April 27 with a late fee of Rs 10,000.

An anti-CAA protest by Muslims turned violent when a group ofprotesters clashed with police here, leaving four personnel injured.

The incident on Friday led to sporadic protests across Tamil Nadu,including at Washermanpet in the city, where the violence erupted, butprotesters subsequently called off the agitation, following talks with CityPolice Commissioner AK Viswanathan. Four police personnel -- awoman joint commissioner, two womenconstables and a sub-inspector -- were injuredin stonepelting, the police said, even as reportsemerged that some protesters were also hurt.

FOUR COPS HURT IN CHENNAI ASANTI-CAA PROTEST TURNS VIOLENT

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FORWARD MARCH

AP Chief Minister also asks Union Law Minister to get Parliament’s nod for Disha Act

Jagan seeks Prasad's help tomove High Court to KurnoolPNS n NEW DELHI

Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister Y S JaganmohanReddy on Saturday met UnionLaw and Justice Minister RaviShankar Prasad and requestedhim to initiate steps to movethe main bench of the AP HighCourt from Amaravati toKurnool as decided by thestate government.

During his 50-minute meet-ing with Prasad, JaganmohanReddy said the state govern-ment had decided to havethree capitals for AP -- atAmaravati (legislative capital),Visakhapatnam (executive cap-ital) and Kurnool (judicial cap-ital) -- to ensure equal devel-opment of all the regions.

The law ministry is yet togive its consent to move theHigh Court to Kurnool.

Jaganmohan Reddy alsoasked the law minister to ini-tiate steps for gettingParliament's nod for the APCriminal Law (Amendment)Bill 2019 (known as Disha

Act) passed by the stateAssembly.

The stringent legislation,aimed at ensuring women'ssafety, mandates judgment tobe delivered within 21 days in

rape cases. Besides, deathpenalty is the punishment forsuch crimes under this Bill. Italso provides for increased jailterm for sexual offences againstminors.

The YSRCP president alsotook up the issue of the APgovernment's decision to abol-ish the state Legislative Counciland requested Prasad to movea Bill in Parliament in thisregard and get its approval.

On Friday night,Jaganmohan Reddy had metUnion Home Minister AmitShah and sought his help ingetting Parliament's nod toDisha Act.

During the 30-minute meet-ing held at Shah's residence,Jaganmohan Reddy hadexplained the features of theDisha Act.

Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy submits a memorandum to Union Law andJustice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in New Delhi on Saturday

Pawan promises to stand byfarmers over Capital shiftingPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyanon Saturday said that he wouldstand by all the farmers whohave pooled their land forconstruction of Amaravati cap-ital city.

Pointing out that he hadopted for an alliance with theBJP, Pawan Kalyan stressedthat justice should be done tothe farmers who have pooledtheir lands for the capital. Hesaid that the decision on cap-ital location lies in the handsof state government, however,everyone was in favour ofAmaravati being the only cap-ital of AP. "Shifting of capital

location at this juncture is notadvisable," the Jana Sena chiefsaid.

Pavan Kalyan visited thefarmers protesting against cap-ital shifting and expressed sol-idarity with them. Addressingthe protesters, he said thatChief Minister YS Jaganmohan

Reddy deceived the farmers ofAmaravati who gave up theirfertile lands for the Capital. Heassured the gathering that hewould fight against the govern-ment for Amaravati.

Pawan Kalyan also claimedthat about 40 farmers havecommitted suicide against theshifting of capital.

"The sacrifice of farmerswho gave up their lands for thefuture of the state and for con-struction of the capital city ispriceless. The decision thatAmaravati would be the capi-tal of AP has been taken onceand for all," the Jana Sena chiefsaid.

Jeep, man on Pune runway force early takeoffPilot avoids major accident but fuselage of Air India aircraft damaged, confirms DGCAPNS n NEW DELHI

An Air India aircraft's fuselagewas damaged when its pilotdecided to immediately liftthe plane to avoid hitting a per-son and a jeep that had sud-denly come on the Pune air-port runway during takeoff, aDGCA official said.

The incident occurred whenthe A321 aircraft of the nation-al carrier took off from Puneairport on Saturday morning.However, despite the incident,it landed at the Delhi airportsafely, they said.

"During take off roll while at

120 knots speed, crew saw ajeep and a person on the run-way, to avoid conflict they didearly rotation. The aircraft hassafely landed at Delhi," the offi-cial of Directorate General ofCivil Aviation (DGCA) stated.

Air India has been advised toremove the cockpit voicerecorder (CVR) for its analysis,the official added.

Another DGCA officialaware of preliminary investiga-tion into the incident said,"The aircraft has been with-drawn from service for inves-tigation. Air India has beenadvised to coordinate with

Pune ATC (air traffic control)also to find out any marking onrunway." When asked aboutthe incident, an Air Indiaspokesperson said, "The A321aircraft that was scheduled tooperate AI 825 to Srinagarwas observed to have certainmarks towards the empennagearea. This aircraft had arrivedfrom Pune on AI 852."

"The aircraft has been with-drawn for detailed investiga-tion. The CVR and SSFDR(solid state flight data recorder)readouts would be carried outand the findings shared appro-priately," the spokesperson said.

PNS n WASHINGTON

Google Maps has redrawn theworld's borders which lookdifferent depending uponwhere the user is viewingthem from, with the popularsearch engine showingKashmir's outlines as a dottedline acknowledging "dispute"when it is seen from outside

India, a leading Americandaily has reported.

According to theWashington Post, "the borderson Google's online maps dis-play Kashmir as fully underIndian control. Elsewhere,users see the region's snakingoutlines as a dotted line,acknowledging the dispute".

Kashmir shown asdisputed by Google

Will pay dues, future dependson government: Vodafone-IdeaPNS n NEW DELHI

Debt-ridden telecom opera-tor Vodafone Idea onSaturday said it is assessingthe amount that can be paidtowards AGR dues, even as itflagged concerns over thecontinuation of its business.

The company said it is inthe process to pay adjustedgross revenue dues as per theSupreme Court order.However, the continuationof business in India willdepend on favourable orderon its modification plea filedbefore the apex court, itadded.

"The Company is current-

ly assessing the amount thatit will be able to pay to DoTtowards the dues calculatedbased on AGR (AdjustedGross Revenue), as interpret-ed by the Hon'ble SupremeCourt in its order dated 24October 2019. The Companyproposes to pay the amountso assessed in the next fewdays," Vodafone Idea said ina BSE filing.

Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL),whose liability is estimated tobe around Rs 53,038 crore,including Rs 24,729 crore ofspectrum dues and Rs 28,309crore in licence fee, hasalready warned of shutdownif no relief is given.

L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

The Telangana State Cabinetthat is set to meet at 4 pm onSunday is expected to take acrucial decision on the contro-versial CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) andthe National PopulationRegister (NPR). Sources inTRS said that the Cabinetwould approve a resolutionagainst implementation ofCAA and NPR in the state.Governments of a few non-BJPruled states have already passedsuch resolutions opposingCAA and NPR. Addressing apress conference at PragathiBhavan on January 25, ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao had announced that theTelangana LegislativeAssembly will pass a resolutionagainst the CAA and NRC.

Tharoor skips hearing, imposedRs 5,000 cost by Delhi court PNS n NEW DELHI

SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumaron Saturday said banks will"have to pay the price" in caseany telecom firm files for bank-ruptcy, a day after the SupremeCourt made it clear that tele-com companies will have topay the Rs 1.47 lakh crore inpast dues. The chief of thecountry's largest lender State

Bank of India (SBI)said it is in the"wait-and-watchmode" and theonus of ensuringtelecom companies'compliance with theSupreme Court orderlies with the Department ofTelecommunications (DoT)under the government.

"If there is a negative impact

on any enterprise, itimpacts a larger ecosys-tem, whether it isbanks, whether it isemployees, whether

they are vendors, con-sumers, so everybody

gets impacted. So, thatimpact, when it comes, we willhave to pay the price," Kumarsaid, when asked about theimpact on banks if telcos move

towards bankruptcy. He wasspeaking to reporters on thesidelines of the unveiling of art-works namely 'Manasvi' and'Tapasvi' at the Local HeadOffice (LHO) here. Around400 computers, more than2,000 microchips, over 400keyboards and above 200 dis-carded credit cards were usedto create the two artworks.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A Delhi court on Saturdayimposed a cost of Rs 5,000 onCongress leader ShashiTharoor for not appearing inhearing on a criminal defama-tion complaint filed againsthim for his alleged "scorpion"remark against Prime Minister

Narendra Modi.Additional Chief

Metropolitan Magistrate VishalPahuja imposed the cost on theLok Sabha member fromThiruvananthapuram notingthat he had failed to appearbefore him despite the court'searlier direction.

TS set to passanti-CAAresolution

PNS n KURNOOL

Finance Minister BugganaRajendranath on Saturdaysaid that the TDP was ans-werable for the I-T raids onthe close aide of its presidentthat yielded a huge cache.

Speaking here on Saturday,he said the I-T raidsunearthed illegal transac-tions worth Rs 2000 crore byway of shell companies andfake bills involving PendyalaSrinivas who worked in theChief Minister's office from1995 to 2004, and later as PAto former Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu andKilaru Rajesh.

Buggana: TDPmust answeron I-T raids

Bankrupt telcos will hurt banks: SBI

3

‘Keep off our affairs’, India tellsErdogan on Kashmir comment

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VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2020 vijayawada 02

CAPSULE

Processional deitiesride on SuryaprabhavahanamVIJAYAWADA: The processionaldeities of Sri Somskanda Murtyflanked by Sri Kamakshi Devicharmed devotees on the brightSuryaprabha Vahanam on thesunny day on Saturday. Deitiesroamed along the streets tobless the devotees, who lined upto give aartis. The beauty of thevahanam procession enhancedwith the red ixora garlandsdecorated to the deities andvahanam. Deputy executiveofficer Subramanyam,superintendent Bhupati, templeinspectors Reddy Sekhar,Srinivasa Naik and other officestaff were also present.

Sri Panduranga takenout on majestic rideVIJAYAWADA: On the secondday of ongoing annualBrahmotsavams at SrinivasaMangapuram, the lord as SriPanduranga took celestial rideon Chinna Sesha Vahanam onSaturday morning. The Lordin all His religious splendourtook out a majestic ride onthe five-hooded serpent kingin solo to bless His devotees.The bhajan troupes in front ofthe vahanam added glamourto the procession. Deputyexecutive officer Elleppa,superintendent Chengalrayulu,temple inspector Anil, officialsand devotees were present.

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

Nothing could be moreembarrassing forBharatiya Janata Party

leaders in Andhra Pradeshthan to see their bosses inDelhi cosying up to ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy and indulge him in hisbig push for shifting the cap-ital from Amaravati toVisakhapatnam. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi's100-minute-long meeting withJagan on February 12, fol-lowed by Home Minister AmitShah's discussions with himtwo days later have only addedinsult to injury.

The BJP today is a dividedhouse with its leaders in NewDelhi speaking a languagethat is at odds with that of theirAndhra counterparts and act-ing in a way that warms thecockles of Jagan's heart. Incontrast, the AP unit, in

alliance with Pawan Kalyan'sJana Sena, has declared a vir-tual war against the three-cap-ital move.

If the MoS for HomeNityanand Rai stated inParliament that it was theState's prerogative to decide onthe location of the capital, theBJP's national spokespersonGVL Narasimha Rao sprungto Jagan's defence by advisingthose in disagreement toapproach courts. TheChandrababu Naidu regime,the Minister said, had notifiedAmaravati as the capitalthrough a Government Orderwhile the present one waschanging it. Who, according toMr. Rai, represents the State -Naidu when he issued the GOon April 23, 2015 or Jagan in2020?

The YSR Congress claimedit as a victory, but it left peo-ple confused and Andhra BJPleaders fuming when

Narasimha Rao further assert-ed that it was wishful thinkingto expect the Centre to inter-vene unless there was aConstitutional breakdown.

No one really knew theBJP's mind as the statementsof Rai and Rao were diamet-rically opposite to the BJPCore Committee' resolutionand statements by party pres-ident Kanna Lakshminarayanacalling for continuance ofAmaravati as the administra-tive capital. If the BJP's nation-al and State units were busycontradicting each other, theRSS mouthpiece Organiser

published an opinion piece bya Vijayawada-based freelancejournalist who said it washigh time the Centre inter-vened and brought the 'mav-erick Jagan to his senses'. "Thecurrent situation may also bean excellent opportunity forthe BJP for making its presencefelt in Andhra", he wrote.

Unwittingly or otherwise,his idea was spot on. Beforethe Shah-Jagan meeting con-cluded, senior Minister BotsaSatyanarayana said the YSRCongress would join the NDAGovernment, if necessary, tosafeguard Andhra's interests.

If this is a pointer to the wayin which the winds are blow-ing, the YSR Congress mayget one Cabinet and two MoSberths, the same number asTDP earlier.

This is not an unlikelyprospect. The BJP has nilpresence in Andhra and noallies save for Pawan Kalyan,

who is dividing his timebetween films and politics.Besides, Modi hasn't forgiv-en Chandrababu Naidu forsharing a platform with RahulGandhi after snapping tieswith NDA in 2018. A dayafter the Modi-Jagan meeting,the Central Board of DirectTaxes released a press noteabout the income-tax raids onNaidu's men, stating thatsearch operations were con-ducted on "a prominent per-son's" aides. Normally, theCBDT takes care not to iden-tify the persons, but made anexception here.

There are multiple reasonswhy Modi needs Jagan's sup-port. His party's defeat at thehands of regional parties inJharkhand and Delhi and itsshr inking support inParliament after the exit ofShiv Sena from NDA hasmade it highly vulnerable toOpposition attacks. Besides

one State after another isadopting resolutions againstthe Citizenship AmendmentAct , whereas the YSRCongress has supported the Act.

Many other controversialissues like the NationalPopulation Register, the decen-nial Census and, who knows,even the National Register ofCitizens and a piece of legisla-tion ushering in a uniform civilcode will figure high on thenation's agenda in the remain-ing period of Modi's currentterm. The BJP is also desper-ate to expand its footprint inthe South where its national-ist agenda has few takers,except of course Karnataka.

This leaves BJP with theoption of striking a deal withJagan who is facing multiplecases of disproportionate assetsfiled by CBI and of quid proquo filed by the EnforcementDirectorate, together running

into thousands of crores ofrupees. Things have latelybecome difficult for Jagan asthe CBI is unrelentingly insist-ing in the Telangana HighCourt on his personal appear-ance in the trial court.

Surely, Jagan would haveurged Modi and Shah to directthe CBI to go easy on himapart from seeking theCentre's backing for shiftingthe capital and abolishing theLegislative Council. It is allabout usefulness of each otheror showing a spirit of politicalgive-and-take.

Not a word has emergedfrom the PMO about Modi'sresponse to Jagan's ten-pointmemorandum leaving every-one guessing whether he willgive more weightage to theAndhra Chief Minister or theAndhra BJP. The choice willbecome easier if he givesimportance just to the com-mon denominator: Andhra.

The YSR Congress claimed it as a victory,but it left people confused and Andhra BJPleaders fuming when Narasimha Rao furtherasserted that it was wishful thinking toexpect the Centre to intervene unless therewas a Constitutional breakdown

S NAGESH KUMARFormer Resident Editor,

The Hindu

‘ALL ANDSUNDRY’

BJP bosses embarrass local leaders by cosying up to Jagan

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The 15-day sports meet of TTDwill conclude on February 17with the presentation ceremonyon Monday evening at theMahati Auditorium in Tirupati.The annual sports, which beganon February 2, were conductedwith the enthusiastic participa-tion of employees of all cate-gories and ages, includingretired.

Events like tug of war, volley-ball, chess, carroms, ball bad-minton, football, table tennis,shuttle, tennis and tennikoitapart from cricket and entertain-ing events like bucketing the ball,

hitting the Indian cricket cluband passing the luggage wereplayed. At the valedictory ses-sion, winners will be presented

prizes and citations, later, fam-ily members of TTD employeeswill enthral audience with cul-tural programmes.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

A two-day trekking expe-dition to Thatipudi Hillswas organised by NavalDockyard, Visakha-patnam, for their womenemployees from February14.

The aim of the expedi-tion is to foster team spir-it, sportsmanship anddevelop endurance andresponse to challengingsituat ions. In a l l , 23women employees alongwith one medical assistantand support staff partici-pated in the event.

Naval Dockyard staffon trekking expedition

Women employees of Naval Dockyardembark on a trekking to Thatipudi Hills inVisakhapatnam on Saturday

‘Govt accords priority to education’PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The government was promot-ing higher education throughseveral new schemes in theState, said Minister for TourismMuttamshetty Srinivasa Rao.

He was speaking at a two-daynational-level technical semi-nar, Nipunya, 2k20 conductedby Avanthi Institute ofEngineering and Technology.

The government is accordingtop priority to education byintroducing schemes likeAmma Vodi, Nadu-Nedu,Vasathi Deevena and VidyaDeevena to encourage studentsbelonging to lower middle classand middle class to pursuehigher education. He advisedthe youth to draw inspirationfrom Swami Vivekananda.

Visakhapatnam Port TrustChairman and the chief guestK Rama Mohana Rao exhort-ed the students to set a goal inlife. Self-confidence and men-tal stability are two importantaspects to achieve anything, hesaid. He also touched upon theimpact of mobile phones onmankind and asked the stu-dents not to abuse them.

Guest of honour NanduriSambasiva Rao, formerDirector General of Police, saidrespecting and listening toelders and following theiradvice are the basic require-

ments for any individual togrow in life. "You all have tobrush up your expression abil-ities to get a plenty of opportu-nities. Read more books, learnfrom internet and keep explor-ing different subjects. Positiveattitude and team spirit arerequired to achieve success in

life," he said. C Mohan Rao,principal of the college, extend-ed hearty welcome to the guestsand read out the activities,achievements and how theinstitute is ensuring qualityeducation and also exposingstudents to job opportunities.To enhance the skill set of the

students, expert talks, paperpresentations, poster presen-tation, technical exhibitionactivities are planned in thetechnical meet, he added. Healso highlighted about cam-pus selections of the collegeand congratulated 130 stu-dents, who were hired byvarious corporate companiesin the campus placement.

Prof SG Sanjivi, NIT,Warangal, said that rapidchanges were taking place intechnical fields almost everyday. Machine learning andcloud computing are exam-ples. He suggested to the stu-dents to pursue MOOCSonline courses to enhancetheir employability. Everythingis available online and advised

them to make good use of it.Prof Sadananda Sahu, IITBhubaneswar, delivered a lec-ture on 'Trends in AutomobileEngineering' for the students.

After the meeting therewere paper-presentations,poster- presentations, live-demos, thought-sharing andhands on practice were heldtill the evening. Dr Sanjeevi,Prof, Department ofComputer Science andEngineering, NIT, Warangal,Prof Sadananda Sahu,Department of MechanicalEngineering, IIT,Bhubaneswar, and SubrataMandal, DGM,Visakhapatnam Steel Plant,delivered lectures and interact-ed with students.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

BJYM State president RameshNaidu pointed out why the Stategovernment was issuing theGOs late night. He found faultwith the ruling YSRCP govern-ment for issuing the GOs latenight and recalled that beforeelections they assured peoplethat it will maintain trans-parency in the administration

Ramesh Naidu alleged thatmany GOs are being issuedonly late nights with an ulteri-or motive. He alleged manyindustries are keen to shifttheir base to other States, whileinvestors are not ready to investin the State due to the wrongpolicies of Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy. He saidthat there is a need for settingup of more IT companies tocreate employment for theunemployed youth.

The status of the State isbeing degraded due to allega-tions and counter allegationsbetween the ruling YSRCP andTDP. Hence, entrepreneurs areshying to invest in the State, hepointed out and added thatonce Andhra Pradesh wasreferred to as investors' destina-tion, but now nobody is inter-ested to venture into the State.

"I was surprised when TDPchief N Chandrababu Naidu

kept mum when income taxdepartment raided the resi-dence of his personal secretaryand found illegal assets to thetune of crores of rupees," he said.The YSRCP's alliance with theBJP is always welcomed for thedevelopment of the State, he felt.

n The government hasintroduced AmmaVodi, Nadu-Nedu,Vasathi Deevena andVidya Deevena toencourage studentsbelonging to lowermiddle class andmiddle class to pursuehigher education

n Students should readmore books, learn frominternet and keepexploring differentsubjects. Positive attitudeand team spirit arerequired to achievesuccess in life," saidNanduri Sambasiva Rao,former DGP

Green tea plus exercise may reduce fatty liver diseaseIANS n NEW YORK

People suffering from non-alcoholic fatty liver diseasemay benefit from regular exer-cise and replacing high-caloriebeverages with decaffeinated,diet green tea, suggests newresearch.

Researchers found that acombination of green teaextract and exercise reducedthe severity of obesity-relatedfatty liver disease by 75 per centin mice fed a high-fat diet

Although untested in humantrials, the results suggest apotential health strategy."Combining the two mighthave health benefits for people,but we don't have the clinicaldata yet," said Joshua Lambert,Associate Professor of FoodScience at The Pennsylvania

State University in the US.Non-alcoholic fatty liver dis-

ease is a significant globalhealth problem that is expect-ed to worsen, Lambert said.

Because of the high preva-lence of risk factors such asobesity and Type-2 diabetes,fatty liver disease is forecast toafflict more than 100 millionpeople by 2030. And there arecurrently no validated therapiesfor the disease.

In the study, mice fed ahigh-fat diet for 16 weeks that

consumed green tea extractand exercised regularly by run-ning on a wheel were found tohave just a quarter of the lipiddeposits in their livers com-pared to those seen in the liv-ers of a control group of mice.

Mice that were treated withgreen tea extract alone or exer-cise alone had roughly half asmuch fat in their livers as thecontrol group.

In addition to analysing theliver tissues of mice in thestudy, which was published

recently in the Journal ofNutritional Biochemistry, theresearchers also measured theprotein and fat content in theirfaeces.

They found that the micethat consumed green teaextract and exercised had high-er fecal lipid and protein levels.

"By examining the livers ofthese mice after the study con-cluded and by screening theirfaeces during the research, wesaw that the mice that con-sumed green tea extract andexercised actually were process-ing nutrients differently - theirbodies were handling food dif-ferently," Lambert said.

"We think the polyphenols ingreen tea interact with digestiveenzymes secreted in the smallintestine and partially inhibitthe breakdown of carbohy-

drates, fat and protein in food,"he added.

"So, if a mouse doesn't digest

the fat in its diet, that fat andthe calories associated with itpass through the mouse's diges-

tive system, and a certainamount of it ends up comingout in its faeces," he said.

Researchers found that a combinationof green tea extract and exercisereduced the severity of obesity-relatedfatty liver disease by 75 per cent inmice fed a high-fat diet

A TTD employee takes part in the annual sports meet in Tiruamala on Saturday.The 15-day meet will conclude on February 17

TTD employees have afield day in sports meet

Investors avoidingState, claims BJYM

n BJYM State presidentRamesh Naidu allegedthat many GOs arebeing issued only latenights with an ulteriormotive

n He alleged manyindustries are planningto shift their base toother States, whileinvestors are notready to invest in theState due to the wrongpolicies of ChiefMinister YSJaganmohan Reddy

Inter-stateburglary gang bustedPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Vizianagaram police onSaturday busted a five-memberinter-state burglary gang andrecovered 200 gms of gold and3 kgs of silver ornaments, allworth Rs10.5 lakh from its pos-session. Vizianagarm PoliceChief B Raja Kumari said thatM Sanyasiraju, P Lokesh, DBalaraju, Kiran Kumar Beharaand A Venkat, all natives ofRayagada area in Odisha. Thefive-member gang was inv-olved in several burglaries inVizianagaram and cops launc-hed a manhunt for a few oth-ers in connection with the case.

Minor raped PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Anakapalle police onSaturday arrested RSimhachalam (36) for alleged-ly raping a nine-year-old deafand mute girl. Though the inci-dent took place a few days ago,it came to light after the victim'smother lodged a complaintwith police. Based on the com-plaint, police registered a caseagainst Simhachalam, a sani-tary worker. Police said that heraped the girl when the girl'smother had gone for dailywage works.

Minister for Tourism Muttamshetty Srinivasa Rao speaks at at two-day national-level technical seminar, Nipunya, 2k20 conducted by Avanthi Institute of Engineering andTechnology in Visakhapatnam on Saturday

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2020 vijayawada 03

CAPSULE

Br Anil Kumar suffers minor injuries in mishapVIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy's brother-in-law Brother Anil Kumar onSaturday escaped with minorinjuries after the car he wastravelling in crashed into aroadside ditch near Garikapaducheck post on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway. The incidenttook place when the driver of thecar lost control over the vehicle.Brother Anil Kumar, the cardriver and a gunman were in thevehicle at the time of theaccident. On receivinginformation about the accident,Government Whip SamineniUdayabhanu reached the spotand shifted Brother Anil Kumarand the gunman to a privatehospital in Vijayawada.

PDS rice seized VISAKHAPATNAM: Officials ofthe Vigilance and EnforcementDepartment on Saturday carriedout a raid and seized over ninetonnes of rice meant for thePublic Distribution System(PDS), which was stored illegallyin a house at Pedagantyada areain Vizag city.

Govt will sanction rice cardsto all eligible: Kodali NaniPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The government will sanc-tion rice cards to all eligiblebenef ic iar ies , disclosedMinister for Civil SuppliesKodali Sri Venkateswara Rao(Nani).

He said that eligible appli-cants can apply for rice cardsthrough Ward Secretariatsand the government willsanction the cards in onlyfive days.

The minister, along withjoint collector K MadhaviLatha, launched the distrib-ution of rice cards at the JCcamp office here on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion,he said that all the eligiblebeneficiaries will get the newrice cards, which is a contin-uous process. The ministerfurther stated that there areabout 1.47 crore ration cardsacross the State and verifica-tion was done for 18 lakhration cards out of which theaddress of two lakh ration

cards was not detected. He said six lakh ration

card holders have claimedthat their cards were can-celled by the Governmentafter verification. He saidthe government will verifythe details of six lakh card-holders and sanction if theyare eligible for it.

The minister said thateight lakh ration card hold-ers returned the cards to thegovernment as they were

granted Arogyasri and feesreimbursement cards. Hecongratulated the WardSecretariat staff and villagevolunteers for rendering ser-vices to the beneficiaries.

He has made it clear thateligible beneficiaries will getrice card at their homes fromvolunteers. He said the ricecard beneficiaries can changethe details at the WardSecretariats.

Referring to Arogyasri, he

said the government hasdecided to sanction 1.60crore Arogyasri cards and1.40 crore fee reimburse-ment cards in the State. Hesaid the government is deter-mined to distribute house sitepattas to 25 lakh families byUgadi and Collectors, jointcollectors, tahsildars andother officials are working forthe distribution of house sitepattas. Civil supplies districtmanager K Rajyalakshmi andother officials present on theoccasion.

BJP maintains equidistancefrom YSRCP, TDP: DeodharPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The BJP is maintainingequidistance f rom theYSRCP and TDP when itcomes to political alliance,said BJP National Secretaryand co-in-charge of AndhraPradesh Sunil Deodhar. Hewas speaking at a party meet-ing here on Saturday.

"The present ruling party(YSR Congress) and the pre-vious ruling party (TeluguDesam) are our equal polit-ical enemies, rivals andopponents , " said BJPNational Secretary.

He made it clear that themeet ing between ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi was for Stateissues not on personal agen-da.

BJP Andhra Pradesh presi-dent Kanna Lakshminarayanaalso said there is no informa-tion from the party high com-mand about ties with theYSRCP.

It may be recalled thatYSRCP president and Chief

Minister YS JaganmohanReddy is in Delhi, meeting sev-eral Union Ministers. He hadmet Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday and

Home Minister Amit Shah onFriday night. Law MinisterRavi Shankar Prasad wasamong those he met onSaturday.

n Minister for CivilSupplies Kodali Nani hasmade it clear thateligible beneficiaries willget rice card at theirhomes from volunteers

n He said the rice cardbeneficiaries can changethe details at the WardSecretariats

"The present ruling party (YSRCongress) and the previous rulingparty (Telugu Desam) are our equalpolitical enemies, rivals andopponents," said BJP NationalSecretary

PNS n AMARAVATI

Advisor to GovernmentSajjala Ramakrishna Reddyon Saturday refuted therumours about YSRCP join-ing the BJP-led NDA govern-ment at the Centre and clar-ified that the rumours arebeing floated only to divertpublic attention from ITraids on several TDP leaders.

In a tweeted message,Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddyobserved, "The Yellow mediais working overtime to divertthe public attention fromthe IT raids by coming outfictitious reports".

Ever since, JaganmohanReddy cal led on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi

rumours have gained groundthat the YSRCP is likely tojoin the NDA government.Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy'sstatements assumed signifi-cance in this backdrop.

Sajjala refutesrumours of YSRCPjoining NDA govt

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

YSRCP leaders are trying tocover up the government'sfailure with baseless and falseallegations on oppositionleader N Chandrababu Naidu,alleged former minister KolluRavindra.

He said that the ruling partyleaders are indulging in mud-slinging on the TDP chief inthe recent IT raids on formerpersonal secretary of Naidu.

YSRCP honorary presidentYS Vijayamma had filed 26cases against Naidu but not asingle case was proved tilldate, he pointed out. The rul-ing party was trying to dam-age the reputation of Naidu, helamented.

He said that Jagan has nomoral right to comment onanyone on corruption as hewas facing corruption chargesin many cases. He said thatNaidu stands tall as a man of

commitment and a corrupt-free person in politics whentruth comes to the fore onincome tax raids.

He said that to hush up irreg-ularities in sand mining,Polavaram reverse tendering,ration and pension cards cancel-lation, the government was try-ing to divert the attention of peo-ple by linking Naidu with thosewho were caught in I-T raids. Hereminded that the Naidu's fami-ly members disclose their assetsevery year unlike other politicians.

He criticised the government fornot getting a single project orinvestor after assuming the power.

I-T RAIDS ON NAIDU'S FORMER PS

‘TDP chief will come out clean’Former ministerKollu Ravindraalleged that tohush upirregularities insand mining,Polavaram reversetendering, rationand pension cardscancellation, thegovernment wastrying to divert theattention of peopleby linking Naiduwith those whowere caught in I-Traids

Naidu targets govt to save his skinfrom I-T raids: ParthasarathyPNS n VIJAYAWADA

If there is a crisis, one assumesto overcome it, but during theTDP tenure, the leadershipand coterie had used the cri-sis in the State for corruptionand scams, alleged YSRCPMLA Kolusu Parthasarathy.

Speaking to the media hereon Saturday he said that theprevious government had loot-ed public money and grabbedlands from farmers in thename of developing the capi-tal city. But in reality, all thosewent into the packets of theTDP Chief. Parthasarathy fur-ther stated that Naidu wasresponsible for the fall of landvalue, because he had intro-duced the zone system.

Covering up that seriousflaws and the exposure of TDPleadership during the IT raids,

Naidu has been using hisfriendly media to level baselessallegations against the Stategovernment that it is respon-sible for the fall of land value.

"In fact, zoning is a bad idea,because of which small-timereal estate agents and farmersincurred huge losses. Evenbefore the announcement of

capital Amaravati, the landvalue in surrounding villages ison the higher side, where a fewreal estate agents have puthigh hopes and purchased.But Naidu had introduced thezonal system with some mean-ingless guidelines resulting ina huge loss for those whoinvested," he pointed out.

Parthasarathy lamented thatNaidu was indulging in a falsepropaganda to divert the pub-lic from his scandals. "Themain reason behind hisPolavaram programme everyMonday during his regimewas to manage the subcontrac-tors and mint money. OurChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy is very concerned aboutfarmers and their welfare.Hence, people are happy withthe government's decision ofthree capitals," he said.

TS set to pass anti-CAA resolution

Continued from Page 1

Terming CAA a "100 percent wrong" decision, KCRhad said he was ready to leada nationwide campaignagainst the controversialcitizenship matricsand had added that heplans to hold a meet-ing of ChiefMinisters and like-minded politicalparties inHyderabad againstthe CAA, NationalPopulation Register(NPR) and NRC.

He had revealed that he hadalready spoke to several ChiefMinisters and had said that ifnecessary, he would hold anti-CAA and anti-NRC meeting"with 10 lakh people".

The Cabinet meeting onSunday is expected to take

decisions on CAA, NPR andNRC accordingly. The Cabinetis also expected to finalise theschedule for the upcomingBudget session of Legislature.

Also, the meeting is expect-ed to discuss in detail thetough financial conditions

on account of eco-nomic slowdown

and cut in Centralfunds in the recent

Union Budget byway of tax devolu-

tion, Central grantsetc.

KCR, for the first time,openly expressed his anger atthe Union Budget presentedon February 1 terming it as'discriminatory' againstTelangana.

Besides, the Cabinet is alsoexpected to finalise the newRevenue Act to be tabled inthe Budget session.

Continued from Page 1

He said that Jagan shouldhave announced his decision ofshifting the capital fromAmaravati before elections."The YSRCP is well versed inquid pro quo. With this wrongdecision of the government,farmers and women ofAmaravati have been draggedonto the roads," Pawan Kalyansaid. He alleged that establish-ing the High Court in Kurnoolwill not bring any developmentto the region as being claimedby the YSRCP. "The YSRCPgovernment is resorting tobackstabbing politics and isvengeful against the TDP,"Pawan Kalyan said, addingthat the state government hasstarted land pooling inVisakhapatnam and the peoplewere against it.

‘Keep off ouraffairs’, Indiatells Erdoganon Kashmir...

Buggana: TDPmust answeron I-T raids

Continued from Page 1

Last September, Erdoganraised the Kashmir issue dur-ing his address at the UnitedNations General Assembly.

In August last year, Indiaannounced its decision to with-draw special status of Jammuand Kashmir and bifurcated thestate into two union territories.

Pakistan reacted angrily tothe move and even down-graded its diplomatic ties withIndia by expelling the IndianHigh Commissioner.Islamabad also unsuccessfullytried to rally international sup-port against India on the issue.

Jagan seeksPrasad's help tomove High Courtto Kurnool

Continued from Page 1

He sought an early nod ofthe Centre to the AndhraPradesh government's deci-sions to have three capitals,abolish the LegislativeCouncil and release funds forpolice modernisation pro-jects.

YSRCP MPs V Vijaya SaiReddy and Mithun Reddy,besides officials of theAndhra Pradesh government,accompanied the ChiefMinister during his meetingwith Shah.

Pawanpromises tostand byfarmers...

Tharoor skipshearing...

Kashmir shown as disputed by GoogleContinued from Page 1

From Pakistan, Kashmirappears disputed while fromIndia, it appears as a part ofIndia, the Post report said,adding that "Google Mapschanges disputed bordersbased on what country yousearch from".

Responding to the Postreport, a company spokesper-son said: "Google has a consis-tent and global policy to depictdisputed regions and featuresfairly, showing claims made bythe disputed or claimingnations on its global domain.

"This does not endorse oraffirm the position taken byany side. Products that havebeen localised to the localdomain, such asmaps.google.co.in, depicts thatcountry's position as per themandate of the local laws".

"We're committed to provid-ing our users with the richest,most up-to-date and accuratemaps possible. We do borderupdates based on data from

our providers as new or moreaccurate data becomes avail-able from authoritative sourcesor geopolitical conditionschange. As we did for thestate of Telangana in 2014," theGoogle official told PTI.

According to the Postreport, "From Argentina tothe United Kingdom to Iran,the world's borders look differ-ent depending on where you'reviewing them from. That'sbecause Google — and otheronline mapmakers — simply

change them".Google's corporate mission

is "to organise the world'sinformation", but it also bendsit to its will, the Post reportsaid, adding that with some 80per cent market share inmobile maps and over a billionusers, Google Maps has an out-size impact on people's percep-tion of the world.

Headquartered inCalifornia, the company's deci-sion-making on maps is oftenshrouded in secrecy, even tosome of those who work toshape its digital atlases everyday, the Post report said.

"It is influenced not just byhistory and local laws, butalso the shifting whims ofdiplomats, policymakers andits own executives," the reportquoted as saying people famil-iar with the matter on the con-dition of anonymity.

Launched 15 years ago,Google Maps has become oneof the most-used and recogniz-able products for the searchengine giant, it added.

Continued from Page 1

He added that the closure ofany corporate impacts thecountry's economy and, there-fore, the endeavour is to pre-vent the shutting down of anyenterprise.

Asked if any telco account iscurrently classified as non-performing asset (NPA), hesaid there are two accounts,Aircel and RCom, that wentinto bankruptcy.

Besides, he said that SBI willnot pass on the burden of thehike in premium of depositinsurance to its customers.

"We never recovered the pre-mium from customers, we willnot do it now either. As far asthe impact of the rise from 10paise to 12 paise is concerned,earlier if we were paying Rs3,000 crore now we will pay Rs3,600 crore premium," he said.

Following the failure of anumber of cooperative banks,

with Mumbai-based PMCBank being the latest and thelargest last year, the govern-ment hiked the deposit insur-ance coverage to Rs 5 lakhfrom Rs 1 lakh in the UnionBudget 2020-21.

"The premium is somethingwhich, we consider, willincrease from 10 paise to 12paisa per Rs 100 for the timebeing. So, the impact on banks'balance sheets is not likely tobe much," RBI DeputyGovernor B P Kanungo saidrecently.

RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas on Saturday said the cen-

tral bank will have internal dis-cussions in case there are anyissues arising out of theSupreme Court order regard-ing adjusted gross revenue(AGR) dues to be paid by tele-com companies.

On Friday, the SupremeCourt threatened contemptproceedings against top exec-utives of Bharti Airtel,Vodafone Idea and other tele-com firms for failing to com-ply with its directive to pay anestimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore inpast dues.

However, Das did not offerany specific comments about theorder, which might have rami-fications on banks in terms oftheir exposure to the financial-ly-stressed telecom companies.

The payments to be made bythe companies include Rs53,000 crore by Vodafone Idea,Rs 35,500 crore by Bharti Airteland Rs 14,000 crore by the now-defunct Tata Teleservices.

Bankrupt telcos will hurt banks: SBI Continued from Page 1

The court was hearing thecomplaint filed by Delhi BJPleader Rajeev Babbar, whoclaimed that his religious sen-timents were hurt.

"I am a devotee of LordShiva... However, the accused(Tharoor) completely disre-garded the sentiments ofcrores of Shiva devotees,made the statement whichhurt the sentiments of all theLord Shiva devotees, both inIndia and outside the coun-try," the complaint said. "Thecomplainant's religious sen-timents were hurt andaccused deliberately did thismalicious act, intending tooutrage religious feeling ofLord Shiva devotees by insult-ing their religious believes," itsaid. The complaint, filedthrough advocate Neeraj,termed the statement as an"intolerable abuse" and"absolute vilification" of thefaith of millions of people.

Indian Red CrossSociety entersGuinness Records PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Indian Red Cross Societyentered the Guinness Book ofWorld Records by collectingthe consent of 10,217 personsto donate blood here onSaturday.

The Andhra Pradesh branchof Indian Red Cross Societyorganised the blood donationcamp with the students of 35colleges. The representative ofthe Guinness Book of WorldRecords, Rishnath, announcedthe world record amidst theapplause of audience atDevaiah Auditorium here.

AP branch chairman Dr ASridhar Reddy received thecertificate from the GuinnessBook of World Records. Earlier,Governor Biswa BushanHarichandan inaugurated theblood donation camp. As manyas 10,573 students, whoattained the age of 18, partici-pated in the donation camp

registering their names with theoffice-bearers of the IRCS.However, officials finalised thenames of 10,217 of studentsand announced it was a record.

Krishna district branch ofIRCS president and CollectorMd Imtiaz, AP branch vice-chairman Jaganmohan Rao,treasurer G Babu, Krishnabranch chairman Dr GSamaram, general secretaryDr Ravi, additional joint collec-tor K Mohan Kumar and oth-ers were present.

As many as 10,573students, who attained theage of 18, participated inthe donation campregistering their nameswith the office-bearers ofthe IRCS

Continued from Page 1

The raids also took place inRK Infra, which was owned byTDP Kadapa president. TheMinister demanded the TDPto clarify on these raids and theillegal transactions unearthed."Naidu claimed that lakhs ofcrores was being used forCRDA works, but not even theroads were developed. He clai-med that Amaravati will turnout to be like the MahishmatiEmpire, but all he left for peo-ple is a pale picture and a hugepile of debts," Buggana said.

"About 4,000 acres inAmaravati was purchased byTDP men before the officialannouncement of the capitalcity. Moreover, in the name ofproviding employment to theengineering graduates, Naidubought companies," he said.Buggana said that these com-panies paid very meagre sumsto their employees but a hugeamount of money was drawnby TDP men. "It is such ashame that they even chargedmoney from the poor for pro-viding houses," he added.

Botsa'srebuttal onfake newsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Minister for Municipal Admi-nistration and Urban develop-ment Botsa Satyanarayanarefuting the report published ina vernacular daily quoting himabout the party equations withthe Centre demanded that thepaper publish his rebuttal giv-ing the same prominence.

In an open letter to theChief of Media House, theMunicipal AdministrationMinister stated that he spoke tothe media about the scandals ofTDP cheif N ChandrababuNaidu and Lokesh, demandinga fair investigation into them."That was not carried by thepaper, instead, it had carriedsomething, which I did not sayhighlighting it with lack ofobjectivity." He said that thefake news is only to safeguardNaidu and create confusionamong people. He remindedthat the YSRCP is always is firmon its stand, while the TDP isknown for its flip flop policy.

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2020 nation 04

SHORT READS

Take board exams instress-free manner:PM to studentsNEW DELHI: Appear for CBSEboard examinations in a "happyand stress-free manner", PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toldstudents on Saturday.Describing those appearing forthe classes X and XII boardexaminations as "examwarriors", he said months ofhardwork and preparation will"surely lead to great things". "Asthe CBSE Class X and XIIexams commence today, bestwishes to all young ExamWarriors, their parents andteachers. I urge my youngfriends to appear for the examsin a happy and stress-freemanner," the prime ministertweeted. Nearly 18.89 lakhcandidates are appearing forClass X exams and 12.06 lakhfor Class XII examinations.

Smoke in KolkataMetro coach,passengers evacuated

Fire breaks out inJaipur's Indira market

Four children die asschool van catchesfire in Punjab

JAIPUR: A fire broke out in afirecracker shop in busy Indiramarket in Jaipur on Saturday,police said. “The fire broke outin a firecracker shop whichengulfed nearby shops also.Fire tenders have been pressedinto service to douse theflames,” SHO of Kotwali policestation Yashwant Singh said.He added that that the cause ofthe fire was not yet known.

CHANDIGARH: Four childrenwere burnt alive when a minivan of a private schoolcarrying students caught firein Punjab's Sangrur district onSaturday, police said. Theaccident took place on theLongowal-Sidsamachar road,they said, adding 12 childrenwere in the van at that time.Eight children were safelytaken out by people workingin nearby fields, policesaid.However, four children inthe age group of 10 to 12years were charred to death,they added. The children werereturning home from school,police said.

KOLKATA: Passengers of aNoapara-bound train in theNorth-South line of the KolkataMetro were evacuated atChandni Chowk station aftersmoke was seen billowing outfrom one of the coaches onSaturday, officials said.Passengers raised an alarmafter seeing smoke coming outfrom the air-conditioned metrorake when it stopped at thestation in the central part of thecity around 1.35 pm, Metroofficials said. The passengerswere deboarded and the emptyrake sent to Noapara carshed,the officials said. Nobody wasinjured in the incident and theservices were briefly disrupted,they added.

Giriraj garlands Ambedkar statue,RJD activists wash it with Gangajal PNS n BEGUSARAI (BIHAR)

A statue of BR Ambedkar herewas "purified" with "Gangajal"on Saturday by some CPI andRJD activists who alleged thatit had been "defiled" by GirirajSingh, Union minister andlocal BJP MP known for hisHindutva hardline.

The incident happened at apark named after the architectof the Constitution in theBallia block of the districtwhere Singh had gone onFriday and garlanded the stat-ue before addressing a rally insupport of the CitizenshipAmendment Act.

Around 24 hours later, localCPI leader Sanoj Saroj andRJD's Vikas Paswan and RupNarayan Paswan, who havebeen staging an anti-CAAdemonstration nearby for closeto a fortnight, arrived with abucket full of water drawnfrom the holy river.

They began with sprinkling"Gangajal" on the statue amidchants of "Jai Bhim" and slo-gans in praise of "Phule" (19th-century social reformer couple

Jyotiba and Savitribai) beforewashing the sculpture thor-oughly.

They also shot a video of itand shared it on social media.In the video clip, they can beheard saying that "Giriraj Singhpolluted the atmosphere whenhe came here yesterday andsaid, in his speech, that Balliahas become mini Pakistan".

Charging the Union minis-ter with being a proponent of"Manuvaad" (upper caste hege-mony), the protesters allegedthat Singh stood for everythingthat Ambedkar had foughtagainst and therefore his gar-landing of the statue was tan-tamount to "defiling it". The

BJP MP was not available forcomments as he has reported-ly left for the national capital.

However, district BJP pres-ident Raj Kishor Singh tookumbrage and said "in thename of opposing CAA,these people are trying tocreate an atmosphere that isreminiscent of the pre-Partition 1947 cauldron".

PNS n KOLKATA

A special NIA court has sen-tenced two people to six yearsin prison for their involvementin distributing fake Indian cur-rency notes smuggled fromBangladesh into the country.

Nasir Sheikh and Tajel Sk,residents of West Bengal'sMalda district, were convictedand sentenced under sections120B, 489B and 489C of theIndian Penal Code (IPC), and16, 18 and 20 of the UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act.

The special NIA court inKolkata sentenced Sheikh andTajel to six years of imprison-ment with a fine of Rs 10,000and Rs 8,000, respectively.

On March 30, 2016, WestBengal Police of Baishnabnagarpolice station with a team of theBorder Security Force (BSF)seized FICN of face value Rs9,80,000 in the denominationsof Rs 1,000 and 500 from thepossession of Sheikh near theIndo-Bangladesh border atSukhdevpur in Malda andarrested him the next day.

PNS n NEW DELHI

TMC MP Derek O'Brien wasthe leading questioner in theRajya Sabha in first half of thebudget session with 18 ques-tions.

In total, 118 members ofthe upper house have raiseda total of 1,120 unstarredquestions seeking writtenreplies from the governmenton various issues concerningthe policies, the Rajya Sabhasecretariat said in a statement.

As many as 160 unstarredquestions were replied oneach of the seven days of thefirst phase of the session,which concluded on Tuesday.

Out of the total unstarredquestions, 50 per cent wereasked by only 35 members ofRajya Sabha, the statementreads. O'Brien was the leadquestioner with 18 to hiscredit, followed by YSRCP'sVemireddy Prabhakar Reddywith 17 and IndependentMP Parimal Nathwani with16 questions, it said.

PNS n PITHORAGARH

A national level tribal meetwill be held in Munsiyari ofUttarakhand's Pithoragarhdistrict from June 1-3 thisyear to deliberate on prob-lems faced by tribal commu-nities in the country.

The gathering will beattended by representativesof different tribal groupsfrom across India, ViceChairman of UttarakhandScheduled TribesCommission Ganesh SinghMartolia said on Saturday.

"A major purpose of themeet is to apprise the coun-try with problems beingfaced by tribal groups indifferent parts of the coun-try, including the Himalayanstates and what the respec-tive governments are doingfor their uplift,” he said.

Martolia blamed all thedepartments of the state gov-ernment for cont inuedmigration out of border vil-lages as none of them havefulfilled their responsibilitiesin this respect.

“Despite implementation

of schemes worth crores ofrupees to stop migrationfrom border villages, theyare still living without prop-er drinking water facilities,"the vice chairman said.

However, Martolia saidthe state government isaware of the lack of basicfacilities in villages alongthe Indo-China border andwants to fulfil all infrastruc-ture needs of the villages inthe high-altitude region.

“We want to put a ban onpolythene bags in touristplaces like Munsiyari anddevelop the region withmedical transport and com-munication facilities toreduce migration to zerolevel,” he said.

Uttarakhand to host three-day tribal meet

PNS n MUMBAI

Musicians from Bollywood,including actor-singer FarhanAkhtar and Vishal Dadlani,have condoled the suddendemise of Parikrama lead gui-tarist Sonam Sherpa.

Sherpa, who was one of thefounding members of the rockband, breathed his last onFriday. He was 48. The cause ofhis death is yet to be ascertained.

In a Twitter posted, Akhtarrecalled his meeting with Sherpain 2008 when he was on a four-city music tour.

"In 2008, post 'Rock On'!!, Iwas part of a 4 city tour with theamazing Parikrama and I cannever forget or adequately sayhow thankful I am for the loveand warmth that Sonam Sherpaextended to this first timer onstage.

"He was a gifted guitarist, asupremely cool guy and a truerock star. RIP brother. Deepestcondolences to his family," theactor wrote alongside a photo ofhis with Sherpa.

Musician Eshsaan Noorani ofthe popular composer trioShankar-Ehsaan-Loy also con-doled Sherpa's death.

"Eternal rocker awesome gui-tarist and a lovely guy#SonamSherpa has gone intothe light... will remember thejams and the hang outs@parikrama" he tweeted.

Music director and singerVishal Dadlani called Sherpa a"true Indian legend".

"#SonamSherpa was morethan a guitar-player. He was apioneer, a teacher and an inspi-ration to so many. He was alsoa good friend and always hum-ble despite his brilliance and

popularity. Heartbroken. Truly,truly heartbroken," he posted.

The news of Sherpa's demisewas confirmed by the band ina post on Instagram.

"With a very heavy heart, weregret to inform the suddendemise of our backbone, MrSonam Sherpa. It's very verytough to lose a band mate, abrother and a mentor.

"Thank you all for all yourmessages and tributes to Sonam,he sure will have a great gig inthe sky. Farewell my friend," theband wrote in the post.

Born on October 8, 1971 inWest Bengal, Sherpa did hisschooling from St. Augustine'sSchool in Kalimpong. Hemoved to Delhi where he stud-ied B.Com at Kirori MalCollege. Sherpa co-foundedParikrama in June 1991. Theband's other members includeNitin Malik (lead vocalist),Saurabh Choudhary (guitarist),Subir Malik (organist, synthesiz-er), Gaurav Balani (bass gui-tarist) and Srijan Mahajan(drummer).

Nepal on track toprosperity, says Oli

We must help preservetribal culture: NaiduPNS n MANDLA (MP)

Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu on Saturday said trib-als were the original inhabi-tants of India, and the peopleof the country should protecttheir culture.

He was speaking at theinauguration of a two-day'Adivasi Mahotsav' atRamnagar in MadhyaPradesh's Mandla district.

"Tribals are the originalinhabitants of India and it isour duty to protect their cul-ture and ensure their devel-opment. This is our constitu-tional duty as well," the vicepresident said.

Underlining the need forsustainable development, hesaid tribals inspire the societyto dwell in nature and moveforward with it.

This festival is a good effortas it demonstrates indige-nous people's culture, art andother aspects of their life,Naidu added.

"The government's effortsare not enough to preservethe tribal culture and the

society should also chip in,"he said.

Terming education a gate-way to progress, he said trib-als should benefit from it.

"Peace is necessary fordevelopment. Without peacedevelopment cannot takeplace," the vice presidentadded. Union ministersFaggan Singh Kulaste andPrahlad Patel, who were pre-sent on the occasion, alsostressed on the need to pre-serve tribal culture and art.

UDF, LDF spar in Kerala House overalleged leakage of CAG reportPNS n KOCHI

Kerala Chief Secretary TomJose's statement alleging leak-age of contents of the CAGreport before it was tabled inthe state Assembly has creat-ed a storm with the CPI(M)-led ruling dispensation andthe Congress-led Oppositionsparring over the issue onSaturday.

The state governmentalleged conspiracy in the polit-ical attack against it over theCAG report which had citedthe role of state police chiefLoknath Behara in the allegeddiversion of funds violatingguidelines in implementingvarious projects in the policedepartment.

Reacting to this, theCongress accused the govern-ment of adopting diversionarytactics and challenged it toorder a detailed investigationinto the matter.

A day after the ChiefSecretary issued the statement

alleging the leakage, TourismMinister KadakampallySurendran said it was seniorCongress MLA P T Thomaswho had made a "planned"presentation on the contents ofthe report in the stateAssembly.

Before tabling the CAGreport in the House, P TThomas raised matters relatedto its contents in the Assembly.He made a planned, smartpresentation on the issues with-

out mentioning the CAGreport. That means he got theCAG report leaked. That is aclear violation of rules of Houseproceedings. That should beinvestigated," Surendran toldreporters here.

The Minister said when theentire issue was analysed, itwas suspected that there wasa "possibility of conspiracy"."There is no doubt that a con-spiracy was hatched by somecentres," Surendran alleged.

Hitting out at Surendran,Congress MLA P T Thomasurged him not to "play a hide-and-seek game" on the matterand "show courage" to demanda thorough investigation intothe matter in the next Cabinetmeeting.

He said "irregularities andcorruption" in the policedepartment were evident forthose who see the things with

an investigative mind and therewas no need for him to get thecontents of the report leaked toraise them in the Assembly.The BJP also targeted the LDFgovernment over the issue.

Union Minister VMuraleedharan said the UnionFinance Ministry and HomeMinistry would consider thematters mentioned in the CAGreport seriously. He, however,said at present the matter wasnot officially placed before theCentral government.

Muraleedharan, a senior BJPleader, also questioned thetiming of DGP Behera's trip toLondon, saying it has to beexamined whether it was a pri-vate trip or an official tour.

The report, which came upbefore the house on February12, had found 25 INSAS riflesand over 12,000 cartridgesmissing from the SpecialArmed Police battalion hereand came down on the policechief for diversion of funds,violating guidelines.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The madrasa system of educa-tion is caught in a time warpwhere the core syllabus has notbeen changed for hundreds ofyears but only artificial and lop-sided additions of secularlearning made, says a newbook. In "Madrasas in the Ageof Islamophobia", authors ZiyaUs Salam and M Aslam Parvaiznarrate the decline of themadrasas from being centres ofexcellence to institutions ofrestricted learnings with darkclouds of stigma surroundingthem.

They say that once a pivot of

the Muslim world, madrasastoday are marginalised withinthe Muslim community. "Thewell-off, the well-read, thewell-placed Muslims do notsend their children to madrasasanymore."

The madrasas are also shortof resources, rejected by thewell-heeled, and condemnedby politicians.

The book, published bySAGE Select, is an attempt topeek into the world of Indianmadrasas and see how far thecommunity has to travel torevive its days of glory.

It is an attempt to go back intime, from the earliest knowl-

edge centres of West Asia tomadrasas in medieval India,and finally to post-indepen-

dence India, when to be an'aalim' (one who perceives real-ity) of Islam from a local

madrasa is often synonymouswith being ignorant of the world.

The authors say themadrasas are going throughrough and challenging times.

"The funds are low, almostentirely dependent on acts ofcharity of the believers, orwhat is euphemistically calledcommunity funding. Worsethough is the inability of themadrasa management to movewith the times," they rue.

They say the Quran repeat-edly asks believers to explorethe world, introspect and askquestions; but madrasas, on thecontrary, revel in their rotelearning methods.

"The Quran is reduced to abook that is memorised by stu-dents in the initial years in amadrasa, kissed, touched withthe forehead and put back in avelvet cover after every reading.Never is a student encouragedto ask questions about it, orseek answers through it," thebook says.

The authors also argue thatdue to a constant fascinationfor looking at the supposedpast, the madrasas have neitherchanged their syllabus to meetemerging challenges, nor pre-pared their scholars to work ina multi-religious society ormulti-sect Muslim world.

The report, whichcame up before thehouse on February 12,had found 25 INSASrifles and over 12,000cartridges missingfrom the SpecialArmed Policebattalion here andcame down on thepolice chief fordiversion of funds,violating guidelines

PNS n KATHMANDU

Prime Minister KP SharmaOli said Nepal was movingtowards becoming a prosper-ous and happy country withimproved economic indica-tors and a slew of develop-ment works, on the occasionof his Nepal CommunistParty government complet-ing two years in power onSaturday.

Addressing the NepalParliament, Oli said his gov-ernment had delivered onfast economic progress andmaintenance of law andorder, and reducing poverty.

Over the past two years,the country has recorded6.5 per cent economicgrowth, which is 4 per centmore than the previousdecade's growth, the primeminister said.

In the same period, percapita income had increasedby 18 per cent and povertyreduced by 1.5 per cent, he

said. The Nepal CommunistParty's two-year anniversaryin power has brought stabil-ity to the country's politics,where in the last decade nogovernment had completedeven one year of being inpower.

Oli told the Parliamentthat the percentage of peoplebelow the poverty line hadcome down to 16.5 and thegovernment was slowly real-ising its slogan 'prosperousNepal and happy Nepali'.

PNS n KOLKATA

Trinamool Congress MLANargis Begum on Saturdayapologised to CPI(M) legis-lator Jahanara Khan for mak-ing an objectionable com-ment on her in the WestBengal Assembly.

Begum, the Memari MLA,apologised after being repri-manded by Speaker BimanBandyopadhyay.

Participating in the motionof thanks to the governor'saddress to the Assembly,Begum had reacted toJamuria MLA JahanaraKhan's comments on the risein crimes against women anduttered words which wereexpunged from the Houserecords.

Deputy Speaker SukumarHansda was in the chairwhen Begum made the com-ment in the first half of thesession. Urging all the MLAsto be careful about theirchoiceof words in the House,the speaker said the issue hasalso been discussed in theParliamentary Affairs com-mittee and the members feltthe comment was "unfortu-nate".

Parliamentary AffairsMinister Partha Chatterjeealso asked Begum to apolo-gise. Chatterjee said he wasinformed about it by minis-ters Firhad Hakim, TapasRoy and CPI(M) LegislatureParty leader SujanChakraborty.

Madrasa system of education caught in time warp: Book

Tom Jose Loknath Behara

TMC MLAapologises toCPM legislatorfor comments

Special NIAcourt jails twofor distributingfake currency

Derek O' Brientop questionerin Rajya Sabha

Charging theUnion ministerwith being aproponent ofupper castehegemony, theprotesters saidthat Singh stoodfor everythingthat Ambedkarfought againstand his garlandi-ng of the statuewas tantamountto "defiling it".

PNS n GUWAHATI

Two persons were arrestedwith arms, ammunition, gun-powder and two deer hornsin Assam's Udalguri district,police said on Saturday.Acting on a tip-off, a jointteam of the state police andthe Sashastra Seema Bal(SSB) raided the house of oneBatmol Daimari in the TilaGarobasti area around 11pm on Friday and made theseizures, they said.

Two country-made guns,two daggers, 15 rounds ofammunition, a bottle of gun-powder, few iron tools andinstruments used for makingammunition, besides twodeer horns were seized, policesaid.

Another person, identi-fied as Daburam Boro, wasarrested based on Daimari'sstatement, officials said.

Daimari told police that hebought the guns from a per-son of Nepalibasti area alongthe Bhutan border to killwild animals, police said.

2 held with arms,deer horns inAssam’s Udalguri

Tributes pour in for Parikramalead guitarist Sonam Sherpa

Underlining theneed forsustainabledevelopment, hesaid tribals inspirethe society todwell in natureand move forwardwith it

PNS n TOKYO

The condition of the threeIndians infected with the novelcoronavirus on board thecruise ship moored off theJapanese coast has improvedand no new cases of infectionamong the Indians on thequarantined vessel have beenreported, the Indian Embassyin Japan said on Saturday.

A total of 138 Indians,including 132 crew and 6 pas-sengers, were among the 3,711people on board the quaran-tined ship that arrived at theJapanese coast earlier thismonth. Three Indians wereamong the 218 people infect-ed with COVID-19 on theship. The Indian Embassy saidit was making efforts for early

de-boarding of all the Indiansfrom the ship after the end ofthe quarantine period.

"Happy to inform that healthconditions of 3 Indians beingtreated for COVID-19 haveimproved and no new cases ofinfection of Indians on theship," the embassy tweeted.

The embassy is in discussionwith the Japanese governmentand the ship managementcompany for the disembarka-tion modalities and welfare ofIndians, it said.

"We have continued ourefforts with all of them for earlydisembarkation of our nation-als after the end of the quaran-tine period and subject tofavourable results of their testsfor COVID - 19," an embassyofficial told PTI on Saturday.

T h eship wasq u a r a nt i n e dafter a passengerwho de-boarded lastmonth in Hong Kong wasfound to be the carrier of theCOVID-19 on the ship.

The embassy is in discussion withthe Japanese govt and theship managementcompany for thedisembarkation modalitiesand welfare of Indians,it said

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2020 nation 05

SHORT READS

Baby and motherdischarged after covid 19 treatment

ATM stolen insoutheast Delhi'sTughlaqabadNEW DELHI: An ATM insoutheast Delhi's TughlaqabadExtension was stolen by someunidentified people, followingwhich a case has beenregistered, police said onSaturday. Police received a callabout the theft on Saturdaymorning following which seniorofficers visited the scene of thecrime. According to the police,some unidentified people camein a four-wheeler a fled with theautomated teller machine(ATM). A case has beenregistered at Govindpuri policestation and teams are workingto identify and arrest ofsuspects, DeputyCommissioner of Police(Southeast) R P Meena said,adding CCTV footage werebeing scanned to identify theaccused.

Man on the run afterraping Dalit teenagerin UP's BhadohiBHADOHI (UP): A man escapedfrom a village after allegedlyraping a Dalit teenager in UttarPradesh's Bhadohi district,police said on Saturday. Theincident happened in a village inGopiganj area on Friday whenMukesh Singh alias Ravindratook the girl to a pump set roomin the fields and raped her there,Circle Officer K Singh said. Theaccused later fled from the spotthreatening the girl of direconsequences, he said. An FIRhas been registered and policehas launched a manhunt toarrest him.

UP: Youth thrashed bywoman for harassingher on Valentine's DayMUZAFFARNAGAR (UP): A25-year-old man was beaten upby a 23-year-old woman forallegedly molesting her onValentine's Day in UttarPradesh's Shamli district,police said on Saturday.Gulbahar was handed over topolice at Thana Bhawan town inthe district on Friday, they said.Police said a case wasregistered against the youth,who has been arrested.According to a complaintlodged by the victim's family,Gulbahar harassed the womanon the occasion of Valentine'sDay. The woman resisted theyouth's attempts and thrashedhim, according to police.

MHRD acts on denial ofPhD to whistleblowerprof's studentNEW DELHI: The HumanResource Development (HRD)ministry has asked IITKharagpur to put before itsboard of governors the issueof denial of doctorate degreeto a student of whistleblowerProfessor Rajeev Kumar, whoclaimed "vindictive attitude"towards him on part of thepremier engineering institute,according to an RTI reply.The move follows appeals byKumar, who got posting atthe Jawaharlal NehruUniversity (JNU) after aprolonged legal battle with IITKharagpur where he wasposted earlier, and by hisstudent Mahesh Shirole tothe ministry. Citing Shirole'spetition, the HRD ministry ina communiqué asked theregistrar of IIT Kharagpur toplace the issue before theboard of governors for adecision. The copy of thecommuniqué was received inresponse to an RTI queryfiled by Kumar.

BEIJING: A 67-day-old babyand her mother, who sufferedfrom the novel coronavirus,were on Saturday dischargedfrom a hospital in China'sGuizhou province after beingsuccessfully treated for theinfection, health authoritiessaid. The baby, surnamedJiang, was brought to centralChina's Hubei province, theepicentre of the coronavirusepidemic, by her parents onJanuary 16 to spend the SpringFestival holiday. However,Jiang's parents were confirmedinfected with the new virusafter returning to Guizhou onJanuary 25, state-run Xinhuanews agency reported. Thebaby too developed symptomsof runny nose and cough andlater tested positive for thenovel coronavirus on February2 following which she and herparents were admitted to thehospital.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Finalising calendar for 2020-21home season, appointment ofethics officer and release offunds to Indian Cricketers'Association (ICA) will beamong the items on agenda atBCCI's second Apex Councilmeeting here on Sunday.

Justice D K Jain wasappointed the BCCI's first-ever ombudsman in Februarylast year on a one-year termand he also doubled up as itsethics officer, overseeing high-profile conflict of interest alle-gations against SachinTendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVSLaxman and Kapil Dev.

It remains to be seen if Jaingets an extension or the SouravGanguly-led board goes for afresh appointment.

Another significant item onthe agenda of the nine-mem-ber Council is the release offunds to ICA, India's first-everplayers' association formed asper recommendations of theSupreme Court-appointedLodha panel.

The ICA has been desper-ately seeking funds from the

BCCI since the new dispensa-tion came into power inOctober. No funding till nowmeans the players' body iswithout an office and has notbeen able to meet regularly.

In its first meeting inOctober, the ICA had prepareda tentative budget of Rs 15-20crore.

The body will receive an ini-tial grant from the BCCI butwill have to raise money on itsown in the long run.

The Apex Council, whichhad its first and only meetingso far on November 30, isrequired to meet at least oncein three months.

Among other things, theschedule of the 2020-21 homeseason will also be finalised inthe meeting.

The replacement for formerCFO Santosh Rangnekar, whoresigned in November lastyear, is also likely to befinalised.

COVID 19

PNS n CHENNAI

Parties led by the DMK inTamil Nadu on Saturday lashedout at the police for alleged useof force on anti-CAA protest-ers here and sought actionagainst personnel involved init.

With the government com-ing under opposition attackover the violence, the rulingAIADMK reaffirmed its com-mitment to the Muslim com-munity and said "Goebbelslike propaganda" against itwould not work.

The city police appealed tothe public to not to share any"provocative" messages onsocial media in this connec-tion, even as anti-CAA protestsby members of the Muslimcommunity continued in dif-ferent parts of the state.

Tamil Nadu RevenueMinister R B Udayakumar saidthe "Amma government" hadalways accorded high priorityfor the welfare of Muslimsand saw to it that they were not"even minutely affected" inany way.

Speaking to reporters inMadurai, he said ChiefMinister K Palaniswami andhis deputy O Panneerselvamwere "protecting the Muslimslike their children and familymembers."

"Those unable to stomach

this are unleashing lies andGoebbels like propaganda, butthat will not benefit them.The people will also not believethem," he said.

DMK President M K Stalinsaid Friday's protests had beenheld in a peaceful manner andsought to know why the policeused force to disperse them.

"Lathicharge was doneunnecessarily on the peacefulpeople for no reason and thisprompted people across thestate to take to the streets,"Stalin said in a statement.

He said Friday had beenturned into a "black night" forthe protesters by the police.

On Friday, an anti-CAAprotest by Muslims had turnedviolent when a group of pro-testers clashed with policehere, leaving four personnelinjured.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A day ahead of taking oath asthe Delhi chief minister for thethird time, AAP national con-venor Arvind Kejriwal hascalled a dinner meeting of hisCabinet ministers to discuss aroadmap for Delhi's develop-ment. According to partyfunctionaries, Kejriwal willdiscuss with his ministers ini-tiatives that need to be priori-tised and action items forDelhi government in the com-ing three months. The meet-ing will also focus on develop-ing a roadmap to make Delhia global city, they said. Kejriwalwill take oath as Delhi chiefminister along with his cabi-net at 10 am on Sunday. TheAAP won 62 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly,while the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) bagged theremaining eight seats. TheCongress drew a blank for thesecond consecutive time.

APEX COUNCIL MEETING

PNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

A court here on Saturday sum-moned Union Law MinisterRavi Shankar Prasad to appearbefore it in a defamation casefiled by Congress leader andThiruvananthapuram MPShashi Tharoor.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate(CJM) took cognisance of thecomplaint and asked the min-ister to appear before it on May2, Tharoor's lawyer told themedia. Tharoor had inDecember 2018 filed a defama-tion case against Prasad forallegedly making derogatoryremarks in\ connection with hiswife Sunanda Pushkar's death.

Tharoor had earlier sent alegal notice to Prasad, the min-ister for Law Justice and IT,seeking an "unconditional apol-ogy" for calling him a "murderaccused."

Tharoor has stated that theinvestigation in the Pushkarcase had been completed andthe Delhi Police had filed a finalreport before the AdditionalMetropolitan Magistrate court,in which he was charge sheet-

ed under Sections 308 and 498A of the Indian Penal Code.

"The final report does notstate that the death of thedeceased was a murder,"Tharoor had said

The ThiruvananthapuramMP and former Union minis-ter said that on October 28around 5.38 am, Prasad hadposted a 2 minute 18 secondsvideo clip of his press confer-ence, along with certain "false,untrue, malicious and highlydefamatory statements onTwitter."

Tharoor alleged that thevideo had been posted todefame him and thereby to

"spread an untrue, false andscandalous imputation" againsthim that he is a "murder case"accused and that he had beencharge sheeted.

This was intended to "harm"his reputation and "malign"him before the public "by inten-tionally giving such false anduntrue statements, the colour ofhis office, he had said.

"It is evident that theimpugned post/tweet and thecontents are solely intended tomalign and tarnish the reputa-tion of the complainant," hestated.

Ravi Shankar Prasad

Tharoor had inDecember 2018filed a defamationcase againstPrasad forallegedly makingderogatoryremarks in\connection withhis wife SunandaPushkar's death.

Kerala court summonsPrasad in defamation case

PDP leader resigns from party:Dubs Article 370 ‘dead stock'PNS n JAMMU

Senior PDP leader ShahMohammad Tantray hasresigned from the primarymembership of the party, citinghis unhappiness with it over"unnecessary expulsions" ofleaders for meeting Lt GovernorG C Murmu here.

The 64-year-old leader, whowas elected to the state assem-bly on a PDP ticket from thePoonch-Haveli seat in 2014,said Article 370 had become a"dead stock" as a result of near-ly three dozen amendmentsduring the Congress rule.

The Centre abrogated Article370 provisions giving special sta-tus to Jammu and Kashmir andbifurcated the erstwhile stateinto union territories in Augustlast year.

On January 9, the PDPexpelled eight party leaders --Dilawar Mir, Rafi Ahmad Mir,Zaffar Iqbal, Abdul MajeedPadroo, Raja Manzoor Khan,Javaid Hussain Baig, Qamar

Hussain, Abdul Rahim Ratherbesides Tantray -- two daysafter they met the Lt Governorunder the leadership of formerparty leader Syed MohammadAltaf Bukhari.

The PDP had said, "In viewof the development post August5 and the unilateral move of thegovernment of India which hasviolated the will and hurt thesentiments of people, it has

come to the attention of theparty that certain party leadershave been part of the parleyswhich go against the interests ofthe state, official position andcore beliefs of the party.

"The party disciplinary com-mittee has recommended theexpulsion of all these leadersfrom the basic membership ofthe party."

The expulsion of the eight

leaders followed the resignationof four more party functionar-ies -- former MLA RafiabadYawar Mir, PDP state secretaryMir Samiullah, MuntazirMohuiddin and Syed ShowketGayoor -- amid speculationsthat Bukhari is launching anew political party with the helpof disgruntled leaders in thePDP, the Congress and otherparties.

The Centreabrogated Article370 provisionsgiving specialstatus to Jammuand Kashmir andbifurcated theerstwhile stateinto unionterritories inAugust last year

Jaishankar meets USHouse Speaker PelosiPNS n NEW DELHI

External Affairs Minister SJaishankar on Saturday saidthat US House Speaker NancyPelosi's "consistent support" toIndia-US ties has always beena great source of strength as hemet her on the sidelines of theMunich Security Conference.

Jaishankar arrived here onFriday for the prestigious secu-rity conference during whichhe is expected to outlineIndia's views on several issuesof global concern.

"Such a pleasure to catch upwith @SpeakerPelosi. Her con-sistent support to India-US ties has alwaysbeen a great sourceof strength,"Jaishankar tweet-ed.

Jaishankar onFriday met USambassador tothe UnitedNations Kelly KnightCraft on the side-lines of thec o n -

ference.The Munich Security

Conference, being held herefrom February 14-16, is theworld's leading forum fordebate on international secu-rity policy.

US President DonaldTrump and First Lady MelaniaTrump will pay a state visit toIndia on February 24 and 25at the invitation of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi. Inaddition to New Delhi, Trumpwill also visit Ahmedabad toaddress a joint public meetingwith Modi at a newly-built sta-dium.

Trump on his maidentrip to India will meet

the country's topbusiness leaders inNew Delhi onFebruary 25, in abid to push fordeeper trade andbusiness relationsbetween the two

nations.

PNS n NEW DELHI

From 1930 Cadillac V-16Roadster from the US to a 1939Buick Roadmaster convertiblesedan from Canada, besides abevy of other vintage four-wheeled beauties on Saturdayrolled across the streets ofDelhi as part of a mega eventto promote motoring heritagein the country.

More than 140 vintage cars,including eight from abroad,and 35 heritage bikes are par-ticipating in the ninth editionof the two-day 21 Gun SaluteInternational Vintage Car Rally& Concours d'Elegance.

Owners of some of thesewell-preserved cars fromCadillac, Rolls Royce, Bentleyand Volkswagen and othermanufacturers, took a ridefrom the India Gate, where theevent was flagged off by KTSTulsi, president HMCI(Heritage Motoring Club ofIndia), to Karma Lake Lands inGurgaon.

At the Gurgaon venue, otherrare beauties on displayinclude, Bikaner horse cart,wedding palanquin and erst-while Maharaja Of Gwalior'showdah.

The eight international vin-tage cars taking part in theevent include 1930 Cadillac V-16 Roadster and 1939 BuickRoadmaster ConvertibleSedan, Model 81C from theUS; 1936 Rolls Royce 25/30from Canada; 1951 Bentley

MK VI Freestone and Webbfrom Germany; and 1959Jaguar XK 150S, 1959 Alfa2000, 1966 Ford Mustang,Maserati 3500 GTSpyderVignale from Belgium,organisers said.

The oldest car in the rallyhas been showcased by indus-trialist Gautam Singhania, whohas brought his 1903 Cadillacand 1936 Rolls Royce. YohanPoonawalla has also broughthis few cars, including twoRolls Royce beauties, andRatan Tata''s brother JimmyTata is showcasing 1967 DodgeCharger, they said.

"I have had the opportuni-ty to observe some fascinatingvintage cars. These have beenexquisitely restored and pre-served and the heritage ofvintage and classic cars arebeing kept alive because of thecommitment of the ownersand those who work behindthe scenes in maintaining thesebeauties," Tulsi said.

Cong leadersdetained nearBSY’s residencePNS n BENGALURU

Several Karnataka Congressleaders, including its presidentDinesh Gundu Rao and leaderof the oppositionSiddaramaiah, were detainedby the police here on Saturday,as they marched to besiegeChief Minister B SYediyurappas office to protestagainst the alleged misuse ofthe police department by theBJP government in the state.

Rao and Bangalore ruralMP D K Suresh tried to jumpthe barricade erected by thepolice to stop them, and marchtowards the Chief Ministersresidence, but were stoppedmidway and detained.

The march, which beganfrom Gandhi statue on RaceCourse Road, led to a trafficpile-up.

State Congress had organ-ised the protest over seditioncase filed against a Bidarschool and arrest of a parentand the headmistress (now onbail) for their alleged involve-ment in staging a drama por-traying Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in poor lightin connection with the(Citizenship Amendment Act)and NRC (National Register ofCitizens).

17 peoplewho returnedfrom abroadtaken illPNS n NEW DELHI

Seventeen people, out of alarge number of passengerswho had arrived in Delhifrom China and other coro-navirus-affected countriesbefore the screening at theairport began around mid-January, have been foundsymptomatic for the infectionand hospitalised, officialssaid.

Delhi health departmentofficials have traced many ofsuch passengers. Accordingto data shared by the Delhihealth department, tillFebruary 13, over 5,700 suchpassengers were approachedafter being informed by theDelhi airport authorities.

"As many as 4,707 passen-gers were found asympto-matic and advised for homeisolation (self-quarantined).Seventeen patients werefound symptomatic and hos-pitalised," a senior official ofthe Delhi health departmentsaid.Kejriwal calls

Cabinet ministersfor dinner meet

Rare vintage automobilebeauties at rally in Delhi

At the Gurgaonvenue, other rarebeauties ondisplay include,Bikaner horsecart, weddingpalanquin anderstwhileMaharaja OfGwalior's howdah.

Oppn parties in TN slam policeaction against anti-CAA protesters

Condition of 3 infected Indians improves

Home calendar, appointment ofethics officer, ICA funding on agenda

CAPSULE

Auto dealers'body asks vehiclemakers to shift NEW DELHI: Automobiledealers' body on Saturdayasked vehicle manufacturersto shift wholesale despatchesto BS-VI compliant vehiclesonly, with the Supreme Courtrefusing its request to extenddeadline for sale andregistration of BS-IV vehiclesbeyond April 1. TheFederation of AutomobileDealers Associations (FADA)said considering the longdownturn that has lasted wellover a year now and thecurrent dynamic demandsituation, selling 100 per centof the BS-IV vehicles currentlyin stock with its members byMarch 31 is a tough task."FADA, hence, appeals to allOEMs (original equipmentmanufactures) to shiftcompletely to BS-VI vehiclesfor all wholesale despatchesto dealers and stop furtherbilling of BS-IV vehicles withimmediate effect to dealers,thereby helping liquidation ofthe current BS-IV inventoryfor a smoother transition toBS-VI," FADA PresidentAshish Kale said in astatement.

Puravankara Q3 net profit down 41%to Rs 16.10 crNEW DELHI: Realty firmPuravankara Ltd has reporteda 41 per cent decline in itsconsolidated net profit at Rs16.10 crore for the quarterended December. Its net profithad stood at Rs 27.18 crore inthe year-ago period. Thecompany's total income alsofell to Rs 528.11 crore in thethird quarter of the currentfinancial year from Rs 565.66crore in the correspondingperiod of the previous year,the Bengaluru-based firm saidin a regulatory filing. Duringthe April-December 2019period, the realty firm's netprofit increased to Rs 88 croreas against Rs 75.57 crore ayear ago. Total income in thefirst nine months of 2019-20rose to Rs 1,797.47 crorefrom Rs 1,459.64 crore in thecorresponding period of theprevious year.

Airbus ‘deeplyregrets' US tariffincreasePARIS: Airbus said onSaturday it "deeply regrets"Washington's move toincrease tariffs on its planesimported into the UnitedStates from Europe. Thedecision to impose tariffs fromMarch 18 "further escalatestrade tensions between the USand the EU, thereby creatingmore instability for US airlinesthat are already suffering froma shortage of aircraft", theEuropean manufacturer said ina statement.

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2020 money 06

PNS n WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump'supcoming visit to India will bea "delightful spectacle" and"utterly successful" by manymeasures, eminent Americanexperts on South Asia issueshave said. Trump along withthe First Lady are scheduled tovisit Ahmedabad and NewDelhi on February 24 and 25,according to a White Houseannouncement early thisweek.

This would be president'sfirst bilateral visit in the thirddecade of 21st century andalso the first after his acquit-tal by the Senate in theimpeachment trial. "I think theTrump visit will be a delight-ful spectacle and utterly suc-

cessful by many measures,"Ashley Tellis, who is TataChair for Strategic Affairs and

a senior fellow at the CarnegieEndowment for InternationalPeace, said. Trump is expect-

ed to get a roaring welcome bylakhs of people when hearrives in Ahmedabad,Gujarat. He along with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi areexpected to deliver a historicspeech in front of hundredsand thousands of people at thenewly build Motera stadium,the largest cricket stadium ofthe world. One of the mostprominent experts on India,Tellis, however, noted that atthe moment, he was unsurewhether the trade disputes

between the two countrieswill be resolved. Senior gov-ernment officials are tightlipped on this issue, except formaking comments in recentpast that the two countries areon the verge of a trade pack-age or a mini trade deal.

"Although the GOI(Government of India) hasclaimed that both sides areclose to a deal, I don't thinkthere has been real progress —certainly none that will satis-fy USTR (US Trade

Representatives). We mightget some progress on defensesales, but that's uncertain too,"Tellis noted. "Still, both thecountries have done wellwhere defense cooperation isconcerned under the Trumpadministration, which is morethan can be said for manyother US relationships with itsallies. I expect this will furtherdeepen in the years ahead," hesaid in response to a question.

"Even if the visit then pro-duces only good optics, I'lltake it all the same if itstrengthens Trump's percep-tions of India as a friend.Given his mercurial personal-ity and policies, that is not asmall achievement — and Ithink PM Modi understandsthat well," Tellis said.

‘Trump's India visit will be delightful spectacle, utterly successful’

‘BUDGET UNLIKELY TO HAVEMUCH INFLATIONARY IMPACT’PNS n NEW DELHI

Reserve Bank GovernorShaktikanta Das on Saturdaysaid the budget proposals willnot have much inflationaryimpact as the government hasby and large remained withinthe fiscal deficit roadmap setunder the FRBM Act.

The Union Budget earlierthis month raised the fiscaldeficit target to 3.8 per cent ofthe GDP for 2019-20, from the3.3 per cent pegged earlier, dueto revenue shortage.

"The direct inflationaryimpact of any budget is fiscaldeficit number, when borrow-ing goes up, but the govern-ment has adhered to the prin-ciple of fiscal prudence. The'escape clause' under FRBMAct, the deficit number in thecurrent year as well as the nextyear are very much within theparameters set as per FRBMcommittee recommendations,"Das said. He was talking toreporters after the customaryaddress of the finance ministerto the central board of RBI postbudget. The government hasutilised 'escape clause' underthe Fiscal Responsibility andBudget Management (FRBM)Act, which allows the Centre tobreach its fiscal deficit target by0.5 percentage points at timesof severe stress in the economy,including periods of structur-al change and when growthfalls sharply.

"The good part of the gov-ernment borrowing is alsobudgeted to come from smallsavings. Therefore, I don't seemuch of an inflationary impact.Declining crude prices has def-

initely positive impact on infla-tion...The main reason for spikein inflation is because of foodinflation, mostly milk, fish,and various protein relateditems. Core inflation has slight-ly edged up because of revisionof telecom tariffs," he said.Retail inflation based on con-sumer price index (CPI) soaredto a near six-year high of 7.59per cent in January, surpassingthe Reserve Bank of India'scomfort range primarily onaccount of rising vegetable andfood prices.

This was the highest rate ofinflation since May 2014, whenit came in at 8.33 per cent.

Similarly, wholesale prices-based inflation accelerated to a10-month high of 3.10 per

cent in January mainly due tocostlier food articles, particu-lary onion and potato.

On inclusion of core infla-tion in the monetary policyframework, Das said,"Internally we are reviewing, weare analysing how MPC frame-work has worked over the last3.5 years. There is already aninternal review process goingon. At the appropriate time ifrequired we will have dialogueand discussion with the govern-ment. At the moment, it isunder review within the RBI."Asked if the board consideredpayment of interim dividend tothe government, the governorwas non-committal and said ifany decision is taken, it will bemade public.

Transmission of rate cuts toimprove furtherl credit growthmomentum gatheringpace: RBI chiefNEW DELHI: RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das saidmomentum is gathering paceon credit growth and expressedhope that transmission of ratecuts will improve further in thecoming days. His commentscome against the backdrop ofconcerns over growth of theeconomy, which has alsoregistered spike in inflation andslowdown in industrialproduction. Addressing themedia after RBI board meeting,which was also addressed byFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman, Das said he doesnot agree that rate cuttransmission is plateauing out.Transmission of rate cuts isslowly and steadily improvingand it is expected to improvefurther, he said. "We do expectcredit growth to pick up incoming months," Das said,adding that momentum isgathering pace on this front.On Feb 6, the 6 member-Monetary Policy Committee(MPC) headed by Das, for thesecond meeting in a row, keptrepo rate unchanged at 5.15per cent but maintained theaccommodative policy stancewhich implies it was biased infavour of cutting rate to boostgrowth.

Internally we are reviewing, we are analysing howMPC framework has worked over the last 3.5 years.There is already an internal review process going on.

At the appropriate time if required we will have dialogue anddiscussion with the government. At the moment, it is underreview within the RBI

— SHAKTIKANTA DAS, RRBBII GGoovveerrnnoorr

One of the most prominent experts on India,Tellis, however, noted that at the moment, hewas unsure whether the trade disputesbetween the two countries will be resolved

PNS n KOLKATA

The ongoing tension betweenthe US and China, which hasbeen affecting the global trade,will have its impact on theemerging markets and will notspare the mutual fund (MF)industry too, a Sebi official saidon Saturday.

The amount of liquidity ofthe US economy is beingsucked out as the FederalReserve has been "withdrawingUSD 660 billion per year",Sebi's whole-time member G.Mahalingam said.

"This will definitely have animpact on the emerging mar-kets and will not spare the MFindustry. The global scenario isnot rosy," he said at a pro-gramme organised by IndianChamber of Commerce here.

The official of the Securitiesand Exchange Board of Indiasaid that liquidity is an impor-tant benchmark. "There couldbe credit or operational risk.More risk management guide-lines will be forthcoming as thecapital markets regulator willdiscuss on these issues," he said.Mahalingam said prudent man-agement is required for the sus-tainability of the mutual fundindustry on a long-term basis."Sustainability is required. TheMF industry is growing at 21-22 per cent and this growth rate

will not be there forever. It willcome down," he said. Askingwhether the MF instrumentsare competitive as compared tobank deposits, he said, "Safetyof the investments is equallyimportant and this feature hasto be in-built."

The MF industry shouldleverage techonologies andreach out to retail investorsbeyond metro or tier-I cities.

Mahalingam ruled out thepossibility of using mutual

funds as payment instrumentsin India in near future as it isdone in some other countries.

He said that there is "a cred-ibility issue" in the MF indus-try which can be addressedthrough awareness drive.

N S Venkatesh, chief execu-tive of the Association ofMutual Funds in India said thatthe growth of assets undermanagement (AUM) in theindustry is expected to be flatthis fiscal.

Global scenario not rosy, willimpact MF sector: SEBI

The amount of liquidity of the US economy is being sucked out as the Federal Reservehas been “withdrawing USD 660 billion peryear”, Sebi's whole-time member G Mahalingam said

‘TN budget will give impetus toinfrastructural growth’PNS n CHENNAI

Trade body Confederation ofIndian Industry (CII) onSaturday said the budget pre-sented by Tamil Nadu DeputyChief Minister OPanneerselvam would giveimpetus for the growth ofinfrastructure.

CII Tamil Nadu state coun-cil chairman S Chandramohanwelcomed the budget, sayingit was a growth-oriented andan inclusive one.

"The budget will give impe-tus for infrastructural growthby significant allocation of Rs15,850 crore towards roadprojects which will spurgrowth of several sectors," hesaid.

He said the development ofPonneri Industrial Belt ofChennai-Bengaluru corridorand the Chennai-Tuticorinindustrial corridor was expect-ed to give momentum in thecoming years.

He said the government's

plan to increase the subsidy forthe NEEDS (NewEntrepreneur-cum-EnterpriseDevelopment Scheme)(NEEDS)Scheme to Rs 50lakh would promote entrepre-neurship, employment andgowth. The various measurestaken by the government onskills training, FinancialTechnology (FINTECH)Centre in Chenna would go along way in retaining andenhancing the competitive-ness of the state, he said.

Panneerselvam who holdsthe Finance portfolio present-ed the last full-fledged budgetof the AIADMK governmenton Friday.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Review of compliance obliga-tions required by market inter-mediaries and participants fortrading in stock markets willhelp in enabling the ease ofdoing business in capital mar-kets, according to a reportreleased on Saturday.

Currently, trading in stockmarkets require market inter-mediaries and participants tofulfil a number of compliancerequirements.

The review of complianceswill reduce the cumbersomepaper work for retail investors,encourage broader participationand democratise prosperity andmake Indian markets attractiveto global investors.

In addition, it will enablemarket intermediaries to focuson serving customers and grow-ing their businesses and alsohelp in unlocking the potentialvalue for listed companies. "Dueto rapid innovation and devel-

opment, there is a scope forreview and reconsideration ofseveral requirements that effec-tively do not add significantvalue to the markets or marketparticipants," Association ofNational Exchanges Membersof India (ANMI) PresidentVijay Bhushan said at the launchof executive summary ofCompliance Review Report2020. This was launched byMinister of State for FinanceAnurag Thakur.

The report is aimed at ensur-ing ease of trading by reviewingall compliance requirements totrade in stock markets on thebasis of four criteria — address-ing outdated and duplicate com-pliances, clarity on conflictcompliances and bringing ratio-nale to compliance system.

It has been prepared after thefinance ministry, through acommunication to markets reg-ulator Sebi, advised to submit a"comprehensive review of com-pliance requirements" vianational exchanges and ANMI.

"The report marks the begin-ning of roll-out of a series ofreforms and is in accordancewith the vision of PrimeMinister (Narendra Modi) tobring about greater ease ofdoing business, which is nowbeing extended to the capitalmarkets. Review of compliancewill encourage participationfrom domestic and globalinvestors to trade on Indian cap-ital market," Bhushan said.

Review of compliance termsto enable ease of doing biz

PNS n NEW DELHI

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday saidthe government is monitoringfarm credit given by banks inrural areas, adding that sheexpects to meet the increasedtarget of Rs 15 lakh crore forthe next fiscal.

The government in Budget2020-21 has raised the farmloan disbursal target by 11 percent to Rs 15 lakh crore forthe next fiscal and allocatedRs 1.6 lakh crore to imple-ment various plans in agricul-ture and allied sectors as itchases the goal of doublingfarmers income by 2022.

The government has allo-

cated Rs 75,000 crore for thePM-KISAN scheme for thenext fiscal, which is same as the budget estimate for thisf iscal but higher than revised estimate of Rs 54,370 crore.

"Credit limit has beenexpanded. I am sure it isbased on local ground levelrequirement...we expect thedemand to grow and credit

requirements to also meetup with it. I am actuallyclosely monitoring banks andtheir extension of credit facil-ity particularly to rural areas.So I think we'll be able tomeet that," she told reportersafter addressing the centralboard of RBI here.

The farm credit target forthe current fiscal has been setat Rs 13.5 lakh crore.

The govt has allocated Rs 75,000 crore for the PM-KISAN scheme for the next fiscal,which is same as the budget estimate forthis fiscal but higher than revised estimate of Rs 54,370 crore

Environest JV with Biopipe of USPNS n CHENNAI

Tamil Nadu, India (NewsVoir)Environest Global, promotedby a city based entrepreneur, PK Senthil Kumar, an MBAfrom U.K, has signed a mem-orandum of understanding toform a joint venture with theU.S. based Biopipe GlobalCorp, a wholly owned sub-sidiary of Lifequest WorldCorp to install patented onsite100 per cent noiseless sludgefree and odour free sewagewaste treatment plant (STP) byvarious untapped users.According to Mr Senthil

Kumar, the company is adopt-ing highly efficient Turkishtechnology by installing pre-fabricated indigenously assem-

bled set even in small area.This would enable the user toavoid high cost installation ofRCC structures to place STP

unit. It will also enable easymaintenance, Mr. Senthil said.This STP is capable of deliver-ing nearly equal to potablewater which can be used forirrigation and cleaning pur-poses. Targets Rs. 100 cr.turnover.

Commenting on the scopeof business, Mr. Senthil Kumarsaid, "Environest had chalkedout a well laid plan to achievea business of Rs. 100 crore inthe first 3 years by targetingvarious institutions, indus-tries, hotels, hospitals, residen-tial and Commercial com-plexes and Labour camps."

‘Totaltransparency in Central Vistarevamp plans’PNS n NEW DELHI

Amid concerns raised byarchitects and activists overthe Centre's revamp plan forthe Central Vista in Delhi,Union minister HardeepSingh Puri has said there hadbeen "total transparency" inthe project and the architectchosen for the job had con-sulted multiple town plan-ners and experts for it. Hewas responding to queriesfrom reporters on Fridayover two petitions filed byactivists in the Delhi HighCourt and concerns raised bymany other heritage andarchitecture experts on theproposed revamp.

"There has been totaltransparency in the project.Bimal Patel had held a meet-ing with editors and townplanner earlier, and after thatmany others, and every othertown planner in town. Thenthere was a meeting withjournalists later," the minis-ter said.

Death toll in China's coronavirusepidemic jumps to over 1,500PNS n BEIJING

The death toll in China's novelcoronavirus epidemic hasclimbed to 1,523 with 143 newfatalities reported mostly fromthe worst-affectedHubei province whilethe confirmed casesjumped to over66,000, health offi-cials said onSaturday.

The country'sHealth Commissionsaid it received reports of2,641 new confirmed cases ofnovel coronavirus infectionand 143 deaths on Fridayfrom 31 provincial-levelregions and the XinjiangProduction and Construction

Corps. Among the deaths,139 were in Hubei Province,two in Henan and one inBeijing and Chongqingrespectively, the commissionsaid. Another 2,277 new sus-

pected cases werereported Friday, said

the commission.Also on Friday,

849 patientsbecame seriouslyill, while 1,373

people were dis-charged from hospital

after recovery, state-runXinhua news agency reported.

The overall confirmed caseson the Chinese mainland hasreached 66,492 by the end ofFriday, and 1,523 people havedied of the disease, it said.

‘Capitalmarkets key to achieving $5 tn economy’PNS n NEW DELHI

Indian capital market isrobust and can play a crucialrole in achieving USD 5 tril-lion economy by 2025,Minister of State for FinanceAnurag Thakur said onSaturday. The exchanges andbrokerages are playing a cru-cial role in capital formationin the country and there is aneed to ensure that publicfaith in the capital market isnot eroded due to scams andfrauds, the minister noted.

"In our journey to a USD5 trillion economy by 2025,the role of capital markets willbe paramount. Indian capitalmarkets are robust and deepand stands at par with otherglobal markets. It is our aimand constant effort to worktowards deregulation of cap-ital market and ease of com-pliance for investors," Thakursaid.

According to Mr Senthil Kumar,the company isadopting highlyefficient Turkishtechnology byinstalling pre-fabricatedindigenouslyassembled seteven in small area

Govt closely monitoring firmcredit given by banks: FM

special 07VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2020

To bid adieu to the chilling winters of Delhiand to give a warm welcome to the hotsummer months to follow, the 34th edi-tion of Surajkund Mela in Faridabadalways has a few surprises waiting for

those who visit the mela. Today, is the last day ofthe 15-day long festival that was nothing short ofa power-packed fiesta.

From the Rajasthani folk dance to the mouth-watering Rajasthani cuisine to the craft fromHimachal Pradesh to souvenirs from Ghana and tobamboo sofas made by local artisans, the festivalhad it all. There was something for everyone to rel-ish and cherish. The festival is hosted by theSurajkund Mela Authority in collaboration with theUnion Ministries of Tourism, Textiles, Culture,External Affairs, Department of Tourism,Government of Haryana and Haryana TourismCorporation. The theme State of the festival thisyear is Himachal Pradesh; last year it wasMaharashtra.

The world’s largest international crafts fair hasbeen drawing crowd in tens of thousands and thiswas no different. One of the highlights among theflooded streets of the mela apart from the luxuri-ous craft from all over the world was the behrupiyabrothers. With people lining-up to click selfies justlike they do with B-town celebs if not more. Thebehrupiyas stood calm and patiently posed for thephotos. Among all the behrupiya brothers, the onewho drew the most attention was the djinnor the genie.

Naushad Khan, the 32-year-oldfrom the community based out ofa village in Rajasthan is carry-ing forward his forefathers’ lega-cy. He has been visiting the melafor several years now.

“I have been into this pro-fession all my life. It is a skillpassed down to me bymy forefathers. This is acraft that we live for. Asfar as my visit to themela is concerned it isbecause of the Haryanatourism board. They havecalled me and my five brothers, who aredisguised as Lord Krishana, joker,dacoit, genie and a monkey, here,” thewell-built Khan tells you.

Dressed in a black gown paired up with anorange pyjama, face painted with purple-pinkishcolour with silver highlights, messy hair, wearingdevil’s horns and necklaces made of both big andsmall beads, there was something eye-catching inKhan’s appearance. On closer inspection, one willnotice his deep yellow eyes. Not that Khan drinksor smokes, it is a part and parcel of his profession.A reaction of wearing paint on his face for too long.

“I wear the costume for about eight to 10 hoursa day. It takes me three hours to disguise myself asdifferent characters. It is not an easy task. There arecertain challenges that we go through daily. Likewhenever I put paint on my face my eyes turn yel-low. It is due to an allergic reaction. As soon as Iwill remove it, they will get back to normal. Not onlythe eyes but my skin too had to pay the price.Though the paint is home-made but still it affectsthe skin,” he says.

Coming from the behrupiya community whohave been into the profession for several centuries,there is no alternative for Khan but to earn a liv-ing from this.

“My purpose of visiting these fairs is to bringthe behrupiya art to light. I want the art to be recog-nised by the people. I love entertaining people andmaking them happy. Of course, money is another

reason but its not the sole one. I want people torespect this art form. There are many people in myvillage who are sitting jobless because they are notgetting a platform to showcase their talent. We don’thave any other option to eke a living,” Khan says.

However entertaining people is not everyone’scup of tea. There is a lot that Khan has to go throughto make others happy. “I come across a lot of peo-ple who mock me. They ask me ‘why am I doingthis? Can’t I follow another profession?’ It hurts andsometimes I get angry but then I can’t do anythingsince I want to carry on the legacy. I have to listento their taunts and behave as if I am deaf,” Khantells you.

Khan feels that mobiles are responsible for cer-tain people’s behaviour to some extent. “When myforefathers were into this business, people appre-ciated the art form. But nowadays its all about, hello,taking a selfie and bye. That’s it. People have no timeto appreciate you. Some are kind enough to stopand give us a reward while others just leave aftertaking photos,” he explains.

Though Khan has a lot of love and respect forthe art he has made up his mind to not allow hischildren to take up the profession. “While I am allset to take this art to other States, I feel there is nomoney. While I am here entertaining people, I amnot sure whether my family back home hasenough money to buy food. It is discouraging tosee that no one is bothered about taking the craft

ahead. My children are currently studying. Ihave already told them to do whatever they

want but not follow our footsteps. I don’twant to see them suffer since

I don’t see any future forthis craft in the future,”

Khan, who has donetheatre and taken partin Ramleela events inhis home State, tells

you.Another gem

hiding a few shopsis edible kitchen-

ware. Yes, you readthat right. Plates,

spoons, bowls andglasses that can be eaten!

Brainchild of Delhi-based environ-ment conscious Puneet Dutta, Attaware is

offering edible kitchenware that is easy to dis-pose and is environment friendly.

“I was working as a global recruitment man-ager for a software firm and had to travel frequently.I always wanted to do something for the environ-ment. One day, while I was crossing River Yamuna,I noticed a long stretch of some white things float-ing in the black water. I went closer and to my hor-ror it was thermacol plates. I was disappointed tosee how we are spoiling the Nature. I was travel-ling to Vrindavan back then. Once I entered thecity, I saw a man holding a puri in his hands withsabzi on top of that. I realised that there was no ther-macol or plastic plates required. That’s when the ideahit me to come up with something that leaves noresidue — Attaware — a brand that offers cutlerymade of atta and gur,” Dutta tells you.

It was in 2013 when he started to play with ideasand a bowl was the first thing that he made. Duttathen went on making plates, spoons and glasses. Thebrand was launched in August last year.

“It took me several years to do the researchbefore I came out with the products. Then I wentfor the trials. I did lot of lab tests. But I was not sat-isfied. I wanted to note its practical applicability. Iapproached a pub in Gurugram and asked them ifthey would sell their drinks in our edible made glass-es. They agreed and the response was positive.

Everything went smoothly. But then I decided tocheck where these glasses went after use. I found,that people generally preferred to have their drinkin cars and throw the glasses away. After a few days,we got to know that mice would carry them to theirburrows and eat them,” he tells you.

To begin with, most people including his broth-er, Sahil, would laugh at his business idea. But hetoo came on board. “Initially, he used to laugh atmy idea. He used to make fun of me by saying ‘pehlePuneet suit pehan kar flights mein jata thha ab dekhokaha atte ki boriyan lata rehta hai.’ I used to keepquiet but once the brand was launched he tooaccepted the fact that whatever I was doing wasgood,” he says.

Since its launch the brand has sold 35,000 sam-ples. “Yes, the samples are not free. People have tobuy them. The response that we have received fromour customers is overwhelming. Even the vendorsat the Surajkund Mela have been kind enough toagree to sell our products,” he says.

The edible kitchenware is an answer to manyproblems. It not only helps in reducing waste as itis completely bio-degradable, it also helps in sav-ing water that is used for washing dishes, providesemployment opportunities and offers food to all liv-ing beings. One can eat it too!

“Through this start-up we are able to giveemployment to around 1,100 widows from Delhi-NCR and Mathura. The work they do can never bereplaced with machinery. The women need to checkthe texture and the quality of the dough before thefinal product is moulded. If the texture is not cor-rect it will fluff up like a roti. Also, our productsare completely safe and hygienic. Atta and gur arebaked at very high temperatures; this kills thegerms,” Sahil, who doesn’t want to disclose the whole

process tells you.This is not all. The next product on cards is a

water bottle. “We will soon come up with an edi-ble water bottle. The name has not yet been finalisedbut we are planning to call it Power Bottle,” Sahiltells you.

Adding to the charm of the festival was anArmenian souvenir shop in the Foreign Shops sec-tion. Cute handmade necklaces, woolen scarfs andbags, wall hangings and fairy dolls are a cherry onthe cake.

Maral Sheuhmelian Berberian, a Syrian-Armenian, who visited the festival for the first timedid everything possible to make her shop look oneof the cutest among all the chock-a-block shops withvariety of stuff.

“The reason why I am here is I wanted to show-case the culture of Armenia. We have received awarm welcome from the people here and I alreadyhave made a lot of friends in India. The one thingthat I liked the most is the kind nature of the peo-ple,” she tells you. All the designs on the shop havebeen handcrafted by Maral. “I loved designing sinceI was a child. I had seen my mother and grand-mother doing this and wondered how they were ableto design their thoughts so beautifully. I wanted todo the same. Now, its more like a passion,” she tellsyou.

The delicious food that the mela has on offerdefinitely needs a special mention. However, manyshopkeepers felt that the year was not as good forthem as it used to be but having said that if you havea keen eye for art and culture and want to see theheritage of the country of for that matter other coun-tries, Surajkund Mela makes for a must visit place.If you have missed it this time, don’t forget to addit in your bucket list for next year.

The 34th edition of Surajkund Mela comes to an end today, after 15 days of fun, food and unendingentertainment. MUSBA HASHMI visits the fair to bring you untold stories of artisans and the hiddentreasures that the festival has on offer

HAAT’S OFF HAAT’S OFF HAAT’S OFF HAAT’S OFF HAAT’S OFF

THE REASON WHY IAM HERE IS I WANTED

TO SHOWCASE THECULTURE OF ARMENIA.

WE HAVE RECEIVED AWARM WELCOME

FROM THE PEOPLEHERE AND I ALREADYHAVE MADE A LOT OF

FRIENDS IN INDIA. THEONE THING THAT I

LIKED THE MOST ISTHE KIND NATURE OF

THE PEOPLE— MARAL S BERBERIAN

Naushad Khan disguised as a genie

Edible cutlery

HAAT’S OFF

This week your health will be good. Be careful withyour physical activities. Those suffering from healthproblems will recover soon. Keep a positive mindsetand things will come easily to you. At work, your flairwill help you distance yourself from negativities andyou will feel more optimistic than usual. You will obtainthe confidence you've always dreamt of. Newopportunities will come your way. Some of you willchoose to leave a job that is no longer productive foryou. Those looking for promotion may get good news.It is a great time to socialise. You are likely to have anopen and honest communication with your partner. Thediscussions you have now will be beneficial for thefuture.

Lucky number 20Lucky colour WhiteLucky day Friday

ARIES March 21-April 19

This week your health is satisfactory. Those dealing withhealth issues, should look for the root cause and work onit. Ignoring health can lead to some serious problems inthe future. Discuss your health condition with others, youmay find a solution to it. There is a very positive newbeginning in your career. Those who had a difficult timelately, know that things will likely get better very soon.The new possibilities will increase your chances ofmaking new discoveries and attracting new admirers. Ina relationship, you will probably want to nurture andprotect your partner. Most of all you will want to cuddleand express your love and affection to your partner. Staypositive and maintain open communication with yourpartner. Bonding with family is on the cards.

Lucky number 15Lucky colour GreyLucky day Tuesday

TAURUS April 20-May 20

Your health looks good this week. It is best to avoidego conflicts and retreat to a safe place where you candevelop your creative and spiritual side. You will besmart and optimistic at work and will be able tocomplete all your pending tasks. Some interestingopportunities are on the cards. Wait for a news on thedomestic front will leave you frustrated. On therelationship front, everything is good. You will be inharmony in your relationships and will have a greaterability to express your love and affection towards yourpartner. Travelling to far off destination to meetsomeone is on the cards. Those consideringinvestments, think and discuss with experts beforemaking any decisions.

Lucky number 28Lucky colour Sky BlueLucky day Saturday

GEMINI May 21-June 20

Your health will be satisfactory this week. It is highlyadvisable to follow your daily exercise or yoga routine.Start now if you have not yet started following one.You will feel driven to succeed at something with yourstrong sense of purpose. Despite the courage youreflect, you will face some challenges. Career-wise,you will finish a lot of work in short time. Financialsituation is not good, so you should avoidoverspending. You will be more emotional andsensitive than normal. This is the time to talk aboutyour relationship issues because you will be in touchwith your true feelings. You will generally know howpeople are feeling and will be more sympathetic andnurturing than usual. Listen to your inner voice.

Lucky number 12Lucky colour MaroonLucky day Wednesday

CANCER June 21-July 22

Health is good this week. Those of you dealing withexisting issues are likely to recover soon. This weekbrings out quick thinking and persuasive communicationstyle in you. Hence, it is an apt time for debating andpublic speaking. You can expect approving reactions andassistance from others. The nature of yourcommunication makes it a perfect time to defendyourself. Those in academics, this is a good time fortaking exams. Good concentration and attention to detailmeans fewer chances of making mistakes. This is also agood time for taking important decisions and crackingbusiness deals. Your relationship will be a little disturbedthis week. You should maintain two-way communicationwith your partner to avoid any misunderstandings.

Lucky number 21Lucky colour PinkLucky day Wednesday

VIRGO Aug 23-Sep 22

Your emotional wellbeing will decide your health conditionthis week. Therefore, it is important to assess how you arefeeling about things/others. It is important to channeliseyour energy in the right direction and you will find yourselfin the pink of health. In your professional life, you are fairlyclear about your goals and know what you have to do toachieve them. A stimulating time with heaps ofopportunities puts your determination and ambition at ahigher level. Business dealings and negotiations arefavoured, especially for long-term investments and realestate. Relationship wise, a sharp focus on a closerelationship is indicated. Be sensitive and passionatetowards your partner. Singles, this is a good time tomingle!

Lucky number 10Lucky colour MustardLucky day Tuesday

LIBRA Sep 23-Oct 22

Your health looks good, but still, you need to be careful.If you are facing some health issues, then you don’tworry as things will get a lot better. On the career front,your innovative spirit will help you widen your horizonsand reach new goals. You can expect exciting news andstimulating conversations with senior authorities whichwill lead to a wise business deal. Some of you areexpected to face competition at work. Maintain a healthywork environment. Try to keep a close eye as someonewill try to frame you at work. This is a good time forrelationships. You may have an enjoyable time going toparties, places of relaxation and entertainment. Newfriendships may be forged or a significant new romancemay begin.

Lucky number 11Lucky colour SilverLucky day Monday

SCORPIO Oct 23-Nov 21

All is good on the health front. You will be able torevive the inner childlike energy and be activethroughout. Things are looking good on theprofessional front as well. Luck will be in your favourand you will be able to fulfill your long term ambition.Whatever you put your mind to should lead to lastingresults and achievements. People around will look upto you for sound advice. With so much going around,you need to have a profound vision and carefulanalysis of all the plans and strategies which will helpyou move towards success. Your love life will benefitfrom extra charisma and intellectual attractiveness. Youmay find yourself taking care of family matters such asinsurances and wills.

Lucky number 30Lucky colour PeachLucky day Saturday

AQUARIUS Jan 20-Feb 18

Your health will be good this week. Keep up with yourmeditation and yoga routine, as it will keep your mindfresh and connected to the soul. Those who are dealingwith health problems are advised to take things seriouslyand take proper medication. Your ability of quick thinkingwill make this week an apt period to prepare a long termplan on the career front. Networking with some promisingcontacts will allow you to grow professionally. You willhave increased mental energy and concentration, and thiswill help you succeed in studies or researches. This weekluck is in your favour, so, don’t worry about taking risks.In relationship, life will be satisfactory and you mayexpect some exciting news. Try spending quality time withyour family.

Lucky number 13Lucky colour YellowLucky day Thursday

PISCES Feb 19-March 20

This week your health will be at its best. Despite yourhectic schedule, you will take time out to relax and enjoyleisure time. Those suffering from health issues will findtheir way to recovery. The quality of your work will benoticed and hard work appreciated by those around you.Continue with the good work as you are on the righttrack. For investments, luck will be in your favour.Property dealings are likely to be resolved. On thepersonal front, this is a great time to relax with the lovedones or party with friends. Your loving mood will makeyou more sexually attractive than usual. Studies andexams should go well, especially in technical areas likethe sciences, computers and mathematics. Some of youmay take your partner to an exotic location.

Lucky number 18Lucky colour BlackLucky day Saturday

CAPRICORN Dec 22-Jan 19

You will be in the pink of health this week. Trust yourinstincts as you are in a very psychic and intuitive phaseof your life. On the career front, you are full of new ideas.Your mind will be very active and alert. Share what is onyour mind with your peers and colleagues. Fine-tune yourgoals and make clear plans, and strategy to attain yourgoals. This is a good time to discuss your plans withothers because you will get good feedback and support.You are likely to become a victim of confusion that willlead to insecurity. But the situation will clear outeventually and the bad time shall pass. Romance isblooming this week. This is the right time to take yourrelationship to the next level. Singles may have to wait forsome more time.

Lucky number 25Lucky colour BrownLucky day Sunday

LEO July 23-Aug 22

The health would be good this week, but be careful whileexercising as an injury is foreseen. On the work front,you will be very professional and follow companypolicies to the ‘T’. Travel due to business commitments ison the cards. On this trip, you are likely to make newfriends and admirers. Dedication towards the task isimportant, but overstressing yourself may provecounterproductive. Do not hesitate to reach out tosomeone and ask for help. In your love life, the weekindicates love, harmony and friendship. This is a goodtime to relax and have fun with the loved ones. Yourloving and receptive mood will make you popular. This isa good time for dating because your charm and beautywill attract genuine and honest love.

Lucky number 19Lucky colour PurpleLucky day Tuesday

SAGITTARIUS Nov 22-Dec 21

YYOOUURRWWEEEEKK

AHEADMADHU KOTIYA

sundaymagazine

tarot 08KARMA, WHEN PROPERLYUNDERSTOOD, IS JUST THE

MECHANICS THROUGH WHICHCONSCIOUSNESS MANIFESTS

— DEEPAK CHOPRA Vijayawada, February 16, 2020

Picking up threads from the previ-ous issue, let us now look at thepremise on which destiny is

formed. That will make it clear whetherwe are bound by its indications or that itleaves scope for making amends throughconscious efforts. Remember, unlikeother species that are fully bound bytheir predefined nature, and with noscope for making any exception, humanbeings enjoy the privilege to guide theiractions by choice and discrimination.But whenever there is a choice, the prob-ability of its use and misuse remainsequal. And there is nothing like a freelunch in this world. So, we have to bearwith the consequences of right or wrongchoices we make in life. We, thus, gettrapped into a circuitous web of cause-effect chain that runs in succession,often stretching on the next birth cycle,usually difficult to exit. In this scheme ofthings, the doings and undoing in thepast lead to what we encounter thismoment, which in turn, serves asground on which future takes off. This isthe premise on which our Karma cyclestands.

For all the good and well-intendedchoices, we make, may offer beneficial

results. Evil minded choices would obvi-ously make us subject to pains and suf-ferings. Bear in mind; all that we do,good or bad, gets imprinted in the innerrealms of our mind in the form ofthought-seeds, respectively carrying pos-itive and negative connotations. As andwhen situations arising in life offerground suited to store memory imprints,they come into play. Evidently, the char-acter and content of the karmic imprintsin play would set the terms of experi-ences we become due for. To sum up, itis our choice option that sets the termsof our future Karma, what in commonparlance we call destiny.

It needs to be appreciated here thatchoice option, if prudently used, doesalso enjoin upon us with the capacity tomake amends through conscious efforts.Bear in mind; we are armed with theexclusive privilege of the faculty of dis-criminate intelligence. Applying this pre-rogative, we could evaluate and judgethings in the right perspective and pickup the right lead. Not simply that, itcould also help us self-reflect upon ourmind-trends, and dispassionately identi-fy and acknowledge inherent fault lines.These infirmities won’t let us negotiate

the callings of life with ease and comfort.Having known thus, we could make aconscientious choice to make amendswith the help of educative inputs. Herecomes the role of ‘patra’— personalityorientation of a being — out of the threevariables referred to in the previousissue. To sum up, should we becomeaware of our own self, we could writeanew our personality trends, which inturn, may reorient the future course ofour life. The paradox, however, is thatseldom do we remain conscious aboutthe need to strive sufficiently to improveour own lot. And when we fail, insteadof owning one’s failures, we try to coverit up by taking refuge in fate.

Let us now have a look at astrologicalpointers to your child’s habit tendencies.The fiery Sun is ill-disposed off to anoth-er fiery planet Mars, makes her impul-sive, aggressive, and argumentative.Moon opposite Uranus makes herunconventional, careless, unstable, hav-ing a mercurial temperament. Marsplaced adverse to mischievous Neptunemakes her self-deluding and addictive.Also, it makes her vulnerable to developinferiority complex. Venus oppositeMars, and also placed adverse toNeptune makes her vulnerable to get intobad company. She may unmindfully mis-

direct her energies towards unproductiveends. Afflicted Neptune in the 2ndaccounts for her indiscrete statementsthat may offend others. All the more,because she is undiplomatic and tactlessas her lagna sign Sagittarius implies.

The positives in her are no less.Intelligence signifying Mercury conjunctwisdom-oriented Jupiter implies that ifshe is given the right exposure, she mayquickly acquire knowledge with clarity.The Sun aligned so well to Saturn bringsin the strength of character. So, once shedevelops awareness, she could promptlyput them to use. All that is needed is toexploit her positives. But you need toseek the services of a good counsellor,who may help bring about the desiredchange. On your part, engage her withsense of love. In terms of time frame,progressed Sun begins to close up withbenevolent Jupiter beginning the 16thyear. Given the right efforts, she mayshow marked improvement in a year’stime thereafter.

The writer is an astrologer, vastu consultant and spiritual counsellor. Write to him at

G-102, Bharat Nagar, New Friends Colony, New Delhi-110 025

Tel: 91-11-49848475/9818037273 Email: bharatbhushanpadmadeo@gmail.com

ASTROTURFBHARAT BHUSHAN PADMADEO

Madhu Kotiya is a tarot card reader, spiritual healer, and Founder, MShezaim Institute of Tarot and Divination. Contact details: madhu@indiatarot.com, www.indiatarot.com, M: 9873283331

You can write your life anew

TEAM AGENDA DESK > NAVNEET MENDIRATTA, CONSULTING EDITOR | H LAYOUT AND DESIGN > SATISH CHANDRA JAKHMOLA, SENIOR EDITOR (CREATIVE)

NNooww yyoouu ccaann wwrriittee ttoo uuss aatt aaggeennddaappiioonneeeerr@@ggmmaaiill..ccoomm

Sustainability or sustainable develop-ment, used interchangeably at times, is amuch abused phrase today as much asthe need of the hour. Although sustain-able development as a way of life res-

onates with everyone, and should be a desiredstate of our existence, its enactment in any formis hardly a force at present to shape economic,regional or national policies, let alone the fabricof our daily lives. However, few exceptions areshining examples that include efforts of coun-tries like Germany and the Netherlands whohave taken a radical view towards implementingit at national level and ensuring progress of theircountries in the right directions.

Globally, nations have committed to theSustainable Development Goals (or SDGs inshort) set by United Nations in 2015 to beachieved by 2030, ratified through UN resolu-tion 70/1, it has hardly influenced national pri-orities in the recent past. Most of the countriesare consistently pursuing current model ofdevelopment (business-as-usual) to improve thelives of their citizenry. Whether that hasimproved the situation in general, is a debatedtopic. Data shows deteriorating environmentaland social divergences and trends. From longrainy season in India, heat wave in Europe andsnow in Mexico, unpredictable weather patternsin 2018-19 and environmental uncertainties arebecoming a norm now.

Similarly widened income gaps and devel-opment patterns between the first and thirdworld countries and social challenges like geno-cide, human trafficking, war, religious fanati-cism, loss of natural resources and biodiversity,poverty and hunger have remained a persistingchallenge. Political commitments of sovereigngovernments have swung to appease the popularviews and public sentiments, but we fail torecognise that at the end it would be us —humans, the life sustaining capacity of MotherEarth, and our future — which would be payingthe price for our common ignorance.

Contemporary development agendas ofgovernments do not concern us individually andremained a national choice, left to the electedrepresentatives, while we believed that theimpacts of our collective choices can be consid-ered in isolation. Challenges like participating inglobalisation, trade barriers, inflow of migrantsor refugees, participating in regional wars andother crises shaped our views through newsheadlines and public debates.

In contrast, sustainability and SDGs are notonly for the national policies to reflect, it is acombined responsibility for all of us.Sustainability, at its core, changes our worldviewtowards appreciating the interconnectedness ofour choices and encourages us to be holistic inour approach. This is something we — thehuman societies — are learning for the first timewhere the impacts of our actions and decisiongo beyond the walls of our isolated existenceand permeate the very fabric of life and shapeour existence. This is challenging even for thewestern theories and ideologies to connect to,

considering the tradition of atomism anddeductive reasoning (a part representing thewhole) that has been central to it.

On the contrary, eastern wisdom has prac-ticed the art and philosophy of caring, sharingand nurturing all life-forms for long, includingthe non-living world, but has less to offer in thisregard. The onslaught of industrialisation andmaterialistic well-being could be the reason forthis debacle that overshadowed the wisdom ofeastern philosophies as well, more in favour ofpragmatism, ensuring current form of develop-ment as the only one to pursue, even when thetoxicity in its current form has been profound,to leave social and environmental externalitiesfor us to pay, now or in future. Surprisingly,nomads and aboriginals for centuries have livedin harmony with nature and supported suste-nance, without the sophisticated knowledge thatmodern societies and economies have claimedto be essential to become civilised, yet it is thelatter that has led to the precarious situation thatwe are in today.

SDGs sensitise us to strive for pursuingnational policies to target for a societalfootprint that is less challenging and more

inclusive. It has overall 17 goals, first six ofwhich target eradicating social evils like povertyand hunger, promote health and well-being,quality education, gender equality, and cleanwater and sanitation facilities. Goals seventhrough twelve relates to economic challengesthat the prevailing economic and industrialmindset and encourages countries to worktowards providing clean and affordable energy,decent work and economic growth, industryand infrastructure improvements, reducingsocial inequalities, promoting sustainable cities,and responsible production and consumption.

Next set of four goals relate to environmen-tal activism that encourages nations to movetowards climate action, improve marine life, bio-and eco-diversity, and promote eco-justice. Thelast one is the international cooperation neededto promote policies and measures supportingsustainable development. Having said that, wewould agree that grouping these goals in labeledbuckets would be incorrect, as by nature thesegoals are sprawling, cutting across domains andgeneric in nature. In addition, interdependencyacross the goals cannot be avoided. So, insteadof debating the hierarchy of order in whichthese can be addressed, urgency of the situationwarrants that we can start anywhere.

We start with the education (SDG 4),Quality education is not always about develop-ing Institutes of higher learning like IITs, IIMs,or Universities; it is enabling an ecosystem thatis accessible to everyone (60 million Indians aredeprived of access, according to RTE forum)and supports students and learners to pursuelearning path of their own choice. Moreover, ourchallenge is not only that of skill mismatch(nearly 6 million people as of 2019 enrolled andawaiting for skill upgrade under Skill India mis-sion), it also reflects on a factory production of

largely outdated skills that the education systemis churning out and challenging the industryand its limited resources. I believe, our mindsettowards education needs to move from numbers(like highest pay package received by a student,number of engineers or doctors, number ofgrade A+ universities) to skill augmentation(like new innovations and patents, researchpotential of students, new areas of learning) andpotential future capacity (number of start-ups,industrial patents, business plans or new seedcapital received). This also means enabling areward system that does not place a premiumon one form of learning over others, and pro-mote “meritocracy, with heart”.

In terms of primary and secondary educa-tion system should not be viewed by allocationof funds in national budget (which is anywaylower than suggested 6% of GDP by NitiAayog), but as an investment towards buildingan ecosystem that scales and contributes toother SDGs, like alleviating social discrimina-tion by bringing children of all social stratatogether. Such a system would allow children tolearn from each other and appreciate diversity,and pursue a field of study of their own choice.Establishing a school system that is founded onthe principles of building social equity andimpartial learning would require us to changeour model of schooling from the presently out-dated Macaulay system to the one that has bestelements of modern thinking as well as those ofIndian traditions and wisdom. Here the role ofteachers needs to be redefined as well. Forexample, teachers can be drafted into the systemfrom other jobs and professions. One idea couldbe to reserve the teaching jobs primarily forexperienced and senior citizens and fill the gapof 45% of shortfall of teachers as reported in2018-19. This will help students benefit from thevast experiences of their teachers, and teacherscan have a life filled with the love of their stu-dents. This could also lower the cost of educa-tion, where learning can be more fun-filled andquality intensive, and wisdom of life would get achance to shape the heroics of youth.

Quality education and learning is directlyrelated to the goal of establishing genderequality (SDG 5), which is a challenge

for India and if we follow the social practicesthat shows considerable gap from our belief sys-tems. Niti Aayog dashboard shows this in redzone with composite score of 42. Now, specificredressal for the challenge through governmentmachinery would be limited to legal remedia-tion, whereas working to improve social cus-toms and practices would be with society. Datapoints to the skewed social practices with nearlyhalf of the population remaining marginalised.For example, sex ratio in 2019 averaged at 896(female per ‘000 males) pan India, males earn-ing 25% higher than females, staggering 33% ofmarried women aged 15-49 experiencingspousal violence at least once, 60% crimesagainst girl children as against all children, 18%female labour participation rate, only 14% own-

ing operations and holding. While crime against women and children

should be dealt with iron hands, laxity in ourlaw and order system also reflects the bias thathalf of the population is facing. This would notonly need women to come forward and fight fortheir own rights, those in power and influencingpositions whether in homes, offices, institutions,and establishments need to cultivate the mindsetand practices to improve understanding andsensitivity towards gender equality. Similarly,educational institutions like schools and collegescan address this through innovative ideas likeremoving gender specific dress codes, promot-ing gender-neutral attires, and delink subjectchoices with gender preferences. However, it is along way from home as it stands today.

Clean water and sanitation (SDG 6) isanother goal that requires infrastructuredevelopment as well as changes in our

attitude. Over the past ten years, allocation offunds by the Ministry of Drinking Water andSanitation has seen an annual average increaseof 9%, whereas budgetary allocation to ruralprogrammes has seen shifts like Swachh BharatMission-Gramin that has half of the cumulativesanction funds still to be released as on Oct2019. Change in mindset and governmentalactions on open defecation has led to around80% of households having a toilet, 37% ofhouseholds in rural areas are using improvedsanitation facility, and 72% of 5,93,731villageshave been verified as open defecation free.

Niti Aayog dashboard for this SDG shows ascore of 88 (on all India basis) and considered asgreen. Statistics is one side of the story; equi-tability is the challenge here. One of the learningthat can be transferred from the developedcountries is to offload the sanitation facility tothe restaurants, eating joints, malls, shoppingcomplexes, businesses that serve any kind offood, or to promote more shared markets whichwould improve the facility outreach forcing itsupkeep as well, which today is dependent on thepuny public support and local administration.So far as drinking water is concerned, a fewpoints merit attention.

For example, infrastructural arrangementsare needed to handle gray water, recyclingmechanisms, and forcing the industries toreduce dependency of fresh water. Similarly,controlled discharge of untreated water andground water recharging should be mandatedand practiced. Dwellings in cities should beenforced for mandatory rain water harvesting,recycling water, and using gray water. While ourgovernment has worked to bring Ganges river tonormalcy, this should immediately be taken upfor all rivers and improve their water quality.Similarly, connected reservoir system that wasonce a pronounced method to connect differentrivers and exhausted due to commercialexploitation, should be reversed and revitalised.

sundaymagazine

1110Ways to staying healthy

Meditation and vegetarian diet aretwo proactive ways to increase our

wellness, says medical research

F R O M T H E I N S I D E

>> p10

Vijayawada, February 16, 2020

On the occasion of Maha Shivratri,here are some of the dishes for the holy festival

Shivratri feast

SDGS SENSITISE US TOSTRIVE FOR PURSUINGNATIONAL POLICIES TO

TARGET FOR A SOCIETALFOOTPRINT THAT IS

LESS CHALLENGING ANDMORE INCLUSIVE. IT HAS

OVERALL 17 GOALS,FIRST SIX OF WHICH

TARGET ERADICATINGSOCIAL EVILS LIKE

POVERTY AND HUNGER,PROMOTE HEALTH ANDWELL-BEING, QUALITY

EDUCATION, GENDEREQUALITY, AND CLEAN

WATER AND SANITATIONFACILITIES

I tend to lean towardstrong female stories. I

want to make things thatdon’t already exist out

there— Natalie Portman

SUSTAINABILITYGOALS 2020SUSTAINABILITYGOALS 2020

Sustainability and SDGs are not only forthe national policies to reflect, it is acombined responsibility for all of us,writes SOMNATH DEBNATH, as he listsout the tasks before us

sundaymagazine

spirituality 10Vijayawada, February 16, 2020

A GREAT HALLMARK OF MENTALWELLNESS IS THE ABILITY TO BE IN THE

PRESENT MOMENT, FULLY AND WITHNO THOUGHTS OF BEING ELSEWHERE

— WAYNE DYER

HIDDENSOULSPRAMOD PATHAK

The idea of putting Gandhi on the Budget cover pageby Kerala Government may have many connotations,but one thing can certainly be said. More than seven

decades after his death, Gandhi refuses to die. Some mayfind fault with Gandhi’s ways, some may make uncharita-ble remarks against him and some may move the SupremeCourt to direct the government to confer Bharat Ratna onGandhi. Either way, Gandhi lives on. Evaluating Gandhi isa tall order. It is better to try and understand him. The beau-ty of Gandhi’s personality is that even his sworn detractorsrealise that you cannot negate Gandhi. As a course instruc-tor teaching Business Ethics to management students forover two decades, I have found Gandhi fitting in the cur-riculum even without a mention of the name. The same istrue for the Ethics course for the Indian AdministrativeServices. There cannot be a course on Ethics without Gandhi.There was a time when Gandhian thought was a part of thecurriculum for the civil services. Even if it is not so today,Gandhi’s ideas remain the essence of the course. The thingsGandhi stood for are difficult to capture in a piece or evena volume and naturally people find it difficult to understandhim. The Ahimsa centre at California State PolytechnicUniversity in Pomona, US has been actively pursuingGandhian ideals ever since it was established in 2004. It israther strange that Gandhi is less researched in his own coun-try. One opinion that is often expressed to describeGandhi’s views are that they are too idealistic to be prac-ticed. Nothing can be further from truth. Gandhi was a prac-tical idealist. Those trying to dismiss him as impractical aresimply trying to negate the truth. Even if Gandhi’s ideas weretoo ideal, the point is that there is little sense in setting awrong benchmark in the name of practicality. Lest we for-get, at the turn of the millennium two decades ago editorsof several globally reputed periodicals asked historians torank the greatest leader of the twentieth century. Gandhi’sname figured at the top. In Gandhi they found the right lead-ership qualities. Isn’t it fallacious that you know what is rightand advocate what is wrong? The debate on Gandhi oftenveers around wrong points. Gandhi was a votary of valuesbased leadership, and a practitioner, too. Practicality andmorality can harmoniously go together. Machiavellianismand Gandhism are two different approaches and both arepossible. Only one has to believe. Realism may not neces-sarily be non-idealism. Gandhi epitomised the most desir-able managerial quality that is widely talked about these daysin management jargon as ethical leadership. It is not aboutidealism versus realism but idealism as realism and it canprovide answer to most of the problems the world faces today.The problems of the world in the present times are prob-lems of faulty leadership styles than anything else. Ego dri-ven rather than ethics driven. Gandhi accomplished whathe could by sheer dint of his moral courage. That is whatwe need today. Gandhi is recognised as a global icon andwill remain so whether people like it or not.

Pathak is a professor of management, writer, and an acclaimed public speaker. He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com

There is mounting evidence thatif you care to dig deep in yourown personality, you will find

that you are not really your own wellwisher. I realised so myself. Yes, I amimproving but this started only after Itook shelter in God, who really iseveryone’s well-wisher. What can pos-sibly explain our getting in trouble,unknowingly? What explains dislikingyour life partner for small faults thatthe person has? Is anyone faultless forthat matter? A few faults cannot dis-qualify anyone. If it was so, everyonewithout exception will be rejected.

It was upon this realisation that Istarted to become my well-wisher; Itook shelter of God — the best and theultimate well-wisher of one and all.This is the cosmic design. As you prac-tice, you will agree that once you dowhat the Lord expects us to do, one willderive unimaginable benefits.

I realised that we, souls, are small.Whatever power or strength we mayhave is only temporarily with us. Takephysical strength, for instance. We feelquite strong in our youth; we can doa lot of things, achieve many feats. Butas we age, we are forced to slow down.Likewise, everything material with usis also temporary. It is taken away atsome point, surely at death.

Having realised that I felt helpless-ly small. I turned to God, who is thesource of everything opulent, effulgentor even energetic. (Bhagavad Gita10.41) Now I depend on Him for what-ever I need, like ‘atmabala’ — thestrength of the soul... And He obliges,especially when I do my part, that is,do the requisite duties like spiritualpractices. My Lord guides me onwhat my duties are at a particularmoment. Don’t we frequently get con-fused about our duties? For example,when we go to attend a social function,

our duty is to mingle with people, benice to them, and so on. Instead, weindulge our senses; mostly the tongue,the eyes, the ears and even our mouths.

This is a small example. As a hu-man being, we are supposed to coop-erate with others. This is the cosmic de-sign. Not being our own well-wishers,we tend to become selfish. As a result,we become very lonely. Not only are wesupposed to cooperate with one ano-ther, but we are expected to make sac-rifices for the others. One of the primeexamples is a mother’s sacrifice for herchild. Bhagavad Gita is full of instru-ctions about various types of sacrifices.That, because God is our best well-wisher. Now we come to our behaviour.We need guidance in this matter.(Bhagavad Gita 16.24) Whimsicalbehaviour gets us in trouble. Therefore,we need to be in constant touch withGod, who is omniscient. He alone cansee the big picture. For example, peo-ple argue endlessly about some futureevent; God knows. Why not seek Hisguidance; He is prepared to show us the

way. We have not been left in the dark.Turning to emotions, what emo-

tions are natural to us? Lust, greed, an-ger, hate, ego etc. come to the mind rea-dily. As a result,we come under the infl-uence of the mode of darkness. (Bhaga-vad Gita 14.13) Our outlook becomesnegative. We are easily depressed.Anxiety and fears are common to us.The opposite will happen if we seekshelter of God. He will guide us toembrace the mode of goodness(Bhagavad Gita 14.6), with its enor-mous benefits. Lastly, we will not lackanything. (Bhagavad Gita 18.75) TheLord provides all kinds of resources,various strengths like atmabala, men-tal strength, emotional strength andstrength to tolerate. He also blesses uswith peace, happiness, security, supportand help, whenever needed. When weare well and truly dependent uponHim, he manages our lives too. I amgetting a taste of it.

Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reachedat spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com

Each of us has the powerwithin us to create a health-ier way of life. The choices wemake today impact our phys-ical, mental, and spiritual

health tomorrow, whether months oryears from now. Our choices alsoimpact our family. What we choosetoday regarding the care of our body,mind, and spirit will determine whatour future health will be.

Medical research points at twoways by which we can increase ourwellness. One is meditation and theother is a vegetarian diet. Meditationhelps us increase our health and well-being physically, mentally, and spiritu-ally. It keeps our body and mind calmand reduces our chances of contract-ing stress-related illnesses.

Research by medical practitionersand doctors indicates that meditationbenefits the body and mind. As some-one put it in jest: “we can counter theeffects of ill, pill, and bill by being still”.Being still refers to sitting in medita-tion. This increased interest and pop-ularity of meditation has grown as sci-entific studies verify what has beenknown in the East for centuries.

Let’s reflect a little on the two sim-ple steps to staying healthy:

STEP 1: MEDITATIONBe still. Our parents had this one

solution for us when we were children.

These words really are a precursor fora healthy lifestyle. Being still is anoth-er word for meditation.

When we meditate, we slow ourheart rate and breathing to a pointwhere we are calm. When we are agi-tated and upset, the body producesfight or flight hormones such as cor-tisol and adrenaline which may be use-ful when in danger to help us defendourselves or run, but not when sim-ple problems of life upset us. We do notneed cortisol and adrenaline to kick inwhen our spouse or children leave thetoothpaste cap off or someone cuts usoff on the highway. We have been soconditioned to becoming upset aboutthings that are not life-threatening thatwe produce stress hormones thatreact on our body in a way that canbreak down our organs and bodily sys-tems.

Meditation helps us be calm, andin a relaxed state so that we can wardoff the effects of daily life challenges.When we are calm, our body is notproducing hormones that can lead tostress-related ailments such as heartattack, stroke, hypertension, headaches,digestive and skin problems. When wemeditate we also keep our mind calm.We not only suffer physical illness fromstress, but we create emotional andmental difficulties when we are notcalm. This can lead to emotional andrelationship problems or other stress-

related mental disorders. Throughmeditation we can keep a calm andpeaceful mind to help us lead happi-er lives.

Meditation also helps us developconcentration. When we are stressedout our performance level is not as highas we need it to be. When we concen-trate we can get better grades, whichreduces our stress as students. Ourstress as employees or professionals isreduced because we can perform bet-ter at work.

How can we prove the spiritualbenefits of being still and meditating?This is one area where meditation fitsthe scientific model. It is based onexperimentation leading to proof.Those who have tried the experimenthave discovered that meditation leadsto wellness not only of the body andmind, but of the soul.

In meditation, we close our eyes,gaze within, and still our mind ofthoughts. When the reflecting pool ofour mind is still, we see what lies with-in us. We see Light within, hear celes-tial Music, and can soar to regions ofLight. Through meditation, we thusachieve physical, mental, and spiritu-al wellness.

STEP 2: VEGETARIAN DIETAnother key to a healthy lifestyle

is living on a vegetarian diet. Researchproves that a plant-based diet reduces

the risk of many diseases such as stroke,heart attack, diabetes, digestive disor-ders, and even some cancers, amongother illnesses. By cutting out meat, andeven fish, fowl, and eggs we canreduce the risk of many ailments.

Vegetarianism also benefits ourstate of mind and spiritual well-being.Think of the state of the animals whenslaughtered. Hormones of fear andstress run through them at the time oftheir captivity and slaughter. It has beensaid that we are what we eat. All thatwas a part of the animal becomes partof us when we eat it. This means we areingesting their fear and panic hor-mones, which can contribute to ourown state of fear and anxiety when itbecomes a part of our body.

We also are taking into our bodyanything the animal ate. For example,antibiotics fed to the animal becomepart of us, and if we have too much itcan cause bacteria to become antibiot-ic-resistant. If animals are fed hor-mones to make them grow faster, theytoo become a part of us which can leadto problems because now those hor-mones are in our body. We also are tak-ing into our body any diseases that theanimal may have contracted.

There are moral benefits to a veg-etarian diet. Most cultures believe inthe law that “thou shalt not kill.”There is a recognition in many culturesthat even animals have a soul in them.Thus, when we take the life of a crea-ture, we are taking the life of a beingwho has a soul in it. Those who ascribeto a spiritual way of life and meditatehave even witnessed that the sameLight of the Divine in us also shines inall other human beings and all crea-tures. Thus, a thread of divine connec-tion knits all life together.

Today, there are numerous deli-cious and nutritious vegetarian, plant-based foods that we can eat. Besides agrowing number of vegetarian restau-rants, most restaurants now offer awider variety of vegetarian dishes.Mainstream supermarkets have manyvegetarian options for customers. Evenplaces where it was hard to get vege-tarian foods, such as school cafeterias,hospitals, cruise ships, conferences, andvenues for professional gatherings,offer vegetarian choices.

It is now easier than ever to be veg-etarian and the benefits are enormous.One can try the experiment of incor-porating meditation and vegetarian dietinto one’s life. You can see for yourselfthe benefits you will experience. If youtrack the changes these two choicesbring, you will find that you are health-ier — physically, mentally, and spiritu-ally. May each of you make choices toexperience the benefits of a healthylifestyle for your body, mind, and soul.

The writer is a spiritual leader

Gandhilives on

WAYS TO STAYING HEALTHY

Be your own well-wisher Once you do what the Lord expects you to do, and keep faith in Him,you will derive unimaginable benefits, says AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI

Lifestyle plays a big role in our health. Research shows that meditation and vegetariandiet are two proactive ways of increasing our wellness, says SANT RAJINDER SINGH

Last, but not the least, is the goal ofgood health and well-being (SDG 3)which is shows in yellow in Niti Aayog

dashboard and a composite score of 61.With child mortality rate of 50 (under 5years of age per ‘000 of population) andnearly 40% of children below 5 year of ageremaining outside the immunisation, ourefforts in this direction is not yet enough.Amongst adults nearly half of the marriedladies do not use any form of contracep-tives, whereas outreach of caregivers aretiny (38 physicians, nurses, and midwivesavailable per 10,000 of population). This isnot to say that the only effective resolutionin improving the healthcare systems andinfrastructure is to build more, we need towork towards a system that is agile and cor-responds to the challenges that our societyis facing, For healthcare to be moreapproachable and available, and not con-strained by the lack of qualified doctors, wecan develop the system of primary caregivers can be networked to provide initialdiagnosis and immediate help to patients.They can be trained and drafted from thearea in which they reside and can providethese services.

Use of technology for the outreach isanother perspective that is yet to beexplored. The idea being promoted here isthat the role of primary care giver shoulddecouple from the need of having expertson every single occasion. At the same time,the responsibility of improving the fitnessand health depends on us as well and can beguided through changing lifestyles practicesand by following simple practices. A dailydose of yoga, routine exercise, walking, jog-ging or running, drinking ample water etc.,can help us fight common illness. Buildinga healthy nation on the principles of inclu-sivity would need the medicine practices tobe separated from greed and money.Alternate schools of medicine like Ayurvedaor Unani schools of medicine can join themovement with the prevalent forms ofmodern medicine. In terms of hospitals andcare centers, development agenda can

include policy initiatives like PPP, BOLT,BOT or other operating vehicles to chan-nelise investments.

What would the role of an individualto improve the situation?Sustainability challenges have

mostly been confined at mega levels — atthe United Nations, at national policy levels,or how multinational corporations conducttheir businesses, at a scale that we believe isbeyond our personal lives. However, sus-tainability is everybody’s business; itimpacts all of us, and depends on theactions and choices that we all make asindividuals, as groups, and as societies. Thiswould need us to appreciate that the systemof life and sustenance that has evolved overmany millennia has been challenged bypursing materialistic well-being and indus-trial ecosystem. In Indian context, forexample, our choice of vegetarianism hasbeen proved to reduce carbon emission pergram of food produced and consumed. Soour choices can effectively shape societalchoices.

Similarly, we can decide to behaverespectfully towards fellow human beings

irrespective of caste, color, creed, physicalappearance, or social strata and contribut-ing towards the SDG 10 (reducing inequali-ties). If we practice energy conservation inall possible forms, we would be contributingto SDG 7 that relates to energy. If we decidenot to waste any food, while at work andhome, serve or order food what we can eat,not only we would save food, we can donateremaining untouched to food banks,enabling the less fortunate ones to have onemeal per day, and contribute to SDG 2 (zerohunger). Similarly, if we practice genderequality, encourage others and promotegender equality, we would be contributingto SDG 5 (gender equality). While thesecontributions and small behavioral changescould be seen as negligible, in reality theyhave an accumulated effect as “if manysmall people in many small places change ina small way, the face of the earth changes”,an African proverb says.

The writer is a PhD scholar and theauthor of the book “Environmental

Accounting, Sustainability andAccountability”, published by SAGE

Publications India

Sustainability goals 2020

MEDITATIONHELPS US BE

CALM, AND IN ARELAXED STATE SO

THAT WE CANWARD OFF THE

EFFECTS OF DAILYLIFE CHALLENGES.

WHEN WE ARECALM, OUR BODY

IS NOTPRODUCING

HORMONES THATCAN LEAD TO

STRESS-RELATEDAILMENTS

F R O M P A G E 9

sundaymagazine

food 11Vijayawada, February 16, 2020

FRESH ORGANIC FLOUR THAT YOU GRINDYOURSELF INCLUDES THE VITAL WHEAT GLUTEN, THE

GERM, AND THE BRAN. THIS IS THE BEST FLOUR TO USEWITH YOUR BREAD. IT’S RICH IN ENZYMES AND PROTEIN

TO MAKE YOUR LOAVES RISE WELL.

he quintessentialAmerican sandwichloaf tall and domed,with a fine, snowy-white crumb and alight brown crust is

a supermarket staple.Since it’s eaten so often, we

wanted to develop a recipethat wasn’t just better thanbouncy plastic-wrapped bread,but the best, an impressive loaf

that was a worthy base forsandwiches.

For this bread’s soft crumbwe needed to include a fairamount of fat; we used wholemilk for a majority of the liq-uid and then enriched thedough further with 2 table-spoons of melted butter. Theseamounts were enough to ten-derize the bread without mak-ing it too rich.

A couple spoonfuls of honeygave the bread the faint sweet-ness we’d expect. But becauseour dough contained milk,butter, and honey, the crustwas prone to browning beforethe inside was done. We testedoven temperatures of 350 F,375 F and 400 F and foundthat the lowest temperaturegave us the soft crust we want-ed and avoided a doughy inte-

rior. Still, we felt that our loafwas a bit dense.

We experimented with let-ting the loaf proof longer, untilit reached a full inch above thelip of the pan; the increasedrise produced an airy crumband a bigger loaf. This addi-tional rise also meant wecould eliminate slashing theloaf because it wouldn’texpand much more in the

oven. Nixing the slashing gaveour finished loaf the smoothtop of supermarket bread. Thetest kitchen’s preferred loafpan measures 8 1/2-by-4 1/2inches; if you use a 9-by-5inch loaf pan, increase theshaped rising time by 20 to 30minutes and start checking fordoneness 10 minutes earlierthan advised in the recipe.

— AP

n Servings: 20n Start to finish:: 4 to 5 hours, plus 3

hours cooling timen Rising Time 2 1/2 to 3 1/3 hoursn Baking Time 35 minutesn Key Equipment: 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch

loaf pan, water-filled spray bottle,instant-read thermometer

n 2 1/2 cups (13 3/4 ounces) breadflour

n 2 teaspoons instant or rapid-riseyeast

n 1 1/2 teaspoons saltn 3/4 cup (6 ounces) whole milk,

room temperaturen 1/3 cup (2 2/3 ounces) water, room

temperaturen 2 tablespoons unsalted butter,

meltedn 2 tablespoons honeyn Whisk flour, yeast, and salt together

in bowl of stand mixer. Whisk milk,water, melted butter, and honey in4-cup liquid measuring cup untilhoney has dissolved.

n Using dough hook on low speed,slowly add milk mixture to flourmixture and mix until cohesivedough starts to form and no dryflour remains, about 2 minutes,scraping down bowl as needed.Increase speed to medium-low and

knead until dough is smooth andelastic and clears sides of bowl,about 8 minutes.

n Transfer dough to lightly flouredcounter and knead by hand to formsmooth, round ball, about 30seconds. Place dough seam sidedown in lightly greased large bowlor container, cover tightly withplastic wrap, and let rise untildoubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

n Grease 8 1/2-by 4 1/2-inch loafpan. Press down on dough todeflate. Turn dough out onto lightlyfloured counter (side of dough thatwas against bowl should now be

facing up). Press and stretch doughinto 8 by 6-inch rectangle, withlong side parallel to counter edge.

n Roll dough away from you into firmcylinder, keeping roll taut by tuckingit under itself as you go. Pinchseam closed and place loaf seamside down in prepared pan,pressing dough gently into corners.

n Cover loosely with greased plasticand let rise until loaf reaches 1 inchabove lip of pan and dough springsback minimally when poked gentlywith your knuckle, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

n Adjust oven rack to lower-middleposition and heat oven to 350 F.

Mist loaf with water and bake untildeep golden brown and loafregisters 205 F to 210 F, 35 to 40minutes, rotating pan halfwaythrough baking.

n Let loaf cool in pan for 15 minutes.Remove loaf from pan and let coolcompletely on wire rack, about 3hours, before serving.

Nutrition information per serving: 85calories; 16 calories from fat; 2 gfat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats);4 mg cholesterol; 179 mg sodium;

15 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 2 gsugar; 3 g protein.

T

AMERICAN SANDWICH BREAD

FEASTShivratri

Next time, don't buy sandwichbread. Make it at home

Maha Shivratri is a festival thatcelebrates one's creation and

destruction, the symbol of whichLord Shiva stands for. Food is

the best way to relax one's mindand body with the taste buds

getting pampered byscrumptious dishes made

specially for the occasion. Hereis are some of the dishes for this

holy occasion. — PNS

WHAT YOU NEEDSabudana: 1 1/2 cups

Peanuts: 1/4 cupGreen chillies: 4-5 chopped

finelyPotato: 1 medium

Ghee: 3 tbspCurry leaves: 1-2 sprigs

Cumin seeds: 1 tspRock salt to taste

Lemon juice: 1 tspcoconut scraped: 2 tbsp

Coriander leaves a few sprigschopped

HOW TO MAKEo Wash sabudana and then soak in one-cup water for three

to four hours. o Sabudana grains should be separate and moist. o Roast peanuts on a hot griddle, peel off the skin and then

grind coarsely. o Peel and wash the potato and cut into cubes. Heat ghee in

a pan, add curry leaves, cumin seeds and chopped greenchillies.

o When cumin seeds crackle add the potato cubes. o Cook till the potatoes are done. Add sabudana, scraped

coconut and ground peanuts, sauté for four to five minutes,stirring well. Sprinkle a little water, add salt and lime juice.Mix well. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot.

SABUDANA KHICHDI

SABUDANA WADA

SABUDANA KHEER RECIPE

WHAT YOU NEED (MEASURING CUP USED, 1 CUP = 250 ML)

Tapioca pearls or sabudana - for a denser kheer: ½ cup,Milk: 4 cups, Organic unrefined cane sugar: 4 to 5 tbspor as required, Green cardamoms: 4-5 husked andcrushed in a mortar-pestle to a semi fine powder,Chopped cashews: 2 tbsp, Raisins: ½ tbsp, Saffron: 3-4strands/kesar (optional)

HOW TO MAKEo Rinse the sabudana pearls

till the water runs clear ofthe starch.

o Take a thick bottomed panor sauce pan in which youwill be making the kheer.

o Add the rinsed sabudanapearls and water in thepan.

o Cover and let the pearls getsoaked in the water for 15-20 minutes.

o Later keep this pan on thestove top and begin tocook the pearls.

o Meanwhile heat or warmthe milk too. No need to

boil the milk.o After 4-5 minutes, add the

milk to the pan andcontinue to cook.

o Add sugar and cardamompowder and simmer till thepearls have cooked well forabout 20-25 minutes on alow to medium flame.

o Keep on stirringoccasionally.

o Switch off the fire and addcashews and raisins.

o garnish the sabudanakheer with saffron strands.

o serve sabudana kheer hotor warm or cold.

WHAT YOU NEEDHung Curd: 1 cup

Sugar: ½ cupCardamom powder: 1 tsp

Gulab Jal: 1 tsp Charoli: 1 tsp

Chopped dry fruits : 1 tbsp Almonds, Pista: As per

your wish

HOW TO MAKEo Place a thin muslin cloth on a strainer and

pour curd over it and loosely cover it withthe edges of the cloth. Refrigerate this andlet the curd sit in the strainer for aminimum of 4-5 hours.

o Add sugar and mix wello Pour the mixture in sieve to yield smooth

shrikhando Add elaichi, gulab jal, charoli, dry fruits

and mix. Serve chilled

SHIRIKAND

HOW TO MAKEo Soak the sabudana in water for five hours at

least or overnight. Drain of all the watercompletely from the soaked sabudana.

o In a bowl mash the potatoes and addsabudana; then mix together.

o On a skillet or in a shallow pan, roast thepeanuts till they become crisp. Cool and then

coarsely powder in a dry grinder.o Add the peanuts, rock salt, sugar, green

chillies, coriander leaves and lemon juice. Mixthe entire mixture well.

o Now take some portion of the mixture in yourhands and shape them into flat round vadas.Deep fry the sabudanavadas till golden brown.Serve sabudanavada with coconut chutney.

WHAT YOU NEEDSabudana: 1 cup

Medium sized boiled aloo: 3 to 4 Peanuts: ½ cup, Jeera: 1 tsp

Green chillies finely chopped: 1-2 Lime juice: 2 tsp

Few chopped coriander leavesSugar: 1.5 tsp or as required

Kuttu ka atta: 3 tbspRock salt as per taste

Oil for frying

Foolish belief as childhail from Kutukuluru a remote vil-lage in Anaparthy of East Godavaridistrict. I was quite studious as achild and always a topper. I got2 double-promotions in school,

jumping from Class I to III and thenfrom Class IV to VI. I was tiny so I wasreluctant to take part in sports, but theone game I excelled in was kabbadi. Mybody would be bruised and battered, butI would never let go of my opponent, Iwas that tenacious. I was the first in myfamily to get modern education and myBrahmin teachers used to tell me thatGoddess Saraswathi would not bless meif I ate non-vegetarian. I was a strict veg-etarian till 20 years and I realised it wasa foolish belief. Later, to compensate Istarted eating everything.

Love for EnglishMy medium of education was Telugu

but I had an urge to learn English andwould cycle 10 km to the nearest townto get an English newspaper. By Class VII,I could write English well, but it was inIntermediate that I mastered spoken English.I used to listen to Voice of America, BBC andimproved my pronunciation. My wife hasstudied English literature but I correct hermistakes. When I landed in the JNU, MAPolitical Science students thought I was froma top college.

Mother influenced moreMy father Satyanaryana was businessman

and a local politician, he ruined our family.My mother Adilakshmi was keen that Iwouldn’t go that way but would serious. I owemy entire career to my mother. In retrospect,I realize the sacrifices Indian women makefor the family. My mother, though semi-lit-erate, knew British history. She was notallowed to study, otherwise she would easi-ly have become a professor. I have twoyounger sisters; my younger brother passedaway. Since my father was wasting our prop-erty, I took charge and started looking aftermy family. From early childhood I startedshowing extraordinary leadership; I used toorganise marriages in the village at a veryyoung age. Everybody used to say that I wasdestined for bigger things. I began to realisethat if I had to achieve my potential, I hadto get out of that small village.

Switched from BiPC to BA secretly

My parents wanted me to become a doc-tor so in Intermediate I picked Bi.PC in VSMCollege Ramchandrapuram. Through mag-azines like Competition Success Review I gotto know about civil services so I decided todo IAS. Since JNU invariably produced IAStoppers, I decided to study there. My collegeprincipal Rudraiah Chowdary, a famous his-torian with Left leanings pushed me to go toJNU as well. Without telling anyone Iswitched to BA; my lecturers were furious.I was also interested in literature as I usedto write poetry. I topped BA for the first timein first class, then went to JNU to do MA.

Professor didn’t want me to be IAS

My professor Rasheeduddin Khan, polit-ical scientist and Rajya Sabha membertaught me broader perspective but didn’twant me to appear for civil services. Since Iused to write very good research papers, hesaid I was Harvard material and shouldbecome a Professor. A few days before civilservices exam, he would deliberately give melot of work, so that I wouldn’t be able to takethe test. He opened my eyes and showed mehow to think. I was inclined towardsMarxism and read thousands of books. I usedto write revolutionary poetry in Telugu whichbrought my marks down in political science.I think I got very bad marks in PoliticalScience because of my leanings. JNU hadtremendous influence on me, the intellectu-al freedom, the great debates that we had. Igot into IRAS in my second attempt. We weregrilled on civil, mechanical, signalling andelectronics engineering and I made my wayto Railway Staff College, Baroda in 1983.

Father-in-law was best friendIn December 1984, I got married to

Prathima an arranged-cum-love marriage.My father’s brother Moola Reddy was anMLA representing my constituency. Myfather-in-law Mahender Reddy at that timewas the DGP of AP. When my uncle men-tioned to him that I got into civil services anddoesn’t want to marry in our area, my father-in-law said there were a lot of girls in his fam-ily. I didn’t realize that I liked his own daugh-ter Pratima. When we started dating, we usedto meet frequently. My father-in-law was alegend in Hyderabad and a jagirdar of thisarea. My father-in-law was my best friend,he introduced me to drinking. Every day, heused to attend parties, and I used to get

bored. I was a Delhite at heart and would sayHyderabadis wouldn’t match our intellectu-al thinking. When I have couple of pegs, Itell my wife that her dad is responsible.

Metro is déjà vu of KonkanRailways

I was picked by Dr E Sreedharan for thegauge conversion project for Konkan rail-ways. I was in-charge of Goa and I used tolook after West Coast. I learnt a lot fromSreedharan especially when it came to tak-ing decisions. The kind of agitations, polit-ical pressures I faced there, it’s déjà vu for mehere at the Metro. I first faced all these in Goaduring my stint with Konkan Railways.Agitations were frequent as the bus lobby wasvery strong in Konkan Railway. Konkan coastis rugged terrain and to carry out any con-struction is very difficult be it a viaduct,bridge or a tunnel. I used to enjoy protestsand threats as people only talk, there wereno physical threats like here. They wouldcome, shout and abuse and leave.

Son-in-law of TelanganaDr. Mallikarjun Goud was leader of

Telangana movement who used to call meson-in-law of Telangana. He asked me tomove to Hyderabad where they were doinggauge conversion works and when hebecame railway minister, he posted me

back to SCR. I wasinvolved in gauge con-version. I got the PrimeMinister’s special medal from PVNarasimha Rao in 1994. I spentabout 20 years in railways and in2001, I was getting restless. Ibecame like a cog in a machine.Railways is one thing which has nottransformed. I was voracious read-er. I was very impressed by thereforms of Narasimha Rao andDr Manmohan Singh. Iwas getting frustratedand got fed up asrailway was notchanging and waslooking foropportunity toexit.

GivingCivils examagain

It was atthis time thatthen ChiefMinister NChandra-b a b uN a i d uopened upthe powersector andw a n t e dprofession-als. PwCwas entrust-ed to pickthe candi-dates, and Iappeared as ifI was writingthe exam forthe second timeamong profes-sionals. Among50 charteredaccounts, I toppedthe test and that’show I came to thestate government. I joined asdirector finance in Discom atWarangal. It use to lose Rs 1crore a day, I turned it around inone year. From the first weekitself, I suspended people. I usedto tell them that I was handpickedby the CM to reform the Discom.My batch-mates were workingwith Naidu when he was workingto make Hyderabad a global cityand I was brought from Warangalto GHMC.

MMTS scamI implemented MMTS project but

it attracted very few passengers ini-tially. Within 5-6 months, electionstook place and Naidu lost. My unclewas a TDP MLA; people use to targetme over the MMTS project saying thatRs 200 crore have gone down the drain.Then YS Rajashekar Reddy asked meabout MMTS and I told him that it willbe successful but will take time. Hegave me six months. Later I becamevery closely associated with Dr YSR andthese folks changed the narrative that Iwas from Kadapa. MMTS is very good pro-ject and phase-2 should also be complet-ed.

Maytas failure lowest pointMy batch mate SP Singh who was then

special commissioner GHMC and Idreamt of Hyderabad Metro which waseventually approved by Dr YSR. WhenMaytas folded, it was the lowest point

in my career. I did not say everything to mywife, but she realized that there was some-

thing wrong. When she asked me, Idenied there was anything wrong. Itwas a very low point, and I spoketo YSR who would say “Why areyou bothered about this attack, it isnot on you but on me. Don’t readthose newspapers”. There was vig-ilance inquiry, audit, CBI came andI showed all the books. MontekSingh Aluwalia supported me andsaid that if there is corporate or gov-ernance failure, I couldn’t beblamed. There was deemed VRS forofficers who can then get absorbedinto PSU. I made use of this provi-sion and I got absorbed in state gov-ernment.Senior officers called memegalomaniac

I would never reveal whatwas happening to my family

members or my team. High-ranking officers would tellmy team members “yourboss is a megalomaniac,mad character. He is likecult leader and wouldbrainwash you. Youshould quit HMRL”. I used

to tell management storiesand keep my team intact.

My father-in-law was nothappy and wife wanted

me to go backand work for

GoI as Iw a semp an-elled asj o i n tsecre-t a r y .They

knew I was stubborn. After 2014, things arevery different and only because of KTR wecould realize Metro in core city. Acquiringproperties for Metro was tough, I receivedmany physical threats. For certain proper-ties, I was asked from the highest officeswhether I would like to continue as MD orchange the design. I said I would rather quitas rail curvature would change. While3,000 properties were acquired withoutmuch trouble, 370 were bothersome. Iwould speak about the threats I receivedonly after retirement; I don’t know when itwould happen.

Liberal fatherSince my wife was taking care of family, I

never bothered about the education of mysons. I wasn’t even aware of which sectionthey were studying. Even now my sons teaseme “you never bothered about us”. Even onholidays I am either in the office or the field– that’s why I can tell you about the prob-lems I faced with regard to every pillar; I havebecome famous for the 10 km padyatra everyday. I am very liberal father and I am proudof our sons and have done extremely well intheir education. Both of them are engineers.Arjun is the eldest; he is computer engineerand is more like Briton. He did MBA fromOxford Science School of Business and isbased out of London. Rahul is a civil engi-neer and did Masters and is working here inGreenko. My wife retired as professor ofKasturba College. These days we are goingon holidays more frequently. Earlier I usedto travel abroad for work and the three ofthem used to go separately. Later I realizedthat I should have spent more time with myfamily.

Speak English at homeI get up by 6 am, read newspapers and

exercise for about 30 minutes. I am very fondof Telugu poetry, in fact I wanted to becomeTelugu scholar, Telugu critic but it is only adesire. I need to complete my poems afterwhich I may come out with a book. I wroteabout 30 poems and on Metro I wrote threeso far. At home we speak English, my wifeand children don’t know proper Telugu. Evenfor their second language, they pickedFrench.

THE MAN WHO PUT

FAST TRACKHYDERABAD

From being a tiny child to buildingtallest Metro stations, HMRL MD

Nallamilli Venkat SatyanarayanReddy (NVS Reddy) reveals his

never-before-seen side to THE PIONEER in an interview

with Naveena Ghanate.

MUSIC YOU LIKE: I like musicwith literature

ARE YOU RELIGIOUS: Fromatheist I became agnostic. I praywhen convenient

WHAT MAKES YOUR SAD: Whenyou doing so much and peopleattack you with vested interests

HOBBIES: gardening apart frompoetry

FAVORITE BOOK: Blood, Iron andGold: How the RailwaysTransformed the World - ChristianWolmar. I like biographies

SPORTS: I don’t play. I hatecricket as it has ruined country

IF YOU HAD SUPER POWER: Iwould transform Indian cities

DREAM: I keep telling KTR ‘pleasegive me an opportunity to build acity in 1,000 acres’. It’s a dream

FAVORITE HOLIDAY SPOT:Scotland and Glenfiddichbreweries there

FAVORITE FOOD: seafood

FAVORITE POLITICIAN: Amongthe dead PV Narasimha Rao, I willnot reveal people who are alive

3 WORDS TO DESCRIBE YOU:open-minded, innovative,calculated risk-taker

FAVORITE SPOT IN AP OR TS-Kinnerasani dam

PERSON YOU ADMIRE THEMOST : Elon Musk

QUICKBYTES

I used caste, religion everything for metro

I used every trick, caste, religion, language to get theMetro work done. If it was a temple, I would send my

Hindu manager and ISKCON temple burnt my effigy3times. If it was a mosque, my chief engineer, a Muslim,would negotiate. After a year of negotiations over theMettuguda church, they complained to Sonia Gandhi thatI was destroying the church. We literally moved a graveto build a Metro station. Religious heads always helpedme. We moved 20 very sensitive structures. In Uppal Iused caste as most of the farmers were Reddy farmers.Credibility is important. In bureaucracy, nobody takesdecisions. But I learnt it from Dr E Sreedharan who usedto give case decisions on files. No Stanford or Harvardcan teach you these things.

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2020 vijayawada 12

With wife Pratima and sons Arjun and Rahul

With Dr E Sreedharan

Childish whim

With wife Pratima

When the firstphase of

metro wasinaugurated in 2017,it was an extremelyemotionalmoment for me.It was a dreamcome true,what wasthought asimpossiblewas madepossible.

I

ON