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VIJAYAWADA 9‘MY DREAM IS TO WIN

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ANALYSIS 7ILLEGAL TRADE A SPEED BREAKER

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VIJAYAWADA, SATURDAY OCTOBER 12, 2019; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

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Page 11

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping chatting over tender coconut atMamallapuram on Friday

PNS n MAMALLAPURAM

In the backdrop of 7th centu-ry rock-cut chariots of PanchaRatha overlooking the Bay ofBengal, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and ChinesePresident Xi Jinping sippedcoconut water and engaged incasual interaction in a serenesetting on Friday, sending signsof positive atmospherics inbilateral ties strained overKashmir.

Modi, dressed in a Tamilattire of 'Veshti' (Dhoti), whiteshirt and an 'angavastram'(shawl), took Xi for a guidedtour of the famous world her-itage sites of Arjuna's Penance,

Krishna's Butterball, thePancha Ratha and Shore tem-ple in this ancient templetown, kicking off the secondinformal summit between thetwo leaders.

"The free flowing nature ofthe informal summit at the

UNESCO world heritage sitewill continue and deepen con-tacts at the highest level andguide the future trajectory ofIndia-China relationship,"External Affairs MinistrySpokesperson Ravesh Kumartweeted.

Xi's visit to India comestwo days after he held talkswith Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan in Beijing. Afterthe talks, a joint statement saidChina is paying "close atten-tion" to the situation inKashmir and that the issueshould be properly and peace-fully resolved based on the UNCharter.

Continued on Page 4

Modi-Xi meet reflectspositive atmospherics

Modi, dressed in aTamil attire of 'Veshti'(Dhoti), white shirtand an 'angavastram'(shawl), took Xi for aguided tour of thefamous world heritagesites

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Coming down heavily on theTDP government for its grossfinancial indiscipline, FinanceMinister Buggana Rajendernathsaid that the YSRCP govern-ment is taking steps to undo thedamage and bring the situationunder control.

"The previous governmenthas left behind a legacy of hugedebts stemming from off-bud-get borrowings and loans fromvarious corporations andextravagant spending andclearing the dues of theirfavoured contractors, whilemounting the dues to publicservices and other utilities," hetold reporters here on Friday.

On the reported news in asection of media about SBI let-ter on the loan taken byAndhra Pradesh PowerFinance Corporation, he saidthat it was part of regular cor-respondence and it was not tohis knowledge as to how it wasleaked.

The ratings will be given byagencies like Crisil andBrickwork, which have theirown basis, on assessing thecredit worthiness. In January,Crisil gave A+ while Brickworkgave A- and Power FinanceCorporation did approach SBIfor loans and there was a sharprise in guarantees by the Stateby 2018 and that period was

that of TDP governance. Giving further details, he

said the outstanding guaranteesby the State rose from Rs 9,665crore in 2017 to Rs 35,964 crorein 2018 and this was the peri-od of the previous government.

The Naidu-Yanamala com-bination has always playedtruant with the State's financesand it was the previous govern-ment, which went out of theway to draw supplementarygrants, had taken loans from allthe Corporations, includingCivil Supplies, and has thedubious distinction of drawingRs 5,000 crore on a single day.

Huge amounts were paid totheir favoured contractorsnumbering eight, while publicutility bills like mid-day meals,fees reimbursement, land

acquisition, DISCOMS, hospi-tal subsidies and outsourcingemployees' salaries were keptpending.

"The pending bills andamounts drawn before elec-tions were piled up on us andtheir mismanagement was car-ried forward and has fallen onus to clear. Now, it is the sameTDP leaders, who are talkingabout financial management,"he said.

The previous governmenthas left the State finances highand dry with total dues toDISCOMs to the tune of Rs14,857 core and has agreedPPAs with companies withterms heavily loaded in favourof the power companies. It hadthe audacity to sign 36 PPAs ina space of 45 days and the

agreement period was a whop-ping 25 years knowing fullywell the power prices would befalling.

"The Leader of Oppositionstating that we are taking thestate backwards is ridiculous ashe has left behind a financialmess, which we are trying toclean up and it takes time toundo the damage he has doneand the Rs 65,000 crore debtand its spillover effect he forcedon us," he pointed out.

It is premature to judge thefinancial situation of the gov-ernment, which is just four-month-old and it takes at leastone year to guage the perfor-mance. On October 7, thegovernment went for a routineborrowing of Rs 1,000 crore,but it was oversubscribed at Rs2,005 crore, which shows theconfidence RBI has in theState government, he said.

TDP govt put State infinancial doldrums: FM

Buggana Rajendernath

"Chandrababu Naidutelling that liquorrates were hiked byour government isquixotic, as we havedone away with thebelt shops andregularised the sale ofliquor through StateCorporation," he said

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The State government underthe leadership of YSJaganmohan Reddy has set agoal to set up tap water con-nection at every house in theState and has designed WaterGrid project that would be use-ful for next 30 years.

Ministers PeddireddyRamchandra Reddy, BugganaRajendranath, BotsaSatyanarayana, Anil KumarYadav and top officials held areview meeting here on Fridayon Water Grid project in theState.

The water level in severalplaces of the State is decreas-ing and has fallen to 1,100 feetin Anantapur and Chittoor dis-tricts. Meanwhile, Srikakulam,Visakhapatnam, Vijzianagaramdistricts are depending onground water for long time.The government is takingimmediate action to supplysurface water in these threedistricts.

Ground water in Godavaridistricts are getting polluteddue to aqua culture. So, the

government is preparing aplan to supply water throughpipelines in these districts.

Kadapa, Nellore districtsfaces severe shortage of drink-ing water in summer season.Supply of water throughtankers has been significantlyincreased in Kadapa, Chittoor,Nellore, Anantapur andPrakasam districts. From 591habitations in 2011, it hasincreased to 6,267 habitationsin 2019 that receive waterthrough tankers.

Rs 46,675 crore will be

invested in the Water Grid pro-ject in two instalments.

Rs 37,475 crore and Rs 9,200crore will be used in the firstand second instalments respec-tively. The drinking water willbe supplied to 46,982 rural areahabitations and 99 urban areahabitations.

Rs 2,500 crore loan from theAsian Development bank willbe used for this project. Some110 urban local bodies in theState will receive 1418.49MLDs of water. Water fromreservoirs will be suppliedthrough pipelines to theseareas.

The Rayalaseema region iswitnessing dry borewells. But,with the implementation ofWater Grid project, water fromreservoirs will b supplied in theregion. The government hasdecided to use Jal Jeevan,MGNREGS schemes.

The government is keen onwater supply to ever householdin the State and improveground water level in the Stateto benefit future generationsand for environmental bal-ance.

Peddireddy Ramchandra Reddy

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh EducationMinister Adimulapu Sureshfigured in the list of beneficia-ries under the state govern-ment's flagship scheme YSRRythu Bharosa, aimed at pro-viding Rs 12,500 financial aidto every farmer annually.

The minister's name wasincluded in the list of benefi-ciaries under the scheme inGanapavaram village ofTripuranthakam 'mandal'(block) in Prakasam district.

The list along with 'pat-tadar' account number, wentviral on social media, drawingcriticism from netizens, whoraised doubts about the crite-ria applied for identifying thebeneficiaries. According to theguidelines issued by the gov-ernment, the scheme is notapplicable to former and cur-rent ministers, MLAs, MPsand zilla parishad chairpersons.

Reacting to the reports, theminister clarified that the offi-cials included his name bymistake. He said that since heowns agriculture land, hisdetails were captured by web-land, the state portal devel-

oped for land records. Sureshsaid he has directed the offi-cials to delete his name fromthe list.

Suresh, a former IndianRevenue Service (IRS) officer,had declared assets of over Rs16 crore while filing nomina-tion for Assembly elections inMarch this year.

YSR Congress Party(YSRCP) government hasidentified 40 lakh beneficiariesfor the YSR Rythu Bharosa tobe launched on October 15.

Though the number ofland-owning farmers in thestate is about 67 lakhs, the gov-ernment employees and otherineligible persons were delet-ed from the list.

Edu minister ‘beneficiary’in farmer welfare scheme

Water connection to everyhouse in AP by 2022

Adimulapu Suresh

Vizag likely to get internet exchangePNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Officials from Nixie (NationalInternet Exchange of India)held a meeting here on Fridayto discuss need for Nixie hereand to conduct feasibilitydemand study. They were con-vinced about the potential ofthis city and agreed to send afavourable report to set upNixie in the city.

Nikhil (business develop-ment manager) and their tech-nical manager Abhisekh fromDelhi Nixie arrived in the city.

Later, they met ITAAP offi-cials ( Narayana - president)Naresh Kumar ( ChairmanAdvisory Board of ITAAP)and Sudhakar ( Vice-Chairman) and Mahesh (Centre Head of Conduent)and MP Dubey from STPI andSubba Rao, centre head ofSAMEER, along with represen-tatives of leading internet ser-vice providers, were present.About 12 leading ISPproviders, includingChakrapani from V online,Durga Prasad from Data Soft

and officials from Airtel(biggest ISP consuming 500gbps) along with CTO ofGITAM University, explainedthat they had over one lakh stu-dents doing online coursesand representatives fromGayatri Group of Collegesexplained about their needs.

"We informed them thatour bulk consumers ofAPEPDCL, GVMC, banks and

railway booking would needhigher quality of internet.Chakrapani also informedthem that there were 16 A cat-egory ISP and about 60 B andC category ISP in the city, whobuy a huge data and distributeto corporate and retail con-sumers.

Naresh Kumar andNarayana explained that therewere over 150 IT companies in

Vizag and over 13,000 newseats allotted under BPOscheme of the government.Vizag is the ninth richest cityin the country as per GDP andhome to many PSUs anddefence establishments like theEastern Naval Command, SteelPlant, HPCL, NTPC andNSTL.

Naresh Kumar alsoinformed them that Vizag washome to 13,000 registeredMSME units with the govern-ment and all of them were nowhaving to go digital to file GSTand TDS returns. They willgreatly benefit with low costhigh quality internet.

Nixie officials explained thatif all the ISPs connect to theirdata centre here, the cost wouldbe reduced by 30 to 40 per centdepending on number of usersand the quality would increaseand latency would improvefrom 40 milli seconds to 5 mil-liseconds thereby boostingspeeds and efficiency.

Officials from Nixie hold meeting in the city

Nixie officials in Visakhapatnam on Friday

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Here is a good news forTelanganaites, who migrated toAndhra Pradesh within threemonths from June 2, 2014.They shall be regarded as localcandidates in AP at the place oftheir residence and be treatedat par with local candidatesresiding in that area in accor-dance with such guidelines asmay be issued by the govern-ment of Andhra Pradesh for thepurpose of employment.

In exercise of the powersconferred by clauses (1) and (2)of Article 371 D of theConstitution, the President onFriday issued an order toamend the Andhra PradeshEducational Institutions(Regulation of Admissions)Order, 1974. The order will nowbe called the Andhra PradeshEducational Institutions(Regulation of Admissions)Amendment Order, 2019. Itextends to the whole of the Stateof Andhra Pradesh and shall

come into force at once.According to the order, a

candidate, intending to make anapplication for admission inhigher educational institutionsin the State of Andhra Pradesh,or an application for directrecruitment, has to furnish anapplication, along with declara-tion in Forms-I and II respec-tively containing details ofhis/her migration to the State ofAndhra Pradesh from the Stateof Telangana within a period ofthree years from the June 2,2014.

In case of minors, the parent/ guardian has to furnish a dec-laration (Form-II annexed).

Ethiopian PMAhmed Aliwins Nobelpeace prizeOSLO, NORWAY: EthiopianPrime Minister Abiy Ahmedwas on Friday awarded theNobel Peace Prize for hisefforts to resolve his country'sconflict with bitter foe Eritrea,the Nobel Committee said.

Abiy was honoured "for hisefforts to achieve peace andinternational cooperation,and in particular for his deci-sive initiative to resolve theborder conflict with neigh-bouring Eritrea," the jurysaid.

Since becoming Ethiopianprime minister in April 2018,the 43-year-old has aggres-sively pursued policies thathave the potential to upendhis country's society andreshape dynamics beyond itsborders.

Within just six months ofhis swearing-in, Abiy madepeace with bitter foe Eritrea,released dissidents from jail,apologised for state brutality,and welcomed home exiledarmed groups branded "ter-rorists" by his predecessors.

More recently he hasturned to fleshing out hisvision for the economy whilelaying the groundwork forelections currently scheduledto take place next May.

Alka Lamba tojoin Congress NEW DELHI: More than amonth after quitting the AamAadmi Party (AAP), formerChandni Chowk MLA AlkaLamba on Friday said she willbe taking the primary mem-bership of the Congress at theparty headquarters onSaturday.

In the morning, she hadsaid she will be taking themembership on Friday.However, she later said due tosome reasons, she was notable to take the membershipon Friday.

"Today, for some reason, Iwill not able to join theCongress. Now I will be join-ing the Congress tomorrow(Saturday)," she said.

Hours after quitting theAAP on September 6, Lambahad announced that shewould join the Congress inthe presence of interimPresident Sonia Gandhi ather residence.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy instructed officials togive a boost to tourism in theState at international-level andestablish a Cultural Academyin every district. In order topreserve the historical memo-ries of the State, the ChiefMinister has approved theestablishment ofArchaeological Corporation.

"Take actions that putAndhra Pradesh on interna-tional tourist map,' said theChief Minister. The govern-ment has identified 15 to 20tourist spots in the State. Hehas ordered to develop themwith the help of internationalcompanies. All these placeswill be developed with worldclass amenities. The ChiefMinister has asked officials toidentify places that should bedeveloped at internationalstandards and make Andhra

Pradesh as the first priority fortourists, who come to visitIndia.

In order to preserve thehandicrafts, the ChiefMinister has instructed offi-cials to provide financial assis-tance to artisans ofKondapalli, Etikoppaka andKalamkari vil lages. Heordered to prepare an activi-ty plan for the same.

Officials proposed to devel-op Suryalanka, Horsely Hills,Orvakal and Gandikota astourist spots. Jagan askedofficials to give detailed infor-mation again and includeproposals for establishingGandikota AdventureAcademy, Glass Bridge onthe river, construction of ropeways at tourism spots.

Continued on Page 4

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy adressing a meeting in Amaravati on Friday

Put AP on global tourismmap: CM Jagan

{

In exercise of thepowers conferred byclauses (1) and (2) ofArticle 371 D of theConstitution, thePresident on Fridayissued an order

Prez issues order onlocal status for TSnatives residing in AP

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated October 11, 2019 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Ashwini & Shukla PakshaTithi : Chaturdashi: 12:36 amNakshatram: Uttara Bhadrapada: Full NightTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 09:07 am – 10:34 amYamagandam: 01:30 pm – 02:57 pmVarjyam: 03:51 pm – 05:38 pmGulika: 06:11 am - 07:39 amGood Time: (to start any

important work)Amritakalam: 02:33 am - 04:19 amAbhijit Muhurtham:

11:39 am – 12:25 pm

VIJAYAWADAWEATHERForecast: Partly CloudyTemp: 32/24Humidity: 84%Sunrise: 06.08Sunset: 05.56

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CAPSULE

MINOR QUAKE JOLTS NELLORENellore: A minor earthquakewas recorded at Adurupalli,Putupalli, Dachur andKollapanayudupalli villages inChejarla mandal of Nelloredistrict on Thursday. Accordingto locals, the earth trembled foreight seconds with a loud noiseat 10 pm. People in the housesran out of fear. Those who slepton the couches also said theyhad fallen. On receivinginformation, officials visited theaffected villages.

PYTHON CREEPSINTO TEMPLEChittoor: A python crept into theBoyakonda Gangamma temple inChittoor district on Friday.Devotees were shocked whenthey saw the serpent in thetemple. Later, with the help oflocals, the snake was left into theforest.

TRAIN RESCHEDULEDVIJAYAWADA: Train No. 17644Kakinada Port - ChengalpattuCircar Express scheduled todepart Kakinada port at 14.30hrs on October 11 isrescheduled to depart at 16.30hrs on the same day due to laterunning of its pairing train.

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 12, 2019 vijayawada 02

People learning about kitchen gardening at an exhibition organised by GVMC at the VMRDA Children Arena inVisakhapatnam on Friday

TIPS FFOR KKITCHEN GGARDENING

EGGRATES

` 38, 490 (10 gm)

` 18

GOLD

` 45, 600 (1kg)

` 360

HYDERABAD 411VIJAYAWADA 422VISAKHAPATNAM 420RETAIL PPRICE `4.22

SILVER

VIJAYAWADABULLION RATES

`/100

CHICKENRATES

Dressed/With Skin `136

Without Skin `155

Broiler at Farm `94

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

India-Bangladesh navies’coordinated patrol beginsPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The second edition of IndianNavy-Bangladesh NavyCoordinated Patrol (CORPAT)commenced in Northern Bay ofBengal on Thursday. INSRanvijay, a guided-missiledestroyer and INS Kuthar, aningeniously built missileCorvette, are participating in theCORPAT, along with BNS AliHaider, a type 053 frigate andBNS Shadinota, a type 056 stealthguided missile Corvette. Thetwo-day CORPAT will be fol-lowed by the maiden edition ofbilateral exercise atVisakhapatnam from October 12to 19.

The CORPAT, which com-menced in 2018, is aimed atupgrading to a bilateral exercisewith the navies engaging in sea-manship evolutions, flying exer-cises with integral helicopters andmaritime patrol aircraft at sea.Additionally, exercises entailingthe development of mutual com-munication and sharing of bestpractices would also be under-taken, adding a new dimensionto the Indo-Bangladesh maritimerelations. With a common terri-torial boundary of over 4,000 kmand a maritime boundary, naviesof both the counties aim at prac-tising and hone their mutualcooperation whilst patrollingnear the International MaritimeBoundary Line (IMBL) during

the current edition of CORPAT.The sea phase would be fol-

lowed by harbour phase thatwould include professional inter-action between the navies, visitsto the Indian Naval trainingand maintenance facilitiesinVisakhapatnam. The exercisewould also include air familiari-sation of Bangladesh Naval air-crew towards a better under-standing of MPA operations atINS Dega and a 10-day trainingexercise between Indian NavyMarine Commandos andBangladesh Navy SWADS.

Globl meet on ‘superpowers’dominion in outer space'PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Damodaram SanjivayyaNational Law University,Visakhapatnam, is organisingan international conferenceon 'Superpowers Dominionin Outer Space and GlobalSustainable Development', incollaboration with GlobalNetwork.

The conference is beingconducted with an object ofaddressing various issues relat-ing to space and outer space,because the nations areincreasingly getting involved invarious activities like nucleartesting in the space. With thedevelopment of technology,access to space is considerablyeasier, but this advantageshould be used to the benefitof the global community,rather than using it to their dis-advantage. The nations areinvolved in an arms race, thelegality, morality and ethicalvalues of which are highlyquestionable.

A debate around this aspecthas been in light and it hasbeen triggered due to the activ-ities of various nations, whichintend to expand their bases,beyond the Earth, to the space.In the light of these activities,the conference is being organ-ised with a view to provide astage, wherein the emergingissues and challenges relatingto space and outer space maybe addressed and analysed ina contemporaneous mannerbased on the legal, political,economic and scientificaspects involved therein, toensure peace and security inthe international sphere withconcern to outer space.

The conference invitesnational and international par-ticipation from the academia,researchers, lawyers, scientistsand students from various

fields to share their knowledgein this regard. The conferencewill have various national andinternational resource per-sons, who would enlighteneveryone in the said field.

The keynote speakersinclude Bruce Gagnon,Secretary, Global NetworkAgainst Weapons & NuclearPower in Space, Peter Kuznick,Professor of History andDirector of the Nuclear StudiesInstitute at AmericanUniversity, Prof. (Dr.) TammaSuryanarayana Sastry, Vice-Chancellor of the Tamil NaduDr. Ambedkar Law University,Chennai, Prof. Dr. V. BalakistaReddy, Registrar, NALSAR,Hyderabad, Prof. Manoj Sinha,Director, Indian Law Institute,New Delhi, Prof. (Dr.)Sandeepa Bhat B., NUJS,Kolkata, Dr. Raka Arya,Associate Professor, NLIU,Bhopal, Mr. Subrata GhoshRoy, Cambridge Universityand Prof. A. Subrahmanyam,Acharya Nagarjuna University.

PNS nMUMBAI

It could be a nostalgic momentfor many when they see theBajaj Chetak scooter again onthe roads, only this time, it willbe called the 'Chetak ChicElectric'. This is the new all-electric scooter from Bajaj AutoLtd., to be launched thisOctober 16.

Bajaj is clubbing all its electricmobility products under a newbrand Urbanite and this is theevent to be held on October 16,according to a report. This willbe the first electric poweredscooter by the Pune-headquar-tered company. Rajiv Bajaj, MDof BAL has reportedly said thatthe company would want to bethe Tesla of India as far as the

two-wheeler sector is concerned.The two-wheeler major

wants to leverage the nostalgiaquotient to the hilt. The invitefor the October 16 event saysthe event itself is titled 'HamaraKal'. The company has used this

tagline in the past and people ofthat generation may stillremember. Coming to theChetak Chic Electric, very lit-tle information has been offi-cially shared by the company onits specifications. Based on

whatever could be discerned,there is some resemblance tothe Vespa models with theround headlamp assembly. Youcan safely assume that the head-lamps will be LED. The expec-tation on the price of the ChetakChic Electric is it would bearound Rs 1 lakh. There is noother comparable product inIndia except the Ather 450.Once the specifications andprice are announced, the com-parisons can be made.

l The conference isbeing conducted with anobject of addressingvarious issues relating tospace and outer space,because the nations areincreasingly gettinginvolved in variousactivities like nucleartesting in the space

l With the development oftechnology, access to space isconsiderably easier, but thisadvantage should be used to thebenefit of the global community,rather than using it to theirdisadvantage. The nations areinvolved in an arms race, the legality,morality and ethical values of whichare highly questionable.

The conferenceinvites nationaland globalparticipationfrom theacademia,researchers,scientists andstudents fromvarious fields toshare theirknowledge

The exerciseinclude airfamiliarisation ofBangladesh Navalaircrew towards abetterunderstanding ofMPA operations atINS Dega and a10-day trainingexercise betweenIndian NavyMarineCommandos andBangladesh NavySWADS

l INS Ranvijay, a guided-missile destroyer and INS Kuthar,an ingeniously built missile Corvette, are participating in theCORPAT, along with BNS Ali Haider, a type 053 frigate andBNS Shadinota, a type 056 stealth guided missile Corvette

lThe two-day CORPATwill be followed by themaiden edition ofbilateral exercise atVisakhapatnam fromOctober 12 to 19

l The sea phase would befollowed by harbour phase thatwould include professionalinteraction between the navies,visits to the Indian Naval trainingand maintenance facilities atVisakhapatnam

l The exercise would also include air familiarisation ofBangladesh Naval aircrew towards a better understanding ofMPA operations at INS Dega and a 10-day training exercisebetween Indian Navy Marine Commandos and BangladeshNavy SWADS

Bajaj is clubbing all itselectric mobilityproducts under a newbrand Urbanit

Iconic Bajaj Chetak set to make acomeback as ‘Chetak Electric'

PNSn VISAKHAPATNAM

Deeksha, one of the country'sleading education services compa-ny, ventured into the city launch-ing two new Junior Colleges inDwaraka Nagar and NAD areas ofthe city.

The colleges will offer spe-cialised coaching for IIT-JEE,NEET and other competitive tests,along with regular IntermediateBoard syllabus.

Deeksha currently has 31 cam-puses spread across Karnataka,Telangana, and Maharashtra. DrSridhar, Founder of Deeksha, saidthe vision of establishing junior col-leges was to provide an effective andcaring academic environment thatnurture original thinking and cre-ate young confident individualswith a sense of responsibilitytowards society.

Sridhar strongly believes thatstrong conceptual clarity and self-confidence, born from emotionalwellness, are the primary requisitesfor academic success. Deeksha's

flagship programme dCARE(Deeksha for Children's All-RoundDevelopment) comprises variousinitiatives, which ensure a child'swell-being and forms the bedrockof the institute's motto of 'NurturingSuccess of Every Child'. The idea

is to nurture success in childrenthrough a rigorous academic envi-ronment supported by technologybuilt around the culture of caring."We must focus more on equippingour children to face and handle thepressures of life. Every child is bornto succeed in a unique walk of life,

it is up to us to guide children andnurture their passion towards suc-cess. It is our duty as parents andteachers in encouraging children todevelop a broader vision of life andcontinuously evolve to become bet-ter. We often hear from Deeksha

alumni how a healthy mind helpedthem beyond academics in pursu-ing their passion and achieve greataccolades. It is imperative to keepin mind children's wellbeing andhappiness while guiding themtowards success," said Lalit Sridhar,Founder of Deeksha.

Deeksha expands itsacademic avenues to Vizag

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

For the first time inVijayawada Division, a healthcheck-up kiosk has been set upfor the passengers atVijayawada Railway Station.The kiosk is set up by TeamLead Corporates, Hyderabad.The kiosk helps a person tounderstand his overall gener-al health on 21 parameters.The person gets her/his height,weight, blood pressure, BodyMass Index (BMI) etc withina time span of just 15 minutes.

It also gives recommenda-tions on the dietary plan andexercises to follow. Passengerscan avail this service by justpaying a nominal amount ofRs 50. The passengers can use thisservice and know about theirbasic statistics, while waitingat the station. The kiosk islocated in front of the book-ing office at the East Entranceon Platform No.1. At present,the kiosk is manned by twopersons and is functional for12 hours in a day.

l Deeksha founder Sridhar strongly believes that strongconceptual clarity and self-confidence, born from emotionalwellness, are the primary requisites for academic success

l Deeksha's flagship programmedCARE (Deeksha for Children's All-Round Development) comprisesvarious initiatives, which ensure achild's well-being and forms thebedrock of the institute's motto of'Nurturing Success of Every Child'

l The idea is to nurturesuccess in childrenthrough a rigorousacademic environmentsupported by technologybuilt around the cultureof caring

Health check-upkiosk set up atcity railway station

Amazon Musicnow has an appfor Apple TVIANS n SAN FRANCISCO

Amazon has made its Musicapp available on the AppleTV 4K and Apple TV HDrunning tvOS 12.0 or later.The app can be downloadedfrom the tvOS App Store.

Currently, the AmazonMusic app for Apple TV isavailable in the US, UK,Australia, New Zealand,Brazil, Canada, France, Italy,Spain, Germany, Mexico,Japan, and India, The Vergereported on Thursday.

The app will give anaccess to the full library ofmillions of songs, plusalbums, artists, and playlists.One can also play contentfrom My Music personallibrary.

In addition, Swedishmusic streaming app Spotifyannounced that its iOS 13app would now offer Sirisupport and its streamingmusic service would also beavailable on Apple TV.

The company has alsoreleased an Apple TV appfor the first time whichclosely resembles Spotify onother TV platforms likeRoku and the new app canbe downloaded from thetvOS App Store.

IANS n LONDON

Rather than being victims ofonline harms, such as anunhealthy body image obses-sion, teenage boys are able touse humour, irony and banterto navigate social media con-tent, a new research found.

"The evidence from teenageboys indicated that you can bea gymlad if you're 'ripped', witha toned gym body, but you canalso use gymlad in an ironicway," said study lead researcherVictoria Goodyear fromUniversity of Birmingham inthe UK.

"Using humour and ironymeans that boys can still aspireto have gym bodies and bemotivated by sport, exerciseand healthy diets, but withoutthe risk of being put down orridiculed by their peers,"Goodyear said.

For the study, published inQualitative Research in Sport,Exercise and Health,researchers investigated howyoung boys use Instagram,Snapchat and YouTube to learnabout physical activity, diet and

body image. Over a 12-monthperiod, more than 1,300teenage boys from 10 schoolsand from a range of socio-eco-nomic and ethnic backgroundsengaged a series of class activ-ities, interviews, workshopsand a survey.

In contrast to popular opin-ion, the study showed teenageboys were intelligent and crit-ical users and generators ofsocial media.

For example, they usedirony, through hashtags like#gymlad to enable them topost selfies about their bodiesin the gym without fear ofridicule, and within a contextof acceptable banter.

The research highlights theneed for adults - parents, car-ers and teachers - to try to bet-ter understand and empathise,rather than criticise how youngpeople use social media.

Irony, humour keepteen boys healthy onsocial media: Study

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 12, 2019 vijayawada 03

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DONATION TO SVSARVA SREYASTRUSTTirumala: Malaysia based donor,Ravindra Subramanyam donatedRs 10 lakhs to Sri VenkateswaraSarva Sreyas Trust(Balamandiram) of TTD onFriday. He handed over the DD toTTD Trust Board Chairman YVSubba Reddy at RanganayakulaMandapam.

‘COPS RAISE THEIRBAR TO HELPPEOPLE'PNS/VIJAYAWADADirector General of Police (DGP)Gautam Sawang on Fridayreleased pamphlets - Souryamand Smruti - designed by DronaConsultancy chief Suresh Bethaon the Police CommemorationDay. Speaking on the occasion,he said the job of policepersonnel is a difficult one. Onlypolice personnel are at work for24 hours a day, he said and theyare always in the service ofpeople. "It is difficult for us toimagine a society withoutpolice," he added. Most of thesacrifices made by policepersonnel go unnoticed, the DGPsaid, but they always raise theirbar to help the people. "Theservice motto of the police isproviding security to people insociety," he said. The police forceconstantly faces so manychallenges like communalism,insurgency, a variety of crimes,law and order problems, naturalcalamities and election duty,Sawang said. ADG (L&O) RaviShankar Ayyanar and AIGBhaskar Bhushan were amongthose present.

FOUR WHEELERSDONATEDTirumala: TTD Trust BoardSpecial invitee from BengaluruKupender Reddy donated twofour wheelers for the TTD onFriday. Two Mahindra Alturaseach worth Rs 35 lakhs weredonated and the keys of thevehicles have been handed overto TTD Special Officer AVDharma Reddy in front of Srivaritemple at Tirumala.

Cops foil Kollu's ‘Deeksha',put him under house arrest PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Tension prevailed inMachilipatnam on Friday afterthe police took former minis-ter and TDP leader KolluRavindra into their custodyand kept him under housearrest.

Earlier, the police tried toprevent him from coming outof his residence, but he hadalready reached Koneru Centrein the district headquartersthrough an alternative route.However, the police arrestedhim and packed him off backto his house.

TDP activists came onto thestreets to protest against thearrest of Ravindra, but thepolice dispersed them.Similarly, the police kept TDPKrishna district presidentBachula Arujunudu also underhouse arrest.

Additional SP Sattibabumade it clear that neither TDPnor YSRCP leaders would begiven permission to stageprotests in the town in view ofthe DRC meeting. He saidprecautions have been taken toprevent any untoward inci-dent. The situation is beingmonitored constantly, headded.

Meanwhile, Ravindra said hewould observe a 36-hour'Deesksha' at his residence.Stating that TDP had taken adecision to register its protestagainst scarcity of sand in aGandhian method, he said thepolice had been harassing theparty leaders since Thursday

night. "The police took me totwo police stations before keep-ing me under house arrest," hesaid. He said workers in theunorganised sector are starvingwithout food due to loss oflivelihood due to sand scarci-ty. "We wanted to show ourconcern through a Deeksha,but the police are obstructingus," he said.

TDP leaders and activistswould not be cowed down bythe government's repressivetactics, Ravindra said the'Deeksha' would go on.

Former minister DevineniUmamaheswara Rao said thatRavindra's decision to observe'Deeksha' had sent shiversdown the spine of the YSRCPgovernment. He alleged thatYSRCP leaders are divertingsand to the capital of a neigh-bouring State.

YSR Kanti Velugu, a boon to peoplePNS n VIJAYAWADA

Many school-going childrenare not aware that they havevision loss. While someassume that it is okay forthem with the way thingsappear to them, some othersfeel shy to tell that they areunable to see what is writtenon the board. Such refractoryerrors go unchecked in theabsence of proper and timelycare.

YSR Kanti Velugu, whichwas launched by ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy to provide free medicalaid to visual impairment andcorrection of visual errors,has come like a boon to thepeople, more so to the chil-dren, who cannot expressthemselves explicitly due tovarious reasons.

The major impairmentfound in schoolchildren isrefractory error and 80% of theailments can be corrected withtimely care and precautions,said G Hymavathi, NodalOfficer of YSR Kanti Veluguand an ophthalmologist.

The screening of school-going children, which isunderway in the first phase ofYSR Kanti Velugu up toOctober 16, will be a boon tothem as they are providedwith an opportunity to gettheir eyes tested and many ofthe children, who have refrac-tory errors do not know thatthey have visual impairmentand the parents are not in a

position to identify the prob-lem of their wards.

Many of the children withthe ailment are ignorant oftheir impairment and believethat objects are seen by all oth-ers in the same way they arevisible to them and some stu-dents do not complain even ifthey cannot see what is writ-ten on the black board in theschool, or can see only whenthe books are held close to the

eyes. The ailments includenear-sightedness (myopia),farsightedness (hyperopia) orblurred vision (astigmatism)and if they are identified at ayoung age can be correctedand the purpose of the welfarescheme will be well served.

The focus on children in thefirst phase will give a new leaseof life and will bring in newglow into the lives of the chil-dren, who otherwise would

have been suffering for moretime until the ailment isdetected and sometimes itcould be too late.

The ailments among chil-dren and young adults couldalso cause stress on the stu-dents and some of them maybe even depressed and gettingthe eyes tested at a young ageand taking corrective measuresat the right time will be help-ful and YSR Kanti Velugu isprecisely doing the same.

"The aim of the programmeis to prevent and correct theailments and among children,who have refractory errors, thecorrective measures would betaken in the second phaseand the programme will coverall school-going childrenstudying in government andprivate schools.

The outreach programmewill be completed by October16. "In all, 50,000 staff arepressed into service for thescreening exercise across theState, who include ASHAworkers and volunteers and wehave given them screeningkits, including Snellen Chartsto judge the visual acuity,'' shesaid.

Giving the break-up of thenumber of students to bescreened in the first phase, shesaid, "As many as 250 studentswill be tested from each schoolevery day and by October 16all 62,503 schools will be cov-ered, which will aggregate to70 lakh in the first phase."

PNSn VIJAYAWADA

The YSRCP government is fulfill-ing all its promises made to peo-ple before the elections, Ministerfor Municipal AdministrationBotsa Satyanarayana said.

Addressing a press confer-ence here on Friday, he said theTDP has been making wild alle-gations out of jealousy, he said andadvised its president NChandrababu Naidu to changehis attitude. If there are mistakesin the government's policies, theOpposition Leader should givesuggestions. Instead of doingthis, Naidu is claiming that hisgovernment had launched allthe schemes earlier, he added.

"There is some problem withNaidu. Otherwise, why would heclaim that Village Secretariats,Kanti Velugu and Aarogya Srischemes were conceived by him,"Satyanarayana said.

Naidu is threatening officialsthat they would get 14 years of jailsentence. "When our MLA facedsome allegation, our governmenthas put him in the police station.The DGP did not talk immedi-ately. Did your government filedcases against your MLAs whenthere were charges against them?"he asked.

Satyanarayana said Naidu isplaying dramas over trivial inci-dents. For instance, he made a lotof noise when there was a powercut for five minutes during theTDP meeting in Visakhapatnam,he said.

He said Naidu had claimed thatthe late Chief Minister YSRajasekhara Reddy was afraid ofhim. "Naidu should hold histongue," he warned. Satyanaraynarecalled Naidu saying that SBI had

asked the YSRCP government ifit could repay the debt when itapproached for loan. "Even this isthe fallout of your bad gover-nance. The Jaganmohan Reddygovernment is being burdeneddue to your misrule," he said.

The minister said more harmwas done to the State by the pre-vious TDP government's misrulethan bifurcation. Earlier, if therewas a debt burden of Rs 5,000crore when the governmentchanged, it was a huge burden,Satyanarayana said and addedthat when the TDP was defeatedand the YSRCP governmentcame to power the burdenincreased to Rs 50,000 crore,

Duped APmen arrivefrom MalaysiaPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The second batch ofTelugus, who were cheat-ed and stranded inMalaysia, arrived hereon Friday. It may berecalled that the firstbatch arrived a fortnightago. The State govern-ment took the initiativein bringing them homeby spending Rs 32,000 oneach person. A travelagent duped them offer-ing good jobs inMalaysia, but they endedup as labourers, the vic-tim told the reporterson arrival.

They said they weretortured by the employ-ers and were sent to jaillater for not possessingval id documents .However, with the inter-vention of the AP gov-ernment, the Malaysiangovernment pardonedthem, said AP Non-Resident Society chair-man Mekapati Venkat,who helped them inrepatriation, said.

These six victims hailfrom Duggirala, Nelloreand Kakinada. TheSociety received 250 suchapplication for repatria-tion from various coun-tries and serious effortswere on to relieve them,said AP NRTC Chief Executive OfficerBhavani Shankar and YSRCP IT headGadhi Sridhar Reddysaid.

n Police tried to preventformer minister and TDPleader Kollu Ravindra fromcoming out of hisresidence, but he hadalready reached KoneruCentre in the districtheadquarters through analternative route. However,the police arrested himand packed him off back tohis residence

n TDP activists came ontothe streets to protestagainst the arrest ofRavindra, but the policedispersed them

n Similarly, the police kept TDP Krishnadistrict presidentBachula Arujunudu also under housearrest

Former minister DevineniUmamaheswara Rao said thatRavindra's decision to observe‘Deeksha' had sent shivers downthe spine of the YSRCPgovernment

Naidu flaying YSRCP govtout of jealousy: Botsa

The Minister forMunicipalAdministrationsaid more harmwas done to theState by theprevious TDPgovernment'smisrule thanbifurcation

n The major impairment found in schoolchildren is refractoryerror and 80% of the ailments can be corrected with timely careand precautions, said Dr G Hymavathi, Nodal Officer of YSR KantiVelugu and an ophthalmologist

As many as 250 students will be tested fromeach school every day and by October 16 all62,503 schools will be covered, which willaggregate to 70 lakh in the first phase,according to G Hymavathi, Nodal Officer ofYSR Kanti Velugu

Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh addressing a meeting organised on theoccasion of the World Egg Day at Enikepadu on the outskirts of Vijayawada on Friday

Have eggs, stayhealthy: Ministerfor EducationPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Egg is nutritious food andeveryone should have it tokeep in good health, saidMinister for EducationAdimulapu Suresh said.

Addressing a meetingorganised to observe theWorld Egg Day at Enikepaduon the outskirts ofVijayawada on Friday, he saidChief minister YSJaganmohan Reddy is givingtop priority to allocation offunds to the education sector.Rs 250 crore was allotted toprovide eggs to students, headded.

Stating that eggs would besupplied to schools throughe-Procurement system in thefuture, Suresh said priceswould be based on qualityand transports’ cost.

He called upon e traders tosupply good quality eggs forstudents.

Poultry farming would belucrative in the days to comeas there would be a rise in thedemand for eggs, he added.The minister assured thetraders that dues to poultryfarmers would be paid on thebasis of priority.

Stating that eggswould be supplied toschools through e-Procurement systemin the future, Sureshsaid prices would bebased on quality andtransports’ cost

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

In open violation of food safe-ty norms, many food stalls inthe city do not have a FoodSafety and Standards Authorityof India (FSSAI) registration ora licence. A survey carried outby the Consumer RightsOrganisation (CRO) here inthe city has revealed it.

In RTC complex, which isthe major bus station complexin the city, only 25% of theshops have FSSAIregistration/licence, however,they have not renewed them.

According to norms, anyfood product that is manufac-tured, processed, packed andsold should have a FSSAI reg-istration or license and theymust adhere to the Legalmetrology (Packaging com-modities) Rules, 2011.

While the FSSAI certificateis given for regulating manu-facture, storage, distribution,sale and import and to ensureavailability of safe food forhumans, the Legal Metrologyrules 2011 states that it ismandatory to mention theingredients, manufacture andexpiry date, the place of pro-

duction and marketing, MRPand consumer care number on the packaged food com-modity.

When the food stalls weresurveyed in different parts ofthe city, it was found that thenorms are being flouted. Food

commodities like cakes, bis-cuits, cookies, dates, mangojelly and snacks are being out-sourced from different placesand are being sold in theshops. The survey also showedthat a few shops, which havethe FSSAI registration or

licence, are outdated and havenot been renewed.

G Nandaji, Assistant FoodController, Visakhapatnam,said, "Every food businessoperator must ensure that theyhave been certified by FSSAI.For petty shops, hawkers, ven-dors or for those whose annu-al turnover is less than 12lakhs, it is mandatory to getFSSAI registration, which is Rs100 per annum. For foodestablishments whose turnoveris more than Rs 12 lakhs, it ismandatory to get FSSAIlicence, which ranges from Rs2,000 to Rs 10,000." A team willtake up an awareness pro-gramme at the earliest regard-ing the mandatory procuringof licence, he said.

Most of the vendors said thatthey are not aware of the foodsafety and packaging rules.They also alleged that theyhave not been provided anytraining for the same. Hence,the food safety departmentofficials and the legal meteorol-ogy department officials stat-ed that awareness campaignsand camps will be organised inthe city.

No licence for food stalls in Vizagn In RTC complex, which isthe major bus station complexin the city, only 25% of theshops have FSSAIregistration/licence, however,they have not renewed them

n According to norms, anyfood product that ismanufactured, processed,packed and sold should havea FSSAI registration or licenseand they must adhere to theLegal metrology (Packagingcommodities) Rules, 2011

When the food stalls were surveyed in differentparts of the city, it was found that the norms arebeing flouted. Food commodities like cakes,biscuits, cookies, dates, mango jelly and snacksare being outsourced from different places and arebeing sold in the shops

Legal Forumhails stipendto lawyersPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Forum of LegalProfessionals on Fridayhailed the State govern-ment's decision to pay Rs5,000 per month to junioradvocates. In a statementpresident of the ForumKuppili Muralidhar said thejunior advocate in their ini-tial days of practice wouldfind tough and stipendamount could be used tomeet basic requirements.He thanked Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy forfulf i l l ing his electionpromise. Certificate from asenior advocate under whothey worked for more than15 years must be mademandatory so as to weed outnon serious lawyers, he said.

In another function,deputy collector DS Anitasaid students must set up agoal and work towardsachieving it.

She was addressing stu-dents on Friday at a meetingorganised by Forum of legalprofessionals at Queen MaryHigh School as the chiefguest on the occasion ofInternational Day of theGirl Child.

Anita said hard work isthe key to success andexhorted the girl students tofeel proud of being born asa girl and develop a healthycompetition among peersto achieve the targeted goal.

President of Forum ofLegal Professionals KuppiliMuralidhar said that stu-dents should develop anattitude to seek questions toclarify their doubts. He saidForum has conducted sever-al programme to createawareness among girl stu-dents. Advocate LakshmiRambabu spoke on the needto maintain proper hygieneamong girl students.Advocate AVL Prameelatold the girls to dedicatethemselves to study hard.Headmaster of school MTrinadh Rao said suchawareness programmes arevery useful to children.Forum coordinator andadvocate MGM Khan intro-duced the gathering to stu-dents.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

President of AP Chambers ofCommerce and IndustryFederation (APCCIF) KVSPrakash Rao said that theFederation has been workingcollaboratively with the Stategovernment for industrial devel-opment. It has been endeavour-ing to promote growth by iden-tifying business opportunities inthe State and the challengesfaced by industrialists. It has beenmaking suggestions to the gov-ernment for creation of an envi-ronment conducive for business,he said.

Addressing a press conferencehere on Friday, he said APCCIFhas been frequently conductinginteractive meetings with Centraland State government officials.

Replying to a query, he saidthe present economic slowdownin the country is the fallout of thecascading effect of the globalmeltdown on developing coun-tries. Stating that the State is fun-damentally strong and theimpact would be negligible.

He said the present sand cri-sis has had a negative impact onthe construction sector andexuded confidence that it wouldgain steam once the new govern-ment in the State irons outproblems at the implementationlevel.

Executive DirectorSatyanarayana urged the State

government to relax the rules forissuance of Fire NOCs. He saidindustrial buildings, construct-ed with less than 15 metresheight should be given exemp-tion and the fee should beslashed from Rs 10 to Rs 5 persquare metre. He wanted therenewal fee reduced to 10 percent from the present 25 per cent.

‘AP Chambers working in tandemwith govt for development of State'

President of AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation KVS PrakashRao addressing a press conference in Vijayawada on Friday

n The present sand crisis has had a negative impact on theconstruction sector, said President of AP Chambers ofCommerce and Industry Federation (APCCIF) KVS Prakash Raoand exuded confidence that it would gain steam once the newgovernment irons out problems at the implementation level

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 12, 2019 vijayawada 04

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BILL GATES' BOOK ON CLIMATECHANGE TO HIT STANDS IN 2020PNS n HYDERABAD

Founder of MicrosoftCorporation and Americanphilanthropist Bill Gates' newbook will be about climatechange, and will look at pos-sible solutions to prevent anenvironmental crisis, UK-based publishing house AllenLane has announced.

In "How to Avoid a ClimateDisaster: The Solutions WeHave and the BreakthroughsWe Need", Gates will explainwhy he cares so deeply aboutclimate change and whatmakes him optimistic that theworld can prevent the worstimpacts of the climate crisis.

"Climate change is a uniqueglobal problem. I am writingthis book to help identify howwe can work on a local, nation-al, and global level to build thetechnologies, businesses, andindustries to avoid the worstimpacts of climate change,"Gates said. In the book, he will

share what he has learned inover a decade of studying cli-mate change, and investing ininnovations to address theproblems.

"As a technologist, he has

seen first-hand how innova-tion can change the world. Byinvesting in research, invent-ing new technologies, and bydeploying them quickly atlarge scale, Gates believes cli-

mate change can be addressedin meaningful ways," publish-ers said in a statement.

The author's interest in cli-mate change is a natural out-growth of the efforts by the Bill& Melinda Gates Foundationto reduce poverty and disease.Climate change, according tohim, will have the biggestimpact on the people whohave done the least to cause it.

According to Allen Lane, thebook will set out a vision forhow the world can work tobuild the tools it needs to getto net-zero greenhouse gas

emissions. "To prevent theworst effects of climate change,we have to get to net-zeroemissions of greenhouse gases.This problem is urgent, andthe debate is complex, but Ibelieve we can come togetherto invent new carbon-zerotechnologies, deploy the oneswe have, and ultimately avoida climate catastrophe," Gatessaid.

"How to Avoid a ClimateDisaster: The Solutions WeHave and the BreakthroughsWe Need" will hot stands onJune 24, 2020.

The author's interest in climate change is anatural outgrowth of the efforts by the Bill andMelinda Gates Foundation to reduce povertyand disease. Climate change, according tohim, will have the biggest impact on thepeople who have done the least to cause it

TSRTC STRIKE: DAY 7

No respite for commutersPNS n HYDERABAD

The indefinite strike by unionsof Telangana State RoadTransport Corporation(TSRTC) continued for theseventh day on Friday even asthe agitating employees metvarious political parties tomuster support for their stir.With nearly 48,000 employeesboycotting duty and state-run buses staying off roads,the RTC on Thursday saidalternative arrangements weremade to run buses from itsown fleet and hire buses.Around 11,000 vehicles,including buses, were beingoperated.

TSRTC joint action com-mittee convenor AshwathamaReddy and Telangana JanaSamithi president MKodandaram met TelanganaBJP president K Laxman andsought the partys support.BJPs chief spokespersonKrishna Sagar Rao allegedthat the government hasstopped treatment for the agi-tating employees and their

families in the RTC Hospital.The Telangana High Court

had, on Thursday, posted toOctober 15 the hearing of apetition that sought to declare

the strike as illegal. The govern-ment had also submitted beforethe court a report informing itabout the alternative arrange-ments having been taken.

On Wednesday, TelanganaTransport Minister P AjayKumar had warned of strin-gent action against privatebus operators who overchargepassengers. Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao had saidthe RTC staff had 'dismissed'themselves on their own, asthey did not report for theduty before the deadline onOctober 5. TelanganaMazdoor Union president EAshwathama Reddy said thestrike would continue and hecondemned the government'sattitude.

Different employees andworkers unions of TSRTChad begun an indefinite strikefrom October 5 acrossTelangana on a call given bythe JAC of TSRTC, demand-ing merger of the RTC withthe government, recruitmentto various posts, among oth-ers. Taking a tough stand onthe strike, the Chief Ministerhad made it clear that underno circumstances the RTCwould be merged into thegovernment.

Taking a tough stand on the strike, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had made itclear that under no circumstancesthe RTC would be merged into thegovernment

PNS n HYDERABAD

While the RTC drivers andconductors are out of their dutywith the ongoing strike, a largenumber of mechanics, whowork at depots have becomeworkless. Adding to the woes,there are no enough infra-structure or tool kits to repairthe buses.

Prem Kumar sits witharound 10 of his colleagues atthe Kamareddy bus depot,which wears an empty look.Unlike his usual day where heis busy at work, Prem, who isa mechanic, is now participat-ing in the ongoing strike byemployees of the TelanganaState Road TransportCorporation (TSRTC).

""The government wants tocreate a mess, push the corpo-ration into even more lossesand put the blame on us. Publicsafety has become a thing thatthey are least bothered about,"he said. There are many likePrem. A Raju, G K Murthy andT Narsimhulu; three others sit-ting with him, say that each ofthem have been working asmechanics for more than 10years like many of their col-leagues. The labourers say thatthe government's steps at pri-vatising operations are threat-ening them as their families aredependent on their jobs.

The Kamareddy depotgarage caters to at least 110 busservices on a daily basis withover 30 permanent staff andanother 30 on contract basis.While drivers and conductors

have been clearly visible in theongoing protests by theTSRTC, the mechanics whowork at depots across the state,are less visible, when onethinks of the RTC and itsproblems. They claim thattheir problems too, are 'invis-ible' like them."The RTC wasdeliberately made inefficientand became a loss-makingentity. There are no propertoolkits or infrastructure for usto repair the vehicles. Not asingle day would have gone byfor the RTC, if we had not beenworking here and making surethat the buses are maintained.Yet, we are underpaid. Howcan they claim losses whenthey're not even paying us forthe hours we work?" A Rajuasks.

GK Murthy, who is workingas a mechanic, has an ITIDiploma and has been anemployee for over 11 years. Hesays, "The government is thereason behind the so calledpoor performance. Instead ofblaming us, the governmentshould release the dues theyowe to RTC.”

GK Murthy, who isworking as amechanic, says, "Thegovernment is thereason behind the socalled poorperformance

No proper toolkits:TSRTC mechanics

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

In what is believed to be a sui-cide, a man and his two chil-dren died in a domestic LPGcylinder explosion at SagarNagar area under ArilovaPolice Station limits inVisakhapatnam in the weehours of Friday. The deceased were identifiedas Ch Uma Maheswara Rao(65), his children Ch SatishChandra (38) and Ch Lavanya(32), both B Tech graduates.According to prima facie evi-dence, Arilova InspectorKishore Kumar said there wasa huge explosion in the resi-dence of Uma Maheswara Rao.Due to the impact of blast,neighbouring houses were alsopartly damaged. Following theblast, fire erupted and thicksmoke covered the whole area.The neighbours tried to helpthe inmates, but the effortswent in vain. Fire officials andpolice reached the spot imme-diately after receiving informa-tion. While Satish and Lavanya diedon the spot, Uma MaheswaraRao died while undergoingtreatment at the King GeorgeHospital.

Meanwhile, police sources saidthat it is a case of suicide, astwo gas cylinders were foundin the hall, but not in thekitchen. A police officer, whoinspected the house, said that

they found a suicide note pur-portedly left by UmaMaheswara Rao. Investigationby the police also revealed thatthe family members were men-tally disturbed due to variousproblems, including financialissues. The Arilova police registered a case. Investigationis on.

Probe ordered into‘irregularities' in urea supplyPNS n HYDERABAD

Agriculture Minister SNiranjan Reddy has made itclear that he will not tolerateirregularities in supplying ureato farmers. The Minister saidthat the department is moni-toring the process of ureatransport to see that farmersdon't face any troubles.

The Agriculture Ministerhas ordered a probe by theVigilance Department intoreports in a section of themedia that shortage of urea inthe State was a result of anorganized racket by some seek-ing to make profits from thesituation.

The Minister instructedPrincipal Secretary of theAgriculture Department toinitiate a probe into allegedracket reported in a section ofthe media. Niranjan Reddysaid the government was tak-ing great pains to ensure sup-plies of the fertilizer in the Stateand was constantly monitoring

the situation. Despite this,there are reports of diversionof the fertilizer in the State.Stringent action will be takenagainst anyone found involvedin the racket, he said.

Meanwhile, reacting on theissue, BJP State president KLaxman, in a statement, said:"The reports and the orders bythe Minister raise the prospectsof the State Government delib-erately turning a blind eye tourea diversions and stockpilingby some which led to artificialshortages that put farmers into

great trouble."He also said the situation

came to light following instruc-tions from the Centre to probereasons for urea shortages andit was unfortunate that theState chose to ignore this issueso far. "Nowhere else in thecountry is there a shortage ofurea except in Telangana,"Laxman said.

He further said theAgriculture Minister had pre-viously dismissed the death ofa farmer waiting in a queue topurchase urea calling the deathof the farmer, Yellaiah, a coin-cidence and questioningwhether if someone dies wait-ing in a queue at a cinema the-ater, should the theater ownerbe held responsible?"

Laxman said this commentdisplayed the "lackadaisicalattitude" of the StateGovernment in dealing withurea shortage and raises sever-al questions on why it couldnot prevent the situation fromarising in the first place.

PNS n HYDERABAD

India, one of the world's biggestagricultural producers, experi-enced its heaviest monsoonrains in 25 years this year.While rain would normallycheer the agricultural heartland,the monsoon was erratic andhas left many crops damaged.

India is the world's biggestproducer of sugar, cotton andpulses and the second-biggestproducer of wheat and rice. Thesuccess of these crops is large-ly determined by the June-September monsoon, whichdelivers about 70% of the coun-try's annual rainfall. The mon-soon is also critical for the

wider economy. Farming makesup about 15% of the $2.5 trillioneconomy and employs morethan half of the country's 1.3 bil-lion people.

While crops in the groundhave been damaged by themonsoon, the rains have replen-ished reservoirs and groundwater reserves, which augurswell for India's rural economyin 2020. A prolonged dry spellresulted in significantly below-average rainfall at the start of theseason, prompting farmers todelay the sowing of summercrops and leaving others wilting.

By the end of July, rainfall wasso heavy that rivers flooded andcrops were damaged. The com-

bination of a prolonged dry spellfollowed by heavy rainfallincreased pest infestation anddisease, forcing farmers tospend more on pesticides.

Soybean, rice, cotton, sugar-cane, pulses and vegetables havebeen hardest hit. Sugarcane inmany districts of Maharashtra

and Karnataka - the second-and third-biggest producers inIndia, respectively - were flood-ed in the first week of August.This is expected to result inIndia's lowest sugar output inthree years, industry officialssay.

Maturing cotton in Gujarat

and Maharashtra, the coun-try's top producers, was dam-aged by heavy rains inSeptember. Rice was affected byexcessive rains in southern andwestern India, as well as lowrainfall in the top producingeastern state of West Bengal.Vegetables such as tomatoes andonions went rotten due to heavy

rainfall in Maharashtra,Karnataka and MadhyaPradesh. Given the damage tothe soybean crop, the world'sbiggest importer of edible oilscould be forced to increaseimports of palm oil, soyoil andsunflower oil in 2019/20 mar-keting year starting from Nov. 1.

By the end of July, rainfall was so heavy thatrivers flooded and crops were damaged. Thecombination of a prolonged dry spell followedby heavy rainfall increased pest infestation anddisease, forcing farmers to spend more onpesticides

Bountiful rains take a toll on crops

Modi-Xi meet reflects positive atmosphericsContinued from p1

The comments evoked sharpreaction from New Delhi.Shortly after Xi's aircraft toucheddown in Chennai, governmentsources said the two leaders areexpected to issue some direc-tions at the end of the summiton Saturday as they did after thefirst edition of new format ofengagement in Chinese city ofWuhan last year.

Officials on both sides said thefocus of the Modi-Xi summitwould be to move forward andchart a new pathway of develop-ment notwithstanding sharpdifferences between the twocountries over several con-tentious issues.

In the footage beamed bypublic broadcaster Doordarshanof the two leaders visiting themagnificent monuments, Modiwas seen warmly explaining tothe Chinese leader the historicalsignificance of the monumentswith the dazzling setting suncasting a soft glow over the icon-ic site.

Xi, wearing a white shirt andblack trouser, was seen showingkeen interest in the famouscaves and stone sculptures in theheritage site in this coastal townwhich had historical links withChina's Fujian province.

Modi and Xi, assisted by onetranslator from each side, satdown for around 15 minutes atPancha Ratha complex, anexample of monolithic Indianrock-cut architecture, andengaged in casual talks while sip-ping coconut water - imagesreflecting warmth in personalchemistry between the two lead-ers of two emerging economies.

From Pancha Ratha, the twoleaders visited the beautifully lit-up Shore temple - a symbol ofcultural heritage of the Pallavadynasty. After spending sometime together, Modi and Xiwere joined by top delegates ofboth sides and all them wit-nessed a cultural programmepresented by Kalakshetra society.

After the event, Modi hostedXi for a private dinner at theShore temple complex whichwas beautifully decorated withlights and flowers. Eight dele-gates from each side were alsoinvited for the dinner and theysat in tables little away from Xiand Modi's. Delicately selectedauthentic Tamil cuisines includ-ing vegetarian and non-vegetar-ian dishes were served in the din-ner.

At the site of Krishna's butter-ball, a gigantic granite bouldersitting firmly on the slope of ahillock, Modi held Xi's hands,

reflecting warmth in their per-sonal chemistry.

"Standing together and tall!,"said Kumar in a Twitter post.

Earlier, Xi arrived in Chennaito a red carpet welcome for hissecond informal summit withModi amid a realisation a lot isriding on the bilateral tiesstrained over the hardlineapproach on the Kashmir issueby both sides.

Tamil Nadu GovernorBanwarilal Purohit, ChiefMinister E K Palaniswami,Deputy Chief Minister OPanneerselvam and IndianAmbassador to China VikramMisri welcomed the Chineseleader at the Chennai airport onhis nearly 24-hour visit.

"Welcome to India, PresidentXi Jinping!" Modi tweeted, short-ly after the Chinese leaderarrived on an Air China Boeing747 aircraft, accompanied by a90-member delegation includingForeign Minister Wang Yi, PolitBureau member of CentralCommittee of ChineseCommunist Party DingXuexiang and State CouncilorYang Jiechi.

A brief cultural ceremonyreflecting Tamil Nadu's cultur-al heritage was organised at theairport to welcome the visitingleader.

"President Xi Jinping arrivedin Chennai to a warm andcolourful welcome for the 2ndInformal Summit with PM@narendramodi. Taking offfrom the #WuhanSpirit, the#ChennaiSpirit will continue tochart the future course of India-China partnership," the MEASpokesperson tweeted after Xi'sarrival.

The two leaders will havearound six-hours of one-on-one free-wheeling talks, officialssaid.

On Saturday morning, Modiand Xi will have a comprehen-sive one-on-one meeting to befollowed by delegation leveltalks. Both sides will, then, issueseparate statements on outcomeof the summit.

"Both sides know that a lot isriding on the relationship andthis is reflected in the summitbeing held on schedule despitespeculations of its postpone-ment in recent weeks," said asenior official on condition ofanonymity.

Ahead of the two-day sum-mit, Chinese Ambassador toIndia Sun Weidong on Thursdaytold PTI that a "new set of con-sensus" including "guiding prin-ciples" on giving a new directionto the bilateral ties are expectedfrom engagement.

Officials on both sides said thefocus of the Modi-Xi summitwould be to insulate the bilater-al trade and development coop-eration from differences onKashmir and vexed boundaryissue. They said ways to bolstercounter-terror cooperation,trade and enhancing coopera-tion between militaries of thetwo countries along the 3,500KM border will be key focus ofthe talks. This is the second edi-tion of the informal summitbetween Modi and Xi. The firstinformal between the two lead-ers was held in picturesqueChinese lake city of Wuhan inApril 2018, months after a 73-day face off between the armiesof the two countries in Doklamtri-juction raised fears of a warbetween the two Asian giants.

Strategic affairs expertAmbassador Ashok Kantha saidthe focus of the summit onFriday and Saturday would be tomove beyond contentious issuesand not allow the Kashmir issueto adversely impact overall ties.

Mamallapuram, a town withstrong trade linkages withChina's Fujian province, hasbeen spruced up and broughtunder un unprecedented secu-rity cover - in the process incon-veniencing local people as wellas tourists.

Put AP onglobal tourismmap: CM JaganContinued from p1

Not restricting to a specificregion on the tourism devel-opment, the Chief Ministerhas instructed officials todevelop tourism atPolavaram, Pulichintala,Nagarjunasagar, Srisailam,Somashila, Kandaleru,Araku, Lambasingi, Paderuand a few prominent reser-voirs and dams.The ChiefMinister has shown a specialinterest for sports in the Stateso that the young one's canachieve their dreams. Heordered to prepare a plan forconstruction of SportsComplex in every district.Moreover, he asked aboutsports ground in everyschool.Jagan has approvedfor the establishment of crick-et stadia with internationalstandards in Visakhapatnam,Rajahmahendravaram orKakainada, Amaravati andTirupati. Unlike the previousgovernment, the YSRCP gov-ernment assured to providefinancial assistance to sports-men those who have beenselected for national andinternational level competi-tions. Tourism, Archaeology,Youth Affairs MinisterMuthamshetty Srinivas andhigher officials of the depart-ment were present at themeeting.

3 of a family die in suicide pact

n The deceased wereidentified as Ch UmaMaheswara Rao (65), hischildren Ch SatishChandra (38) and ChLavanya (32), both B Techgraduates

n According to prima facieevidence, Arilova InspectorKishore Kumar said there wasa huge explosion in theresidence of Uma MaheswaraRao. Due to the impact ofblast, neighbouring houseswere also partly damaged.Following the blast, fireerupted and thick smokecovered the whole area

THREE DIE IN ROADACCIDENT ATSHADNAGARRangareddy: Three persons werekilled and four others werecritically injured in a roadaccident on NH44 nearShadnagar on Friday afternoon.The incident happened, when thecar in which they were travellingin overturned on the highway.Death was instant for threepeople. The injured were shiftedto a hospital. According to thepolice, the victims were on theirway from Hyderabad toAnanthapur to attend a weddingwhen the incident happened.When they reached Shadnagar,while overtaking another car, thedriver of the car lost control ofthe vehicle. The car hit the divider,flew off the flyover and wentdown the steep slope, turningturtle.Three passengers died onthe spot and four criticallywounded passengers wereshifted to hospital in a vehicle.

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 12, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

Pithoragarh-Hindonflight operationslaunchedGHAZIABAD/DEHRADUN: Flightoperations on the Pithoragarh-Hindon route were formallylaunched on Friday byUttarakhand Chief MinisterTrivendra Singh Rawat at abrief ceremony held at theHindon airport in the NationalCapital Region. Expressinghappiness over the launch offlight operations between thetwo places, Rawat said apartfrom Pithoragarh, it will alsobring places like Almora,Champawat and Bageshwar ofthe state closer to New Delhi.The flight service will beavailable six days a weekaccept on Thursday. Travellingto New Delhi by road fromthese places used to take a lotof time. People can now benefitfrom flight services which areeconomical too apart frombeing time saving, Rawat said.A tulip garden is beingdeveloped in Pithoragarh whichwill attract a large number oftourists. Air connectivity willmake it easier for tourists tovisit Pithoragarh andneighbouring destinationsworth visiting, he said. Unionminister V K Singh, Nainital MPand Pradesh BJP presidentAjay Bhatt and Almora MP AjayTamta were also present at theceremony. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had inauguratedthe building of the civil terminalon March 8. A Heritage Aviationaircraft with nine passengerson board took off from Naini-Saini airport in Pithoragarh tomark the start of flightoperations between the hilltown and the Hindon airport inthe NCR. It is being seen as amajor boost to air connectivitybetween the border district andNew Delhi.

Nusrat now takes partin ‘sindoor khela'

Tusker comes outsideAIIMS Rishikesh,creates scareRISHIKESH: A wild elephantbroke the forest barrier andcame on the road outsideAIIMS, Rishikesh past midnighton Thursday, causing a scare inthe area, officials said.However, it returned to theforests after sometime of itsown accord, Ranger of Gauhrirange DP Uniyal said. Ataround 2 am on Thursday, atusker, aged nearly 45 years,from the Rajaji Tiger Reservecame outside the gate of AIIMSRishikesh on Pashulok Margafter breaking the forest barrieron Neelkanth Marg, creating aflutter in the area, he said.Security guards on duty at theAIIMS immediately shut itsgates and raised an alarm. Butthe elephant remained unfazedand returned to the forests ofGauhri range after going up togate number three of theinstitute, Uniyal said.

KOLKATA: Notwithstanding thestinging criticism by Muslimclerics for taking part in DurgaPuja celebrations, TMC LokSabha MP and film actressNusrat Jahan Fridayparticipated in 'sindoor khela'ritual at a pandal in the city andsaid she respects all religions.Nusrat participated in the ritualpopular among womendevotees at a pandal here onFriday evening as part of VijayaDashami celebrations. TheBengali film actor-turned MPhad been on the firing line ofMuslim clerics for sportingsymbols of Hindu matrimonylike the 'mangalsutra' and'sindoor' since her marriage toan entrepreneur Nikhil Jainearlier this year. She had beencriticised earlier this week fortaking part in Durga Pujacelebrations. 'Sindoor Khela' inwhich she participated is aritual in which married womensmear vermilion on each otherafter offering sweets andprayers to Goddess Durga atthe end of the five dayfestivities. Nusrat, who wasdonned in a saree, was seensmearing vermilion on otherwomen at the pandal. "I amGods special child. I respecthumanity and love more thananything else. I am very happyand controversies don't matterto me. I respect all religionsand celebrate all festivals," shetold media persons here.

BELGRADE, SERBIA:Austrian writer Peter Handke'sNobel literature prize win onThursday sparked outrage inAlbania, Bosnia and Kosovo,where he is widely seen as anadmirer of late Serbian strong-man Slobodan Milosevic.

In the 1990s, Handkeemerged as a vocal defender ofthe Serbs during the bloodycollapse of the formerYugoslavia, even comparingthem to Jews under the Nazis,a remark he later retracted.

His 1996 travelogue "AJourney to the Rivers: Justicefor Serbia", caused a storm, andin 1999 he returned Germany'sprestigious Buechner prize inprotest at NATO's bombing ofBelgrade.

"Never thought would feel tovomit because of a Nobel

Prize," Albanian PrimeMinister Edi Rama wrote onTwitter.

"Given disgraceful choicemade from a moral authoritylike the Nobel Academy, shameis sealed as a new value. No, wecan't become so numb to

racism and genocide." TheMuslim member of Bosnia'sjoint presidency SefikDzaferovic labelled the decisionto award Handke "scandalousand shameful

"It is shameful that the NobelPrize committee easily neglect-

ed the fact that Handke wasjustifying and protectingSlobodan Milosevic and hisexecutors (Bosnian Serbwartime leader) RadovanKaradzic and (his army chief)Ratko Mladic sentenced by aUN court ... for the most severewar crimes including geno-cide," he said in a statement.

By awarding Handke theAcademy's Nobel committeehas "completely lost its moralcompass", Dzaferovic added.

Bosnian actor Nermin Tulic,

who was seriously injured dur-ing the 1992-1995 siege ofSarajevo by Bosnian Serbforces, greeted the award bytweeting an emoticon of a smi-ley vomiting.

Liberal Sarajevo politicianReuf Bajrovic said he could notunderstand that a jury thoughtthat "Handke is a great writerand that his support to Slobo(Milosevic) and genocidemakes part of his work great".

Emir Suljagic, a survivor ofthe massacre of more than 8,000

Muslim males from Srebrenicaby Serbs, echoed him.

"A Milosevic fan and noto-rious genocide-denier getsNobel prize in literature ...What a time to be alive,"Suljagic, a Sarajevo-based pro-fessor of international rela-tions tweeted in English.

The 1995 Srebrenica mas-sacre, the worst atrocity inEurope since World War II, wasdeemed genocide by interna-tional justice.

The reaction was similar inKosovo, which was devastatedby the 1998-1999 war betweenSerb forces and pro-indepen-dence ethnic Albanian guerillas.

"The decision of Nobel Prizebrought immense pain tocountless victims," KosovoPresident Hashim Thaci saidon Twitter.

"Milosevic's supporter anddenier of Serbian genocidereceives the Nobel LiteraturePrize," the main Koha Ditorenewspaper said.

At the 2006 funeral ofMilosevic -- who died while ontrial for crimes against human-ity, and who wanted Handke totestify in his defence -- thewriter made a speech in frontof thousands of mourners.

Some stood up for Handke,including Nobel-winning com-patriot Elfriede Jelinek. Butmany others, from SusanSontag to Salman Rushdie,lined up to lambast him.

Serbia newspapers hailedthat the Nobel Prize was award-ed to a "friend of Serbs" whohas been a member of thecountry's academy of sciencesand arts since 2012.

‘Shame is sealed as a new value’: Outrage over Nobel for Peter Handke“Given disgraceful choice madefrom a moral authority like theNobel Academy, shame is sealed asa new value. No, we can't becomeso numb to racism and genocide”

PNS n SRINAGAR

The 68-day long communica-tion clampdown in Kashmirhas become a gold-mine of sortfor the Bharat Sanchar NigamLimited (BSNL), that had oth-erwise lost its monopoly oncommunication due to fiercecompetition in rest of thecountry.

After phone connectivitywas suspended in Jammu andKashmir on August 5, follow-ing the abrogation of Article370, all landline and mobilephones remained silent forover 45 days.

Internet facility available onboth fixed landline connectionsand mobile phones was natu-rally snapped during this peri-od.

After 45 days, authorities inKashmir decided to allowphone connectivity onlythrough BSNL landline con-

nections. The decision becamethe proverbial Ali Baba's trea-sure trove for the BSNL thathas been finding it hard oth-erwise to retain its subscriberbase in the country.

The fact that for a popula-tion of 8 million people inKashmir, there were only45,000 BSNL landline connec-tions till August 5, tells the

story. Subscribers had startedgiving up landline connec-tions in Kashmir after mobilephones ruled the communica-tion business in the country.

With the continuing sus-pension of mobile phone ser-vices, BSNL landline connec-tions have become the onlypossible communication linkbetween the Valley and the rest

of the country after authoritiesallowed these to function.

This has caused unendingqueues outside BSNL offices inthe Valley with prospectivesubscribers seeking fresh land-line connections and thosewho had given up their exist-ing connections fighting for therestoration of this service.

A senior BSNL officer saidthe company has providedover 14,000 additional landlineconnections in the Valley afterthe present communicationclampdown started here.

"Each day we receive hun-dreds of applications for land-line connections for Srinagarcity and other places in theValley. "We have the largestpresence by way of communi-cation network/exchanges inKashmir and we are using thisadvantage to meet thedemands of our subscribers,"said the official.

Although Internet facilitycontinues to remain suspend-ed on the functioning landlineconnections in the Valley, thehunger for BSNL landlineremains unsatiated.

"Old is gold. In the first placewe should not have given upour BSNL landline connec-tions. Authorities have restoredonly BSNL landline and it isreported that mobile connec-tivity will now be restoredonly on post paid BSNL mobilephones.

"This leaves all other serviceproviders out of the race," saidSajjad Ahmed, a resident ofuptown Jawahar Nagar area ofSrinagar.

Whatever the competitivecapability of BSNL in the restof the country, in Kashmir thiscompany has become theunchallenged monarch of thecommunication kingdom.

BSNL finds Ali Baba's treasure trove in Kashmir

Violence inKashmir reducedafter abrogationof Art 370: ArmyPNS n BHADERWAH/JAMMU

The Army on Friday said vio-lence in the Kashmir valleyhas gone down since theabrogation of the Article 370on August 5.

Addressing a gatheringafter inaugurating the'Sangam Youth Festival' atUniversity Campus,Bhaderwah, General OfficerCommander in Chief,Northern Command, Lt GenRanbir Singh said he hadhigh hopes from the valley'syoungsters.

"The situation in valley isunder control. Ever since theabrogation of article 370 onAugust 5, there has been sig-nificant improvement in allthe violence parameters inKashmir," Lt Gen Singh toldreporters here.

"There has been reductionin terrorist initiated inci-dents. There has been reduc-tion in stone pelting inci-dents. There has also beenreduction in the protests thatwere carried out by the peo-ple or the large number ofcrowds coming out," headded.

But the situation remainsfragile, because Pakistan con-tinues with its designs topush in infiltrators so thatthey can keep the state ofJammu and Kashmir in aconstant state of turmoil, theArmy commander said.

"We are prepared to foiltheir designs," he added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Vice Chief of Army Lt Gen MM Naravane on Friday pitchedfor greater indigenous researchand development in the defencesector to address future require-ments, saying if it is not donethen the country would alwaysbe dependent on import fromabroad.

Addressing a gathering ofarmy officers and representativesfrom the industry, he also assert-ed that now there were severalinitiatives of the government toonce again build on the inher-ent capabilities, many of whichIndia had "somehow allowed todwindle" over the years.

"Our defence needs are con-cerned with what is availablerather than what is actuallyrequired, especially when wesource our requirements fromabroad. But, those companieshave been keeping their coun-try's requirements in mind andnot ours, and so may not meet100 per cent of our operationalneeds," Naravane said.

He said, there is a need tochange the tactics to conform tothe capabilities and here in the'Make II' programme marks a"fundamental shift". "We will tellwhat we require and what ourproblems are and based on thatsolutions would be tailor-madeto our requirements. It would bea consultative process between

us and the defence industry, butthere would always will be acost-benefit analysis," the vicechief of Army said.

He said the product had to be"cheap and robust" becausebudgets are always under con-straint". "But, we will be able toproceed on this front only if weinvest in our R&D, and I thinkthat has been our greatest weak-ness," he said.

"I know R&D is not easy, anduncertain return on investmentor when will it fructify - it is dif-ficult to tell... But, unless we we

think of R&D, think of ourfuture requirements, we wouldalways be playing catch up, andif we are always playing catch up,then we will always be depen-dent on import from abroad. So,that is the area, we need to focuson and try to become self-reliant," Naravane said.

To encourage participation ofthe private sector in defencedesign and production and togive a boost to 'Make in India'programme, the DefenceAcquisition Council (DAC) hadintroduced significant changes

in the 'Make II' category of theDefence ProcurementProcedure, the defence ministryhad earlier said.

The DAC also simplified theprocedure to make it industryfriendly, with minimal govern-ment control. The revised pro-cedure will now allow thedefence ministry to accept pro-posals from the industry andalso allow start-ups to developequipment for the IndianArmed Forces.

According to the earlier'Make II' procedure, only twovendors were shortlisted todevelop prototype equipment.

"Now, all vendors meeting therelaxed eligibility criteria will beallowed to participate in the pro-totype development process.The vendor will not be requiredto submit a Detailed ProjectReport," the ministry had said.

After accord of approval ofthe 'Make II' project by thecouncil, all clearances will beaccorded at Service HQ (SHQ)level. Naravane also said thatthere was a need to develop"mutual understanding"between the armed forces andthe industry. "We don't knoweach other, whether it is on pro-cedures, capabilities. our con-straints... That is the first barri-er that we have to cross, tounderstand this and then will beable to streamline what we aredoing," he added.

Chandi Prasad gets Indira GandhiAward for National IntegrationPNS n NEW DELHI

Noted environmentalist andsocial activist Chandi PrasadBhatt has been awarded theIndira Gandhi Award forNational Integration for theyears 2017 and 2018.

The award was instituted bythe Congress in the memory ofthe former prime minister andit would be presented onOctober 31 in a function atJawahar Bhawan.

"The 31st Indira GandhiAward for National Integrationfor the year 2017 and 2018 hasbeen awarded to Chandi PrasadBhatt for his services in pro-moting and preserving nation-al integration in the country," astatement from the party said.

This award consists of a cita-tion and Rs 10 lakh in cash to

be given to the awardee by chair-person Sonia Gandhi, theCongress president. It would bepresented on October 31, theday former prime ministerIndira Gandhi was killed.

Bhatt (85), who hails fromUttarakhand, had founded theDasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh

(DGSS) in Gopeshwar in 1964,which later became a mother-organisation to the ChipkoMovement, in which he was oneof the pioneers. He also has anumber of publications to hiscredit. He has earlier beenawarded the Ramon MagsaysayAward for community leader-

ship in 1982. He was awardedthe Padma Shri in 1986 andPadma Bhushan in 2005. He hasalso been a recipient of theGandhi Peace Prize in 2013.

Bhatt has made continuousefforts for upliftment of the poorand downtrodden people of allcommunities and religions,nationally and internationallyfor the last six decades.

"In order to uphold thecause of national integration andunderstanding which was dear-est to Indira Gandhi's heart, theCongress in its centenary yearinstituted the 'Indira GandhiAward for National Integration',to give recognition to out-standing contribution to thiscause by individuals or institu-tions," said Motilal Vora, mem-ber secretary of advisory com-mittee of the award.

PNS n SRINAGAR

As the shutdown over abroga-tion of Article 370 provisionscontinued for the 68th day, theJammu and Kashmir admin-istration has come out with afull-page advertisement inlocal dailies asking people notto be afraid of militant threatsand resume their normal activ-ities.

"Are we going to succumb tomilitants? For over 70 yearsnow, the people of Jammuand Kashmir have been misled.They have been victims of avicious campaign and moti-vated propaganda that haskept them trapped in an end-less cycle of terrorism, vio-lence, destruction and pover-ty," the advertisement, pub-

lished in various dailies ofKashmir, reads.

The Kashmir valley has beenwitnessing continuous shut-down since August 5 when theCentre revoked the state's spe-cial status under Article 370 andbifurcated it into two Union

Territories. In the ad, the gov-ernment highlighted how theseparatists sent their children to"exotic lands" to study, workand earn while instigating thecommon people to push theirchildren into "violence, stonepelting and hartals".

PNS n SRINAGAR

Around 200-300 terrorists arestill active in the newly-formedterritory of Jammu andKashmir and at least 500 ofthem are receiving trainingfrom terror camps set up inPakistan-occupied Kashmir(PoK), General OfficerC ommanding- in-C hie f ,Northern Command of theArmy, Lieutenant GeneralRanbir Singh said on Friday.

Speaking to media personson the occasion of the inau-gural ceremony of the annualSangam Festival at BhaderwahUniversity in Jammu in Dodadistrict, Lt Gen Singh said,"Today itself in Pakistan theyare running terrorist infra-structure and terrorist campsin PoK and according toinputs approximately 500 mil-itants are getting training inmultiple camps there and asfor valley is concerned 200 to300 militants are active here."

Lt Gen Singh furtherassured that the armed forceshave maintained a strong pres-sure along the Line of Control(LoC) and the internationalborder (IB) to prevent anyattempts of infiltration into theIndian side due to which theyare running short of ammu-nition.

A tight vigil is being main-tained along the LoC and IBwhich had led to frustrationamong the terrorists and in

their desperation, they areresorting to using drones todrop the ammunition andhave recently attacked SPOsand snatched their guns andother soft targets, the GOC-in-C Northern Command said.

500 terrorists ready tosneak into Kashmir:Lt Gen Ranbir Singh

Pakistan keepstrying to dosome mischief to

disturb the peace here.Even today terrorinfrastructure is beingrun within Pakistan (byits forces and agencies).These include trainingas launching pad forterrorists to infiltrate intothe country

— RANBIR SINGH,Northern CCommand cchief LLt GGen

IMPORT SUBSTITUTION IN DEFENCE SECTOR

Congress leaders appearin court for revealingmolestation victim's identityPNS n PANAJI

Goa Congress leader PratimaCoutinho and two othersappeared in a children's courthere on Friday in connectionwith a case over revealing theidentity of a minor girl who isa molestation victim.

The party's state women'swing chief Coutinho, formerdistrict president of GoaPradesh Mahila CongressSavitri Kavlekar andNetravalim panchayat deputysarpanch Abhijit Desaiappeared before GoaChildren's Court.

Savitri is the wife of GoaDeputy Chief MinisterChandrakant Kavlekar.

Goa Police had filed acharge sheet against Coutinhoand two others last year aftera complaint was filed againstthem for making public thepicture of the girl's mother, inthe process revealing theminor's identity.

The girl had accused a manof molestation in south Goa'sNetravalim village.

After the hearing, Coutinhosaid the case was filed againsther to suppress her organisa-tion's voice as it had been crit-ical of the state government.

Goa Children's Court pres-ident Vijaya Ambre setNovember 29 as the next dateof hearing the matter.

We will tell what we require and what ourproblems are and based on that solutionswould be tailor-made to our requirements. Itwould be a consultative process between usand the defence industry, but there wouldalways will be a cost-benefit analysis

The award wasinstituted by theCongress in thememory of the formerprime minister and itwould be presented onOctober 31 in a functionat Jawahar Bhawan

Don't be afraid of militant threats,resume normal activities

JK administration reaches out to tells people through ads

Vice Chief of Army pitchesfor boost to R&D

Pakistan has a unique political phe-nomenon of staging sit-ins, a strat-egy that is routinely deployed toexpress political or religious protestsand bring the sitting Government

to its knees. Typically, protesters camp in thearterial intersections of the capital city,Islamabad, and openly dare the Governmentinto succumbing to its demands. So far, suc-cessive Pakistani Governments have beenunable to devise an effective counter-measureagainst the virtual seizure of the capital and,thus, the nation. All half-hearted and petu-lant measures like the deployment of addi-tional security forces, barricading, barbedwires and shipping containers have practical-ly remained ineffective against the imminentspectre of a civic clampdown, vandalism andtorching of property. Forcible eviction of theprotesters is usually not an option as they havea tendency to fuel fire and lend dangerous cre-dence to the protest issues in an increasing-ly restive, angry and regime-wary Pakistan.

Therefore, any organisation, with even abasic modicum of public support and aninflammatory cause to boot, can cripple thesitting Government. Competing interests ofvarious stakeholders in the Pakistani “estab-lishment” have ensured that there is an invari-able and unstated conflict of interest amongthe political classes, clergy, judiciary and aboveall, the Pakistani military. This results inintrigues, deceits and behind-the-scenesmanoeuvers to outwit each other, which givesthe protests a lot of unimagined and unac-knowledged energy.

A few years ago, an unknown religiousorganisation, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya RasoolAllah, had organised a powerful “sit-in”against an amendment to the oath of officefor national and provincial Assemblies,wherein the semantics had changed from “Ibelieve” to “I solemnly swear” regarding theaffirmation of the Holy Prophet as the finalProphet. Though the Government attributedthe unintended change to a clerical mistake,the emotions generated were powerfulenough to evoke protests across the countryand soon, the Law Minister was forced toresign. The then Opposition leader, ImranKhan, smelt political opportunity to soundholier-than-thou and sought the resignationof the Law Minister and the Prime Minister.

Even the Pakistani military played balland resisted from taking action against “ourown people” and, instead, embarrassed the sit-ting Government by offering its good officesto “mediate” at a time when the latter washopelessly capitulating. The Government ofthe day came out of the episode looking meekand the protesting zealots (aided immeasur-ably by politicians like Imran Khan, the cler-gy and the Pakistani military) made sure thatthe religiously-concerned electorate are delib-erately manipulated by the turn of events.

Crucially, stage management of the saidprotest by vested stakeholders also laidwaste to any hope of changing the blasphe-my laws, even though leaders like Imran

Khan played the role of an “all-rounder” by endearing them-selves to the middle class and theintelligentsia by posturing sup-posedly reformist agenda, whilesimultaneously winning overthe hardliners by partaking suchopportunistic dramas.

Much earlier, too, thesestakeholders had tested thewaters by organising the inquilabor azadi march that culminatedin a familiar “sit-in” at Islamabad.That time, too, Imran Khanhad teamed up with a cleric,Tahir-ul-Qadri, and sought toexpose, embarrass and weakenthe sitting Government — a pro-ject that had unmistakable fin-gerprints of the Pakistani militarywrit all over.

Today, time and tide havechanged and the Pakistani polit-ical instinct for “sit-in” protestslooms large over Imran Khanhimself, who had gainedimmense political clout by engag-ing with extremist religiousorganisations during hisOpposition days. Now it is theturn of yet another maulana-politician, Fazal-ur-Rehman, thepresident of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), to threaten yet anoth-er azadi march on October 27.

Like Imran Khan himself,the maulana has had a history ofselective flip-flops with variouspositions to nurture his politicalgrowth — incredulously even

with the Americans, who are seenas an influential lobby within thenarrative of Pakistani gover-nance. WikiLeaks had releasedcables, stating that the thenAmerican Ambassador notedabout the maulana, “He hasmade it clear that his still signif-icant number of votes are up forsale” in a desperate bid to seekWashington’s blessings in themaulana’s hope to become thePrime Minister. The sham of themaulana’s anti-American andpro-Taliban rhetoric was exposedin the same manner as ImranKhan’s “Naya Pakistan” should becontextualised with the earningof the contradictory sobriquet ofTaliban Khan.

Pakistani politics has adynamic of its own that is neitherconsistent nor linear and is onlycircumstantial. The fear of thenew azadi march is not in theamount of clout that the maulanacarries by himself but more fromthe resultant force that can begenerated with either the silentacquiescence or the active sup-port of various elements of thePakistani “establishment.”

Key players like the Pakistanimilitary could also “tolerate” themaulana’s protestations to keepImran Khan in check and remainvulnerable — power play in suchevents is an opportunity to flexinstitutional muscles and sendmessages to other stakeholders.

The expeditious war cry of “Islam is in danger” is somethingthat can be easily invoked by thewily maulana to corner ImranKhan — it is an age-old tact thatnever wanes and something thatImran Khan himself was com-plicit of in the past.

This line could spin off intoanti-American and pro-Talibanrealms that run contrary to theinternational image of a reformistthat Imran Khan is trying to cul-tivate. While other political par-ties are egging on the maulana totake on Imran Khan himself, theyare stopping short of over com-mitting themselves since they arenot sure of the exact quantum ofanimus that the Imran KhanGovernment has generated with-in the palace intrigues betweenIslamabad and Rawalpindi.

In Pakistan, the position ofthe Opposition is clearer, pro-nounced and articulate sincethey can cry themselves hoarseover corruption, ineptitude, reli-gion and the handling of Indiawhile taking on the Government.Imran Khan now faces the geniethat he himself had unleashedearlier as yet another ambitiousleader with a similarly duplicitousrecord in seeking to replicate acrippling “sit-in.”

(The writer, a military veteran, is a former Lt Governorof Andaman & Nicobar Islandsand Puducherry)

The rise and the fall of Ranbaxy holds acautionary story for businessmen acrossthe country. Malvinder Singh and Shivinder

Singh, former promoters of Ranbaxy and thegrandsons of Bhai Mohan Singh, who was thefounder of the company, frittered away theirinheritance through a combination of bad invest-ments and decisions. Crucially, they cheatedthe Japanese pharmaceutical company, DaiichiSankyo, which had acquired Ranbaxy, by con-cealing information and fraudulently tamper-

ing with the books. The reason why funds were allegedly transferred to the RadhaSoami Satsang Beas, a religious body run by their uncle, Gurinder Singh Dhillon,is not known. What is even more puzzling is the way the funds, which camefrom the Japanese company, were diverted. The duo cheated the investors asthey took loans in the name of their new firm, Religare Finvest Limited, a sub-sidiary of Religare, and diverted them elsewhere. The allegations and counter-allegations that followed are the crux of the latest investigation as the brothersface the prospect of being jailed alongside other executives. It is almost certainthat this is not going to be the end of the matter as some more arrests are yetto happen and prosecution is likely to follow. The tale of the Singh brothers willmake for a fascinating book and given the times we live in, possibly even agreat television mini-series. While much has been written and said about theircase over the years, the rationale behind some of the decisions taken by thebrothers remains curious. The Economic Offences Wing, which has arrested them,will find it difficult to put the story and the trail of money together. But what iscertain is the dramatic fall from grace of one of Delhi’s premier business empires.Malav (Malvinder Singh) and Shivy (Shivinder Singh) were born with a silver spoonand after finishing their higher studies in the US, were adamant on taking overthe company, Ranbaxy, from DS Brar, the professional man in-charge who wasappointed by their late father, Parvinder Singh. Many studying the case and theIndian pharmaceutical industry believe that the haste to remove Brar is what doomedthe company. As investigation proceeds, it is almost certain that several moreskeletons will tumble out of the closet. Some big political names in Delhi andPunjab, too, might crop up. It is likely that both brothers will end up spending afew years in jail. At a level, the story involves a semblance of justice, not leastto the investors, both Indian and foreign, in Ranbaxy and Religare. However, thefall from grace of the two brothers is not just a sad tale but a lesson to be learnt.

Meditation is good to seek clarity inchaos and get a grip of things.Congress scion Rahul Gandhi has a

healthy habit of retreating into vipassana campsnow and then. Except that there are enoughvipassana centres in India and he didn’t needto go all the way to Cambodia for inspirationand renew his sense of moral purpose.Besides, meditation is supposed to strength-en karma yoga and as a slightly privileged partyworker, he is yet to take any action of conse-quence. Shell-shocked by the disastrous out-

ing in the Lok Sabha elections five months ago, the Congress is yet to snap outof trauma and at least be true to its grain of acting and behaving like a nationalparty. Rahul may have read the message against dynastic entitlement and takenmoral responsibility but without a proper handing over of the reins or even encour-aging the cadres, he is being seen as a quitter who couldn’t take the good withthe bad. At least for a party that has been erected with a feudal architecture, theleast he could do was chaperone the much-needed organisational elections. Weeksbefore the Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, the State units areriven by dissension despite firefighting measures by interim party president SoniaGandhi, who is essentially acting as a bridge between the old and the new brigades.Fearing the crumbled dust of legacy, she is holding on to old methods of pla-cating family retainers and core loyalists, even if they are out of sync with polit-ical reality. The party is in a limbo and while some like Shashi Tharoor have beenairing concerns, even seniors like Salman Khurshid have said that the internecinestruggles may not “ensure its own future.” He was bold enough to admit thatthe leader had left the party in a huff. A key Rahul coterie member, JyotiradityaScindia, too, felt that it was high time for introspection and survival strategies.It would seem like a rebellion is in the works with the young Turks and the oldhawks ranged against each other and Rahul’s retreat before crucial Assemblypolls is being interpreted as his ultimatum for relevance of his own people. Politicallythough, this distancing between the mother and son may be deliberate, both retain-ing their primacy in separate groups rather than jousting over one. So Sonia iscontinuing to manage the burden of legacy. Assuaging the old hawks, who havegrown by virtue of their unswerving loyalty to the party and feel that they arenow entitled to a chance at the wheel, she is hoping to neutralise their destruc-tive potential by appearing to stand by them. Already, she has treaded middleground by appointing the most acceptable senior hand Ahmed Patel as head ofpoll coordination committee. Even if the radical youths do decide to break away,which also has a precedent in Congress tradition, they can look at a rebuild minusthe deadwood and virtually emerge as a newer identity. Nuking an old order inthe Congress is also something that political observers have been harping on.If Rahul succeeds, the new entity would automatically become legitimate. Thisexplains why his men are creating trouble in both Haryana and Maharashtra.Sonia gave in to the threatening and burly ways of senior leader Bhupinder SinghHooda in Haryana, sacrificing Rahul’s man and former State unit chief AshokTanwar. The latter is now up in arms, undercutting the party’s chances. Revoltis brewing in Maharashtra with the party losing members through a sieve. InMadhya Pradesh, the Jyotiraditya Scindia camp is already upping the pressureto lead the State unit. Same is the case with Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan. There arerumours of the former joining the BJP and the latter floating an independent unit.Question is whether Rahul and Priyanka, if she is allowed, have the charismaand the political will to chase a new dream in their middling years. Their grand-mother Indira was better placed when she split the party; she had caught theimagination of both the people and cadres. Besides, she had a pan-India matrixto work with; the party is now a tattered existence, virtually decimated in States.Besides, whether Rahul likes it or not, his group comprises dedicated but elitistyouth with an idealist mindset, which may not be enough to deal with the roughand tumble of grassroots politics, something that the old guard claims a patenton. However, in keeping with the rest of aspirant India, ambition is bubbling overin the grand old party and old style reconciliation or the matriarch’s benign shad-ow won’t do it any good. The party needs a breakout moment.

Justify your stance

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Churlish move” (October11). The reason given by the BJPGovernment to deny permis-sion to Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal to attend the C-40 climate summit in Denmarklacks credibility. The Centre doesenjoy the veto power in decidingwho should travel abroad but indoing so, it should give prece-dence to merit rather than polit-ical considerations.

The Ministry of ExternalAffairs (MEA) was of the opinionthat the conference was sup-posed to be attended by mayorsand that the Chief Minister wouldbe demeaned by speaking at thesummit. But it did not even con-sider the fact that Delhi’s experi-ence in tackling air pollutioncould have helped other citiescombat the same. The decisionshould have been left to Kejriwal.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)national spokesperson RaghavChadha was correct when he saidthat when former Delhi ChiefMinister Sheila Dikshit wasallowed to attend the C-40 sum-mit, there is no reason why thecurrent Chief Minister should be

denied permission. This is a polit-ical motive to refuse permission.The BJP Government probablyexpected Kejriwal to react wildlybut the optics backfired as theChief Minister acted more mature-ly. Undeterred by the Centre’smove, he addressed the summitvia video conference. If the Centrewants to avoid any such controver-

sies further, it should come upwith better reasons.

N NagarajanVia email

India needs to step up

Sir — This refers to the article,“China’s impunity complex”

(October 11) by Vivek Mishra. Yetanother Sino-Indian meet is cur-rently under way, this time inChennai. Chinese President XiJinping’s main agenda is to seekIndia’s consensus for RegionalComprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP), which is afree-trade agreement betweenthe 10-nation ASEAN bloc and

six other Eastern countries: India,China, Japan, Australia, NewZealand and Singapore. This, toensure that his country remainsthe Asian trading hub.

While this may have its ownconsequences for Indian indus-tries, we cannot remain out of thebloc as that will lead to completeisolation. Our options are verylimited but we must drive a hardbargain while negotiating tosecure as much foreign marketaccess as possible.

R Narayanan Navi Mumbai

Rising prices

Sir — Even as the prices foronions are yet to stabilise, retailprices of tomatoes have shot upand are being sold at `80 per kg.The Government has attributedthe current rise in prices to sup-ply disruption caused by heavyrains in key growing States,including Karnataka. But the cre-ation of artificial shortage cannotbe ruled out in both cases.

ManishaVia email

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

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op nionVIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 12, 2019

06

A reflection of past deeds

BHOPINDER SINGH

Imran Khan, who rose to power by encouraging sit-ins, is now himself faced withan unprecedented protest, which is aimed at toppling his Government

The MP Government mustremove stray cows and sendthem to a cow sanctuary. KamalNathji, if you do so immediately,you will be counted among the true gau bhaktas.

Congress leader—Digvijaya Singh

I have already sent a messageto the people that nothingmatters more than humanityand love. I am god's specialchild and respect humanityand love more than anything.

TMC lawmaker—Nusrat Jahan

Nothing is wrong in RafalePuja as it goes by the religion.It’s not the machine alone thatmatters but competence, passion and resolve of the men handling it.

Pak Army spokesperson—Asif Ghafoor

S O U N D B I T E

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

A tragedy for Syria

The Turkish incursion into north-east Syria (code-named “Peace Spring”) with an avowed aim to“destroy terror corridors” and “create a safe zone”

in the stretch of Syria near its border, has come in forwidespread condemnation. The air strikes, supported byartillery fire, and the attack by the ground forces havecaused panic among the people living in the Kurdish-held border towns of Tal Abyad and Ras Al-Ain.

The humanitarian cost cannot be fully assessed asthe operation is currently under way. Civilians are flee-ing Syria to Iraq as the Turkish campaign intensifies. Itis difficult to establish the rights and wrongs of the Syrianconflict, now in its ninth year, in that it involves multi-ethnic communities and many layers, dimensions, inter-ests and domestic and geopolitical actors.

There is no telling who the lesser evil is to deservesupport. The Kurdish militia, who played a major roleas a key ally of the US in defeating the Islamic State (IS),are now targetted by the Turkish military following thewithdrawal of the US troops, which they call a “stab inthe back” by America. It is an irony that the Kurdish fight-

ers who fought the IS themselves are viewed as “ter-rorists”, an extension of the banned Kurdistan WorkersParty (PKK). Thousands of IS prisoners with their fam-ilies are still held in Kurdish-run detention centres.Uncertainty surrounds their fate.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

THE EXPEDITIOUSWAR CRY OF‘ISLAM IS INDANGER’ IS

SOMETHING THATCAN BE EASILY

INVOKED BY THEWILY MAULANA

TO CORNERIMRAN KHAN — IT

IS AN AGE-OLDTACTIC THAT

NEVER WANESAND SOMETHING

THAT IMRANKHAN HIMSELF

WAS COMPLICITOF

IN THE PAST

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Coming full circleThis govt's focus has beenon self-promotion rather thanon governance. What wasbilled as a reform has madethings worse for States.Jumlanomics is to blame.

CPI(M) general secretary—Sitaram Yechury

The grand old party must get over its electoral defeats andbe decisive, not static, about its future. Time is up

The story of two brothers, who wasted their inheritance,should be made into a full-length feature movie

Congress needs a churn

Illegal trade a speed breaker

A TEACHER, HIS PREGNANT WIFE AND SON AREKILLED IN A BARBARIC MANNER...NO RESPONSE

FROM THE STATE.THIS CANNOT BE COUNTENANCED.—WEST BENGAL GOVERNOR

JAGDEEP DHANKHAR

WHEN A TMC MAN IS KILLED IN EAST MIDNAPORE,HE DOESN'T MAKE A STATEMENT. HE IS SPEAKINGSELECTIVELY. THIS DOESN'T BEHOVE A GOVERNOR.—TMC LEADER TAPAS ROY

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The Indian economy lost `1,17,253 crore in2018 due to smuggling in five key sectorsand about 16.36 lakh worth of livelihood

opportunity. These figures, cited by a FICCI(Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerceand Industry) study, are alarming given that theglobal economy is suffering and India’s fiscalhealth is also not robust. The Indian economygained momentum in 1991 with the three-pronged steps of liberalisation, privatisation andglobalisation taken by the then Narasimha RaoGovernment. Though passing through ups anddowns, since then, in general, the economy hasbeen doing much better than before.

However, at this moment, the scenario is notencouraging, not entirely due to domestic fac-tors. Many manufacturing sectors like automo-biles, textiles, Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises (MSMEs) are not doing well, whichbesides other consequences for the country haveresulted in creation of fewer jobs.

Besides all these factors, another elementwhich has had a huge negative effect on the econ-omy is the fast-growing high volume of illicittrade. Smuggling and counterfeiting are normal-ly seen only from the prism of the loss of rev-enue to the exchequer. However, it has manymore facets that impact our economy, society, lawand order and employment generation.

Over the years, the rate of growth of illicittrade has outpaced the growth of the economy.It has credibly been estimated that by 2022, themarket size of illegal business at the global levelwill touch $3 trillion. No country is immune tothis problem and there is no product, the coun-terfeit of which is not available in the market.

According to a report by the United StatesTrade Representative (USTR), pharmaceuticalsand Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) arefacing a big problem due to the illicit market as20 per cent of pharmaceuticals sold are eithercounterfeit or sub-standard and in the case ofFMCG products, seven to nine per cent of themarket share has been taken away by smuggledor counterfeit goods, which result in an annualloss of `21,000-`31,000 crore to the industry.

One alarming aspect of the illegal businessis that money generated through this is the mainsource of financing terrorism across the globe.Different terrorist organisations indulge insmuggling and counterfeiting of specified prod-ucts. While the Islamic State deals in cigarettes,petroleum, oil and lubricants and mobile phones,the Hezbollah trades in drugs and medicines, theAl Qaeda in clothing and bags, the IrishRepublican Army in pirated discs and clothing,the Hamas in drugs and food products and theBoko Haram in cigarettes. Illicit trade in tobac-co products is considered a low-risk, high-rewardeconomic activity and this evil business istermed as the crime of the 21st Century by theUS security service the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation. The online sale of counterfeit goodsis also burning a major hole in the economy, ofthe world and India, as nearly one in threeIndians reported receiving counterfeit productsonline. An Organisation for Economic Co-oper-ation and Development (OECD) report ofMarch 2019 shows that worldwide the percent-age of counterfeit footwear is about 22 per cent,clothing 16 per cent, leather goods 13 per cent,

electric equipment 12 per cent and soon. It is important to note that sincebrands stand for social status, trust,quality, originality and so on, anyactivity that compromises with this hasto be curbed effectively. In order to finda holistic and permanent solution to theproblem in India, a unified voice isneeded so that the Government makespolicies and legislations to serve the bestinterests of consumers and the coun-try. Vigorous consumer awarenesscampaigns need to be undertaken ona large scale apart from multimediacampaigns such as the Government’sJago Grahak Jago initiative. This willenable consumers to differentiatebetween genuine and fake products.The Indian industry must also takesteps to safeguard the integrity of sup-ply chains of their products, check noto-rious markets regularly and use tech-nology to track and trace movement oftheir original products in transit. Theindustry has to give a thrust to riskassessment and make more investmentsin intelligence services. However, tocheck this menace, the whole-heartedsupport of the Government is necessaryand it has to establish a nodal vigilanceagency for regular monitoring of ille-gal activities.

A constant dialogue with interna-tional stakeholders will also help in dis-seminating global best practices andlegal provisions dealing with suchcrimes need to be reinforced as extantbail provisions are not severe and con-victions are low. In order to effective-ly curb illegal trade, bail bonds shouldbe high, there should be stringentmonetary penalty for offences andimprisonment should be more rigorousand for a longer term.

It has been observed globally thatcertainty about infliction of penalty ismore effective than the severity of the

penal action. Hence, investigation andprosecution must end in a specifiedperiod. For this, we need separate com-mercial courts manned by specially-trained judges. Dynamic injunctionscoupled with punitive damages andmaking the provision of arbitrationapplicable for such offences are alsovital. There is a need for a comprehen-sive national legislation to deal effective-ly with organised crime.

According to a Thought ArbitrageResearch Institute (TARI) study com-missioned by FICCI-CASCADE(Committee Against Smuggling andCounterfeiting Activities Destroying theEconomy), titled Invisible Enemy:Impact of Smuggling on Indian Economyand Employment, revenue and liveli-hood opportunities are lost due tosmuggling in five specified industries,namely textiles, tobacco products,readymade garments, machinery andparts and consumer durables like elec-tronics. The report highlights the keychallenges posed by smuggling and sug-gests possible solutions to make com-pliance and related processes morerobust with the overarching objectiveof arresting the spread of smuggling.

The study also took into accountthe impact on direct employment,backward linkages and multiplier effectsof these industries as per universallyaccepted norms. The report statedthat the total direct livelihood oppor-tunity lost in these five industries wasabout 5.01 lakh in FY18. Out of this,3.55 lakh was in readymade garmentsand tobacco products, which arelabour-intensive industries.

Estimates of cigarette smugglingbased on consumption approachshowed that the quantum of smugglingof cigarettes was `8,750 crore in FY18,resulting in 14 to 20 per cent of outputloss to domestic tobacco manufactur-

ers. Estimated smuggling in the ready-made garments industry rose to ̀ 5,509crore in FY18. The study recommend-ed strengthening of domestic manufac-turing and reducing the demand-sup-ply gap by making more goods avail-able through legal channels. It also bat-ted for urgent review of Governmentpolicies such as emphasis on enforce-ment action and priority on coordina-tion between different Governmentagencies. It sought leveraging of tech-nology for trade facilitation and mon-itoring; capacity building of enforce-ment agencies; strengthening risk man-agement capabilities of customs depart-ment; better coordination amongenforcement agencies engaged in anti-smuggling and greater internationalcoordination and cooperation.

Keeping this in mind, CASCADEhas been pursuing a pan-India cam-paign to raise awareness among con-sumers, policy-makers and enforce-ment agencies, like the police, customsand the judiciary. Each year it holds itsf lagship international eventMASCRADE (Movement AgainstSmuggled and Counterfeit Trade),which is attended by delegates fromIndia and abroad. Since, theGovernment wants the Indian econo-my to reach the $5 trillion mark by 2024and illicit trade has a serious deceler-ating effect on growth, it must becurbed substantially. This will happenonly if concerted effort is made by allstakeholders to ensure that an effectiveand workable deterrence is createdwithout any loss of time. In absence ofsuch an action, it would be difficult toarrest the growth of illicit trade in Indiaand the world.

(The writer is former Chairman,Central Board of Indirect Taxes andCustoms and Advisor, FICCI-CAS-CADE.)

India’s economy lost `1,17,253 crore in FY 2018 due to smuggling. All stakeholdersmust work on an effective deterrence to avoid leakage

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

Adopt 3S mantrafor good health

RAGHURAJ RAJENDRAN

There is a need for concerted action to educatepeople about the deleterious effects of refined

sugar and sweet products

PC JHA

ONE ALARMINGASPECT OF THE

ILLEGALBUSINESS IS THAT

MONEYGENERATED

THROUGH THIS ISTHE MAIN SOURCE

OF FINANCINGTERRORISM

ACROSS THEGLOBE.

DIFFERENTTERROR

ORGANISATIONSINDULGE IN

SMUGGLING ANDCOUNTERFEITING

OF SPECIFIEDPRODUCTS.WHILE THE

ISLAMIC STATEDEALS IN

CIGARETTES,PETROLEUM, OIL

AND LUBRICANTSAND MOBILE

PHONES, THEHEZBOLLAH

TRADES IN DRUGSAND MEDICINES,THE AL QAEDA IN

CLOTHING ANDBAGS, THE IRISH

REPUBLICANARMY IN PIRATED

DISCS ANDCLOTHING, THE

HAMAS IN DRUGSAND FOOD

PRODUCTS ANDTHE BOKO HARAM

IN CIGARETTES

The demands of modern society put a strain on the lives ofalmost everyone on the planet — not just bureaucrats orbabus as they are known in the country. Though the work-

related stress that babus undergo is particularly bad, given theirresponsibilities, I am quite accommodative of the suggestion thatall of us are in it together. We all face the stresses of everydaylife, the yearning for good health and the dread of lifestyle dis-eases. These considerations led me on a quest for a healthierlifestyle and a fitter, leaner body. Consequently, two years on, Iam 16 kilograms lighter. I have started rising early. And, despitehaving a punishing work schedule, I feel active and am able tochannelise my energy more productively throughout the day. I evensleep better now.

However, the journey to this state of bliss and well-being wasnot easy. It started two years ago while I was in Bhopal. A friend’swife, who was a doctor, introduced me to Dr Dixit’s diet plan onYouTube. To me, the credibility of the video was mostly becauseit was not trying to sell anything. The plan involved eating twomeals a day, finishing a meal within 55 minutes and avoiding refinedsugar, particularly if one was suffering from diabetes. The bio-chemical reasoning offered was simple — every time you eat,insulin is released. This, in excess, leads to insulin resistance anddiabetes.

I opted for this diet when I relocated to Mussoorie at the LalBahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. Without myfamily around and with no experience in the kitchen, it was eas-ier to skip dinner. As I was not diabetic, I continued to have sugarand sweet products during the two “binge windows” in the day.Though I felt mortally hungry at night, somehow I managed toget through that phase.

With a healthy dose of exercise and the diet plan, I lost weight.There were times when I nearly lost my willpower, and matterswere certainly not helped by the queer circumstances which keptmy family away in Bhopal. Though getting to sleep without din-ner was a massive effort initially, by the time it was morning, therewas no craving for food and one could relish the many gamesof badminton and squash in the beautiful Happy Valley. This wascounter-intuitive for me, as by morning one was further away fromthe last full meal that one had eaten.

At this juncture, on the suggestion of a friend from Australia,I watched That Sugar Film, a movie that reveals all about the busi-ness of refined sugar and how “social addiction” to it is delete-rious to health of the whole of society. This movie, which is infact a well made documentary, was life changing.

When I use the word “social addiction” I want to indicate thatit is not just the individual but the whole world which is hookedto this dangerous food, sugar. The movie prompted me to giveup sugar and then I observed that the hunger pangs which usedto bring me down at night completely disappeared. So what washappening? Let me explain.

Sugar (or any high glycemic index food) sends glucose lev-els soaring in the blood only to crash later on. When glucose lev-els dip, we begin to crave more sugar. This meant that if I cutsugar out of my diet totally, I would be able to follow my “twomeals a day” Dixit diet easily. And, this is exactly what happened.

If you afford 12 hours for insulin to drain out of your body,the process of ketosis (when the body does not have enough glu-cose for energy, it burns stored fats instead; this results in a build-up of acids called ketones within the body) begins. I started los-ing my fat deposits and my weight started reducing. My energylevel was very good as glucose levels were stable rather than soar-ing up and crashing down. The sports activities in the morningwere now direct attacks on fat deposits. There was another happyoutcome of this. Since the digestion process was well over bythe time one retired for the day, sleep was undisturbed and com-plete, in the same number of hours as before.

There is a need for a concerted action to educate the nextand the present generation about the deleterious effects of refinedsugar and sugary products. The commerce of sugar, fitness andtreatments stands at a risk with this realisation in the masses andso it should not surprise you if these words do not ever reachyou in time. To sum it up, an immediate necessity for us is to“avoid 3S and adopt 3S,” which means avoid sugar, snacks andsupper. Adopt sports, sangeet (music) and sleep. The journeycould be easier for you if you start by avoiding sugar. Then watchthe 3S effect.

(The writer is an Indian Administrative Service officer of theMadhya Pradesh cadre. The views expressed are personal.)

Afew days ago I had written anarticle, An appeal to myKashmiri brothers and sis-

ters, in which I mentioned that therestrictions in Kashmir for over 60days after abrogation of Article 370of the Constitution on August 5 havemade the lives of Kashmiris in theValley (and also those living outsidetrying to contact their relatives in theValley) miserable. I said that Internetand mobiles are not luxuries butnecessities today and being deprivedof them for even one day, what to sayof 60 days (along with curfews andother restrictions), would makeone’s life hell. I therefore appealed toKashmiris to wear a black wristbandas a token of protest against these

oppressive restrictions; boycottGovernor Satyapal Malik as well ashis advisers; refuse to serve touriststill the inhuman and unwarrantedrestrictions are removed and publishand circulate a leaflet stating thatabrogation of Article 370 was onlya gimmick to divert attention fromthe economic crisis by a belea-guered Narendra Modi Governmentwhich does not know how to solveit.

In response to the article, Ireceived two emails from KashmiriPandits. The first states, “Dear Sir.After reading your latest appeal toKashmiris, I would like to suggestyou take the logical next step in yourcampaign by forming a govern-ment in exile, like Subhas ChandraBose. I am also certain that PakistanPrime Minister Imran Khan, whowas after all reading from your scriptat the UN General Assembly in NewYork, will credit you swiftly as thepresident of the government ofIndia in exile. Jai Hind.”

The second email states, “Thosewho greeted Narendra Modi inHouston were all my friends. They

are not buffoons. I support them. Wemay have different beliefs, but we canbe kind to each other and civilised.”

These letters reveal the typicalmindset of almost all KashmiriPandits. I, too, am a KashmiriPandit, and I know what horribleatrocities were committed on themin the 1990s leading to their exodusfrom the Valley out of fear. I wrotea piece on Kashmiri Pandits on myblog Satyam Bruyat several years ago,describing the wrongs done to them.So I have every sympathy for them.

But what I found in almost allmembers of my community is ablind hatred for Muslims, because ofwhich they ignore the atrocities onKashmiri Muslims.

After all, two wrongs don’t makea right. What was done to KashmiriPandits in the past was somethingvery wrong and condemnable. Butdoes it justify and exonerate thewrongs being done to KashmiriMuslims today? Moreover, the atroc-ities on Kashmiri Pandits were donea quarter of a century ago. The pre-sent Kashmiri Muslim youths werenot even born then, or were toddlers.

To blame them would be like blam-ing the present Germans for what theNazis did to the Jews in the 1930sand 1940s.

The viciousness of the firstemail making a personal attack onme shows the mindset of mostKashmiri Pandits, who will not pre-sent cool, logical arguments but sub-stitute them by abuse. If this gentle-man is deprived of his mobile andInternet for one day, he will raise hisvoice, cursing those who inflictedsuch an Inquisition on him. But heis not bothered about people dyingin Kashmir because they could notget proper medical attention forsome illness since communicationsare shut down. He is not botheredabout the tension in the minds ofKashmiris living outside the Valleysince they are unable to communi-cate with their relatives living inside.If such persons had been Hindus,probably he too would have con-demned the restrictions but sincethey are Muslims he probably thinksthey deserve it.

As for Imran Khan benefitingfrom my appeal, let me tell the gen-

tleman that I will condemn allatrocities on all human beings,whether Hindu, Muslim or of anyother faith, and I am least concernedwhether Khan or Modi or anyoneelse benefits from it. If the gentlemanlacks human feelings, that is hisproblem, not mine.

The second email I mentionedwas from a Kashmiri Pandit woman.Evidently she is a strong supporterof Modi (like almost all KashmiriPandits, both in India and abroad).I may invite this lady’s attention tomy article All the perfumes of Arabia,which was published in The Hindusome years ago. In this article I havegiven strong proof of the massacreof about 2,000 Muslims in Gujaratin 2002 and this is further corrobo-rated by the statement of Lieutenant-General Zameeruddin Shah, whosaid his unit was kept at Ahmedabadairport for three days and notallowed to enter the city when themassacre was going on. It is also cor-roborated by the affidavit of SanjivBhat, the brave police officer, givenin the Supreme Court (for which heis suffering in jail). I may also invite

her attention to the lynchings ofMuslims and other atrocities onthem since 2014 when Modi cameto power. Evidently, since the victimsare Muslims, she is not bothered likemost Kashmiri Pandits.

The lady seems upset because Iwas uncomplimentary about the50,000 Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)present at the Howdy Modi functionin Houston. But how else should Idescribe them when Modi braggedmeretriciously in his speech,“Everything is fine in India.” Herepeated this in several languages,although everyone knows that thisis a brazen lie.

The economy has tanked, withthe Gross Domestic Product (GDP)slipping to five per cent; the auto sec-tor is suffering with September fig-ures showing a 24 per cent declinein passenger vehicle sales and awhopping 62.11 per cent fall in thecommercial segment; InformationTechnology, power, real estate and soon, are in the dumps; unemploymentis rising to record heights in 45 years(as admitted by the National SampleSurvey); every second child is mal-

nourished (as recorded by the GlobalHunger Index, UNICEF etc); 50 percent of our women are anaemic,farmers are committing suicide andthere is almost total lack of properhealthcare and good education forour masses. Onion and tomatoprices are skyrocketing and atroci-ties on minorities and Dalits are con-tinuing.

When Modi made this astound-ingly mendacious statement, not oneof these 50,000 NRIs, whom the ladycalls her friends, had the moralcourage to stand up and say, “MrPrime Minister, what you are sayingis just not true. Nothing is fine inIndia.”

And the lady accuses me ofbeing uncivilised for calling a spadea spade! Dear lady, you and yourNRI friends may carry on support-ing Modi and the Bharatiya JanataParty (since Muslims were “put intheir place” in 2002 in Gujarat, andare being “put in their place” todayin Kashmir ) but I regret I cannotjoin your ranks.

(The writer is a former judge ofthe Supreme Court of India.)

Why are Pandits so indifferent to other Kashmiris?The atrocities on Pandits were committed 25 years ago when the present Kashmiri Muslim youths were not even born. To blame them is like

blaming the present-day Germans for what the Nazis did to the Jews in the 1930s and 1940s

MARKANDEY KATJU

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 12, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 12, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

Infosys Q2 net profitdips 2.2 pc to Rs 4,019 crNEW DELHI: India's secondlargest IT services companyInfosys on Friday said itsconsolidated net profitdeclined by 2.2 per cent to Rs4,019 crore for the July-September 2019 quarter. Thisis against a net profit of Rs4,110 crore in the same periodlast fiscal, Infosys said in aregulatory filing. TheBengaluru-based companysaw its revenues rise 9.8 percent to Rs 22,629 crore in thequarter under review from Rs20,609 crore in the year-agoperiod. Infosys also raised thelower-end of its FY20 revenueguidance and the revisedforecast now stands at 9-10per cent growth in constantcurrency terms. Previously,Infosys had said it expects itstopline to grow by 8.5-10 percent for FY20.

First cargo aircraftlands at IndoreairportINDORE: A cargo aircraftlanded for the first time at theDevi Ahilyabai HolkarInternational Airport here onFriday in the aerodromes 70-year operational history. Fridaywas a special day for Indore,the financial capital of MadhyaPradesh, as a cargo aircraftlanded here for the first time,an airport official said. Officialssaid the plane was given a"water salute" (salute withwater splashes) at the airstrip."Private airline SpiceJet's flightB737 flew from Delhi toIndore," airport director ArimaSanyal said, adding the flightis being operated on anexperimental basis for 15days. Sanyal said the aircraftwill leave from Indore andreturn to Delhi viaAhmedabad, Pune andBengaluru. "The airline mayconsider regularising thisflight if it gets good responsein Indore in terms ofbookings," she said.

Indian cooperativesink pact with SriLanka for milk supplyNEW DELHI: Two Indian milkcooperatives on Friday signeda memorandum of interest(MoI) with the Sri Lankagovernment for supply of milkand milk products. Fertiliserfirm Indian Potash Ltd (IPL),which also deals in milk, alsoinked a similar pact with theneighbouring country at thethree-day India InternationalCooperatives Trade Fair thatkick-started here at PragatiMaidan. "Three MoIs havebeen signed with the Sri Lankagovernment which showninterest to buy milk from India.The quantity and price has notbeen quoted yet," a seniorofficial of the NationalCooperative DevelopmentCorporation (NCDC) said.

Bank credit growthslips to single-digitPNS n MUMBAI

For the first time this fiscal,bank credit growth slowed tosingle digit, printing in at a low8.79 percent at Rs 97.71 lakhcrore in the fortnight toSeptember 27, according thelatest data from the ReserveBank. In the year-ago fort-night, the advances had stoodat Rs 89.82 lakh crore.

In the previous fortnightending September 13, bankcredit had grown 10.26 percentto Rs 97.01 lakh crore.

Deposits growth too slowedto 9.38 percent to Rs 129.06lakh crore from Rs 118 lakhcrore a year ago, the RBI said,adding deposits had grown10.02 percent in the fortnightto September 13.

On annualized basis, non-food credit growth decelerat-

ed to 9.8 percent in August2019 from 12.4 percent inAugust 2018.

Loans to agriculture & alliedactivities increased 6.8 percentin August compared to anincrease of 6.6 percent last yearsame month. Credit growth tothe services sector deceleratedto 13.3 percent in August from

26.7 per cent. Personal loansgrowth moderated to 15.6 per-cent in August 2019 from 18.2per cent in August 2018.

However, advances to theindustry accelerated duringthe reporting period morethan doubling by 3.9 percent inAugust from 1.9 percent inAugust 2018.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd(IBREL) on Friday announceda buyback of up to 5 croreshares at Rs 100 each, whichcould cost the company up toRs 500 crore.

The buyback price is morethan thr double of the currentshare price, which is ruling atRs 43.40 on the BSE.

In a regulatory filing, IBRELinformed that its board ofdirectors on Friday "approveda proposal of Rs 500 crore ofbuyback of up to 5 crore fullypaid-up equity shares...repre-senting approximately 11 percent of its total existing paid-up equity capital at Rs 100 pershare".

The buyback would bethrough the tender offer route,as prescribed by markets reg-ulator SEBI.

All eligible existing hold-ers/beneficial owners of the

equity shares (including per-sons who become shareholdersby cancelling GlobalDepository Receipts andreceiving underlying equityshares), on a proportionatebasis, could participate.

The board has constituted abuyback committee and dele-gated it powers to oversee andimplement the process.

As per the current share-holding, promoters have 23.36

per cent stake in IBREL, whileBengaluru-based EmbassyGroup has nearly 14 per centshareholding.

On Thursday, EmbassyGroup CMD Jitu Virwani saidthe group has no immediateplans to increase its stake inIBREL.

"There is no plan right now,"Virwani told PTI when askedabout the company's plan toraise stake in IBREL.

The company would remaininvested in IBREL, he added.

In June, IBREL promoterssold 14 per cent stake throughopen market operations toEmbassy Group for Rs 950crore, as part of its strategy tofocus on financial services andexit from realty business.

With this deal, Bengaluru-based developer EmbassyGroup sought to enter intoMumbai and Delhi-NCR mar-kets, the two biggest propertymarkets in the country.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Farm and allied sector coop-eratives have a huge potentialto play a key role in makingIndia a USD 5 trillion econo-my in next five years,Agriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar said on Friday.

However, the cooperativesneed a push to compete in theglobal market, he said at theinauguration of the first everthree-day India InternationalCooperatives Trade Fair here.

The minister also launchedstartup scheme 'Yuva Sahakar'and NGO Sahakar Bharti's'Simply Desi' brand to promote

products manufactured bycooperatives.

"The prime minister hasgiven a target of achievingUSD 5 trillion economy. We

can achieve this if we focus on"Gaon, Gharib and Kisan (vil-lages, poor and farmers). Andcooperatives have potentialand can play a big role inachieving this target," Tomarsaid.

The cooperative culture isnot new to India and there isa need to strengthen and

enable them to compete in theglobal market, he said.

Some cooperatives likeIFFCO and Amul have beenable to operate on a large scalein the country as well as com-pete at global level. But thereis potential and opportunity forother cooperatives to rise, headded.

PNS n KOLKATA

A tripartite meeting hasbegun on Friday to resolve theimpasse over payment of bonusto workers of the Darjeeling teagardens.

West Bengal LabourMinister Malay Ghatak has tointervene after several roundsof talks between workers'unions and the estate man-agements had failed.

In the ongoing meeting, theminister was apprised of thebonus issues by the leaders ofunions and he has started dis-cussing the matter with therepresentatives of tea garden

managements at his office inthe city, sources said.

Around 87 Darjeeling teagardens employ about 55,000permanent and 15,000 tempo-rary workers.

The unions have beendemanding 20 per cent bonus

while tea garden managementshave offered just 15 per cent.

A representative of a union,present at the meeting, told PTIthat they will not agree to any-thing below 20 per cent asdemanded. The bonus in the

plains had been finalised andpaid to the workers at a rate of18.5 per cent.

"A settlement at 18.5 percent, similar to Terai andDooars tea gardens, could beagreed if the management hadpaid the bonus before the fes-tival. Now the festival is overand the workers are annoyed.We would not agree below 20per cent," the union represen-tative said.

Darjeeling tea managementhad offered 12 per cent bonusinitially but later revised to 15per cent after the state gov-ernment had requested themto hike their offer.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Government e-Marketplace(GeM) on Friday said it hassigned a pact with Union Bankof India (UBI) under which thebank will offer several servicesto it including transfer offunds.

The commerce ministrylaunched the procurementportal GeM to increase trans-parency in public procure-ment of goods and services,which is estimated at about Rs8 lakh crore per year.

"UBI will be able to offer anarray of services includingtransfer of funds through GeMpool accounts, advising of per-formance, bank guaranteesand earnest money deposit tothe registered users on the por-tal," it said.

The memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) willfacilitate a cashless, paperlessand transparent payment sys-tem on the portal and will cre-

ate an efficient procurementsystem for government entities,it added.

"Online integration for pay-ments and various bankingservices is one of the prioritiesfor GeM. It has already signedMoU with 14 public sector andprivate banks to enable this," itsaid.

It added that GeM is work-ing with others banks, TReDs,and SIDBI to provide invoicefinancing and bill discountingto the micro, small and medi-um enterprises (MSMEs) reg-istered on GeM.

"This will help MSMEsaccess easy credit and do bet-

ter business with governmentdepartments," it said.

West Bengal-cadre IAS offi-cer Talleen Kumar was recent-ly appointed as the new chiefexecutive officer of GeM.

According to GeM, 2,88,212sellers and service providershave registered with the por-tal so far to sell 1,348,380products and 17,677 services.

PNS n MUMBAI

Equity benchmark BSE Sensexjumped 247 points on Fridayamid positive cues from globalmarkets enthused by hopes of atrade truce between the US andChina. After swinging 608points in a volatile session, the30-share Sensex ended 246.68points, or 0.65 per cent, higherat 38,127.08. It hit an intra-dayhigh of 38,345.41 and a low of37,737.85.

The broader NSE Nifty toorose 70.50 points, or 0.63 percent, to close at 11,305.05.

Infosys was the top gainer in

the Sensex pack, rallying 4.19per cent, ahead of its quarterlyearnings.

Vedanta, Tata Motors,ONGC, Tata Steel, HUL, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra and BhartiAirtel too rose up to 3.96 percent.

On the other hand, Yes Bank,M&M, RIL, TCS, HeroMotoCorp, IndusInd Bank andNTPC declined up to 3.30 percent. Market rallied trackinggains in global markets after USPresident Donald Trumpoffered an positive assessmentof US-China trade talks, traderssaid.

"We just completed a negoti-ation with China. We're doingvery well. We're having anoth-er one tomorrow. I'm meetingwith the Vice Premier over atthe White House," Trump toldreporters at the White House onThursday.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Shares of Tata ConsultancyServices (TCS) pared most ofits early losses and closednearly 1 per cent lower onFriday after the company'sSeptember quarter earningsfailed to meet market expec-tations.

The scrip which declined3.76 per cent to Rs 1,929 dur-ing the day on the BSE final-ly closed at Rs 1,987.05, 0.87per cent lower.

On the NSE, it dropped 0.77per cent to close at Rs 1,989.

On the traded volume front,4.77 lakh shares were tradedon the BSE and 1.25 croreshares on the NSE.

"TCS reported muted Q2FY20 numbers, with 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter(QoQ) dollar revenue growthmissing street's 2.1 per centestimate and operating marginfalling QoQ to 24 per cent ina seasonally strong quarter,"according to a report byEdelweiss Research.

The country's largest soft-ware exporter on Thursdayreported a tepid growth in netincome for the Septemberquarter at Rs 8,042 crore, and

guided towards more chal-lenges putting a big questionmark over its ability to deliv-er the double-digit growth.

TCS posted a 1.8 per centrise in consolidated net prof-it at Rs 8,042 crore for thequarter ended September 30,2019. It had posted a net prof-it of Rs 7,901 crore in the year-ago period, TCS said in a BSEfiling.

Revenue of the Mumbai-based firm grew 5.8 per centto Rs 38,977 crore in the July-September quarter comparedwith Rs 36,854 crore in thesame quarter of the previousfiscal, it added.

PNS n WASHINGTON

US aviation regulators wereslammed Friday for allowingdesign changes to Boeing's737 MAX aircraft that havebeen implicated in two crash-es causing the deaths of morethan 300 people.

The Federal AviationAdministration failed to stickto its own rules, followed out-of-date procedures and lackedthe manpower and expertise toproperly oversee the alter-ations, a panel of worldwideexperts found.

The Joint AuthoritiesTechnical Review (JATR) wasput together in March after a737 MAX run by EthipoianAirlines crashed killing all 157onboard. That came after thesame make of jet flown by LionAir plunged into the ocean offIndonesia in October, withthe loss of 189 people, in sim-

ilar circumstances.The tragedies led to the air-

liner being grounded and astep-up in oversight of Boeingfrom the FAA and interna-tional regulators.

But the FAA came in forharsh criticism from the JATR,which said there was "an inad-equate number of FAA spe-cialists" in place to oversee anew design of the 737 MAX

and they "had inadequateawareness" of the system impli-cated in the crashes.

It said officials oversawdesign changes "in a way thatfailed to achieve the full safe-ty benefit." Their damning 69-page report also found thatBoeing had put pressure onsome of its staff who had FAAauthority to pass the updateddesigns.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Proposed mega trade dealRCEP should not lead to joblosses, and hurt the govern-ment's Make in India initiative,auto industry body SIAM cau-tioned on Friday ahead of thetrade ministers' meeting of thebloc in Bangkok. Trade minis-ters of RCEP countries will dis-cuss issues related to invest-ment, e-commerce, rules of ori-gin and trade remedies in ameeting in Bangkok onOctober 12. According toSIAM, while there has to begive and take being a part of theglobal economy, under suchtrade agreements imports ofcompletely built units (CBUs)of automobiles must not beallowed. "Being a part of glob-al trade, there are gives andtakes. What we are only sayingis that the government shouldbe mindful of two things andI am confident that the gov-ernment is. Any such thing(RCEP and free trade agree-ments) should not result in joblosses and hurt Make in India,"SIAM President RajanWadhera told reporters here.

He was responding to aquery on SIAM's views onRCEP. The RCEP bloc com-prises 10 Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (Asean)nations (Brunei, Cambodia,Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar,Singapore, Thailand, thePhilippines, Laos and Vietnam)and their six FTA partners -India, China, Japan, SouthKorea, Australia and NewZealand.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold prices on Friday rose Rs126 to Rs 39,160 per 10 gramin the national capital on aweaker rupee and festivedemand, according to HDFCSecurities. The yellow metalhad closed at Rs 39,034 per 10gram on Thursday.

Silver prices also jumped Rs380 to Rs 46,900 per kilogramfrom Rs 46,520 per kilogram inthe previous trade, according tothe data from HDFC Securities.

"Spot gold prices for 24 karatin Delhi was trading up by Rs126 as festival demand kicks inand on weaker rupee which fellby around 17 paise against thedollar from the opening levels,"HDFC Securities SeniorAnalyst (Commodities) TapanPatel said. In the internationalmarket also, gold prices weretrading higher at USD 1,502 anounce and silver at USD 17.71per ounce.

Gold prices traded higher onFriday with COMEX interna-tional spot gold prices recov-ering to USD 1,502 on weakerdollar index and geopoliticalrisks, he added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Leading fertiliser cooperativeIFFCO on Friday reduced theretail prices of its complex fer-tilisers including di-ammoni-um phosphate (DAP) by Rs 50per bag, amid easing raw mate-rials and manufactured fer-tilisers prices globally.

"We have cut the retail pricesof DAP and all complexes fer-tilisers taking into account thesoftening trend in global pricesof raw materials and manu-factured fertilisers," IFFCOManaging Director U SAwasthi told PTI.

IFFCO has reduced the

maximum retail price of DAPto Rs 1,200 per 50 kg bag fromthe earlier Rs 1,250 a bag, hesaid.

The price of NPK-I complex

has been reduced to Rs 1,200a bag from Rs 1,250 a bag,while the price of NPK-IIcomplex has been slashed to Rs1,210 per bag from Rs 1,260per bag.

The price of NP complexhas been reduced by Rs 50 toRs 950 per bag.

The new retail prices ofDAP and complex fertilisers,that includes GST, have comeinto effect from October 11,Awasthi added.

However, the retail price ofneem coated urea, which iscontrolled by the government,continues to remain steady atRs 266.50 per 45 kg bag.

The board hasconstituted abuybackcommittee anddelegated itpowers to overseeand implement theprocess

Indiabulls announces Rs 500-cr share buyback

US aviation authority blastedover 737 MAX redesign approval

Around 87Darjeeling teagardens employabout 55,000permanent and15,000 temporaryworkers

The minister also launched startupscheme 'Yuva Sahakar' and NGOSahakar Bharti's 'Simply Desi' brand topromote products manufactured bycooperatives

On the tradedvolume front, 4.77lakh shares weretraded on the BSEand 1.25 croreshares on the NSE

TCS shares close 1 pclower after Q2 results

Gold rises Rs 126 onweaker rupee,festive demand

"Online integrationfor payments andvarious bankingservices is one ofthe priorities forGeM. It has alreadysigned MoU with14 public sectorand private banksto enable this," itsaid

GeM signs pact with Union Bankof India to avail various services

‘Farm cooperatives can play keyrole in achieving $5 tn economy’

Narendra Singh Tomar

IFFCO reduces retail prices ofnon-urea fertilisers by Rs 50/bag

‘RCEP shouldnot lead tojob losses’

Bayer G4Apartners withWellthyPNS n NEW DELHI

Chronic disease managementfirm Wellthy Therapeuticson Friday said it has part-nered with German life sci-ences group Bayer G4A toimprove its product, regula-tory and commercialisationcapabilities and explore areasof collaboration. As part ofthe partnership, G4A teamwill work closely with WellthyTherapeutics to improve itscapabilities while exploringareas of collaboration,Wellthy Therapeutics said ina statement.

"We look forward to sup-porting the advancement oftheir patient centric, out-comes focused approach tocare, and explore opportuni-ties to collaborate," BayerG4A Digital Health GlobalHead Eugene Borukhovichsaid.

Tripartite meet begins to fix crisis in tea gardens

Sensex rises 247 pts on positiveglobal cues; Infosys rallies 4 pc

SaturdayOctober 12, 2019

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

omen have beenan essential partof agriculture fora long time.Apart from thetraditional farm-

ing there are many newavenues that farmers canadopt to increase theirearnings. Beekeeping is oneof them.

Beekeeping is practicedas a means for livelihood inmany communities, espe-cially in the tribal areas.The products that can bemade out of the hive areprofitable due to the highdemand for its medicinalproperties.

In lieu of this, a five-daytraining programme washeld by the FLO HyderabadChapter recently for womenfarmers on bee keeping.Around 32 women wentthrough a training session atthe community hall inChilkur where they wereintroduced to the differentaspects of the business.Medipalli Suhasini,Uppalagalla Aruna,Tummala Latha, KadigaRajitha, Salma Begum aresome of the women whoparticipated in the pro-gramme. At the end of thetraining, each participantwas given bee boxes and acertificate of participation.

“We will continue suchtraining programmes in thefuture too. Another 100women from different man-dals are also being consid-ered for training in the nextthree months. The cost ofthe programme, resource

persons and other expendi-ture will be met by FLO,”informed Sonal Chatwani,Chairperson of FLO

Hyderabad Chapter.Women who underwent

training will be encouragedto come together to form a

cluster. One of the membersof the association has alsoagreed to prove a 3-acre landto set up a bee farming unit.

The cost of setting up such aunit comes around a lakhwith each bee box costing up to Rs 8,000.

THE TRENDCONTINUES WITHTHE UNVEILING OFFOUR MODERNCLAY COURTS ATTHE HPRC

‘MY DREAM IS TO WINWIMBLEDON FOR INDIA'

Tennisplayer BShrivalli

Rashmikaa,who won

varioustournaments

in juniorlevels, is all

set to prove her

talent on aninternational

level,finds V

SATEESHREDDY

yderabad-basedtennis player BShrivalliRashmikaa, whostudies B.ComHonors at St

Francis College inBegumpet, has recently wonback-to-back national juniorchampionships this yearincluding Fenesta NationalsJunior Hard Court TennisChampionship in Delhi andAdidas MCC NationalJunior Tennis Championshipin Chennai. Having wonaccolades at various nationalevents such as the AsianRanking Tennis TournamentUnder-14 at Ahmedabad2014 she is all set to play inwomen’s singles category.

“My entry into tennis wasaccidental. When I was 11, Iwent to shopping with my

parents and while comingback I saw kids playing ten-nis at the LB Stadium and Ialso joined them whichstarted my journey into thesports,” says ShrivalliRashmikaa.

Even though she startedplaying tennis late shepicked it up fast and startedwinning medals at variousnational and internationalevents. About her recent winat Fenesta she says, “I was arunner up in this competi-tion last year. This year, I didmy best to earn the trophy. Itwas an honour to receive theprize from tennis star SaniaMirza. I was very happy towin both clay and hard courtnational titles.”

Rashmikaa said that herinspiration for the sport isRoger Federer and Maria

Sharapova. She also won thedoubles titles along with herpartner Sowjanya Bavisettyat the FenestaChampionship. She hadplayed in the ITF JuniorsTennis tournaments in Paris,Thailand, China, Hongkong,Singapore, Malaysia,Vietnam, Mauritius,Zimbabwe and Dubai.

Being trained under SajidLodi at his academy inIndore, she now ranks 4 inthe All India Under-18Category Juniors and herhighest ITF Juniors WorldRanking is 245.

She says, “In India, wemostly have clay and hardcourts. In Kolkata andChandigarh, we can practisein grass courts. Dependingon my game, playing on claycourts is difficult but I prefer

to play more on grass courts.In India, many women arecoming forward to take upthe sport and the count isincreasing every year and itis a good sign for the sport.”

She said that while herfather helps her financiallyher mother looks abouther nutrition. She saidher dream is to winthe Wimbledon titlefor India.

Her father, B.Prasad says, “She isstrong at serve andfore hand shots. Sheis now concentratingmore on playing forthe women’s categoryand she needs time toexcel in this category.Soon she will reachnew heights in tennissoon.”

h

BUILDING A LEVELPLAYING FIELD

ennis hasalways beenone of thefavourite sportsforHyderabadis

ever since super stars suchas Sania Mirza putTelangana on the interna-tional scene. Many privatesporting agencies havebeen in the forefront ofdeveloping sporting infra-structure that will keep intrack with the interna-tional standards. Thetrend continues with theunveiling of four modernclay courts at the HPRCcomplex in Hyderabad bythe Academia SportsVillage.

For the purpose of for-warding the sports culturein the city, representativesof the Academia Sports

Village have said that theycollaborate with privateclubs and associations likeJubilee Hills InternationalClub and SportsAuthority of TelanganaState besides some educa-tional associations andestablish training andcoaching sessions.

“Academia SportsVillage was able to pro-vide international flavourright here, thereby helpingthe young players tounderstand the tech-niques prevalent on theglobal platform and savethem the costs of goingabroad for the purpose,”the group said in a pressnote.

Their main purpose,they said, is to give tennisplayers direct exposure toEuropean standards in

association with leadingclubs and academiesincluding those run bycelebrated players fromSpain, Croatia andCzechoslovakia.

In the days ahead, theyplan to develop a multi-purpose sports centre forfootball and tennis in thenewly bought vacant landthat will be utilized inassociation with theHyderabad Polo andRiding Club (HPRC).

t

wThe sweet taste of success

A FIVE-DAYPROGRAMME ONBEEKEEPING WASHELD BY THE FLOWHERE WOMENUNDERWENT ATRAINING SESSIONIN CHILKUR THATINTRODUCED THEMTO DIFFERENTASPECTS OF THEBUSINESS

he sports sector has seen tremendousgrowth in the last few years in India.Correspondingly, there has devel-oped a need for a retail outlet thatprovides quality sports equipment.Keeping this in mind, Hyderabad-

based Netplay Sports has opened its first com-plete sports retail store recently at 100-ft roadin Madhapur.

“Based on our interaction with customerswho play at Gamepoint, we felt the need forproviding high quality sports equipment ataffordable prices so that more people can playsports regularly. The new Netplay Sports retailoutlet has a complete range of equipment forseveral sports such as badminton, tennis,squash, basketball, football, table tennis, skat-ing and swimming.”

This store is an addition to Netplay’smulti-sport centre, Gamepoint, in the samearea, which has international standard bad-minton courts, squash courts, basketball andvolleyball courts, a football turf, and ashooting range. The store was inauguratedby Ashwini Ponappa, international bad-minton player and Arjuna awardee.

t

Sporting goodsMOVE FAST

Vijayawada Saturday October 12, 2019

10

celeb talks

I WAS ONCE GROPED BY AHUGE STAR: NAOMIE HARRIS

ctress NaomieHarris says shewas once gropedduring an auditionby “a huge star”.

The Oscar-nominated actor said she wasin her mid-20s when theincident took place.

“I was in an audition andhe put his hand up my skirt.What was so shocking aboutit was the casting directorwas there and the director,and of course no one saidanything at all because hewas — he is — such a hugestar,” theguardian.com quotedHarris as saying.

The actress believes herCambridge education pro-

tected her to some extentfrom misogyny in the filmindustry.

“I think there is the imme-diate assumption that youhave a brain. Which is notnecessarily true if you go toOxbridge, as I’ve discovered,”she said.

The whole Time’s Upmovement has led to a “mas-sive shift”.

“Men know that theyabsolutely cannot get awaywith things now that theywouldn’t even have thoughtabout before,” she said.

The actress will be back inthe Bond world as EveMoneypenny in No Time toDie. The makers brought in

Fleabag creator PhoebeWaller-Bridge for dialogue.

Harris says when Waller-Bridge wasn’t on the set, shewas present.

“If there was a problemwith the script, then (direc-tor) Cary Fukunaga wouldalways be like, “OK, well, I’lljust make a call to Phoebe”,”he said.

AollywoodactressJacquelineFernandez isthe firstfemale celebri-

ty to get visibility at theKingdom of SaudiArabia (KSA) airport.

According to Mid-Day, she is now in acommercial at the KSAairport airport. Thismakes her the firstwoman celebrity to getvisibility at the airport.

Sharing her excite-ment, Jacqueline took toher Instagram Storiesand revealed the news tofans. She shared glimpsesof her look in the ad, forHala Kasa.

On the professionalfront, Jacqueline is gear-ing up for the digitalrelease of her upcomingfilm Drive on Netflix.The film also starsSushant Singh Rajput.

She will also be seenin Netflix’s Mrs SerialKiller. It is written anddirected by filmmakerFarah Khan’s husbandShirish Kunder.

B

JACQUELINEIS FIRSTFEMALE

CELEB TO GETVISIBILITY AT

SAUDI ARABIAAIRPORT

JACQUELINEIS FIRSTFEMALE

CELEB TO GETVISIBILITY AT

SAUDI ARABIAAIRPORT

JACQUELINEIS FIRSTFEMALE

CELEB TO GETVISIBILITY AT

SAUDI ARABIAAIRPORT

JACQUELINEIS FIRSTFEMALE

CELEB TO GETVISIBILITY AT

SAUDI ARABIAAIRPORT

JACQUELINEIS FIRSTFEMALE

CELEB TO GETVISIBILITY AT

SAUDI ARABIAAIRPORT

JACQUELINEIS FIRSTFEMALE

CELEB TO GETVISIBILITY AT

SAUDI ARABIAAIRPORT

JACQUELINEIS FIRSTFEMALE

CELEB TO GETVISIBILITY AT

SAUDI ARABIAAIRPORT

JACQUELINEIS FIRSTFEMALE

CELEB TO GETVISIBILITY AT

SAUDI ARABIAAIRPORT

lack Eyed Peas have joinedhands with singer J Balvin fora single RITMO (Bad boys forlife).

The upbeat track willappear on the soundtrack of

the film Bad Boys For Life, which starsWill Smith and Martin Lawrence.

In the official music video for thesong, directed by Colin Tilley, the musicians perform the track in a neon-lit room with futuristic lights, costumes and dancers, reports rolling-stone.com.

The colourful video merges clips fromthe film as well, showing Smith andLawrence in car chases sequences.

“I wanted to re-imagine The rhythm ofthe night by Corona and give it a mini-mal, futurist, afro-fused reggaeton vibe,”said Black Eye Peas frontman William.

“The final song and video feel like theclassic next level futurism that the BlackEyed Peas are all about,” he added.

Balvin said, “I’ve been a Black EyedPeas fan for as long as I can remember.They are legends and it’s an honour tojoin them and become part of the soundof Bad Boys For Life.”

RITMO (Bad boys for life) is BlackEyed Peas first release on their newrecord label Epic Records.

Bad Boys for Life, is the sequel to the1995 film Bad Boys.

BBLACK EYED PEAS, J BALVINTEAM UP FOR A SINGLE

AJAY DEVGN,

KEERTHY WRAP UP

MAIDAAN MUMBAI

SCHEDULEctors Ajay Devgn and Keerthy Suresh have

wrapped up the second schedule of upcom-

ing film Maidaan in Mumbai.

Ajay and Keerthy, who are working

together for the first time, wrapped the

Mumbai schedule earlier this week.

The next schedule of the film will begin on

November 3 in Kolkata.

Amit Sharma’s Maidaan is based on the

“golden years of Indian Football”. Ajay

essays the role of the legendary coach Syed

Abdul Rahim, who is said to be the

founding father of Indian football. He

was an Indian football coach and man-

ager of the Indian national team from

1950 until his death in 1963. He is

also regarded as the architect of

modern Indian football.

The makers shot for an impor-

tant football sequence of the film

for which a massive set was

built in Mukesh Mills,

Mumbai. The makers even

got the VFX team and the

sports choreographer from

Los Angeles to get the

most out of the football

sequence.Produced by Zee

Studios, Boney Kapoor,

Akash Chawla and

Arunava Joy

Sengupta, the film’s

screenplay and dia-

logues are written by

Saiwyn Quadros

and Ritesh Shah

respectively.

Aoann Sfar, the French comic book artist andfilmmaker, recently wrapped Fashion Week,a graphic novel inspired by the headline-making robbery at Kim Kardashian West’sParis hotel room in 2016.

Sfar is also developing a French filmloosely based on the incident, reports variety.com.

Sfar is co-writing the script with Marion Festraets(Chefs) and will be directing the film, which he saidwill be a comedy exploring the themes of feminism,masculinity and patriarchy in today’s society.

Titled Fashion Week, the film will address “violenceagainst women, the relationship between the very richpeople and the less rich, the world of fashion and theencounter between figures of new and old worlds,” Sfartold Variety.

The plot of the movie will revolve around a group ofolder thieves who plan to rob a famous influencer dur-ing her trip to Paris and find themselves embroiled inthe whirlwind of Fashion Week in the French capital.

In 2016, Kim was bound and gagged at gunpoint inher Paris hotel room by robbers who made off withmillions of dollars of her jewellery, including herengagement ring.

The film will be shot mainly in French and willbring together an international cast, Sfar said. Headded that he won’t be aiming to cast a lookalikeof Kardashian but rather someone who captureswhat the reality-show star represents.

Sfar previously wrote and directed the live-action films The Lady in the Car With Glassesand a Gun and Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life,which won three Cesar awards — the nationalfilm award of France, including for best firstfilm. He is best known for his comic book TheRabbi’s Cat and its Cesar-winning animated fea-ture adaptation.

J

NOW FILM ON KIMKARDASHIAN'SPARIS HOTELROOM ROBBERY

Vijayawada Saturday October 12, 2019

11

tollywood

Tharun always had GOOD COMIC timing, says Vijay Deverakonda

ijay Deverakonda was earliersupposed to feature in debutantdirector Shammeer Sultan’s maid-en feature film MeekuMaathrame Cheptha as an actorbut the monstrous success of

Arjun Reddy meant that he had to overlookthis movie for other stories which have a‘wider range’. However, pleased as punchwith the content, he decided to produceMeeku Maathrame Cheptha, a tragic come-dy whose screenplay follows the journey ofan embarrassing secret from director TharunBhascker’s past that spins out of controlputting the protagonist in a spot of bother.Tharun, who will play the lead actor for thefirst time with this film, was neitherDeverakonda nor Chennai lad Shammeer’sfirst choice. “I initially took the script to my

friend Naveen Polishetty whoI know from my theatre days buthe couldn’t do it due to variousreasons. Tharun, in the mean-time, was helping adapt the scriptinto Telugu from Tamil. During the mak-

ing of Pellichoopulu, he would act out somescenes because he knew the characterswell. And I’ve spent so much time withhim that I knew he has an extremely goodcomic timing. He was asked to consideracting in the film. Initially, he was reluc-tant but later gave in as he too liked thecontent,” Deverakonda told us exclusive-ly. He continues, “Also, it becomes easi-er for me to generate buzz around the pro-ject with his casting. Else I would’ve hadto carry it on my shoulders.”

His production house, King of the Hill,is open for all talented individuals,Deverakonda insists. “The banner wouldassociate with anyone if it notice a sparkin them. Once a particular film isannounced, the office would be open forauditions for actors. We just want to tell sto-ries. It doesn’t matterwho it is as long ashe/she is talented.”

Meeku Matrame Cheptha script wasinitially taken to Naveen Polishetty, myfriend since our theatre days, the actor

tells NAGARAJ GOUD

VThe banner (King of the Hill) wouldassociate with anyone with a spark inthem. Once a film is announced, theoffice would be open for auditionsfor actors. We just want to tellstories. It doesn’t matter who it isas long as he/she is talented

VIJAY DEVERAKONDAACTOR, PRODUCER

he Pioneer has earlier reported(on August 10) that Tamil sup-erstar Rajinikanth wasimpressed with a script ofSiruthai Siva and was keen tostart the project after he wraps

up Darbar with A.R. Murugadoss. Theuntitled project, which is Rajini’s 168thfilm, was made official on Friday by theproduction SunPictures. In-itially, Kalai-ppuli S. Thanuwas attached toproduce theproject but itseems Sun hastaken over theproduction du-ties. “After theb l o c k b u s t e rhits Enthiranand Petta, themega hit co-mbo of Sup-erstar Raji-nikanth andSun Pictureshave come together for the third time forThalaivars 168. To be directed by Siva,(sic)” tweeted Sun Pictures’ from its offi-cial handle on Friday.

Siva, who is known for popcorn Tamilentertainers Veeram, Vedalam andViswasam among others, has penned a sig-nature rural drama that will be high on

entertainment and action for Rajini. Theshoot will roll later this year and the mak-ers, it is understood, are keen on releasingit for Diwali next year. D. Imman will mostlikely be the film’s tunesmith.

T

Rajini, Sun Picturesset for a hat-trick

SIVA, WHO ISKNOWN FORPOPCORN TAMILENTERTAINERS,HAS PENNED ASIGNATURE RURALDRAMA THAT WILLBE HIGH ONENTERTAINMENTFOR RAJINI

lready a part of big-ticket featurefilms like Ala Vaikunthapuramloand Manchu Vishnu's Telugu,Hindi and English trilingual withJeffrey Chin, Navdeep will beheadlining an untitled web

series produced by Krish and Y. RajeevReddy under First Frame Entertainments,The Pioneer has reliably learnt. Geetha Artshas commissioned the web series and theywill stream it on their soon-to-launchstreaming app, thus marking their entry inthe digital space. “It's a murder mystery.His character arc and the fact that it's beingmade by First Frame sealed the deal forNavdeep. He has finished shooting for theseries, which will consist of eightepisodes of 22 minutes each,” said asource close to the development. This isthe actor's second web series. He earlierfeatured in a rom-com, directed byShashank Yeleti, for Yupp TV. — NG

andini Reddy, who is fresh off thesuccess of Oh! Baby, will beteaming up with the Dutt sisters— Swapna and Priyanka — forher next. The combination wasto transpire last year itself but

with Nandini being offered Oh! Baby shecompleted it first. Now, she is set to honourher commitment with Swapna Cinema. Theas-yet-untitled film will be a modern day lovestory and will see Nandini reteaming up withcomposer Mickey J. Meyer, cinematograph-er Richard Prasad and writer Lakshmi

Bhoopala. Ever since the project wasannounced on Dussera, buzz about Nanispearheading it has been doing rounds.Although the actor is occupied withIndraganti Mohana Krishna’s V presently, heprefers to have another project lined up sothat he can hop on to it straightaway after hecompletes his current film. It has been thecase with him for the past three-four years.Over here that project is with Nandini,grapevine hinted. However, the directordenied the buzz, replying with an emphatic‘no’ when we contacted her.

n

It's not Nani in NandiniReddy'slove story

resently shooting fordebutant Vinod Anantojuyet-to-be-titled romanticcomedy-drama laced withfamily emotions, AnandDeverakonda has recently

a singed a comedy thriller withfilmmaker Damodara Attada,announcement of which was madeearlier this week. In the film, whichwill go in front of the cameras thisyear-end, Anand will be seen as agovernment school teacher who fightshis demons. “It's a social drama ofsorts and Anand's part has multiplelayers to it. Most governmentteachers can relate to his dilemma inthe film. Initially, the makers

considered Naveen Polishetty for thisrole but talks with him didn't movebeyond a certain point. Later Anandwas shown the script. He gave hisnod in the first narration itself. Hewasn't keen on signing his third filmuntil he wraps up his second film butDamodara Attada's story made himchange his mind,” said a source.US-based Vijay Mattapally andPradeep Errabelly are producing theuntitled film under Tanga ProductionsLLP banner. Amit Dasani, SiddharthSadashivuni and Ram Miriyala arebeing introduced as musiccomposers, while Madan Gunadevahas been signed on as thecinematographer.

PAnand to play a govt school teacherA

NAVDEEP to star in webseries

PTI n VADODARA

Skipper Mithali Raj and PunamRaut smashed impressive

fifties to guide the Indianwomen's team to a series-clinch-ing five-wicket win over SouthAfrica in the second ODI here onFriday.

India first restricted SouthAfrica to a competitive 247-6after electing to field and thenreturned to overhaul the targetwith two overs to spare and takean unassailable 2-0 lead in thethree-match series.

Pacer Shikha Pandey (2/38),left-arm spinner Ekta Bist (2/45)and leg-spinner Poonam Yadav(2/42) returned with two wicketseach to keep the visitors to abelow-par score.

Chasing 248 to win, theIndian women lost openers PriyaPunia (20) and JemimahRodrigues (18) early to slip to 66for two in 12.5 overs.

However, Punam (65 off 92)and Mithali (66 off 82) resurrect-ed the chase by sharing a 129-runpartnership for the third wicket.

Marizanne Kapp (1/29) brokethe stand when she had Mithali

caught by Laura Wolvaardt in the40th over. In the next over,Punam too departed when sheholed out to Kapp off AyabongaKhaka, leaving India at 196 forfour in 40.1 overs.

Harmanpreet Kaur then hitan unbeaten quick-fire 27-ball 39,

laced with five boundaries and asix, to take India home with 12balls to spare.

Earlier put into bat, openersLizelle Lee (40) and LauraWolvaardt (69) gave South Africaa solid start, taking them to 76 in15.4 overs. Once Lee wasremoved by Poonam, TrishaChetty (22) gave company toWolvaardt, adding 51 runs.

Shikha provided India twinbreakthroughs, dismissing Chettyand Wolvaardt, as South Africaslumped to 142 for 3.

M du Preez (44) and LaraGoodall (38) took the visitingteam past the 200-run mark.

However, once Goodall wasdismissed in the 43rd over, skip-per Sune Luus (12) couldn't staylong either. Du Preez took SouthAfrica close to 250 before fallingin the last over. India will nowplay South Africa in the third andfinal ODI on October 14.

Brief Scores:South Africa: 247/6 in 50

overs (L Wolvaardt 69, M duPreez 44, S Pandey 2/38)

India: 248/5 in 48 overs (PRaut 65, M Raj 66, A Khaka3/69).

PTI n PUNE

India captain Virat Kohliblended grace with determi-nation to raise his record-

breaking seventh double hundredwhich grinded down a haplessSouth Africa on the second dayof the second Test, here onFriday.

With Kohli scoring a career-best unbeaten 254, India buriedthe Proteas under a mountain ofruns, putting on board a mam-moth 601 for five.

Kohli surpassed legendarySachin Tendulkar and VirenderSehwag, who had scored sixdouble tons each.

He also equalled RickyPonting's record of 19 hundredsas Test skipper even thoughrecord belongs to Graeme Smith(25).

Ravindra Jadeja (91) alsohelped himself with some heavyduty hitting before missing outon his second Test hundred asKohli declared immediately afterhis dismissal.

At stumps, South Africa werereeling at 36 for three as Indiaaim to wrap the series up insidefour days.

Umesh Yadav got rid of boththe openers — Dean Elgar (6)and Aiden Markaram (0) —while Mohammed Shami saw theback of Temba Bavuma (8).

Kohli effortlessly shiftedgears, toying with an attackwhich looked resigned after the

first session as India took com-plete control. In the first session,a beautiful straight drive offVernon Philander brought upIndian captain’s 26th Test and69th international hundred andthe muted celebration was moreabout contentment than elation.

The final boundary count inhis innings was an enviable 33fours and two sixes in 336 balls.It was a marathon knock as healone faced 56 off 156.3 oversbowled in India’s innings.

Kohli was an epitome ofconcentration and with depend-able vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane(59) he raised a 178-run fourthwicket stand which broke thespirit of the Proteas attack.

The partnership of 225 runswith Jadeja in 39.1 overs was likeadding insult to the injury.

Not for once did he look inany sort of hurry to complete themilestone as Kohli was ready torespect the good deliveries, slow-ly trudging his way to the covet-ed three-figure mark.

South Africa will certainlyfeel dejected as their bowlers put

up a good show even though thescoreboard suggested otherwise.

Kagiso Rabada (3/93 in 26)and Philander (0/66 in 26 overs),for the second day in a row,bowled a probing morning spell,albeit with little luck.

Credit to the skipper and hisdeputy for the manner in whichthey negotiated the first hour.

Kohli, in particular, was leav-ing anything that Rabada bowledon the off-stump channel for thefirst few overs. The only blemishwas fishing at an away swingerfrom Philander, which a divingwicketkeeper Quinton de Kockfailed to latch onto.

The bowler’s back-drive offRabada came soon after as Kohlistarted opening up. AnrichNortje also again tried to bowlshort but Kohli played his trade-mark short-arm pull in-front ofthe wicket.

Once the ball got old, theSouth African spinners neitherhad the guile nor the big heartneeded in adverse conditions totrouble a champion batsman likeKohli.

sport 12VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 12, 2019

PTI n ULAN-UDE (RUSSIA)

The medal haul is the same as lasttime but four Indian boxers, spear-

headed by the indomitable M C MaryKom, would be fighting to better thecolour of those medals in the semifinalsof the Women’s World Championshiphere on Saturday.

The third-seeded Mary Kom(51kg), assured of an unparalleledeighth world medal, would be aimingfor a seventh Gold and standing in herway in the semifinals is Turkey’sEuropean champion BusenazCakiroglu. Cakiroglu is seeded second.

Besides six world titles, MaryKom’s incredible career is also studdedwith an Olympic Bronze medal (2012),five Asian titles, Gold medals at theAsian Games and the CommonwealthGames, besides numerous other inter-national top finishes.

The spotlight will also be on twovery impressive debutants — ManjuRani (48kg) and Jamuna Boro —besides last edition's Bronze-medallistLovlina Borgohain (69kg).

“All of them have performed excep-tionally well. We are keeping our fin-gers crossed for all of them to reach thefinal,” national coach Mohammed AliQamar, who also happens to be India’sfirst Commonwealth Games Gold-medallist in boxing, told PTI.

All of them have tough opponentslined up but all of them have shownthemselves to be completely unfazed bythe prospect of going up against a strongchallenger. “One can never be satisfied.We are happy that our performance hasnot dipped since the 2018 edition butit is a bit disappointing that we could-n’t better it. We could have had six semi-finalists but for a couple of close loss-es,” said Qamar.

One of the most outstanding per-formers this time has been Manju Rani.The boxer from Haryana, who didn’t geta break in her home state, claimed thenational title by competing for Punjaband came into national camp only thisyear.

“She has been unstoppable definite-ly. She has made every one of her oppor-tunity and that includes a Silver medal

at Strandja Memorial (one of Europe’soldest boxing tournaments),” Qamarsaid.

Her next opponent is going to beThailand’s Chuthamat Raksat, whoupstaged fifth seed Yuliyanova Asenovain the quarterfinals.

Boro, an Assam Rifles employeewhose mother worked as a vegetablevendor to support her boxing dreams,is another one to have impressed con-siderably.

The 22-year-old will take on topseed and former Asian Games bronze-medallist Huang Hsiao-Wen of ChineseTaipei.

Borgohain is the more seasonedone and she will face China’s Yang Liu,who shocked top seed Chen Nien-Chin.Borgohain is in pursuit of a medal bet-ter than the bronze she won the lasttime around.

India’s best performance in theevent remains the one in 2006 when thecountry snared eight medals, includingfour Gold, one Silver and three Bronze.

Mary Kom was one among theGold-medallists that year too.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Former Englandskipper Michael

Vaughan on Fridaycriticised the Testmatch pitches inIndia, terming thetracks as “boring”and heavy loaded infavour of the bats-

men. Vaughan was of the view that Test match pitch-es in India offer lop-sided contests.

“Test match cricket pitches in India areboring...The first 3/4 days the contest is far too infavour of the bat...Needs more action for thebowler...My thought of the day ...,” Vaughan tweet-ed. Vaughan made the comments during the ongo-ing Test series between India and South Africa.

The first Test between the two teams saw bats-men dominate the proceedings in the first four days.India put a mammoth total of 502 which South Africafollowed by posting 431 in their first innings. Indiaeventually won the match by 203 runs.

In the ongoing second Test in Pune, the Indianbatsmen again ruled the roost with skipper Virat Kohlihitting an a double century and opener MayankAgarwal scoring his second Test hundred.

PTI n PUNE

The brisk pace at which skipper Virat Kohli scoredhis double hundred has given the Indian

bowlers enough time to get 20 South African wick-ets, reckons opener Mayank Agarwal.

Kohli's best-ever Test score of 254 and his 225-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja (91) in only 39.1overs formed the cornerstone of India's mammoth601 for five declared.

Kohli’s big knock came at an impressive strikerate of 75.59 as he hammered 35 boundaries, includ-ing two sixes, in his 336-ball innings.

“Definitely, it has put us in driver’s seat and it'snot just the amount of runs but at what pace thoseruns have come has made the huge difference,” saidAgarwal, who got his second successive Test hun-dred on the opening day, said.

Indian pacers have already reduced the Proteasto 36 for three at stumps on the second day.

“The double hundred has given the team extrasession and half, which becomes very crucial. Thepartnership between Virat and Jadeja was fabulousand almost at run a-ball 230-odd (225), which is fab-ulous. If you are looking to win games, then you wantto have that time to get 20 wickets," said theKarnataka right-hander. “To get a 250, it’s no jokeand way he is batting is tremendous. The positivi-ty and intent is fabulous. The records and his scores,prove everything that we all need to see (learn).”

In fact, the first session of the second day setthe tone as Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane hardly gaveany chance. “Virat and Rahane during the lastevening, around hour and half, when ball was doinga bit under lights, played really tight. They didn’t giveopposition a wicket, in the first session and that putus in driver's seat and we could do what we did inthe second session.”

Ask him about his manic consistency since 2017,Agarwal spoke about how he focussed on tickingthe boxes rather than instant results.

“You need to put a mark (target) and make surethat at the end of the year, whatever time (frame)you have set, you tick those boxes,” he added.

“Sometimes you put in effort and it's not likeyou get instant result. You have to keep doing yourthings, keep ticking the boxes, keep improving,putting in performances year after year, the selec-tion will eventually come.”

A prolonged stint with the India A team didhelp him, he said. “India A games really helped tobridge the gap between domestic and internation-al cricket, because the kind of (domestic) teams youare facing and kind of teams other countries are field-ing, for those games are top quality. So you knowthat you are almost playing international standardbowling.”

MOST DOUBLE HUNDREDS IN TESTS:

Kohli's inning giveus extra time to get20 wickets: Mayank

Batsman M I N.O Runs AVG H.S 100 50 0 200+Don Bradman (Australia) 52 80 10 6996 99.94 334 29 13 7 12Kumar Sangakkara (SL) 134 233 17 12400 57.40 319 38 52 11 11Brian Lara (West Indies) 131 232 6 11953 52.88 400* 34 48 17 9Wally Hammond (Eng) 85 140 16 7249 58.45 336* 22 24 4 7Mahela Jayawardene (SL) 149 252 15 11814 49.84 374 34 50 15 7Virat Kohli (India) 81 138 10 7054 55.10 254* 26 22 9 7

FASTEST 7000 RUNS IN TESTSBatsman M I TimeWally Hammond (Eng) 80 131 18 years & 238 daysVirender Sehwag (India) 79 134 8 years & 278 daysSachin Tendulkar (India) 85 136 11years & 353 daysGarry Sobers (West Indies) 79 138 16 years & 359 daysKumar Sangakkara (SL) 83 138 9 years & 3 daysVirat Kohli (India) 81 138 8 years & 113 days

INDIA’S HIGHEST SCORES AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA IN TESTSScore Batsman Venue Season319 Virender Sehwag Chennai 2007-08254* Virat Kohli Pune 2019-20215 Mayank Agarwal Visakhapatnam 2019-20176 Rohit Sharma Visakhapatnam 2019-20169 Sachin Tendulkar Cape Town 1996-97

FAISEL FEATURES

PTI n PUNE

India skipper Virat Kohli saysthe responsibility of leading

the team motivates him topush his limits in testing con-ditions which eventuallyhelped score big Test hundreds.

No Indian batsman hasmore double hundreds in Testcricket than Kohli, whosmashed a handful of recordswith his career-best unbeatenknock of 254 on the day two ofthe second Test against SouthAfrica.

He surpassed SachinTendulkar and VirenderSehwag by amassing a recordseventh double hundred, thehighest in Indian cricket his-tory.

The 30-year-old, who nowhas 26 Test hundreds and 43 inODIs, also went past Sir DonBradman’s Test tally of 6,996runs.

“Feels great it's a nice lit-tle thing to get along in yourcareer, to get most number ofdouble hundreds,” Kohli toldBCCI.Tv.

“I struggled to get bigscores initially but then assoon as I became captain thenyou invariably just think aboutthe team all the time, you can’tjust think about your game. Inthat process you end up battingmore than you can imaginethat’s been the mindset for along time now.”

Talking about his unbeat-en 254 here, the skipper saidthinking about the team helpedhim play his marathon inningsin hot and humid conditions.

“It’s difficult but if youkeep thinking (about the) teamthen you push yourselves in sit-uations you can't otherwise.That's the key in hot andhumid, testing conditions youthink about the team and youend up batting 3-4 hours more.”

“That was the only chal-lenging thing and then(Ravindra) Jadeja came to batand you have to run fast withJaddu. It was physically andmentally challenging and butthat’s what you prepare for asan international player”

Talking about his doublecenturies, Kohli said he wouldrank the 200 against WestIndies in North Sound, Antiguaand the 235 against England inMumbai as the top two.

“The top two will beAntigua and Mumbai, the oneagainst England. All doublehundreds are special but thosetwo are more special becauseone was away from home andone against England in chal-lenging conditions, it was veryhot and humid there.”

India declared their firstinnings at 601 for five and thenwent on to reduce South Africato 36 for three.

Kohli added that he wasdelighted by day two's result aseverything went as per plan forIndia.

“The plan was simple, toget to 600 as soon as possibleand make them bat tonight.Jaddu batted brilliantly, at agreat tempo so that allowed meto take risks and hit the gap.That partnership was great forus we also bowled and endedup taking three wickets.

“That was the plan, wewanted to attack and be posi-tive not just play out sessionsand days. Whatever happenedin the end that was the plan,”Kohli said.

Former India cricketerVVS Laxman was lavish in hispraise for Kohli.

“For a player like ViratKohli, batting at this level, islike batting against yourthought process and not againstthe bowlers.

King Kohli climbs new milestonesPUNE: India's batting mainstayVirat Kohli on Friday eclipsedSir Don Bradman and SachinTendulkar while smashing ahandful of records during hiscareer-best knock of 254 in theongoing second Test againstSouth Africa here. Kohli sur-passed Tendulkar and VirenderSehwag by amassing a recordseventh double hundred, thehighest in Indian cricket histo-ry. Bradman tops the interna-tional list with 12 double tonsin his illustrious career.

The Indian skipper, whonow has 26 Test hundreds and69 international tons (43 inODIs), also went pastBradman's Test tally of 6,996runs.

The 30-year-old now has

scored more than 7,000 Testruns since making his debutagainst the West Indies in 2011to break into the top 50 Testrun-scorers, a chart led by bat-ting maestro Sachin Tendulkar(15,921 runs). He has eclipsedSri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya,Australian Steve Smith andformer England batsman LenHutton (6,971) in the list ofmost Test runs.

During his unbeateninnings, Kohli had for a briefperiod of time also surpassedBradman's eight scores of 150plus before reaching his doublehundred.

Bradman had eight scoresbetween 150 and 199 but had12 double hundreds to hiscredit.

Skipper Kohli’s record 7th double ton takeIndia to 601 before SA lose 3 wickets

Virat Innings

Captaincy helps meget big scores: Kohli

MARY LEADS

GOLDSCHARGE FOR

Captain's knock(Mithali, Poonam smash fifties toguide India to 5 wicket win)

Pitches in Indiaare boring for Tests

INDIA FIRST RESTRICTEDSOUTH AFRICA TO A

COMPETITIVE 247-6 AFTERELECTING TO FIELD

AND THEN RETURNED TOOVERHAUL THE TARGET WITH TWO OVERS TOSPARE AND TAKE AN

UNASSAILABLE 2-0 LEADIN THE THREE- MATCH