@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

MONEY 8SENSEX, NIFTY SOAR TO RECORD

HIGHS AMID GLOBAL RALLY

ANALYSIS 7DON’T BE AN ANTI-

VAXXER

SPORTS 11WARNE PREDICTS HUGE

FALL OUT IN OZ TEAM

VIJAYAWADA, THURSDAY JANUARY 21, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

}SVP TO ROLL INDUBAIPage 12

www.dailypioneer.com

RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 3 Issue 70*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864

HYDERABADWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated January 20 , 2021 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Paush & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Ashtami: 03:49 pm

Nakshatram: Ashwini: 03:36 pmTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 01:51 pm – 03:14 pm

Yamagandam: 06:53 am – 08:16 am

Varjyam: 11:06 am – 12:54 pm,

12:00 am – 04:14 am

Gulika: 09:40 am - 11:04 am

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 07:30 am – 09:18 am

Abhijit Muhurtham: 12:05 pm – 12:49 pm

FFoorreeccaasstt:: SunnyTemp: 34Humidity: 56Sunrise: 06:49 amSunset: 06:05 pm

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy will roll out the doordelivery of ration supplies alo-ng with a fleet of 2,500 MobileDispensing Units (door deliv-ery vehicles) on Thursday fromBenz Circle in Vijayawada city.

As promised during his3,648-km padayatra, the ChiefMinister had taken the initia-tive to provide quality rice,right at the doorstep of theration cardholders.

During his padayatra, Jaganwitnessed the plight of elderlyand differently-abled peoplewho were kept waiting inlengthy queues to get the ration

supplies which were of poorquality.

The government aims todeliver quality rice to the card-

holder through a mobile vehi-cle, that would incur an addi-tional cost of Rs 830 crore perannum.

In the earlier PDS, the per-centage of husk and colouredgrains were high, where amajority rejected the ration. Toresolve this, the governmenthas decided to provide card-holders with better quality riceby giving Swarna variety. TheCivil Supplies Departmentmade drastic changes duringthe procurement of rice byreducing the husk and brokenrice to a great extent.

For the first time, qualitysorted rice is being given to thecardholders, with zero per-cent of stones and less than onepercent of dyed or damagedgrains.

Jagan to launch door deliveryof ration supplies to all today

Biden, Kamalatake guard in US

A fleet of 2500 Mobile Dispensing Units (door delivery vehicles) wait at BenzCircle in Vijayawada to be flagged off by Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddyon Thursday.

Purandeswari disagrees withVeerraju, gets an earful

Page 2

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh HighCourt on Wednesday extend-ed its orders preventing anycoercive action against seniorpolice officer ABVenkateswara Rao for anoth-er three weeks.

Hearing a petition filed byABV seeking anticipatorybail, the High Court said thatits earlier orders that nocoercive action shall be takenagainst the senior police offi-cer has been extended by

another three weeks. Earlier, the High Court

had directed that no actionshall be taken against ABVfor two weeks after the ACBsought that much time to filea counter in the case.

A 1989 batch officer, ABVenkateswara Rao, betterknown as ABV, was placedunder suspension on chargesof misconduct in procuringsecurity equipment while hewas working as AdditionalDGP (Intelligence).

PNS n HYDERABAD

A 42-year-old healthcareworker in Nirmal district ofTelangana, who receivedCOVID-19 vaccination, diedearly Wednesday after com-plaining of chest pain, withpreliminary findings suggest-ing the death is unrelated tothe vaccination, a health offi-cial said.

The worker was vaccinat-ed at about 11.30 AM onTuesday at a Primary HealthCentre (PHC) in the districtand he is said to have devel-oped chest pain at around2.30 AM on Wednesday.

He was brought dead tothe district hospital at about5.30 AM, state Director ofPublic Health G SrinivasaRao said in a press release.

"Preliminary findings sug-gest that the death seems tobe unrelated to vaccination,"it said.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Reemergence of a mysteryillness first reported inDecember last year inEluru of West Godavari isleaving health officials per-plexed.

On Wednesday, twocases were reported fromPulla village taking thetotal new cases fromMonday to 28. Pulla is sit-uated about 30 km fromEluru town.

Of the 28, at least threepatients are undergoingtreatment and 25 otherswere discharged afterreceiving treatment.

People have been com-plaining of vomiting, con-vulsion, nausea for the pastthree days. Some of thepatients had suddenly col-lapsed.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Senior TDP leader K KalaVenkata Rao was arrestedat Rajam in Srikakulam onWednesday on charges ofbeing part of a mob thatallegedly pelted stones andfootwear at YSRCP leaderV Vijayasai Reddy’s convoyat Ramatheertham underNellimarla inVizianagaram district.

Six other persons werealso arrested in connectionwith the case.

When reports last camein, the police were shiftingthe TDP leader toNellimarla inVizianagaram district.

Kala VenkataRao arrestedfor attack onVijayasai’s car

Health workerdies after jab

Now, mysteryillness grips WestGodavari lages

HC: No action onABV for 3 weeks

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Accusing two Dalit youths ofstealing hens, some uppercaste persons allegedly tiedthem to a tree and beat themmercilessly in West Goda-vari’s Linga Palem mandal.

Though the incidentoccurred on January 18, itcame to light after a videoclip of the atrocity went viralon social media.

Four persons have beenarrested under SC, STAtrocities (Prevention) Actand other relevant Sections ofthe IPC. Videos of the inci-dent where the teenagerswere surrounded by men,and flogged with sticks, wascaptured by onlookers ontheir mobile phones, and

shared on social media.The victims were identi-

fied as Venkateswara Raoand Santhosh, who arepresently availing treatmentin Chintalapudi governmenthospital.

Dalit youths accusedof stealing, thrashed

PNS n WASHINGTON

Joe Biden took oath as the46th president of the UnitedStates at the Capitol onWednesday. His deputy,Kamala Harris, the daughterof immigrants from Jamaicaand India, also took oath asthe new Vice President of theUnited States. She is the firstBlack person, first wo-man,and first Asian American tooccupy the position.

In his remarks after tak-ing oath, Biden said, “Herewe stand days after a riotousmob thought they couldsilence the will of the peo-ple. It will not happen, nottoday, not tomorrow, not

ever — not ever.” Biden also pledged that he

would be honest with thecountry as it continues toconfront difficulties, sayingthat leaders have an obligationto “defend the truth and defeatthe lies”. “Hear me out as wemove forward,” Biden said.

"I know forces that divide usare deep & they are real. ButI also know they are not new.Our history has been a con-stant struggle betweenAmerican ideal that we're allcreated equal & harsh uglyreality that racism,nativism,fear, demonizationhave long torn us apart,"Biden remarked.

2

2 2

2

2 2

2

Published From VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

{

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

Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any

damage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement before

responding to any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group's will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.

02THURSDAY | JANUARY 21, 2021

EGG RATES

` Rs.49,800 (10 gm)` 180

GOLD

` Rs.70, 600(1kg)` 800

VISAKHAPATNAM 432

HYDERABAD 395

VIJAYAWADA 410

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..4411

SILVER

VISAKHAPATNAM

BULLION RATES

`̀//110000

CHICKEN RATES

Dressed/With Skin `138

Without Skin `157

Broiler at Farm `95

`̀//KKGG

(IN VISAKHAPATNAM)

Farmers are protestingagainst laws that deregu-late the sale of crops,

allowing private buyers freerein in a marketplace that haslong been dominated by gov-ernment subsidies. Farmerssay the reforms that have longprotected small landholders’place in the market will putthem at risk of losing theirbusinesses and land to bigcorporations.

However, what is missing inthis narrative is the culpabili-ty of the market in the messthat the agricultural professionis in today, as well as evidenceon whether, and how, the stateand market have responded tothe agrarian crisis that germi-nated over six decades.

The results after decades ofagriculture development sug-gests that farmers continue tobe vulnerable to frequentepisodes of losses in their eco-nomic activity that neitherthe state nor the markets havebeen able to mitigate.

Market Economy and StateIn his book, Wealth of Nations

(published in 1776), AdamSmith explains that in a mar-ket economy, guided by themotive of self-interest, individ-ual decisions collectively deter-mine the economy's allocationof scarce resources throughfree markets for the socialgood. In other words, opera-tion of demand-and-supplyforces, through a perfectlycompetitive market, results inoptimal allocation of resourcesand a perfect market leads tosocial efficiency and maxi-mum social welfare.

But, in the real world, per-fect competition is not so ‘per-fect’ as it appears at first. Thatmeans unless demand andsupply reflect, respectively, allthe benefits and all the costs ofproducing and consuming aproduct, the prices determinedin perfect competition may notnecessarily be ‘perfect’ or ‘right’ones.

If so, perfect competitioncannot ensure maximumsocial welfare or markets fail toachieve social efficiency.

Economists call this ‘marketfailure’. In ordinary sense, mar-

ket failure means that pricesfail to provide the proper sig-nals to economic agents—consumers and producers— sothat the market does not oper-ate in the traditional way. Thisis also precisely reflected inagriculture markets in India,where neither the producingfarmers nor the consuming cit-izenry is satisfied with theprices.

However, government pol-icy interventions, such as taxes,subsidies, wage and price con-trols, and regulations, mayalso lead to an inefficient allo-cation of resources, or govern-ment failure. Given the tensionbetween the economic costs

caused by market failure andcosts caused by "governmentfailure", policymakers attempt-ing to maximise economicvalue are sometimes facedwith a choice between twoinefficient outcomes, i.e., inef-ficient market outcomes withor without government inter-ventions.

Government should playan important role in bankingand securities regulation,channel investment supportthrough direct transfers toenforce contracts and proper-ty rights. The real challengetoday is about finding theright balance between themarket and government and to

explore farmers' own institu-tions beyond the market andthe state.

Collective Action andCooperative Economics

The collective action orcooperative approach demon-strated by Elinor Ostrom andothers challenges the currenteconomic orthodoxy that thereare indeed alternatives to state,privatisation and markets ingenerating wealth and human

wellbeing.As is known, between the

individual/market/governmenta range of voluntary, collectiveassociations, producer organ-isations, cooperatives, and pro-ducer companies can evolveefficient and equitable rules toget the most out of commonresources. We know that todaythere is an alternative secure,stable and sustainable model ofbusiness owned and controlledby 800 million people world-wide. Cooperatives with over400-million-member farmersare responsible for over 50% ofagricultural production andmarketing in the world. It is nocoincidence that the world’smost successful and stableeconomies generally also hap-pen to have the world’s mostco-operative economies.

Farmer collectives are there-fore viewed as an importantelement in linking smallhold-ers with modern markets(input and output) as they pro-vide many benefits for thisinterface. Further, primaryproducers’ organisations orcollectives are being correctly

argued to be the only institu-tions that can protect smallfarmers from ill-effects ofglobalisation or make themparticipate successfully inmodern competitive markets.Producers’ organisations notonly help farmers buy or sellbetter due to scale benefits butalso lower transaction costs forsellers and buyers, besidesproviding technical help inproduction and creating socialcapital.

A striking example is TheGujarat Co-operative MilkMarketing Federation with 28lakh milk producers whoseAmul brand is a householdname. It transfers 82% of itsretail price to farmers in thesupply chain. A number ofequally successful coopera-tives are running today inIndia and the need to promotethem in the interest of smalland marginal farmers isimmense.

A unique initiative of FarmerProducer Organisations(FPOs), which are member-based farmers’ institutions withthe objective of integration of

smallholders into agriculturalvalue chain, was taken byGovernment of India,NABARD over the last 10 years.About 5,000 FPOs were formed,of which around 3,200 are reg-istered as Producer Companieswhich require not only techni-cal handholding support butalso adequate capital and infra-structure facilities includingfair market linkages for sustain-ing their business operations.Such basic model of “beyondmarkets and states”, is possiblein communities with high lev-els of autonomy and internaltrust when people have a rea-sonable expectation of influenceover the things that affect theirlives.

This is because unlike themarket or state it is only collec-tive action and cooperationwhere efficiency and equitycan be combined and the prof-its arising out of their businessare returned to those who tradewith the business, thus keepingthe wealth generated by localbusinesses in the local commu-nity for the good of the localenvironment and families.

DR RAMESHCHENNAMANENI, MLA

HUMBOLDT EXPERT IN

AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND

COOPERATION

However, what is missing in thisnarrative is the culpability of themarket in the mess that theagricultural profession is in today, aswell as evidence on whether, andhow, the state and market haveresponded to the agrarian crisis thatgerminated over six decades.

Indian farmer at crossroads: Market, state or collective action?

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

If sources are to be believed,BJP AP president SomuVeerraju gave former UnionMinister Purandeswari a pieceof his mind for havingexpressed her opinion againstsending holy water and soilfrom temples in AndhraPradesh to build the Ram tem-ple in Ayodhya.

The outburst by Veerrajucame during the party’s mini-core committee meeting heldat Purandeswari’s residencehere.

Veerraju, who broached thetopic, invited opinions fromother leaders of the party.

To this, Purandeswari, whois also the national secretary of

the party, voiced her opposi-tion and tried to justify herview with political reasons.

“There is no use in imple-menting the idea of sendingholy water and soil from thestate to Ayodhya as it wouldmake the BJP once again thetarget for criticism from vari-ous quarters. It will also remindthe people of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi bringing holywater and soil to build the cap-ital Amaravati and also notimplementing his promise ofSpecial Category Status to AP”,Purandeswari is believed tohave said.

At this, Veerraju reportedlycame down like a tonne ofbricks on her, to the extent thatshe felt humiliated.

The irate AP BJP chief, islearnt to have chided her say-ing:” “How can you still imple-ment Chandrababu Naidu’sagenda? Should the BJP followhis agenda and his politicalline? Should we dance to thetunes of yellow media? Shouldthe BJP give up its political linefearing criticism?”

An embarrassedPurandeswari looked towardsUnion Minister Muralidharanfor help but the latter wasreported to have remainedsilent.

Purandeswari is known toadopt a neutral approach atparty meetings and her oppo-sition to opinion has come asa surprise.

Even while taking part in

party core committee meet-ings, there has been noinstance of Purandeswari voic-ing her opinion, BJP sourcessay.

BJP and RSS leaders havebeen collecting donations forthe Ram temple at Ayodhyafrom traders, business peoplewith the help of the local partyleaders in the districts settingaside the Tirupati Lok Sabhapoll campaign for a period of15 days.

Meanwhile, the party seniorswelcomed the suggestion ofVeerraju to send holy waterand soil to Ayodhya.

They feel that Modi bringingholy water and soil to buildAmaravati should not belinked to Veerraju’s suggestion.

Purandeswari disagrees withSomu Veerraju, gets an earful

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh onWednesday reported noCovid-19 deaths while 173fresh cases were added to theinfection count and 196 peo-ple recovered from the disease.

The states Covid-19 chartnow showed 8,86,418 totalpositives, 8,77,639 recoveriesand 7,142 deaths, according tothe latest bulletin from thestate government.

The active caseload reducedto 1,637, it said. In the last 24hours ending 9 AM on

Wednesday, Chittoor districtreported 46 fresh cases andVisakhapatnam 27. Theremaining 11 districts report-ed less than 20 cases each.

After close to 1.27 croresample tests, the overall infec-tion positivity rate fell belowthe seven per cent mark to6.99.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A delegation of AP BJP lead-ers on Wednesday metAdditional DGP RavishankarAyyanar and sought permis-sion for the party’s proposedRath Yatra, They submitteddetails of the rally along withthe route map.

As per the schedule, theRath Yatra will start fromKapila Theertham in Chittoordistrict on February 4 andcrisscross Nellore, Srisailam,Guntur, Vijayawada,Antarvedi, Pithapuram andfinally reach Ramatheerthamin Vizianagaram district aftera week. BJP state general sec-retary S VishnuvardhanReddy, who was part of thedelegation that met Ayyanar,said that all the details, includ-ing the meetings planned dur-ing the yatra, have been given

to the police. He said party national level

leaders and Union Ministerswill also participate.

After a public meeting onFebruary 4 at KapilaTheertham, the yatra willbegin its journey. He hopedthat the police would notdeny permission for the‘peaceful yatra’. “We hopepolice will give us permissionto take up this peaceful yatra.If they deny permission thenwe will announce our actionplan. As Hindus, we haveevery right to visit temples. Allalong the yatra, we will visitthe temples that have beendesecrated by miscreants. IsCovid protocol being followedat the Christian meetings withlarge gatherings close to theDGP office? How are thosemeetings allowed?”Vishnuvardhan Reddy asked.

BJP leaders meetAddl DGP, seeknod for Rath Yatra

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana and AndhraPradesh figured in the list oftop-10 states in the country inNiti Aayog’s India InnovationIndex ranking released onWednesday.

While Telangana retainedits fourth place, neighbouringAndhra Pradesh climbedthree spots to reach seventhplace, up from the tenth spotit achieved last year.

Karnataka has maintainedits top position, whileMaharashtra has leapfroggedover Tamil Nadu to occupythe second place followed byTelangana, Kerala, Haryana,

Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Among Union Territories,and North-Eastern and hillstates, Delhi and HimachalPradesh occupy the top spotsrespectively.

“As the world grapples withthe Covid-19 pandemic thisyear, the significance of inno-vation is even more greatlyfelt,” Niti Aayog vice chairmanRajiv Kumar said.

He added that while inno-vation has always been pivotalfor higher productivity andeconomic growth, it is alsocrucial for bolstering a post-crisis economy. In this light,the foresight of the Central

government in fostering aculture of innovation throughinitiatives like the AtalInnovation Mission, StartupIndia, etc. is laudable.

“The second edition of theindex will allow states to con-tinue to evaluate their inno-vation environment andassess their progress. Thedivision of innovation intotwo dimensions, namelyinnovation capabilities(Enablers) and innovationoutcomes (Performance) willgive the states a better per-spective for identifying thecritical focus areas,” RajivKumar added.

The last edition of the India

Innovation Index, releasedin October 2019, was a first-of-its-kind metric for assess-ing the innovation capabilitiesof Indian states and UnionTerritories. “Since then, India,and the world, have under-gone a tectonic shift due tothe Covid-19 pandemic. Withthe pandemic triggering aneconomic shutdown, the roleof innovation to revitalisethe economy has never beenmore important,” the reportsaid. The 2020 edition buildson the previous year’smethodology by introducingmore metrics to provide amore holistic outlook of theIndian economy. The frame-

work is updated to includeglobally considered parame-ters for measuring innova-tion, such as the percentage ofGDP spent on research anddevelopment, while keepingthem specific to the Indianeconomy, it noted.

Niti Aayog CEO AmitabhKant said, “I hope that theIndia Innovation Index 2020can help the country recog-nise the key areas of develop-mental intervention, withinnovation as the central dri-ver for growth. NITI Aayogwill continue to take such ini-tiatives that play a significantrole in promoting cooperativeand competitive federalism.”

Continued from Page 1

Meanwhile, TDP leadersand activists alleged that thepolice are deliberately target-ing and arresting party cadresand leaders.

Anticipating untoward inci-dents and protest from thecadre, the police deployedhuge force at Rajam when theyaffected the arrest of KalaVenkata Rao.

Earlier, TDP activists andleaders allegedly attacked theconvoy of Vijayasai Reddywhile he was returning fromSri Kodandarama Swamy tem-ple in Ramatheertham on

January 2. The MP had visited the vil-

lage after the idol of LordRama at the temple wasbeheaded. He had performedpujas along with some YSRCPleaders.

Vijayasai Reddy lodged acomplaint with the Nellimarlapolice blaming Venkata Raoand his supporters for theattack, and added that theywere acting on the TDP supre-mo N Chandrababu Naiduand party AP chief KAtchannaidu who also visitedRamatheertham on the sameday.

Continued from Page 1

Using the volunteer system,quality rice will be distributedat the doorstep of the cardhold-ers by taking their fingerprintsand supplying ration inreusable bags with preciseweight. Every bag of rice issealed and tagged with aunique code, leaving no scopefor adulteration.

By fitting GPS to all mobilevehicles, cardholders will beable to know the deliverydetails real-time through the

mobile app and each vehiclehas to deliver the goods for anaverage of 18 days per month.

Nearly 9,260 mobile vehicleswere purchased at a cost of Rs539 crore to door deliver theration supplies and these vehi-cles were provided by the gov-ernment at 60 percent subsidyto eligible beneficiaries throughvarious corporations underthe Employment GuaranteeScheme for unemployed youth.

The value of each vehicle isRs 5,81,000, of which Rs3,48,600 was provided as sub-

sidy from various Corporationsand Civil Supplies Corporationwill be paid on a monthly basisfor a period of six years.

Going into the details, 700vehicles from ST Corporation?,2300 vehicles from SCCorporation?, 3800 vehiclesfrom BC Corporation?, 660vehicles from Minorities?Corporation?, 1800 vehiclesfrom EWEB Corporation?were provided to unemployedyouth.

In addition to these, theState government is also offer-

ing ration cards to eligiblepeople across the State in just10 days from the date of apply-ing in five categories, which areissuing new ration card, divi-sion of a ration card, addingmembers to a rice card, remov-ing members from a rice cardand surrendering the rice card.

From June 2020 till date,4,93,422 new ration cards wereissued, people were added in17,07,928 new rice cards,4,38,013 rice cards were divid-ed totalling 26,39,363 ricecards.

Continued from Page 1

They suffered injuries ontheir legs, shoulders andback.

Their condition is stable,police said. The victimsbelong to the Mala commu-nity, categorised asScheduled Caste in thestate, while the accused arefrom the Kapu communi-ty.

Venkateswara Rao toldthe media, “On Monday,when we were going to anearby village, we stoppedat a shop in Gonthupaduvillage. While we were hav-ing a discussion whether weshould fill fuel from thebottles available at the shop,Santosh grabbed a bottle.When the shop ownernoticed this, she accused usof stealing petrol and madea scene asking if we werethe ones stealing hens intheir village.”

Continued from Page 1

Articles of charges havebeen framed in December,2020, and the same has beencommunicated to the officer.

A Review Committee, con-stituted by the government,has reviewed the suspensionand recommended that it beextended for 180 days furtherwith effect from August 6,2020, which was accepted bythe competent authority.

Kala Venkata Raoarrested for attack....

HC: No actionon ABV for 3...

Jagan to launch door deliveryof ration supplies to all today

Dalit youthsaccused of ...

Continued from Page 1

As per the guidelines, post-mortem would be conductedby a team of doctors.

The district AEFI (adverseevents after immunisation)committee is examining thematter and it would submitits report to the state AEFIcommittee, the release said.

The state AEFI commit-tee would, in turn, furnishits report to the centralAEFI panel for taking aview, it added. The inocula-tion drive began in the stateon January 16.

Healthworker diesafter jab

AP, TS top India Innovation rankings

Continued from Page 1

"Today, we mark the swear-ing-in of the first woman inAmerican history elected tonational office, Vice-President Kamala Harris.Don't tell me things can'tchange," Biden observed.

Earlier, Trump walked outof the White House for onelast time on Wednesday andheaded to Florida.

In his final remarks beforeleaving the White House,Trump said, “We love theAmerican people and again ithas been something veryspecial. And I just want to saygoodbye, but hopefully it’s nota long term goodbye. We’llsee each other again.”

Biden, Kamalatake guard in US

Continued from Page 1

However, they recoveredafter basic treatment.

Blood samples of thepatients have been sent fortests, as also water and foodsamples.

People in the affected vil-lages have been advised todrink boiled water and soak

vegetables in water for at least30 minutes before cooking.

Medical camps have beenset up and a door-to-doorsurvey is underway in theaffected villages. Senior healthofficials have visited the area.

West Godavari DistrictHospital superintendent AVRMohan observed the symp-toms are almost similar to the

Eluru mystery disease. Most ofthe patients had consumedchicken.

It may be pointed out thatthe high-level team formedwith AIIMS and majorresearch institutions had failedto pinpoint the reason behindEluru mystery cases. They hadsuggested a need for a long-term study into the incident.

Now, mystery illness grips West Godavari lages

AP reports no Coviddeaths, 173 cases

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Terming it as a case of civil dis-pute and beyond the jurisdic-tion of the SIT, the AndhraPradesh High Court onWednesday stayed the probeinto the Waltair Club landdispute in Vizag initiated by theState Government.

After SIT chairman VijayaKumar asked the Waltair Clubto submit the original docu-ment of the lease agreementwith regard to 31 acres in itspossession, the club manage-ment moved the High Court.

The club, located on 15acres of prime land, was pri-marily leased, on perpetualbasis, from one Chetty familyin the year 1900.

But according to the SITofficials, the authenticated copyof the lease agreement, thoughregistered, is yet to be madeavailable to it and it was notrenewed after 1999.

The Waltair Club arguesthat it got patta issued in 1951

under the Estate Abolition Actand by virtue of which theyclaim to be the owner of theland.

But according to the docu-ments available with the SIT,they claim that even the copysupplied by the DistrictCollector does not satisfy theregistration criteria.

Arguing for Waltair Club,senior advocate N. Ashwani

Kumar and DV SitharamMurthy contended that theprestigious institution wasawarded with Settlement Pattaway back in 1964 and findingswere rendered by various rev-enue authorities that theProperty of Waltair Club ispurely private in nature and thegovernment has no claim overit. Ashwani Kumar furtherargued that supplementing the

submissions of DV SitharamMurthy that the term of SIThad ended and it lacked juris-diction to inquire into theproperties of the club, enter-taining any petition in a privatecivil dispute.

The advocates said the HighCourt is of the view that thewhole process of SIT undertak-ing an inquiry is unlawful,without jurisdiction and with-out power and is liable to beinterdicted by the High Court.

Additional AdvocateGeneral P Sudhakar Reddy,appearing for SIT, argued thatSIT was within its term andhad power to examine any dis-pute.

The court was howeverunsatisfied with the submis-sions made and said interest ofPetitioner Waltair Club is to beprotected, granting a stay on allfurther proceedings before SITand further directed SIT not tointerfere with the title, posses-sion, occupation and affairs ofthe club.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Continuing its demolition driveagainst encroachment of gov-ernment land and CoastalRegulation Zone (CRZ) viola-tion, GVMC officials, with thesupport of the police, onWednesday demolished thefirst floor of the popular KamatHotel at Lawson’s Bay Colonyon the Beach Road.

GVMC found that the firstfloor was unauthorised andconstructed in violation ofCRZ norms. Also, a part of thehotel was on government land.

GVMC chief city planner RJVidyullatha said that thedemolition drive against unau-thorised and illegal construc-tions will continue. “We haveasked town planning officialsand employees to report ille-gal structures in their respec-

tive zones,” she said. “When the government

announced its plans to makeVizag the executive capital,many started constructingcompound walls illegally. Wehave taken up a special drive

against them. We are alsochecking CRZ violationsalong the stretch. We havereceived complaints aboutthe violations by the facilityand action was taken,”Vidyullatha said.

03THURSDAY | JANUARY 21, 2021

SHORT TAKES

AUV sanitisation and baggage wrapping services kiosk has beenmade operational at Vijayawada Railway Station to help protectpassengers from Covid. The contract for the kiosk was awarded

under NINFRIS (New, Innovative Non-Fare Revenue IdeasScheme).P Bhaskar Reddy, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager,Vijayawada Division inaugurated the kiosk set up at east bookingoffice concourse (besides ‘May I Help U’ Booth) near the mainentrance of Vijayawada Railway Station. The UV sanitiser facilitates360-degree sanitisation of luggage with the help of UV rays.Luggage wrapping charges also include sanitisation. Both theseservices are optional and passengers can voluntarily get theirluggage sanitised by paying the nominal fees. Bhaskar Reddy saidthat this was the first such arrangement and the division is expectedto earn Rs 4.8 lakh per annum for the Railways. He also said thatsale of Covid-care items is also permitted in the kiosk and appealedto passengers to avail these services for a safer travel.

Luggage sanitising kioskstarts at Vijayawada station

The sensational G Gayatri murder case in Chittoor district hastaken yet another turn, with the main accused committingsuicide on Wednesday. Delhi Babu, who was accused of brutally

murdering his wife Gayatri on Tuesday, had fled into the forest whilethe police carried out a search for him. His body was found hangingon Wednesday afternoon at East Palli area of Penumuru mandal.Gayatri had fallen in love with Delhi Babu and the duo had eloped toget married in Tirupati. The girl's father then lodged a complaint withthe Penumuru police who summoned them for “counselling”. Thepolice then separated them when the young woman changed hermind and said she would stay with her parents.Delhi Babu whothought that Gayatri was ignoring him decided to kill her. In thisbackdrop, Gayatri, who was on her way home on a two-wheeler withher relatives on Tuesday, was waylaid by him at Kothur and stabbed.The girl died while being shifted to Vellore in Tamil Nadu fortreatment.

Cracking the major burglary that had been committed hours before awedding function at a private resort in Rushikonda, Vizag city policehave arrested 29-year-old Pokathota Gangadhar and recovered over530 gm of gold jewellery worth over Rs 30 lakh. According to thepolice Gangadhar had been in prison for a different crime. Soon afterhis release, Gangadhar planned to scale the resort wall and stealornaments and valuables during a marriage function in the resort.A clue left by the thief helped the cops crack the case after fourweeks of manhunt. To solve the case, the cops visited various placesin Andhra Pradesh and other states as well. The burglary incidenttook place on December 24 in a well-known resort near Rushikondabeach in the wee hours when the family members and relatives ofthe bride were asleep.ity police chief Manish Kumar Sinha said thatthey have solved the case with technical evidence and he appreciatedthe efforts of his team. The accused Gangadhar, an orphan, is anative of Vijayawada city and had worked as a waiter in a restaurantin Vizag. He was involved in 18 property offences when arrested.

Sleuths of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) willvisit the villages which pastor Pravin Chakravarti hasclaimed to have converted into 'Christian villages'.“Our

team will visit the villages and find out if the pastor has indeedconverted the people,” said Superintendent of Police, cyber-crime wing, Radhika.The pastor was recently arrested for den-igrating a religion and making provocative speeches on socialmedia. A native of East Godavari district, Sodadasi PravinChakravarti is chairman of some Christian institutions, includ-ing Mother Theresa Schools, KTC Children Home, PVRMEducational Society and Shalom Blind Centre.The SP saidthe team has so far seized electronic devices belonging toPravin found during searches of his properties. “Our teamsare visiting villages to check his claims regarding conversionactivities. A check on his financial dealings is also on. Theraid is in connection with a video in which the pastor claimsto have attacked temples," the police officer said. In a video,the pastor claimed to have kicked idols of Hindu gods.

CID officials were acting on a complaint lodged by oneSingam Venkata Sri Lakshminarayana of Guntur.

Man accused of killing wifeends life

Vizag cops crack Rushikondaresort theft, recover gold

CID team to visit villages‘converted' by pastor Pravin

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In major relief to 11 farmersfrom Krishnayapalem, the TheAP High Court on Wednesdayruled that they cannot bebooked under Sections of theScheduled Castes and Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act,1989.

The farmers had filed apetition seeking quashing ofthe provisions of the Actagainst them. After hearingtheir arguments, Justice MSatyanarayana Murthy of theAP High Court ruled that theSections should be removedand dismissed the casesagainst the farmers.

In October last year, farm-ers from Krishnayapalem inthe State Capital regionblocked an auto on its way totake part in a protest in sup-port of the State Government’sthree capitals decision.

On the same night,Mangalagiri Mandal YSRCPSC cell president E Ravi Babulodged a complaint with thepolice. He said he was threat-ened by farmers when he wentto pacify the farmers.

Police registered casesagainst 11 persons under var-ious sections, including the SCand ST Atrocities Act.

The arrested farmers fromKrishnayapalem included fiveSCs and two OBCs and the

police, ironically, bookedthem, along with four others,under the SC/ST (Preventionof Atrocities) Act.

They were charged withobstructing some Dalits fromneighbouring villages, whohad come to Amaravati lastweek to stage demonstrationsin support of the three capitalsplan.

The Amaravati farmersalleged that the ruling YSRCPleaders had brought outsidersto launch a counter-agitationin support of the three capitalsdecision.

The farmers say that theydid not abuse them or attackthem. “We only questionedtheir credentials while thepolice filed cases against us,”they said.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Vizag police will verify the cre-dentials of auto-rickshaw dri-vers and allow only those withno history of crime and trafficviolations to ply their vehicleat night in the city. While 3,500auto drivers have already beenverified, another 1,500 will beadded to the list.

Auto-rickshaws plying inVizag city limits will now havea unique numbering systemfor identification. As per thenew system, the auto-rick-shaw drivers will be verified bytraffic and crime wing policewith a database to fish out theirhistory and a unique numberwill be allotted to each vehicle.

The police have initiated theprocess after observing thatsome of the auto-rickshaw

drivers have been indulging incrime to earn easy money.

Drivers of the three-wheel-

ers will be required to get thenumber painted along with thename of the respective policestation limits on the front, left,right, and rear of the vehicles.The police have decided totake up this initiative to curbcrime. A senior police officersaid that with more and moreauto-rickshaws hitting theroads for the past few years,coupled with issues like changein ownership of the vehiclesand address, the departmenthas decided on a unique num-bering system to identify theowner and driver. ADCP(Traffic) Ch Adinarayana saidthere are around 25,000 auto-rickshaws plying in Vizag citylimits. The traffic police will

collect details of the drivers,authenticate these details,cross-check violations by thedrivers, and other misde-meanours.

Later, the crime wing policewill cross-check if there is anycriminal history of the drivers.

“If the auto-driver is foundto have committed any crimeagainst passengers, or hadbeen an accused in dacoity,burglary, robbery, or othercases, we will not allot theunique number to those peo-ple. As per the new system, ifthe auto-rickshaw driver com-mits any crimes, he can betraced on the basis of thevehicle’s unique number,” headded.

Only ‘safe’ autos to be allowed to ply in Vizag

HC relief for SC, ST farmersbooked under Atrocities Act

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP MLC Nara Lokesh onWednesday accused theJaganmohan ReddyGovernment of not takingremedial measures to preventfarmer suicides on account ofrising debts and failure ofcrops.

Lokesh expressed concernover how tenant farmer KattaLakshminarayana ended hislife at Chandarlapadu inKrishna district and leftbehind a letter narrating hiswoes. The tenant farmer hap-pened to be a sympathiserand supporter of the rulingYSRCP, Lokesh claimed.

In a statement, the TDPMLC deplored that thoughover 753 farmers committedsuicide, the Government wasnot taking any steps to pre-vent the crisis.

The anti-farmer policies ofthe Jaganmohan Reddy gov-ernment has been causingdistress among the cultiva-tors, Lokesh claimed. He said

that the farmer fromChandarlapadu wrote in hisletter that he was not able toclear his mounting debt.

Lokesh lauded theAmaravati farmers for con-tinuing their agitation forthe past 400 days despite theharassment and false arrestsmade by the Government.The farmers, women, youthand workers in Capital Citywere waging a relentless bat-tle for justice and fulfilment

of promises made onAmaravati by all the parties,he said.

Stating that the YSRCPlacked sincerity when it cameto service, Lokesh said thatthe CM was solely focused onmaking easy money by sell-ing cheap liquor but not tak-ing steps for the supply ofpotable drinking water.

The Eluru public healthblew out of control but theGovernment still has nottaken any preventive steps, healleged, adding that this wasthe reason that 28 personswere not battling ill health atPoolla village in Bhimadolemandal.

Lokesh demanded the gov-ernment declared a healthemergency in Poolla to takenecessary steps for propermedical care. The rulingparty leaders should come tothe rescue of the public byensuring safe drinking waterrather than giving false state-ments or trying to hide theseverity of the issue, he said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Guntur police on Wednesdaysaid that they have cracked themurder of former TDPsarpanch P Ankulu by arrest-ing six suspects.

Addressing the media inGuntur, SP Vishal Gunni ruledout any political motivebehind the murder.

He identified the sixaccused as Karpurapu VenkataKotaiah, GurramVenkateswara Reddy, PottasiriChina Sankara Rao aliasSivaram, Mekala ChinaKoteswara Rao, Pottasiri AnkaRao and Addanki Ramesh.

Four teams were formedand led by police officers of theCI rank under the supervisionof Gurazala DSP.

“Free, fair and frank inves-tigation was carried out to nab

the culprits in the case.Previous enmity led to themurder of Ankulu,” the SPsaid.

He said that on January 3,Chinna Koteshwara Raoinformed the victim that partyleaders had come to meethim. Chinna Shankara Raoand Chinna Koteshwara Raowent to the apartment byauto, Anka Rao and Rameshreached on a motorcycle.Ankulu came in a car andentered the apartment.

They served food mixedlaced with sleeping pills. WhenAnkulu started feeling drowsyand tried to call his driver, theaccused gagged and murderedhim.

The police teams using thelatest technology to identifythe accused, the SP said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Endowments MinisterVelampalli Srinivas onWednesday said that the Stategovernment has appointed anodal officer to start work onreconstruction of nine templesin Vijayawada that weredemolished by the previousTDP government.

“Our Government hasalready sanctioned funds for thereconstruction of these ninedemolished temples and verysoon, the reconstruction workwould begin,” Srinivas said.

He said that endowmentsdepartment additional commis-sioner-2 K Ramachandra Mohanhas been appointed the nodalofficer to oversee the work.

Srinivas reminded thatrecently, Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy had laidthe foundation stone for thereconstruction of demolishedtemples and the Endowmentdepartment took initiative tostart the work.

“The Rahu-Ketu templewould be reconstructed at acost of Rs 70 lakh, SeethammaPadalu at a cost of Rs 9.50 lakh,Dakshinamukha Anjaneyatemple at Rs 31.50 lakh, recon-struction work for theSaneeswara temple will cost Rs2 crore, Anjaneya templebelow the Durga temple Rs 20lakh, Seetarama LakshmanaDasanjaneya temple Rs 10lakh, Veerababu temple Rs 10lakh and GosalaVenugopalakrishna MandiramRs 20 lakh,” Srinivas said.

The Minister alleged thatformer chief minister NChandrababu Naidu merci-lessly demolished templeswhen he was in power but theBJP never raised its voicesince its legislator was servingas the Endowments Minister.

“Now Naidu was perform-ing dramas with an eye on theTirupati by-election and hasembraced the Hindutva agen-da but the people are distrust-ing him,” Srinivas said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP MP KanakamedalaRavindra Kumar onWednesday demanded theYSRCP Government toexplain why it was not exert-ing pressure on the CentralGovernment to fulfil fulfill-ing major State bifurcationpromises like the SpecialCategory Status for AP.

Ravindra Kumar demand-ed to know why the YSRCPMPs and Ministers werekeeping details of ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy's Delhi tour a closelyguarded secret. “It’s unfortu-nate that in his Delhi visit, theCM has not reminded theCentre of its promise onRailway Zone,” the TDP MPsaid.

He recalled how Jagan andYSRCP leaders promised tothe people to pressurise theCentral Government to con-fer SCS if their party wasgiven a sizable number ofMPs. “Though the YSRCPhas 22 MPs, it’s unable to exertpressure on the Centre, forreasons best known to itsleaders,” Ravindra Kumar said.

He asked the Governmentto explain whether or notundue favours were given ingiving bulk cement orders toBharati Cements, IndiaCements and PennaCements. It was well knownthe Chief Minister's familyholds 49 percent stake inBharathi Cements of whichYS Bharati Reddy is also adirector, the MP said.

The Government had alsoraised cement rates abnor-mally only to give excessivebenefits to these companies,he alleged.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Accusing leaders of the mainOpposition party of inten-tionally desecrating idols tocreate communal distur-bances, Minister for AnimalHusbandry and FisheriesSeediri Appalaraju onWednesday alleged that des-ecration of Nandeeshwar idolat Santhabommali templewas the result of a conspira-cy by the TDP.

Addressing the media here,he said that the conspiracy ofTDP supremo and formerCM N Chandrababu Naidubehind the desecration ofidols was exposed with theSanthabommali incident,which took place under hisdirection. He claimed thatNaidu has been spreading liesand falsely accusing the gov-ernment. “A case should befiled against Naidu underSection 153A for exaggerat-ing religious matters, andSections 499, 500 for defam-ing a political party or person,just like during Gujarat riots,”the Minister stated.

Appalaraju demanded toknow why TDP leaders rema-ined silent on the Santh-abommali incident, while theymade a huge ruckus over theRamatheertham issue.

“Desecrating Nandeeshwaridol was clearly recorded inCCTV cameras and theaccused are followers of KAtchannaidu,” he alleged.

In October,farmers fromKrishnayapalemiblocked an autoon its way totake part in aprotest insupport of theGovernment’sthree capitalsdecision.

YSRCP Govt’s failures reasonfor farmer suicides: Lokesh

YSRCP holds TDPresponsible forSanthabommaliincident

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Former Minister and TDPleader Jawahar Reddy onWednesday accused ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan Reddyof acting like a cement mafiadon and looting the public.

In a twitter message, theformer minister alleged thatthe Chief Minister, with thehelp of cement companiesowned by his supporters, werecollecting an additional Rs 100to Rs 150 per cement bag.

“Did Jagan become theChief Minister only to pro-mote sales of BharatiCements? Jawahar Reddyasked.

He accused the CM ofdenying livelihood to con-struction workers just so thathe could earn money illegal-ly. “Nowadays, the state gov-ernment buys only BharatiCement for its construction

activities,” the TDP leaderalleged, adding that theGovernment has been placingorders with the companies ofJagan’s former accomplices.

“The Government placedan order to supply 2,28,370tonnes of Bharati cement,1,59,753 tonnes of IndiaCements and 1,50,325 tonnesof Penna Cements,” he alleged.

“To satiate Jagan’s lust formoney, how many more con-struction sector workersshould become scapegoats,”Jawahar Reddy said.

Ex-Sarpanch murdercase solved, six held

Officer appointedfor temple works

Why is Jaganmum on SCS,asks TDP MP

Jagan acting like adon: Jawahar Reddy

SIT ordered not to interfere in Waltair Club civil row

GVMC demolishes Kamat hotel1st floor for CRZ rule violation

THURSDAY | JANUARY 21, 2021 04

MARTHI SUBRAHMANYAM

n HYDERABAD

To continue the winning streakin Nagarjuna Sagar by-poll too,the BJP has drawn strategy.

As part of the strategy, theparty is planning to set up itsown survey wing and establish90 shakti kendras, one forevery three polling booths, inthe constituency.

To campaign for the party,the BJP will draw party work-ers from seven mandals andtwo municipalities.

The survey wing will assessstrengths and weaknesses ofthe candidates of the rival par-ties. For every 70 voters, apanna pramukh will beappointed, besides a 25-mem-ber booth committee.

The party's vigilante teamswill estimate the impact of var-ious castes in voting and reportback to the party. The reportdeals impact of castes in wards

and identifies the most influ-ential person in the wards?

They also study local factors,including caste, and submit areport to the party to enable itto formulate poll strategies.

State unit vice-president andformer MLA SankineniVenkateswara Rao, who hasbeen appointed in-charge forthe by-poll, started holdingconsultations with party work-ers. According to partysources, Lambadas have a

strong presence in the con-stituency with a population of39,000 followed by Yadavs,32,000. The Reddy populationis put at 26,000.

Out of the 22,000 SCs,13,000 belong to the Malacommunity. The Mudiraj com-munity population is put at8,500. The strength of fisher-man population, MunnuruKapus and the Gowdas is putat 5,000 each.

Kammas figured at the bot-

tom of the spectrum with apopulation of over 3,000.

Leaders of these communi-ties will be deployed to woovoters depending on the casteequation.

The constituency in-chargesaid that the BJP would fire onall cylinders to snatch a victo-ry deploying Union ministersand state leaders for the cam-paign.

"Nagarjunasagar by-poll willset the agenda for the fall ofTRS government. We will workfrom the grassroots level toprove the BJP's critics's predic-tions about the saffron partywrong," he said.

The BJP has not been yetfinalised the candidate, butaspirants Anjaiah Yadav andSridhar Reddy are in the racefor party ticket. However, partyactivists recommend partyticket to the latter.

The party activists inclinetowards Sridhar Reddy's can-

didature as they feel that hewould be able to matchCongress strongman JanaReddy in all respects.

New entrant to politicsIndrasena Reddy is also aspir-ing for the ticket.

In fact, it is not a cakewalkfor the BJP to defeat theCongress veteran Jana Reddyin the absence of a strong BJPleader in the constituency.

The BJP is optimistic that arepeat of Dubbak by-pollwould take place inNagarjunasagar too. The BJPdoes not rule out giving ticketto Anjaiah Yadav in the eventof the TRS fielding a familymember of the deceased MLANomula Narsimhaiah.

Congress nominee JanaReddy has already transformedinto poll mode and has begunmeeting leaders of variouscaste groups and has beenholding meetings with localleaders.

BJP plans 90 ‘shakti kendras’ inSagar to continue winning streak

PNS n SIDDIPET

Rural Water and SanitationMinister Errabelli DayakarRao went candid on Wedn-esday, admitting that it wasMission Bhagiratha, the flag-ship programme of the TRSgovernment that attracted himto the ruling party.

"Though I was heading theopposition party then, I decid-ed not to criticise ChiefMinister K ChandrashekarRao after seeing how efficient-ly Mission Bhagiratha wasbeing implemented in theState. I then decided to resignfrom the TDP and join TRS,"the Minister said, addressing aState level meeting on MissionBhagiratha implementation atKomatibanda near Gajwel inthe district.

Pointing out that the watergrid programme was firstimplemented in Siddipet byChandrashekhar Rao, he saidthe TRS, after coming topower, subsequently replicat-ed it across the State. Hethanked the engineering staffwho worked relentlessly for thesuccessful completion ofMission Bhagiratha.

"During my political careerspanning four decades, I haveseen people toiling hard tofetch a pot of drinking water

from far away places," he said.Though successive govern-

ments in erstwhile AndhraPradesh had spent lot ofmoney on drinking water sup-ply, they could not resolve theproblem permanently, he said,adding that people used to drillborewells spending thousandsto meet drinking water needs."And now, the Chief Ministerhas implemented a projectthat ensures supply of filteredsurface water to each andevery household in the State attheir doorstep," Dayakar Raosaid.

Thanking those who playeda role in successful completionof the works, the Ministercalled upon them to continuethe work with the same com-

mitment since new houses arebeing built everyday across theState.

Secretary to Chief MinisterSmitha Sabharwal said theUnion government has certi-fied that the Telangana govern-ment had completed MissionBhagiratha since they weresuccessfully supplying drink-ing water to 56 lakh house-holds.

"We achieved this feat with-in a short time because everyengineering official fromEngineer-in-Chief to AssistantEngineer worked with com-mitment," she said. Engineer-in-Chief Krupakar Reddy, CEs,SEs, EEs, DEs and AEs from allthe districts have attended themeeting.

‘Mission Bhagiratha’ is reasonfor joining TRS, says Errabelli SAMPATH SUNKARI

n MULUG

The unprecedented victory ofBJP in Dubbak bypoll andGHMC elections has certainlyboosted the morale of party lead-ers and cadre in the entire state.

Cashing in on the opportu-nity provided by the recent vic-tories, BJP leader and RajyaSabha member GarikapatiMohan Rao, is taking all mea-sures to strengthen the party inthe Mulug district.

Ever since, Mohan Rao tookover as the party incharge ofthe Mulug district, he is active-ly participating in the partyactivities.

He has organised a couple ofmeetings at NSR Hotel andparty training session atJangalapally in the district inDecember last year. He has alsoconstituted booth-level anddistrict-level committees.

Mohan Rao, on Monday,successfully organised meetingwith over 2,000 cadres whichis said to have created tremorsamong TRS and Congressparty circles in the segment.

It may be recalled thatGarikapati Mohan Rao workedas publicity in-charge for for-mer TDP chief and formerChief Minister of the unitedAndhra Pradesh ChandrababuNaidu when he organised BusYatra during 2014 General

Elections. Subsequently, Mohan Rao

joined the BJP in 2019 andgrabbed the attention of partynational leaders.

Mohan Rao has been asso-ciated with Mulug constituen-cy since 1978. He worked as apulp contractor in BILTKamalapur unit and was laterelected from the segment. Hewas a trusted lieutenant offormer minister Chandulaland played a crucial role in thevictory of MLA Seethakkafrom Mulug in 2009 polls.

Going by the political devel-opments in the segment,Mulug is likely to witness a tri-angular fight in the next assem-bly elections in 2023.

Speculation is rife that dis-sident leaders and cadres ofTRS and Congress party arelikely to join BJP. Moreover,philanthropic activities of

Mohan Rao may gain give anadded advantage to the saffronparty in the days to come. Even,people from Kamma communi-ty may also come into BJP foldas he belongs to Kamma com-munity.

Dissidence in Congress andTRS

It is learnt that there is dis-sidence in brewing within theCongress against Mulug MLASeethakka alias DhanasariAnasuya. The followers of twotime MLA Podem Veeraiah ofMulug was denied

In 2018 Assembly elections,the Congress denied ticket totwo-time MLA PodemVeeraiah from Mulug and wasshifted to Bhadrachalam.When Veeraiah was shiftedBhadrachalam, his followersshifted loyalties to Seethakka.However, she is reportedlyignoring the followers of

Veeraiah. DCC President Nallella

Kumaraswamy is allegedlyplaying a key role is keepingaside the followers of Veeraiah.

In TRS party too, followersof former minister Chandulalare distancing themselves fromhim ever since he lost seat in2018 to Seethakka.

Several MPPs and ZPTCs ofTRS party are said to beunhappy over the step-moth-erly treatment of Mulug partyin-charge KusumaJagadeeshwar.

As Mulug seat is reserved forSTs, segment in-charge is beinggiven to ZP Chairman aboutwhich aspirants from Tribalcommunity is in pathetic.

Row over AMC chairmanpost

Govind Naik who took VRSfrom government service andjoined TRS in 2001 is beingignored by the party highcommand. During 2018Assembly polls he was deniedMLA ticket and was promiseda nominated post.

Subsequently, Govind Naikwas appointed as AMCChairman. In the meantime,the Adivasi tribals filed a suitagainst Govind Naik statingthat Chairman post should begiven to Agency area tribal can-didate as per PESA Act. In alllikelihood, Govind Naik'sappointment could be nullified.

BJP has sights set on Mulug

PNS n HYDERABAD

Another 15 megawatts fromSingareni Solar Power plant hasbeen synchronised withTransco at Ramagundam-3area power plant onWednesday to fulfill 30 per centpower needs of Ramagundamregion.

Out of the 50 megawatts,Singareni solar power plant atRamagundam-3 area, another15 megawatts solar divisionwas synchronised with TSTransco on Wednesday and

with this, a total of 30megawatts solar power has

synchronised with Transco,Singareni Collieries Company

Limited (SCCL) Chairman andManaging Director N. Sridharsaid in a release here.

Earlier, 15 megawatts wassynchronised with the grid.

With this out of the 129megawatts capacity in the firstphase 85 megawatts Singarenisolar power has been synchro-nised with Transco and the bal-ance 20 megawatts divisionwill be synchronised by the endof next month, he said.

He congratulated the officialsconcerned and staff on the syn-chronisation of 15 megawatts

solar power. 300 megawattsSingareni solar power to beready by December this year,however in the first phase of thesetting up of solar power plantsthroughout Singareni area isalmost completed. 30megawatts from Manuguru, 30megawatts from Ramag-undam-3, 15 megawatts fromYellandu and 10 megawattsfrom Singareni thermal powerplant have already been syn-chronised with Transco.

Sridhar instructed the solardivision officials that the bal-

ance 44 megawatts in the firstphase is to be completed by theend of next month and erectionof 90 megawatts plants in thesecond phase have to be com-pleted by May,2021. 30 per centof usage through solar powerplants only in Ramagundamregion, he said.

Since the balance of 44megawatts installation will becompleted from the first phaseof 129 megawatts, 18.55 millionunits' solar power would begenerated from the first phaseplants by March.

Another 15 mw Singareni solar power synchronised with Transco

PNS n MEDCHAL

Medchal-Malkajgiri DistrictCollector Swetha Mohanty onWednesday said that necessaryarrangements should be madein government and privateschools across district in thewake of the state government'sdecision to start classes for stu-dents of Classes IX and X fromFebruary 1.

Addressing a review meet-ing at her office, the Collectordirected the officials to ensurethat only 20 students attend theclasses in a classroom andonly one student must beallowed to sit on each bench.Medical and hygiene teamsmust be set up on the premis-es of each school, she said.

She advised the officials toset up two isolation rooms inevery school and two Personalprotective equipment (PPE)kits should be made available.Every student should necessar-ily take permission from theirparents to attend the classes,she added.

District Education Officer,officials of all the WelfareDepartments andothersattended the meeting.

Collector clears 100 peningmutations

District collector SwethaMohanty cleared 100 pendingmutations on Dharani portaltill Wednesday. A reviewmeeting was held withTahsildars on Dharani portalat Collectorate.

She asked the officials tocomplete the pending muta-

tions immediately so that theapplicants could receive a copyof the documentation, landorder copy and e-pass bookwithin the stipulated time.

She explained that the reg-istrations of agricultural landsmade by the farmers inDharani were hundred percent cleared and that noapplications were pending.The Collector also directedthe authorities to completethe registrations and muta-tions from time to timeimmediately.

PNS n RAJANNA SIRICILLA

Collector Krishna Bhaskar onWednesday advised the peopleto make best use of the campbeing organised to solve prob-lems related to Aadhaar details.

"We are organising a specialcamp to solve Aadhaar relatedproblems which could not besolve locally for the conve-nience of the people of the dis-trict," the collector said.

The Collector, along withUIDAI Additional DirectorGeneral Satyanarayana, light-ed the lamp and inauguratedthe camp at Sinare Art Galleryin Siricilla. Krishna Bhaskarsaid that the people of the dis-trict need not go to Hyderabadfor getting their Aadhaar issuessolved. The camp would beheld for two days, he added.

Speaking on the occasion,UIDAI Additional DirectorGeneral Satyanarayana saidthat people from different dis-tricts come to HyderabadRegional Office to get theirAadhaar problems solved.

Special camp to solveAadhaar-related problems

District Collector Krishna Bhaskar on Wednesday directed theauthorities concerned to grant timely permits to those who haveapplied for setting up of new industries in the district. The Collectorpresided over a meeting of the District Industries PromotionCommittee held at his camp office and discussed with the committeemembers on the issue of granting permits to industries. Speaking onthe occasion, Krishna Bhaskar said that timely permission should begranted for new rice mills, stone crushers, welding shops, cementbricks, etc. to be set up in the district. Also, Rs 148.50 lakh has beensanctioned to 57 SC / ST candidates who have purchased vehiclesthrough the industrial subsidy scheme, the district collector said.

Grant timely permits for new units, Collector tells officials

‘Isolation rooms, PPE kitsmandatory in all schools’

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana State Public ServiceCommission will conductDepartmental Tests, Nove-mber- 2020 session, fromJanuary 27 to February 3. Thetests which are OMR basedwill held in the offline modein nine district headquarters ofthe State including Hyderabadclubbed with Ranga Reddyand HMDA limits. Candidateswho applied for the examina-tions can download their hallticket from the Commission’swebsite www.tspsc.gov.in from5 pm on January 21, theTSPSC said in a press releaseon Wednesday.

Hall tickets should be pre-served carefully for futureneeds as duplicate hall tick-ets will not be issued underany circumstances, it said. Incase of any difficulty indownloading the hall tickets,the candidates can contacthelp-desk contact number040-22445566, it added.

Will raise Amaravati issue inParliament, says Jayadev PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Guntur MP and TDP leaderGalla Jayadev said that hewould raise the issue ofAmaravati movement in theforthcoming Parliament ses-sion and would work till lastfor the protection of Amaravatias only capital of AP State.

MP Jayadev participated inthe Amaravati Sankalpa Rallyogranised to mark the comple-tion of 400 days of Amaravatimovement.

Telugu Yuvatha RavipatiSaikrishna, CPI state assistantsecretary, leaders ofCommunist parties and farm-ers participated in the rally inwhich MP Jayadev drive atractor in support of Amaravatifarmers.

Recalling the High Courtverdict on insider trading relat-ed Amaravati lands, Jayadevstated that the HC verdictproved the campaign of YSRCgovernment about insidertrading totally false. He saidthat judges can be changed but

the justice would not changeand stated that Amaravatifarmers would get justice fromthe Courts.

MP Jayadev praised theefforts of Amaravati farmersfor conducting continuousprotests for the past 400 days.He alleged that the YSRCPgovernment did not have sen-sitivity hence it did notrespond to Amaravati move-ment. He asserted on the needof converting Amaravatimovement into a State widemovement to take the truth tothe masses. He said that earli-er MPs met home secretary

and take the issue of Amaravatito his notice and now wouldmeet union law secretary seek-ing protection of Amaravati asonly Capital of AP State. MJayadev said that he with otherMPs would raise theAmaravati issue in theParliament session whichwould start on January 29.

Meanwhile, former ministerand TDP senior leaderDevineni Umamaheswara Raotried to join the rally but thepolice did not allow him hencehe conducted Deeksha protestin his house expressing solidar-ity to Amaravati farmers.

GarikapatiMohan Raostrengthensparty fromgrassroots inMulug, formsbooth-level anddistrict levelcommittees

PNS n HYDERABAD

As part of operation smile, theRachakonda anti-human traf-ficking unit (AHTU), con-ducted raids and rescued 26minor children, in four sepa-rate cases, who were employedfor work against the labourlaws in liquor bottle cleaningcompanies, furniture manu-facturing workshops andsamosa-making firms inYadadri Bhongir district onWednesday.

The police have also arrest-ed four persons for exploitingthe children for labour.

The accused persons wereidentified as Challa BapuReddy, Beeram Venkat Reddy,Panjala Veeranna Goud and

Vikas Kumar. Manhunt islaunched to nab the otheraccused involved in the case.

Out of total rescued chil-dren, 18 are boys and eight aregirls between the age group of15 and 17. These childrenbelong to states of Jharkhand(9), Chattisgarh (7), Bihar (3)Madhya Pradesh (3),Telangana (3) and West Bengal(1). These minors are coun-seled and handed over to theirparents. The accused used topay 25 paisa for washing oneempty liquor bottle and Rs 300for a day to each child work-ing in furniture and coolermanufacturing firm. Theaccused used to pay anamount of Rs 50 for making100 samosas.

AHTU rescues 26 child labourers

PNS n HYDERABAD

The father-son duo, who weremoving around in a car thathad stickers declaring them asthe Intelligence Bur-eau (IB),was caught by the NallakuntaTraffic Police during a regularcheck. The car also had anemblem that resembled that ofa government departmentstuck on it. Apart from this,there was a very high freque-ncy wireless set akin to thoseused by the patrol vehicles thatwas placed inside the car so

that those outside would thinkthat they were from the policeor security force.

The police arrested the duo,Murali Chand, 66, and his sonDurga Bhavan Sun-dar, bothresidents of Bagh Amberpet.Enquiries reveal-ed that thatthey had the 'Inte-lligenceInvestigation Bureau' as anorganisation in 2018. Posing asspecial investigation officials,they roamed in the modified carwith stickers, police said. Therewas no confirmation yet onwhether they cheated anyone.

Imposters held in Hyderabad

TSPSC to holddepartmental testfrom January 27

THURSDAY | JANUARY 21, 2021 nation 05

The NCP's Goa unit chief JosePhilip D'Souza on Wednesdaysaid like-minded parties in the

coastal state should decide on analliance in advance for the upcomingstate Assembly polls, instead ofwaiting till the last minute.D'Souza was speaking to reporters inlight of party supremo SharadPawar's visit to the state."The decision on having a pre-poll alliancewith like-minded parties should be taken in advance, without waitingtill the last minute," he said.Pawar is on a private visit to the coastalstate, during which he will also meet the NCP's local leadership. Alast-minute decision will steal the time to prepare from candidates,D'Souza said, adding that he will be discussing the same with Pawarduring his visit. Many leaders from other political outfits have beenapproaching the NCP, but the final decision on their requestwill be taken by the party high command, he said. The statelegislative Assembly elections in Goa are slated to be held in March,2022.

INDIA CORNER

Must decide on tie-up for GoaAssembly polls in advance: NCP

PNS n NEW DELHI

The tenth round of talksbetween protesting farmerunions and three central minis-ters got underway here onWednesday to break the over-a-month-long deadlock on thethree new agri laws.

Ministers Narendra SinghTomar, Piyush Goyal and SomParkash, who is an MP fromPunjab, are holding the talkswith the representatives ofaround 40 farmer unions at theVigyan Bhawan here.

The tenth round of talks wasinitially scheduled on January19, but later got postponed toWednesday.

In the last round of talks, thegovernment had asked protest-ing farmers to prepare a concreteproposal about their objectionsand suggestions on the threefarm laws for further discussionat their next meeting to end thelong-running protest.

But, unions stuck to theirmain demand of a completerepeal of the three Acts.

Thousands of farmers, main-ly from Punjab, Haryana andwestern Uttar Pradesh, areprotesting at various borderpoints of Delhi for over a monthnow against the three laws.

Ministers start 10th round of talkswith protesting farmer unions

PNS n NEW DELHI

Farmer unions opposing theCentre's new agri laws onWednesday rejected a sugge-stion by police officers to holdtheir proposed January 26tractor rally on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expresswayinstead of Delhi's busy OuterRing Road, sources said. Unionleaders and officers of the Delhi,Uttar Pradesh and Haryanapolice forces had met at theVigyan Bhawan here to discussthe route and arrangements ofthe proposed rally on RepublicDay.The sources said that thefarmer leaders were suggestedby the police officers to take outtheir rally on the KMP Expres-sway, but they did not agree.TheOuter Ring Road passes throughseveral areas of Delhi such asVikaspuri, Janakpuri, UttamNagar, Burari Peeragarhi andPitampura. There might beanother round of talks with thepolice officers on Thursday, afarmer leader, who attended themeeting, said. Thousands offarmers, mostly from Punjab and

Haryana, have been protesting atseveral Delhi border pointsagainst the laws for the last 56days and unions representingthem have begun holding tractorrallies at villages in Punjab tomobilise people for thedemonstration on RepublicDay.During the meeting, "wediscussed several points withpolice officers on our tractorrally on January 26", a seniorfarmer leader said. Joint Com-missioner of Police, S S Yadavcoordinated the meeting fromthe Delhi Police, according to thesources.Police officials fromHaryana and Uttar Pradesh werealso present at the meeting, theysaid.The meeting comes on aday the Centre withdrew its pleaseeking an injunction against theproposed tractor rally onJanuary 26 after the SupremeCourt said "it is a police matter".The police have the "authority" todeal with the issue pertaining tothe proposed tractor march inDelhi on Republic Day, said abench comprising Chief JusticeS A Bobde and Justices A SBopanna and Ramasubramanian.

Union leaders reject suggestionof alternative route for rally

PNS n NEW DELHI

A farmer who allegedly onsumeda poisonous substance at theTikri border died during treatmentat a hospital here on Wednesday,police said. The deceased hasbeen identified as Jai BhagwanRana (42), a resident of Pakasmavillage in Rohtak district ofHaryana. He had consumedSulphas tablets at the farmers'protest site at Tikri on Tuesday,they said.In a purported suicidenote, Rana said he was a smallfarmer and many peasants havetaken to the streets to protestagainst the Centre's new farmlaws. "The government says it is amatter of only two to three states,but farmers from all over thecountry are protesting against the

laws. Sadly, it is not a movementnow, but a fight of issues. Thetalks between the farmers and theCentre also remain deadlocked,"he wrote in the letter. DeputyCommissioner of Police (Outer) AKoan said the man was taken toSanjay Gandhi Hospital by CATambulance where he passedaway during the course oftreatment. He added that legalproceedings under CrPC havebeen initiated in the matter.Last month, a lawyer from Punjab

had allegedly committed suicideby consuming poison a fewkilometres away from the protestsite at the Tikri border. A Sikhpreacher, Sant Ram Singh, hadalso allegedly ended his life nearthe Singhu border protest siteclaiming that he was "unable tobear the pain of the farmers".Thousands of farmers, mainlyfrom Punjab, Haryana and UttarPradesh, have been protesting atvarious border points of Delhi forover two months demandingrepeal of the three laws -- theFarmers' Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Act, the EssentialCommodities (Amendment) Act,and the Farmers Agreement onPrice Assurance and FarmServices Act.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre Wednesday withdrewits plea seeking an injunctionagainst the proposed tractor rallyon January 26 by farmersprotesting against the new farmslaws after the Supreme Courtsaid "it is a police matter".The police has the "authority" todeal with the issue pertaining tothe proposed tractor march inDelhi on the Republic Day, said abench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices A SBopanna and V Ramasubramanian. "We have told you thatwe will not issue any direction. Itis a police matter. We will allow

you to withdraw. You are theauthority and you have to dealwith it. You have the powers topass orders, you do it. It is notfor the court to pass orders..,"the bench said in the hearingconducted via videoconferencing. After theobservation of the apex court,the Centre withdrew the pleafiled through Delhi Policeseeking an injunction against theproposed tractor or trolleymarch or any other kind ofprotest which seeks to disruptthe gathering and celebrations ofthe Republic Day.The hearing in the matter is stillcontinuing.

Centre withdraws plea in SCagainst farmers' tractor rally

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Wednesdayexpressed strong displeasureover the aspersions cast bysome farmers' unions onmembers of the court-appointedcommittee to resolve theimpasse over new farm laws andsaid it has not given anyadjudicating authority to thepanel. The Centre, meanwhile,withdrew its petition seekinginjunction against the proposedtractor rally by farmers on the

Republic Day after the apex courtsaid it was police matter. On theissue pertaining to the commit-tee, a bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde said it hadappointed experts in the panel asthe judges are not experts on thesubject. Controversy had eruptedafter the apex court appointedthe four-member committee assome of the members had earlierreportedly expressed their viewsand favoured the contentiousfarm laws, following which oneof the members had recusedhimself.

SC irked over aspersions cast on members of committee

PNS n NEW DELHI

India's COVID-19 active case-load has fallen below the 2-lakh mark after nearly 7months and comprises just1.86 per cent of the total infec-tions, the Union HealthMinistry said on Wednesday.

It said that 72 per cent ofthe active cases are concentrat-ed in Kerala, Maharashtra,Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka,West Bengal.

Thirty-four states and UTshave less than 10,000 activecases.

"The active cases have fall-en to 1,97,201.This is the low-est after 207 days. The totalactive cases were 1,97,387 onJune 27, 2020," the ministryunderlined.

A total of 16,988 peoplehave recovered in a span of 24hours. This has led to a netdecline of 3,327 from the totalactive caseload, it said.

India's daily new cases areon a steady decline which hasalso contributed to the shrink-age in active caseload, it under-scored.

"Globally, India has one ofthe lowest daily new con-firmed COVID-19 cases permillion population in the last7 days," the ministry said.

As on January 20, 2021, atotal of 6,74,835 beneficiarieshave received the vaccination.In a span of 24 hours, 2,20,786people were vaccinated across3,860 sessions. A total of11,720 sessions has been con-ducted so far. The total recov-ered cases stand at 1.02 crore.

"The total recovered caseshave crossed the active case-load by one crore a few daysago. The gap presently standsat 10,048,540," the ministryhighlighted.

Active caseload slips below2 lakh after nearly 7 months

PNS n NEW DELHI

Loss of smell may be the bestpredictor of COVID-19 amongpatients with symptoms ofrespiratory diseases, accordingto new research. The findings oftwo new international studies,published in the journal ChemicalSenses, show that there isfrequent loss of smell in COVID-19 patients which often lasts fora long time. Over 4,500 COVID-19 patients from a total of 23nationalities responded to theresearchers' questionnaire.The studies found that theaverage loss of the sense ofsmell was 79.7 on a scale from0-100, indicating a large tocomplete sensory loss."This emphasises how importantit is to be aware of this symptom,as it may be the only symptom ofthe disease," said AlexanderWieck Fjaeldstad from AarhusUniversity in Denmark.The research found that only

around half of patients with aloss of smell got their sense of

smell back after forty days."This differs from the picture wesee with other viral infections andcauses long-term discomfort forpatients, both in relation to foodand social contact, while at thesame time causing them worry,"Fjaeldstad said.The researchersalso found that the sense of tastewas also significantly reduced, to69.0 on a scale from 0-100,adding the remaining sense offeeling in the mouth was alsoreduced to 37.3 on a scale from0-100. "While the loss of smell initself removes the ability to sensethe aroma of food, thesimultaneous loss of the othersenses make it difficult toregister what you're eating.Putting food in your mouth cantherefore become a decidedlyunpleasant experience,"Fjaeldstad added.The study is of interest both to

patients suffering sensory loss aswell as clinicians and researcherswho work with diagnostics andfollowing-up on COVID-19, theresearchers said.

Loss of smell may be best signof Covid, research confirms

Police have arrested a drugpeddler in Mumbai andseized mephedrone, a

banned drug, worth Rs 1.10crore from him, an official saidon Wednesday. Acting on aninformation, the Mumbaipolice's anti-narcotics cell laida trap on Tuesday andapprehended the 44- year-oldman in Tardeo area, he said. He was carrying a bag from which thepolice recovered 1.10 kg of mephedrone, a banned syntheticstimulant, valued around Rs 1.10 crore, the official said he said.Theaccused, a resident of J J Marg here, has been allegedly involved inselling drugs since last few years, the official said.The police aretrying to find out where the accused got mephedrone and have alsolaunched a search for his associates, he said.A case has beenregistered against him under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugsand Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, he added.

Drug peddler held withmephedrone worth Rs 1.10 cr

Chief Election CommissionerSunil Arora on Wednesdaysaid the 2021 Assam

assembly polls will be heldtaking into consideration theRongali Bihu festival in April andthe CBSE board examinations forstudents of class 10 and 12. Theassembly elections will becompleted before the CBSEboard exams which arescheduled between May 4 andJune 10, he said. "We have already taken the festival intoconsideration before coming here for the review meetings," he toldreporters here. The commission is aware of the festivals held in thestates, the CEC said. He said the commission has also helddiscussions with CBSE officials to decide on the poll schedule."Wehave decided that the election process will be completed before theboard exams which will start from May 4," he said.The elections willbe held in strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols, Arora said,adding that the number of auxiliary polling booths would beincreased. "The number of electors at each polling station has beenrestricted to 1,000 as against the existing 1,500," he said.He alsourged the state election authorities and the people to ensure "fair,peaceful and COVID safe polls". The full bench of thecommission, on a three-day visit to the state since Monday, hadheld discussions with the representatives of political parties andofficials of the government to review poll preparedness.

PNS n MUMBAI

The NCP targeted the BJPover the Guja-rat govern-ment's decision to renamedragon fruit as 'Kamalam',saying the time may not be farwhen the saffron party wouldstart calling the country as"Kamalastan".

The BJP has now started"branding itself on fruits also,"NCP chief spokespersonMahesh Tapase said in a state-ment. Gujarat Chief MinisterVijay Rupani on Tuesday saidhis government has decided torename dragon fruit as'Kamalam'. Reacting to it,Tapase said, "The BJP has nowstarted branding itself onfruits also. We fear that thetime may be not far when theywould start addressing Hind-ustan as Kamalastan." TheBJP's election symbol is lotus,which is called 'kamal' inHindi. Rupani said the gov-ernment has applied for apatent to change the nomen-clature of dragon fruit, whichis largely grown in Kutch,Navsari and different parts ofSaurashtra, to 'Kamalam'.

NCP takes dig atBJP over Guj’sbid to renamedragon fruit

n WASHINGTON

Hours after being sworn in asthe 46th US president, JoeBiden would sign 15 executiveorders -- including rejoiningthe Paris climate agreement, a100-day mask mandate andreversing the Muslim ban --undoing some of the majorpolicies of his predecessorDonald Trump.

Biden's first presidentialactions would also includesending a comprehensive billon immigration to theCongress, incoming WhiteHouse officials said.

The immigration bill pro-poses a eight-year pathway toillegal immigrants and remov-ing the per country cap foremployment-based green

cards, a move that would ben-efit hundreds and thousands ofIndian IT professionals in theUS, whose current wait period

for legal permanent residencyruns into several decades.

"President-elect Biden is tak-ing historic action on day one

to advance his agenda —including signing 15 executiveactions and asking agencies totake steps in an additional twoareas. This compares to twoday one executive actions fromBiden's four predecessors in theWhite House combined,”incoming White House PressSecretary Jen Psaki said.

Biden will continue to takeaction over the next 10 days —and over his entire time inoffice — to address the fourcrises that he's laid out, shesaid. Biden will sign executiveorders, memoranda, directivesand letters to take initial stepsto address COVID-19 pan-demic, providing economicrelief, tackling climate changeand advancing racial equity,officials said.

Biden to sign 15 executive orders on day one as president

n WASHINGTON

Joe Biden, hours after beingsworn in as the 46th President,will send a comprehensiveimmigration bill to Congresswhich among other thingsproposes to eliminate the percountry cap for employment-based green cards, a move thatwould benefit hundreds andthousands of Indian ITprofessionals in the US, whosecurrent wait period for legalpermanent residency runs intoseveral decades.Called the USCitizenship Act of 2021, thelegislation modernises theimmigration system, accordingto an incoming White Houseofficial.It prioritises keepingfamilies together, grows thecountry's economy, responsiblymanages the border with smartinvestments, addresses the rootcauses of migration from CentralAmerica, and also ensures thatthe US remains a refuge forthose fleeing persecution, saidthe official, who spoke oncondition of anonymity.

Describing this as a common-sense approach to solvingimmigration challenges, focusingon what works, the USCitizenship Act 2021 creates aroadmap to citizenship for apopulation that lives and worksin the United States.January 1, 2021 is the cut-offdate for those undocumentedworkers. Two-thirds ofundocumented immigrants havebeen in the US for 10 years orlonger. It provides an immediatepathway to green cards forindividuals who meet certaincriteria as they were dreamers orhave been recipients of theTemporary Protected Status(TPS), or are farm workers andmeet certain criteria.They canapply for citizenship three yearslater. For those who don't meetthose qualifications, there will beanother path to citizenship,where they would be in aninterim status for five years.Afterwards they would be eligibleto apply for citizenship withinthree years after becoming greencard holders.

Biden's immigration bill proposesto eliminate per country cap

n WASHINGTON

President-elect Joe Biden hasnominated Rachel Levine,currently Pennsylvania's tophealth official, as the nextAssistant Health Secretary of theUS, a move that could make herthe first openly transgenderfederal official to be confirmed by

the Senate. Describing thenomination of Levine for the postas historic, Biden said she wouldlead his administration's healthefforts amidst the pandemic.The announcement makes Levine,a 64-year-old pediatrician, to bethe first openly transgenderfederal official to be confirmed bythe US Senate, The Washington

Post reported on Tuesday.“Dr Rachel Levine will bring thesteady leadership and essentialexpertise we need to get peoplethrough this pandemic — nomatter their zip code, race,religion, sexual orientation,gender identity, or disability —and meet the public health needsof our country in this critical

moment and beyond,” Biden saidin a statement.Levine, whocurrently is Pennsylvania'ssecretary of health, has risen tonational prominence for leadingthe state's public health responseto the coronavirus pandemic,despite repeated and ugly attackson her gender identity, the reportsaid.

Joe Biden nominates transgender woman as assistant health secy

PNS n KOLKATA

Days before India celebratesthe 125th birth anniversary ofNetaji Subhas Chandra Bose,the TMC on Wednesdaydemanded that a book chron-icling the history of AzadHind Fauj (INA) - compiled bythe history division of thedefence ministry decades ago-- be made public.

TMC MP Sukhendu SekharRoy, during a press meet here,

said the book, edited byhistorian P C Gupta, is still

awaiting release, as both theUPA and the NDA govern-ments at the Centre did nottake any initiative to get it pub-lished.

He claimed that the PrimeMinister's Office and thedefence ministry have severalfiles on Netaji and his exploitslying with them, all underwraps. "I have raised the issuemany times in the RajyaSabha," he said. Roy also point-ed out that Bengal ChiefMinister "Mamata Banerjee,however, released all Netaji-related files available with thestate government".

Talking about the defenceministry manuscript on INA,he said Chief InformationCommissioner (CIC) of India,responding to an RTI filed bysome Chandrachur Ghosh of

Haryana in 2009, hadordered its release. "...but the

then UPA government saidmore details will be added tothe book before its release, aproposal turned down by a sin-gle bench of the High Court.The court ordered the bookcannot be edited further andhad to be released in its orig-inal form. "Subsequently, thegovernment moved the divi-sion bench and the case is stillpending," the Rajya Sabha MPexplain