PNS n NEW DELHI

"You may be two-three trilliondollar company but peoplevalue their privacy more thanthe money," the SupremeCourt told WhatsAppon Monday as itsought the US-basedinstant messagingfirm's reply on afresh plea challengingits new policy to shareusers' data with par-ent companyFacebook and others.

It is the duty of the judi-ciary to protect citizens' pri-vacy, the top court said, ask-ing WhatsApp as also theCentre to file replies on affi-

davit within fourweeks on the plea

which alleged thatlower standards of

privacy are beingapplied by the firm

for Indians in com-parison to its Europeanusers of the app.

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

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ON MANUFACTURED ITEMS

ANALYSIS 7THE GOVT SHOULD AVOID

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SPORTS 11CHENNAI’S

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VIJAYAWADA, TUESDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

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*Late City Vol. 3 Issue 95*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

{

ModiGovernment’s

stern warning tofissiparous

forces

2

Naidu calls forState-wide

protests on Feb18 against VSP

privatisation

3

Jolt to rulingCong in Pondy;

Malladi KrishnaRao quits

as MLA

3

Panel to suggest steps

for fortifying UCBs

8

VIJAYAWADA

WEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated february 15 , 2021 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Magha & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Panchami: 04:45 am (Next Day)

Nakshatram: Revati: 08:56 pm

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 03:22 pm – 04:48 pm

Yamagandam: 09:38 am – 11:04 am

Varjyam: 07:42 am – 09:28 am

Gulika: 07:42 am – 09:28 am

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 06:17 pm – 08:03 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham: 06:17 pm – 08:03 pm

FFoorreeccaasstt:: SunnyTemp: 32/18Humidity: 51%Sunrise: 06:42 amSunset: 06:18 pm

PNS n AMARAVATI

Jana Sena Political AffairsCommittee chairmanNadendla Manohar onMonday demanded the StateElection Commission to dojustice and initiate the munic-ipal poll process from thescratch, instead of resuming itfrom the stage it was pauseddue to the Covid pandemic.

Manohar appealed to thepoll panel to reconsider itsdecision and hold the polls

from the nomination processonwards. It may be recalledthat the municipal polls hadbeen suspended in March lastyear on account of the Covidpandemic.

Addressing the media here,Manohar said that the SEC’sorders were not in tune withdemocracy and expressed hisire over the YSRCP using vol-unteers to meet its politicalgoals.

Pointing out how all politi-cal outfits supported the SEC

decision when it suspended thepoll process last year due to thepandemic, Manohar allegedthat the YSRCP leaders resort-ed to highhandedness then.

“The YSRCP leaders threat-ened candidates of other polit-ical parties and filed theirnomination papers,” he alleged.

“Therefore, it’s not proper toresume the municipal polls,scheduled to be held in thestate on political symbols onMarch 10,” Manohar said.

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

As expected, State ElectionCommissioner NimmagaddaRamesh Kumar on Mondayissued notification for elec-tions to Urban Local Bodies –Municipalities and MunicipalCorporations across the state.

As per the schedulereleased on Monday, electionsfor 12 municipal corporationsand 75 municipalities will beheld on March 10, and count-ing of votes will take place onMarch 14.

However, contrary toexpectations SEC did notnotification for simultane-ous polls for ZPTCs andMPTCs, as requested by theState government.

With the issue of the notifi-cation, the Model Code ofConduct has come into force inthe urban areas of the entirestate and will remain in forcetill completion of the electionprocess.

It may be mentioned herethat the Model Code ofConduct is already in force inrural areas due to the ongoingpanchayat polls.

The Election Commission’smove comes after theJaganmohan Reddy govern-ment conveyed its willingness

to work with the SEC on hold-ing polls for ULBs.

While there are 15Municipal Corporations and104 municipalities in the state,

elections for MunicipalCorporations in Srikakulam,Rajahmundry and Nellore and29 municipalities / nagar pan-chayats would not be held due

to court cases related to merg-er of gram panchayats andother reasons.

While there was a show-down between the Jaganmohan

Reddy regime and the SECover conducting panchayatpolls, buoyed with the winningstreak in the ongoing pan-chayat polls, the State govern-ment made it clear that it hasno objection to polls for theULBs. Notably, the SEC hadissued notification to continuethe poll process that waspaused last year on March 15,due to Covid pandemic.

The SEC had issued thenotification on March, 9, 2020for conduct of ordinary elec-tions to 12 MunicipalCorporations and 75Municipalities / NagarPanchayats in the State. Theelection process was complet-ed up to the stage of ‘Scrutinyof Nominations’ on March 14.

The Commission stoppedthe election process midway onMarch 15 due to the threat ofCovid-19 for a period of sixweeks and issued furtherorders on May 6, 2020 contin-uing the postponement ofpaused election process untilfurther orders.

Municipal corporationsgoing for elections areVizianagaram, Eluru, Mach-ilipatnam, Guntur, Ongole,Tirupati, Chittoor, Kadapa,Kurnool and Anantapur,Visakhapatnam andVijayawada.

K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

Union Minister of State forHome Affairs G Kishan Reddyon Monday said that theCentral Government will ‘verysoon’ bring comprehensivechanges in the CRPC and IPCas the nation is still implement-ing the laws drafted during theBritish rule.

“An action plan has been ini-tiated in this regard under theleadership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. TheGovernment has been takingthe suggestions of judges, IASand IPS officers. The Centrewould also take suggestions

from key people of the societyand intellectuals,” KishanReddy said.

He made it clear that thechanges would be comprehen-sive.

Kishan Reddy was partici-pating in a meeting withwomen voters at a private hotelhere on Monday as part of theBJP’s preparations for elec-tions to the Legislative Council.

“Atrocities against womenacross the country and in theState are taking place. ManyActs like the Criminal Law(Amendment) Act, 2013(Nirbhaya Act) and Disha Act(AP) have been enacted andinitiatives like SHE Teams(Telangana) have been envis-aged to curb atrocities andmany changes are taking placein the system,” Kishan Reddysaid.

He said that successive gov-

ernments, over the last 72years, amended existing lawsand changed some Sections oradded new one to the CrPCand IPC.

“However, the Centre is try-ing to bring comprehensivechanges to the CrPC and IPCunder Modi’s leadership andguidance of Union HomeMinister Amit Shah. Already,the Union Home Minister hasaddressed letters to variousstakeholders,” Kishan Reddysaid.

He asked the BJP MahilaMorcha leaders and activistspresent at the meeting to givetheir suggestions with regard tothe changes.

PNS n NEW DELHI

In sweeping changes in thecountry's mapping policy, thegovernment on Mondayannounced liberalisation ofnorms governing the acquisi-tion and production ofgeospatial data, a move thatwill help in boosting innova-tion in the sector and create alevel-playing field for publicand private entities.

Under the new guidelines,the sector will be deregulatedand aspects such as priorapprovals for surveying, map-ping and for building applica-tions based on that have beendone away with, Department ofScience and Technology Sec-retary Ashutosh Sharma said.

For Indian entities, there willbe complete deregulation withno prior approvals, securityclearances, licenses, for acquisi-tion and production of geospa-tial data and geospatial data ser-vices, including maps, he said.

Prime Minister NarendraModi said the liberalisation ofpolicies governing the acqui-sition and production ofgeospatial data is a "massivestep in government's vision foran Aatmanirbhar Bharat". The

reform will benefit the coun-try's farmers, start-ups, privatesector, public sector andresearch institutions to driveinnovations and build scalablesolutions, he said.

Science and TechnologyMinister Harsh Vardhan in apress conference said the eas-ing of norms will greatly helpin several sectors that were suf-fering because of non-avail-ability of high quality maps.

"Availability of comprehen-sive, highly accurate, granularand constantly updated repre-sentation of geospatial datawill significantly benefitdiverse sectors of the economy,significantly boost innovationin the country and greatlyenhance its preparedness foremergency response," he said.

‘RSS MARKING HOUSES OF DONORSFOR RAM TEMPLE, JUST AS NAZIS DID’

Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy onMonday accused the RSS of marking housesof those who gave donations for Ram

Temple in Ayodhya and alleged it was similar towhat the Nazis did in Germany. The RSSdismissed the allegations, saying they do notqualify for any response. In a series of tweets,the JD(S) leader claimed that the RSS was bornin India around the time Nazi Party was foundedin Germany. "It appears that those collectingdonations for the construction of Ram Mandirhave been separately marking the houses ofthose who paid money and those who did not,"Kumaraswamy said.

ALL CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEESTO ATTEND OFFICE ON WORKING DAYS

All central government employees havebeen asked to attend office on workingdays, according to a Personnel Ministry

order. The decision comes amid a significantdecline in the number of active COVID-19cases in the country, including in nationalcapital Delhi. However, all officers and staffresiding in containment zones shall beexempted from coming to office till theircontainment zone is de-notified, the statementsaid. Until now, officers of the level of UnderSecretary and above were only attendingoffice due to the coronavirus-inducedrestrictions imposed in March.

3 ARRESTED FOR CHEATING DELHICM’S DAUGHTER OF RS 34,000

Three people have been arrested by theDelhi Police for duping Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal's daughter, officials said

on Monday. "Three accused named Sajid,Kapil, and Manvendra have been arrested forduping Harshita. One main accused isabsconding who used to make fake accountson e-commerce sites," police said. She wasduped of Rs 34,000 on February 7 while tryi-ng to sell a second-hand sofa online. Harshitahad listed the sofa on the online platform.When she finalised the deal with a person, heasked her to scan a bar code to transfer theagreed amount of sofa in her account.

KXIP OPT FOR NAME CHANGE, TO BECALLED PUNJAB KINGS FROM IPL-14

Kings XI Punjab will be called PunjabKings from the upcoming edition of theIPL, the franchise having opted for a

change in name after giving it a longthought. KXIP is one of the eight franchiseteams to have competed in the last editionof the T20 league in the UAE. "The teamwas planning to change the name for a longtime and thought it should be done beforethis IPL. So it is not a sudden decision," aBCCI source told PTI on Monday. Thefranchise, jointly owned by Mohit Burman,Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta and Karan Paul,have failed to win an IPL title so far.

Civic body polls in AP on March 10n SEC issues notifications to resume paused poll process for 12 municipal corporations,

75 municipalities n No notification issued for ZPTCs, MPTCs despite AP Govt’s nudge

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Polls to GVMC, MunicipalCorporations of Vijayawadaand Guntur, seven munici-palities in Guntur district andfive municipalities that comeunder Krishna district will bekeenly watched as the ChiefMinister Y S JaganmohanReddy’s three-capitals deci-sion may have an impact inthose areas.

It’s been argued that peo-ple in Vizag are not ready toembrace the ‘executive capi-tal’ tag as it would disturb thetranquil atmosphere that pre-vails in the city due to thepolitical frenzy if the execu-tive capital starts functioningthere.

In this backdrop, the view

of voters in GVMC limitswould be clear regardingshifting of the administrativemachinery to the city whosepeople are known to preferpeace and tranquillity.

Opposition parties havebeen propagating that thoseliving in Guntur andVijayawada towns that comeunder Amaravati capitalregion are unhappy with

Jagan’s decision to shift thecapital to Vizag and are look-ing for an opportune time toteach a lesson to the currentdispensation.

Amidst such a scenario itwill be interesting to knowthe mandate of urban votersin GVMC and other ULBs inKrishna and Guntur district.

With the kind of thump-ing victory ruling YSRCP hasbeen witnessing in the ongo-ing panchayat polls, it isincreasingly evident thatrural voters are still withJagan and happy with hisgovernance. The poll to localcivic bodies will make itclear if the urban voter is alsowith Jagan on March 14, thecounting day of polls forULBs.

GOLD NEWS FOR START-UPS

All eyes on Vizag, Guntur,Vijayawada corporations

Jana Sena wants municipal election process afresh

Geospatial datapolicies liberalised

Centre to bring changes to CRPC and IPC ‘soon’

People value privacy,SC tells WhatsApp

Centre shortlists fourbanks for privatisationPNS n NEW DELHI

Government has shortlistedfour mid-sized state-runbanks for privatisation, undera new push to sell state assetsand shore up governmentrevenues, three governmentsources said.

Privatisation of the bank-ing sector, which is dominat-ed by state-run behemothswith hundreds of thousandsof employees, is politicallyrisky because it could put jobsat risk but Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's adminis-

tration aims to make a startwith second-tier banks.

The four banks on theshortlist are Bank ofMaharashtra, Bank of India,Indian Overseas Bank andthe Central Bank of India,two officials told Reuters oncondition of anonymity as thematter is not yet public.

Two of those banks will beselected for sale in the2021/2022 financial yearwhich begins in April, theofficials said.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy addresses a meeting ofwomen representatives at a private hotel in Hyderabad on Monday.

2

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In a major relief to YS Jaganmohan Reddy government,Justice DVSS Somayajuluof the Andhra Pradesh HighCourt on Monday stayed theState Election Commission's(SEC) orders suspendingdoor delivery of ration byvehicles in rural areas.

Door delivery of rationscheme has been launchedby Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy amidstmuch fanfare.

However, citing modelcode that had come intoeffect, SEC had issued orderssuspending the scheme inrural areas. On Monday,the High Court said that theinterim orders wouldremain in effect until March15 when the matter wouldcome up for the hearing.

The state government hadapproached the High Courtseeking an order against theElection Commissioner notto obstruct the 'door-to-door ration' scheme in ruralareas. The Civil SuppliesCommissioner had filed asuit challenging the ordersissued by the SEC.

It may be recalled that theState government last weekhad moved the High Courtchallenging the orders of theSEC over door delivery ofration through mobile vans.The SEC had instructed theGovernment to change thecolours on the mobile vans,as they were similar to theYSRCP flag.

Counsel for theGovernment AdvocateGeneral (AG) SubramnaiamSriram told the HC that thescheme was announced in2019 and implemented on apilot basis in Srikakulamdistrict much before theannouncement of panchay-at elections.

HC stays SECorder onration doordelivery

2

22

2

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2021

EGG

RATES

` 48, 290 (10 gm)

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GOLD

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` 2500

HYDERABAD 519

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VISAKHAPATNAM 480

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀55..1199

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BULLION RATES

`̀//110000

CHICKEN

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Dressed/With Skin `161

Without Skin `183

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`̀//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

Recent developmentsprove that vestedinterests create tur-

moil taking advantage ofprotests in India to sway thetide in their favour.

Environmental activist GretaThunberg tagged a toolkit in aTwitter message. Those whoopened the toolkit wereshocked at the contents. Thecreator of the toolkit wasDhaliwal, a Khalistani activistbelonging to Canada. Dhaliwalruns the Poetic JusticeFoundation in Canada.

The toolkit details whoshould join which protest andwhen and how minor things insociety should be blown out ofproportions to indulge in mali-cious campaigns.

Dhaliwal is running an anti-India campaign from foreignshores. Taking out a protest infront of Indian Embassy inCanada on Republic Day, hestated his objective was to splitIndia. Security forces neu-

tralised his uncle as part of theOperation Blue Star in 1984.

On the pretext of environ-mental protection, representa-tives of some overseas organi-sation took part in the mali-cious campaign using thetoolkit. Some Indians are partof the conspiracy. The policeclosed down over 300 Twitteraccounts that spill venomagainst India, used to createbad blood and fuel discontent.The security forces have infor-mation that one of the organ-isations is being funded by theISI of Pakistan.

Prime Minister NarendraModi made it clear that he isnot worried about protests buthe is against those who fueltrouble in the country.

What is the correlationbetween the farmers’ protestsand such elements? It is evidentthat terrorist groups, takingadvantage of farmers’ protests,have been trying to hijack theagitation as part of a national

and international conspiracy.It has become a fashion for

some to raise their voice againstenvironmental problems andhuman rights and take part inone agitation or the other.Knowingly or unknowingly,some educated youth are get-ting pulled into the vicious cir-cle by retweeting posts fromforeign groups.

Recently arrested Disha Raviand Nikita Jacob and Shantanu,against whom warrants havebeen issued, were introduced toPoetic Justice Foundation by aCanadian. The police learnt

that they were in conference viaZoom.

Unless they are interrogated,the real hand behind themcould not be exposed. Thecountry alerted its embassies tofocus on such organisations.

Surprisingly, the Oppositionhas also become part of themalicious campaign.

The response of Congresssenior leaders to the timelyarrests indicates that its seniorsare aghast at the Centre’s action.The budget session provedthat Congress is adept at mis-leading the world by repeating

lies.The Congress describes the

farmer welfare measures asmeasures initiated to benefitcorporates. The Congress findsfault with every decision thatModi had taken during theCoronavirus crisis as one thatbenefited only the rich.

That was why FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman,taking part in a debate on the

Union Budget,demanded toknow who ben-efited most bythe Centre’sschemes – therich or the poor – ofdistribution of foodgrains free of cost to over 80crore people.

Free LPG connections weregiven to over 8 crore people.Cash was transferred into bankaccounts of over 40 crore.Who benefited from the releaseof over Rs 2.76 lakh-croreunder PM Garib Kalyan Yojna,under Awas Yojna (1.76 crorehouses built for the homeless),over 2.67 lakh houses wereenergised under Sowbhagyascheme?

Micro and medium scaleindustries received orders tothe tune of Rs 8 lakh-crore.Under PMGSY, roads werelaid up to a distance of sever-al lakh km. Over nine crorefarmers registered their name

with the E-NAM portaland sold their pro-duce across thecountry. Do hey con-stitute wealthy corpo-

rates, she questioned.Under Mudra Yojana,

beneficiaries received loans tothe tune of Rs 27,000 crore.Similarly, under PM SammanNidhi Yojna, 11 crore farmersreceived Rs 1,15,000 crore atthe rate of Rs 6,000 per head.

The highest quantum offunds was spent under theMGNREGA only in Modi rule.Under the scheme, Rs 90,000crore was spent in 2020-21. Infact, Rs 50,000 crore was spentunder the scheme to benefitmigrant workers in 116 dis-tricts in six states. About 1.15lakh street vendors benefited tothe tune of Rs 10,000 eachunder Pradhan MantriSwanidhi Yojna.

Right from the days of theJan Sangh, the BJP’s policy ispro-poor. Those who criticise

the BJP should know about it.The objective of the policy is tobring sheen in the lives of thosewho figure at the other end ofthe spectrum.

Unlike Congress regimes,the present dispensation hasinitiated policy reforms toensure every rupee spentreaches the people. The AtmaNirbhar Package and agricul-tural laws have been initiatedonly to benefit not only farm-ers but also the poor, Dalits,SCs and STs and middle class-es.

After Modi came to power,every Indian feels proud abouthis or her identity, culture andthe country. Those who are los-ing their identity with eachpassing day, those who want tofish in troubled waters and fis-siparous forces that fear seeingModi even in their dreams areengaged in mudslinging on theBJP.

But the people will seethrough their designs.

Y SATYA KUMAR

BJP National Secretary

TRULY

SPEAKING

What is the correlation between thefarmers’ protests and such elements? It isevident that terrorist groups, takingadvantage of farmers’ protests, have beentrying to hijack the agitation as part of anational and international conspiracy.It has become a fashion for some to raisetheir voice and stage protests.

Modi Government’s stern warning to fissiparous forces

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh on Mondayreported 30 fresh Covid-19cases, the lowest in the past 11months, taking the tally to8,88,899, the government said.

One death was recorded,pushing the toll to 7,163. Thestate also reported 69 morerecoveries in the 24 hoursending 9 am on Monday, ahealth department bulletinsaid. Recoveries mounted to

8,81,041, while the active casesstood at 695, it said.

With 18,834 clinical exam-inations, the total number oftests conducted in the statestood at over 1.35 crore, thebulletin added.

State records 30 freshCoronavirus cases, one death

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The AP Government is draw-ing plans to develop 18 layoutsin 12 towns on a pilot basis aspart of an urban middle classprogramme envisaged to pro-vide low cost plots.

During a review meeting onsolid waste management andurban housing held here onMonday with the officials,Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy suggested changes inthe proposals laid for provid-ing infrastructure facilities insmart townships.

The proposals are laid fordesigning smart towns of atleast 25 acres to 200 acres,depending on the populationof cities and towns. The plan isto prepare the layout within 18months after work starts.

During the review meeting,

the Chief Minister said the goalis to provide high living stan-dards to middle class peopleand directed the officials toprovide undisputed, non con-troversial, clear titled plotswith all the required permis-sions at affordable prices on anon-profit basis to them.

The officials discussed withthe Chief Minister several ofthe plans already being imple-

mented in various states andalso how to create land banksfor the scheme and developinfrastructure.

The Chief Minister said thatproviding plots at affordableprices to middle class peoplewas a continuous process andplans should be made to pro-vide plots to eligible beneficia-ries as and when they apply.

The officials laid proposals

for building ring roads aroundtowns. The designs of roadsshould be such that both thegovernment and people whogive land for the constructionshould benefit and smart townslayouts should come up aroundthe ring roads, Jagan said.

The government will startthe Clean Andhra Pradesh(CLAP) programme with a100-day action plan to keep thestate clean. Plans are afoot forNGOs and public participationin the programme which willhave 3,825 garbage collectionvehicles, more auto tippers, andover 6,000 bins and wastemanagement systems inmunicipalities.

Jagan asked officials to startbio-mining and said that thereshould be change in cleanlinessin the state with these pro-grammes.

AP to develop 18 layouts in12 towns for middle class

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

YSRCP senior leader andRajya Sabha MP V VijayasaiReddy never fails to seize theopportunity to attack theOpposition.

On Monday, he trolled TDPgeneral secretary and MLCNara Lokesh for his blooperwhile addressing a gathering ata hunger strike by one of theTDP leader P Srinivas over theprivatisation of the VisakhaSteel Plant.

Taking to Twitter, theYSRCP leader targeted Lokeshfor getting his facts wrongwhen he said that the TDP hadfought against privatisationof the Visakhapatnam SteelPlant in the year 1978.

In a satiric style, VijayasaiReddy pointed out that TeluguDesam Party was founded in1982. Not stopping there, hetook a dig at both N

Chandrababu Naidu and hisson stating that it could be truethat he (Lokesh) would havefought for the steel plant in1978, as his fatherChandrababu claimed that healso fought for Independence.

In another tweet, theYSRCP leader trained guns onNaidu stating that he wasindulging in 'delusionary pol-itics' just to show that the TDPexisted. “Just by posting fakenews in the yellow mediafavourable to him, would itmean that they have won thePanchayat elections?” theRajya Sabha member ques-tioned.

TDP leader had saidhis party which wasestablished in 1982

had fought for VSP in1978

Vijayasai Reddy trollsLokesh over blooper

MARTHI SUBRAHMANYAM

n VIJAYAWADA

The claims and counterclaims of seats won by YSRCPand TDP in the two phases ofpanchayat polls have beenleaving the people confused.

However, the soon-to-be-held municipal polls will bringdown the curtains on suchconfusion as the results giveno room for any politickingsince they will be fought onparty symbols.

While TDP’s NChandrababu Naidu claimedthat his party backed candi-dates have won 40 per cent ofthe seats, Advisor to theGovernment SajjalaRamakrishna Reddy put thetotal number of seats won bythe YSRCP supporters at 82per cent. Similarly, the JanaSena claimed that its support-ers have won 18 per cent of thetotal seats that were at stake,in the two phases completedso far.

Adding to the confusion isthe fact that media establish-ments known to lean towardseither the YSRCP or the TDPhave churned out statisticsfavourable to their respectivepolitical outfits.

The main reason for theconfusion is that gram pan-chayat polls are being foughton a non-party basis andpolitical outfits do not declare

their nominees officially. Inspite of fighting the polls on anon-party basis, most of thepolitical outfits field theirown party supporters in thegram panchayat polls.

Taking advantage of this,parties lay claims to perform-ing well, and the public has lit-tle option but to take theirword. This is the reason thatboth the TDP and YSRCPhave been claiming excellentperformance on the ground.

YSRCP farmer wing presi-dent MVS Nagi Reddydeclared that the YSRCP won2,640 seats (81.25 percent ofthe total seats), while TDPwon 508 seats (15.63 per centof total seats), the BJP-JanaSena combine won 46 seats(1.41 per cent of the seats)while others had to contendwith 47 seats (1.47 per cent ofthe seats) in the first phase.

In the second phase, he putthe tally of the YSRCP at2,578 (79.51 percent), TDP at531 (16.37 percent), BJP-JanaSena at 32 (0.98 percent) andothers at 101 (3.11 percent).

Nagireddy analyses thateven 90 per cent of the inde-pendents who won the pollswould be those supported bythe YSRCP.

Dismissing this analysis,the TDP claims to have won40 percent of the total votespolled.

Polls to the 12 municipal

corporations, 75 municipali-ties and nagar panchayats tobe held on March 10 wouldput at rest all such confusion.The polls would be fought onparty symbols.

Moreover, the SEC woulddeclare the results, giving noscope to political outfits toindulge in creating confusionwith their claims. In fact, themunicipal polls are regardedas an acid test for the politi-cal outfits.

The YSRCP and TDPwould face no major hurdlesin the municipal polls sincethe elections are being held tourban local bodies. Therewould be no scope for anypolitical outfit to prevent anycandidate from filing nomina-tions.

However, the municipalpolls are likely to pose prob-lems to the BJP-Jana Senacombine. The BJP, a nationalparty, did not declare thenumber of seats it contested inpanchayat polls and the seatsit won. This is attributed to theparty not being able to findsuitable candidates to contestall the seats.

However, in municipal pollsit would be very clear thenumber of seats it will contestand the number of seats itwins. Therefore, the munici-pal polls would set all thespeculations at rest and pro-ject the real ‘hero’.

Municipal polls to set tallclaims of victory at rest

Continued from Page 1

WhatsApp told the top courthowever that Europe has a spe-cial law (General DataProtection Regulation) and ifsuch a law is passed by theParliament then it will followit. A bench of Chief JusticeBobde and Justices ASBopanna and VRamasubramanian said,People have grave apprehen-sions that they will lose theirprivacy and it is our duty toprotect them.

"You may be two or threetrillion dollar company butpeople value their privacymore than the money. Peoplegave grave concern about theirprivacy, the bench said, addingthat there is apprehension thatWhatsApp will share the infor-mation and data about theircircuit of message with others.

Solicitor General TusharMehta, appearing for theCentre said that it is the con-

cern of the nation and theycannot be allowed to shareusers' information with any-one.

They have to follow the lawof the land. They cannot beallowed to share data of userswith anyone, Mehta.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal,appearing for WhatsApp, saidthere is no discrimination inthe new privacy policy.

“The privacy policy whichwill be applied in India issame for the whole worldexcept for Europe. In Europethey have a special law. IfParliament passes such law,then it will also follow it,” Sibalsaid.

The apex court issued noticeto the Central governmentand the Facebook-owned appon an interim application filedby Karmanya Singh Sareen ina pending petition of 2017,which has been referred to theConstitution bench.

At the outset, senior advo-

cate Shyam Divan, appearingfor Sareen and others, arguedthat the plea has also chal-lenged the new privacy policyof WhatsApp which will comein effect from May 15, 2021.

Divan alleged that the app isapplying lower standards ofprivacy for Indians in compar-ison to European users andthey be barred from sharingdata with Facebook and oth-ers.

There is a huge differencebetween privacy policy whichis being applied to Indians andto what is applied in Europe.Unlike in India, in Europe theyhave to take prior consent ofusers before sharing any dataof users. They be directed toapply the same standards ofprivacy to Indians as applied tousers in Europe, Divan said.

He said that till the Centrecomes up with new data pol-icy, WhatsApp be restrainedfrom implementing its newpolicy and direction be issued

to the government to ensurethat the app comply with allthe orders of the court.

“We are impressed by MrDivan's argument that it wasproposed before us (by theCentre) that a data protectionlaw would be brought intoforce," the bench told Sibal,adding, "Now under this newpolicy you (WhatsApp) willshare data of Indians .

Senior advocate ArvindDattar, also appearing for theUS firm, and Sibal said thatthey can swear on affidavit thatWhatsApp does not store orshare any personal data ofusers and all these allegationsare misinformation.

Dattar said the messagingapp is complying with theCentre's guidelines and thispetition under Article 32 of theConstitution is not maintain-able.

The bench said, “Put onoath all this. We are giving youfour weeks to file the affidavit.”

Continued from Page 1

Science and TechnologyMinister Harsh Vardhan saidearlier even the Survey ofIndia, the organisationentrusted with making maps,had to seek permission formapping from different agen-cies, thus delaying its work byat least three-to-six months.

In a series of tweets, Modisaid, "Our government hastaken a decision that will pro-vide a huge impetus to DigitalIndia. Liberalising policiesgoverning the acquisitionand production of geospatialdata is a massive step in ourvision for an AatmanirbharBharat," he said.

The move will unlocktremendous opportunities forthe country's start-ups, pri-vate sector, public sector andresearch institutions to driveinnovations and build scal-able solutions. This will alsogenerate employment andaccelerate economic growth,he stressed.

'India's farmers will also bebenefited by leveraging thepotential of geospatial andremote sensing data.Democratising data willenable the rise of new tech-nologies and platforms thatwill drive efficiencies in agri-culture and allied sectors.

"These reforms demon-strate our commitment toimproving ease of doing busi-ness in India by deregula-tion," he said.

Vardhan explained thatwith the advent of publiclyavailable geospatial services,a lot of geospatial data thatused to be in restricted zoneare freely and commonlyavailable now and some of thepolicies/guidelines that usedto regulate such informationhave been rendered obsoleteand redundant.

"What is readily availableglobally does not need to beregulated," the UnionMinister said.

Geospatialdata policiesliberalised

Continued from Page 1

“The Commissionreviewed the situation anddecided that the situation isconducive for conduct ofelection to Local Bodies andrecently notified the ordinaryelections to Gram Panchayatsin the State, which are under-way. The Commission fur-ther decided to resume thepaused election process ofUrban Local Bodies fromthe stage where it wasstopped on March 15, 2020.Accordingly, the Commissionissued Notifications on Feb15, 2021 to continue the elec-tion process from the stage of‘Withdrawal of Candidature’in respect of 12 MunicipalCorporations and 75Municipalities / NagarPanchayats,” the notificationorder issued by the poll panelchief said.

HC stays SECorder onration doordelivery

Continued from Page 1

The Jana Sena feels that thepolls would not be held intune with the democracy ifthey were to be resumedfrom where they were haltedlast year, he said.

Laying emphasis on theneed to conduct polls, to befought on party symbols, ina manner acceptable to all,the senior leader desired thatthe poll process instil confi-dence among the people andbe helpful to candidates.

Manohar said that hewould stand by the Jana Senacandidates through thick andthin. The volunteers havebeen threatening to stall thepoll process by writing gov-ernment schemes’ names onvoter slips, alleged.

Alleging that the YSRCPhas been misusing the volun-teer system for its selfishness,he called for transparency inthe urban local body polls.

Jana Senawants...

People value privacy, SC tells WhatsApp

Centre shortlists four banks for...Continued from Page 1

The shortlist has not pre-viously been reported.

The government is con-sidering mid-sized to smallbanks for its first round ofprivatisation to test thewaters. In the coming yearsit could also look at some of

the country's bigger banks,the officials said.

The government, howev-er, will continue to hold amajority stake in India'slargest lender State Bank ofIndia, which is seen as a'strategic bank' for imple-menting initiatives such as

expanding rural credit.A f inance ministr y

spokesman declined tocomment on the matter.

India's deepest econom-ic contraction on recordcaused by the pandemic isdriving the push for bold-er reforms, economists say.

PNS n HYDERABAD

TTD Executive Officer Dr KSJawahar Reddy instructed theengineering officials con-cerned to send proposals totake up development works ofVeda Pathashala in

Keesaragutta, Telangana. TheEO reviewed the develop-ment of Vedic institution onMonday

Veda Pathashala PrincipalK Mallikarjuna informed EOthat the hostel buildingaccommodates only 40 pupils,

though as many as 120 stu-dents were presently studyingin the institution.

He urged the EO to getinstalled barricades to preventthe entry of wild beasts intoYagashala and Vedapathashalapremises.

TTD to develop Keesaragutta

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2021

Naidu calls for State-wide protests on Feb 18 against VSP privatisation

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Thousands of people inMicro, Small and MediumEnterprises (MSMEs) unitsdependent on PSUs likeRINL-Visakhapatnam SteelPlant feared privatisationwill further hit the sectorbadly.

There are industrial zonesat Autonagar, Gajuwaka,Atchutapuram, Parawada,K a n c h a r a p a l e m ,Pedagantyada, Gambheeram,Gurrampalem andRachapalle inVisakhapatnam district witharound 10,000 MSME units.They are mostly involved infabrication, lathe work, coirprocessing, casting andmachining. Of these, 1100MSME units, mostly fabrica-tion units, have mushroomedin Autonagar after commis-sioning of theVisakhapatnam Steel Plant.

They are largely gettingorders through steel plants,BHPV and HSL and HPCL,Refinery and Railways. TheMSME units have beenunder stress due to thereforms like demonetisation,GST and the never-beforeeconomic meltdown inducedby Covid-19 pandemic.

“The revival packagesannounced by the state andUnion governments havesomehow helped in increasingliquidity. But lack of demandis a concern,” said VisakhaAutonagar Small ScaleIndustries Welfare Associationpresident AK Balaji.

“The public sector canplay a crucial role in demandcreation, particularly by sup-porting the MSME sector.The government has alreadymandated that at least 25percent of its requirementshave to be procured fromMSMEs. The current situa-

tion calls for a more concert-ed effort to increase thispercentage as much as pos-sible, keeping in mind theindividual needs of differentsectors. However, the privateunit complying with themandatory procurementorder is always doubted,” heexplained, fearing that pri-vatisation of PSUs will fur-ther weaken the MSMEunits. The PSUs, MSME andother ancillary sectors havebeen generating hugeemployment in the Port Cityin comparison with the pri-vate sector.

The MSME units havebeen urging the Union andState Governments to ensurethat the public sector unitsgive priority to the localMSMEs while placing orders.

Visakhapatnam Steel Plantgenerates around 3 lakh to 4lakh employment bothdirectly and indirectly.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP National President andformer Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu onMonday has called upon hisparty leaders and cadres totake part in massive protestsall over the State on February18 to denounce privatisationof the Visakha Steel Plant.

Naidu stressed the need forwaging a relentless agitationagainst the ruling YSRCP'sulterior plans in the dealwith the South Korean com-pany, POSCO. It was only tosave himself from his illegalassets cases that ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy was bent on handingover the steel plant to privatehands, he said.

In a statement here, theTDP chief asserted that hisparty would do everythingpossible to prevent the stategovernment from carryingout its nefarious designs anyfurther. “Protest rallies wouldbe organised from village tostate level. Over 32 lives weresacrificed to save the steelplant in the past,” he said.

Naidu said that the ChiefMinister has apparently got asecret deal with POSCO onlyto grab the surplus lands ofthe VSP which command avery high value in the market.“Out of his unquenchablethirst for personal gains, theChief Minister has been pros-trating before the Centrewith respect to the steel plantissue,” the TDP chief alleged.

He deplored that in thename of privatisation, thesteel plant has been weakenedwithout trying for minesexclusively meant for it. “Thepeople of the State got thesteel plant after a prolongedstruggle. Once again, it wasfor the people of AP to agi-tate and save the steel plantfrom all future threats. Itwas high time to teach astrong lesson to the rulingYSRCP,” Naidu said.

MSMEs fear RINL privatisation will badly hit local business

RINL PRIVATISATION

TDP leader Palla Srinivasa Rao’s hungerstrike enters sixth day, sugar level drops

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

BJP leaders from AndhraPradesh met Union SteelMinister Dharmendra Pradhanin Delhi on Monday in a bid todissuade the proposed privatisa-tion of the RINL-VisakhapatnamSteel Plant. The delegation alsoproposed merger of the steelplant with other PSUs like that ofthe public sector banks.

AP state president SomuVeerraju, former Union ministerDaggubati Purandeswari, MLCMadhav and former ministerAdinarayana Reddy were part ofthe delegation. The meeting issaid to have lasted for half-an-hour. The BJP’s AP leaders arefacing the wrath of the public dueto the privatisation decision of theUnion Government.

Addressing the media later,Veerraju said that the agendawas to explain the sentimentsof the people about the VizagSteel Plant. He said that theyhad requested the UnionMinister to search for alterna-tive steel plants, leaving theVizag plant as is. The BJP statechief said that he had put a pro-posal before the Union SteelMinister to merge the steelplant with PSUs on the lines ofmerger of banks.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

United Nations AssistantSecretary General Satya STripathi on Monday metChief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy at thelatter’s camp office here.

During the interaction, theChief Minister said the stategovernment has been work-ing to promote natural farm-ing and organic farming andalso to provide marketingfacilities to farmers. He saidsteps were taken to providetraining to farmers throughthe Rythu Bharosa Kendras(RBKs).

Satya S Tripathi saidregarding waste to wealthconcept, that the latest tech-nology to segregate electron-ic waste from plastic waste isavailable through e-clusters.

The Chief Ministerexplained the necessity forrecycling food processingwaste. Later, he said the offi-cials of the departments con-cerned should take move for-ward in this regard.

The duo also discussed onthe necessity to achieve car-bon neutrality through natur-al farming. The ChiefMinister said the state gov-ernment was ready to providecomplete support to theUnited Nations and also towork with it.

He said that partnershipagreements with globalorganisations would benefitthe state and change the livesof the people and providinginternational marketing facil-ities for organic products

would also benefit small andmarginal farmers.

Tripathi told the ChiefMinister that he was confi-dent that the welfare schemes

being implemented byAndhra Pradesh Governmentsuch as YSR Rythu Bharosa,Cheyuta and Asara wouldbring change in the lives ofthe people and bring aboutsustainable development. Hecongratulated the ChiefMinister for promotingorganic farming and saidAndhra Pradesh has becomea role model for other statesand countries through it.

AP community managednatural farming executive vicechairman T Vijay Kumar wasalso present.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Accusing TDP supremo NChandrababu Naidu of changinghis stance to cover up his party’spoll debacle, YSRCP GeneralSecretary Lella Appireddy onMonday said that people havelost faith in TDP and have shiftedto YSRCP as can be seen by thegram panchayat poll results.Addressing a press conferencehere, Appireddy said that Naidu,who backed State ElectionCommissioner NimmagaddaRamesh until the elections, hasnow changed his stance and isspeaking against the SEC byalleging irregularities in theballot, though it was the TDPchief himself who haddemanded that the polls be heldby ballot. Speaking with regardto TDP agitation for the

Visakhapatnam Steel Plant(VSP), he said that theprivatisation process was initiallystarted during the TDP back in2017, where former UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitleyhad released papers regardingdisinvestment and the thenruling party in the state hadmaintained silence despite beingpart of the Union Government.He stated that TDP leaders haveno moral right to call forprotests on the VSP issue.Appireddy further said thatpeople were laughing at theremarks of Nara Lokesh in Vizagand advised him to start anindefinite fast to save the VSP.He assured that the Stategovernment shall protect thesteel plant and YSRCP leadersare ready to make sacrifices asand when needed.

TDP has no right to protestfor VSP: Appireddy

BJP leaders meetPradhan, proposemerger of RINLwith other PSUs

UN Asst Secretary Generalmeets CM, discusses farming

Accused inYSRCPcorporator’smurder held PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The murderer of KakinadaYSRCP corporator KamparaRamesh was arrested by thecops on Monday.

Gurajana Chinna aliasSatyanarayana ran his carover Ramesh thrice followinga drunken brawl over a realestate matter.

The CCTV footage of thedeath of the KamparaRamesh had gone viral onsocial media. Chinna andhis family members fled fromKakinada and switched offtheir mobile phones. Specialpolice teams were formed totrace the culprits.

According to the police,five men, including Rameshand two of his friends, alongwith Chinna and his brother,had been boozing together,when Ramesh and Chinnagot into an argument.According to the Sarpavarampolice, the accused invitedRamesh to a relative’s birth-day party in another location,but Ramesh did not acceptthe invitation.

Chinna then decided toleave and got into his car.When Ramesh couldn’t findhis own car keys, he stood inthe way of Chinna’s car, notallowing him to leave untilthey found his keys, policesaid. As Ramesh stood block-ing the car, Chinna alleged-ly drove into him. ThoughRamesh’s friends tried tomove him, he was repeated-ly run over by the car, policesaid.

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy welcomes United Nations AssistantSecretary General Satya S Tripathi who called on him at his camp office onMonday.

The duo alsodiscussed on thenecessity to achievecarbon neutralitythrough naturalfarming.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

As TDP leader Palla SrinivasaRao’s hunger strike over privati-sation of the RINL-VSP enteredthe sixth day on Monday, a teamof doctors that inspected hisweakening health said his bloodsugar levels have gone down. If hecontinues with the strike, the doc-tors said that his health may dete-riorate and his kidneys may beaffected.

This led to concerns among hisfamily members and the TDP alsoheld an emergency review meet-ing to decide its future course ofaction. TDP AP president KAtchannaidu chaired the emer-gency meeting that was attendedby Ganta Srinivasa Rao, AyyannaPatrudu and BandaruSatyanarayana.

Srinivasa Rao, the TDP’sVisakhapatnam Parliamentaryconstituency president,announced the hunger strike tilldeath against privatisation of theVisakhapatnam Steel Plant andvowed to continue his protest tillthe Centre withdrew the privati-sation proposal.

His hunger strike has gar-nered support from many leaderscutting across party lines. TDPgeneral secretary Nara Lokeshspoke to Srinivasa Rao and hiswife.

CPI leader K Narayana too metSrinivasa Rao and expressed hissolidarity. The CPI leader said thatthose planning to purchase thesteel plant need to be stopped atany cost and questioned theCentre of its decision to sell theplant that was achieved by the sac-rifice and struggle of Andhra peo-ple.

PNS n PUDUCHERRY

In a jolt to the four-and-a-halfyear-old V Narayanasamy-led Congress governmenthere, senior party legislatorMalladi Krishna Rao onMonday resigned from thepost of MLA.

A communication purport-edly sent by Rao to the mediasaid that he conveyed his res-ignation in his letterhead toSpeaker V P Sivakolundhufrom his home town ofYanam.

He stated that he tendered"his resignation of my seat inthe House with effect fromFebruary 15." However, whencontacted a spokesman of theAssembly said the office ofSpeaker had not received anyletter from Rao today.

Rao had quit the post ofHealth Minister some weeksago. But the Chief Ministerdenied such reports at pressconferences that Rao had quit

the post. Rao was not availablefor confirmation over phonewhen PTI attempted to con-tact him.

An official source in theAssembly said that theSpeaker was "out of station."

Malladi Krishna Rao is thethird Congress legislator toquit the post of MLA after theformer PWD Minister ANamassivayam and ETheeppainjan on January 25.N Dhanavelu, a Congress

member was disqualified inJuly last year for alleged anti-party activities.

If the Speaker accepts hisresignation, the strength of theCongress in the 30-memberHouse will come down to 11.The Congress had won 15assembly seats in the 2016Assembly polls including theSpeaker.

The Congress hinges onthe support of the three mem-ber DMK and an Independentfrom Mahe, NRamachandran.

On the opposition side, theAINRC has seven memberswhile AIADMK has four andthere are three nominatedmembers belonging to theBJP.

Rao's resignation has comeas a bolt from the blue to theCongress when the party isgoing ahead with arrange-ments for the visit of partyleader Rahul Gandhi onFebruary 17.

Jolt to ruling Congress in Pondy;Malladi Krishna Rao quits as MLA

YashodaHospitals treats 10K patientswith RapidArc

PNS n HYDERABAD

Students of University of Hy-derabad on Monday staged adharna protesting against theadministration for collectingodd and even semester feetogether, Development fee,Lab, Sports and Internet fee.

The students sent mass e-mails to the administration andstaged protest by holding plac-ards with a demand to revokespecial fees.

The university was closeddue to Covid-induced lock-down in March, last year. It isalmost one year and studentshave not been availing anyfacilities on the campus.

According to the students, asthe new semester is beginningnow, the university was collect-ing the fees of both the semes-ters together without any relax-ation.

The Students Union hasappealed to the student com-

munity not to pay the fees untilthe administration revokes theunwarranted fees. The stu-dents union plans to gherao theadministration on Tuesdaywith a demand to revoke theDevelopment fees, Lab fees,Sports fees, Internet fees andcollection of odd and evensemesters' fee together.

UoH Students' Union pres-ident Abhishek Nandan said,"Students' Union had urgedthe administration not to col-

lect fees during last semesterregistration. HCU is a campuswhere majority of the stu-dents are from marginalisedsections of society. We havebeen complaining about thisissue to the CE office and thetaskforce since long time.Instead of taking a positivestand, they are putting stu-dents to hardships. We willfight this autocratic and callousattitude of the universityadministration.”

UoH students protest against special fees

Petrol theft on the rise in Moosapet PNS n HYDERABAD

Bheemudu, a resident ofMoosapet, filled the fuel tankof his motorbike at night as hehad to go to hospital the nextmorning. However, in themorning his bike refused tostart. After failing to start hisbike following several attempts,he checked the fuel tank andfound that not a drop of petrolwas there. He wants the rob-bers to think twice beforestealing petrol from vehicles.

Bheemudu is not alone.Several other residents - most-ly poor workers of nearby fac-tories - living in Moosapet arefacing the same problem.Stealing petrol from parkedvehicles is on the rise in thecity, especially in Moosapetregion, as the robbers find it isless risky, compared to stealingcash, jewellery, cell phonesand robbing ATMs.

In Moosapet, the robberstarget the parked two wheelersafter 11 pm to steal petrol. Thepoor people, who are beingrobbed, often keep quiet out offear and are more inconve-

nienced by the theft as theyoften are not in a position tobuy petrol again immediatelyafter the theft for rising petrolcost and shortage of cash.

Theft of petrol is beingreported from the Goodsshedroad, Janata Nagar, Yadav Basti,Mushkipet, Vaddera Basti wardoffice, Anjaiah Nagar and otherlocalities in the region.

In the Moosapet locality,there are several multistoriedbuildings without any parking

facility. As a result the peopleliving in those buildings are leftwith no other option, but topark their bikes on the open,thereby exposing themselvesmore to the handiwork of thepetrol thieves. Theft of petrol- done out of mischievousnessor necessity - has been posingproblems to the vehicle own-ers.

If removing petrol in the eas-iest possible way becomes dif-ficult, the robbers are not hes-

itating to break open the tankto steal petrol.

A person, who recentlymoved to Moosapet, notedthat fuel was stolen from hisvehicle tank as the robbersbroke open the fuel lock tosteal the fuel. As a remedy topetrol theft, the poor vehicleowners of the area are nowremoving the petrol from thetanks of their bikes at night andrefilling it in the morningwhen they go to work.

If removingpetrol from two-wheelers in theeasiest possibleway becomesdifficult, therobbers are nothesitating tobreak open thetank to stealpetrol.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A three-year-old baby girlwith a brain tumor hasbecome the 10,000th patientat Yashoda Hospitals inHyderabad to be treatedusing RapidArc radiotherapytechnology from VarianMedical Systems.

The treatment comes justsix years after RapidArc wasfirst introduced clinically atYashoda hospital, whichtreats more than 4,000patients a year from the statesof Telangana and AndhraPradesh. "The patientresponded well to the treat-ment," said Dr. G S Rao,director of Yashoda group ofhospitals. Yashoda was thefirst hospital in India to intro-duce RapidArc treatmentsand over the past six years ithas phased out the use of 'sta-tic-field' intensity modulatedradiotherapy.

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2021 telangana 04

RAJESH JAIN NIDARKAR

n HYDERABAD

The farmers of Telangana, whohave been waiting for theTurmeric Board till now, are leftdisappointed. The Central gov-ernment has signaled that it willnot set up crop-wise boards inthe country. The UnionMinistry of Agriculture hasdecided to merge the existingboards across the country intothe Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR).

There is currently no board inthe country specifically for theturmeric crop. The Spices Boardis based in Kochi. Its regionaloffices are in Warangal andHyderabad. The board alsoincludes spices such as turmer-ic, ginger and garlic. Farmershave been demanding for along time to separate theturmeric from it and set up aspecial National Turmeric Boardin Nizamabad.

On the other hand, the SpicesBoard has not yet filled the postssanctioned for its regional officesin Warangal and Hyderabad.There is only one employee inthe Hyderabad office and onlyfour employees in Warangal. Inthe wake of the farmers' agita-tion for the turmeric board,political pressure led to the set-ting up of a regional office inNizamabad and the relocationof three employees fromWarangal.

The Central government has

recently made it clear that thecost is rising due to the presenceof several boards in the agricul-ture and allied sectors. Hence,the proposal given by theMinistry of Agriculture tomerge them into existingNational Research Institutes onbehalf of the ICAR.

The Committee of Experts,set up to study the decision ofthe Centre to merge the variousexisting boards suggested thatthe existing crop-wise boards bebrought under one umbrella (onthe same platform) in order to

bring about revolutionarychanges in the agricultural sec-tor and doubling the income ofthe farmers.

The Ministry of Agriculture,which has provided compre-hensive information on allsubjects, has decided to mergethe research institutes andstudy centers in the ICAR.Leaders of well-known oppo-sition parties are, however,agitating on the subject underthese circumstances. Thepromise made by NizamabadMP Dharmapuri Arvind that

he would resign if he does notget the turmeric board hasbeen used as a political weaponby some political parties inTelangana. Chengal Reddy,president of the All IndiaFederation of Farmers'Associations, condemned theabsurdity of the agitation. Hesuggested that the farmerscome forward voluntarily andset up a board. He said therewere many opportunities toturn turmeric into a profitablecrop with cooperation.

According to the leaders ofthe farmers' associations, havingone board for each crop is ben-eficial for the farmers. The sci-entists and experts on the boardthen will work on that crop.They will constantly study thelatest development concerningthis crop not only in the coun-try but also around the worldand try to make it available tofarmers.

Given the stance of the cen-tral government the formationof the turmeric board with theproposal to merge the spicesboard with the ICAR remainsquestionable. It will not be pos-sible to set up a turmeric boardin Telangana during this criticalcondition, experts dealing withthe subject feel. However, anofficial of the spices board, oncondition of anonymity, said theformation of the turmeric boardwould be possible only if PrimeMinister Modi took the initia-tive in these circumstances.

Separate Turmeric Boardremains a distant dream

n There is currently no board in the country specifically for the turmeric crop. TheSpices Board is based in Kochi. Its regional offices are in Warangal and Hyderabad.The board also includes spices such as turmeric, ginger and garlic

n Farmers have been demandingfor a long time to separate theturmeric from it and set up aspecial NationalTurmeric Board in Nizamabad

Sugna Metalsholds seminarfor masons

PNS n JAYASHANKAR BHUPALA PALLY

Minister of for BC Welfare ofMaharashtra Vijay Wadettiwarand his wife visited theKa l e s hw ar- Mu kte s hw arSwamy shrine at Kaleshwaramin Jayashankar Bhupalpallydistrict on Monday. The min-

ister and his wife performedkumkumarchana and wor-shiped Goddess Parvati. Thetemple officials accorded thema warm welcome upon theirarrival at the temple whilepriests blessed the couple.Temple officials Umashankarand others were present on theoccasion.

A priest felicitates Minister of for BC Welfare of Maharashtra Vijay Wadettiwarand his wife at Kaleshwar-Mukteshwar Swamy shrine at Kaleswaram inJayashankar Bhupalpally district on Monday

PNS n NIZAMABAD

Minister for BC WelfareGangula Kamalakar has putthe objective of the governmentis to pass laws in tune with theneeds of the BCs. Addressing ameeting of BCs held here onMonday, along with MLCKalvakuntla Kavitha, heexpressed concern over theneglect of the BCs by rulers ofthe undivided Andhra Pradesh.

The BCs got educationalopportunities only in the tenureof the Telangana government, hesaid pointing out how lakhs ofBC students pursuing educationin residential educational insti-tutions meant for them. Thecredit for creating a Corporationfor the BCs, including nomadic

tribes in the list of BCs, goes toChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, he said.

The TRS government hasbeen striving to improve theskills of BCs in their caste-basedvocations and trying to savethem, he said. He said that

financial assistance was extend-ed for the self-employment ofBCs through its industrial ser-vices business scheme. Underthe KCR Apathbandhu scheme,ambulances are being given tothe unemployed BC youth, hesaid. He demanded that the BJP

MPs elected from Nizamabaddistrict fight with the Centre toset up the Union Ministry forBCs. Kavitha said that every BCstudent should pursue an edu-cation in the State. It is thedream of the Chief Minister. Sheurged Kamalakar to set up twohostels in the city for BC boysand girls.

Govt strives for uplift of BCs: Gangulan The BCs got educational

opportunities only in thetenure of the TS govt,Minister for BC WelfareGangula Kamalakar saidpointing out how lakhs of BCstudents pursuing educationin residential educationalinstitutions meant for them

PNS n HYDERABAD

Several leaders from variouspolitical parties demandedthat the State governmentinstal freedom fighter,Communist leader and formerMP the late BommaganiDharma Biksham’s statue onTank Bund. They opined thatDharma Biksham’s ethical anddemocratic practices wouldhelp the movements beinglaunched by the present gen-eration against the undemoc-ratic policies.

Participating in‘Bommagani DharmaBiksham Centenary Birth

Anniversary celebrations’inaugural meeting atBasheerbagh Press Club hereon Monday, CPI State secre-tary Chada Venkat Reddy saidthat the CPI would organiseyear-long ‘Dharma Bikshamcentenary birth anniversary’celebrations and conduct apublic meeting on the con-cluding day of fete i.e; onFebruary 22.

Stating that he was fortunateto work with DharmaBiksham, TTDP chief LRamana demanded that thegovernment install DharmaBiksham’s statue on Tankbund.

PNS n PATANCHERU

Teamwork is the ability towork together towards a com-mon vision, said the distin-guished speakers. A five-daynational level FacultyDevelopment Programme(FDP) on ‘Team Building andCoordination’ was inaugurat-ed at The Department ofTraining and Placements ofGITAM Deemed-to-beUniversity, Hyderabad onMonday sponsored by theAICTE Training and Learning(ATAL) Academy.

Prof B Rajasekhar, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, theUniversity of Hyderabad, wasthe chief guest and key-notespeaker. Prof VVV NagendraRao, Director, GSHS ofGITAM, Hyderabad, presidedover the programme.

Prof Rajasekhar highlight-ed the challenges posed whileworking in teams, the impor-tance of teamwork anddynamics. Continuous mon-itoring, motivation, enthusi-asm, empowering, trustwor-thiness, dependability, reliabil-ity will come into the picturewhile one is working in ateam, he opined.

For better teamwork, hesuggested, “We need to bepositive, optimistic, moreemphatic and also need tobuild such kind of environ-

ment where the people canwork better and can give theirbest.”

Prof Nagendra dealt withthe relevance of the FDP inthe present-day context inhis presidential remarks. ProfRaja, P Pappu, Director,Research & Consultancy ofGITAM, highlighted theimportance of team building.Prof N Seetaramaiah,Principal, School ofTechnology, thanked ATALacademy for providing a goodopportunity to organise anational level programme.

In his opening remarks, DrNathi Venu Kumar, Director,Career Guidance Cell of

GITAM, spoke briefly aboutthe usefulness of the FDPand the objectives. T Joseph RJayakar, the convener of theFDP, informed that theyreceived the overwhelmingresponse from more than 350enthusiastic participantsacross the country, due to lim-ited seats, they restricted to200 from 23 States.

Dr Tejaswani, associate pro-fessor, Department of Englishproposed a vote of thanks.Prof GA Rama Rao, Principal,Prof A Sreeram, Director,Students Affairs, HoDs ofvarious engineering and basicscience departments, facultywere also present.

CPI Statesecretary ChadaVenkat Reddy,TTDP chief L Ramana andothers pay tributesto freedom fighter,Communist leaderand former MP thelate BommaganiDharma Bikshamon his centenarybirth anniversarycelebrations’meeting at PressClub in Hyderabadon Monday

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) PresidentN Uttam Kumar Reddy exud-ed confidence that the Congresswould win the elections for theMahabubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad and Khammam-Warangal-Nalgonda Graduates'constituencies of TelanganaLegislative Council.

He was addressing a pressconference at Gandhi Bhavanon Monday after officiallyhanding over B-forms to theCongress candidates - formerminister G Chinna Reddy(Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad) and ex-MLCRamulu Naik (Khammam-Warangal-Nalgonda).

Uttam Kumar Reddy saidthat the Congress has pickedhighly efficient, able and com-mitted leaders as its candi-dates for MLC polls. He saidChinna Reddy holds a PhDdegree in Agriculture and isknown for his honesty andsimplicity. Chinna Reddy hasbeen serving the people selfless-ly without having expectations.

Similarly, he said RamuluNaik was born into a poor fam-ily and came up in his life afterthe struggle. He reminded thatRamulu Naik had played a keyrole during the Telanganamovement. Uttam Kumar

Reddy said both the candidateswere highly capable of servingthe people, especially inaddressing the needs of gradu-ates, including employees andjobless youth.

"Telangana became a realitydue to the struggle and sacri-fices made by the students.Similarly, thousands of employ-ees risked their jobs and careersof their children by participat-ing in the 'Sakala Janula Samme'for over 40 days to achieve state-hood. However, neither stu-dents nor employees benefitedfrom the formation ofTelangana. Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao and hisfamily took control of allresources and neglected every-one," he said.

Similarly, Uttam KumarReddy said that the TRS gov-ernment lured the jobless youth

in the 2018 Assembly elec-tions by promising them Rs.3,016 unemployment allowanceevery month. However, thispromise was not fulfilled evenafter two-and-a-half years. Healleged that CM has been cheat-ing the jobless youth ever sincehe came to power in June 2014.

Speaking about the BJP,Uttam Kumar Reddy said thatthe BJP government at theCentre has been renderinginjustice to Telangana sincethe beginning. He saidTelangana remained neglectedin the Union Budgets since2014. Furthermore, he saidthat the promises, which weremade under Andhra PradeshReorganisation Act was yet tobe fulfilled. He ridiculedTelangana BJP President BandiSanjay's attempts to incite com-munal hatred in Telangana.

‘Graduates must rejectunethical politics of TRS-BJP’

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President N Uttam KumarReddy addresses a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad on Monday

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

Sugna Metals organised aseminar for masons andconstruction workers hereon Monday in associationwith Raghupathi Reddy, adealer of Sri Sai Enterprises.The seminar was attendedby masons and constructionworkers from acrossKarimnagar.

This is the first awarenessprogramme being conduct-ed under the aegis of SugnaMetals after lifting the lock-down. Company senior salesexecutives Satyam Mishraand Niranjan Pradhanexplained about their prod-ucts. Many accidents aretaking place at the construc-tion sites and workers areadvised to take precautions.Bharat Kumar Agarwallaunched Sugna Metals in2008 in Parigi to make thebest quality steel, which isused in constructions.

A mason receives a silver coin fromthe representative of Sugna Metals ata seminar in Karimnagar on Monday

Congressleaders wishShabbir Ali onhis birthdayPNS n HYDERABAD

Former minister MohammedAli Shabbir's 65th birthday wascelebrated across Telangana,including in Hyderabad andKamareddy, with fanfare onMonday.

Because of the Covid-19pandemic, Shabbir Ali haddecided to celebrate his birth-day in a simple manner with-out cutting the cake. Therefore,his followers organised blooddonation camps and distrib-uted food, fruits and milkamong the poor inKamareddy, Yellareddy,Banswada, Machareddy,Domukonda, Bibipet andBhiknoor.

Fruits were also distributedamong patients at theGovernment Hospitals inKamareddy, Banswada andYellareddy Assembly seg-ments. They also distributedblankets among the needy.Food distribution was alsoheld in Hyderabad and organ-ised in other parts of the State.

In Kamareddy, in all 65Congress workers donatedblood. Shabbir Ali's fans haveerected banners, hoarding andcut-outs at prime locations,especially in various parts ofTelangana, especially inKamareddy district.

Senior leaders of theCongress party, includingAICC In-charge ManickamTagore, AICC Secretaries BoseRaju, R Srinivasan, TPCCPresident Uttam KumarReddy, CLP leader BhattiVikramarka, WorkingPresident A Revanth Reddyand other senior leadersextended their greetings toShabbir Ali. Ex-PCC PresidentPonnala Lakshmaiah whosebirthday also falls on Mondayalso wished Shabbir Ali.

PNS n HYDERABAD

TPCC working president andMalkajgiri MP A RevanthReddy alleged that the farm-ers are committing suicides asthey are not getting the remu-nerative price to their produce.He demanded that the ChiefMinister comes out of hisfarmhouse and see the prob-lems of the farmers.

Addressing the gathering atKandukur, Debbadaguda vil-lages in Mahabubnagar districton Monday, he stated that thetime has come to teach a les-son to TRS leaders and alleged

that the TRS government isacquiring lands from the farm-ers forcefully in the name ofPharma City.

He said that the peoplewould dethrone PrimeMinister Narendra Modi incase he fails to repeal thefarm laws. He alleged that theModi government is suppress-ing the farmers’ agitation withthe pressure from the corpo-rate companies. He said thathe will announce his actionplan on the farmers’ move-ment against the farm laws inthe meeting to be held onTuesday at Ravirala.

PNS n HYDERABAD

To mark the birthday of ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao, Civil SuppliesCorporation under the super-vision of its chairmanMareddy Srinivas Reddy onecrore saplings would beplanted on February 17.

Addressing the media hereon Monday, Srinivas Reddydisclosed that the pro-gramme would be imple-mented under the auspices ofGreen India Challenge. Aspart of that initiative, theyhave promised to work forthe green Telangana by plant-ing saplings on the premisesof all ration shops, rice millsand warehouses across theState. Apart from this, herevealed that in all the districtheadquarters of the State,charity programmes wouldbe conducted and specialpujas would be performed.

Revanth’s actionplan against farm laws today

Civil SuppliesCorpn to plant1 cr saplings

‘Instal Dharma Biksham’sstatue on Tank Bund’

TRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha submits a memorandum to Minister for BC WelfareGangula Kamalakar in Nizamabad on Monday urging him to construct a BC Bhavan

TPCC workingpresident A Revanth Reddyflanked by elderlywomen embarkson padayatra atKandukur,Debbadagudavillages inMahbubnagardistrict onMonday

‘Provide conducive atmospherefor employees to give their best’

One of the speakers speaks at a five-day national level Faculty DevelopmentProgramme (FDP) on ‘Team Building and Coordination’ GITAM Deemed-to-beUniversity in Hyderabad on Monday

Maha minster offers prayers at Kaleshwaram temple

LoksattaSrinivas diesdue to CovidPNS n KARIMNAGAR

Loksatta district presidentNaredla Srinivas (67) passedaway here on Monday.Srinivas, who was infected bythe Covid-19 virus fifteendays ago, breathed his lastwhile undergoing treatmentin a private hosopital here onMonday. He is survived bywife and two sons.

It may be recalled thatSrinivas and his wife Madhuunderwent Covid-19 test onFebruary 1 and tested positivefor Coronavirus on February2. While his wife underwenttreatment in home isolation,he was admitted to a hospi-tal on the same day.

All these days, he was puton a ventilator as his lungswere infected by 80 per cent.Though the family membershad tried to shift him toHyderabad for better treat-ment, they failed to do due tofluctuations in oxygen levels.

A native of Kandugula ofHuzurabad mandal, Srinivaspursued education inKarimnagar and joined as anemployee in Union Bank andworked as Manager ofKarimnagar branch. Afterretirement, he started work-ing on public issues especial-ly against corruption underthe banner of Loksatta.

He waged a relentlessstruggle on behalf of victimsin the issue of ASI MohanReddy’s illegal financing caseand did justice to victims. Healso fought against theBommakal land scam. Beingthe president of KarimangarConsumers Forum, he filed anumber of cases on behalf ofthe public.

PNS n WARANGAL URBAN

Resource management in FogComputing was very complicat-ed as it engages significant num-ber of diverse and resource con-straint Fog nodes to meet com-putational demand for IoT-enabled systems in a distributedmanner, said Prof Peddoju SatishKumar. Professor of CSE, IIT,Roorkee, said its integrationwith Cloud triggers further dif-ficulties in combined resourcemanagement.

Addressing the participantsafter inaugurating an AICTESponsored Short Term TrainingProgram (STTP) on “IoT simu-lation by Fog Computing andEdge Computing using Open-source Tools” being held byKakatiya Institute of Technologyand Science (KITS), Warangal,via online on Monday, ProfPeddoju said that integration of

the Fog Computing with Cloudtriggers further difficulties incombined resource manage-ment.

“Nowadays, the term FogComputing is getting hugeprominence for the network-based smart environment. Theterm Fog Computing was pre-sented by Cisco with the motiveto extend the cloud computingnear to the control and manage-ment region of the end-users.Fog Computing enables users toaccess the services and objectswithout dependency on theInternet,” he added.KITSPrincipal, Prof K Ashoka Reddysaid that a large number ofdevices and gadgets are connect-ed with advance wireless tech-nologies for different applicationsincluding communication, sur-veillance, security, messaging,social media, defence, smartregions and many others.

‘Resource management in Fog Computing complicated’

PNS n NEW DELHI

The CBI has registered an FIRagainst nine former and serv-ing officials of the NTPC foralleged shortfall of cementand steel stock worth over Rsone crore at its upcoming4000 MW plant at Lara inChattisgarh, officials saidMonday.

The NTPC had approachedthe CBI in December, 2019with a complaint against itsofficials. The agency couldnot take any action as theChhattisgarh government hadwithdrawn its general consentto allow the CBI to operate inits jurisdiction in January thatyear.

The CBI approached thegovernment seeking permis-sion to probe the case whichwas granted in November lastyear following which the cen-tral probe agency registeredthe FIR against the nine offi-cials.

Those booked include thethen AGM BP Biswal (nowretired) and DGM BN Prasad(terminated), they said.

Serving officials includeDGM SN Mandal, AssistantManager SK Mishra, EngineerSK Sahu and Junior EngineersKanak Saha, HarshvardhanMathia, Sudhir Purohit and LPRatre, they said.

It is alleged that in spite ofclear directives about physicalverification of steel, cementand other construction relatedstocks procured by storesdepartment, the exercise wasnot carried out by officials con-cerned from 2012-15, they said.

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2021 nation 05

Afire broke out inthe thicket inAarey Colony

area of Mumbai onMonday afternoon,and three firefightingvehicles andpersonnel wereengaged in dousingit, an official said.There is no report ofany injury or damageto property rom the fire that started in the grass banks near RoyalPalms Society and Royal Palms Hotel inside what is a major greenlung of the metropolis, a fire brigade official said."The blaze started around 2:40 pm. Efforts are on todouse it.

The state government should allot at least 7 per cent of itsfunds to the health and medical department in the upcomingbudget, its minister Amit Deshmukh said in Aurangabad on

Monday. He told reporters that this demand had been conveyed toChief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and thestate cabinet had also discussed it. "The allocation forthe health and medical education department was 3.5 per cent lastyear. It should be 7 per cent this time," Deshmukh said.

Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Monday handedover the trophies of best

marching contingents of thisyear's Republic Day parade to theJat Regimental Centre and theDelhi Police."The Jat Regimental Centre

bagged the trophy of bestmarching contingent among thetri-services, while the Delhi Policewas adjudged as the best marching contingent among the CentralArmed Police Forces (CAPF) and other auxiliary services," theDefence ministry's statement noted.In his speech at the event, Singh lauded the "courage and valour" of

the Jat Regimental Centre while praising the Delhi Police for"effectively carrying out additional responsibilities".

INDIA CORNERFire in Aarey forest, dousingoperation on; no property damage

Maha health and educationdept must get 7 pc funds

Trophies to Jat RegimentalCentre, Delhi Police

PNS n NEW DELHI

The action taken by the DelhiPolice on an FIR related to atoolkit shared by climate cam-paigner Greta Thunberg insupport of the ongoing farmerprotests has triggered a war ofwords between the oppositionand the ruling BJP.

Accusing the government of"murdering democracy" byusing force against a 21-year-old, the opposition on Mondaysaid the voice of India cannot besilenced even as the BJP defend-ed the action, saying a crime isa crime no matter at what age.

Congress leader RahulGandhi led the oppositionoffensive following the arrest of21-year-old Disha Ravi in thecase and said the country willnot be silenced.

"Your lips are free to speak.Say that the truth is still alive.They are scared, not the coun-try," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

"India will not be silenced,"he added.

Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal said, "Arrest of 21year old Disha Ravi is anunprecedented attack onDemocracy. Supporting ourfarmers is not a crime."

RJD leader Manoj Jha saiddemocracy is under threat. "Iam worried about democracy,as it is passing through the mostdifficult times," he said.

Union minister andBharatiya Janata Party (BJP)leader Gajendra SinghShekhawat tweeted: "If age is thecriteria then Param VeerChakra Second Lt ArunKhetarpal, martyred at 21 iswho I am proud of. Not sometoolkit propagandists."

BJP general secretary B LSantosh tweeted: "21 yearold...environment activist...stu-dent...Are these credentials for

becoming a part of breakingIndia forces? How does she getthe access for editing tool kit...?Why she is part of anti-nation-al WhatsApp groups...? Manyquestions...But only oneanswer...21 year old."

"Bengaluru, Greta Thunberg,Vegan, sole bread winner, stu-dent, 21 year old, passionateactivist...so many attempts towhite wash a sin...!! Not oneanarchist ready to answer thequestion...How 21 year old stu-dent got access to edit Toolkit,"he asked.

Former Union ministers PChidambaram and JairamRamesh have also come outstrongly against the policeaction in the case, accusing thegovernment of running an

authoritarian regime as it wasthreatened by a student.

"I strongly condemn thearrest of Disha Ravi and urge allstudents and youth to raisetheir voices to protest againstthe authoritarian regime,"Chidambaram said.

"The Indian state must be

standing on very shaky founda-tions if Disha Ravi, a 22 year oldstudent of Mount Carmel col-lege and a climate activist, hasbecome a threat to the nation.

"A 'took kit' to support thefarmers' protest is more danger-ous than the intrusion by

Chinese troops into Indian ter-ritory. India is becoming thetheatre of the absurd and it issad that the Delhi Police hasbecome a tool of the oppres-sors," he said in a series oftweets.

Ramesh said, "Delhi Police onthe rampage. After Disha Ravi,

it is now the turn of anotheryoung woman, Nikita Jacob.More will no doubt follow...."

"This is Tanashaahi in NewIndia called Amit Shahi," hesaid.

"The arrest and the mannerof arrest of green activist DishaRavi shows clearly the intensi-fying Murder Of Democracy inIndia. But the young in Indiacannot be silenced. More powerto them," the former environ-ment minister added.

In a tweet in Hindi, Congressgeneral secretary PriyankaGandhi Vadra said, "The oneswith guns are afraid of anunarmed girl. The flames ofcourage from an unarmed girlhave spread." She also usedhashtags "ReleaseDishaRavi"

and "IndiaBeingSilenced".Congress leader Rajeev

Gowda said an activist whostands up for farmers, fights forthe planet is arrested on flimsygrounds. "Has the governmentlost its balance? Will not suchtrumped-up charges, seeingconspiracy in regular social

media mobilisation, do moredamage to democracy?" heasked.

New Delhi : Non-bailablewarrants have been issued againsta Mumbai lawyer and a Puneengineer for allegedly creating aprotest toolkit backing thefarmers' agitation along witharrested climate activist DishaRavi and collaborating with pro-Khalistani elements, Delhi Policeofficials said on Monday. Lawyer Nikita Jacob and engineerShantanu, who are absconding,also attended a Zoom meetingorganised by 'pro-Khalistani'group Poetic Justice Foundation,Joint Commissioner of Police(Cyber) Prem Nath said at a pressconference.

The three had created the toolkitand sent it to others, officials saidas a fierce political debate brokeout between the opposition andthe ruling BJP over the actionagainst 21-year-old Ravi in thecase related to the “toolkit Googledoc” that came to light when itwas shared by global climatecampaigner Greta Thunberg."Disha, Shantanu and Nikitacreated and edited the toolkit.Disha sent the toolkit to GretaThunberg through Telegram.Disha deleted a Whatsapp groupwhich she created to spread thetoolkit. Due procedure wasfollowed when Disha was

arrested," Nath said. Ravi was arrested from Bengaluruon Saturday and sent to policeremand for five days by a Delhicourt on Sunday with officialsclaiming she was an editor of the"toolkit Google doc" and "keyconspirator" in its formulation anddissemination.A day later, Delhi Police officialssaid they were conducting raids inMumbai and other places to nabJacob and Shantanu, known so faronly by one name. Jacob approached the BombayHigh Court seeking transitanticipatory bail for four weeks soshe can approach the concerned

Delhi police on lookout for 2 more activists

New Delhi : Social activists andenvironmentalists have calledfor immediate release of climateactivist Disha Ravi, who wasarrested in the ''toolkit''document case, and asked thegovernment to stop targetingIndia's youth.They have also demandeddropping of charges againstothers in the case.Ravi (22) was arrested onSaturday from Bengaluru forallegedly sharing with GretaThunberg the toolkit related tothe farmer's protest against theCentre's three new agriculturelaws, police said.The Delhi Police claimed thatRavi was an editor of the "toolkitGoogle doc" and "keyconspirator" in the document'sformulation and dissemination.Non-bailable warrants have alsobeen issued against advocateNikita Jacob and activistShantanu for their allegedinvolvement in preparing thedocument and being in directtouch with "pro-Khalistanielements". Many activists andenvironmentalists have comeout in support of Ravi, Jacoband Shantanu.Kavita Krishnan, secretary of AllIndia Progressive Women'sAssociation, said Ravi must bereleased and the police shouldstop "hounding" others.She further said people like Raviare India's best hope becausethey are concerned about notjust themselves, but the future

Environmentalists

demand release

of Disha Ravi

PNS n MUMBAI

In his upcoming directorial"1962: The War In The Hills",actor-filmmaker MaheshManjrekar on Monday said hehas attempted to showcase thehumane side of soldiers whorisk their lives to protect thecountry.

The Disney+ Hotstar series,fronted by actor Abhay Deol,is set against the backdrop ofthe 1962 India-China War. Itnarrates the untold tale ofbravery and valour of Army of125 Indians who fought with3,000 Chinese soldiers.

During a virtual press con-ference, Manjrekar said he wasfascinated with the show's set-ting and connected with it"emotionally".

"The show is about those 125soldiers who fought the war.They all had families back home,so we wanted to show their per-sonal lives. Soldiers are like us,but the only difference is thatthey are ready to sacrifice their

lives so that we are safe. "We needed that element,

their emotions needed to beout. We concentrated moreon the human angle. There iswar too, but we also put spot-light on those who laid downtheir lives," the 62-year-oldactor-director said.

The 10-part series also fea-tures "Sairat" star AakashThosar, Sumeet Vyas, RohanGandotra, Mahie Gill, MeiyangChang, Rochelle Rao andHemal Ingle.

Manjrekar, known for helm-

ing films like Sanjay Dutt-starrer "Vaastav" and "Astitva",said the series gave him anopportunity to helm a warepic, a territory he hadn'texplored before.

The director said the 1962War was not only a historicevent but also a part of the"development of the country".

"We were a young nationand this was the first majorwar. We were fighting anenemy who was 10 times big-ger. It was an extraordinarymotivation to jump and take

the opportunity. When theseries came (to me), I felt for-tunate," he added.

Gill, who was last seen in theBhumi Pednekar-led film"Durgamati", features on theshow as a wife of a soldier.

The actor said "1962: TheWar In The Hills" offers aninsight on the emotionally dif-ficult lives of those who are leftbehind when soldiers are calledfor duty.

"She (the character) is abrave woman who understandsthat the Army life comes withpleasure and pain. She under-stands her husband is a soldierfirst. Army wives sacrifice a lot,we need to salute them becauseno matter what, they alwaysput up a brave face.

"It's so important for them tobe strong when they knowtheir husbands have gone to asensitive area, without know-ing if they'd ever return. Theydouble up as both father andmother for their children," shesaid.

Film to show emotional side of soldiers

PNS n BENGALURU

India plans to have a sustainedhuman presence in space and iscoming out with a policy frame-work and a long-term roadmap.

The Department of Space(DoS) has envisaged a nation-al effort to meet the goal of suc-cessful demonstration of humanspaceflight capability and toachieve the vision of sustainedhuman presence in space.

India's maiden human space-flight module 'Gaganyaan' willbe launched after the secondunmanned mission planned in2022-23, Union MinisterJitendra Singh said last week.

In her Budget speech,Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman has said the firstunmanned launch is slated forDecember this year.

The DoS has now put up forpublic consultation on the web-site of the Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO),whichcomes under the former, thedraft "Humans in Space Policyfor India -- 2021" and guidelinesand procedures for its imple-mentation.

DoS believes that given thecollaborative nature of human

spaceflight due to its multi-disciplinary nature, it is essen-tial to have a policy-frame-work, which not only fosters

partnerships but also address-es proliferation concerns andcompliance to existing poli-cies, laws and treaties.

"Human-spaceflight pro-gramme needs to be sustainedover longer periods to deliver

tangible benefits," according tothe draft.

Hence, it is essential that thepolicy enables sustained pres-ence in low earth orbit andbeyond through reliable, robust,safe and affordable means byundertaking appropriate capac-ity building measures like col-laborations, infrastructuredevelopment, facilities mod-ernisation, technology develop-ment and human resourcedevelopment.

This would also encouragenew industries, create high

technology jobs, enablesocio-economic growth andfurther enhance India's statureand role in space, it was noted.

"The Humans in SpacePolicy aims for sustainedhuman presence in space as aninstrument for development,innovation and foster collabo-rations in alignment withnational interests", the draftsaid.

Technological elements suchas development of human ratedlaunch vehicle, environmental

control and life support system,crew escape system, decelera-tion system, crew selectionand training and developmentof human centric productsshall be undertaken by theDoS, utilising expertise ofISRO, national research insti-tutions, academia, industryand others.

A long-term road map forsustained human presence inlow earth orbit (LEO) andundertaking exploration mis-sions beyond it would bedefined. "DoS/ISRO shallencourage start-ups and indus-tries through suitable mecha-nism.

Mechanism shall be estab-lished to explore spinoff oppor-tunities and their developmentfor societal benefits", accordingto the draft.

DoS/ISRO shall establish acomprehensive criterion forscreening and selection of crewmembers. For initial missions,pilots from Indian Armedforces will be inducted as crewmembers, it was stated.

India plans to have sustainedhuman presence in space

Samajwad Partyexpels Sirsaganj MLA PNS n LUCKNOW

The SP on Monday expelledMLA Hariom Singh Yadavfrom the party for six yearson charges of anti-partyactivities.

On the directives ofSamajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav, theSirsaganj MLA was expelledfrom the party for six years,a release quoting UttarPradesh SP chief Naresh

Uttam Patel said.Yadav was found

involved in anti-party activ-ities and hobnobbing withthe BJP, the release said.

After last year's bypoll tothe Tundla Assembly seat inFirozabad, which the SPlost, the Sirsaganj MLAhad issued a statementagainst the party presidentand other senior leaders,blaming them for thedefeat.

PNS n COIMBATORE

The ruling AIADMK has ful-filled its promises in electionmanifestos unlike arch-rivalDMK, Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister K Palaniswami saidhere on Monday.

The DMK had given a "tallpromise" of two acres of landeach to landless poor familiesin its manifesto in 2006, whichhowever, was never imple-mented, he said at a functionhere.

On the other hand, theAIADMK has fulfilled all itspromises from the days of itsfounder and late chief minis-

ter M G Ramachandran, heclaimed.

Palaniswami was speakingat a function of mass marriageof 123 couples, organised byMunicipal AdministrationMinister S P Velumani here aspart of the celebrations of latechief minister J Jayalalithaa's73rd birth anniversary fallingon February 24.

Highlighting schemes forthe welfare of women, he saidthe AIADMK governmenthad distributed over Rs.4,200crore worth marriage assis-tance in the last 10 years ben-efiting about 11.8 lakhwomen.

AIADMK always fulfilled pollpromises unlike DMK: TN CM

PNS nNEW DELHI

A Kolkata-based woman who haddonated her kidney to an orphan,has received a letter of admirationfrom Prime Minister NarendraModi who told her that noamount of praise can be enoughfor her act of selflessness.Manashi Halder (48) said she haddonated the kidney in 2014 afterhearing a speech of Modi in whichhe had hailed organ donation asa "maha daan" (great act of char-ity).

She decided to write to theprime minister about the incident

a few months back and washappy to receive a reply from himrecently.

"I am deeply touched to learnabout your noble act of donatinga kidney to save a precious life. Noamount of praise can be enoughfor your act of selflessness. The

virtues of sacrifice and compas-sion have always been central toour culture and traditions," hereplied to her.

Noting that organ donation isthe biggest donation as the personreceiving it gets a new lease of life,he said in our country where lakhsof people are in such a need, therecan be no greater donation thanthis.

"Your act of generosity is inspi-rational. It will motivate many tocome forward and strengthen thehumanitarian cause of organdonation," the prime ministerwrote to Halder.

PNS n GUWAHATI

External AffairsMinister S Jaishankaron Monday assertedthat Assam is thespringboard of India'sAct East Policy and itsall-round developmentis central to the successof the policy.

Addressing a pressconference here, theminister said, PrimeMinister NarendraModi is deeply com-mitted to the develop-ment of Assam, andJapan InternationalCooperation Agency(JICA)-aided projectsin the state are examplesof how internationalpolicies and partner-ships can contribute tothe development ofstates.

‘Assamspringboardof India's ActEast Policy’

Kidney donor receives letter of praise from PM

Disha Ravi

War of words between BJP andOpposition over ‘Toolkit case’

CBI books 9 NTPC officials forshortfall of cement, steel stock

PNS n BENGALURU

Gujarat Chief Minister VijayRupani has tested positive forcoronavirus, said a hospital-where the CM is admittedafter he fainted in a rally.

He has mild symptomsand his condition is stable,theAhmedabad-based med-ical facility said on Monday.

On Sunday, Rupani, 64,fainted on stage whileaddressing a rally inVadodara for the upcomingcivic polls in the state, follow-ing which he was flown toAhmedabad and admittedto the U N Mehta HeartHospital here.

Rupani's sample was col-lected on Sunday night andsentfor RT-PCR test whichhas come out positive forcoronavirus, said a healthbulletin issued by the hospi-tal on Monday.

"His symptoms are mildand his condition is stable,"itsaid.

The hospital also said thechief minister fainted onSunday due to "tiredness andphysical weakness".

His ECG, blood test andother examinations wereconducted and their resultsare normal, it said.

State Deputy ChiefMinister Nitin Patel toldreportersthat on Sundaynight it was decided to keepRupani underobservation for24 hours.

"After his test report cameout positive for coronavirus,he is being treated for theinfection as per the courseand protocol," said Patel,who also holds charge of thehealth department.

It has been decided not toallow any visitors to meetRupani, he said.

Rupani had mild feversince the last couple of daysand was taking medicine forthe same, Patel said, addingthe CM does not have any co-morbid condition like dia-betes or blood pressure.

The CM will undergo reg-ular medical checkup andwillbe given treatment as perthe requirement. He will be

discharged as per the deci-sion of doctors, Patel said.

He said Rupani faintedduring the rally on Sundaydue to "exhaustion and sleep-lessness" caused due to hisvery busy schedule since thelast one week.

Rupani addressed rallies inBhavnagar, Jamnagar andVadodara in the last twodays.

He was regularly attendingmeetings of the BJP's stateparliamentary board and alsogiving interviews to TVchannels in the wake of theupcoming local body polls,he said.

Patel also informed thatBJP's MP from Kutch VinodChavda and state party gen-eral secretary BhikhuDalsania had also tested pos-itive for coronavirus a fewdays back.

Both of them are undergo-ing treatment at the U NMehta Heart Hospital, headded.

Elections to six municipalcorporations, including

Vadodara, will be held onFebruary 21, while those forvarious other municipali-ties, districts and taluka pan-chayats will be held onFebruary 28.

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupanitests positive for coronavirus

lease and mortgage of the landor premises of the farmer. Hereagain, a dispute redressal mech-anism is envisaged and provid-ed for in Section 13(1).

The third law is the amend-ment to the EssentialCommodities Act, 1955. Theamendment says the supply offoodstuff, including cereals,pulses, potato, onions, edibleoilseeds and oils, “may be reg-ulated only under extraordi-nary circumstances which mayinclude war, famine, extraordi-nary price rise and naturalcalamity of grave nature”. Howcan any farmer have any objec-tion to this major initiative?

In short, the laws free thefarmers and traders from archa-ic laws, lift the barrier on inter-State and intra-State trade,bring in competition so thatfarmers are no longer at themercy of the cloistered taluk-level market and are exposed toprevailing prices. In otherwords, market forces will takecharge and mandis will becomemore competitive while theMSP system will continue. Thisliberates farmers from thestranglehold of the APMC andcommission agents and cartels.

If there is any section of thepopulation which should beworried about the consequencesof the new farm laws, it shouldbe the consumers. Now that the

Government has amended theEssential Commodities Act anddeprived itself of the right tointervene in respect of stocksand prices of some key essen-tials, the consumers will be atthe mercy of market forces.How are the farmers affected?

Finally, a word about theUPA’s hypocrisy with regard tothe laws. Since manyGovernments, including theones run by the UPA andsteered by the Congress for 10years, have dabbled in farm lawreforms over the last 20 years,their protests today sound hol-low. The politician who hasdone the biggest somersault isthe NCP’s Sharad Pawar. As theUnion Minister for Agriculturein 2010, he strongly advocatedamending the APMC Acts bythe States to encourage the pri-vate sector to provide “alterna-tive competitive marketingchannels in the overall interestof farmers/producers and con-sumers…”. He argued then thatagriculture needs “well-func-tioning markets to drivegrowth” and the involvement ofthe private sector “is essential”.He also drew the attention ofChief Ministers to his earlier let-ters to them in 2005 and 2007and to the draft APMC Rulesformulated by his Ministry.

In November 2011, hereturned to this subject and, in

a letter to Madhya PradeshChief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan, reiterated that theagriculture sector needs well-functioning markets to driveinclusive growth and “the pri-vate sector needs to play animportant role in this regard”.Pawar is now singing a differ-ent tune. He says the mandiswill be affected and MSP is notguaranteed to farmers who sellto corporates. This is difficultto understand because farmerswill never lose the option to sellto the Government at MSP.

Also, the contention thatthis has been suddenly thruston the farmers is totally base-less. The opening up of theagriculture market has been inthe air for 20 years. The Centrecirculated a model AgricultureMarketing Act in 2017 and 11States adopted it fully and sixStates, partially. Finally, thefarmers of Punjab, Haryanaand Western Uttar Pradeshhave to realise that India com-prises 28 States and eightUnion Territories. Farmers inmany States have expressedhappiness over the new farmlaws. Mere geographical prox-imity to Delhi cannot meanthat they have the last word.

(The writer is an authorspecialising in democracy stud-ies. The views expressed arepersonal.)

Here’s to all those people who have had to grind their teeth this past week andlive amid saccharinely sick displays of love and affection all around, simply becausethey didn’t have a choice in the matter: The Valentine’s Week is officially over

and the Anti-Valentine Week, or rather brutally called the “unromantic week”, is here!Enough of red roses, candlelight dinners, red heart balloons and gifts. Some of us don’treally believe in the notion of soulmates, nor in concepts such as love, romance ortrust, just like some of us grownups don’t believe in that jolly rotund fellow called Santa

Claus, maybe because these ideas never really tookroot deep inside us or maybe because we grew adislike for these following a particularly racking heart-break. The singletons of any gender, who were madeto feel guilty just because they didn’t have a “sig-nificant other” or BAE to gift chocolates and rosesto, or to hug, can now rejoice and breathe normal-ly. If you are a person who hasn’t been very luckyin matters of the heart and steers clear of the ideaof love, romance and public displays of affection(PDA), then this is your week.

The polar opposite of the mushy week preced-ing it, Anti-Valentine Week begins on February 15(Slap Day) and ends on February 21 (Breakup Day).

Along the lines of the Valentine’s Week (which has Rose Day, Propose Day, ChocolateDay, Teddy Day, Promise Day, Hug Day and Kiss Day preceding Valentine’s Day), thisweek celebrates Slap Day, Kick Day, Perfume Day, Flirting Day, Confession Day, MissingDay and Breakup Day. But it is not as dangerous as it sounds; it refers to slapping andkicking out negative feelings about an ex-partner or a cheating mate out of the mind.In that sense, the Anti-Valentine Week actually works as an outlet to release negativefeelings that could have been lying dormant deep within against a (former) love inter-est. Better to speak out and let go rather than hold onto these feelings and allow themto fester. That said, moderation is an important component for everything in life. Onemust take care to ensure that such discharge of negativity doesn’t hurt either oneselfor anybody else: There’s no point, after all, in beating yourself down emotionally somuch that you would then need to go see a shrink, or make a fool of yourself walk-ing angrily into a crowded restaurant and slapping your current or former partner forwhatever injustice you believe they meted out to you. Now, is there?

The Governor of a State should not ideally be a political appointee; however, withthe Centre planting its trusted lieutenants as “puppets” at the Raj Bhawans, thestatus of the coveted post has only spiralled downwards. Although a Governor

is only a nominal head with no real power vested in him, s/he can play a decisive roleat crucial junctures much to the discomfiture of the State’s dispensation. The titularhead can “dilly-dally” approval to important Bills passed by the State Assembly, or cansit over these Bills indefinitely. And this is what makes the position really significant attimes, with the Centre expecting the Governor to “call the shots” on its diktats whilethe State Government looks for fair play. Especially, if the Centre and the State are at

loggerheads, the cold war between the Governor andthe Chief Minister can turn ugly and that belittles thedignity of both the titular and the real head. The ongo-ing tussle between Maharashtra Governor BhagatSingh Koshyari and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)Government led by Shiv Sena is a case in point. Theexisting friction between the Governor and the StateGovernment led by Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackerayescalated when Koshyari, much to his embarrass-ment, was made to disembark a State Governmentcarrier because the plane did not have the approvalto fly. Koshyari finally had to board a commercialflight to Dehradun.

It would have added to the grace of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) had it shownsome modicum of decency by allowing the Governor to use the State aircraft. TheState Government must understand that even if the Governor is working as the Centre’s“stooge”, the reputation of the State and its institutions suffers from such shows ofdisagreement. It must be mentioned that West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankarand firebrand Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are often at loggerheads. Likewise,daggers are drawn every now and then between Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bediand Chief Minister V Narayanasamy. Both West Bengal and Puducherry have non-BJP Governments while Dhankar and Bedi have been rewarded for their loyalty towardsthe saffron party and are toeing its line. The latest incident points to a new low inthe politics of Maharashtra. Sena’s outspoken spokesperson Sanjay Raut has saidthat it is an “open war” and that the BJP is pressuring Koshyari to destabilise theMVA Government spearheaded by the Shiv Sena supremo. The party has urged theCentre to recall Koshyari, asserting that it is necessary for upholding theConstitution, the laws and the norms. On the other hand, the Governor had a “closed-door” meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. More action, there-fore, is expected in the ongoing war between the Raj Bhawan and the CMO, with thepeople, democracy and ethos standing at a crossroads.

At cross-purposes

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

www.dailypioneer.comfacebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2021

06

Anti-Valentine WeekBored of all the mush and PDA from last week?

Now it’s time for you to have your revenge

They free farmers and traders from archaic laws, lift the barrier on inter-State and intra-State trade and bring in healthy competition

PICTALK

Elderly people dance on Valentine's Day in Kyiv, Ukraine AP

IT IS DIFFICULT,THEREFORE, TO

FATHOM THEOPPOSITION TO

THESE PROVISIONSFROM FARMERS

BECAUSE THE ONLYONES HURT BY

THIS LAW ARE THECOMMISSIONAGENTS AND

DALALS, WHO AREALLEGEDLY

MISLEADING THEFARMERS ANDFUNDING THE

AGITATION

A SURYA PRAKASH

A Governor-State Govt spat belittles the dignity of both the titular and the real head

Why object tothe farm laws?

Acold and detachedassessment of the threefarm laws will indicatethat politics rather than

logic is driving the opposition tothese enactments, which seek toempower farmers and open up themarkets while ensuring a safety netby way of continuing the mini-mum support price (MSP) systemand the Agricultural ProduceMarket Committees (APMCs).

The first of these laws, TheFarmers’ Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Act, 2020, enablesfarmers to sell their produce out-side the notified APMC yards.

Section 3 of this Act gives thefarmer the freedom to carry oninter-State or intra-State trade,while Section 4(3) says every trad-er who transacts with farmers shallmake the payment within threeworking days. The law enables theGovernment to develop a PriceInformation and MarketIntelligence System for farmers’produce and provides for a time-bound dispute redressal mecha-nism. Therefore, the grower getsthe option to either stick to theAPMC or look for markets outside.

It is difficult, therefore, to fath-om the opposition to these pro-visions from farmers because theonly ones hurt by this law are thecommission agents and dalals,who are allegedly misleading thefarmers and funding the agitation.

The second law is the Farmers(Empowerment and Protection)Agreement of Price Assuranceand Farm Services Act, 2020,which gives farmers the right toenter into a contract with retailers,wholesalers and agribusiness firms,processors, wholesalers or exportersfor the sale of future farming pro-duce at a pre-agreed price.

Section 3(1) of the Act says theminimum period of the farmingagreement should be one crop sea-son or one production cycle of live-stock with a maximum period offive years. The payment for farmproduce should be on delivery but,for seed production, the buyer hasto pay two-thirds of the agreedamount on delivery.

But the most important pro-vision in the Bill relates to inalien-ability of farm land. It declares thatno agreement shall be entered intofor any transfer, including sale,

SOUNDBITEKERALA HAS FAILED TO CONTROL COVIDSir— It is a matter of disappointment thatKerala saw its confirmed COVID-19 casesgo past the one million mark. The State,which once fought COVID-19 so bravelyand was a success story, has again plungedinto the menace.

This comes when Coronavirus casesin other States are decreasing. Kerala is onlythe second State after Maharashtra to haverecorded so many cases. It has witnessed themost unusual trajectory of the epidemic inthe country. It was the State where the firstCoronavirus case in India was detected inJanuary last year. For the next six months,it seemed to be the model State as far as con-taining the spread was concerned. PerhapsKeralites have stopped bothering about itand stopped taking adequate precautionsthat led to the surge in cases. Further, theimmigrants from foreign countries havecontributed immensely to the increase inthe number of cases.

The need of the hour is for the StateGovernment to make its quarantine rulesmore stringent. It is really a matter of shamethat the State has the highest number ofactive cases right now, almost half of theentire country. The increase in Corona casesin the coastal State is a cause of concern foreverybody.

CK Subramaniam | Mumbai

POOR PEOPLE MUST GET JUSTICE Sir —This is not the first time we havecome across disastrous blasts in fire-works units in Tamil Nadu resulting in theloss of several lives. As many as 17 peo-ple, including seven women, were killedand 35 others injured in an accident at aunit at Achankulam near Sattur on Friday. Every time such a calamity strikes, the

Government announces some financialcompensation to the bereaved families anddoes away with its responsibilities. As mostof the victims are from a poor background,the case will slowly go into oblivion andsoon the factory would be allowed toresume operations. The corrupt babus andnetas will try their best to bury the mat-ter or brush it aside. The poor families who

cannot afford good lawyers will eventual-ly lose the legal battle in court and will haveno option except to forget the tragedy andthe perpetrators. One really wonders whether those who

are complicit will be taken to task. Thereis no hope that action will be taken againstthe licensing authorities, concerned labourofficers, controllers , factory inspectorsbesides the operators and lease holders ofthe factories. All these officers should bepulled up for dereliction of duty and crim-inal charges should be slapped againstthem. An exemplary punishment shouldbe awarded to those guilty. This will actas an eye opener for all others who willperform their duties sincerely. Even the lifeof poor matters but the Government andauthorities just don’t care.

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

CHINA WILL LIKELY BACKSTAB Sir —Disengagement is good as it reducestension, but it should not be done at thecost of national security. The surrender-

ing of areas traditionally controlled byIndia means we were surrendering ourrights forever. Galwan Valley is Indian ter-ritory and never a disputed land. In my view, the Government is not under-standing the importance of the disengage-ment and creation of the buffer zone intrue sense. China is getting belligerent andPakistan continues to promote terrorism.

India is facing multiple challenges at theborder, a two-front war-like situation. TheGovernment must take the country andthe Opposition into confidence at suchtimes.We must stand united against theforeign forces hell bent on destroying ourpeace and territorial integrity. Also,China can help Pakistan in Siachen. Thecountry is facing serious challenges fromboth China and Pakistan and must takecalibrated steps.

TV Jayaprakash | Palakkad

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Former US President Donald Trump's second

acquittal by the US Senate has set the dan-

gerous precedent that even an autocratic

leader who violates the oath of office can escape

punishment if he bullies enough Senators to

stand by his side.There is no denying that Trump

put out a stream of falsehoods on losing the

presidential polls, and openly urged his support-

ers to march to the US Congress, endangering

lawmakers and scores of police officers as he

sought to overturn the election results. There's

no way he can escape responsibility for the attack

on the seat of US power. In fact, the Senate vote

revealed the dilemma that the Republican Party

faces with Trump still retaining considerable pop-

ularity among the party base. But Trump will also

go down in history as a disgraced figure who

escaped conviction on a technicality. And, the

failure to convict Trump highlights how divid-

ed America remains — repairing those fissures

won't be easy.

The entire world, however, is disappoint-

ed with the outcome of impeachment in the

Senate, and proponents of democracy across

the globe are baffled. Thus, the US which boasts

of the oldest democracy in the world and preach-

es lessons to others hasn't only lost the moral-

ity, but also emboldened dictators across the

globe.

N Sadhasiva Reddy | Bengaluru

Trump’s acquittal is dangerous Through inspiringexamples, January's‘Mann Ki Baat’ high-lighted diverse top-ics ranging from art,culture, tourism andagri innovation. Would love to hearmore such motivating anecdotes forthe February 28 programme.

Prime Minister—Narendra Modi

If COVID-19 ends up being likeflu, so we live ournormal lives and wemitigate through

vaccines and treatments, then wecan get on with everything again.

UK Health Secretary

—Matt Hancock

Every industry kid iscalled a ‘druggie'. No,we are not, we aregood people. We aresocially placed andwe do our CSR and I am very vocalabout it.

Actor—Suniel Shetty

Whoever harboursthe seed of anti-nationalism in theirminds, that has to bec o m p l e t e l ydestroyed, be it Disha Ravi or any-one else.

Haryana Home Minister

—Anil Vij

Postponement of theOlympics gave play-ers like myself anopportunity toimprove and make

the most out of the situation. Hockey player

—Dilpreet Singh

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

The Govt should avoid a Catch-22 situation

WOULDN’T THEY (PROTESTING FARMERS) HAVE DIED

IF THEY WERE AT HOME? OUT OF ONE TO TWO LAKH,

DO 200 PEOPLE NOT DIE IN SIX MONTHS?

—HARYANA AGRICULTURE MINISTER

JAI PARKASH DALAL

VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE ‘ZILCH’! VALUE OF PEOPLE

WHO GROW YOUR FOOD ‘ZILCH’ MOCKING THEIR

DEATHS .... PRICELESS! SLOW CLAPS.

—ACTOR

TAAPSEE PANNU

In view of the complaints by the Confederationof All India Traders (CAIT) regarding blatantviolation of the Foreign Direct Investment

(FDI) policy and the Foreign ExchangeManagement Act (FEMA), 1999, by Amazon andWalmart-owned-Flipkart, Union CommerceMinister Piyush Goyal alluded to it while issuinga clarification to ensure that the e-commerce sec-tor works “in the true spirit of the law.” Earlier inDecember 2020, the Ministry of Commerce hadasked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and theEnforcement Directorate (ED) to take necessaryaction against these global e-commerce giants.The above actions may not enthuse when viewedin the backdrop of numerous such representationsmade in the past by CAIT and other associationsof small traders, to no avail. At the outset, let ustake a look at the extant FDI policy under whichAmazon and Flipkart have come to India. As perthe guidelines issued in early 2016 (Press Note 3),100 per cent FDI is allowed under the so-calledmarketplace model.

The marketplace is a platform where vendorssell their products to consumers even as its ownermerely acts as a facilitator. The marketplace ownerprovides services such as booking orders, raisinginvoices, arranging delivery, accepting payments,handling rejections, warehousing and so on. But,s/he can’t hold inventory and undertake direct sell-ing. The permission for 100 per cent FDI in themarketplace is subject to two main riders, that is“the entity cannot permit more than 25 per centof total sales on its platform from one vendor orits group companies. Further, it can’t directly orindirectly influence the sale price.” Sans any men-tion as to “who the vendor is”, a firm linked tothe marketplace — either its subsidiary or a JointVenture (JV) with an Indian company — is eli-gible. Thus, contrary to the real intent of the pol-icy, which disallowed the marketplace owner fromdirect selling to individual consumers, the fineprint permitted them to do so — albeit by its sub-sidiary or JV. This is precisely what e-commercemajors such as Amazon and Flipkart/Walmarthave been doing even though they came in as mar-ketplace operators. A clarification to the PressNote 3 issued on December 26, 2018, said: “Theowner of the marketplace or its subsidiary or itsJV with an Indian company can’t have ownershipof the seller.” Further, “a seller/firm on the plat-form can’t source more than 25 per cent of itsinventory from a firm connected with the latter.”The owner can get around both; first, by havingless than 50 per cent shareholding in the seller firmand argue, s/he has no control (albeit majority)over the latter and second, by its wholesale armrestricting supplies to the seller within the 25 percent threshold.

As a consequence, the hold of e-commercegiants over Indian retail continues; they are dom-inant sellers themselves, giving little space to mil-lions of small vendors for whose benefit thisunique policy dispensation of marketplace wasdesigned. Meanwhile, Reliance Industries Limited(RIL) which last year received a major foreigninvestment of ̀ 1,50,000 crore (`43,450 crore fromUS internet giant, Facebook alone) in its 100 percent subsidiary Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) fortotal shareholding of 30 per cent has also joinedthe bandwagon. JPL has within its fold a range

of businesses including e-com-merce which is powered by JioMartcommerce. The platform offerstechnology-enabled wherewithalto help 30 million stores to deliverproducts to consumers in theneighbourhood (the plan is to tar-get a mammoth 400 million ofthem using the database ofWhatsApp — a 100 per cent sub-sidiary of Facebook) at theirdoorsteps. The business model is ahybrid of online and offline retailwhich will also integrate with itselfthousands of retail stores spread allover India operated by RelianceRetail Limited (RRL). Like Amazonet al, Reliance/Facebook, too, willbe operating as direct sellers, con-trolling inventory, giving discountsand so on, which is not in sync withthe policy on FDI in the e-com-merce marketplace that prohibitsthe inventory model and direct sell-ing. Yet, they can get around by cit-ing that foreign shareholding in theseller firm is less than 50 per centor a wholesaler linked to JioMartowner (Reliance/Facebook) willkeep its supplies to the vendor with-in the 25 per cent threshold.

The continued opaqueness inthe policy — even after the clarifi-cation to Press Note 3 issued onDecember 26, 2018 — has ensuredthat the foreign majors don’t violatethe rulebook even as their opera-tions go against the very spirit of thepolicy. No wonder, numerous rep-resentations by CAIT et al as alsopetitions before the courts havefailed as the latter go by the fineprint, which suits these giants. It is

therefore, unlikely that the latestaction of the Commerce Ministryasking the RBI and the ED to takeaction against these global e-com-merce giants will lead to any posi-tive outcome.

What about the Ministry issu-ing a clarification to the rules tofully reflect the true spirit of the lawas hinted by Piyush Goyal?

Thus, Press Note 3 can bemodified to say that “the owner ofthe marketplace or its subsidiary orits JV with the Indian company can’thave even one per cent sharehold-ing of the seller on the platform.”Further, “a seller/firm on the plat-form can’t source any suppliesfrom a firm connected with the lat-ter.” The above two stipulations willensure that the owner of the mar-ketplace platform has no connec-tion whatsoever with the seller onits platform — neither by way ofholding any shares in the latter’sfirm nor making any supplies to it.

This way, the fine print will bein sync with the spirit of the poli-cy i.e. to ensure that the foreigncompany only performs the role ofbringing sellers and buyers on acommon platform to conducttransactions and nothing beyond.Has the Government thoughtthrough the implications of goingthat far? Apart from being almostimpossible to implement (thisinvolves a microscopic watch onshareholding patterns includingcross-holding through a maze ofsubsidiaries and JVs as also thestock flow of each and every selleron the platform; Alas! We don’t

even have a regulator), this will tan-tamount to asking the foreignmajors to pack up. This will beviewed as a retrospective change ofpolicy and give a wrong signalabout India not being an attractivedestination.

For taking decisions, theinvestors are guided not merely bythe declaration of intent but moreimportantly, they go by what thepolicy document says (this is whatmatters when courts pronouncetheir verdict). It is here that theGovernment faces a ‘Catch-22’ sit-uation as the fine print of the 2016guidelines permitted direct sellingby marketplace owner (albeit indi-rectly).

Now, if, the Government re-writes the Press Note 3 — as indi-cated above — foreign majors willbe justified in arguing that this willbe a retrospective change of poli-cy; even the judiciary may upholdtheir stance. This course should beavoided. A pragmatic approachwould be one wherein, Team Modilegitimises direct selling by foreigncompanies in Indian retail — notjust online but also offline — with-out any riders. This will create alevel playing field and enable allentities, including brick and mor-tar players, to accept FDI up to 100per cent. Sans these changes, Indianretail will be cartelised by the likesof Amazon/Walmart and so on andthose who know how to exploit thevagueness in extant policy dispen-sation, making the consumers vul-nerable to exploitation in the medi-um to long-term.

Team Modi should legitimise direct selling by foreign companies in Indian retail — not just online but also offline — without any riders

KALYANI SHANKAR

THIS WILL CREATEA LEVEL PLAYING

FIELD AND ENABLEALL ENTITIES,

INCLUDING BRICKAND MORTARPLAYERS, TO

ACCEPT FDI UP TO100 PER CENT.

SANS THESECHANGES, INDIAN

RETAIL WILL BECARTELISED BY

THE LIKES OFAMAZON/WALMART

AND SO ON ANDTHOSE WHO KNOW

HOW TO EXPLOITTHE VAGUENESS IN

EXTANT POLICYDISPENSATION,

MAKING THECONSUMERS

VULNERABLE TOEXPLOITATION INTHE MEDIUM TO

LONG-TERM

Will well-known poll strategist Prashant Kishor become an assetor a liability in the forthcoming West Bengal Assembly pollsfor the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC)? Chief Minister

Mamata Banerjee has engaged him to help her perform a hat-trick.Though she has almost decimated the Left parties and the Congress,this time Mamata will be up against the emerging BJP which wants towrest the State from her. Dismayed by the TMC’s poor performancein the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Didi engaged Kishor at the behest of hernephew Abhishek Banerjee, whom she has been grooming as her polit-ical heir. Kishor came into prominence as a successful election strate-gist after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Mamata chose Kishor becauseof his track record of delivering election victories for Prime MinisterNarendra Modi (2014), Nitish Kumar in Bihar (2015), Captain AmarinderSingh in Punjab (2017), Jagan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh (2019) andArvind Kejriwal in Delhi (2019). The DMK chief MK Stalin has also con-tracted him for the forthcoming Tamil Nadu polls.

Earlier, Mamata believed in her fighting capacities as she overthrewthe Left coalition which ruled Bengal for 33 years in 2011 by makinguse of the anger of the people against the Government. She won theState for the second time in 2016 as she had evolved as a nationalleader and continued to enjoy the people’s goodwill. However, for the2021 polls, she is not sure as the BJP is breathing down the TMC’sneck and deploying its top leadership in the campaign.

With Mamata’s full backing, Kishor’s team soon began workingas a parallel organisation with more powers than even the TMC func-tionaries. His company I-PAC began to develop tight control over theparty and the Bengal Government, ruffling many feathers in the process.On his advice, Mamata has revised some of her Government’s poli-cies, including a 10 per cent upper caste quota, a review of the salarystructure of the State police force, primary teachers and functionariesworking at the panchayats and many other populist schemes. The TMCleaders are upset with Kishor’s clean-up drive, as his team has assessedeach constituency and given Mamata a report, urging her to changeat least 150 sitting MLAs. Over the last few weeks, several senior andmid-level TMC functionaries have voiced their resentment publicly andprivately against Kishor’s dominance. Mamata then asked Kishor toadopt a consensual approach and avoid ruffling feathers but this couldnot stem the steady exodus from the TMC to the BJP. The erosion beganfirst with one or two MLAs leaving the TMC. It has gradually grown,with even senior leaders like Suvendu Adhikari, Silbhadra Dutta andDinesh Trivedi quitting. The Congress and the Left cannot attract thoseleaving because Didi decimated them in the last 10 years and left theOpposition space for the BJP to occupy. This time she has the anti-incumbency factor and party troubles staring her in the face.

However, Mamata has always been a street fighter and positivein her approach. She has seen ups and downs in her political careerbut has never given up. Didi’s strongest assets are her hard work, excel-lent booth-level management and her national stature. There is alsono lack of money for her party because the poll bonds have given herenough funds. Above all, strong local organisers will work hard to savethemselves, which could benefit the TMC. If she could keep her Muslimvote bank intact besides wooing Hindu votes she could succeed. Butbefore that, she has to stem the perception that the TMC has becomeweak. She is facing a similar situation the Congress did in 1997 beforeSonia Gandhi stepped in. Floating voters might think that the TMC isa sinking boat and Mamata has to check the erosion before it is toolate. For this, Kishor has to prove that he is an asset rather than aheadache. (The writer is a senior journalist.

The views expressed are personal.)

The recent flash floods inRishiganga river inChamoli district of

Uttarakhand had wreakedhavoc in the region and broughtuntold misery to the localsand families of those workerswho died in the catastrophe.The incident came as a surpriseto the scientific communityand locals as floods usuallyoccur during the monsoonseason and a deluge of such amagnitude was highly unex-pected in winter months.

The UttarakhandGovernment and the Centre’sdisaster management apparatusswung into action for the res-cue and relief operations.Though many lives have beensaved since then, it was alreadytoo late for those who drownedor were swept away by the flashflood.

So strong was the surge ofwater in Dhauliganga andRishiganga rivers that it ripped

through two hydel projects.The bodies of victims are stillbeing found at different loca-tions by the river, but rescuershave so far failed to reach any-one — dead or alive — in thetunnel network at the NationalThermal Power Corporation’sTapovan project.

In the meanwhile, satelliteimages have confirmed that thedebris accompanying the delugeearlier this week has blocked astream that joins the Rishigangariver, forming a temporarylake, which if breached, cancause another flash flood andmore devastation.

Uttarakhand is situated inthe western Himalayas, whichis of recent origin geologicallyand is an unstable mountainzone due to the gradual tecton-ic shift in the Himalayan platetowards the north every year.This makes it vulnerable toearthquakes and undergroundgeological changes which sud-

denly release energy and causenatural upheavals of giganticproportions, disturbing the eco-logical foundation of the regionand taking a toll on humanlives.

Glaciers are a slow-movingmass or river of ice, formedthrough the gradual accumula-tion of snow on mountains.This accumulation takes placeover decades. It is natural forglaciers to melt and breakbecause of climatic factors andalso due to underground geo-logical changes.

However, disasters like theglacier burst that took place inChamoli, are compounded byunabated and irresponsiblehuman activities and lopsidedGovernment policies with scantregard for environmental laws.However, this poor decision-making with regards to theenvironment by the bureaucratsand politicians is not just lim-ited to Uttarakhand but can be

witnessed all over the nation.The unscientific and haphazardconstruction of roads andbuildings on the hilly slopeswithout proper risk assessmentand other technical detailsincurs a heavy cost on theenvironment across India andUttarakhand. However, con-struction of dams and smallhydroelectric projects all along

the rivers in Uttarakhand is theroot cause of the misery we facetime and again in the State. TheTapovan 520-Megawatt (MW)and Rishiganga 13 MW pro-jects have been completelywashed away in this flood.More than 50 hydroelectricprojects were either sanctionedor are running in Uttarakhandand these were sanctioneddespite expert opinion againstthem. Even today many casesare pending in the SupremeCourt on this issue.

It is argued that the geolog-ical movement of the glaciersmight have been triggered bythe regular blasting of the hills.For such recurrent tragedies,the governance structures are tobe blamed.

The Ministry ofEnvironment, Forest andClimate Change, over the lastseveral years adopted an expe-ditious approach in giving clear-ances to hydroelectric and other

developmental projects. Thiswas allegedly done withoutundertaking proper scrutinyand brushing aside objectionsconcerning the environmentthat were raised time and again.It must be held accountable.

Be it mining or any otherdevelopmental projects, compli-ance with necessary conditionswas never monitored in a sys-tematic manner. InUttarakhand in most of thesehydro projects the disposal ofmuck and sludge is done in anunscientific manner. This isone of the main reasons forsuch calamities taking epicproportions.

It is high time theUttarakhand Government andthe Centre pay heed to the envi-ronmental experts who hadbeen advising the two govern-ments to change their develop-ment focus. It must be sustain-able and not reckless and unsci-entific. The Government must

set its priorities right and act onit before it is too late. If we con-tinue to inflict irreversible dam-age on the environment, naturewill act in its own manner torestore its balance.

The management of ourecology must be given equalpriority by policymakers, if notprecedence, over otherapproaches in resources man-agement. Over the years theshare of the environment in theUnion Budget has declined. Itis a pittance considering themagnitude of integration need-ed for the holistic manage-ment of natural resources andto tackle the challenge of cli-mate change. It is worthremembering an old saying:“Progress is impossible withoutchange and those who cannotchange their minds cannotchange anything.”

Top babus and Ministers atthe Centre and State mustadhere to this advice.

If we continue to inflict irreversible damage to the environment, nature will restore its balance in the way it likes

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2021

07

www.dailypioneer.com facebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/

FIRSTCOLUMN

DIDI NEEDS TO HALTTHE TMC’S SLIDE

For this to happen, Prashant Kishor has to prove thathe is an asset to Mamata rather than a headache

UTTAM GUPTA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The writer is a New Delhi-based policy

analyst. The viewsexpressed are personal.

Time to revamp environment policy and set priorities right

VK BAHUGUNA

The writer isa retired

civil servant. The views expressed

are personal.

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2021 Money 08

PNS n NEW DELHI

Petrol and diesel prices onMonday were hiked for theseventh day in a row as a rallyin international oil prices tookretail rates in India to newhighs.Petrol price wasincreased by 26 paise per litreand diesel by 29 paise, accord-ing to a price notification ofstate-owned fuel retailers.

This pushed retail rates,which differ from state to statedepending on the incidence oflocal sales tax or VAT andfreight charges, to theirhighest level.

The hike tookpetrol price inDelhi to a recordRs 88.99 perlitre and to ah i g h e s t -ever rateof Rs95.46 alitre in

Mumbai. Diesel rate climbed toRs 79.35 a litre in Delhi and toRs 86.34 in Mumbai.

Rajasthan, which levies thehighest VAT on fuel in thecountry, had thehighest petroland dieselprices.

I n

Sriganganagar town of thestate, petrol soared to Rs 99.56and diesel to Rs 91.48 per litre.

The Rajasthan governmenthad late last month cut VAT on

petrol and diesel by 2 percent. Despite

this, the state has the highestVAT at 36 per cent plus Rs1,500 per kilolitre road cess onpetrol. On diesel, the statelevies 26 per cent and Rs 1,750per kilolitre road cess.

Branded or additive mixedpetrol on Sunday crossed Rs100-mark at some places instates like Maharashtra andMP. Branded petrol atSriganganagar was priced atRs 102.34 a litre and similargrade diesel at Rs 95.15.

The main differencebetween regular and pre-mium fuel grades is theoctane number. Regularfuel has a lower octane

number -- 87, while pre-mium fuel generallygets a 91 octane ratingor higher.

Octane number is ameasure of the igni-

tion quality of fuel --higher the number, the less sus-ceptible is the fuel to 'knock-ing' when burnt in a standardengine. In seven straight days,prices have gone up by Rs 2.04per litre for petrol and Rs 2.22for diesel.

Petrol soars to `89 in Delhi,may touch `100 in Rajasthan PNS n NEW DELHI

The wholesale price-basedinflation rose sharply to 2.03per cent in January on costliernon-food manufactured itemsand experts are projecting fur-ther uptick in the rate of pricerise in the next few months.

The WPI inflation was 1.22per cent in December, 2020and 3.52 per cent in Januarylast year.

While food articles saw soft-ening in inflation, the sharprise in the WPI inflation inJanuary was led by manufac-tured non-food products, fueland power, and crude petrole-um and natural gas, datareleased by the Commerceand Industry ministry showedon Monday.

Food inflation in Januarystood at (-) 2.8 per cent, against(-) 1.11 per cent in the previ-ous month. In vegetables andpotatoes, it was (-) 20.82 percent and 22.04 per cent respec-tively. Core inflation rose to a27-month high of 5.1 per centin January 2021.

In non-food articles, infla-tion was higher at 4.16 percent, while in the fuel and

power basket it was (-) 4.78 percent, during the month underreview.

ICRA Principal EconomistAditi Nayar said a deeper dis-inflation in primary food arti-cles helped to cushion theimpact of the sharp rise in coreinflation.

Rising demand andstrengthening pricing powerwill make core inflation risefurther to as much as 7-7.5 percent during April-June quarter,

according to ICRA."... the headline WPI infla-

tion is set to record largeupticks over the course of thenext few months. We nowexpect the WPI inflation toaverage 5-5.5 per cent inFY2022, unless the availablevaccines turn out to be ineffec-tive against new COVID-19variants, causing commodityprices, consumer confidenceand business sentiment toplunge," Nayar added.

WPI inflation rises to 2.03% inJan on manufactured items

PNS n NEW DELHI

Domestic travel, which isalready showing signs of recu-perating, will continue to aidrecovery for hotels in 2021,according to global real estateconsultant JLL.

India's hospitality industrywitnessed a decline of 54.9 percent in revenue per availableroom (RevPAR) duringJanuary to December 2020, ascompared to calendar year2019, JLL's Hotel MomentumIndia (HMI) Q4 2020 said.

With the revival of domes-tic travel, emergence of recov-ery indicators has come to therescue of the sector. The recov-ery has been primarily drivenby leisure 'revenge travel' dur-ing weekends, festival season,weddings and demand of foodand beverage, it added in a

statement."We are already seeing signs

of domestic business travelpick up in the new year. Weexpect that occupancies inbusiness hotels will ramp upfrom March/April 2021onwards as companies gradu-

ally lift travel embargo", JLL,South Asia, Hotels andHospitality Group, MD JaideepDang said.

Furthermore, domesticleisure travel will continue todrive occupancies across thecountry. Food and beverage

(F&B) demand will continue togrow as eating out will increasealbeit cautiously, he added.

"We also expect investmentactivity to restart with seriousinvestors evaluating qualityassets on back of performancecycle uptick", Dang said.

Total number of signings inQ4 2020 stood at 45 hotelscomprising 4,326 keys, record-ing a decline of 43.6 per cent,compared to the same periodlast year, the statement said.

Goa continues to be theRevPAR leader in absoluteterms despite a decline of 33.3per cent in Q4 2020 comparedto Q4 2019.

Demand for domesticleisure travel amidst interna-tional travel restrictions hasmade Goa the fastest recover-ing market in absolute terms,it added.

Domestic travel will help hotels recover

PNS n MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank on Mondayset up a committee to draw avision document for strength-ening urban cooperative banks(UCBs) and exploring thepotential of consolidation inthe sector.

The committee, to be head-ed by former RBI DeputyGovernor N S Vishwanathan,will suggest "effective mea-sures for faster rehabilitationand resolution of UrbanCooperative Banks (UCBs)and also assess their potentialfor consolidation in the sector."

The panel will "draw up avision document for a vibrantand resilient urban co-opera-tive banking sector havingregards to the Principles ofCooperation as well as depos-itors' interest and systemicissues," said the terms of ref-erence of the committee whichwill be required to submit itsreport to the RBI in threemonths.

The eight-member panel,including former chairman ofNabard Harsh KumarBhanwala, will also reviewthe current regulatory andsupervisory approach and rec-

ommend suitable measuresto strengthen the sector, tak-ing into account recentamendments to the BankingRegulation Act, 1949.

As per the terms of refer-ence of the committee, it will"take stock of the regulatorymeasures taken by the ReserveBank and other authorities inrespect of UCBs and assesstheir impact over the last fiveyears to identify key con-straints and enablers, if any, infulfilment of their socio-eco-nomic objective."

Among other things, thecommittee will consider theneed for differential regula-tions and examine prospects toallow more leeway in permis-sible activities for UCBs witha view to enhancing theirresilience.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Kotak Mahindra Bank onMonday announced the launchof its outward forex remittanceservice, Kotak Remit, onmobile that will allow users tosend money abroad directlyfrom their mobile phones.

The outward forex remit-tance solution is live on theKotak Mobile Banking App.

For the first time, Kotakcustomers can convenientlytransfer money international-ly to their beneficiaries straightfrom their mobile, KotakMahindra Bank said in arelease.

The private sector lendersaid that it is an industry-firstmove, and customers will nothave to furnish any physicaldocuments for transactionsup to USD 25,000 or equiva-lent seamlessly to permissiblegeographies across the world.

"The mobile has been at thecentre of a revolution of sortsand it has changed the way webank, invest, shop and pay.

"Domestic payments hasbeen one of the core areas offocus. With the launch ofKotak Remit on mobile, we

have entered a new phase ofdigital transformation encom-passing international pay-ments, which gives our cus-tomers the advantage of bank-ing on mobile for makinginternational fund transfersas well,” said Phani Shankar,President & Co-Head –Treasury & Global Markets,Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Kotak Remit offers remit-tances in 15 currencies includ-ing the US dollar, AustralianDollar, UK Pound Sterling,Hong Kong Dollar, Saudi Riyal,Canadian Dollar, SingaporeDollar, Euro, Japanese Yen.

By entering transfer detailsand beneficiary details, cus-tomers can remit up to USD25,000 or equivalent per dayand up to USD 250,000 or

equivalent in a financial yearthrough Kotak Remit.

Customers will receive anotification at every stage ofthe transaction process, keep-ing them updated and can alsosave beneficiary details to facil-itate quick repeat remittances.

While outbound remit-tances under the LiberalisedRemittance Scheme (LRS) forresident individuals has seen adecline this year owing to thepandemic, remittances fromIndia have been consistentlygrowing prior to FY 2020-21and presents a significant mar-ket opportunity, said the bank.

In 2019-20, outboundremittances from India grewby nearly 36 per cent to USD18.8 billion in 2019-20, fromUSD 13.8 billion in 2018-19.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold prices declined mar-ginally by Rs 19 to Rs46,826 per 10 gram here onMonday in line with weakglobal cues and rupeeappreciation, according toHDFC Securities.

In the previous trade,the precious metal hadclosed at Rs 46,845 per 10gram. Silver, however,gained Rs 646 to Rs 69,072per kg from Rs 68,426 perkg in the previous trade.

"Spot gold prices for 24carat in Delhi fell by Rs 19in-line with global goldprices and rupee apprecia-tion," according to HDFCSecurities, Senior Analyst(Commodities), TapanPatel.

The rupee strengthenedby 14 paise to 72.61 againstthe US dollar in openingtrade on Monday.

Gold declinesmarginally

Kotak Mahindra Bank startsKotak Remit on mobile

PNS n NEW DELHI

HCL Technologies on Mondaysaid it has inked an agreementwith the Indian Institute ofTechnology Kanpur (IITK) tocollaborate in the area ofcybersecurity.

As part of the pact, the IT

company will work withC3iHub, a specialised cyberse-curity research centre at IITK,a statement said.

"This collaboration willbring together the country'sbrightest minds, advancedresearch capabilities and glob-al resources to develop

advanced solutions in the areaof cybersecurity. HCL andIITK will bring in real worldindustry exposure to carry outjoint initiatives and research,"it added.

The teams will develop asecurity framework and solu-tions for cybersecurity chal-lenges in current and futureoperational technologies as oneof the first areas of interest.

They will also work togeth-er to discover and managecyber threats, vulnerabilities,and risks for critical infrastruc-ture, the statement said.

HCL Technologies will alsowork with IITK to identifyselective research projects inorder to bring them to scale."The projects will be tested oninternational benchmarks forpotential commercialisationto products and services, withtesting and development per-formed in a special HCL envi-ronment," it said.

HCL inks pact with IITK

MONEY MATTERS

Danfoss Industries said onMonday it has signed an

MoU with Indian Institute ofScience here topromote useof natural refrigerants.Thecollaboration aims todevelopa research and trainingcentre focused onpromoting the use of natural

or CO2-based refrigerants, a company statement said. Refrigerantslie at the core of the cold chain andrefrigeration industry, buttraditional refrigerantssuch as Hydrochlorofluorocarbons andChlorofluorocarbons are known tocontribute to global warming, andthe depletion of the ozonelayer which protects the earth fromharmful UV light. In recent times, there has been an increase in theuse of natural refrigerants like ammonia andCO2-based refrigerants,R744 (CO2)and R290 (Propane). "To promote their wider adoptionacross India, the MoU between Danfoss India and IISc aims toincrease knowledge systems around natural refrigerants both at theacademic and industry level", the statement said.

Danfoss, IISc ink pact topromote natural refrigerants

PNS n NEW DELHI

Competition Commissionhas closed a case of allegedbid rigging after a detailedinvestigation found noevidence to suggestmanipulation in the bid-ding process by threefirms for three differenttenders. The matter per-tained to three separatetenders that were issuedby the Department ofPrinting under theMinistry of UrbanDevelopment. One tenderwas issued in 2014 andtwo other tenders in 2015.

There were complaintsthat the three firms --Chandra Prabhu OffsetPrinting Works Pvt Ltd,Saraswati Offset PrintersPvt Ltd and United IndiaTradex Pvt Ltd -- had con-spired to fix rates in bidssubmitted for the tenders.

CCI had directed itsprobe arm DG -- for adetailed investigation,which revealed close link-ages among the threefirms (opposite parties).

CCI closesalleged bidrigging case

PNS n MUMBAI

The Indian IT industry rev-enues are set to grow by 2.3 percent to USD 194 billion inFY2020-21 and the exportswill go up by 1.9 per cent toUSD 150 billion, industrylobby Nasscom said onMonday. The industryremained a net hirer in the fis-cal year, which saw a major hitacross the world because of theCOVID-19 pandemic, with1.38 lakh new jobs added totake overall employment to44.7 lakh, it said.

"We have emerged moreresilient and more relevantfrom the crisis. We have beenthe bellwether to lead the fightagainst COVID," the body'spresident Debjani Ghosh said.

She said the industry has

become the first sector torecover from the pandemic-induced crisis and hit growthdespite headwinds like a 3.2per cent dip in technologyspends across the world on a3.5 per cent contraction in theworld GDP. The overall dealpipeline is over USD 15 billion,if one were to go by the num-bers disclosed by listed com-panies, the body said.

On the outlook, 71 per centof the 100 industry chief exec-utives said global tech spendswill be better in 2021.

IT industry will grow by 2.3%: Nasscom

Will sendCovishield toCanada in amonth: SIIPNS n NEW DELHI

Vaccine maker SerumInstitute of India (SII) onMonday said it will sendCOVID-19 vaccine devel-oped by AstraZeneca andOxford University toCanada in less than amonth. SII CEO AdarPoonawalla in a tweet said,"Dear Hon'ble PM@JustinTrudeau, I thankyou for your warm wordstowards India and its vac-cine industry. As we awaitregulatory approvals fromCanada, Iassureyou,@SerumInstIndia willfly out #COVISHIELD toCanada in less than amonth; I'm on it!".

PNS n NEW DELHI

FMCG major HindustanUnilever expects its "COVIDimpacted" product categories,such as ice-cream and vendingsolutions, to rebound strong-ly in 2021 with increase inmobility. In an investor pre-sentation, the company alsosaid categories such as skincare and colour cosmetics,which slowed down last yearwill also rebound.

"These categories remainstructurally attractive for us,"HUL said in its presentation.

On the other hand, the com-pany said "COVID obsessive"categories such as hand sanitis-ers and hand wash which sawa sharp surge during the pan-

demic are also expected to nor-malise this year. Hand sanitis-er category surged 16 times in2020 compared to 2019, whilethe hand wash category grew 1.5times last year. Categories suchas hand, body and face care,classified as "COVID resis-tant" items are expected to "tonormalise with increase inmobility in 2021", HUL said.

From a peak decline of 73per cent in the second quarterof the calendar year 2020 dur-ing the lockdown these haverecovered, with the gradualunlocking that the countrywent through, to a decline of51 per cent in the third quar-ter and 30 per cent in thefourth quarter in line withimproving mobility, it added.

Covid-impacted itemsmay rebound: HUL

Panel to suggest stepsfor fortifying UCBs

Mumbai-basedHiranandani Groupon Monday said it

will set up an integratedlogistics and data centrepark with an aggregatedinvestment of around Rs10,000 crore.It has signed amemorandum of

understanding to acquire 100-acre land at Uttarpara in Hooghlydistrict from Hindustan Motors to set up the integrated logisticsand data centre park.Two group companies -GreenBase and Yotta-will develop the project. "The combined investment by the groupand their customers is estimated to cross Rs 10,000 crore," acompany statement said. The first facility of industrial and logisticspark will be ready by June 2022 and the first data centre by 2023,it said. GreenBase will deliver a modern and self-sustainableecosystem, consisting of three-million sq. feet of industrial andwarehousing space, while Yotta will involve in the development ofsix hyper-connected data centre buildings, according to thestatement.The data centre will be capable to serve the entireeastern region, it said. "Kicking off this project would not havebeen possible without the tremendous support of West BengalChief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The state is the gateway to theeast. It is an ideal hub for logistics and industrial development withexcellent road, rail and riverine connectivity," the group CEODarshan Hiranandani said. The announcement comes ahead of theWest Bengal Assembly elections, due in April-May.Speaking on theproposed project by the group, the chief minister said, "It isencouraging for West Bengal. We are ready to offer all thesupport." Echoing Banerjee, West Bengal Industrial Development

Hiranandani to set up logistics,data centre park with `10K cr

Leading microfinancecompany ArohanFinancial Services Ltdhas filed papers withthe capital marketregulator SEBI for aninitial public offering(IPO) and is planning toraise Rs 1,750-1,800

crore, sources said on Monday. The public offer comprises theraising of fund via a fresh issuance of shares, amounting to Rs 850crore and an OFS (offer for sale) of 27,055,893 equity shares by asection of the existing investors, they said. Promoted by AavishkaarGroup, the company may decide to undertake a pre-IPO placementof Rs 150 crore subject to consultation of the merchant bankers.ccording to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus filed with the regulator,the company may decide to undertake a pre IPO placement of Rs150 crore subject to consultation of the merchant bankers. A portionreserved for qualified institutional buyers will be up to 50 per cent ofthe offer, while up to 15 per cent will be kept for non-institutionalinvestors and up to 35 per cent for retail investors. The portionreserved for eligible employees will be up to five per cent of the offer."The net proceeds from the fresh issue will be utilised foraugmenting the company's capital base to meet its futurerequirements, which is expected to be deployed in FY22," themicrofinance firm said.The Kolkata-based company, whichcommenced its operations in 2006, claimed that it has servedapproximately 2.21 million borrowers across 17 states and stands asthe largest NBFC-MFI in eastern India as per gross loan portfolio.

Microlender Arohan to go forIPO, to raise `1,750-1,800 cr

fter the mas-sive success ofStree (2018),the team

reunites to furtherbuild the cinematic

universe in the fami-ly-friendly horror-comedy franchisewith the much-anticipatedRoohi. Theincredibly tal-entedRajkummar Rao

is back withJanhviKapoor in aspectacularrole andaudience

favouriteVarun

ChoochaSharma. The

trailer of Roohiwill be unveiledon Tuesday,February 16.

Backing a newdirector as theyhave in the past,Roohi is directedby Hardik Mehtaand written by

Mrigdeep Singh Lamba, andthe makers of Roohi hope topave the way for films slatedfor a theatrical release withthe first major 1,500 screenplus pan-India release thisyear.

Speaking on behalf of JioStudios, Jyoti Deshpande,President — Media &Entertainment, RIL said, “Wehave always invested in greatstories with amazing produc-tion values, visually and byway of sound, which is bestexperienced on the bigscreen to have that ‘paisa

vasool wali feeling’. We owedit to our partners across thevalue chain, be it Maddockor the Cinema Exhibitors, tohold on to our fabulous filmfor this day and give it thegrand release that it deservesand promise a completeentertainment experience toour audiences who havewaited over a year for this.With Roohi, the magic ofCinema is back…come cele-brate with us. We promise tomake you smile under yourmasks.”

icki Minaj’s dadRobert Maraj has trag-ically died after he wasstruck in a hit-and-run. HollywoodLifeconfirmed the sad

news with Nassau County Policein New York, after he was hit by acar around 6pm on February 12.

The 64-year-old was walkingbetween Roslyn Road and RaffAvenue when he was hit by a carthat then fled the scene. He wastransported to hospital in criticalcondition, and sadly passed awayover the weekend.

Police confirmed that theHomicide Squad is investigating

the case, and urged members ofthe public to come forward to

help identify the driver. TheAnaconda hitmaker is yet tospeak publicly after his pass-ing, and it is not known how

close the pair were at the timeof his death.

The singer recently celebrat-ed her 38th birthday on

December 8, the first since wel-coming her baby boy with hus-band Kenneth Petty. TheCOVID-19 pandemic shut downmany event red carpets in 2020,so fans didn’t get many glimpsesof Nicki, and she kept her preg-nancy largely under wraps. Shefinally confirmed that she hadwelcomed her son into the worldon Oct. 15, when she shared vari-ous congratulatory notes send to

her from her many famousfriends.

Beyonce wrote in a card,“Welcome to motherhood. Godbless you and your family,” whileKim Kardashian and Kanye Westsimply said, “Congrats! We loveyou!” Nicki added other card bestwishes from Riccardo, modelWinnie Harlow and her “Tusa”collaborator, singer Karol G.

9

Vijayawada Tuesday February 16 2021

Meghan Markle, Prince Harry expecting second child

ongratulationsare in order forMeghan Markle,39, and PrinceHarry, 36! Thecouple — who

tied the knot in May2018 — are expectingbaby #2. “We can con-firm that Archie is goingto be a big brother,” astatement issued to anews agency read from arepresentative for TheDuke and Duchess ofSussex.

“The Duke andDuchess of Sussex areoverjoyed to be expect-ing their second child,”the statement also read.The couple also releaseda stunning photo alongwith the announcement,taken by MisanHarriman. Meghan’sgrowing baby bump canbe seen in the sweetblack-and-white candidas she and Harry situnder a tree. MeghanMarkle cradles her babybump in the new photoshared on February14,2021.

Meghan and Harryare already parents toadorable son Archie

Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, 1, who theywelcomed in May 2019!They confirmed theywere pregnant the firsttime around via theRoyal Family, includingHarry’s brother PrinceWilliam, 38, and sister-in-law Kate Middleton,38, who noted they were“very pleased” by thenews via the Kensington

Royal Twitter account.Archie has become

quite the star on socialmedia, taking centerstage in the couple’sChristmas card back inDecember 2019.

The pregnancy newscomes after Meghan andHarry’s whirlwinddeparture from royalduties in January 2020and some difficult per-

sonal loss. In November2020, Meghan andHarry suffered a devas-tating loss.

Meghan opened upin an emotional person-al essay about enduringa miscarriage. “Idropped to the floor,”she recalled. “[I] sensedthat something was notright. I knew, as Iclutched my firstborn

child, that I was losingmy second,” Meghan’sNew York Times pieceread.

After such a devastat-ing loss, we’re so happyfor Meghan and Harryand wish them well onthis next chapter in theirlives.

C

N

what’s brewing?

Mithila Palkar: Was just very greedyto be an actor, medium didn't matter

or Mithila Palkar, opt-ing for projects on thedigital medium wayback in 2016 wasn’tabout taking a risk, butrather another opportu-

nity to showcase her talent andcarry forward her love for act-ing. The actor, who has been apart of series such a LittleThings, Girl in the City and webfilms such as Chopsticks andTribhanga, says she neverlooked at it as taking a plungeinto the unknown.

“When I started working Ijust wanted to be an actor. Ofcourse, when you grow up inIndia you want to be a part ofBollywood because that’s theexample we have in front of us,and we’ve grown up watching.

We think that here’s somethingwe want to do. So, obviously,I’ve grown up hoping to be afilm actor. But as I was growingto be an actor professionally, Iwas just craving to do just thatI just wanted to act,” she says.

The 28-year-old also has hada few theatrical films includingKatti Batti (2015), Marathimovie Muramba and Karwaan(2018), and she reveals how herlove for acting was amplifiedduring her stint as an organiserof a youth theatre festival.

“There I saw so many peopleof my age putting up such phe-nomenal work while I wasworking behind the scenes. Iasked myself why? I wanted tobe on the stage because Ithought that’s where I belong. I

was just very greedy tobe an actor, to be doingwhat I always dreamt ofdoing and whatever pre-sented itself as an opportu-nity to me, I grabbed itwith both hands,” sherecounts.

Palkar further addsthat for her content isking and that is all thatmatters. “I didn’t seewhat medium, thatdidn’t matter to me.I still want to be abetter actor thanwhat I am. Ijust want to bea better actorevery day,” shemaintains.

Nicki's dad tragically dies at 64

F

A

Rajkummar, Janhvi, Varun's horror-comedy

renamed Roohi

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

l Each row and column cancontain each number (1 to 9)exactly once.

l The sum of all numbers inany row or column mustequal 45.

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

FUN

ports players areconsidered to be fitindividuals whoshowcase theirstrength, enduranceand flexibility to flex

their bodies through toughcircumstances and pullthrough their sports perfor-mance. They train day in andout to have command overtheir body and techniques.Every sport has its owndemands and likewise, atraining schedule is devisedby their coaches and followedby players and their parentsfor optimal performance.

Long ago it was identifiedthat despite best body and

technique, something wasstopping the players toachieve their best. On deeperinvestigation, it was foundthat mind had a role to playin performance which wasoften not understood. Withtime, coaches, parents andplayers recognised this gapand started understandingthe need for mental training.

Despite increased aware-ness, the taboo of visiting amental health professionalacts as a huge barrier toadopt a positive and progres-sive change. Over the years,sport psychology (area ofspecialisation that uses psy-chological interventions in

sports set up) has found itsspace and parents, coachesand players are reaching outto professionals for perfor-mance enhancement.

Winning is still the biggestmotivator for everyoneinvolved in sports. Even afterhaving an emphasis on par-ticipation and excellence,achieving success and avoid-ing failures takes centre stagefor one and all. Whether oneis playing an individual sportor a team sport, chief coachto subordinate coaches, sportscience experts along withplayer’s parents make a cru-cial part of the team whichtogether influences the

course of action for long.Management of sports

players involves binding theentire team strongly andkeeping them on the samepage. In this competitiveworld, increased exposure tointernational competitiveevents, advances in supportfrom corporate and govern-ment sectors has led toincreased performance pres-sure. With time, sports hasmoved from mere joy, a senseof satisfaction to pride andprofessionalism. The demandto perform is so strong that itcomes with the tag of“Success at any cost.” But dowe really need success at thecost of our mental peace?Mental health when dis-turbed affects one’s ability torecognise the self-potentialand gets bogged down bystress. Talent wasted due tolack of professional help atright time can never standthe spirit of sports. Hence, itbecomes essential to learn themind-body connection andmental toughness to becomeresilient in testing momentsof matches.

It’s scientifically proventhat exercise promotes posi-tive mental health but some-times this observation doesn’thold true. With increasingcompetition, competitivestress, the pressure of expec-tations, financial crisis, logis-tic issues and infrastructuralconcerns, the challenges toperform well are not justvested in talent but in thingsbeyond one’s control too.

Anxiety, depression, per-sonality disorder, mood dis-orders, panic, PTSD, eatingdisorders, as well as moreserious mental health issues,are coming to surface in pop-ulation as young as age 10.The peak years of sports per-formance and the onset ofmultiple mental health issuescoincide and thus, this fact ofunderstanding the underlyingissues which need attentionare simply side-lined. Whilethe mind of a player is mostimportant, even the mind-setof their coaches and the par-ents are equally important. Itis essential to create a holisticapproach in bringing achange in their perspectivestowards winning and success.Lack of time, resources,myths that it is only for eliteplayers have been wiped-out;the need of the hour is men-tal health training for all.

Positive mentalhealth helps athleteshandle the pressure

and boosts theirperformance on the

ground. AmrutaKarkhanis

Deshmukh, a sportspsychologist, shares

how.

Play your mind

s women age, the likeli-hood of chromosomalabnormalities climbs,and with it, the risk ofmiscarriage, birthdefects or disorders that

make conceiving more difficult.Egg freezing is seen by some as away to stop the biological clock,expand reproductive options, andpreserve younger, possibly healthi-er, eggs. And for many womenlooking to extend their childbear-ing years, it has become anincreasingly attractive option.

Sasha, 28, chose fertility preser-vation which allowed her to con-ceive at a later stage in life whilebeing focussed now on her dreamcareer growth. Today we havemany girls coming up and daringto break the stereotype, choosingbold career choices like aviation,full-time travelling, surfing, DJ-ing, and bartending, etc., whichwill require them to give priorityto their career.

But just how successful is it?How invasive? How expensive?When it comes to the details, isthis something women shouldseriously consider? Dr KrishnaChaitanya, Scientific Head andClinical Embryologist, OasisFertility talks about how normal itis in India for a woman to freezeher eggs, procedure, and more.

What does egg freezingmean, exactly?

The process of egg-freezing, orin medical speak, oöcyte cryop-

reservation, involves stimulatingthe ovaries with hormones to pro-duce multiple eggs, retrieving theeggs from the ovaries and takingthem to the lab, where they’recooled to subzero temperatures tobe thawed at a later date.

What are the benefits of eggfreezing?

With the whole world-changing,even science is changing and theway we look at the medical prac-tice. After the invention of testtube or IVF procedures, we foundout that we can actually ‘create’babies. As a woman grows older,the quality of her eggs tends todecline. Eggs may contain morechromosomal abnormalities, andwomen will no longer ovulate aftermenopause. This means that herovaries will cease to release eggs. Ifa woman wants a child but is notable or ready to conceive at pre-sent, a dedicated facility can freezeher eggs for use at a later date.

Why might a woman opt tofreeze?

Reasons vary. Some womenchoose to freeze their eggs formedical reasons. Cancer treat-ment, for example, can be toxic tothe ovaries and cause prematuremenopause. The following aresome reasons that women freezetheir eggs:

Career and educationalplans

Women who wish to pursue

advanced degrees or demandingcareers may freeze their eggs whenthey are young to ensure access tohealthy eggs later on. Some com-panies, such as Facebook andApple, even fund egg-freezing forfemale employees who wish todelay childbirth for professionalreasons.

Personal circumstances

Women who want to have achild with a partner but have notyet found one may freeze theireggs for future use. Women insame-sex relationships may alsowish to have a baby further downthe line.

Cancer

Chemotherapy and other cancertreatments typically interfere withand sometimes end fertility.Reproductive cancers might leadto the removal of a woman’s

ovaries.Egg freezing might help reduce

the impact of some cancer treat-ments on fertility.

Infections, organ failure,and other health concerns

A wide range of health problemscan harm egg quality and fertility,such as endometriosis, a conditionthat causes uterine tissue to growoutside of the womb.

Freezing eggs offers hope towomen who are receiving treat-ment for a serious illness that mayreduce fertility.

How does egg freezingwork?

Although sperm and embryoshave proved easy to freeze, the eggis the largest cell in the humanbody and contains a large amountof water. When frozen, ice crystalsform that can destroy the cell.Over the years we have learnedthat we must dehydrate the eggand replace the water with an“anti-freeze” prior to freezing inorder to prevent ice crystal forma-tion. We also learned that becausethe shell of the egg hardens whenfrozen, sperm must be injectedwith a needle to fertilize the eggusing a standard technique knownas ICSI (Intracytoplasmic SpermInjection). Eggs are frozen using aflash-freezing process known asvitrification.

How open is India when itcomes to freezing eggs?

The country is now becomingopen to this procedure. Companieslike Google are providing financialassistance to women who want tofreeze their eggs in order to focuson their career. In India, womengo through a lot of psychologicalstress if she is not able to a child ofher genetics, that’s when freezingof eggs comes to play.

When should a womanfreeze her eggs?

During her late teens or earlytwenties. Freezing eggs early givesa brighter chance of an easy andsafe pregnancy. It’s important to dothe right things at the right age. Todate, approximately 5,000 babieshave been born from frozen eggs.The largest published study of over900 babies from frozen eggs

showed no increased rate of birthdefects when compared to the gen-eral population. Results from onestudy showed no increased rates ofchromosomal defects betweenembryos derived from frozen eggscompared to embryos derivedfrom fresh eggs. A 2014 studyshowed that pregnancy complica-tions were not increased after eggfreezing. There have also been over300,000 children born worldwidefrom frozen embryos using pri-marily slow-freeze cryopreserva-tion techniques, without anincrease in birth defects. Althoughthis data is reassuring, it will takemany years of follow-up to ensurethat babies born from egg freezingtechnology have no higher rates ofbirth defects than those conceivedthrough other means.

With moreand morewomenlooking toconcentrateon their careergraph andchoosing tohave kidswheneverthey're ready,physically andmentally, eggfreezing isbecomingincreasinglypopular anddecreasinglystigmatised.The Pioneer'sK RAMYASREE talks toDr KrishnaChaitanya,ScientificHead andClinicalEmbryologist,Oasis Fertility,who breaksthis down forus.

Rethinking route

A

S

to motherhood

Live Telecastfails to impress

ost main-streamactressesare gradu-ally step-ping into

the digital space, final-ly realising there’snothing to lose bydoing so. After all,how long will theyonly play second fiddleto mainstream heroesfilm after film? RaashiKhanna, KajalAggarwal, Tamannaah,Samantha have shownthe way forward andproved that careers inthe digital space andfilm industry canmutually co-exist.

Kajal has just signedher second web seriesfor Aha recently, herfirst web show, LiveTelecast, that released

on February 12 butwas met with aninsipid response fromcrowds. Also markingdirector VenkatPrabhu’s debut in thedigital space, LiveTelecast was releasedin multiple languagesand was marketed as ahorror-comedy. Thestory was one of thefirst-ever scripts thatVenkat Prabhu hadwritten for a featurefilm that never gotmade.

In most SouthIndian industries, thehorror-comedy trendhas almost been doneto death and there’shardly been dimensionin the genre that hasbeen left untouched.The buzz for the show,as a result, has been

extremely low and itsfilmmaking and actingstandards have beenextremely poor.

The premise about alive reality show withghosts in a hauntedhouse is quirky onpaper, but the execu-tion has been illogical.Live Telecast feels likea never-ending featurefilm made with disap-pointing productionvalues. Vaibhav is onlythe saving grace in thisshow, while Anandhiis just okay.

It is surprising tosee Kajal choosingsuch a flimsy script fora web debut. Theactress has four featurefilms releasing thisyear — Mosagallu,Acharya, Mumbai Sagaand Hey Sinamika.

Kajal's web series

M

TuesdayFebruary 16, 2021

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facebook.com/dailypioneer

sport 11VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 16, 2021

RACING TEAM INDIA MAKES ALMS DEBUT Dubai: Racing Team India won its bid to become thefirst all-Indian squad to compete at the 24 Hours of LeMans with a solid debut over the opening two roundsof the Asian Le Mans Series in Dubai this weekend.The JK Tyres-backed team's ORECA 07 LMP2 car,driven by Narain Karthikeyan, Arjun Maini and NaveenRao, with technical support from reigning ALMSchampions Algarve Pro Racing, finished fifth andfourth in the two four-hour races held at the DubaiAutodrome on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

NAMAN OJHA ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT Bhopal: Former India wicketkeeper-batsman NamanOjha on Monday announced his retirement from allforms of cricket, bringing down curtains on a two-decade long illustrious domestic career. The 37-year-old from Madhya Pradesh, who holds the record forthe most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in the RanjiTrophy, has featured in one Test, one ODI and twoT20Is. “I would like to announce my retirement,” Ojhasaid in a virtual press conference. “It is time for me tomove on. It was a long journey, I am grateful I had thisopportunity and I could fulfil my dream of playing forcountry and state,” he said.

KXIP TO BE RENAMED PUNJAB KINGS New Delhi: Kings XI Punjab will be called PunjabKings from the upcoming edition of the IPL, thefranchise having opted for a change in name aftergiving it a long thought. “The team was planning tochange the name for a long time and thought it shouldbe done before this IPL. So it is not a suddendecision,” a BCCI source said on Monday.

FIR AGAINST YUVI OVER CASTEIST REMARKS Hissar: The Haryana Police has filed an FIR againstformer India cricketer Yuvraj Singh over his allegedcasteist remarks against Yuzvendra Chahal during anInstagram chat last year, officials said on Monday. Itwas during one of the Instagram Live sessions withRohit Sharma that Yuvraj made the offensive commentabout Chahal, while talking about his regular socialmedia posts.

PROTEAS TO VISIT IRELAND IN JULY Johannesburg: South Africa will embark on ahistoric first full limited-overs tour of Ireland in July,the country's cricket board said on Monday. Thematches are scheduled to be played from July 11-25and will comprise three ODIs, that will form part of theICC's Cricket World Cup Super League programme,and three T20 Internationals. The matches will beplayed in Malahide and Stormont.

ROSE LEAVING GLADBACH FOR DORTMUND Monchengladbach: Borussia Mönchengladbach onMonday said that coach Marco Rose will leave at theend of the season for league rival Borussia Dortmund.Gladbach sporting director Max Eberl said that Rosewould use a clause in his contract to make the move,subject to unspecified conditions.

PAHADI BILLAS LIFT KHO KHO C’SHIP New Delhi: Maharashtra's Pratik Waikar continuedhis spectacular show at the Super League Kho Khotournament as Pahadi Billas lifted the trophy with aconvincing six-point win over Panthers in the final hereon Monday. In the summit clash played at the IndiraGandhi Indoor Stadium, skipper Waikar dished out asolid all-round performance and guided his side to a31-25 win. The winners and runners-up team in themen's event received `2 lakh and `1.50 lakh prizemoney respectively. Agencies

SINGLES

PTI n CHENNAI

Ravichandran Ashwinfirst gave a lesson onhow to bowl on a rank

turner and then provided abatting master-class with asparkling hundred on a dete-riorating strip, putting India onthe brink of a massive series-levelling victory againstEngland on the third day of thesecond Test here on Monday.

Ashwin’s fifth Test hun-dred — a gutsy 106 off 148balls along with Virat Kohli’snear flawless 62 off 149 ballsgot India to a more than decent286 in 85.5 overs, leavingEngland with an improbabletarget of 482 runs on a dustbowl.

At stumps, England werealready crumbling at 53 for 3and it would take nothingshort of a miracle for Englandto bat for two days and save thematch.

Even their resolute captainJoe Root and coach ChrisSilverwood wouldn’t be opti-mistic on a track whereexploding divots are making itextremely difficult to bat.

But difficult doesn’t meanimpossible. Just like facing aquality seam bowler on a greentop is an art, one needs plen-ty of skills and mental fortitudeto counter spinners on a dustbowl.

Skipper Kohli and Ashwinshowed the likes of MichaelVaughan that they have abun-dant skills to tackle the condi-tions as India batted nearly 182overs across two innings on atrack that many deemed asunder-prepared after Englandfailed to score even 150.

For Ashwin, it was thethird time in his Test careerwhen he notched up a five-forand a hundred along with it.

Only England legend IanBotham stands ahead of himwith five such efforts in hiscareer.

India’s batting exhibition inthe second innings was a state-ment for all the DoubtingThomases on how to bat on athird-day track.

It only helped that MoeenAli (32-7-98-4) and Jack Leach(33-6-100-4) were not half asgood as Ashwin and AxarPatel were on the second day.

Both the Moeen and theLeach bowler were bowlingtheir deliveries at an identical

pace unlike Ashwin who var-ied the speed. Also anothermarked difference betweenAshwin’s deliveries was hispace through the air which wassignificantly more thanMoeen’s. If Rohit Sharma set itup with a classy Day 1 hun-dred, Ashwin and Kohli, in thenext two days, didn’t take theirfeet off the pedal to putEngland in the tightest of cor-ners.

Till the ball remained hard,England got three quick wick-ets leaving India in a spot at 65for 4 but Kohli again seemed

in a mood to make batting lookeasy.

He displayed defensive ele-gance, coming close to thepitch of the ball to take an off-stump guard in order to negateturn. He also used the sweepshot only for deliveries thatwere drifting down the leg-side.

There were seven bound-aries, mostly drives and inAshwin he found an able ally.They added 96 runs in 177balls, a partnership that deflat-ed England completely.

Ashwin relied on shotssquare of the wicket and leftKohli with the job of grafting,taking it upon himself to attackthe England bowling.

Apart from the square cutsand the pull shots off spinners,he was ready to hit the flat-bat-ted shots off pacers akin to ten-nis forehand shots.

There were 14 boundariesand a six in all during his bestbatting effort considering theprevious four hundreds cameagainst second-rate WestIndies sides.

Ravindra Jadeja’ ascendan-cy as India’s all-conditionsspecialist spin bowling all-rounder led to Ashwin losinga bit of confidence and the cut-ting edge he possessed with thewillow.

But everything changedafter the semi-fit Chennaiengineer pulled off a last daywonder in Sydney which hasnow helped him get his mojo

back.In the past one year, he has

tremendously upgraded hisvariations and the confidencein ‘Ashwin the bowler’ hasbrought to the fore ‘Ashwin thebatsman’.

The way he marshalledthe tail was commendable withtwo partnerships — 27 withIshant Sharma (7) and 49 withMohammed Siraj (16) for the10th wicket.

In both cases, he cleverlyshielded the strike and finallyreached 97 with a six.

A miscued shot got himhis hundred and the ensuingcelebrations, especially fromKohli punching his fists whilegiving a standing ovation,said it all.

Ashwin seemed finallyback where he belonged andthat’s right at the top.

AFP nMILAN

Romelu Lukaku scored twice toreach 300 career goals as Inter

Milan moved above AC Milan to thetop of Serie A with an impressive 3-1home win over Lazio on Sunday.

Lukaku’s brace came in the firsthalf as Inter made the most of their cityrivals’ surprising 2-0 loss at Spezia onSaturday.

Inter, bidding for a first Scudettosince winning the treble under JoseMourinho in 2010, are now one pointclear of AC Milan, with Roma sixpoints further back in third.

The stage is set for a mouthwater-ing Milan derby at the San Siro nextSunday.

“He (Lukaku) came back firing onall cylinders tonight and we need thisRomelu. We need this determinationand passion from everyone in theteam,” Inter coach Antonio Conte said.

“I am happy for the lads, inevitablythis must be a starting point for us andnot the finish line. We know the nextgame is the derby with Milan, goinginto it above them is obviously muchbetter. “It’s going to be a fascinatinggame between two teams who havestrong ambitions.”

Lukaku opened the scoring on 22minutes from the penalty spot afterWesley Hoedt fouled LautaroMartinez.

The Belgium forward then movedlevel with Cristiano Ronaldo at the topof the Serie A goalscoring charts justbefore the break, as he hit a loose ballfirst time on the half-volley for his 16thleague goal of the campaign.

The deficit was halved just afterthe hour mark as Gonzalo Escalante’sfree-kick was deflected to leave Intergoalkeeper Samir Handanovic flat-footed.

But Inter’s return to the summitwas secured in the 64th minute asLukaku turned the provider forMartinez.

PTI n CHENNAI

Debutant slow left-armbowler Axar Patel feels that

critics of spinner-friendly tracksneed to change their mindset asIndian cricket team has nevercomplained about tacklingseamer-friendly green tops over-seas.

The likes of former Englandcaptain Michael Vaughantermed the Chepauk pitch, usedfor the second Test, as “under-prepared” but India had twocenturions with three playersscoring half tons across twoinnings and 180 plus overs.

“If you are talking aboutpitch, I don’t think any ball hitthe helmet. There is normal spinon offer. We are playing on sametrack and scoring runs, so I don’tthink anyone should have anyproblems and feel that wicket islike this or that and so on andso forth,” Axar said.

The 27-year-old Gujaratleft-arm spinner, whose debutTest is also his 50th Internationalgame for India, took a dig at theEnglish commentators andmedia for their take on theChepauk surface.

“Also when we go overseas,

we never complained whileplaying on seaming track andcomplained that there is moregrass on the wicket. I think peo-ple need to change their mind-set rather than thinking aboutthe wicket,” he said at the end ofthird day’s play.

Axar explained that on thistrack, one needs to hit the deckhard in order to make use of the

turn on offer.“On this wicket, there is help

for spinners so you don’t needto do anything extra,” he said.

“When you are putting a bitmore effort and body into theball, then you are getting the ballto spin. When you are hitting thedeck hard, then only you are get-ting the ball to turn.

“If you are releasing it slow-

ly, there is not much help for theslow bowlers. So hitting the deckwith a decent speed is importantand that’s creating difficulty forbatsmen. If you bowl slow, thenbatsman are moving to back footand adjusting,” Axar said.

‘KNOW IT'S GOING TO SPIN’England spin bowling con-

sultant Jeetan Patel playeddown the talk about the qual-ity of the Chepauk pitch in theongoing second Test, saying“everyone knows it’s going tospin when you come to thesub-continent”.

“The first Test in Sri Lankaspun from ball one. We under-stand it all as a playing group,maybe it’s an educational thingfor someone outside the groupbut if you’re in the sub-conti-nent, wickets spin,” Patel said atthe media interaction at the endof third day’s play.

“The ball gets softer quick-er, it doesn’t seam as much, sothere has to be something in thewicket. Has it accelerated a bitquickly? Probably so, but that isplaying in the sub-continent,like when teams come toEngland or other places whereit seams around,” he added.

AFP nMELBOURNE

World No 2 Rafael Nadal beat oldnemesis Fabio Fognini in a scrap-

py affair to reach his 43rd Grand Slamquarter-final while Daniil Medvedevand Andrey Rublev ensured GrandSlam history will be made for Russia aftersetting up an Australian Open quarter-final on Monday.

With qualifier Aslan Karatsev alreadythrough to face Grigor Dimitrov in thetop half of the draw, it means there willbe three Russian men in the last eight ofa Slam for the first time since the Openera began in 1968.

Nadal, bidding for a first title atMelbourne Park since 2009, has yet todrop a set and kept the record intactagainst the fiery Italian, winning 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.

Later, ninth seed Matteo Berrettinipulled out of his fourth-round clash withStefanos Tsitsipas because of an abdom-inal strain, giving the Greek fifth seed awalkover into a quarter-final againstNadal. The Italian was due to play in thelate night match on Rod Laver Arena, butwithdrew hours before it was due to start.

Fourth seed Medvedev extended his

win streak to 18 matches when he tookjust 89 minutes to blow away MackenzieMcDonald 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 and reach thequarter-finals while world No 8 Rublevfollowed Medvedev onto Margaret CourtArena and was back in the locker roomeven quicker, as Norway’s Casper Ruudretired with the scores at 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).

Rublev also reached the quarter-

finals at Roland Garros last year in abreakthrough season that saw him winfive ATP Tour titles, more than any otherplayer. He won 41 matches, equal withworld number one Novak Djokovic asthe best in 2020, and started 2021 on aneight-match streak after winning allfour of his singles to help Russia win theATP Cup, alongside Medvedev.

Fourth seed Medvedev’s best GrandSlam performance to date was reachingthe final at the 2019 US Open. Hisunbeaten run dates back to Novemberand includes titles at the Paris 1000, theATP Finals in London and the ATP Cup.

But Medvedev said the Russian pair,both in their first Australian Openquarter-finals, would push their friend-ship aside on Wednesday when they aimfor the last four.

“It’s our job — of course during thematch we’re going to try to win, fight forour best,” said Medvedev. “You neverknow. Sometimes you can maybe...argue on the court or something becausewe’re competitors. “After the match weare great friends.”

“At least one of us will be in the semi-finals. So it’s good news but yeah, it’sgoing to be a tough match,” said Rublev.“Last time he beat me in the quarters inthe US Open. So now we’re in the quar-ters in the Australian Open, so we’ll seewhat’s going to happen.”

The last Russian man to win a GrandSlam was Marat Safin at Melbourne Parkin 2005.

For Nadal, it is the 13th time he hasmade the last eight in Australia, moving

to joint third on the all-time list behindonly Roger Federer (15) and JohnNewcombe (14).

BARTY’S EXTENDS WINNING RUNAmerican Jessica Pegula beat a top-

10 player for the first time in her career,shocking fifth seed Elina Svitolina at theAustralian Open to make her first everGrand Slam quarter-final where she willtake on compatriot Jennifer Brady.

Also Czech 25th seed KarolinaMuchova edged Belgium’s Elise Mertensin two tight sets to reach her secondGrand Slam quarter-final while world No1 Ashleigh Barty extended her unbeat-en start to 2021.

Muchova was 0-4 down in the firstbefore recovering to win 7-6 (7/5), 7-5against Mertens, who beat BelindaBencic in the previous round. Barty wasbroken while serving for the match thefirst time but clinched it in the next gameto get past Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-4.

Unseeded 26-year-old Pegula hasbeen in scintillating form at MelbournePark and overwhelmed the Ukrainian6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a last-eight clash22nd seed Brady who beat DonnaVekic 6-1, 7-5.

PTI n CHENNAI

Seasoned off-spinnerRavichandran Ashwin on

Monday credited the Indianteam’s batting coach VikramRathour for his fiery perfor-mances with the willow inrecent times.

Amid the chatter aroundthe challenging Chepaukpitch, Ashwin came in atnumber eight and showedeveryone how to bat on adeteriorating surface with anexcellent century, puttingIndia on the brink of a series-levelling victory in the secondTest.

“I can’t say it’s been hap-pening in the last three days,I have been practising withVikram Rathour. I would loveto credit him with how mybatting has come throughover the last four-five match-es,” Ashwin said at the end ofthe third day’s play.

This was after his gutsy

show with the bat in Australia,where he stood his grounddespite hostile fast-bowling bythe home team.

He was glad that he shone

so bright in front of his homecrowd.

“I don’t know when thenext Test is going to be here,but I am pleased. Don’t know

if I will play another Test inChennai, and if at all, when...”

Ashwin’s number elevencompanion Mohammed Sirajcelebrated the senior player’sfifth Test hundred more thanthe man himself, who had gotto a century in the companyof Ishant Sharma in the past.

From the other end,Ashwin enjoyed watchingSiraj strike a couple of sixes.

“In the past when, he’s(Ishant) been with me whenI got hundreds at home andonce Siraj came, I knew howto approach.

“I was thrilled for hisbatting and told him to gothrough the line of the ball. Itwas amazing to see how excit-ed he was when I got my hun-dred.

“I don’t know what theteam is feeling like but I amsure they are thrilled. I can’tthank the crowd enough, theyhave been very supportive,”Ashwin said.

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s wife Prithi Ashwin and his daughters Akhiraand Aadhya cheer for Team India during third day play of 2nd Test between India andEngland at MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai @prithinarayanan/Twitter

CHENNAI’S SUPER KINGCENTURY AND FIVE-FOR IN A TEST MATCH

Player No of Times

Ian Botham (England) 5

Ravichandran Ashwin (India) 3

Garry Sobers (West Indies) 2

Mushtaq Mohammed (Pakistan) 2

Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 2

Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) 2

RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN’S DOUBLE IN TESTSScore Wkts Opponent Venue Season Result

103 5-156 West Indies Mumbai 2011-12 Drawn

113 7-83 West Indies North Sound 2015-16 Won

106 5-43 England Chennai 2020-21 Awaited

Faisel FFeatures

2nd Test. Day 4Live from 9:30am ISTSTAR SPORTS 1 NETWORK

Ashwin credits Rathour for his batting

Axar wants critics to change mindset about spinning pitches Inter go top of Serie A

Nadal breaks no sweat to reach quarters

Local boy Ashwin makes 106 after taking fifer in 1st innings to show how to perform in turning track

Ravichandran Ashwin raises his bat to acknowledge crowd gesture after he completeshis fifth Test century on day 3 of 2nd Test against England in Chennai BCCI/Twitter

Ravichandran Ashwin plays sweep shot during his 106 run innings PTI

Axar Patel celebrates with teammates after taking a wicket during the 3rd day PTI

fter join-ing thesets ofVasisthMallidi’s

fantasy peri-od dramasometimeback,

NandamuriKalyanram has lined up anoth-er project. The untitled film,which marks the directorialdebut of Rajendra Reddy, is aproduction venture of MythriMovie Makers, which is bask-ing in the accolades it isreceiving for last week’srelease Uppena. For themuhurat shot, Buchi BabuSana sounded the clap-board, while RadhaKrishna (of Jil fame) and

Bharat Kamma (DearComrade) switched onthe camera.

Speaking to us,Rajendra, who assistedthe likes of BommarilluBaskar and SurenderReddy, billed the pro-

ject as an intense action thrillerwith twists and turns.

“I’m approaching it realisti-cally. Kalyanram garu will beseen playing triple roles in thefilm. It, however, won’t be atypical triple role film. That Ican promise. He is excitedabout the project and evenwanted to start it in betweenthe filming of his next withVasisth but decided against it,”the director said with a smile.“We will roll from March sec-ond week.”

The soft-spoken directorfrom Chittoor added that theactor, who has been extremelypicky with his assignments inthe past two-three years, green-lit the story in the first narra-tion itself, saying it was superb.“He later told me to narrate itto his brother-in-law Hari(who executes projects underKalyanram’s NTR Arts banner).In the subsequent meeting,Hari garu too endorsed it andso, the journey began. In fact,the project was confirmed lastJanuary and we even planned

to go on floors in June but dueto COVID-19 outbreak, we arenow starting in March. Closeto 80 percent of the filmingwill be wrapped up inHyderabad, while parts of Goawill host some portions. We areplanning to shoot some por-tions in India-Myanmar borderas well,” the director concluded.

12

tollywoodVijayawada Tuesday February 16 2021

The project got confirmed last January itself but dueto COVID-19, the shoot had to be deferred. The

debutant director promises that it will not be aroutine action affair involving a hero in a triplerole (Kalyanram plays three roles in the film),

reports NAGARAJ GOUD

onal Gajjar andAkhil Sarthak,who set BiggBoss season 3on fire withtheir sizzling

chemistry, are now head-lining a web series titledTelugu Abbayi GujaratAmmayi. Dr A BhaskarRao is producing it underSaraswati Creations,while Bantupalli Bhaskaris directing it from hisown script.

Speaking about theproject, directorBhaskar said thatone of his friendssuggested that hemake a project withMonal and Gajjarin the lead. “I later

met Bhaskar Rao whorecommended that a webseries be made. He pro-posed the names ofMonal and Gajal as hegot connected to themduring their stint in theBigg Boss. I felt veryhappy and luckily, I had astory that fit both ofthem. I met Akhil imme-diately after Bigg Boss andhe agreed to do the pro-ject straightaway. Similarwas the case with Monal.

Everything hap-pened very

fast.

The project is a pure lovestory.”

Akhil said he plays therole of a guy who comesto Hyderabad from townin pursuit of a softwarejob. “The struggles heendures and how he fallsin love with a Gujaratigirl forms the role’s arc,”he said.

Monal said she will beseen as Gujarati girl whomakes Hyderabad herhome due to her profes-sion. Her struggles andhow she adjusts to theculture difference is what

the role treads,she added.

Monal Gajjar and Akhil Sarthak to headline a web series

ellamkondaSreenivas,who wasrecentlyseen in thebox-office

turkey Alludu Adhurs, is team-ing up with premier productionhouse UV Creations for his next.While the actor was to shift attentionto Chatrapathi Hindi remake afterAlludu Adhurs, the makers are find-ing it difficult to rope in a leadinglady for the project. As it is takingtime, UV recently made debutantSriram Reddy to narrate a story toSreenivas, who, it appears, gave hisnod pronto. Yes, it is the same pro-ject UV initially wanted to makewith Sharwanand but with the actor’sschedule crammed, they’ve chosenSreenu.

A source informs, “A characterisa-tion-driven action-drama, the pro-ject will see Sreenu as a cop. Story

aside, UV’s reputation ensured thathe hops on board. While somepaperwork is still pending, themuhurat was held in a low-key affairrecently. “Sriram Reddy has earlierassisted Sriram Adittya for BhaleManchi Roju and has been with UVfor over three years with the copstory. Interestingly, this will be thesecond time-after Kavacham — thatSreenivas will be donning khaki for afilm. - NG

Film with Kalyanram is an intense action

thriller: Rajendra

Sreenivas to workwith UV Creations

he title and first look of producerLagadapati Sridhar’s 12th produc-tion venture under RamalakshmiCine Creations was unveiled byVaisshnav Tej, Krithi Shetty,Naveen Yerneni and Buchi Babu

Sana recently. Sridhar’s son VikramSahadav, who was seen in many films likeRace Gurram, Pataas, Naa Peru Suryaand Krishnamma Kalipindi Iddarini as achild talent is fronting the film, titledKotthaga Rekkalochena, along withSowmika, who has roots fromtheatre. She proved her act-ing talent with the Tamilmovie Champion.

Sridhar dubbed thefilm as a romanticdrama which reflectstoday’s youth mindsetand aspirations. On setsstill presently, it marksthe directorial debutof Pradeep Atluri,who is the son veter-an actor-producerAtluriPundarikakshaiah.

Vikram is alsoplaying the lead rolein Dil Raju’s pro-duction Rowdy Boys,which introducesthe producer’snephew AshishReddy (son of pro-ducer Sirish) as anactor.

Debutant SriramReddy, who has beenwith UV for over threeyears, is making a copdrama with Sreenivas

Lagadapati Sridhar's

Kotthaga Rekkalochena

with son Vikram

My commercial scripts didn’t get me an actor: Naandhi director Vijay

irector Vijay Kanakamedala, who islooking forward to the release ofNaandhi, starring Allari Naresh, saysduring the writing process itself, heand his writer Venkat thought of theactor to headline the film. “The story

demanded an actor not a star. After he agreedto do it, we took almost six months to researchon the subject of under trials. We met peopleJD Lakshmi Narayana, Professor K Nageswar,lawyers and cops to form a basic story. Weadded melodrama to make it emotional,” thedirector says.

A hard-hitting social drama, the film fol-lows an undertrial (played by Naresh) broughtto Chanchalguda prison, Hyderabad, for acrime that he didn’t commit.

It will draw attention to the torture he facesat the hands of cops and how he finally comesout of the prison.

“His attempts to come out of the jail legallyand how he fights against the people whoframed him in the case legally after servingfive years in prison forms the crux of thestory,” the director, who assisted HarishShankar for films like Mirapakay, Gabbar

Singh and DJ, states.In fact, Vijay was left with no option but to

attempt a different film for his debut. “I had commercial safe scripts with me and

I approached many actors to headline thembut to no avail. It is the reason why I wantedto attempt a new story,” the director informs.

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