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Updated JANUARY 29, 2021 5:00 PM

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AALLMMAANNAACC

TTOODDAAYY

Month & Paksham:

Pausa & Krishna Paksha

Tithi : Trayodashi : Jan 29 08:37 PM to Jan 30 05:29 PM

Chaturdashi : Jan 30 05:29 PM to Jan 31 02:18 PM

Nakshatram : Purva Ashadha: Jan 30 02:49 AM to Jan 31 12:22

AM Uttara Ashadha: Jan 31 12:23 AM to Jan 31 09:57 PM

Rahukalam : 4:42 PM to 6:06 PM

Yamagandam : 12:29 PM to 1:53 PM

Varjyam : 07:34 AM to 09:00 AM

Gulika : 3:18 PM to 4:42 PM

Amritakalam : 08:04 PM to 09:30 PM

Abhijit Muhurtham : 12:06 PM to 12:51 PM

Lata Mangeshkar offventilator but underobservation: doctor

Singing legend Lata Mangeshkar

has been put off ventilator butis still in the Intensive Care

Unit (ICU), the doctor treating her saidon Saturday. The 92-year-old singertested positive for coronavirus with

mild symptoms and was admitted tothe Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the

Breach Candy Hospital in southMumbai on January 8 where she is

being treated by Dr Pratit Samdani andhis team of doctors. According toSamdani, Mangeshkar has shown

signs of marginal improvement.

“She has been off the ventilator for

two-and-half days but continuesto be under observation. She has

been put off the ventilator because ofmarginal improvement in her health.Her health condition demands her to

be in the ICU,” Samdani told PTI.

EC bans exit pollsfor UP Assembly

election

The Election Commission has

banned all exit pollspertaining to the coming

Assembly elections from 7.00 am onFebruary 10 to 6.30 pm on March 7.

In a statement issued here onSaturday, UP's Chief Electoral Officer

Ajay Kumar Shukla said thatconducting the exit polls, its

publication in print or electronic mediaor its publicity has been banned from

7.00 am on February 10 to 6.30 pmon March 7. Any person who violatesthe order will be punished with a two-

year jail term or fine or both.

Bird census begins:Rare winged

friends sighted

Greater Flamingos, numbering to

several thousands, and otherwater birds have been spotted

in Tamil Nadu. This shows the coastalwetlands of the State attract migratory

birds, said the Forest Department onSaturday. Today, the sighting of about

a million birds of different speciescoincided with the beginning of the

phase-I of the Tamil Nadu BirdsCensus 2022. “The trial run of the

census began on Friday and the finalcount was held today," said thedepartment said. Nearly 40,000

flamingos were seen in Point Calimere,Valinokkam, Dhanushkodi,

Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari, it said.Also sighted were Little Stints, Marsh

Sandpipers, Lesser Sand Plover.Redshanks, Ruffs, Great Knots,

Spotted Redshanks, and evenEurasian Curlew, Whimbrel, and

Ruddy Turnstone.

In brief Educational institutions willreopen on Feb 1: Minister SabitaPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Education Minister SabitaIndra Reddy announced on Saturdaythat educational institutions in thestate would reopen on February 1,i.e. after the extended Sankrantivacation.

The Minister said that allCovid-related precautionsshould be taken in education-al institutions, with man-agements, teachers and par-ents following it in letter andspirit.

In a press release, theMinister said that the stategovernment has decided toreopen schools and colleges onFebruary 1 while ensuring adher-ence to Covid-19 protocol.

It may be recalled that the stategovernment told the TelanganaHigh Court that it would reopeneducational institutions after January

30. Earlier, the HighCourt expressed its surprise

over the reopening of schools whilekeeping universities and collegesshut. It asked the state governmentto communicate its view on reopen-ing of the schools as the vacation isdrawing to a close on January 30.

Presently, online classes are beingconducted for students of Classes8th, 9th and 10th and those ofIntermediate and Degree classes.However, many parents find onlineclasses useless and want the stategovernment to reopen educationalinstitutions.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A chill swept through Telangana onSaturday as a cold wave hit somedistricts bringing down minimumtemperatures.

At least 27 weather stationslogged a minimum temperaturebelow 10 degrees Celsius as cold,dry northwesterly winds blew overthe region.

TSDPS said the lowest temper-

ature of 4.9 degrees Celsius wasrecorded at Arli in Adilabad whileHyderabad recorded 10 degreesCelsius.

The district of Adilabad,Asifabad, Mancherial, Nirmal,Peddapalli, Siddipet, Sangareddy,Bhupalapally, Karimnagar,Warangal, and Mulugu witnessedbone-chilling temperatures.

Rajendranagar registered 9.3degrees Celsius followed by

Hyderabad Central University at9.6 degrees Celsius, Uppal at 9.9degrees Celsius and Maredpally at10 degrees Celsius.

The other weather stations in theGHMC area recorded more than 10degrees Celsius. The maximumnight temperature of 13.8 degreesCelsius was recorded at Medchal inMalkajgiri. The chill is likely to con-tinue till February 1.

“During the last 24 hours, the

minimum temperatures recordedwere less than 10°C at some placesin Adilabad, Kumuram Bheem,Mancherial, Nizamabad, Nirmal,Jagtial, Jayashankar, Kamareddy,Siddipet, Medak, Sangareddy andRanga Reddy districts. This isexpected to continue for the nexttwo days. Temperatures will rise by2-4°C after that,” the TSDPS said.

Cold wave hits Telangana districts

Modi will give Rs 1,000cr to Gujarat but not apaisa for TS: KTRPNS n HYDERABAD

Minister KT Rama Rao haslashed out at the BJP-led NDAGovernment and said that it hasnot given even half a paisa toHyderabad which witnessed aonce-in-a-100-year flood.

“We asked Prime MinisterModi for funds after the floodsas Hyderabad is a metro city. Tilldate not even a paisa has beengiven. In Gujarat, if there isfloods, he will give Rs 1,000crore,” KTR said.

He said that while Telanganais giving Rs 7,289 crore for the‘Mana Ooru Mana Badi’ schemethe Centre didn’t sanction anyeducational institution.

BJP leaders have been talk-ing big but what they five is

zero. KTR said, “Positionsand power are alms given bythe people. Anyone canbecome Ministers and MLAs.But power is not anybody'sproperty and is not permanent.

Congress,TRSactivists fightduring siege ofMLAs’ officesPNS n HYDERABAD

Tension gripped many placesacross the State on Saturday whenYouth Congress activists tried tolay sieges on TRS MLAs’ campoffices.

Youth Congress activists facedstiff resistance from TRS cadres atsome places during their siege onthe camp offices of TRS MLAs.

Youth Congress activists laidsiege to the camp offices of TRSMLAs on Saturday demandingthat the government shouldrelease job notifications immedi-ately.

TRS activists attacked YouthCongress workers with policelathis after grabbing them fromthe police at IbrahimpatnamMLA Manchireddy KishanReddy’s camp office. The TRScadres also punched and kickedYouth Congress activists.

TRS activists chased YouthCongressmen up to Sagar Road.

BJP plans ‘ChaloDGP Office’march on Feb 4PNS n HYDERABAD

The BJP has decided to organisea ‘Chalo DGP Office’ march onFebruary 4. The ‘Chalo DGPOffice’ march will start from theBJP state office and will end at theDGP’s office.

The BJP gave the call for themarch alleging that the TRS gov-ernment has been murderingdemocracy in Telangana. It alsoalleged that the police are biased infavour of TRS leaders and cadres.The police are ignoring attacks byTRS activists on BJP public repre-sentatives, the party said.

PM Modi praises India-Israel tiesas Pegasus snooping row returnsPNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi onSaturday said there cannot be a bet-ter time to set new goals for takingforward India-Israel relations andasserted that the cooperationbetween the two countries hasplayed a key role in the growth sto-ries of the two nations.

In a special video message on thecompletion of 30 years of full-fledged diplomatic relationsbetween India and Israel, PMModi said this period has been veryimportant for both countries.

He also said that the people ofIndia and Israel have always shared

a special relationship."This day holds importance in

our relationship as full diplomaticties were established between thetwo countries 30 years ago. A new

chapter between the two countrieshad begun. It was a new chapter buthistory between us is age-old,"PM Modi said.

"For centuries, the Jew commu-nity has stayed in India in a harmo-nious environment without anydiscrimination and has grown. Ithas made an important contribu-tion in our developmental journey,"he said.

At a time when significantchanges are taking place in theworld, the importance of India-Israel ties has further increased, headded.

13 shell firms booked for Rs 2,200-cr cyber fraudPNS n HYDERABAD

A major cyber fraud, involving Rs2,200 crore, has come to light inHyderabad, after TelanganaRegistrar of Companies filed acomplaint at the Central CrimeStation against 13 shell companies.

The RoC has identified fraudu-lent use of more than Rs 2,200 croreobtained by the firms in the guiseof payments for online gaming andinvestments.

The fraud was done throughapps called mall 008, mall 98,YS0123, mallrebate.com.

The modus operandi was thatthey would send links to mobilephone and force innocent peopleto put their money into the firms

on promise of high returns. Thus,Rs 2,200 crore was reportedlytransferred to Hong Kong.

The RoC lodged a complaintwith the Central Crime Stationagainst 13 shell companies onFriday. It is believed that there areChina links to the formation of fakecompanies.

One person was arrested for set-ting up a shell company.

The RoC has filed a complaintagainst directors, chairmen andpromoters of these companies

These companies have forgeddocuments and obtained permits.

The CCS police are on the look-out for two persons had helpedChinese operators. Police suspectthe money was transferred througha hawala transaction.

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

The questioning of drug kingpinChukwu Ogbonna David aliasTony started on Saturday. Thepolice special team recorded hisstatements and personal details.

The court had granted five-daypolice custody of Tony to thePunjagutta police who had filed apetition.

The police will be questioningTony to know about his drug sup-ply network in the city and the per-sons to whom he was supplyingcocaine through agents.

The questions were about Tony’sagents for cracking the drug sup-ply network. The police are inves-tigating his links in Mumbai andGoa too.

The cops asked a lot of questionsin English with the help of atranslator about the ‘Star Boy’.Tony, a Nigerian, was supplyingcocaine from African countrieswith the help of ‘Star Boy,’ an inter-

national drug trafficker.The police have already passed

information about several key nar-cotic players in Andheri to theNCB. Last week, this most want-ed international drug-peddler,belonging to Nigeria, and nineconsumers of narcotics fromHyderabad were nabbed, policesaid on Thursday.

NHRC issues notice toCS seeking report onDharani websitePNS n HYDERABAD

The National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) has issueda notice to Chief SecretarySomesh Kumar for the third timeseeking a report from him with-in six weeks regarding the suicidesby farmers due to irregularities inthe Dharani Portal.

Reacting to the complaint lodgedby TPCC general secretary BakkaJudson on August 16, 2021, urgingthe NHRC to order a CBI probeinto the suicides by farmers due tothe irregularities in the DharaniPortal, the NHRC issued its firstnotice to the CS on November 30and the second on December 31.

In a statement issued onSaturday, Judson alleged thatthere is no response from the gov-ernment as it has no regard forjudicial institutions.

PNS n NEW YORK

The family of four Indians foundfrozen to death near the Canada-US border has been identified.The Canadian authorities say thefamily had moved around thecountry for some time and wasdriven to the border by someone ina case being described as that ofhuman smuggling.

Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, 39,Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel,37, Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel, 11,and Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel,3, all from the same family, werefound dead near Emerson,Manitoba, approximately 12 metresfrom the Canada-US border onJanuary 19 by the Manitoba RoyalCanadian Mounted Police.

Identities of the victims were

confirmed by Canadian authoritiesand autopsies were done on January26.

The Indian High Commission in

Canada said the tragedy has high-lighted the issues of safe, legalmigration as Canada is a preferreddestination for Indian immigrants

and students.“This tragedy has brought into

focus the need to ensure thatmigration is made safe and legaland that such tragedies do notrecur,” the High Commission saidadding that a number of proposalsremain under discussion betweenIndia and Canada.

In order to prevent irregularmigration, the trafficking of humanbeings and to facilitate mobility,India has proposed a comprehen-sive Migration and MobilityPartnership Agreement (MMPA) toCanada, which remains under theconsideration of the Canadian gov-ernment.

“People-to-people relations arean important pillar of India-Canadarelations.

Indian family that froze to death on US-Canada border was smuggled

Drug racket kingpin Chukwu OgbonnaDavid alias Tony being brought by the policefor questioning in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Drug peddler Tonyquestioned about ‘Star Boy’

PNS n HYDERABAD

Ahead of the Budget session ofParliament commencing onJanuary 31, Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao has con-vened a meeting of the TRSParliamentary Party here onSunday to craft a strategy thatis required to be adopted byTRS MPs to put across the

state's views on the Centre's'discriminatory' attitude, partic-ularly towards sanctioning edu-cational institutions, railwayprojects, Bayyaram steel plantand the Kazipet railway coachfactory, among other projects.

KCR will chair the meetingto be held at Pragathi Bhavanat 1:00 pm.

PARL BUDGET SESSION

TRSPP meet today to finalise strategy

File photo

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Railway hospitalsintegrated withAyushman Bharat PNS n NEW DELHI

The 695 hospitals and healthcentres of the Railways across thecountry have been successfullyintegrated with the AyushmanBharat Digital Mission (ABDM),a statement from RailTel, whichexecuted the project, said onSaturday.

The integration has beenachieved by combining theHospital ManagementInformation System (HMIS),

SBI suspendscircular on

recruitment ofpregnant women

Page-5

No clarity on implementation of

Manavooru-ManabadiPage-3

2

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hyderabad 02HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | JANUARY 30, 2022

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RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..0088

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(IN HYDERABAD)

PNS n HYDERABAD

The suicides by farmers andunemployed youth have notstopped even after the creationof Telangana, Senior Congressleader V. Hanumantha Raosaid on Saturday.

Urging farmers and unem-ployed youth not to commitsuicide, VH told them thatjustice can be achieved byfighting justly. He said that therole of students in theTelangana movement wasunforgettable and that sui-cides by farmers were paining

him.Senior Congress leaders

Ponnala Laxmaiah, M.Kodanda Reddy, SambaniChandrasekhar, SanjeevaRao, R. Laxman Yadav, A.Yadagiri Goud, S. SrikanthGoud, Sridhar Goud,Rammohan and othersstaged a silent sit-in beforethe Gun Park TelanganaMartyrs statue on Saturday.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Ponnala Laxmaiah saidthat they took up the silentsit-in before the statue tosupport farmers.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Congress MLC T. JeevanReddy has alleged that theTRS government misled theUnion Home Ministry andthe President’s office on GONo: 17. He demanded thatthe government should can-cel GO No: 317 and 124 per-manently. He also demandedthat the government shouldorder transfers based on thelocal status of employees.

He said the Telanganamovement was organised toget jobs for locals but GO

No: 371-D was in force andnobody had the power toamend GO No: 371.

Participating in the dhar-na in front of the Jagtial col-lectorate on Saturday as perthe TPCC’s call to supportthe dharna by teachersbefore collectorates, Jeevansaid that it is not proper totransfer employees on thebasis of seniority instead ofnativity. He alleged that thegovernment has been givingpostings to husbands at oneplace and wives at otherplaces.

Moreover, the governmenthas been stating that they arenot at all related to the issuewhether one is a Central gov-ernment employee or a stategovernment employee. He saidthat courts have a responsibil-ity to respond on the issue.

Jeevan said that confusionprevails due to GO No: 124.He demanded that the gov-ernment should order trans-fers and appointments basedon GO 371. He said that thegovernment must ordertransfers based on the nativ-ity recorded in service books.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Welcoming the formation ofnew districts in AndhraPradesh, former NDMA vicechairman and senior Congressleader Marri ShashidharReddy said that at the time ofthe united AP’s partition in2014, there were 10 districts inTelangana and 13 districts inAndhra Pradesh.

The Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment has now proposed tocreate 13 new districts taking

the total number of districts to26 as per the provisions of theAndhra Pradesh DistrictsFormation Act 1974.

Shashidhar said the lawwas designed to allow for thechange of districts or bound-aries for the development ofbackward areas through bet-ter governance.

He said that a reasonableexercise had been done toensure equality among thenew districts in terms ofAssembly seats and other fac-

tors, adding that geographicalareas and population were alsogiven weightage. Shashidharsaid he appreciated the APgovernment regarding this.

YSRCP chief Jagan MohanReddy, who strongly promot-ed caste politics, changed hisattitude by namingVijayawada district as NTRdistrict. The formation of anew district named Sri SatyaSai District with Puttaparthi asits centre is also welcome, hesaid.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana BJP’s corecommittee has given a shockto the leaders who held secretmeetings recently againststate BJP Chief Bandi SanjayKumar. It is learnt that the corecommittee asked Sanjay to takeaction against the leaders whoheld secret meetings againsthim. The core committee alsosent copies of the meeting’s

resolutions to the state chief.However, Sanjay has not yettaken any decision regard-ing this.

It is learnt thatSanjay remainedmum following theintervention ofsenior leader NalluIndrasena Reddy.However, the partyleadership made it clearthat action will be taken

against the leaders who heldsecret meetings.

The BJP brass isvery curious to

know about thec o n s p i r a c ybehind the secretm e e t i n g s .However, it has a

feeling that theconspiracy is

beyond their expecta-tions. Hence they wanted to

know about the conspiracyvery clearly as the party hasbeen becoming strong inthe state. Sanjay took theissue lightly after the adviceby Nallu Indrasena Reddy.Sanjay asked the leaders whoheld secret meetings to holdtheir meets at the party officeonly. One of the leaders toldThe Pioneer that the issuewas closed and there may notbe any action.

BJP brass sees conspiracybehind secret meetings

TRS Govt misled Union HomeMinistry, President’s office: Jeevan

Telangana Congress asks farmers,jobless youth not to end lives

Marri welcomes formationof new districts in AP

13 shell firms booked forRs 2,200-crore cyber fraud

Continued from page 1

The CCS police have regis-tered cases against KasturbaInformation Services Pvt Ltd,Nandaka InformationServices Pvt Ltd, PinakiniInformation Services Ltd,Lokapujaya InformationServices, Abastha Informationservices Ltd, Anjandri

Information services Pvt Ltd,Garudradri InformationServices Ltd, NeeladriInformation services,Panchajanya InformationServices Ltd, Vakula Information Services Ltd, Vanamali Information ServicesLtd, Vasuki InformationServices Ltd, and VijayKrishna Narala PCS.

Continued from page 1

He said that not having aMinister, secretary andCCLA are examples provingthat irregularities are takingplace in the revenue depart-ment.

He alleged that ChiefMinister K. ChandrasekharRao and Chief SecretarySomesh Kumar had kept theMinistry’s positions withthem and were troubling thepublic, the farmers and rev-enue department staff.

He said that asking collec-

tors to solve land problems,which are solvable at the levelof tehsildars is a cause forconcern. He said that, earli-er VRAs, VROs, RIs andtehsildars used to solve landproblems easily. But KCRchanged the entire systemcreating problems.

He alleged that KCR hasbeen speaking big things inthe name of land surveys butwas not implementing it.Moreover, KCR has removedVROs to trouble farmersleading to lakhs of land prob-lems pending.

Continued from page 1

The TSDPS said that duringthe week January 29 toFebruary 4, mainly dryweather is expected. Rainfallis expected to be near normal.

Due to northerly andnortheasterly winds, mini-mum temperatures areexpected to fall to 3 to 4degree Celsius in the Northand Northeast districts ofthe State during three daysnext week. After that it willrise by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius.

Minimum temperaturesare expected to range from 14to 17 degrees Celsius andmaximum temperatures from27 to 30 degrees Celsius.

Cold wave hits...

Continued from page 1

After reaching the DGP’soffice, the BJP leaders wouldsubmit a memorandum toDGP M. Mahender Reddydemanding steps to enforcelaw and order in the State.

The BJP also decided totake up a Nirudyoga MillionMarch during the TelanganaAssembly budget session.

It also decided to take upa one crore signature cam-paign in February demand-ing that the government giveunemployment allowance tounemployed youth.

‘Chalo DGP Office’march on Feb 4

NHRC issues notice to CSseeking report on Dharani website

PNS n HYDERABAD

Ace shuttler P V Sindhu onSaturday said she too hadfaced cyber bullying andtrolling and the menaceshould be confronted coura-geously. Sindhu, who attend-ed an event to raiseawareness amongwomen and chil-dren on cyberworld organisedby the womensafety wing ofTelangana police,said cyber crimeshave increased asinternet usage has grown,especially since the COVID-19pandemic began two yearsago. A complaint should belodged with the nearest policeofficials if one becomes a vic-tim of cyber crime, a police

release quoted Sindhu as say-ing. She said parents shouldobserve their children andhelp them overcome if the lat-ter face any problems.

Observing that internet usehas become a part of daily life,she suggested that parents

make efforts to see thattheir children give

priority to contentrelated to educa-tion, sports andpersonality devel-opment.

She appreciatedschool students

being promoted ascyber warriors.The She-Teams of state

police gave special confidencetowards ensuring security ofwomen and children inHyderabad and across thestate, she said.

Continued from page 1

There cannot be a betteropportunity than now forsetting new goals for mutu-al cooperation when India ismarking 75 years of its inde-pendence, Israel will mark 75years of its independencenext year and the two coun-tries are marking 30 years oftheir diplomatic ties, PMModi said.

"On this important mile-stone of 30 years, I congrat-ulate all. I am confident thatIndia-Israel friendship willcontinue to set new recordsof mutual cooperation inthe decades to come," hesaid.

Though India had recog-nised Israel on September17, 1950, full-fledged diplo-matic relations between thecountries were established

on January 29, 1992. Sincethen, the bilateral relationsbetween both countries havedeveloped into a multifac-eted strategic partnership.

The 30th anniversary ofIndia-Israel ties also came ona day when a New YorkTimes report claiming thatIndia bought Pegasus spy-ware as part of a $2 billiondefence deal with Israel in2017 triggered a major con-

troversy with the Oppositionalleging that the govern-ment indulged in illegalsnooping that amounted to"treason".

Congress and some otheropposition parties indicatedthat they would raise theissue strongly in the BudgetSession of Parliament start-ing Monday, even as Unionminister Gen (retd) V KSingh called The New York

Times "Supari Media".At the same time, India's

former permanent represen-tative to the UN SyedAkbaruddin dismissed as"utter rubbish" the "insinua-tion" in the NYT reportwhich cited India's 2019 votein support of Israel at theUN's Economic and SocialCouncil to highlight deepen-ing of ties after a deal thatincluded the sale of Pegasus.

PM Modi praises India-Israel ties as Pegasus...

Face cyber bullying, trollingcourageously: PV SindhuContinued from page 1

Canada is a preferred desti-nation for Indian immi-grants and students. Indiaand Canada work together toensure the safety and well-being of all Indian immi-grants into Canada. The twocountries have a regular con-sular dialogue which exam-ines issues related to migra-tion and the welfare of eachother’s citizens,” the High

Commission said.Meanwhile, the office of

the Chief Medical Examinerof Manitoba has confirmedthat the cause of death wasdue to exposure, a statementfrom Royal CanadianMounted Police (RCMP)said on Thursday.

India's High Commissionin Ottawa said in a pressrelease that the relatives ofthe victims have beeninformed.

On 12th January 2022,the Government ofIndia wrote to States

proposing certain amend-ments to IAS (Cadre) Rules,1954 (deputation-related) onthe ground that the Centralgovernment is facing seriousshortage of IAS officers asStates are not offering ade-quate number of officers onCentral deputation. Concernshave been raised over thepossibility of abuse of addi-tional power by the Centre toundermine States and havelarger control over IAS offi-cers.

The Indian AdministrativeService (IAS) was createdunder the All India ServicesAct, 1951 and these officersare recruited by the Centralgovernment every yearthrough the Union PublicService Commission.

Selected IAS officers areallotted to different Statecadres. That way, all IAS offi-cers belong to one or the otherState. It is called, informally,as their parent cadre.

But there is no such allo-cation of IAS officers for the

Central government. TheCentral government meets itsrequirement of IAS officersthrough the process of depu-tation from States. These offi-cers carry field experiencefrom State to Delhi and bringback experience of working inDelhi to State.

While fixing IAS cadrestrength for each state underRule 4(1), certain numbers ofposts are added to each state'scadre strength meant for dep-utation to Centre, which iscalled Central DeputationReserve (CDR).

For example, TelanganaState IAS cadre strength is208. Out of these posts, 45posts are to be earmarked forCDR. It means TelanganaState can offer up to 45 offi-cers to the Centre at anypoint of time.

Yet, in practice deputationsto the Central governmentwill be always far below suchnumber in most of the States.But of late things havechanged.

The result is that theCentral government is facingserious shortage of IAS offi-

cers. The Centre can address

this problem without recourseto amendment.

Firstly, each State's IAScadre strength should bereviewed from time to time tokeep it in tune with the State'srequirements of IAS officers.Secondly, States need to hon-our their commitment to cen-tral deputation.

The existing IAS ServiceRule 6(1) says: A cadre officermay, with the concurrence ofthe State governments con-cerned and the CentralGovernment, be deputed forservice under the CentralGovernment or another StateGovernment…

Provided that in case of any

disagreement, the matter shallbe decided by the CentralGovernment and the StateGovernment or StateGovernments concerned shallgive effect to the decision ofthe Central Government.

Noticeably, even in exist-ing Rules, the Central gov-ernment has overridingpower in case of disagree-ment between the Centreand States.

Since the Central govern-ment has of late been facingserious shortage of IAS offi-cers, and since the stateshave their own reasons tooffer fewer officers for dep-utation, there is need forfinding a solution to aug-ment availability of IAS offi-

cers and arriving at a mech-anism for equitable avail-ability to Centre and States.

Although it is a genuineproblem for the Central gov-ernment, the issues sur-rounding it are giving it apolitical colour.

The new proviso after Rule6(1) says:

"Provided that each StateGovernment shall makeavailable for deputation tothe Central Government,such number of eligible offi-cers of various levels to the

extent of theCentralDeputation Reserve pre-scribed under Regulationsreferred to in Rule 4(1),adjusted proportionately bythe number of officers avail-able with the StateGovernment concerned vis-a-vis the total authorizedstrength of the State cadre ata given point of time.

The actual number of offi-cers to be deputed to theCentral Government shallbe decided by the CentralGovernment in consultationwith State Government con-cerned."

Noticeably, it is a dutyand obligation of each Stateto make available officersfor Central Deputation to theextent of CDR in state cadrestrength.

The Central government,through the proposedamendment proposes tomake it formal and part ofIAS (Cadre) Rules)

The existing proviso toRule 6(1) is proposed to bemodified as:

Provided that in case ofany disagreement, the matter

shall be decided by theCentral Government and theState Government or StateGovernments concernedshall give effect to the deci-sion of the CentralGovernment within a speci-fied time.

Some States are seeingthese proposed amendmentsas going against the spirit ofCooperative Federalism andcontributing to centralizationof power in the hands of theUnion government.

The ConstitutionalConduct Group of retiredAIS and Central Servicesofficers termed the proposedamendments as "arbitrary,unreasonable, unconstitu-tional and interfering withthe basic structure of theConstitution".

But, neither the States northe Constitutional ConductGroup have come out withsuggestions to solve the mainproblem that affects theCentre as well as States.

It is suggested that theCentral government, in con-sultation with States, can fixthe minimum number of

deputations (as a percentageof CDR) to the Central gov-ernment to be maintained byeach State at all times.

In the present system,there could be large numberof officers at the Centre froma few states and none fromother states.

As soon as States' share inCentral Deputation fallsbelow the minimum number,they must offer a panel of eli-gible officers to the Centralgovernment to choose fromthe panel to fill up the State'sminimum deputation share.Such a change can be carriedout through executive orderswithout resorting to amend-ment to IAS (Cadre) Rules.Of course, States will alwaysbe free to offer deputation ofofficers more than the min-imum number and up tomaximum of CentralDeputation Reserve.

The key lies in mutualrespect without any trustdeficit

(The writer is former SplChief Secretary, Govt ofTelangana)

SURESH CHANDAIAS (RETD.)

For example, Telangana State IAScadre strength is 208. Out of theseposts, 45 posts are to be earmarkedfor CDR. It means Telangana Statecan offer up to 45 officers to theCentre at any point of time.

Amendment to IAS (Cadre) Rules: Key lies in mutual trust

Continued from page 1

implemented earlier byRailTel in Railway hospi-tals, with the ABDM, itsaid.

“The move will benefitnot only around 80 lakhRailway employees andrail pensioners and theirfamily members but alsohelp general public to drawbenefit of health care facil-ities across differentRailway hospitals in thecountry in a seamless dig-ital manner,” the state-ment said. It also said thatif Railway patients aregoing outside the Railwayhealth system to someother hospitals integratedwith ABDM for specialisedtreatment anywhere in thecountry,

Railway hospitalsintegrated withAyushman Bharat

Continued from page 1

People will see what we aredoing when we are in power.Today you are in power in thecountry, what did you do forTelangana in the last 7.5 years. Idemand the NDA and the BJP toreveal what they did forTelangana.” KTR said that theTRS government had sanctionedRs 371 crore to Maheshwaram.Does anyone have the guts tobring more money to the con-stituency, KTR asked.

KTR said that BJP leadersspeak whatever they liked. “Theyare provoking kids to jump infront of the cars of ministers whoare touring in connection withgovernment programmes. This isnot politics. Compete with us indevelopment. Sanction a Rs 1,000crore package. If we are giving Rs2,000 pension here, in Gujarat itis just Rs 500. BJP leaders shouldtalk to the Centre and give thepeople of Telangana an addition-al Rs 2,000 as pension,” KTR said.

Modi will give... Indian family that...Continued from page 1

A court in Nampally allowedcustody of Tony for a periodof five days from January 29to February 2.

Police teams took drug-peddler Chukwu OgbonnaDavid alias Tony (37) intocustody from Mumbai andbased on info given by himnine consumers, mostly busi-nessmen, were apprehended,the police said, adding that 10gm of cocaine was also seizedfrom them.

Tony, who came toMumbai from Nigeria in2013 on a temporary visa,and was illegally staying inMumbai since then, was pur-chasing drugs from anotherinternational drug-peddler‘Star Boy,’ an African, viaships. In 2017, Tony decidedto enter the drug businessand developed contacts withconsumers in Mumbai, Goaand Hyderabad.

Drug peddler...

Continued from page 1

Ranga Reddy district YouthCongress president Ravikanthwas injured in the attack by TRSactivists. The TRS activists alsodestroyed the vehicles of YouthCongress leaders. Later, YouthCongress workers staged a dhar-

na before the police stationasking the police to arrest theTRS activists who attackedthem. The police arrestedTelangana Youth Congress pres-ident Shivsena Reddy when hetried to block TRS workingpresident and IT Minister KTRamarao at Maheshwaram.

Congress,TRS activists fight...

TRSPP meet...Continued from page 1

Ministers K T R and Harish Raoas well as the State PlanningBoard Vice Chairman B VinodKumar have written separately tothe Centre about pending fundsand projects to be sanctioned toTelangana as part of assurancesgiven under the AP StateReorganisationAct , 2014 as wellas in the normal course. Tiesbetween the TRS governmentand the Centre have soured afterthe Centre's initial refusal toprocure paddy during the Rabiseason hereafter. Subsequently,the Centre did relent to procureadditional Kharif paddy.However, the Centre has not yetgranted the requests of the stateto give national project status toat least one major irrigationproject in the State and releaseRs.24,000 crore as grant in linewith the recommendation of NITIAayog towards MisisonBhagiratha and Mission Kakatiyaas well as funds due to the Stateunder GST compensation.

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | JANUARY 30, 2022 hyderabad 03

PNS n HYDERABAD

Congress senior leader VHanumantha Rao has allegedthat the suicides of the farm-ers and unemployed youthwere not stopped even aftercreation of the separateTelangana state. Urging thefarmers and unemployedyouth not to commit sui-cides, VH called upon themthat the justice wil l beachieved by waging fights.He said that the role of stu-dents in Telangana move-ment was unforgettable andsuicides of the farmers arepaining alot. Congress seniorleaders—Ponnala Laxmaiah,M Kodanda Reddy, SambaniChandrasekhar, SanjeevaRao, R Laxman Yadav, AYadagiri Goud, S SrikanthGoud, Sr idhar Goud,R ammohan and othersstaged a silent sit-in beforethe Gun Park TelanganaMartyrs statue onSaturday.Speaking on the

occasion, Ponnala Laxmaiahhas said that they took upsilent sit-in before the stat-ue to stand by the farmers.He questioned the TRS gov-ernment to tell whether itpaid crop loss in the lost 6years.

Kodanda Reddy said thatthe TRS government has not

paid compensation for thecrop loss yet and it hasn'timplemented a loan waiverscheme yet .SambaniChandrasekhar has lamtent-ed that the unemployedyouth were committing sui-cides as they have no jobs. Heasked the youth not to com-mit suicides and stay brave.

Telangana Congress urges farmers,unemployed youth not to commit suicides

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana InformationTechnology Association(TITA) and its digital entityDigithon are organising a first-of-its-kind InternationalInternship programme forstudents to enable them tograb global opportunities.

For this, TITA in associa-tion with one of the top USuniversities, the University ofTexas at Dallas (UTD), isorganising an InternationalInternship programme indirect and indirect modes.

The announcement aboutthe international internshipwas made by UTD DirectorDr Jey Veerasamy at the annu-al symposium of TITA.

The InternationalInternship programme in afirst-world country like the USwill equip students with theskills required to meet globalmarket demand. The pro-gramme will help students

secure employment opportu-nities in US and H1B visas.

TITA has invited applica-tions for the internship sched-uled to begin from February14, 2022.

Various surveys have point-ed out that BTech and othertechnical grads lack the skillsrequired for domestic as wellas global markets. Againstthis backdrop, Digithon andUTD have joined hands toupskill students pursuinggraduation through theInternational Internship pro-gramme.

The three-month intern-ship programme will com-mence on February 14.Students will be trained vir-tually in Artificial Intelligence,Cybersecurity, IoT, etc by pro-fessors of the University ofTexas at Dallas (UTD) as partof the basic level of the pro-gramme for two months.

Later, students will go to theUS for another one-month

internship at UTD on J1, J1ATvisa where they will attendfour-hour classes everyday aspart of the project.

The offshore chapters ofTITA have come forward tomake the internship pro-gramme affordable to the stu-dents.

Listing out details of theinternship programme, Jey

Veerasamy said students willbe provided lodging andboarding at UTD. The intern-ship in a country like the USwill open doors for students ineducation and employmentand will help them to under-stand global market trends,Veerasamy said.

Speaking about theInternational Internship pro-

gramme, TITA GlobalPresident Sundeep KumarMakthala said the Associationhas discussed the internshipprospects and other detailswith Ravi Lotumalla of USAdmissions.

TITA is in touch with for-eign universities to createopportunities for internation-al internship programes,

Sundeep added. He appealedto students to avail them-selves of the opportunity.

Students willing to take upthe International Internshipprogramme must register theirnames at the following link —bit. ly/digithon_academy.Details about the programmecan be had by calling8123123434 or 8712360354.

TITA offers International Internship programmeTheannouncementabout theinternationalinternship wasmade by UTDDirector Dr JeyVeerasamy atthe annualsymposium ofTITA.

FTCCI chief unveils

The Pioneer

calendarPNS n HYDERABAD

Federation of TelanganaChambers of Commerce andIndustry CEO Khyati AmolNaravane unveiled the reput-ed national English daily,The Pioneer, calendar onSaturday.

Speaking on the occasion,the Chief Executive laudedThe Pioneer for highlightingproblems being faced by thepeople.

P CHANDRASEKHAR

n HYDERABAD

There are around 26,000 gov-ernment schools in Telanganaand about 20 lakh studentsstudy in them. The govern-ment allocated Rs 2,000 crorein its March 2021 budget toprovide basic facilities in theseschools and to develop them.

Thegovernment announcedthat works would be taken upin the current academic yearitself and it had also pro-posed to allocate Rs 2,000crore for the development ofschools in the next academicyear.

A cabinet sub-committeewas constituted to study asimilar programme beingimplemented in AndhraPradesh. After this, officers ofthe TS education departmentvisited AP and studied theprogramme implementedthere.

The officers’ committeesubmitted a report to the cab-inet sub-committee which inturn presented the report tothe government.

The scheme was approved

at the cabinet meeting held onJanuary 17 and it was named`Manavooru-Manabadi.’

The Cabinet recommendedthat an outlay of Rs 7,289.54crore is necessary to imple-ment the scheme. It was decid-ed to take up developmentprojects in the 9,123 govern-ment schools by spending Rs3,497.62 crore in the first

phase. The Cabinet also decid-ed to continue the scheme forthree years.

As per the ‘Manavooru-Manabadi’ scheme, it wasdecided to provide drinkingwater, electricity, toilets, andfurniture (benches and desks)in government schools, paintthe walls, provide greenboards, build compound walls

and construct additional class-rooms in all schools.

But there was no clarityamong higher officials on howto implement the schemeeffectively although it wasproposed to spend Rs 3,497crore this academic year.

The details regardingmobilisation of funds were notgiven. It was stated that funds

would be mobilised fromMLA and MLC funds, fromthe funds of the SC, ST welfaredepartments and from theSarva Siksha Abhiyaan (SSA)scheme.

It was also planned to takea loan of about Rs 5,000 crorefrom Nabard (National Bankfor Agriculture and RuralDevelopment). However, noclear guidelines were given inthis connection.

It is doubtful whether thegovernment would release thefunds needed to implementthe scheme. There is no clar-ity on how the Rs 3,497 crorewould be spent in the twomonths remaining in the pre-sent financial year. It is doubt-ful whether the governmentwould release at least Rs 2,000crore as was stated earlier.

But the government hadalready said that the financedepartment would act as thenodal agency to mobilisefunds.

Despite these problems,works were started in fourgovernment schools inHyderabad and Ranga Reddydistricts as a pilot project.

No clarity on implementation of Manavooru-Manabadi

NAVEENA GHANATE

n HYDERABAD

L&T has announced that it islikely to make one more divest-ment of its non-core assetsbefore the end of this financialyear. The non-core assets ofL&T are Hyderabad andNabha Power SupercriticalThermal Power Plant atPunjab.

Without disclosing the tar-get unit, in a post earningsconference call with the media,Shankar Raman, CFO, Larsen& Toubro, said that the com-pany wants to close the deal atthe earliest, though it dependson the valuation received.

There has been marginalincrease in Hyderabad Metro'srevenue: from 1.9 bn to 2.7 bn,compared to 9 M of FY21 and9M of FY22. In Q3, the rev-

enue increased by 1.1 per centcompared to Q3 of FY21,where it was 1.1 bn. As perL&T, "subsiding Covid 2ndwave will lead to improvedMetro ridership"

It may be mentioned herethat the Telangana Cabinetlast week extensively discussedthe losses being incurred byMetro for nearly 3 hours. Thegovernment allegedly may sup-port L&T Metro phase-wise toan extent of Rs 800 to Rs 1,000crore.

Last week, Minister PuvvadaAjay hinted that the State gov-ernment could come to therescue of L&T Metro RailHyderabad Ltd by acceptingthe suggestions of the CabinetSub-Committee, which lookedinto issues concerning HMRL.

The CFO said: "The gener-al approach has been that wewanted to divest asset heavyback-end return investments.All the concession assets we areholding are candidates forsuch a divestment. We aretrying our best to see howquickly we can close. We wishto announce some closure bythe end of the year, but thesetimes are such that the moreyou show the eagerness toclose the more discounts getsnegotiated. So, we need tobalance between the buyer'sask and our interest enclosure".

L&T set to divest stake in Metro?

PNS n HYDERABAD

Greater Hyderabad MunicipalCorporation officials onSaturday sealed five shops inthe city following failure on thepart of the shop owners to paypenalty to the tune of Rs 54.62lakh.According to GHMCofficials, the biggest offenderwas KLM shopping mall atAmeerpet. The KLM did notpay Rs 38 lakh penalty.

The EV and DM wing offi-cials closed the KLM shoppingmall. AVA Entertainment,Sanali Group and UdbhavHospital (part), 14 Reels Plusfailed to pay penalty. UdbhavHospial at Miyapur has to payRs 3 lakh, 14 Reels plus has topay Rs 2.8 lakh. Authoritiespasted posters, saying that theestablishments were sealeddue to non-payment of prop-erty tax.

GHMC seals five shopsfor non-payment of tax

KTR takes part in a string ofdevelopmental works in RR districtPNS n HYDERABAD

Municipal AdministrationMinister KT Rama Rao hasassured the people living in thecity outskirts to provideamenities like roads, drinkingwater, drainages, electric cre-matoria, Kabrastan forMuslims, and other basicamenities under PattanaPragati. The state governmenthas been forging ahead toimplement welfare and devel-opment programmes for thepoor.

He was taking part in astring of development pro-grammes in Rangareddy dis-trict on Saturday. He partici-pated in several foundation-stone-laying ceremonies andinaugural functions. InTukkuguda municipality, helaid the foundation stone forthe Rs 4.50 crore integratedmarket facility and for a drink-ing water pipeline project.

In Maheswaram Assemblyconstituency limits, he laid thefoundation stone for the pro-tected drinking waterschemes, road widening pro-jects, flood canal constructionworks, nala works, integratedveg and non-veg markets inTukkuguda and Jalpallimunicipalities and Badangpet

and Mirpet municipal corpo-rations at a cost of Rs 371.09crore.

In Jalpalli municipality helaid the foundation stone forthe development works worthRs 111.76 crore. Addressingthe gathering in this connec-tion, he said that the proposedintegrated veg and non-vegmarket would have 108 shops.In 78 shops, vegetables marketwould be located, while 30shops are earmarked for non-veg shops. Mission Bhagiradhawater would be supplied toevery house in Jalpalli soon.

An urban clinic would alsobe sanctioned to Jal Palli soon.

Another road would be sanc-tioned to Jalpalli at a cost of Rs29 crore.

He said that the ManaVooru-Mana Badi programmewould be launched in 26,000schools across the state.Chevella MP Dr. G RanjitReddy, Rangareddy districtZP chairman Teegala AnitaHarinadh Reddy, MLCsMahender Reddy, YeggeMallesh, Janardhan Reddy,MLA

Manchireddy KishanReddy, former MLA TeegalaKrishna Reddy, HMWSSBManaging Director DanaKishoare, Additional collectorPrateek Jain and others werepresent on the occasion.

Police officers directed toroot out drug menacePNS n HYDERABAD

Rachakonda PoliceCommissioner Mahesh MBhagwat on saturday stressedthe need to crack down ondrug peddlers. He directed thepolice officers to curb the drugmenace.The PoliceCommissioner was holding areview meeting on drug men-ace under the instruction ofChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao. StationHouse Officer, AssistantCommissioners of Police,Deputy Commissioners ofPolice and other police officersattended the meeting. Bhagwattold the police officers that theChief Minister had conveyedhis determination to root out

drug menace in the State. Hedirected the police officers toidentify drug peddlers and thesources of narcotics. He askedthem to collect information onsmugglers and peddlers. Hesaid it was also important tocollect evidence against theoffenders to ensure that theyare punished in the courts. Hesaid the forensic evidence tooshould be collected. Theoffenders should be detainedunder Preventive DetentionAct to prevent them fromindulging in the racket oncemore. The Police Commissioner emphasised the need tohold meetings with communi-ty leaders and educate the peo-ple on the evils of narcotics.Such programmes would help

obtain the people's cooperationto curb the drug menace. Hedirected the police officers totake the task of reining indrug peddlers as a specialresponsibility. The police offi-cers should adopt "zero toler-ance" towards drug offences. Atotal of 100 cases were detect-ed in 2021 and 6,140 kg ofganja, 7 litres of hashish oil and400 kg opium straw was seized.As many as 33 offenders weredetained under PD Act, thePolice Commissioner said. AllAdministration SIs, SHOs, DIs,ACsP, Sunpreet Singh, DCP LBNagar, Rakshitha K Murthy,DCP, Malkajgiri, NarayanReddy, DCP, Yadadri and PYadagiri, DCP Crimes I/C SOTparticipated.

He was taking part

in a string of

development

programmes in

Rangareddy district

on Saturday. He

participated in

several foundation-

stone-laying

ceremonies and

inaugural functions.

Doubts over Feversurvey implementationPNS n HYDERABAD

There are allegations that thedoor-to-door fever survey under-taken by the medical and healthworkers in some areas lacked seri-ousness and was a mere formali-ty.In the GHMC’s Yousufguda cir-cle-19, comprising Vengal RaoNagar,Yerragadda, Yousufguda,Rahmat Nagar and Borabandadivisions there were a total of87,000 houses. Over 50 teams havebeen constituted to visit every

house and record names of peo-ple having fever and other symp-toms and they should be givenmedicine kits. According to someresidents of the Circle-19, nohealth worker visited their homes.Phone calls made to the concernedcircle officer, concerned depart-ment, and higher authorities toascertain facts like how many peo-ple have been surveyed daily andhow many persons with symp-toms have been detected and so onwent unanswered.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana on Saturdayreported 3,590 new COVID-19 cases and pushed thenumber to 7,58,566 till date,said a bulletin .There weretwo deaths today, and thetotal fatalities so far stands at4,085.Fresh infections saw adip by 287 compared toFriday when 3,877 cases wererecorded.The GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC)accounted for the most num-ber of cases with 1,160 fol-lowed by the districts ofMedchal Malkajgiri (257)and Ranga Reddy (215), saidthe bulletin.It said 3,555 peo-ple recovered from the infec-tion and the cumulativenumber of recoveries till datewere 7,14,034.The number ofactive cases were 40,447, thebulletin said.The case fatali-ty rate was 0.54 per cent; therecovery rate 94.13 per cent.

3,590 newCOVID-19 cases,two deaths in TS

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana Governmenthas sanctioned Rs 545 crorefor constructing 15 bridgesacross the Musi and Esa Riversto ensure better connectivityin areas on both sides of therivers and develop areas alongthe rivers.

The government orderregarding this was issued onSaturday by Special ChiefSecretary Arvind Kumar.

Half the expenditure forthese bridges will be met fromHMDA funds and the otherhalf by the GHMC throughloans from banks and throughallocations to the executingagency by the MA & UDdepartment.

Although there are manybridges across the Musi River,most of them were built a longtime ago. The city has seenexponential growth since thenon both sides of the river.

Now, these bridges areunable to take the traffic loadand there is a crying need formore bridges across the Musi.

Keeping in view the grow-ing population and trafficdensity, a detailed traffic studywas done to assess locations

where additional bridgesshould be constructed acrossMJS.

Based on the traffic studyand to strengthen some of theexisting bridges a decisionwas taken to construct 15new bridges.

Govt okays Rs 545 crorefor 15 bridges across Musi

PNS n MULUGU

All set for tribal fairSammakka-Sarakka Jatara tobegin as scheduled, accordingto Minister for EndowmentsA Indrakaran Reddy, Ministerfor Women and ChildWelfare Satyavathi Rathodand Minister for Panchyat RajErrabelli Dayakar Rao onSaturday. The MedaramJatara is reminiscent of KumbMela.

The Ministers, ChiefSecretary Somesh Kumar andDirector General of Police MMahender Reddy were hold-

ing a review meeting onarrangements made for Jatara.District Collector S KrishnaAditya and Superintendent ofPolice Sangram Singh Patilwelcomed the Minister andthe Chief Minister by present-ing them with bouquets.

The Ministers, ChiefSecretary and the DGP,accompanied by the DistrictCollector, inspected thearrangements at JampannaVagu. Indrakaran Reddyexpressed satisfaction overthe arrangements made forpilgrims. Satyavathi Rathodsaid Chief Minister K

Chandrasekhar Rao wasdetermined to ensure that allfacilities are made for the pil-grims visiting the Jatara. Shesaid the Chief Minister is like-ly to visit Jatara on February18. The Medram Jatara wasacclaimed as one of the festi-val reflecting the tribal cul-ture. Since the formation ofTelangana State, a total 332crore pilgrims visited thejatara, she said.

The Ministers said the Stategovernment had decided toconduct the festival by follow-ing all Covid appropriatebehavior. The government

decided to build permanentstructures this time to ensurethat the biennial festival isheld as scheduled. TheDistrict Panchayat Raj offi-cials would help maintainsanitation and DistrictMedical and HealthDepartment would set upmedical camps, they said.

Nearly 90 per cent of workswere completed so far underthe supervision of the DistrictCollector. The remainingworks would be completed onwar-footing by the time thefestival begins, the Ministerssaid. Additional CollectorsIlla Tripati and Y V Ganeshand others were present.

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | JANUARY 30, 2022

All set for tribal fairSammakka-Sarakka JataraMinisters A Indrakaran Reddy, Satyavathi Rathod and Errabelli Dayakar Rao, ChiefSecretary Somesh Kumar and DGP M Mahender review the arrangements for festival

Ministers A Indrakaran Reddy and Satyavathi Rathod, MP Maloth Kavitha, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, DGP M MahenderReddy and others at a temple in Mulugu district on Saturday

PNS n NAGARKURNOOL

Residents of Maredudinnu villagein general and farmers in partic-ular on Saturday staged a dhar-na not allowing a way to theKollapur-Atchampet at their vil-lage on Saturday objecting to therude behavior of the bus drivertowards one of the farmers fromthe village.

As a result, the bus was notallowed to move for about anhour. However, the protestersrelented when the depot manag-er assured them that such inci-dents will not repeat in the future.When a farmer of Maredudinnuwas loading his papaya basketsinto the bus, the bus driverJanardhan, peeved at as thefarmer did not give papaya fruitson Friday did not allow the

farmer to load the papaya basketsand drive the bus forward. Thefarmer sells papaya in the nearbytowns by transporting the papayato various places. Objecting to thedriver’s behavior, the passengersand some of the farmers wereangry at the bus driver’s behavior.

The RTC management said thefarmer wanted to load thePapayas but was not willing totake the bus. Someone else at des-tination would pick it up. Driverinformed the farmer to use RTCcargo as without passenger lug-gage is not allowed.

Farmers protest againstRTC bus driver’s rude behavior

A farmer obstructing a TSRTC bus at Maredudinnu village in Nagarkurnool districton Saturday following a tiff between the bus crew and the farmers

Dead person given vaccine!PNS n KAMAREDDY

In a rarest of the rare inci-dent, a dead person wasvaccinated against Covid-19 in Kamare ddy district. Acertificate can also be down-loaded from the relevantonline portal. In fact, theperson died in April lastyear after receiving thefirst dose of the vac-cine. But, the onlineentry shows that hehas been adminis-tered the seconddose on Jan 28.The bereavedfamily membersare surprised at howcan a dead person appearat the vaccination centreand receive the shot.

According to reports,Kodisala Rajasekhar ofKrishnajiwada village ofTadwai Mandal ofKamareddy district receivedthe first dose of the vaccineon April 10 last year. He test-ed positive for Covid-19after 10 days of receiving thefirst dose. His family mem-bers rushed him to ArchanaHospital in Madinaguda inHyderabad and spent up toRs 20 lakh for his treatment.But, he succumbed to thecoronavirus undergoingtreatment in the hospital onApril 27. He was cremated in

Hyderabad. A death certifi-cate was also given by theHyderabad MunicipalCorporation.

But, strangely an entryhas been made in the Covid-19 portal to the effect that he

was giventhe second dose onJanuary 28 –i.e. on Friday. Amessage has been sent to thedead person’s mobile that hewas successfully given twodoses of the vaccine.

The family membersgrew suspicious and openedthe portal link and were sur-prised to see the vaccinationcertificate. How can a per-son who died in April 27last year can walking to theCVC on Jan 28 to receivethe second jab, the family

members wondered. As thestate government mountedpressure on medical andhealth authorities to com-plete the vaccinationprocess as early as possible,the lower run medical and

health workers wentdoor to door and

administered the vac-cine to fulfill their vacci-

nation target.On administering the

second jab to the dead per-son, doubts are being raisedwhether the medical andhealth workers made anonline entry to fulfill theirquota? Going by the inci-dent, the claims of the med-ical and health authoritiesthat the second dose ofvaccination is 100 percentthrough in Kamareddy dis-trict should be treated witha pinch of salt. Only med-ical and health officials canclarify how they adminis-tered the second dose to adead person.

The bereaved family members are

surprised at how can a dead

person appear at the

vaccination centre

and receive the

shot.

PNS n KOTHAGUDEM

Minister for Healthand Finance T HarishRao on Saturdayhauled BJP State unitpresident BandiSanjay Kumar over thecoals for "spreadinglies" against the Stategovernment.

Speaking to thereporters after inaugu-rating a 100-bedmaternal and childhealth care centre,Harish Rao reactedangrily to the threat bythe BJP to stage 'mil-lion march' inHyderabad. He chal-lenged Sanjay Kumarto stage the march inDelhi. He dared theBJP to releaseWhitepaper on vacan-cies in the Centralgovernment depart-ments and how manyvacancies were filled.

He further said theBJP had promised tocreate two crore jobs ayear. If the saffronparty fulfilled its

promise, it shouldhave created by now14 lakh jobs. TheRailway RecruitmentBoard had failed toconduct test forrecruitment eventhree years after noti-fication was issued for1,03,769. A total of 1crore youth appliedafter the notificationwas issued. Thenational unemploy-ment is 7.91 per cent,while in TelanganaState, it is only 2.2 per

cent. Telangana Staeranked fourth amongthe five States withthe lowest unemploy-ment rate. TheCentres had failed tofill more than 15 lakhvacancies.

The State govern-ment, Harish Rao saidthe State governmenthad filled vacancies. Itoffered 1.32 lakh jobsto graduates, in health,medical and electrici-ty and police depart-ments. Telananga State

Public ServiceCommission hadfilled vacancies, headded. The BJP lead-ers cannot digest therapid strides theTelangana State wasmaking towardsdevelopment. Thesalaries of the employ-ees in the State washigher than in manyother states. The Stategovernment, he said,had taken steps to fill50,000 to 60,000vacancies.

PNS n JAYASHANKARBHUPALAPALLI

Tension prevailed inBhupalapalli district withYouth Congress activists, led bydistrict Youth Congress presi-dent Banda Srikant laid siege tothe camp offices of MLAs inthe district on Saturday as partof a state-wide agitation.

The police detained the YCactivists and shifted them tovarious police stations.

The YC activists reachedthe MLA’s camp office here onSaturday demanding the gov-ernment to issue job notifica-tions and pay unemploymentallowance to the jobless. When

the civil police along with theCRPF tried to detain the pro-testers, there ensued tension.

In response to a call given by

Sivasena Reddy, YouthCongress state president, YouthCongress activists set out to laysiege to MLAs’ and MLCs’

camp offices. But, the policefoiled their attempts.

The Mahadevpur policedetained Yeravelli Vilas Rao,official spokesman of the YC.Vilas Rao and Banda Srikantaddressing the protestersaccused the CMK Chandrasekhar Rao of playing with thelives of the unemployed by notreleasing the job notifications.They threatened to lay siege tothe Pragati Bhavan with thedemand to provide employ-ment opportunities for theunemployed.

There are many unemployedin the district, but the localMLA changed the party in thename of development and

looking down upon the unem-ployed, Srikant criticised.

The MLAs have been usingthe employees as a commercialcommodity for the sake oftheir commissions.

He accused the CM of dup-ing the employees and theunemployed. During electionthe campaign, the CMpromised unemploymentallowance but later ignored itconveniently, he added callingthe promise as an emptypromise. Youth Congress statesecretary Umesh Reddy,Bhupalapalli constituency vice-president Baditela Prasad andothers were present on theoccasion.

PNS n PEDDAPALLY

The police in the district onSaturday cautioned the peo-ple to beware of cybercrimi-nals. The police under theRamagundam PoliceCommissionerate appealedto the people to report theincidents of cybercrime onwww.cybercrime.gov.in or ontoll-free numbe 100 or 112.

The police said the peopleshould not believe thosepromising to ensure a vehicleat subsidised price. Thecybercriminals may also tryto cheat common people bypromising job or help toopen a bank account, in thename of lottery, etc. Severalcases of cybercrime werereported in RamagundamPolice Commissioner area.

PNS n MAHABUBABAD

District Collector K Shashankaon Saturday directed the offi-cers to keep a close watch onwarehouse in which electron-ic voting machines (EVMs) arestored. The Collector alongwith Revenue DivisionalOfficer on Friday inspected the

warehouse in which EVMSare stored. Speaking to officialson the occasion, he advised thestaff to be vigilant. The author-ities should visit and monitorthe warehouse. He instructedthe security guards not toallow anyone inside the ware-house without permission fromthe district administration.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Dr G. Chinna Reddyheaded TPCC DisciplinaryAction Committee has, atlast, served a show-causenotice on former MLCKokirala Premsagar Raoseeking an explanation fromhim regarding the attack onsenior Congress leader V.Hanum antha Rao onNovember 25, 2021, whenHanumantha visitedMancherial as per theinstructions of TPCC.

In the show-cause notice,Chinna Reddy mentionedthat the TPCC had deputedsenior leaders to coordinatethe submission of memoran-dums to Tehsildars and col-lectors demanding that thestate government procure

paddy at MSP. VH, formerMLC Ramulu Naik and for-mer Minister G. Vinod hadgone to Mancherial to submita memorandum to the col-lector. But some Congressactivists loyal to K.Premsagar Rao raised slo-gans against V. HanumanthaRao asking him to go backand also used abusive lan-guage. Hanumantha Rao wasin Mancherial on lastNovember 25 as per theinstructions of TPCC. Hencethe Disciplinary ActionCommittee considers it asindiscipline and askedPremsagar to offer his expla-nation at the earliest.

The note didn’t mentionany last date for submittingPremsagar Rao’s explana-tion.

PNS n NALGONDA

District Collector Prashant JeevanPatil and MLA Kancharla BhupalReddy on Saturday directed theofficials to complete the develop-mental works to be undertakenspeedily in Nalgonda town.Municipal Chairman Y SaidiReddy and Vice-ChairmanAbbagoni Ramesh also participat-ed in the meeting. The works to beundertaken include beautificationof junctions, road widening, andcentral lighting, foot overbridges,underground draina ge, Udayasmudram tank bund, Shilparamam,

urban parks, vegetable and non-vegetable market, Rythu Bazaar,Vallabha road pond and beautifi-cation plans. Apart from them,

some other works suggested areoutdoor stadium, Nilgiri Kala Bharati auditorium, helipad, welcomearches, new sub-station, etc.

Harish hauls Sanja overcoals for spreading‘lies’

Minister for Health T Harish Rao addressing a media conference in Kothagudem on Saturday.Minister for Transport Puvvada Ajay Kumar is also present

TPCC disciplinary panel servesshow-cause notice to Premsagar

Cops foil YC workers’ bid to storm MLA’s office

Police arresting Youth Congress activists in Bhupalapally on Saturday

Officials told to completedevelopmental works speedily

District Collector Prashant Jeevan Patil and MLA Kancharla Bhupal Reddyreviewing developmental works in Nalgonda on Saturday

Collector inspects EVM warehouse

Mahabubad District Collector K Shashanka inspecting warehouse in which EVMsare stored in Mahabubad on Saturday

Police cautionspeople againstcybercriminals

ML MELLY MAITREYI

n HYDERABAD

State Planning Board ViceChairman B. Vinod Kumar haswritten to Union RailwayMinister Ashwini Vaishnawrequesting him to scrap thenational-level eligibility testfor the recruitment of GroupC and D category Railwaysemployees.

Vinod said that recruitmentto the Railways should bedone by zonal recruitmentagencies like RRBs with 95 percent reservation for local can-didates. The medium of exam-ination should be the region-al language for group C and Dcategory posts. He also saidthat separate exams should beconducted for Group C and D

posts at the regional level.He said conducting cen-

tralised exams for local candi-dates was completely irrationaland detrimental to the interestsof backward sections inTelangana.

In the past North IndianStates like Bihar and UP usedto get the lion’s share of Group

C and D jobs in the Railways,he said.

He pointed out that sincelong Group C and D posts inSCR were being given to NorthIndians who were not aware ofthe local language but wereworking as gangmen, linemenand Class IV employees and asstation masters in ruralTelangana. Why should aBihari or a UP person come toTelangana and snatch the jobsreserved for locals, he askedand said it was totally unreal-istic to hold a national-leveltest for local jobs, particularlyC and D category jobs whichwere labour intensive.

He requested the RailwayMinister to consider thesepoints and change the exami-nation process.

Scrap national test for Group C,D category Railway jobs: Vinod

‘Implement Rythu Bandhu,Rythu Bhima schemes’PNS n HYDERABAD

Impressed by the pro-farmerpolicies and programmes of theTelangana Government, repre-sentatives of the South Indiafarmers’ Associations’ haveresolved to pressure their gov-ernments to implement the pro-grammes in their States.

The South India Farmers’Associations’ representativeswho met at Chennai submitteda memorandum to Tamil NaduChief Minister Stalin at theSecretariat on Saturday.

They urged Stalin to imple-ment the Rythu Bandhu, RythuBhima, and the 24x7 free powersupply scheme to the agriculturesector in Tamil Nadu. The TamilNadu Chief Minister assuredthem that he will examine theirrequest. National Farmers’ Association Vice President and

Turmeric Board SadhanaSamithi President NarasimhaNaidu said that it was time allother States in the countryimplemented Telangana’s RythuBandhu, Rythu Bhima and otherschemes which have given goodresults. It is not an easy task toset up 7,000 purchase centres toprocure paddy during the rainyseason. But the Telangana gov-ernment did it and the ChiefMinister also wrote to the Centreagain about extending MSPrates to other crops, he said.

All State governments shouldask the Centre to extend MSPrates to all other crops andmake it legal.

Rashtriya Kisan Maha SanghCoordinator PT John (Kerala)said the programmes beingimplemented for farmers in TSshould be a model for the rest ofthe country.

Medaram jatarahas gainedrecognition

only after theformation ofTelangana State, saidthe Ministers AIndrakaran Reddy,Errabelli DayakarRao and SatyavathiRathod on saturday.A total of 332 crorepilgrims visited thefestivals during thelast four jataras.TheMinisters, whovisited the district to review the arrangements made for Sammakka-Sarakka jatara, said the State government had embarked on constructingpermanent structures for the festival. Nearly 90 per cent of works werecompleted. The State government had allotted Rs 1 crore to put in placemedical facilities in view of coronavirus pandemic. In the past, a littleover 1 crore pilgrims used to visit the jatara in just four days. Now, thepilgrims are pouring in huge numbers in the backdrop of Covid-19.Thearea has been divided into eight zones and 34 sections. As many as 30parking places have been set up on 1,100 acres.

‘Medaram Jatara gains prominenceafter Telananga achieves statehood'

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and Minister forWomen and Child Welfare Satyavathi Rathod at apress conference in Mulugu on Saturday

04

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | JANUARY 30, 2022 nation 05

Police have arrested anIAS officer from Thanedistrict of Maharashtra in

connection with the allegedmalpractices in the results ofthe state-wide Teachers'Eligibility Test (TET) held in2020, an official said here onSaturday. "The bureaucrat,Sushil Khodwekar, has beenarrested from Thane. He will

be produced in a court today," the Pune police official said. With this, thenumber of persons arrested in the case has gone up to 13, he said. Thecity police had said on Friday that the marks of as many as 7,800 TET-2020 candidates were allegedly manipulated in exchange of money.Earlier, 12 persons, including Tukaram Supe, Commissioner (nowsuspended) of the Maharashtra State Council of Examinations (MSCE),were arrested in connection with the alleged tampering of the TET results.

TET case: IAS officer held in Thane;count of arrested rises to 13

Congress leader RahulGandhi will visitChhattisgarh capital

Raipur on February 3 tolaunch a financial assistancescheme for landless labourersof rural areas, a governmentofficial said on Saturday.Gandhi will inaugurate RajivGandhi Bhoomihin KrishiMajdoor Nyay Yojana at afunction on Science College

ground here, he said. Under the scheme, registered labourers in ruralareas, who do not possess agricultural land, will be given financialassistance of Rs 6,000 per year, he added. Nearly 4.5 lakh landless familiesof MGNREGA labourers, barbers, blacksmiths, priests, etc will benefit fromthe scheme, for which the state government had made a provision of Rs200 crore in the budget for the financial year 2021-22, he said.

Rahul Gandhi to launchfinancial assistance scheme

Aman has been arrestedhere for allegedly rapingan 18-year-old woman

and sharing her obscenevideo on social media, policesaid on Saturday. The allegedrape took place in a village inPunjab's Hoshiarpur district afew months ago, police said,adding the 22-year-oldaccused had befriended the

survivor on a social media site. The youth, who belongs to a villageunder Chabbewal police station limits, had also recorded an obscenevideo of the woman and made it viral on social media a few days ago,said Station House Officer (SHO) Sub-Inspector Harprem Singh. He saidthe accused, Vishal Chaudhary, was arrested on Saturday under relevantprovisions of the law and further investigations were on. The SHO saidChaudhary called the young woman to his house last year on somepretext and allegedly offered her a soft-drink laced with an intoxicant.

Man rapes 18-year-old, circulates

obscene video on social media

The Sports Ministry onSaturday formally acceptedthe candidature of Udit

Sheth as president of NationalYogasana Sports Federation(NYSF) after the resignation ofDr I V Basavaraddi. It is learntthat the Executive Committee(EC) members unanimouslyelected Sheth as their nextpresident. Sheth also happens

to be the vice-president of World Yogasana. Yogasana was recognised as acompetitive sport by the sports ministry (MYAS) on November 27, 2020.Accordingly, the NYSF was formed and it acts as the sole national body forpromotion of Yogasana as a competitive sport. NYSF is member of WorldYogasana -- the apex organisation solely in charge of all matters concernedwith Yogasana as competitive sport in all over the globe.

Udit Sheth elected asYogasana Federation president

INDIA CORNER

Union Minister V K Singh callsNYT ‘supari media' over its report

Supreme Court committeemonitoring Pegasus matterPNS n NEW DELHI

A government source onSaturday said that the matterrelated to Pegasus software isbeing monitored by a commit-tee under the Supreme Courtand its report is awaited.

The source said that theinquiry committee -- set upunder the supervision ofretired Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran -- has also pub-lished a newspaper advertise-ment on January 2 calling forsubmission of phones by peo-ple who claim their deviceswere infected by Pegasus.

"Matter (is) already withthe Supreme Court. The courthas constituted a committeeunder the supervision ofretired judge Raveendran. Thecommittee's report (is) await-ed," the source said.

According to a report in TheNew York Times, the Israelispyware Pegasus and a missilesystem were the "centerpieces"of a roughly USD 2-billion dealof sophisticated weapons andintelligence gear between Indiaand Israel in 2017.

Opposition party Congresslaunched an all-out attack onthe government following the

New York Times report, accus-ing it of deceiving Parliament,duping the Supreme Court,hijacking democracy andindulging in treason, after amedia report claimed Indiabought the Pegasus spywarefrom Israel as part of a defencedeal in 2017.

The Congress said it intendsto raise the issue in the budgetsession starting next week andwill demand accountabilityfrom Prime Minister NarendraModi and the BJP governmenton the floor of Parliament.

The principal oppositionparty also urged the SupremeCourt to take suo motu cogni-sance of the matter and initi-ate appropriate penal proceed-

ings against the governmentfor attempting to deliberatelyand knowingly "deceive" it.

The shadow of the Pegasusissue looms large again overthe 2022 budget session as theentire Monsoon session of2021 was washed out after theOpposition had jointly stalledthe proceedings over the issue.

A massive controversyerupted last year when theNSO Group hit the headlineswith the alleged use of itsPegasus software by some gov-ernments to spy on journalists,human rights defenders, politi-cians and others in a numberof countries, including India,triggered concerns over issuesrelating to privacy.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union minister Gen V KSingh on Saturday called TheNew York Times "SupariMedia" over its report whichclaimed that the Indian gov-ernment bought the Pegasusspy tool in 2017 as part of adeal with Israel.

The Israeli spyware Pegasusand a missile system were the"centrepieces" of a roughlyUSD 2 billion deal of sophis-ticated weapons and intelli-

gence gear between Indiaand Israel in 2017, accordingto the report in The New YorkTimes. A massive controver-sy erupted last year when theNSO Group hit the headlineswith the alleged use of itsPegasus software by somegovernments to spy on jour-nalists, human rights defend-ers, politicians and others ina number of countries,including India, triggeredconcerns over issues relatingto privacy.

SBI suspends circular on recruitment of pregnant womenPNS n NEW DELHI

After facing criticism fromvarious quarters, the country'slargest lender State Bank ofIndia (SBI) on Saturday decid-ed to suspend its circular onrecruitment of pregnantwomen. SBI recently reviewedits 'Fitness Standards forRecruitment in the Bank',including norms for PregnantWomen candidates. Under thenew rules, a woman candidatewith more than three monthspregnancy will be considered"temporarily unfit" and canjoin the bank within fourmonths after delivery.

The move elicited criticismfrom various quarters, includ-ing from labour unions and theDelhi Commission forWomen. In view of the publicsentiments, SBI has decided to

keep the revised instructionsregarding recruitment of preg-nant women candidates inabeyance and continue withthe existing instructions in thematter, the bank said in astatement. In its latest medicalfitness guidelines for newrecruits or promotees, the banksaid a candidate would be con-sidered fit in case of pregnan-

cy which is less than threemonths. "However, if preg-nancy is of more than 3months, she will be consideredtemporarily unfit and she maybe allowed to join within 4months after delivery of child,"as per the medical fitness andophthalmological standardsfor new recruits and promoteesdated December 31, 2021.

The Left parties on Saturdaydemanded the government'sexplanation over a media report

claiming India bought the Pegasusspyware from Israel as part of adefence deal in 2017 and said itssilence was an "acceptance ofcriminal activity". According to thereport in The New York Times, theIsraeli spyware Pegasus and amissile system were the"centrepieces" of a roughly USD 2-billion deal of sophisticated weaponsand intelligence gear between Indiaand Israel in 2017.In a tweet, CPI(M)general secretary Sitaram Yechurysaid, "The (Narendra) Modigovernment must explain on affidavitwhy it bought this cyber weapon,who gave the permission for itsusage, how were the targets selectedand who got these reports?" "Silenceon such a critical issue only meansan acceptance of its criminalactivity." CPI general secretary DRaja said the government hid thetruth on the issue from Parliament

Govt's silence on Pegasus spyware issue' acceptanceof criminal activity', claims Left parties

and they were now answerable. "Now it is clear that thegovernment was hiding some truths about the Pegasus spywareeven from Parliament. Now, they have been exposed. "Parliamentsession is close and they will be questioned on this. Who knowson whom the spyware has been used. The government shouldanswer. Silence only means that they have indulged inwrongdoing," Raja said. The shadow of Pegasus looms largeover the 2022 Budget Session after the Opposition had jointlystalled Parliament proceedings of the entire Monsoon Sessionlast year over the issue.

The Shiv Sena on Saturdaydescribed State Bank ofIndia guidelines which lay

down that three-month pregnantcandidates will be consideredtemporarily unfit and will beallowed to join work fourmonths after delivery asdiscriminatory and demandedthat they be revoked. In a letterto Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman, the party'sspokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said theguidelines debilitated the progress made to empower women. Shesaid the present guidelines, which allow the appointment ofcandidates up to six months' pregnant provided she furnishes acertificate from a special gynecologist, was brought forward in 2009."The new proposed guideline delays the process of recruitment andpromotion for women. This comes at a time when the state of India'sfemale workforce has worsened.

Shiv Sena MP calls SBI's pregnancy guidelinediscriminatory, writes to Sitharaman

Gujarat village pays homage tofamily wiped out in Canada coldPNS n AHMEDABAD

Shops remained shut andstreets were deserted inDingucha village of Gujarat'sGandhinagar district onSaturday as villagers paidhomage to the four membersof a family, who died of theextreme cold near the Canada-US border recently.

Villagers shared the grief ofthe local Patel family, who losttheir four members, includingtwo children, by suspendingwork and downing the shuttersof the shops in the market area,said an office-bearer of the vil-lage, which is located around40 kms from Ahmedabad.

The village, from where asignificant number of peoplehave migrated abroad, mainlyto the US, Canada andAustralia over the past manydecades, wore a deserted lookon Saturday, locals said. Amajority of the local residentsbelong to the Patidar commu-nity.

Initially, the village was notready to believe that the four

persons, including a baby, whodied on the US-Canada borderbelonged to the family ofBaldevbhai Patel, they said.

However, they later came toterms with the hard fact thatthe deceased were his sonJagdish Patel (39), daughter-in-law Vaishali (37), grand daugh-ter Vihangi (11), and grandsonDharmik (3), after Canadianauthorities confirmed theiridentities.

Following the confirmationof their identity, relatives andsome local women had gath-

ered at the Patel family's ances-tral house at Dingucha onFriday to mourn the deaths.

As per the Canadian author-ities, the Patel family hadarrived in Toronto on January12, 2022. From there, theymade their way to Manitobaand eventually to Emersonaround January 18, a daybefore they tragically died nearthe border due to exposure toextreme weather conditions.

The relatives had on Fridaysaid that the bodies of the fourdeceased would not be brought

back to India. "The entire fam-ily is in deep shock….As ofnow, we all have decided not tobring the bodies here for cre-mation. Last rites will be con-ducted in Canada itself,"Jaswant Patel, a cousin of lateJagdish Patel, had said.

Earlier, the Gujarat policehad also received reports aboutthe disappearance of two morefamilies from the state, com-prising two couples and twochildren. They had goneuntraceable after reachingTurkey on a visitor visa earli-er this month. But after aninvestigation, the police hadconfirmed that the two coupleswere safe and staying at ahotel in Turkey.

Meanwhile, the state's CrimeInvestigation Department(CID) has launched a separateprobe into the possibility ofillegal immigration racketbeing run by agents. Earlierthis week, the Anti-HumanTrafficking Unit (AHTU) ofthe state CID-Crime was giventhe task to unearth the networkof agents active in Gujarat.

Pegasus: Cong accuses govt ofhijacking democracy, deceiving ParlPNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress Saturdaylaunched an all-out attack onthe government, accusing it ofdeceiving Parliament, dupingthe Supreme Court, hijackingdemocracy and indulging intreason, after a media reportclaimed India bought thePegasus spyware from Israel aspart of a defence deal in 2017.

The Congress said it intendsto raise the issue in the budgetsession starting next week,and demand accountabilityfrom Prime Minister NarendraModi and the BJP governmenton the floor of Parliament.

The principal oppositionparty also urged the SupremeCourt to take suo motu cogni-

sance of the matter and initi-ate appropriate penal proceed-ings against the governmentfor attempting to "deliberate-ly and knowingly deceive" it.With the Congress making itsintention clear, the shadow ofthe Pegasus issue looms largeagain over the 2022 budget ses-sion as the entire Monsoonsession of 2021 was washed outafter the Opposition had joint-ly stalled the proceedings overthe issue.

According to a report in TheNew York Times, the Israelispyware Pegasus and a missilesystem were the "centerpieces"of a roughly USD 2-billion dealof sophisticated weapons andintelligence gear between Indiaand Israel in 2017.

PNS n JAIPUR

The Ashok Gehlot govern-ment on Saturday sackedthe chairman of RajasthanBoard of SecondaryEducation, Ajmer, D P Jaroli,in connection with the paperleak during the teachers'recruitment exam (REET)in September.

The suspension order ofthe Board secretary ArvindKumar Sengwa, an RAS offi-cer, was also issued by thedepartment of personnel.

The development cameafter a high-level meetingchaired by Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot on Fridaynight.

Irregularities occurred inthe conduct of RajasthanEligibility Examination forTeachers (REET)2021 in

September leading toprotests. The opposition BJPhas been demanding a CBIinquiry in the matter. Gehlotin the meeting on Fridaynight also decided to consti-tute a committee headed bya retired judge of the highcourt to give suggestions forensuring that papers leakincidents do not take placeand exams are conducted ina fair manner, official sourcessaid. Education minister BDKalla, Minister of State forHome Rajendra Singh Yadavand senior officers were pre-sent in the meeting.

The Special OperationGroup (SOG) has arrestedseveral persons in the case. Itrecently arrested RamkripalMeena and Udaram Vishnoi.Meena was employed by thedistrict coordinator for the

purpose of security of papersat Shiksha Sankul in Jaipur.

Shiksha Sankul is a build-ing where the offices of theeducation department arelocated.

Meena allegedly stole thepaper from Shiksha Sankuland gave it to UdaramVishnoi who is accused ofcirculating the paper.

After it was confirmedthat the paper was leakedfrom Shiksha Sankul, therole of the board chairman,secretary, and other officerscame under the scanner.

When the irregularities inthe conduct of exams hademerged in September, thestate government had sus-pended one RAS and twoRPS officers, 13 personnel ofthe education department,and three other policemen.

REET paper leak: Raj govtsacks school board chairman

Delhi Police arrests 3 fromNoida for duping peoplePNS n NEW DELHI

Three men were arrested fromUttar Pradesh's Noida forallegedly duping people on thepretext of providing jobs, policesaid on Saturday. Theaccused have beenidentified as RahulSingh (38), AjayPal Singh (32)and KrishnaMohan Singh(33), all resi-dents of UttarPradesh, theysaid. Policereceived a complaintin which a womanclaimed she had applied for ajob on a website. She thenreceived a call from a personclaiming to be working for theportal who offered her a jobwith Byju‘s as a yoga teacher, asenior police officer said. They

asked for a security deposit andshe was made to pay Rs1,72,500 through multipleonline transactions, but shenever got the promised job, theofficer said. During investiga-

tion, police managed totrace the call centre

running inNoida's sector62. A raid wasconducted andthree peoplewere arrested.Mobile phones

and computersused in the crime

were seied from thepremises, Deputy

Commi ssioner of Police (east)Priyanka Kashyap said. Theaccused paid around Rs 20,000to 22,000 per month to thewebsite for registration in orderto access data of job seekers,police said.

‘UP pollswill deliverreal shock’ PNS n GHAZIABAD

The Uttar Pradesh electionswill not throw a surpriseresult, Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav said onSaturday exuding confidenceof forming government inthe state and claimed the"real surprise" will be inGujarat assembly polls duelater this year. He claimedthe people of Uttar Pradeshhave already given their ver-dict and the BJP is "nervous"."A wrestler who loses some-times bites or pulls. Thesepeople (BJP) have alreadylost," Yadav said at a pressconference along withRashtriya Lok Dal chiefJayant Chaudhry, after tak-ing the 'anna sankalp' ofdefeating the BJP.

DMK decriesGuv’s commenton NEETPNS n CHENNAI

The ruling DMK on Saturdaystrongly objected to Tamil NaduGovernor R N Ravi's remark onNational Eligibility cumEntrance Test and asserted thatif he tried to do politics by fol-lowing a 'big brother attitude', itwould not succeed. Sometimes,a question arose if Ravi wentbeyond the limits of his powers,DMK's Tamil daily 'Murasoli'said referring to criticismsagainst him when he was theGovernor of Nagaland. CitingRavi's reference to NEET in hisRepublic Day Address, the rul-ing party mouthpiece said theremark appeared to have an ideato 'graze' the self-respect of thepeople of Tamil Nadu.

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | JANUARY 30, 2022 money 06

MONEY MATTERS

Suzlon Energy has posted aconsolidated net profit of Rs37.73 crore in the December

2021 quarter mainly on account ofhigher revenues.The company hadreported a consolidated net loss of Rs118.06 crore in the same quarter ofthe previous fiscal, according to aBSE filing released on Friday night.Its total income rose to Rs1,615.06crore in the reported quarter from Rs

959.52 crore in the same period a year ago. "Q3 of FY22 saw ussustaining pace in our manufacturing and projects operations. However,with the current uncertainty, availability and prices of raw materials andcomponents remain a challenge, eroding our margins and volumes,"Himanshu Mody, Chief Financial Officer, Suzlon Group, said in astatement.He further stated that an exponential rise in logistics costsand the increase in GST(goods and services tax) from 5 per cent to 12per cent has further increased project costs. "We have maintained ourquarter on quarter (QoQ) performance with a revenue of Rs. 1,597crores while keeping a strict control on costs. Our Operations andMaintenance Service (OMS) business continued to deliver good turbineperformance in Q3 leveraging digitization and digitalization to navigatethe uncertainties of the pandemic," he added. Ashwani Kumar, ChiefExecutive Officer, Suzlon Group, feels satisfied about the manner inwhich operations of the company gained momentum in Q3 keeping iton track with its business plan for the year.

Suzlon Energy posts net profit ofRs 37 crore in Dec quarter

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) on Saturday said its premiumhatchback Glanza and compact SUV Urban Cruiser, which aresourced from Maruti Suzuki India under an alliance between

Toyota and Suzuki, together have crossed cumulative wholesales of 1lakh units.The Glanza and Urban Cruiser are the cross-badgedversions of Maruti's Baleno and Vitara Brezza, respectively.Launched in June 2019, the Glanza has clocked over 65,000 units,while the Urban Cruiser, which hit the market in September 2020,registered cumulative wholesales of more than 35,000 units, TKMsaid in a statement. Commenting on the feat, TKM Associate VicePresident, Sales, and Strategic Marketing, Atul Sood said themilestone is a "testament to the best ownership experience,exceptional sales and after-sales services, as well as peace of mindthat is offered to every single Toyota customer". These models havehelped TKM strike a defined balance to reach young aspiringcustomers, who desire to own a Toyota early in their lives, he added.TKM said since the launch, the Glanza and the Urban Cruiser haveplayed a significant role in catering to 66 per cent of first-time Toyotabuyers, especially in tier II & III markets."This has also helped TKMgarner young-millennial customers who are not only seekingexceptional automobile ownership experience, but also the bestbalance of economically viable options," the company added.

Toyota's Glanza and UrbanCruiser cross 1 lakh units

Karnataka Bank posts netprofit of Rs 146.42 crore

PNS n NEW DELHI

India and ASEAN nationshave jointly approved a workplan under which they willdevelop a system to combatuse of stolen and counterfeitmobile handsets, among otherthings, an official statementsaid on Saturday.

The work plan wasapproved at the 2nd ASEANDigital Ministers' (ADGMIN)Meeting with India, held vir-tually on Friday."TheMinisters' meeting approvedthe India-ASEAN DigitalWork Plan 2022. The workplan includes system for com-bating the use of stolen and

counterfeit mobile handsets,wifi access network interfacefor nationwide public internet,the capacity building andknowledge sharing in emerg-ing areas in the field of infor-mation and communicationtechnologies such as Internetof Things (IoT), 5G, advancedsatellite communication, cyberforensics, etc," the statementsaid. ADGMIN is an annualmeeting of telecom ministersof 10 ASEAN (Association ofSouth-East Asian Nations)countries -- Brunei,Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,Malaysia, Myanmar,Philippines, Singapore,Thailand and Vietnam -- and

dialogue partner countries --Australia, Canada, China, EU,India, Japan, Republic ofKorea, New Zealand, Russia,UK and US.

The telecom ministry inDecember 2019 had launcheda portal to help people inDelhi-NCR block and trace

their stolen or lost mobilephones.

The project is backed by theCentral Equipment IdentityRegister (CEIR) system, whichwas undertaken by the telecomdepartment for addressingsecurity, theft and other con-cerns including reprogram-ming of mobile handsets.

During the meeting, theMinister of State forCommunications DevusinhChauhan said that informationand communication technolo-gies (ICT) enables andstrengthens democratic sys-tems and institutions throughenhanced engagementbetween citizens and the state.

India, ASEAN nations approve digital work plan

PNS n NEW DELHI

India's exports to China haveincreased about 34 per cent toUSD 22.9 billion in 2021 fromUSD 17.1 billion in 2019,according to data from thecommerce ministry.

Imports, on the other hand,rose 28 per cent to USD 87.5billion in 2021 as against USD68.4 billion in 2019.

According to the data, thetrade deficit has increased toUSD 64.5 billion last year ascompared with USD 51.2 bil-lion in 2019.

Trade experts have statedthat India's exports to Chinahave increased at a faster pacethan that of its imports fromChina in 2021 when com-pared with the normal year of2019.

Khalid Khan, vice-presi-dent of the Federation ofIndian Export Organisations,said the huge export potentialis there for Indian exporters inChina.

"Our exporters are doingquite good in China. We canpush our exports further,"Khan said.

The share of raw material,intermediate goods and capi-tal goods imports from Chinaincreased in 2021 as comparedto 2019, whereas imports ofconsumer goods have fallenfrom 14.7 per cent in 2019 to10.4 per cent in 2021, anoth-

er expert said.Further, in 2021, the US has

taken a top slot as India's mer-chandise trade partner with avalue of USD 112.3 billion.America was followed byChina (USD 110.4 billion),UAE (68.4 billion), SaudiArabia (USD 35.6 billion),Switzerland (USD 30.8 bil-lion), and Hong Kong (USD29.5 billion).

"There is a shift in thegrowth pattern of trade in2021 with respect to 2020. Inthe post-COVID-19 period,India's merchandise trade withall other top trading partnersexcept for Hong Kong andSingapore have registeredgrowth higher than that of thegrowth registered with Chinain 2021 over 2020," an expertadded.

India's exports to China jump34 pc to US$ 22.9 bn in 2021 PNS nMUMBAI

The Reserve Bank on Fridaysaid it has imposed severalrestrictions on IndianMercantile Cooperative BankLtd, Lucknow, including acap of Rs 1 lakh on with-drawals.

The restrictions came intoforce from closure of businesshours on January 28, 2022(Friday).

In a statement, RBI said theLucknow-based co-operativebank will not, without itsprior approval, grant or renewany loans and advances, ormake any investment.

"In particular, a sum notexceeding Rs 1 lakh of thetotal balance across all savingsbank or current accounts orany other account of a depos-itor, may be allowed to be

withdrawn...", subject to cer-tain conditions, it added.

The central bank, however,added the directions shouldnot per se be construed as acancellation of the bankinglicence by the RBI.

"The bank will continue toundertake banking business

with restrictions till furthernotification from RBI. TheReserve Bank may considermodifications of theseDirections depending uponcircumstances," it noted.

The restrictions wouldremain in force for six monthsand are subject to review.

RBI imposes restrictions on IndianMercantile Cooperative Bank Ltd

PNS nBHUBANESWAR

Odisha-based AnadroneSystems has bagged the con-tract to supply advanceddefence equipment to theIndian Army and the AirForce, officials said.

The company will supply125 Manoeuvrable ExpendableAerial Targets (MEAT) and

associated equipment worth Rs96 crore, under the Make inIndia-II category, meant forresearch and development pro-jects, they said.

“Such endeavours will fur-ther boost the Make in Odishaprogram of the state, which iskeen to promote defence, aero-space and other new-ageindustries,” Anadrone Systems

MD Anant Bhalotia said onFriday.

Commenting on the devel-opment, Brig (retd) L CPatnaik said such initiativeswill attract more MSMEs toparticipate in defence projects,which will ultimately reducethe import burden and pro-mote the indigenous defencemanufacturing sector of India.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The second-hand smartphonemarket in the country isexpected to double in threeyears to USD 4.6 billion by2025, according to a jointreport by mobile devicesindustry body ICEA andresearch firm IDC.

Consumers traded 25 mil-lion smartphones in the sec-ond-hand market generatinga revenue of over USD 2.3 bil-lion, at an average price ofUSD 94 or Rs 6,900 perdevice, according to thereport.

"India should be the glob-al hub of re-manufacturingand re-commerce by leverag-ing its delta of labour cost. Re-commerce's profound growthwill effectively reduce the dig-ital divide by enabling migra-tion from feature phones to

smartphones. "The growth ofthis market will also ensurethat there will be a significantdrop in e-waste as recyclingwill become the new norm,"India Cellular and ElectronicsAssociation (ICEA) ChairmanPankaj Mohindroo said dur-ing the launch of the report.

More than 95 per cent of all

second-hand smartphones aresold "as it is" and the remain-ing five per cent go throughsome kind of repair or refur-bishment in India.

"Among the consumerelectronics devices, smart-phones are the largest volumedriver (over 90 per cent) in thesecond-hand market current-

ly, and others such as laptops,smartwatches, gaming con-soles, and cameras are pickingup gradually," the report said.

The report estimates that 78per cent of the users buying asecond-hand smartphonehave a monthly income of lessthan Rs 30,000 and 18 per centhave a monthly income of Rs30,000-Rs 50,000.

Second-hand smartphone market in India to reach $4.6 bn

PNS n NEW DELHI

IndusInd Bank on Saturdayreported a 50 per cent jumpin its consolidated net prof-it at Rs 1,241.55 crore in thequarter ended December2021.The bank had posted anet profit of Rs 830.41 crorein the same period a yearago.

Total income of the bankduring the October-December period of 2021-22rose to Rs 9,614.34 crore asagainst Rs 8,887.28 crore,IndusInd Bank said in a reg-ulatory filing.

However, the lender wit-nessed deterioration in itsasset quality as the grossnon-performing assets(NPAs) rose to 2.48 per centof the gross advances as ofDecember 31, 2021 from1.74 per cent by December2020. Net NPAs stood at0.71 per cent as against 0.22per cent by December 2020.

IndusInd Bankposts 50% risein net profit

PNS n HYDERABAD

Olectra Greentech Limited(OLECTRA), a leading electricbus manufacturing and mobil-ity company has registered ajump of 244 percent in incomein Q3FY22 (ended December31, 2021).

The company’s revenuetouched Rs 207.1 crore duringthe quarter ended December31, 2021, against Rs 60.1 crorefor the corresponding quarterin 2020, says a press releasefrom the company.

The growth is mainly due tothe supply of electric buses(103 buses in Q3 21-22 against13 buses in Q3 2020-21) andhigher operating income in thecurrent quarter from its Punebus operations.

The E-Bus division ofOlectra Greentech recorded agross income of Rs 186 crorein the quarter endingDecember 31, 2021, against Rs28.7 crore for the quarter end-ing December 31, 2020.

The top-line growth is dueto the supply of electric buses(103 buses in Q2 21-22 against13 buses in Q2 20-21).Theinsulator division of the com-pany recorded a gross incomeof Rs 21.1 crore during thequarter against Rs 31.4 crore inthe quarter ended December

31, 2020, a decline of 32 percent, mainly due to lowersales.The EBITDA of the com-pany rose by 308 per cent to Rs27 crore from Rs 6.7 crore. TheProfit Before Taxes (PBT)jumped to Rs 20.1 crore fromRs 5.8 crore registering agrowth of 251 per cent.

The company’s PAT hasshown a significant improve-ment of Rs 7.9 crore, or 173 percent, from Rs 4.6 crore in theQ3 of 2020-21 to Rs 12.5 crorein Q3 2021-22 mainly due tohigher volumes in the E-Busdivision. Currently, the compa-ny has orders for 1,523 electricbuses in hand.

“Team Olectra feels proudabout its performance. We aregetting ready to begin the con-struction of a state-of-the-art

EV manufacturing plant inHyderabad. Seeing the compa-ny's potential, many ForeignDirect Investors (FDIs) areshowing interest to invest. Thenumber of shareholders in thecompany increased to overone lakh during the last quar-ter. Deliveries are picking up,and we are confident of meet-ing demand,” OGL Chairmanand Managing Director KVPradeep said. Established inthe year 2000, OlectraGreentech Limited is part ofthe MEIL group. It pioneeredthe introduction of electricbuses in India in 2015. It is alsothe largest manufacturer inIndia of silicone rubber/com-posite insulators for powertransmission and distributionnetworks.

Olectra Greentech registersbig jump in income

Anadrone Systems set to make advanced defence equipment

PNS nWASHINGTON

Federal safety regulators saythey have cleared the way forVerizon and AT&T to powerup more towers for new 5Gservice without causing radiointerference with airplanes.

The Federal AviationAdministration said Fridaythat it took the steps afterreceiving details from thetelecommunications compa-nies about the location ofwireless transmitters.

The FAA said the datahelped it to better map areasaround airports where newnew high-speed 5G servicewon't hinder the ability ofplanes to land during poorweather.

FAA clears Verizonand AT&T to turnon more 5G celltowers

"India should be

the global hub of

remanufacturing

and re-

commerce by

leveraging its

delta of labour

cost.

BharatPe founder's wife alsogoes on leave amid auditPNS n NEW DELHI

About a week after BharatPefounder Ashneer Grover wenton leave, his wife Madhuri JainGrover - who is also workingwith the company - has followedsuit as the firm undertakes anindependent audit of its inter-nal processes and systems.

According to sources,Madhuri - who is the Head ofControls - has gone on leave,and with the company under-taking an independent audit,there could be governance-related issues at BharatPe thatcould now come to the fore.

When contacted, BharatPe ina statement said the board iscommitted to the highest stan-dard of corporate governance atthe company and "is doing anindependent audit of the com-

pany's internal processes andsystems".

"BharatPe, through its legalfirm, Shardul AmarchandMangaldas has appointedAlvarez and Marsal, a leadingmanagement consultant andrisk advisory firm to advise theBoard on its recommendations.The Board strongly believes inprotecting interests of all stake-holders, including customers,employees and partners," thestatement said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Social e-commerce startupDealShare has announced rais-ing USD 165 million in the firstclose of its series E fundraisefrom Dragoneer InvestmentsGroup, Kora Capital andUnilever Ventures, along withcontinued commitments fromexisting investors - Tiger Globaland Alpha Wave Global (FalconEdge).

The funding values the com-pany at over USD 1.6 billion, astatement said.

Dealshare - which expects tohit USD 1 billion revenues inthe near term - will use thefunds raised to invest in tech-nology and data science, as wellas a ten-fold expansion in itslogistics infrastructure, it added.

The company's annual rev-enue run rate has crossed USD600 million.

The capital will also be usedto increase geographic reachand establish a sizable offlinestore franchise network, thestatement said.

Founded by Vineet Rao,Sourjyendu Medda, SankarBora, and Rajat Shikhar in2018, DealShare focuses on

affordability for mass con-sumers and offers high-quality,low-priced essentials coupledwith a gamified, fun-filled, andvirality-driven shopping expe-rience, making it easy for first-time internet users to experi-ence online shopping."DealShare is one of the fastestgrowing e-commerce compa-nies in India. Our revenues andcustomer base have grown 13times in the last year withimproving profitability. With astrong customer base of over 10million, we have expanded ourgeographical presence to over100 cities across 10 states,"Dealshare founder and CEOVineet Rao said.He added thatthe company has created jobopportunities for over 5,000persons across the country."We have created a network ofover 1,000 community leadersunder our flagship programDealShare Dost enabling anefficient and highly scalablesupply chain. We will be util-ising the proceeds from theround to invest heavily intotechnology, improving thesupply chain and expandingour footprint throughout thecountry," Rao said.

Dealshare raises US$ 165mn at over USD 1.6 bn

PNS nCHENNAI

Chemplast Sanmar Ltd, theflagship company of SanmarGroup, on Saturday reportedstandalone net profits at Rs142.82 crore for the quarterending December 31, 2021,the company said on Saturday.

The city-based companyhad registered standalone net at21.27 crore during the corre-sponding quarter in the previ-ous year, a company statementsaid.For the nine-month peri-od ending December 31, 2021,standalone net profits went upto Rs 231.36 crore as against astandalone net loss at Rs 15.22

crore registered during thesame period last financialyear.Total income from opera-tions on standalone basis, forthe quarter under review, grewto Rs 517.14 crore from Rs406.83 crore registered in thesame period last financial year.

Chemplast Sanmar Ltdreports Q3 net profitDeveloping a system to tackle use of stolen, counterfeit mobiles

The private sector Karnataka bank has posted a net profit ofRs 146.42 crore for the third quarter of current financialyear with a year-on-year growth rate of 8.16 percent as

against Rs 135.37 crore net profit earned during thecorresponding quarter of the previous year.The financial resultsfor the quarter and nine months period ended December 31,2021 were approved at a meeting of the director board held hereFriday, a bank release here said.The asset quality also improvedsignificantly.

sundaymagazine

98Bapu: A Hindu Patriot

HYDERABAD, January 30, 2022

Mythology is all pervasive. Themyth of yesterday is the reality oftoday, in a new attire, newthoughts, new circumstancesand new approaches. We proba-

bly do not understand or have not been able todefine this new identity, which is there in ourblood from time immemorial and will probablywill always be. Thomas Mann, the GermanNobel Prize novelist, declared, “Life is a steadymythical identification, a procession in the foot-steps of others, a sacred repetition.”

The Indian sub-continent amply portraysand follows this thought. We can witness this bythe plethora of books and movies that are basedon mythology in the present scenario. Hindureligion is supposed to be the oldest in theworld. The Hindu mythological stories arethought to have taken place around 5,000 yearsto 10,000 years back. There has been a naturalevolution of the happenings or the stories, ini-tially vocal, later in writing, from generation togeneration through centuries. The beauty of thewhole thing is that though there may be geo-graphical or other differences, stories whichhave been taken from the Veda or Puranas orother such highly revered books, the originalintent remains the same. The differences couldbe in the imagery or the languages. The feelingsand thoughts of men and women, that isthoughts of love, hate, jealousy, greed, power,corruption, intrigue, insecurity etc. remain thesame.

The fact remains that these mythologicalstories are so effective in the contemporarytimes that they manage to convey the crux ofthe stories to the listener and thus guidehim/her towards a better life. Many Hindumythological stories point out in the directionthat maybe our ancestors (or Gods) were from adifferent place other than Earth and were moreadvanced than us in all aspects of life, speciallyscience. Some of these points are: l Take the case of the Pushpak Viman. It waswith the devtas, then with Kuber from whomRavan wrestled it. Then after Bhagwan Ramdefeated Ravan, he took the Pushpak Viman toAyodhya and finally left for Vaikunth in thePushpak Viman.l Arjun too travelled to visit Devlok in aPushpak Viman. There are many more examplesof the Pushpak Viman scattered throughout theancient Hindu texts.l There is a great possibility of nuclear weaponsbeing used in the Mahabharat and in otherancient times. In Mahabharat, there wasapproximately a destruction of 1.5 billion peoplein eighteen days. This is not possible unlessweapons of mass destruction like the nuclearbombs were used.l Cloning too was practiced during theMahabharat. According B.G. Matapurkar, the

renowned medical researcher and multilingualpoet, the Kauravas were products of technologywhich was not heard of or developed yet. Heclaims that the Kauravas were created by split-ting the single embryo into hundred parts andgrowing each part in a separate container. It canbe said the doctors and scientists at that timenot only knew about test tube babies but alsohad the technology to grow human fetuses out-side human body. Similarly, Mahadev andParvati’s son Kartikeya too was born outside thebody.l Abhimanyu was the son of Arjun andSubhadra. When Subhadra was carryingAbhimanyu in her womb, Arjun once explainedthe intricacies of the formation of theChakravyuh to her. Even as a fetus, Abhimanyucould listen and understand the entrance proce-dure of the Chakravyuh, but he could not hearthe exit procedure, because his mother had fall-en asleep. This was ridiculed and taken as amythical story, but now it is accepted by scien-tists that this is very much a possibility.According to Dr. Makoto Shichida, in his book,“Right Brain Education in Infancy,” the rightbrain is active during gestation.l The Ram Setu which was built by BhagwanRam is an engineering feat. It was made by twoarchitects Nal and Neel. The bridge of floatingrocks was made between India and Lanka.Popular belief says that it was faith in BhagwanRam that the floating bridge was made in such ashort time. But it was very superior civil engi-neering methods through which the bridge wasconstructed.l Plastic surgery and organ transplant: ProbablyBhagwan Ganesh’s head transplant was the firstknown transplant on this Earth. Folklore saysthat Mahadev cut off child Ganesha’s head whenGanesha did not let him enter his mother’schamber. When Parvati saw this, she beganwailing. After getting to know the story,Mahadev was repentant. He sent his people toprocure the head of the first living being thatthey could find. The result was an elephant’shead which Mahadev attached to Ganesha’sbody. l Our ancient texts are full of such instanceswhere it is proved that our ancient times weremuch more advanced than our present times,like Sanjay’s Divya Drishti.

Since there is no written record, only wordof mouth stories through the generations, peo-ple call them just stories or even mythology.Many of them could be just figments of imagi-nations too as word of mouth does get exagger-ated especially when it is verbally passedthrough the generations. But the fact that themessages of these stories have survived for solong, goes on to prove that the messages arepretty strong and will continue to guide in thefuture too.

Apart from the above points, there are manyother moot and interesting happenings in theso-called mythological periods. Some of theseare:l According to the Hindu scriptures, the civili-sation is divided time wise into four Yugas. TheVedas state that the first Yuga, the Satya, was thepurest and the holiest of the Yugas. Slowly andsteadily, degeneration began creeping in theother Yugas. Kalyug is said to be the last and themost degenerate of the four Yugas. It has beenpredicted, that in the end of the Kalyug, theworld will be destroyed, and the previous cycleof the Yugas will be repeated.l Hindu mythology states that the first Yuga orthe Satya Yug, spanned a period of 1,72,8000years. It was the age of truth enlightenment,virtue, and reason. It was the golden age.Because of the ideal state of mind and body, thenormal height of a person was approximately 31feet and people lived for hundreds and thou-sands of years.l Next comes the Treta Yug, second of theYugas. By the end of the Satya Yug and thebeginning of the Treta Yug, the purity of theSatya Yug had begun diminishing somewhat.According to the ancient scripts the Treta Yugwas of 1,296,000 human years. Tamas and RajasGunas had now begun mixing with the purity ofthoughts and deeds. A human being’s physiolo-gy and life span too had become shorter.l The third Yug was the Dwapar Yug. It is saidthat in the Dwapar Yug, the good and the evilhad become equal to each other. Thirst forpower had reared its ugly head as amply person-ified in the Mahabharat. Dwapar Yug is said tohave lasted 864,000 years and the average lifespan shortened to about 1,000 years.l The last age of the Yug cycle is the Kali Yug. Itis the shortest Yug and will last for 432,000human years. Approximately 5,000 years havepassed of the Kali Yug. Corruptions of all kindswill be prevalent in this Yug. There will be little,or no conscience left. Human beings will be atthe lowest both in terms of physicality and intel-lect. The average life span will be from 100 to120 years and the average height will bebetween 5 to 6 feet. It has also been predictedthat in the last stages of the Kalyug, man’s lifespan will be around 20 years.

All our great epics are broadly categorisedas Mythology. It is belief and faith and criticalscientific thinking too, that mythology is takenseriously by the non-believers also. Though thelevel of depravity has and will go up to the high-est level, it has also been claimed that it is in theKalyug that spirituality will be at its highestlevel. I believe this will be due to the extensivereading of our great epics. Thus, the belief andguidance in the so-called mythological epics willgreatly help the emancipation of mankind in thepresent.

Two of the greatest and the most popularepics are the Ramayan and the Mahabharat.Apart from these there are other equally greatand influential epics which leave a great impacton humankind. Some of these epics are theRaghuvamsa, the Budhacharita, Shishupalvadha,the Kirtarjuniya, the Manimekalai, theSilapadikaram, the Kumarsambhava and ShriRamcharitmanas. All these epics teach us howto live a peaceful and moralistic life.

We do not think much about it, but it is theso-called mythology, from which we follow ourubiquitous traditions like the Holi, Diwali andDussehra. These traditions have been set fromthe times of the Ramayan and the Mahabharatand even before that. They still teach us aboutright and wrong, why wrong should not be tol-erated and why victories over evil should be cel-ebrated. Unfortunately, this line has blurred somuch in the present context, that we fail to dif-ferentiate between good and evil.

The social evils have crept in our society sosurreptitiously that we invariably fail to recog-nise good and evil. In this Kalyug, we havestopped working for the good of mankind andbecome apathetic, lethargic, and work onlytowards the smallest gains, which are nihilisti-cand fallible in the long run. In other words, wehave forsaken our vision. It is here that the roleof mythology comes in. Reading of the greatepics teach us bravery and self-confidence. Theyteach us how to face tragedies, hatred, betrayal,and major losses. Where is the motivation inour present lives? The only motivation is to pro-cure wealth any which way, even killing andlooting.

I am clubbing mythology and epics togetherhere. Many scientists now agree that manymodern-day weapons can be traced back to theancient times when celestial weapons were usedby Bhagwan Ram or by the characters ofMahabharat. I have described some of thesedivine weapons in my trilogy of the warbetween demons and human beings too. Onesuch instance was when the protagonist of thebook ‘The Demons of Jaitraya,’ used the Narayanastra to destroy the demons. The Narayan astracan be likened to the invention of missiles,which locks on to a target, finds it and finishesit. I have used several other celestial weapons inmy second book of the trilogy, ‘The Angels ofKailash,’ too. The mode of transportation, eitherthe Pushpak Viman or any other viman can becomparable to the helicopters and the other air-crafts that we have today.

To sum up we can say that the role ofmythology in the present context is to enhanceand make us aware of our cultural identity,integrity, and our very existence.

The author is an educationist, writer, and anastrologer. Her latest book, The Angels of

Kailash, has been published by Vitasta

Making of a Hindu Patriot is basedmostly on Gandhi’s own

correspondences & conversations

Sometimes you'vegot to know when

it's time to leave theparty

— Victoria Beckham

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

Potent CH4

ALL OUR GREAT EPICSARE BROADLY

CATEGORISED ASMYTHOLOGY. IT IS

BELIEF AND FAITH ANDCRITICAL SCIENTIFICTHINKING TOO, THAT

MYTHOLOGY IS TAKENSERIOUSLY BY THE

NON-BELIEVERS ALSO

It is a well-known fact that CO2 iscontributing to global warming. Butthere are other greenhouse gases

MYTHOLOGY &CULTURAL IDENTITYMYTHOLOGY &CULTURAL IDENTITYThe fact remains that Hindu mythological stories are so effective in the contemporary times that they manage toconvey the crux of the stories to the listener and thus guide him/her towards a better life, writes Shubira Prasad

sundaymagazine

books 08HYDERABAD, January 30, 2022

BE CAREFUL ABOUTREADING HEALTH BOOKS.SOME FINE DAY YOU'LL

DIE OF A MISPRINT— MARKUS HERZ

The book is an enticingcrime thriller that revolvesaround the uncanny andsuspicious death of abollywood starlet on theset in Australia. But whenAnglo-Indian SamsonRyder, the privateinvestigator there, is engaged in the caseby the father of the deceased, multi-layeredtruth surface that involves dirty politics inthe industry, greed, and even toxicity withinthe family. The case never gets pin-pointed;rather it remains a little open, subject tomultiple explanations of the narrative.A bone-chilling story where Bollywoodplays the backdrop, the book is publishedunder the Olive Turtle imprint of NiyogiBooks.

NEWARRIVALS

LMASALA AND MURDER

PATRICK LYONS

Niyogi, `450

Tulip of Istanbul is ahistorical novel depicting theOttoman Empire’s mostglorious times in art andaesthetics, elegance andgrandeur of dreams. At thesame time, it was an era ofsplurge and wastage, ofeconomic and social collapse. Known asthe Tulip Age, this period saw in 1730 agreat public revolt which changed thecourse of Turkey’s destiny.The story is interwoven with historical andcultural details, introducing the reader tolife within royal palaces and dervish lodges,horticultural secrets about growingexclusive tulips, innovative treatment forthe mentally unstable in the asylum, torturedevices in the prison, and conspiracieshatched in coffee houses and hamams bydisaffected revolutionaries and gangsters.

TULIP OF ISTANBUL

Iskender Pala

translated by Ruth Whitehouse

Niyogi, `550

The 1970s saw the rise of tradeunionism and advocacy movementsfor civil liberties, especially after the

clamping of emergency by Mrs. IndiraGandhi in 1975. Further, in 1974 a doc-ument was prepared on the Status ofWomen by the official Status of WomenCommission, titled ‘Towards Equality.’ Itfocused attention on the fact that, despitemany progressive social legislations andconstitutional guarantees, women’s statusin India had indeed not improved much,especially in many areas like political, eco-nomic and social spheres. This documenthas been the basis for many legislationsand development programs focusing ongender as well as creation of women’s orga-nizations and working groups — as dis-cussed later. The United Nations declared1975 as the International Year for womenand 8 March as the International Day forWomen.

The last 70+ years of independencehas seen many organizations springing upthat have espoused the cause of women,both in the cities and at grassroots level.Domestic violence, alcoholism, female feti-cide, sexual harassment of women at workplace, skewed and unjust family laws,reproductive rights, legislative reforms aresome of the issues spearheaded by civilsociety organizations and NGOs. On theacademic front, many universities in the1970s set up Women Studies’ centres.

A pioneer in Women’s studies, Dr.Vina Mazumdar was the first one in theindependent India to combine activismwith scholarly research in women’s stud-ies.

Vina Mazumdar [1994] argues thatwomen became a point of engagement inpolitics as well as research and academiaduring the colonial rule with an objectiveto justify both social reform or to give abackbone for India’s cultural pride. Shewrites that this however, became redun-dant in post-independent India, as theneed for justification was no longer nec-essary. This may have in some way led tothe side-lining of women’s issue and withthat the increase in gender disparitybetween men and women. This gap washighlighted in the investigation by the

Committee on the Status of Women inIndia and the subsequent report ‘TowardsEquality’ 1975. With this, a new agendawas set to change the status of women andfor that research on women’s issue was onearea, which received the impetus. A newprogram for Women’s Studies, initiated bythe ICSSR began which, over the years hasseen a lot of seminal work in this arena.This went along with several otherprocesses of bringing about change andempowerment as the larger women’smovement also went along. Critics how-ever, feel that in the beginning, there wasa lot of academia — civil society interface,which over the years, has eroded.

Many UN organizations like theUNICEF, UNFPO and UNESCO havealso entered the policy dialogue with thegovernment based on milestones articu-lated in the UN Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SGDs) of which India is a signa-tory.

EQUAL RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIESGUARANTEED BY CONSTITUTION OFINDIA

The Constitution of India providesequal status and opportunities to womenalong with men. The Indian womenreceived equal political rights for whichtheir western counterparts had to fight along battle.

WOMEN-CENTRIC LAWSSince the country’s independence in

1947, many laws have been passed toaddress the issues of equal opportunitiesfor women at work place and home toaddress issues of sexual harassment atwork place, domestic violence, dowry, andfemale infanticide, and feticide, propertyrights among others. Discrimination,however, is so well entrenched in the patri-archal mind-set of the society coupled withignorance and centuries of subjugationthat both the urban and the rural women

endure (particularly the latter as they suf-fer in larger measure in every possible way)when it comes to equality. Women, espe-cially in the rural arena are raped andwronged to settle caste rivalries. Youngwomen choosing to wed out of caste andreligion often become victims of honourkilling. Who they can marry, what theywould wear, how they would behave aresometime issues discussed in the illegalKhap panchayats, while the state admin-istration is often seen as a mute spectator.

The passing of the two acts viz.Sexual Harassment of Women atWorkplace (Prohibition), 2013, and theIndecent Portrayal of Women in Media(Prohibition), 1986, together with manyother acts including against those againstdomestic violence, dowry, and sex deter-mination as well as the setting up of theNational Commission for Women (NCW)at the centre and other state level commis-sions are pointers to the efforts by myri-

ad women rights organizations in influ-encing policy and also various govern-ments in addressing women issues.

Having said that, there is no gain say-ing that there are laws in place but it is theimplementation, which is more oftenlax. Social transformation accompaniedwith implementation of laws shall be thekey to address women related issues inIndia. The feminist literature and move-ments bear testimony to the fact that fem-inism is very much home grown andorganic in India and not a copy of the Westas generally alleged. The feminist move-ment is not against men but about fight-ing the power structures that are so wellembedded in the familial, social, politicaland economic spheres.

Excerpted with permission from TheBeauty Paradigm: Gender Discourse in

Indian Advertising by Jaishri Jethwaney;Published by SAGE Publications India

Nearly eight decades after hisassassination, MohandasKaramchand Gandhi, knownas Bapu or Mahatma remainsan enigma. Hundreds of books

have been written about this man who tookthe world by storm during and after his life.Gandhi continues to be read, written, dis-cussed and debated hotly by the world withthe same passion or even more than whilehe was alive. The year 2024 marks the 155thanniversary of the Mahatma and the nationhas set many targets and agendas to berealised to coincide with the occasion. Isthere anybody anywhere in the world whocould wield this kind of influence and loveeven after 75 years of his demise? It couldbe Gandhi’s simplicity that had made himso dear to all.

The movie Gandhi directed by RichardAttenborough is ideal to understand theman. What comes to mind is the scene inwhich Gandhi holds a serious discussion atSabarmati Ashram with Sardar Patel, Nehruand hopefully Jinnah about the British’s pro-posal to divide India. The mood and toneof the scene are solemn, serious and sedate.All were discussing about the future of India.A tiny girl enters the scene with a baby sheepand complains to Gandhi about the injurysuffered by it. “Gentlemen, if you excuseme...” said the Father of the Nation as hewalked out to attend to the injury of the pet.This was Gandhi.

Cut to 1992. Immediately after thedemolition of the disputed structure at RamJanmabhumi, the nation witnessed a furore.The then Union Government in its bid todouse the flames of communal riots askedall State Governments to hold peace meet-ings in all districts. I was working as a pro-gramme officer in the FM station of AllIndia Radio, Kochi and was deputed to covermany such peace meetings. The speechesdelivered by the politicians were to berecorded and aired as radio reports everyevening. The only negative side of thesemeetings were the blunders coming out ofthe politicians! Many of them stronglybelieved that Mahatma Gandhi was close-ly related to Indira Gandhi! Two ministersclaimed that the Ram Rajya about whichGandhi had dreamt was not that of LordRam but another Ram who was a Dalit con-temporary of the Father of the Nation!

Another controversy that is going therounds these days is that a politician com-menting that he would not accept theMahatma as the Father of the Nation.Gandhi was never after any names or titles.It was he who suggested that Dadabhoy

Naoroji should be honoured with this title.So much so that even his assassin NathuramGodse got immortality with his essay “WhyI assassinated Gandhi” which was publishedin 1968 following the Bombay High Court’slifting the ban order. Persons who are yetto understand the apostle of peace had theaudacity to describe the Maoists as“Gandhians with AK-47”.

There is a Malayalam drama by name“Supreme Court” authored and directed bylate N N Pillai in the early 1970s in whichthe latter tells that Godse was far better thanthe present day followers of Gandhi. “Godsemurdered Mahatma only once. ButMahatma’s so called followers are murder-ing him daily, every minute,” said Pillai, theacharya of Malayalam theatre.

Though there are many books onGandhi , the one which remained engravedin the mind was The Life of MahatmaGandhi by Louis Fischer. Fischer had no per-sonal or political agenda to push and thework is considered as a straightforward biog-raphy of the Mahatma. Though there aremany studies on Gandhian philosophy heldby hundreds of scholars and volumes havebeen written about this branch of “science”none of them could make any impact in our

minds as Gandhiji himself had explained inhis words his life and mission. What thescholars did hitherto was to selectivelyanalyse and put words into the mouth ofGandhi and this ended up in our politicianspontificating from podiums that his Ramwas different from Lord Ram of Ramayana.

The gross injustice did by GandhiBhakts was to replace the term Harijan (peo-ple of God) with the word Dalit, a boorishterm which the Mahatma had never utteredin his life. Acharya M K Kunhol, Kerala’slone and true Gandhian, says that theremoval of the word Harijan was thebiggest crime perpetrated by the self-styledfollowers of Gandhi.

Well, this Gandhi Jayanti coincided withthe publication of “Making of a HinduPatriot: Background of Gandhiji’s HindSwaraj”, a pathbreaking work spread across1,043 pages and authored by J K Bajaj andM D Srinivas of Centre for Policy Studies.The philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi hasbeen rebooted, revived, retold and re-ener-gised by these two theoretical physicists. Thework took them through the CollectedWorks of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG-liter-ally speaking an ocean of knowledge) in itsentirety and the vintage Gandhian philos-

ophy has been presented by the authorswithout any prejudice. A serious reading ofthis book would make Godse turn in hisgraveyard and he is likely to plead with thejudge who sentenced him to death foranother death sentence. Godse for sure hadfired at the wrong person!

In a situation straight taken out fromcourtrooms, Bajaj and Srinivas presentbefore us what Mahatma Gandhi wrote andspoke about various issues in his non-vio-lent fight against the colonial masters, theBritish imperialists. The authors present theMahatama’s original words which wereculled from his own writings and speech-es without giving any interpretation.

Bajaj and Srinivas tell us how Gandhigot converted himself into a true Hindu, aHindu Patriot, by exploring and undertak-ing an expedition into Hinduism. Why hechose the mission was because of friendsfrom Christianity and Islam who exertedpressure on him to get converted to theirreligions. Gandhi undertook a seriousstudy into Christianity and Islam along withthat of Hinduism. It took Gandhi to a greattruth and also to the answer which he wasasking himself; what is a Hindu and who isa Hindu? What are his responsibilities and

what the world expects from a Hindu.Gandhi ji studied about India’s civilisationand the modern Western civilisation. Whathe understood was that the Indian and west-ern civilisations represented two distinctlydifferent ways of being which were difficultif not impossible to reconcile.

The CWMG explains in his own wordswhat Satyagraha stands for. For the first timein history, these two scientists bring out themeaning of Satyagraha to the people ofIndia. In Gandhi’s own words, Satyagrahais a religious instrument. “It is a struggle car-ried out with God as witness to preserve thesacred dignity of the religious person. It isnot an agitation to win concessions or rights.Self suffering is what makes Indian civili-sation different from Western civilisation.The heart of Indian civilisation is religionwhile that of Western civilisation is irreli-gion”, Gandhiji writes while recounting hisSouth African days. This translation ofSatyagraha as visualised by MahatmaGandhi is certain to put the rationalists andatheists on the defensive as they usuallyresort to this kind of demonstration toextract concessions from those in power.Equally interesting is the startling disclosureabout Hind Swaraj. Gandhiji says that reli-gious duty and patriotic duty are one andthe same. “Hind Swaraj is nothing but reli-gious patriotism. My love for India isderived from my religion. Hind Swaraj is

based on Dharma,” explain the authors quot-ing from what Gandhiji has said in his orig-inal work in Gujarati.

Gandhi also said that he does not wantthe Britishers to leave India. “The ideal solu-tion of the conflict between the British rulersand the Indian subjects is that the relation-ship between the ruler and the ruled beanchored in Dharma. Hind Swaraj does notask the English to leave India but to remainand rule in accordance with Dharma. If theywere to agree to rule in such a manner itwould be for the good of all. So doing, weshall benefit each other and the world. Butthat will happen only when the root of ourrelationship is sunk in a religious soil”, hewrites in Hind Swaraj 3:97. To drive homehis Bharateeyata, the Mahatma reminis-cences his formative years. “I grew up read-ing Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita. My lifewas moulded by the stories in Ramayana,slokas in Bhagavad Gita and the teacherswho taught me the same. The youth andchildren of those days have made it a rou-tine habit and life style to read Ramayanaand Bhagavad Gita,” he has written.

What made the Mahatma sad was thekind of work being done by evangelists andmissionaries in the country. He says he wastaken aback by the kind of language usedby the evangelists and missionaries againstHinduism. “Christian missionaries used tostand in a corner near the high school adhold forth, pouring abuse on Hindus andgods. I could not endure this..” saysMahatma Gandhi in “Glimpses of Religion”.But then why did he not openly questionthis attitude of the proselytisers? It is theunder hand methods and illegal meansemployed by the missionaries and evange-lists that form the root cause of the tensionbetween the religions. “I am a Hindu and Iam tolerant. Only a Hindu can be tolerantand he alone will be able to co-exist withbelievers in other religions,” he said.

The uniqueness of “Making of a HinduPatriot” is that Bajaj and Srinivas, whileanalysing threadbare what the Mahatma haswritten, substantiate the same with docu-mentary evidences which are nothing otherthan the latter’s own words. Only MahatmaGandhi could repudiate what Bajaj andSrinivas have written. The authors drivehome an important lesson: Never try toanalyse Mahatma Gandhi with ulteriormotives or agendas. These two scholars earnfull marks in their effort to portray the realMahatma. Let this work be read widely anddiscussed. That is the biggest tribute we canoffer to the Father of the Nation who hadsaid that his life was his message.

Advertising in feminist discourse

BBAAPPUU:: AA HHIINNDDUU PPAATTRRIIOOTTMaking of a Hindu Patriot: Background of Gandhiji’s Hind Swaraj by JK Bajaj & MD Srinivas, isbased mostly on Gandhi’s own correspondences & conversations, writes KUMAR CHELLAPPAN

Stereotyping & objectification of women in the media narrative is a universal truth, that need to beaddressed, questioned & reversed, writes JAISHRI JETHWANEY in her new book. An edited excerpt:

MAKING OF A HINDU PATRIOT:BACKGROUND OF GANDHIJI’S

HIND SWARAJ

J K Bajaj & M D Srinivas

Har Anand, `1,995

THE BEAUTY PARADIGM:GENDER DISCOURSE IN INDIAN

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Jaishri Jethwaney

SAGE, `550

Astudy published by researchers atDuke University has thrown somealarming figures. It says that Indiahas lost 259 billion hours of labourannually between 2001 and 2020

due to global warming. The loss of labourhours due to humid heat has cost India `46lakh crore which is equivalent to almost sevenper cent of the nation’s gross domestic product(GDP) in 2017, the study said.

Carbon dioxide, a by-product of fossil fuelcombustion, is the principal greenhouse gascontributing to global warming. However, cli-mate change is also influenced by greenhousegases, including methane, nitrous oxide, andother industrial-process gases.

One is told that methane is 24 times morepotent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxidewith important implications for climatechange. “Although methane has a muchshorter atmospheric lifetime than carbondioxide (CO2) — around 12 years, comparedwith centuries for CO2 — it absorbs muchmore energy while in the atmosphere. Themethane gas (CH4) accounts for 18 per centof greenhouse gases, is responsible for morethan a quarter of global warming whichcomes majorly from landfills, agriculture, andthe energy industry. Thus, while methanetends to receive less attention than CO2 untilnow, reducing methane emissions will be crit-ical for avoiding the worst effects of climatechange,” Professor Murari Lal, a climatologistsays.

Besides the Glasgow Declaration and theparties’ individual Nationally-DeterminedCommitments (NDCs) to limit emissions inCOP 26 (as agreed under the ParisAgreement), more than 100 countries signed afirst-of-its-kind pledge to cut emissions ofmethane by 30 per cent by 2030, in combatingclimate change. The signatories represent 70per cent of the global economy, including sixof the world’s top 10 methane polluters.Reducing methane emissions from oil and gasoperations is among the most cost-effectiveand impactful actions that governments cantake to achieve global climate goals.

“The importance of this breakthrough inCOP 26 can’t be overlooked and yet it soundstoo good to be true. A major concern is thatseveral methane polluting nations — includingTurkmenistan and Russia — haven’t signed thepledge. Similarly, the commitment is voluntaryand lacks enforcement mechanisms, as is theParis Agreement. Therefore, its success willdepend on countries holding themselves (andeach other) accountable. Unfortunately, theworld has a bad track record when it comes tothis,” Lal opines

Unlike CO2, methane only lasts for 12years in the atmosphere. Methane, that has ahigher global warming potential, traps heat inthe atmosphere 80 times more effectively thanCO2; therefore even a tiny amount of it in theatmosphere can have huge effects on the cli-mate. Reducing methane emissions in theatmosphere will pay off very quickly for theplanet and for human health. Also, up to halfof human-generated methane emissions can be

cut at low or even negative cost using existingtechnology.

The world’s wetlands contribute aboutthree-quarters (75 per cent) of the enduringnatural sources of methane. Agriculture andlivestock on the other hand is the largestanthropogenic source of methane emissions,accounting for around a quarter of the total,followed by the energy sector, which includescoal, oil, natural gas (most of it is methane),and biofuels. The oil and gas sector emittedaround 70 metric tonne of methane (approxi-mately 2.1 Gt CO2-eq) in 2020 — over five percent of global energy-related greenhouse gasemissions.

“The present speed of warming of ourplanet is much faster than what we have expe-rienced historically, and climate change at thatspeed is disruptive. It is not just a matter ofgetting warmer; traditional growing seasonsand weather patterns will change, disruptingour established ways of life, including how weproduce our food. It is in this context that per-haps reducing methane emissions is one of themost cost-effective strategies to rapidly reducethe rate of warming and contribute significant-ly to global efforts to limit temperature rise to1.5° C. The UN has called for a 45 per centreduction in methane emissions below a 2030business-as-usual baseline, an aggressive cutthat would avoid nearly 0.3° C of global warm-ing by the 2040s, while improving humanhealth and agricultural yields through reducedground level ozone,” Lal says.

Wetlands remain a major area of concernwith respect to climate change. Recent studiessuggest that high rates of anaerobic (no oxygen)methane oxidation in freshwater wetlands cansubstantially reduce atmospheric emissions ofmethane. Methane, primarily from agricultureand livestock, contributes 16 per cent of allanthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Wastemanagement, energy use (which includes coal,oil, natural gas and biofuel), and biomass burn-ing also contribute to CH4 emissions.

Methane routinely leaks out from oil andgas wells, pipelines, and processing facilitiesinto the atmosphere, exacerbating climatechange. Methane is also emitted by naturalsources like natural wetlands. Past estimateshave suggested that about 2.5 per cent ofhuman-induced climate warming can beattributed to rice farming.

“Rice production is estimated to beresponsible for 10 per cent to 12 per cent oftotal methane global emissions, mainly due toits anaerobic decomposition during its produc-tion processes. The flooded rice fields inwaterlogged soil is a perfect breeding groundfor methanogens, the microbes that producemethane gas,” Lal tells you

Approximately 20 per cent of India’santhropogenic methane emissions come fromenteric fermentation, manure management,coal mines, municipal solid waste, natural gas,and oil systems. Wetland rice fields have beenidentified as one of the major sources ofmethane emission in India.

“Methane emission from wetland rice cul-tivation is expected to increase due to the like-

ly intensification of rice cultivation in thecoming decades. Alternate wetting and dryingirrigation can effectively reduce CH4 emis-sions and total water use. Improved high yield-ing rice varieties together with efficient culti-vation techniques will also significantly con-tribute to the curtailment of the methaneemission fluxes,” Lal says.

China is responsible for the most emis-sions from agricultural production, followedby India, Brazil and the US during the past 20years. Together, these top four agriculturalemitters were responsible for 37 per cent ofglobal agricultural production emissions.China and India’s agricultural productionemissions have increased by 16 per cent and14 per cent, respectively since 2000. However,in terms of per capita agricultural emissions,the top three countries are Australia,Argentina and Brazil.

“In order to keep warming to 1.5° C, thelimit scientists assert is necessary for prevent-

ing some of the worst impacts of climatechange, significant changes in technology,policies and farming practices would be neces-sary to reduce agricultural production emis-sions (mainly nitrous oxide from syntheticnitrogen fertilizer use and production, andcarbon dioxide, both from energy used to pro-duce fertilizer and other chemicals, and fromgenerating electricity for farm use) by 40 percent between 2016 and 2050 and increase car-bon removal from the atmosphere with vastamounts of reforestation,” he explains.

He tells you that majority of agriculturalproduction emissions come from raising live-stock.

“Globally, more than 70 billion animals areraised annually for human consumption. The

biggest single source is methane from cowburps and manure. Enteric fermentation (fer-menting acetate and H2-CO2 in soils intomethane and carbon dioxide) — a naturaldigestive process that occurs in ruminant ani-mals such as cattle, sheep and goats —accounts for about 40 per cent of agriculturalproduction emissions in the past 20 years (pri-marily methane, mostly from cattle digestinggrass, and both methane and nitrous oxidefrom manure management),” he says.

In India, major contribution to methaneemission by livestock during the past fewdecades has from buffalo, followed by cattle,swine, goat, sheep and other species. Buffaloshared about half (50.8 per cent) and cattle39.6 per cent of the total manure methaneemission.

Interestingly, only marginal changes inhead count of these livestock have taken placein India during the past one and a half decade.Methane emissions in future from dairy andother categories of livestock populations couldbe reduced substantially through proper dairyherd management (and diet management —e.g., feeding garlic plants to live stocks) with-out compromising animal production.

The natural gas demand is expected togrow worldwide in the coming decades in con-trasts to coal and oil, which would drop glob-ally by almost 60 per cent and 30 per centrespectively by 2040. Fossil fuel operationscurrently generate nearly one-third of allmethane emissions from human activity.Action on methane is therefore one of themost effective steps the energy sector can taketo mitigate climate change.

Quantitatively, the energy sector is respon-sible for around 25 per cent to 30 per cent ofthe total anthropogenic methane emissionswhich includes emissions from coal, oil, natur-al gas and biofuels. In the oil and natural gasindustry, methane is released during upstreamproduction when natural gas is flared or vent-ed. Methane is also released in small leaks,called fugitive emissions, from faulty valvesand drilling equipment (unintentional releas-es) used in drilling and production.

One of the biggest hurdles to effective reg-ulation of methane from the energy sector–including oil, natural gas, coal and bioenergyis the extent of uncertainty — about the mag-nitude of emissions, emissions sources andvariability including lack of reliable data onleaks.

According to IEA estimates, the methaneemissions from the oil and gas sector will needto fall to around 20 metric tonne per year by2030 — a drop of more than 70 per cent fromlevels in 2020. It is recognised now thatmethane leaks are not an inevitable part oftoday’s oil and gas business. They can bereduced cost-effectively — and this has to hap-pen if the world is to address climate change.

Considering average natural gas pricesfrom 2017-2021, almost 45 per cent of currentmethane emissions from oil and gas opera-tions could be avoided with measures thatwould have no net cost. Policy makers have attheir disposal well-established policy tools that

have already been demonstrated in multiplecontexts to drive these emissions reductions,for instance Leak Detection and Repair(LDAR) requirements, staple technology stan-dards and a ban on non-emergency flaring andventing.

Unfortunately, the methane releases andleaks in the oil and natural gas industry areoften intermittent and easy to miss. In localareas, ground-based sensors can detect leaks,but they are not very effective.

Drone and airplane surveys are time-con-suming and costly, and most of the world isinaccessible by air.

The solution lies in powerful new imagingtechnology. “A methane-hunting satellite cansniff out the emissions and track them to theirsources. Various satellites with multiple sen-sors in operation today can provide estimatesof the atmospheric concentration of methaneacross geographic areas,” Lal says.

For example, the satellite Sentinel 5P(Precursor), part of the European SpaceAgency (ESA) Copernicus programme, pro-vides readings of methane concentrationacross areas of 5 km by 7.5 km, covering thewhole world on average every four days. Thesatellite GHGSat covers a much smaller areaeach day but can provide data at a very finespatial resolution (around 50 m by 50 m).

“The coverage and accuracy of these read-ings is only going to improve, especially withthe envisaged launches of the EnvironmentalDefense Fund’s MethaneSat, ESA’s Sentinel 5and additional satellites from GHGSat.Targeting emitters on a global scale from spacein the coming years would be an importantnew tool for routine sustained monitoring ofgreenhouse gases for developing regulationsand guiding enforcement to combat climatechange,” Lal tells you.

We have never been more in need ofurgent action than now to combat climatechange. There has been a shift in the scientificcommunity’s awareness of the scale and speedof needed action. There is not much time leftto avoid setting the world on a dangerous,potentially catastrophic trajectory.

“For the climate crisis to be resolved, theworld must first reduce greenhouse gas emis-sions significantly and then achieve net-zeroemissions by the middle of the century or ear-lier. Methane leaks from abandoned oil andgas wells must be prevented and coal minesmust be cleaned up. The challenge presentedby methane emissions from oil and gas intackling the major leaks promptly would alsorequire key oil companies to pursue and main-tain high operational standards, and policymakers to put in place well-designed technicalsupport and policy regulations. A smartnational action plan would be needed thatwould require polluters to pay for theirmethane emissions — and offer oil and gascompanies help in cleaning up their act. Sincemethane is a valuable product in the oil andgas industry and can often be sold if it is cap-tured, this revenue can help offset some of thecosts of deploying the measures needed to pre-vent the emissions and leaks,” Lal says.

special 09HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | JANUARY 30, 2022

It is a well-known fact that CO2 is contributing to global warming. But there are other greenhousegases like methane that also influence climate change. The present speed at which the change ishappening is disruptive. SHALINI SAKSENA speaks with climatologist PROFESSOR MURARI LALwho says that solution lies in newage technology

POTENT CH4

IN ORDER TO KEEP WARMING

TO 1.5 DEGREE C, THE LIMIT

SCIENTISTS ASSERT IS

NECESSARY FOR PREVENTING

SOME OF THE WORST IMPACTS

OF CLIMATE CHANGE.

SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN

TECHNOLOGY, POLICIES &

FARMING PRACTICES WOULD

BE NECESSARY TO REDUCE

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

EMISSIONS BY 40 PER CENT

BETWEEN 2016 AND 2050 AND

INCREASE CARBON REMOVAL

FROM THE ATMOSPHERE WITH

VAST AMOUNTS OF

REFORESTATION

Singaporeis facing an

epidemic ofscams with victimshaving lost more thanUS$ 712 million in thelast five-and-a-half years asfake love on the internetremains one the most lucrativeonline cheating formats since2011, according to a mediareport on Saturday.

Authorities have acknowl-edged difficulties in tackling theproblem, pointing out that manyof the perpetrators are basedoverseas, and once the money istransferred, its recovery is diffi-cult, The Straits Times reported.

In the last five-and-a-halfyears, victims have lost 965 mil-lion Singapore dollars (overUSD 712 million), it said.

The police, meanwhile, havehad some success with theirAnti-Scam Centre saying that ofthe 7,400 scams involving lossesof over 201.7 million dollars(USD 148 million) last year, itwas able to recover 66 milliondollars (USD 48 million), thereport said, highlighting an epi-demic of scams, given the recentphishing saga involving cus-tomers of OCBC Bank, one ofthe largest banks in Singapore.

The mobile devices ofFinnish diplomats work-

ing abroad have been hackedwith the use of sophisticatedspyware, Finland's govern-ment said Friday, and theNordic country's spy chiefsaid a “state actor” was likelyto blame.

The Finnish ForeignMinistry said the victimswere targeted throughPegasus software developedby Israeli spyware company

NSO Group.The software can seam-

lessly infiltrate a mobilephone and allow its operatorsto gain access to the device'scontents and location history.

“The highly sophisticatedmalware has infected users'Apple or Android telephoneswithout their noticing andwithout any action from theuser's part,” the ForeignMinistry said in a statementwhich was also tweeted.

“Through the spyware, theperpetrators may have beenable to harvest data from thedevice and exploit its fea-tures.”

Jarmo Sareva, Finland'sAmbassador for CyberSecurity, would not disclosethe data harvested, but said

under government protocolsinformation transmitted byphone must be public or clas-sified at the lowest level.

“As you know Pegasus spy-ware does take the phoneunder its control,” Sareva said.“Even the microphone andcamera of these devices werebeing spied on.” He wouldn'tsay how many diplomatswere targeted or in whichcountries they were stationed.

Asked who was believed tobe behind the cyber espi-onage he said: “We have oursuspicions of course,” butdeclined to elaborate.

The Foreign Ministry saidit had been investigating thecase since the fall, adding that“the espionage is no longeractive.”

Antti Pelttari, director ofthe Finnish Security andIntelligence Service, later said“a state actor of some sort”was likely behind the hack.

“This (case) indicates forits part how vulnerable amobile phone is,” Pelttari saidin an interview with theFinnish broadcaster MTV3on Friday. “One should nothandle confidential informa-tion over a mobile phone. It isa vulnerable tool.”

New virus rules put Djokovic atrisk of missing French Open

France is tightening its vaccination rulesin a way that could put Novak

Djokovic at risk of missing the FrenchOpen.

From Feb. 15, anyone who is not vacci-nated against the coronavirus will need toshow proof they tested positive forCOVID-19 within the previous fourmonths — down from the current six-month window — in order to enter sportsvenues in France.

The French law is central to the gov-ernment's plan for tackling the virus andaims to bar unvaccinated individualsfrom stadiums, restaurants, bars andother public places.

Djokovic, who is not vaccinated, saidhe tested positive in mid-December.Under the current rules with a six-monthwindow, he could play in the FrenchOpen, which starts May 22.

But if the new requirements stay inforce until then, they are likely to rulehim out unless he gets vaccinated or testspositive again within four months of thestart of the clay-court Grand Slam.

The top-ranked Djokovic is thedefending champion in Paris.

Earlier this month, he wasdeported from Australia

and barred from play-ing in the Australian

Open for notmeeting the

country's strictCOVID-19

vaccinationrules.

Japan'sToyota Motor Co said on

Friday its vehicle sales rose by10.1 per cent last year, mak-ing it the world's biggestcarmaker for a secondstraight year andputting it furtherahead of its

nearest rival,Germany's

Volkswagen AG.The carmaker said

sales were 10.5 mil-lion vehicles in2021, includingthose by affili-ates DaihatsuMotors andHino Motors.

That com-pares with 8.9million delivered

by Volkswagen inthe same period,

5% fewer than in2020 and its lowest

sales figures in 10 years.Carmakers have been

forced to cut output because ashortage of semiconduc-

tors during the coro-navirus pan-

demic dis-rupt-

edsupplychains,boosting com-petition for thekey componentamong makers ofconsumer electronicdevices.

However, the Japanesecompany has weatheredthe pandemic better thanmost other carmakersbecause its home market,Japan, and parts of Asia, havebeen less affected thanEurope.

Toyota, which releasesthird-quarter earnings on Feb9, has said it is likely to fallshort of a production target of9 million vehicles in the busi-ness year that ends on March

31 because of disruptionslinked to COVID-

19.

With barely acouple ofweeks togo for theIPL mega

auction, all10 franchis-

es -- ChennaiSuper Kings,

MumbaiIndians, Kolkata

Knight Riders,Delhi Capitals,

SunRisers Hyderabad,Rajasthan Royals,Punjab Kings, RoyalChallengers

Bangalore,Lucknow SuperGiants and yet to benamed Ahmedabadteam -- are busyfinalising their tar-gets for what couldbe a grand season ofthe Indian PremierLeague. The BCCI is yetto confirm the venue forthe mega auction but secre-tary Jay Shah has confirmedthat it will take place on

February 12 and 13. The15th edition of IPL islikely to

begin in the last week ofMarch. Unlike the other auc-

tions, which take place everyyear before the tourna-

ment, the mega auc-tion, carries special

significance. It isthese two days

that decide howa franchise

will shapeup for thenext three

seasons. All theteams have triedto retain some oftheir core group -not more than fourcricketers - andhence, all eyes willbe on how theystrengthentheir squadswith overseasrecruitment.

Bidding for 5 staropeners in

FAF DU PLESSIS:

It was unfortunate that Chennai Super Kings werenot able to retain Faf du Plessis. He has been one ofthe stalwarts of their batting unit for the last fewseasons. A pillar at the top of the order and anoutstanding outfielder, the former South African captainwill be on CKS's wishlist for sure but don't be surprised ifother franchises lift the paddle to get Faf on-board.

JONNY

BAIRSTOW:

The England heavyweight wasone of the major stars for Sunrisers

Hyderabad at the top of the order for thelast few seasons of IPL. Bairstow has a

strike rate of 142.19 in the IPL, which is farbetter than most of the openers playing in the

tournament. Teams like KKR, who havestruggled to find a solid opener after GautamGambhir and Robin Uthappa's exit, can eyeBairstow in the mega auction. The fact that

he can don the gloves, makes him agood option.

scopekaleid backpage HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | JANUARY 30, 2022

JASON ROY:

Bairstow's openingpartner for Englandand another blisteringplayer at the top of theorder. Jason Roy too lastplayed for SRH. The right-

hander can single-handedlydemolish bowling attacks if hegets going and does get going

quite often in white-ball cricket.The likes of Punjab Kings,

Royal Challengers Bangalorecan pay a lot of money to

get his services.

Rejected by NZ,reporter turns toTaliban for help

Apregnant New Zealandjournalist says she

turned to the Taliban forhelp and is now strandedin Afghanistan after herhome country has prevent-ed her from returning dueto a bottleneck of peoplein its coronavirus quaran-tine system.

In a column published inThe New Zealand Heraldon Saturday, CharlotteBellis said it was “brutallyironic” that she'd oncequestioned the Talibanabout their treatment ofwomen and she was nowasking the same questionsof her own government.

“When the Talibanoffers you — a pregnant,unmarried woman — safehaven, you know your sit-uation is messed up,” Belliswrote in her column.

New Zealand's COVID-19 Response MinisterChris Hipkins told theHerald his office had askedofficials to check whetherthey followed the properprocedures in Bellis's case,“which appeared at firstsight to warrant furtherexplanation.”

DAVID WARNER:

The IPL's most successfuloverseas batter with 5,449 runs in

149 matches, David Warner is likelyto be a hot pick in the mega auction.The attacking Australian, who led the

Sunrisers Hyderabad to the IPL 2016 title,had an unceremonious exit from the

franchise last year when he was removed ascaptain and subsequently dropped from

the playing XI. The fact the SRHchose Kane Williamson and twoyoungsters - Abdul Samad and

Umran Malik - over Warner as theirretention choices, was a clear

indication that they are not interestedin continuing with the longassociation with Warner.

Quinton

de Kock:

The South Africa wicketkeeper-batter is one of the cleanest strikers

of the ball in world cricket at themoment. He proved his mettle many a times

while opening the batting for the MumbaiIndians in the IPL. Now that he has retired

from red-ball cricket, his full concentration willbe on making the most the opportunities hegets in limited-overs cricket and what better

platform than the IPL? De Kock was inpretty good form in the recently-

concluded ODI series againstIndia.

Toyotaremains world’s

biggest car seller,ahead of

Volkswagen

Finnish diplomats'mobile devices

hacked withspyware

In Sainte-Anastasie-sur-

Issole, a village thatcurls catlike in ver-dant Provencehillocks, voters aremaking an earlystart on France'spresidential election.

From their ballotbox this weekendand next will comethe name of the can-didate — pickedfrom among dozens— that they wanttheir mayor toendorse.

Normally, thechoice would beMayor OlivierHoffmann's alone,under a right that, atelection time, turnssmall-potato publicoffice-holders intohot properties —wooed by would-becandidates who need500 endorsementsfrom elected officialsto get onto the Aprilballot.

In France, anti-vax fury, politicsmake publicservice risky

Singaporescams victims

lost over US$ 712 mn

IPLMEGA AUCTION