RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA

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HYDERABAD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2022; PAGES 12 `3

ALMANAC

Updated: MAY 31, 2022 5:00 PM

Forecast: Sunny

Temp: 34oc

Humidity: 28%

Sunrise: 5:43 AM

Sunset: 6:39 PM

Month & Paksham:

Tithi: Dwitiya: May 31 07:19 PM

to Jun 01 09:47 PM

Tritiya: Jun 01 09:47 PM

to Jun 03 12:17 AM

Nakshatram:

Mrigashirsha: May 31 10:01 AM

to Jun 01 01:00 PM

Ardra: Jun 01 01:00 PM

to Jun 02 04:04 PM

Rahukalam: 12:14 PM to 1:51 PM

Yamagandam: 7:22 AM to 8:59 AM

Varjyam: 10:29 PM to 12:17 AM

Gulika: 10:36 AM to 12:14 PM

Amritakalam: None

Abhijit Muhurtham: Nil

TTOODDAAYY

HYDERABAD WEATHER

PM STOPS CAR TO ACCEPT PORTRAITOF HIS MOTHER IN SHIMLA

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday stopped hiscavalcade during a roadshow in Shimla to accept apainting of his mother made by a girl. The road leading to

Ridge Maidan in Shimla was jam-packed with onlookers waitingto catch a glimpse of PM Modi. Among the crowd gathered, agirl named Anu stood holding a portrait of PM Modi's motherHeeraben Modi. On spotting the portrait, PM Modi stopped hiscar, got out of it before approaching the girl. "What is yourname? Where do you live? How many days did you take tomake this painting?" PM Modi asked the girl.

MALAYALAM SINGER EDAVA BASHEERCOLLAPSES ON STAGE, DIES AT 78

Music lovers in Kerala mourned the death of popularplayback singer Edava Basheer, who collapsed on stage ata music event held in Alappuzha. Edava Basheer collapsed

while performing at the event, on Saturday night, to mark the50th anniversary of a popular music troupe, Bhima's BlueDiamond Orchestra. Political leaders and film industry expressedcondolences on the death of the 78-year-old singer. "The demiseof Edava Basheer, who played an important role in popularising'ganamela', is a huge loss to the music world," Kerala ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan had said in his condolence message.

SRI LANKA PORT IS POWERED BYPEDALS AFTER FUEL SHORTAGES

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka's main seaport unveiled a free bicycleservice on Tuesday, allowing workers to navigate the facilitywithout petrol-powered vehicles, as the island nation struggles

with unprecedented fuel shortages. The island nation is experiencingits worst financial meltdown since independence, leaving authoritiesstruggling to pay for adequate supplies of vital imports. Motoristsaround the South Asian country are forced to spend hours or evendays waiting for rationed fuel at gas stations. The bicycle initiativewas aimed at conserving petrol in the Colombo deep-sea containerport, Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman Prasantha Jayamanna said.

COMMUNICATION SATELLITE GSAT-24LAUNCH ON JUNE 22: ISRO

India's communication satellite GSAT-24 will be launched byArianespace from Kourou in French Guiana on June 22, theIndian Space Research Organisation said in a mission status

update on Tuesday. "NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Govt. ofIndia company under Department of Space (DoS), isundertaking GSAT-24 satellite mission as its 1st DemandDriven mission post space reforms", the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said.GSAT-24 is a 24-Ku bandcommunication satellite weighing 4180 kg with pan-Indiacoverage for meeting DTH application needs.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar onTuesday inspected a full dressrehearsal of the Formation Dayfunction at the Public Gardens.

The full dress rehearsal was heldin connection with the StateFormation Day celebrations onJune 2.

Chief Minister K. ChandrasekharRao will unfurl the national flag onTelangana State Formation Day. Hewill also pay tributes to TelanganaMartyrs at the TelanganaAmaraveerula Stupam at the GunPark on the occasion.

The Chief Secretary checked outall the arrangements with officials.DGP Mahender Reddy, Spl. CSArvind Kumar of MA&UD, Sunil

Sharma, the Spl. Chief Secretary ofEnergy, GHMC CommissionerLokesh Kumar, Danakishore, theMD of HMWSS&B, Arvinder

Singh, the Addl. Secretary of Protocol, senior

police and other officials werepresent on the occasion.

CS inspects dress rehearsal n Goes to Public Gardens to inspect Formation Day arrangements

BJP’s numbers game!

SNCN ACHARYULUn HYDERABAD

The BJP is now engagedin caste politics and it isplaying the ‘Kapu card’in both the Telugustates as they are morein number than othercastes.

In Telangana, theMunnuru Kapu community isthe second biggest communityand in Andhra Pradesh it is the

Kapu community which decidesthe fate of political parties.

While in TelanganaSanjay who hails fromthe Munnuru Kapucommunity heads theBJP, in AndhraPradesh Somu

Veerraju who hailsfrom the Kapu com-

munity is the state BJPPresident.

AP projects have no sanction

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana ENC Muralidhar wrote aletter to the Chairman of the KrishnaRiver Management Board onTuesday.

He complained about the pumpedhydro storage schemes being under-taken by the Government of AndhraPradesh.

In the letter, he said that AP hadexecuted pumped water storageschemes on Krishna River withoutpermission. He appealed to stop allunauthorised projects. The board wasasked to provide details of all pumpedstorage schemes undertaken by AP.

He also complained about the

Greenko power project atPinnapuram in Kurnool district. Hesaid Krishna waters should not beused for the project without permis-sion.

It may be mentioned here thatAndhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.Jagan Mohan Reddy performed thefirst concrete pouring ceremony forthe 5230 MW integrated renewableenergy storage project atPinnapuram.

The project being implemented bythe Greenko Group and funded bythe Arcelor Mittal Group compris-es daily pumped storage of 10,800MW, 3,000 MW solar and 550 MWof wind power.

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

Although the Centre is adamant,Telangana is still hoping that it willgrant permission to raise loans in Juneincluding off-budget borrowing.

Sources said that Kerala wasalso not given approval for raisingloans but was given recently in Mayafter discussions between the Stateand the Centre. Sources said thatKerala hopes to raise Rs 4,000 croreas loans in June.

Sources said that the Telanganagovernment is simultaneously look-ing at legal and Constitutional pro-visions if the Centre continueswith its strategy.

Sources said that there is still apossibility of the Centre consider-ing this sudden change as it is notjust Telangana but other states toowill be impacted creating financialinsecurity.

Likewise, Kerala has been oppos-ing the inclusion of off-budgetborrowings by public sector com-

panies, corporations, and specialpurpose vehicles in the State’s bor-rowing limit.

Telangana took an off-budgetloan amounting to Rs 1.45 lakhcrore. Telangana is hoping that theapprehensions of states will beconsidered. Sources indicated thatinstead of its strict stand, it mightbe a bit lenient before the final deci-sion is made.

The changed rules for FRBM areharmful to Andhra Pradesh,Telangana and Kerala. However,Andhra Pradesh was not stoppedfrom raising loans and Kerala wasgiven a chance to raise loans fromthe open market two weeks ago.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The BJP which is determined towin the next Telangana Assemblyelections is preparing a mega planto fight the TRS.

The BJP has decided to give a shockto the TRS by mobilising sarpanch-es against the TRS government.

Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao recentlyobjected to the release of fundsdirectly to rural local bodies by theCentre. KCR said that the Centre’saction cannot be justified as thedirect release of funds bypassesstate governments.

Now the BJP wants to take upthis issue against the government.In Telangana, there are around12,750 gram panchayats. Duringlocal body elections in 2019around half of the sarpanch posts

were bagged by the TRS.While 7,600 TRS supported

sarpanches won the election, only2,700 sarpanches backed by theCongress managed to win. The BJPbacked 160 candidates who wereelected as sarpanches.

The BJP wants to make theobjection of KCR to the directrelease of funds to gram panchay-ats an issue.

Laxman filesnomination papersfor RS in LucknowPNS n HYDERABAD

The BJP’s OBC Morcha President,Dr K. Laxman, filed his nomina-tion papers on Tuesday for theRajya Sabha elections from UttarPradesh in Lucknow. UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath participated in theprogramme.

The BJP high command hadannounced Laxman’s name in itssecond list along with three othernames on Monday night.

BJP gave an opportunity toSumithra Valmiki from MadhyaPradesh, Lahar Singh Saroya fromKarnataka and Mithilesh Kumarfrom Uttar Pradesh.

Per capita incomeremains belowpre-Covid levelPNS n NEW DELHI

India's annual per capita incomeat constant prices remained belowthe pre-COVID level at Rs 91,481in 2021-22, official data showedon Tuesday.

However, the per capita incomebased on Net National Income(NNI) at constant price grew by7.5 per cent in FY22 over the pre-vious year.

Sketching to corner TRS

Govt trying to fix Ganesh immersion problemPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana government is racingagainst time to find a solution to theGanesh idol immersion problem.With less than three months left forthe Ganesh festival, officials arelooking at alternative arrangements.

The High Court had ordered notto immerse Plaster of Paris idols inthe tank bund or in any other tanksin the city. A series of meetings wereheld with Plaster of Paris idol mak-ers in the city. Sources said that whilesome agreed many objected as it isa matter of livelihood.

Sources said that it has been a tra-dition for decades and as public sen-timents are involved political prob-lems can arise. The government is

anticipating political twists by theopposition to the problem ofimmersing idols in lakes.

Sources indicated that there is apossibility of cases being filed and the

matter going to court. The govern-ment is trying its best to talk to idolmanufacturers, sensitise the publicand provide alternative arrange-ments to avoid contempt petitions.

Sources said the government islooking at immersion in artificialponds like plastic tubs and revivingthe baby ponds in the city.

It may be mentioned here that theSupreme Court had granted a “lastchance” to the Telangana governmentallowing immersion of Lord Ganeshidols made of Plaster of Paris in theTank Bund in September 2021.

A bench headed by Chief JusticeNV Ramana noted that this is arecurrent problem in Hyderabadand despite giving several directions,the state government has not com-plied with the orders of the TelanganaHC prohibiting the immersion ofidols.

‘Fix exam centreswithin 10 km fromaccredited institutions’

Stagflationary risk low for India, says CEAPNS n NEW DELHI

Chief Economic Adviser VAnantha Nageswaran on Tuesdayruled out the risk of stagflation forIndia, saying the economy is bet-ter placed than other nations.

Stagflation is the phase when aneconomy faces moderation inGDP growth as well as high infla-tion.

"Compared to the experience ofmany developed and developingcountries, India is somewhat bet-ter placed and more importantlyboth central bank and the govern-ment are seized of the problemunder addressing them.

I would at this stage say thatstagflationary risks for India arequite low compared to the rest of

the world," he said.The Indian economy grew at its

slowest pace in a year duringJanuary-March at 4.1 per cent,pulling down the GDP growth inthe full fiscal 2021-22 to 8.7 percent, official data showed onTuesday.On the sequential lowgrowth, Nageswaran said it isbecause of the Omicron wave thatthe nation experienced in January.Iwould at this stage say that stagfla-tionary risks for India are quite lowcompared to the rest of the world,"he said. The Indian economy grewat its slowest pace in a year duringJanuary-March at 4.1 per cent,pulling down the GDP growth inthe full fiscal 2021-22 to 8.7 percent, official data showed onTuesday.

Centre to celebrate TS Formation Day

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Centre is celebrating‘Telangana Day’ or ‘TelanganaFormation Day’ for the first timethis year to ensure that it is con-ducted in a befitting manner.

The Union Ministry of Cultureis organising Telangana FormationDay celebrations at the DrAmbedkar International Centrein New Delhi at 6 pm on June 2.

Union Home Minister AmitShah will be the chief guest at the

programme. Union Ministerfor Culture, Tourism andDoNER, G. KishanReddy, and the Ministerof State for ExternalAffairs and Culture,Meenakashi Lekhi, willalso attend the event.

The programme willhighlight the land’s culture,heritage, architectural monu-ments and the unsung heroes ofIndia’s youngest state, which is cel-ebrating its eighth anniversary this

year.Singers from Telangana

like Mangali and VedalaHemachandra will per-form at the function.The event will also wit-ness performances by

schoolchildren fromHaryana which is a

paired state under the EkBharat Shreshtha Bharat pro-

gramme.

BJP planning agitation with the support of sarpanches

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court has directedthe National Institute of OpenSchooling (NIOS) to fix the exam-ination centres within a distanceof 10 kilometres from the accred-ited institutions to enable studentsto appear in the examinationwith certainty and ease.

A vacation bench of Justices SA Nazeer and P S Narasimha saidthat a substantial number of stu-dents resorting to open schoolinginvariably come from rural areas.

"Most of these students comefrom poor strata of the society,depend on unreliable publictransport and in all probabilityare employed for their liveli-hood.

m Playing the Kapu card in Telangana, AP

TS pins hopes on Central loansm TS objects to Pumped Hydro storage schemesm Writes to KRMB chairman to stop the projects

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, DGP Mahender Reddy, Chief Secretary Aravind Kumar, HyderabadCP CV Anand reviewing the Telangana Formation Day arrangements at Public Gardens

No more dues to TS

PNS n HYDERABAD

With the release of Rs 296 crore,the GST compensation toTelangana till May 2022 has beenfully paid and only the compensa-tion for June 2022 would remain,the Union Ministry of Finance saidon Tuesday.

As per an official note, theCentre has paid the entire GSTcompensation payable to States upto May 31, 2022, by releasing anamount of Rs 86,912 crore.

This decision was taken to assistStates to manage their resourcesand to ensure that their pro-grammes, especially expenditure oncapital, is carried out successfully.

“This decision has been takendespite the fact that only about Rs25,000 crore is available in the GSTCompensation Fund. The balanceis being released by the Centrefrom its own resources pendingcess collection,” the Ministry said.

Goods and Services Tax wasintroduced in the country on July1, 2017, and States were assured

compensation for loss of any rev-enue on account of GST imple-mentation as per the provisions ofthe GST (Compensation to States)Act, 2017 for a period of five years.

For providing compensation toStates, cess is being levied on cer-tain goods and the cess collectedis being credited to theCompensation Fund.Compensation to States is beingpaid from the Compensation Fundfrom July 1, 2017.The bi-monthlyGST compensation to States for theperiod 2017-18 and 2018-19 wasreleased on time out of theCompensation Fund.

Sources said that there is

still a possibility of Centre

considering this sudden

change as it is not just

Telangana but other

states also which will be

impacted creating

financial insecurity.

m Govt also evaluating legal and constitutional provisions n Center releases Rs 296cr GST compensation

n Amit Shah will be the chief guest in the Delhi celebrations

2

2

2 2 2

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Centre has placedno limit onfunding houses:Kishan P2

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hyderabad 02HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JUNE 1, 2022

EGG

RATES

HYDERABAD 385

VIJAYAWADA 385

VISAKHAPATNAM 410

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀33..8855

`̀//110000

CHICKEN

RATES

Dressed/With Skin `308

Without Skin `328

Broiler at Farm `162

`̀//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

World staring at food crisisSUGAR +21.8% MEAT +21.9% DAIRY +47.1% CEREALS +69.5% OILS +137.5%

FOOD PRICE INDEX +58.5%Price increase above 2014-16 average as of Apr. 2022.

The war has disrupted global agricultural exportsfrom Russia and Ukraine, two grain exporting pow-erhouses that accounted for 24% of global wheatexports by trade value, 57% of sunflower seed oilexports and 14% of corn from 2016 to 2020, accord-ing to data from UN Comtrade.In the 8 monthsbefore the invasion, 51 million metric tons of grainpassed through Ukraine’s seven Black Sea ports,according to the United Nations’ World FoodProgramme (WFP). Since the invasion, much ofUkraine’s current export grain stock has been stuckin the war-torn country because of damage to railinfrastructure, closed ports and Russian blockades inthe Black Sea. Those blockages also mean therewon’t be sufficient storage available when the 2022harvest comes in, according to the WFP.

Supplies under stress

U.S. government images seenby Reuters showed what a U.S.official said was damage tograin storage facilities in east-ern Ukraine and was indica-tive of the severity of Russianattacks that are affecting theglobal food supply.

"Russia’s reckless damagingof these grain silos is a clear-cut example of how Putin’s wardirectly affects civilians inUkraine and threatens foodsecurity around the world."

Andrii, a serviceman of the UkrainianArmed Forces volunteer, walks inside

a grain storage damaged during aRussian military strike.

India's May ban on wheat exportsdelivered a fresh blow to worldmarkets, as a scorching heat wavein the country curtailed outputand domestic prices hit a recordhigh. The impact of recent exportbans has also rippled into the ener-gy market. Cereals and vegetableoils are major components of bio-fuels, demand for which has bal-looned as countries try to findalternatives to fossil fuels. Biofuelshad become particularly attractiveto the EU as the bloc races toreduce its reliance on Russian oiland gas.The EU, already in the midst of anenergy crisis – and dependent onRussia for 40% of its gas and 27%of oil imports – produces 34% ofthe world’s biodiesel from veg-etable oils, according to data fromthe Organisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development -Food and AgricultureOrganization (OECD-FAO).

Palm oil 51.7%

Argentina soybean oil,soybean meal 39.9%

Russia 18.2%

sunflower oil 13.1%

wheat, meslin, rye, bar-ley, maize, sugar 5.3%

sunflower seeds Ukraine10.3%

poultry, eggs, sunfloweroil, bovine meat, rye,maize 5.9%

wheat, oats, millet,sugar Kazakhstanwheat, wheat flour 3.2%

Palm oil isbiodieselPalm oil, the most widely usededible oil, is also used as biodieselfeedstock. "Exporting countriesand importing countries need tohave their priorities right, this isthe time to temporarily reconsid-er food versus fuel priorities," saiddirector general of the MalaysianPalm Oil Board Ahmad ParveezGhulam Kadir.

Sky-high fertiliser prices have farmers worldwide reducing plannedharvests and the amount of land they're planting.

The fertiliser crisis is in some respects more worrying becauseit could inhibit food production in the rest of the world that couldhelp take up the slack from stalled Ukrainian and Russian graindeliveries, according to Maximo Torero, chief economist for the U.N.Food and Agriculture Organization.

"If we don't resolve the problem of fertiliser, and trade of fertilis-ers doesn't continue, then we'll have a very serious problem of [food]supply next year," Torero told Reuters.

Western sanctions on Russia, a major exporter of potash, ammo-nia, urea and other soil nutrients, have disrupted shipments of thosenatural resources around the globe. China last year imposed fer-tiliser export curbs to protect its own farmers as global prices soareddue to strong demand and high energy prices.

Russia and China exported 28% of the world’s fertilisers in termsof trade value from 2016 to 2020 according to a Reuters analysisof UN Comtrade data.

Prices sky high

The strain and painThe strain can be seen in agricultur-al powerhouse Brazil, where somefarmers are applying less fertiliser totheir corn, and some federal legis-lators are pushing to open protect-ed indigenous lands for the miningof potash. In Zimbabwe and Kenya,small farmers are reverting to usingmanure to nourish their crops.

Man surrounded by maize cropsA farmer Boniface Mutize

inspects his maize crop during aninterview with Reuters at his farmin Domboshava, a village in theprovince of Mashonaland Eastouts ide Harare, Z imbabwe.Boniface Mutize, who grows maizeand soybeans just outside Harare,said he has started making his ownfertiliser by mixing cow dung orchicken waste with zinc. But hesaid he needs ammonium nitrate,which is not produced in largequantities in Zimbabwe.

Those most at riskThose living in poverty and incountries dependent on foodimports are most at risk of suffer-ing from the food inflation crisis.

According to the WFP, 811 mil-lion people are chronically hun-gry. 276 million are living on thebrink of starvation and nearly 49million live in 43 countries on thebrink of famine. Many mayreduce meals and the amount ofcalories they consume, and espe-cially those who are forced tospend a greater portion of theirincome on food are at risk ofbeing pushed further into pover-ty to stave off hunger.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in lateFebruary dramatically worsenedthe outlook for already inflatedglobal food prices.

The halt in Ukrainian exportsfollowing the outbreak of theconflict pushed the Food andAgriculture Organization's (FAO)food price index, which tracksinternational prices of the mostglobally traded food commodities,to its highest point in Marchsince records began in 1990. Russia's

invasion of Ukraine, a move Russiacalls a "special operation" to demil-itarise its neighbour, is the latestdevelopment in a growing globalfood crisis. While post-pandemicglobal demand, extreme weather,tightening food stocks, high ener-gy prices, supply chain bottlenecksand export restrictions and taxes

have been straining the food mar-ket for two years. the recent con-vergence of all these factors fol-lowing Russia’s invasion isunprecedented and has sent foodinflation rates spiking aroundthe world. In Europe, theConsumer Price Index for foodhas sharply risen in all of the con-

tinent’s largest economies, whilein the United States the CPIclimbed more than 14 percentagepoints since January 2020.

Invasion straining markets

What about India?

Grain storagedamaged

Russia-Ukraine war fuels food shortage as logistics remain affected

Centre has placed no limiton funding houses: KishanPNS n HYDERABAD

The Centre is ready to givefunds no matter how manyhouses are built in Telangana,Union Tourism Minister G.Kishan Reddy said here onTuesday.

Kishan asked the TRS gov-ernment to reveal how manydouble bedroom houses it hadconstructed in the last eightyears.

Attending a meeting of PMKisan Samman Nidhi benefi-ciaries at Hayathnagar, Kishansaid that the Centre has beengiving top priority to the wel-fare of farmers.

He said that the Centre had

deposited Rs 21,000 croredirectly into the accounts offarmers as per the 11th phaseof PM Kisan Samman Nidhi.

The Centre has been trying

to increase the production offish and milk and India stoodfirst globally in milk produc-tion, he said.

Kishan said that ChiefMinister K. ChandrasekharRao is not allowing AyushmanBharat Health Cards inTelangana.

He alleged that KCR, who isnot coming to the Secretariat,is confining himself to hisfarmhouse and throwing gov-ernment affairs to the wind.

He said that not a singlebomb blast had taken place inthe country during PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s gov-ernment.

The nation’s GDP has

increased and the productionof food grains has increasedafter the BJP came to power.He said that India has beenexporting food grains to poornations. The Centre is also tak-ing steps to promote organicagriculture, Kishan said.

He said the Centre has beenencouraging the use of droneson farms. The Centre has alsoreleased special funds for themodernisation of land records,he added.

The Centre has increasedthe Minimum Support Price ofpaddy to Rs 1,940 a quintal.The Centre is also spending Rs26,600 crore for procuringpaddy in Telangana, he added.

Uttam slams TRSgovt on quota for STsPNS n HYDERABAD

Nalgonda MP Capt. N. UttamKumar Reddy has stronglycondemned the TRS govern-ment for not hiking the reser-vation percentage ofScheduled Tribes in Telanganain government jobs and ineducational institutions.

Addressing meetings in thevillages and thandas ofHuzurnagar constituency inSuryapet district on the 11thday of Rachabanda/RythuBharosa Yatra on Tuesday,Uttam said the tribals werebetrayed by Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao who didnot fulfil the promise toincrease their quota to 12 percent from six per cent.

He said the Chief Ministernever addressed the issue seri-

ously and always used loop-holes to delay reservations.

Uttam said that STs consti-tute nearly 9.08 per cent of theState's population. Therefore,their quota could be increasedto at least 10 per cent. No legalcomplications are involved inenhancing the quota in pro-portionate to their populationand it can be done through aGO, he said. But KCR createdcomplications after the TSAssembly passed ‘The ServicesTelangana Backward Classes,Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes (Reservationof seats in educational institu-tions and appointments orposts in services under theState) Bill, 2017 by proposingto increase ST reservationfrom six per cent to 10 percent.

No more dues...Continued from page 1

“The States’ revenue has beengrowing at 14 per cent com-pounded growth and the col-lection did not increase in thesame proportion. Covid-19increased the gap betweenprojected revenue and actu-al revenue including a reduc-tion in cess collection,” anofficial release said.

In order to meet theresource gap of the States dueto the compensation paid, theCentre borrowed andreleased Rs 1.1 lakh crore in2020-21 and Rs 1.59 lakhcrore in 2021-22 as a back-to-back loan to meet a part ofthe shortfall in cess collection.

Sketching to...Continued from page 1

Even though gram panchay-at elections are held on non-party basis many politicalparties have backed candi-dates as per their ideology.

Some sarpanches are indeep financial crisis due to thenon-release of funds by thegovernment. The BJP is plan-ning to launch a state-widemovement supporting thesarpanches against the gov-ernment.

During elections, thesarpanches play the role of a‘big brother’ and decide whichparty to vote for. The BJP’sidea is that by pocketing amajority of sarpanches it canuse them in the next Assemblyelections.

Meanwhile, Telangana BJPPresident Bandi Sanjay Kumarsaid that the TRS governmentis acting contrary to theConstitutional spirit by slash-ing the powers of sarpanches.

In an open letter tosarpanches on Tuesday, Sanjaysaid that they have to fight fortheir rights and their pendingbills as they were not electedon any party ticket.

Laxman files...Continued from page 1

Union Tourism Minister G.Kishan Reddy expressed hap-piness over Laxman gettingan opportunity to contest tothe Rajya Sabha.

Kishan thanked PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,Home Minister Amit Shahand BJP President JP Naddaregarding this.

Kishan said that he ishappy that the high com-mand gave a Rajya Sabhaberth to a son of Telanganafor the first time.

He exuded confidence thatthe BJP will be strengthenedfurther if Laxman becomes aRajya Sabha MP.

Govt trying...Continued from page 1

Meanwhile, on Tuesday,Chief Secretary SomeshKumar said that the direc-tions of the Supreme Courtand the High Court regard-ing immersion of idols inTank Bund should beobeyed.

A high level meeting washeld at the BRKR Bhavan onTuesday, where the CSreviewed the arrangementsbeing made for the Ganeshimmersion scheduled inSeptember 2022.

He asked officials toencourage people to use onlyGanesh idols made of clay.“As the High Court has givenclear instructions banningthe usage of Plaster of Paris,synthetic colours and pollut-ing chemicals, the publicand the makers of idols willhave to be sensitised,” headded.

BJP’s numbers game!Continued from page 1

The BJP which is focussing onexpanding its base in SouthIndia is concentrating on theTelugu states now.

The BJP leadership has select-ed former Telangana BJPPresident K. Laxman whobelongs to the Munnuru Kapucommunity as its Rajya Sabhacandidate in TS to woo thecommunity. Earlier, Laxmanwas made the BJP’s OBC chair-man.

In Telangana, the Mudirajcommunity has the largestnumber of voters and after thatcomes the Munnuru Kapucommunity. Telangana BJPPresident Bandi Sanjay Kumar,

Nizamabad MP DharmapuriArvind and Rajya Sabha candi-date K. Laxman belong to theMunnuru Kapu community.

Huzurabad MLA EatalaRajendar belongs to the Mudirajcommunity. The BJP leadershiphopes that the two major com-munities will support them inthe next Assembly elections.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Kapucommunity plays a crucial rolein deciding the fate of a politi-cal party. Compared to thedominant castes of Reddys andKammas, the Kapus are more innumber in AP, but till date, noKapu has become the ChiefMinister in the history of unit-ed Andhra Pradesh or afterbifurcation.

Per capita...Continued from page 1

The per capita income atconstant price was Rs 94,270in 2019-20 before it dipped toRs 85,110 in 2020-21 onaccount of the disruption ineconomic activities caused byCOVID-19 pandemic andsubsequent lockdowns.

At current prices, the percapita income rose by 18.3per cent to Rs 1.5 lakh dur-ing in 2021-22 fiscal.

The per capita income atcurrent prices had dipped toRs 1.27 lakh in 2020-21 fromRs 1.32 lakh in 2019-20.

The per-capita income is acrude indicator of the pros-perity of a country.

Centre to...Continued from page 1

Folk dancers from Telanganaand performances by theKathak Kendra Delhi will alsoshowcase TS' cultural heritage.

Telangana officially cameinto being on June 2, 2014, andthe day is celebrated as‘Telangana Day’ or ‘TelanganaFormation Day.’

As this year marks the 75thyear of Independence, theCentre is commemoratingIndia’s history, its people, cultureand achievements. The AzadiKa Amrit Mahotsav celebra-tions commenced on March 12,2021, starting a 75-week count-down to the country’s 75thIndependence anniversary.

‘Fix exam...Continued from page 1

It is not difficult to imagine theconsequences of inaccessibleexamination centres for suchstudents. There is yet another fac-tor. The primary, secondary, orsenior secondary examinationsinvariably involve answeringmultiple papers spread over aperiod of time.

"Inability to travel long dis-tances for each examination willonly have the consequence of thestudent dropping out, which is thebiggest challenge the country isfacing today. It is interesting tonote that the New EducationPolicy, 2020, in Chapter 6 recordsthe beneficial effect of reducingthe burden of distance to preventdropping out from schools.

BIG STORY

hyderabad 03HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JUNE 1, 2022

DEEPIKA PASHAM

n HYDERABAD

A rare Rashtrakuta architecturetype temple was found underthe mound in Gonguluru vil-lage of Pulkal Mandal ofSangareddy district. The arche-ologists have named this tem-ple as Mahadevalayam.According to the members ofthe Kotha Telangana CharitraBrundam, the Gonguluru vil-lage has an ancient historicalsite. The members VemugantiMuralikrishna, Matam VinodKumar and Sriramoju Hargopalhave visited the temple. Theyhave found that similar toKakatiya temples which werehidden under the mounds at LPGandi (Lanja patara Gandi) inthe Warangal Fort, the sameway Mahadeva temple atGonguluru is also preservedunder the mound. It is said thatthe temple was taken out of themound some time ago. "When

we saw the temple, it seemed tous that the architecture of thetemple belonged to theRashtrakutas (9th, 10th centu-ry). Shivanagi Reddy, recipientof the Suravaram award and arenowned historian describedthe temple as a typicalRashtrakuta temple.

Suparna Mahi, an expert intemple architecture and iconog-raphy is of the opinion that this

temple architecture is rare. Atthe entrance of the temple,there are four-armed Saivitegatekeepers with glorious faces,murals on the walls, a 4-edgedperimeter, a Gajalakshmi in theform of Lalata Bimba, and aquadrangular standing in aswastika posture. There are noVimanas over the temple. Thereare no sculptures on the wallsof the temple except for the lat-

tice (windows) on both sidesonly. There is no Antaralayamfor the temple. There is onlysingle celled sanctorum and init, the Banalingam is placedhorizontally in a squarePanavattam. The pavilion isclosed on three sides. There isa Nandi in front of the sancto-rum. The pillars in the pavilionbelong to the pre-Chalukyastyle. There are no podikas on

top of the pillars. The memberssent these idols to the archae-ology department for docu-mentation purposes whichwould preserve such culturalfacts of history for future gen-erations.

The field search was byMatam Vinod Kumar, Vemuganti Muralikris hna, SriramojuHaragopal, of Kotha TelanganaCharitra Brundam.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister Talasani SrinivasYadav on Tuesday has direct-ed education authorities toform School Management(SMC) Committees with par-ents of students in all govern-ment schools within a week.Srinivas Yadav, along withHome Minister Mahmood Ali,held a review meeting on theMana Basti-Mana Badi pro-gramme which was taken upfor the development of govern-ment schools. The reviewmeeting was held at SrinivasYadav's office in Masab Tank.

The Minister explained thatthe government intends to pro-vide quality education in gov-ernment schools by providingbasic facilities like toilets, repairof classrooms, electricity, drink-ing water facility and otheramenities. He explained that

the Mana Basti Mana Badiprogramme undertaken forthis purpose would enable theSMCs to complete the tasksexpeditiously by making theirparents overseeing the work.Similarly, the education author-ities have been directed tobring to the notice of the localMLAs or MLCs if any difficul-ties encountered in undertak-

ing the tasks and to take stepsto resolve them.

Officers were also asked toconduct field-level monitoringto ensure that work is carriedout and not limited to offices.He said English medium wouldbe introduced in all govern-ment schools from this acad-emic year. He said that the gov-ernment had taken up the

programme with the determi-nation to make public schoolsmore pro-corporate. He saidthat with the Mana Basti-Mana Badi programme, therewill be total transformation ingovernment schools withregard to facilities. MLARajasingh said a voluntaryorganisation was ready to com-plete the construction of agovernment school in SultanBazar and needed permissionfrom the government.

The meeting was attendedby Principal Secretary,Department of EducationKaruna, TSEWIDC ChairmanR Sridhar Reddy, DeputyMayor M Srilatha, MLCsPrabhakar, Surabhi Vanidevi,Jaffrey, Janardhan, MLAsDanam Nagender, DEORohini, Deputy DEOs andother engineering and educa-tion officials.

Ministers Talasani Srinivas Yadav and Md Mahmood Ali at a meeting in city on Tuesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad chapter ofInstitute of Indian InteriorDesigners (IIID) will be host-ing the fourth edition of its flag-ship event `IIID ShowcaseInsider X 2022' exhibition fromJune 3 to June 5. The theme forthe exhibition is TelanganaArts and Crafts.

Curated by architects andinterior designers of IIID, theexhibition has been specifical-ly crafted for the interiordesign, architecture and con-struction industry. The exhibi-tion aims to bring industry pro-fessionals and the commonman on to a single platform.Spread over three days, the B2Btrade expo will showcaseemerging trends and contem-porary design solutions. Rakesh

Vasu, Convener of the exhibi-tion said, ̀ `This will be a com-prehensive forum coveringevery vertical, offering everyelement from smart devices toturnkey solutions. The theme isbased on Telangana arts andcrafts through which we areencouraging the artisans,weavers and craftsmen of thearts and crafts industry. Wehave artisans from Cheriyal,

Pochampalli and Pembarthywho will conduct workshops."

Over 50 categories of theinterior industry will be pre-sented with more than 300brands, more than 500 productsand about 120 exhibitors will bepart of the 3 day exhibition.About 3,000 business visitorsand more than 5,000 generalvisitors are expected to theexhibition.

MANA BASTI-MANA BADI

Involve parents of school childrento oversee the works: MinisterDirects officials to form School Management Committees with parents of students inall government schools within a week to inspect the developmental works

PNS n HYDERABAD

Tobacco kills more than 13.5lakh Indians every year, thedistress caused to those fami-lies is estimated ten times,says Dr Vijay Anand Reddy,Director of Apollo CancerInstitute, Hyderabad.

The doctor said that theonly option left with India isto reduce the demand oftobacco and that demandreduction can be donethrough interventions such asthe Tobacco Free EducationalInstitution (ToFEI). ̀ `If we areall under the impression thatthe tobacco industry is anenvironment friendly industry,it is a sham. Especially whenwe know that tobacco is killingmore than 7 million peopleevery year globally. This is cur-rently the world's single mostreversible cause of death.About 560 cigarette manufac-turing facilities in the world

produce more than 6 trillioncigarettes every year. It hasconsequences on the envi-ronment such as deforesta-tion, use of local fossil fuelsand dumping of waste prod-ucts", he added.

Dr Reddy said India hasvery good tobacco controllaws and programmes whichfocus on prevention. However,implementation is a great chal-lenge. Tobacco may be a healthissue but one of the best solu-tions is working with theyouth to prevent the initiation.

Rashtrakuta period temple found in GonguluruIIID Showcase Insiderexhibition from June 3

More than 13.5 lakh Indiansdie due to tobacco every year

SAITEJA BURRA

n HYDERABAD

Cybercrimes are rising at analarming rate in Cyberabad,with more than 2,100 cases infive months of 2022. Policehave registered one case eachfrom the complainant allegingloss of more than Rs 1.50 lakh.The number of fraud cases hasincreased during the last oneyear mainly related to adver-tisements. The CyberabadCrime Wing police officialssaid that more cases wereregistered mainly among theemployed youth as comparedto the unemployed in theCyberabad limits.

Over the last three years, thepolice have registered nearly7,881 fraud cases from the cit-izens of Cyberabad. Despitemore efforts by the Cyberabadpolice to reduce cyber crime,the complainants continue toregister FIRs alleging that

cyber criminals continue todefraud them, say Cyberabadcrime police officials.

As internet usage increases,cybercriminals are propping itup and duping innocent peo-ple in the city. With this,many fraudsters are swin-dling lakhs of money from thecitizens every day. Accordingto the Cyberabad Crime Wingpolice data, more than 400advertisement fraud caseswere registered with the policein the five months of 2022.The total value of cases regis-tered by the complainants ismore than Rs.7.93 crore . Thevast majority of fraud casescome from advertising andcustomer care, shows data."The cases registered withregard to cyber crimes such asoffering vehicles at cheapprices and cheating OLX cus-tomers. After a customeragrees with them, they sendthe QR codes to the cus-

tomers for payment and afterthe customer clicks on the QRcode link they receive, thecyber criminals withdraw themoney as much as they want,"Cyberabad crime wing policeofficials told The Pioneer.The number of cases areincreasing every year as thepolice have registered FIRs onover 8,800 complaints in thelast three years. Even duringthe lockdown, police regis-tered 5,574 fraud cases. Sincethe inception of the coronavirus pandemic, numerousfraud cases such as customercare, loan, job, investment,social media, UPI transaction,dating, copyright violationover Internet fraud have beenreported to the police officialsin the limits of Cyberabad.Meanwhile, police officialssaid that despite the increasein fraud cases, almost 30 percent have been tackled thisyear.

Over 2,100 fraud cases registeredin 5 months in Cyberabad limits

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad city policehave released a traffic adviso-ry in connection with theTelangana State FormationDay celebrations at PublicGardens, Nampally on 2ndJune, 2022 from 7.30 AM to11.00 AM.

The Hyderabad CP CVAnand said in a press releasethat the traffic diversions andparking arrangements willbe enforced to facilitate thesmooth flow of traffic on]June 2.

CP CV Anand said that thegeneral traffic coming fromMJ Market will be diverted atTaj Island towards Ek Minarto Bhazarghar to Asif Nagar/Red hills to Ayodya Hotel,Lakdikapul etc. The trafficcoming from NampallyRailway Station will be divert-

ed at Chapel Road. FromNirankari Bhavan will bediverted at Old PS Saifabad.

The traffic coming fromKing Koti and BJR Statuetowards PCR, Public Gardenswill be diverted atBasheerbagh Junction. Trafficfrom Tank Bund will bediverted to Iqbal Minar. Thetraffic coming from SujathaSchool towards PublicGarden will be diverted at ARPetrol Pump towards BJRStatue and traffic from TeluguTalli, NTR Marg will bediverted at Adarsh Nagar(New MLA Quarters)towards Liberty road andTelugu Talli Flyover.

However, CV Anand said,the car pass holders attendingthe Telangana StateFormation Day will beallowed at the diversionpoints.

Traffic restrictions

STATE FORMATION DAY FETE ON

JUNE 2 AT PUBLIC GARDENS

Take up water, drainage pipelineworks immediately: Minister to officials PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister Talasani SrinivasYadav directed the officials totake immediate steps to con-struct drinking water pipelineand drainage works in thenewly sanctioned areas ofVacuum Dewatered CementConcrete (VDCC) roads. Theroad works are not progressingdue to delays in completingpipeline works for drinkingwater supploy and also drainagepipeline works, he said andinstructed the officials to takeup immediately the pipelineworks.

On Tuesday, MinisterTalasani Srinivas Yadav, alongwith Home Minister MahmoodAli and HMWSSB MD DanaKishore, held a meeting withseveral MLCs, MLAs andHMWSSB officials at his officein Masab Tank.

Speaking on the occasion, theMinister said that the govern-ment has sanctioned crores of

rupees for the construction ofroads and to address drinkingwater and drainage problemsfaced by the people in variousconstituencies of the city. Headded that a number of newworks have been sanctioned toaddress the problems of floodwater in various areas duringthe monsoon season.

Several MLAs brought tothe notice of the Minister thatsome of those works had beeninaugurated and some otherworks had not been undertak-en and said that the sanctionedworks should be taken up and

completed expeditiously.Srinivas Yadav directed MDDana Kishore to instruct theauthorities to immediately iden-tify and complete the pendingworks as the construction workof roads has come to a standstilldue to non-completion ofdrainage and drinking waterpipeline works in manyplaces.MD Dana Kishore askedthe MLAs to take immediatesteps to provide details of theworks. The meeting was attend-ed by MLCs, MLAs, HMWSSBofficials, HMWSSB DirectorSatyanarayana and others.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Kamineni HospitalHyderabad on Tuesday con-ducted a special awarenesswalk on the occasion ofWorld No Tobacco Day.More than 500 people partic-ipated in the event. The walkwas organided to raise aware-ness about the harmful anddeadly effects of tobacco useand secondhand smokeexposure, as well as to dis-courage the use of tobacco inany form. Speaking on theoccasion, Dr E RavidraReddy, Senior Pulmonologist,Kamineni Hospitals,Hyderabad said, ̀ `Millions offamilies are losing theirincome and productivity dueto tobacco use and are suffer-ing from a number of longterm and life threatening dis-eases that have incurred hugemedical costs.

Awarenesswalk organised

NO TOBACCO DAY

ISB's Atal Catalysts initiativereceives more participationPNS n HYDERABAD

Indian School of Business(ISB), in partnership with theAtal Innovation Mission, NITIAayog, has organised a specialprogramme called AtalCatalysts. This initiativeequipped and moulded youngminds to emerge as innovativeand futuristic entrepreneurs.

Prof Bhagwan Chowdhry,Faculty Director observed-"ISB is now committed todeveloping a robust entrepre-neurship eco-system in thecountry. Atal Catalysts @ ISB'spartnership with the AtalInnovation Mission for men-toring the young entrepre-neurs in India of AtalTinkering Labs is a hearteningstep towards that goal."

It witnessed participationfrom over 9,000 students, andthe top 100 students or teamswere mapped to ISB to furthernurture and shape their ideasand approaches. It took chargeof developing, designing and

executing the 2nd stage of thestudent's journey. The select-ed teams were mentored usingreal-world case studies andexamples through the well-designed master classes.

While the masterclassesadded to the student's knowl-edge base, the highlight oftheir journey was the cus-tomised mentoring experi-ence that was curated for eachof the students.

Once the products andpitches were refined, the stu-dents pitched their ideasbefore an expert panel where10 new ideas were shortlisted.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation'sStanding Committee, presidedover by Mayor GawalVijayalakshmi, has approvedsetting up of a Biogas plant forconversion of bio waste to CNG(compressed natural gas) atKaithalapur.

The 11th StandingCommittee meeting was held onTuesday at the GHMC head-quarters chaired by City MayorGadwal Vijayalakshmi. Themeeting was attended byGHMC Commissioner DSLokesh Kumar, Additional com-

missioners and others. Speakingon the occasion, GHMC Mayorsaid that the members hadapproved 18 issues at the 11thStanding Committee meeting. Inthis context, standing commit-tee members have approved theextension of Dial 100 Service for38 percent calls registered byGHMC, for another three yearsto GVK EMRI for O&M of Dial100 Command and ControlCentre in GVK EMRI premises.The committee has alsoapproved Circle Office Buildingat PVNR Express Flyover PillarPillar 56 with an estimated costof Rs 600 lakh in an area of 608square metres.

GHMC panel approvesbiogas plant at Kaithalapur

OGH contractworker suspendedPNS n HYDERABAD

Osmania General Hospitalsuperintendent B Nagenderon Tuesday suspended a con-tract staff worker after hedemanded Rs 1,000 bribe torelease a dead body after post-mortem. The deceasedMohammad Majeed had dieddue to suicide on Mondayand the body was shifted to themortuary of Osmania GeneralHospital for post-mortem. Thestaff worker who was alsounder the influence of alcoholstarted having an argumentwith the family members ofthe deceased. In a video, theworker was seen demandingRs 1,000 and if not given, hewill not release the body. BNagender, Hospital Superintendent said, ``The staff workerRaju had an argument with thefamily members. Raju wassuspended as soon as the mat-ter was brought to my atten-tion. We have also set upgrievance committee and alsoa complaint box in OP wingand the RMO room.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Greater Hyderabad Munici palCorporation's Food Inspectorofficials on Tuesday gave cleanchit to KFC restaurant atKPHB. A city based activist SaiTeja complained to GHMCthat he found a rubber bandinside a fried chicken dish heordered from the restaurantthrough Swiggy. Following this,Food safety officer of GHMCvisited the premises and didn'tfind any rubber band. "Thecomplaint was received on May30, 2022 via twitter is a repeatcomplaint who was previouslyposted by Sharath Kumar onSeptember 2,2021." KFC issueda statement saying, “The inves-tigating officials have confirmedthis to be a fake complaint. KFCis firmly committed to provid-ing the highest level of foodsafety to customers. Even intheory, the presence of such for-eign objects in the chicken isimpossible, as each piece ofchicken is freshly prepared inKFC restaurants. In addition,from the suppliers' to the cus-tomer, KFC chicken goesthrough 34 quality checks."

GHMC givesclean chit toKFC chicken

General bodymeeting of CPCC Society heldPNS n HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad City Policeconducted the general bodymeeting of the City PoliceCooperative Credit Societyat the office of Commissionerof Police, Basheerbagh, onTuesday. The meeting wasconducted under the leader-ship of M Ramesh, Joint CP(Admin), who is also the ex-officio chairman of the soci-ety and Nalla Shankar Reddy,president Police OfficersAssociation. The annualreports were explained andthe dividends of the societywere also declared. The meet-ing was also attended byJanardhan Reddy, MD, ASDShanti, Vice-President, GMSVictor, Secretary, B AppalaSuri, Treasurer and all the rep-resentative council members.

GVSAP to invest 2mnUS$ in Genome ValleyPNS n HYDERABAD

Genome Valley-based, GVSafety Assessment Platform(GVSAP) plans to invest USD2 million in Phase1 and whilethe total investment will be atUSD 5 million in next threeyears in Telangana. GVSAP isfocused on providing a widerange of preclinical researchproducts announced a strate-gic supply partnership withEnvigo RMS LLC ("Envigo"),a leading global supplier ofresearch models and associat-ed services.

GVSAP is setting up astate-of-the-art facility of28,000 sq. ft. at GenomeValley, Hyderabad to supportcommercial SPF breeding.Additionally, GVSAP will bethe distributor for Envigo'sproducts and services inIndia, including Envigo'sTeklad® laboratory animaldiets and enrichment prod-ucts.

The companies haveentered a definitive agree-ment which authorisesGVSAP to commerciallybreed select rodent modelsand distribute Envigo's RMS

product and service portfolioin India. Mike Garrett,Envigo's Chief CommercialOfficer states, "India hasdeveloped a robust presencein the global R&D landscape,and we are excited to supportthe promising future andgrowth story of this region.Our partnership with GVSAPsets stage to expand our sup-port of the biomedical indus-try in India with mission-crit-ical products and servicesthat foster innovation."

Kalyan Korisapati, Co-Founder & Chief ExecutiveOfficer, GVRP, said, "We aredelighted to partner with anindustry leader like Envigowhich is globally recognisedfor the comprehensive portfo-lio of research models andrelated services. We are deeplycommitted to providing thehighest standards of qualityand animal welfare that aresynonymous with Envigo as abrand. The improved accessi-bility to high-quality andproven research models inIndia will tremendously boostpreclinical R&D endeavoursof research scientists in thisgeography."

04HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JUNE 1, 2022

State makes rapid strides in farm sector: Niranjan ReddyPNS n SIDDIPET

Telangana State has maderapid strides towards develop-ment because Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhar Rao gave abig thrust to agriculture in theState, according to Ministerfor Agriculture S NiranjanReddy here on Tuesday.

Speaking at a preparatorymeeting on 2022 Vanakalamagriculture operations inSiddipet and Medak districts,the thrust given to agricultureby the Chief Minister hashelped the State become notonly self-sufficient in foodproduction but also the Stategrew phenomenally that it isnow in a position to exportfoodgrains to other State.

Niaranjan Reddy furthersaid if the development ofagriculture, on which 60 percent of population is depend-ing, is encouraged, all sectorswould automatically registergrowth. In order to give anenhanced push to agricul-ture, the government hasdecided to provide training tofarmers on progressive farm-ing throughout the year. Heurged the people's representa-

tives to take part in the pro-grammes. As part of the inte-grated agriculture pro-gramme, the government hasprepared a plan with Rs 300crore to encourage oil plamcultivation in Siddipet district.

Minister for Finance THarish Rao, who also tookpart in the meeting, urged thefarmers to go in for alternativecrops instead of paddy. Thefarmers in Telangana used tocommit suicide beforeTelangana attained statehoodbecause the farmers couldnot secure even minimumsupport price for their pro-duce. With Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao providing24x7 free power, water for irri-gation through Kaleshwaram

project and Rs 10,000 peracre investment support, theState has achieved phenome-nal growth. While the poorused to migrate to other Statesin search of livelihood in thepast, now it was reverse migra-tion. Farmworkers from WestBengal and Bihar were com-ing to Telangana to eke out aliving, he said.

Rythu Bandhu Samithi Statepresident Palla RajeswarReddy said the governmentwas providing free power sup-ply to 30 lakh pumpsets in theState. The State governmenthad credited more Rs 50,000crore so far into farmers'accounts in seven instalmentsunder Rythu Bandhu scheme.

Earlier, State AgricultureSpecial Secretary HanumanthK Zendage explained the pro-grammes taken in Siddipetand Medak districts.

Medak MLA PadmaDevender Reddy, JangamMLA Muthireddy YadagiriReddy, Manakondur MLASasamayi Balakrishna,Siddipet and Medak DistrictCollector M Hanumantha Raoand S Harish and officials werepresent.

PNS n GAJWEL

Finance Minister T HarishRao has called for linking thenewly laid Kottapal l i-Manoharabad-Medak rail-way line to FCI warehouses inGajwel for quick and low-costtransportation of paddy andfertilisers for the benefit offarmers.

He was addressing a meet-ing with FCI GeneralManager, Marketing Directorand Divisional Rai lwayManager of the SCR atGADA off ice here onTuesday.

Reviewing the progress, hesaid that it would benefit thefarmers as well as the CivilSupplies Department. Insteadof transporting fertilisers andpaddy from Sanatnagar and

Cherlapally, he wanted theofficials to use the Kottapalli-Medak new railway line.

It would save time andalso cut down costs to agreater degree. The FCIGeneral Manager said that a

decision would be taken soonconsidering the suggestionsof the Minister. The Markfedofficials have decided to sup-ply fertilisers to Medak andGajwel through goods trainservices.

Harish seeks to link Kottapalli-Medakrailway line with FCI warehoues

Minister Finance T Harish Rao holding a meeting with officials of FCI andRailways in Gajwel on Tuesday

Dalits, despite beingconsidered as thecrucial vote bank

by various political par-ties, have always been atthe receiving of disdain-ful neglect and brutalsuppression. They bearinsults at the hands of polit-ical parties that are dominat-ed by upper castes. Socialaggression by people belong-ing to forward castes negative-ly impact Dalits. Due to theprecarious conditions in whichthey live, they cannot evenreact to various forms ofaggressions. They lack propereducation, money power, andpolitical representation; hence,they cannot come out of theirdismal situation. Facing cruel-ty of upper castes, they livelargely at the mercy of land-lords and businessmen.

All the incidents of atroci-ties and aggression on Dalitsthat took place during the lastfour decades in AndhraPradesh, right fromKaramchedu to Amalapuram,reflect the attitude of suprema-cy adopted by forward sectionsin society. If somebody fromthe depressed sections ques-

tions the objection-able behaviour on thepart of people belongingto forward castes, theyare silenced with muscle

power.

The legacy of a greatpersonality like Dr. B. R.Ambedkar has been tarnishedby the violent opposition to therenaming of the Konaseemadistrict after the architect ofthe Constitution. The protest-ers torched the house of APMinister P. Viswaroop. Thisone development has madeDalits furious. They now wantto know why such objectionsare being raised only in thecase of using Ambedkar'sname, though the state govern-ment renamed several dis-tricts after other prominentpersonalities. They are now indeep distress and are reassess-ing their present position insociety. They are now lookingat the prospects of Dalits hav-ing a separate political identi-ty for themselves to temper thedomination by people belong-ing to forward castes.

History is replete with hor-rendous incidents that left

Dalits with nightmarish expe-riences. In Andhra Pradesh,Dalits have had haunting expe-riences with the highly objec-tionable attitude shown byupper castes. Be itRayalaseema, central coastalbelt, or north coastal belt;Dalits have been at the receiv-ing end of violence and sup-pression everywhere.

Major communities andprincipal political players inAndhra Pradesh are no differ-ent. After the Telugu DesamParty emerged victorious in1983, Dalits were attacked byupper castes in Padirikuppamof Chittoor district, followingwhich the then NTR govern-ment faced criticism for not

protecting the lives of Dalits.The TDP retained power inthe mid-term polls of 1985 bysecuring more than 200 seatsout of the 294-member housein the undivided AP in thebackdrop of NTR's reinstate-ment following his dethrone-ment in the previous year.On17th July of that year, fiveDalits were brutally murderd-ed in Karamchedu village ofPrakasam district with theinvolvement of the Kammacommunity, whose face, NTR,was the ruler of the state then.The incident drew nationwideattention. The AP Congress, inorder to better its politicalprospects, wanted to bringthen prime minister Rajiv

Gandhi to Karamchedu, but herefused to come. Similar inci-dent of upper castes' aggres-sion on Dalits took place inNeerukonda village of Gunturdistrict in 1986 in which oneperson was killed. This issuegot politicised so much thatRajiv Gandhi paid a visit toNeerukonda. During theCongress regime, a very bigincident took place in Tsundurvillage of Guntur district inwhich five Dalits were killedand their bodies thrown intoa drain. These gory killingstook place at the behest of the

Reddy community. The imageof the state government, thenheaded by N. JanardhanReddy, took a beating becauseof the brutal murders.

Forward caste people alsohumiliated Dalits. In 1997, aDalit person was kept undercaptivity at the behest of thenTDP legislator T. Trimurthuluof East Godavari district andlater his head was tonsured.Then chief minister N.Chandrababu Naidu made avain bid to pacify the Dalitcommunity and tried to shieldthe legislator in view of theimportance of the Kapu com-munity to which the MLAbelonged. The related casefiled against the MLA is stillpending in court. The MLAwas taken into custody. Hespent some time in jail. He isnow MLC in the ruling YSRCongress party. Recently inAmalapuram of the sameregion, a Dalit youth, who wasformer driver of present MLCAnanta Udaya Bhaskar@Babu, was brutally killed by thelatter. The MLC had the gall tosend the body to the home ofthe deceased. Though heclaims to be a Scheduled Tribe

person, there is controversyover his caste considering thathe rubs shoulders with Kapupoliticians.

Dalits have been used by allthe three major communitiesviz. Kammas, Reddys andKapus for political purposes.Still, there was row over thenaming of the Konaseema dis-trict after Dr. Ambedkar. Theruling YSRC appears to bemaintaining a studied silenceover the stir against renamingof the district.

In the backdrop of the 2024elections, political realignmentis likely. A few senior leadersof the Dalit community are ofthe considered view that thecombined force of Kapus andDalits may be able to influencethe electorate. One section inthe Kapu community hasappealed to its flock to supportJana Sena Party (JSP) president& film actor Pawan Kalyan thistime. The ruling party mayscuttle the move.

Dalits really need a Moses-like character to lead them topolitical safety. They might beready for the Exodus, provid-ed they are led by a crediblepersonality. In the 1994 elec-

tion, the Bahujan SamajParty(BSP) made a futile effortto become a strong politicalforce in undivided AP. Itsnational president Kanshi Ramhad focused his attention tomake his party a formidableforce in AP. But sensing trou-ble from Kanshi Ram, princi-pal political parties in APmade a joint effort to stop BSPin its tracks. The BSP couldsecure its deposit in only oneseat in the entire state. KanshiRam then blamed BSP's plighton political parties and themedia.

It is very strange to see thatall prominent Dalit leadershave preferred to join variousparties that are professing towork for Dalit empowerment,but are least bothered aboutthe functioning of theRepublican Party of India(RSP) that was founded bynone other than Dr.Ambedkar.

Dalits, despite constitutinga formidable vote bank, do nothave a strong leader. Hopefully,their present quest for politi-cal identity would throw up aleader who can lead them tothe Promised Land.

M D RATNA KUMAR

Senior Journalist

All the incidents of atrocities and

aggression on Dalits that took place

during the last four decades in

Andhra Pradesh, right from

Karamchedu to Amalapuram, reflect

the attitude of supremacy adopted

by forward sections in society

PIN

POINT

Will ‘Konaseema’ issue crystallise Dalits’ political identity?

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

Minister for Prohibition andExcise V Srinivas Goud hassaid that a compressed bio-gasunit using wet garbage as rawmaterial would be set up hereon a two-acre site at a cost ofRs 16 crore. Mahabubnagar isgoing to the second city inTelangana to have such a plantafter Hyderabad.

He said that the plant isgoing to generate annual rev-enue to the tune of Rs 22 lakh.

An agreement was reachedin this regard with TelanganaState Renewable EnergyDevelopment Corporation byMahabubnagar city MunicipalCorporation here on Mondaynight in the presence of theminister.

Earlier, the garbage used tobe disposed of here and there.Municipalities used to spendmoney to get the garbage

cleared. But, nowadays,garbage has become goodsource of income for civicbodies. It would net addition-

al revenue to the civic body.The plant would also be usefulto farmers.

The plan would pave the way

for development of rural econ-omy and provides employ-ment to large number of youth.

The plant can supply 2,000kg of compressed biogas toautomobiles and buses. TheTSREDCO would act as anodal agency for the project, hesaid. He asked Municipal andRevenue officials to identifytwo acres of land needed to setup the plant.

The civic body will pay alease of Re 1 per every squareyard per annum.

Additional Collector (LocalBodies) Tejas Nandlal Pawar,Municipal Chairman K CNarsimhulu, TSREDCO dis-trict manager J S N Murthy,Municipal CommissionerPradeep Kumar and otherstook part in the programme.

Bio-gas unit using wet garbage to be set up

Minister for Excise V Srinivas Goud announcing plans to set up bio-gas unit in Mahabubnagar on Tuesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

Congress Legislature Party(CLP) leader Mallu BhattiVikramarka said that theparty’s systems and organisa-tional programmes cannot bestopped for the sake of indi-viduals.

Reacting to a question onTPCC Chief Revanth Reddynot attending the state-levelCongress Chintan Shivir beingheld on June 1 and 2 at the BalVikas Kendra in Keesara,Bhatti said that party pro-grammes will go on as per thedecision of the organisationand there is no need to see itas a special case.

He said that people willattend party programmesaccording to their conve-nience.

Bhatti said the TPCC isorganising a state-levelCongress brainstorming ses-sion named Nav SankalpChintan Shivir.

He said that they will pre-pare a roadmap to achieve theobjectives of Telangana andthat the AICC is conducting atwo-day Chintan Shivir in thestate. Targeting Chief Minister

K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Bhattisaid that the state’s debts haveexceeded all limits. The stateis facing financial problemsand is not in a position to payemployees. He said theCongress had been pointingthis out for five years.

Bhatti alleged that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi alsocontracted debts and has madethe nation bankrupt.

He alleged that the TS gov-ernment has been giving bankguarantees without havingrevenue. The state has lost itsleverage and now it is not ina position to secure loans, hesaid. The situation is suchthat the government may haveto sell the state too, he added.

Chintan Shivir will beheld sans Revanth: Bhatti

Youth sentenced to112 days’ jail forcreating nuisance

PNS n HYDERABAD

A Special MetropolitanMagistrate Court inSecunderabad on Tuesdaysentenced a 22- year-old for112 days imprisonment in a

petty case.Bandi Akash

aka Nikhilwas chargedunder sec-tions 70(B),

70(C) and186 of the

Indian Penal Code(IPC) for creating nuisanceunder the influence of alco-hol and misbehaving withladies in the CC Nagar areaunder the limits of GandhiNagar Police Station. Nikhilhas been sent toChanchalguda jail.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Health, Medical andFamily Welfare department ofthe Government of Telanganaon Tueaday issued a GOwherein the department hasreconstituted the GoverningCouncil of Telangana StateYogadhyayana Parishad,Hyderabad. According to theGO, the Minister of Health,Medical and Family welfare isthe Chairman of the council,the secretary to governmentHM&FW will be the chairman,and people holding othersposts such as Commissioner,AYUSH, Education Secretary,Vice-Chancellor, KNRUHS,two experts in naturopathy, twoexperts in yoga, one eminentneuro-physician and TSYPSecretary are considered asmembers of the council.

Govt reconstitutes GCof TS YogadhyayanaParishad

BJP to conduct silentdeeksha for sarpanchesPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana BJP presidentBandi Sanjay Kumar said thatthe BJP will hold a silentDeeksha to protect the rightsof sarpanches soon and to gettheir bills pending with thegovernment paid.

He said the government hasbeen diverting funds given bythe Centre for the develop-ment of panchayats. He askedsarpanches not to commitsuicide or get demoralised.

Sanjay said the BJP willstand by sarpanches and willsupport the development ofall villages. The BJP will sup-port sarpanches to achievegram swarajya and subse-quently Ramrajya, Sanjay

said.Sanjay addressed a three-

page open letter to sarpanch-es stating that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s aim is to seethat villages run on their

own. However, the TRS gov-ernment has been violatingArticle 73 and 74.

He asked the state govern-ment to stop the harassmentof sarpanches by officials andto clear the pending bills ofpanchayats immediately.

He made it clear that theBJP will support the move-ment launched by sarpanch-es demanding that the gov-ernment should solve theirjust demands.

Sanjay said the TRS has notfulfilled the assurances givenunder the ‘rural development’and ‘panchayatiraj system’ in2014. He said the BJP willensure that sarpanches andlocal body representatives cankeep their heads high.

PNS n WARANGAL

Minister for Panchayat RajErrabelli Dayakar Rao onTuesday announced that theState government had decid-ed to withdraw the order forland pooling in 28 villages for41-km Warangal Outer RingRao.

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao andMinister for MunicipalAdministration K T RamRao had decided to repealthe Government Order (GO)in this regard. The farmers,the Minister said, need notentertain any apprehensionsin this regard. He appealed to

the farmers not to be misledby vested interests.

The ruling party MLAShad earlier met the KUDAofficials and discussed theissue of pooling land forWarangala outer ring road.The MLA were opposed tothe proposal. Later, theMinister explained that theKUDA had planned to po9olthe land for outer ring road.The farmers in some of thevillages opposed the attempt.The farmers were not willingto part with their lands. TheChief Minister, he said,would never take decisionwhich adversely harms thefarmers.

WARANGAL OUTER RING ROAD

Govt to repeal GO for landpooling in 28 villages

Minister for Panchayat Raj Errabelli Dayakar Rao and MLAs at a meeting withKUDA officials in Warangal on Tuesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

A total of 117 delegates willattend Telangana CongressNav Sankalp Shivir. Its chair-man Malli BhattiVikramarka and convener AMaheshwar Reddy andAICC general secretariesManickam Tagore and K CVenugopal and AICC in-charge secretaries will alsoparticiapte in the two daysShivir to be held at BalVikas in Keesara. TheCommittees--organisation(28), political (28), economy(29), agriculture (29), socialjustice (32)

youth (32) will discuss theissues related to them.

The committees wereappointed on Monday itselfbut reconstituted commit-tees as senior leader PonnalaLaxmaiah and othersexpressed objection on com-mittees, it is learnt.

180 delegates to attendTelangana Congress brainstorming meet

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

A person clubbed to deathhis wife and daughter whilethey were asleep in an inebri-ated state at their house inJainallipur village of the dis-trict in the wee hours ofTuesday. Later, he attempt-ed suicide by consumingpesticide. The person whoperpetrated the offence wasidentif ied as DayyalaKrishna.

Neighbours alerted by thealarm raised by the womencame to the family's rescueand took steps to send themto government hospital fortreatment.

His wife Kalamma, 46,and daughter Saraswati, 23,died while being rushed toHyderabad for treatment.Krishnaiah is recovering in

district headquarters gov-ernment hospital here.Krishnaiah performed mar-riage of Saraswati with ayouth in Christianpalli onMay 23. But, Saraswatiretured home on May 25and showed no interest tol ive with her husband.However hard he tried topersuade the daughter to goto her in-laws house, she didnot relent.

As a result, Krishna usedto clash with wife often sincethen. As part of the clashes,he went out and returnedhome around 12.45 am onTuesday in an inebriatedcondition and hit his wifeand daughter with a clubinflicting grievous injuries onthem. They later succumbedwhile being taken toHyderabad for treatment.

Man clubs wife, daughter to death People warnedagainst smokingin public placesPNS n NAGARKURNOOL

District Collector P UdayKumar has warned peopleagainst smoking in publicplaces and also chewing panand ghutka and spitting inpublic places and on the wallsin offices and colleges. He saidthat action would be takenagainst violators. He asked theofficials to take stern actionagainst those violating the law.Further, he told them to givewide publicity to sensitisepeople on the adverse impactof tobacco on their health.Traders should not sell tobac-co products to children belowthe age of 18 years.

nation 05HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JUNE 1, 2022

IND

IA C

OR

NE

R No plans to ban or curb exports ofbasmati, non-basmati rice: Govt official

The government has no plans to ban or impose curbs on export of either basmati ornon-basmati rice as the country has sufficient supplies and prices are under control, asenior government official said on Tuesday. The comments come amid reports of reg-

ulating overseas sale of rice after the government banned wheat exports and capped ship-ment of sugar at 10 million tonnes in the ongoing 2021-22 marketing year (October-September) as a precautionary step tocheck local prices. "There is no move toregulate export of any kind of rice. There isenough supply in our godowns and evenwith private traders. Domestic prices arealso under control as of now," the officialtold PTI. India, the world's second largestrice producer after China, had exportednon-basmati rice worth USD 6.11 billion in2021-22, up from USD 4.8 billion in 2020-21, according to official data. The countryexported non-basmati rice to over 150countries in 2021-22.

Delhi court summons Congress leader D KShivakumar in money laundering case

ADelhi court on Tuesday summoned Congress leader D K Shivakumar and oth-ers in a money laundering case lodged against him in 2018 after taking cogni-sance of the charge sheet. Special Judge Vikas Dhull directed Shivakumar to

appear on July 1. The court gave the order after taking cognisance of a chargesheet filed by ED through its Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana againstShivakumar and others in the case.Shivakumar, who is the president ofthe Congress' Karnataka unit, wasarrested by the ED in the case onSeptember 3, 2019 and was grantedbail by the Delhi High Court onOctober 23, 2019. The case isbased on a charge sheet filed by theIncome Tax Department againstthem last year before a special courtin Bengaluru on charges of allegedtax evasion and 'hawala' transac-tions worth crores of rupees.

ED grills Farooq Abdullah for over 3 hours inJKCA scam case

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday questioned National Conference presidentFarooq Abdullah for over three hours in connection with a money laundering caselinked to alleged financial irregularities in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association.

The Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar reached the ED office at Rajbagh here around 11 am.Before going inside the ED office, theformer chief minister linked his ques-tioning by the ED with the forthcomingassembly elections in Jammu andKashmir. “I won't say much (about thesummons) … there are elections to beheld and they will trouble us till then,”he said. He looked relaxed while leavingthe office after being grilled for nearlythree-and-a-half hours but refused totake questions from the media waitingoutside. On May 27, the ED had sum-moned Abdullah to its Srinagar office inconnection with the case.

PNS n CHENNAI

Prime Minister NarendraModi's pro-people initiativesespecially the thrust on socialwelfare alleviated the people'shardships and improved thequality of their lives, UnionMinister of State forInformation & Broadcastingand Fisheries L Murugan, saidon Tuesday.

The benefits accruing fromthe numerous schemes of theModi government are mani-fold and they touched uponthe lives of the poor, ryots andother sections, making a pos-itive impact, he claimed.

"Gone are those days whenpeople experienced difficultiesin obtaining a LPG connec-tion. Now the connectionscan be got by merely sendingan SMS," the Minister saidwhile speaking at a functionheld here to mark the comple-tion of eight years of the BJP-led government at the Centre.

About 32 lakh households inTamil Nadu have benefittedfrom the Pradhan MantriUjjwala Yojana scheme forproviding LPG connectionsto women from Below PovertyLine (BPL) households. Thisapart, 1.27 crore drinkingwater connections have beenprovided in the state under theJal Jeevan Mission, Murugansaid. "Today the PrimeMinister released the 11th

instalment of financial benefitsunder the Pradhan MantriKisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme to the farm-ers, enabling the transfer of Rs21,000 crore to over 10 crorebeneficiary farmer families,"the Union Minister said whileinaugurating a farmers meet-ing here.

The Jan Dhan bank accountscheme, the housing for all anddevelopmental projects were

among the numerous initia-tives that had improved thequality of people's lives, heclaimed. Also, the Central gov-ernment has proposed to investRs 20,000 crore in Tamil Nadufor fisheries projects such ascold storage, setting up of fishprocessing plant and deep seaaquaculture. "Five fishing har-bours including Kasimedu inChennai would be modernisedsoon," Murugan said.

About 32 lakh

households in Tamil

Nadu have benefitted

from the Pradhan

Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

scheme for providing

LPG connections to

women from Below

Poverty Line (BPL)

households.

Rail Minister asks WBgovt to rise above politicsPNS n KOLKATA

Railway Minister AshwiniVaishnaw Tuesday urged WestBengal government 'to riseabove politics' on the issue ofcommissioning welfare pro-jects for the poor and claimedthat not a single resident of thestate has got the benefit ofCentre's Ayushman BharatYojana.

Vaishnaw, who was speakingat the 'Garib Kalyan Sammelan'here as part of similar meetsacross the country, also saidthat majority of the farmers ofthe state are yet to get the ben-efits PM Kisan Samman NidhiYojana.

"Why has Ayushman BharatYojana not been implementedtill now in Bengal? Why aremost of the poor farmers of thestate not getting the moneychanneled into their Jandhanaccounts despite being eligible?The West Bengal governmentowes an explanation on theseissues," Vaishnaw said.

"There can be different gov-ernments in different states

ruled by different politicalparties. But that should notcome in the way of improvingthe condition of the poor andneedy. We are all Indians,there should not be any divi-sion," he said.

Ayushman Bharat PradhanMantri Jan Arogya Yojana is anational public health insur-ance fund of the Governmentof India that aims to providefree access to health insurancecoverage for low income earn-ers in the country. It aims tocover over 10 crore poor andvulnerable families, approxi-mately 50 crore beneficiaries,providing coverage upto Rsfive lakh per family per year for

secondary and tertiary carehospitalization. Benefiociarystates have to bear 40 per centof the expense for it.

The scheme is yet to beimplemented in West Bengal,which had officially launchedits smart card based 'SwasthyaSathi' scheme in December,2016. The 'Swasthya Sathi'scheme is a basic health coverfor secondary and tertiary careup to Rs five lakh per annumper family and covers all pre-existing diseases.

The entire premium is borneby the West Bengal govern-ment and no contribution istaken from the beneficiary.There is no cap on the familysize and parents of both thespouse and all dependentphysically challenged personsin the family are covered underthe scheme.

The rail minister said while30 crore families has beenprovided affordable housingunits in the country under thePM Awas Yojana, in Bengalonly 42 lakh were allottedhouses under the project.

PNS n MANSA

A sea of mourners bid a tear-ful farewell to popular Punjabisinger Sidhu Moosewala, whowas cremated at his native vil-lage in Mansa district onTuesday afternoon.

The body of the 28-year-oldsinger-politician, who was shotdead on Sunday, was broughtto his home in Moosa villageamid tight security on Tuesdaymorning from Mansa civilhospital, where the post-mortem was conducted.

Moosewala's family, includ-ing his parents, were incon-solable as they sat beside thebody at their home.

His mother was seen tryingto console her husband aspeople from Punjab, Rajasthanand Chandigarh among otherplaces queued up in largenumbers to get a last glimpse

of the singer. The singer'sfavourite tractor, which hadfigured in many of his musicvideos, was bedecked withflowers for his last ride to afamily-owned field for the cre-mation.

Notwithstanding the scorch-ing heat, mourners joined thefuneral procession asMoosewala's father and moth-

er stood on the tractor withfolded hands, accompanyingtheir son on his final journey.

Some of his fans wore t-shirts with Moosewala's pic-ture printed on them. Thesinger's father, Balkour Singh,even took off his turban onseeing the sea on mourners.

Punjab Congress chiefAmrinder Singh Raja Warring

was present during the funer-al procession. A heavy policeforce was deployed at the slainsinger's residence as well as atthe cremation site.

People heaped praises onMoosewala for his songs andeven raised slogans in hisfavour.

"He was a good-naturedman. He would never say no toanybody for a selfie. We are sadthat he is not amongst ustoday," said a villager.

Some villagers and fansexpressed anger over thePunjab police pruningMoosewala's security coverjust a day before he was shotdead and sought the strictestpunishment for the killers.

"Those who were behindthe killing of Moosewalashould be given exemplarypunishment," said an elderlyman who came from Jalandhar.

Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu,known as Sidhu Moosewala,was shot dead on Sunday byunidentified assailants inPunjab's Mansa district. Hiscousin and a friend, who weretravelling in a Mahindra Tharjeep with him, were alsoinjured in the attack.

The popular Punjabi singerhad fought the recent assemblyelection in Punjab on aCongress ticket from Mansaand was defeated by the AAP'sVijay Singla. He was among the424 people whose security waswithdrawn or curtailed by thePunjab Police on Saturday ona temporary basis.

Punjab Chief MinisterBhagwant Mann on Mondayannounced setting up a judicialcommission headed by a sittinghigh court judge to probe thebrutal killing of SidhuMoosewala.

Moosewala’s last journey on favourite tractor

PM Modi laudsyouth forchoosing to be‘job creator'PNS n GANDHI NAGAR

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Tuesday virtuallyinteracted with a beneficiaryof the Pradhan MantriMUDRA Yojana hailing fromMehsana in Gujarat andappreciated him for choosingto be a "job creator" insteadof becoming a "job seeker".

The beneficiary, ArvindPatel, told the prime ministerthat he had availed a loan ofRs 7.20 lakh to expand hisbusiness of setting up deco-rative pavilions for marriagesand other events in andaround Mehsana in northGujarat. "Earlier, my businesswas limited and only eightpeople used to work for me.Then, I took the loan underthe PM MUDRA Yojana toexpand my business and pur-chase more decorative items.Now, I have hired 12 personsfor my business," Patel toldthe prime minister during thevirtual interaction.

Odisha: Four BJD candidates filenomination papers for RS pollsPNS n BHUBANESWAR

Four candidates of the rulingBiju Janata Dal (BJD) inOdisha filed their nomina-tion papers on Tuesday for theupcoming Rajya Sabha elec-tions. All the candidates of theregional party filed theirpapers in presence of someministers and party MLAsbefore the Returning Officer atthe Odisha LegislativeAssembly premises. Seniorparty leaders PrasannaPatasani and PrasannaAcharya were also presentwhen the BJD candidates filedtheir nominations. The tenureof three incumbent RajyaSabha MPs from Odisha –Nekkanti Bhaskar Rao,Prasanna Acharya, and Sasmit

Patra – will expire on July 1,while another seat in theUpper House of Parliament fellvacant due to the resignationof BJD's Subhas Singh.

Singh resigned as RajyaSabha MP after he becamemayor of Cuttack Municipal

Corporation in March thisyear. Sulata Deo, ManasRanjan Mangaraj, and SasmitPatra filed their nominationpapers for the three seats to bevacant from July 1, whileNiranjan Bishi will contest forthe Rajya Sabha by-election.

Cong's Rajeev, Ranjeetfile papers for RS pollsPNS n RAIPUR

Congress leaders Rajeev Shuklaand Ranjeet Ranjan on Tuesdayfiled their nomination papers forthe upcoming Rajya Sabha elec-tions from Chhattisgarh.

The two leaders were accompa-nied by Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel,Congress's state in-charge P LPunia and some state ministerswhen they filed their nominationsfor the June 10 biennial polls.Journalist-turned-politician RajeevShukla (63), who hails from UttarPradesh, has served as the RajyaSabha member thrice in the past.Ranjeet Ranjan is a former LokSabha member from Bihar. Theopposition BJP in Chhattisgarh hasaccused the ruling Congress ofbetraying and insulting people ofthe state by nominating candidates

from “outside” for the Rajya Sabhapolls. Asked about BJP's claim,Chief Minister Baghel, while talk-ing to reporters in the Assemblypremises, said, “It (BJP) has alsofielded leaders from outside theirhome states. I don't want to giveold examples. The Congress is anational party and has been send-ing its leaders to the Rajya Sabhafrom different states. It is nothappening for the first time."

"It is true that people wereexpecting that someone fromChhattisgarh will be nominated,but if it did not happen this time,we will do it next time,” he added.The Janata Congress Chhattisgarh(J), which has three MLAs in the90-member assembly, on Tuesdayannounced that former MLA DrHaridas Bharadwaj will be its can-didate for the Rajya Sabha elec-tions.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre is exploring possi-bilities of setting up night land-ing facilities for helicopters insome of the Naxal-affected areasin Jharkhand for speedy deploy-ment of security forces andtheir evacuation, officials said.

Jharkhand is one of theNaxal-affected states along withChhattisgarh and a large num-ber of central security person-nel were deployed along withthe state police.

Union Home Ministry offi-cials recently held a consultativemeeting on opening new for-ward operating bases and campsunder assistance to central agen-cies for Left Wing ExtremismManagement (ACALWEM)scheme, officials said.Subsequently another meetingwas held with the representa-tives of the Jharkhand govern-ment where the possibility of

setting up night landing facili-ties for helicopters were dis-cussed.

The night landing facilitiesfor helicopters will help theauthorities in speedy deploy-ment of forces and evacuationsin case of emergency situa-tions, officials said. The Homeministry also held two reviewmeetings with DistrictMagistrates to review theprogress of Special CentralAssistance (SCA) Scheme inLWE affected areas, they said.

Last year, Jharkhand ChiefMinister Hemant Soren hadsaid the presence of hardcoreextremists in the state was lim-ited to only four regions of thestate. The four regions wereParasnath Pahar, Budha Pahar,Tri-junction of Seraikela-Khunti-Chaibasa district inKolhan division and some of theareas along the Bihar border,Soren had said.

JD(S) fielded RS candidatewith consent from SoniaPNS n BENGALURU

Fielding former MP DKupendra Reddy as its candi-date for the upcoming RajyaSabha polls from Karnataka,JD(S) on Tuesday claimed thatCongress national PresidentSonia Gandhi and other partyleaders had consented to sup-port him. Expressing surpriseover Congress fielding a sec-ond candidate "all of a sudden",senior JD(S) leader and formerMinister H D Revannarequested the national partyfor support to keep the "com-munal forces" out of the race.

"Sonia Gandhi on Fridayspoke to Deve Gowda (JDSpatriarch), following her con-sent we have fielded our party

candidate today. In the sameway H D Kumaraswamy (JDSleader) has spoken to K CVenugopal (Congress GeneralSecretary) stating that JD(S)may fall short of a few votes andrequested for support, afterthey agreed we have fielded thecandidate," Revanna said.

Speaking to reporters here,Gowda's elder son said KupendraReddy himself had met stateCongress President D KShivakumar, Leader of Oppositionin Rajya Sabha M MallikarjunKharge, and other Congress lead-ers like R V Deshpande, B KHariprasad and Ramalinga Reddyseeking support.

"He (Kupendra Reddy) alsowanted to meet Siddaramaiahand had sought his appoint-

ment....but don't know what hap-pened, in a sudden developmentthey (Congress) have fielded sec-ond candidate, despite not hav-ing numbers to win the seat," hesaid, adding that Congress lead-ers had not expressed any inten-tion to field second candidate.

A candidate needs 45 votes towin, and based on their strengthin the Legislative Assembly, theBJP can win two seats and theCongress one, in the June 10Rajya Sabha polls for four seats.

Despite not having adequatenumber of votes to win thefourth Rajya Sabha seat from theState Assembly, all the threepolitical parties in the state -- BJP,Congress and JD(S) -- have field-ed candidates for the seat, forcingan election.

Grape farmersthreaten stir overwine seizurePNS n AIZAWL

Grape farmers of Mizoram areup in the arms against theMNF government after theExcise Department seizedlocally-made wines in Aizawl.The grape growers demandedthe immediate return of theseized wine bottles, threaten-ing that it would launch anagitation against the govern-ment's action. Excise ministerK Beichhua said the govern-ment did not target the local-ly-processed grape wine, buthad to made the seizure as perthe law as the wine bottleswere found along with foreignliquor and beer bottles duringa recent raid. Some stores inAizawl were raided on Fridayand huge quantities of local-ly-manufactured grape wines,known as 'Champwine', wereseized along with liquor andbeer. Acting on a tip-off thatKorean Soju and other foreignliquors were being sold inthose stores, the raids wereconducted, the minister said."We have acted as per theMizoram Liquor ProhibitionAct, 2019 which prohibitssale, consumption and man-ufacture of alcohol. We haveno choice but to seize thelocally-made grape wine as ithas alcohol content, and thewine bottles were also foundamong branded liquor," hetold PTI.

SP stages walkout over question paper leaksPNS n LUCKNOW

Samajwadi Party members onTuesday staged a walkout fromthe Uttar Pradesh LegislativeCouncil over the alleged leak ofquestion papers of competitiveexams in the last five years.

They alleged that an "organ-ised gang patronised by thegovernment" was leaking ques-

tion papers and selling themfor Rs 2-4 lakh.

The matter came up duringthe Zero Hour through anadjournment notice, when SPmember Man Singh Yadavalleged that papers of compet-itive examinations were leakedcontinuously after the BJPformed government in 2017."In the 2017 assembly polls,

BJP promised lakhs of jobs tounemployed youth, but afterfour months of formation of itsgovernment, the paper of sub-inspector exam was leaked," hesaid.

"In February 2018, UPPower Corporation Limitedexamination paper was leaked.In July 2018, SubordinateSelection Commission paper

was also leaked. The govern-ment was not serious in hold-ing competitive exams and it isan injustice to the examinees,"he said.

Now, the Uttar PradeshBoard papers have also startedleaking and recently, theEnglish question paper of inter-mediate class was leaked. "Thegovernment is not concerned

about the future of the youth,"he alleged.

Leader of Opposition LalBihari Yadav alleged that thosesitting in big positions in theBJP government are leaking thequestion papers and sellingthem for Rs 2-4 lakh.

"This is an organised gangpatronised by the government,"he said.

‘Modi's schemes improvedquality of people's lives’

Govt mulling night landingfacilities for choppers

NAXAL-HIT JHARKHAND

spending focused on develop-ment, with China being thefavoured source of fundingand construction. A bankruptColombo is to start negotia-tions with IMF and WorldBank for a debt relief package.For Sri Lanka, it is India’s 1991moment. IMF conditionalitieswill lead to more pain andhardship for the people whoare enduring power cuts andshortage in food, fuel andmedicines. Two immediateIMF requirements will be roll-back of tax cuts in 2019 andreduction in the defence bud-get, calls for which are beingmade since the war was wonon May 18, 2009.

For former ColonelGotabaya Rajapaksa personal-ly, defence cuts will be mostchallenging. Already UNagencies have been demand-ing dismantling of severaltask forces led by Generals andequivalent, created by him. SriLankan Army’s 100,000-forcewill have to take a haircut. Sowill the 1.93 per cent defencebudget which is 12.3 per centof Government spending. IMFwill want defence spendingshaved by nearly 1 per cent,which Gotabaya will be unableto do. But his successor maydo it at the risk of antagonis-

ing the military, which wasplaced on a pedestal by theRajapaksas. Remember, SriLankans respect and reveretheir soldiers who terminat-ed the 30-year-long waragainst LTTE.

M e a n w h i l e ,Wickeremesinghe is preparingan interim six-month budgetwhile working on debtrestructuring and a macro-economic plan. China isunwilling to restructure itsdebt. Wickeremesinghe is try-ing to forge an internationalconsortium for assistance andhas called for bridging funds.India has emerged the leaderin reaching out with reliefassistance “guided by democ-ratic norms and interest of SriLankans”. This is a far cry fromthe IPKF era where everythingIndian was suspect andabhorred. India, which hasextended a $3.5bn assistancepackage since January is wellon its way to retrieving lostgoodwill and strategic divi-dends won by China.Similarly, Tamil Nadu hasprovided assistance to theTamil North. Further, Indiaand Japan — once the biggestdonors to Sri Lanka — havedecided to jointly help theisland nation. Japan was

rebuffed twice when twoawarded projects — EasternColombo Terminal in a trilat-eral venture with India and SriLanka, and a light rail projectin Colombo — were rescind-ed.

In ongoing debate amongprotestors and other SriLankans, the unprecedenteduprising is not consideredpolitically driven, despitegoons instigated by the estab-lishment leading the counter-attack against protestorsdemanding Rajapaksas’ resig-nation. These attacks andreprisals are seen as the Statecreating fear and insecurity toretain power. Interestingly,Tamils have not joined theprotests though on May 18, forthe first time, Sinhalese tookpart in remembering Tamilvictims of the Colombo war.This is the first positive steptowards reconciliation.Wickeremesinghe hasappointed a committee forprotection of protestors andgiven them a voice on nation-al policy in Parliament.

Social media has played apivotal role in the demolitionof the Rajapaksas. It has beencredited with national awak-ening to the failures of politi-cians. The Rajapaksas areknown to have used a TVchannel owned by theirfriends to propagate theirnarrative. But it was outed.India has also come under thescanner. It is being accused ofsupporting the corruptGovernment. But India Housein Colombo was quick toreiterate that it was beingguided by democratic normsand the interests of the SriLankans. This is India’smoment to seize.

Wickeremesinghe hastaken the pressure offPresident Rajapaksa. But itcan’t last long. The Rajapaksashave been found out.

(The writer, a retired LtGen, was Commander, IPKFSouth, Sri Lanka, and foundermember of the DefencePlanning Staff, currently theIntegrated Defence Staff. Theviews expressed are personal.)

Two unrelated developments on Tuesday, pertaining to politics and economics, putthe ruling BJP dispensation at the Centre on the defensive. The saffron party’s aggres-sive brand of Hindutva and controversial temple-related statements by some of its

leaders of late have even stirred Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad chiefMaulana Masood Azhar into action, who recently called upon Muslims to “prepare foraction” against any adverse outcome of the ongoing suits in various courts in India con-cerning temple-mosque complexes like Kashi Vishwanath temple and Gyanvapi mosque.The latest salvo was fired by West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjeewho openly said the saffron party’s policies of hatred and violence will have “no entry”across India. Calling the Government “adulterated”, she accused it of mismanaging the

country’s economy and of using Central agencies tostifle the Opposition. Criticising the Government’s eightyears in power, several other Opposition leaders havealso been recently claiming that the people of India wouldensure that the BJP’s “politics of hate and violence”will be rejected in the next round of general election.

As the Opposition parties start preparing ground ofthe big battle of 2024, especially on the issues of econ-omy, unemployment and rising religious intolerance, theyare repeatedly targeting the Modi Government for alleged-ly beginning its term with false promises, culminatingin failed experiments after eight years. Earlier, on April16, leaders of 13 Opposition parties in a joint statementexpressed concern over the “growing incidents of hate

hate speech” and “recent outburst of communal violence” across the country, especial-ly in States such as Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Also, according to the UnionGovernment’s own data, India’s annual per capita income at constant prices has remainedbelow the pre-COVID pandemic level at `91,481 in 2021-22. In another aspect sure tobring some relief to the South Block mandarins, however, the per capita income basedon Net National income at constant price grew by 7.5 per cent in FY22 over the previ-ous year. At current prices, the per capita income rose by 18.3 per cent to ̀ 1.5 lakh dur-ing the 2021-22 fiscal. For those not very savvy with Government’s economic terminol-ogy, the per capita income is a crude indicator of the prosperity of a country.

Round one does not go to China. It failed to convince a group of Pacific islandnations to sign an agreement to keep receiving security and economic coop-eration from itself. They could not shed their suspicions that China was attempt-

ing to show off its ‘partners’ in the South Pacific to square off with the QUAD’s grow-ing presence in the Indo-Pacific. Some nations were opposed to the Chinese offer,titled ‘China-Pacific Island Countries Common Development Vision’. What raised eye-brows were the Chinese proposals to train local police, help in cyber security andsensitive marine mapping and seek access to natural resources. President of FederatedStates of Micronesia is credited with saying that the proposal is “the single mostgame-changing proposed agreement in the Pacific in any of our lifetimes” and that

it “threatens to bring a new Cold War era at best,and a World War at worst”. Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi was in Fiji making the offer. He came backfrom Kiribati and Samoa with some minor agree-ments. He will be off again to Tonga, Papua NewGuinea and East Timor. Wang’s exasperation overthe distrust among the nations was apparent whenhe said: “Don’t be too anxious and don’t be too ner-vous.” More than him, the rebuff, if that is what itis, will hurt President Xi Jinping more because hewent out of his way to issue a statement telling thePacific nations that China will be a “good brother”

through thick and thin and treat them equally “regardless of size”.The only Chinese success in the region came earlier when it entered into a secret

pact with the Solomon Islands where, the West suspects, China wants to set up anaval military base. China may have today failed to show a grand, multilateral agree-ment to the West. But persist it will, till it has something on paper. The South Pacificis not as strategic as the Indo-Pacific, and China’s growing interest in that region isinterpreted as the widening scope of its international ambitions. The latest QUAD meet-ing in Tokyo has left China bristling with indignation. US President Joe Biden franklysaid they will intervene militarily to protect Taiwan. The new Australian Prime Minister,thought by China to be soft because of his labour credentials, was unusually criti-cal of China’s policies. The QUAD, coming out of the shadows of the pandemic andUkraine, appeared cohesive in Tokyo. Part of the reason was also the deterioratingties with China of the four individual members. It took a slew of decisions to counterChina’s increasingly assertive posture in the region. The Indo-Pacific EconomicFramework will rope in 13 regional players. And President Biden personally wooedAsean leaders in Washington. Beijing is no longer dismissive of QUAD given the tan-gible efforts being taken to counter-balance China. It is now anxious to have a packof nations standing with it as it plans to convert the entire Pacific into a cold warconflict zone.

Chinese chequers

THE SHRINKING INDIAN ECONOMY

Sir — As per reports, India in the last fewyears is heading for economic disaster withthe Wholesale Price Index inflation at 17-year high while the Consumer PriceIndex inflation is at an eight-year high. Thereport says that as many as 8,81,254Indians have given up their citizenshipsince 2015 and 35,000 Indian entrepre-neurs (High Net Worth Individuals) leftthe country between 2014 and 2020. India’slabour force shrank by 3.8 million inMarch 2022. Unemployment rose acrosssectors: 76 lakh jobs were lost in indus-try, 41 lakh in manufacturing and 29 lakhin construction.

Between 2014 and 2021, a total of2,783 foreign companies shut shop inIndia. These include General Motors,Harley Davidson, Royal Bank of Scotland,Citibank, Ford, Lafarge, Barclays, Cairn,Henkel, Metro and Holcim. India received$80 billion in foreign investment in 2020-21, but it plummeted to $22 billion in2021-22. Portfolio investments were $38billion in 2020-21 but $15 billion was lostin 2021-22. The NRI deposits also declinedby about $3 billion in FY2021-22. All thisshows that everything is not well withIndian economy, which is shrinking dayby day. It is a serious cause for concern forour country and her people.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

DON’T OVERLOOK OTHER LANGUAGES

Sir — In a multilingual and multicultur-al country like India, the controversy overimposing Hindi against the wishes ofsouthern Indian States with a distinct cul-ture and languages has been a recurringtheme in the body politic of our nation.With 22 official languages enshrined in theConstitution, with diverse dialects, cus-toms, faith and food habits, it is small won-der that any attempt to impose Hindi onsouthern States has met with resistancefrom the non-Hindi quarters. The north-south divide and the controversy overHindi as the national language has erupt-ed yet again snowballing into a Twitter war

between Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn andKannada actor Sujit Kiccha.

Although nearly 40 per cent of theIndian population speaks Hindi, it’d meanlimiting India if we overlooked the poten-tial of other languages as a medium tounite the country. Take the case of filmslike Pushpa, which has a supra nationalfootprint because of its creativity. Ratherthan boasting the superiority of Hindi overregional languages, one must strive onbreaking the silos. Language is no barri-er to capture larger audiences. Creativityknows no boundaries, and it has been aptlydemonstrated by the success of regionallanguage cinema across India.

Vijay Singh Adhikari | Nainital

A MOCKERY OF INVESTIGATION

Sir — Just a few days ago, the MadhyaPradesh High Court had delivered ajudgment when a student studying infourth year MBBS course was falsely impli-cated in a criminal case and remained injail for several years. Now comes the case

of Aryan Khan, who had also been impli-cated in a false case, maybe just for extort-ing money. Such witch-hunting in thename of law should be stopped immedi-ately.

The charge sheet filed by the NCBdropping the case against Aryan becauseof “no evidence” is an anti-climax to thewhole incident. Even during trial, it waspresented as if Aryan had internationaldrug connections. Now, the departmenthas dropped all charges against him andit is clear that someone wanted Aryan toremain in jail for fulfilling certain mali-cious designs. For this botched investiga-tion, the officers responsible should beappropriately punished so that it serves asa lesson for others. Both the above-citedcases relate to false implication of inno-cent citizens and are a totally mockery ofinvestigation.

Yash Pal Ralhan | Jalandhar

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

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06

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In the cross hairsThe Opposition is gunning for Modi Government

as it starts prepping for the 2024 election

PICTALK

Aaliyah Banda, 11, places a bracelet in front of the photo of a victim of last week's school shooting, in Uvalde AP

WICKEREMESINGHEIS PREPARING AN

INTERIM SIX-MONTHBUDGET WHILE

WORKING ON DEBTRESTRUCTURINGAND A MACRO-

ECONOMIC PLAN.CHINA IS UNWILLING

TO RESTRUCTUREITS DEBT.

WICKEREMESINGHEIS TRYING TO FORGEAN INTERNATIONALCONSORTIUM FOR

ASSISTANCE

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

ASHOK K MEHTA

Wary Pacific nations are resisting ‘good brother’China’s offer to expand its scope

Tobacco is one of the leading causes con-

tributing towards increasing the death

count in India for long. It is also called a

‘Silent Killer’ since it spreads its tentacles very

slowly and is the etiology of versatile varieties

of devastating diseases, finally leading to death.

A voluminous number of cardiovascular dis-

orders like Atherosclerosis, Arrhythmia, coro-

nary artery diseases and hypertension are the

underlying lesions of tobacco consumption.

India is the second largest producer and con-

sumer of tobacco. Apart from the smokeless

forms, a large plethora of smoking regimens

are practised in India for a long time. A sharp

rise in the manufacture and export of tobac-

co has made our country to attain quite a dubi-

ous distinction.

This can be regarded as a queer achieve-

ment as it has ruined lives. In the recent past,

India has marked a sharp increase in the cases

of mouth cancer, which accounts for 25 per

cent of the total number of such cases, and

of which only 8-10 per cent are curable. The

rest of the cases cause morbidity and mor-

tality. Tobacco stimulates our Central Nervous

System abruptly and entices it to consume it

repeatedly in a very addictive manner, thus

pushing up the mortality graph. Therefore, in

order to reduce the mortality rate due to tobac-

co consumption, we must take an unwaver-

ing oath that we will resist every single chance

of initial addiction.

Sarthak Sharma | Ujjain

Let’s kill this silent killer

Sri Lanka hopesfor a rising tide

It’s Day 54 of ‘Gota GoHome’ protests. The protes-tors representing all sectionsof society have thinned but

the resolve to get PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa to stepdown has strengthened. RanilWickeremesinghe, a singleNational List seat Prime Ministerrejected by the electorate, isnow being opposed by protestorsas ‘No Deal’ referring to paybackby Gotabaya forWickeremesinghe protecting thefamily when he was the PrimeMinister.

The words ‘incredible’,‘impossible’ and ‘unthinkable’pop up in relation to theimpending political demise ofthe Rajapaksa clan and apparentrise of Wickeremesinghe. In2013, Mahinda Rajapaksa, thepatriarch who was forced toresign last month, when asked byAl Jazeera about the Rajapaksamagic, said: “What can I do?People elect us! They can alsothrow us out.” That is certainlytheir fate in or before the nextelections. Gotabaya has not donewhat he had promised: A 15-member all-party interimGovernment. Instead, it is a fullGovernment dominated by hisSLPP, defectors from SLPF andTamil EPDP. Wickeremesinghehas been appointed FinanceMinister (no one wanted thejob), Minister for Stabilisationand National Politics.

The protestors’ profile isinteresting: Educated and savvyon social media, they are block-ing entry to presidential secre-tariat, PM’s residence and arearrayed on the iconic Galle FaceGreen. Most Colombans come towalk on a straight track along theseashore created by CharlesWard in the 19th century to keepSri Lankans fit. Protestors wantan interim Government for eco-nomic stabilisation; repeal of20A which restored extraordi-nary powers to President; andearly elections with a new elec-toral system. The draft of 21A isto be presented in Parliamentshortly.

This economic crisis is theworst in Sri Lankan history.The euphoria after the triumphin the ethnic war led to reckless

SOUNDBITEOnly AAP can givean honestGovernment. Wewill end corrup-tion in Haryana,too, after Punjaband Delhi.

AAP national convener—Arvind Kejriwal

To lose a child islike having apiece of your soulripped away.

US President—Joe Biden

Deeply saddened

and shocked by the

murder of promis-

ing Congress

leader and artiste

Sidhu Moosewala.

Congress leader

—Rahul Gandhi

Umran Malik is abreath of fresh airfor the speed andpace bowling.

Former Australian cricketer—Dav Whatmore

Following the worst economic crisis in Sri Lankan history, the magic of theRajapaksa clan is on the wane. Ranil Wickeremesinghe is now the go-to man

The amount of lovecoming from theaudience has beenso unreal that itonly felt satisfacto-ry when I celebrat-ed with them.

Actor—Kartik Aaryan

mainstream media, but whichneeded to told viscerally, andanother from theTelugu filmindustry,showcasing revolution-ary fervour and its heroic resis-tance to British oppression, on ascale never attempted before.These bold newinitiatives,tied toCrown's occupation of the coun-try, or the outcome of grossblunders committed by the coun-tr y 's f irst polit icaldispensation,offereda welcomerelief from mindless movies.

Post-pandemic, The KashmirFiles (TKF)turned into one of thebiggest box office bonanzas unex-pectedly, along with RRR andKGF-2,jolting the conscience of thenation as never before. ArthurKoestler, British essayist par excel-lence, had pertinently observed:"The most savage battles havealways been fought for ideas."And so,a very vocal segment of theintelligentsia, never at ease with theidea of Bharat, jumped into thefray, questioning the harsh realityof half a million Kashmiri punditsbeing driven out at gunpoint,despite overwhelming evidence.Millions of moviegoers, who hadpractically abandoned cinema,floodedtheatres to watch TKF,giv-ing it a huge shout out for contentand thematic excellence!Sick andtired of the industry's belittlingIndic values, culture and way oflife, they dealt it a stinging slap.

Ram Gopal Varma, a veteranfilm-maker, had tweeted: "All pre-sent and future film makers willhave to refer to Vivek Agnihotri'sKashmir Files as the new benchmark while making their nextfilm, because the shock wave it hascreated will divide Bollywood intotwo eras which is Pre-KashmirFiles and Post KashmirFiles."Having won accolades for

addressing highly disturbing issuesregarding PM Shastri's death inThe Tashkent Files, Agnihotriturned his attention to the factorsbehind the Kashmir exodus, some-thing about which the nation hasnever been very comfortable.Thedirector based his low budgetventure on years of groundresearch and thousands of inter-views with the actual victims, hissights fixed on setting highernorms of realism in movie mak-ing. He completed the shootdespite a thousand odds, buoyedup by the conviction of being onthe right track.

If The Kashmir Files createdhistory, then Rajamouli's RRRhad a much bigger impact on pub-lic psyche, establishing bench-marks in excellence.Set in theBritish India of 1920s and shot onan epic scale,the movie rose to beone of the greatest hits in Indiancinema, earning in excess of Rs1,100 crore worldwide. What isnoteworthy is that the cinematicTsunami is conquering hearts andminds not only in India, but glob-ally as well.Scores of reviewersandaudiences in the US and elsewhere,including Hollywood film makersand critics,are actually goingbonkers over the insanely enter-taining story, turning intoovernight fans of Junior NTR, RamCharan and Rajamouli. Some haveeven asserted that it has out-classed the Marvel series, whichhas nothing comparable to offer.

However, one of the mostenduring and haunting imagesfrom the RRR is the song'KomuramBheemudo,' which forthe first time ever, makes theaudiences feel the agonizing painof revolutionaries undergoing hor-rific tortures, even for the most tri-fling transgressions.The valiant

band withstood extreme privationsat the notorious Cellular Jail in theAndamans and elsewhere.Barindra Ghosh, an accused in theAlipore Bomb Case and SriAurobindo's younger sibling, haddetailed these experiencesin TheTale of My Exile. NTR's iconicsmile in Bheemudo, even afterbeing mercilessly whiplashed at therack, at the instigation of theBritish governor and his evil wife(Alison Doody), reminds you ofthe unparalleled sacrifice ofKhudiram Bose, the youngest andthe most fearless of revolutionar-ies, who died laughing, undaunt-ed by the prospect of imminenthanging. The movie and the songhave sparked a massive patrioticfervour.Both Bheem and Ram,the fictional characters' name-sakes,are an integral part of theRamayana and the Mahabharata.

A section of reviewers in Indiaand the US, have however dis-missedthe British characters inRRR as 'cartoonish,' completelymissing the director's point of view,projecting them as inherentlyvicious, cruel, racist and overbear-ing, which is what they were asoppressors, treating Indians aslow life.Incidentally, Doody playedthe second lead opposite HarrisonFord in Steven Spielberg's land-mark movie, Indiana Jones and theLast Crusade, betraying him forthe sake of Nazis. Rajamouli firm-ly rejects the British notions ofsuperiority even in cultural mat-ters, which he powerfully high-lightsin 'Naatu-Naatu.' On the veryverge of being thrown out of thevenue, both Ram and Bheem riseto the occasion, challenging theoccupiers in their own stronghold,with a mesmeric display of theirperfectly synchronised moves,which is a huge hit with the ladies!

Rays of hope emergein a chaotic scenario

MUSLIMS SHOULD PREPARE FOR ACTION AGAINSTANY ADVERSE OUTCOME OF SUITS ON KASHI AND GYANVAPI.—JAISH-E-MOHAMMAD CHIEFMAULANA MASOOD AZHAR

AFTER RAM TEMPLE IN AYODHYA, ALL (HINDU) PILGRIMAGE CENTRES

ARE ONCE AGAIN WAKING UP.—UP CHIEF MINISTER

YOGI ADITYANATH

Acontent creator from NOIDA, along with his husky dog Nawab,recently visited the famous Kedarnath shrine dedicated to LordShiva (also known as Pashupati, the lord of animals). Many peo-

ple praised the footage of Nawab paying homage to the stone figureof a seated Nandi (the bull vahana of the god) and receiving bless-ings from the priest. However, a certain section got offended and filedan FIR against the pet owner (but not against the priest) for hurtingreligious sentiments. The pet owner, visibly anguished, said that peo-ple cannot be so bitter that they don't spare a creature that can't evendefend itself.

India reveres dogs. The scriptures stress feeding animals, espe-cially dogs, on Saturday. According to the Puranas, Indra's female dog,Sarama, is the mother of all wild creatures. Many temples have dogmurals. The Pandavas erected the KilkariBhairava temple in Delhi. vehi-cle. The same goes for Gujarat's Goddess Hadkamai, whose vahan isa dog. The Khandoba and Mallana in the Deccan plateau and Revantaon the Eastern plateau (Bihar and Bengal), are all revered as guardiandeities of animals.

While Nawab, who had visited many temples before, was gettingthe wrath of the more vocal, privileged and 'rational' human species,at the same time, the new government in Punjab came up with a 'tuglaqi-

farmaan' banning the keeping of pets in government accommoda-tions. There is no precedent for such a move. The government wasforced to withdraw the order within a week after a justifiable outcryfrom the pet community. The dust was not even settled when a promi-nent high-rise in Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, came up with its own setof rules banning entry of pets in green areas, parks, and basements.They also wanted people to take clearance from their RWA beforeowning a new pet.

Similarly, NOIDA Authority in a tweet prevented entry of animalsinto one of their parks. These two examples from a state having anardent animal lover as a Chief Minister show the ignorance of lawsand their weak implementation among RWAs and authorities.

Article 51A (g) of the Indian Constitution deems it a fundamentalduty of all people to exhibit "compassion for living creatures," whichshould undoubtedly include companion animals retained by society'sresidents. The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), a statutory bodyestablished under Section 4 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals(PCA) Act, 1960, mandates in its 2015 circular that the general bodycannot frame bye-laws or amend them in a manner that is at variancewith the laws of the country.

Recently, the High Court of Kerala in People For Animals v. Stateof Kerala (2021), has held that those clauses in the bye-laws of RWAsthat seek to prevent owners/occupiers of residential apartments fromkeeping pet animals of their choice in the residential apartments ownedby them, or accessing the elevators and common facilities (which includeparks) in the apartment buildings, are illegal, unconstitutional, and unen-forceable in law.

The RWAs' colonial mindset stems from the concept of speciesism-'a prejudice or attitude bias in favour of the interests of members ofone's own species and against those of members of another one'. TheKerala High Court has lashed out at this anthropocentric view of RWAsthat 'humans alone are seen as morally worthy and privileged to enjoythe bounties that nature has to offer. The court has a duty under thedoctrine of parens patriae to take care of the rights of animals, sincethey are unable to take care of themselves as human beings.' Thankfullywe have judiciary but the states should step up to set up active StateAnimal Welfare Boards.

(The writer is a medical doctor, teacher, disability rights activistand pet lover. The views expressed are personal.)

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JUNE 1, 2022

07

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FIRSTCOLUMNRWAS MUST SHUN THEIR SPECIESISM

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

SUDIP TALUKDAR

Courts have a duty to takecare of animal welfare

IF THE KASHMIR

FILES CREATEDHISTORY, THEN

RAJAMOULI'SRRR HAD A

MUCH BIGGERIMPACT ON

PUBLIC PSYCHE,ESTABLISHINGBENCHMARKS

IN EXCELLENCE.SET IN THE

BRITISH INDIAOF 1920S AND

SHOT ON ANEPIC SCALE,

THE MOVIEROSE TO BEONE OF THE

GREATEST HITSIN INDIAN

CINEMA,EARNING INEXCESS OF

`1,100 CROREWORLDWIDE

(The writer is strategicaffairs analyst andauthor. The views

expressed are personal.)

Journalists, whenever theyencounter the Ministerswho flip out over adverse

reports in newspapers, arereminded of some anecdoteor the other. One of the anec-dotes that came to the mindof a journalist after seeing thecoverage of leakage ofSecondar y SchoolCertification (SSC) questionpaper leak in Andhra Pradeshis that of a tipsy man refusingthe offer of a friendly arm tolean on. The anecdote is, 'I amnot so drunk that I can't walkwithout your help,' he said.And then, after pausing tothink for a moment,rephrased his refusal: 'I'mnot so inebriated as to beincapable of unassisted per-ambulation'. It is hardly animprovement in clar ity,though it might have raised alaugh. Those in power employ such

phrases whenever they aredriven to the wall. In most ofthe cases since 1978, theMinisters of Education havereacted guardedly wheneverthe media highlighted ques-tion paper leaks. The cub reporters now maynot know the significance ofthe word 'scoop.' It meansgaining upper hand over themedia rivals by securing anews story and publishing it.But, in the past securing ascoop was such a thrillingexperience that a reporteralways cherished the memo-ry of it for long. In 1978, the then Minister ofEducation BhavanamVenkatram (Reddy) evenwent to the extent of blamingthe newspaper of plotting to'destabilise' the Congress (I)government headed by MChanna Reddy. But the ChiefMinister did not agree with

his Cabinet colleague and ithelped the cub reporter savehis skin. The then DistrictCollector A V S Reddy'sreport clinched the issue andled to the arrest of someworkers of the governmentpress. This story was recalled only to

hit the nail on the head thatthere is no end to the saga ofquestion paper leak in theunited Andhra Pradesh ornow in the residual State ofAndhra Pradesh. It is easy tobe wise after the event.In the latest episode of ques-tion paper leak, the Andhra

Pradesh government cannotbe faulted in ordering aninvestigation, but the way thefounder of NarayanaEducational Institutions, PNarayana, was arrested raisedmany questions. The TDP's reaction to thearrest of Narayana is under-standable; for, he was theCabinet colleague of formerchief minister and TeluguDesam Party president NChandrababu Naidu. TheYSRCP government couldhave avoided the allegation of'political vindictiveness' had itshown some political sagacity. The leak of Intermediatequestion paper in 1997 cameas a bolt from the blue. Itcame after Naidu usurpedthe chief ministership afterdislodging his father-in-law NT Rama Rao. Naidu became abundle of ner ves whenreports appeared that the

entire set of question paperswas bought by brokers for Rs15 lakh. He reportedlyinstructed the thenVijayawada police commis-sioner D T Nayak to speed upthe investigation and makesome arrests. Taking the clue,the founder of ChaitanyaEducational Institutions, B SRao, was arrested andremanded in judicial custody. The then minister for educa-tion G M C Balayogi tenderedhis resignation owning moralresponsibility for the questionpaper leak. But Naidu reject-ed his resignation and evenexonerated him. Later, a totalof 21 persons were arrested.Till date, nobody knows whathappened to the case. When the opposit ionCongress criticised the TDPgovernment, the then rulingparty leaders countered it byenlisting the series of question

paper leaks that happenedduring the Congress regime.When the SSC questionpapers leaked in 1978 duringthe Congress regime underthe leadership of M ChannaReddy, the District adminis-tration was allowed to mon-itor the investigation into theincident. The supervision bythe District Collector hadmade it difficult for the thenJanata Party leaders to criti-cise the government.None can guarantee that therewill be no question paperleak in future. During the last35 years, in every question paper leak case, suc-cessive governments, afterarresting a few personsresponsible for the leak,thought that security needs tobe tightened, while pluggingthe sources of leakage. Still,question papers leak timeand again.

The never-ending saga of question paper leak in two Telugu States

(The writer is a senior journalist. The views

expressed are personal. )

K SRIRAMULU

SATENDRA SINGH India has seldom experienced a morechaotic or acrimonious phase thanwhat it isgoing through at present.Stone pelting mobs, sectarian vio-

lence, widespread protests, temple versusmosque issues, reports of love jihad, etc.,shook up the political landscape, becom-ing a regular feature of public discourse.Allthese disquieting developmentscame notlong after prolonged and often frustrat-ing bouts with Covid-19 pandemic, whenthe nation had barely settled down.Successive waves of the contagion, themost devastating since last bubonic plaguebetween 1896 and 1914,ravaged theland,killing hundreds of thousands inIndia, besides driving the largest massmigration across the nation, disrupting lifeand the economy.

Even as the global scientific commu-nity racked its brains to track, pinpointand tackle the elusive virus gone rogue,haunting images of homeward bound,tired and hungry mill hands, labourersand daily wagers, with families in tow, onfoot and available modes of transport,shocked the nation. Entire cities and local-ities too, placed under a strict clampdownandshorn of human presencenever lookedmore deserted or forlorn. The silence ofthe dead settled over the landscape,resembling a huge dystopian world. Thesurvivors who lived with impaired lungsand acute debilitation and the uninfect-ed too, had to contend with the unprece-dented shutdown of society, shops, cine-mas, restaurants, transport,school, collegesand industries, whichvirtually brought theeconomyto a grinding halt.

Bollywood too, which served as anopiate of the masses, with its make-believethemes and visual extravaganzas,retreated behind a wall of silence, shamedby a welter of scandals, allegations ofexploitation of women and involvementwith the drug mafia or the underworld,charges of nepotism, which surfaced in thewake of Sushant Rajput and Disha Salian'smysterious deaths, etc. Big-budget moviessuffered colossal disasters at the box office,one after the other, which productionhouses conveniently blamed on the pan-demic, even though life gained some sem-blance of normality with its gradualretreat.A rehash of themes based on a sta-ple of love, songs, dance, actionor thoselifted from Hollywood,couldno longerhook the already jaded audience, whichviewed with disgust several skeletons tum-bling out of its cupboard.

Then something radically differenthappened to lift the pall of gloom that hadsettled over the nation. Two entirely dis-similar movies, challenging the TinselTown's dominant narrative of sex, sleaze,skin and violence, burst in upon publicconsciousness, representing a paradigmshift in the world of Indian cinema. Onefrom a non-conforming, Bollywood sidestream with its brutally raw content,high-lighting atrocities on Kashmiri Pandits andtheir exodus, a story long buried by the

Two entirely dissimilar movies, challenging the tinsel town's dominantnarrative, burst in upon public consciousness, representing a paradigm shift

Despite the leak of SSC questionpaper, some believe that the AndhraPradesh government cannot befaulted for the arrest of NarayanaEducational Institutions' head PNarayana, holding him guilty ofplaying a role in the leak. However,it is felt that the Chief Ministershould have used his politicalsagacity to avoid allegations of'political vindictiveness'.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JUNE 1, 2022 Money 08

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Coffee Day Global Ltd, which owns and operates popular coffee chain CCD, hasposted a net profit of Rs 65.40 crore for the fourth quarter ended on March 31,2022. It had posted a net loss of Rs 94.81 crore in the January-March quarter in

FY21 and a net loss of Rs 94.81 in the October-December quarter of FY22.Its revenue from operations during the quarter under review was up 5.43 per cent to Rs148.71 crore from Rs 141.04 crore in thecorresponding quarter of the last fiscal.Café Coffee Day (CCD) average sale per daywere up 11.58 per cent to Rs 17,140during the quarter as against Rs 15,361 inJanuary-March last fiscal year.The average sale per day in October-

December of the coffee house chain was atRs 17,401 crore. During the quarter underreview, its same-store sales growth was up4.9 per cent. However, year-on-year, itscafe outlet count was down by 13.46 percent as the number of operational storescame down to 495 in Q4/FY22.

State-owned NTPC on Tuesday said commercial operation at unit-3 of 660 megawatt(MW) capacity of Nabinagar Power Generating Company Limited (NPGCL) willbegin from midnight. In March, NTPC had announced completing the trial operation

of the said unit at NPGCL power plant located at Nabinagar in Bihar. There are two moreunits of similar capacity which are already operational at the 1980-MW power plant."Unit-3 of 660 MW capacity of

Nabinagar Power GeneratingCompany Limited (wholly-ownedsubsidiary of NTPC Limited) ishereby declared on commercialoperation with effect from 00:00hours of June 1, 2022," NTPC saidin a regulatory filing.With this, the commercial capacityof NTPC Group will touch the69016.68-MW mark, it said. NTPC,under the Ministry of Power, is thecountry's largest power generatingcompany.

Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL) on Tuesday said it has supplied 155 metric tonnes ofsteel to Indian Railways for its stainless steel foot-over-bridge project in Srikakulam,Andhra Pradesh. According to the company, the said infrastructure is the second

stainless steel (SS) foot-over-bridge (FOB) in India after Naupada FOB in AndhraPradesh. "Contributing to a sustainable and corrosion-free railway infrastructure, JSLsupplied 155 metric tonne SS foranother stainless steel FOB at Srikakulamunveiled on Tuesday," the company saidin a statement.The SS grades for thecoastal railway infrastructure have beenapproved by the Research Design andStandards Organisation (RDSO) of theIndian Railways, JSL said. Industryexpert Mukesh Kumar, who heads theSteel Research & Technology Mission ofIndia (SRTMI) said corrosion of carbonsteel in coastal areas is a majorchallenge due to the presence of salt-laden environment.

Coffee Day Global back in black,posts Rs 65.40 cr in Q4 FY22

NTPC Nabinagar plant's unit-3 to begincommercial operation from midnight

JSL supplies 155 tonnes steel forstainless steel FOB in Srikakulam

PNS n NEW DELHI

Reversing the declining trendof the past few years, ONGCsaid its crude oil productionwill rise 11 per cent and natur-al gas output will jump 25 percent after newer discoveries inthe western and eastern off-shore start producing.

In an investor presentationpost FY22 earnings, Oil andNatural Gas Corporation(ONGC) said crude oil produc-tion will rise from 19.545 mil-lion tonnes in the financial yearended March 31 (2021-22) to19.88 million tonnes this yearand 21.588 million tonnes inthe next year.

The output will climb to21.701 million tonnes in 2024-25 (FY25).

Similarly, gas productionwill rise from 20.907 billioncubic meters in 2021-22 to21.097 bcm in current fiscal

and 24.387 bcm in the next. InFY26, the output will reach26.124 bcm.

The output increase will be

aided by projects to bring gas,found on both the east and thewest coast. ONGC is betting ondiscoveries in KG-DWN-98/2

in the Bay of Bengal to do mostof the heavy lifting, while theCluster-8 marginal fields in thewestern offshore will supple-ment the production.

ONGC said it is also imple-menting the fourth phase of theredevelopment of the MumbaiHigh oil and gas fields, whichwill increase the recovery fac-tor from the five-decade-oldmature fields.

India's dependence onimports to meet its crude oilneeds has, in recent years,risen to 85 per cent as outputfrom domestic fields continuedto decline. ONGC, the biggestcrude oil and natural gas pro-ducer in the country, has overthe years seen a steady declinein production from its matureand aging fields.

ONGC sees 11 pc rise in oil production, 25 pc in gas

PNS n NEW DELHI

Sugar production in India, theworld's largest producer andsecond-largest exporter, rose 15per cent to a record 35.24 mil-lion tonne till May 30 in theongoing 2021-22 marketingyear on higher output inMaharashtra and Karnataka,according to the data releasedby cooperative body NFCSFLon Tuesday.

Sugar production stood at30.63 million tonne in the year-ago period. The sugar market-ing year runs from October toSeptember.

The sugar output achieved sofar is much higher than the totaloutput of 31.12 million tonne inthe entire 2020-21 marketingyear.According to the data bythe National Federation ofCooperative Sugar FactoriesLtd (NFCSFL), another 4-5lakh tonne of sugar is expected

to be produced by the end of thecurrent marketing year.

Of the total sugar manufac-tured, sugar output inMaharashtra -- the country'sleading producing state -- roseto 13.68 million tonne till May30 of the current marketingyear, compared to 10.63 milliontonne in the year-agoperiod.Sugar production in

Uttar Pradesh, the country'ssecond-largest producer, how-ever, remained lower at 10.22million tonne so far this yearagainst 11.01 million tonne inthe year-ago period. The pro-duction in Karnataka rose to5.92 million tonne from 4.25million tonne, the data showed.

Till May 30, crushing oper-ations were still on in about 50-

odd mills, mostly inMaharashtra, Uttar Pradesh,and Tamil Nadu.

The government has cappedsugar exports at 10 milliontonne in the ongoing 2021-22marketing year as a precaution-ary step to ensure enough avail-ability of the sweetener duringthe festival season in October-November.

Sugar production rises 15 pcto record 35.24 mn tons so far

The sugar

output achieved

so far is much

higher than the

total output of

31.12 million

tonne in the

entire 2020-21

marketing year.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI)wants the government toreconsider the proposal tomake six airbags mandatoryin passenger vehicles, sayingthe norm will adversely hitthe already shrinking smallcar market and may evenimpact jobs in the auto sec-tor going ahead.

The auto major noted thatthe regulation would largelyimpact the cost-sensitiveentry-level car segment --which has been facing head-winds and witnessing dwin-dling sales over the last threeyears -- making it even moredifficult for two-wheeler usersto upgrade to small cars.

Earlier this year, the roadtransport ministry said it willmake it mandatory for car-makers to provide a mini-mum of six airbags in motorvehicles that can carry up to8 passengers for enhanced

safety of occupants fromOctober this year.

In an interaction with PTI,MSI Chairman RC Bhargavasaid the cost of the entry-levelcars has already gone up con-siderably due to the imple-mentation of various regula-tory norms in the past fewyears, including the BSVIemission regime from April 12020.With prices going up,the sales of small cars have

been impacted especially inthe non-metro markets acrossthe country, the veteranindustry leader noted.

He cautioned that with theimplementation of the sixairbag regulation the priceswill further go up leading tofurther shrinking of thedomestic small car industry.

"So, the fear is that due tothis (six airbags) the marketwill become smaller.

Mandatory 6 airbags to hit small carmarket adversely: Maruti Suzuki

PNS n NEW DELHI

IIFL Foundation on Tuesdaysaid it has launched an agricul-tural drone at MaharanaPratap University ofAgriculture and Technology(MPUAT), Rajasthan in orderto boost research work.

"This is also one of India'sfirst agricultural drone initia-tives by a CSR foundation," theIIFL Foundation claimed in astatement.

The custom built agricultur-al drone has been given toMPUAT for research and edu-cational purposes, it said.

The 2-meter wide, batterypowered drone can spray overan area of 1 acre in less than 3minutes. An android phone ismounted to its wireless remotethat allows easy navigation.

The structure comprises 6arms, 6 propellers and 4 spray-

ing nozzles which can easilycover large farm areas in a fewhours that takes a day or 2 formanual spraying, it said.

The drone was launched byMPAUT Vice ChancellorNarendra Singh Rathod, IIFLFoundation Director MadhuJain, RNT Medical College(Udaipur) Principal Lakhan

Poswal, at the instructionalfarm in MPUAT's campus,Udaipur, in presence ofFarmers.

This is IIFL Foundation'ssecond drone initiative afterthe successful launch ofMaharashtra's first drone-based last-mile vaccine deliv-ery in Palghar district.

IIFL Foundation launchesRajasthan's first agri drone

PNS n NEW DELHI

Fiscal deficit for 2021-22worked out to be 6.71 per centof the gross domestic product(GDP), lower than 6.9 percent projected by the FinanceMinistry in the revised BudgetEstimates, according to gov-ernment data released onTuesday.

Unveiling the revenue-expenditure data of the Uniongovernment for 2020-21, theController General ofAccounts (CGA) said thatthe fiscal deficit in the absoluteterms was be Rs 15,86,537crore (provisional). The rev-enue deficit at the end of 2021-22 was 4.37 per cent. For thelast financial year, the govern-ment had initially pegged thefiscal deficit at 6.8 per cent ofthe GDP in the budget pre-sented in February 2021.

Fiscal deficit for2021-22 at 6.7 pc ofGDP, lower thanearlier estimate: CGA

PNS n NEW DELHI

Equity benchmarks declinedon Tuesday after a three-dayrally, with the Sensex falling359.33 points amid selling inindex majors HDFC,Reliance Industries andInfosys. Investors were cau-tious ahead of release of GDPdata, while a jump in crudeoil prices also weighed onmarket sentiment, traderssaid. The 30-share BSESensex went lower by 359.33points or 0.64 per cent to set-tle at 55,566.41. During theday, it tanked 556.6 points or0.99 per cent to 55,369.14.

The broader NSE Niftydeclined 76.85 points or 0.46per cent to end at 16,584.55.

From the Sensex pack,Kotak Mahindra Bank, SunPharma, HDFC, Infosys,State Bank of India, AxisBank, Reliance Industriesand HDFC Bank were themajor laggards.

Markets halt 3-dayrally; Sensex falls359 pts

In major blow, EUbans imports ofmost Russian oil

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned Power GridCorporation of India Limited(PGCIL) on Tuesday said ithas acquired MohanlalganjTransmission Limited inUttar Pradesh for over Rs 9crore. Incorporate in June2021, MohanlalganjTransmission Limited (MTL)is the project SPV (specialpurpose vehicle) to establishan intra-state transmissionsystem, PGCIL said in a BSEfiling. "...it is informed thatPGCIL pursuant to its selec-tion as the successful bidderunder tariff-based competi-tive bidding, has on May 30,2022, acquired MTL," itadded. The entity wasacquired for an aggregatevalue of about Rs 9.11 crore,including 10,000 equityshares along with assets andliabilities of the company asof the acquisition date.

Power GridCorporation acquiresMTL for over Rs 9 cr

Gadkari seeks Joshi's intervention PNS n NEW DELHI

Road transport and high-ways minister NitinGadkari has sought theintervention of coal min-ister Pralhad Joshi in thematters related to coalsector workers' demandfor an increase in their pen-sion which has not beenrevised for the past 23 years.

Gadkari said that some ofthe pensioners were barelygetting Rs 1,000 a month.

"All India Association ofCoal Executives

( A I A C E ) ,B i l a s p u r ,Chhattisgarhhas submittedme a repre-s e n t a t i o n

regarding a revi-sion and incre-

ment of pension provided tocoal sector pensioners.

"The representation is selfexplanatory and providedetails of their grievance that

in the absence of revisionmany pensioners are gettingsame amount as pensionfrom last 23 years," Gadkaritold Joshi in his letter datedMay 30. Some of them aregetting merely Rs 1,000 as apension as claimed in therepresentation," the lettersaid.

"They are following thematter of revision andincrease of pension withmany authorities but couldnot succeed so far.

Israel, UAE sign free tradedeal, first with an Arab countryPNS n JERUSALEM

Israel and the United ArabEmirates signed a free tradeagreement on Tuesday, thefirst of its kind that Israel hasconcluded with an Arab coun-try. The UAE agreed to nor-malise relations with Israel ina US-brokered deal in 2020,the first of the so-calledAbraham Accords that Israeleventually concluded withfour Arab nations. Since then,the two countries have boost-ed cooperation in a number ofeconomic sectors.

“Israel & the UAE justsigned a historic Free TradeAgreement - the first of thisscope to be signed betweenIsrael & an Arab state,” IsraeliPrime Minister Naftali

Bennett tweeted. “This wasthe fastest FTA to be signed inIsrael's history.”

Mohamed Al Khaja, theUAE ambassador to Israel,called it “an unprecedentedachievement.”

“Businesses in both coun-tries will benefit from fasteraccess to markets and lowertariffs as our nations worktogether to increase trade,create jobs, promote new skillsand deepen cooperation,” hetweeted. Dorian Barak, pres-ident of the UAE-IsraelBusiness Council, predictedthat bilateral trade wouldexceed $2 billion this year, ris-ing to $5 billion in the nextfive.

"Dubai is fast becoming ahub for Israeli companies that

look to South Asia, the MiddleEast and the Far East as mar-kets for their goods and ser-vices," he said. "Nearly 1,000Israeli companies will beworking in and through theUAE by year's end. It'sunprecedented.” Israel hasmore limited commercial rela-tions with neighbouringJordan and Egypt, Arab coun-tries that signed peace treatieswith Israel decades ago.

In the years leading up tothe Abraham Accords, Israelhad steadily increased coop-eration with Gulf Arab stateslike the UAE, which share itssecurity concerns about Iran.

Supporters of the accordsview them as an historicbreakthrough in Mideastdiplomacy.

REVISION OF PENSION FOR COAL SECTOR WORKERS

PNS n MUMBAI

Essar Ports on Tuesday said itsVizag Terminal is set for stronggrowth this fiscal as the facil-ity recorded around 1.3 mil-lion metric tonne of cargo inApril. This has been achievedat a run rate in excess of 14MMT for FY23, suggestinggrowth of around 10 per centon an annualised basis.

The surge in traffic marksthe uptick in the domestic steelsector, which has been a majorcontributor to India's manu-

facturing output, it said. Essar Vizag Terminal Ltd

(EVTL), which operates thecountry's largest iron ore han-dling complex, handled 12.7MMT cargo in the last fiscal.It also handled 193 vessels and1,511 rakes, as per the compa-ny. "EVTL has recorded 1.3MMT of cargo handling forApril '22 i.e. a run rate inexcess of 14 MMT forFY22–23, suggesting a growthof 10 per cent on an annu-alised basis," the companysaid in the statement.

Essar Ports handles 1.3 MMTcargo in April; eyes strong growth

PNS n BRUSSELS

In the most significant effortyet to punish Russia for itswar in Ukraine, theEuropean Union agreed toban the over whelmingmajority of Russian oilimports after tense negoti-ations that exposed thecracks in European unity.

From the moment Russiainvaded on Feb. 24, theWest has sought to hitMoscow's lucrative energysector to cut off funding forits war. But any such moveis a double-edged sword,especially in Europe, whichrelies on the country for25% of its oil and 40% of itsnatural gas. European coun-tries that are even moreheavily dependent on Russiahave been especially reluc-tant to act.

In a move unthinkablejust months ago, EU leadersagreed late Monday to cutaround 90% of all Russianoil imports over the next sixmonths.

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WednesdayJune 1, 2022

How many of usunderstand thedifference

between a failure anda mistake? Don't weoften confuse the twoor consider a mistaketo be the reason forfailure? Perplexingright?

Mistake, is an act orjudgement that is misguid-ed or are often thought of asa failure. We, as humans,tend to make mistakes quiteoften. However, there areonly a few instances wherethese mistakes lead to fail-ure. It is believed that peo-ple often label themselves asfailures when they make amistake. It is vital that intoday’s world where mentalhealth has become a majorpart of our well being, weunderstand the differencebetween mistakes and fail-ures. There have beeninstances during the initial

stages of starting a companywhere minor mistakes oreven major mistakes likenot being able to recruit theideal team, not being ableto sustain clients, not beingable to achieve the ticketsize that we desire, lead usto believe that maybe thisisn’t meant to be. But, learn-ing from these pitfalls andmaking sure that we sur-vived each challenge thatcame with the mistake wemade, helped us grow andbecome what we are today.

Mistakes should beapproached with positivityand not with a failure mind-set. They should be consid-ered as stepping stones tobetter, error-free outcomes.It is always about tryingagain, restrategizing andplanning on a fresh slate allover again.

Pooja Patil (CEO) andKajol Chavan (COO), Co-Founders of One Impact

shares, “We believe that theword failure should not be apart of the language wespeak. It should beswitched with ‘mistakes’ andcraft a narrative that saysMistakes are the steppingstones to success. No, wearen’t there yet, we makemistakes every day, some-times small, sometimes big,sometimes even loss-mak-ing. But, we ensure that wecover the loss, we buildbeautiful things and we turnthese little hurdles intoexperiences that make usproud of what we do.”

The way we view or howwe react to our mistakesand what actions we takeafter it plays a huge role informing our attitude andapproach in life. Certaintimes mistakes are a path-way to discovering newthings - Potato chips: Astory that would make itonto countless food forums

today. Potato chips wereaccidentally invented whenan annoying customer keptasking a restaurant tomake his French friesthinner and crispier.George Crum, thechef, sliced themwafer-thin as ajoke, but theguy lovedthemandthe

potato chip was born. Since being in a business

is not just a passion projectand mistakes can cost us, italso becomes important forus to not let the fear of lossweigh us down, but ratherbuild processes and sys-tems, teams and cohortsthat work seamlesslytogether and continuouslyupgrade and update them-selves with whatever isneeded to make an error-proof output.

We would say, stop wor-rying about what’s going tohappen next, take that stepwith a leap of faith and trustyourself. But, we would alsosay, prepare for the worstand make sure you havePlan Bs and Plan Cs inplace. The essence of run-ning a business is takingrisks and having plans toensure those risks work inyour favour.

If we focus on our mis-takes as an opportunity tolearn, we are much morelikely to not experience fail-ure over time. As you beginto master this skill, share itwith those you lead. Helpyour team see the impor-tance and the difference.Create a conversation aboutthese two important con-cepts in your organization.The upside of this would be,a happy, productive workingenvironment where ideaswill flow without hesitationand greatness will knock onthe door every day.

Social media pranks arelike the new trend that

we get to see every timewe scroll on social

media. In context to this,The Pioneer gets in

touch with the Mirzapurgirl, Shweta Tripathi

Sharma, who shareswith us how she's been

against thesepranks.

SHIKHA DUGGAL

ll of us are exposedto reels these days,and sometimes reelsgo too far that itleads to pranks thathave a psychological

effect on all of us. Some arereally tasteless videos.Addressing this, we have thenew trending series EscaypeLive and to know more aboutwhat's happening in there, wehave noted our conversationwith Batatawada aka ShwetaSingh Tripathi. Yes, theMirzapur girl.

She's strictly against horrify-ing reels or pranks, especially ifthey're online without consent.She had a lot to tell, but beforegetting into the depth of a sen-sitive subject like this, we hap-pened to ask her when shetakes resorts to the internet inher free time, and she uttered,“So, I am a fashion student,and it's natural that my inter-net search will lead me to thelatest fashion collection frombuzzing designers in town.Interiors, fabrics, and jewellerystill excite me. Adding to that,there is art appreciation, andnow with the advent of socialmedia, everything is availableat our fingertips. We havebecome one of those peoplewho frequently check

Facebook or Twitter, evenwhile driving or in a meeting!Not me, though. So you see,there is an imbalance beingcreated.”

She continued, “Likes, dis-likes, and the number of sharesis overpowering us. It's not aninfluential thing anymore! Ihave witnessed this in mymother too. She feels pressuredto be on social media thesedays. This tool will only giveyou your two minutes of fame,then the reality check comesin. I never check my commentssection. I am not here to peo-ple-please.”

The actress carries so muchof OTT stardom with her thatwe assumed this series was justanother god-damn web showfor her, but she proved uswrong and says, “There was anoptimistic side to this projectthat led me on board for it. Iam here in Bombay and we cansee someone dancing in thefields of Karnataka, a womanmaking laddoos in Banares, ora young girl singing outsideher hut. I have access to thesevideos. But, don't allow thesetools to take each other down.For once, let's keep the compe-tition aside. I got my firstphone when I was in collegeand since then I don't check itfirst thing in the morning. Notsurprising at all. What do I dothen? Well, I meditate and

chant! It's a ritual in my home.” Escaype Live does not have

sarcastic humour because it istoo dreary and dark. She takesus through some more insightson what social media is doingto us that she learnt from thesets too.

For example, “I saw how allof us want to live a dual per-sonality, and we are jugglingbetween it. ‘Friends' on socialmedia may not actually befriends! There is exposure tocontent that is not age-appro-priate. FOMO has become acommon theme and oftenleads to continual checking ofsocial media sites. This webseries is not all gaga, it willmake you uncomfortable, andit's just how I wanted it to be.”

Recently, popular socialmedia influencer Sofia Ansari,with a massive fan following ofnine million users, has beensuspended from Instagram.The actress retorts, “The con-tent that is being made onlineshould solely depend on thecontent creator. Respect theboundaries, but at the sametime, why was Sofia poppingup on your feed or why wereyou following her? Because youare interested in that content!Why deny it? If she had multi-ple shares on her videos, itmeant you had given her yourvote willfully. Was she harminganyone with her videos, or tak-

ing down someone orspreading negativity?That's the question ofthe hour. Reportinga woman'sInstagram isn't abig deal at themoment, just FYI.What's happeningaround the coun-try? And what arewe doing about it?You can take itwith a pinch ofsalt too. Use thistool for a revolu-tion.”

Talking aboutpranks, she signsoff by saying,“Continuouspranks are noless thanharassment.Pranks scareyou some-times, which isa negativeemotion. So, Iam not a fan ofpranks at all.Practical jokesare okay, but pranksaren't a good feeling. Theprank itself is non-consensual,and even if you put it online,followers aren't going to giveyou that inner happiness. Thisis not a thrill because somepranks can go horribly wrong.We know of some.”

a

Use social media fora revolution: Shweta

Tripathi Sharma

Music loversofHyderabad

paid rich tributes toPandit ShivkumarSharma, India’sproud classical musi-cian and santoorplayer, who is credit-ed with adapting thesantoor, the Indianfolk musical instru-ment, as mainline

Indian classicalmusic.

As a music com-poser, he is knownall over India for hismusic composed formusical blockbusterslike Chandni, Lamheand other films.

Vishwanath, theTollywood directorsaid, “I like Santhoorinstruments a lot. It

is a challenginginstrument. I methim during a Hindimovie. It is a greatloss.”

The concert beganfirst with the Santoorrecital. It was per-formed by DrShantanu Gokhale, adisciple of Pt.Shivkumar Sharma.He started with Raag

Allap And per-formed three compo-sitions.

Later, Sniti MishraperformedHindustani vocals.She sang MarathiBangra and HindiGhazals.

Over 200 musiclovers were presentat the event enjoyingthe musical evening.

Mus

ical

eve

ningMistakes are

not failures

10

Hyderabad Wednesday June 1, 2022 what’s brewing?

PAR

TY

HOTSPOT

Enigma, the experiencecentre pub, was launchedat Jubilee Hills Road No.

36 in Hyderabad. Soulfulmusic, two-floor dining,banquet hall, terrace view point,snooker, and others sum up theplace, giving you a great diningexperience.

Ph

oto

s b

y S

V C

ha

ry

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

Watergen announced its strategic joint venture with SMV Jaipuria Group on Tuesday. Through this partnership,the entities will introduce its Atmospheric Water Generators (AWG) product category in India that creates highquality, mineralised, safe-drinking water out of ambient air everywhere.

To commemorate the 15 years of running and inspiring many lives towards fitness, the members of the HyderabadRunners group assembled at Sanjeevaiah Park, Necklace Road, at 6am and had a 5K fun run on Wednesday.Every year in the month of August, the Hyderabad Runners Society organises the Hyderabad Marathon, where

20,000 runners from all over India visit Hyderabad to take part in the marathon. This year’s marathon event isscheduled for August 28, 2022, as the 11th edition of the marathon.

Royal Enfield announcedthe dates for the much-awaited Himalayan

Odyssey 2022. The HimalayanOdyssey is one of the biggestmotorcycle rides of its kind inthe world and will see over 70participants traversing themighty Himalayan terrain,covering a distance of close to2,700 kilometres in 18 days ontheir Royal Enfieldmotorcycles. The rides wouldcommence from July 2 to July18, 2022.

In association with the Telangana ChefAssociation, Novotel HyderabadConvention Centre (NHCC) and Hyderabad

International Convention Centre (HICC)organised "The Culinary Carnival 2022", aunique initiative to bring together the chefsfrom Telangana to explore new culinaryideas, network, and share knowledge andenable sustainable growth in the culinarylandscape in the state. The first-of-its-kindevent celebrates the resilience of thegastronomic industry during the pandemic,innovation, and passion of the chefs todeliver the best dishes to the discerningfood-loving clientele in the state, irrespectiveof the scale and size of their outlet.

l Koushik,Durga prasad and Prasad

l Sanskruthi

l Paridhi l Sofiya

l Tahara

l Sneha

l Juwria

Actress RamyaKrishnan, offlate, is trying to

pick roles that oozefeminine power. Be itSuper Deluxe orBaahubali or Queen,

she played some ofthe most

powerfulroles inhercareer.Theactress

now has taken theinternet by storm afterposting a picture fromthe set which lookslike Queen 2 is soongoing to hit the floor?In her Instagram post,she wrote a very cryp-tic caption, “Yes yesyes”. It is quite evidentthat she can’t containher excitement and issuper thrilled aboutthe launch of theupcoming season. Is

this the first look fromthe season? Does thismean we can expectits premiere date anytime now? After thetremendous success ofSeason 1 of Queen, wecan’t wait to see howShakti in Season 2nails her role.Directed by ReshmaGhatala and GauthamVasudev Menon,Queen is available towatch on MX Player.

eeravani'sson SriSimhaKoduri iscoming up

with another interest-ing project titledDongalunnaruJagratta.

The shoot of thefilm that was going onat brisk pace has beenwrapped, said themakers. The theatricalrelease date will alsobe announced soon.

Satish Tripura ismaking his debut as adirector for this film,which is touted to be athriller, while SureshBabu of SureshProductions andSunitha Tati of Guru

Films have collaborat-ed for the third filmtogether to producethe film.

The film's plotrevolves around how acasual robbery goeshorribly wrong, a pettythief finds himselftrapped amidst anunexpected series oftwists and turns,which change his lifeforever. The film starsPreeti Asrani as thefemale lead andSamuthirakhani inimportant role. KaalaBhairava is the musicdirector, whileYeshwanth C cranksthe camera and GarryBH handles the edit-ing.

DongalunnaruJagratta wraps

up shooting

For months, rumourshave circulated thatPrabhas will collabo-

rate with director Maruthion a horror-comedy. Thelatest news is that themovie’s regular filming willbegin at the end of Augustor in the first week ofSeptember.

The film will most likelybe a commercial story witha humorous plot. RajaDeluxe is said to have threeheroines, among whom isPelli SandaD fameSreeleela, while Uppenaheroine Krithi Shetty isconsidered as anotherfemale lead oppositePrabhas.

It’s also been reportedthat glamorous actressMalavika Mohanan willalso be among the girls whowill romance the RadheShyam actor.

Prabhas, who rose tofame across India with

Baahubali attempted toreturn to his roots in thelove genre with RadheShyam but fell short. Withthe actor’s upcomingappearance in Raja Deluxehis comedic timing and witare expected to be fullyutilised. Prabhas will alsostar alongside Saif Ali Khan

in Om Raut’s mythologicalfilm titled Adipurush whichis being shot in both Hindiand Telugu at the sametime.

Another big-ticket moviePrabhas is actively workingfor is Prashanth Neel’shighly-anticipated Salaar,which stars Shruti Haasan.

Prabhas-Maruthifilm to kick off soon

Is the sequelof Queen onthe charts?

11

Hyderabad | Wednesday June 1, 2022 tollywood

k

Actress Urvashi Rai, whomade her debut withPunjabi music video

Payal, is all set for her Telugumovie Grey.

The trailer has already beenreleased, and the movie is allabout the romanticism, painand the equal pleasure of spylove. It's a spy thriller that willtake the audience on a rollercoaster ride

Urvashi will be seen playingthe character of ArushiSharma who happens to be ajournalist by profession andworks for a leading newschannel.

Speaking on the same, shesaid, “Well, this movie is veryspecial for me as it's my firstbig break and that too as alead.

When I read the script, I

was like wow.It's not like ausual family movieand I am sure thatthis movie will berelatable for manypeople.”

Talking about her character,she continued, “Arushi wasborn in Delhi and brought upin Hyderabad. She's veryattractive, sharp minded and aself made girl who loves toplay saxophone wheneververy happy or sad. Throughher character, she gives a verystrong message to all womenwho are utilised for their lookand personality.”

UrvashiRai plays a journalist

in Grey

Versatile actorSivakarthikeyan, who deliv-

ered consecutive hitswith Varun Doctorand College Don,and Anudeep KV,who helmed thesuper hit JathiRatnalu, have cometogether for aTelugu-Tamil bilin-gual movie tentative-ly titled #SK20,which is fast pro-gressing with itsshoot. Billed to be anout and out familyentertainer, the filmis in the final phaseof shooting.

NarayandasNarang, D. SureshBabu and PuskurRam Mohan Rao arejointly producing themovie under thebanners of SreeVenkateswaraCinemas LLP, SureshProductions and

Shanthi Talkies. SThaman scoresmusic for the movie,while Arun Viswa isthe co-producer.

Producer D.Suresh Babu congrat-ulatedSivakarthikeyan forthe blockbuster suc-cess of College Donin Telugu and also

announced therelease date of#SK20.

“#SK20 will haveits theatrical releaseon August 31st onthe auspicious occa-sion of VinayakaChavithi day inTelugu and Tamilacross the world.First look and other

updates will be com-ing soon,” informedSuresh Babu. Thefilm’s story is set inthe backdrops ofPondicherry in Indiaand London in UK.Maria Ryaboshapkais the heroine, whilesenior actorSathyarajplays an importantrole in the movie.

Sivakarthikeyan,Anudeep’s #SK20

releasing on August 31

Nag Ashwin writes toRailway Minister on

Tirupathi station designahanatidirectorNagAshwintook toTwitter

to express his dis-satisfaction withthe proposedarchitecturaldesign forTirupathi's newrailway station.The architecturaldesigns of the yet-to-be-built railwaystation in Tirupatiwere shared byAshwini Vaishnaw,Union Minister forRailways, and itdrew criticism.The designs werepanned by manyInternet users.

Adding his voiceto the chorus,Ashwin also urgedthe minister toappoint someonewho is familiarwith India's richarchitectural her-itage.

“Dear Sir, as umight have seen inthe comments,nobody likes this.The design lookslike some genericwestern copy,some bad IT parkTirupati is sacred

and spiritual. Let’sget ppl to design itwho understandthe rich architec-ture of India andnot these glass nsteel copies,” NagAshwin wrote tothe minister onTwitter. The direc-tor, who is knownfor his openness,never hesitates toexpress histhoughts on

important issues,and he is also will-ing to seek assis-tance with hisfilms. The youngfilmmaker is cur-rently intrigued inthe making ofProject K withPrabhas, and hadsought supportfrom theMahindra Groupfor advanced auto-mobiles. Prabhas’

love interest inProject K isDeepikaPadukone.Amitabh Bachchanand Disha Pataniplay importantroles. VyjayanthiMovies isbankrolling themovie, which isbilled to be heavyon VFX. Themusic is composedby Mickey J Meyer.

m

Bigg Boss season5 title winnerand actor-VJ

Sunny is finally mak-ing his cinema debutwith DiamondRatnababu is known.The film is touted tobe a youthful enter-tainer that will takeyou on a laughingride.

On Tuesday, themakers of the filmperformed a pujabefore going aheadwith its shootingschedule. The firstlook poster and titleof the film werereleased on the occa-sion.

Theposter reads 100%percent pakka enter-tainment. Meanwhile,the film has beentitled Unstoppable.

“Here's the firstlook of entertainer#Unstoppable Thefilm was officiallylaunch with poojaceremony today@VJSunnyOfficial@Ratnababuwriter#Ab2Productions@Ceciroleo#Goutamraju#RajithRaoB#ShaikRafi#BittuNyavanandi”wrote the makers. VJ

Sun

ny is

Unstoppable

sports 12HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JUNE 1, 2022

AP n MILAN

Inter Milan on Monday con-firmed the departure of

wing-back Ivan Perisic, who isout of contract, while express-ing "hope" that they mayrecruit Paulo Dybala, whohas been released by Juventus.

Perisic, 33, has been oneof the key players for Inter thisseason and his extra-timedouble won them the ItalianCup against their bitter rivalsJuventus.

The Croat on Mondayconfirmed move toTottenham Hotspur where hewould reunite with formerInter manager Antonio Conte.

"It's a regret, but he want-ed experience in the PremierLeague," said Inter's CEO

Giuseppe Marotta."We were not in a position

to be able to present him

with a better offer."Perisic, who scored eight

goals and made six assists

this season, was reportedlydemanding six million euros($6.3 million) a season.

Inter are keen, however, toattract the 28-year-oldArgentine playmaker Dybala.

"Clearly, the hope is thathe can play with us," saidMarotta who admitted, with asmile, that he did not yetknow where the "Joya" (the"Jewel" in Spanish) will playnext season.

Nor did Marotta rule outa possible return to Inter forRomelu Lukaku. The Belgianstriker left for Chelsea lastsummer for nearly 115 millioneuros but is unhappy with hissituation at Stamford Bridge.

The transfer market doesnot officially open until July 1in Italy.

AP n PARIS

According to Lionel Messi,there is "no doubt" that

Real Madrid striker KarimBenzema deserves to win hisfirst Ballon d'Or award thisyear.

Messi has won a recordseven Ballon d'Or awards as theworld's best player, but saw hisnew club Paris Saint-Germaineliminated by Madrid in theround of 16 of the ChampionsLeague this year - after Benzemascored a hat trick in the secondhalf of the return leg.

Benzema netted anotherfour goals against Chelsea in thequarterfinals and three againstManchester City in the semifi-nals - including the decisivepenalty in extra time of the sec-ond leg - before Madrid defeat-ed Liverpool 1-0 in the final onSaturday. Benzema was also thetop scorer in the Spanish leagueas Madrid won the title in dom-inant fashion.

"There's no doubt, it's veryclear that Benzema had a spec-tacular year," Messi said in aninterview to Argentine TV chan-nel TyC Sports when asked ifBenzema should get the presti-gious award. "I think there is nodoubt this year."

In total, Benzema scored 44goals in 46 matches with his clubthis season, and equaled Madridgreat Raul Gonzalez as the club'ssecond-highest scorer with 323goals. Cristiano Ronaldo leadsthat tally with 451.

While Madrid knocked outa quartet of European giants ontheir way to the ChampionsLeague title, Messi wasn't over-ly impressed with the team'sstyle of play. Madrid needed bigcomebacks against both PSGand Man City and had Benzemato thank both times.

"Out of the blue they scoreagainst you, and the matchchanges automatically," Messisaid about this Madrid team."Madrid was not the best teamin this Champions League, therewere better teams."

The 34-year-old Messi istraining with Argentina inBilbao for the "Finalissima" — afriendly between the CopaAmerica winners and Europeanchampion Italy on Wednesday.

Messi could find himselfgoing up against Benzema againat the World Cup in Qatar thisyear - both Argentina andFrance are among the maincontenders - but insisted thatdefending champion Franceshould be considered thefavorite.

"France is an impressiveteam, (four years) ago we said

they could be candidates andthey ended as winners. I believethe hit they took at the Euros(being eliminated bySwitzerland) made themstronger," Messi said."(Argentina) can fight anyoneand will make it hard for anyrival. That doesn't mean we arethe favorites to be world cham-pions or any of that. It means wewill fight against anyone."

PSG SIGN NUNOParis Saint-Germain have

triggered their €40m option tosign Nuno Mendes on a per-manent deal.

The teenage left-backjoined on loan from SportingCP last summer and impressedin the French capital.

He has now signed a dealto stay there until 2026.

AP n PARIS

Red Bull on Tuesdayannounced they have

rewarded Sergio Perez with afresh two-year deal until 2024,with the Mexican signing inMonaco last weekend.

The new contract gave MaxVerstappen's teammate doublecause for celebration after heemerged from all the chaoscaused by a pre-race deluge towin the iconic Grand Prix.

"For us, holding onto hispace, race craft and experiencewas a no-brainer and we aredelighted that Checo will contin-ue to race for the team until2024," said team boss ChristianHorner.

Perez, 32, moved to within15 points of world championVerstappen in the Formula One

drivers' standings after risingabove all the mayhem onSunday, that fine win comingafter three 2nd-place finishes.

He joined Red Bull last sea-son, claiming a win on anotherstreet circuit in Azerbaijan withfour further podiums to finishfourth behind his Dutch col-league.

Perez said: "For me, this hasbeen an incredible week, win-ning the Monaco Grand Prix isa dream for any driver and then

to follow that with announcingI will continue with the teamuntil 2024 just makes meextremely happy."

Horner in his statementnoted the popular Perez haddone a "fantastic" job andstepped up a gear in his secondyear with the team.

"Time and again he hasproved himself to not only be amagnificent team player but ashis level of comfort has grownhe has become a real force to bereckoned with at the sharp endof the grid," Horner remarked.

"This year he has takenanother step and the gap toworld champion Max has closedsignificantly, evidenced by hissuperb pole position in Jeddahearlier this year and by his won-derful win in Monaco just lastweekend."

AP n ISLAMABAD

The Pakistan Cricket Boardhas shifted next month's

ODI series against the WestIndies from Rawalpindi toMultan in the wake of expect-ed protest rallies planned byopposition politicians.

Former Prime MinisterImran Khan is planning protestrallies in the federal capitalIslamabad, which is adjacent toRawalpindi, in the coming days.

Khan called off a planned,opened-ended rally and sit-inlast week in Islamabad afterpersonally leading thousands ofhis supporters during a marchon Islamabad.

The PCB had kept Multanas a back-up option and said

Monday the three-match ODIseries, which is part of theCricket World Cup SuperLeague, will now be played asper schedule on June 8, 10 and12.

Since the PCB is relayingthe pitches at the NationalStadium in Karachi andGaddafi Stadium in Lahore,Multan is the only other venueavailable to host internationalmatches.

It will be the first time thatPakistan hosts internationalgames during the summer andthe PCB has planned to start thegames at 4 pm local time. WestIndies will arrive in Islamabadon June 6 and will travel toMultan on a charter flight thesame day.

PTI n NEW DELHI

India opened their account atthe ongoing ISSF World Cup

with the trio of ElavenilValarivan, Ramita and ShreyaAgrawal claiming the Goldmedal in the 10m air rifle teamwomen competition in Baku,Azerbaijan.

The Indian trio outplayedDenmark represented by AnnaNielsen, Emma Koch and RikkeMaeng Ibsen, 17-5 in the Goldmedal contest. Poland wonBronze in the event.

Former world number oneElavenil, Ramita and Shreyahad reached the Gold medalclash after two rounds of qual-ification on Monday.

The Indian trio had firsttopped the qualification stage

one with a combined effort of944.4 across 90 shots. Theythen came second in stage twobehind Denmark, to make thetitle round.

In men's air rifle team com-petition, Indian troika of

Rudrankksh Patil, PaarthMakhija and Dhanush Srikanthfell short in their Bronze medalmatch against Croatia.

The 12-member Indian riflesquad now finds itself at the fifthspot in the medals tally.

PTI n JAKARTA

The young Indian hockeyteam dished out some

impressive and fast-paced hock-ey in a Super 4s match againstSouth Korea but an outright vic-tory eluded it as a 4-4 drawpushed it out of the Asia Cuptitle race, here on Tuesday.

Malaysia's 5-0 win overJapan early in the day meant thatan outright win became a pre-requisite for India to qualify forthe summit clash.

Korea will now take onMalaysia in the final onWednesday, while India willplay Japan in the third-fourthplace classification match.

Nilam Sanjeep Xess (9thminute), Dipsan Tirkey (21st),Mahesh Sheshe Gowda (22nd)and Shakthivel Mareeswaran(37th) scored for India, whileKorea scored through JangJonghyun (13th), Ji Woo Cheon(18th), Kim JungHoo (28th)and Jung Manjae (44th).

It was a midfield slugfestbetween the two sides as bothIndia and Korea tried to takeupper hand in the first quarter.

In the ninth minute Nilamscored with a low flick to theright bottom corner of theKorean net past Kim fromIndia's second penalty corner.

Two minutes from the firstquarter, India conceded a penal-ty corner and Jang Jonghyun wasbang on target to draw level forKorea.

Korea made it 2-1 five min-utes later when Ji Woo Cheonchose his spot after being fed byJungjun Lee following a defen-sive lapse from Pawan Rajbharinside his own circle.

But India drew level threeminutes later when DipsanTirkey converted team's thirdpenalty corner. Mahesh ShesheGowda restored the lead aminute later, pushing homeVishnukant Singh's pass from acounter-attack.

Two minutes from half-time, Kim JungHoo equalisedfor Korea through a fine fieldgoal from an acute angle as boththe teams went into the breatherlocked 3-3.

India went all out andrestored their lead in the 37thminute through an unmarkedShakthivel Mareeswaran, whotapped in a cross from ShesheGowda from the right flank.

A yellow card — five minutesuspension — to YashdeepSiwach three minutes from thethird quarter cost India dearly asKorea equalised again whenManjae Jung deflected in a longball from midfield.

Red Bull reward Perez with new deal till 2024‘No doubt’ Benzema deservesto win Ballon d’Or: Messi

ISSF WC: Elavenil, Ramita & Shreya winGold in women's 10m air rifle team event

4-4 draw with Korea kickIndia out of Asia Cup race

Inter’s Marotta hopes to sign Dybala PCB shifts ODI series against WIfrom Rawalpindi to Multan

AP n LONDON

Tim Southee has forecast anexciting time for England underBrendon McCullum as the for-

mer New Zealand captain prepares togo up against the reigning World Testchampions at Lord's.

Thursday's opening match of athree-game series will be McCullum'sfirst Test as England coach, with thehosts looking to him to kickstart theirred-ball fortunes in much the sameway he sparked a New Zealand revivalwhen captain of his native country.

England are currently on a mis-erable run of one win in 17 Tests, withMcCullum something of a surprisechoice to succeed Chris Silverwoodgiven his lack of red-ball coachingexperience, although he will be work-ing alongside a captain with a similaroutlook in the newly-appointed BenStokes.

"It's exciting, obviously a greatchallenge for Brendon," pacemanSouthee, who has spent much of hiscareer playing alongside McCullum,told reporters at Lord's on Tuesday.

Southee, who has taken 338 wick-ets in 85 Tests, said he expectedMcCullum to transfer the qualities thatmade him a dynamic batsman andsuccessful captain into his Englandrole.

"He's a great man-manager and heloves to try to get the best out of peo-ple. I'm sure he'll be doing that hereas well.

"The way he played his cricket wasexciting, fearless, and that's the way heis a person and I'm sure that's the wayhe is as a coach as well.

"It will be an exciting brand ofcricket, I'm sure. They (England)won't die wondering I'd imagine if theway he goes about things is anythingto go by."

‘KIWI WAY'Southee, however, played down

the prospect of McCullum impartingtoo much 'inside knowledge' to his

new side."He knows us pretty well but I

don't think there's too many secretsout there these days with the amountof footage and analyst stuff that's doneas well."

McCullum's leadership allied to

the way New Zealand played theirwhite-ball cricket provided the inspi-ration for a change in England'sapproach to white-ball cricket that ledto a first men's 50-over World Cup titlein 2019 -- when they beat NewZealand in a thrilling Super Oval final

at Lord's.Southee, asked what it was about

New Zealand cricket that was soattractive to England, replied: "I guessin New Zealand we've learnt to boxabove our weight for a long period oftime.

"We're obviously challenged withjust being a small country, the lack ofpeople playing and lack of resource.Just the Kiwi way is to muck in andget the best out of what we've got.That's not going to change, we're notall of a sudden going to have a lot of

pool to choose from."I think it's just about making the

most of what we've got. Sometimes lessis more as well. And I think it's in ourDNA to try, not only the cricket side,as Kiwis is to just enjoy it and makethe most of what we've got."

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Indian cricket team willassemble here on June 5

ahead of the five-match T20series against South Africa.

The first match of the seriesbegins here on June 9 andSouth Africa will arrive here onJune 2.

There will be no crowdrestrictions and there will be nobio-bubble for the series thoughplayers will be tested regularlyfor COVID-19.

The other venues areCuttack (June 12),Visakhapatnam (June 14),Rajkot (June 17) and Bengaluru(June 19).

"The Indian team willassemble here on June 5 whilethe South Africans land inDelhi on June 2," DDCA jointsecretary Rajan Manchandasaid. The Indian cricketers arein the middle of a much need-ed break post a two-month longIPL.

K L Rahul will lead theIndian team in the absence ofregular skipper Rohit Sharmawho has been rested for theseries alongside other all formatplayers, including Virat Kohliand Jasprit Bumrah.

AP n LONDON

England veteran quick StuartBroad has vowed to leave his "heartand soul" on the field should he earna Test recall against New Zealand atLord's this week.

Both James Anderson and Broad,England's two all-time leading Testwicket-takers, were controversiallyleft out of the squad that lost 1-0 ina three-match series in the WestIndies earlier this year.

But the new-ball duo could beback in the side for the first of a three-match campaign against reigningWTC winners New Zealand at Lord'sstarting Thursday, in what will be BenStokes's first match since he wasappointed permanent England cap-tain following the resignation of JoeRoot.

Although the 35-year-old Broadhas taken 537 wickets in 152 Tests, hesaid on Tuesday he was treating hisreturn to the England squad as if hehad still to make his debut.

Asked if there were any scarsfrom being dropped by England, hetold reporters at Lord's: "Not at all, I'mfine... I'm going in with the mindsetto attack each week and leave myheart and soul on the field.

"I'm taking my mindset back toas though I've played zero Test crick-et and have zero experience. You don't

look too far ahead when you makeyour Test debut, you're just excited toplay the next game.

"I just want to feel fresh andattack the strategy at Lord's, leave myheart and soul on this field and moveon."

He added: "I've gone away com-pletely from looking at what's goingto happen in August or November. Ican't control that, it's too far away. I'mjust going to give everything for oneweek of the Test match, try and winthat week, learn from it and move onto the next one.

"That could be a really goodmindset for the team as well, becauseif we start looking and planning toofar ahead you can lose that focus onwhat is right in front of you. Rightnow we have the World Test cham-pions at our home."

Indian team toassemble inDelhi on June 5

ENG ‘WON’T DIE WONDERING’ UNDER McCULLUM: SOUTHEEBroad vows to leave‘heart and soul’

PEREZ MOVED TO

WITHIN 15 POINTS OF

WORLD CHAMPION

VERSTAPPEN IN THE F1

DRIVERS' STANDINGS

AFTER HIS WIN IN

MONACO GRAND PRIX