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VIJAYAWADA, SUNDAY DECEMBER 8, 2019; PAGES 12 `3

JUDICIAL PROCESS BEYOND REACH OF POOR: PRESIDENT

HORNBILL FESTIVAL IS THEAMBASSADOR OF NAGALAND: SINGH

RAHUL SAYS ‘INDIA THE RAPE CAPITAL OF WORLD'

KOHIMA: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said Nagaland hasbecome the ambassador of North East region to the whole of Indiathrough the Hornbill Festival. Singh who visited the Hornbill festivalground here congratulated the Nagaland governmentfor successfully hosting the festival for 20 years. TheHornbill festival is held every year from December 1to 10. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasgiven highest priority towards thedevelopment of North East region by visitingthe North East more than 30 times.

JODHPUR: President Ram Nath Kovind here on Saturday expressedconcern over access to justice, saying the judicialprocess has gone beyond the reach of the commonman. "The judicial process has become expensive,even beyond the reach of common man due to manyreasons, especially in the high court and the SupremeCourt where it has become impossible forcommon litigants," the president said during theinauguration of the newly constructedRajasthan High Court building.

WAYANAD: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Saturdaythat the prevailing situation in the country, according tointernational media, is such that India has become therape capital of the world. "Many questions are being askedabroad on why women and children are not safe in India.In Uttar Pradesh even when a legislator is involved in arape case, the Prime Minister has not yet spoken aword about it. Today the situation is such thatIndia has become the rape capital of the world,"said Gandhi.

GOOGLE MAPS MAY SOON SHOWWELL-LIT PATHS FOR NIGHT SAFETYCALIFORNIA: To help you walk home safely, Google Maps is reportedlyplanning on adding a new feature to its service to highlight brightly litstreets. As discovered by XDA Developers, the new featurecalled `Lighting` will help users identify streets that arebrightly lit. The feature will highlight those streets with goodlighting with a yellow colour highlight to help users avoidstreets with poor or no lighting. The feature was discovered inan APK teardown of the beta version of the app. It is unclear if Google willmake it live in the public version. It is expected that the feature will bepiloted in India first where women`s safety is a national-level issue.

CAPSULE

VIJAYAWADA: The AP Policedepartment has bagged the

national award for its Cyber Mitrainitiative. AP Police Tech Services

DIG Paul Raj received the DataSecurity Council of India (DSCI)

Excellence Award - 2019 at afunction in New Delhi. Paul Rajsaid the Cyber Mitra

project, with'Security for

women in cyberspace' as its motto'

under thesupervision of DGP

Gautam Sawang has beenyielding good results. He said so

far 400 cybercrime cases weresolved under the programme.The objective of the initiative

taken up as a part of theCommunity-Led Action

Programme by Police (CLAPP) isto make women feel comfortablewith registering various sorts ofcomplaints without coming to a

police station. While problemspertaining to eve-teasing,

stalking, dowry harassment,adultery, etc will be handled byMahila Mitra wing, Cyber Mitra

will address issues related tocyber space.

POLICE WING’SCYBER MITRA BAGS

NATIONAL AWARD

Visakhapatnam: The longqueues that were seen post

demonetisation are back, butthis time, people are not trying

to withdraw cash from banks orATMs but to buy onions being

sold at subsidised rates at RythuBazaars. For some, the situation

has become so desperate thatthe police department has

deployed personnel to preventany untoward incident.

The Police department hasdeployed at least five constables,including women constables, at

each Rythu- Bazaar in Vizagregion to regulate the queues of

consumers and prevent possiblestampedes during the sale of

onions at Rs 25 per kg.Continued on Page 3

A policeman buys subsidised onionat a Rythu Bazaar in Vizag.

COPS DEPLOYED TO CONTROL

ONION BUYERS

PNS n JODHPUR

Chief Justice of India SharadArvind Bobde said onSaturday that justice can neverbecome instant, and it loses itscharacter if it becomes revenge.

The Chief Justice's remarksgain significance in the back-drop of "encounter" killings offour persons accused of rape-murder of a veterinarian byTelangana police. The policehave faced criticismfrom various sec-tions, althoughpeople at largehave hailed the"punishment".

While inau-gurating a newbuilding of theRajasthan HighCourt, the ChiefJustice said,"Recent

events in the country havesparked an old debate withnew vigour. There is no doubtthat criminal justice systemmust reconsider its position,reconsider its attitude towardstime, towards laxity andtowards the eventual time ittakes to dispose of a criminalmatter.

"But I don't think justice canever be, and ought to be,instant. Justice must never

take the form of revenge. Ibelieve justice loses itscharacter of justice if itbecomes revenge."

The CJI said, "There isa need in the judiciary toinvoke self-correctingmeasures, whether thosemeasures should be pub-

licised can be a matter

of debate. But I believe theinstitution must correct itselfas indeed it did during themuch-criticised press confer-ence (in 2018)".

The CJI was apparentlyreferring to a press conferenceby four senior judges of theSupreme Court in January2018, accusing then CJI DipakMisra of violating conventionsand allowing the executive tointerfere in court affairs. All thefour judges have since retired.

"We have to device methodsfor speeding up litigation.There are laws which providefor free litigation mediationand I take this opportunity tosay why we should not havecompulsory free litigationmediation across all districtcourts.

Justice can't be instant,says Chief Justice Bobde

‘WE WANT ENCOUNTER’Kin of victims of other incidents demand encounter death for accused

It loses character if it becomes revenge: CJIPNS n HYDERABAD

The killing of four accused ingruesome gang-rape and mur-der of a woman veterinarian bythe police near Hyderabad hasnot only been hailed by manybut it has triggered demands forsimilar "punishment" to per-petrators of other heinouscrimes in the country.

Families of at least five vic-tims of rape and murder in dif-ferent parts of Telanganademanded that the perpetratorsbe killed like the four who weregunned down by the police inan "encounter" on Friday nearShadnagar town.

The strongest demand camefrom Yadadri Bhuvanagiri dis-trict where a man allegedlyraped and killed three girls dur-ing last four years.

Relatives of the victims andother residents of Hajipur vil-lage staged a sit-in to demandthat Srinivas Reddy be elimi-nated in "encounter". Theyalleged that police were notdoing enough to ensure earlyconviction.

The village was rocked by theserial rapes and killings inApril this year. During the

investigation into a missingcase of 16-year-old school girl,shocking facts had come tolight. The girl's body was recov-ered from a well on a fieldbelonging to the accused nearthe village. The accused con-

fessed to raping and killing thegirl. The interrogation of theaccused revealed that he hadalso raped and killed two moregirls. The body of a 20-year-oldstudent, who had gone missingin March, was recovered from

the same well. The accusedconfessed to the rape and mur-der of 11-year-old girl in anoth-er village Mysireddypalli inthe same district in 2015.

Continued on Page 3

PNS n HYDERABAD

A fact-finding team of theNational Human RightsCommission (NHRC) arrive inTelangana on Saturday tolaunch a probe into the killingof all the four accused in awoman veterinarian's gangrape and murder case by thepolice in an alleged 'encounter'on Friday.

A two-member team is like-ly to first visit Chatanpally nearShadnagar town, about 50 kmfrom Hyderabad, where thepolice gunned down theaccused in the allegedexchange of fire.

Sources said the team willinspect the scene of the'encounter' for an on-the-spotinvestigation. It is likely togather details of the police offi-

cers involved. The team willthen visit the government-runhospital where the bodies ofthe four accused were pre-served after autopsy lateFriday.

The NHRC on Friday took

cognizance of the incident andordered an inquiry. Thehuman rights body said thatthe encounter was a matter ofconcern and needed to beprobed carefully.

Continued on Page 3

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

State transport minister PerniVenkatramaiah on Saturdayannounced the decision ofthe government to raiseAPSRTC bus fares.

The minister said that ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy and the APSRTCBoard have approvedthe hike in ticketfares for PalleVelugu and city ser-vices by 10 paise perkm and 20 paise perkm for other services.The fares have beenraised for the first time after2015. Addressing a press con-ference here, the minister saidthe state-owned public trans-port company, which wasmerged with the TransportDepartment of the state gov-ernment recently, is boggeddown due to losses accumu-lated over the last few years.

He said APSRTC hadincurred losses to the tune ofRs 6,735 crore. Of this, debts

amount to Rs 2,995 crore andpending arrears from variousagencies total Rs 3,740 crore.

The transport minister saidthe diesel price was Rs 50 in2015 and now has risen to Rs75. Payment of salaries as perthe Pay Revision Commis-sion's recommendation has

become a difficult task forthe government.

The Corporation'sannual loss remainsstable at Rs 1,200crore with about Rs

100 crore loss beingrecorded every month.

The present situation issuch that the Corporation islikely to go bankrupt, theminister said. APSRTC chair-man Krishna Babu said thebus fares were increased onlyto shore up the revenue of theCorporation.

He said there was no plan toincrease the number of hiredbuses and disclosed that ten-ders are being invited forrenewal of lease of the oldones.

AP raises bus faresby up to 20 ps/km

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment has cancelled the pro-posed work worth Rs 3.10crore on the residences ofChief Minister Y S JaganMohan Reddy after the oppo-sition attacked him over thealleged lavish and wastefulexpenditure.

Principal secretary toTransport, roads and buildingsdepartment M T Krishna Babulate Friday night issued formalorders cancelling the worksanctioned in the last twomonths.

Last month, the govern-ment issued an order sanc-tioning Rs 39 lakh for provid-ing furniture at the ChiefMinister’s camp residence atTadepalli here.

Another Rs 73 lakh wassanctioned for installation ofaluminum doors and win-dows and miscellaneousworks. A sum of Rs 1.2 crorewas sanctioned towards annu-al maintenance of the camp

residence. Another Rs 22.50lakh was sanctioned for mak-ing alleged temporary arrange-ments like mobile toilets, cool-ers, PVC rainproof pagodassurrounding the camp resi-dence.

For Jagan’s residence atLotus Pond in Hyderabad, Rs24.50 lakh was sanctioned forproviding security arrange-ments.

The main oppositionattacked the Chief Minister

over the lavish and wastefulexpenditure and alleged a sumof Rs 17 crore was beingsplurged on the CMs resi-dence when the state was reel-ing under an acute financialcrisis.

No official reason was givenbut in a sudden developmentthe Principal Secretary issueda series of orders late Fridaynight cancelling the sanctionedwork.

Official sources, however,said the work was cancelled onthe instructions of the ChiefMinister to ward off criticismabout the extravagant spend-ing.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday saidthe government is working onmore steps, including ratio-nalisation of personal incometax rates, to revive the saggingeconomy.

The GDP growth sloweddown to more than six-yearlow of 4.5 per cent in the sec-ond quarter of the current fis-cal from 5 per cent recorded inthe first quarter.

The government has takenseveral measures duringAugust and September toboost the economy, she said atthe HT Leadership Summithere.

Besides, she said, the publicsector banks have disbursednearly Rs 5 lakh crore withoutcompromising on prudentialnorms in the last two monthsto boost consumption in the

hinterland."So there are ways in which

for giving stimulus for con-sumption. We are adopting adirect method and also themethod through which we arespending on infrastructure,whose spillover can go to coreindustries labour and so on,"she said.

Asked if there could be more

measures announced to bolstereconomic activity, she said, "IfI say yes, it will be when andif I say yes it's also going to beback to me saying are you nottoo close to the budget. So Idon't want to say yes althoughI am wishing I can say. At thesame time, I will not say no,because we are working onmore."

When asked if the govern-ment is considering rationali-sation of the personal incometax rate for putting moremoney in the hands of people,the Finance Minister said,"One among many things thatwe are thinking of."

Following the reduction incorporate tax in September,there has been a growingdemand for a slash in the per-sonal income tax to buttressconsumption.

Continued on Page 3

Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy

PNS n NEW DELHI

"Save me, I don't want to die,I want to see them hang todeath". These are the lastwords of the 23-year-old rapevictim from Uttar Pradesh'sUnnao district to her familymembers and doctors beforeshe died on Friday late nightin a Delhi hospital.

She was declared dead at11.40 p.m. after she could notsurvive cardiac arrest atSafdarjung Hospital. "She wasin pain. She had been plead-ing to save her," said a seniordoctor from the hospital.

The victim was air-lifted toDelhi from Lucknow andadmitted to the SafdarjungHospital after she was set onfire allegedly by five persons,

including rapists. She had suf-fered 90 per cent burns.

After coming to know aboutthe death of the victim, DelhiCommission for Women chief,Swati Maliwal said: "I appealto the Central and UttarPradesh governments that therapists in this case should behanged within a month."

RELATED REPORTS ON PAGE 4

‘Save me, I don'twant to die’

Unnao rape victim's last words

Rape victim dies, netizens bayfor another 'encounter'

(File photo)

Last month, thegovernment issued anorder sanctioning Rs39 lakh for providingfurniture at the ChiefMinister’s campresidence at Tadepalli here

Govt cancels Rs 3.10-crorework on CM's residences

The GDP growthslowed down to morethan six-year low of4.5 per cent in thesecond quarter of thecurrent fiscal from 5per cent recorded inthe first quarter

NHRC commences probe into encounter killings

I don't think justice can ever be, andought to be, instant. Justice must never

take the form of revenge. I believe justiceloses its character of justice if it becomes

revenge— SHARAD ARVIND BOBDE

Chief Justice of India

Members of the National Human Rights Commission inspect the site of the allegedencounter in which the four rape-murder accused were shot dead.

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated December 07, 2019 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Margashirsha & Shukla PakshaPanchangamTithi : Ekadashi: 08:29 amNakshatram:Ashwini: 03:31 am (Next Day)Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 04:15 pm- 05:37 pmYamagandam: 12:07 pm – 01:30 pm

Varjyam: 11:10 pm- 12:55 am

Gulika: 02:52 am - 04:15 pmGood Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 07:42 pm - 09:26 pmAbhijit Muhurtham: 11:45 am - 12:29 pm

VIJAYAWADAWEATHERForecast: Partly cloudyTemp: 31/21Humidity: 73%Sunrise: 06.33Sunset: 05.41

12

KALVAKUNTLAFAMILY’S

‘SANTOSHAM’

I-T rate cut under consideration: FM

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 8, 2019 vijayawada 02

CAPSULE

Businessman'sdonation to SVPTVIJAYAWADA: Tirupati- basedbusinessman K Bhaskar Rao,along with his son Trilok,donated Rs 10 lakh to SriVenkateswara Pranadanam Trust(SVPT) on Saturday. The donorhanded over the DD for thesame to TTD Executive OfficerAnil Kumar Singhal andAdditional Executive Officer AVDharma Reddy at MatrusriTarigonda VengamambaAnnaprasadam Complex(MTVAC) in Tirumala.

Special trains toclear extra rushVIJAYAWADA: In order to clearextra rush of passengers, sixspecial trains will run betweenJaipur - Renigunta - Jaipur, theSouth Central Railways said onSaturday. Accordingly, Train No.09715 Jaipur - Renigunta Specialtrain will depart from Jaipur at9:40 pm on December 13, 20 and27, 2019 (Fridays) and reachRenigunta at 1:35 pm thefollowing day. In the returndirection, Train No. 09716Renigunta - Jaipur Special trainwill depart from Renigunta at8:30 pm on December 16, 23 and30 (Mondays) and reach Jaipur at12.20 pm on the second day. Enroute, these special trains willstop at Durgapur, SawaiMadhopur, Kota Jn, RamganjMandi, Bhawani Mandi, NagdaJn, Ujjain, Shujalpur, Bhopal,Itarsi, Betul, Amla Jn, Narkher,New Amravati, Wardha Jn,Balharshah, Warangal,Vijayawada, Tenali, Ongole,Nellore and Gudur Stations inboth the directions. The Specialtrains will consist of AC II Tier, ACIII Tier, Sleeper Class and GeneralSecond Class Coaches.Meanwhile, the SCR announcedthat Train No 56503/ 56504*Bengaluru Cantt- Vijayawada-Bengaluru Cantt passenger hasbeen cancelled from December 7,2019 to December 14, 2019 dueto yard remodelling works atBayyappanhalli Yard on SouthWestern Railway.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

After running behind scheduleby almost a year, theVisakhapatnam MetropolitanRegion DevelopmentAuthority (VMRDA) has nowset a target of July 2020 to com-plete all components of theproject, including the pro-posed rail-over-bridge, as apart of the project.

It may be recalled that theVMRDA had entrusted theresponsibility of constructionof the multi-grade separator(flyover) at the busy NADJunction of the city to a privatebidder on November 18, 2017.And the bidder was supposedto complete the project in 24months as per the contract.

The project work got delayedby 330 days. Sand scarcity, traf-fic diversion issues, change indesigns of the project at the sug-gestion of the NIT-Warangalafter the launch of the works anddelay in getting permission forthe rail-over-bridge are some of

the factors affected the progressof the project works.

The NAD Junction is anintersection of NH-16 and thearterial road of Gopalapatnam-Marripalem. According toVMRDA officials, the projectwas initially contemplated witharms of Gopalapatnam -Marripaiern along the existingservice roads, leaving the BusRapid Transit System (BRTS)lane uninterrupted. But subse-quently, the upper rotary armshave been relocated in line with

the BRTS traffic lanes. As aresult, finalisation of the designdrawings has been delayed.This is now affecting the othercomponents of the project.

They also added that thesub-soil strata of the founda-tion of the project are hetero-geneous and thereby they needfurther exploration in ascer-taining the safe bearing capac-ity of the foundation soil. Thisis also interrupting the diver-sion and manoeuvrability ofthe live traffic.

Authority sets a freshdeadline for NAD flyover

PNS n BENGALURU

Smart technology hasalready transformed theworkplace, and it is nowhelping to create morediverse work environments,as a new study on Thursdayrevealed that 82 per centIndians believe that technol-ogy is enhancing work envi-ronment and providingaccess to better jobs andopportunities.

A new study conducted byLenovo, surveyed over15,000 individuals fromaround the globe, includingthe US, Mexico, Brazil,China, India, Japan, the UK,Germany, France and Italy,and found that employeesshare many positive opinions

around the world regardingtechnology and its role in theworkplace, such as its abili-ty to improve job opportuni-ties and job quality.

"Millennials & Gen-Zcomprise -- 60 per cent of theworkforce and expect theiremployers to provide themseamless access to cutting-edge technology. At Lenovo,our vision is to providesmarter technology for all,"said Rahul Agarwal, ChiefExecutive Officer &Managing Director, LenovoPCSD India.

"Lenovo is well positionedto meet the demands of thenew-age workforce andenable 'smarter workplaces',"Agarwal said. The studyrevealed that 73 per cent

respondents in India believetech helps people like themget good jobs and enhancecareers.

Worldwide, 56 per centstrongly believe tech is mak-ing it easier to advance to thenext career level: this rangmost true among workers inIndia (85 per cent ), Mexico(74 per cent) and Brazil (72per cent), the study said.

The survey also showedthat 83 per cent of employ-ees from India are happy forartificial intelligence (AI) totake over the 'boring' parts oftheir jobs, as compared to 52per cent respondents global-ly. This includes tasks such aspaperwork, timesheets andinvoices, cleaning and organ-ising and note taking.

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A new study conducted byLenovo, surveyed over15,000 individuals fromaround the globe, includingthe US, Mexico, Brazil,China, India, Japan, theUK, Germany, France andItaly, and found thatemployees share manypositive opinions aroundthe world regardingtechnology and its role inthe workplace, such as itsability to improve jobopportunities and jobquality

n It may be recalled thatthe VMRDA hadentrusted theresponsibility ofconstruction of the multi-grade separator (flyover)at the busy NAD Junctionof the city to a privatebidder on November 18,2017. And the bidder wassupposed to completethe project in 24 monthsas per the contract

n The project work gotdelayed by 330 days. Sandscarcity, traffic diversionissues, change in designsof the project at thesuggestion of the NIT-Warangal after the launchof the works and delay ingetting permission for therail-over-bridge are someof the factors affected theprogress of the projectworks

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Of late, people are going backto basics due to pollution, as itposing a threat to their health.Be it organic products, vegeta-bles, beauty products or eata-bles, people are lapping themup, as they are consideredthem healthy. Hence, leadersand influential are creatingawareness among people notonly on the use of organic pro-duce, but also on organic farm-ing on various platforms.

Toeing their line, GovernorBiswa Bushan Harichandansaid that "the food we eat isturning toxic due to excessiveuse of chemicals. This hasresulted in turning our focus tonatural agriculture."

Addressing a functionorganised by Seva Bharat hereon Saturday, the Governorlauded the organisation for itsservices to people. He citedseveral examples of dangersposed by pollution in the

country and stressed the needfor growing plants for the sur-vival of mankind.

Farmers, who attended theevent, said that there is 20 percent improvement in the qual-ity and quantity in the natur-al farming method. He stressedthe need for reforms in culti-vation of crops and calledupon the people to switch tonatural farming methods.

Paripurnananda Swamy fromKakinada was also present.

n Governor Biswa BushanHarichandan lauded theorganisation for itsservices to people. Hecited several examples ofdangers posed bypollution in the countryand stressed the need forgrowing plants for thesurvival of mankind

n Farmers, who attendedthe event, said that thereis 20 per centimprovement in thequality and quantity in thenatural farming method

n The Governor stressedthe need for reforms incultivation of crops andcalled upon farmers toswitch to natural farmingmethods

Governor Biswa Bushan Harichandan

Governor exhorts farmers to switch over to natural farming

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Three Andhra women playershave been selected for India-A (one player) and India-B(two players) for participationin Under-23 Women's T20Challenger Trophy-2019 tobe held at Puducherry fromDecember 11 to 15. They areCh Jhansi Lakshmi India - A,N Anusha and K AnjaliSarvani - India - B.

Both India-A and India-Bare finalised by the NationalSelection Committee based

on the performance in theLeague, Super League andKnock-out stages of the tour-nament, which just concludedon Thursday at Puducherry.

"Three of our women play-ers getting into India-A & Bteams is a proud moment forall of us at Andhra CricketAssociation (ACA) and thisselection will inspire manymore ACA women players tocontinuously perform welland reach greater heights,"said V Durga Prasad,Secretary, ACA.

3 Andhra eves in IndiaA, B cricket teams

Ch. Jhansi Lakshmi K. Anjali Sarvani N. Anusha

Andaman & Nicobar police stationadjudged best in the countryPNS n NEW DELHI

A police station on Andaman& Nicobar Islands has beenadjudged as the country's bestperforming police station out of15,579 police stations for theyear 2019.

The Aberdeen police stationin Andaman district tops thelist of the country's top 10police stations released onFriday by the Central govern-ment.

Police stations in Gujaratand Madhya Pradesh havebagged the second and thirdspots, respectively, on the list.With a police station figuringat second position and anoth-er at the 10th position, MadhyaPradesh enjoys the distinctionof having two police stations inthis year's top 10 list.

Police stations located inTamil Nadu, ArunachalPradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan,Telangana and Rajasthan have

also made it to the top 10 listfor 2019. Majority of the policestations are located in ruralareas and small towns.

The ranking was derivedthrough a combination of dataanalysis, direct observation andpublic feedback. The rankingprocess involved shortlistingthe finalists from among thebest performing police sta-tions in each State on the basisof addressing property relatedoffences, crimes against women

and crimes against weaker sec-tions.

The annual ranking of policestations helps provide insightsinto the functioning of theforce. It also offers crucialinputs for the formulation ofpublic policy from the internalsecurity perspective. Theextensive use of CCTNS data-base, along with on ground sur-vey by a third party agency,have ensured objectivity of theexercise. This year, all the States

and Union Territories haveparticipated in the process.

n The Aberdeen policestation in Andamandistrict tops the list of thecountry's top 10 policestations released onFriday by the Centralgovernment.

n Police stations in Gujaratand Madhya Pradeshhave bagged the secondand third spots,respectively, on the list

n Police stations located inTamil Nadu, ArunachalPradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan,Telangana and Rajasthanhave also made it to thetop 10 list for 2019.Majority of the policestations are located in ruralareas and small towns

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh StateWomen's Commission(APSWC) chairpersonVasireddy Padma stressed theneed for every woman to learnmartial arts like karate to pro-tect themselves.

Inaugurating the 10th YSRMemorial Karate Tournamenthere on Saturday, she said incertain situations peoplewould not get any externalsupport. "That is the timewhen we should use our bodyas a weapon to protect our-selves," she said.

Padma said she would dis-cuss with the government theissue of self-defence trainingfor women and see to it thatsteps are taken in that direc-tion. She expressed her happi-ness over karate being includ-ed in the Olympics-2021. On

the Disha issue, Padma saidwomen are afraid of venturinginto the streets after the sen-sational rape and murder inci-dent. Some justice was done tothe Disha's family throughthe encounter. Film actorSuman and Deputy CMPushpa Srivalli were also pre-sent.

Martial arts must for women's safety: Vasireddy

‘Annadanam has highest virtue among all charities'PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Among all the forms of charity,Annadanam is considered as anact of highest virtue, said TTDExecutive Officer Anil KumarSinghal.

The Executive Officer tookpart in the Ayudha Puja per-formed at Matrusri TarigondaVengamamba AnnaprasadamComplex (MTVAC) atTirumala on Saturday, alongwith Additional EO AV DharmaReddy.

Later, speaking to media per-sons, describing "Annadanam asMahadanam", the ExecutiveOfficer said the Annaprasadamwing of TTD has been offeringincredible service to pilgrimsfrom the past several decades."Everyday donations are pour-ing in to the Sri VenkateswaraAnnaprasadam Trust and atpresent we have Rs 1,350 crorein the Corpus. During last year,donations to the tune of Rs 141crore were given to APT out ofwhich Rs 79 crore accumulatedas interest income. The totalexpenditure on Annaprasadam

during last year is Rs 99.90 crore.That means, in another two orthree years, the Annaprasadamwing will become self reliant aswe can spend from the interestamount itself ", he observed.

Adding further, the ExecutiveOfficer said at present duringnormal days, Annaprasadam isbeing served to one lakh pil-grims and during peak and

occasion days over 1.5 lakh pil-grims were served withAnnaprasadam. Every day, weare receiving six to seven tonnesof vegetables and with the spe-cial initiative taken up byAdditional EO AV DharmaReddy, now in the last twomonths even theAnnaprasadam received about55 tonnes rice as donation," he

added. "I congratulate the staff,Srivari Seva volunteers, who aredoing impeccable services to themultitude of pilgrims especial-ly in the distribution ofAnnaprasadam during mostimportant occasions likeGaruda Seva, Ratha Sapthami,summer vacation andVaikuntha Ekadasi," theExecutive Officer said. DeputyExecutive Officer Nagaraju,Catering Officer GLN Shastry,EE Jagadishwar Reddy, VGOManohar and otherAnnaprasadam staff, SrivariSeva volunteers were also pre-sent.

FORMER MINISTEROFFERS A DAY DONATION

Former Minister Dr DLRavindra Reddy offered a daydonation i.e; Rs 30 lakh to SVATto serve breakfast, meals anddinner to pilgrims at MatrusriTarigonda VengamambaAnnaprasadam Complex(MTVAC) in Tirumala onSaturday. The senior politicianhas also served annaprasadam todevotees at MTVAC.

n Andhra Pradesh State Women's Commission (APSWC)Chairperson Vasireddy Padma said she would discuss withthe government the issue of self-defence training forwomen and see to it that steps are taken in that direction

n On the Disha issue, Padma said women are afraid ofventuring into the streets after the sensational rape andmurder incident. Some justice was done to the Disha'sfamily through the encounter, she said

EGGRATES

` 38,240 (10 gm)

` 40

GOLD

` 44,500(1kg)

` 1100

HYDERABAD 425VIJAYAWADA 457VISAKHAPATNAM 460RETAIL PPRICE `4.57

SILVER

VIJAYAWADABULLION RATES

`/100

CHICKENRATES

Dressed/With Skin `155

Without Skin `177

Broiler at Farm `107

`/KG

(IN VIJAYAWADA)

Mob attacks manacquitted of rape in KeralaPNS n PALAKKAD

A man acquitted of rape in theinfamous Walayar rape andmurder case was attacked by amob here on Saturday. He wasadmitted to a hospital after hesuffered injuries on his face,police said. M Madhu was thethird accused in the rape andmurder of an 11-year-old girlat Walayar near here in January2017, but in October this yearhe was let off by the court forwant of evidence.

According to an eyewitness,Madhu got into a heated argu-ment with a few people over therecent shooting incident inHyderabad where four rapeand murder accused werekilled in a police encounter. Theargument turned violent and hewas beaten up badly, which ledto injuries on his face.

Madhu's mother alleged thatattackers were BJP activists.Police said they were yet toidentify the attackers. An inves-tigation is on.

82% Indians believe tech enhancing work environment: Survey

TTD EO Anil Kumar Singhal takes part in the Ayudha Puja performed at MatrusriTarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasadam Complex at Tirumala on Saturday

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 8, 2019 vijayawada 03

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In a significant developmenton Saturday, leaders of threeparties - TDP's former minis-ter Yanamala Ramakrishudu,BJP State president KannaLakshminarayana and CPIState secretary K Ramakrishna- shot off letters to ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy on separate issues.

Yanamala alleged that Jaganhad failed to get Union HomeMinister Amit Shah's appoint-ment as he was seeking a per-sonal favour vis-à-vis his CBIcourt case. "Jagan has beenseeking discharge petitionsand exemption from personalappearance in court, so AmitShah refused to give audienceto the Chief Minister,"Yanamala said.

He said that the ChiefMinister was going to Delhionly to push his personal agen-da and not to seek fulfillmentof the promises made to thestate in the AP ReorganisationAct. "This is the reason whyJagan's Delhi tours are notgetting any attention,"Yanamala felt.

He said that the noose wastightening around Jagan inFEMA and money launderingcases. The YSRCP president isafraid of punishment as thejudgment day is drawing clos-er, the TDP senior leader

opined.He alleged that the Chief

Minister was avoiding courthearing under some pretext orthe other only to delay the dis-posal of cases. "He had skippedhearing on three Fridays," hesaid.

Shifting his focus to agricul-ture, Yanamala said no crop isgetting MSP. The price ofgroundnut has come down toRs 4,000 per quintal from Rs8,200 per quintal. The govern-ment is not focusing on paddypurchase, he alleged.

Stating that the previousTDP government had complet-ed 60 per cent to 80 per cent ofconstruction of the residentialcomplexes in Amaravati,Yanamala wondered why theincumbent government wasnot taking the initiative tocomplete the remaining works.

The present government isannouncing various schemeswith panchayat elections inmind, but it is not implement-ing any of them, he alleged.

In another letter written tothe Chief M, BJP AP presidentKanna Lakshminarayana askedJagan to tell the people of thestate about the status of thedata theft case.

Kanna asked the ChiefMinister why his governmenthad failed to interrogate ITGrids owner Ashok who wasresponsible for the theft of per-sonal details of seven crorepeople. Asking the govern-ment to explain why it is indif-ferent to protection of privacyof individuals, Kanna demand-ed that all the accused in ITGrids case be arrested.

Meanwhile, CPI state secre-tary K Ramakrishna, in yet

another letter to the ChiefMinister, said many years haveelapsed since cases were regis-tered after the sensational mur-der of Ayesha Meera in AP andNirbhaya in Delhi. However,justice was yet to be done inthese cases, he pointed out.

Ramakrishna demanded thatthe government take steps toprevent atrocities againstwomen and girl students.Awareness should be createdamong women to sport GPS-equipped watches and lockets.The police department shouldkeep a constant watch on thosehaving criminal history, he said.

Ramakrishna said fast courtsshould be set up to ensure thatthe culprits in various cases areconvicted within 60 days.

‘Jagan going to Delhi onlyto push personal agenda’

Action if anybody crossesparty line: Vijayasai Reddy

Rarely have such a largenumber of people comeout on the streets to cel-

ebrate the death of accused asthey did when four lorry work-ers accused of gang-rapingand murdering Disha wereshot dead by police.

Rarer still is people shower-ing policepersons with petalsand shoving sweets into theirmouths like welcoming a vic-torious army on its return.

Not even after the hangingof Ajmal Kasab, the Pakistaniterrorist involved in the 2008Mumbai attack, nor after thejudicial execution of AfzalGuru, who masterminded theassault on Parliament in 2001,did one witness such scenes.The capital punishment wastreated as their comeuppancefor waging war against India.

The only comparable

instance was another extra-judicial killing, also under thesupervision of then WarangalSP VC Sajjanar in December2008. People felt sufficientlyavenged after three youth whothrew acid on two girls wereshot dead in Warangal.Sajjanar, now CyberabadPolice Commissioner, becamean overnight hero as the acidattack had shaken the collec-tive conscience of the nation.

Disha's murder causedgreater outrage as there wasdismay over the endless delayin carrying out the death sen-tence against the killers ofNirbhaya in Delhi. The instantjustice meted out by police toher killers became a cause forjoy. In a sharp reminder to allthose rejoicing, Chief Justice ofIndia SA Bobde remarked thatjustice cannot be instant; itcannot be revenge either.

The dramatic elimination of

the quartet has, however, pro-vided an instant relief to thegovernment against publicanger. Tough questions arebound to be asked by theNational Human RightsCommission (NHRC) aboutloopholes in the police versionof the encounter and, perhaps,by the Telangana High Courtand Supreme Court.Answering them may be notthat difficult, when weighedagainst the windfall of benefitsaccruing from the retributivejustice.

Firstly, Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao hasturned a favourite of the mass-es. He has again proven to bemaster of the art of turning anadversity into an opportunity.Look how he earned praise byannouncing unexpectedbonanza to the TSRTC staff, afar cry from the wrath heattracted for accusing them ofconspiring to destabilise hisgovernment.

In Disha's case too, he wasvilified for spending time onattending weddings instead of

visiting her distraught parents.The Chatanpalli encounterchanged all that. One ministerdescribed KCR as a man with56-inch chest while peopledanced on the streets ofKarimnagar carrying his cut-outs.

Police too have much torejoice about. The situation has

come a long way from the timewhen the department drew flakfor failure to patrol isolatedplaces, for giving more impor-tance to VIP security than cit-izens' safety, and when threepolicemen were suspended forrefusing to register the com-plaint by Disha's family.

This love affair may last onlytill the next incident as publicmemory is short. Police inAndhra Pradesh was under thespotlight in the 1970s forallegedly staging fake encoun-ters against Left-wing extrem-ists during Jalagam VengalRao's rule and earlier. A com-mittee headed by Justice VBhargava was appointed toinquire into these encountersbut quit mid-way because ofdilatory tactics by police.

Beyond doubt, police haveunfettered right to counterwith full force, includingkilling, when persons charged

with grave offences, attempt toattack them or even run away.

But how can a posse of tentrained policemen allow anopportunity to criminals tosnatch weapons and fire backat them in a dangerous envi-ronment. The weapons were inan unlocked position, meaningthey were primed and police-men ready for any eventuality.

Once the euphoria diesdown, many questions need tobe answered about the entireecosystem. Won't police beemboldened to resort to extra-judicial measures when mobsbegin setting new standardsfor dispensing justice? Whyisn't the government heldresponsible for not appointingmore judges when the judicia-ry is blamed for backlogs? TheBihar High Court recentlyslammed the government forthe pendency of 2 lakh prohi-bition related cases due to

absence of sufficient numberof courts.

Any discussion on the neg-ative impact of pornographyand drunkenness on women'ssafety isn't treated with seri-ousness. There are an excessivenumber of liquor shops inHyderabad making the streetsunsafe for women. Likewise,shops line the highways inbrazen violation of theSupreme Court's orders posinga threat to life and limb.

The last few weeks haveseen an unacceptably highnumber of rapes in India, acountry rated as the mostdangerous place for women.KCR has to tackle this problemexpeditiously in Telangana.Good governance meansadopting a magnanimousapproach towards societalproblems. It does not mean anattitude of doling out some-thing only at one's whims.

People felt sufficiently avenged afterthree youth who threw acid on two girlswere shot dead in Warangal. Sajjanar,now Cyberabad Police Commissioner,became an overnight hero as the acidattack had shaken the collectiveconscience of the nation

S NAGESH KUMARFormer Resident Editor,

The Hindu

‘ALL ANDSUNDRY’

Encounter solves many problems but creates new ones too

TDP's formerminister YanamalaRamakrishudu, BJPState presidentKannaLakshminarayanaand CPI Statesecretary KRamakrishna - shotoff letters to ChiefMinister YSJaganmohanReddy on separateissues

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Reacting sharply toVenkatagiri MLA and formerminister Anam RamanarayanaReddy's statement that mafia isruling the roost in Nellore,YSRCP national general secre-tary V Vijayasai Reddy onSaturday said that action wouldbe taken against anyone whospeaks against the party line onany issue.

Addressing the media hereon Saturday, Vijayasai Reddyasserted that no mafia wasoperating after YS JaganmohanReddy took charge as the ChiefMinister. He said if anybodyhas any doubts over any issue,he was free to meet the partypresident and seek clarifica-tion.

Vijayasai Reddy made itclear that party leaders werenot allowed to talk about inter-nal issues in the open. "Actionwill be taken against anyone beit Vijayasai Reddy, SubbaReddy or anybody else if they

go against the party line," thesenior leader warned.

The YSRCP MP said disci-pline was as important as loy-alty to the party. Minister forWater Resources P Anil KumarYadav said there were no dif-ferences among YSRCP lead-ers in Nellore district. "I do notknow why AnamRamanarayana Reddy had saidthat mafia was ruling inNellore district. For all of us,Jaganmohan Reddy is our onlyleader. Ramanarayana Reddy

might be referring to the situ-ation during the previous TDPgovernment," he added.

Anil Kumar said variousleaders were being attractedtowards YSRCP as it is com-mitted to the welfare ofBackward Classes. He saidmost of the 23 TDP MLAswould join YSRCP if the partyremoves the condition of res-ignation from the Assembly.

n Minister for WaterResources P Anil KumarYadav said there were nodifferences among YSRCPleaders in Nellore district

n "I do not know why AnamRamanarayana Reddy hadsaid that mafia was rulingNellore district. For all ofus, Jaganmohan Reddy isour only leader.Ramanarayana Reddymight be referring to thesituation during theprevious TDPgovernment," he added

FormerMLA BeedaMasthan Raojoins YSRCP PNS n AMARAVATI

In yet another setback to thebeleaguered TDP, formerMLA Beeda Masthan Raojoined the ruling YSRCP inthe presence of party pres-ident and Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy atTadepalli on Saturday.

He was welcomed intothe YSRCP fold with a scarfof party colours by Jagan inthe presence of party gen-eral secretary V VijayasaiReddy, MP M PrabhakarReddy and minister ArvindKumar Yadav among oth-ers.

"I am impressed withthe policies and administra-tion of Jaganmohan Reddyand have joined the party asI see that the Chief Ministeris the future," Masthan Raosaid, upon joining the party.

The welfare schemesbeing implemented by theChief Minister are veryhelpful to the poorer sec-tions of the society and ina small span of six months,he has implemented 80 percent of his poll promisesand he is treating the partymanifesto as a holy book,the former MLA said.

Referring to local issues,Masthan Rao said that hehas no personal rancor withany leader and would workon the party lines tostrengthen it further.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

While the encounter of theaccused in the Disha rape andmurder case has caught thenation's attention, the case of acivil engineer and daughter ofa naval officer, SadhanaPandey, who went missingfrom Visakhapatnam Railwaystation in 2012 has graduallyvanished from public memory.

According to police sources,the case has been closedbecause of lack of evidence.

Sadhana, daughter ofHarischandra Pandey, hadcompleted her BTech (CivilEngineering) in Vizag in 2012when her father was posted inEastern Naval Command.Later, she joined a private con-

struction company in the cityas civil engineer. When herfather moved to Mumbai in2012 after his retirement, shestayed back in the city to pur-sue her career, staying at a hos-tel in Seethammdhara area.

On September 24, 2012, shehad informed the manage-ment of the construction com-pany that her father had metwith an accident in Mumbaiand she had to rush home.However, she never reached

Mumbai and has been missingsince that day.

Sadhana's fatherHarischandra, upon calling upthe hostel management, wasinformed that she left for homestating that there was urgency.

Giving up hopes of findingSadhana after a lengthy search,Harischandra registered a casein February 2013, at DwarakaZone police station where amissing person case was filed.

Following pressure fromDefence ministry, the Dwarakapolice made frantic search forthe woman. AfterHarischandra left for Mumbaiand began working for a pri-vate company, the intensity ofthe search diminished as therewas no pressure on the policefrom any quarter.

A senior police officer saidthat a suspect, Rambhir Singh,underwent lie detector test butnothing came out of it. He latersought relief from the HighCourt.

Naval officer's daughter missing case gets silent burial

‘We want encounter’Continued from Page1

The investigations alsorevealed that the 27-year-oldaccused, a lift mechanic, was alsoinvolved in the murder of awoman in Kurnool town ofneighbouring Andhra Pradeshin 2016. Angry villagers ofHajipur had set ablaze SrinivasReddy's house. They stagedprotests demanding stringentpunishment to the accused.Senior officials had visited thevillage to demanding andassured the people that they willensure harshest punishment tothe guilty. The accused is cur-rently lodged in Nalgonda Jail.

Meanwhile, families of twowomen who were raped andkilled last month also demand-ed that the perpetrators be killedlike the accused in Hyderabadgang-rape and murder case.

People in Komaram BheemAsifabad district took to street,demanding death for the guilty

in the rape and murder of a Dalitwoman. The 19-year-old mar-ried woman was killed after sex-ual assault on November 25.Three men were arrested in thecase.

People also observed a shut-down in parts of the district onSaturday, demanding that theguilty be immediately hanged.Protestors staged sit-in andraised slogans of aceWe wantjustice". In Warangal, family ofa teenager who was raped andkilled by her boyfriend alsodemanded that justice be doneto them by killing the perpetra-tor in the same manner asaccused in Hyderabad case wasshot dead.

The 19-year-old student wasraped and killed by herboyfriend on her birthday onNovember 27, the same daywhen the veterinarian was gang-raped and killed by four personsat Shamshabad on the outskirtsof Hyderabad.

Cops deployed to control onion buyersContinued from Page1

With the price of onions dras-tically increased in the retail mar-kets across Visakhapatnam,Vizianagaram and Srikakulamdistrict in North Andhra Pradesh,a large number of consumers areseen standing in the long queuesfor hours from early morning forthe past few days just to get just onekg onions at subsidised rate of Rs25 per kg.

Since the onion stock at theRythu Bazaars is not enough tomeet the demand and not all con-sumers are confident of getting theprized vegetable, they are violatingthe queue norm, fighting eachother, jostling for space to move for-ward.

"It is very difficult to regulateconsumers. We have had stam-pede-like situations, with peoplepushing each other to buy the sub-sidised onions. We have request-ed the police department to deployconstables to control the crowd,"

said MK Rao, Assistant Director,Marketing, Horticulture depart-ment.

In the retail market in Vizag, theMaharashtra variety of onions isbeing sold at Rs 180 per kg whilethe Kurnool variety is being soldat Rs 120 per kg.

"For me it is very difficult to shellout Rs 120 for a kg of onions. I haveno option except standing in the

queue for hours for buy onion formy family at Rs 25 per kg," said TAnil Kumar, a resident of Vizag city.

"Despite our repeated requeststo follow the queue line, some con-sumers are anxious not to lose outon buying the subsidized onionsand break the rules and createstampede-like situations at RythuBazaars," said a police constable oncondition of anonymity.

NHRC to beginprobe intoencounterkillings

Continued from Page 1

It asked Director General(Investigation) to immediatelysend a team for a fact-findingand on-the-spot investigation.The team of the InvestigationDivision of the Commissionwill be headed by a SeniorSuperintendent of Police (SSP).

The human rights body alsofelt that the police personnelwere not properly alert and pre-pared for any untoward activ-ity by the accused on the spot,which resulted in death of allfour. "The deceased had beenarrested by the police duringthe investigation and a judg-ment in the matter by thecompetent court was yet to bepronounced. If, the arrestedpersons were actually guilty,they were to be punished as perlaw pursuant to the directionsof the competent court," theNHRC said. Police claimed thatthe accused attacked the policepersonnel and two of themeven snatched weapons andopened fire, forcing the policeto retaliate.

Continued from Page1

In the biggest reduction in 28years, the government inSeptember slashed corporate taxrates up to 10 percentage pointsas it looked to pull the econo-my out of a six-year low growthwith a Rs 1.45 lakh crore taxbreak.

Base corporate tax for exist-ing companies has been reducedto 22 per cent from 30 per cent,and to 15 per cent from 25 percent for new manufacturingfirms incorporated afterOctober 1, 2019, and startingoperations before March 31,2023.

Assuring that there will be noharassment of taxpayers,Sitharaman said the intent of thegovernment is to further simpli-fy taxation systems includingremoval of exemption. Citingthe example of corporate tax,she said, "From now on, they'removing towards a greater sim-plified and exemption free.Therefore, has harassment-freetherefore subjective interpreta-tion free taxation regime."

Besides, she said the govern-

ment has introduced facelessassessment of direct tax andsoon this will be introduced inindirect tax to eliminate harass-ment.

On the Goods and ServicesTax (GST) the Finance Ministersaid, the rate structure will haveto be decided by the GSTCouncil. Eventually, the rateshave to be rationalised and theentire tax system has to be sim-plified, she added.

"One, the tax per se, is gettingcomplicated because of thisunstructured bringing down ofrates. Another, it's also gettingcomplicated because you wantto be sure that you're doingeverything correct, but endingup asking for so much moreinformation in a technology-driven system. People just getfed up of wanting to give somuch information. So, we haveproblems in both the hands,"she said.

With regards to appre-hension raised on the gen-uineness of data, the FinanceMinister said, "There's nodoubt, we need to bringcredibility back to the data."

I-T rate cut underconsideration: FM

CM to lay foundation stone forcivic projects worth Rs 1,300 crPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy will lay the foundationstone and inaugurate civicamenity development projectsworth Rs 1,300 crore of theGreater VisakhapatnamMunicipal Corporation(GVMC) and VisakhapatnamMetropolitan RegionDevelopment Authority(VMRDA) on December 13.

While the proposed works ofthe VMRDA are estimated tocost Rs 360 crore, the GVMCworks Rs 930 crore. Jagan willlaunch all these works fromKailasagiri Hilltop Park beforeattending the Andhra Universityalumni meet as the chief guest.

Speaking to the media here atthe GVMC office on Saturday,

GVMC Commissioner GSrijana said that the GreaterVisakhapatnam MunicipalCorporation will spend about Rs200 crore on the road and drainworks. "Each zone will get aswimming pool and a new park.About 70 km long new drainswill be developed. About Rs 25crore will be spent on the repair

works of road and drainage,which were damaged during therecent heavy rains," said Srijana.

The Commissioner furtheradded that the Chief Ministerwill lay a foundation stone forthe facelift of RK beach underthe Andhra Pradesh DisasterRecovery Project with the WorldBank funds.

"Shore protection will be thefocal point of the Rs 109 croreproject. On the other hand, theGVMC got about Rs 52 crorefrom the French DevelopmentAgency for the development ofthe municipal schools of thecity," said Srijana.

Srijana added that the AsianDevelopment Bank will fundabout Rs 9.5 crore for the reju-venation of the MudasarlovaPark.

A senior policeofficer said that asuspect, RambhirSingh, underwentlie detector testbut nothing cameout of it. He latersought relief fromthe High Court

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 8, 2019 nation 04

SHORT READS

AAP MLA alleges hercar followed by somepersons whilereturning homeLUDHIANA (PUNJAB): An AamAadmi Party legislator inPunjab alleged on Saturday thatsome persons followed her in avehicle in a possible bid toattack her. According to SaravjitKaur Manuke, the MLA fromJagraon in Ludhiana district, acar followed her vehicle onFriday night and tried to hit itfrom behind. The car was beingdriven rashly in a zigzagmanner on the highway, saidManuke, who wasaccompanied by her husbandand was returning to Jagraonfrom Ludhiana city after takingpart in a debate on a TVchannel. "We saved ourselvesby driving our vehicle into thepolice station at Chaukiman.There were four-five people inthe car that was following us,"she said. Manuke said theyinformed the seniorsuperintendent of police (SSP)of the Ludhiana Rural Policedistrict about the entireepisode. Mullanpur DeputySuperintendent of Police G SBains said the suspects hadbeen identified and aninvestigation was on.

Police officer dies ofheart attack while ondutyRANCHI: A police officer diedof a heart attack while onelection duty in EastSinghbhum district onSaturday, police said. Assistantsub-inspector Harish ChandraGiri, 44, was on duty at boothnumber 234 under Panchandocluster in Barsole underGhatsila sub-division of thedistrict when he suffered theheart attack, Baharagoda policestation in-charge RajdhanSingh said. Giri was taken to anearby health centre wheredoctors declared him dead,Singh said, he hails fromAzamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.

CLIMATE TALKS

PNS n NEW DELHI

India is participating with aconstructive outlook at theMadrid climate talks and willwork to protect its long-termdevelopment interests, UnionEnvironment Minister PrakashJavadekar said on Saturday.

Before leaving for the UN-hosted climate negotiations in theSpanish city, Javadekar enumer-ated India's efforts in mitigatingthe effects of climate change andsaid the country "is leading fromthe front in climate action".

"PM was the first to proposeSolar Alliance and Coalition forDisaster Resilient Infrastructure,"he said. "India's ambitious renew-able energy programme of 450GW has attracted world attentionas it is the largest renewable pro-gramme in the world."

Javadekar said India hasreduced its emission intensity by22 per cent over 2005 and it isone of the few countries which

had increased tree cover in andoutside the forest.

On Nov 27, the UnionCabinet, chaired by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,approved India's negotiatingstand at the 25th Conference ofParties (COP) to the UnitedNations Framework Conventionon Climate Change (UNFC-CC) in Madrid, Spain.

COP-25, which started on

Dec 2 and concludes on Dec 13,is an important conference onclimate change as countries pre-pare to move from pre-2020 peri-od under the Kyoto Protocol topost-2020 period under the ParisAgreement. Officials say India'sapproach will be guided by prin-ciples and provisions of UNFC-CC and Paris Agreement, par-ticularly the principles of Equityand Common But Differentiated

Responsibilities and RespectiveCapability (CBDR-RC).

In Sep, during the ClimateAction Summit convened bythe UN secretary-general, PrimeMinister Modi had announcedIndia's plan on scaling up ofrenewable energy target to 450GW and called for responsibleaction by all on the principles ofequity and CBDR-RC.

India has been leading theworld in pursuit of solar energycapacity. It has also emphasizedthat developed countries shouldtake lead in taking ambitiousactions and fulfil their climatefinance commitments of mobi-lizing USD 100 billion perannum by 2020.

At the climate talks, India willstress on the need to fulfil pre-2020 commitments by developedcountries and that pre-2020implementation gaps should notpresent an additional burden todeveloping countries in the post-2020 period.

PNS n AGRA

Dr Mubeen Shah, a NonResident Indian businessmandetained in the aftermath of theAugust 5 crackdown on polit-ical leaders and businessmen inJammu and Kashmir, was"temporarily released" onSaturday.

Shah, who is based out ofMalaysia, walked out of theAgra Central Jail and wasreceived by his brother Niyaz,who had been fighting in theSupreme Court to seek hisrelease.

Refusing to talk to the mediaciting that the case was sub-judice, Niyaz drove away withhis brother, Mubeen, who wasdetained on August 7 andimmediately shifted to the cen-tral jail in Agra.

The release order issued by

Home Secretary of Jammu andKashmir union territory said"...the government herebyorders the temporary release ofDr Mubeen Shah...presentlyunder detention... fromDecember 7, 2019 to March 6,2020 subject to the conditionslaid down in the bond".

Shah "shall surrender beforedistrict magistrate Srinagar onMarch 7, 2020 at 11 AM after

the expiry of the period of histemporary release, if notextended for any further peri-od or upon cancellation of thetemporary release order."

Shah, in his bond, has men-tioned that he would not"indulge in any unlawful, ille-gal or secessionist activities

which have the potential ofendangering peace or is preju-dicial to the maintenance ofpublic order during the periodof my temporary release".

Shah is among the host ofpoliticians, social activists andbusinessmen detained afterAugust 5, when the Centrewithdrew special status to theerstwhile state and also bifur-cated it into two union terri-tories -- Ladakh and Jammuand Kashmir.

He is possibly the first per-son charged under the contro-versial Public Safety Act (PSA)who has been released by theunion territory administrationwithout any such directionsfrom the court.

Shah's family hadapproached the Supreme Courtseeking quashing of the PSA.After hearing in the matter

began, the Jammu andKashmir administration, find-ing itself on the back foot, hadassured that they would releaseMubeen Shah. The case is list-ed for hearing again onDecember 9.

Shah was released undersub-section 2 of section 20 ofthe PSA, which allows thegovernment to release a personat any time for any specifiedperiod either without condi-tions or upon such conditionsspecified in the direction asthat person accepts and may atany time time cancel hisrelease.

"In directing the release ofany person, the governmentmay require him to enter intoa bond with or without suretiesfor the due observance of thecondition specified in thedirections," the Act says.

NRI businessman charged after August 5under PSA released for three months

PNS n SRINAGAR

Nine flights were cancelled atthe Srinagar airport due to lowvisibility as a thick layer of fogengulfed most parts of theKashmir Valley on Saturdaymorning, officials said.

The visibility at the airportwas around 600 metres only,an official of the AirportsAuthority of India (AAI) said,adding the operations wouldresume once the visibilityimproves.

"The flight operations havebeen severely affected at theSrinagar airport and no flighthas landed here because of thepoor visibility caused by theheavy fog," the official said.

He said nine flights have

been cancelled for the day outof the total 25. The fog alsodisrupted the air traffic toand fro Srinagar as no flightoperations took place becauseof the poor visibility, the AAIofficial added.

The city experienced thecoldest night of the season sofar recording a low of minus3.6 degrees Celsius, an officialof the MeteorologicalDepartment here said.

He said the heavy fog affect-ed the visibility, causing prob-lems to the people, especiallymotorists. The MeT officialsaid the valley is undergoingintense cold condition as themercury dipped severaldegrees below the normal forthis part of the season.

Heavy fog disrupts flightoperations at Srinagar airport

PNS n JODHPUR

Chief Justice of India S ABobde here on Saturday saidthe press conference held byfour senior most judges of theapex court last year was just aself-corrective measure.

In an unprecedented move,Justices J Chelameswar, RanjanGogoi, M B Lokur and KurienJoseph-- had on January 12,2018, held a press conference,saying the situation in the topcourt was "not in order" andmany "less than desirable"things had taken place.

Ranjan Gogoi later in theyear had succeeded the thenchief justice of India DipakMishra.

"I believe the institution(judiciary) must correct itselfand indeed it did during thetime when the much-criti-cised press conference washeld. It was nothing morethan a self-corrective measureand I do not wish to justify it,"Justice Bobde said during theinauguration of a new building

of the Rajsthan High Courthere.

The CJI further said, "Alljudges were eminent andJustice (Ranjan) Gogoi in par-ticular showed great compe-tence and led the judiciaryfrom the front."

He stressed as an institution,the judiciary must remaincommitted to making justiceaccessible to people bystrengthening the existingavenues and evolving newermeans to achieve an affordable,quick and satisfactory settle-ment of disputes. At the sametime, we must be aware of thechanges and perception about

the judiciary, the CJI said.He said recent events in the

country had sparked off an olddebate with new vigour, wherethere was no doubt that thecriminal justice system mustreconsider its position and atti-tude towards the time it took todispose of a criminal matter.

"Justice is never ought to beinstant. Justice must neverever take the form of revenge.I believe justice loses its char-acter when it becomes revenge.There is a need in the judicia-ry to invoke self-correctingmeasures but whether or notthey should be publicised is amatter of debate," he said.

"We have to devise methodsfor not only speeding up liti-gation but all together pre-venting it. There are laws whichprovide for pre-litigation medi-ation," he said, adding thatthere was a need to considercompulsory pre-litigationmediation. Surprisingly, nocourses were available for con-ferring a degree or diploma inmediation, he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Famous national and interna-tional artists, stand-up come-dians, and, cosplay competi-tions will get the national cap-ital buzzing at the 9th editionof Delhi Comic Con here.

The pop culture extrava-ganza is all set to unravel aroller coaster ride for the city'sfandom community at theNSIC Grounds, Okhla fromDecember 20.

Highlighting the event willbe Melbourne-based digitalartist Kode Abdo aka#Bosslogic; illustrator ChadHardin, who works for DCComics and Harley Quinnseries; and Asian-Americanartist/designer Bernard Chang,who has illustrated books forMarvel and DC Comics,including X-Men, Deadpool,

Superman, and WonderWoman.

Joining them at the show willbe leading Indian comic bookpublishers, illustrators andwriters like Abhijeet Kini, cre-ator of "Angry Maushi"; VivekGoel, creator of "Aghori" series;Sumit Kumar (Bakarmax), andcreators of immensely popularIndian webcomics like SaileshGopalan (Brown PaperbagComics), Bhagya Mathew(Awkwerrrd).

"Organising Comic Con inDelhi will always be close to myheart as we did our inauguralshow in the city nine years ago.The city has the most enthusi-astic comic book fans and cos-players, who take this celebra-tion of their beloved fandomsvery seriously.

"This year we have some spe-cial guests, new launches, and

experiential zones. This year,we wanted to align our Cosplaycompetitions to internationalformats, and we have intro-duced two new formats of cos-playing, which will certainlydelight the city's fans," Jatin

Varma, founder, Comic ConIndia, said.

The three-day event willintroduce new cosplay formatswith a total prize pool of Rs 4lac this year. The contest,organised in two categories,

will give out prizes worth Rs 2Lac each day of the show.

The first category, 'IndianChampionship of Cosplay 2019Delhi Qualifier', will see partic-ipants compete online, thereafter,pre-selected participants will go

through a stage display sessionand compete on 3 parameters -needlework, FX and armor.

Each day, the winners of theDelhi qualifier round will notonly win awards but also qual-ify to participate in the 'IndianChampionship of Cosplay2020'.

The second contest for-mat, 'Delhi Comic ConCosplay Contest 2019', willsee participants competeagainst each other on theArena stage. The event willalso witness live perfor-mances by popular musicartist Beatboxer Ish, danceperforming crew MISBA,mental ist Karan Singh,comedian Abish Mathew,Rahul Dua, and SumiaraSheikh. The New Delhi edi-tion will come to an end onDecember 22.

Global stars to enliven Delhi Comic Con from Dec 20

Woman killed as car driven by‘drunk' man hits her, three heldPNS n MUMBAI

A 19-year-old woman pedes-trian was killed after she washit by a car allegedly being dri-ven by a drunk man atChunabhatti here, police saidon Saturday.

The mishap occurred atDuavji Keni Road nearSwadeshi Mills on Fridayevening, police said. The dri-ver and one more person in thecar, who were under the influ-ence of liquor at the time of theincident, have been arrestedalong with the owner of thevehicle, an official said.

"The victim, ArchanaParthe, was walking towardsher home when the vehicle hither after its driver lost controlover it. The woman sufferedgrievous injuries in the inci-dent. She was rushed to ahospital, but declared dead on

arrival," he said. After the acci-dent, the accused driver-Dhiraj Kadam (28) andAkshay Mahagade (28)- triedto escape from the spot.

However, people who hadgathered at the site, caughtthem and handed over to thepolice. "We found that both ofthem were so drunk that theywere not even able to walkproperly," the official said. The

owner of the car, KunalGamare (32), was also arrest-ed later, he added. The accusedhave been booked under IPCsections 304 (2) (punishmentfor culpable homicide notamounting to murder), 279(rash driving or riding on apublic way), 34 (commonintention) and under variousprovisions of the MotorVehicles Act.

Centre agrees toinclude 3 Odishaairports underUDAN schemePNS n BHUBANESWAR

The Centre has agreed toinclude three airports inOdisha under the regionalconnectivity scheme, offi-cials said on Saturday. Thedecision in this regard wastaken at a meeting betweenCivil Aviation SecretaryPradeep Singh Kharola andOdishas Chief Secretary A KTripathy on Friday."Discussion held yesterdaywith the visiting civil aviationsecretary. Jeypore, Rourkelaand Utkela will go again tothe next round of Udanscheme. There is inbuilt sub-sidy support to the state gov-ernment along with Centre inthis initiative," Tripathy said.

Woman pours liquid on daughter todemand justice for Unnao victimPNS n NEW DELHI

A woman poured suspectedinflammable liquid on herminor daughter outside Delhi'sSafdarjung Hospital on Saturdayafternoon while demanding jus-tice for the Unnao victim, policesaid. The incident occurrednearly an hour after the Unnaogang rape-and-murder victim'sbody was taken to her village inUttar Pradesh from Safdarjungafter a post-mortem. Whenmedia persons were speaking tothe nearby people, the womancame there shouting "we wantjustice" and immediately pouredwhat is suspected to be aninflammable substance on herminor daughter, sources said.However, the police saved thegirl and took the woman alongwith them. The woman saidshe was traumatised by therecent Unnao rape-and-murdercase and came to the SafdarjungHospital after hearing abouther death, a senior officer said,adding that they had sent the liq-uid to check its property OnThursday, the rape victim fromUttar Pradesh's Unnao districtwas airlifted to Delhi and admit-ted to the Hospital after she wasset on fire by five people.

PNS n UNNAO

In a series of tweets,Congress General SecretaryPriyanka Gandhi quoted thelast word of the Unnao rapevictim and said, "I pray toGod to give courage to theUnnao victim's family in thishour of grief. It is a failure ofall of us that we could notgive her justice. Socially, weare all guilty, but it alsoshows the hollowness of lawand order situation in UttarPradesh."

Priyanka Gandhi, who isalso in-charge of the easternUttar Pradesh slammed theYogi Adityanath governmentand said, "Keeping in mindthe previous incident ofUnnao, why the governmentdid not give immediate pro-tection to the victim? Whataction was taken on the offi-cer who refused to registerthe FIR? On atrocities againstwomen what steps govern-ment has taken to stop suchincidents in UP?"

The victim was attackedoutside the Sindupur villagein Unnao when she was onher way to a court in Rae

Bareli to attend a hearing inthe rape case. She wasabducted by the five menHarishankar Trivedi, RamKishore Trivedi, UmeshBajpai, Shivam and ShubhamTrivedi. She was beaten,stabbed and burnt and wasleft to die. However, shestood up and walked up to akilometre to a person whowas working outside a houseand sought help. She made acall to the police herself.

She was rushed to a near-by hospital from where shewas referred to the civil hos-pital in Lucknow where shewas admitted in a plasticsurgery burn unit. The vic-tim's statement was record-ed there.

In her statement, shenamed all the five accusedand narrated the ordeal. Outof the five persons, includingtwo who were accused in therape case, the Unnao rapesurvivor named, two havebeen arrested, the UP policesaid. She said that theaccused Shivam andShubham Trivedi hadabducted and raped her andvideo-graphed the act.

‘Save me, I don'twant to die’

‘Another daughterhas lost her lifeawaiting justice’PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress leader RahulGandhi on Saturday con-doled the "heart-wrench-ing" death of the Unnaorape victim who was setablaze and said anotherdaughter has lost her lifewhile awaiting justice. Therape victim, who was air-lifted to a Delhi hospital aftershe was set ablaze allegedlyby five persons, includingtwo men accused of rapingher, died on Friday night.

"The saddening andheart-wrenching death ofthe innocent daughter ofUnnao, that has shamedhumanity, has left meangered and stunned.Another daughter has losther life while awaiting jus-tice and security," Gandhisaid in a tweet in Hindi.

"In this hour of grief, Iexpress my condolences tothe victim's family," hetweeted with the hashtag'Beti Ko Nyay Do'.

S A Bobde

‘India will work to protectits long-term interests’

Judges' presser last yearself-correcting measure: CJI

Refusing to talk to themedia citing that thecase was sub-judice,Niyaz drove away withhis brother, Mubeen,who was detained onAugust 7 andimmediately shifted tothe central jail in Agra

"Organising Comic Conin Delhi will always beclose to my heart as wedid our inaugural show inthe city nine years ago.The city has the mostenthusiastic comic bookfans and cosplayers,who take this celebrationof their beloved fandomsvery seriously

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 8, 2019 nation 05

PNS n PUNE

The National Conference ofDirectors General andInspectors General of Police isunderway in Pune with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi inattendance on Saturday.

The three-day conference,which began on Friday, willconclude on Sunday.

Union Home Minister AmitShah and National SecurityAdvisor Ajit Doval are alsoattending the conference.

Before heading to the IndianInstitute of Science Educationand Research (IISER) for theconference, Modi attended theArmed Forces Flag Day pro-gramme at the Raj Bhavan, dis-

trict officials said. He also metthe widow and daughter ofmajor Kunal Gosavi, who waskilled in the Nagrota terrorattack in 2016, they said.

"The DGP/IGP conferenceis underway in Pune. Toppolice officials from all overIndia are attending this meet,"the Prime Minister's Office

(PMO) said in a tweet. Theprime minister released a 57-minute video featuring ArmedForces Flag Day on Twitter say-ing, "On Armed Forces FlagDay we salute the indomitablecourage of our forces and theirfamilies. I also urge you to con-tribute the welfare of ourforces."

PM Modi attends top policeofficials' conference in Pune

SHORT READS

IED defused bysecurity forces in J-K's KupwaraSRINAGAR: Security forces onSaturday recovered anddefused an improvisedexplosive device (IED) inJammu and Kashmir'sKupwara district, police said.The IED was found by a "road-opening party" in the morningon a highway in the Warpora-Handwara area in the northKashmir district, a policeofficial said. The bomb disposalsquad reached the spot andseized the IED that was laterdefused, the official said.

Man found dead near Botanical Gardenin Howrah

Sanitation hasbecome people'smovement: RajnathNEW DELHI: Hailing 'SwachhBharat Mission', DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh onSaturday said that sanitationhas become a people'smovement in the country. Addressing an event in DelhiCantonment area here,Rajnath said children havebecome the ambassadors of'Swachhta' (cleanliness). Healso flagged off a specialplogging awareness drive andsaid people have understoodthe downside of usingplastics.

Howrah, Dec 7 (PTI) A manwas found dead on a roadsidein the Botanical Garden area ofthe city on Saturday, policesaid. The man, identified asRajesh Kr Show, was a tippler,they said. He was found lyingunconscious near a drain in BGarden Lane, following whichhe was sent to the HowrahSadar Hospital, the police said.Doctors at the hospital declaredhim 'brought dead', they added.Officials said no injury markswere found on the body, andthey suspect no foul play.

Before heading to the Indian Instituteof Science Education and Research(IISER) for the conference, Modiattended the Armed Forces Flag Dayprogramme at the Raj Bhavan, districtofficials said

MP seeks law to make MPsreveal details of foreign tripsPNS n NEW DELHI

With the BJP often targetingthe Congress leader RahulGandhi over his "secret" for-eign travels, a ruling partymember has pitched for a lawto make it mandatory for MPsto disclose the details of theiroverseas trips, includingsources of funding and expens-es incurred.

BJP Member of ParliamentG V L Narasimha Rao hasintroduced a private mem-ber's bill, the Representation ofthe People (Amendment) Bill,in Rajya Sabha, asserting thatas public representatives MPsmust make complete disclosureabout their foreign travels,including those undertaken intheir personal capacity.

"Foreign hospitality receivedin any manner from foreigngovernments or institutionsmust also be disclosed to theChairman of Rajya Sabha orthe Speaker of Lok Sabha as thecase may be besides seekingprior permission from theCentral government as persection 9 of the ForeignContribution (Regulation)

Act," the bill says.Rao noted that lawmakers

were issued guidelines in 2017about sharing details of theirforeign visits, including theones in personal capacity, and

the Parliament Affairs Ministryin July 2019 reiterated themthrough a communication.

However, most MPs havenot adhered to the advisory inthe absence of a statutory

requirement, he noted, as heunderlined the need for a lawin this regard.

"MPs are important publicfunctionaries and transparen-cy about their functioning,sources of their income andexpenses is necessary todemonstrate their financialintegrity. From time-to-time,Parliament has enacted legis-lation and framed rules toensure that those elected toParliament uphold the cher-ished ideal," he said.

Though private member'sbills are rarely passed, a dis-cussion on the proposed legis-lation will allow BJP membersto attack the Congress as theruling party has time and againattacked its leader RahulGandhi for his "secret" foreigntrips.

In October this year, theparty at a press conferencequestioned his "frequent" for-eign visits and the "secrecy"about them, asking if he wasinvolved in some secret oper-ation. It has argued that his for-eign visits are a matter of pub-lic interest as he is a public rep-resentative.

PNS n PANAJI

A Goa Forward Party (GFP)leader and former state minis-ter on Saturday claimed that hehas submitted to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi a"secret" report on the drugsnexus, in which he has namedseveral politicians and police-men.

Talking to reporters, GFPMLA Vinod Paliencar said hesubmitted the report to Modilast week.

"I have submitted a secretreport to the PM. I cannot dis-close the contents of the report,but I have named politicians

and police involved in thedrug nexus," he said. "Localpolice inspectors and sub-inspectors are hand- in-gloveswith the drug peddlers.Narcotic trade is on the rise inGoa with the blessings of politi-cians and police," he alleged.

In the last couple of months,

several drug seizures involvingforeigners, were made in thestate, he said.

Paliencar, who was stateWater Resources Minister, wasdropped from the cabinet byChief Minister Pramod Sawantalong with GFP chief VijaiSardesai and MLA Jayesh

Salgaonkar in July this year fol-lowing the induction of 10Congress MLAs.

He also demanded a ban onthe upcoming SunburnElectronic Dance MusicFestival.

The Goa government hasgiven 'in-principle' approvalfor hosting Sunburn KlassiqueEDM festival in the coastal beltof Vagator in North Goabetween December 27 and 29.

"The government shouldpromote classical music andnot trance music. This trancemusic, to which the youth isgetting attracted, is the musicof demons," he said.

GFP leader submits ‘secret' report to PM on Goa drugs nexusI have submitted a secret report to the PM. I cannot disclose the contentsof the report, but I have namedpoliticians and police involved in thedrug nexus, says Vinod Paliencar

PNS n NEW DELHI

Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Saturday calledthe death of the rape victimfrom Unnao "shameful" forevery Indian and said hehoped that the Uttar Pradeshgovernment will hang theculprits "to set an example"for the society. The rape vic-tim, who was airlifted to aDelhi hospital after she wasset ablaze allegedly by fivepersons, including two menaccused of raping her, died onFriday night.

"The death of Unnao'sdaughter is shameful forevery Indian. God givecourage to the family of thevictim. The whole country isstanding with them in thisfight. I hope that the UP gov-ernment will soon completethe judicial process and hangour daughter's killers thatwill set an example for thewhole society," Kejriwal saidin a tweet in Hindi.

UNNAO RAPE CASE

Victim’s deathshameful, hopeUP govt hangsculprits: Kejriwal

Taken on joyride, 5-year-old raped by auto-rickshaw driverPNS n DARBHANGA (BIHAR)

A five-year-old girl was sexual-ly assaulted by an auto-rickshawdriver who beckoned her toaccompany him for a joyrideand dumped her at a secludedspot, battered and bruised,police said here on Saturday.

The incident took place inKharua More locality of Sadarpolice station area late Fridaynight and the girl, who fellunconscious following the sex-ual assault, was undergoingtreatment at a hospital while theaccused has been arrested, saidBabu Ram, SeniorSuperintendent of Police.

He said the girl was playingalong with another three-year-old close to the place where thethree-wheeler was parked andthen they got onto the vehicle.

Sahni started the vehicle,telling the girls that he wouldtake them for a joyride but soondropped the three- year-old ata nearby spot before raping thesurvivor at a secluded place, theofficer said.

The incident, coming closeon the heels of charred bodies

of unidentified woman,dumped after suspected rapeand murder, being recovered in Buxar and Samastipur dis-tricts earlier this week, sparkedoutrage.

While Deputy Chief MinisterSushil Kumar Modi evadedqueries from journalists in

Patna on the incident, RJDleaders Lalu Prasad, Rabri Deviand Tejashwi Yadav vented theirire at the senior BJP leader, aswell as Chief Minister NitishKumar for rising incidence ofcrimes against women. Prasad,who is in Ranchi serving sen-tences in fodder scam cases,shared the video clip of thedeputy CM refusing to answerqueries with a suggestive cap-tion — "Sush-ill Modi".

Rabri Devi, his wife, andTejashwi Yadav - the youngerson - tweeted accusing the stategovernment of shielding culpritsof the Muzaffarpur shelter homesex scandal, which they claimed,has emboldened those with aproclivity to engage in sexualcrimes.

Sahni started the vehicle, telling thegirls that he would take them for ajoyride but soon dropped the three-year-old at a nearby spot before raping the survivor at a secludedplace, the officer said

‘No response fromMamata's office onrequests for dialogue’PNS n KOLKATA

West Bengal Governor JagdeepDhankhar on Saturday saidthat all attempts to reach out toChief Minister MamataBanerjee were exhaustedas there was noresponse from heroffice regardinghis requests for adialogue.

Stating that achief ministershould be inregular commu-nication with thegovernor, Dhankharsaid he was still hopefulabout a positive response fromBanerjee.

".@MamataOfficial. AsGovernor after exhausting backchannels I engaged in out-reach to CM by publicly invit-

ing her to Discussions andDialogue at her chosen place,time, date as this the only con-stitutional way," Dhankhar saidin a tweet. "CM sd (should) notbe incommunicado to Guv.

Am sure there wd(would) b +ve (pos-

itive) response," headded.

The gover-nor, who hasbeen at logger-heads with theM a m a t a

Banerjee gov-ernment over sev-

eral issues, is beingblamed by the ruling

TMC for delaying clearance ofpending bills leading to anabrupt two-day adjournment ofthe state assembly earlier thisweek, opening a new front forhostilities.

PNSn LUCKNOW

BSP chief Mayawati on Saturdayurged the Supreme Court to takesuo motu cognizance of thegrowing incidents of crimeagainst women and direct theCentre to take prompt steps foreffectively checking them.

Launching a scathing attackon the BJP government in UttarPradesh, she said incidents ofrape, murder and molestationare taking place all over thecountry, but in UP, such caseshave been "excessive".

"It is a matter of deep regretthat during the past some years,especially since the BJP govern-ment has come to power, womenare not safe. This is not the onlyincident, in UP I said it yester-day also that there is not a daywhen there is not an incident ofrape and murder, attempt to rapeor molestation," Mayawati saidat a press conference here. "They

are taking place all over thecountry but in UP, such caseshave been excessive. My partybelieves that till the state gov-ernments do not deal with thecriminal elements promptly andsternly they cannot be checked,"she said. Mayawati's remarkscame after the death of Unnaorape victim in a Delhi hospital.The 23-year-old woman wasset afire by five men, includingher two alleged rapists, on

Thursday morning when shewas going to Rae Bareli to attenda court hearing in the case filedby her. One of the two menaccused of raping her last yearwas granted bail about 10 daysago. The other man had been onthe run. All the five men involvedin the Thursday attack havebeen arrested. "If the SupremeCourt take note of the growingcases of crime against women onits own and direct the Centre totake action, I think then it(Centre) would come into actionmode," the BSP chief said."Parliament is in session and theCentral government need totake cognizance of these casesand frame strict law for con-trolling it, but the Centre doesnot seem to be in action mode.My party wants the SupremeCourt to take it seriously. FirstHyderabad and now in Unnao ,such cases have been taking placecontinuously," she said.

Night temp continuesto drop in J-K, Ladakh

Cops ‘abruptlywithdraw'security toretired HC judgePNS n KOLKATA

The Kerala police on Saturday"abruptly withdrew" securityprovided to retired High Courtjudge Justice B Kemal Pasha,who had been vocal againstthe CPI(M)-led LDF govern-ment's 'failure' in handlingvarious cases, sources saidhere. Justice Kemal Pasha saidfour armed police guardsdeputed for his personal secu-rity were withdrawn by thegovernment.

When contacted, he toldPTI, "The decision was takenat the Home Secretary level onFriday. The police personnelleft me ending their servicetoday (Saturday)."

The retired judge notedthat the security was with-drawn "abruptly" at a timewhen he was facing threatfrom Islamic States terroroperatives in Kerala.

CRIME AGAINST WOMEN

PNS n SRINAGAR

Over 400 freshly-trainedyouths from Jammu andKashmir were on Saturdayrecruited into the Army at apassing-out-parade here, thefirst such parade of the forceafter the erstwhile state becamethe Union territory.

The passing-out-parade ofthe soldiers, belonging to dif-ferent areas of Jammu andKashmir, was conducted atthe regimental centre ofJammu and Kashmir LightInfantry (JAKLI) at Rangrethin the outskirts of the city here,an Army official said.

The parade, which wasreviewed by the GeneralOfficer Commanding (GoC)of Srinagar-based ChinarCorps, Lt Gen KJS Dhillon,was attended by hundreds ofparents and relatives of theyoung soldiers.

The official said, "404 youngsoldiers from Jammu and

Kashmir were recruited intothe Army's Jammu andKashmir Light Infantry(JAKLI) regiment after com-pleting one year strenuoustraining."

Congratulating the newrecruits, Lt Gen Dhillonimpressed upon selfless servicetowards the nation.

Later, the corps commanderfelicitated Ilyas Ahmad, anhonorary Captain of the

JAKLI who has retired fromthe service but continues towork for the betterment of thepeople.

"Avalanche rescue isAhmad's specialty. He hasbeen awarded two Senamedals, has been awardedcommendation card by theChief of Army Staff five times.He is a very brave jawan hail-ing from Tangdhar Kupwara,"Lt Gen Dhillon said.

l At minus 25.4 deg C, Drass coldestPNS n JAMMU

The night temperature contin-ued to trend downward inUnion Territories of Jammuand Kashmir, and Ladakh asDrass remained the coldestplace in the region recordingminus 25.4 degrees Celsius, aMeteorological Departmentofficial said on Saturday.

Srinagar experienced itscoldest night in the season sofar with the mercury falling 0.6degree Celsius to settle at a lowof minus 3.6 degrees Celsius,three notches below the nor-mal.

The MeT official said thenight temperature is likely toimprove in the coming daysdue to a Western Disturbancewhich is likely to hit the twoUnion Territories onWednesday, bringing anotherspell of snow and rains.

He said Drass in Kargil dis-trict of Ladakh was the coldestrecorded place in the regionwith a night temperature ofminus 25.4 degrees Celsiusagainst the previous night's24.3 degrees Celsius.

Leh town, also in Ladakh,

was reeling at a minimum of15.9 degrees Celsius, the offi-cial added. Foggy conditionsengulfed most parts ofKashmir, including Srinagar, asthe Sun remained hiddenbehind the clouds in the morn-ing, the official said.

He said the minimum tem-perature in Jammu andKashmir's winter capitalJammu marked a slight dip andsettled at 8.5 degrees Celsius,two notches below season'saverage.

Pahalgam hill resort in southKashmir was the coldestrecorded place in the valleywith a low of minus 5.9 degreesCelsius followed by the famousski resort of Gulmarg in northKashmir at minus 5.6 degreesCelsius, the official said.

Katra, which serves as thebase camp for the pilgrims vis-iting Vaishno Devi shrine inReasi district of Jammu region,recorded a low of 8.7 degreesCelsius, the official said, addingBhadarwah township of Dodadistrict was, however, the cold-est recorded place in the regionwith a minimum of 1.4 degreesCelsius.

Over 400 youths from J-Kinducted into Army

Maya urges SC to take suo motucognizance of rising incidents

Foreign hospitality received in any manner fromforeign governments or institutions must also bedisclosed to the Chairman of Rajya Sabha or the

Speaker of Lok Sabha as the case may be besides seekingprior permission from the Central government as per section9 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act

— G V L NARASIMHA, BJP Member of Parliament

CAPSULE

NTPC signs termloan of Rs 5,000 crwith SBINEW DELHI: Power generationcompany NTPC onSaturday said ithas signed aterm loanagreement forRs 5,000 crorewas signed withState Bank of India (SBI). Theloan facility has been extendedat an interest rate linked to 3-month MCLR (marginal costof funds-based lending rate) ofthe bank and has a door-to-door tenure of 15 years, NTPCsaid in a statement. The loanwill be utilised to part financethe capital expenditure ofNTPC, it said.

BANK FRAUDED attaches Rs 34 cr assets ofGujarat companyNEW DELHI: Assets worth overRs 34 crore of a Gujarat-basedfirm have been attached underthe anti-money laundering lawin connection with an allegedbank fraud case, theEnforcement Directorate saidon Saturday.The Enforcement Directorateprobe pertains to BiotorIndustries Limited and itsmanaging director, Rajesh MKapadia, and others, which isalso being investigated by theGujarat police and the CentralBureau of Investigation. Proberevealed that the accused had"misappropriated" funds to thetune of about Rs 250 crore bypreparing bogus bills andinvoices during 2007-2009, theED said in a statement. "ArifIsmailbhai Memon, owner ofKGN Group of companies, wasinstrumental in preparing thecircular paper transactions fortransferring proceeds of crimein connivance with RajeshKapadia and others," it said. Byadopting fraudulent methods,Memon parked the proceeds ofcrime of about Rs 62 crore inthe accounts of the KGN Groupcompanies, it alleged.

Gaurs Group toinvest Rs 750 cr in new projectNEW DELHI: Realty firm GaursGroup on Saturday said it willinvest Rs 750 crore over thenext three years to develop acommercial project in GreaterNoida. The company willdevelop 12 lakh sq ft area inthe project 'Gaur WorldStreet'. It will be mixed usecommercial projectcomprising office and retailspace as well as hotel, acompany statement said. Theproject cost is estimated ataround Rs 750 crore, it added.Gaurs Group has recentlycompleted the construction of'Gaur City Mall' comprising 15lakh sq ft area with aninvestment of Rs 750 crore inGreater Noida. It expects toearn a rental income of aroundRs 75 crore annually from thisproject. Gaurs has alreadydeveloped 'Gaur Central Mall'at Raj Nagar District Centre inGhaziabad.

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 8, 2019 money 06

PNS n NEW DELHI

The crisis in the Indian auto-mobile industry has had its rip-ple effect on the auto componentindustry with most automobilemanufacturers imposing a self-reduction of production byaround 15-20%. As a result, themanufacturers and suppliers ofcomponents to these manufac-turers have also had to cutdown their production. Theend result of this is the auto com-ponent industry is seeing shed-ding of over 100,000 temporaryjobs till July this year.

In the case of the largest car

maker, Maruti Suzuki, a major-ity of components follow a just-in-time delivery to the assemblyline. The production plans areconveyed the previous day to thecomponent suppliers. Thismeans when the production isdown in the Maruti car plant, thecomponent units will alsoremain without work. Theywould also not pile up invento-ry without knowing what theproduction plan is going to be.

The details have been sharedby the trade body, theAutomotive ComponentManufacturers Association(ACMA). The association says

the combined turnover of itsmembers declined in the six-month period, April toSeptember, this year to Rs 1.79lakh crore against Rs 1.99 lakhcrore for the same period of theprevious year, a drop of 10.1%.

The only saving grace for the

industry has been that the fig-ures for export and sales to thereplacement market have showna marginal increase. Exportswere at Rs 51,397 crore and theaftermarket segment grew to Rs35,096 crore. These represent anincrease of 2.7% and 4% respec-

tively from the previous year'sfigures. The ACMA has tried toquantify the notional loss ininvestment in the componentsector too. They say if the indus-try had registered a growth of10%, it would have attracted aninvestment of around $2 billion,which now stands lost.

The automobile industry inthe country is currently makinglarge scale changes to be in com-pliance with the BS-VI emissionnorms. This has meant aninvestment of up to Rs 90,000crore. It is reported that thisamount includes the compo-nents sector contribution of

around Rs 35,000 crore. Comingat a lean sales season, the indus-try is virtually crippled as far asthe finances are concerned.Many of the component makersare in the MSME segment.

The industry is hoping thegovernment will intervene andprevent a total catastrophe.

Another demand from theACMA is to rationalise the GST.There are two slabs at which thecomponents are taxed, 18% and28%. The industry wants this tobe made one level, 18%. Theindustry says this is leading togrey market operations in thereplacement market.

RIPPLE EFFECT

One lakh workers in auto parts industry lost jobs till July The details have been shared by the trade body, the AutomotiveComponent ManufacturersAssociation. The association says thecombined turnover of its membersdeclined in the six-month period

PNS n VIENNA

The powerful OPEC group ofoil producers and its alliesreached a deal Friday to cut pro-duction by 500,000 barrels perday in a bid to stem prices whichhave been under pressure fromabundant reserves and weakglobal economic growth.

Friday's so-called OPEC+meeting included Russia, theworld's second-largest oil pro-ducer and not a member of thecartel.

It ended with a deal for a cuteffective as of January 1 whichsets an output target 1.7 millionbarrels per day lower thanOctober 2018 levels, with SaudiArabia and Russia makingalmost half the additional reduc-tions between them.

In a surprise move, the blocalso announced that severalparticipating countries, "main-ly Saudi Arabia", would makeadditional voluntary cuts bring-ing the overall cut to more than2.1 million barrels per day.

World oil prices surged inresponse, with US benchmarkWTI and its European coun-terpart Brent both rising two percent in an initial reaction beforesettling down at levels around1.3 per cent higher on the dayin the late European afternoon.

On Thursday, a meeting of

OPEC ministers had run lateinto the evening without a deal.

Saudi Oil Minister PrinceAbdelaziz Ben Salman, whowas at his first meeting in thepost, said first-day talks lastingsix hours saw delegations"labouring...until 11 o'clock inthe evening, squashing their

heads, squeezing their brains" insearch of an agreement.

Iraqi Oil Minister ThamerGhadban told reporters Fridaythat "what will happen duringthe first quarter (of 2020) will beassessed during an extraordi-nary meeting" of OPEC and itspartners in early March.

He held out the prospectthat the cuts could even beextended until the end of 2020but that it was "too early to saynow". Earlier, Prince Abdulazizhinted at Saudi irritation thatnot all countries have beensticking to the production quo-tas agreed under the currentdeal. While Saudi Arabia hasvoluntarily pumped below itsquota other producers —including Russia, Iraq andNigeria — had been exceedingtheirs. "Like religion, if you area believer you have to practice,without practice you are a non-believer," Prince Abdulaziz said,stressing the importance of "fur-ther conformity" if OPEC wereto achieve its goals.

Analyst David Madden atMarkets.com said that "the usualinfighting of OPEC continues,as the Saudis call for greatercompliance with the group tar-get, while the likes of Iraq havebeen overproducing".

Saudi Arabia in particular hasan interest in underpinningcrude prices in the wake of itsinitial public offer (IPO) ofshares in state-owned oil giantAramco. The group, whichalone accounts for around 10per cent of the world's crude oil,said Thursday it had raisedUSD 25.6 billion in the world'sbiggest stock sale ever.

In a surprise move, the bloc alsoannounced that several participatingcountries, ‘mainly Saudi Arabia’,would make additional voluntary cutsbringing the overall cut to more than2.1 mn barrels per day

PNS n AHMEDABAD

SB Energy, a sister company ofSoft Bank of Japan, hasannounced that it will investUSD 4 billion or Rs 30,000crore in renewable energy sec-tor in Gujarat, a state govern-ment release said on Friday.

The announcement wasmade at a meeting betweenchief minister Vijay Rupaniand Executive Chairman of SBEnergy Manoj Kohli.

The investment will be insolar energy, wind energy andother unconventional renew-able energy sources, it said.The present installed capaci-ty of renewable energy inGujarat is 8,885 MW and thestate government aims to rampit up to 30,000 MW by 2022.

"Of this 30,000 MW, 20,000MW will be used in the statewhile another 10,000 MWwill be given to other states. SBEnergy's announcement ofinvesting 4 billion US dollarswill go a long way in achiev-ing the target," the releasesaid. Rupani, on Friday, alsoinaugurated a Global BusinessServices Centre of Bank ofAmerica at GujaratInternational Finance Tec-City (Gift-City) inGandhinagar.

Chief Operations andTechnology Officer of Bank ofAmerica, Catherine Bessant,said it started its operations inIndia in 2004, and this was itsfifth unit after Hyderabad,Mumbai, Guragaon andChennai.

Soft Bank sister firm toinvest $4 bn in renewableenergy in Gujarat

OPEC agrees on oil output cutsafter much ‘brain squeezing'

PNS n KATHMANDU

Nepal SBI Bank, a subsidiaryof State Bank of India, hasposted a Rs 229.25 crore netprofit for 2018-19, registeringa growth of 13.29 per cent.

The bank mobilised totaldeposit of Rs 9,792.45 croreand extended loans andadvances of Rs 8,864.47 croreat the closing of the year,according to a statementissued by the bank ahead of itsAnnual General Meeting.

Speaking at a press briefing,Nepal SBI Managing DirectorAnukul Bhatnagar said thatthe banking sector of Nepalshould jointly fight againstpossible cyber attack as leak-age of information of onebank could jeopardize theperformance of the entirebanking system. The bank hasdecided to distribute 16.84 percent bonus including 6 percent bonus share and 10.84 percent cash dividends from thelast year's profit and accumu-lated profits of the past, heinformed.

Nepal SBIposts 13%growth in netprofit for FY19

PNS n WASHINGTON

The US has completed imple-mentation of H-1B electronicregistration process for the2021 cap season and the peti-tions for the most sought afterwork visa among Indian ITprofessionals will be acceptedfrom April 1 next year, thecountry's immigration agencyhas announced.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows theUS companies to employ for-eign workers in specialityoccupations that require theo-retical or technical expertise.The technology companiesdepend on it to hire tens ofthousands of employees eachyear from countries like Indiaand China.

The US Citizenship andImmigration Services (USCIS),

the federal agency mandatedwith task of approving suchapplications, on Fridayannounced that it had com-pleted the process to imple-ment the H-1B electronic reg-istration process for the 2021

cap season.The companies applying for

H-1B visas for foreign workersfor the fiscal year 2021 wouldhave to register online and paya processing fee of USD 10.

The USCIS would start

accepting the H-1B petitionsfrom April 1, 2020 for the nextfiscal year. "The electronic reg-istration process will dramat-ically streamline processingby reducing paperwork anddata exchange, and will providean overall cost savings to peti-tioning employers," the USCISsaid.

Under this new process,employers seeking H-1B work-ers subject to the cap, or theirauthorized representatives, will

complete a registration processthat requires only basic infor-mation about their companyand each requested worker.

The USCIS will open an ini-tial registration period fromMarch 1 to March 20, 2020.The H-1B random selectionprocess, if needed, will then berun on those electronic regis-trations. Only those withselected registrations will beeligible to file H-1B cap-sub-ject petitions, according to a

media report. "By streamliningthe H-1B cap selection processwith a new electronic regis-tration system, USCIS is cre-ating cost savings and effi-ciencies for petitioners andthe agency, as only those select-ed will now be required tosubmit a full petition," saidUSCIS Deputy Director MarkKoumans.

"The agency completed asuccessful pilot testing phase,which included sessions withindustry representatives, andimplementation of the regis-tration system will further thegoal of modernizing USCISfrom a paper-based to anonline-filing agency," he said.

USCIS will post step-by-step instructions informingregistrants how to complete theregistration process on its web-site along with key dates and

timelines as the initial regis-tration period nears. The fed-eral agency will also conductpublic engagements and otheroutreach activities to ensureregistrants and interested par-ties are familiar with the newregistration system, it said.

The USCIS may determineif it is necessary to continueaccepting registrations, or openan additional registration peri-od, if it does not receiveenough registrations and sub-sequent petitions projected toreach the numerical alloca-tions, it added.

The H1B visa has an annu-al numerical limit cap of65,000 visas each fiscal year asmandated by the Congress.The first 20,000 petitions filedon behalf of beneficiaries witha US master's degree or high-er are exempt from the cap.

The electronic registration process will dramatically streamlineprocessing by reducing paperworkand data exchange, and will providean overall cost savings to petitioningemployers

PNS n KOLKATA

Diversified agro-businesscompany Godrej Agrovet Ltdon Friday said it is optimisticof achieving at least 14 to 15per cent growth in its revenueduring the current fiscal, amideconomic slowdown in thecountry. The company is alsoexpecting to record 17 to 18per cent growth in its net prof-it during the fiscal 2019-20, anofficial said.

"Last fiscal, we had grownby about 10 per cent to Rs5,900 crore. We are aiming atRs 7,000 crore topline butoptimistic of achieving at least14-15 per cent growth in rev-enue in the current financialyear," Godrej Agrovet manag-ing director B S Yadav saidhere. He said revenue growthis expected due to pricehike of our prod-ucts as input costshave increasedand better per-formance of

some verticals. The companywill continue to make capitalexpenditure of Rs 250-300crore for another three yearswith a focus on few verticalslike animal feeds, agro-chem-icals and value- added dairy.

"The company is expectingbetter profit margin. Growthof profit before tax (PBT) willbe 7-8 per cent and net prof-it growth at 17-18 per cent(due to decline in corporatetax)," he said.

He was in the city to launchimported crop protectionchemical "Hanabi" to preventfrom red spider mite prevalentin the tea gardens of east andnorth-east region. Yadav saidthe company sees a lot ofpotential in exporting agro-chemicals as India hasbecome more competitive

than China.

Godrej Agrovet hopefulof achieving 14-15%revenue growth

Netflix looking to exportcontent from India withRs 3 K cr investmentPNS n NEW DELHI

Online video streaming plat-form Netflix is looking todevelop premium content inIndia and distribute it global-ly, its Chief Executive OfficerReed Hastings said on Friday.

He said that a reason forinvesting in India is stable reg-ulatory regime and allowingself-regulation for over-the-topplayers such as Netflix.

"So many great storytellersare there in India. We are justinvesting in using those andexporting. Internet does manythings but one of them allowsIndian content to be sharedaround the world," Hastingssaid. He was speaking at apanel discussion organised byhis company with Bollywoodactress Huma Qureshi.

He said the company isinvesting Rs 3,000 crore todevelop content, and Indiancontent is being watchedaround the world.

"We have had successes of

Laila and Sacred Games allaround. A cute little one isMighty Little Bhim -- that'sgreat Indian little character.Now, we have made a littleseries which is subscribed andbeing watched by 27 millionhouseholds," Hastings said.

He said Mighty Little Bhimis being watched across Brazil,Canada and other countries.

"Such an opportunity hereto be like the UK. The UKexports tremendous amountof content. What we are tryingto invest here. It has been inmovies but premium serieslike Laila and Sacred Gameshave been under develop-ment," Hasting said.

Bharti Airtel to gain at cost of Vodafone Idea: brokeragesPNS n NEW DELHI

Telecom czar Sunil BhartiMittal-led Bharti Airtel mayconsolidate its position at theexpense of Vodafone Idea Ltd asit has better balance sheetstrength to deal with the even-tuality of having to pay paststatutory dues in case theSupreme Court rejects theirreview petitions, brokeragessaid. Airtel and VodafoneIdea have filed sepa-rate petitions in theSupreme Courtseeking reviewof the October24 order of theapex court thatheld them liableto pay statutorydues for past 14 yearsafter including non-tele-com revenue in their annualadjusted gross revenues (AGR).The dues totalling Rs 1.47 lakhcrore for the industry are to bepaid within three months of theorder.

"The liabilities are large atUSD 4.8 billion for Airtel andUSD 5 billion for Vodafone

Idea, and if theSupreme Court wereto dismiss the review

petition causing theentire liabilities to

devolve, it would be anegative development for

Airtel but even more serious forVodafone Idea which may findit difficult to fund these liabili-ties before January 24, 2020,"Morgan Stanley said in a report.

This, it said, "could poten-tially lead to further marketshare consolidation in theindustry thereby strengthen-

ing Airtel's positioning in theindustry." The two firms havebeen lobbying together with thegovernment for relief on pay-ment of the statutory liabilities.

Bharti Airtel's board hasalready approved raising USD 3bn through a combination ofequity (USD 2 bn) and debt(USD 1 bn).

"In our view, this fundraise isprimarily to take care of theworst-case outcome whereinthe entire AGR dues becomepayable," it said. "However, ifpart of the AGR liabilities wereto be waived and/or were paidover a period of time, then thecompany could use the pro-ceeds for repayment of existingdebt. In either case, we seeAirtel's balance sheet strength asa differentiating factor in theindustry."

Airtel and Vodafone Idea have filed separate petitions in the Supreme Court seekingreview of the October 24 order of the apex courtthat held them liable to pay statutory dues forpast 14 years after including non-telecom revenuein their annual adjusted gross revenues

US agency implements H-1B electronic registration process

special 07VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 8, 2019

WHISPER TO YOUR DOGUnruly, unhappy and aggressive pets can be a problem not just for the pet parents but also those around.SHALINI SAKSENA speaks with SHIRIN MERCHANT, the pet shrink, who busts myths and tells you how tounderstand what dogs are saying

Professional Canine,Trainer CourseHave you always loved dogs anddreamed of a career workingwith them? This extensivecourse can help you turn yourpassion for pets into aprofession.

Professional Canine Behaviour CourseHave you ever wanted to helpdogs that are struggling with fear,separation anxiety, toilettingissues or even wondered what adog's bark means? This coursewill teach you how to understand

canine behaviour better and howto help pet parents struggling withbehaviour issues.

Therapy Dog CourseDogs have a way of cheering upanyone who is sad. If you havealways wanted to spread some tail

wagging sunshine in this world,then Therapy Dog work maybe thehappiest and most fulfilling workyou will ever find in this world!

Kenneling and Pet-sitting CourseStarting a dog kennel requiresmore than a place and an

affinity for dogs. A good kennelowner must have intricateknowledge of canine behaviourtoo. If you want to be known asthe kennel that has thehappiest, stress free dogs thenthis course will help youachieve that.

Advanced CanineAggression CourseDog aggression is one of mainproblems faced by pet parentsand dog behaviourists around theworld. If you would like tounderstand and help biting dogs,then this course will show you

how to do it.

Understand Your Dog’sBehaviour, Online CourseWant to learn dog training andbehaviour from us but cannottravel? Online courses help yougain the knowledge.

W A N T T O L E A R N D O G L A N G U A G E ? H E R E ' S H O W

She was born into a family that haddogs. She grew up along with them.She has always loved animals, espe-cially dogs. When she was in herearly 20s, she met her mentor John

Rogerson, who had come to India for aworkshop. When she attended this session,with her pet, realising that it would changeher life. She loved the session so much thatshe ended up meeting Rogerson, went toEngland to study and when she came backto India, she started her practice. Meet thecountry’s dog shrink — Shirin Merchant.

What is a pet shrink or a dog behav-iourist and how what he does is differentfrom a vet? “Just like in the human worldthere are different professions, the same istrue in the animal world. There is a dognutritionist, a physiotherapist, a dog train-er and a vet who treats the animals and thenthere is the behaviourist. A behaviourist isa person who acts as a bridge between thepet and the humans and reduces the gap thatexists between the species. He helps you tounderstand your pet and the problem thehuman is facing. A number of times thehumans and the dog faces problems becausethey can’t understand each other. Veryoften the pet parents have a problembecause they can’t understand what the dogwants since they don’t speak dog languageand the canine can’t express what he is feel-ing since it is a dog. A behaviourist bridgesthe gap by explaining the canine behaviourand how to work around the problems to thepet parents. Typical issues that are faced byhumans when it comes to their dog includesurinating inappropriately, destruction, fearand depression to name a few. He is a kindof a dog psychologist,” Merchant explains.

She tells you that even though humanshave been keeping pets for centuries, yet theneed for a pet behaviourist has gone up.There is a reason for the same. “For centuries,we have been keeping dogs; for centuries vil-lagers have been keeping dogs in the coun-try. If one were to see villager with a dog, thepet will come when called, takes the cattleto the pastures, comes when it is hungry,walks for kilometers with the owner anddoesn’t need a leash. Yet the animal is thehappiest. If you talk to a villager and men-tion trainer and behaviourist, he would havea blank look and want to know what thework would entail and that it is the mostridiculous profession under the sun. Today,

in the urban set-up, there are far more train-ers and behaviourists than ever before. Yetwe have more dogs that are abandoned andput up for adoption due to the pet’s behav-iour than ever before. This means that as perparents, we are doing something that is seri-ously wrong.

“One of the reasons partly is why wekeep a dog, to begin with. In the past, whenpeople kept a dog, they were ready for it.Today, people keep a dog on a whim. ‘I havea big house, let me keep a dog’. ‘My child islonely, let me get a dog’. I want a bigger andfancier breed than my neighbour’. Researchshows that we spend more time whilelooking for a car that we will buy and prob-ably have only for three-four years than onan animal which will stay with them formore than 15 years. People don’t give it muchthought. They get the dog on a flimsy rea-son. Then they realise that the pet is far moreof a responsibility. When they realise theycan’t cope and that is when the dog is putup for adoption. Also, there are so manypeople around them and they feel that theycan be roped in to look after the dog,”Merchant says.

Let’s take the Husky. She tells you thatthere is a need to choose the right breed aswell and this is not applicable to India.Everyone wants to keep a foreign dog. Thisis truer in the Indian scenario. Everyonewants an exotic looking dog. There is nodenying that is a beautiful looking dog. “Butit is not fit for the Indian weather. It is notjust the coat. The Husky has a double coatto protect it from the freezing temperatures.I see the Husky from the point of view ofwhat it was made to do. It was not bred tosit at home and taken for two walks on aleash. The Husky was made to pull the sleighin the freezing temperature. If one can’t givethe environment in which it was supposedto be, there is a difference between a dogthriving and a dog surviving. When wechoose a breed, we must choose what suitsour environment and lifestyle. When peo-ple say that they want to keep a Dalmatian,I tell them no. The animal was made to run.The dog loves to run. It won’t die, if it does-n’t run, but then again the survive and thriverule applies here as well,” Merchant says.

She opines that one of the reasons whysome dogs act up is because they don’t getthe environment that they are geneticallybred for.

She tells you that people make the wrongchoice when it comes to choosing the dog;they do so on the basis of how they look.“Some people say they want a small dog andkeep a Beagle. But they forgot that the breedis a hound and needs twice the amount ofmental exercise than most other dogs. Weoften refer to a dog having the best life eversince all he ever does is go for walks, eating,sleeping and having a little playtime. We haveto understand that just because it is sleep-ing it is lucky. Dogs don’t want this. Theseare working dogs and want to do somethingwith their mind. When we don’t give it this,it is just lying around. We don’t give the doga purpose to wake up everyday. Just like weplan our day,” Merchant says.

If one has a dog, they already know whatit loves. Take the dog for a drive, take it tomeet the person they love. Day after, take itfor an ice cream. Play a different game. Thiswill make it want to wake up every day want-ing to know what it will be doing that day.But don’t do things that are not viable sincethey pet will be with you for years and years.

“Labradors love to swim. Take it to aplace where they can do the same. Take thedog for a trek as a surprise. One can changethe direction of the walk. Small things, justlike we have in our lives that keeps us going.Not all pets requires the same kind of com-mitment. However, one has to be breed spe-cific for certain dos and don’ts. If one has asedentary lifestyle don’t keep a dog that needsexercise. If you work from 8 am to 8 pm,don’t get a dog at all. Dogs don’t need adesigner bed or a fancy home or money oraroma therapy baths. They need time fromus, they want to play with us. The biggest dois give them time. Teach them manners, howto behave in the society and train it in a waythat doesn’t take away the trust it has put inyou,” Merchant says.

She doesn’t agree that a dog should notbe trained. Just like we teach a child tobehave, they same way, we need to train thepet. “It is our responsibility to teach our petmanners. In order to train the pet, it has tobe reward-based than aggressive tactics,’Merchant says who doesn’t mind when sheis called the dog shrink.

She busts some myths. She tells you thatit is not necessary for a dog to choose justone master and be loyal to him. “It is not truethat a dog is loyal to just one person. If thereare seven-eight, it depends who are invest-

ed in the dog’s life. If all are invested, it willrespond to all alike. But if there is only oneperson who feeds him, plays with him andtrains him, it will be more invested in thatperson. The best part is that it doesn’t affectthe psyche of the dog. They are social ani-mals and love to be with a larger group,”Merchant says.

She tells you that aggression in dogs isdue to certain situations since dogs are socialanimals. She tells you that Doberman is notnecessarily an aggressive dog. It depends onhis genetic make-up and how he has beentrained. “I know and have come across manyDobermans who are the friendliest of thelot,” Merchant says.

She tells you that dogs don’t alwaysunderstand everything that the humansays. “They have been conditioned in a man-ner where they can pick up body language.They don’t pick up just words, but cues andgestures as well and therefore some timesthey will come and nuzzle the human if thehuman is sad. But not all dogs will do thesame, it may care less,” Merchant says.

She points out that since each dog hasits personality traits, there are certain pointsthat one can pick up to understand what thedog wants or is feeling. “There are certainsigns that one can pick up when the dog isstressed. Sleeping a lot, sniffing the ground,licking its paws, refusing to eat, yawing a lot,panting, hyper-active behaviour. These aresome of the signs that one change in a dog’slife. Look for situations that cause stress andthen eliminate them,” Merchant says.

In over two decades that Merchant hasbeen a behaviourist, there was a case that wastough to handle. But is was more because ofthe human rather than the dog.

“A young girl had called saying that thedog had bitten off her face, her lip and thepart of the thumb. Over the phone, the sit-uation didn’t sound very encouraging. Butthe lady kept insisting so I agreed to meether. As we went through the consult. I foundthat the only time that the dog would bitewas when the young person would hug thepet and disturb it when it was sleeping. Thenext week, the dog bit the girl again. I toldher that she needed to change her behaviour.‘But she looks so cute while asleep’ she said.Thankfully, daughter had got her motherwho put her foot down. Luckily the daugh-ter changed her behaviour and all was well,Merchant says.

“Hello, is this the dog shrink?”the caller on the other end ofthe line demanded.

“Yes,” dog shrink replied.

“You have to help me,” thelady stated matter-of-factly.“Fendi is guarding the refrig-erator and won’t let us open it.If anyone goes close he getsvery angry”.

“Is there any reason he wouldneed to guard it?” the shrinkprobed, her years of experi-ence telling her that Fendi wasthe dog and not a visitingcousin.

It’s his caviar. He loves it anddoesn’t want to share it withus.”

A week after Fendi’s ownercalled me, the shrink gotanother call.

“Hello, is this the dog shrink?”the lady drawled.

“Yes,” the shrik sighed, know-ing exactly who it was.

“We won’t be needing yourhelp,” she said dismissively.“We have solved the problem.”

“That’s great!” the shrinkreplied, wondering what novelmethod of training they usedto solve the problem. ”Whatdid you do?”

“It’s simple,” she said. “Webought him his own refrigera-tor. Now Fendi guards his ownfridge and leaves ours alone.You may cancel our appoint-ment. Thank you and goodnight.”

THERE ARE CERTAINSIGNS THAT ONE CAN

PICK UP WHEN THEDOG IS STRESSED.

SLEEPING A LOT,SNIFFING THE

GROUND, LICKING ITSPAWS, REFUSING TOEAT, YAWING A LOT,

PANTING AND HYPER-ACTIVE BEHAVIOUR.

LOOK FOR SITUATIONSTHAT CAUSE STRESS

AND ELIMINATE THEM

Shirin Merchant at a dog training workshop in Delhi

The year 2019 was a year of unprece-dented growth and digital disruptionfor the food industry. Digital technol-ogy drove how we ate all the time. Itwas the year in which more Indians

ate more food “not” cooked in their homes thanever before! Whether you wanted Pizza, Biryanior Gobhi Manchurian, or a regional favouritesuch as Rajasthani Lal Maas, Naga Pork or theGujarati Undhiyu, getting food from a homechef ’s kitchen was easier than it has ever been,thanks to digital technology!

Even the way we eat at home changed —the culture of passing down recipes from onegeneration to the next is being replaced byonline recipe sharing, consumer facing apps,DIY videos, and more.

Therefore, in a country where Mumbairesponds to regional pop-ups enthusiasticallywhile Delhi is nonchalant about the idea, andIndore is expanding its culinary wings whileKolkata is looking back at its culinary tradi-tions, it’s quite a challenge for businesses toidentify concepts that have potential to succeedacross our inherent diversity.

In such a scenario, food businesses can ben-efit from a resource that monitors changes inbusiness and consumer expectations, identifiesunderlining themes that drive these changes,and helps separate the fads from the trends.

Over the past three years, I have found thatputting together the annual Godrej FoodTrends report requires everything from dataanalytics to pure intuition on the part of ourcore team. As a forecaster of trends, it is impor-tant that the report is able to differentiate fadsfrom trends. The key distinction between thetwo is that while trends have the potential toexert long-term influence on the market, a fadis usually isolated, coming and going quickly.

Trends, therefore, don’t exist in isolation. Theyare a sum of many things, often includingaltered classics, and can have much longer lifecycles, sometimes being around for years, oreven decades.

One of my favourite examples is our returnto our roots. Over the last two iterations of thereport, we described a growing movement ofself-discovery in the Indian food industry. Thisdesire to learn more about our diverse culinaryculture and traditions began in 2018 with aninitial exploration into Indian regional cuisines.In 2019, we went beyond the broad strokes ofregional cuisines and took a deep dive into themicro-cuisines of India. We saw an explosion ofconversations, events, products and diningexperiences inspired by micro-cuisines fromspecific sub-regions, communities, and evenfamily kitchens of India.

This inspired exploration into homekitchens brought the true custodians of Indiancuisine into the limelight as the food industryconnected with nanis, dadis, mothers or homechefs as SMEs (Subject Matter Experts), orsources of inspiration and knowledge of ourrich culinary diversity. This in turn drove a re-discovery of traditional ingredients, as ordinaryvegetables became the new exotic and gharelugreens such as kele ke phool, bathua, tendli,lauki and tinda featured prominently on restau-rant menus. Let me tell you, this trend has notshown no signs of ebbing. It continues to playin 2020.

That said, I must admit we don’t always getit all right. While we are on target in a majorityof cases, sometimes trends don’t play out asanticipated. For instance, in 2019, we heard alot of talk about millets driving a discovery ofother indigenous grains, celebrated as a climate-smart choice for farmers and consumers, but

this trenddid not map out

as expected. The con-sumption of indigenous

grains hasn’t grown as significantlyas the noise would suggest. What happenedto all that hype? Do chefs and media influ-encers not put their money where theirmouth is?

To answer all those questions, as weusher in the report’s third year, the 2020edition points at some interesting big trends(organised alphabetically) for the comingyear:

Continued commitment to prove-nance and mindful eating. Powered by thegrowing demand for sustainable practices,consumers will continue to make activechoices that help minimise their carbonfootprint by supporting local/artisanal pro-ducers and eating seasonally.

Deeper exploration of South-EastAsian flavours. In 2020, the restaurantindustry will offer diners a greater variety ofSouth-East Asian flavours through deeperexplorations of the popular cuisines, alongwith specialist menus from previously unex-plored regional and ethnic cuisines fromthe region.

Emergence of theneighbourhood ‘food-preneur’. The grow-ing demand forfresh, healthy,hygienic andfamiliar ghar kakhana, combinedwith the conve-nience of digitalcommunicationsand paymentplatforms, willencourage manymore traditional,regional and commu-nity cooks to startmini-enterprises fromtheir home kitchens, offer-ing limited daily specials tosmall communities of their fans.

Keeping it real. Fuelled by an ever-growing consumer demand for authenticity,2020 will see a growth of dining experiencesdesigned around real issues, real people,real ingredients, and real stories!

Longing for ghar-ka-khana. Thedecline in daily cooking at home, because ofchanging social dynamics and attitudestowards cooking, will see nostalgic dinersordering food that reminds them of theirown ghar-ka-khana, more often than everbefore!

No-compromise convenience cooking.A discerning consumer of 2020, experi-menting with the latest health fads andlifestyle diets, can look forward to manymore options for quickly and convenientlyassembling personalised meals at home,with little or no compromises to theirchoices.

Proliferation of desi flavours. As anoutcome of the persistent demand for allthings indigenous, consumers should expect

to see a proliferation ofdesi flavours in everything

from small plates to cocktails, andeven desserts in 2020!

Return to traditional fats. The growingappreciation of the significance of ourchoice of cooking medium will inspire moreconsumers in 2020 to go with desi ghee andcold-pressed local seed oils over otheroptions.

Rise of the culinary explorer. Anevolving sense of social, financial and cul-tural independence among young peoplewill drive a greater demand for aspirational,novel, and even exotic travel and diningexperiences. These experiences will beinspired by exciting new cuisines fromwithin and outside the country.

Revival of culinary traditions. Ridingthe ongoing wave of deeper exploration anddiscovery of our culinary heritage, foodbusinesses and restaurants will find excitingnew ways of packaging traditional food wis-dom, knowledge, cookware, cooking tech-niques and food preparation methods tomake it suitable for the demands of themodern dining experience.

“When it comes to food, Indians havealways preferred ghar-ka-khana,” says SujitPatil, Vice President and Head, CorporateBrand and Communications, Godrej

Industries Limited and associate compa-nies, reviewing the key findings.

“The growth of technologyis also shaping what we

eat. It is not only giv-ing a big boost to

the food process-ing industry, butalso enablinghome chefs tobecome ‘food-preneurs’.”

For Patil, ashe says it, whatis “heart-warm-

ing” about thefindings is that

they point to “theemergence of the

neighbourhood food-preneur” in 2020, paral-

lel to the revival of culinarytraditions and a proliferation of

desi flavours in everything, from smallplates to cocktails, and even desserts. Theemerging future happily rides on the past.

In fact, as you delve deeper, you willfind that 2020 will continue to be the yearof discovery and it will see us immersingdeeper into our culinary diversity than everbefore! The food industry will continue todraw inspiration from the home kitchen.Indian ingredients and flavours will domi-nate conversations, menus, beverages andeven our desserts.

The year ahead will continue to revealnewer facets of the power of digital disrup-tion. Every aspect of the industry will gal-vanise to deliver what consumers want andwork to meet their needs. In an era of con-sumer hyper choice, the food producer willhave to do more to stand out and seamlesslydeliver exceptional service while at the sametime ensuring food variety, quality andintegrity, transparency and sustainability.

— The author is a food writer and Managing Director, A Perfect

Bite Consulting LLP. She has authored theGodrej Food Trends Report since its

inception in 2018

sundaymagazine

11

Vijayawada, December 8, 2019

10SHOW TIME

It’s a very big deal to meto remain the same

person because I knowall of this is going to begone one day and I’m

just going to have myself— Gina Carano

90ML is unapologetic but responsible

Instead of seeking God’s help for thefulfillment of your aspirations, it isbetter take charge of yourself

F R O M T H E I N S I D EBe the one in control

With the rapid proliferation of the F&B business across the country, millions of dollarsriding on food enterprises, and several millionpeople dependent on it for their livelihood,finding one’s way through the maze of taste is serious business, writes RUSHINA MUNSHAW-GHILDIYAL, as she maps the trendsfor an annual food trends report for 2020

F O O D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0

THIS DESIRE TOLEARN MORE ABOUT

OUR DIVERSECULINARY CULTURE

AND TRADITIONSBEGAN IN 2018 WITH

AN INITIALEXPLORATION INTO

INDIAN REGIONALCUISINES. IN 2019,WE WENT BEYOND

THE BROAD STROKESOF REGIONAL

CUISINES AND TOOKA DEEP DIVE INTO

THE MICRO-CUISINESOF INDIA. THE TRENDCONTINUES TO PLAY

IN 2020

SARSONDA SAAG

Winter is here and there's nothing better thantraditional dishes to gorge on. Below are a few

dishes by Khandani Rajdhani that will make yourtummy go warm with delight. Below mentioned

recipes include Adadiya Pak, Sarson da Saag, SurtiUndhiyu.

SURTI UNDHIYU

ADADIYAPAK

INGREDIENTS:Y Urad dal Atta

(Coarse) — 150 gmsY Channa Dal Atta —

150 gmsY Mix Dry Fruits —

100 gms

Y Gondh — 100 gmsY Khus Khus — 25 gmsY Milk — 3 tbspY Sugar — 250 gmsY Ghee — 250 gmsY Saunth powder —

50 gms

METHOD:Y Take 2 cups split black gram flour (urad dal flour

should be coarse like suji, make sure it's not inpowder foam).

Y In a large bowl, add milk and ¼ cup clarified butterto the flour and mix thoroughly.

Y After half hour, sieve this flour by pressing mildly.Set aside.

Y In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the clarified butterand fry edible gum on high flame. Set aside.

Y Chopped edible gum uneven and make coarselypowder using a mortar.

Y Add flour and poppy seeds to clarified butter androast it on a low flame stirring continuously till lightbrown or until 25 to 35 minutes.

Y Once it is browned, add finely chopped edible gum.Y Mix well and turn off the flame. Let it cool for

10 to 15 minutes.Y Add in saunth powder and sugar.Y Spread it on a square or round plate, garnish with

almonds. Cool 3 to 4 hours and cut it in desiredshapes or can even be made into laddoos.

INGREDIENTSGRINDINGMASALAY Garlic — ½ cupY Coconut (without the

dark skin) — ½ cupY Raw peanuts —

1 tbspY Corriander Fresh —

6 tbspMIXING MASALA:

Y Green chilli paste — 1 tbsp

Y Ginger paste — 1 tbspY Garlic paste — 1 tspY Haldi powder — 1 tspY Dhania powder — 1

tspY Jeera powder — 1 tspY Garam masala powder

— 1 tspY Ajwain — 1 tspY Salt to tasteY Dry coconut Y White til — 1 tbspY Sugar — 1 tbspY Hing — 1 tspY Green garlic chives —

100 gmsVEGETABLES:

Y Shakarkand — 100gms

Y Peeled potato — 200gms

Y Purple yam (Ratalu)— 150 gms

Y Eggplant — 4 Y Raw banana — 1 pcs

(Cut into 6 pcs)Y Surti papdi — 500 gmsY Green peas — 100 gms

TADKA:Y Oil — 4 tbspY Garlic paste — 1 TspY Hing — 1 TspY Ajwain — 1 TspY Green Chilli paste — 1

tspMETHIMUTHIYA:

Y Fresh methi — 2 cupsY Green chilli paste —

2 tspY Ginger paste — 1 and

1/2 tspY Garlic paste — 1 tspY Salt — 1 tspY White til — 1 tbspY Hing — ½ TspY Haldi powder — 1 tspY Sugar — 1.5 tspY Curd — 1 tbspY Besan — 1 CupY Atta Kar Kara — ½ cupY Maida — ½ Cup

METHOD :Y Take all the grinding masala

and grind to a coarseconsistency.

Y Mix all the mixing masala to thecoarsely ground masala withone part of the green garlicchives and chopped coriander.

Y Cut potato, yam, sweetpotato, raw banana (withskin) into 1 inch size pieces.

Y Slit the banana and egg plantand stuff with the masala.

Y Take oil in the cooker andadd all the tadka ingredientsand sauté. Add beans,stuffed vegetables and Methi Muthiya and poursome water over allvegetables.

Y Cook for four whistles.Y Remove onto the serving

plate and garnish with leftover green garlic chives andchopped corriander.

BEATINGWINTER BLUES

sundaymagazine

food 09Vijayawada, December 8, 2019

SARSON DA SAAG IS IDEALLY TO BE EATEN WITH MAKAI KIROTI, JAGGERY AND WHITE BUTTER.IT CAN BE COOLED AND

STORED IN THE REFRIGERATOR FOR 2 TO 3 DAYS.IT CAN ALSO BEAN EXCELLENT TOPPING ON A CRISPY TOASTED SLICE OF GARLICBAGUETTE WITH SOME JAGGERY AND WHITE BUTTER TOPPING

INGREDIENTS:Y Sarson ka Saag —

4 bunchesY Spinach — 2 bunchesY Bathua — 1 bunchY Green Chillies —

2-3 no'sY Makaika atta — 1 cup

TADKA INGREDIENTS:Y Ghee — 3 tbspY Ginger finely chopped

— 2 tbspY Green chilli — 3 tbspY Onion finely chopped

— 2-3 no'sServing: White butter — 1 tbsp

METHOD:Y Chop all green leafy vegetables finely and rinse

thoroughly in running water.Y Chop the onion, ginger and green chillies finely.Y Take a cooking pot with lid and add about 500 ml of

water and bring it to boil.Y Add all of the chopped greens and 1 part of the

green chillies to the boiling water, cover the lid andcook the greens for about 15 to 20 min on slowflame.

Y Remove the cooking pot off the flame and add theMakai atta in batches and keep mashing the cookedgreens till all the Makai atta is dissolved in thegreens.

Y Take ghee in another pot and add ginger, greenchillies and onion and sauté till the onions aretranslucent and soft.

Y Add entire green mixture to this tadka and cook foranother 15 to 20 min.

Y Add salt and season the whole mixture.Y Serve hot with big dollop of white butter on top.

KEDARn HYDERABAD

n 90ML, a movieabout alcoholism,Rao Ramesh, whilewatching a moviethat features adrunk Chiranjeevi

on TV, answers a fundamentalquestion that everybody atone point of time would haveasked: If a person is an alco-holic does that automaticallymake him or her a bad per-son?

This is the question thatDevadas (Kartikeya) is forcedto confront throughout thefilm. Devadas suffers from acongenital ‘fatal alcoholic syn-drome’ that requires him todrink 90ML of alcohol threetimes a day, without which hewill perspire substantially,grow weak and die withinminutes. The movie doesn’ttry to explain the sciencebehind this disorder as it ismore about how the societytreats an alcoholic.

The debate on alcoholholds the film together, to theextent that it almost feels likean extension of the cautionarymessage about tobacco andalcohol shown in the begin-ning of each movie. Thoughthe posters of the movie —showing Kartikeya pouringalcohol into a plant - drewflak for glamorising alco-holism, the movie by andlarge explores the demeritswithin the limitations of com-mercial potboiler.

The fast-paced screenplay,relentlessly, pits Devadasagainst his dependence onalcohol for his survival andthe consequences from thatneed. Even though he is anMBA gold medallist, with aheart of gold that saves peoplefrom time to time, he strug-gles finding a job, wooing agirl or even registering him-self as a good citizen in theeyes of the law.

The character of Devadas isfleshed out enough to show ushis struggle and acceptance

with his condition. His char-acter is better understood inlight of his antagonist, JohnWik (Ravi Kishan). In orderto elevate the hero beyond therole of a regular alcoholic,John is also shown as an alco-holic but with a different reac-tion to the addiction.

John is rich and spoilt andindulges in alcoholism with-out regret. Ravi Kishan,through his over-the-top act-ing and inappropriate genderfluid attire, brings out themadness of a true anti-sociallonely alcoholic. WhereasDevadas, on the other hand, ispoor but self aware. He knowsthat his life-threatening disor-der is not an excuse for himto behave irresponsibly. Evenwhen he hides his ‘addiction’from the leading lady,Suvasana (Neha Solanki), heis unapologetic because heknows, more than others, thathe wishes he didn’t have thiscondition.

Both alcoholics clash overSuvasana which forms the cli-max of the movie. Stayingtrue to their characters, whileJohn wants to cheat throughhis alcoholism to getthe girl,Devadas isreadyto

forgo of his ‘addiction’ for thegirl even if it means to killhimself. The film lies barevarious faces of an alcoholicthrough these two primarycharacters.

Suvasana, along with herfamily, plays an important foilto the hero in showing howeven our closest people fail tounderstand the horrors ofalcoholism. The family alsoprovides light slapstick enter-tainment that is pepperedthroughout the movie. Theirclash with John Wik’s goons(Raghu Karumanchi andPrabhakar) bring peals oflaughter. Brief cameos ofPosani Krishna Murali,as the Father at achurch and Ali, asthe head of arehabilitationcentre, alsokeep thefilm on alight-heartednote.Even

Kartikeya’s comic timing andplayful nature elevates hisonscreen persona.

A dark topic such as this isportrayed on screen withoutpreaching and amid thetroupes that are common tobig budget Telugu movies.Director Sekhar Reddy Yerra,doesn’t fail to makeKarthikeya larger-than-lifethrough dust-raising, con-crete-cracking fightsequences among some slowmotion walk cycles.

The BGM given by AnupRubens highlights the masala

elements further, butthe numerable

songs drag thepace of themovie. Sameis the casewith thedubbing thatis out-of-

sync in

many places. Even the firstsong of the film that plays90ML on a loop might getstuck inside the head of a realalcoholic who loves his forbid-den path. The primarystrength of the movie lies inthe editing and screenplaythat doesn't divert the audi-ence's attention from theexploration of alcoholismwhile at the same time keep-ing the energy constant in thefilm. Even with all its goodintentions, the film endswithout giving a solution andworse gives a wrongimpression. The largerissue that it addressesstays unresolved.Suvasana bringsDevadas back from thedead and embraceshim and his addictionwholeheartedly. She alsotakes up drinking alongwith him and the creditsroll.

90ML is unapologetic BUT RESPONSIBLE

I

sundaymagazine

show time 10Vijayawada, December 8, 2019

INSIDE EDGE 2 IS MORE CONNIVING INNATURE AND THAT RAISES THE FUN QUOTIENT.IT’S AN ENJOYABLE COMMENTARY WITHOUTBEING HEAVY ON SENSES. IT SHOULD BE ON

YOUR BINGE WATCH LIST.

CAST: Kartikeya,

Neha Solanki, Ravi Kishan, Rao Ramesh,

Raghu Karumanchi andPrabhakar

DIRECTOR: Sekhar Reddy Yerra

istory tells youAhmad Shah Abdaliwas a ruthless con-queror and shrewdbattle strategist. Heled a marauding

Afghan army into India thrice,plundering all that crossed hispath and leaving a trail of red inthe waters of the Yamuna oneach occasion. History tells youAbdali was 39 or 40 when hefought the third Battle ofPanipat.

In Ashutosh Gowariker’sPanipat, a 60-year-old SanjayDutt plays out Abdali as a manwithout menace, an invaderwho almost seems apologetic allthrough for arriving in Indiaand unsettling its peace. TheAfghans he leads in the film area bunch of cowards who scam-per from the battlefield whencornered.

Bollywood history, of course,is normally written by itsscreenwriters to serve a verydifferent purpose than enlight-ening viewers with authenticfacts. It’s often about accommo-dating facts in a way that theynarrate what we wish mighthave happened.

Gowariker’s Panipat dutifullyfollows that diktat, paintingprotagonists in black and white.At a rumoured budget ofaround Rs 70 crore, and return-ing after the triple blunders ofWhat’s Your Rashee?, KheleinHum Jee Jaan Se and MohenjoDaro over the past 10 years, thefilmmaker perhaps had to playit safe with his latest.

Panipat in this context wasalways bound to draw a com-parison. Gowariker has delvedinto history before. So, does thefilm scale Jodhaa Akbar class, oris it more of Mohenjo Daro?

Well, Panipat falls short of theJodhaa Akbar magic. For one,

Gowariker’s latest misses themagic of AR Rahman’s music.Also, that film had the advan-tages of the Hrithik-Aishwaryachemistry and a solid script.Panipat lacks edge in theseareas. However, Gowariker’s lat-est is not an abysmal apology asace Mohenjo Daro either.Qualitatively, Panipat standssomewhere between JodhaaAkbar and Mohenjo Daro.

To reiterate the gist,Gowariker’s new film is set inthe 18th century. The Marathasreign over most parts of thesubcontinent. The Mughal sul-tanate invites the Afghan invad-er Ahmad Shah Abdali to Delhi,in order to demolish theMaratha might. As news arrivesthat Abdali is on his way toIndia for a third time, theMaratha Peshwa (MohnishBehl) orders Sadashiv Rao Bhau(Arjun Kapoor, effective in mostparts) to march northwards andthwart Abdalias arrival at anycost. This sets the stage for theThird Battle of Panipat on

January 14, 1761.A historical drama for the

screen rests on three primaryfactors. First it needs engagingstorytelling. Second, the filmneeds to effectively build theaura of the era it portrays -through look, costumes, musicand other props. Finally, thegenre banks on strong charac-ters, which need to be essayedwith assuredness by the cast.

As far as storytelling goes,Gowariker has collaboratedwith three writers(Chandrashekhar Dhavalikar,Ranjeet Bahadur and AdityaRawal) to set up the saga. Thereare the essential bursts ofdrama, minimal romance, somedialogues (Ashok Chakradhar)

worth the rage, and sleeklyfilmed battle action. The film,however, could have done withtighter storytelling, especially inthe early parts. The screenplayis just about adequate as it setsup a slow-moving first half,which heads into the spectacu-lar but predictable war climax.

For the lay audience whowon’t nitpick about historicalaccuracy, the film is a visuallystunning reconstruct of thepast, brought alive by imagina-tive cinematography (CKMuraleedharan). The warsequences (Abbas Ali Moghul)aren’t extraordinary but thesemaintain ample drama, mixingfacts and fiction.

Gowariker has always excelledin creating those little momentswhile setting up human relation-ship drama, amid the ambitiousvision his films ride. Lagaan,Swades, Jodhaa Akbar, even aKhelein Hum Jee Jaan Se, wouldbear testimony. Such momentsalso often prop up the efforts ofhis cast.

While on the cast, in Panipatwhere the narrative essentiallymoves towards setting up thestage for the big boys to flaunttheir swashbuckling wartimemachismo, it is interesting tosee how Kriti Sanon manages toshine above the male cast. She isSadashiv’s wife Parvati Bai, andshe scores despite limitedfootage, with the few scenesworth note that the screenplayaccords to her.

Overall, AshutoshGowariker’s latest has itsmoments. It is spectacular his-torical fiction riding some goodperformances, and likeable forthe way it salutes valour. Theimpact could have beenstronger with more imaginativestorytelling.

— IANS

Panipat has its momentshe interestingthing about thereimagined PatiPatni Aur Wohis its setting.Version 2019 is

based in smalltownKanpur, and it narrates thestory of a middle-classcouple in that city. In BRChopra’s 1978 original, theprotagonists belonged tothe middle-class too, butthey lived in Bombay.

It seems pertinent how,41 years on, this remakepicks the plot's extramari-tal core from the megapo-lis and puts it right in thecentre of smalltown India,which is learning to openlydiscuss sex, fidelity, virgin-ity and marriage (the ideais wittily underlined in theopening scenes, where thehero asks his prospectivebride her hobbies and shereplies: Humein sex karnapasand hai).

At a time when remakes,reboots and recreationshave become the norm,writer-director MudassarAziz’s reorganising of a BRChopra comedy classic towoo new-age viewerswould seem like an ambi-tious idea. His credibilitylies in the fact that his ver-sion holds its own.

For those who may notbe familiar with Chopra’s1978 film, it is a comedy oferrors centred on theextramarital fling of amiddle-aged man (playedimpeccably by SanjeevKumar). Aziz retains thatbasic idea in his 2019redux, but changes every-

thing else in the new film,including key plot points,character details, plot pro-gression and a lot of whathappens towards the end.

Like its original, anddespite acquiring a new-age irreverent edge, PatiPatni Aur Woh manages tostay funny without losingout on decency, despitemoving dangerously closeto the domain of politicalincorrectness.

Kartik Aaryan makes anamusing Chintu Tyagi,hero of the piece. He hasbeen papa’s boy for mostparts and, after topping hisengineering exam, haslanded a cushy govern-ment job, just as dad want-ed. Time now to wed,declare his parents, andsoon, he finds a perfectarranged match in physicsteacher Vedika (BhumiPednekar).

The marriage is blissfultill Tapasya Singh (AnanyaPanday) from Delhiarrives in Chintu’s life. He

won’t cheat on his wife, butChintu finds the idea ofspending a lot of ‘fun time’with the gorgeous Tapasyatoo tempting to resist.

He starts lying toVedika, in order to spendmore and more time withTapasya, and the situationonly gets more complicat-ed for Chintu.

Although funny formost parts, Aziz cannotresist the odd moment ofmelodrama. Suchsequences slow down thestory and also break therhythm of humour.Overall, however, this isenjoyable fare.Maintaining a simple,straight narrative that doesnot delve deep into rela-tionship complexities,Aziz’s screenplay lets the

cast have a field day.Kartik Aaryan is fast

emerging as one of themost bankable comicheroes of GenNowBollywood. As ChintuTyagi, he once again playsout the believable and har-ried Indian male withaplomb. His transitionfrom the bumbler with agoofy laugh to a man styl-ish enough to be spotted atTapasya’s side is gradualand effortless.

Bhumi Pednekar’s as thepatni Vedika gets an inter-esting twist towards theend, which changes muchof the climax, giving thereworked story a contem-porary edge.Comparatively, AnanyaPanday as Tapasya, woh ofthe tale, banks wholly onscreen presence to riseabove her archetypal char-acter. For a two-film old,Ananya does admirably.

The showstealer here,however, is AparshaktiKhurana. EssayingChintu’s buddy and col-league Fahim, Aparshaktiwas reimagining Asrani’sinimitable Abdul KarimDurrani from the 1978original. In every sense,writer-director Aziz hit thecasting bullseye withAparshakti. The actor getsthe funniest lines andscenes - and pulls them offwith gusto.

Pati Patni Aur Wohworks well as a one-timewatch. The reboot has itsfunny moments, and itworks mainly for its cast.

— IANS

Pati Patni Aur Woh workswell as a one-time watchH T

CAST: Kartik Aaryan,

Bhumi Pednekar,Ananya Panday,

Aparshakti Khurana;

DIRECTION:Mudassar Aziz

CAST: Arjun Kapoor, KritiSanon, Sanjay Dutt,

Zeenat Aman;

DIRECTION: Ashutosh Gowariker;

RATING

* * *

VERDICT: The writers of 90ML walked a

thin line. They tried their best notto glorify alcoholism while at the

same time keep the audience enter-tained with the story of an alcoholic

and his struggles. It is worth atleast a watch for its attempt to

portrayal of addiction in amainstream Telugu film.

Rating: 2.5

The week looks good for you. Your health is likely totake a turn for the better. You will be in a cheerful andpositive mood. Mostly, you are very conscious of healthand devote a good time in looking after your well-being.There are things that you can actively do to groomyourself — taking a massage, going for spa and joininga gym is on the card. Career-wise, you are sparklingwith new ideas. Promotion or starting a new project/jobis likely to happen. Your productive level will be veryhigh and being efficient will pay off. Your submissiveattitude will play a great role in enhancing your careerthis week. Your relationship with your family is goingstrong. You may need to do what it takes to findbalance in your personal and professional life.

Lucky number 13Lucky colour MaroonLucky day Wednesday

ARIES March 21-April 19

You need some quick changes in your routine as thesituation has changed and you have to fulfill the needs ofthe present state that you are in. Expectant mothers mayneed to undergo a medical examination to clear somedoubts for a stress-free time ahead. Be honest withyourselves and review what best action should be taken.On the career front, those seeking a job, know that youhave the skill set to find it. If you’re already employed,and there is room for upward mobility. Do not hesitate tonegotiate for what you are worth. If there is no room fora raise then you should give serious thought to findingsomething with high scope. On the personal front, thingswill speed up in the relationship. There may be goodnews of childbirth, conception, marriage or engagement.

Lucky number 7Lucky colour WhiteLucky day Monday

TAURUS April 20-May 20

Stress may cause health problems. Pay attention todiet, exercise and sleep. Stay positive. You will finddepth and wisdom in solitude. You may look at a newbelief system in search of the meaning of life. On thecareer front, you will share cordial relations withcolleagues, friends and even seniors this week. Forthose in business, this is a good time to bring indesirable changes. Be a good listener, trust yourinstincts and connect with your innermost desires. Thisis also a good time to start a new venture/project. Onthe personal front, you will make new friends and afriendship may turn into a loving relationship. You willreach a good understanding with others. Make a deepercommitment in love to strengthen the bond.

Lucky number 2Lucky colour GreenLucky day Friday

GEMINI May 21-June 20

You will put an end to certain bad habits that you maybe harbouring. Expect some distress as you make thistransition. Physical exercise is important, but do notoverdo it. You will find some spiritual truths that holdpromise and are beneficial for you. Professionally, youmay be moving to a new position or a new set ofresponsibilities. You will be optimistic, upbeat, andhopeful about your future. You are likely to be able topay off debts and perhaps, share your wealth withthose less fortunate. On the personal front, it would begood to strike a balance with yourself. You arepassionate and energetic and have a charmingpersona. Love is in the air. A fiery affair or newrelationship is on the cards.

Lucky number 8Lucky colour RedLucky day Saturday

CANCER June 21-July 22

You would be in the pink of your health this week. Thiswill be a time of peace, joy, and prosperity for you and todeepen your spiritual growth. Celebrate these goodfeelings and share them with your friends and loved onesin whatever way you can. On the career front, if you areseeking employment, you will be hired into a newposition that tests your skills and is demanding. Thosewho are already employed may be saddled with far moreresponsibility. Don’t hesitate to request assistance fromsupervisors with prioritising. You have the knowledge,strength, and inspiration needed to meet your challenges.On a personal level, you are enthusiastic and veryromantic in your relations. If you are single, it’s verylikely that a new romance is on the horizon.

Lucky number 10Lucky colour YellowLucky day Sunday

VIRGO Aug 23-Sep 22

Hectic work schedule and day to day challenges could takea toll on your health. Take time out for yourself. You needto bring balance in your professional and personal life.Time management and discipline is the first bet to beat thefast pace of life. Professionally, anxiety, fear and tensioncould bring your efficiency down. There is a fear of lay off,office politics and survival in the rat race. Keep all yourfinancial documents up to date. You may be questioned orinterrogated in this week. A key decision will work as afoundation on which the rest of your life may be set.Relationship wise, you are working with your heart and notthe mind. Those who are committed, there are chancesthat things are not moving smoothly. You will realise that itis better to move away from an unhealthy relationship.

Lucky number 16Lucky colour OrangeLucky day Tuesday

LIBRA Sep 23-Oct 22

Your health will be good this week and mood elated.Your determination and will power will give you strengthand put you in the right direction where you can live adisciplined life. Avoid alcohol, junk and spicy food.Routine exercises, morning walk and planned diet willwork wonders for you. Career-wise, this is a rewardingweek. It is the right time to get close to an influentialperson. You could establish your strength in your career.If you are in partnership business, there are fair chancesthat you will all work for selfless motives. People willlisten to you and respect your views. On the personalfront, some arguments, conflicts may cause bitterness inyour existing relationship. Your aggression, anger willtake a toll. You need to relax and think with a cool mind.

Lucky number 5Lucky colour IndigoLucky day Saturday

SCORPIO Oct 23-Nov 21

Those who are having physical problems, rememberthat things do not always have to be the way they areright now. Pay attention to diet, exercise, and maketime for rest. A trusted health counsellor can get youmoving along the right course. Career-wise, this is thetime when many projects are realised, especially thosethat are profitable to you. Business dealings will befruitful. If you are in self-made business or job, peoplewill evaluate your work and accept your views andproducts. Those who are in export and import businessare likely to engage in good networking this week. Onthe personal front, this is the time for completion. Youhave worked hard, and you deserve all the accoladesthat are coming your way.

Lucky number 3Lucky colour Sky BlueLucky day Thursday

AQUARIUS Jan 20-Feb 18

This is a good week for your emotional and physical well-being. Your positive approach to things will be of greathelp. Those waiting for test results, know that the newswill be good. You are getting ready to enter new realms inyour spiritual exploration. This is a good week career-wiseand with your charm and intelligence you will realise allyour ambitions. You need a break and some perspective.Perhaps the time has come to start looking for anotherposition. Your psychological insight is excellent and youcan better understand what motivate others and whattheir needs are. However, this is not a good time forinvestments. You will find stability in existing relations.Those close to you are full of concern and love; it wouldbe wise to enjoy the moment.

Lucky number 9Lucky colour MagentaLucky day Sunday

PISCES Feb 19-March 20

This week things are likely to go well. You will feel loved,cared for, and content. This is a good time to enjoy goodhealth. Air, water, fire, earth, and ether (space) thebalance of these five elements in life will make life worthliving. You are likely to be a motivator and inspiring formany. You need a well-deserved rest and relaxation, aftera hectic work schedule that has had you busy. On thecareer front, a sudden hike in salary or reputation isforeseen. There may be switch over of job, promotion inthe existing job, transfer or some different portfolio isassigned which could turn out to be in your favour. Onthe personal front, you may plan a vacation with yourpartner to an exotic place. The time flies with happy noteleaving you rejuvenated and rejoiced.

Lucky number 20Lucky colour GreyLucky day Friday

CAPRICORN Dec 22-Jan 19

Living in the moment and to listen to your body is thefirst condition to being in a state of good health.Temptations, confusions and disorganisation willdisorient. You are overwhelmed and this energy carriesthe warning that you need to focus. On the career front,you have all the means and ability to achieve your goals.So aim high and you will go far. A new connection at theworkplace could prove in your favour this week. Thoselooking for employment, you are going to find it verysoon. You may expect a job call from a distant city, travelis likely. You need to be a little careful in money mattersthis week. Relationship wise, an existing relationship isgoing to take a turn for the better. Singles, a newrelationship is likely to appear soon.

Lucky number 12Lucky colour BrownLucky day Thursday

LEO July 23-Aug 22

This week you will be all charged up and ready for action.Good news is in the offing. When you have a positiveself-image, you value and respect your body. You will feelgood about living a healthy and balanced lifestyle.Pamper yourself with spa and grooming. On theprofessional front, now is the time to go independent. Doyour homework well. You have the resources and youcan make your business work. Make sure to put in thetime and effort it requires. Your determination,perseverance are your greatest assets which will take youahead in your career. On the personal front, it is nevertoo late to change any pattern of behaviour, and withenough effort, you can change the way you think, feel,and act.

Lucky number 11Lucky colour GoldenLucky day Monday

SAGITTARIUS Nov 22-Dec 21

YOURWEEK

AHEADMADHU KOTIYA

sundaymagazine

tarot 11TO GO FROM MORTAL TO BUDDHA,YOU HAVE TO PUT AN END TO KARMA,

NURTURE YOUR AWARENESS, ANDACCEPT WHAT LIFE BRINGS

— BODHIDHARMA Vijayawada, December 8, 2019

Iam God loving. I pray every morn-ing before I set out for work, andagain before I retire for the day. Yet,

my life has gone through unwantedtwists and turns every now and then.Why have my prayers gone unheard sofar? What am I lacking? Tell me, whatcorrections do I need to make. Whendoes my life stabilise?” With these ques-tions in mind, someone recently soughtmy guidance.

Well, God or no God, how does itmatter? If at all there is a God, Hewould be involuntarily doing Hisrounds. He doesn’t need our seeking orprompting for coming into play. He, inHis own glory would be available inequal proportion to all and sundry. It,therefore, becomes difficult to digestthat he would selectively listen to yourprayers and grant wishes to your asking.Even if there is no God, how does itmatter. For, life will still continue tomove on. So, instead of looking forseeking God’s help, somewhere out at adistance, for fulfillment of desires, bettertake charge of yourself, and consciouslytry to get better empowered.

Having said that, let me make itclear that the relevance of the concept of

God still holds good. Even if He doesn’tgrant your wishes, pursuing the beliefdoes certainly help firm up your ownfaith element. That helps you carry onthe task in hand in all strength. Also, itkeeps you centred.

But all said and done, at the end ofthe day, you need to take charge ofyourself, and consciously works towardsthe desired destination. Know it in clearterms that life as such doesn’t have aneasy go. In a world, where everyone isborn unique, each manifesting varyingmind-traits and desire-trends, itbecomes a natural breeding ground forconflict of perceptions and interests.Evidently, therefore, you are bound tocontend with competing interests andcontrarian forces. Braving all such chal-lenges ahead intelligently, you need toput in wholesome quality efforts toscore success. That, however, would notcome about, unless you consciouslyidentify and acknowledge your inherentfault lines, address them, and also opti-mise your potential. But, for which, youwill fail to put in your best foot forward.Also, you need to keep an eye on pre-vailing environmental conditions tointelligently sail through all odds com-

ing in the way.That makes it incumbent upon you

to live consciously. You have so far goneahead with the usual flow of life, carry-ing the hope that being a believer, Godwill help you sail through. So, you havegone through intermittent bouts of suc-cess and failures. It’s time now to makeyou aware of your potential and weak-nesses. Jupiter firmly placed in the lagnamakes you a well-meaning and creativeperson. The lagna lord Mars in the 3rdhouse grants you with the courage nec-essary to spiritedly carry on the task inhand. Moon, well aligned to Uranuspoints to your innovative, inventive, andinsightful mind, worth coming out without of box independent ideas. Moonagain, placed favourably to Mercurygrants you with excellent communica-tive skills.

Your habits and attitudes, however,often play spoil sport with your strengthside. Your lagna sign Aries makes youaggressive, impulsive, impatient, intoler-ant, and domineering, who may not liketo play a second fiddle to any. You carrythe tendency to jump into action withoutapplying proper forethoughts, and withobvious consequences. It’s only when youland into problem that you are forced toapply your mind when you may emerge

as the best crisis manager also. Moonoccupying Sagittarius sign makes youundiplomatic and tactless. Mars wellaligned to Uranus makes you self-willedand overconfident, but its opposition toMoon, and also ill-disposed off to theSun, makes you temperamental, angryand irritable person. You may flare up onthe slightest provocation, when you maytemporarily lose all sense of reasons anddirection. The Sun opposite Saturnbrings in a sense of fear and insecurity,which in turn, brings in a sense of iner-tia. So, often your initiatives as alsoresponse to a situation gets delayed, andwith obvious consequences. If that wouldnot be enough, the Sun placed adverse toJupiter brings in a swaggering ego, whichbinds you to self-defined beliefs and per-ceptions, not open to look beyond for areality check either. It becomes difficultfor you to digest, if ever things don’tmove on your expected lines, when youget unnerved beyond due. And the resultis there to see.

The writer is an astrologer, vastu consultant

and spiritual counsellor. Write to him at

G-102, Bharat Nagar, New Friends Colony,

New Delhi-110 025

Tel: 91-11-49848475/9818037273

Email: bharatbhushanpadmadeo@gmail.com

ASTROTURFBHARAT BHUSHAN PADMADEO

Madhu Kotiya is a tarot card reader, spiritual healer, and Founder, MShezaim Institute of Tarot and Divination. Contact details: madhu@indiatarot.com, www.indiatarot.com, M: 9873283331

God helps those who help themselves

TEAM AGENDA DESK > NAVNEET MENDIRATTA, CONSULTING EDITOR | H LAYOUT AND DESIGN > SATISH CHANDRA JAKHMOLA, SENIOR EDITOR (CREATIVE)

Now yyou ccan wwrite tto uus aat agendapioneer@gmail.com

My village doesn't existreally miss the days in my villagein Kodurupaka. Those were gold-en days. After Mid-Manair projectcame, my village was submerged.We can build homes, villages,

schools, but those emotions …we cannotget them back. People think village is abouthomes and roads, but it is not that; it is emo-tion and the attachment around the placesthat I roamed as child. My educationrevolved in my village, Karimnagar andHyderabad. I am a sincere student, evennow I am sincere. I wake up at 5:30 am andmy life with Peddananna (CM KChandrashekar Rao) starts around 6:15 amand, until he sleeps, I work. I was kind ofaverage student so I used to get scoldingfrom my father and beatings from hisbrother (babai). My mother is Shasikala andfather Ravinder Rao was into farming andpolitics at village level like acting sarpanchand upa-sarpanch.

Was ragged by siblingsI was the soft target among siblings and

used to get ragged often. The other threeare smarter than me. Even though Kavithaand Soumya are younger to me; I call themAkka because they are in bigger positions.People will also think I am young (laughs).We used to play a lot in holidays. MyAnnayya (K T Rama Rao) is a hilariousperson and since he is 'Annayya' whatev-er he says, we have to do, we are theyounger ones. He would tell me to go buya note book. He used to read Chandammastories and one day decided that he willwrite a story. He would narrate and I wouldwrite. I don't remember what stories wewrote, but it was fun, he narrating and mesincerely writing. On May 17, when wewere doing the first rally to Karimnagar,KTR called me and he heard the entirespeech live on call. At that time, it evencost money to get incoming calls. Aftersome days, Harish garu joined. He wasbava, so we would be playful with him.

I almost lost life in 10th classI was suffering from lower abdominal pain,

which became very serious in my tenth stan-dard. Peddananna's mother recognized thatmy stomach pain was related to appendix andI was rushed to Niloufer Hospital. Thesurgery was scheduled a day after I was hos-pitalized. But the appendix burst and wasslowly spreading in other body parts. Mysurgery was scheduled at 2 pm andPeddananna came at around 6 in the morn-ing. He was MLA by then and got my oper-ation rescheduled to 8 am; otherwise, I wouldhave gone. Those 4-5 hours saved my life,because by then the appendix burst and slow-ly started poisoning my body. After a 4-hoursurgery, cleaning of the intestines, doctorscould save me. I was in hospital for 29 days.

Wanted to be doctorI was neither a front-bencher nor a back-

bencher, but I was part of the herd mental-ity. I wanted to be a doctor and do some ser-vice, but I couldn't because I was an averagestudent. It was a dream as doctors are treat-ed almost equivalent to God. It is a nice pro-fession and we can really serve people. InIntermediate, I picked Bi PC in MagadarshiCollege, then took up BZC in Karimnagarfor degree, and then went to Pune for doingMBA from the V K Patil Institute.

Pune brought change Annayya (KT Rama Rao) and I were

staying together in Pune and those werewonderful days. Pune was not my choice.My family sent me there, because a few ofmy cousins studied there in previousbatches. Pune was the turning point for mebecause till then my life was going in amonotonous way, and after that it complete-ly changed. Pune is a place where we canlearn from various people and which gavenational exposure. Almost people fromevery part of the country, every state arepresent there. We learnt about their lan-guages, cultures and we used to mingle. Ipicked MBA because at that time it hadgood opportunities and in the evening time,I used to do a course in PersonnelManagement. I have two Master's degrees:Masters in Personnel Management andMasters in Business Administration.

9/11 changed my career pathAfter completing masters, I worked for

1 year and 8 months in two companies,Amtrex airconditioners and Carrier aircon-ditioners. I had the opportunity to stay inHyderabad for eight months during whichtime I used to work from Pedannana'shome. To become regional manager, I hadto go to Bengaluru. It was around 2000,when everybody, including Annayya,Kavitha and my sister Soumya, left for theUS. Nobody was here and I underwenttraining in testing tools, which had gooddemand then, so I could go to US. I did acourse and applied for visa and exactly then9/11 incident happened. Immediately visanorms became stringent and my visa wasnot processed. Then Pedannana said, 'Leaveall this, be with us, if all of you leave for theUS, who will take care of us'. My career, in

short, was from visa rejectionto my Peddananna getting mea diplomatic passport by mak-ing me Member of Parliament(smirks). We don't need visa for94-95 countries.

Wife took 3 hours toaccept me

Ours was totally an arrangedmarriage. My wife Rohini knewme, as we were family friends,but she didn't accept at firstinstance. We met at BirlaMandir; Kavitha, my sister,Srinivas Reddy (then my friendwho now MLC), two othersaccompanied. I said 'I have noissues marrying you and I point-edly asked her: 'What do youthink'?'She said 'I will ask mymother and tell later'. Around 6pm we met and till 9 pm, therewas no confirmation. My friendswere worried and said that itwould be humiliating, if sherejects. I said it is okay, if sherejects; we cannot force her toaccept, and I was prepared.Around 9 pm, they confirmedand those 3 hours we weretensed, especially my friends.

Emotional momentwith Peddananna

When Peddananna was fasting, I wasalongside him and emotional. It was a toughsituation. I had a very personal moment,which makes me emotional to this day.When Peddananna was Union minister, hefell in bathroom and underwent a surgery.For 1-2 months, I was with him for most ofthe time, serving him. One fine day, around10:30-11 pm in the night, he asked me 'AmI bothering you too much? Am I taking toomuch of your time? Am I hindrance to yourfuture?' I said it is an opportunityPeddananna. He is my future. Thesemoments make me emotional and teary.

Will write book Chaya to payaPeddananna told me about making me

MP about 2-3 months before and onlyPeddamma and I knew about his thought.When I was going to take oath, my eyeswere filled with tears. I want to bring outmy journey withPeddananna in a bookform. I have startedworking and willdefinitely bring outone. To work withsomeone like CMKCR, it is verydifferent. Mye x p e r i e n c ewith KCR islongest andthe bookw o u l dbegin fromsituationsjust beforethe for-mation ofp a r t y .Agitationand poli-tics willbe part ofit and situa-tions and hard

situations. I thought the title would be 'Myexperience with experienced' but then alsoI thought 'Chaya to paya'. It starts withPeddananna drinking tea in the morningand his meal and ends with paya soup,which Peddananna liket h emost.

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 08, 2019 vijayawada 12

19 years along with KCRIn 2000, I quit my job and joinedPedananna. I never thought of being inactive politics. Until 2006, till I gotmarried, I stayed with Peddananna.Until 2005, there was no one but forPeddananna, Peddamma and me. Thenboth Annaya and Kavitha returned. CMSir never showed difference and heexpressed the same emotion towardsall three of us. KCR garu nevercompromises on anything even withregard to colour. It happened when wewere picking colour for the party flag.In pink, there are 15-20 shades. Till hegot the exact shade, at least 15-20times I roamed for getting the shade.There is a huge difference between himand other leaders; there is magnanimityand knowledge. I am not exaggeratingwhen I say that he is a livingencyclopedia. He scolds me monthlyonce or twice.

I

QUICK BITESFavourite actor: Amitabh Bachchan inBollywood, Akkineni Nagarjuna inTollywood and now Mahesh BabuFavourite actress: it keeps changingFood: Chicken (with less oil)Singer you like: S PBalasubramanyamSong you hear the most: Tolisarimimmalni choosindi modalu frommovie Srivariki PremalekhaAre you religious: Not completely.Being with Peddananna it increasedWhat are you scared of: SnakesWhat do you watch on TV: ZabardasthWhat brand of clothes: Hugo Boss. Iam trying to look good. Pedannana

says when in public appearance isimportant.Compliment you get most often: I keepsmilingBest advice you got: When I becameMP, my Annaya (KTR) said, life will be alittle different, don't change and try tobe same. Words to describe: Be cool and bepatientFavorite holiday destination: theMaldivesBiggest addiction: I am addicted toKCRWhat impresses you the most:Sincerity

Weakness: When I witness bad situation, I become emotionalQuote: Be goodLast time you were emotional: When I visited Devnar Blind SchoolDo you cook: I cooked oncepappucharu and chicken when I was newly married Fav sportsmen: Virat Kohli incricket.Happiest moment: In my Punedays, when Peddananna wasgoing to be minister. It was a firstin family

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With sapling planted as part of Green Challenge

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Thankful to my wife

My wife supports me a lot and I am thankful toher from the bottom of my heart. Sometimes it

will be like 6-7 days after which I will see my kids.They crib naturally. Thanks to technology, I do videocalls to make sure they know I am here. I have twosons - Ishaan is studying in 6th class and Sheryaan3rd class. I don't want to be a strict father, because Ispend less time with them. For the 2 hours they meetme, I don't want to appear as villain by controllingthem. In a year, once or twice I go out for vacationand enjoy a lot as it is precious time. Kavitha, I andtwo friends - 4 families go together on vacations.

Green Challenge

Ihad an idea to take up a plantation drive bychallenging 3 people, but I never thought it will come

this long way. About 5 crore saplings have beenplanted in 1 year and 8 months, but I don't want to gointo numbers. Even for my birthday, I started selfie withsapling challenge. Every plant is addition to nature.There is need to protect the plant and when it ischallenged, there will be consciousness to protect it.There will be inspiration for others and awareness. Iam working towards developing forest at Kesara.

Sharing his innermost thoughts about his life in the company of the Kalvakuntlafamily for the first time to a national newspaper, Rajya Sabha member

Joginapally Santosh Kumar tells The Pioneer that he has been along with CM KChandrasekhar Rao, whom he endearingly calls ‘Peddananna'. He reveals how

he attended on KCR who had undergone surgery after a fall in bathroom; why hecalls Kavitha ‘Akka', though she is younger to him; and why he always obeys

‘Annayya' KTR, his roommate in Pune when they were doing MBA. In anexclusive interview to Naveena Ghanate, he speaks about his childhood, dream

of becoming a doctor, and the new lease of life he got when he was in Class X.

With wife Rohini and children Ishaan and Sheryaan