@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

VIJAYAWADA 9THE RISE OF WEBCOMICS

OPINION 6CHINA’S

HIMALAYAN PLOY

SPORTS 122-0! INDIA

WIN SERIES

VIJAYAWADA, MONDAY OCTOBER 14, 2019; PAGES 12 `3

www.dailypioneer.com

RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPALRAIPUR CHANDIGARH BHUBANESWAR

RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD

*Late City Vol. 1 Issue 348*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

}THE BIG BOX-OFFICE

FIGHT

Page 11{

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

YSR Congress Party (YSRCP)official spokesman and MLAKolusu Parthasaradhi has comedown heavily on TDP presi-dent and Opposition Leader NChandrababu Naidu sayingthe latter is stooping so low incriticising the JaganmohanReddy government.

Addressing a press confer-ence at Tadepalli, near here, onSunday, he said the TDP chiefis unable digest the thumpingvictory people gave to YSRCPin the last General Elections.He is worried about the recentexodus of TDP leaders intoYSRCP and his inexperiencedson Lokesh. Besides, he isfrustrated over corruption-free and transparent gover-nance by chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy. He isspeaking cheaply forgettinghis experience and seniority,Parthasaradhi said.

The YSRCP spokesman saidNaidu is morally degraded

and his statements prove thepathetic situation of TDP."Chandrababu Naidu andother TDP leaders will neverlearn lessons even if they suf-fer great setbacks," he said.

Normally, a party that tast-ed a humiliating defeat at thehands of YSRCP would go intointrospection mode and try tofind out the cause for the deba-cle and rejuvenate the party,but Naidu is resorting tounnecessary criticism of thenew government,Parthasaradhi said.

Continued on Page 4

Registrations to be totallytransparent from Nov 1 PNS n AMARAVATI

The Jaganmohan Reddy gov-ernment in the State is poisedto bring in major reforms inthe Stamps and RegistrationDepartment.

As part of the reforms, thegovernment is planning tomake transactions as transpar-ent as possible. In order toachieve this goal, the govern-ment is introducing cashlesstransactions through onlinesystem.

A facility to prepare theirown documents will be creat-ed for buyers and sellers. Thegovernment has prepared 16models for this purpose in bothEnglish and Telugu languages.The documents can beuploaded to the Stamps andRegistration Department anda time slot will be allotted forregistration of properties. Asmany as 16 models of saledeeds, sale agreements, mort-gage registrations, gift deeds,GPA and others related to

houses, commercial complex-es and agricultural lands will bemade available for people onthe department's website.

All that buyers and sellershave to do is fill the appropri-ate document and print it.Then, they should approachthe Stamps and RegistrationDepartment where the officialswill scan it and initiate the reg-istration process. The system isbeing implemented as a pilotproject in Krishna andVisakhapatnam district. In

order to know problems inimplementing the new sys-tem, the officials are supervis-ing it.

It is learnt that some loop-holes have been identified inthe system and the officialshave plugged them accord-ingly.

The new system will beimplemented across the Statefrom November 1.

Commissioner of theStamps and RegistrationDepartment, Siddhartha Jain is

organising awareness camps onthe new system across theState. Two teams have beenconstituted for the purpose.The camps will be held atKurnool and Vizianagaram onOctober 14, Anantapur andSrikakulam on October 15,Kadapa and Visakhapatnam onOctober 16, Chittoor and EastGodavari on October 17,Nellore and West Godavarion October 18, Prakasam andKrishna on October 19 andGuntur on October 21. Thegovernment is inviting lawyers,doctors, realtors, builders,prominent persons in the dis-tricts and the general public totake their feedback and sugges-tions.

As per the new system, buy-ers and sellers can go in appealif the documents are rejectedfor registration. They can sub-mit an application to theDistrict Registrar under Acts73 and 74. He, in turn, will givereply in the stipulated timeperiod.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A 55-year-old TSRTC driverdied on Sunday, a day after heset himself ablaze, even as thestrike by the transport employ-ees in Telangana entered theninth day. D Srinivas Reddy,who was part of the group ofemployees on a state-widestrike for the last nine days,died of burn injuries, hospitalsources here said.

The driver had doused him-self with kerosene and sethimself ablaze near his housein Khammam, about 190 kmfrom here, reportedly inprotest against the govern-ment not acceding to thedemands of striking employ-ees. However police said theywere investigating the reasonbehind his suicide.

As news about Reddy'sdeath spread, a large numberof striking employees ofTelangana State RoadTransport Corporation gath-ered near the hospital, but

police at the spot whiskedthem away in police vehicles.Protests also broke out in dif-ferent parts of the city and

other places, with employeesraising slogans and holding thestate government responsiblefor Reddy's death. Theemployees have been on strikesince the last nine days,demanding merger of RTCwith the government andrecruitment to various posts,among others.

Continued on Page 4

STRIKE IN TELANGANA ENTERS NINTH DAY

TSRTC driver succumbsto burns, protests break out

PNS n JALGAON

Stepping up attack on theCongress and NCP over abro-gation of Article 370, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onSunday dared them to declarein their manifesto that they willbring back the provisionswhich gave special status toJammu and Kashmir.Addressing his first rally aheadof the October 21 MaharashtraAssembly polls, Modi saidJammu and Kashmir was "notjust a parcel of land, but crownof India", and assured it willnot take more than fourmonths to normalise the kindof situation that prevailed therefor 40 years. He accused theopposition parties of politicis-ing the issue of Article 370 andcharged them with "speakingon the same lines as that of theneighbouring country".

The prime minister lav-ished praise on the DevendraFadnavis-led Maharashtragovernment for its five-yearperformance, which he said,was "corruption-free" andinspired confidence amongall, including farmers and

industries. Attacking theCongress and NCP, Modi saidit was "unfortunate" that theywere "politicising" the"unprecedented" decision ofscrapping of Article 370. Theirleaders thought exactly oppo-site of what the entire nationfeels about Jammu andKashmir, he said. "You look atthe statements made byCongress, NCP of late...Theyseem to be speaking one linesof the neighbouring country,"Modi said, without naming the

leaders as he apparentlyreferred to Pakistan.

Accusing the oppositionleaders of shedding crocodiletears on the issue of Article370, he said, "I challenge them,if they have guts, declare intheir manifesto for state elec-tion and future polls too, thatthey will bring back Article370 and 35A, which the BJP,the Modi governmentscrapped...that they willchange the August 5 decision."

Modi dares Oppositionto bring back Article 370

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Former Union minister andTollywood hero Chiranjeeviwill meet Chief Minister Y SJaganmohan Reddy onMonday.

The proposed meeting hasgenerated a lot of heat inpolitical circles. However, it isunderstood that Chiranjeeviwill only talk about the suc-cess of his latest flick 'Sye Raa'with the CM and invite himto witness the movie.

All political parties aremaking their own analysesabout the meeting.

Analysts believe thatChiranjeevi going to be animportant factor in the nextGeneral Elections. An air ofexpectancy is prevalent allover the State regarding thecrucial meeting.

Chiru to meetJagan today

Rs 5,510 crreleased forRythu BharosaAMARAVATI: The Stategovernment released Rs 5,510crore for its prestigious YSRRythu Bharosa scheme.A Government Order to thiseffect was issued on Sunday.

The government has issuedorders for crediting the bankaccounts of eligible farmerswith cash benefits under thescheme .

PNS n NEW DELHI

Ethics and etiquettes of socialmedia, how to use Googlesearch better, yoga and pranaya-ma and resume writing are partof the "life skills" curriculumdeveloped by the UniversityGrants Commission (UGC).

The commission had recent-ly launched "Jeevan Kaushal", alife skills programme in the cur-riculum for under-graduatecourses across the country.

The programme, which car-ries eight credit points, can beaccommodated in any semesterand is aimed at inculcatingemotional and intellectual com-

petencies in students and devel-op verbal and non-verbal com-munication skills.

"Today when we talk aboutwriting skills and communica-tion skills, we cannot ignorewriting on social media. Thesocial media websites are agood medium to connect but

students must know the advan-tages and disadvantages.

"There have to be some ethicsand etiquettes of social mediaand the curriculum will teachthem the same. There is also amodule on how to use Googlesearch better," a senior UGCofficial said.

The official said often stu-dents do not know the differ-ence between a curriculum vitae(CV), resume and a bio-data.Writing a good resume is also alife skill which every studentmust learn before entering theprofessional world.

"What will learners gain if

they practice love and compas-sion? What will they lose if theydon't? What are the listeningskills one must practice as ateam member and how differ-ent they should be as a teamleader? All these skills the stu-dents should be trained in, " theofficial said. Personal skills likeempathising and trusting col-leagues for improving interper-sonal relations, projecting agood personal image to have apositive impact on one's career,networking and negotiationskills besides personal and pro-fessional moral codes of conductare part of the curriculum.

Continued on Page 4

Social media, pranayam part of UGC's ‘life skills' The programme, which carries eight credit points,can be accommodated in any semester and isaimed at inculcating emotional and intellectualcompetencies in students and develop verbal andnon-verbal communication skills

Naidu's cheap tactics won't work,says Parthasaradhi

Pope elevatesMariam Thresia,four others tosainthoodVATICAN CITY: Indian nunMariam Thresia and fourothers were declared Saints byPope Francis at a grand cer-emony at the Vatican City onSunday.

Mariam Thresia, whofounded the Congregationof the Sisters of the HolyFamily in Thrissur in May1914, was raised to the high-est position within the cen-turies-old institution duringthe ceremony at the St Peter'sSquare. The nun from Keralawas canonised along withEnglish Cardinal John HenryNewman, Swiss laywomanMarguerite Bays, BrazilianSister Dulce Lopes and ItalianSister Giuseppina Vannini.

World Bankwarns India of ‘severe’slowdownNEW DELHI: The WorldBank on Sunday slashed itsgrowth forecast for India'scurrent fiscal year to 6 percent, down from 7.5 per cent,warning that the "severe"slowdown could furtherweaken the country's stutter-ing financial sector.

In its last forecast in April,the bank had said that India'seconomic outlook was strongand expected growth of 7.5per cent during the currentfiscal year that began in April.

But the country is current-ly growing at its slowest pacein six years, expanding by just5 per cent in the April-Junequarter, hit by flagging con-sumer demand and a slack-ening in government spend-ing. India's industrial outputalso shrank at its fastest ratein more than six years inAugust, data released lastweek showed, indicating thata slew of government mea-sures had yet to underpin arecovery.

KCR pet's death case: RTI queryrejected by Hyderabad police NAVEEN KUMAR n HYDERABAD

The Banjara Hills police haverejected an RTI queryseeking a certified copyof FIR filed in casepertaining to the deathof Telangana ChiefMinister's pet dogHusky.

In response to the query,the official reason cited by thepolice was that it might 'impede'

investigation or 'influence thefare investigation' (sic).

The Banjara Hills policeinspector Kalinga Rao

confirmed that theRTI query wasindeed rejected, asinvestigation in thecase was still underway.

Early inSeptember, the police

booked a case against a vet-erinary doctor for alleged neg-

ligence that resulted in thedeath of Husky, a pet dog atPragati Bhavan, the official res-idence of Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao.

The 11-month-old dogbelonged to the Hulk breed,which is a cross between a pitbull terrier and a bulldog. Huskydied allegedly after the veteri-narian administered an injec-tion on September 11.

Continued on Page 4

Modi has 30 millionfollowers onInstagramPNS n NEW DELHI

After being one of the mostfollowed leaders on Twitter,Prime Minister NarendraModi's popularity has alsosurged on Instagram, wayahead of other global lead-ers. Modi is the most fol-lowed world leader on thisplatform with 30 millionpeople fol lowing hisInstagram account.

On Instagram, he isahead of US PresidentDonald Trump as well asformer US President BarackObama. Modi is also theonly world leader to reachthe 30 million followers'milestone.

In September, Modi'sTwitter follower countcrossed 50 million.

Modi who has been aconstant user of the themicro blogging platformever since his days as theChief Minister of Gujarat.He has off late taken keeninterest in sharing photosand videos on Instagram aswell.

Naidu trying for friendship withBJP, Janasena: UmmareddyPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Opposition leaderUmmareddy Venkateswarlulashed out at TDP ChiefN ChandrababuNaidu, alleging theleader is trying toget back in goodterms with BJPand Janasena.

Speaking tomedia persons inVizag on Sunday,Ummareddy said, "Thestatements passed by TDPchief Chandrababu Naiduindicates that he is trying to

root friendship with the BJPand the Janasena again."

It may be recalled thatNaidu in his recent meeting in

Vizag said that they havelost the election only

because of cuttingties with the BJPand the Janasena.

Instead of recti-fying his mistakes,

Naidu is on a tour-ing spree and is

using filthy language tocriticise the YSRCP chief

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Continued on Page 4

Governament to buy farmproduce at MSP from tomorrow PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The State government willpurchase farm produce at theMinimum Support Price(MSP) from procurementcentres from October 15.

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy had givenan assurance during the elec-tions to establish the PriceStabilisation Fund of Rs 3,000crore. He had instructed theofficials to set up purchase

centres before the crop isharvested help farmers notface any delay in sell-ing theirp r o d u c e . T h eM a r k e t i n gDepartment hasalready madearrangements toset up purchasecentres followinginstructions to that effectby the CM. Every farmershould register his produce

with e-Crop. The purchasecentres will be set up

close to the farmers’habitations.

As part of theplan, the govern-ment will set upblack gram andgreen gram pur-

chase centres onOctober 15.

The MarketingDepartments has announcedthe MSP for various crops.

Name oof tthe ccrop MSP pper qquintalPaddy(Normal) Rs 1,815Paddy(Grade A) Rs 1,835Sorghum Rs 2750Sorghum(hybrid) Rs 2550Bajra Rs 2,000Ragi Rs 3,150Maize Rs 1,750Red gram Rs 5,800Green gram Rs 7,050Black gram Rs 5,700Groundnut Rs 5,090Chick pea Rs 4620Coconut Rs 2030Jute Rs 3,700Cotton Rs 5255Cotton (long) Rs 5550

PROCUREMENT NORMS

Not just aparcel of land,

but crown of India— NARENDRA MODI

Prime Minister

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated October 13, 2019 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Ashwini& Sukla PakshaPanchangamTithi : Pratipada : 04:29 am (Next Day)Nakshatram: Revati : 10:21 amTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 07:39 am – 09:07 amYamagandam: 10:34 am – 12:02 pm

Varjyam: NIL

Gulika: 01:29 pm - 02:56 pmGood Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 07:42 am - 09:28 amAbhijit Muhurtham: 11:38 am - 12:25 pm

VIJAYAWADAWEATHERForecast: Isolated ThunderstormsTemp: 32/24Humidity: 87%Sunrise: 06.08Sunset: 05.55

PNS n HYDERABAD

With the successful conclusionof the fresh first round of tradenegotiations between US andChina on October 10, 2019, thehopes for resolution of thetrade war between these twosuper powers have been kin-dled. Consequently the yellowmetal, which was hoveringaround US $ 1,500, came downto the level of $ 1,488.87 on theclosing day of Saturday. Silverfollowed suit and closed at $17.65. Similarly, platinum andpalladium also declined andclosed at $. 896.60 (per 10 gms)and $ 1,703.25 (per 10 gms),copper stood at Rs 443.15 (perkg) respectively.

Other economic parameters,barring Brent and Crude oil,remained firm. Brent closedat US$ 60.29 (per barrel),while Crude oil was quot-ed at Rs.3,869 (per bar-rel). Gold MCX stoodat Rs.37,845 (per 10gms) and SilverMCX at Rs.45,171(per kg). BSESensex and Nifty50 closed at3 8 , 1 2 7 . 0 8a n d1 1 , 3 0 5 . 0 5points respectively. Leading for-eign currencies' exchange rateswere: US $: Rs.71.02, BritishPound: Rs. 89.88, Euro: Rs.78.40, Singapore $: Rs. 51.74,Canadian $: Rs.53.81, SwissFranc: Rs.71.29, Australian $:Rs.48.20, Saudi Rial: Rs. 18.93,Kuwaiti Dinar: Rs.233.91,

Omani Rial : Rs. 184.54 andUAE Dinar : Rs.19.34.

At home, trading graduallypicked up in view of the ongo-ing festival season. While theyellow metal appreciated byRs. 90 on buying support andclosed at Rs. 38,300 (per 10

gms), ornamental gold too,moved up in tandem and wasquoted in the range of Rs.36,420- 36,520 on the closingday. Silver (0.999), recorded itsmarginal declined of Rs. 200and closed at Rs. 45,200 (perkg).

Printed and Published by B Krishna Prasad on Behalf of CMYK Printech Limited. Printed at Jagati Publications Limited, Sakshi Press, Door No. 5-625, Vadlamudi Road, Atmakuru Village, Mangalagiri Mandal, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh.Published at Door No. 40-4-11, Flat No.501, Sujatha Citadel, Jasti Venkataratnam Street, Behind DV Manor Hotel, Vijayawada, Krishna District, AP. Resident Editor B Krishna Prasad RNI title Code no. APENG03628. Phone No. 0866-2479001.

Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for anydamage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement beforeresponding to any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group's will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 14, 2019 vijayawada 02

Mahabalipuramsummit: Were thereany takeaways?PNS n NEW DELHI

Beyond the optics, did the Maha-balipuram summit betweenPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Chinese President Xi Jinpingachieve anything tangible insmoothening the ruffles of thebilateral relationship?

According to experts, the factthat the two leaders spent a lotof time together and displayeda very positive body languageshows that there is a goodunderstanding between them,and they are prepared to investin the bilateral relationship.

Besides the high-level eco-nomic and trade dialogue mech-anism to deepen economiccooperation and sort out theconcerns pertaining to bilateraltrade issues, there was nothingsubstantive, feel some experts.

Former diplomat AshokSajjanhar told IANS that the factthat the Mahabalipuram meet-ing did take place at a timewhen the relationship betweenthe two nations was passingthrough a rather stressed andtensed time was important.

“The fact that both the lead-ers decided to invest so muchtime, effort and energy is

demonstrative of the impor-tance that both attach to thispartnership. Both have found it(informal summit) a usefulformat, without any pressure ofagenda or joint declaration.And they have decided to con-tinue to take it forward,” he said.

Harsh V. Pant, Director of Stu-dies, Observer Research Fou-ndation (ORF), told IANS thatthe “intent behind these informalsummit conversations is nowwell understood and has had itsimpact. When the top leadershipis communicating to each other,there is less possibility of enter-ing into a crisis like situation.”

However, Pant added, “Byand large, I am underwhelmedby the outcome of the Mahaba-lipuram summit. If you see thestatement post Wuhan, it wasmore ambitious, there was talkof India-China collaborating inthird countries, but this time itis very amorphous. The onlyconcrete thing they have done isto create a new mechanism ontrade to sort out trade differ-ences, which is very welcome,and there is some recognition inChina that the trade deficit is areal problem, which needs to besorted out.”

Bitfury to set up Blockchaininnovation centre in HydPNS n HYDERABAD

Bitfury Group, the largest full-service blockchain technologycompany in the world, willestablish a Blockchain researchand innovation centre inHyderabad.

Bitfury, a billion-dollar techgiant, on Saturday entered intoa partnership with Telangana’sBlockchain District in thisregard.

It will also offer courses,necessary incubation andmentoring support to all asso-ciated members.

Blockchain District onSaturday forged new partner-ships with Bitfury and IndianSchool of Business (ISB).

ISB will be offering co-working space, access toinvestor network, businessexpertise and many more ben-efits to Blockchain Districtstartups.

Jayesh Ranjan, PrincipalSecretary, Information Tech-nology, Electronics andCommunications Department,Government of Telanganalaunched Blockchain Districtlogo and website on the occa-sion.

Ranjan said that after sever-al rounds of consultations withindustry and academia, thegovernment conceptualized

Blockchain District, whichaims to be among the world’stop 10 leading Blockchaintechnology ecosystem byproactively driving key initia-tives for developing talentpool, infrastructure, researchand innovation and communi-ty building.

“Blockchain District pro-vides a platform which enablesthe stakeholders to collaborate,co-create and build solutions inblockchain technology, whichtoday is at a nascent stage, buthas enormous potential in thecoming years,” said Ranjan.

“Telangana being the hub ofinnovation and technologywould always strive to be thefirst mover in tech-domains,”he added.

Government of Telangana,IIITH, C-DAC and TechMahindra are the foundingmembers of BlockchainDistrict.

MLR Institute ofTechnology was also onboard-ed to extend support inresearch and development andincubation.

‘Much needs to be done on health front’PNS n NEW DELHI

India has made some progress inreducing child malnutrition, buta lot needs to be done, accordingto the first Comprehensive Na-tional Nutrition Survey (CNNS)survey. Government schemeshave been able to prevent Vita-min A and iodine deficiencyamong children aged 1-4 years.

But, according to the UNI-CEF, the rising childhood obe-sity is adding to the growingthreat of non-communicablediseases, like diabetes, amongschool-aged children and ado-lescents.

The Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare released theresult conducted during 2016-18 in 30 states/Union Territorieswith technical support of theUNICEF.

It’s one of the largest micronu-trient surveys conducted acrossthe globe covering anthropo-metric assessments of 1,12,000children aged 0-19 years. It alsoincluded over 51,000 biologicalsamples on children’s micronu-trient status and risk factors fornon-communicable diseases.

Yasmin Ali Haque, UNICEFIndia Country Representative,said, “The CNNS is an amazingwealth of information. It’s timefor evidence-driven policy andaction to save children andhelp them fulfil their potentials.”

The Poshan Abhiyaan 2018-22 has set goals to reduce childunder-nutrition (stunting andunderweight) and low birthweight by 2 per cent a year, andanaemia across age groups by 3per cent, and create a mass mov-ement for good nutrition in thecountry. The figures reveal thatschool-age children and adoles-cents are still at risk of malnu-trition and a lot of ground stillneeds to be covered.

According to the UNICEF,the high number of anaemicchildren, adolescents and

women remains a concern forIndia. Studies suggest poor eat-ing habits (not eating enoughiron and vitamin C-rich foods,including fruits and vegetables)and limited access to healthcareare main causes of anaemia.

According to the CNNS,anaemia affects young childrenand female adolescents themost. Anaemia was significant-ly higher at 41 per cent in chil-dren aged 1-4 years againstother age groups. At 40 per cent,prevalence of anaemia in femaleadolescents, aged 10-19 years,was two times higher than maleadolescents (18 per cent).

According to the study, one infour adolescents, aged 10-19years, remains thin for their age,and 5 per cent of adolescents,aged 10-19 years, overweight orobese.

Over 2000 cops forVZM Sirimanu UtsavPNS n VIZIANAGARAM

The authorities will be deploy-ing over 2,100 police person-nel including 172 Armed policeas a security measure for majorfolk festival Sirimanotsavam, tobe held on Tuesday.

The police said thatSirimanotsavam is the majorevent of the presiding deity ofVizianagaram Town SriPydithalli Ammavari Jatara(festival).

Deputy Inspector General(Visakha Range) LVK RangaRao and Vizianagaram PoliceChief B Raja Kumari said thatthe entire Vizianagaram Townwill be under the surveillanceof over 50 CCTV cameraswhich will be monitored fromthe command and controlroom. He said, there will be nosale of liquor from October 14to October 16, both days inclu-sive.

The police said that over sixlakh devotees from parts ofNorth Andhra and neighbor-ing Odisha and Chattisgarhwill witness theSirimanotsavam.

Going by the tradition, thefestival is celebrated on the firstTuesday after Dussera. TheVizianagaram district admin-istration has completed neces-sary arrangements for thebiggest folk festival in north-coastal Andhra Pradesh.

The temple authoritiesexpect a crowd of more thansix lakh this time for the festi-val, where the priest of the tem-ple is carried on a long pole,called Sirimanu, hoisted on awooden chariot, all aroundthe Vizianagaram fort.

The Sirimanu procession isscheduled to start at around3.30 pm on October 15 whichwill cover the thoroughfaresfrom the Vizianagaram Fort tothe Pydithalli temple.

The bomb disposal teamsand sniffer dogs have alreadybeen pressed into service toensure the safety of devoteesand people of Vizianagaram.There will be four specialmobile teams at strategic placesfor crowd control and alsonab the suspect during the fes-tival.

“We will be inducting fourdrones during the festival toidentify the trouble zones andalso to monitor the crowd. Wewill be imposing certain traf-fic restrictions on October 14and 15 for the smooth conductof the festival,” said RajaKumari.

District Collector Dr M HariJawahar Lal said that there willbe temporary toilets all around

the important areas near thefort and temple for convince ofthe devotees and the district

administration has been takingall the steps for providingsome facilities to the devotees.

Run-up to policecommemorationDay launchesPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The police commemorationweek will be commencing fromOctober 15 and the ceremonywill be conducted on October21 at Indira Gandhi municipalstadium in Vijayawada. DGPGautam Sawang has releasedthe schedule and details of theprogramme. Day 1: Oct 15,Open house at district/unitlevel and painting competitionfor school children and essaycompetition. Day 2: Oct 16,Blood donation camp in all unitheadquarters. Elocution andessay writing competitions forchildren of police personnel.Day 3: Oct 17, Unit levelmarathons at all district head-quarters. Open house at dis-trict/unit level. Blood Donation(spillover, if any). Elocutionand essay writing competitionfor police personnel. Day 4: Oct18, State-level marathon atVisakhapatnam. Workshops atdistrict/unit headquarters withvarious sections of the societyand police ‘on reflection ofpeople’s views on police vis-à-vis difficulties faced by police inthe discharge of professionalresponsibilities’. Day 5: Oct 19,Seminars in educational insti-tutions (universities and col-leges) on the need for joininghands with the police for bet-ter law and order. Day 6:Oct 19Health camps at district head-quarters. Meeting with martyr'sfamilies and cultural pro-grammes. Day 7: Oct 20State-level commemorationparade.

The entire Vizianagaram Townwill be under the surveillance ofover 50 CCTV cameras whichwill be monitored from thecommand and control room

The figures reveal that school-agechildren and adolescents are still atrisk of malnutrition and a lot of groundstill needs to be covered

NO SALE OF LIQUOR FOR TWO DAYS

9,648 volunteer poststo be filled by DecPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The state government willissue a fresh notification tof i l l 9 ,648 Vi l lage/WardVolunteer posts which haveremained vacant on accountof the selected candidatesopting out of the jobs.

According to sources, theofficials are submitting thedistrict-wise details of vacan-cies to the government.

The government hasselected 1,94,592 candidates

for the post of Village/WardVolunteers.

Out of them, 1,84,944 can-didates have joined theduties. Each one of them issupposed to provide certainservices to 50 families in thevillage/ward.

The vacant posts will benotified by October-end andfilled by December.

Once the governmentgives its permission, the offi-cials will issue notificationsdistrict-wise.

US-China trade talks lowervalue of yellow metal

ISB will be offeringco-working space,access to investornetwork, businessexpertise and manymore benefits toBlockchain Districtstartups

COMMODITIESThe sentiment in principal

wholesale commodity mar-kets in the twin cities wasmoderate. Rythu Bazars andthe various commodity mar-kets located in Begum Bazar,Kishangunj, Mukthyargunj,Risala Abdullah, Mir AlamMandi, Dilsukhnagar,Kukatpally, Bowenpally andGeneral Bazar continued tobe from moderate to strong.

During the week, commonpulses such as tuar dal,moong dal, urad dal and

masoor dal recorded anappreciation in the

range of 10 per centto 12 per cent,while staple food

grains and com-mon edible oils,

except ground-nut oil,r e m a i n e dsteady at the

previous week's closing levels. There is good news from

the US Department ofAgriculture (USDA) whichhas predicted higher output ofoil seeds in India at 377.89lakh tones during the year2019 - 2020 as against 365.01

lakh tons in the year 2018-2019. However, the USDA aspredicted higher import ofedible oils during the sameperiod.

According to it, the importof edible oils by India duringthe year 2019-2020 is expect-ed to be 165 lakh tons asagainst 157.68 lakh tons in theprevious year.

The prices of commonvegetables, onions and toma-toes in particular, flared upconsiderably during the week,thanks to the excessive rainsin the vegetable-growingareas. Common vegetablessuch as cabbage, cauliflower,ribbed gourd, snake gourd,lady's fingers, cucumber,potatoes, tomatoes andFrench beans, along withother leafy vegetables, record-ed considerable increase inprices in the range of 20 percent to 28 per cent.

In Hyderabad, the NECCwholesale egg-price furtherappreciated by Rs. 33 andclosed at Rs.411 (per 100).The highest price of Rs. 466was recorded at Mumbai ,while Hospet closed at thelowest price of Rs.390 .

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW

Hindu-bashing will only stoke Hindu rashtra stirHC UPADHYAY n HYDERABAD

The oft-repeated provocativeand abusive missiles against themammoth Hindu majority com-munity in the country by fanat-ical, communal and pseudo-secular elements have the poten-tial to trigger Hindu upsurge anytime. And, certainly this is notjust a figment of imagination!

Going by the irresponsible andunwarranted utterances of someself- styled leaders of minoritiesand crest-fallen opposition par-ties in the electoral battle, itappears that the day is not faraway when the Hindus,accounting for 80-plus per-cent of the population, wouldstrike back and emphat-ically demand thatIndia be declared as'Hindu Rashtra'.

In fact, the authors ofthe Constitution knewit very well that this coun-try has been and will bethe permanent abode ofHindus and therefore,had refrained from adding theword 'secular' in it. However, the

successive Congress govern-ments were fully aware of the factthat the masses were deeply reli-gious and devoted to the princi-ples and practices of Hindu reli-gion, which has the glorious his-tory of evolution over thou-sands of years. Therefore, yester-year political leaders desistedfrom tinkering with Hindu sen-timents. Though no stone wasleft unturned to suppress thecravings of the Hindus for theirpolitical identity throughConstitutional diktat, the flameof Hindu Rashtra remained

burning brightly through-out. The Partition on thelines of religion and the

genocide of Hindus thatensued added fuel

to fire. During all

these years,despite opposition

from all quarters,including the govern-ments, the Hindus areyet to be convincedabout non-declarationof the country as the

Hindu Rashtra. During theregime of Indira Gandhi the

words, 'secular' and 'socialist'were added to the Preamble ofthe Constitution in an apparentbid to appease minorities andCommunists at home andabroad. In this exercise, whichradically changed the basic struc-ture of the Constitution, it is note-worthy that no Hindu organisa-tion or Hindu religious leaderwas consulted, leave alone takingthem in confidence. ThePreamble of the Constitution ofIndia was amended against therulings of the Supreme Courtwhich laid down that Parliamentcannot alter the 'basic structure'of the Constitution. Obviously,the addition of the words, 'secu-lar and 'socialist' in the Preambleto the Constitution amounted tochanging the 'basic structure' ofthe Constitution. Most impor-tantly, no hue and cry was raisedby the protagonist of the

Constitution who swear by it, dayin and day out. On the otherhand, this lobby celebrated thechange.

In view of this historic back-ground, there is no reason tooppose or fume over any moveto bring back the status quo bysimilar Constitutional amend-ment. Besides, dropping thewords 'secular' and 'socialist',the preamble needs to be right-fully amended with the insertionof the words 'Hindu Rashtra' tohonour and assuage the feelingsof the vast majority of theHindus, living in India andabroad.

Only such a step can bring truecommunal harmony in the coun-try. Further, by doing so, a loudand clear message would go tothe anti-Hindu and anti-nationforces that, if they indulge in vio-lence or hurling abuses towards

the Hindus, Jains, Sikhs andBuddhists, they won't be sparedfrom the harshest punishment.The people belonging to theminority communities know itvery well that they can live hap-pily and peacefully only by win-ning the goodwill of the major-ity Hindus and not by fightingwith them or antagonising them.

The Geneva Convention onminorities also clearly lays downthat the minorities should min-gle with the majority communi-ty and earn the goodwill ofmajority community first; then,it shall be the duty of the major-ity community to protect andpromote the interests of theminorities.

The writing on the wall is clearfor all so-called secular forces andself- styled leaders of minorities:it would be in their own intereststo extend unstinted support todeclare India as the HinduRashtra. More Hindu-bashingwill only accelerate the process.

Traffic offences traible underboth IPC & MV Act : SC

The recent verdict of theapex court on traffic offenders,

if implemented strictly, will goa long way to curb the increas-ing road accidents in the coun-try.

The Supreme Court hasheld that traffic rules violatorscausing accidents by rash andnegligent driving could betried and punished separatelyunder the Indian Penal Codeand the Motor Vehicle Act.

A division bench, compris-ing Justice Indu Malohotraand Justice Sanjay Khanna,observed that ingredients ofoffences under both laws aredifferent and an offender canbe tried and punished inde-pendently under them.

Making an exception to theprinciple that the M.V Actbeing special law, it should pre-vail over the IPC, which is thegeneral law, the bench said thatthe MV Act is a beneficialpiece of legislation whose pri-mary objective is to provide astatutory scheme for compen-sation of victims of accidents.On the other hand, the IPC isdifferent in nature, having the object of punishing theoffenders.

LEGALROUNDUP

In fact, the authors of the Constitutionknew it very well that this country hasbeen and will be the permanent abodeof Hindus and therefore, had refrainedfrom adding the word ‘secular' in it

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 14, 2019 vijayawada 03

Raid onbrothel,gambling denPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The City Task Force per-sonnel on Sunday raided ahouse in Muralinagarunder Kancharapalempolice station which wasbeing run as a brothel andarrested three persons.Two women were rescuedand sent governmenthome.

The arrested organizerswere HanumanthuGovindamma, GanguAmmulu and KanchuvaniAdi Lakshmi. One customerManyapuri Praveen Kumarof Kapparada,K a n c h a r a p a l e m ,Visakhapatnam was alsoheld. The CTF staff res-cued two victimsSuravarapu Jyothi andKottapalli Priyanka. Theyseized cash of Rs 5,300,Room Key and five mobilesfrom their possession..

The Task Force person-nel also raided two placesunder Gopalapatnam andAirport police station lim-its. They raided place back-side of Kallupakalu, BajiJunction and apprehend-ed four persons and seizedcash of Rs 30,430, gamingstone and coins.

The second raid wasnear Moodu Gullu,Ye l l a p u v a n i p a l e m ,Gopalapatnam where ninepersons were arrested.They seized cash of Rs.30,430 and coins.

Interviews for18 APROcandidatesPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh PublicService Commission (APPSC)will hold interviews for 18 can-didates for the post of AssistantPublic Relations Officer(APRO) in the Information &Public Relations Departmenton October 23. The Mainsexam for the posts was con-ducted on April 29 and 30. Ina press release here on Sunday,the APPSC asked the candi-dates to bring along with themtheir original certificates forverification.

Congress, already on shakygrounds in Telangana, alsofinds itself ill at ease about

which side to back in the TSRTCstrike. While some state leaders likeRevanth Reddy and Seethakkahave backed the striking RTCemployees, many others are hold-ing their horses and hedging theirbets before backing the strike inview of the looming HuzurnagarAssembly by-elections. They aren'tsure if the strike really has large-scale popular support among peo-ple and are not willing to commitone way or the other. Some of themfear conceding advantage to TRS byallowing it to lay blame of incon-veniencing commuters at theirdoorstep. BJP, on the other hand isnot in two minds about the strike.Its leaders, both at the state and

central level, have clearly throwntheir lot with the striking RTCworkers and called the governmenthandling highhanded and arbitrary.Strikingly different from theCongress position where the likesof Revanth Reddy and others aretaking part in RTC employees'dharnas, some other partymendon't want to be seen anywherenear the dharna sites.

Cheeky, point-blanksalvos from VH

There are occasions where youtactfully avoid confrontation withrivals, work your way around but

end up conceding vital space toopponents. There's this other waywhere you say it upfront, hold yourground and also have your way.Senior Congress leader VHanumantha Rao apparently takesthis no-nonsense approach of say-ing it like it is. He has in the pastspoken his mind about formergovernor ESL Narasimhan beingallegedly a little slow in exercisingauthority and a little inactive.That was then. VH has nowtrained guns on the new Telanganagovernor Tamilisai Soundararajantoo. He recently said Tamilisaidoes not give an audience to

Congress leaders and avoids them.This was right in the face of theGovernor who was on the daisright there along with leaders of allpolitical parties at an Alay-Balayfunction a week ago. If that wasnot blunt enough, VH even tookon Himachal Pradesh governorBandaru Dattatreya who had him-

self organised the Alay-Balay aspart of his annual calendar.Pointing at the flexis put up at thefunction, Hanumantha Rao toldDattatreya he was unhappy not tosee a single Congress leader's faceon the banners, not even part pres-ident Sonia Gandhi's. Awkwardmoments for Dattatreya andTamilisai, but VH did make apoint when it mattered.

Governor dashedNetizens' hope

The more you are seen andheard at public functions the big-ger a power centre you seem. This

may or may not be the case, butit's exactly how commoners see itand look up to you to resolveissues. Governor TamilisaiSoundararajan's experience hasbeen such thus far. Plus, she is alsoactive on the social media wheremost of the chatter happens andperceptions are developed. Lately,Netizens have been flooding theGovernor's SM handle with scoresof public issues. Up till now, thechatterati on the Net used to typ-ically tag Minister KTR or otherofficials for issues that concernedthe general public. Now they arelooking at Tamilisai for help. But

alas, the Guv doesn't respond toappeals made on social media.Many a Netizen has sought herintervention in the ongoingTSRTS strike over the past weekbut here has been no responsefrom her.

This probably has to do withsocial media spreading the wordthat she was mulling to start thePraja Darbar tradition at RajBhavan, which the media also ranreports about. Once bitten, twiceshy. That could be why Tamilisaiis being very wary of social media,and request and speculationsmade on it.

(Contributed by PV Kondal Rao,

Kolishetty Venkatshwarlu,Naveena Ghanate)

REPORTERS’

D ARY

Cong can't strike a balance over RTC stir

Global meet on space laws ends,call for sustainable developmentPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Prof Tamma SuryanarayanaSastry, Vice-Chancellor, TamilNadu, Dr Ambedkar LawUniversity, Chennai; whilespeaking about the nature ofinternational law and superpower domination since along time, emphasized on theconcept of sustainable devel-opment as enshrined in vari-ous international treaties andconventions. He also spokeabout the catastrophic effectsof the expeditions in outerspace and that one must real-ize them well within time toprevent humankind from dev-astation. Sastry also said thenations must take note of theproblems associated thereinand act in the right directionto avoid them.

He was chief gust at thevaledictory function ofInternational Conference onSuper Powers Dominion inOuter Space and GlobalSustainable Developmentorganized by DamodaramSanjivayaa National LawUniversity in collaborationwith Global Network againstWeapons and Nuclear Powerin Space.

Two technical sessions wereheld during the day whichwere chaired by Prof PeterKuznick, Professor of Historyand Director of NuclearStudies Institute at AmericanUniversity.

In his address, the Vice-Chancellor of DSNLU, Prof SSurya Prakash was extreme-ly happy about the conferenceand the results it bore, since ithad involved some meaning-

ful discussion and insightsfrom foreign delegates fromUSA and UK. He emphasisedthat as responsible nationsand citizens, one must worktowards creation of a globally

sustainable world and mustnot tolerate militarization orcommercialisation of outerspace, which is a shared natur-al resource. He hoped for con-tinuity in the saga of suchevents, where we may indulgein more meaningful discus-sions.

R Bharath Kumar, assistantprofessor, Registrar Prof C MRao of DSNLU also spoke onthe occasion.

The conference is attendedby academicians, students,research scholars and delegatesfrom across the world.

Professor Dr Tamma Suryanarayana Sastry, Vice-Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University being honoured onthe ocassion of international conference on super powers dominion in outer space and global sustainable at DamodaramSanjivayaa National Law University, in Visakhapatnam on Sunday

DSNLU Vice-Chancellor Prof S SuryaPrakash was extremely happy aboutthe conference and the results it bore,since it had involved some meaningfuldiscussion and insights from foreigndelegates from USA and UK

2 HELD IN CRACKERS BLAST CASE PNS n KAKINADA

Two persons were arrested inconnection with blast in unau-thorized fire cracker makingunit by the Peddapuram divi-sion police in East Godavari onSaturday evening. The arrest-ed were Palacharla Sai Ram,the owner of Bhavni FireCracker Works and BobbaradaSatti Babu the lessee on thisunauthorized cracker makingunit.

The incident took Place at G.Medapadu village imSamarlakota Mandal in thedistrict on September 28.

It may be recalled that intotal six women workers allfrom SC social section suc-cumbed to burn injuries fourdays after the incident whileundergoing treatment at a pri-vate hospital in Kakinada. Theother three sustained simpleburn injuries.

According to KakinadaRDO and sub divisional mag-istrate A G Chinnikrishna,

compensation of Rs 5 lakh inthe form of cheques out of thetotal Rs 10 lakh sanctioned washanded over to the kin of thebereaved families. The remain-

ing Rs 5 lakh would be paid tothe kin of the deceased sepa-rately in next few days due totechnical reasons. The threewomen workers who sustained

minor burn injuries have beenpaid Rs 3 lakh each, the RDOsaid.

Regarding the unauthorizedmaking of fire crackers, adetailed report was sent to thedistrict administration, headded.

Peddapuram sub divisionpolice officer (DSP) ASrinivasa Rao revealed thatSC, ST Atrocities (prevention)case was booked against SaiRam the owner of Bhavani firecracker unit. As the lessee BSatti Babu also belonged thissocial section, he was spared.

East Godavari DFO andFire and Disaster Managementdepartment official Ch RatnaBabu said that Bhavani FireWorkes obtained NOC fromtheir department for the year2017 only.

It is mandatory to get NOCevery year, the official clarified.The works were being con-ducted at a place 500 metersaway from the permitted place,the DFO clarified.

According to Kakinada RDO and sub divisionalmagistrate A G Chinnikrishna, compensation ofRs 5 lakh in the form of cheques out of thetotal Rs 10 lakh sanctioned was handed overto the kin of the bereaved families

Residents protestagainst bar locationPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Residents of NGGOs Colonyin Kapparada layout staged adharna on Sunday at 48 BusStop in the colony against theproposed location of bar andrestaurant close to a templeand school.

President of the NGGOSColony Welfare Association GPrasada Rao, who called andorganized the dharna, saidthere was a need to protect thesanctity of the VaibhavaRajeswari Temple located inthe colony and vitiate theatmosphere of the schoolwhich is amidst the colony andthe close to the proposed barand restaurant.

“The sale of liquor will havean impact on the thousands ofthe employees living in thecolony and leading a peacefullife. Anti-social elements afterconsuming liquor mightindulge in riots and harass thewomen passing through theBar,” Rao said.

People from nearby coloniesand women from the residen-tial area participated in the

dharna which was held from9 am to 12 noon.

Similar protests were held inArilova and other workerscolony in the city wherewomen launched the agitationfor location of wine shops andbars in the residential areas.

City convener of AIDWAPN Madhavi said the chiefminister YS Jagan MohanReddy need to be appreciatedfor regulating the wine shopsand curbing the belt shops.

People fromnearbycolonies andwomen fromthe residentialareaparticipated inthe dharnawhich washeld from 9 amto 12 noon

YSV Reddy’srumours onkillers scotchedPNS n KADAPA

Kadapa SP Anbu Rajan hascondemned the fake newsdoing the rounds on socialmedia that the Sunil gangwas involved in the murder ofYS Vivekananda Reddy bytaking a contract. He clarifiedthat there has been no infor-mation relating to this that wasfound by the SpecialInvestigation Team.

The news claimed that theSunil gang were identified asthe killers in the case. SrinivasaReddy of Prodduturu commit-ted suicide recently, allegingthat the police were harassinghim under the guise of the YSVivekananda Reddy's murderinvestigation. Even DGPGautam Sawang visitedKadapa to sort this issue.

There were claims thatSrinivasa Reddy had contact-ed the Sunil gang to kill YSVivekananda Reddy and theSIT is inquiring those who hadgiven Srinivasa Reddy money.But Rajan has condemnedthis and warned that those cir-culating such news will bepunished.

PNS n KAKINADA

Floral tributes were paid to themortal remains of HavaldarRamesh Ruppa on arrival atthe Visakhapatnam Airporton Sunday evening. Thefuneral is scheduled to be heldat his native place,Gedelavanipeta, Kasimualasa,Srikakulam today. Wreath laying ceremony with

military honours was con-ducted at Shradhanjili Sthal atAirport by G Swaroopa RaniACP(West), Revenue OfficerKP Kishore from DistrictAdministration, Lt Cdr A

Kandwal from Eastern NavalCommand and Col DK Rai theStation HQs (Army)Visakhapatnam as a mark ofrespect to the deceased with aceremonial guard of the Navy.

The funeral is scheduled to be held at his native place, Gedelavanipeta, Kasimualasa,Srikakulam today

PNS n KAKINADA

The birth anniversary ofMaharishi Valmiki was orga-nized here under the aegis ofBC Welfare Department atEast Godavari colectorate onSunday.

Participating in the pro-gramme district collector DMuralidhar Reddy, after pay-ing his respects to Valmiki,called upon the youth par-ticularly student communityto observe and read aboutthe great people l ikeMaharishi Valmiki and the

services extended by suchgreat saints for the welfare ofmankind after transformingas saint .

The collector on this occa-sion asked the students toread and observe the life his-tories of Gautama Budha,Jyotirao Pule, MahatmaGandhi and Dr. Ambedkarand how they served poorand downtrodden and theneedy in the society. MLCChukkala Ramachandra Rao,Deputy Director BC WelfareHari Prasad, ZP CEO MJyoti and others participated.

East Godavari collector D. Muralidhar Reddy and others paying their respects toMaharshi Valmiki on his birth anniversary at a programme organized at districtcollectorate on Sunday

Naval personnel carrying the body of havaldar Ramesh Ruppa at Visakhapatnam Airport on Sunday evening

Army man’s body arrives Vizag

AP, TS want official celebration in New DelhiPNS n NEW DELHI

Valmiki Jayanti was celebrat-ed by AP and Telangana Stateson a grand scale in NewDelhi on Sunday.Governments of both theTelugu State have given a callto celebrate the event official-ly in New Delhi.

With this, AP Bhavan In-charge ResidentCommissioner BhavanaSaxena and Telangana BhavanResident CommissionerVedantham Giri organised

the celebrations. They inaugu-rated the celebrations by pay-ing floral tributes to Valmiki.

Speaking on the occasion,Bhavana Saxena said Valmikiwas a great sage who was bornin a tribal family living in for-est and rose to the level ofpenning the Ramayana, theepic loaded with wisdom.After becoming the Maharshi,Valmiki undertook a journeyto South India throughDandakaranya. He also touredSri Lanka. During his restperiod, he wrote 23,000

slokas, in seven 'kandalams',she added.

Telangana ResidentCommissioner Vedatham Girisaid Valmiki, who hailed fromthe lowest rung of the society,is the first poet to write theRamayana in verse.

Telangana Bhavan Deputycommissioner G Rammohan,APIC Special OfficerKancharla Jaya Rao and APBhavan AssisatantCommissioner Dr K LingaRaju were among those pre-sent.

Participating in theprogramme districtcollector D MuralidharReddy, after paying hisrespects to Valmiki,called upon the youth,particularly studentcommunity, to readabout great people likeMaharishi Valmiki andfollow their teachings

Valmiki Jayanti celebrated at EG collectorate

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Tollywood Superstar MaheshBabu inauguarated Bhima — ajewellery showroom — inVijayawada on Sunday.

Fans came in large numbersto catch a glimpse of theTollywood hero.

Bhima launched its businessin 1925 when it started its firstshowroom. Now, it has 45showrooms across the country.

Bandar Road in the citywitnessed a huge traffic jam ashundreds of Mahesh Babu'sfans thronged the place.

The Tollywood said he isalways happy to visitVijayawada. “Most of the func-tions organised to celebrate the

victory of my films were heldin the city. My new flick is duefor release around Sankranti. It

is being made in such a waythat my fans will feel proud,"he said.

Mahesh Babu opens jewellery showroom

Actor Mahesh Babu at the inaugural of the jewellery showroom in Vijayawada

Fire tender’s brakesfail, crew hurtPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Crew members of a fire ten-der belonging to NavalDockyard sustained minorinjuries when the vehiclebrakes failed and the rolledinto the valley while comingdown from Dolhin Hill nearYarada on Sunday morning.Reports said the vehicle afterthe brakes failed, hit an elec-tric police glided into the val-ley. All the injured personswere admitted into INSKalyani Naval Hospital.

The fire tender was carry-ing water for the NavalDockyard employees whoorganized a function atop thehill. The incident took placeafter the vehicle returning tothe station after supplyingwater to the employees. Theemployees stated that twoschool buses from Anakapallemet with an accident and 30-children were injured.

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 14, 2019 vijayawada 04

YSRC dividing farmers basedalong caste lines: NarendraPNS n GUNTUR

Former TDP MLA DhulipallaNarendra has alleged thatYSRC has brought about acaste divide among farmersthrough the YSR RythuBharosa scheme. Speaking tomedia on Sunday at Guntur, hestated that in the last fourmonths, about 150 farmershave committed suicides.

Dhulipalla Narendra hasalleged that the governmenthas imposed conditions toeliminate farmers from thebeneficiaries list. "If two tothree tenant farmers own aland, then the scheme will beimplemented for only one ten-ant farmer. How is this correct?They have mentioned that thelist of beneficiaries belongingto SC community must belisted first, followed BCs. Onlythen will others benefit fromthe scheme. It means if thenumber of SC farmers are

more, then other farmers willnot get to benefit."

He also questioned the gov-ernment about how the num-ber of beneficiaries is 40 lakh,despite there being over onecrore farmers in the state.

YS Jaganmohan Reddy haspromised for Rs 12,500 perannum, but is giving only Rs6500 on behalf of the state and

forwarding Rs 6000 from theCentre under his scheme, hehas explained. He was citingthe statement of ministerKanna Babu. Last year, theunion government had paid Rs6000 for 45 lakh farmers in thestate.

When Kanna Babu wasquestioned why only 40 lakhfarmers were beneficiaries, he

had said that the Centre hadnot paid for verifying the ben-eficiaries. It means, the otherfive lakh farmers are not eligi-ble for this scheme.

YS Jaganmohan Reddyhas promised for Rs12,500 per annum, but isgiving only Rs 6500 onbehalf of the state andforwarding Rs 6000 fromthe Centre under hisscheme, he hasexplained. He was citingthe statement of ministerKanna Babu. Last year,the union governmenthad paid Rs 6000 for 45lakh farmers in the state

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Kakinada MP Vanga Geeta,who visited 'Saras' - the allIndia DWCRA Bazaar - 2019at the Swaraj Maidan RythuBazaar in Vijayawada onSunday, said this is the secondbiggest DWCRA bazaar in thecountry.

She said 370 stalls were set

up by 450 Self-Help Groups(SHGs) hailing from 22 Statesin the country. "It is a happyaugury that the DWCRABazaar has done a business ofRs 3.5 crore in just 10 days,"she said.

Geeta said that the State gov-ernment should set up moresuch bazaars to encourageSHGs in the State. She said inorder to empower women,such bazaars should be set upin all districts in the State.

AS STRIKE TURNS INTO A LAW AND ORDER...

KCR softens stand on TSRTC strikeL VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, despitehis uncompromising stanceon TSRTC strike from Day-1,is now having second thoughtsand may soften his stand in thedays ahead as he is understoodto be under tremendous pres-sure from all sides with the 10-day-old stir snowballing into amajor law and order issue.

According to highly-placedsources, the government haswithheld its plan to serve dis-missal orders to the sackedstaff. The government is nowplanning to hold talks withRTC unions again. AlthoughKCR may not be part of thedirect talks with RTC unionsinitially, the confabulations arelikely to be held at the cabinet

sub-committee level.The death of RTC driver

Srinivas Reddy on Sunday,who on Saturday immolatedhimself to protest the state gov-ernment's tough stand on RTCstrike, attracted nation-widemedia attention and drew flakfrom various sections, puttingthe state government in a fix.

The multiple suicideattempts elsewhere in the state,violent incidents near busdepots and bus stations, theunified opposition taking onthe government throughprotests on streets with thesupport of social organiza-tions, increasing resentmentamong government employeesover the government's toughstance on RTC strike areamong the factors that influ-enced KCR to modify his stand

on RTC strike. With theHuzurnagar bypoll just a weekaway, the political implica-tions of stretching RTC striketill then or beyond are alsobeing factored in by the TRSleadership. So, KCR is expect-ed to win over the striking RTCunions ahead of the bypoll.

Over the past 10 days ofstrike, the situation at theground level has only wors-ened, mainly because of thegovernment's decision to sack48,000 RTC employees onstrike. The government islikely to clarify its stance on thestrike by October 15 in theHigh Court, which had issueddirections asking the state gov-ernment and RTC manage-ment to give details of the stepstaken to mitigate the hardshipsof people in the wake of thestrike.

Teachers plan pen-down strike in supportof TSRTC workers PNS n HYDERABAD

The Panchayat Raj Teachers'Union (PRTU) on Sundayexpressed its solidarity withthe cause of striking RTCworkers and announced itsdecision to observe pen-down str ike upon thereopening of schools afterthe extended Dasara vac-tion, which is scheduled toend on October 19.

At a meeting here onSunday, PRTU resolved tosupport the fight for merg-er of RTC with the govern-ment. PRTU leaders pledgedtheir support to RTC work-ers. Apart from PRTU, 22teachers' unions will supportRTC strike, they said.

The PRTU leaders believethat the extension of Dasaravacation is intended to weak-en the RTC strike. So, once

the vacation ends, PRTUwould join hands with otheremployees' associations andcollectively fight for RTCworkers' cause.

According to PRTU lead-ers , Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, by uni-lateral ly extending theDasara vacation, has made itclear that he is acting like adictator. They breathed fireat the government for tryingto weaken education sys-tem. That is why, the vaca-tion has been extended, theyreasoned.

The leaders of PRTU saidthey were ready for anotherround of Sakala JanulaSamme to end the dictator-ial style of functioning of thegovernment and questionedKCR's authority to extendDasara vacation in the firstplace.

PNS n HYDERABAD

An audio recording of the pur-ported conversation between anangry complainant and the per-son who received it at theGrievances Cell of CMO wentviral on social media platformson Sunday.

The 2.56-minute audio per-tains to a complaint from oneRanjith Kumar, 33, hailing fromKarimnagar mandal inKarimnagar district, against noneother than ChiefMinister KChandrasekhar Raofor extending the 16-day-long Dasara vaca-tion for students by aweek. In the audio clip,Ranjith is heard saying:"What is going on in the State?The state is fully in disturbedmood. Children already forgoteverything. Once again the gov-ernment is extending holidaysone more week. The RTCemployees are doing their strike.The Chief Minister is arrogantlybehaving. In-between the two(RTC employees and ChiefMinister) we are facing troubles.We are suffering a lot. Whethera Chief Minister, who is in pivotalposition, would talk like that? TheChief Minister says run the busesto ensure that the people not toface troubles. Are we not facingtroubles? Whether the govern-ment uses the school childrenbuses? The Chief Minister has todiscuss with them to solve theirproblem? Why such arrogance?Chief Minister of the State meanshe is like a father to the people.Father has to teach a lesson to thechildren. It is not correct on thepart of Chief Minister to say that'if you want to go…go….we willremove'. Chief Minister is gettingready for fight. Is it a way to the

Chief Minister? Chief Ministerhas to convince the RTC employ-ees in presence of State govern-ment employees. Will RTCemployees don't get anger ifChief Minister says that he willremove 50,000 employees? ChiefMinister is not giving value to theRTC employees. The RTCemployees will come a step downif Chief Minister gives value tothem. We are getting irritationwhile seeing the behavior ofChief Minister. Take this as com-plaint and tell. We are suffering

between RTC employees andChief Minister. RTC is for usand Chief Minister is for us.We the people are facinglose if they fight each other.One thing is the ChiefMinister's arrogance to bedecreased against employ-

ees or people. Chief Minister alsoscolds the people, saying that theyare becoming groups here andthere. Chief Minister scolds peo-ple and workers.

Whose sake his rule? Whosesake we achieved Telanganastate? Telangana achieved withwaging movements, but now thegovernment is suppressing themovements in the sameTelangana. Is it correct? WasTelangana possible if Andhrarulers suppressed the move-ments in this manner? WhereKCR would have become asChief Minister? KCR has toremember all these things and hehas to look after the people andworkers as his own children.Chief Minister has to (back)down as a father, who downs forhis children and sacrifices, for hischildren. Not to say 'I will not lis-ten… I will not do' because it isdemocracy. Bring this issue to thenotice of Chief Minister."

The receiver said that he willsend the complaint.

It is a happy augurythat the DWCRABazaar has done abusiness of Rs 3.5crore in just 10 days,"she said.

Govt should set up moreDWCRA Bazaars: Vanga Geetha

TS taking rapid strides infarm mechanisationPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana has recorded a rapidgrowth of about 82 per centgrowth in farm mechanisationwithin five years since it wasformed in 2014. The number oftractors alone increased from1.5 lakh to 2.87 lakh, recording90 per cent growth during theperiod, besides a steady growthin farm trailers and harvesters.

The state government, whichadopted a holistic approach toensure overall development ofthe agriculture sector, has beenfocusing on farm mechanisa-tion to increase productivity,reduce cost of production andincrease extent of land undercultivation. On the directions ofChief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao, the agri-culture department officialscharted out an action plan andcollected mandal-wise dataenumerating required agricul-ture machinery.

Besides providing a subsidyof 75 per cent to SC/ST farm-ers and 50 per cent to other

farmers, the state governmenthas been encouraging farmersto purchase machinery of theirrequirement and choice."Awareness camps as well asdemonstration workshops onusage of machinery for variouspurposes, including seed sow-ing, weed removal and cropcutting, were conducted to

encourage farmers purchasefarm machinery," officials of theagriculture department said.

The state government spentabout Rs 110 crore in 2017-18to promote farm mechanisationand enhanced the allocations toRs 328.83 crore during previousfiscal of 2018-19. In the currentfinancial year of 2019-20, thegovernment allocated Rs 304.34crore towards subsidies underfarm mechanisation scheme.

Following the efforts of theagriculture department, thepopulation of farm vehicleshas increased considerably overlast five years.

The agricultural vehicularpopulation increased from 2.75lakh in 2014 to 4.99 lakh in2019, registering an increase ofabout 82 per cent with 2.23 lakhadditional vehicles.Interestingly, general vehicularpopulation in the State, including farm vehicles, record-ed a growth rate of 71.4 per cent during the period from71.52 lakh to 122.58 lakh (1.22crore).

Naidu's cheap tactics won't work,says ParthasaradhiContinued from Page 1

"The irregularities com-mitted by the TDP'sJanmabhoomi committeesduring the last five yearswere a clear example ofNaidu's bad governance,"Parthasardhi said andobserved that Naidu is notspeaking a word when askedto comment on why the peo-ple rejected TDP in villages.

He alleged that Naidu isnot talking about the corrup-tion done by his son Lokesh,TDP MLAs and ministers."He is not speaking a wordagainst his party men whohad looted public money bydiverting. Who is responsi-ble for all this?" he asked.

Parthasaradhi said Naiduis not discussing why SCs,STs, BCs and Minorities,who supported TDP duringthe NTR's rule, had dis-

tanced themselves from theparty.

He said all leaders, whohad spoken againstJaganmohan Reddy in ahumiliating manner in thelast five years, had to bite thedust in the elections. "Theyare still continuing the sameattitude," he added.

Naidu's misdeeds arehaunting him, Parthasaradhisaid.

"Instead of making sugges-tions to the new govern-ment, Naidu has termed theChief Minister a psycho andcalled the government arowdy government. Is thisthe way a man who ruled theState for 14 years as chiefminister should speak?"

Parthasaradhi said the CMis going ahead with fulfillinghis poll promises despite theState being in a poor finan-cial condition.

Continued from Page 1

The curriculum has threeelectives — integral humanbeing, yoga and pranayamaand gratitude.

While the first elective talksabout obligation to self, parentsand society besides a moduleon living with others with theiracceptance, the module ongratitude is about duty versusrights. "The module on yogatalks about difference betweenyoga and pranayama and theirinter-relatedness. What shouldbe the asanas performed beforeexamination or a presenta-tion? All these things are list-ed in the curriculum," the offi-cial said. "The curriculum hasbeen developed by an expertcommittee with an aim to sup-port our graduates to unlockand discover their true potential and making themsocial responsive citizens," theofficial added.

Social media,pranayam part ofUGC's ‘life skills'

Continued from P1

Reddy, who had suffered around90 per cent burn injuries, wasshiftedto a hospital here onSaturday night from Khammamandsuccumbed at around noonon Sunday.

Union Minister of State forHome G Kishan Reddy con-doled the death and said theincident has pained him verymuch.

"Suicide is not the solution.Nobody should resort to suchsteps in future," he said.

Reddy urged the TelanganaGovernment to resolve the RTCstrike issue amicably by holdingtalks with the unions.

He also extended his condo-lences to the bereaved family.

Leaders of the oppositionCongress and BJP in Telanganaalso condoled Reddy's death andconveyed their condelences tothe bereaved family members.

Nearly 48,000 workers ofemployees and workers unionsof TSRTC began an indefinitestrike from October 5 on a callby the Joint Action Committeeof TSRTC.

On Sunday, TelanganaPanchayat Raj Minister ErrabelliDayakar Rao alleged that somepolitical parties were provokingthe union leaders and claimedit was a "political conspiracy"against the government.

"Congress or BJP did nothingfor RTC employees. Did any BJPgovernment in other statesmerge their state transport cor-porations? Parties should stopthe dramas," he said.

Minister for BC Welfare and

Civil Supplies GangulaKamalakar alleged that politicalparties were instigating theunions for their political gains.

He cautioned the workersnot to fall prey to such viciousattempts and added that the gov-ernment had never said it wouldprivatise RTC.

The ministers further said thegovernment never promised tomerge RTC with the govern-ment and it (merger of RTC)was neither the government's

policy nor in the party's mani-festo.

The JAC of TSRTC has givena Khammam 'bandh' call forMonday and CongressLegislature Party leader MalluBhatti Vikramarka said his partysupported the shutdown call.

Meanwhile the union leadersappealed to striking workers notto resort to suicides and saidcondolence meetings would beheld on Monday at all depots inthe state. Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao on Saturdayhad said there was no questionof having talks with the strikingemployees or taking them back.

Rao also directed officials torestore bus services and ifneedbe, recruit employees, utilise theservices of retiredRTC andPolice department drivers.

The government, he said,would not recognise the "illegaland unlawful" strike under anycircumstances and there was noquestion of having any talks withthose on strike.

"The striking employees willnot be taken back, come whatmay", an official release quotedhim as having said.

Rao, who chaired a reviewmeeting on the situation onSaturday, directed officials to paysalaries for the month ofSeptember to those who werenot participating in the strike.

He said the striking workershad blindly believed union lead-ers' statements and had onlythemselves to blame for losingtheir jobs. Supervisors werealso dragged into the strike,which had never happened inthe past, he said.

Rao said the union leaderswere responsible for 48,000employees losing their jobs.There was no scope of takingback those who abstained fromduties, he said. The ChiefMinister also directed DGP MMahendar Reddy to take stepsto increase security cover at allRTC depots, book cases, arrestthose indulging in unlawfulactivity and violence and thosetrying to stop buses from plying.

The JAC had called for astate-wide bandh on October 19,even as the Government onSaturday extended the Dasaravacation till October 19, not toinconvenience students.

KCR pet's death case: RTI query rejected by Hyderabad police Continued from Page 1

Based on a complaint filed byAsif Ali Khan, who handlespet dogs at Pragati Bhavan,the police registered a caseand launched a probe. Thecomplainant had alleged thatthe dog died due to negli-gence by the doctor and thedoctor in-charge of the pri-vate veterinary clinic, wherethe dog was rushed when itscondition worsened following

the injection. The police replyto RTI police said, "On receiptof your petition, verified theavailable records and it isrevealed that the said case wasunder investigation. As suchthe disclosure of evidence atthis juncture would impedethe process at investigation orit may influence the fareinvestigation. Hence suchinformation cannot be pro-vided U/Sec 8(1) (h) of Rightto Information Act. Hence

your application has beenrejected."

According to the FIR, acase under section 429(Mischief by killing or maim-ing cattle) of the Indian PenalCode (IPC) and Section 11(4) of the Prevention ofCruelty to Animals Act wasbooked against Dr Ranjit andthe in-charge of a privateveterinary clinic, Dr LaxmiSrinivasan, at Banjara HillsPolice Station.

TSRTC driver succumbs to burns, protests broke out

Giving KCR an earfulat CM's grievance cell

Naidu trying forfriendship withBJP, Janasena:UmmareddyContinued from Page 1After the recent defeat,Naidu has understood thatwinning elections in thefuture is not his cup of tea,said Ummareddy.

Slamming Naidu for hiscomment on liquor ban,Ummareddy said, "It's Naiduwho has revoked the ban onliquor. Jagan has promisedthe ban in the manifesto andis working towards fulfillinghis promise. Despite spend-ing huge money spending inhis constituency(Mangalagiri), TDP lost theelection." Speaking to themedia, Ummareddy has alsopulled up Naidu for not ini-tiating any action against theMLA who was accused ofbeating a woman MRO. But,Jagan has ordered the policeto arrest his own MLA aftera woman MPDO com-plained that the MLA threat-ened her, he said.

ICRISAT to hostmeet on BigData in agriPNS n SANGAREDDY

Over 500 delegates are set todiscuss the issues of trust in dig-ital agriculture and exploreways to build it at the thirdannual convention of CGIARplatform for Big Data in agri-culture.

The three-day 2019 'BigData in AgricultureConvention: TRUST: Humans,Machines' will be hosted byICRISAT (International CropResearch Institute for Semi-aridTropics) between October 16and 18, Hyderabad.

Talking about the theme ofconvention, coordinator forthe BIG DATA Platform, BrianKing, highlighted the opportu-nities machines and machine-to-machine systems offer foraccelerating food security solu-tions at a time when climatesand ecosystems are underthreat. He underlined theimportance of ensuring thatethical frameworks and insti-tutions stay abreast of the rateof changes these digital tech-nologies present.

"The global calls for digitaltrust are intensifying even asthe need for comprehensive,multifaceted solutions for glob-al food security grows," saidKing. "We need to increase pro-duction, but we also need topreserve and renew ecosystems,manage climate extremes, anddeal with depleting soil andland resources. Trustworthydigital solutions may be themost important tool we have torise to the challenge-if we canbuild them."

Telangana State and its cap-ital city, Hyderabad, have hada prominent role to play inexpanding India's digital foot-print. K T Rama Rao, Ministerfor Information Technology, isexpected to deliver the keynoteaddress during the convention'sinaugural session.

Tractors in state upfrom 1.5 lakh fiveyears ago, to 2.87 lakhnow; Govt focuses onproductivity increase,cost reducuction

n Orders for dismissal ofstriking staff put on hold

n Govt to win over RTCunions ahead of Huzurnagarbypoll

n Pressure of united oppnand mounting resentmentamong govt staff

n Poor response to RTCmgmt drive for temporaryrecruitment

Man held fortwo-wheeler theftHyderabad: property Offenderinvolved in a two-wheeler theftcase was apprehended by theHabeebnagar police on Sunday.The police recovered a HondaActiva from his possession.According to the police, thesuspect was identified as MohdSaddam, 23, of Muradnagar inAsifnagar. "The modus operan-di (MO) of the suspect is tomove around in the localitiesduring night time and committheft of motorcycles parkedoutside the houses," said JShiva Kumar, Detective SubInspector, Habeebnagar policestation.

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 14, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

Farmer hangs selfwearing BJP poll T-shirt in BuldhanaBULDHANA: In an incident thatis likely to embarrass theDevendra Fadnavisgovernment, a farmer allegedlycommitted suicide on Sundaymorning in Maharashtra'sBuldhana district while wearinga BJP promotional T-shirt.Incidentally, Fadnavis is in theeast Maharashtra city where heis scheduled to address threerallies during the day for theOctober 21 Assembly polls.Police said 38-year-old farmer,Raju Talware, was foundhanging at around 11 am at hisresidence in Khatkhed inShegaon taluka, part of Jalgaon(Jamod) Assembly seat."He was wearing a BJP T-shirtwith the caption 'punha aaluyaaaple sarkar' (let's bring ourgovernment to power again),"said an official. Maharashtralabour minister Sanjay Kutte isthe BJP candidate and sittingMLA from Jalgaon (Jamod)Assembly seat.

Our schemes are forpeople's welfare, saysUP CM Adityanath

Four arrested forprinting, circulatingfake currencyCOIMBATORE: A fake currency-printing unit was busted hereon Sunday and four peoplehave been arrested, police said.Currencies with a face value Rs14 lakh in differentdenominations were seized, thepolice said. The printers fellinto the dragnet when someshopkeepers caught twopersons trying to circulate thefake currencies late Saturdayevening and handed them overto the police. On interrogation,the duo, one of whom is takingup coaching for IASexamination, is said to haveconfessed to circulating thefake notes for the last onemonth, police said. Based onthe information, police caughtDhanraj, the kingpin of the unit,in the early hours of Sundayand learned that he wasprinting the notes in a rentedhouse and circulating themwith the help of three people.Another person was also heldin connection with the racket.

AURANGABAD: Initiatives ofBJP-Shiv Sena government inMaharashtra are about people'swelfare while those of previousgovernments were aboutgrabbing public money for thebenefit of a few, Uttar PradeshChief Minister Yogi Adityanathsaid at a poll rally inMaharashtra's Hingoli districton Sunday. MaharashtraAssembly polls are slated forOctober 21 and results will beannounced on October 24."Funds allocated for schemesand farmers were grabbed.Deals were cut while providingjobs. Development was limitedto development of a family,"Adityanath said attacking theopposition. Speaking on therevocation of provisions ofArticle 370 in Jammu andKashmir, he said the move byPrime Minister Narendra Modiwas a tribute to icons likeBabasaheb Ambedkar andChhatrapati Shivaji who foughtfor justice.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Delhi BJP president ManojTiwari on Sunday held illegalimmigrants responsible for 80per cent crimes in the nation-al capital, referring to the inci-dent of chain snatching withPrime Minister NarendraModi's niece in the city.

Tiwari said his demand fornational register for citizens(NRC) exercise in Delhi is foridentifying and evicting suchillegal immigrants involved incrimes. "As many as 80 per centcrimes involve illegal immi-grants in Delhi. That's why Ihave been demanding NRC butwhenever I do so, ArvindKejriwal rises as their shield," hesaid. Recently, Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal on aquestion about NRC imple-mentation in Delhi said Tiwariwill be the first to be evicted ifthe exercise is started in the city.

Tiwari said the responsibili-ty of law and order and crimecontrol lied with the DelhiPolice and he was not trying toprotect it by naming the illegalimmigrants.

"But it needs to be workedout how is the Delhi Policegoing to control crime in Delhiwhen a large number of illegalimmigrants are living in dif-ferent parts of the city," he said.

Damayanti Ben Modi,daughter of the prime minister'sbrother Prahlad Modi, becamea victim of snatching in thenational capital with her pursecontaining cash of Rs 50,000and two mobile phoneswrenched from her grasp bytwo persons when she wasalighting from an auto-rick-shaw on Saturday. The incidentoccurred a few kilometres awayfrom the residence ofLieutenant Governor AnilBaijal and Chief MinisterKejriwal. Two persons on ascooter snatched the woman'spurse containing Rs 50,000, twomobile phones, some docu-ments and other valuablesaround 7 am when she gotdown at the Gujrati SamajBhawan in North Delhi's CivilLines area, a senior police offi-cer said.

Rising above religious lines: A Nirgun morning at folk festMANISH SAIN n JODHPUR

A nip in the air, calmness in theatmosphere and the right notesof soulful folk music playing inthe backdrop, a dawn concerthere at the ongoing 12th editionof Rajasthan International FolkFestival (RIFF) music festivalwas the stuff that dreams aremade of.

In Jaswant Thada, the royalcenotaph that offered an impres-sive view of the rising sun,music blended with spiritualmessage filled the the air aswords of folk singers likeMahesha Ram, Baghe Khanand Gemra Ram rose above thebounds of religion and sere-naded not the gods, but the ideathat is "Nirgun Bhakti".

"Nirgun doesn't have a body,or a soul. There is no beginningto it as there is no end. It goesabove and beyond religion,caste, and community," BagheKhan, the famous Manganiyar

singer said. "Nirgun or nirakaris something that doesn't havea form, or colour. It isn't born,it doesn't die. It doesn't have any-thing to do with anyone, itdoesn't believe in a religion, oreven a family," he added.

Nirgun bhakti, propagatedby Indian mystic poet and saintKabir, the idea of a formless andbenign divinity, a friend figure.

Like many other practitioners ofspiritualism, Kabir too believedin the "formlessness" of God,which is reflected in his poetry.

The artistes while playingtraditional instruments like tam-bura, kamaicha, manjira, anddholak, gave emotive renditionof many Nirgun bhajans like"Joban dhan pavna, do hi dinchaar" or "Papi mohe raj karan-

ta dekhya", which talked aboutthe futility of taking pride inyouth, and how even evil rulerseventually have to deal with thefate of time, respectively.

Talking about the relevance ofsongs written by 15th-centurypoet Kabir and other Bhaktimovement proponents, GemraRam, a folk artist from theMeghwal community, said thegrowing "hatred towards eachother" is the reason why we needthese songs today more thanever. "These days people takeoffense over so many things, reli-gion or what not. They hate eachother for their opinions. The one

who follows Nirgun does notfeel anger, does not feel hatredfor others. Since he doesn'tbelieve in such divides, nothingof it affects him," the 60-year-oldvocalist said.

Though agreeing with hisco-artiste in describing Nirgunas someone who is above every-one else, folk singer MaheshaRam said the importance ofguru stands true in this belief tooand is not forgotten one bit.

"We have songs that are sungto welcome the guru, or toalarm others that the guru hasarrived, bhajans about what hehas brought for everyone and

what he'll take from us," he said.Having sung these bhajans for alarger part of their lives -- 48years for Gemra Ram alone —many of the artistes, though hes-itantly, did admit that the pop-ularity of traditional folk songsis on decline.

But then nothing of that dis-heartens a pragmatist like BagheKhan.

"Everything that has comeinto this world will cease to existone day. Same goes with thesesongs too, that were written hun-dreds of years ago. That's howlife goes on," Khan, also a folksinger, said.

The five-day annual event,kick-started on October 10, willsee a total of over 250 artistes thisyear, not just from the desertstate but all over the countrytogether with internationalartistes from Poland, Hungary,Armenia, Cuba, Ireland,Switzerland, Reunion Island,Israel and Mali.

PNS n KOLKATA,

The BJP leadership in WestBengal will be taking outrallies across the state fromOctober 15 to 26, as part ofthe party 's nationwide'Gandhi Sankalp Yatra' ini-tiative to propagate the idealsof the Father of the Nation.

Addressing a press meethere on Sunday, BJP state unitchief Dilip Ghosh said partyMPs, MLAs and panchayatpradhans will take part in therallies, each of which will bepreceded by a tableau pro-jecting Mahatma Gandhi'scontributions.

"The yatra was launched onOctober 2 elsewhere in thecountry, on the occasion ofGandhij i ' s 150th bir thanniversary. Here, we had topostpone the date in view ofthe ongoing festive season,"he said. In all, the rallies willcover a distance of 6,500 kmin the state over a period of10 days," Ghosh stated,adding the administrationwould be informed about theyatra and its course inadvance.

Asked if the party was

anticipating any restriction bythe state administration,Ghosh said, "This yatra isbeing taken out by the BJP topreach Gandhi's ideals ofnon-violence and cleanlinessto the present generation."

"I think the ruling dispen-sation will not be opposed tothe initiative. However, ifthere is any such develop-ment we will act according-ly," the BJP MP fromMidnapore said.

The state government hadlast year slammed brakes onthe saffron party's rath yatra,citing possible breakdown in

law and order. The upcomingyatra, Ghosh maintained, willboost the prime minister's'Swachh Bharat Mission'.

To a question if it will alsoraise the issue of allegedkillings of BJP party workersin Bengal, Ghosh said, "Weare taking out separate ralliesto protest the murder ofdemocracy in the state."

"Only yesterday (Saturday),we organized a sit-in in thecity against the spirallingpolitical violence and thetriple murder inMurshidabad's Jiaganj," theBJP state unit chief added.

PNS n BENGALURU

Senior Congress leaderSiddaramaiah on Sunday hit outat Prime Minister NarendraModi, alleging he had time tocampaign for US PresidentDonald Trump, seeking a sec-ond term in the general elec-tions there in 2020, but not tovisit flood-ravaged Karnataka.

Terming the BJP as "fascist"and "dictatorial," the formerChief Minister accused the stategovernment of 'colluding' withthe Assembly Speaker inrestricting the media from cov-ering the proceedings of theHouse.

"This time it was unprece-dented floods in the state alongwith drought in some parts..central government gave aidonly after 60 days that too Rs1,200 crore.. according to medamage suffered is more thanRs 1 lakh crore," Siddaramaiahsaid.

Speaking to reporters inChikkamagaluru, he said, "Modidid not visit Karnataka, heinstead was touring foreigncountries and had gone to cam-paign for US President DonaldTrump."

".. Narendra Modi tweets assoon as there were floods inBihar, expressing sympathy.

In Karnataka when therewere about 90 deaths and fourto five people are still missingdue to floods, he did not express

sympathy," he added.As many as 2,798 villages in

103 taluks of 22 districts in thestate were affected by floods, inwhich around seven lakh peo-ple were shifted to safe areas.

About 3400 cattles and 91people died during rains andfloods in August.

Further attacking the PrimeMinister, Siddaramaiah said,"Narendra Modi claims to havea 56-inch chest.. what is the useof having a big chest without amotherly heart inside it?

Having a heart that cares for

poor, farmers is very important."Questioning the use of

Karnataka sending 25 BJP MPs,who according to him have"failed" in getting proper reliefto the state, he sought to knowhow people who protestedagainst the Udupi ChikmagalurMP Shobha Karandlaje, electedher once again.

"Has she visited the floodaffected regions of her con-stituency?" he asked.

Amid criticism over the delayin sanctioning funds, the Centrehad recently released Rs 1,200crore as interim relief to thestate, which had sent a damageestimate of Rs 35,160.81 crore.

Siddaramaiah also allegedthat Speaker and the state gov-ernment colluded in restrictingcamerapersons, both electron-ic and print media, from cov-ering the proceedings of theassembly session.

"This means that BJP doesnot believe in parliamentarydemocracy, basically they arefascist and believe in dictator-ship, the same thing Hitler alsoused to do..," he added.

Modi has time to ‘campaign’ forUS Prez but not for flood-hit

Nirgun bhakti, propagated by Indian mysticpoet and saint Kabir, the idea of a formlessand benign divinity, a friend figure. Like manyother practitioners of spiritualism, Kabir toobelieved in the "formlessness" of God, whichis reflected in his poetry

Siddaramiah

This time it was unprecedented floods in the statealong with drought in some parts.. centralgovernment gave aid only after 60 days that too Rs

1,200 crore.. according to me damage suffered is more thanRs 1 lakh crore

— SIDDARAMIAH, Senior CCongress lleader

PNS n LATUR

Congress leader RahulGandhi on Sunday accusedPrime Minister NarendraModi, Union Home MinisterAmit Shah and the media ofdistracting people's attentionfrom core issues.

Addressing an election rallyat Ausa in Maharashtra'sLatur district for the upcom-ing state polls, Gandhi saidwhen the youth ask for jobs,the government tells them towatch the moon, in an appar-ent reference to ISRO's recent

lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2. He also sought to know ifModi, during his recent meet-

ing with Chinese President XiJinping, asked the latter aboutthe 2017 Doklam standoff.

He was referring to thealleged incursion of Chinesetroops into the Indian terri-tory in 2017.

Gandhi also alleged that Rs5.5 lakh crore debt of "15 richpeople" was waived off by theModi government.

"The work of media, Modiand Shah is to distract peo-ple's attention from coreissues. The media is silent onfarmers' distress, lack of jobs.The media is mum on loan

waiver to rich as it is ownedby them," he alleged.

He said the objective ofdemonetisation, and imple-mentation of the Goods andServices Tax (GST) was totake money from pockets ofthe poor and give it to therich.

"When the youth ask forjobs, the government tellsthem to watch the moon.The government speaks about(abrogation of) Article 370and moon, but is silent onproblems plaguing the coun-try," Gandhi said.

Modi, media distracting attention from core issues

PNS n RATIA (HARYANA)

In a veiled attack on the rulingBJP in Haryana, SAD chief on Sunday said those who areexpecting to form the nextgovernment in the state will sitin the opposition.

"The situation is changingtoo fast in Haryana. Thosewho are thinking of forminggovernment will sit in opposi-tion," Badal told reporters whilecampaigning for SAD candi-date Kulwinder Singh Kunalfrom Ratia seat in Fatehabaddistrict. Asked about BJP's pollmanifesto released inChandigarh, he said, "When (aBJP) government is not goingto be formed then what com-ments should I make."

The BJP has set a target of 75plus seats in the state electionto be held on October 21.

There's unease between theSAD and the BJP in Haryanaafter the Akali Dal accused thesaffron party of backtracking onits commitment to contestHaryana Assembly polls togeth-er. Later, it announced analliance with the IndianNational Lok Dal on threeassembly seats.

Last month, Badal had takena strong exception to the induc-tion of Akali MLA BalkaurSingh into BJP and had

described it as "unethical."The SAD has an alliance with

the BJP in Punjab. EarlierSunday, addressing a publicmeeting in Dariapur, the SADchief said it was a "misconcep-tion" that there was a pro-BJPwave in Haryana. There is amisconception that there is awave in favour of BJP today. It(BJP) will not win a single seatin Sirsa and Fatehabad, Badalclaimed.

PNS n BALLIA

If the NRC is implementedacross India, it will have lethalconsequences and the country'satmosphere will become likethat of Kashmir, the CPI(ML)Liberation has said.

The Left party has alsoalleged that the poor and Dalitsare being targeted through theNational Register of Citizens(NRC).

Speaking to reporters here on

Saturday, CommunistParty of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberationgeneral secretaryD i p a n k a rBhattacharya said, "Ifthe NRC is imple-mented across India, itwill have lethal conse-quences and the atmos-phere of the country willbecome like that of Kashmir."

Terming the BJP-led Centre"anti-public", he alleged that it

was following thefootsteps of

German dictatorAdolf Hitlerand aiming toimplement theNRC in the

country to serveits political inter-

est."This is a ploy to divide

the country. Through the NRC,the poor and Dalits are beingtargeted," Bhattacharya said.

NRC across India will have lethalconsequences: CPI(ML)

‘Those thinking offorming govt in Haryanawill be in Oppn’

The situation ischanging too fast inHaryana. Those who

are thinking of forminggovernment will sit inopposition

— SUKHBIR SINGH BADALSAD chief

PNS n BHOPAL

The RSS-affiliated BharatiyaKisan Sangh will hold a protestin Madhya Pradesh capitalBhopal on Tuesday as itaccused the Kamal Nath gov-ernment of ignoring farmerswho suffered crop and prop-erty damage during heavyrains this season, a func-tionary said on Sunday.

Madhya Pradesh had one ofthe most robust monsoons thisyear with rainfall being 30 percent in excess of the annualaverage. "Kharif (July-Octobersowing season) crops weredestroyed due to heavy rains.We submitted memorandumsto the administration demand-ing compensation but the stategovernment has done nothingin the past two months," BKSstate chief Rambharose

Basotiya and secretary MaheshChoudhary told reportershere. "We will organise a one-day dharna on Tuesday. Wewant the government to giverelief to rain-affected farmersand waive off loans of Rs 2lakh as announced earlier,"Choudhary said.

The BKS leaders claimedfarmers had become loandefaulters with banks as theystopped repayment after thestate government announcedthe waiver.

RSS' outfit to protestfor rain-hit farmers

‘Man with ‘56-inch chest' didwhat previous PMs couldn't’PNS n NEW DELHI

Union Home Minister AmitShahon Sunday heaped praiseon Prime Minister NarendraModi for abrogating Article370, saying the previous gov-ernments never had the courageshown by the "man with 56-inchchest" in integrating Jammuand Kashmir with India's main-stream. Addressing an electionrally in Maharashtra's Kolhapurdistrict, he said people shouldask Congress and NCP leaders,when they come to seek votes,whether they support the NDAgovernment's decision to abro-gate the provisions that gave spe-cial status to Jammu andKashmir.

He targeted Congress leaderRahul Gandhi and NCP chiefSharad Pawar for questioningthe government's move to abro-gate Article 370.

"After people of the countryand Maharashtra voted him forthe second term, Modiji didsomething for which the entirecountry was waiting for 70

years...he abrogated Article 370on August 5 and joined Jammuand Kashmir with the country'smainstream," Shah said.

Shah said since the days of JanSangh, they have been hearingthat there cannot be two primeministers, there cannot be twosymbols and two constitutions,but "it was the Congress which,by imposing Article 370,stopped the process of integrat-ing Jammu and Kashmir with

India for several years"."As a result, thousands of our

people lost their lives due to ter-rorism, but still there was nointention of any party to removeArticle 370," he said.

"Several governments cameand went, several prime minis-ters came and went, no one hadthe courage to abrogate Article370. But, the man with the 56-inch chest scrapped it in one go,"Shah said.

He said during the UPA rule,terrorists from Pakistan used toinfiltrate and kill Indian soldiers.

"They used to decapitate oursoldiers, but the then primeminister 'Mouni baba'Manmohan Singh never used toutter a single word. But after theUri and Pulwama attacks,Modiji showed the courage ofkilling terrorists in their denthrough surgical strike and airstrikes," he said. He further hitout at the opposition over thegovernment's decision to banthe practice of triple talaq.

After people of thecountry andMaharashtra voted

him for the second term, Modijidid something for which theentire country was waiting for70 years...he abrogated Article370 on August 5 and joinedJammu and Kashmir with thecountry's mainstream

— SURESH, founder of Bamboo

Illegal immigrantsresponsible for 80%crimes in Delhi: Manoj

Bengal BJP to take out 10-dayGandhi Sankalp Yatra

It wasn’t surprising that the just-conclud-ed informal summit between PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and ChinesePresident Xi Jinping was high on opticsand low on concrete deliverables, which

is why it holds the potential to remarkablytransform the bilateral relationship betweenboth nations. Given the choice of the localein the picturesque, the ancient heritage andcoastal city of Mamallapuram, India’s histor-ical connect with China, together with theUNESCO recognition to the southern city,provided a fitting landscape for overwhelm-ing optics. On the other hand, the meetingwas expectedly low on deliverables, owing tothe fraught nature of bilateral issues like trade,border dispute and now China’s open supportto Pakistan on the internal reorganisation ofthe former State of Jammu & Kashmir — allof which require more than a quick-pacedinformal meeting to be resolved.

As such, the Mamallapuram summitbuilds on the tradition of informal engage-ments between the two countries after theWuhan summit in 2018 and can be seen asan overarching framework to furtherConfidence-Building Measures (CBMs). Theeased setting of such summits has the poten-tial to create grounds for discussions on issuesthat could otherwise irk the other nation. Thedecision to issue separate statements on thesummit defends its “informal” nature and,therefore, calls for both nations to not makeevery minute details of the meet public.

Even though the Ministry of ExternalAffairs (MEA), India, described the visit ofthe Chinese President as “highly productive”,doubts remain regarding countable deliver-ables specific to this visit. In his brief to themedia, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale saidthat from the Wuhan summit in 2018 to theMamallapuram summit in 2019, India andChina have made “visible progress.” If onewere to deconstruct the ambiguous referenceto “progress”, the only visible stride appearsin the area of trade through a “mechanism”proposed by President Xi. Joint assurances tofighting terrorism and radicalism, which werepart of the discussion, have been referred toin the past, too, through forums such asBRICS and the Shanghai CooperationOrganisation (SCO). Therefore, they do notnecessarily qualify as “progress.”

India’s need for greater market accessfrom China and lowering its trade deficitfound traction in this summit mainly becausethe Middle Kingdom is already under pres-sure on the trade front, owing to its ongoingtrade dispute with the US. The Trumpadministration in no mood to step back. Assuch, granting larger market access to Indiacould be the prominent and possibly the onlycountable deliverable in the near term fromthis summit. Progress on issues such as Indiajoining the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP), 5G technol-ogy involving Huawei and Kashmir, even ifdiscussed, is hard to imagine.

During the Wuhan summit, both nations

agreed to jointly cooperate onprojects in third countries.Although cooperation betweenthe two sides in Afghanistan hasshown potential, little progresshas been made. The lack of sub-stantial progress in Afghanistanfrom the last agreement musthave prevented any further dis-cussion on this issue.

Resolution of disputes andbig-ticket outcomes were notexpected in this summit as inmatters concerning bilateralissues of Indian concern, Chinais either at an advantageous posi-tion vis-a-vis India or has aclearly different position than us.In trade, too, numbers are high-ly favourable to China, leavingIndia to seek balance. On theissue of border dispute, Beijinghas little appetite for resolution,which was very much evident bythe progress made in the talksheld by the SpecialRepresentatives of both nations.

The lack of any joint com-munique also signals a con-scious projection of optics oversubstance. It is evident thatChina’s projected intentions inMamallapuram can be seen asdistinct from an otherwise differ-ent Chinese State behaviour.This was on display hours evenbefore the Modi-Xi meeting tookplace, especially apropos China’sstand and steps on the Kashmirissue. This strand in the Chinesebehaviour is also evident in the

nuanced dichotomy between itsstated positions and actions onground vis-a-vis India. Forinstance, there is a clear disjunc-ture in its projections at the bor-der — in subtle ways through cer-tain elements of the Chinese mil-itary — which is in variance withBeijing’s stated position. Thisallows China to either deny ordistance itself from the activitiesof such actors, with the State itselfhaving tacitly approved suchbehaviour.

While the Mamallapuramsummit gracefully displayedIndia’s cultural diplomacy gird-ed up by elements of Atithi DevoBhava (the guest is equivalent togod), it tacitly legitimised theacceptance of China’s flip-flop-ping positions on issues sensitiveto India, especially Kashmir.This is important both in the con-text of China’s recent steps andrhetoric on Kashmir as well asfrom the point of view of currentgeopolitics, where diplomacy, toa great extent, is also about sym-bolism, optics and messaging.China’s growing relations withPakistan are increasingly drag-ging India in bilateral dynamics.The summit could have beenused to send a subtle message toChina vis-a-vis the latter’s rela-tions with Pakistan.

As such, when dealing withChina, India should continue toassert the principles that it standsfor and unflinchingly project its

standard positions on issues thatare of global concern. To be sure,for China, Pakistan is a strategicleverage point, bound as they areby economics and not an iron-clad alliance. That China had tofinally relent on its move toblock the listing for MasoodAzhar as a terrorist at the UN,shows that the China-Pakistanrelationship has scope for tweakswhen there is enough interna-tional pressure and criticism.

The short history of China’srelations with Pakistan has shownthat when India puts its footdown on an issue, China is like-ly liberal in its relations withPakistan, to the disadvantage ofIslamabad. This is exactly howmost relations of dependencebetween affluent and manipula-tive major powers and develop-ing economies have shapedthemselves through history.

The pros and cons of suchrelationships get affected by theextent of separation betweenmajor powers’ affluence andtheir manipulative intentionsand the state of economic, polit-ical and military clout of thedependent State. China’s invest-ments in the China–PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC) andtheir consequences have blurredthe line that separates strategicintentions and economic goalsfor China in Pakistan. For the lat-ter, the state of its economy, whichlies in an uncertain zone —

between that of a LeastDeveloped Economy and a devel-oping economy — has made theterms of engagement with Chinamore unfavourable for itself.

Despite informal summitslike Mamallapuram, both Indiaand China will have to live withcertain realities, which are seem-ingly irrevocable, even thoughthey breed mistrust. Just as India’sdecision to internally reorganisethe former State of Jammu &Kashmir has become China’sconcern but cannot be rescind-ed, so have China’s investmentsin the CPEC for India, parts ofwhich pass through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) region.India’s relations with China willhave to factor in a continued ten-uous relationship on the onehand and sustained bilateraltrade on the other. These dynam-ics will continue to have substan-tive scope of scepticism fromeither side.

What has also come to thefore is the need for an uplift inIndia’s international diplomacywith regards to China. WhileBeijing has upped the ante againstus and has taken unprecedentedsteps, India remains painstaking-ly accommodating of such crit-icism. It is time India’s regionaland global aspirations and rolematch its pitch in internationaldiplomacy.

(The writer is Research Fellow,Indian Council of World Affairs)

Arelatively healthy adult human can keepup a pace of around a kilometre every10 minutes for half-an-hour. Those with

a degree of physical training can go faster andfor a longer duration. Yet, normal human beingstire out — the build-up of lactic acid in our mus-cles makes them ache and pain — but some,particularly long-distance runners, manage tofight this. A physically fit person, who can tra-verse 42.195 km of a marathon in around fourhours, would be considered very fit indeed.Athletes, particularly those primed for long-dis-

tance running, usually complete marathons in just over two hours. Even the bestlong-distance runners from East Africa clock that time, which is why what theKenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge has achieved in Vienna is the “four-minute mile”of our era — he ran the marathon in less than two hours. Sure, it was a racespecifically designed for him to break the record. Kipchoge had no competitorsto worry about and other runners in the field were there to ensure he kept hispace up. Even they melted away as the kilometres piled on but Kipchoge car-ried on and on, relentlessly, never seeming to run out of energy like a long-last-ing human battery. This superhuman achievement was cheered on by the crowdsin Vienna, who realised the magnitude of what was happening. This was indeedheartening to see. And thankfully, the organisers did not have plans for the eventto happen behind closed doors with the public and a worldwide audience giv-ing Kipchoge wings.

It was 75 years ago when Roger Bannister broke the four-minute barrier forrunning one mile. Kipchoge’s pace was only slightly slower than Bannister’s buthe maintained it over 26 times the distance and still managed to crack a smileand give interviews afterwards. Several physiological experts believed that twohours were an unbreakable mark and many had predicted that Kipchoge wouldnever achieve his vision. But through his willpower and sheer physical determi-nation, he did break the record. May be one day, someone will shatter his markof 1 hour 59 minutes and 40 seconds but until that day comes, all of humani-ty should celebrate this superhuman feat. One that will become as legendary asthe breaking of the “four-minute mile.” Kipchoge’s name will be rememberedmuch like Bannister’s is to this day.

There were optics aplenty, of sippingcoconut water, sightseeing tours of her-itage sites, lavish local dinner, culture

shows, long walks and an umbrella swampof Indian hospitality. But Chinese President XiJinping, a hard-boiled supreme leader of hisnation with aspirations to be the hegemonicanchor of an Asian century, is hardly expect-ed to find India incredible enough. However,he does realise its materiality in the Chinesedesign and its bridge value with the rest of theworld. Yes the informal summit in

Mamallapuram, as it did in Wuhan, did enable both him and Prime Minister NarendraModi to use their personal equation as a showpiece of neighbourhood under-standing and co-existence. It did help in simmering down tension, then over Doklamand now Kashmir, but this relationship hereon will be one based on realism ratherthan expectation, need-based practicality rather than high-sounding hyperbole.To that extent, there’s a new “connect” as Modi said and a “heart-to-heart” can-dour as Xi admitted. India cannot expect China to abandon Pakistan on its terms.Xi has to stand by his all-weather ally and cannot de-couple Kashmir to the extentthat its changed status and talk of reoccupying lost territories in Pakistan-occu-pied Kashmir (PoK) have left it worried about Shaksgam Valley, which Pakistanceded, and Aksai Chin. But now that India has the larger world opinion on Kashmiras its internal matter, including that of the US, China realises its strategic heft. Itfurther realises that pushing the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) mischievous-ly for border incursions won’t work anymore. Which is why Modi, too, confi-dently announced that there would be no further escalation of disputes. Indiahas now stared back at that threat to its territorial integrity and even resisted allattempts to be encircled by China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Not only that,by engaging with multi-lateral fora like the Quad and even Southeast Asian nationsbilaterally, India has subtly but determinedly challenged China’s diplomatic swayin the region. Besides, Xi had watched the “Howdy Modi” event in the US close-ly and wanted a counter-optics, if not a counterweight. Given its trade tusslewith the US, China also needs India’s absorptive market to keep its momentum.Besides, it is itself under international scanner on its rights issues with the UighurMuslims, Hong Kong and Tibet and does not want to face a counter-charge ofviolating UN resolutions, considering that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) in Gilgit-Baltistan is in disputed territory, too. No wonder Xi kept awayfrom mentioning Kashmir. While China realises that Pakistan can only be Kashmir-centric, forcing it into embarrassing posturing, he has figured out larger issuesfor the bilateral arc. Without mentioning Pakistan, Modi and Xi did discuss com-batting terrorism and radicalisation. This is a small but forward-looking tweak.

Trade is the biggest takeaway despite China’s simultaneous breakthroughwith the US on the subject. The mutual deficit there is nearly $400 billion andPresident Donald Trump would want to appear tough in an election year. So Chinawould still need a big market like ours. Xi seems ready for sincere action to addressour trade deficit, which stands at $53.56 billion out of a two-way trade of $87billion. In its desperation to make India sign the mega free-trade pact, RegionalComprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), China has agreed to a high-level,trade-facilitator mechanism. From China, it will be led by the Vice Premier, HuChunhua, and from India it will be Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. At leastnow, there is a seriousness about a give-and-take rather than just a dump-your-goods formula. There will also be an attempt to fatten up the import basket fromIndia. Besides defence cooperation is what China is looking for as a lucrativeoption. Of course, New Delhi has to look into byproducts like a glut of Chinesegoods in an open market scenario, issues of security and spying if allowing Huaweiand so on. Much depends on the volume and nature of Indian goods and ser-vices that China allows in its home market. Still, there is a consensus on bothsides that confrontation between the two economies could only harm both. Also,by citing historical trade routes, both nations feel that they can together com-mand the world economy like they did in the past. What is good aboutMamallapuram is that there is an open acceptance of wrinkles in the silk thatModi gifted and also a solution offered in the form of “strategic communica-tion” which both sides want to continue. Of course, they must be implement-ed, too. Trust may not be easy to earn given the baggage of boundary issuesbut surely there is a new grammar of negotiation.

Draining public money

Sir — That the State Bank of India(SBI) has written off bad loansamounting to `76,600 crore is notso welcoming for the simple rea-son that a sizeable amount of tax-payers’ money has been pocket-ed by 220 defaulters. Likewise,there may be many other banks,which have their share of badloans to write off.

Political meddling in thelending policy is one of the maincauses of bad loans. How comebanks lend money without ade-quate collateral security? A star-tling revelation is that 980 bor-rowers have been listed by theReserve Bank of India, whosedebts of more than `100 croreeach have to be written off. Ofthese, 220 accounts — more thanone-fifth of the total number —belonged to the SBI.

Taxpayers would feel cheatedif the Government uses the taxcollected for loan waivers and badloan write-offs at a later date. TheGovernment should use the tax-payers’ money to create infrastructure and strengthennational security.

KV Seetharamaiah Hassan

Low-key affair

Sir — The atmosphere for theModi-Xi informal meet inMamallapuram was far fromideal. China’s support for Pakistanon the Kashmir issue has put a bigstrain on New Delhi-Beijing ties.The long shadow of Pakistancontinues to disrupt India-Chinaties. Despite going ahead with the

second informal summit,Pakistan will be the elephant inthe room.

China and Pakistan havebeen close strategic allies sinceindependence. Now, with theconstruction of theChina–Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC), the centre-piece of Xi’s ambitious Belt andRoad Initiative, and China’s com-ments on Jammu & Kashmir, the

relationship has grown evenstronger.

Unlike in Wuhan where theModi-Xi meeting led to de-esca-lation in Doklam, this time noth-ing dramatic happened. At best,both Prime Minister Modi andChinese Premier Xi Jinpingremained focussed on improvingties in areas such as trade.

K S Jayatheertha Hassan

Respect the elderly

Sir — President Ram NathKovind was right when he saidthat elderly citizens symbolise ourlegacy. Speaking at an eventmarking the International Day ofOlder Persons, Kovind said thatonly by respecting senior citizenscan the younger generation andthe nation progress.

The President’s words providea valuable lesson. Whatever weare today is because of the love,care and sacrifices of our elders.It is, therefore, our duty to makesure that they are cared for.

It is unfortunate that nowa-days many old people have tofind a place in old age homesowing to the nuclear family sys-tem and the lack of time amongyoungsters, who are busy chas-ing greener pastures. Let the oldIndian tradition of respectingthe elderly not die out. Let usmake them feel that their con-tributions to the family, thesociety and the nation haveindeed been very useful.

M PradyuKannur

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

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

op nionVIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 14, 2019

06

Missing out on deliverables

VIVEK MISHRA

Despite informal summits like Mamallapuram, both India and China will have to livewith certain realities, which are seemingly irrevocable even though they breed mistrust

Both streaming and cinemacan happily co-exist. It’s ultimately what the viewerswant and what we know isthat they want both.

Actor—Ajay Devgn

Pakistan has an important roleto play in stabilising Afghanistan,engaging in robust counter-ter-rorism efforts and strengtheningthe global economy.

US Senator—Maggie Hassan

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O TT H E E D I T O R

The Kashmir conundrum is far from over

This refers to the editorial, “Polls to what end?”(October 11). No doubt, our security forces havedone well to maintain peace post the abrogation

of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir but the clampdownin the Valley, the arrest of political leaders and grass-root workers and the alleged rights violations haveundermined the core values of Indian democracy. Themoot point is not that the detention of top leaders inKashmir discredits Indian democracy but that theAbdullahs and others of their ilk considered Jammu& Kashmir as their fiefdom with loyalty to India sub-ject to enjoying power.

However, for the restoration of normalcy, the Centreshould let political activism take wings and hold elec-tions to the Assembly. But winning locals round to backNew Delhi once again may now be difficult. Pakistan isall out to disturb India’s hold on the Valley. Entrustingthe task of restoration of tranquility to novices has itsown pros and cons. Under such circumstances, usher-

ing competitive politics is indeed imperative to restorepeace. Meanwhile, the common man can only pray thatgood sense prevails all around...hoping the Centre is onthe right track and the “change” will be tangible, pavingthe way for people’s rule.

J AkshobhyaMysuru

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Superhuman featIndia’s meaningful engagementwith China started with (former)Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi'svisit in 1988 and his dialoguewith then Chinese leader.

Congress spokesperson—Anand Sharma

Modi and Xi have settled down on a new grammar ofnegotiation despite trust issues over historical baggage

Kenya’s Kipchoge broke a marathon record by running 42.195 km in less than two hours. This is remarkable

Finding an old connect

If you say anything to an estab-lishment or a person, will theylike it? I cannot think of an establishment which, when criti-cised, feels happy about it.

Lyricist-writer—Javed Akhtar

China’s Himalayan ploy

SANDEEP SENT ME A LETTER AND I FORWARDED ITTO THE CONGRESS PRESIDENT. THERE IS NOTHING

PERSONAL. IT’S A POLITICAL CONVERSATION.—AICC IN-CHARGE

PC CHACKO

THIS IS A BETRAYAL OF FAITH. WE WERE AGHASTTO SEE THE LETTER BEING DISCUSSED. WE HADASKED HIM NOT TO PASS COMMENTS ON SHEILAJI.—DELHI CONGRESS LEADER KIRAN WALIA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two-day tripto Nepal, coming on the heels of the infor-mal summit with Prime Minister

Narendra Modi in India, reflects the priorityBeijing accords to the little Himalayan kingdom.The visit, which was closely watched by NewDelhi, too, was the first by a Chinese Presidentin 23 years since Jiang Zemin landed inKathmandu in 1996.

Nestled between India and China, Nepal isa strategically critical neighbour for the two bignations and in the last 60 years, New Delhi andBeijing have interacted with it differently.

Geographically, Nepal has worked as asafeguard for India from any aggression thatcould possibly come from the north. During thebrutal expedition launched by China in Tibet in1950, there were fears that Chinese aggressionmight reach Nepal, too. However, India assert-ed that any offensive against the Himalayanneighbour would be treated as an aggressionagainst it. With Tibet falling into Chineseclutches, Nepal had approached India for helpin training the Royal Nepal Army as well as forarms and ammunition. Though the two nationsdid not forge a formal defence relationship, aninformal security umbrella from India to Nepalwas agreed upon with the signing of the Treatyof Peace and Friendship in 1950.

Prior to the Tibet saga, the two century-longreign of the ruling Shah family was threatenedby the control of the Rana Prime Minister. Asa result, King Prithvi Narayan Shah had escapedto India and sought help. With India’s assistance,a new political order was established in theHimalayan country. Though India was at theforefront of re-establishing the Shah dynasty, ithad ensured respect for the sovereignty of Nepal,leading to the “special relationship” between thetwo nations.

On the other hand, China from day one ofits arrival in Tibet, has been attempting to gainpolitical and strategic clout in Nepal. WhilePrithvi Shah was wary of Chinese intentions, hissuccessor King Mahendra began to change thecourse of Nepal’s diplomatic ties and formalisedrelations with China in 1955. After the demiseof King Mahendra, his son Birendra, too, hadtried to alter Nepal’s equation with India.

Advised by China to review the Treaty ofPeace and Friendship with India, Birendra hadinvited global leaders to recognise Nepal as a“Zone of Peace” (ZoP). Despite it being endorsedby more than 50 countries, India had declinedto accept the ZoP citing the 1950 treaty becausean endorsement of the ZoP would have threat-ened India’s security, especially from the north.

Having battled for more than 15 years tobring India on board, Birendra had to shelve theplan. Again in 1988, China supplied arms toNepal in complete violation of India’s securityconcerns that had been accommodated in the1950 treaty. During this time India-Nepaldiplomatic ties touched a low and from 1955 to1990, Chinese leaders intensified efforts to mar-ginalise New Delhi’s “special relations” withKathmandu.

In the post-Cold War era, significant eco-nomic reforms were carried out in India and abroader regional economic integration alsotook place. After the South Asian Association

for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)was established in 1985, India reiter-ated its responsibilities towards theregion. This was reflected in the“Gujral Doctrine” based on the prin-ciples of unconditional cooperation toneighbours without expecting reciproc-ity. The doctrine considerably is one ofthe most significant milestones inIndia’s approach towards its neigh-bours, which is being continued by thepresent Government in its“Neighbourhood First Policy.” Thedeep India-Nepal relations have beenbased on close cultural, religious, peo-ple-to-people ties and respect fordemocratic values and non-aggressiontowards each other.

But over the last 30 years, politicaldevelopments in Nepal have beenmarred by instability in governance.The introduction of the first democra-tic system in Nepal in the 1990s hadopened the gateway for greater publicparticipation. However, Maoist insur-gency from 1994 to 2006 led thecountry into more profound politicalinstability. In 2008, Nepal emerged asa democratic country, marking a com-plete end of the monarchical systemand India was one of the few countriesto have played a crucial role in support-ing this transition.

However, a chain of events in thelast five years damaged India’s image inthe Himalayan kingdom. While Indiawas the first country to have providedhelp during the 2015 earthquake inNepal, it was in the same year that ablockade at the Indo-Nepal border hadaffected emergency supplies, leading toan anti-India movement on socialmedia like #GoBackIndia.

Kathmandu had also accused Indiaof causing delay in the implementation

of a new Constitution. As soon as thedraft of the Constitution was tabled inthe Constituent Assembly, peoplebelonging to Nepal’s southern belt, theMadhesis, had led a violent movementagainst the Government on grounds ofpoor representation and alleged humanrights violations. Fearing an exodus toBihar and Uttar Pradesh, due to theMadhesi movement, India had sent thethen Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar toraise India’s security concerns inKathmandu. However, this did not godown well with the people of Nepal.Ever since then, Kathmandu has beenattempting to shift from its “specialrelations” with India to “new relations”with China. The Belt and RoadInitiative (BRI) and joint militaryexercises between Chinese and theNepal Army are the latest examples ofthis shift.

Though the recent bonhomiebetween Nepal and China may seemminimal compared to India’s age-oldties, the message to the global commu-nity is not in our favour and New Delhineeds to be cautious in this regard. Onthe other hand, the Chinese approachin Nepal has been based on gainingstrategic depth by opening up its deeppockets and also subverting India’s rela-tions with Kathmandu. Clearly, theseacts by China are intended to ensureits strong position in Nepal, preciselyto keep a close vigil on South Asiancountries, including India.

To do so, it has exploited every lowphase in India-Nepal relations, includ-ing by supplying arms to Nepal in 1987and providing $1 million militaryassistance along with truckloads ofweapons to King Gyanendra in 2005for suppressing people’s demand tointroduce full democracy.

At present, amid global criticism ofits alleged neo-colonist $60 billion BRI,China is leaving no stone unturned toensure its success globally and in theregion. Other than India and Bhutan,every South Asian country has joinedthe BRI. In fact, India has made itamply clear that the China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC) is in com-plete violation of its sovereignty as itpasses through disputed areas withPakistan; hence, it cannot be part of anysuch initiatives.

In Nepal, the proposal to constructthe trans-Himalayan corridor, connect-ing Kathmandu with Tibet has been indiscussion for the last two years.However, considering the high terrainof the two countries, implementationof the project will be a litmus test forthe economy of Nepal.

The leadership in Nepal needs tocarefully look at the Chinese masterplan on its soil and consider the via-bility and mood of the people asChinese assistance is a debt-trap ratherthan being a grant-in-aid.

A key example of this strategy is theHambantota Port that was built withChinese assistance in Sri Lanka. Theport is now under Chinese control afterSri Lanka failed to pay off loans thatwere taken from Beijing for building it.

Xi’s recent visit to Nepal came at acritical hour to ensure the success of theBRI and its other strategic intereststhere. Hence, Nepal needs to put theaspirations and well-being of its peo-ple at the forefront instead of going byinterests of individuals and politicalparties. It also has a responsibility toensure regional balance and harmony.

(The writer is doctoral candidate,Centre for South Asian Studies,Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Though the bonhomie between Nepal and China may seem minimal compared toIndia’s age-old ties, the message to the global community is not in our favour

analysis 07F I R S T C O L U M N

Fight professionalfatigue

VINAYSHIL GAUTAM

There is a dire need to restore the passion andpurpose in jobs supporting strategy

formulation for the country

RISHI GUPTA

THE CHINESEAPPROACH IN

NEPAL HAS BEENBASED ON

GAININGSTRATEGIC DEPTH

BY OPENING UPITS DEEP

POCKETS ANDALSO

SUBVERTINGINDIA’S

RELATIONS WITHKATHMANDU.

CLEARLY, THESEACTS BY CHINA

ARE INTENDED TOENSURE ITS

STRONG POSITIONIN NEPAL,

PRECISELY TOKEEP A CLOSE

VIGIL ON SOUTHASIAN

COUNTRIES,INCLUDING INDIA

Methods of calculation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP),developmental indicators and chartered accountancy are againin focus and suggestions on how to make them more reli-

able are few. Auditing itself often serves as a threat held out by thepowerful in running an organisation. It is often used to keep the recal-citrant at bay rather than creating new organisational or developmen-tal patterns. A discussion with policy analysts is in many ways enlight-ening on the differing psyche of finance and accounting experts. Inan era where the corporate world feels extremely stressed, char-tered accountancy breeds monotony. It is, therefore, understand-able that a lot of chartered accountants feel depleted. In a dualismof the order enumerated above, it’s very difficult to be a strategistwith a role in driving business or development forward.

There is a need to restore the passion and purpose in profes-sions supporting strategy formulation. How deep the tedium runscan be gauged by the fact that there is a three-day summit in SriLanka, starting today and ending on October 16, on the theme of“Finding your mojo: A journey of self-discovery.” This is meant forchartered accountants. Mojo is widely understood to indicate inter-nal magic that translates to external success. Nothing would movewithout mojo. On October 18, the Institute of Internal Auditors, Delhichapter, is holding a conference on strategic risk management andthe topic is: “Enhancing strategy selection through risk management.”The outcome will show the worth of the effort but the effort itselfis worth it. Passion is the biggest source of energy but like every-thing else, it has a price. Those who are not passionate about theirwork deeply resent the style of those who are. Those who are pas-sionate are often intolerant of the sluggishness of the routine approach-es. The catch 22 here, of course, is how does one save oneselffrom becoming a victim of professional sluggishness?

At the end of the day, much of strategy formulation is a politi-cal process. Those who reject the approach of the leader (if not thechief himself) will resent the idea of the head being carried through.The ability to conspire to prevent is often higher than the ability toplan for strategic optimisation.

The times also call for unorthodox methodologies. Audit as aprofession is known to work on algorithms to find the delicate bal-ance between creating breakthroughs and pulling formula. This isa complicated one. It is heartening to see that sometimes peopleget together to create a passion for attempting it, nevertheless. Thenumber of accountants and auditors is rising and so is the doubt,at times, in their ability to deliver.

It is obvious, that in the current context, financial analysts andchartered accountants are facing multiple challenges in performingtheir roles in and outside policy confabulations/board rooms. Theneed to update knowledge is universal and financial analysts andgatekeepers are no exception. At the end of the day, the individualoften feels left out in observing the mandate of the so-called direc-tives of the “institute.”

It is obvious that business prosperity cannot be made surro-gate to outdated principles. Similarly, reliability and conviction mustcontinue to call the shots. The possible direction of the financial ana-lysts and auditors is often far beyond the broadband of auditing prin-ciples. There are sectoral imperatives and nuances of functionality.Consider for example plantation management. The initiatives by topmanagement dealing with the agro business must build into it, onbehalf of the owners, considerations of climate. An assessment ofinternal and external productive environment — rooted in time test-ed principles of achieving of goals — has some strange touchstonesof success. In an era where goals themselves become variable, theenunciation of strategy becomes sticky. It does not just remain ascience but becomes an art. Business execution and administra-tion become the wheels on which strategy rolls and would impactoperations in marketing and finance.

This has to be leavened by competencies, which alone can for-mulate winning strategies. Among them, the prominent ones wouldinclude pattern recognition and isolation of exceptions using machinelearning. This would include all relevant patterns to be examined forroot cause; continuous elimination of root causes using continuousauditing; regular reporting of “unusual” transactions and in all thingskeeping the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) apprised of the developments.This is unlikely to happen unless preventive action, continuous mon-itoring, discipline and continuous forward planning are in sync. Notstrangely, all this gets ensconced in the calculation and rollout ofGDPs and strategy formulation at the national policy level. The impactof regional and national policy on specialised, sectoral performanceis immense. The price of misguidance can be huge and it oftenbecomes the cause of ill-founded doubts at the policy level.

(The writer is a well-known management consultant)

Many moons ago, when I wasa kid living with my parentsand grandparents in a

house in Karachi’s Bath Island area,we had a neighbour who everyonecalled “Kachra chacha” (Garbageuncle). Of course, no one called himthat to his face but I am sure heknew. This middle-aged man hadthis curious habit of scolding every-one he would come across about themanner in which they disposedtheir garbage. It was actually anadmirable trait but strangelyenough, in his own house, he wasnot practising what he preached.

I remember when my cousinsand I would visit his house to playwith his nephews, there would be lit-

ter strewn all over his garden andpiles of trash in the large round bal-cony which stood just above thegarage. I have no idea why this wasso but the memory of this gentlemancame to mind immediately afterwatching Prime Minister ImranKhan’s impassioned speech at theUnited Nations General Assembly(UNGA) on September 27. I mustadmit, I was impressed by the waythe Prime Minister addressed theissue of State repression being facedby Muslims living in Kashmir. ButI’m afraid, a lot else about the samespeech triggered that obscure mem-ory of “Kachra Chacha.”

It is rather easy to negate andcontradict much of what Khan saidin his speech and in the interviewshe gave to the media in the US. Hiscritics have already done that, ques-tioning the current state of repres-sion being faced by the Pakistanimedia and against Khan’s politicalopponents in the country.

They have also called him outfor doing precious little to addressthe harassment and violence that the

country’s various minority commu-nities continue to face at the handsof radicalised elements within thecountry’s majority religious commu-nity.

Therefore, his detractors believethat Khan’s pleas against hate speech,racial and religious bigotry andespecially, Islamophobia in Westernsocieties ring hollow.

They fear that such views willnever be able to find any worthwhiletraction in the West or from outsidehis excitable constituencies inPakistan. How can one point atgarbage outside his home when hecannot (or refuses to) do muchabout the garbage piled up inside hisown house?

Nevertheless, as I mentionedabove, the way the Prime Ministersweepingly condemns issues such asIslamophobia in the West andrepression on the basis of ideologyand faith against Muslims outsidePakistan, it is rather easy to countersuch condemnations by simplyputting forth the many episodes ofviolence against members of minor-

ity groups in Pakistan and alsobetween Muslim sects that havebeen reported for decades now.

It is a fact that even when aPakistani Prime Minister orPresident was willing to actually dosomething about this, he or shecould not (and cannot), because thenature of certain laws and clauseswithin the country’s constitution —mostly penned in the documentbetween 1974 and 1986 — is suchthat initiating effective reform in thiscontext is next to impossible.

This is why, even while one canargue that certain Western countries,infested with problems such asIslamophobia and racial bigotry, donot have the right to point fingersat Muslim countries such as Pakistanfor failing to curb religious violenceand harassment against minorities,one can always stress the fact that,unlike Pakistan, their constitutionsdo not have laws that can encour-age and even shield acts and actorshell bent on inflicting violence in thename of faith.

Khan has been diluting his oth-

erwise impactful narrative onKashmir and the Narendra Modiregime’s “fascism” by coupling itwith rhetorical spiels aboutIslamophobia. Apart from being rid-dled by the inherent contradictionsdiscussed above, this is largelywoven from a hodgepodge under-standing of Edward Said’s idea ofpost-colonialism, which is nowstruggling to stay relevant in arapidly changing world.

More disconcerting is the pos-sibility that the narrative beingerected by Khan may as well be theresult of either the complete failureand discarding of a narrative whichthe State and Government was try-ing to build (to counter radicalisa-tion and the spread of extremism)through the National Action Plan(NAP); or Khan was never really onboard when the plan was authoredand approved by the military andpolitical parties in January 2015.

Indeed, it is clear that the Modiregime’s arrogance towards Pakistanhas generated the need within theState and Government of Pakistan

to intensify their rhetoric on theissues of Kashmir and Hindunationalism. But this can only beeffective if it is balanced by initia-tives which would show Pakistan asdoing more to curb extremism in itsown backyard compared to India,where Hindu extremism has beenallowed to infiltrate mainstreampolitics and society.

Otherwise, it will only end upbeing nothing more than a banter-ing game between two countriesinfested by extremism, with onelabelling the other “a terrorist State,”and the other responding by callingit “fascist.”

It is surprising that, despite thefact that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) dedicated a lot of spaceto the NAP in its manifesto for the2018 election, Khan has frequentlynegated the nature of reforms sug-gested in that document. First, bycontinuously claiming that the warwhich the Pakistan military foughtagainst religious extremist groupswas “not our war,” Khan is under-mining the chaos and destruction

created by the extremists. This sentiment is also dismissive

of the manner in which the extrem-ists were tackled by the military.

There is absolutely nothing newor insightful about lecturing the USabout how it had helped Pakistancreate Islamic militants in the 1980s(before dumping them). The USGovernment itself has repeatedlyadmitted this ever since former USSecretary of State Hillary Clintonvisited Pakistan in 2011.

Most of Khan’s ideas are stillcemented in the many apologia thatemerged from a muddled potpour-ri of anti-West narratives developedduring the last three decades. Thesewere narratives that aided those whowere unwilling to recognise theirown incompetence, complacenciesand mistakes, by putting the blameon others regarding extremism.This can be a popular way ofexplaining things on Twitter, but itcan certainly not — and should not— become part of the State andGovernment policy.

(Courtesy: The Dawn)

Pak must go beyond banter about extremismImran Khan’s rhetoric against extremism abroad can only find traction if it is balanced by taking initiatives towards ending the harassment

and violence that minority communities face at the hands of radicalised elements within the country’s majority religious community

NADEEM PARACHA

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 14, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

PTI n NEW DELHI

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman will hold a reviewmeeting with CEOs of publicsector banks (PSBs) on Mondayto discuss various issues, includ-ing progress on credit offtake,as part of efforts to prop up theeconomy. The meeting isexpected to review fund flow tostressed NBFC and MSME(micro, small and mediumenterprises) sectors, sourcessaid. Banks are expect-ed to present reportcard on partialcredit guaranteescheme andfund raisingfrom market toenhance theircapital base.

The Centre inAugust issuedguidelines on opera-tionalising Rs 1 lakh crorepartial guarantee scheme underwhich PSBs can purchase high-rated pooled assets of finan-cially sound non-bankingfinance companies (NBFCs).NBFCs, including housingfinance companies (HFCs),

came under stressfollowing aseries of defaultsby the groupcompanies ofIL&FS in

September lastyear.Besides, the meet-

ing will also assess theprogress of first phase of out-reach programme held across226 districts across the country.This will be the second meet-ing of Sitharaman with CEOs ofPSU banks in less than amonth.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The commerce and industryministry has advised e-com-merce companies to gradual-ly slash single-use plastic inpackaging of products beingsold through their platforms,in line with the government'scommitment to reduce use ofsuch material, an official said.

The companies have alsobeen advised by theDepartment for Promotion ofIndustry and Internal Trade(DPIIT) to develop sustain-able packaging materialwhich will contribute toreducing India's plastic foot-print globally.

E-commerce companieshave been asked for discard-ing plastic used in packaging,which accounts for more than40 per cent of non-fibre plas-tic, according to the official.

"With an earnest ambitionto stop consumption of singleuse plastic, these companiesare being advised to consid-er gradually curtailing use ofsingle-use plastic in packag-ing products being soldthrough their e-commerceplatform," the official said.

When asked about theissue, Amazon spokespersonsaid the company is commit-

ted to a sustainable supplychain that leverages technol-ogy to build solutions thatoptimise the use of packagingmaterial, reduce waste andcreate eco-friendly packaging.

"We have been relentlesslyworking on reducing single-use plastic in our supplychain. Today, less than 7 percent of our packaging mate-

rial consists of single useplastic and we are workingtowards eliminating usage ofthem completely in our build-ings in India by June 2020,"the spokesperson said.

Rajneesh Kumar, ChiefCorporate Affairs Officer,Flipkart, said that some of thefocus areas for the companyis usage of electric vehicles inlogistics, waste managementand efficient packaging,including reduction of singleuse plastic.

"Earlier this year, weannounced and outlined ourvision of eliminating single-use plastic in our packagingby March 2021...As of 1stAugust, we have alreadyachieved a 25 per cent reduc-tion in usage of single-useplastics through various ini-tiatives across our packagingvalue chain, and we areaggressively moving towards100 per cent recycled plasticconsumption in our supplychain by March 2021," hesaid.

Creating alternatives forsingle-use plastic packaging isone of the significant steps wehave taken towards fulfillingour commitment to creatinga sustainable ecosystem, headded.

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 14, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

Life insurers' newpremium income inSep up 15% at Rs 20,057 crNEW DELHI: The newpremium income of lifeinsurers rose 15 per cent toRs 20,056.70 crore inSeptember, data from Irdaishowed. All 24 life insurancecompanies had a collectivenew business premiumincome of Rs 17,490.68 crorein September 2018. The state-owned Life InsuranceCorporation (LIC), the largestlife insurer, recorded a 18.37per cent rise in its newpremium during the month atRs 12,759.24 crore as againstRs 10,778.81 crore in thesame month a year earlier, thedata showed. The rest of theprivate sector players had atotal new premium income ofRs 7,297.46 crore during themonth, an increase of nearly 9per cent from a year ago, thedata on monthly businessfigures released by theInsurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority ofIndia (Irdai) showed.

NRL to invest Rs 62cr in CSRactivities in Assam GUWAHATI: North East India'slargest refiner NumaligarhRefinery Ltd on Sunday said itwill pump in over Rs 60 crorein various developmentalprojects under its corporatesocial responsibility (CSR)activities during 2019- 20.Of the total spending underthe CSR head, the miniratnaPSU in Assam's Golaghatdistrict has earmarked 60 percent funds for schooleducation, health and nutritionprogrammes. "In 2019-20, ourCSR budget is Rs 62 crore. Inthis fiscal, a few aspirationaldistricts are underconsideration for undertakingdevelopmental activities apartfrom other programmes," NRLManaging Director S K Baruatold PTI here.Thedevelopmental programmes inthese aspirational districts willbe other than the "local areas"of the plant as defined in theCSR and Sustainability Policyof NRL, he added.

Banks areexpected topresent reportcard on partialcredit guaranteescheme andfund raisingfrom market toenhance their

capital base

‘$60 bn investment comingin gas infrastructure’PNS n NEW DELHI

India is investing over USD 60billion in developing naturalsupply and distribution infra-structure as it chases the targetof more than doubling theshare of natural gas in its ener-gy base to 15 per cent by 2030,Oil Minister DharmendraPradhan said on Sunday.

Natural gas currently con-stitutes 6.2 per cent of all ener-gy consumption in the country.Stating that the government haslaid emphasis on developing agas-based economy, he saidnatural gas is gradually becom-ing a bridging fuel for low car-bon economy in India.

The government is givingspecial impetus to develop gasinfrastructure across the lengthand breadth of the country con-necting north to south and eastto west parts of India, he said.

"I am happy to inform youthat as we speak, an estimatedinvestment of 60 billion US

dollars is underway in buildinggas pipeline and terminal infra-structure that are nearing or inadvanced stages of comple-tion," he said in his openingremarks at the thirdInternational Think TankMeeting (ITT) here.

City gas distribution net-work will soon cover 70 percent of India's population, hesaid. "Our government isexploring strategic partner-ships for overall developmentof oil & gas sector. The role ofprivate sector - both domesticand from abroad, for bringingin investments with necessaryinnovations for future energylandscape in the country, willremain crucial".

CEOs of energy firms at themeeting stated that India willcontinue to increase con-sumption of fossil fuels in itsenergy mix, and there is anurgent need for an integratedenergy policy cutting across allforms of energy.

Pradhan said energy is inte-gral to achieving the target ofearly doubling the size ofIndian economy to USD 5trillion by 2024. Talking of keychallenges confronting theenergy sector, he said: "Theforemost challenge of our timeis the Energy Trilemma. It isabout providing sustainably,securely, and affordably-suffi-cient energy to our growingpopulation".

Secondly, in recent times,significant uncertainty andchallenge were witnessed in theglobal energy markets. "Wehave seen the most disruptivedevelopments. US sanctions onIran and Venezuela, attacks onSaudi oil processing units,volatile conditions in Strait ofHormuz, unrest in the Middle-East, and US-China trade war,to name a few," he said.

"These developments havean enormous impact on India'senergy security and also on oureconomic, budgetary andinvestment dimensions," hesaid, adding India's importdependency on crude oil andLNG continues to rise unabat-ed. Import dependence is nowover 84 per cent for crude and45 per cent for natural gas.

"Going forward, it is expect-ed to increase further. Suchexcessive import dependencydoes make us vulnerable toexternal developments morethan ever before," he said.

Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan chairing the 3rd meeting of the International Think Tank, in New Delhi on Sunday. TheSecretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dr. M.M. Kutty is also seen

I am happy to inform you that as we speak, an estimatedinvestment of 60 billion US dollars is underway inbuilding gas pipeline and terminal infrastructure that are

nearing or in advanced stages of completion—DHARMENDRA PRADHAN, Oil Minister

E-commerce firms asked to cutsingle-use plastic in packaging

E-commercecompanies havebeen asked todiscard plasticused in packaging,which accounts formore than 40 % ofnon-fibre plastic,according to theofficial

PAYMENTS SERVICE SHOULD BE ON IN TWO MONTHS

PTI n MUMBAI

Facebook-owned instant mes-saging giant WhatsApp will becompliant with data localisa-tion norms over the next twomonths, post which it can rollout its much-delayed pay-ments service here, says theNational PaymentsCorporation.

Even after the launch ofWhatsApp's payments service,it will take at least two years toreduce the cash dominance inthe economy as the user baseof digital payments must atleast treble to 300 million tohave any tangible impact onparing cash usage, the RBI-cre-ated NPCI's chief executiveDilip Asbe told PTI in aninterview.

WhatsApp has been run-ning a beta version of its pay-ments service since last year inthe country, and its officiallaunch is being keenly watchedby stakeholders, including itsover 300 million users. Manythink WhatsApp can helpIndia emulate China's WeChatstory, and help achieve thecashless payments objectives.

"There are still a couple ofintermediaries where work isin progress. One is Google,second is WhatsApp. Webelieve WhatsApp will be fullycompliant in the next twomonths' time," Asbe said.

WhatsApp has capped thenumber of payment serviceusers at 1 million now as it isyet to fully meet RBI's datalocalisation norms which

require foreign companies tostore transaction and user datawithin the country and deletethe same from foreign serverswithin 24 hours.

According to Asbe, a third-

party audit by a firm empan-eled by the RBI is currentlyunderway to ascertainWhatsApp's compliance. "Oncethe auditors complete theirprobe, we will review the same

and will see how to go ahead,"he said. Abse also clarified thathe did not meet the WhatsAppleadership team when theyvisited the city recently. He alsosaid that other applicants likeXiaomi, Amazon Pay andTruecaller have not been ableto launch their payments ser-

vices because of data localisa-tion rules. Citing a Niti Aayogsurvey, Asbe said over three-fourths of the financial trans-actions are under Rs 100 andthis is the space where unifiedpayments interface (UPI) hasto make inroads to replacecash and one step in thisregard has been increasing theacceptance points. He hopedincreased use of NPCI-devel-oped UPI platform by inter-mediaries like WhatsApp willhelp grow the digital pay-ments scene.

Currently, there are only100 million users of digitalpayments and this must touchat least 300 million to have anymaterial impact on cash in cir-culation, he said, underliningthis as the real challenge.

FM to meet CEOsof PSU banks today

Outside expert may beroped in to decide merger

PNB, UBI AND OBC

PTI n KOLKATA

With three state-run lenders -- Punjab National Bank (PNB),United Bank of India (UBI)and Oriental Bank ofCommerce (OBC) -- headingfor an amalgamation, an out-side expert may be engaged todecide the logo of the mergedentity, an official said.

The proposed merger,expected to be effective fromApril 1 next year, will lead tothe creation of the country'ssecond-largest lender afterState Bank of India, with a totalbusiness volume of about Rs 18lakh crore.

"The new name and logo ofthe merged entity will bedecided after inviting sugges-

tions from all and sundry.However, an outside expert

may be engaged to decide onthe new logo," a top official ofUBI told PTI.

He said the logo is "veryimportant" for creating identityof the new lender.

"The managing directorsand executive directors of the

three banks will meet nextweek. Talks on name and logoof the merged entity are highon the agenda," he said.

It is "very crucial" to finalisethe administrative structure ofthe entity as the three banks arehaving different set-ups at themoment, the UBI officialmaintained.

Giriraj Singhwant’s dairyout of RCEPtrade dealPTI n NEW DELHI

Union Minister Giriraj Singhhas asked the commerceministry to keep dairy sectorout of the proposed RCEPfree trade pact, voicing reser-vation on possible import ofmilk produced by cattle thatare given animal feed.

Opening of free trade indairy sector will affect farm-ers of India, which is theworld's largest producer ofmilk, the dairy and animalhusbandry minister said.

The RegionalComprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP) - a megafree trade agreement beingnegotiated among 10 ASEANcountries with their six FTApartners (India, China, Japan,South Korea, Australia andNew Zealand). The proposeddeal is expected to be finalisedand signed by the next month.

Last week, RCEP membercountries met in Bangkok forthree days of negotiations,perhaps for the last time toconclude the deal.

Explaining reasons whydairy sector should be keptout of the ambit of the pro-posed RCEP trade pact, theminister said: "I have objec-tion on two issues. We willnot accept the milk producedby cattle that are given animalprotein. Our condition ismilk imported should havenot any animal feed".

‘Consumeroffers at peak,will go downpost October’PTI n NEW DELHI

Consumer offers on cars dur-ing the festive season havereached a peak and it will godown going forward as keep-ing discounts at such highlevels is unsustainable, asenior Maruti Suzuki India(MSI) official has said.

The company, which isoffering cash discounts andextended warranties on var-ious models, witnessed itssales jump by 18-20 per centlast month as compared withJuly and August.

"We clearly tried to revivethe market but we cannothave high level of promotionsat all the time, these are notsustainable. So, going forwardthere will be decline in termsof offers," MSI ExecutiveDirector, Marketing and SalesShashank Srivastava told PTI.

The company also expectscurrent month to be better interms of sales as comparedwith the same period last year.

"These are probably thegreen shoots and if we lookat first week of October,which was Navratara period,then bookings and retailshave been better than lastyear as far as Navratra peri-od goes," Srivastava said.

Offtake of vehicles, includ-ing diesel models and BS-VIcompliant eight cars, hasbeen good and driving thesales, he added.

PTI n MUMBAI

State-owned Air India onSunday said the aviation jetfuel payment issues are beingsorted out and will be resolvedsoon with the oil PSUs, whichhave warned the carrier ofsnapping supplies at six keyairports if it does not makemonthly lump sum paymentby October 18.

The airline also "assured" itscustomers of smooth opera-tions, saying it has taken all themeasures in the eventuality ofthe two sides failing to reach anunderstanding on the issue.

"The issues with oil compa-nies are being sorted out andwould be resolved early," AirIndia spokesperson DhananayKumar said in a statement.

In a letter sent to Air India

last Thursday, the three gov-ernment-owned oil marketingfirms — Indian OilCorporation Ltd (IOCL),Bharat PetroleumCorporation Ltd (BPCL) andHindustan PetroleumCorporation Ltd (HPCL) —said the outstanding had notcome down considerably inthe absence of the committedmonthly lump sum payment.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Airbus Helicopters hopes thecentral government will resolvethe situation regarding thedisinvestment of Pawan HansLimited "very quickly" so thatthe national helicopter com-pany can move ahead on itsfleet expansion plans, a seniorexecutive of the global aero-space manufacturer said.

Airbus Helicopters hadsigned a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) withPawan Hans Limited (PHL) inParis in June for collaborationin introducing two new cate-gories of its helicopters - H145and H225 - in the national

company's fleet in the future.However, on July 11, the

central government issued thePreliminary InformationMemorandum to sell 51 percent of its stake in PHL. As thedisinvestment process hasbegun, PHL has put its fleet

expansion plans on hold.Since July 11, the Centre has

deferred the deadline regard-ing submission of expression ofinterest for PHL three times.On September 25, the Centreextended the last date in thisregard to October 10.

Air India to resolve Fuel payment issues with oil PSUsAs thedisinvestmentprocess hasbegun, PHL hasput its fleetexpansion planson hold

Increased use ofNPCI-developedUPI platform byintermediaries likeWhatsApp willhelp grow thedigital paymentsscene

PTI n NEW DELHI

A high-level panel constitut-ed by the government to sug-gest measures to augmentGST revenue collection willhold its first meeting onTuesday, a senior official said.

The government last weekconstituted the panel of offi-cers to suggest steps to expandtax base and check evasion inthe backdrop of falling rev-enue collections under GST.

Goods and Services Tax(GST) collections droppedsharply to a 19-month low inSeptember to Rs 91,916 crore,reflecting the slowdown in theeconomy. "The first meeting ofthe committee is scheduled tobe held on Tuesday, October15," GST Council Special

Secretary Rajeev Rajan toldPTI. The committee has beengiven 15 days time to submitits report, he said. This isgoing to be the first compre-hensive review of GST after itwas rolled out on July 1, 2017.

The 12-member panel, com-prising of state-level GST com-missioners and cental officials,has been asked to suggesturgent measures to arrest fall intax revenues and steps to betaken to improve revenue col-lection.

First meeting of panel onGST collections tomorrow

Airbus Helicopters awaiting earlyPawan Hans disinvestment

WhatsApp close to meeting data localisation norms: NPCI

With the rise insocial media gaveopportunities toartists from allaround the worldto showcase their

work. Among the famousInternational artists who flewdown to Hyderabad to attendthe event here were NathanW. Pyle — creator of theinsanely funny out-of-the-world and yet relatablecomic, Strange Planet — andJonathan Kunz — who creat-ed the quirky everyday uni-verse of War and Peas.Nathan’s webcomics gained2,50,000 followers onInstagram in just 3 weeks.Both these artists have acombined follower base ofmore than 15 lakh fans.

Speaking about his journeyas an artist, Nathan says, “Imoved to New York whichwas very expensive like manybig cities in India too. Whenyou move to expensive citiesyou try to find ways to makeends meet, so I started todraw and make T-shirtdesigns for a company. Thatwas my real first entry to

internet art and I realisedthat there are so many peo-ple who enjoy sharingimages back and forthon Internet.Smartphones werestarting to get bigback then soeveryone hadthese phonesand imageswere every-where. It’sbeen 11 yearssince I starteddrawing for theinternet andStrange Planetwas the result fora lot of trial anderror.”

Nathan tells ThePioneer that he enjoyedthe trip to Golconda Fortand Pedammama Gudi onhis first trip to Hyderabadthis time. He says he washappy to meet his fans in thecity because their knowledgeof comics is more robust thanthose in the United States.

Jonathan says he foundpeople here in the city wellinformed about world’s pop

culture,especially webcomics. “Herein India, people read comicsfrom all over the world,including the famous onesfrom America and also theirlocal Indian comics which isso cool. There is a lot of ener-gy in the crowd here which isvery nice.” “It’s my first timeto India as well, and I reallylike the place, I dint knowwhat to expect apart from thefood, people are nice here.They are very interested tolearn about comics and lookpassionate,” he adds.

Jonathan says that he hadno idea that War and Peaswould become such a big hit.He was pleasantly surprisedhow the popularity of thewebcomics grew organicallyover the years. “WhenElizebeth and me started wedidn’t have any idea that wewere going to start somethinglike War and Peas. Our wholeidea was to put a websitetogether, but later peoplestarted to read and then itgrew organically and then westarted to have the content inGerman. Later, I shifted toEnglish and then sometimes

it was just comics and thenfinally we put together

as a properly struc-tured comics.”

Both the artistssay that using

their workthey wereable to speakon variousissues aswell. “Emp-athy is so-methingboth Jona-than and Ishare. It is

something Ireally appreci-

ate when Iheard him speak

about empathywith warranties. I

think we have such anopportunity to talk about

something we care about. Inone of my comics we talkabout when someone is newto a school and you justinvite them to sit with you.That is something that I con-tinue to think is one of themost important messages inStrange Planet which iscuriosity,” says Nathan. BothNathan and Jonathan areplanning to bring out anoth-er collection of their web-comics as a book next year.

Sharing tips on creatingwebcomics, Nathan says“Wherever you are create aworld around you and thinkabout how that world willfunction. For example, if youhave a bottle and a cup, whatwould their relationship beand how would they interact?Put eyes and a face on themin your mind and everythingaround you. Just create aworld you enjoy thinkingabout it! That’s what will helpyou draw better. Pixar doesthis so well. It is just like howcompelling the movie ToyStory was for me growingwhere I believed that the toysare alive. That’s what will cre-ate a spark in you to getinvested in your work.”

o amount of rou-tine rainfall couldhold the comicfans this year asComic Con 2019witnessed heavy

rush with almost 15,000 peo-ple from all age groupsattending the two-day eventdressing up as dope comicheroes. The weekend made aperfect getaway for the youngparents who escorted theirchildren and painted theplace red with their geeks on.More than thousand peopledonned in their favouritesuperhero costumes.

This colourful and splen-did superhero phenomenonall around the world, hasreceived mixed reactionsfrom the youth in the city.Even though many wereexcited about dressing up astheir favourite Marvel or DCsuperhero, many wereunhappy with the costlyentry price and also that they

were stopped from takingselfies with international andnational cartoonists whoattended the event.

Dressing up as a comiccharacter, or cosplaying, hasevolved into an art, an inclu-sive hobby and a creativepursuit. This year, the eventsaw many cosplayers in elab-orate costumes move fromstall to stall followed by ‘oo-ohs’ and ‘aaaahs’ from awedonlookers who couldn't waitto take selfies with them.

Shirley Bobby, who cos-played as Luna Lovegood,says, “My friends and I getdressed and attend the comiccon every year. This year wegot dressed as a few charac-ters from the Harry Potterseries. We had a really goodtime, like every year, we hada ball at the event. It’s nice tosee so many people from thecosplay community comingtogether to keep our comicheroes alive through us.

Looking forward to attendthe event next year.”

One of the visitors,Emmanuel Sudhir, an engi-neering student says, “I amattending Comic Con for thefirst time and the energy hereis amazing. After seeingmany people coming in vari-ous superhero costumes, Itoo feel like doing the samenext year.” Jemia, who wascosplaying as Tartelette, wonthe grand prize worth Rs50,000 on the conclusion day.

The stalls were deckedwith merchandise from topto bottom making sure nosuperhero fan base is left out.One of the popular stalls wasa dummy wrestling ringwhere people could pose fora picture with a wrestlingchampionship belt. Anothermajor attraction was a lifesize mannequin of GalGadot’s Wonder Womanwhere people lined to flextheir inner superhero and

take selfies. Over 30 stallswhich included a bird of preyexperience centreTerminator, Frozen 2, Vikingswith AXN, Lego: Batmanwith Sony Pix, the maleficentwings kept the audience busyapart from the superheromerchandise and clothstores.

Some of the well-knownstand up comedians such asSapan Verma, co-founder ofEast India Comedy,Rajashekar Mamidana andVivek Murlidharan were seenkeeping audience engagedwith their quirky content.The event also had a danceact by Live Wire crew whogot the audience dancing totheir special performances.

With all the joy comessome disappointment too asattendees felt there weresome aspects in the eventthat upset them, with thehiked entry ticket being themajor letdown.

“The most disappointingaspect of the event was thatthe entry price was hiked.The tickets cost around Rs599 to Rs 699 and that is alot of to expect from stu-dents. Another upsetting

thing was that we were notallowed to click pictures withthe guest artists at theirstalls. Some of the organiserswere also behaving rudely. Iwasn’t that happy with theevent overall,” says Rohit

Kumar.Some attendees that The

Pioneer spoke to suggestedthat the event must havemore counters that sells oldpopular comic books. Thenumber of stalls selling mer-

chandise outnumbered thenumber of stores sellingcomic books. This is ironicalconsidering that the mostpopular Marvel merchandiseand the movies rose to popu-larity through comic books.

MERCHANDISE STALLS WEREMORE THAN THE NUMBER OFSTORES SELLING COMICS.THIS IS IRONICAL CONSIDER-ING THAT THE MARVEL MER-CHANDISE AND MOVIES AREBASED ON COMIC BOOKS

It was that timeof the year

again whenfans of the

comic bookcame together

to celebrate thefantastic talesthat inspired

millions acrossthe globe,

reports ARUNDANIEL

YELLAMATY

N

W

THE FLIGHT OF IMAGINATION

AT COMIC CON

The rise of WEBCOMICS

MondayOctober 14, 2019

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/

dailypioneer

Vijayawada Monday October 14, 2019

10

celeb talks

‘OVERWORKEDBUT UNDERPAID'HASHTAG IS WHATDESCRIBESME, FEELS PC

riyanka Chopra Jonas is all over the head-lines, right from her movie to her work,and all that she has been doing. PeeCeemade her return to Bollywood with TheSky Is Pink co-starring Farhan Akhtar,Zaira Wasim, and Rohit Saraf. The movie

has received decent reviews so far, however, it did notopen to very good numbers and one might hope thatthe numbers are likely to go up over the weekend,thereby giving the movie a decent opening.

During her movie promotions, PeeCee has gone allout with her interactions, and more, and when shehad a chat with Twitter, she did go on to reveal littlesomethings we might not know, or must have never

thought of. For instance, when Priyanka wasasked about the hashtag that best describes

her, she went on to say ‘overworked butunderpaid’ and one might agree given how

she has been all over the place. During the same chat,

Priyanka was alsoasked who followedwhom first on Twitter,given their love storystarted from there,and that is when sherevealed it was Nickwho followed her andslid into her dm, ask-ing her to hang out

together some-time. Well,

they dohave theperfectlove storyafter all,don’t they?A fewweeks, andthey’llcomplete ayear.

P

ollywood actor Rajkummar Rao,who plays a Gujarati entrepreneurRaghu Mehta in his forthcomingfilm Made In China, has shared afunny Instagram video of himselfselling a pen to Hollywood star

Leonardo DiCaprio.In the video captioned, “When Raghu

Bhai met Leo Bhai. #MadeInChina” thatRajkummar shared on Saturday, he gives ahilarious spin to Dicaprio’s final scenefrom the movie The Wolf of Wall Street.

The video begins with the clip of themovie where the Titanic star asks a per-son to sell him a pen.

Adding a twist in the scene,Rajkummar enters with the clip. “LeoBhai kem chho! Arre Leo Bhai this pen isyour story but the refill is the hero. Sosell the hero,” he says in Hindi.

The one-minute clip ends with DiCaprioapplauding the skills of the businessman.

Rajkummar’s video currently has 1,49,406views. The actor’s girlfriend and actress Patralekhaatook to the comment section, where she droppedsome laughing emojis. Made In China narrates the busi-ness journey of jugaadu entrepreneur. Many scenes havebeen shot in China, and the actor took inspiration from hisown experiences to add to his character.

Dinesh Vijan presents Made In China in association withJio Studios. A Maddock Films production, the film alsostars Mouni Roy, Paresh Rawal and Gajraj Rao. It is writtenand directed by Mikhil Musale, who is making his Hindidirectorial debut with the film. It is slated to releasearound Diwali.

WHENRAJKUMMARSOLD A PENTO LEONARDODICAPRIO

B

merican filmmak-er Ryan Murphy’sfive-year-old sonFord has beatencancer.

Last year, the53-year-old American HorrorStory creator revealed Ford,who he shares with husbandDavid Miller, had been diag-nosed with neuroblastoma asa toddler.

“Ford went through a sixhour surgery and years ofintense exams whichrequired hours and hours ofanaesthesia. I cannot express

to you in this room how dif-ficult this was on him, howdifficult this was for our fam-ily,” Murphy said at theVariety Power of WomenLuncheon, where he was pre-senting Ford’s godmotherDana Walden an award forher work with the UCLAJonson ComprehensiveCancer Center, reportsaceshowbiz.com.

While adding he has yet to“emotionally recover” fromthe battle, he said, “Fordhas... I am so proud to pro-claim that he is cancer free.”

Following Ford’s diagnosis,Murphy and his familydonated $10 million to thecancer facility, which helpedcreated a wing that specialis-es in helping children accessthe best treatment.

Announcing the newsabout his son’s health lastyear, Ryan honoured hispartner as his “rock”, adding,“(He was) strong and patientand loving (I was always atrembling wreck).”

The couple, who wed in2012, also share six-year-oldson Logan Phineas.

ARYAN MURPHY'S SON IS CANCER FREE

SWARA, DIVYACOME TOGETHERFOR A BEAUTIFULODE TO LOVEA

fter missing from the big screen for a brief amount of time,actress Swara Bhasker is back with her next film. JoiningSwara, is actress Divya Dutta in the lead role for their film

titled Sheer Qorma. The first poster of the film was released onSunday. The film which revolves around a same-sex love storyshows the two actresses holding each other’s hand in a heartfeltgesture in its first poster. Their hijab and henna looks are unmiss-able.

Helmed by Faraz Arif Ansari, also stars Shabana Azmi in thesupporting role. Sharing the film’s poster on Instagram, Swara cap-tioned it, “So proud to play @farazarifansari’s gentle and shiningSitara in #sheerqorma the film.. A beautiful ode to love, love thatbinds is all. Notwithstanding gender, race, religion, generation orsexuality.. thank you Faraz! I’m so proud to have been part of thisamazing project. Not to mention the honour and dream of shar-ing screen space with the legendary @azmishabana18 and icon-ic @divyadutta25 ! #loveislove #futterwackeningfilms.”

rammy-winning DJ Zedd was“permanently banned” fromChina after he liked a tweetfrom South Park, the adult ani-mated show caught in a feudwith the Communist govern-

ment of the country.The DJ shared the same on Twitter writ-

ing, “I just got permanently banned fromChina because I

liked a

South Park tweet.”Zedd’s claim was confirmed by German

musician’s publicist, Adam Guest toCNBC.

“This is true, yes, but we don’t have anymore info to give you at this time,” FoxNews quoted him as saying.

However, the DJ whose real name ifAnton Zaslavski, didn’t clarify if he wasdenied entry into the country or only hiswas music was censored.

This comes after a controversy betweenthe show’s creators and the governmentabout its 300th episode titled Band inChina, which surfaced last Wednesday

In the following episode, Randy, a char-acter in the animation, tries selling mari-juana to China, which leads him to end upbeing sent to a work camp.

There, encounters Winnie the Pooh,also a political prisoner because he drewphysical comparisons to Chinese PresidentXi Jinping.

Meanwhile, another group of characters— Stan, Jimmy, Kenny, and Butters —formed a metal band, which caught theattention of a Hollywood manager whowanted to produce a film about them butconstantly modified the script in order forthe movie to be distributed in China.

This led the government to reported-ly cancel the show and stop its

broadcast on media plat-forms including

Weibo,Youku

amongothers.

G

GRAMMY WINNER DJ ZEDD‘PERMANENTLY BANNEDFROM CHINA' FOLLOWING‘SOUTH PARK'CONTROVERSY

rinu master, pop-ular choreogra-pher of ’80s and’90s, with multi-ple Nandi awardsto his name,

passed away at this resi-dence in Chennai onSunday morning. He suf-fered a heart stroke. He was82-years-old.

A native of Adoni, Srinustarted off his dance careerby learning Kathak underGuruprasad Sundar. He

later practiced Kathakalifrom Vishwam. Hebranched out to films byassisting his brother-in-lawHeeralal in 1956. His firstfilm as a dance choreogra-pher was 1969 releaseNenante Nenu and therewas no looking back eversince.

Mahabaludu,Bakthakannappa, EduruleniManishi, Yugapurushudu,Yugandhar were some of hisnotable films over a career

spanning more than 35years, with more than 1,700films to his credit. He wasone of the most sought-after choreographers in’80s. For his work in filmslike Swarnakamalam,Radhagopalam and SriRamarajyam, he wasawarded the Nandi. He issurvived by wife Uma Devi,two daughters and a son.His last rites have been per-formed in Chennai onSunday evening.

Vijayawada Monday October 14, 2019

S

11

tollywood

he battle lines areclearly drawn forthe two big budgetSankranti releasesand turned out tobe a direct fight

between Mahesh Babu star-rer Sarileru Neekevvaru andAla Vaikunthaluramlo. OnSaturday evening, the makersof both the films announcedthat they would be hittingscreens on January 12.Initially, the direct clash wasnever on the cards, with theMahesh Babu-starrer plan-ning for January 9 or 10 andAllu Arjun-starrer forJanuary 14. Last month,we’ve learnt about AlluAravind and S RadhaKrishna, producers of AlaVaikunthapuramlo, targetingJanuary 12. Why the suddenannouncement on Saturdayevening? We hear it has

something to do with long-delayed Venky Mama.

Apparently, producerSuresh Babu, who is a heavyhitter in the industry, hastold his regular distributorsover the weekend that he islooking to pitch his produc-tion Venky Mama, starringVenkatesh and NagaChaitanya, for Sankranti. Thefilm is a big production forSuresh and he feels thatSankranti might be the bestbet to get his returns. Gettingscreens wouldn’t be a prob-lem for him as he holds achain of theatres and is alsopartners with AsianCinemas. Our sources closeto both Suresh Productionsand co-producer PeopleMedia Factory have con-firmed to us that VenkyMama is coming forSankranti. The tentative date

is January 14. So, with Suresh speaking to his dis-tributors, word has spreadout in the industry corridorsabout his Sankranti move,prompting the makers ofboth Sarileru Neekevvaruand Ala Vaikunthapuramlo toimmediately announce therelease date that they’vewithheld from the past threemonths. “Sankranti can takein three big films but overhere superstar Rajinikanth-starrer Darbar too is waitingto fly into the cinema hallson January 10. While itmight get good number ofscreens on day 1 but on day3, it will stare at losing morethan 80 per cent of thescreens, to accommodateMahesh and Allu Arjunfilms. There’s alsoKalyanram’s Entha ManchiVaadavuraa scheduled for

Sankranti.However, asthings

stands now,the chances

of it arrivingfor the festiveseason arebleak, as the

film’s pro-ducers don’t command cloutsimilar to that of Suresh andRaju. It will be interesting tosee how the season pans out.If both Mahesh and Arjun’sfilms eat out into each other’srevenue, they can always pinthe blame on Suresh forscheduling Venky Mama forthe festival,” said a trade ana-lyst.

Battle or no battle, onething’s for sure is that thereare plenty of options formoviegoers to choose fromthis Sankranti!

With Venky Mama producerseyeing an Sankranti release, AlaVaikunthapuramlo and Sarileru

Neekevvaru are set to hit screens on the same day, finds

NAGARAJ GOUD

THEBIGFIGHT

T

ANNAPURNAStudios topartner withSwapna Cinema

ith his maiden directorial

Seethamma Andalu

Ramayya Sitralu in 2016

failing to light up the box-

office, Srinivas Gavireddy

has gone back to the draw-

ing board to come up with a watertight

script for his second shot. He got the nod

of actor Raj Tarun again and shepherding

the project on the production front will be

none other than superstar Akkineni

Nagarjuna. The Pioneer has learnt that

Annapurna Studios think-tank — Nag, Supriya

and Naga Chaitanya — loved the script by

Gavireddy and asked him to get going with pre-

production. “The film, set in Bhimavaram, enter-

tains with the unique characterisation of Raj Tarun.

Portions of the film will be shot in Hyderabad as

well. The filming will most likely roll towards the

year-end and it will be wrapped up in 60 days,"

informed a source. We’ve been further told that

chances of the film being a joint production venture

cannot be ruled out. “Swapna Dutt might partner

with Annapurna Studios. Nag rates Swapna very

high and was pleased with the way she executed

Devadas,” added the source. —NG

'80s choreographer Srinu no more

RAKESH VARREis a happy man

ctor RakeshVarre, who hasgone solo withEvvarikiCheppoddu, isglad with the

response the film has cutacross. A love story pep-pered with humour, dealswith how Harathi’s (playedby Gargeya Ellapradada)father’s obsession overcaste spells trouble for Hari(Rakesh), who is in lovewith Harathi. The interest-ing and comical turns thatunfold in the young cou-ple’s lives from this pointforms the crux of the film.“The response has beenvery good. As the filmopened on Tuesday, we’vebeen a bit skeptical. But,thankfully, it has beenrunning to very goodoccupancy in multiplex-es, while in singlescreens, the footfalls havebeen on a steady rise.Mass audience has stayedaway from it but othersections have given their

thumbs-up. College-goingstudents are expected to fillin the theatres in big num-bers in the coming days,”the actor, best rememberedfor his turns in Badrinathand Baahubali: TheConclusion, states.

He adds that afterBaahubali, he was deter-mined to make a good filmby himself. “I had been tothe New York Film Acad-emy and learnt filmmakingthere for a year. With theknowledge and experience,I became confident tomake a film. I returned toHyderabad and heardabout 47 scripts but nonecaught my fancy. Later, Icame to know aboutBasava Shankar, who bythen had committed todirect a couple of films. Idisplayed my showreels tohim and requested him tokeep me in mind before heembarks on the casting ofhis films. A couple ofmonths later, he came tome with Evvariki

Cheppoddu,” he says. “Forauthenticity, we shot theKalahasthi scenes at thatplace itself. For a song atHimayalas, we meticulous-ly planned how it can bewrapped up in short spanof time. Also, instead ofplanes, we traveled by trainand buses.”

Talking about how heconvinced Dil Raju to dis-tribute it, he says, “Sincetime didn’t permit him, herecommended the script tosome other producer,before advising me not toproduce it myself. But Ihad to don the producer’shat eventually, as no onewas coming forward toproduce it because I amrelatively new, and caste isa sensitive issue. But weknew that the treatmentwould be sensible andcareful. After the film wasmade, Raju garu watched itand told me he’d release it,”Rakesh says, revealing thathe hasn’t signed any newmovie yet. — NG

A

SAM UNVEILS HERLOOK AS JANU

ctress SamanthaAkkineni unveiled herlook as Janu from thehighly anticipated ’96Telugu remake onSunday as she wrapped

up shooting her portions for thefilm. Dubbing the romanticdrama as another special one inher career after Oh! Baby, shetweeted, “And its a wrap !! Anot-her special film and a role that haschallenged me to be better than Iwas yesterday.. Thankyou to mydirector Prem and costarSharwanand for being a dreamteam. #Janu.. living my best life.

Grateful always (sic).”Samantha is reprising Trisha’s

role from the original, which tellsthe story of two high schoolsweethearts (played by VijaySethupathi and Trisha) who meetat a reunion after 22 years andreminisce about their past. Trishahas received accolades for thefilm, even prompting Sam to saythat the film shouldn’t be remadeat all. It’s another story that pro-ducer Dil Raju later convinced herto take up the film. The remake isset in Vizag and has music byGovinda Vasantha. Raju hasn’trevealed the release date yet.

AW

sport 12VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 14, 2019

PTI n PUNE

The Indian juggernaut contin-ued to roll as the hosts humil-iated South Africa by an

innings and 137 runs in the secondTest to clinch a record 11th consec-utive series victory at home, here onSunday.

The struggling South Africabatsmen surrendered yet againagainst the Indian bowlers, whoasserted their supremacy in allconditions.

The comprehensive victory,coming on the fourth day, has con-solidated India’s top position in theWorld Test Championship table.India now have 200 points in theirkitty, a handsome 140 points awayfrom nearest-rival New Zealand.

Competing in his 50th Test ascaptain, Virat Kohli has now ledIndia to their 11th consecutiveseries at home, a world record.

After being asked to follow-on,South Africa were all-out for 189 in67.2 overs just after the tea break.

Following a superb effort fromthe batsmen, it was an all-roundeffort from India’s five-prongedbowling unit with comeback manUmesh Yadav claiming 3 for 22.

Ravindra Jadeja (3/52),Ravichandran Ashwin (2/45),Mohammed Shami (1/34) andIshant Sharma (1/17) played theirpart in the comprehensive victory.

Like in the first innings, VernonPhilander (37) and Maharaj (22)again came together to delay theinevitable adding 56 runs in 21.2overs.

Once Philander was caughtdown the leg-side by WriddhimanSaha, the resistance was over in aflash.

In the morning, the stodgyDean Elgar (48 off 72 balls) put upsome stiff resistance beforeRavichandran Ashwin (2/45)snuffed him out, in what was a deci-sive blow to the Proteas, just beforelunch.

After going wicket-less in thefirst innings, Ishant Sharma (1/17struck with the very second deliv-ery of the morning, a full-length in-dipper that struck Aiden Markram’spads (0) and umpire Nigel Llonghad no hesitation in raising his fin-ger.

The opener had the ignominyof bagging a ‘pair’ in this Test.

However it was WriddhimanSaha’s superb keeping skills that hadeveryone on the edge of their seats.He showed why he is so highly-rated in world cricket.

On the third morning duringSouth African first innings, poorTheunis de Bruyn (8) had sufferedtrying to play an expansive coverdrive off Umesh Yadav (1/14 off 5

overs) that Saha had plucked fromthin air in-front of the first slip.

On the fourth morning, DeBruyn tried playing a delicate glanceafter Umesh had drifted on thepads. To his horror, he saw an air-borne Saha pull off an acrobatic

stunner that left everyone stunned.Elgar and skipper Faf du Plessis

(5 off 54 balls) added 49 runs andwere ready to show patience, espe-cially the skipper, who was present-ing dead bat.

However, the ultra defensivetactic didn’t work for a lengthy peri-od as Du Plessis got out trying todrive an Ashwin off-break. The bat-pad inside edge kept low but Saha’ssharp reflexes meant that hepouched it on the fourth attempt.

Elgar, who lost a bit of concen-tration, tried to play a lofted shotbut didn’t get his timing right asUmesh ran back from his mid-offposition to take a fine runningcatch as India got the decisivebreakthrough.

PTI n PUNE

Paceman Umesh Yadav said heowed Wriddhiman Saha a “treat”

since the wicketkeeper plucked catch-es out of thin air when his leg-sidedeliveries could have gone to theboundary line, in the second Test.

Umesh returned figures of 3 for 22in South Africa’s second innings andthe pacer admitted that the credit forhis first two wickets entirely goes toSaha for his brilliant display behind thestumps.

“I think I should treat him forthose wickets down leg-side and thatfirst catch, and I think those two wick-ets are Wriddhi bhai’s wickets,” Umeshsaid after the match.

Saha’s superb keeping skills onceagain stole the show. On the thirdmorning during South African firstinnings, poor Theunis de Bruyn (8)tried playing an expansive cover driveoff Umesh but a diving Saha held a sen-sational catch in-front of the first slip.

And on the fourth day again, Sahapulled off two stunners down the leg-side off Umesh’s bowling in SouthAfrica’s second innings to dismiss DeBruyn and Vernon Philander.

“When you put the ball outside legstump you think it’ll be a boundary, butif there is a little bit chance to converta catch, we know he will take it,”Umesh said of Saha.

Meanwhile Saha, who was mak-ing a comeback in the Test playing XIafter being sidelined for more than ayear, said keeping against quality pac-ers at nets makes life easy for him dur-ing match situations.

“The ball wobbles for all three —Umesh, Ishant, Shami. We practice forthat. But ultimately you have to comeinto the match and do it,” he said.

“Our trainers help us out withstretches, ice-baths, and we are trainedfor the match-day really well, so cred-it to them for my fitness as well as mywicket-keeping performance,” addedSaha.

PTI n ALMERE

Rising Indian shuttler LakshyaSen on Sunday clinched his

maiden BWF World Tour title bywinning the Dutch Open men’ssingles title after beating YusukeOnodera of Japan in the summitclash here on Sunday.

The 18-year-old Indian ralliedfrom a game deficit to defeat hisworld No 160 opponent 15-21,21-14, 21-15 in a final that lasted63 minutes.

The Dutch Open is a BWFWorld Tour Super 100 tourna-ment.

In the opening game, Lakshyafell behind early on and could noterase the deficit, despite comingas close as 10-11 and 13-14.Onodera managed to keep hisnose ahead and pocketed theopening game to earn the brag-ging rights. The second gamestarted on a competitive notewith the pair trying to outwit eachother. The Indian grabbed a 8-5lead at one stage but the Japaneseclawed his way back.

Lakhsya again managed tomove to 12-8 with four straightpoints. Onodera narrowed it

down to 11-12 but Lakshyajumped to 18-11 and then roaredback into the contest.

In the decider, Lakshya cameup with a clear strategy and man-aged to keep his rival at a distance.He led 9-4 before making it 11-8at the break. After the interval,Lakshya continued to move aheadand slowly marched ahead to shutthe door on Onodera.

Lakshya, currently ranked72nd, had won the Belgian Openlast month and reached the finalsof Polish Open this year.

AFP n SHANGHAI

Daniil Medvedev won hisfourth title of a spectac-

ular year with a thumping 6-4, 6-1 victory overAlexander Zverev in theShanghai Masters final onSunday.

Victory for the 23-year-old Russian, contesting asixth final in a row, wasmore evidence that he is theprime contender to join the“Big Three” of NovakDjokovic, Rafael Nadal andRoger Federer.

The US Open finalist isalso able to say that he hasfinally beaten the GermanZverev, another young con-tender at 22, at the fifthattempt. This was anemphatic statement fromthe world number four,needing just 74 minutes toseal the crown.

“I think the stadiumwas full today and you guysare amazing support, start-ing from my first match,”Medvedev told the crowd.

“You gave me goodenergy to win this tourna-ment. Thank you very much,Shanghai will always be a

special place in my heart.”Zverev, long touted as

the best of the new genera-tion of men’s tennis stars,was error-prone, but hadno complaints.

“As I said yesterday, youare probably the best playerin the world right now,” theworld number six toldMedvedev. “How you areplaying is unbelievable.”

The next generationhas stamped its authority on

Shanghai with Djokovic andFederer — beaten by Zverev— both going out in thequarter-finals.

Medvedev said that he isa better player than he wasat the start of the year, buthas really sparkled since thesummer. Starting withWashington, DC, in July,the Russian has reached sixfinals on the spin — includ-ing the US Open — winningthree of them.

AFP n STUTTGART

All conquering Americangymnast Simone Biles won

her fifth Gold, her second of theday, at the world championshipson Sunday in the women’s floorfinal to extend her own all-timerecord to 25 worlds medals.

Having earlier won the beamfinal, the 22-year-old alsoextended her own record of 19world championships Goldsafter success earlier this week inStuttgart in the team, all-round

and vault events with the USA.Biles was crowned world

floor champion for the fifthtime in her career after winningthe final by a full point fromteam-mate Sunisa Lee, whoearned Silver with Russia’sAngelina Melnikova takingBronze. Her double Gold successcame within a two-hour spellafter earlier winning the beamfinal with China’s Liu Tingting,19, taking Silver with 16-year-old team-mate Li Shijia inBronze place.

Her victories on the beamand floor makes Biles the mostdecorated gymnast in history,surpassing the previous all-timerecord of 23 world medals wonby men’s star Vitaly Scherbo ofBelarus in the 1990s.

This is the first time Bileshas finished a world champi-onships with five Gold medalshaving said she is “99percent”sure Stuttgart will be thefifth and final worlds of hercareer. The only blot onBiles’near-perfect record insouth-west Germany came inSaturday’s uneven bars finalwhen she finished fifth.

2-0! India win seriesVirat && Co ccrush SSouth AAfrica bby aan iinnings aand 1137 rruns tto sseal rrecord cconsecutive 111th sseries aat hhoome

MOST CONSECUTIVE TEST SERIES WINS AT HOMETeam Series PeriodIndia 11 Feb2013-Oct 2019Australia 10 Nov 1994-Nov 2000Australia 10 July 2004-Nov 2008West Indies 8 March 1976-Feb 1986England 7 May 2009-May 2012South Africa 7 March 1998-Nov 2001

MOST WINS AS SKIPPER IN FIRST 50 TESTSSkipper P W L D Success%Steve Waugh (AUS) 50 37 8 5 79.00Ricky Ponting (AUS) 50 35 6 9 79.00Virat Kohli (IND) 50 30 10 10 70.00

Faisel FFeatures PTI n PUNE

Sounding a warning to the rivals,India captain Virat Kohli on

Sunday said they will not “taketheir feet off the gas” and will aimfor a whitewash when the finalTest begins in Ranchi.

“Looking at the larger pictureof the Test championship, everygame has value, whether it is athome or away, that is the format.So, we’re not going to take our footoff the gas in the third Test,” Kohlisaid at the post-match presenta-tion.

“No one is going to relax atany stage, we are going to go fora result in the third Test and hope-fully make it 3-0, that’s a guaran-tee,” he said.

South African captain Faf du

Plessis conceded that India aredeserving series winners and hisside was found wanting in the con-test.

“They are very tough to beatat home, their record speaks foritself. We know in the subconti-nent your first innings is reallyimportant. The runs you put onthe board gives you a chance,” hesaid.

“But the way India batted,especially Virat with 250, it takesa lot of mental toughness. Twodays in the field can wear youdown. Especially that secondevening, the batsmen were a bitweak in the mindset. From thenit’s playing catch-up.”

He said Kohli was too goodand his hunger for runs stood out.He was not satisfied with 100, 150.”

WE’LL GO FOR 3-0 SERIES WIN: KOHLI

Virat Kohli, right, celebrates with teammates after India win the second Test AP

PTI n PUNE

South Africa captain Faf duPlessis on Sunday

acknowledged that the dif-ference between his teamand India in the ongoing Testseries has been the “inexpe-rience” of the Proteas as it’snot possible to replace worldclass players like Hashim

Amla and AB de Villiersovernight.

“I think, it’s purely acase of inexperience. I saidbefore this Test series, yourbest Test teams are the teamswith the most experience.When it comes to this Indianteam, there’s a lot of experi-ence in that dressing room,there’s a lot of Test matches

behind their names,” adejected Du Plessis said afterlosing the series and Gandhi-Mandela Trophy.

“We are at this stagewhere we have lost almost allof our experience. DaleSteyn, Morne Morkel,Hashim Amla, AB deVilliers, all of them were sea-soned campaigners. You

don’t replace those guysovernight.

“And now it’s a newgroup of guys, who haveplayed 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 15 Testmatches. That will take time.If you take the best playersout of any team, they wouldfind the same challenges,”Du Plessis explained.

He put his hands up and

said that as captain he needsto show the way along withQuinton de Kock and DeanElgar.

“For us, it is importantas a senior player group tomake sure that we put inperformances ourselves.Myself, Deano (Elgar) ,Quinny (De Kock), we can’texpect other guys to make

runs.“We need to make sure

we make the runs first andthen the others guys to chipin with us. In a time like this,it is important that your bigguys really, really take con-trol and make sure that theyput in the bulk of the work,”said Du Plessis, puttingacross his point clearly.

Can’t replace AB & Amla overnight: Faf

PTI n PUNE

Left-arm spinner George Lindewill replace an injured Keshav

Maharaj in South Africa’s squadfor the third Test in Ranchi,starting on Saturday.

According to a CSA mediarelease, Maharaj sustained aninjury to his right shoulder whilefielding on day two of the secondmatch and MRI results revealedthat he will not be fit in time toplay in the final Test match.

“An MRI scan revealed thatKeshav has sustained an injury toa muscle in his right shoulder. Hewas re-assessed this morning,particularly with regards to bowl-ing, and he showed significantdiscomfort in this latter disci-pline,” team doctor RamjeeHashendra commented.

“Based on this morning’sassessment and the findings ofthe scan, the medical team feels,he will not be fit in time for thenext Test match in six days’time. The nature and extent ofthe injury would mean that hewill probably return to play in 14to 21 days based on his progressduring the rehabilitation phase.”

Linde infor Maharaj

VIRAT KOHLI BECAME THEFIRST INDIAN CAPTAIN TOENFORCE A FOLLOW-ONAGAINST SOUTH AFRICA.

ENGLAND WERE THELAST SIDE THAT HAD

ENFORCED A FOLLOW-ONAGAINST THE PROTEAS IN

JULY 2008 AT LORD’S

Umesh Yadav celebrates after taking wicket ofKagiso Rabada during fourth day play AP

I owe Saha treatfor stunningcatches: Umesh

PUNE: There is no dearth of talent inIndia but the youngsters have a fairidea that they have to be better than theexisting bunch of seasonedcampaigners to break into the nationalside, reckons Umesh Yadav.The Vidarbha speedster feels that thecurrent lot has gained rich experienceover the years and is setting thebenchmark for the next batch ofplayers.“Most of the boys in this set-up, atleast 7-8 have played 40 plus Tests.So when the youngsters, who arecoming up, see the kind of hard yardsseniors are putting in, it’s not easy forthem. They know that they need to getbetter than us to be in the side,”Umesh said after the match. PTI

Youngsters need tobe better than us’

Biles extends recordto 25 world medals

Simone Biles performs during Worlds AP

Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev pose with their trophies APLakshya Sen in a file picture BWF/Fansite

Medvedev seals Shanghai Masters

AFP n LINZ

Teenage prodigy CocoGauff won her first

WTA title on Sunday fol-lowing a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 winover Jelena Ostapenko inthe final in Linz that sawher hold her first trophyaloft aged 15.

Gauff, who onlyentered the field as a luckyloser after failing to quali-fy, completed a dream weekin Linz in front of a sup-portive crowd to becomethe youngest player to wina WTA event since CzechNicole Vaidisova, who tri-umphed in Vancouver andTashkent two months apartin 2004. “I’ll rememberthis day for the rest of mylife,” the delighted Gauffsaid after receiving a min-utes-long standing ovationfrom 3,000 spectators.

“I had an amazingweek and I hope to be backin the future.”

First WTAtitle for Coco

Lakshya winsDutch tourney

Indian captain Virat Kohli, center, celebrates with teammates after winning the second Test against South Africa in Pune on Sunday AP