Crude oil futuresjump over 3% astensions in MiddleEast escalatefurther

JNUSU : VC,police allowedABVP goons to attack 4

8

Uddhav:JNU violenceremindsme of 26/11 attacks 5

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VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPALRAIPUR CHANDIGARH BHUBANESWAR

RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD

Petrol prices on Monday were hiked by 15 paise a litre and diesel rateswere up by 17 paise as global oil prices hit USD 70

mark in the wake of escalating US-Irantensions fanning fresh fears of conflict inthe crude-rich Middle East. The retailpump prices of petrol in Delhi rose toRs 75.69 per litre - the highest since November 2018,while those of diesel climbed to Rs 68.68, according to aprice notification of state-owned fuel retailers. This is the fifthstraight day of increase in retail pump prices.

PETROL PRICES UP 15 PAISE, DIESELBY 17 PAISE AS CRUDE HITS USD 70

SONIA GANDHI DEMANDS JUDICIALINQUIRY INTO JNU VIOLENCE

SENSEX NOSEDIVES 788 PTS ON US-IRAN STANDOFFThe BSE benchmark Sensex crashed by nearly 788 points and the NSE

Nifty tumbled around 234 points on Monday as heightened tensionsin the Middle East kept investors on edge. The 30-share BSE indexended at 40,676.63, dropping of 787.98 points, or 1.90 per cent.Similarly, the broader Nifty closed at 11,993.05, falling by 233.60points, or 1.91 per cent. On the Sensex chart,Bajaj Finance was the top loser, dropping 4.63per cent, followed by SBI, IndusInd Bank,Maruti, HDFC, Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank,ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries.

Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Monday demanded ajudicial inquiry into the major violence that broke out in the Centre-

administered Jawaharlal Nehru Iniversity (JNU) here last night thatresulted in many students and faculty members gettingseriously injured. In a statement here, she said theentire party stands in solidarity with the JNU students"The entire Congress party stands in solidarity withIndia's youth and students. We strongly deprecate thesponsored violence in JNU yesterday (Sunday) anddemand an independent judicial inquiry," Gandhi said.

DON'T TURN UNIVERSITIES INTOPOLITICAL BATTLEFIELD: SMRITIUnion Minister Smriti Irani said on Monday that the violence in the

JNU was 'unfortunate and condemnable' and asked political partiesnot to turn the educational institutions into a politicalbattlefield. "A university is a place where studentsbuild their future and learn about nation-building. Such places should be kept awayfrom politics. Students come here, filled withinspirations and aspirations and they shouldnot be used as pawns in the hands of politicalparties and their leaders," she said on Monday.

PNS n PONDURU(SRIKAKULAM)

Assembly Speaker TammineniSitaram on Monday went onrecord stating that it was moreor less a certainty that the gov-ernment would establish theexecutive capital atVisakhapatnam.

He was speaking after lay-ing the foundation stone forvillage secretariat buildingsin many gram panchayats ofPonduru mandal on Sunday.

Referring to former ChiefMinister N ChandrababuNaidu's statement that hewould not mind going to jailif he could ensure the statecapital remains at Amaravati,Sitaram said that relocation ofthe state capital would not halteven if Naidu were to go toTihar jail.

"Chandrababu and otherTDP leaders have been raisinghue and cry over the relocationof the state fearing that theirreal estate business would col-

lapse, and not out of love fordevelopment of Amaravatiregion," the Speaker said.

Relocating capital toVizag imminent: Speaker

PNS n TIRUPATI

More than one lakh devoteesfrom all over the countrythronged the famous hill tem-ple of Lord Venkateswara atnearby Tirumala on Mondayon the occasion of VaikuntaEkadasi festival.

The presiding deity of LordVenkateswara was adornedwith huge diamond set orna-

ments, while the entire sprawl-ing temple complex and itssurroundings were bedeckedwith flowers and illuminated,a temple official told PTI.

The devotees, who had beenwaiting since Sunday inserptentine queues, wereallowed into the shrine fromthe wee hours on Monday, hesaid.

Continued on Page 3

Over one lakh throngTirumala shrine onVaikunta Ekadasi day

PNS n TIRUMALA

The Vaikunta Ekadasi festivi-ties on Monday ended on a bit-ter note for senior TRS leaderand Telangana finance minis-ter T Harish Rao at Tirumala.

Harish arrived in Tirumalafor darshan of Lord Venka-teshwara, but there was no oneto receive him at the temple.

On the other hand, KTRama Rao, who is also theTelangana state IT ministerand TRS working president,was accorded a grand wel-come at Tirumala.

YSRCP leaders and TTD

officials queued up at the tem-ple to welcome him atTirumala right from his arrival

at the Renigunta airport onSunday evening till he had dar-shan of the Lord during VIP

break darshan on Monday. KTR was accompanied by

his wife, son and daughter.

YSRCP MP PV MidhunReddy, MLA ChevireddyBhaskar Reddy, a host of localYSRCP leaders and TTD offi-cials accorded him a grand wel-come at the airport and also atthe temple. They accompa-nied KTR’s family to the tem-ple. They made all the arrange-ments for KTR and his familyto have darshan of the Lord ina smooth manner. As a minis-ter from Telangana State,Harish too is entitled for pro-tocol at the Tirumala temple,but this was shocking not fol-lowed.

Continued on Page 2

KTR gets grand welcome, Harish finds no takersAT TIRUMALA ON VAIKUNTA EKADASI DAY

PM meets top honchosfor reviving economy

PNS n NEW DELHI

Ahead of the Union Budget,Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday met India'stop 10 business leaders whichincluded bosses of India'slargest conglomerates likeReliance Industries, Vedanta,Tata Group, Mahindra &Mahindra, Adani and BhartiEnterprises, as they brain-

stormed on reviving the econ-omy and business sentiments,creating jobs and pushinggrowth.

Sources said the meetingwas held at the PrimeMinister's Office in the after-noon and Modi listenedpatiently to the who's who ofIndia Inc including RelianceIndustries Chairman MukeshAmbani, Bharti Enterprises

Chairman Sunil Mittal,Mahindra Chairman AnandMahindra, Tata SonsChairman Emeritus RatanTata, Tata Group Chairman N.Chandrasekaran, Adani GroupChairman Gautam Adani, TVSChairman Venu Srinivasan,Vedanta Chairman AnilAgarwal, and L&T ChairmanA.M. Naik, among others.

Continued on Page 3

ED cautions publicagainst fake summonsPNS n NEW DELHI

The Enforcement Directorateon Monday cautioned thepublic against "impersonation"of its summons or letters byunscrupulous elements toextort money, even as it askedvictims to contact the federalprobe agency in case of trou-ble.

In a statement, the agencysaid such fake communica-tions have been brought to itsnotice and accordingly, FIRshave been registered.

"The Directorate ofEnforcement (ED) shall con-

tinue to take impacting actionagainst unscrupulousimposters who attempt toimpersonate ED officers andindulge in making fake corre-spondences with general pub-lic with ulterior motive toextract money," the statementread.

The agency said it has cometo notice that certainunscrupulous people havebeen sending fake communi-cations on behalf of ED to pri-vate parties in the form ofsummons or letters with "syn-onymous or anonymous iden-tity."

Delhi goes to polls on Feb 8,results on February 11PNS n NEW DELHI

The election commission onMonday announced February8 to be the date of Delhiassembly elections. Modelcode of conduct comes intoeffect with the announcement,the EC said. The date of noti-fication is January 14, whileJanuary 21 will be the last dateof filing nominations.

There are total of seventyseats in Delhi out of whichAam Aadmi Party won sixtyseven last time.

Mainly three political partiesare in the fray for the election-- Aam Aadmi Party, BharatiyaJanata Party and the Congress.

CEO Sunil Arora, whosetenure is ending on February22, said that he held a meetingwith Chief Secretary andsenior officials last monthabout holding elections.

Ninety thousand officialsare to be deployed for pollduties, he said. Additional sec-

retaries will look after deploy-ment of officers.

Arora lamented that someconstituencies in Delhi hadlower turnouts last time thanMaoists affected areas. But heassured that the EC is taking allsteps to ensure more participa-tion this time. There are 13,750polling stations in Delhi.

Arora also announced pickand drop facilities for seniorcitizens who would like tovote. The postal ballot facilityfor people with disabilitiesand senior citizens above theage of eighty is also available.

Teams for monitoring themedia has also been formed,informed the EC.

Referring to Naidu'sstatement that hewould not mind goingto jail if he couldensure the statecapital remains atAmaravati, Sitaramsaid that relocation ofthe state capitalwould not halt

Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Arora

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold prices in the nationalcapital hit an all-time highlevel on Monday and zoomedRs 720 to Rs 41,730 per 10gram following a pick-up insafe-haven demand for themetal amid weak equities andbullish global trends.

Silver also witnessed

increased buying as it surgedRs 1,105 to Rs 49,430 per kgfrom Rs 48,325 per kg in theprevious trade.

Gold had in the previoustrade closed at Rs 41,010 per10 gram. "Safe-haven demandcontinued in the preciousmetal with word of warbetween the US and Iran.

Continued on Page 2

Gold zooms Rs 720, hitslifetime high of Rs 41,730

Iran offers $80mn bounty onTrump’s head

‘Stop protests,Modi govt notagainst IndianMuslims’PNS n HYDERABAD

Amid the ongoing protestsover the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA),Union Minister RamdasAthawale on Monday saidthe amended law is notagainst the Muslim com-munity in India and that theNarendra Modi-led BJP gov-ernment at the Centre is forall.

Speaking at the secondnational conference of AllIndia Working JournalistsAssociation (AWJA) here,the Union Minister for SocialJustice and Empowermentsaid development of Muslimcommunity has been thestand of the Modi govern-ment even as he appealed tothe community to stop theiragitation against the amend-ed law.

PNS n TEHRAN

An $80 million bounty hasbeen placed on US PresidentDonald Trump's head afterGeneral Qasem Soleimaniwas killed in US airstrikes lastweek, according to reports.

During the televised funer-al procession of the topIranian military comman-der, it was said on officialstate broadcasting channelson Sunday that $1 would betabled for every Iranian in the

country, withthe cashgoing tow h o e v e rkills the USPres ident ,

mirror.co.uksaid in the

report."Iran has 80 million inhab-

itants. Based on the Iranianpopulation, we want to raise$80 million which is a rewardfor those who get close to thehead of President Trump," itwas announced.

The January 3 US droneattack ordered by DonaldTrump killed Soleimani,commander of the QudsForce of Iran's IslamicRevolution Guards Corps,and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis,deputy chief of Iraq's para-military Hashd Shaabi forces.The attack took place on theBaghdad international air-port road.

Children not in NRC won't be separated from parents: CentrePNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onMonday sought an explanationfrom the Assam governmentover the allegation that thestate coordinator for NRC wasmaking communal statements.

"He should not be saying allthis. You (Assam govern-

ment) have to explain this.Whatever you want. Heshould not be saying all this,"a bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde observedafter senior advocate KapilSibal drew the attention to thealleged statement made by thestate NRC coordinator.

The bench was hearing the

petition which also soughtremoval of the state coordina-tor Hitesh Dev Sarma. Severalother petitions have beenfiled relating to the NRC inAssam and the bench issuednotices to the Centre andAssam government andsought response within fourweeks.

Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao having a darshan at Tirumala on Monday. (Right) TS Finance Minister Harish Rao

PNS n HYDERABAD

A special sessions court fortrial of cases related to MPsand MLAs has issued sum-mons to YS Vijayalakshmi, thehonorary president of rulingYSRCP in Andhra Pradesh,and her daughter YS SharmilaReddy, asking them to appearbefore it on January 10, 2020,in a case related to the viola-tion of the Model Code ofConduct at Parakal of the

erstwhile Warangal district inTelangana.

The court also directed theParakal police to serve sum-mons on the two leaders.

In-charge public prosecutorB. Ajay Kumar told this cor-

respondent that bothVijayalakshmi and her daugh-ter Sharmila will have toappear before the court in thecase on the date of hearing.

He said that the case wasrelated to the violation ofelection code and registeredagainst the two leaders byParakal police under Sections188 and 341 of IPC andSection 127 of Representationof People's Act in 2012.

Continued on Page 2

Vijayamma, Sharmila summonedin 2012 poll code violation case

{

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VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JANUARY 7, 2020 vijayawada 02

Students from various universities take to the streets in New Delhi on Monday in protest against the attack on students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University by a maskedmob on Sunday evening that left scores injured.

RALLYING PPOINT

PROTEST CRIPPLES VIZAG AGENCYPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Telugu Association ofNorth America (TANA) onMonday conducted the'Mother, Father and teacherSatakapadyarchana', a pro-gramme that was synchro-nised across the world.

TANA president TalluriJayashekar inaugurated theprogramme in New York Cityin America that saw childrenof people of Indian origin set-tled in America and variousstates in India recited poemsen masse, according to apress release here.

Poet K Srinivas explainedthe importance of mother,father and teacher. The pro-gramme was conducted invarious schools in the citieslike New York, Philadelphia,Columbus, California inAmerica and states likeAndhra Pradesh, Telangana,Odisha and Maharashtra.

Nearly five lakh peopletook part in the event. On

this occasion, TANA presi-dent Talluri Jayashekar saidthat the Association wascommitted to protecting theimportance of moral valuesand culture.

As part of this endeavour,TANA conducted the pro-gramme jointly with poetChigurumalla Srinivas, therelease said.

Jayashekar thanked leg-endary director K Viswanath,CBI former joint directorVV Lakshminarayana andlyric writer Chandrabose forextending their support to theprogramme.

TANA heads of variouswings Jampala Chowdary,Harish Koya, NiranjanSrungavarapu, AnjaiahChowdary, Sriram Sumanth,Raja Kusumarthi, RamUppuluri and former TANApresident Vemana Satish,Secretar y Ashok Kolla,Women's wing coordinatorSirish T and some otherswere present.

EGGRATES

` 40,980 (10 gm)

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GOLD

` 48,300(1kg)

` 8800

HYDERABAD 440VIJAYAWADA 473VISAKHAPATNAM 488RETAIL PPRICE `4.73

SILVER

VIJAYAWADABULLION RATES

`/100

CHICKENRATES

Dressed/With Skin `162

Without Skin `185

Broiler at Farm `112

`/KG

(IN VIJAYAWADA)

‘BJP unleashing terror in varsity campuses’

The violence in the JNU,AMU and Jamia Milliais a clear indication that

the NDA government is tryingto terrorise students who raisetheir voice against it. The gov-ernment is provoking the stu-dents, branding them urbanNaxalites. Is it wrong to protestagainst fee hike or somethingthat is against theConstitution? These incidentswill have serious impact onother varsities and the govern-ment is unnecessarily escalat-ing the situation.

-P Arun Kumar, PoliticalScience professor (Retd)Andhra University.

SFI orchestrated the violence in JNU

Our strength in JNU is veryless. The SFI has orchestratedthe violence in a bid to tarnishour image. The fact of the mat-

ter is the fight broke outbetween the seniors andjuniors of SFI and one ABVPwoman activist sufferedinjuries in the attack. SFI isturning educational institu-tions into political platformseeing the good governance ofBJP.

- Jagadeesh Malkari of ABVP, Vizag

Ban ABVP, demands SFI,Vizag student leader

The JNU student unionmembers were raising notpolitical issues but justdemands of the students withregards to fee and scholarship.They also stood up with thecountry when there was attackon constitution bringing inCAA and NRC. However, thegovernment has painted themas urban Naxalites. Theyshould be banned because of

spreading violence in the edu-cation institutions. The studentoutfit has crossed all limits. Inthe heart of Delhi, the maskedABVP goons attacked stu-dents and teachers. It is ablack day for the entire nation.Student leader should try tofight for the demands andproblems of the students andnot become a toy at the handsof the politicians

- LJ Naidu SFI (Vizag) student leader

Students falling in trap ofpolitical parties

Students should not fall intotrap of the political leaders.They should focus on theirstudies and may stage a peace-ful protest whenever they faceproblems in the campus.-

B Kanta RaoYSRCP Students' Union

president, Visakhapatnam

JNU students have beenprotesting in a democraticway against the CAA andNRC. They never indulgedin violence. Why is it takingso much time to arrest theperpetrators when theCCTV footage is available?The reason is they do notwant to arrest the BJP stu-dent wing leaders. It is real-ly a black day in the historyof India

- K Lokanadham,CPM leader

The mob attack on the stu-dents and faculty members ofthe Jawaharlal NehruUniversity (JNU) by thealleged Akhil BharatiyaVidyarthi Parishad activistson Sunday is horrifying andunimaginable and against theidea of the university, on rea-son and wisdom, on the rightsenshrined in the Constitution.

Delhi being the seat of power,it is utterly shocking andshows how blatantly the gov-ernment tuned a blind eye inspite of goons running amok,roaming around with sticksand other weapons in campuslike JNU. It's ridiculous thatthe home minister asks for areport from the police thatstood idle while the armedthugs were on a rampage.None of them arrested ordetained despite carrying somany weapons. Completestate-sponsored violence.Horrible. Academics are beingregularly branded as anti-nationals. Many RSS mem-bers are being handpicked tohead prestigious universitiesand are being patronised topromote the divisiveHindutva agenda within theircampuses.

- Javvadi Lakshmana Rao, Opinion Maker, Vizag

Gold at Rs 720,hits lifetime highof Rs 41,730

Continued from Page 1

Along with a weaker rupee,rise in international gold pricessupported domestic gold pricesto trade at life-time high level,"Devarsh Vakil, Head (PCG-Advisory), HDFC Securities,said. In the global market, goldtraded with gains at USD 1,575per ounce and, likewise, silveralso quoted higher at USD18.34 per ounce. Internationalgold prices at COMEX climbedas much as 2.3 per cent to USD1,588.13 an ounce, the highestlevel since April 2013, andtraded at USD 1,575 an ounce.Along with the other Asiancurrencies, the rupee tradedwith a loss of 25 paise amidhigher crude oil prices.

In the morning trade, therupee depreciated 31 paise to72.11.

KTR gets grand welcome,Harish finds no takers

Continued from Page 1

Harish had to wait for a longertime at the temple as nobodyreceived him nor were anyarrangements made for hisdarshan of the Lord. ThoughHarish tried to reach out toTTD officials, there was noresponse. At one point, Harishreportedly got angry anddecided to return Hyderabadwithout having darshan.

However, the timely inter-vention of TTD board mem-ber from Telangana, DamodarRao saved the day for Harish.

Damodar Rao made arran-gements for Harish on a warfooting in coordination withTTD officials and ensured hegot VIP break darshan alongwith other VIPs. But Harishwho was upset at TTD officials

ignoring him in violation ofprotocol left Tirumala imme-diately after darshan.

He returned to Hyderabadand rushed to Patancheruconstituency to campaign forTRS for upcoming municipalpolls. However, the Tirumalaincident has yet again trig-gered debate in political circlesover how Harish was beingsidelined and ignored in TRSand how KTR's prominence isincreasing day after day.

Tirumala witnessedunprecedented rush of pil-grims on Monday on the occa-sion of Vaikunta Ekadasi.

A host of VIPs made a bee-line to the temple to have dar-shan of the Lord on the aus-picious day. Lakhs of pilgrimsthronged the temple town tohave darshan of the Lord.

PNS n AMARAVATI

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Monday chaired areview meeting on AmmaVodi, Nadu-Nedu and middaymeal schemes.

It was decided in the meet-ing to take up the developmentof 15,715 schools in the firstphase of Nadu-Nedu pro-gramme; the work will start onJanuary 15.

The Chief Minister also helda review on the second andthird phases of the programmeunder which proposals wouldbe made by this month-end onthe development programmesin all the schools, hostels,junior and degree colleges.

The Chief Minister made itclear to officials that all infra-structure like bathrooms, cup-boards and beds in hostels andtables and chairs for the stu-dents to study must be madeavailable. He also insisted thathigh standards should bemaintained in the quality ofthe development programmes.

Regarding midday mealscheme, the officials explainedthat all the decisions taken inthe previous review meetingon the issue have been imple-mented. The officials spokeabout the changes made in themenu as part of the pro-gramme and also gave detailsabout the food items beingserved on a weekly basis forwhich Rs 200 crore was being

spent. Similarly, Rs 3,000 isbeing spent for using standardoil for preparing the dishes.The total expenditure on theprogramme was estimated tobe Rs 1294 crore.

With reference to AmmaVodi programme, the ChiefMinister gave an exemption tothe rule of 75 per cent atten-dance in the schools in the firstyear, as the programme wasmeant to encourage mothers tosend their wards to school. Hesaid the rule would be strictlyfollowed from next year anddirected the officials to informthe parents about the exemp-tion being given to the stu-dents.

The Chief Minister said thatin case of destitutes, half theamount should be deposited inthe accounts of the schools fordestitutes and the remainingamount in the name of thechildren. The officialsinformed the Chief Minister

that there were requests fromsome joint families that theirchildren were made ineligibleto the programme as theirpower consumption exceeded2,000 units per month.

The Chief Minister saidsuch cases should be reviewedthoroughly and beneficiariesidentified accordingly.

The Chief Minister alsodirected the officials to iden-tify the defects in the web landrecords to identify the benefi-ciaries properly. He also direct-ed the officials to ensure sup-ply of textbooks and uniformsby the time the schools reopen.The school kits should havethree pairs of clothes, text-books, notebooks, shoes, socks,belt and a school bag.

The Chief Minister alsoreviewed the introduction ofEnglish medium in primaryschools. The officials explainedabout the coaching being givento teachers for the purpose.

State schemes to benefit15,715 schools in 1st phase

PNS n HYDERABAD

Protests broke out at threeuniversity campuses inHyderabad on Monday againstthe attack on students ofDelhi's Jawaharlal Universityby a masked mob. The studentsof the Hyderabad CentralUniversity (HCU), MaulanaAzad National Urdu Universityand Osmania University stagedprotests, condemning the JNUviolence.

Mild tension prevailed onthe campus of the OsmaniaUniversity due to the protestsby the Leftist student groupsand Akhil Bharatiya VidayarthiParishad (ABVP), blamingeach other for the JNU vio-lence. The students affiliatedwith the People's DemocraticStudents Union (PDSU) andStudents Federation of India(SFI) also staged a protest infront of the Arts College on theOsmania University campus,condemning attacks in JNUand demanded action againstthe guilty.

The protesters raised slogansagainst the ABVP, holding itresponsible for the attacks onthe JNU students and teachers.They also set afire an effigy ofthe ABVP. Later, few ABVPmembers also staged a protestcondemning what it calledpre-planned violence by the

Leftist groups. "The attackswere orchestrated by the goonsbelonging to the Left partiesand they are trying to malignus," said a protestor.

The protesters, holding theABVP flags, also burnt an effi-gy of the Leftist groups. Theywere later dispersed by thepolice, who was keeping aclose watch on the situation toprevent any untoward inci-dent. Students and facultymembers of the Maulana AzadNational Urdu University(MANUU) also took out aprotest march, condemning

the attacks on the JNU studentsand teachers and demandingaction against the guilty.

"Family members of facultyalso joined the protest march,"a university official said. At theHyderabad Central University(HCU) protests broke out lateSunday night. Raising slogansagainst the terror unleashed onthe JNU campus, studentsmarched through the campus.They demanded immediatearrest of the culprits.

The protesters blamed theABVP and RSS for the attacksand targeted Delhi police for

their inaction. "Policemenbarged into the Jamia MilliaIslamia to attack students andat the JNU they were mutespectators to the terrorunleashed on hapless studentsand faculty members," said astudent. The SFI has called formore protests on Mondayevening. "Rise in rage againstthe saffron terror," reads SFIposter. Condemning the JNUattacks, a group of students alsostaged a candlelight protestlate Sunday night at theAmbedkar statue at Tank Bundin the heart of Hyderabad.

TANA gets kidsacross the world torecite poems at once

Protests in varsitiesagainst JNU violence

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The first day of the two-daybandh called by the tribals hitnormal life had in all the 11mandals of Vizag Agency onMonday. Public and privatetransport services were off theroads and commercial estab-lishments had downed theirshutters.

The bandh call, on January6 and 7, was given by the trib-als, including students, tribalemployees and some tribalfarmers under the banner ofGirijana Joint ActionCommittee (JAC) demandingstrict implementation of theAP Scheduled Areas LandTransfer Regulation Act 1959(Amendment 1/1970), (LTR1/70).

Some tourists were strand-ed for hours together at ArakuValley and Ananthagiri fol-lowing disruption of trans-portation on the account ofManyam Bandh. The tourists

proceeding to Araku Valley,Ananthagiri, Lammasingi,Tyda, and a few other placesin Vizag Agency from Vizag,Vizianagaram and neighbour-ing Odisha were stranded as

they had no idea about thetwo-day Manyam Bandh.

Some of the touristsreturned disappointed, notbeing able to enjoy theirplanned holiday.

Killo Surendra of the CPMsaid that the LTR 1/70 bansland transactions in the trib-al pockets, between tribals

and non-tribals and the non-tribals and non-tribals hasbeen legislated for preventingthe exploitation of the tribals.But, some non-tribals havebeen encroaching tribal landsby luring them with moneyand others and have estab-lished resorts, hotels, lodgesetc in Araku Valley,Ananthagiri, Paderu,Chintapalli and few otherplaces in Vizag Agency.

Following the bandh call,the APSRTC had suspendedservices and the private vehi-cles were also off the roads onMonday. Management of pri-vate schools and colleges andthe officials of governmentschools and col legesannounced holidays onMonday and Tuesday.

Seats reserved for non-tribals in scheduled areasTourists were stran-ded for hours atAraku Valley andAnanthagiri due todisruption of transpo-rtation on the accountof Manyam Bandh.

Continued from Page 1

Former minister andCongress party leader KondaSurekha and her husbandKonda Muralidhar are alsoaccused in the same case.

Interestingly, a special CBIcourt from the city directedJaganmohan Reddy to attendbefore it on the same day,January 10, 2020 in the ille-gal investments assets case

filed against him and hisclose confidante V Vijaya SaiReddy.

The CBI court issued theorders after observing thatJaganmohan Reddy hadalready been exempted frompersonal appearance tentimes in a row following thesubmission of a petition byhis counsel seeking exemp-tion from personal appear-ance.

Vijayamma, Sharmilasummoned in pollcode violation case

Mee-Seva inTS to turn intoATMsPNS n HYDERABAD

With the help of T-wallet,Mee-Seva centres are turninginto ATMs in Telangana.

Initially TSTS ran a pilotproject where in the cashwithdrawal facility was avail-able for residents in the dis-tricts of Nizamabad,Karimnagar, Nalgonda,Mahbubnagar andKhammam.

According to senior offi-cials in IT department,"recently RBI has approvedthe extension of this projecttill Dec 2020 and also expand-ed it for all districts". Thismeans, users will be able towithdraw money from Mee-Seva centers across all districtsof the state. It is for the firsttime that they have permittedcash-out from a wallet atMeeSeva Centres. Officialsare yet to announce fromwhen the feature will be madeavailable. Cash out is restrict-ed through Mee-Seva becauseit requires biometric authen-tication using Aadhaar.

Currently there are 4264Mee-Seva Franchise agentsregistered who will be quick-ly on-boarded. The officialnoted, "Approval has just comefrom RBI. The rolling out ofoption means just enabling forother districts, as we havealready done for 5districts,nothing complex involved.We will take a decision and innext 2-3weeks we will enablethe feature".

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JANUARY 7, 2020 vijayawada 03

Injustice to Amaravati willinvite consequences: Naidu PNS n AMARAVATI

Former Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu onMonday expressed lent sup-port to their 24-hour 'SaveAmaravati' relay hunger stirlaunched by TDP MLA GaddeRammohan Rao whoembarked on the protest pro-gramme wearing a black shirt.

Addressing a gathering onthe occasion, the TDP presi-dent accused the YSRCP gov-ernment of confusing the peo-ple by appointing committeeafter committee on the statecapital location.

On the insider tradingcharges, the TDP has beendemanding the governmentorder a judicial probe andensure the guilty, if any, arepunished, he said.

"On the pretext of insidertrading, if injustice was done toAmarvati region, the govern-ment would have to face severeconsequences," Naidu warned.

People of all the regions ofthe state want Amaravati as thestate capital, Naidu allegedand noted that it was high timethat wisdom prevailed onChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy.

"People want development,not three capital cities," he con-tended.

The TDP chief said that the

YSRCP government was tryingto derive benefit creatingregional differences, andwarned the government thathistory would not forgive it ifinjustice was done toAmaravati.

He exhorted the youth tosupport the 'Save Amaravati'agitation and called upon peo-ple to donate liberally to theJAC spearheading the 'SaveAmaravati' agitation.

"To prevent the children ofthe capital region from migrat-ing to other areas, the capitalcity was proposed atAmaravati," he said. Naiduadded that if the people of theregion fight bravely againstrelocation of the state capital,they would earn a place forthemselves in history.

"We should consider our-selves dead if we fail to save

Amaravati," Naidu thundered. He alleged that the Chief

Minister and his Cabinet col-leagues were speaking in dif-ferent tones each passing day,and urged them not to directtheir anger from him toAmaravati.

"There are many buildingsin Amaravati and hence thereis no need to spend anymoney," Naidu said, pointingout that people of all districtsexpressly say that they do notwant the state capital atVisakhapatnam. "Moreover,Visakhapatnam is too far frommany regions of the state," hesaid.

Naidu also charged theYSRCP with misleading thepublic stating that the cost ofbuilding foundation for struc-tures would be higher inAmaravati.

Farmers take out maha padayatraPNS n AMARAVATI

Farmers on Monday tookout a 'Maha Padayatra' as partof their ongoing protestagainst the proposal to shiftthe state Capita l f romAmaravati.

About 10,000 people,including farmers, womenand youths, took part in therally on a stretch of 10 kmfrom Tulluru to Mandadam.

Holding the National Flag,the protesters raised slogansagainst the three Capitalsproposal. The farmers allegedthat both GN Rao Committeeand BCG reports were script-ed by the government.

Despite the police not giv-ing permission for the rally,the farmers went ahead withtheir agitation. People fromother districts and some fromthe neighbouring TelanganaState extended support tothe farmers.

When the farmers tried topitch a tent, the police foiledtheir attempt. With this, theysquatted on the road andraised slogans against thegovernment's proposal to setup three Capitals in the State.People belonging to various

parties and people's organi-sations took part in themarch.

Members of the AmaravatiPolitical JAC met HomeMinister Mekathoti Sucharitaand submitted a memoran-dum to her.

They demanded that thegovernment withdraw itsproposal to shift the Capitalfrom Amaravati. Sucharithaassured the farmers of justiceand said there was no needfor them to worry.

Meanwhile, former chief

minister and Oppositionleader N Chandrababu Naidutoured the Capital villagesand expressed solidarity withthe agitating farmers.

He proceeded toDondapadu and consoled thefamily members ofKommineni MallkharjuanaRao, the farmer who died dueto heart attack recently.

Later, he went toMandadam where farmershave been observing relayhunger-strike and expressedsolidarity with them.

Cops invite farmersfor talks, arrest 10PNS n AMARAVATI

On the pretext of holdingnegotiations, the police onMonday arrested 10 morefarmers of the Amaravaticapital region. TheChilakaluripet police arrestedthe farmers belonging to

Velagapudi village. The arrest-ed farmers were identified asKarumanchi Phanindra,Karumanchi Appayya,Jonnalagadda Manoj, BorraVara Prasad, Lokya BhukyaNaik, Venkateswara Rao,Tripuraneni Srinu, Fakiraiah,Ramakrishna and Nagaraju.

Ayyanna Patrudugets bail in copabuse case

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Former Minister Ch AyyannaPatrudu was on Mondayallowed to walk free afterbeing given station bail in acase related to alleged abuseof a policeman. Earlier, theformer minister had obtainedanticipatory bail from a court.

Even earlier, AyyannaPatrudu had proceeded to thepolice station here in a rallyand submitted his anticipato-ry bail documents to thepolice. Later, speaking to themedia, he said that he wouldnot be cowed down by threatof cases. He said that theexecutive capital issue hasbeen brought to the fore todivert public attention fromthe administrative failures ofthe YSRCP government.

"Jaganmohan Reddy hastotally ignored the YSRCPelection manifesto and peo-ple's welfare," AyyannaPatrudu alleged. He dared thegovernment to announced50 per cent quota in munic-ipalities to various reservedcategories.

Ravela to file defamationcase against Buggana for Rs 10 crorePNS n VIJAYAWADA

Former minister and BJPleader Ravela Kishore Babuon Monday said that hewould file a defamation suitagainst Finance MinisterBuggana R ajendranathReddy seeking Rs 10 crore indamages as the latter hadleveled baseless allegationsagainst him and tried to tar-nish his image.

Addressing the mediahere on Monday, Ravela crit-icized the YSRCP govern-ment, and said that thedefamation case will exposethe ruling party in front ofthe people.

"The people will come toknow the facts with the fil-ing of my lawsuit againstRajendranath Reddy. TheBJP would fight alongsidethe people to prevent shift-ing of the state capital fromAmaravati as the develop-ment of the capital paves theway for the development ofthe state," Ravela said.

He demanded the FinanceMinister to tender a publicapology to him at least afterreceipt of his notice. He alsoalleged that the statementsissued by Buggan hurt thesentiments of SCs and STs.

Alleging a massive con-spiracy over relocation of thestate capital, Ravela said thatcanards are being spreadagainst him with the help ofthe pro-YSRCP media.

"Contrary to the allega-tions that he owned land inthe capital region, I live in arented house and I am find-ing it very difficult to sup-

port my family," Ravela said. Condemning Buggana's

allegations, Ravela claimedthat in spite of being a Dalit,he thrived by sheer dint ofhard work.

The Amaravati projectpaves the way for the gold-en future of the youth of thestate, he said charging theYSRCP government withdestroying the state capitalconcept.

Ravela Kishore Babu

"The people will come toknow the facts with thefiling of my lawsuit againstRajendranath Reddy. TheBJP would fight alongsidethe people to preventshifting of the state capitalfrom Amaravati as thedevelopment of the capitalpaves the way for thedevelopment of the state,"Ravela said

Ayyanna Patrudu saidthat the executive capitalissue has been broughtto the fore to divert publicattention from theadministrative failures ofthe YSRCP government

The violence unleashed inJawaharlal NehruUniversity campus,

Delhi on Sunday night is evi-dence of the coming togetherof anarchic forces.

It is surprising, since the leftwing forces have obliteratednot only in India, but acrossthe globe.

The people have thorough-ly defeated left wing forces inWest Bengal and Tripura, butremnants survive somehowin Kerala.

In spite of this, outdated leftwing ambience still prevails inthe JNU. An anarchic educa-tion system continues in theuniversity as its teachers andresearchers have indoctrinat-ed pseudo-secularism into stu-dents for decades now.

Thousands of crores of pub-lic money is spend on studentswho pay only nominal feeand pass the time in the cam-pus getting indoctrinated andprovide shelter to the anarchicforces and traitors. Such an

atmosphere prevailed onOsmania University andKakatiya University for sometime and led to violence.

The anarchic forces in thecampus divert the attention ofstudents from education andinfluence them to take part inmovements. They speak timeand again about theConstitution, but hardly haverespect for the elected govern-ments and systems createdbecause of the Constitution.Patriotism is a taboo word forthem. They are afraid to speakabout the country’s traditionsand rich history.

During the over six-decade-long rule of the Congress, uni-versities in the country did notgrow to international level.Some Congress leaders receivedtheir education in universitiesoverseas but try to keep the edu-cation system as it is.

The Narendra Modi govern-ment has been trying toreverse the situation ever sinceit was voted to power.

The objective of the Modigovernment is to standardiseeducation sector and impartpost literary skills to studentsso that they are useful to thecountry’s development.

On account of the culturethat prevailed in varsity cam-pus during UPA rule, an anar-chic system prevailed on thecampus. As a result, studentstake the law into their handsat many places and resort vio-lence. Some anarchic forcesstay put on university campus-es for years altogether. Onecan see outsiders on educa-tional institutions and hostels.

Whoever tries to reverse thesituation, these forces inter-

vene and try to create chaos onthe campus. Sunday’s inci-dents on the JNU campus arean example.

Students are at the receivingend of the anarchic system thatthey have nursed for over sev-eral years.

Ironically, those who gaveshelter to anarchic forces try topin the blame on the BJP andits student wing.

The BJP never encouragesanarchic system but it expectsstudents to pursue educationwith discipline and serve thenation.

That’s why Home MinisterAmit Shah ordered a probeimmediately after the JNU

incident. He asked the DelhiLieutenant Governor to restorenormalcy in the campus.

Misconceptions have takenroot in a section of the societydue to the malicious cam-paign over the CitizenshipAmendment Act, whoseobjective is to set rights the his-toric injustice done to a sectionof society.

The writing on the wall is

very clear for theO p p o s i t i o nthat it wouldnot be able todefeat theModi-led BJPthrough democraticmeans and hencemaking attempts to vitiate thesocial fabric of the country.

The BJP brought out CAAto give citizenship to theHindus, Sikhs, Christians,Sikhs and Parsis who fledcountries like Afghanistan,Pakistan and Bangladesh totake shelter in the country. Butthe Opposition has been cry-ing hoarse as though greatinjustice was done to Muslims.They are provoking Muslimsin spite of the fact that theCAA does not harm the inter-ests of Muslims.

In fact, people of all reli-gions, including Muslims, areenjoying all rights and leadinglife without insecurity. In con-trast, non-Muslims in Pakistanare living in the grip of fear.

Recently, the gov-ernment of Pakistanfailed to providesecurity to Sikhs

when Muslims raidedNankana Sahib Gurdwara

in Lahore and vandalised it. Even as the incident is still

fresh in public memory, a 25-year-old Sikh youth was mur-dered in Peshawar, while JagjitKaur was kidnapped andforcibly converted and hermarriage was performed witha Muslim.

Anyone who is well versedwith the atrocities being per-petrated against Hindus, Sikhs,Christians and Parsis inPakistan can understand thepurpose of passing the CAA.But in India, people of all reli-gions are enjoying theirConstitutional rights.

In spite of being aware of thefacts, the Opposition has beentrying to foment troublebetween various religions. It isfoolish of them to think thatthe people would not be able

to see through their designs. Do the critics of the CAA

not know how atrocities wereperpetrated on minorities inPakisan forcing them to flee toIndia? Do they not know thatthe blasphemous acts preva-lent in Pakistan are not invogue in India?

Do they know that there isno scope for incidents like theNankana Sahib take place inIndia, which is growing as amulticultural nation?

Incidents that take place inPakistan endorse the need forpassing Acts like CAA. That iswhy Amit Shah and othersenior BJP leaders haveembarked on door-to-doorvisits to explain the need forthe CAA. The BJP’s decisionsare transparent and theirimplementation is democratic.

It was high time theOpposition gave up its anti-people attitude and stoppedprovoking students.Otherwise, the people will beforced to dump them.

Y SATYA KUMAR BJP national secretary

TRULY SPEAKING

The writing on the wall is very clear forthe Opposition that it would not be able todefeat the Modi-led BJP through democ-ratic means and hence making attemptsto vitiate the social fabric of the country.

JNU violence is proof of anarchic forces coming together

Jagan orders better water supply,tram-like transport for Vizag cityPNS n AMARAVATI

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Monday directedofficials to ensure hassle-freewater supply toVisakhapatnam.

Addressing a review meetinghere, Jaganmohan Reddyordered officials to preparethe proposals for undergroundwater pipeline connectivityfrom Polavaram toVisakhapatnam to ensure has-sle-free water supply.

It was decided that a consul-tancy would be appointed toprepare a Detailed ProjectReport (DPR) to set up a tram-like public transport systemacross the RK Beach toBheemili.

Jaganmohan Reddy said thatabout 1.50 lakh members inVisakhapatnam would receivehouse pattas.

He reviewed on house con-struction in towns; officialshave told that so far, reversetendering was conducted on48,608 housing units and thereverse tendering would befinished soon for remaining

units as well. The Chief Minister directed

the officials not to change thespecifications in reverse ten-dering. He said officials toshow a special interest in thedrainage system in houses intowns. About Rs 303 crorewas saved in the reverse ten-dering against the contractvalue of Rs 2,399 crore, the offi-cials said.

He instructed the officials toset up committees to managethese plots likewise, the parentcommittees in schools.

The officials briefed the

Chief Minister on the under-ground drainage system; theytold him that an estimated Rs23,037 crore was needed tolay the 19,769 km drainage in110 municipalities. Also, anestimated Rs 11,181 crorewas would be required for theunderground drainage andpurification of wastewater in34 municipalities with morethan 1 lakh population ineach.

The Chief Minister told theofficials that sewage must bedischarged only after treat-ment and directed them to take

up the underground drainageand sewage treatment works ona priority basis.

He directed the officials toensure that industries mustuse only desalinated water andpurified sewage water.Freshwater should only beused for drinking purposes, theofficials were told. For thesame, he directed to enact alaw, if necessary.

The Chief Minister orderedappointment of a special offi-cer for the development of

Tadepalli, Mangalagiri andPulivendula municipalities. Hedirected officials to come upwith proposals for the develop-ment works and officials toldthat a DPR was being prepared.

The officials said about10,794 beneficiaries were iden-tified in Tadepalli andMangalagiri for house pattas.

Jaganmohan Reddy directedthe officials to build a modelcolony. He also directed themto complete the retaining wallworks in Vijayawada as soon aspossible.

He ordered the officials toensure corruption-free ser-vices while giving buildingplans and directed them to useACB and IIM Ahmedabad.Jaganmohan Reddy asked offi-cials to show accurate results.The officials would be hon-oured if a corruption-free sys-tem is created, he said.

The Chief Minister alsoagreed to suggestions of upgra-dation of Kamalapuram andKuppam towns into municipal-ities and directed the officialsto get ready for upcominglocal body elections.

PM MEETS TOP HONCHOSON REVIVING ECONOMY

Continued from Page 1

The over two-hourmeeting discussed the cur-rent economic scenarioand measures needed toboost growth, consump-tion, employment, andreviving economy, senti-ments and industr ia lgrowth from the slow-down. The advance esti-mates for 2019-20 GDPnumbers will be releasedon Tuesday.

India's gross domesticproduct (GDP) growth forthe three months endingSeptember 2019 (Q2FY20)fell to 4.5 per cent, downfrom 5.0 per cent in theprevious three months and7 per cent for the corre-sponding period of 2018 asconsumer spending andprivate investment weak-ened further and a globals lowdown impactedexports growth. This wasthe lowest reading since 4.3

per cent recorded for theJanuary-March quarter of2013. With this reading,India's economic growthfell for the sixth straightquarter.

The output of eight coreinfrastructure industriescontracted for the fourthconsecut ive month inNovember by 1.5 per cent,showing no signs ofimprovement. SinceAugust, the eight coreindustries are recording

negative growth.The output of coal,

crude oil, natural gas, steel,and electricity declined by2.5 per cent, 6 per cent, 6.4per cent, 3.7 per cent and5.7 per cent, respectively,according to the data. Theeight core sectors hadexpanded by 3.3 per cent inNovember 2018.

Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman willpresent the Budget 2020 inFebruary.

Over one lakhthrong Tirumalashrine on VaikuntaEkadasi day

Continued from Page 1

After offering worship, they walkedout through the traditionally bedeckedsacred 'Vaikunta Dwarams' (passage),which is opened only on VaikuntaEkadasi day, the official said.

A traditionally decorated goldenchariot procession carrying the cen-turies-old Utsav idol of the Lord wasalso taken out around the over 2,000-year-old shrine on the occasion, headded.

The CM directed the officialsnot to change thespecifications in reversetendering. He said officials toshow a special interest inthe drainage system inhouses in towns. About Rs303 crore was saved in thereverse tendering againstthe contract value of Rs2,399 crore, the officials said

Despite thepolice not givingpermission forthe rally, thefarmers wentahead with theiragitation. Peoplefrom other dis-tricts and somefrom neighbou-ring Telanganaextended supportto the farmers.

Shocking violence bymasked men and womenon the Jawaharlal Nehru

University (JNU) campus onSunday night has triggered afresh round of spontaneousprotests across India, andabroad. Twenty eight people,including teachers and stu-dents, were injured in theattack that lasted for nearly twohours, and the anger againstthe JNU administration isgrowing by the minute for nottaking enough action to bringthe goons under control. Butwhat started as anger againstinaction is now growing intorage at the stand that theadministration has decided totake.

While the administration atfirst blamed 'miscreants' for theviolence in a short statement,they later changed tack andblamed the students who havebeen fighting against the feehikes in the university. Theprotesting students - many ofwho were attacked on Sunday- have been running a civil dis-obedience movement insidethe university, and blocking theregistration process for cours-es, demanding that the admin-istration roll back fee hikesbefore going ahead with theregistration. JNU students'union, Left Unions and alarge section of stu-dents have been apart of thisprotest.

And theJ N Uadminis-t r a t i o nhas triedto shiftt h eb l a m efor theviolenceon theprotestingstudents. Ina seconds t a t e m e n tfrom JNU onSunday, theRegistrar of theu n i v e r s i t yPramod Kumarblamed 'a group ofstudents' for oppos-ing and disrupting theregistration process on campusfor the last three days. It claimsthat violence began on January3, when students covered their

faces with masks and forciblyevicted technical staff andmade servers dysfunctional inthe Communication andInformation Services premises.However, while explaining theevents of January 5, the state-ment glosses over the violenceperpetrated by the 'maskedmiscreants' and attempts tokeep the focus on agitating stu-dents. "Around 4.30 pm (on

January 5), agroup

of stu-dents, who

are against the regis-tration process moved

aggressively from the frontof the admin block and reachedthe hostels. The administrationhowever contacted the policeto come quickly...," reads the

statement. "However, by thetime the students who are forthe registration were beaten upby a group of students oppos-ing the registration," it claims.

The statement then adds,"Some masked miscreantsalso entered the Periyarhostel rooms andattacked the studentswith sticks and rods.Some of the securityguards doing dutiesat these places werealso badly injured.During the last cou-ple of weeks, these

agitating stu-dents also van-

dalised theadmin blockand ran-sacked theoffice of theV i c eC h a n c e l l o rfor which afew complaintsw e r e

f i l e d . " Ta k i n gstrong exception to

the Registrar's state-ment, the JNUSU has

accused the ABVP - thestudent wing of the RSS - oforchestrating the attack onstudents. They also accusedJNU Vice Chancellor MJagadesh Kumar of behav-ing like a 'mobster'.

Denying claims ofany connectionto the

masked men, the Union in astatement says, "He (Jagadeesh

Kumar) usesa l l

means and manner to see to itthat students, teachers, Karma-charis, and the entire JNUcommunity faces violence bycriminals imported from out-side, using iron rods, stones,

and lathis. Even as we speak,the JNUSU president is in

the trauma centre ofAIIMS.”

The Akhil BharatiyaVidyarthi Parishad

(ABVP) has blamed the Leftfor the violence in Delhi'sJawaharlal Nehru University(JNU).

In a press conference onMonday at the university cam-pus, the ABVP claimed that atleast 25 of its activists wereinjured, while another 10activists were missing, eversince the attack.

ABVP's JNU wing leaderLalit claimed: "Sabarmati hos-tel was attacked. Entire vio-lence is to stop students fromregistering in new semester."

Referring to a purportedvideo which was earlier tweet-ed by the ABVP, he asked:"What will Aishe (JNUSUPresident) say about her lead-ing goons to the Periyar hos-tel, which was vandalised soonafter?"Manish Jagid, whoseleft arm was fractured in

Sunday's violence tooalleged that left

aligned studentscame into the

Periyar hos-tel on

Sunday and started shouting"Kahan hai Manish?" Manishwas the ABVP presidentialcandidate at JNU in 2019.

Meanwhile, ABVP activistNidhi Triptahi saw a "pre-planned approach" to Sunday'sviolence. She said: "Yesterday'sviolence was a planned one.Why nothing like this occurredbefore 5th of January. It did on5th because Jamia was set toopen." She added: "The strate-gist behind this act wanted totrigger another spell in Jamia."Incidentally, the Jamia MilliaIslamia was closed onDecember 16 after protestsagainst the CitizenshipAmendment Act turned violenton December 15. It had alsocancelled the examinations anddeclared vacation till January 5.

Tripathi has also attacked theDelhi Police for reaching the

campus late. Replying tothe Left's allegation that

the violence wasorchestrated by the

ABVP, she retorted:"People of Lefthave ABVP pho-bia. If they can,they would have

also blamed us forattack on the US."

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JANUARY 7, 2020 04

JNUSU behindviolence, saysABVP leader

JD(U)seeks JNU VC

removal, probe by SC judge

BJP ally JD(U) on Monday demanded removal of theJNU vice-chancellor and a probe by a Supreme Court

judge into the Sunday night violence in the university as itaccused the Delhi Police of failing in its duties. Partyspokesperson K C Tyagi in a statement said that his partystrongly condemned the violent activities of goons in the JNUcampus, and that all sections of society should slam the wayelected office bearers of the JNU Students' Union wereattacked by masked outsiders. "We strongly condemn the

attitude of the university's vice chancellor and otherauthorities who became silent

spectators of the dirtygame of thesegoons,” he said.

It was an organised attack.They were singling outpeople and attacking. There

is a clear nexus of JNU securityand vandals. They did not

intervene to stop violenceForlast 4-5 days, some RSS-affiliated professors werepromoting violence to break

our movement. Are wewrong to ask for safety from the

JNU and Delhi Police—AISHE GHOSH

JNU Students' Union President

‘VC, POLICE AND SECURITY ALLOWED ABVP

GOONS TO ATTACK’‘Violence in JNU wasorganised attack’

700 policepersonneldeployedoutside JNU

Aday after violence brokeout on JNU campus,

around 700 police personnelwere deployed outside itsgates on Monday, policesaid.The police said thelarge deployment has beenmade to maintain law andorder. Violence broke out atJawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) on Sunday night asmasked men armed withsticks and rods attackedstudents and teachers anddamaged property on thecampus, prompting theadministration to call inpolice which conducted aflag march.At least 28people, including JNUStudents' Union presidentAishe Ghosh, were injuredas chaos reigned on the

campus for nearlytwo hours.

I condemn the violencewhich took place last nightin JNU. Some elements

from Congress, Aam AadmiParty and the Left are deliberatelytrying to create an atmosphere ofviolence and unrest in thecountry, especially in universities. This should beinvestigated

—PRAKASHJAVADEKARUnion Minister

What will Aishe(JNUSUPresident) say

about her leadinggoons to the Periyarhostel, which wasvandalised soon after?

—MANISH JAGIDABVP

This violence wasperpetrated bycowards who

definitely had supportfrom ruling party. There is nodoubt that those involved hadgreen signal from powers thatbeAre they trying to say thatthey were alienswho came fromMars—ASADUDDIN

OWAISI AIMIM President

‘Jumped offsecond floor toescape goons’Shashi Bhushan Samar,

a visually challengedstudent and the face offee hike protest, onMonday, said that heescaped the JawaharlalNehru University (JNU)campus on Sundayevening during theviolence after jumping offthe hostel room fromsecond floor with thehelp of other students asthe ABVPstudentswere havingthe list ofLeft wingstudents.Samar, whograbbed thelimelightduring thefee-hikeprotest,said, "I wasin the adminblock whentwo of myfriends toldme to runfrom hereas the ABVPguys werebeating theLeft wingstudents."He said thathe asked hisfriends torun fromthere as theywould havebeen beaten bythem because of him."But both of my friendstold me that they shallrun with me. And then wereached the sabarmatihostel. But there also theABVP students bargedinto the hostel and

started beating thestudents based on the listthey had with them," hesaid."Following the attack onother students, myfriends told me that wehave to jump from thebalcony to save ourselvesand then I climbed fromthe balcony with them,"he said. Samar furthersaid that he took refuge

at theresidence ofa friends innearbyMunirka tillmorningand thenreturned tothe varsitycampus inafternoon onMonday.Samar alsoalleged thatthe DelhiPoliceremainedmutespectatorwhen theABVPstudentswere beatingthe Leftwingstudentsand theyalso had the

sticks whichwere provided

to the police. Hisremarks came a day

after violence swept theJNU as several maskedindividuals thrashedstudents, including girls,and teachers inside thevarsity campus withwooden and metal rods.

"Following the attackon other students,my friends told me

that we have to jumpfrom the balcony tosave ourselves and

then I climbed fromthe balcony with

themSHASHI BHUSHAN

SAMARJNU student

JNU VC ‘completely ineffective',needs to step out: Ex-Chancellor Former JNU Chancellor and

senior Congress leader KaranSingh on Monday slammed the uni-versity's Vice Chancellor M JagadeshKumar over the violence on cam-pus, alleging that he had been"absent" at this crucial juncture andwas "completely ineffective".

Expressing shock at the eventsat the premier university, Singhurged the Home Ministry to getthe whole matter impartiallyprobed and apprehend the"masked miscreants who violent-ly attacked university students,including women, and take nec-essary action against them regard-less of their political affiliations".

Masked people brandishinghockey sticks and iron rodsunleashed mayhem, trawlingthrough corridors and breakinginto hostels, including those occu-pied by women at the universityon Sunday.

The Delhi Police registered acase against unidentified peoplefor rioting and damage to prop-erty. The case was transferred toits Crime Branch.

"As a former Chancellor of theJawaharlal Nehru University, Ihave been shocked beyond belief

at the violent and condemnableincidents that took place yester-day," Singh said in a statement.

The Jawaharlal NehruUniversity is perhaps the finestuniversity in India and that suchevents should take place here inthe heart of the capital is tragic, theformer Union minister said.

"I would urge the HomeMinistry to get the whole matterthoroughly and impartiallyenquired into and apprehend themasked miscreants who violentlyattacked universitystudents, includingwomen students,and take neces-sary actionagainst themregardless oftheir politicalaffiliations,"Singh said.

It is theresponsibilityof the DelhiPolice to ensurethe security ofthe studentsand facultyof JNU, hesaid.

As aformer

Chancellorof JNU, I havebeen shocked

beyond belief atthe violent andcondemnableincidents that

took place. I urgethe Home

Ministry to get thewhole matter

thoroughly andimpartially

enquired into andapprehend the

miscreants—KARAN

SINGHCongress

leader

Police files FIR

‘It’s a ‘scuffle’ among students’

The Delhi Police on Monday filed an FIR inconnection with the attack on students

by a mob at the Jawaharlal Nehru Universityin Delhi. "We have filed one FIR," DelhiPolice spokesperson M.S. Randhawasaid. Several masked individuals thrashedstudents and teachers inside the campushere with wooden and metal rods onSunday.While the number of the injured

in the various clashes whichoccurred throughout Sunday was

not yet known, at least 20students were admitted to theAll India Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) with severeinjuries, including the Students

Union President Aishe Ghosh, whowas reportedly hit over the eye with an

iron rod.

The Delhi police termed the attack on the JNUcampus as a "scuffle" that arose due to

differences between students over theonline registration process, and deniedclaims that they were slow to respondto the situation. In their first commentson the shocking incident that occurredon Sunday, the Delhi Police claimedthat violence had erupted at a spot far

away from where theirpersonnel were posted.

Students during a candlelight protest against the attack on JNU students at Gateway of India in Mumbai.

The JNUadminis-tration atfirst blamed‘miscreants' for theviolence and later changedtack and blamed the students

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JANUARY 7, 2020 05

Students affiliated to theRSS-backed Akhil

Bharatiya VidyarthiParishad on Monday held a

demonstration outside Ruia College in Matungaagainst violence in Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University

and accused Leftist outfits and the JNU Students'Union (JNUSU) of orchestrating it.

Violence had broken out at Jawaharlal NehruUniversity on Sunday night as masked men

armed with sticks and rods attacked studentsand teachers and damaged property on the

campus, prompting the administration tocall in police which conducted a flag

march.At least 28 people, including JNUStudents' Union president Aishe

Ghosh, were injured.Speaking to reporters here,

ABVP national secretary AnkitOwhal said, "The Left andJNUSU are responsible forSunday's violence. Some 23ABVP students were injured.The police must arrest the peo-ple who went around in masks

attacking students."He said allegations about the

ABVP orchestrating the violence was "propaganda by Leftistsorganisations to tarnish our image".

He claimed Delhi police had uncovered "evidence" that the vio-lence was carried out by students affiliated to Leftist groups.

The Delhi Police, incidentally, has registered a case againstunidentified people in connection with the violence in JawaharlalNehru University.

Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav

Thackeray on Monday com-pared the JNU violence withthe 26/11 Mumbai terrorattack, and said students were feeling "unsafe" in thecountry.

Amid demands of resigna-tion of Union Home MinisterAmit Shah in view of the vio-lence, Thackeray said politicsover it can wait and the pri-ority should be to bring takestrict action against theattackers.

"The attack on JNU stu-dents on Sunday night

reminded me of the 26/11Mumbai terror attack.Students are feeling unsafe inthe country. I will not allowanything like JNU to happenin Maharashtra," he toldreporters here.

Asserting that students inMaharashtra were safe,Thackeray said he will nottolerate any move to hurtthem. Terming the maskedattackers at JNU as "cowards",he said their identity shouldbe revealed.

"If Delhi Police fail to findout perpetrators of the attack,then they will also be in thedock," he said.Asked aboutdemands for Amit Shah'sresignation, Thackeray said,"The priority should be tobring the assailants tojustice...politics over itcan wait." To a queryon protests by studentsat the Gateway of Indiahere against the JNU

violence, the chiefminister said, "Iunderstand theirrage. I am alsoequally unhappywith what has hap-pened in JNU."

The shocking attack on thestudents at Delhi's JawaharlalNehru University on Sundayevening drew widespreadcondemnation and outrage,with the Opposition accusingthe BJP of goading the

attackers.Leaders acrossthe politicalspectrum said

that it was anassault on

democracy itself

The HRD Ministry on Mondaymet officials from the JNUadministration and took stock

of the situation on the campus follow-ing Sunday's violence, even as Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumarskipped the meeting.

The meeting was attended by theJNU registrar, proctor and other ad-min officials who briefed the ministryofficials on the sequence of events thattook place on the campus and themeasures taken to restore normalcy.

The HRD Ministry had called anurgent meeting over the violencethat took place at JNU.

The ministry had on Sunday soughtan immediate report from JNURegistrar Pramod Kumar after theviolence broke out and students andteachers were attacked.

There was heavy deployment ofpolice on Monday outside the ShashtriBhawan here which houses the HRDMinistry.

"A detailed report has been sent tothe HRD Ministry about the sequence

of events. The top administration offi-cials are at the Ministry to provide alldetails leading to present situation,"JNU Vice-Chancellor M JagadeshKumar told PTI.

Violence broke out at the JawaharlalNehru University on Sunday night asmasked men armed with sticksattacked students and teachers anddamaged proper-ty on the cam-pus, prompting theadministration to callin the police.

Many were admitted toAll India Institute of MedicalSciences here with injuries and dis-charged on Monday. JNU Students'Union president Aishe Ghosh suffereda head injury. TheLeft-controlledJNUSU and theABVP blamedeach other for theviolence that con-tinued for nearlytwo hours.

Union HRD MinisterRamesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'had urged JNU students to maintainthe dignity of the university andpeace on the campus.

‘Horrifying violence unleashed onyouth with abetment of Modi govt’Congress President Sonia

Gandhi on Mondayalleged that the "horrifying"violence unleashed on India'syouth by goons was with theactive abetment of the rulingModi government anddemanded an independentjudicial inquiry into the vio-lence in JNU.

In a statement, she accusedthe Modi government of seek-ing to stifle and subjugate ev-ery voice of dissent and said Su-nday's "bone chilling" attack onstudents and teachers in JNUwas a grim reminder of that.

"The voice of India's youthand students is being muzzledeveryday. The horrifying andunprecedented violenceunleashed on India's young bygoons with active abetment ofthe ruling Modi government isdeplorable and unacceptable,"she charged.

Gandhi alleged that every-day campuses and colleges areraided across India, either bythe police or lumpen elementswith support of the BJP gov-ernment.

"Yesterday's bone chillingattack on students and teach-ers in JNU, Delhi is a grimreminder of the extent the

Govt will go to stifle and sub-jugate every voice of dissent,"she said.

"Sadly, the Modi govern-ment seeks to suffocate andrestrain each one of these aspi-rations," she charged.

"The Congress Party standsin solidarity with India's youthand students,” Sonia said.

The Congress on Mondayaccused the government of

unleashing "state-sponsoredterrorism" in campuses acrossthe country and said the vio-lence in the JNU campusreminded it of the Nazi rule.

Demanding a judicial probeinto the violence that eruptedin the JNU campus on Sundayevening, Congress chiefspokesperson Randeep SinghSurjewala said the enquiryshould look into the role of thegovernment, the JNU admin-istration and the Delhi police.

It also alleged that the DelhiPolice remained a mute spec-tator when students were beingattacked by armed miscreants.

"We demand a comprehen-sive judicial probe into theentire violence at JNU campusby a sitting judge," Surjewalatold reporters, adding that itshould also look into the roleof the Home ministry, JNUadministration and the Delhipolice.

"The entire country wit-nessed state sponsored ter-

rorism and 'goondaism' yester-day on the JNU campus whennearly 300 masked goons,brandishing sledgehammers,iron rods and other weapons,created mayhem between 6-9pm last night," he alleged.

The Congress leader allegedthe entire 'goondaism' hap-pened under the watch of theJNU administration as also theDelhi police which is directlycontrolled by Home MinisterAmit Shah.

Violence in JNU campusreminds of Nazi rule: Cong

Congress chief spokesperson RandeepSingh Surjewala accused the BJPgovernment of harbouring enmity withyouth of the country as it accused theJNU administration of being complicitin the violent attack on Sunday night.

West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on

Monday termed the attack onstudents and teachers at Delhi'sJawaharlal Nehru University asa "fascist surgical strike" by theBJP, evoking sharp reactionsfrom the saffron party, whichsaid she should stop shedding"crocodile tears".

Banerjee, who is also theTMC boss, said she had begunher political career as a studentleader but never before wit-nessed such "brazen attack" oneducational institutes.

"Whatever is happeningacross the country is very dis-turbing... I, too, was involved instudent politics at one point intime, but never have I wit-nessed this sort of an attack onstudents and educational insti-tutions...

"It was a planted attack on

democracy. Yesterday's was afascist surgical strike on thestudent community," Banerjeetold reporters, before leavingfor her three-day trip to

Gangasagar.Whoever raised voice

against the BJP was dubbed"anti national" or a Pakistani",she claimed.

"India is a democracy andwe have our right to protest.Anyone who speaks againstthem is branded an enemy ofthe state. In a democracy, howcan someone be branded anti-national or Pakistani for his orher protest against the govern-ment," Banerjee questioned.

The Delhi Police is notunder Arvind Kejriwal dis-pensation, it is undercontrol of the Centre.

"On one hand, they(BJP) have sent goons,and, on the other, theyhave asked the policenot to take any action.What couldpolice do if theyare asked bytheir higherups to stayput?" shesaid.

On Sunday, too, the CM hadcondemned the violence onJNU campus, terming it a"heinous act".

Reacting to the comment,West Bengal BJP presidentDilip Ghosh said, "Banerjeeshould stop shedding crocodiletears for the students of JNU."

"Where was she when Unionminister Babul Supriyo

was heckled on JadavpurUniversity campus onSeptember 19 ? Just toscore some politicalpoints, she is sending a

delegation. Why didn'tshe send a delegation to

the colleges ransac-ked by TMCP

activists overthe past ei-ght years,"he ques-tioned.

Fascist surgical strike by BJP on students: Mamata

ABVP protests outsideMumbai college against

JNU violence

Uddhav: JNUviolence remindsme of 26/11 attacks

Sanjay Rautindirectlytargets ABVPIn a veiled attack on the BJP

and its affiliated outfits,Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MPSanjay Raut on Monday saida particular student unionholds a grudge against theJawaharlal Nehru Universitywhich has produced a NobelLaureate, and renownedpoliticians, industrialists,poets and authors.

While Raut did not nameany outfit, it was possibly areference to the RSS-backedAkhil Bharatiya VidyarthiParishad which has beenaccused of unleashing vio-lence in the JNU campusin Delhi late Sunday night.

"I have seen that a stu-dent union is holding agrudge against an insti-tution like JNU thathas given a Nobel Prizewinner, as well as politi-cians, industrialists,authors and poets. Theuniversity has constant-

ly been targeted for lastthe five years," Raut said.

Raut said amid the unrest,"people in government" arebusy with with legislationslike the CitizenshipAmendment Act.

The attack onJNU students onSunday night

reminded me of the 26/11Mumbai terror attack.Students are feelingunsafe in the country. I willnot allow anything likeJNU to happen inMaharashtra.The maskedattackers at JNU arenothing but cowards.

— UDDHAV THAKERAYMaharashtra

ChiefMinister

V-C SKIPS MEETINGWITH HRD MINISTRY

A detailed report has beensent to the HRD Ministry onthe events. Varsity officials

are giving details to the Ministry — M JAGADESH KUMAR

JNU Vice-Chancellor

Sonia Gandhi

The Congress chiefsaid students andyouth need affo-rdable education, adeserving job, apromising futureand a right toparticipate in thethrivingdemocracy

I had begun my political career as astudent leader but never beforewitnessed such brazen attack oneducational institutes, said Mamata

The paroxysms of religious intoler-ance increasingly engulfingPakistan and sections of its civilsociety, not to mention the frenziedanti-India exhortations of its

favourite militant outfits, are inexorablypushing the nation towards political incoher-ence and religious apoplexy, from whichreturn to sanity seems unlikely.

Two recent events best exemplify thistrend. One is the attack on Nankana SahibGurdwara (January 3) led by the brother ofMohammad Hassan, the boy who alleged-ly abducted Jagjit Kaur, daughter of asenior gurdwara official, from her home inAugust 2019 and forcibly converted andmarried her. Reports suggest that ahead ofthe court hearing on January 9, policeentered the Hassan family home and arrest-ed some members. Enraged, Hassan’s broth-er collected a crowd, surrounded the gur-dwara, pelted stones on pilgrims and threat-ened to convert all shrines into mosques. Asauthorities moved to control the situation,he issued an apology on video.

In India, the incident embarrassed polit-ical parties opposing the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) and forced them tocondemn it. The ruling party, the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP), the Congress and theShiromani Akali Dal (SAD) protested near thePakistan High Commission in Delhi, whichwas placed under tight security.

The second and more serious incidentconcerns Pakistan’s treatment of its own cit-izens. Junaid Hafeez, a teacher in the liter-ature department of Bahauddin ZakariyaUniversity, has been languishing in solitaryconfinement since March 2013, after anIslamist group claimed he had made blas-phemous remarks during a lecture.

A gold medallist, Junaid was studyingmedicine at Lahore’s prestigious King EdwardMedical College when the poet in him sur-faced; he moved to Bahauddin ZakariyaUniversity, Multan, to study English litera-ture. In 2009, he went to study American lit-erature at the Jackson State University, the US,on a Fulbright scholarship and returned toteach at his alma mater. Here, in the univer-sity’s growing Islamic environment, hepushed for secular debate around differenttopics. Though eminently qualified for a per-manent faculty position, the Islamist studentgroup on the campus, the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, wanted the post to Islamise thedepartment. Suddenly, blasphemy chargesprevented him from getting the job.

One accusation was that Junaid sharedblasphemous content on a Facebook account,which has never been linked to him.Nevertheless, Junaid, then just 27-years-old,was jailed and his career ruined. When lawyerRashed Rahman was assassinated (2014),advocate Asad Jamal courageously took thebrief, despite several death threats. OnDecember 21, 2019, Junaid Hafeez was sen-tenced to death for “outraging religious sen-timents” (under Section 295-C of the Pakistan

Penal Code that was introducedin 1986 by Zia ul-Haq). His par-ents have appealed to ChiefJustice Asif Saeed Khosa, point-ing out many problems — fromrefusal to hear the case, constanttransfer of judges and delay tac-tics by the prosecution — to denyjustice to the young teacher.Many journalists and writershave supported them.

Within Pakistan, criticsquestion the very need for thislaw, pointing out that it inhibitsreforms in Islam and sanctionsdeath for words, cartoons andother forms of free thought.They point out that critique ofa religion does not mean vio-lence against that faith or denythe rights of its adherents.Instead, the blasphemy lawsundermine basic human rights.

Asiya Bibi, a poor Christianwoman, received the deathpenalty in 2010 for alleged blas-phemy, and Punjab GovernorSalman Taseer was assassinatedfor supporting her and trying totake up cudgels against the well-known abuse of this law. Taseersaid the Pakistan of MohammadAli Jinnah did not have such alaw and such a cruel punish-ment. Claiming that Islam pro-vided for the protection ofminorities, he promised to takeher appeal to the President, forpardon. As the case became aninternational cause célèbre, theSupreme Court of Pakistanacquitted her in October 2018,citing insufficient evidence.However, as frenzied mobs came

on the streets chanting that theywould not let her leave Pakistan,it was only in May 2019 that shewas discreetly flown to Canada,where her family had alreadybeen given asylum.

It is an open secret thatPakistan’s blasphemy law is aweapon to harass individuals orgroups for personal or pettyagenda or to persecute religiousminorities for vicarious majori-tarian satisfaction. Invariably,the accused are unable to defendthemselves and have to sufferpainful imprisonment beforereceiving capital punishment,though the Supreme Court hasoften overruled judgments of thelower courts for having poor evi-dentiary value. At times, howev-er, the apex court has upheld thesentence, leaving the lucklessaccused with no recourse but tobeg for pardon from thePresident. Along the way, intre-pid lawyers have lost their lives,fighting for justice, dignity andhuman rights.

Vigilantism, as seen atNankana Sahib, has become thenew confession in Pakistan.Rabble-rousers reminiscent of theDominican monk, GirolamoSavonarola, but without his pietyand learning, exhort intoleranceof secular dissenters and minori-ties as a national creed. Mini-tyrants populate every village andcity street, sniffing out potentialvictims. Former President Zia-ul-Haq’s tweaking of the British-made blasphemy law (that Indiajunked because Hindu dharma

has no canon and, therefore, nolaw, and Pakistan retainedbecause it was a religion of theBook) has rained hell on its poorvictims.

As of now, there is no onewho can put the genie back in thebottle. Many lament that Jinnah’splea for a secular nation, made onAugust 11, 1947, before Pakistanwas officially born, was not hon-oured by the elite of the newcountry. Some say the speech wasoptics at the behest of LordIsmay to stem the communalfrenzy and bloodbath. Others saythat the communal passionsunleashed by Jinnah to achievePakistan had assumed a momen-tum of their own and could notbe controlled.

Secular thinkers in Pakistanassert that there is no blasphemylaw in the Quran or in anyHadith or in the writings of thedominant Hanafi school.Blasphemy is a man-made deviceto control dissidence or tormentinnocents, who may have earnedone’s ire for some petty reason orother. In Asiya Bibi’s case, it wasdrinking water from a potreserved for Muslims.

Pakistan’s Islamic revolu-tion, like all revolutions, is eat-ing its own children. It needs tobe reversed by an Ataturk-typeof powerful leader but theArmy has been thoroughly rad-icalised. Islam has becomePakistan’s cul-de-sac; the way inis the only way out.

(The author is a senior journalist)

Who would have thought that the car youdrive would be your worst enemy? Arecent study by Jama Network Open

has found an intriguing link between long-termexposure to toxic particles emitted by vehiclesand osteoporosis, a condition where one’sbones become weaker. What is worrying formost Delhiites is that this study was conduct-ed in and around Hyderabad, which has a farlower vehicular density compared to the Capital.The offensive particles, mostly PM 2.5 andblack carbon, lead to the degeneration of bone

mass in the spine and hips. At the time of writing, the PM 2.5 level in Delhi wasin the severe range of 154. At this rate, we may have an entire generation withbone problems and fitness challenges.

Though this may not be a first of its kind finding — already in 2017, a LancetPlanetary Health study had established the link between exposure to air pollu-tion and osteoporosis-related loss of bone mineral density and risk of bone frac-tures — it does establish a potential health threat. With around 200 million peo-ple affected by osteoporosis worldwide, an estimated 50 million of them are Indians.With a rapidly ageing population, its prevalence will only increase. By this year,the country is estimated to record six lakh hip fractures. Numbers are expectedto jump to a million by 2050. The news, though alarming, is unlikely to bringchange right away simply because earlier studies on pollution threats to our healthhave not translated into corrective policies. Our battle against ambient air pollu-tion is not new but even after years of planning and execution, it has got caughtin politics of shifting blames rather than being implemented in mission mode.Indians anyway rank poorly in terms of maintaining their levels of Vitamin D andcalcium, which are the most basic nutrients for bone health. These are requiredin our growing years when maximum mass formation happens. But what doyou do when children are born with a deficiency? Another report had earlier point-ed out how pregnant women are more likely to give birth to underweight chil-dren when they are exposed to air pollution, which is proven to affect neuro devel-opment in children and weaken them enough to develop chronic diseases andcardio-vascular conditions later on in life. Do we compromise the health of ageneration or really rethink the way we use vehicles?

Nelson Mandela’s words certainly could-n’t have been more apt following the bru-tal attack on students and teachers at

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) by a mobout to muzzle dissenting voices — “There canbe no keener revelation of a society’s soul thanthe way in which it treats its children.” Here,we have made them traitors to the cause, anenemy of the State. Just for speaking out theirmind. Yes, we have become soulless. Yes,democracy is a paper town. Yes, educationis anti-thought and is meant to bloom only a

certain kind of political ideology. Yes, we are eroding our own tradition of thegurukul as an enabling environment and free space for learning and wisdom.Where teachers were more than mentors, they were parental figures, like theJNU professors who tried to form a protective ring around their students but werebeaten up nevertheless. In the Indic tradition, such centres of learning were delib-erately located far away from the seat of power, where princes, too, were strippedoff their glory, lest the trappings of privilege clouded their understanding of lifeas it was meant to be. It was a safe and equal space for everybody. As a parentalgeneration, we have scarred our youth and are the actual killers of their free spir-it. No words would be enough for the condemnation of the violence at JNU. Butthe message it sends out is frightening to say the least. Though both the Leftand Right wings have fiercely debated their viewpoints over the years and hotlycontested each other, never have they descended into chaos. Since when haveideological differences assumed battleship positions? Aren’t we hypocritical inteaching our young to question the status quo, encouraging them to think outof the box, be our moral counterpoint and then keep them under our thumbs?These are fundamental questions that we must ask ourselves than taking posi-tions based on political convenience. Unmask the thugs, whoever they are.

Politically, this is nothing but a manifestation of State terror. How else canone explain the passive behaviour of the policemen, clearly tools of the Stateand executors of law and order? Even if the V-C didn’t clear their entry, couldthey have not stopped the mayhem to preserve the rule of law? Not only werethey silent witnesses to the rampage, most accounts corroborate that they allowedthe miscreants inside. Could anybody be blamed for not assuming that they wereunder orders? Of course, both the Left and Right students’ outfits were caughtin a war of accusations and counter-accusations in social media videos andaccounts as to who got in the marauders. But then, even going by circumstan-tial evidence, the Left controls the students’ union, is best placed to fight for stu-dents’ rights on its terms and would not need to shed blood of its chief. TheLeft ideology survives in dots in campuses and has virtually been eroded in themainstream political space. Sponsoring a headline-making moment at JNU franklywould not be a drumroll for its return and doesn’t stand to logic. Yet the natureof crackdowns on students in top liberal institutions, particularly those that arerenowned internationally — be it a JNU, IIT or Jamia — and intimidation of protest-ing students elsewhere do imply a grander design of Right-wing hegemony overa nation’s thought factories. And, therefore, lends much credence to the theo-ry that this is very much manipulated and orchestrated rather than a clash ofvarious students’ groups. This isn’t about a fee hike or the Citizen AmendmentAct (CAA). It is about the democratic pact to agree to disagree and co-exist despitethose differences. It isn’t about the politics of otherisation at all but of the rightof the other to be heard. It isn’t about majoritarianism, which will never be underthreat, but a fear and insecurity of losing it that looks at destruction by forcerather than consolidation by winning faith. Finally, public university campusesneed to be a free space for debate, discussion and learning for students com-ing in from all corners of the country, diverse backgrounds, religion and class.They will shape and take forward the democracy of the future. That is why theunprecedented attack on the JNU campus is unacceptable, simply because weare telling students what to do, not encouraging them to find their way. Whetherthis crackdown will indeed end up scaring a generation, tire them out with thefutility of the goal or embolden them further remains to be seen. But it is impor-tant that protests be peaceful and sustained. JNU students will continue withdemocratic debate and dialogue while students in Mumbai are going to “occu-py Gateway of India” non-stop. And for those shouting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai,”they shouldn’t have devalued something that stirs us emotionally by assaultingwomen in their hostel in the dark of the night.

Care for animals

Sir — It was heart-breaking toread about all the animals thatdied when a fire tore through amonkey enclosure at the KrefeldZoo in northwestern Germany atthe dawn of the new year. Policesuspect that paper lanterns lit andlaunched into the sky by revellers— in spite of there being a ban onthese items — caused the fire. Thelanterns, bought off the internet,fell into the enclosure where rarespecies of apes — including mar-mosets, chimpanzees, orangutansand gorillas — as well as birdswere kept. This might have beenan accident but it occurred onlybecause of the carelessness andnegligence of human beings.

M PradyuKannur

Escalating tension

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “We didn’t start the fire”(January 6). The recent killing ofIranian military commanderQasem Soleimani by forces in theUS has heightened fears of anattack from Iran directed atAmerica, raising fears of an all-

out war. But it’s unclear how orwhen a response might come. Ifa disproportionate responsecomes from the Iranian side, itcan have catastrophic repercus-sions for the US as well as for Iran.As the Middle-East simmers,

prices of crude oil are likely toincrease. One hopes that theongoing stand-off betweenTehran and Washington doesnot escalate into a serious conflict.

Devendra KhuranaBhopal

Judicial backlog

Sir — Justice delivery is the basicingredient of a civilised society,but it seems to have collapsed inour case. The alarming rise in the

pendency of cases in Indiancourts is worrisome. The presentstatus of 19 judges for 10 lakhpeople is woefully inadequate.The Law Commission’s recom-mendations to increase the ratioto 50 has been observed more inbreach than in honour.

Even if the courts work roundthe clock, making severe dent onthe pendency of cases is a hopeagainst hope. Besides, corruptionwithin the judiciary has gainedground. Delayed delivery of jus-tice must become a thing of past.Only then can the courts existmeaningfully.

KV SeetharamaiahHasaan

Control population

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “New Year births” (January 3).Overpopulation gives birth toseveral serious problems in anycountry. India must undertakeexpeditious measures to pre-vent such huge increase in itspopulation.

SresthVia email

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

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op nionVIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JANUARY 7, 2020

06

Spiralling into incoherence

SANDHYA JAIN

Pakistan’s Islamic revolution is eating its own children. It needs to be reversed by an Ataturk-type of powerful leader but the Army has been thoroughly radicalised

Why are you harbouringenmity with the youth ofthe country? The more yousuppress the voice of theyouth, the more embold-ened it will become.

Congress leader—Randeep Surjewala

If the Iraqis insist and do notdo it in a very friendly basis,sanctions on Iraq will be likethey’ve never seen before. It’llmake Iranian sanctions looksomewhat tame.

US President—Donald Trump

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

Kota deaths are a national shame

Over a 100 infant deaths just in a month’s time at aGovernment-run hospital in Kota are a nationalshame. They make a statement: India is no coun-

try for new-born babies. The ineffable joy of childbirthis lost when a neonate dies. As a nation, we seem to havebecome insensitive to infant deaths. Registering the high-est number of infant deaths in the world is a dubiousrecord. The Central and State Governments try to evaderesponsibility for which both should take the blame inequal measure. Political sparring is no substitute for reme-dial action.

It is not merely a question of poor medical facili-ties, inadequate medical staff and medical negligence,though all of these must be addressed on a priority basis.Pre-term complications, malformations, infections andasphyxia are identified and cited as the main clinicalcauses for infant deaths. They are certainly among theimmediate and detectable causes. At the same time,there are also deeper causes that increase the vulner-ability of infants to death. Babies born in impoverishedand “low caste” families suffer from low birth weightand health risks without a fight. It is a self-evident truththat the nutritional status of the mother and the new-born is of vital importance for survival. Food security

is assured only by better financial resources. Accessto clean water, sanitation and better living conditionsin a pollution-free environment matter brighten thechances of survival. In regions where caste holds a sway,the rate of infant mortality is greater. Economicempowerment of poor families and improvement of theirquality of life are the lasting remedies for infant deaths.As a nation, if we are to be really “pro-life”, we have todo all that is humanly possible to end preventable childmorbidity and mortality.

G David Milton Maruthancode

VIGILANTISM, ASSEEN AT NANKANA

SAHIB, HASBECOME THE NEW

CONFESSION INPAKISTAN.

RABBLE-ROUSERSREMINISCENT OFTHE DOMINICAN

MONK, GIROLAMOSAVONAROLA,

BUT WITHOUT HISPIETY ANDLEARNING,

EXHORTINTOLERANCE OF

SECULARDISSENTERS ANDMINORITIES AS ANATIONAL CREED

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Chilling to the boneThe attack on JNU studentsreminded me of the 26/11attack. I will not allow any-thing like JNU to happen herein Maharashtra…students arefeeling unsafe in the country.

Maharashtra CM—Uddhav Thackeray

Students are not enemies of the State and help create balancein a democracy. The muzzling of JNU is not acceptable

A recent study shows how elevated levels of PM 2.5emitted by cars lead to osteoporosis

I wished I was young. I wish Iwould go on a bike like him(Aditya) and was having fun...Looking at them in the film, Iwant to fall in love. I'm in lovebut I want to fall again.

Actor—Anil Kapoor

Night of broken glass

Trump trumped?

THE CONGRESS, ESPECIALLY RAHUL GANDHI ANDPRIYANKA GANDHI, HAVE INSTIGATED RIOTS BY

MISLEADING PEOPLE (ON THE CAA).—HOME MINISTER

AMIT SHAH

THE ENTIRE COUNTRY KNOWS WHICHPOLITICAL PARTY RUNS THE VOTE FOR RIOTS FACTORY.—CONGRESS LEADER RAJEEV SATAV

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

2020 is an election year in the USA. PresidentDonald Trump is trying for a second term. TheAmerican public will definitely review his per-

formance before giving him a second chance. Asfar as foreign policy is concerned, Trump’s recordhas been a mixed bag. While many term it as a “termof controversies,” the cornerstone of the TrumpAdministration’s foreign policy has been “principledrealism” or more popular “America First.” After all,what else is the purpose of any country’s foreign pol-icy except to put its own interests first? Trump’s for-eign policy vision smacked of sabre rattling ratherthan reconciliation. He was not only distrustful ofUS allies, scornful of international institutions andindifferent to the liberal international order that theUS had sustained for nearly eight decades but alsodisplayed inconsistency by blowing hot and cold onmany occasions.

Trump is bound to tout his record on foreignpolicy as a resounding success. While he hasn’t builta wall and expensed it to Mexico, he has followedthrough on pledges to withdraw from the Irannuclear agreement and the Paris climate accord, torenegotiate NAFTA and to aggressively pressChina on trade. He has delivered on many of hiscampaign promises, whether the rest of the US sup-ports them or not. In doing so he has earned thetitle of “international bully,” annoying many alliesand friendly nations, undermining internationalinstitutions, dishonouring treaties and accords andcreating flashpoints. Conventional wisdom says thatforeign policy does not win polls. But Trump seemsto be faced with a challenge that may break this.

The majoritarian view in the US still favoursengagement and shared leadership in global affairs,as well as US participation in alliances and pacts,while Trump continues to move in the oppositedirection. As per a survey, 57 per cent Americansdisapprove his foreign policy performance. The lat-est episode in the Middle East will definitely addto his woes and the democratic hopefuls will exploitthese vulnerabilities during campaigning. This time,foreign policy might be a major theme for the elec-tion and just might tip the balance.

The tension in the Middle East has been build-ing for quite some time and Trump did displayrestraint. Iran, no doubt, was testing Trump’spatience by repeated misadventures like the shoot-ing down of a US surveillance drone, mining theStrait of Hormuz and an assault on Saudi oil facil-ities in response to sanctions. Trump all the whileavoided retaliating militarily, preferring to tightenthe noose with additional sanctions. The brainbehind Iran’s defiance was the commander of Iran’sIslamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) QudsForce, Major General Qasem Soleimani.

Soleimani had been in the bad books of the USever since he emerged as the mastermind of Iranianuse of proxies to target US and Western assets andservicemen, promoting terrorism and conductingdestabilising activities in countries hostile to Iran.He was credited with conducting proxy wars in Iraq,Syria and Yemen. He controlled much of Lebanonthrough the Hezbollah. He was also the mastermindbehind the survival of the Assad regime in Syria.The Americans hated him for being responsible forthe deaths of hundreds of soldiers in Iraq at thehands of Shia militias after US invasion of Iraq in2003. Though, later he cooperated with the US infighting the ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

But once Trump called off the nuclear treaty

with Iran and imposed sanctions, he onceagain became a sworn enemy of the US.He crossed the red line by attacking anUS military base in Iraq that resulted inthe death of a US contractor and injuredseveral servicemen. That Trump wouldnot tolerate any loss to American lives wasclear by the way he ordered air strikesagainst five targets in Iraq and Syria asso-ciated with Iran-backed Shia militiaKataib Hezbollah that was believed to beresponsible for the attack on the US basenear Kirkuk. Justifiably, the Pentagontermed these strikes as “defensive” sincethey were in retaliation to attacks on USservicemen and civilians in Iraq. ButTrump surprised the world by using USmilitary power to kill Soleimani througha rocket attack. Pentagon once againtermed it as “defensive” since Trump wasconvinced that Soleimani was visiting Iraqto intensify attacks against US bases inIraq. The US strike also killed a top Iraqimilitia commander Abu Mahdi alMuhandis, an adviser to Soleimani anda dozen of militia men, evoking a quickand angry response from both Iran andIraq. While Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran,to whom Soleimani reported directly,vowed revenge, the Iraqi Prime Ministertermed it as a violation of a deal for keep-ing US troops in his country.

Is it really a defensive act or aprovocative one? Has Trump overreact-ed? The chances of an all-out war may notbe very high but it would lead to escala-tion in the low-level conflict between theUS and Iran with global consequences.Violent retaliations will be there.Considering that the Americans are thinon the ground and widely dispersed inforeign lands, a chain of reprisals is goingto hit them unless the US is willing toescalate to a full blown war. This mayprove costly as far as American casualties

are concerned. Under such circum-stances, would Trump be able to sustainhis doctrine of military retaliation when-ever an American life is lost, is a milliondollar question. That, too, in an electionyear. Additional deployment of 3,000troops in Kuwait to ward off the Iranianthreat and failure to reduce the jackbootstrength in Afghanistan may also provecostly for Trump. What is surprising iswhy Trump decided to strike now whenhe is also facing an impeachment? Trumpwas possibly irked by ransacking of theUS Embassy 104 acre Green Zone com-pound in Baghdad. Yet, killing the IranianGeneral on Iraqi soil will remain a ques-tionable strategic decision. Continuationof American troops in Iraq will comeunder pressure in view of the response ofthe Iraqi Prime Minister.

Apart from usual attack on US mil-itary commanders and soldiers or launch-ing operations to destroy its bases andassets, Iran may also resort to cyber-attacks considering the over dependenceof Americans on the internet. In a worstcase scenario, Iran may try to enlistChinese and Russian support and com-bined with their cyber forces launch a pro-paganda cum perception operationagainst Trump, which may mar his cam-paign. Americans should prepare for theunexpected. There has been fair amountof criticism from the Democratic oppo-nents of the President.

The situation in the Middle East willbe highly tense, with Israel and SaudiArabia at the receiving end. Shia terrorgroups in Pakistan may also becomeactive against US targets as well as troopsin Afghanistan. Soaring oil prices andtumbling share markets will be theimmediate global consequences.Democratic presidential frontrunner JoeBiden has termed it “a highly escalatory

move in a highly dangerous region.” Thepossibility of it turning into a Shia versusSunni conflict may disturb peace inmany countries in the region.

Former Foreign Secretary NirupamaRao has criticised Trump’s decision, “USmilitary personnel are in Iraq supposed-ly on an anti-IS mission. Under the Trumpadministration, there appears to have beenmission creep, in Iraq as well as Syria, inwhich somehow confronting Iran hasbecome part of a new mission. That mis-sion has never been justified.”

India cannot remain unaffected bythe events in the Middle East since itremains one of the largest oil importersof the world. Soaring oil prices apart fromhitting the pockets of the common manare also going to add to India’s econom-ic woes when it is struggling to revive asluggish economy. Tensions in the regionmay also affect the smooth oil supply.Strategically, it would have an adverseimpact on India’s bid to develop ChabaharPort and develop an alternative rail,road axis to Afghanistan bypassingPakistan and the open trade route to land-locked Central Asian Republics.

Majority across the globe term it asan “unnecessary provocation.”Surprisingly, a usually hyper Trump haschosen to remain quiet. He will be in adilemma since he ran his campaign andcontinues to do so ahead of 2020 election-on the promise of an end to Middle Eastwars. Does he have that choice now?

While US troops will remain on ten-terhooks, Trump has provided enoughammunition to his Democratic opponentsfor a very interesting election campaignat home. While the target will not be ques-tioned, timing will definitely be the con-tentious issue.

(The writer is a political commenta-tor, political, security and strategic analyst)

While US troops will remain on tenterhooks globally, Trump has provided ammunition tohis Democratic opponents for a very interesting election campaign at home

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

GST data hasbrought cheer

KARAN BHASIN

While supply side issues on the fiscal front aregetting resolved, the ongoing social unrest is

going to dampen economic prospects

ANIL GUPTA

VIOLENTRETALIATIONS

WILL BE THERE.CONSIDERING THAT

THE AMERICANSARE THIN ON THE

GROUND ANDWIDELY DISPERSED

IN FOREIGN LANDS, A CHAIN

OF REPRISALS ISGOING TO HIT THEM

UNLESS THE US IS WILLING TO

ESCALATE TO AFULL BLOWN WAR.

THIS MAY PROVECOSTLY AS FAR

AS AMERICANCASUALTIES ARE

CONCERNED.UNDER SUCH

CIRCUMSTANCES,WOULD TRUMP BEABLE TO SUSTAIN

HIS DOCTRINE OF MILITARYRETALIATION

WHENEVER ANAMERICAN LIFE IS

LOST, IS A MILLIONDOLLAR QUESTION

The new year came with the release of Goods and ServicesTax (GST) figures for December 2019 which showed a nineper cent increase compared to the previous year. This was

the second consecutive month where GST collections crossedthe `1 trillion mark. GST collections are an important indicatorof consumption in the economy and a high indirect tax mop-upmeans that somehow the discretionary consumption must beback.

This is important, as throughout the year we’ve seen ade-quate slack in the economy which has dampened investmentactivity and further stressed balance sheets of companies, banksand other financial institutions. For the third quarter (Q3) of theFinancial Year (FY), GST mop-up was only three per cent com-pared to the previous year. While this figure may not be great,during a slowdown even tax buoyancy gets hit and that’s per-haps why GST growth hasn’t kept pace.

However, with a nine per cent GST collection growth inDecember, one sees positive offshoots even as fresh vulnera-bilities have emerged in the banking space. The underlying factis that the Indian economy indeed bottomed out in Septemberand this got extended till October, post which the economy seemsto be in a recovery mode. This suggests that a V-shaped recov-ery won’t be possible and the pace of improvement is also slowbut this restoration will come without much support from themonetary policy as prime real lending rates continue to be high.

While supply side issues on the economic front are gettingresolved and the Government is undertaking steps to get thingsback on track, the recent protests are damaging India’s percep-tion. We cannot disrupt temples of learning with the objectiveof subversion of democracy, even if through violence. The prob-lem with such an attempt is that it has unintended consequences— and some of them are economic.

India, which is an attractive investment destination after therecent corporate tax cuts, is now being watched by internation-al investors very closely. These protests are likely to adverselyimpact their investment decisions. This comes at a time whenIndia is just recovering from the recent slowdown, which is nota good sign as it may hinder the pace of recovery.

The Chief Ministers of today would do well to take a pageout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s conduct when he wasthe Chief Minister of Gujarat during the UPA regime. In 2011,when the economic slump started, Modi undertook a series ofState-level policy interventions to attract investments in Gujarat.Consequently, Gujarat managed to be insulated from that eco-nomic slump and contributed to India’s economy while mostother States seemed to be stuck with slower growth.

Another such State was Madhya Pradesh, which registeredan impressive growth rate, primarily in the agricultural sector formany years. The question that often emerges is, if we have anysuch leaders at the State-level who can play a big role in eco-nomic recovery by ensuring a higher growth for their States?

We see the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister squash previ-ous contracts and the Maharashtra Chief Minister review criti-cal infrastructure projects. Both these actions have severe impli-cations for enforcement of contracts, the credibility ofGovernment contracts and long-term ability to attract investments.Moreover, they will not improve growth rates in the short term.

State Governments aren’t even doing the bare minimum toensure they can maintain their growth rates, forget about accel-erating them. The problem of growth is as much political as itis an economic one. The lack of incentives, especially at the State-level, perhaps shifts the focus to other issues.

Another factor is the lack of economic literacy which pre-vents issues related to growth from becoming a major part ofelectoral campaigns. An exception to this is the issue of infla-tion and jobs — both of which are election issues and intricate-ly related to growth rates. Lack of scrutiny of States on theseissues in public discourse is perhaps a reason why necessaryState-level policy reforms don’t happen as often as they should.

The GST data is indeed suggesting that despite these agi-tations, the economy seems to be getting back on track. Perhaps,once the economy starts growing at the rate of seven to eightper cent, many of people’s anxieties would be taken care of. Butit is important to recognise that this revival of growth rate wouldhave occurred without monetary support and the necessary State-level reforms. It is time the States did some introspection on theirrole in the economy and nation-building as they are also answer-able to the people who put them in charge of their destinies.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based policy researcher)

If the Iranians played the gamethe same way that the AmericanPresident Donald Trump does,

then their revenge for the Americanassassination of Iran’s leading gen-eral, Qassem Soleimani, would be asimple tit-for-tat. Just kill UnitedStates (US) Secretary of State MikePompeo, the man who actuallyorganised the hit and then boastedabout it.

If Pompeo was too hard to getat, the Iranians could get even bymurdering any one or two of a hun-dred other senior US officials.Probably two, because the US dronethat hit Soleimani’s car coming outof Baghdad airport also killed Abu

Mahdi al-Muhandis, the leader ofKata’ib Hezbollah, the most power-ful pro-Iranian militia in Iraq.

An eye for an eye, and so forth.Tit-for-tat is clearly the game Trumpthought he was playing. That’s whyhe warned late on Saturday onTwitter that the US has identified 52Iranian sites, some “at a very highlevel and important to Iran and theIranian culture”, and warned theywould be “hit very fast and hard” ifTehran retaliates for Soleimani’smurder.

But that’s not the game theIranians are playing at all. It’s a muchlonger game than tit-for-tat, andtheir targets are political, not per-sonal.

Tehran’s first response has beento announce that it will no longerrespect any of the limits placed onits nuclear programmes by the 2015nuclear treaty, the JointComprehensive Plan of Action(JCPOA).

Donald Trump pulled the USout of that treaty in 2018 and Iranhas given up hope that the other sig-natories to the pact, i.e. China,

France, Russia, the UnitedKingdom, and Germany, woulddefy the US and go on trading withIran.

It signed the deal in order to endthe sanctions but all the sanctionsare effectively still in place.

Tehran didn’t say that it is nowgoing to start working on nuclearweapons but it will resume produc-ing enriched nuclear fuels in quan-tities that would make that possible.

Iran knew that it was going tohave to pull the plug on the JCPOAeventually but Trump’s assassinationof Soleimani lets it do so with theopen or unspoken sympathy of

almost every other country in theworld.

And there’s a second, less visi-ble benefit for Iran from Soleimani’smurder. It greatly strengthens Iran’spolitical influence in Iraq, which hasbeen deteriorating quite fast inrecent months.

Ever since the US invasion in2003, Iraq has been the scene ofintense competition for influencebetween the US, which dominatedthe country militarily and Iran,whose State religion, the Shia ver-sion of Islam, is also the faith of themajority of Iraqis.

There are still about 5,000American troops in Iraq but they arenow vastly outnumbered by localpro-Iran Shia militias, who did theheavy lifting during the 2014-17military campaign to crush IslamicState (IS) militants in northernIraq. Lately, however, the pro-Iranfaction has been losing ground.

When popular protests brokeout in September against the hugecorruption of Iraqi politicians andthe impoverishment of the generalpopulation, the pro-Iran militias

started killing the protesters. Thatwas General Soleimani’s idea and avery serious mistake on his part:The street protests began to targetIranian influence as well.

But Soleimani’s murder haslargely erased that resentment: Heis now yet another Shia martyr tothe cause. The Prime Minister ofIraq showed up at his huge funeralprocession in Baghdad and anextraordinary session of the IraqiParliament passed a resolutiondemanding the expulsion of UStroops from Iraq.

The Iraqi political elite may ormay not carry through on that pol-icy but there is genuine outrage thatthe US, technically an ally, wouldmake an air strike just outsideBaghdad airport without tellingIraq. All the worse when it kills aninvited guest of the IraqiGovernment who is the secondmost important person in Iraq’sother main ally, Iran. This is whatcontempt looks like and it rankles.

In just one careless stroke by theUS, Iran has had two big diplomat-ic wins thanks to Soleimani’s assas-

sination. The Iranians will certain-ly go on making deniable, pin-prickattacks on US assets and allies in theGulf in retaliation for the US sanc-tions that are strangling the coun-try’s economy but they may feel thatthey have already had their revengefor Soleimani.

Iran doesn’t want an all-out warwith the US. The US could not winthat war (unless it just nuked thewhole country) but neither couldIran and it would suffer huge dam-age if there were a flat-out Americanbombing campaign using only con-ventional bombs and warheads.

Apocalyptic outcomes to thisconfrontation are possible, butthey’re not very likely.

The Iranians will probably justchug along as before, staying with-in the letter of the law most of thetime, cultivating their allies in theArab world and waiting for Trumpto make his next mistake in theirfavour. He’s reliable in that, if innothing else.

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is‘Growing Pains: The Future ofDemocracy and Work.’)

Iran is not playing a tit-for-tat gameIn just one careless stroke by the US, Iran has had two big diplomatic wins thanks to Soleimani’s assassination. The Iranians will probably

just chug along as before, cultivating their allies in the Arab world and waiting for Trump to make his next mistake in their favour

GWYNNE DYER

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JANUARY 7, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

In Pakistan, courts are oftenexpected to resolvefundamental questionsconcerning the identity ofthe State. Recent decisionsof the Supreme Court havebeen perceived to mark ashift in the status quo. Theconviction of a militarydictator for high treason bya special court was termed a“seismic shift in Pakistan’shistory.” The reactions tothese decisions reveal howthe judiciary is often viewedas a driver of significantchange, not just in Pakistan,but globally.

(Courtesy: Dawn)

POLITICAL CHANGEAND COURTS

PNS n NEW DELHI

Crude oil prices on Monday roseover 3 per cent to Rs 4,646 perbarrel as tensions in Middle Eastescalated further after US pres-ident Donald Trump warned ofa "major retaliation" if Iran triesto avenge the killing of its topmilitary commander QasemSoleimani.

On the Multi CommodityExchange, crude oil for deliveryin January traded higher by Rs147, or 3.27 per cent, to Rs 4,646per barrel in 66,031 lots.

Crude oil for February deliv-ery was up by Rs 142, or 3.16 per

cent, at Rs 4,636 per barrel withan open interest of 3,368 lots.

General Soleimani, the head

of Iran's elite al-Quds force andarchitect of its regional securi-ty apparatus, was killed follow-

ing a US airstrike on Baghdad'sinternational airport on Friday.

The ongoing geo-politicalevents raised concerns regard-ing disruption in supplies ofcrude oil, the analysts said.

Soleimani's killing was themost dramatic escalation yet inspiralling tensions between Iranand the US, already hit by seri-

ous differences over Tehran'sambitious nuclear programme.

Globally, the West TexasIntermediate (WTI) was tradingup 2.09 per cent to USD 64.32per barrel. Meanwhile, Brentcrude, the international bench-mark, edged up 2.27 per cent toUSD 70.16 per barrel in NewYork.

PNS n MUMBAI

The BSE benchmark Sensexcrashed by nearly 788 pointsand the NSE Nifty tumbledaround 234 points on Mondayas heightened tensions in theMiddle East kept investors onedge.

The 30-share BSE indexended at 40,676.63, droppingof 787.98 points, or 1.90 percent. Similarly, the broaderNifty closed at 11,993.05,falling by 233.60 points, or 1.91per cent.

On the Sensex chart, BajajFinance was the top loser,dropping 4.63 per cent, fol-lowed by SBI, IndusInd Bank,Maruti, HDFC, HeroMotoCorp, Axis Bank, ICICIBank and Reliance Industries.

Bucking the broader trend,only Titan and PowerGridended with gains.

Domestic market witnessedintense selloff in line withglobal stocks after USPresident Donald Trumpwarned Iran of major retalia-tion if Tehran carries out anyattack against America toavenge the killing of top mili-tary commander QasemSoleimani and hinted at strik-ing its cultural sites.

His statement came hoursafter Iran announced it will nolonger abide by the limits con-

tained in the 2015 landmarknuclear deal.

He also threatened toimpose "very big sanctions" onIraq if it follows through on aparliament vote calling for theexpulsion of US troops basedin the country.

"Indian market is reactingmore negatively than otheremerging markets due to crudeoil impact. Since our depen-

dence on crude imports as apercentage of consumption isthe highest, the impact oneconomy and markets is alsohigher," said Rusmik Oza, Sr.VP (Head of FundamentalResearch-PCG), KotakSecurities.

"Along with crude, the neg-ative impact of currency is alsoweighing on Indian markets,"Oza added.

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JANUARY 7, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

Investors wealthtumbles over Rs 3L-crin 2 days of mkt fallNEW DELHI: Investors wealth

tumbled by a whopping Rs 3.11 lakh crore in twosuccessive sessions of declinein the equity market followingescalation in tensions in theMiddle East. Equity marketshave been falling for secondday in a row, with the 30-share key BSE indexplummeting 679.85 points to alow of 40,784.76 on Monday.The Sensex had ended 162.03points, or 0.39 per cent, lowerat 41,464.61 on Friday as well.Led by the weakness inequities in the last two tradingsessions, the marketcapitalisation of BSE-listedcompanies plunged by Rs3,11,234.47 crore to Rs1,54,15,637.95 crore in latemorning trade. US PresidentDonald Trump on Sundayvowed "major retaliation" ifIran tries to avenge the killingof its key military commanderQasem Soleimani.

Goyal: Use of AI canhelp achieve $5 tneconomy targetNEW DELHI: Use of artificialintelligence (AI) in differentforms can help achieve thetarget of making India a USD 5trillion economy in the comingyears, Commerce and IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal said onMonday. He said variousdepartments are working tosee how AI, space technologyand other modern tools can beused to push economic growthof the country. "We in thegovernment believe that AIcan, in different forms, help usachieve the USD 5 trillionbenchmark, which we have setfor over (next) five years," hesaid here at a function. Theminister added that AI can alsohelp expand in a more cost-effective and outcome-orientedmanner. Goyal, who also hasthe railways portfolio, said inrailways, a team is focusing tosee how "we could benefitfrom AI" as the potential ishumongous. "AI can help inevery sector to do our jobbetter," he said.

Hong Kong stockssuffer more losseson US-Iran fearsHONG KONG: Hong Kongstocks closed sharply lowerMonday, extending lossesfrom last week fuelled by fearsof a Middle East conflict afterthe US assassinated a topIranian general. The HangSeng index fell 0.79 percent,or 225.31 points, to28,226.19. The benchmarkShanghai Composite Indexwas barely moved, inching0.38 points down to 3,083.41,though the ShenzhenComposite Index, which tracksstocks on China's secondexchange, added 0.44 percent,or 7.83 points, to 1,768.68.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange,crude oil for delivery in January tradedhigher by Rs 147, or 3.27 per cent, to Rs4,646 per barrel in 66,031 lots

Domestic market saw intense selloffin line with global stocks after Trumpwarned Iran of major retaliation ifTehran carries out any attackagainst America to avenge the killingof Qasem Soleimani

Sensex nosedives 788 pts over US-Iran stand off

PNS n NEW DELHI

Tata Motors did not produce asingle unit of its entry-level carNano in 2019 although it soldjust one unit in February evenas the company is yet to offi-cially retire Ratan Tata's "peo-ple's car".

According to a regulatory fil-ing by the company, TataMotors had zero productionand sales of the Nano inDecember 2019 while it pro-duced 82 units and sold 88units in December 2018.

Similarly, in November 2019there was zero production andsales of the entry-level model,whereas in the year-ago peri-od it produced 66 units andsold 77 units.

In October 2019 also,

according to the filing, it didnot produce or sell any unit ofthe Nano while in the year-agomonth it rolled out 71 unitswhile selling 54 units.

In the first nine months of

2019 also Tata Motors did notproduce a single unit of Nano.

The company did not sell asingle unit in any month lastyear except February when itsold just one, according to

several regulatory filings by thecompany.

Tata Motors has so far beenmaintaining that no decisionhas been made yet on thefuture of the Nano saying pro-duction planning of a car is a"conscious management ofdemand, system inventory andplanned efficiencies".

It has, however, admittedthat in its current form the

Nano will not meet the newsafety regulations and BS-VIemission norms.

On the issue of discontinu-ing the Nano, the company hasbeen insisting that "decisionson product life cycle is a holis-tic view taken after consideringthe market developments, reg-ulations and emerging com-petitive landscape. Any suchdecisions are announced as

and when it's taken".Company officials had, how-

ever, hinted that productionand sales of the Nano wouldstop from April 2020 as TataMotors has no plans to investfurther on the model to meetstrict emission norms underBharat Stage-VI, which comeinto effect from April 1 thisyear and other safety regula-tions.

The Nano was launched inthe market in March 2009with an initial price of close toRs 1 lakh for the basic modeldespite cost escalations, withTata insisting that "a promise isa promise".

However, from the begin-ning, Nano courted trouble. Itwas originally planned to berolled out from Tata Motors'

Tata Nano ends 2019 with zero production, sales of 1 unitTata Motors had unveiled Nano inJanuary 2008 at the Auto Expo withmuch expectations of being "thepeople's car", as dubbed by the thengroup chief Ratan Tata. However, itcould not live up to the billing

Crude oil futures jump over 3% astensions in Middle East escalate further

PNS n NEW DELHI

Leading stock exchange NSEon Monday launchedKnowledge Hub, an artificialintelligence-powered learn-ing eco-system which willassist banking and financialservices sector in enhancingskills for their employees.

Besides, it will help acade-mic institutions in preparingfuture ready talent skilled forthe financial services indus-try.

The NSE Knowledge Hub,launched by NSE Academy, awholly owned subsidiary ofthe National Stock Exchange(NSE), will bring world classcontent closer to learners ina personalised and commu-nity learning environmentwhich allows aggregation,curation, creation and tar-geting of content, making itboth learner centric andlearner driven.

The learning platform ispowered by content aggre-gated from many internal,external and premiumsources, and enhanced bycollaborative knowledge shar-ing from users.

Speaking on the launch,Piyush Goyal, Minister of

Commerce and Industriesand Minister of Railways said:"Today's initiative is a greatoutcome and I can foresee itresetting knowledge standard,particularly in the bankingand financial service industry.India is contributing hugely toa better world not only for thepeople but also for the globe."

"NSE Knowledge Hub willconnect the Digital India andfinancial sector and that is agreat move forward. Thisuniqueness offered by NSEKnowledge Hub and its inte-gration with artificial intelli-gence (AI) is something thatwill cater to anyone irrespec-tive of the field they are in,"he added.

The exchange's MD andCEO Vikram Limaye saidNSE has democratised theaccess to capital markets andis focused on the financialwell-being of the nation.

AI-powered learningplatform for BFSI industry launched by NSE

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union minister Rajnath Singhon Monday said there aremany forcesthat are try-ing to"defame"t h eC e n t r eover eco-nomic issuesbut the govern-ment understands the interestsof traders and is workingtowards it.

Speaking at an event organ-ised by the Confederation ofAll India Traders (CAIT),Singh said he has discussed theissue of sealing with UnionHousing and Urban AffairsMinister Hardeep Singh Puri.

Industry body CAIT hadwritten to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi seeking anamnesty scheme to protectmore than 10 lakh tradersfrom the "onslaught of sealing"in the national capital.

"I talked to Hardeep SinghPuri on sealing and he said itis being taken care of," Singhsaid. He asserted that the eco-nomic slowdown is part ofglobal economic recession anddeveloped countries are moreaffected by it than India.

Many trying todefame Centreon economicissues: Rajnath

PNS n NEW DELHI

Entrance test preparation ser-vices provider AakashEducational Services Ltd(AESL) on Monday said it hasacquired ed-tech companyApplect Learning Systems forRs 100 crore.

The company has enteredinto a definitive agreementwith Info Edge (India) Ltd andother selling shareholders toacquire ALSPL, which offerslearning programmes underbrand name 'Meritnation' cater-ing to students of class I to XII,AESL said in a statement.

When asked about the valueof the deal, a company officialsaid, "it is Rs 100 core for the

entire stake." In October lastyear Blackstone had picked up37.5 per cent stake in AakashEducational Services for Rs1,350 crore and announcedthe intention to create a digi-tally enabled, omni-channeltest preparation company.

"As part of this strategy,AESL plans to acquire

Meritnation to accelerate thegrowth of its online live tutor-ing business and continues toevaluate potential acquisitionopportunities," the companysaid in a statement.

Commenting on the acqui-sition, AESL Director and CEOAakash Chaudhry said,"Meritnation's decade long

EdTech experience and lead-ership in live tutoring technol-ogy, will further strengthenAESL's competitive positioningnot only in digital educationbut will also further enable itsoffline student offering acrossits 200 classroom centres,teaching over 2,50,000 students".

AESL acquires applect learning for rs 100 crThe company has entered into adefinitive agreement with Info Edge(India) Ltd and other selling shareholdersto acquire ALSPL, which offers learningprogrammes under brand name‘Meritnation' catering to students ofclass I to XII, AESL said in a statement

SBM Bank ties up withPayNearby for‘open banking' PNS n NEW DELHI

SBM Bank (India) onMonday signed an MoU withfintech startup PayNearby tobuild an 'open banking' net-work towards delivering basicbanking solutions as well asadvanced financial services tothe customers.

The partnership wouldenable the bank to offer com-plete suite of digital andassisted banking solutionsthrough PayNearby's exhaus-tive network of micro-enter-prise and retail touchpoints,SBM Bank said in a state-ment.

It will also enable micro-enterprises and retail touch-points to earn better returnson their investments, it said.

The deployment of thebanking module will be donein a phased manner and willwork seamlessly with theexisting platforms atPayNearby outlets and touch-points, it added.

State Bank of Mauritius(SBM) is the first foreignlender to receive bankinglicense in India throughwholly-owned subsidiaryroute.

PNS n NEW YORK

A Walmart WalmartSupercenter in the US state ofPennsylvania is facing anunusual and expensive problemafter someone intentionallyreleased bedbugs in a men'schanging room, according to amedia report. A manager at thestore in Edinboro found aclosed pill bottle with live bugscrawling inside and reported itto authorities Thursday, policesaid in a statement. The bottlewas found inside a boy's jacketwhich was for sale.

"We take this seriously andare looking into this," a Walmart

spokesperson told CNN. "Weare fully cooperating with lawenforcement on their investi-gation."

On Friday, health safety com-

pany Ecolab confirmed that theinsects were bedbugs.

A Walmart employee laterfound a second closed pillbottle containing dead bedbugs

in the men's department,police said. "A third-party pestmanagement service has visit-ed the store and we are work-ing with them to assess nextsteps," the Walmart spokesper-son said. "In the meantime, wehave blocked off the impactedarea." State Police are investi-gating the matter and lookingfor the person or peopleresponsible, they said.

Bedbugs are "small, flat, par-asitic insects" that survive byfeeding off the blood of peopleand animals as they sleep,according to the US Centers forDisease Control andPrevention (CDC).

Probe into how Walmart store got infested with bedbugsED cautions public againstfake summons, impostorsPNS n NEW DELHI

The EnforcementDirectorate on Mondaycautioned the publicagainst "imperson-ation" of its sum-mons or letters byunscrupulous ele-ments to extortmoney, even as itasked victims to contactthe federal probe agency incase of trouble. In a statement,the agency said such fakecommunications have been

brought to its notice andaccordingly, FIRs have been

registered."The Directorate ofEnforcement (ED)shall continue to takeimpacting actionagainst unscrupu-lous imposters who

attempt to imperson-ate ED officers and

indulge in making fakecorrespondences with gener-al public with ulterior motiveto extract money," the state-ment read.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The National FinancialReporting Authority (NFRA)is looking to hire consultantsin the areas of law andfinance as the watchdogstrengthens its manpower.The independent watchdogfor auditing profession hassought applications for 10posts of consultants andsenior consultants on one-year contract basis.

These people would assistthe NFRA in data analysisand identification of auditreports to be taken up forreview, preparation of draftcharge sheets, among otherworks, according to a publicnotice. The deadline for sub-mitting the applications isFebruary 7.

Chartered accountants, lawgraduates and those whohave completed MBA inFinance and Post GraduateDiploma in Management inFinance would be eligible toapply. They should have atleast five years experience.

‘25 cr people likely to participatein nationwide strike on Jan 8’PNS n NEW DELHI

Ten central trade unions onMonday said around 25 crorepeople will participate in anationwide strike on January8 to protest against the government's "anti-people"policies.

Trade unions INTUC,AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIU-TUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICC-TU, LPF, UTUC along withvarious sectoral independentfederations and associationshad adopted a declaration inSeptember last to go on anationwide strike on January8, 2020.

"We expect participation ofnot less than 25 crore of work-ing people in the forthcomingNational General Strike onJanuary 8, 2020, to be followedby many more actions seekingreversal of the anti-worker,anti-people, anti-national poli-cies of the Government.

"The Ministry of Labour hasfailed to assure on any of thedemands of workers whichcalled a meeting on January 2,2020. The attitude of the gov-ernment is that of contempt

towards labour as we construefrom its policies and actions,"the 10 central trade unions (CTUs) said in a jointstatement.

About 60 organisations ofstudents and elected officebearers of some universitieshave also decided to join thestrike with an agenda to raisevoice against increased feestructure and commercializa-tion of education, it said.

The trade unions con-demned the JNU violence andsimilar incidents in other uni-versity campuses andexpressed their solidarity withstudents and teachers all overIndia.The unions alsoexpressed displeasure over noIndian Labour Conferencebeing held since July 2015,codification of labour lawsand privatisation of PSUs.

"As many as 12 airports arealready sold out to privatehands, 100 per cent sale of AirIndia is already decided, deci-sion to sell BPCL taken,BSNL-MTNL mergerannounced and 93,600 tele-com workers already thrownout of jobs under the garb ofVRS (voluntary retirementscheme)," it added.

Trade unions INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU,AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, UTUCalong with various sectoral independentfederations and associations had adopted adeclaration in September last to go on anationwide strike on January 8, 2020

NFRA startsprocess to hirelegal, financeexperts

TuesdayJanuary 7, 2020

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

he world is abeautiful place,abundant withfood and water.But there are mil-lions of people

around the world who go tobed hungry or die because ofhunger and thirst. The prob-lem is not the lack of foodbut our inability to make itaccessible to everyone.

According to UN FAO’s(Food and AgriculturalOrganisation) estimates inits The State of Food Securityand Nutrition in the World,2019 report, 194.4 millionpeople in India are under-nourished which is around14 per cent of our popula-tion. The major reason forthis is poverty.

An NGO, Robin HoodArmy (RHA), established in2014 is a volunteer-basedzero funds organisationoperating in 57 cities and 12other countries, is fightingthe war against hunger. TheHyderabad division of RHAprovides basic education andthe stationery items to theunderprivileged children inthe slums.

One of its objectives is tocollect extra leftover foodfrom hotels, functions andhouseholds and make itavailable to the needy chil-dren and poor people in thecity.

FAO also states that one-third of the food producedfor human consumption islost or wasted globally everyyear.

The volunteers of RHA, oras they like to call them-selves, ‘Robins’, are largelyyoung students and workingprofessionals who volunteerin their free time and giveback to the society by serv-ing homeless families,orphanages, patients frompublic hospitals and old agehomes.

Ramkumar from the IndiaLiteracy Project, Hyderabad,has been a part of RobinHood Army for four yearsnow.

Speaking to The Pioneerabout RHA Hyderabad, hesays, “In Hyderabad, we

have around 1,500 activevolunteers now. Our prima-ry goal is to transport theleftover food from hotelowners and common peopleand distribute it to the hun-gry. We also teach kids fromthe slums and get themenrolled in schools and con-duct medical camps aroundthe city.”

“Last year, we adopted afew villages and starteddevelopment initiatives thereand are planning to do thesame this year. Right nowour teams are visiting tribalhamlets providing themwith blankets and sweaters.So far we have distributedaround 3,000 blankets,” headds.

When asked about theaim of the NGO, he says,“The aim and scope is tospread awareness around theworld about food wastageand stop it. Our motto is‘love food and hate waste’.”

So far, the Robin HoodArmy has served more than28 million hungry people inmore than 150 cities aroundthe world and their goal is tobecome a global enginewhich brings out the best ofhumanity.

People canapply for vol-unteer work ontheir websiteand alsodonate food ortake classes forpoor kids.

winkleFoundation, aHyderabad-basedNGO that is work-ing towards abol-ishing child traf-

ficking and child slavery inthe country, has organised asocial carnival ‘Pankh 2020’over the weekend at thePhoenix Arena. Several activ-ities including live theatre,live musical band, poetry andstorytelling, were held as partof the event. The guests weremesmerised to see the chil-dren walk the ramp withsuch grace.

Yash Gourkhede, nationalpresident and founder ofTwinkle Foundation, said,“Twinkle Foundation is hum-bled by the enormousresponse received for Pankh2020. It has been a dream-come-true for us to see such

acceptance and love from thepeople of Hyderabad towardsthis cause.

In the last three years, thefoundation has rehabilitatedabout 15,000 children andrescued hundreds of childrenfrom the clutches of traffick-ers across India and territo-ries.

Pankh 2020 is an opportu-nity to promote this causeand help bring awarenessamong public.”

Twinkle Foundation CEOBarkha Gurunath Patnaik,said, “We are connecting theyoungsters from every typeod background of the societyto fight for child rights. Weare starting a residentialschool for the children togive them a better future andthe motto of the team is tocreate a world where everychild is free of child labour,

abuse and other atrocities.” The event graced by social

activists Dr Manisha Bangarand Amitabh Pawde, policeinspector Y. Mutthai, RahulReddy, CEO, Octopus Group,Abhishek Vardhan Singh andothers.

The event concluded withan award ceremony where‘The Voice of Youth GlobalAwards 2020’ was presentedto youngsters who are work-ing selflessly for the develop-ment of the society in differ-ent domains.

The foundation alsolaunched the project Milan—Reuniting the family, duringthe event.

Every year, TwinkleFoundation organises Pankhfestival for the empowermentof children, youngsters andsenior citizens from differentbackgrounds of the society.

Spreading one's wingsTo create awareness about child trafficking and childslavery in the country, Twinkle Foundation organisedPankh 2020, a social carnival in Hyderabad. By PNS

T

T

MUSIC AS A CULTURAL RESCUE

rt must comfort thedisturbed and disturbthe comforted,” said aquote placed outside ahall where the last dayof SOTA (State-of-

the-art) Resonance festivalwas held in the city onSunday. “That’s what classi-cal music does,” saidTimothy Marthand, thefounder of the festival. “Ittakes you to places that youmay not want to go, butwhen you get there, youlearn something. Music notonly gives comfort, but alsodisturbs as it makes one soarto greater heights. This is avery powerful notion,” headded.

That is what an orchestraof violin, cello and pianomusicians from across theworld managed to do —even without a conductor onstage — when they cametogether to play one of thegreatest western classicalnumbers that defined musicfor generations.

The hall was covered withmirrors on one side and was

large enough for a modestaudience. The auditoriumrang with the renditions ofPeter Ilyich Tchaikovsky,Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,Antonin Dvorak andFrederic Chopin.

World-renowned musi-cians such as Han Bin Yoon(on the cello), Ling LingHuang (on the violin) MaraZickgraf (on the violin),Michele Gurdal (on thepiano), Rosie Moon (on thebass) and others pushed theaudience to their limits tofeel joy and melancholiawith each note.

The music, performed byusing instruments from the17th and the 18th century,especially duringTchaikovsky’s Serenade forString Orchestra in C Major,transported the listeners intothe depths of chaotic over-tures, and with a change intune, immediately liftedthem into a bright sunshineof hope.

As Timothy put it, “It isabout grandeur and subtle-ty.”

Another highlight of theevent was Lauren PearlEberwein, a Canadian/-American soprano, whosang the Aria from the Act 2of the Italian opera DonGiovanni’s Or sai chi l'onoreand the Aria from the Act 1of the opera Rusalka, theSong of the Moon from theLittle Mermaid. The hallshook when she reached thepeak of her voice, movingthe audience to tears ofecstasy and sadness at the

same time. “The first Aria isabout anger at its extremeand the second one is aboutlove. But even that has adark ending,” she told theaudience in a blue sari shewore for the occasion.

She made it a point tothank Dhanalakshmi whomanaged to help dress herup in a way that made herfeel she was a part of the city.Later, catching up with ThePioneer, she said how, eventhough it is her first time tothe city, she fell in love withit and its heritage, and howshe would love to come backfor another performance.

After the concert in anexclusive with The Pioneer,Timothy, who is also a visit-ing professor at IIT-H, spokeabout his journey as aTelugu boy in Hyderabadwho dropped out of schooland found purpose in ‘cul-tural rescue’.

“SOTA came out of theneed to do something amaz-ing in the city. We aredestroying humanity every-where. The human soul is

under attack. So, classicalmusic pushes people towardsexcellence. Especially thechildren who are not evenaware of what they are miss-ing out on. Music should notbe an escape from reality,”said Timothy.

He added that he was rea-dy to bring together around250 artistes from all over theworld to perform in the city.He is also planning to open amusic academy soon and hisown concert hall.

For those not familiarwith classical music, Timo-thy explained that there wasno need to be informed abo-ut classical music to enjoy it.“Classical music can also beenjoyed while doing somechores. Even when it’s beingplayed in the background itwill automatically do its w-ork on the listener,” he said.

It is all about tough lovewith Timothy who wants toshake up the city out of itsslumber with art and createa cultural revolution thatwill transform people’s out-look towards life.

MUSIC AS A CULTURAL RESCUE

Hyderabad's Timothy Marthand ison a mission to bring change with

music. KEDAR finds out howrenditions of western classical musichave moved the audience to feel joy

and sadness like never before

A

ROBIN HOOD ARMYFIGHTS POVERTY

TIMOTHYMARTHAND,FOUNDER OF SOTA,SAID THAT HE ISREADY TO BRINGTOGETHER AROUND250 ARTISTS FROMALL OVER THEWORLD TO PERFORMIN THE CITY

10

Vijayawada Tuesday January 7, 2020 what’s brewing?

gamut ofBollywood person-alities like ReemaKagti, RajkummarRao, ManojBajpayee and

Nimrat Kaur, among manyothers have condemned theattack on students and teach-ers by a mob at the JawaharlalNehru University (JNU) inDelhi.

Several masked individualsthrashed students and teach-ers inside the campus herewith wooden and metal rodson Sunday.

While the number of theinjured in the various clasheswhich occurred throughoutthe day was not yet known, atleast 20 students were admit-ted to the All India Instituteof Medical Sciences withsevere injuries, including theStudents Union PresidentAishe Ghosh, who wasreportedly hit over the eyewith an iron rod.

HERE’S WHAT THECELEBRITIES HAVETWEETED:

Reema Kagti: I stand withthe students and people ofIndia. Shame on the govern-ment of India for their brutal-

ity and barbarism. #JNU#AMU #Jamiya #NoToNRC#NoToCAA.

Mahesh Bhatt: It’s here!Fascism has come to India inthe name of national security.Time to shed our toxicsilences and speak against itin one voice.

Rajkummar Rao: Whathappened in #JNU is shame-ful, horrific and heartbreak-ing. Those who are responsi-ble behind these attacksshould be punished.#JNUViolence.

Manoj Bajpayee: Cruel...horrific.... scary... images fromJNU are very disturbing. Itshould be condemned in nouncertain words. No democ-racy should allow colleges anduniversities to be so unsafethat goons can enter at will atany time to hurt and intimi-date.

Nimrat Kaur: Disgustedwith the cancerous India wewake up to every single day.What’s next? Who’s next?Where’s next? We’re yet toheal from all the recent hor-rific atrocities and new onesjust bulldoze their way rightin. Sickened to disbelief.#JamiaMilia #UP #JNU#India.

Sharing a newspaper clip-ping about the attack,Twinkle Khanna tweeted:India, where cows seem toreceive more protection thanstudents, is also a country thatnow refuses to be coweddown. You can’t oppress peo-ple with violence-there will bemore protests, more strikes,more people on the street.This headline says it all.

Actress Taapsee pannu tooshared a photograph of thesame clipping and wrote:Sums it all For everyone whorefuses to look at it, acknowl-edge it let’s wait till yourhouse burns down.

Kriti Sanon: It breaks myheart to see what happened atJNU! What’s going on inIndia is horrifying!! Students& teachers being beaten upand terrorised by maskedcowards!! The constant blamegame! Stooping so low forpolitical agendas! Violence isnever a solution! How havewe become so inhuman?

Sonam Kapoor: Shockingdisgusting and cowardly. Havethe balls to at least show yourface when you want to attackinnocents.

Tahir Raj Bhasin:Attempting to shut down stu-

dent voices of dissent withviolence is the death ofdemocracy. #Jnuattack

Anurag Basu: Organisedattack on the students becausewhat they say, do or believein?! Since when has having anopinion a crime in modernIndia! Cover your faces, theworld is looking atyou....#SOSJNU.

In another tweet, Basuwrote: Only credible voice ofresistance and opposition leftin this country are students,You’ll not be able to muzzlethis voice. Keep trying.#JNUattack.

Amyra Dastur: So this iswhat it’s c’me to? Beating upstudents and teachers withsteel rods! Shutting off Streetlights! Masked Extremistsdestroying everything in theirpath and the Police stand idle!India will not be ruled byGundagiri! #IStandWithJNU

Saiyami Kher: What hap-pened in #JNU is appalling,horrific and heartbreaking.Policies, religion, ideologynothing matters and cannotjustify violence. We areIndians first. These cowardlymasked attackers need to bepunished. #JNUAttack#JNUViolence

BOLLYWOOD CELEBSCONDEMN JNU ATTACKA

ctressAwkwafinamade historyat the 77thGolden GlobeAwards cere-

mony by becoming thefirst woman of Asiandescent to win a GoldenGlobe for lead actress in acomedy film.

The actress picked upthe honour in Best Actressin a Motion Picture —Musical or Comedy cate-gory for her film TheFarewell. In the film, she isseen as Billi, a Chinese-American woman whotravels back to China withher family to say goodbyeto her terminally illgrandmother (essayed byShuzhen Zhao).

A first-time Globesnominee, Awkwafina wonover Ana de Armas(Knives Out), CateBlanchett (Where’d You

Go, Bernadette), BeanieFeldstein (Booksmart) andEmma Thompson (LateNight).

“This is great, thankyou, if I fall upon hardtimes I can sell this, sothat’s good,” the actressjoked as she got on thestage to accept the honouron Sunday night.

She then thanked herfamily and the directorLulu Wang.

“You gave me thischance, the chance of alifetime, and you’vetaught me so much,” shesaid, adding, “Just filmingthis story, being with you,is incredible.”

According tovariety.com, it is the firsttime a performer of Asiandescent has won a leadactress Golden GlobeAward for a film. Lastyear, Sandra Oh becamethe first Asian woman

since 1980 to win bestactress in a TV drama forKilling Eve.

Awkwafina dedicatedher award to her father,her grandmother and herlate mother.

This was Awkwafina’sfirst Golden Globe nomi-nation. The Farewell alsoreceived a nomination forBest Motion Picture —Foreign Language.

Last year, the actor-rap-per celebrated gettingnods through anInstagram post.

She wrote, “This weekhas been so surreal.Incredibly honored towake up to the news thismorning... Thank you somuch HFPA for thisnomination and for rec-ognizing @thefarewell.Can’t believe I am nomi-nated alongside suchinsanely talented women.”

AWKWAFINA makes historywith Golden Globe win

A

KAPIL DEV: RanveerSingh and I are very

different peoplen June 1983, when cap-tain Kapil Dev took theIndian cricket team to theWorld Cup in England,no one had any expecta-tion from the team to

eventually win the cup. Everythingchanged on June 25 when Kapilalong and his teammates raised thetrophy for the first time at Lord’s.

The captain who made cricketinghistory for India turns 61 onMonday. Now that Ranveer Singhplays Kapil Dev in Kabir Khan’supcoming ’83, he is curious to knowhow their effort, based on the jour-ney of that tournament, ends up onthe big screen.

“You naturally feel proud of thefact when people have no expecta-tion of the result but you’ve used theopportunity to deliver the best. Forus, the winning of World Cup in1983 was just that. We played out ofsheer passion, and I think in anyjourney the difficult part comes

when expectation arises,” Kapil toldIANS.

He added: “All of us have sharedour side of the story and the kind ofmemory we have. Now it is up toKabir (Khan) how he weaves thestory around it. I am sure the way Ilook at the story of the 1983 WorldCup would be different from myother teammates. Now, I am curiousto see how Kabir puts our storytogether. He is an expert in story-telling.”

The film is slated to release onApril 10. While Ranveer Singh playsKapil, the actor’s wife DeepikaPadukone appears as Kapil’s wifeRomi, and Tahir Raj Bhasin playsSunil Gavaskar. Saqib Saleem andHarrdy Sandhu are also part of thecast.

“Although I am curious to watchthe film, I have no expectation ofhow the film will be appreciated orthe kind of feedback it will get,”Kapil mentioned.

I

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

ilmmaker MahiV Raghav whohas been work-ing on an action-drama Syndicatefor the past six

months is in talks withVictory Venkatesh to spearhead it. A productionventure of PVP, the film features two heroes in cen-tral roles and Mahi is keenon Venky to play one role,which is of a cop.

“The film will be a freshtake on corruption, some-thing that will be in com-plete contrast to vigilantefilms that Shankar and ARMurugadoss had done in

the past. It’s more about ide-ological differences betweenlead parts, with corruptionas the main theme. Mahi isin the final stages of com-pleting the script. Recently,he gave a soft pitch toVenkatesh but it’s too earlyto talk whether the actorliked it or not. The directorwants to meet Venky againafter he wraps up the finaldraft next month-end. Thecasting will determinewhether the film will be ma-de in Hindi or Tamil otherthan primary language Telu-gu,” said a highly-placedsource close to the develop-ment.

Speaking to us last July,Mahi had this to say aboutSyndicate: “I believe actionwill draw the audience forthe morning show alone.For them to last for the nexttwo-and-a-half hours therehas be to be an emotionalconnect and this story hassuch connect.”

As of now, Venky, who ishot off the success of VenkyMama, is committed to fea-ture in Asuran remake,which will go to floors laterthis month. He is likely tostart F3 with Anil Ravipudilater this summer, theannouncement of which isyet to be made. — NG

he pre-releaseevent of SuperstarMahesh Babu-starrer SarileruNeekevvaru livedup to all the

excitement surrounding it.Held at the LB Stadium inHyderabad on Sundayevening, a sea of fansdescended onto the event,where chief guest MegastarChiranjeevi and veteran actorVijaya Shanti’s renewed bondturned out to be the cynosureof all eyes.

Beginning his speech bypraising Mahesh’s look as anArmy officer in the film,Chiranjeevi said that soonafter watching the trailer hecomplimented Mahesh overtexts. “When the film’s mak-ers invited me for the pre-release event, I was surprisedto hear that the film wasready. Usually, the films star-ring top actors take 7 to 8months if not a year to finishwhereas Sarileru Neekevvaruwas shot in five months.Every filmmaker shouldemulate it; they should com-plete films on a war-footing.It will help the industry. Iimmediately had a word withKoratala who is my nextdirector. He usually takes130-140 days to wrap up afilm. He promised me he willcomplete my film in less than100 days. I was also told thatMahesh didn’t charge apenny (as the actor’s feeincludes money from satelliteand digital rights). It’s a wel-come move as it helps theproducer massively. I used tofollow a similar practice ear-lier and my son Charan doesthe same,” Chiru said.

Chiru demands Dada SahebPhalke for Krishna

Chiru lamented the factthat Superstar Krishna didn’tget the honour that hedeserves from the Centralgovernment. “The twoTelugu states should ensurethat he gets the highest filmhonour, Dada Saheb PhalkeAward. I demand for it. IfKrishna garu is honoured, itwill be an honour for all ofus. Besides doing more than350 films, he was known forhis daredevil stunts and assomeone who was the first toembrace new technology. Hewas also instrumental in theindustry shifting base fromMadras to Hyderabad byconstructing PadmayalaStudios,” the actor recalled.

Chiru, Shanti’s sweet bantersteals the show

The event also saw himrekindling friendship withyesteryear heroine and co-star, Vijaya Shanti. “I share agreat bond with her. She usedto stay opposite to my housein T Nagar, Madras. We wereregulars at important eventsof our respective families. ButI have a slight grudge againsther,” Chiru said. When VijayaShanti chimed in and ques-tioned him about it, he want-ed to know why she washarsh on him during theirpolitical careers. Both burstinto peals of laughter and sodid the attendance. VijayaShanti replied, saying theyare still friends keeping poli-tics aside. “You are my heroand I’m your heroine. Youcan’t deny the fact that I’vedone 20 films with you,right?” she asked. Chiru nod-

ded in agreement. She askedChiru if they can team uptogether for a film again, towhich he replied with ‘whynot?’ He added that eventhough she criticised him onthe political front he neveruttered a word against herbecause of the immenseaffection he had for her. Hethanked Mahesh Babu forgiving his old friend back.

Mahesh is a 24 carat gold,says Shanti

Stating that from 1979 to2020, it has been an unfor-gettable journey for her.Shanti said that Krishna garuintroduced her as a heroineand laid a foundation for herin the industry and she neverexpected her comeback withhis son Mahesh. “I toldMahesh that I will act withhis son Gautham as well.Mahesh is a 24-carat gold. Heis the rightful owner of thesuperstar tag and is a thor-ough gentleman. He has acedcomedy and dance in thefilm. He is a superstar in real

life too as he helped 1,000girls get heart surgeries donefree of cost. SarileruNeekevvaru is dedicated tosoldiers protecting the coun-try across the border,” shepointed out.

Chiru is an inspiration, saysMahesh

Keeping his speech brief,Mahesh said Chiru alwaysmade it a point to encouragehim. “After watching Okkadu,he spoke to me about thefilm and my performance fortwo hours. Later, he visitedthe shooting location ofArjun and was impressed bythe sets. He had said that“The industry needs an actorlike you and you should takeit forward”. In fact, afterwatching Pokiri he had alengthy conversation with meand I still can’t forget hiswords. He has been an inspi-ration to me. I hope I get hisfirst call on January 11 assoon as my film releases,”Mahesh said.

On Vijaya Shanti, he said

that she is still the samewhen he first worked withher 30 years ago for KodukuDiddina Kapuram. “In fact, Iwas doubtful if she wouldaccept the role or not as it’sbeen more than 13 yearssince she did a film but Anil(director) managed to signher on. Nobody would’veplayed Bharati better thanher,” he said.

The actor further said thathe has never seen a morepositive director like AnilRavipudi in his career. “Ithoroughly enjoyed workingwith him. And the funreflected in the work. Westarted shoot on July 4 andwe wrapped up the film onDecember 18. It’s the fastestfilm of my career. My fanscomplain that it’s been longsince I’ve done a mass film. Iwish to reiterate that I signup a film if I like the story. Iliked Anil’s story and didwhatever he asked me to do,”he concluded.

Vijayawada Tuesday January 7, 2020

11

GLITZ, GLAMOUR,BANTER AND A WORDOF ADVICE BY CHIRU

Sarileru… pre-release eventlived up to all the excitement

surrounding it. Chiru's renewedbond with Vijaya Shanti turned

out to be the cynosure of alleyes at the event,

reports NAGARAJ GOUD

T

ast November,when RRR teamannounced newmembers into thecast — OliviaMorris, Alison

Doody and Ray Stevenson— they failed to mentionthe release date, which is ageneral norm forpress releases, trig-gering specula-tions that itmight not meetthe intendeddate of July 30,2020. However,Ram Charan,who is

playing one of the two maleleads in the film, said thefilm will come as scheduled.“At the press interaction lastyear, Rajamouli garuannounced the release dateas July 30 and we are goingto stick to that. We’vewrapped up close to 70 per

cent of the film. We areextremely positive

about the film eversince we went tofloors,” Charansaid. He was speak-ing at a promotion-

al event of amobile brandHappi that he

endorses, in Vijayawada onMonday. He added that hewill take a call on his newassignment after he com-pletes RRR. He also assuredthat he will strive to do twofilms every year.

When asked whether hehas Bollywood ambitions,the actor, who made hisBollywood debut with thedamp squib Zanjeer in 2013,noted, “Bollywood is look-ing at us and our films aredoing well there. I’m com-fortable in Telugu and Idon’t have any Bollywooddreams as of now.”

The Manchu family consisting of Mohan Babu, Lakshmi, and Vishnu and his wife,Viranica Reddy, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. Recently, manyBollywood actors met Modi but many actors, especially from the South, couldn't get

the chance to do so. So Manchu Lakshmi has taken it onto herself to make sure evenactors from Tollywood get to meet the Prime Minister which might happen soon.Manchu Lakshmi said that there is no political agenda to the meeting.

VisitingModi

L

Charan reiterates July 30release date for RRR

ast week, buzzabout promi-nent Hindi cine-matographerDudley, whoworked for

films like Singham andChennai Express, exitingBellamkonda Sreenivas’next with SantoshSrinivas over creative dif-ferences did the rounds.Chota K Naidu, it was said,had taken over to shoot thefilm. Turns out, the aceHindi cameraman had toleave the untitled projectfor a week to attend to aTamil film. It seems he hadtold this clearly to the mak-ers before he was signed upfor the project and they

hadno issues as such. He willbe joining the sets ofSreenivas film again laterthis week.

Having gone to floorsrecently, the film is 20 percent through with the

shooting. A characterisa-tion-based movie,Sreenivas plays the role of aguy who doesn’t stick tohis words. “I changeaccording to situationsaround me. Except forthe last 20 minutes,which will be highlyemotional, the rest of the

film will leave the audi-ence in splits. It’s a full-length entertainer,” theactor had said about thefilm last week.

A production venture ofG Subrahmanyam underSumanth MovieProductions, the film seesNabha Natesh alongsideSreenivas, while Devi SriPrasad is the composer.

VENKYapproached

for Syndicate

F

LDudley is not replaced

tollywood

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JANUARY 7, 2020 sport 12

PTIn INDORE

Awashed out series-open-er means ShikharDhawan has one game

less to make a statement in hisquest to outperform an in-formK L Rahul, making the opener’sfortunes an interesting sub-plotof India’s second T20I against SriLanka at Holkar stadium today.

Dhawan, 34, is a provenperformer in limited overs crick-et but with age on Rahul’s side(27), time is running out for theeasy-going Delhi-based crick-eter to cement his place for theT20 World Cup later this year.

The left-hander’s strike ratein the shortest format has beenan issue for a while and that isone thing he must address in theremaining two matches.

The fact that Dhawan iscoming back from an injury, oneof the many he suffered in2019, makes his task all the morechallenging.

In the year that went by,Dhawan managed 272 runs in12 games at a strike rate of 110.

Rahul, on the other hand,has made the most of his oppor-tunities at the top and was inscintillating form in the previ-ous limited overs series (threeODIs and three T20s) againstthe West Indies, scoring a hun-dred and three fifties in sixinnings.

Skipper Virat Kohli has

already stated that choosingbetween Dhawan and Rahulwill be a tough call after Rohit,who is rested from the Sri Lankaseries, returns to opening theinnings.

Considering not a ball wasbowled in Guwahati, it is unlike-ly that Kohli will make changesto the playing XI, having pickedthree specialist pacers and twospinners for the series-opener.

India are being experimen-tal ahead of the World Cup inOctober-November but themanagement has so far notgiven an opportunity to Pandeyand Samson, who are likely to sitout again.

Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah’scomeback after four monthswas highly anticipated in

Guwahati but rain and subse-quent wet outfield played spoil-sport. He is certain to get gametime today with clear weatherpredicted in Indore.

All-rounder AngeloMathews, one of Sri Lanka’smost experienced players along-side skipper Lasith Malinga,did not find a place in the play-ing XI in Guwahati with the vis-itors also going for three special-ist pacers and two spinners. Itremains to be seen if Mathewsmakes the team today.

Sri Lanka, who have notwon a bilateral series againstIndia across formats for morethan 10 years now, will have toproduce a special performanceto upstage the domineeringhosts here.

PTI n GUWAHATI

Plagued by injuries in 2019, open-er Shikhar Dhawan is aiming for

a fresh start in the new year and wantsto become a “more impactful” bats-man in his quest to help India lift theICC T20 World Cup in Australia.

“Last year I had lots of injuries butthat’s part and parcel of our work. It’sa new year and I am looking forwardfor a new start and it’s gonna go a longway,” Dhawan told bcci.Tv.

“This year looking I am forwardto score lots of runs for the team andfor myself and be a more impactfulplayer, win matches for my team andwin the World Cup,” he said, elabo-rating on his goal for 2020.

Dhawan, who is back in theIndian team for the three-match T20series against Sri Lanka, believes theongoing rubber is a great opportuni-ty for him to be back among runs.

“I am really looking forward tothis series. It’s a good opportunity forme to come and express myself andscore big runs,” he said.

“I am always developing my game,developing new shots. I always makesure that I do my preparation well andcome on the ground and enjoymyself.”

AFPn SYDNEY

Nathan Lyon captured five for50 and 10 match wickets as

Australia crushed New Zealandby 279 runs on Monday, cappinga golden domestic summer asthey swept the three-Test series.

The off-spinner led thepowerful Australian bowlingattack to dismiss the Kiwis for136 and seal another heavy winover the Black Caps after simi-lar victories in Perth andMelbourne.

Australia have been unbeat-able this season, winning all fiveTests at home — two againstPakistan and three against NewZealand — after retaining theAshes by drawing the series 2-2 in England.

“It’s been a great summer forthe Australian Test side,” Lyonsaid.

“It’s pretty special to be partof it, we have been impressive,pretty clinical, the batters havedone well and given us bowlersplenty of time.”

Australia declared their sec-ond innings at 217 for two withDavid Warner scoring anunbeaten century, leaving theBlack Caps with a revised 416-run target in the fourth inningson a wearing Sydney CricketGround pitch.

But the Kiwis buckled underthe pressure of Australia’s supe-rior bowling attack with MitchellStarc taking three for 25 tosupport the wiles of spinnerLyon.

“They were clinical in allareas and after the first matchthey put us under pressure ses-sion after session,” said skipperKane Williamson, who missedthe Test with a virus.

INDORE: The ICC’s cricket com-mittee is set to discuss the four-day Test proposal in Marchdespite growing criticism fromthe world’s leading playersincluding India skipper ViratKohli.

Former India captain AnilKumble, who heads the crick-et committee of the sport’s gov-erning body, said the propos-al will be discussed in the nextround of the ICC meetings, toheld in Dubai from March 27-31.

“Since I am part of thecommittee, I can’t tell what Iam thinking about it (propos-al) at the moment. We will dis-cuss it in the meeting and letyou know,” Kumble said,adding that he is fine with pastand current cricketers haveexpressed their views aboutfour-day Tests.

The likes of AndrewStrauss, Rahul Dravid, MahelaJayawardene and ShaunPollock are also on cricketcommittee.

The proposal, which hasbeen floated for the 2023-2031 cycle, has not gone downwell with the greats of the gameincluding Kohli, SachinTendulkar and Ricky Ponting.

However, member boardsfrom England and Australiaare open to the idea whileBCCI boss Sourav Ganguly hassaid that “it is too early” to talkabout it. PTI

AFP n CAPE TOWN

Ben Stokes launched an astonishing assaultwhich enabled England to give themselves

plenty of time to push for victory, but thetourists had to work hard to take two SouthAfrican wickets before the close on the fourthday of the second Test at Newlands onMonday.

Set to make a world record 438 to win,South Africa were 126 for two at the close.They used up 56 overs on Monday but willneed to bat out another 90 today to preventEngland from levelling the four-match series.

Opening batsman PieterMalan, making his Test debut,scored 63 not out and sharedhalf-century partnerships with Dean Elgar (34)and Zubayr Hamza, who was caught behindoff James Anderson in the penultimate over ofthe day for 18.

Stokes slammed 72 off 47 balls to over-shadow a maiden Test century by DominicSibley, who continued his sedate progress ashe took his overnight score of 85 to 133 notout. He reached his hundred off 269 balls andfaced 311 deliveries in his innings.

England’s batting on Monday was in dra-matic contrast to their effort on Sunday whenthey ground their way to 218 for four off 79overs. Sparked by Stokes they added another157 runs off only 32 overs before declaring fiveovers after lunch on 391 for eight.

While Sibley continued to play the anchorrole, Stokes went on the attack against everybowler he faced. He survived a chance on 38when an attempted pull against Kagiso Rabada

could not be held by a diving Quinton de Kockafter the wicketkeeper ran about 35 metres intrying to take the catch.

Stokes was caught at long-on off left-armspinner Keshav Maharaj after an inningswhich included three sixes and seven fours andhad a large English contingent in the crowdroaring their approval.

Ollie Pope fell quickly but Jos Buttler con-tinued the attack, hitting 23 off 18 balls as thelead went beyond 400.

PTI n KOLKATA

Ritwik Roy Chowdhury struck anunbeaten fifty under pressure on his

Ranji debut while Akash Deep claimedsix wickets as Bengal snatched threepoints against Gujarat in their rain-affected group A fixture here onMonday.

Making his debut in place of theout-of-form Sudip Chatterjee, the 24-year-old showed both aggression andcomposure on way to his 53 not outfrom 67 balls (7x4, 1x6), as Bengal tookthe first innings lead in the final sessionof the concluding day.

It was rising Bengal pacer AkashDeep who had set the tone with a six-wicket haul in his second Ranji appear-ance to bowl out Gujarat for 194 insidethe first-hour's play on the final day.

Left with little time, Bengal had ashaky beginning and skipperAbhimanyu Easwaran (42) could notconvert his start, while the senior-mostManoj Tiwary (37) departed at 137 forfour.

Batting at number six, Ritwikstitched an important 48-run partner-ship with Shreevats Goswami (29), butit was number eight Shahbaz Ahmed(27 not out) who extended the helpinghand to ensure the lead.

"I was really in the zone, played witha lot of intent, it's about striking the rightbalance. I put in a lot of thought on howI wanted to bat. It paid off. It was verymuch expected. They threw at me andI was ready for it," Ritwik said.

Rain had washed out the first day'splay while the match was truncated onboth the second and third days beforeGujarat resumed on 169 for seven.

The 23-year-old Akash Deep, whowas adjudged Man of the Match, ranthrough the tail en route to impressivefigures of 6/60 from 18.3 overs.

Bengal's last match, against Andhra,too was affected by the weather.

"Weather has denied us somepoints. But I'm feeling good about theteam. Under the circumstances, we arehappy to get three points. In both thegames we were sitting pretty in the gamewe should have got six in one of them.

"Unfortunately you cannot do any-thing about the weather. But the teamis in a roll. They are playing well, look-ing good. The belief is there," Bengalcoach and mentor Arun Lal said.

Showering praise on Akash Deepand Ritwik, he said: "As a coach I can'task for anything more. New stars are

born. Bengal will look as a force as goodas any other team in a couple of yearswith these youngsters doing well."

UP SSETTLE FFOR 11KANPUR: Tamil Nadu grabbed threepoints on the basis of their first inningslead after their Elite Group B matchagainst Uttar Pradesh ended in a tamedraw.

The game was evenly poised whenUP resumed the fourth and final dayat the Green Park Stadium at 170 for9, needing 11 more runs to overhaulTamil Nadu's first innings total.

However, Tamil Nadu's 28-year-oldleft-arm medium pacer T Natarajan (4for 24) quickly accounted for rival skip-

per Ankit Rajpoot (2) as hosts werebowled out for 175, with the visitorssnatching the all-important lead.

In their second essay, UP left-armorthodox spinner Saurabh Kumar (5-39) spun a web around the TN bats-men as the visitors collapsed to 154 allout.

For the southern side, two-downBaba Aparajith (53) scored a half cen-tury, while captain Vijay Shankar (28)was the second highest run-scorer.

Other batsmen, including openersV Ganga Sridhar (1) and LSuryapprakash (2), failed as UPbowlers wrecked havoc.

Kumar was ably supported byRajpoot (3-39) and off- spinner Rinku

Singh (2-11).UP were set an ambitious 160-run

target for an outright victory. UPopeners Rinku Singh (27) and AlmasShaukat (14 not out) added 41 runs forthe first wicket before Natarajan sentback the former.

Natarajan also dismissed one-down Mohammed Saif (0) in the sameover. However, bad light stopped play,bringing the proceedings to a close.

TN picked up three points forsecuring the innings lead for the firsttime this season. Uttar Pradesh had tobe content with a solitary point.

Meanwhile at Dharamshala, theMadhya Pradesh versus HimachalPradesh game ended in a draw with theformer earning three points courtesytheir first-innings lead. HP had to becontent with a lone point.

In the next round, TN take ondomestic heavyweights Mumbai inChennai from January 11, while UPplay Baroda in Kanpur.

J&K TTHRASH JJHARKHANDRANCHI: Left-arm medium-pacer AbidMushtaq took five wickets as Jammuand Kashmir thrashed Jharkhand by aninnings and 27 runs in Group Cmatch.

Resuming on overnight 103 forfour on the final day, Jharkhand lost sixwickets for 52 runs in 26.4 overs to tastetheir first defeat in four matches.

The experienced Ishank Jaggi (34,96 balls, 2 fours) defied the J&K attackon the final day but the others, includ-ing the talented Ishan Kishan (8, 28balls, 1 four) and Virat Singh (1), did-n't rise to the occasion.

Mohammed Mudhasir providedthe breakthrough by removing ViratSingh.

Kishan and Jaggi resisted for eightovers before the two were dismissed inthe space of three runs by Umar Nazirand Aquib Nabi respectively.

Nabi then removed Rahul Prasad(6), Shahbaz Nadeem (9) and VarunAaron (0) to finish things off forJammu and Kashmir.

J and K improved their tally to 20points from four matches whileJharkhand are on 16 points.

In another match, Haryana beatChhattisgarh by 89 runs in Raipur totake their points tally to 21.

Odisha conceded the first inningslead to Tripura in Agartala but are ontop of Group C with 22 points from forgames.

AFPn JEDDAH

South African driver Giniel De Villiers won thesecond stage of the Dakar Rally on Monday

while former Formula One world championFernando Alonso dropped two and a half hoursafter losing a wheel.

De Villiers, who lost 23 minutes when he fin-ished 14th in Sunday's opening stage, bouncedback strongly over the 401 kilometre-route, ofwhich 367 were a special between Al-Wajh andNeom.

Many drivers had navigational problems andDe Villiers took advantage of a mistake by longtime stage leader Yazeed Al-Rajhi to guide hisToyota home in 3hrs 37mins 20secs.

The 47-year-old crossed the line 3mins57secs ahead of Orlando Terranova who nowheads the overall standings in his Mini.

The Argentinian, who was sixth in the open-ing stage, is almost five minutes ahead of fellowMini driver Carlos Sainz.

Defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyahcame in fifth on stage two and is six minutes offthe lead while 13-time champion StephanePeterhansel already trails by 13 minutes.

Alonso suffered his first major problem inhis first Dakar when he ground to a halt with adamaged wheel. He was running fourth after 100kilometres of the special when the problem

occurred.The Spaniard had no option but to wait for

his assistance team before he was able toresume. However, his chances of reaching thepodium already look unlikely.

On the motorcycles, Ross Branch won hisfirst stage on the Dakar after a perfectly con-trolled day's riding.

The Botswanan finished 1min 24secs aheadof 2017 winner Sam Sunderland who now leadsthe bikes category, 1min 18secs ahead of PabloQuintanilla.

On Tuesday, the rally heads out on a 489 kmround trip which starts and ends in Neom.

PTIn SYDNEY

Spin legend Shane Warne onMonday said he has decid-

ed to auction his Baggy Greencap to raise funds for the dev-astating bushfire victims ofAustralia.

Warne made theannouncement by posting a statement on his twitter handle dur-ing the third Test between Australia and New Zealand at the SCGhere.

"The horrific bushfires in Australia have left us all in disbelief.The impact these devastating fires are having on so many peopleis unthinkable and has touched us all. Lives have been lost, homeshave been destroyed and over 500 million animals have died too,"he said in the statement.

"Everyone is in this together and we continue to find ways tocontribute and help on a daily basis. This has led me to auctionmy beloved baggy green cap (350) that I wore throughout my Testcareer. "I hope my baggy green can raise some significant fundsto help all those people that are in desperate need," the 50-year-old former leg-spinner added.

Warne has joined a growing list of cricketers, who are raisingmoney for the bushfire victims.

Australian players Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell and D'Arcy Shorthave already announced that they will donate AUD 250 each forevery six they hit in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) to sup-port bushfire victims.

Shikhar wants tobe more impactful

Shikhar Dhawan during India’s practice session in Guwahati PTIVirat Kohli & Lasith Malinga pose with the paytm T20 trophy ICC/Twitter

INDIA SSRI LLANKA DDOSSIERTeam (Ranking) P W L T N/R Success%India (Fifth) 127 78 44 1 4 63.38Sri Lanka (Seventh) 124 59 61 2 2 49.19Ind v SL 17 11 5 - 1 67.64

HIGHEST IINNINGS TTOTALSIndia 260-5 in 20 overs at Indore 22-12-2017Sri Lanka 215-5 in 20 overs at Nagpur 09-12-2009

TOP IINDIVIDUAL SSCORESIndia 118 Rohit Sharma at Indore 22-12-2017Sri Lanka 78 Kumar Sangakkara at Nagpur 09-12-2009

Faisel Features

Special chemical to blunt dew impactPTIn INDORE

In an effort to counter theeffects of dew, the Madhya

Pradesh Cricket Association(MPCA) has been spraying aspecial chemical on the outfieldat the Holkar Stadium.

MPCA chief curatorSamander Singh Chauhan saidon Monday that to beat theeffects of dew, a special chem-ical was being sprayed over theground since the last three

days. Besides, he said, the grasson the ground was also notbeing watered since the lastthree days to minimise theeffects of dew.

“We sincerely hope thespectators will get to see foursand sixes raining in the match,”he said.

Since the game will com-mence at 7pm, dew could be afactor in deciding the out-come, especially in the secondhalf of the match.

SA start well in record chaseDhawan, Rahul battlefor opener’s slot

Ben Stokes play shot during his 47-ball 72 run innings ECB

South Africa vs EnglandLive from 2:00pm IST

SONY SIX NETWORK

India vs Sri LankaLive from 7:00pm ISTSTAR SPORTS 1 NETWORK

Seniors have to do more: PereraPTIn GUWAHATI

His performance not up to the mark by hisown admission, Sri Lanka wicket-keeper

batsman Kusal Perera says the senior players inthe side will have to share more responsibility ifthey are to beat India in the T20 series.

“I didn’t play consistent Test cricket but inwhite ball cricket, I played last series in Australia.

There I played well but not upto the mark. So Iwill try to do my best in this series,” Perera, whohas played 18 Tests, 98 ODIs and 43 T20s.

“We need to play together as a team.Obviously the senior players will have to pull uptheir socks. They will have to do much better butat the same time the good thing is we have someyoung bowlers and batsmen in the squad,”Perera told bcci.Tv.

Standing tall Down UnderLyon roars as Aus crush Black Caps to sweep series

Australian players pose for a team photo with the trophy after winning Sydney Test AP

Akash, Ritwik secure 3 pts for Bengal

Bengal’s Ritwik Roy Chowdhury raises his bat after completing fifty against Gujarat during Ranji Trophygame at Eden Gardens on Monday as teammte Shahbaz Ahmed congratulates him PTI

De Villiers wins secondstage of Dakar Rally

Kevin Benavides of Argentina rides Honda motorbike AP

Warne to auctionBaggy Green

ICC to discussfour-day Testproposal in March