Brahmotsavam rituals at the Yadadri Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri on Wednesday

04 HYDERABAD THURSDAY 2702 2020

GST OFFICIALS HOLD MEET WITH TAX PAYERSGST officials organised an awareness meeting with taxpayers in the Adilabad district office on Wednesday. Malika Arya, Chief Commissioner of Central Tax and Customs, Hyderabad, participated in the meeting.

FROM PAGE 1“No religious structure should be treated above law. The gov-ernment should take up a de-tailed survey of the lands in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad,” the bench said.

Pursuant to earlier direction of the court, Principal Secre-tary to Municipal Administra-tion Arvind Kumar, Principal Secretary to Panchayat Raj

Sandeep Kumar Sultania, San-gareddy District Collector Ha-numantha Rao and others ap-peared before the bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy. It was dealing with a PIL filed in 2018 by Human Rights and Consumer Protection Cell Trust complaining that the au-thorities concerned did not

take any action against Mad-havapuri Hills Devalaya Com-mittee though the latter had constructed a temple in an open space earmarked for a park at Madhavapuri Hills.

After perusing the affidavit filed by the government, the

bench termed it ‘vague and poorly drafted’. Except for issu-ing a notice to the temple com-mittee and filing a complaint with the local police, no con-crete action has been initiated against the persons who en-croached the government land,

the bench remarked.It told the senior officials

who appeared before the bench that nearly 40 PILs were filed in the High Court on the issue re-lating to illegal en-croachment of govern-ment land. “It appears that the government is least bothered about protect-ing its lands. In fact, the State’s

inaction is leading to the in-crease in the number of such

illegal religious structures,” the bench noted.

The counsel repre-senting the devotees contended that the said temple was constructed

on a private patta land, which is a waste land as

per the revenue records, and urged the court to permit filing

of an implead petition in the case.

While adjourning the hear-ing, the bench directed the ad-vocate commissioner to visit the park area where the temple is built. The bench directed the temple authority to pay `50,000 to the advocate commissioner towards his fee. The bench posted the matter to March 16 for further hearing.

Bench asks govt to carry out detailed survey of lands in the twin cities

It appears that the government is least bothered about protecting its lands. In fact, the State’s inaction is leading to the increase in the number of such illegal religious structures – HC Bench

Space, defence thrust helped MIDHANI growValue of production rose by 27% from `640 cr in FY 14-15 to `815 cr in FY 18-19

E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @Hyderabad

MISHRA Dhatu Nigam (MID-HANI), the Hyderabad-based public sector undertaking al-loys maker, has procured huge profits since its last quarter results. The company has mainly benefitted from the government’s thrust to space and defence pro-grammes. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who reviewed MIDHANI’s performance on Wednesday, commended it’s contribution towards indi-g e n i s at i o n i n d e f e n c e manufacturing.

“The company’s value of production has increased by

around 27 per cent from `640 crore in FY 14-15 to ̀ 815 crore in FY 18-19. Its market capi-talisation hit a peak of `4,637 crore and its share price hit an all-time high of `248.45 as on February 20, 2020,” said a statement released by MID-HANI. According to the ICICI sec report, MIDHANI’s reve-nues from the space segment increased by 15 per cent.

Over the past five years, the government’s expenditure budget towards space has grown at 17 per cent. This has put MIDHANI in a sweet spot, reflecting in the company’s financials. Singh also lauded the DPSU for diversifying its business to other sectors.

11-day Yadadri Brahmotsavam beginsE X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Yadadri Bhuvanagiri

THE Yadadri Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple Brahmotsavam began on We d n e s d ay i n Ya d a d r i Bhuvanagiri.

According to temple offi-cials, over 5,000 pilgrims have participated in the inaugural event. Amid milling crowds

and chanting of holy mantras, rituals such as Swasthi Vachanam, Ankurarpan-am and Mrustamgra-h a n a m w e r e performed.

The brahmotsa-vams will continue till March 7 and the Thiru Kalyanotsavam, the celestial marriage of the Lord Narsimha Swami and

his consort Sri Laskhmi, will be performed on March 4.

Hundreds of priests took to mass chanting of mantras under the su-pervision of main priest of the temple N Lakshmi Narsimha

Charyulu. Dhwajaro-hanam, Bheri Pooja, Deva-

tha Havanam and Homam will be performed on Thursday.

Sandhya’s parents say college to be blamed for deathFROM PAGE 1In the scuffle that ensued, the father of the girl fell in front of the freezer box and went un-derneath, momentarily stop-ping the police from moving the freezer box back towards the hospital. It was then that the constable Sridhar kicked her father several times until he came out of the way of the freezer box.

After the video of the inci-dent went viral on the social media, Sangareddy in-charge SP Chandana Deepthi said on Twitter that action was being taken against th constable but pointed out that the agitators tried to take the body to Nary-ana College to stage protest.

They held sticks and stones to scare everyone who might try to thwart them. When the police tried to shift the body back in to the hospital it was then that the constable Sridhar - PC 349 - had acted highhand-edly. The constable has since been attached to AR head quar-ters and an inquiry is on, she said.

Sandhya’s parents blamed the college management for the girl’s death. They alleged that their daughter had been suffer-ing from fever but the college management had not allowed her to go home. Fed up, the girl might have committed suicide,

the parents alleged. Later in the evening, the fam-

ily of the victim had accepted a compensation of ̀ 15 lakh from Narayana Junior College. The parents and the management sat in talks for a long time be-fore agreeing on the compensa-tion amount.

Meanwhile, at Manakondur in Karimnagar district, Telan-gana-Recognised Schools Man-agement Association (TRSMA) State president Y Shekar Rao demanded closure of corpo-rate schools and colleges in Telangana.

Speaking to the media-per-sons, he requested the State government to take stringent action against corporate schools and colleges, who, he alleged were cheating students and parents.

Video grab shows Sandhya’s father lying on ground after being kicked by a constable in Sangareddy on Wednesday

EXPRESS READMinister, MLA spar at SRSP review meet

Mahabubabad: Tribal Welfare Minister Satyavathi Rathod and Mahbubabad MLA Banoth Shankar Naik exchanged heated argumets at a review meeting on SRSP

works at the collectorate here on Wednesday. Naik, who arrived late to the meeting, said he was not informed about the meeting on SRSP. ‘’How can you conduct the

meeting without eliciting information about issues from the local MLA,’’ he questioned the minister. Replying to him, Rathod said that everyone had agreed to

attend the meeting and wondered why the MLA was making an issue about it.