5

Centre shouldmind its job:Ajit on NIAprobe in Elgaarcase

4

Gadkari: 22expressways,green corridorsto be built at Rs3 lakh-crore

8

India-Nepalunderstandingon key issuesbenefits both:Oli

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

MONEY 8INDIA SHOULD WELCOME

INVESTMENTS, SAYS UKIBC

OPINION 6YOU’RE WHAT YOU

SAY YOU’RE

SPORTS 12WALK IN

EDEN PARK

VIJAYAWADA, MONDAY JANUARY 27, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

}AND NOW, SHRIYA

JOINS RRR

Page 11www.dailypioneer.com

{

RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 86*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPALRAIPUR CHANDIGARH BHUBANESWAR

RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated January 26, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Magha & Shukla PakshaPanchangamTithi : Tritiya: Full NightNakshatram: Shatabhisha: Full NightTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 08:16 am- 09:40 amYamagandam: 11:04 am – 12:28 pm

Varjyam: 02:47 pm - 04:33 pm

Gulika: 01:52 pm - 03:16 pmGood Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 01:27 am - 03:11 am Abhijit Muhurtham: 12:06 pm - 12:51 pm

VIJAYAWADAWEATHERForecast: ClearTemp: 33/21Humidity: 65%Sunrise: 06.49Sunset: 06.08

GURDWARA HOLDS OPEN HOUSEDAYS AFTER RACIST ATTACK IN USAGurdwara in the US state of California has organised an open house

and welcomed hundreds of people in a bid to spread awarenessabout the religion, weeks after it was defaced with a swastika graffiti inan apparent hate crime. On January 13, the priest of Guru ManeyoGranth Gurdwara Sahib in Orangevale saw words "White Power" and aswastika graffitied onto the sign out frontand informed police. On Saturday,members of the minority community we-lcomed hundreds of people from dif-ferent backgrounds, religions and races.

CONGRESS SENDS MODI COPY OFCONSTITUTION, TWEETS RECEIPTOn the 71st anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution, the

Congress sent a copy of the book to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,saying, "When you get time off from dividing the country, please doread it". The dig encapsulated the opposition's allegations of thegovernment violating theConstitution through the CitizenshipAmendment Act or CAA. Most of thepoliticians, civil society and artisteswho are opposing the CAA, read theConstitution on Republic Day.

GOOGLE'S VIBRANT R-DAY DOODLESHOWCASES DIVERSITY, HARMONY Google on Sunday dedicated a special doodle to mark the 71st Repu-

blic Day, which captured the country's vibrant diversity, rich sartorialand cultural heritage as well as its beautiful bio-diversity. The multi-hueddoodle, with a dominant blue tone, depicts iconic monuments inters-persed with images of famous music instruments and dance forms. TheInternet behemoth is known to mark landmark occasions and life andtimes of celebrated personalities with special doodles. The word Googlewas portrayed colourfully using ima-ges of India's national bird and aniconic south Indian dance form.

MELBOURNE/COLOMBO: Thousands of Indians across the worldenthusiastically celebrated the 71st Republic Day on Sunday andparticipated in various cultural events with unfurling of the tricolour andsinging of the national anthem. Indian High Commissioner to Sri LankaTaranjit Singh Sandhu led the Indian communityduring the celebrations at the India House on Sun-day. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa,along with his wife Shiranthi Rajapaksa, joined theIndian diaspora to celebrate the day organised bythe Indian High Commission in Colombo.

INDIANS ACROSS THE WORLDCELEBRATE 71ST REPUBLIC DAY

Guv bats for 3 capitals PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Governor Biswa BhushanHarichandan unfurled theTricolour marking the start ofthe 71st Republic Day celebra-tions at the Indira GandhiMunicipal Corporation(IGMC) Stadium inVijayawada on Sunday.

The Governor took theguard of honour and inspect-ed the parade by various con-tingents of the State Police department andreviewed the beautifully deco-rated tableaux of governmentdepartments.

Later, in his message to thepeople of the State,Harichandan said his govern-ment was emphasising uponequitable distribution ofresources and balanced devel-opment of all regions.

Continued on Page 3

Governor Biswa Bhushan Harichandan receives the guard of honour during the Republic Day celebrations at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijayawada on Sunday.

Governor receives progress reportPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy has fulfilled most of hiselection promises in the sevenmonths of the YSRCP govern-ment, and a report on thisachievement has been submit-ted to the state GovernorBishwa Bushan Harichandanon the occasion of the 71stRepublic Day celebrations inVijayawada.

YSRCP senior leaderUmmareddy Venkateswarlu,told the media here on Sundaythat the YSRCP's flagship pro-gramme Navaratnalu wasbeing implemented in the state.

"Most of the previous gov-ernments failed to fulfill theirelection promises after coming

to power. Unlike any other gov-ernment, Jagan has fulfilledabout 90 per cent of the

promises made in the YSRCPmanifesto," Venkateswarlu said.

Continued on Page 3

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy receives Governor Biswa BhushanHarichandan at the Republic Day celebrations in Vijayawada on Sunday.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Advisor to the State govern-ment (Public Affairs) SajjalaRamakrishna Reddy onSunday created a flutter byrevealing that 17 MLCs of theTDP were ready to join theYSRCP, and emphasised thatthe YSRCP does not feel theneed to welcome them into theparty fold.

Stating that the YSRCP hassome principles and it wouldstick to them, Sajjala toldreporters at the party's centraloffice in Tadepalli that therewas no need for politics of'buying' people's representa-tives belonging to TDP.

He said that a crucial ques-tion has cropped up regardingthe future of various Bills thatthe government may pass fromtime to time in the Assemblyif the Legislative Council wereto exist.

"As is customary, crucialFinance Bills would not be sentto the Upper House," Sajjalasaid, accusing the TDP, whichenjoys a majority in theCouncil, of creating hurdles todelay the passage of Bills.

Continued on Page 3

n 17 TDP MLCs ready to join,but YSRCP doesn't needthem

n TDP chief concerned onlywith future of his son NaraLokesh

n Crucial Finance Bills wouldnot be sent to the Council

n TDP, which enjoys amajority in the Council , iscreating hurdles to delaythe passage of Bills

5 MLCs skip TDLP meeting todiscuss YSRC’s Council plansPNS n VIJAYAWADA

In a shocker to TDP supre-mo N Chandrababu Naidu,five MLCs of his party failedto attend a key Telugu Des-am Legislature Party (TDLP)meeting at Mangalagiri onSunday.

These five MLCs are GaliSaraswati, KE Prabhakar,Tippe Swamy, Satrucharla

Vijaya Rama Raju and Sam-antrhakamani. Of these five,Vijaya Rama Raju and Sam-anthakamani had skippedvoting on Rule No. 71 aswell. TDP sources said thatwhile Ramakrishna did notattend the meeting as he isabroad, Vijaya Rama Rajuskipped it due to health rea-sons.

Continued on Page 3

4.6 temblor rocksparts of AP, TS

PNS n HYDERABAD

An earthquake, measuring 4.6on the Richter scale shookparts of Andhra Pradesh andTelangana states in the earlyhours of Sunday.

NGRI identified the epi-centre of the earth-quake atC h i nt a l ap a l e mZone at Vellatur,about 7 km deepinto the ground.The resultanttremors were feltin parts ofHyderabad andAmaravati as well for afew seconds.

The earthquake was report-ed at around 2.37 am onSunday in Jaggaiahpet andNandigama areas. This isreported to be second earth-quake measuring over 4 on theRichter scale in the two Teluguspeaking states, and the sec-ond most severe in the last 51years. The last such earth-quake, recorded with a mag-

nitude of 5.3 on the Richterscale, had rockedBhadrachalam region in 1969.

On Sunday, the magnitudeof the earthquake Huzurnagarconstituency in Suryapet wasrecorded below 3, and it shook

the ground for about 10seconds.

While no loss ofproperty wasreported, resi-dents fear thata f t e r s h o c k smay occuragain or in a

day or two. NGRI Chief

Scientist Nagesh said,"The waves from

Chintalapalem reachedGuntur and Krishna inAndhra Pradesh andNalgonda and Khammam dis-tricts in Telangana creatingtremors. The earthquake wasoccurred in a faultline thatexists near Velthur of Suryapet.We haven't named the fault-line. The epicentre of thequake is in river Krishna."

Second most severe earthquakerecorded after 51 yrs in 2 states

PNS n JAIPUR

India needs a better opposi-tion which is the heart of anydemocracy and the rulingparty should embrace that tokeep it under check, notedeconomist and Nobel laure-ate Abhijit Banerjee said hereon Sunday.

Speaking at a session at theJaipur Literature Festival(JLF), the 58-year-old India-born American economistsaid there was no co-relationbetween the authoritarianismand the economic success.

"You can easily argue thatSingapore had a successfuldictator and can easily comeback and talk aboutZimbabwe. We can talk aboutthis ad nauseum… At somelevel authority is an illusion,"he said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Municipal AdministrationMinister Botsa Satyanarayanaon Sunday said that ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy made it clear to hisCabinet colleages that it wasthe people who would have todecide whether they require aLegislative Council or not.

Addressing the media here,the minister accused the TDPmembers of violating the rulesof Legislative Council for polit-ical reasons and reminded thatearlier, NTR had abolishedthe Council.

"The media had also sup-

ported the move by NTR toabolished the Council buttoday, the same media isopposing us," Botsa said.

He added: "It's evident thatthe Council Chairman violat-

ed the rules and sent the Bill(on Decentralisation ofAdministration) to the SelectCommittee. A particular set ofmedia channels then reportedthat we were influencing theMLCs and bribing them tosupport us.

We are not doing any suchthing. We don't have to indulgein such cheap tricks like Naidu,who is well experienced inbuying MLCs."

The Minister said that onMonday there will be a cleardecision from the governmenton abolishing the LegislativeCouncil, irrespective of howmuch time it takes.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Bringing administration clos-er to the people, the State gov-ernment on Sunday made 470services available for citizens atall the 15,002 village secretari-ats across AP.

The off icials preparedcharts listing the kind of ser-vices available on each work-ing day. An action plan hasbeen evolved to provide anyservice within a span of 72hours. In all, the governmentaims to provide 540 servicesrelated to 11 departments tothe people in a phased manner.

The officials said it mighttake five more days for thoseservices that could be availed

by paying fees. Preparationswere being made for dishingout such services by linking

payment of such fees to theaccounts of various depart-ments. They clarified that only

70 services would be offered onpayment of fees and theremaining 470 could be availedwith immediate effect.

All village secretariats arebeing equipped with comput-ers, Internet connectivity,tables, chairs and mobilephones.

Spandana programme

would be organised every dayto receive grievances from thepublic, officials said.

They said the employeesundergoing training at MandalParishads and municipalitiesshould report to their designat-ed secretariats and offer ser-vices to the people.

Continued on Page 3

PNS n MUMBAI

Over 300 eminent personali-ties from the creative andscholarly community of India,including actor NaseeruddinShah, filmmaker Mira Nair,vocalist TM Krishna, authorAmitav Ghosh and historianRomila Thapar have expressedsolidarity with the studentsand others protesting againstthe CAA and NRC.

The amended CitizenshipAct and National Register ofCitizens (NRC) is a "threat" tothe soul of India, the signato-

ries said in a note published onIndian Cultural Forum onJanuary 13.

"We stand in solidarity withthe students and others whoare protesting and speakingout against the CAA andagainst the NRC,” the eminentpersonalities said.

Continued on Page 3

PNS n NEW DELHI

Senior BJP leader Lal KrishnaAdvani on Sunday unfurledthe tricolour at his PrithvirajRoad residence hereand extendedgood wishes tothe people on theoccasion ofRepublic Day.

The nation cele-brated the 71st Republic Daywith a grand military paradeand exhibition of its history,cultural diversity and strate-gic weaponry at the Rajpath.

Earlier, Advani, 92, attend-ed the Republic Day parade.

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy inaugurates a village secretariat in this filephotograph.

Any service will be provided within a span of72 hoursThe government aims to provide 540services related to 11 departments in aphased mannerOnly 70 services would be offered onpayment of fees

300 personalities backanti-CAA protesters

Botsa Satyanarayana

R-Day: Advanihoists flag athis residence

Abhijit Banerjee

BJP will gainfrom betteropposition:Nobel laureate

Naidu won't be able to stopabolition of Council: Sajjala

Botsa: Decision on dissolutionof Legislative Council today

Village secretariats now provide 470 services

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | JANUARY 27, 2020 vijayawada 02

HC UPADHYAY n HYDERABAD

The ongoing tirade over imple-mentation of CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA),National Population Register(NPR) and the National Registerof Citizens (NRC) by fringepseudo-secular elements hasultimately culminated into proxywar by Pakistan against India.There is no surprise element init; rather it is on expected lines.

The all-out war on all fronts,viz. legislature, judiciary andstreets by the Congress-Left-Communal-Extremists com-bine has fiercely erupted in thelast-ditch battle to disintegrate,divide and douse India into thefire of communal frenzy which,if successful, would be nothingbut a repeat of the 1947 Partitionscenario.

The rogue state, calledPakistan, with its like-mindedhenchmen in India, has nowcome out in the open to supportsuch anti-national elements in allpossible ways, including themuch-needed finance andbreast-beating globally.

Although the conspiratorshave ganged up against nation-alist forces, happily the nationstands united like a rock. The

CAA-NRC cries have createdmore hatred against these gangsthan sympathy. The authorities,both in public administrationand judiciary, are rightly actingin sync to set right these anti-national, terrorist and commu-nal forces.

Indeed, the present volatilesituation in the country is noth-ing, but the rehearsal of the gorydays ahead when the imminentwar against Pakistan becomes areality. As Prof. Balraj Madhok,the co-founder of Bharatiya JanSangh had predicted, "thecountry will face war fromwithin the country aswell as from Pakistan."Therefore, he hadfavoured one last deci-sive war with Pakistan.

Unfortunately, thestage has been set now.The war is certainly not agood word, but like a bit-ter pill, it has to be accept-ed to cure the countryfrom the cancer of anti-nation-al elements and the externalenemy. And, India is capable toteach a fitting lesson to boththese enemies. The need of the

hour is to expedite thiscleansing process.

The Constitution ofIndia, too, clearly man-

dates that we shallstrive to pro-

tect sover-e i g n t y ,

integrity and unityof our democratic

nation at any cost. Onour part, the national-ist and patriotic forcesshould be vigilant andspare no efforts toinform and awaken

the people in their circles toidentify such divisive forceswearing the mask of 'patriotism'and further that they should notbe carried away by the sham

Tiranga rallies and the cunningof those merely swear by theConstitution

Remember, even Ravana hadadorned the clothes of a Sanyasiwhen he had gone to abduct Sitafrom her Ashram.

SC on time limit forwritten statement

The Supreme Court, in arecent judgment, has held thatthe time-limit of 90 days fromthe date of receipt of summonsby the defendant for filing thewritten statement (W/S) fixedunder Order VIII, Rule 1 in theCivil Procedure Code is just'directory' in nature and not 'mandatory' and as such, the

courts have discretion to extendthe same in appropriate cases.

However, in case of the com-mercial cases, the time-limit of120 days for filing the W/S is'mandatory' and the same can-not be extended by the courts,as has been held in Oku TechPvt. Ltd vs. Sangeet Agarwaland Others.

A three-judge bench, com-prising the Chief Justice of IndiaS.A Bobde and Justices SuryaKant and B.R Gavai, in Desh Rajvs. Balkishan (D) through LRsconsidered a catena of earlierjudgments on the subject andconcluded as hereinabove.

Child's welfareparamount: SC

In a path-breaking judgment,the Supreme Court on January20 held that whatever be the dif-ferences between a wife and hus-band, the courts should showutmost concern for the welfareof their child.

In Yashita Sahu vs. State ofRajasthan, a division bench ofJustices Deepak Gupta and

Aniruddha Bose also held thatthe habeas corpus writ petitionto secure production of thechild in the court was maintain-able. The court also recognisedthe contact right in addition tothe visiting right of a parent whowas denied custody of the child.Elaborating the concept of'Contact Right' the courtobserved that considering theavailability of new technologysuch as internet, WhatsApp etc;the child should be allowed tocontact the other parent viathese mediums at least for fiveto ten minutes on daily basis.

Court declinesloudspeakersonce again

There have been loud andclear verdicts by several HighCourts and even the Apex Courtthat installation of loudspeakerson mosques cannot be allowed,and refusing permission to do sodoes not violate any constitu-tional right.

Recently, stating that no reli-gion prescribes the use of loud-speakers for worshipping, the

Allahabad High Court declinedthe permission sought by twomosques to install loudspeakersfor the purposes of azaan. Thecourt in Marsoor Ahmed andAnother vs. State of U.P andOthers observed: "No religionprescribes or preaches thatprayers are required to be per-formed through voice amplifiersor by beating of drums and ifthere is such practice, it shouldnot adversely affect the rights ofthe others, including that of notbeing disturbed." The divisionbench of Justice Pankaj Mithaland Justice Vipin Chandra Dixitplaced reliance on Church ofGod (Full Gospel) in India v.KKR Majestic Colony WelfareAssociation & Ors., 2000 (7)SCC 282, whereby the SupremeCourt held that the rights underArticles 25 and 26 of theConstitution are subject to pub-lic order, morality and health.

The petitioners had arguedthat it is an essential part of theirreligious practice and it hasbecome necessary with theincreasing population to give callto the people on amplifiers andloudspeakers to come and pray.

LEGALROUNDUP

The rogue state, called Pakistan, withits like-minded henchmen in India,has now come out in the open tosupport such anti-national elementsin all possible ways, including themuch-needed finance and breast-beating globally.

FINALLY, IT'S INDIA VERSUS PAKISTAN!

Waltair Division a torchbearerof innovation, praises DRMPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Despite challenges thrown bydifficult circumstances, WatairRailway Division is excelled tosurpass the targets from Aprilto December 2019 andachieved 9.5% growth overcorresponding time (threequarters) of the last fiscal.Waltair Division stood in front-line in all the fields like safety,security, infrastructure develop-ment, amenities improvement,innovative measures andexcelled in all fields.

Due to untiring efforts of rail-waymen, the Division couldable to recover from thecyclones within record timeand completed projects withmajor thrust on passengeramenities like lifts and escala-tors. Waltair Division of EastCoast Railway celebrated the71st Republic Day celebrationswith fervour. Chetan KumarShrivastava, Waltair DivisionalRailway Manager, unfurled thenational flag and received theguard of honour from the con-tingents of Railway ProtectionForce, Cadets of Bharat Scoutsand Guides and Civil Defenceat the Railway Foot BallStadium.

Speaking on the occasion,DRM said that they focused onupgradation of infrastructure toenhance the mobility and safe-ty, by eliminating level crossings, enhanced speed in theDivision, carrying non-inter-locking works in record timeand completion of 197 km railrenewal works

After the passionate Republic

Day parade, DRM ChetanKumar said that WaltairDivision has played a vital rolein national integration andadopted the path of innovativeprogression that made it as atorch bearer for many. Railwayshave great contribution towardssocio-economic developmentof the nation through its workforce and service. TheDivision's progress is on fastphase that we can observe in e-Commerce, technological up-gradation, the volume of pas-sengers and goods it carry, thenetwork development and pas-senger facilities. Waltair

Division bagged NationalTourism award for the besttourist friendly railway stationand Waltair Division took ini-tiative for innovative measuresfor the convenience of public,constructed Refreshing Loungeunder Corporate SocialResponsibility funds fromHPCL, which is unique overIndian Railways and severalother initiatives like world classAC relaxing lounge, entertain-ment Fun-zone, Car Display,Human interactive interface,which are first of its kind inIndian Railways, the DRMadded.

Chetan Kumar Shrivastava, Waltair Divisional Railway Manager, receives the guard of honour at the Railway Foot Ball Stadiumin Visakhapatnam on Sunday (right) A dog with a camera during the parade

l Due to untiring efforts ofrailwaymen, the Divisioncould able to recover fromthe cyclones within recordtime and completedprojects with major thruston passenger amenities likelifts and escalators

l Waltair Division baggedNational Tourism award forthe best tourist friendlyrailway station and WaltairDivision took initiative forinnovative measures for theconvenience of public

l Constructed RefreshingLounge, which is uniqueand several other initiativeslike world class AC relaxinglounge, entertainment Fun-zone, , human interactiveinterface, which are first ofits kind in Indian Railways

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Vijayawada MunicipalCorporation CommissionerV Prasanna Venkatesh said thearchitect of Constitution DrBR Ambedkar enabled us tolead a happy democratic life.On the 71st Republic Daycelebrations, theCommissioner unfurled thenational flag and received theguard of honour. He paid trib-utes to Mahatma Gandhi andgreeted officials and staff onthe occasion.

He said that every year "wecelebrate Independence Dayand Republic Day on a grandnote". However, it is theresponsibility of every individ-ual to know the importance ofthe Republic Day. He said onthe 150th birth anniversary of

Mahatma Gandhi and as partof Swachh Bharat Mission,we are striving to improve theSwachh Survekshan rankingthis year. He said cleanlinessdrive is not just the duty of theCorporation, denizens shouldfeel the responsibility to keep

the surroundings clean.Additional commissioner AMohan Rao, chief medicalofficer Dr R Venkata Ramana,city planner Lakshman Rao,deputy commissioner Venkata Lakshmi and otherswere present.

Vijayawada Municipal Corporation Commissioner Prasanna Venketesh receivesthe guard of honour in Vijayawada on Sunday

VMC strives to improveSwachh Survekshan ranking

Tableau onDisha Act bagssecond prize PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Women and ChildWelfare Department'stableau on Disha Act hasbecome the cynosure of alleyes at the Republic Dayparade at the Indira GandhiStadium here on Sunday.The tableau was awardedthe second prize at theRepublic Day celebrations.

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddybrought the Disha Act torender quick justice towomen. To take the Actcloser to people, ValayamCreations Private Limiteddesigned the Disha Acttableau highlighting howthe Act functions and whatwould be the response ofthe government in case ofatrocities perpetrated onwomen.

MD of the ValayamCreations RamamohanReddy Bairapuramexpressed happiness overthe tableau bagging the sec-ond prize. He further stat-ed that the Act will renderjustice to women. Boldnessof the Chief Minister andhis quick reaction inspiredhis organisation to bring outthe tableau. He thankedthose who supported hisefforts on behalf of hisorganisation.

Patriotic wave witnessed atTTD’s Parade GroundsPNS n TIRUPATI

The 71st Republic Day haswitnessed grand gala of celebra-tions at the TTD ParadeGrounds on Sunday. TheNational Day commenced withExecutive Officer Anil KumarSinghal hoisting the tricolourflag on the occasion.

An attractive parade by theTTD vigilance staff led byAVSO Nandeeswar Rao stolethe show. It was followed by EO's address to the TTD employ-ees and presentation of oneSrivari silver dollar and anappreciation letter to 24 officialsand 205 other employees of alldepartments by him for theirmeritorious contributions.

On the occasion, the 20-member private security teamled by Srinivas highlighted thearrangements made by theTTD to avert accidents on ghatroads.

A display of dogs of bombsquad in detecting drugs andexplosives and a human pyra-mid display by TTD securitystaff enthralled held the gath-ering. The attractive dance andpatriotic songs presented bystudents of various TTD edu-cational institutions, includingAnnamacharya sankeertanswon the applause.

TTD Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal giving a certificate to a priest duringthe Repbulic Day celebrations in Tirupati on Sunday

TTD committed to propagationof sanatana dharma, says EOTIRUPATI: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams is committed towardsthe propagation, promotion and preservation of sanatana dharmalinked to socio-eonomic development of society, said TTD ExecutiveOfficer Anil Kumar Singhal. In his Republic Day address to TTDemployees at Parade Grounds of the administrative building onSunday, the Executive Officer highlighted the activities of TTD andalso its innovative strategies for religious promotion, devotees'welfare and TTD employees welfare. He thanked the generosity of36,000 donors, who contributed nearly Rs 386 crore to the TTD forpromotion of all its activities. The TTD has successfully conductedprestigious and challenging events like the annual Brahmotsavams,Vaikuntha Ekadasi at Tirumala. All preparations are underway for thesuccessful conduction of Ratha Sapthami at Tirumala on February1, he added. The Executive Officer said from January 20, the TTDhad launched another unique devotees' welfare programme of freedistribution of one laddu to each devotee after Srivari darshan andfacility to buy additional laddus without any recommendations.

CAPSULE

VIJAYAWADA: Sri DurgaMalleswara SwamivarlaDevastanam celebrated 71stRepublic Day here on Sunday.Temple Executive Officer MVSuresh Babu unfurled thenational flag. Later, hereceived the guard of honourfrom the SPF, home guardsand temple security personnel.On the occasion, he paid floraltributes Mahatma Gandhi. TheExecutive Officer spoke aboutimportance of the RepublicDay and recalled the sacrificesof freedom fighters. Heappealed to devotees visitingthe temple to come intraditional attire. Later, sweetswere distributed to childrenand temple staff. Templeengineer, additional executiveofficer, police and securitystaff and others were present.Caption: Durga templeexecutive officer MV SureshBabu receiving the guard ofhonour on the occasion ofRepublic Day in Vijayawada on Sunday.

Durga temple EOrecalls freedomfighters sacrifices

VIJAYAWADA: The VijayawadaOrthopaedic Society (VOS)organised 3K run to createawareness among people onhealth to mark the 71stRepublic Day celebrations. Therun commenced from BRTSRoad with a slogan 'Exercisefor Your Healthy Bones & You'.The run was flagged off by Dr YPoorna Chandra Rao,orthopaedic surgeon andfounder of VijayawadaOrthopaedic Club, here onSunday. Speaking on theoccasion, Dr Rao said thatVijayawada Orthopaedic Society(VOS) will organise a three-day49th annual conference ofOrthopaedic Surgeons Societyof Andhra Pradesh 'OSSAPCON2020' starting from January 31to February 2. VOS secretaryDr Vasu Karlapudi said that theconference is aimed at creatingawareness on the latest andadvanced procedures inorthopaedics. He appealed tomembers of the orthopaedicfamily to attend the conferenceand make it a grand success. Dr K Satya Kumar, Dr M RaviKanth, Dr P Rajesh and seniororthopaedic surgeons Dr NRamesh, Dr MV Subba Rao, DrMeher Prasanna, Dr NJagadeesh, Dr M Srinivas, Dr S Vijay Srinivas, Dr KSrinivas were among thosewho took part in the run.

3K run organised to create awarenesson health

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Commissioner of Police ChDwaraka Tirumala Raounfurled tricolour flag onthe 71st Republic Day cele-brations on his office premis-es on Sunday. He receivedthe guard of honour, whileofficials and staff greetedhim on the occasion.Vijayawada joint police com-missioner D NagendraKumar, DCP (Admin)Harikrishna, Special branchADCP Nawab Jaan, ACPChenchu Reddy, AO T GangaRao, Inspectors, RIs, SIs, andother staff were present onthe occasion.

CP unfurls national flag

SCR DRM receives guard of honourPNS n VIJAYAWADA

P Srinivas, DRM, SouthCentral Railway, unfurled thenational flag here on Sunday.The DRM inspected the paradeof Railway Protection Force(RPF), Scouts & Guides andreceived the guard of honour.

Students from Asha Kiran,Jack & Jill School and SKPVChildren Trust (ChildrenHelpline) staged cultural pro-

grammes. Pleased by the per-formance of schoolchildren, PSrinivas announced cashawards and he also appreciat-ed the RPF battalions andScouts & Guides.

Later, the DRM distributedprizes to winners of variouscompetitions and congratu-lated all the participants.

MVS Ramaraju, ADRM, GSumana, ADRM, Dr VSatyanarayana, CMS, P P Srinivas, DRM, South Central Railway, poses with children at the R-Day function

Children performing in a cultural programe during the Republic Day fete PNS n HYDERABAD

The outbreak of Coronavirusin China which is the secondlargest buyer of gold hasadversely impacted price of theyellow metal in global marketsduring the week.Consequently, New York goldand silver closed at US$1570.30 and 18.20 (per oz)respectively. Platinum andPalladium were quoted at$1,009.75 and $2,479.23(peroz).

During the year, pal-ladium price saw anincrease of 31 per cent.

In foreignexchange market,Indian Rupee fur-ther weakened.

On theclosing day,US Dollarand BritishPound com-manded the exchange values ofRs 71.33 and Rs 93.25 respec-tively.

Similarly, Euro andCanadian dollar closed at Rs78.64 and Rs 54.25 whileKuwaiti Dinar stood at Rs234.73.

Saudi Riyal and OmaniRiyal were quoted at Rs 19.01and Rs 185.27 whereasSingapore dollar andAustralian dollar wereexchanged for Rs 52.78 and Rs48.70.

Buoyancy continued to gripthe stock markets.

Sensex and the 50-shareNifty closed at 41,613.19 and12,248.30 points respectively.MCX gold and silver closed at

Rs 40,352 (per 10 gm) and Rs46,935 (per kg). MCXcopper declined consid-erably and closed at Rs

438.65 (per kg).Similarly, Brentcrude oil closed at

the lower levelof $60.56

while crudeoil was

quoted at3,873 (perbarrel).

In localmarkets,

the precious metals were quiteoptimistic. With the weaken-ing of rupee vis-a-visAmerican dollar, the import ofgold and silver became costlier.As such, standard gold (24carats) further appreciated byRs 80 and closed at Rs 40,110(per 10 gm) while silver (0.999)too, recorded an increase of Rs300 at Rs 46,700 (per kg) atclose.

With the Union Budget pro-posed to be presented inParliament on February 1,markets are agog with expec-tations. It is likely that theFinance Minister would try toplease all sectors of the econ-omy by performing a fine bal-ancing act.

COMMODITIESThe sentiment in local prin-

cipal wholesale commoditymarkets continued to be firm.

The markets at BegumBazaar, Osmangunj, Mir AlamMandi, General Bazaar,Bowenpally, Kukatpally,Dilsukhnagar, Risala Abdullah,Maharajgunj, Kishangunj andMonda Market witnessed briskbusiness activity.

The sentiment in tamarind,ginger, garlic, pulses and sugarremained strong while incoriander, common edible oilsand chillis, it was moderate.

A notable development inthe trade between India andMalaysia is that India hasagreed to continue to buy pal-molein oil from Malaysia whilethe latter country wouldimport sugar from India.

Common vegetables andNECC eggs recorded a furtherdecline due to comfortablesupply position. InHyderabad, the NECC whole-sale egg price further crashedby Rs 48 at the closing price ofRs 360 (per 100).

Ranchi recorded the highestprice of Rs 452 while Hospetclosed with the lowest of Rs370.

CORONAVIRUS IMPACTS YELLOW METAL

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW

With the Union Budget proposed to bepresented in Parliament on February 1,markets are agog with expectations. Itis likely that the FM would try toplease all sectors of the economy byperforming a fine balancing act.

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, D.No. New 3-88, Old 3-22, Chandra Theatre, Gosala, Penamaluru Mandal, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh - 521 151, Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

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

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | JANUARY 27, 2020 vijayawada 03

Nagari MLA RK Roja plants a sapling as part of the 'Green Challenge' initiated byMP Santosh Kumar, at PCN High School, Nagari in Chittoor on Sunday

TAKES UUP TTHE GGAUNTLET

"The right to swing my fistends where the otherman's nose begins,"

observed American jurist OliverWendell Holmes. In recent times,one can rarely find a better exam-ple of the truth of this statementthan in the row over certain com-ments made by BJP leaderDharamapuri Arvind. TheTelangana Rashtra Samiti party istaking the new entrant and fire-brand BJP leader Arvind seriously,thanks to his series of wins. Muchof it, however, has to do with thetone and language of his criticism.Not only party leaders, even theTRS supremo has reacted to theNizamabad MP's comment.Arvind's boasts that he would

''shave off ' Asaduddin Owaisi'sbeard and cut the nose of ChiefMinister K Chadraskehar Rao havenot gone down well with TRS.Quite expectedly, the entire leader-ship, including K T Rama Rao, con-demned the latter comments in par-ticular. KCR countered:"Is this howan honorable Member ofParliament speaks? The ChiefMinister also said that if TRS start-ed resorting to such behavior, BJPwould be nowhere in the picture.He remarked: "Our cadre itself is 60lakhs" and asked, "If we start cut-

ting noses, will you be there?" Theman responsible for the defeat ofKCR's daughter in Nizamabad, andnow the only saving face of BJP,Arvind is certainly going to be painfor TRS leaders.

The ex-officio tangleThe ex-officio tangle in the

municipalities has stunned therebel camp of Jupalli Krishna Raoin the all-important Kollapur.Although rebels emerged victoriousand captured a majority of the seats

i nKollapur and Ayija Municipalities,the All India Forward Block repre-senting the Councillors is not goingto become the ruling force in theKollapur municipality as the MLAsand MLCs are likely to help TRS

scrape through the all-importantgoal post of the chairman election.This same issue is helping TRS inmany other places and the newMunicipal Act-liked elections is ofcourse helping TRS emerge easywinner in many places

A leader's class on‘(heart) breaking news'

Pressers of ruling and oppositionparties' leaders on January 25thturned out to be out and out onesagainst media. The Congress MP

from Malkajgiri A Revanth Reddyat Gandhi Bhavan expressed his ireat the media, particularly electron-ic arm. Objecting the content tele-cast on the municipal electionsresults day in Telugu news channels,Revanth Reddy gave a call to theCongress cadre to attack the mediahouses if they fail to telecast newsproperly. Revanth Reddy then lec-tured on 'What is breaking news?'finding fault with the electronicmedia for telecasting everything as'breaking news'. He said that thereshould be a limit on what electron-

ic media telecasts as 'breakingnews'. Likewise, Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, at TelanganaBhavan, too found fault with theprint media after terming the socialmedia as 'anti-social media'. KCRadvocated media personnel not towrite as they wished. There shouldbe a proper way to write the news,he suggested. A scribe who hadcovered pressers of both KCR andRevanth sarcastically said thatRevanth Reddy criticized the mediasince he was unhappy, while KCRcriticized the media in a happymood. In either case, the victimsare only scribes.

(Contributed by NaveenaGhanate. Avinash Deepak Puli,

Kolishetty Venkateshwarlu)

REPORTERS’

D ARY

Arvind becoming a thorn in TRS plans

Naidu won't be able to stop...Continued from Page 1

Obstructing the Bills frombeing passed in the Councildemonstrates the childishnessof the TDP, he said, chargingthe TDP leaders of bidingtime by exercising their influ-ence over the CouncilChairman.

Stating that a discussionwas held in the Assembly onthe abolition of the LegislativeCouncil, he said the govern-ment would take the views ofall stakeholders over the issueinto consideration.

"Naidu influenced theChairman's decision by sittingin the visitors' gallery in theCouncil," he alleged.

"There was no possibility ofthe Centre opposing the abo-lition of the Council as the gov-ernment had public support,"Sajjala said.

"Naidu is trying to stop itonly to save Lokesh," he said.

Stating that Naidu wastelling his MLCs that he has sp-oken to Amit Shah and that hehad promised him to see to itthat the Council was not abol-ished, Sajjala said the TDPchief was misleading them.

470 servicesnow availablethrough...Continued from Page 1

Details of the social surveyconducted on pensionschemes being implementedby the government would bedisplayed at the secretariats,they said.

Village Secretariats haveturned a new leaf in publicadministration and ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy's main objective is tomake administration moreaccessible and take up massrecruitment drive by provid-ing employment to over fourlakh people in the form ofVillage and Ward Secretariesand Volunteers.

Under the new system, thegovernment, one village sec-retariat was set up for a pop-ulation of 2,000, with eachone comprising about 12 vil-lage officials drawn from var-ious departments. The gov-ernment intends to ensurethat its services reach the peo-ple's doorsteps, therebystrengthening the PanchayatRaj system.

The cost of hiring about1.26 lakh new employees isgoing to be roughly about?2,200 crore a year for thegovernment. Besides, theState government will availthe services of two lakh vil-lage and ward volunteerswho would be paid a month-ly salary of Rs 5,000. Theywould assist the people inavailing various governmentservices.

Government working towards justice ...Continued from Page 1

The Governor said that torealize this objective, his gov-ernment had taken a historicdecision recently in theAssembly to decentralise gov-ernance by setting upLegislative capital inAmaravati, Executive capitalin Visakhapatnam and theJudicial capital in Kurnool.

He said that decentralisa-tion of administration wouldbring people closer to govern-ment and arrests fissiparousand divisive tendencies whicharise out of frustration causeddue to unequal opportunitiesand concentration of wealth.

Harichandan highlightedthe welfare schemes beingexecuted in the State like thevillage and ward secretariatsalong with the village andward volunteers which provid-ed employment to over fourlakh people, including 1.3

lakh regular and permanentemployees in village secre-tariats and 2.7 lakhvillage/ward volunteers.

YSR Rythu Bharosa hasbenefited about 46 lakh farm-ers across the state to provideinput assistance of Rs 13,500per annum. Rythu Barosa cen-tres are set up adjacent to vil-lage secretariats to supply

unadulterated, quality testedand certified seeds to farmers,the Governor said.

He said that Jaganna AmmaVodi was aimed to ensure100 per cent literacy in thestate. The programme willprovide financial assistanceof Rs 15,000 per annum to alleconomically backward moth-ers to enable then to educate

their children. Medium ofinstruction in English wasdecided by the government inall schools and Telugu will bea compulsory subject fromClass I to Class VI for the aca-demic year 2020-21 in allschools.

Under Manabadi Nadu-Nedu revamp of infrastructurein 45,000 schools, 471 junior

colleges, 151 degree collegesand 3,287 hostels will taken upin three phases.

Taking a step forward forwelfare of employees, the stategovernment merged all theAPSRTC employees in newlyformed Public TransportDepartment from January 1,2020, the Governor pointed out.

Governor receives progress report in implementation of schemesContinued from Page 1He said that only a person with dedication and integrity towards the public can implement such programmes. Venkateswarlu reeled off the programmes that were being implemented by the YSRCP government and hailed the village secretariat and volunteersystem that ensures the door delivery of every service from the government. "Jaganmohan Reddy is the only Chief Minister in the country whohas fulfilled Gandhi's ideal of 'Grama Swaraj'," the veteran leader said, adding that about 2.90 lakh youths have found employment after theYSRCP came to power. The important factor to be noticed here is that about 50 per cent of the employed are from SC, ST, BC, and Minoritycommunities, he pointed out. Venkateswarlu said the services provided by the government to farmers from the supply of seeds to purchase ofthe crop are beneficial to farmers and are also ensuring quality of the crop. He said that the previous government had diluted the Arogya Sriservices and after the YSRCP came to power, the scheme was reformed in a way that patients are provided with financial assistance even aftersurgeries. He hailed the steps taken by the government in the education sector where Nadu-Nedu and Amma Vodi to ensure education to everychild in the state were successfully launched.

SAVE NATION'SINTEGRITY: PAWANPNS n AMARAVATI

Jana Sena president PawanKalyan called upon people todraw influence from thesupreme sacrifices made bypeople to make the country asecular, socialist and democra-tic republic.

Addressing a gathering afterunfurling the national flag atthe party's central office inMangalagiri on the occasion ofthe Republic Day on Sunday,Pawan Kalyan said the 71stRepublic Day was not a festi-val celebrated on a particularday but it should instil a con-stant sense of responsibility tosave the integrity of the coun-try.

"Exactly on this day in1950, all British laws hadceased to exist and we havestarted making our own lawsin consonance within theframework of ourConstitution," Pawan Kalyansaid and opined that Hinduismis not a religion but'Bharateeyam' (Indianness).

People should questionwherever they see injustice, hesaid and asked them to servesociety. He called upon peo-ple to act responsibly in main-taining the integrity of thecountry.

Children giving flower vase to Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan during the RepublicDay celebrations in Vijayawada on Sunday

l "Exactly on this day in 1950, all British laws hadceased to exist and we have started making our ownlaws in consonance within the framework of ourConstitution," Pawan Kalyan said and opined thatHinduism is not a religion but 'Bharateeyam'(Indianness)

Governor hosts customary ‘At Home'PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Governor Biswa BushanHarichandan hosted 'AtHome' at Raj Bhavan inVijayawada to mark the 71stRepublic Day celebrations onSunday.

The Governor was accom-panied by First Lady SupravaHarichandan greeted guestsand dignitaries, who attendedthe function.

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy, SpeakerTammineni Seetharam,Legislative Council ChairmanMA Sharif, Chief Justice JKMaheswari, Lokayukta JusticeP Lakshmana Reddy, ChiefSecretary Nilam Sawhney, DGPGautam Sawang, Judges ofHigh Court, Finance MinisterBuggana Rajendranath Reddy,Minister for Municipal

Administration BotsaSatyanarayana, Minister forPanchayat Raj Peddireddy

Ramachandra Reddy, Ministerfor Endowments VellampalliSrinivasa Rao, Chairmen of

corporations, MLAs, MLCs,Chairman of Official LanguageCommission, YarlagaddaLakshmi Prasad, Advisers togovernment, senior officers,public representatives, free-dom fighters, national awardeesand prominent citizens attend-ed the function.

Governor Biswa Bushan Harichandan, Chief MInister YS Jaganmohan Reddy,Speaker Tammineni Sitaram and others having dinner at ‘At Home’ hosted at theRaj Bhavan in Vijayawada on Sunday

5 MLCs skip TDLP meeting todiscuss YSRC’s Council plansContinued from Page 1

Tippe Swamy is busy witharrangements for a wedding inthe family while Saraswati andPrabhakar have cited personalreasons for staying away fromthe meeting, the sources said.However, it is learnt that thetruant MLCs did not assign anyreason for their missing the keymeeting that was convened todevise strategies to counter theYSRCP's plans to abolish theCouncil. The TDLP decided tostay away from the Assemblysession to be held on Monday todiscuss the issue of doing awaywith the Legislative Council. TheTDLP members felt that it wasunconstitutional for theAssembly to deliberate on thediscussions held in the Council.The TDLP felt that it should notgive a chance to Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy todiscuss the issue of abolishingthe Council at a time when itwas gearing up to constitute a

Select Committee for thepurpose of referring the two keyBills pertaining to the Capital -the Decentralisation Bill and theCRDA Bill.

SHARIFF ISSUES WHIP TO PARTIES

Council Chairman MA Shariffon Sunday issued a Whip to

all political parties asking themto suggest names of themembers to be appointed to theSelect Committees. He said theSelect Committee would consistof nine members. While TDPwould have a share of fivemembers, the ProgressDemocratic Front (PDF), YSRCP,BJP would be represented byone member each. Minister ofthe department concernedwould chair the committee. Twoseparate committees would beconstituted for Decentralisationand CRDA bills.

CRPF’s rolevital in fightagainst MaoistsPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

CRPF Personnel (234Batta l ion) inVisakhapatnam celebrat-ed the Republic Day withfervour. RS Balapurkar,C ommandant at 234Battalion, hoisted thenational flag, which wasfollowed by rendition ofthe national anthem byofficers and jawans.

Addressing a gathering,RS Balapurkar read outthe names of the recipient,who have been awardedwith various medals-Saur ya Chakra/Kir t iChakra/ Police medal forGallantry/President Policemedal for Gallantry atForce level- at the 234Battalion headquarterslocat ion, theCommandant appreciatedthe valuable contributionof the CRPF personnel tothe countr y and the role of them in fightingterror ism/Left Wingextremists.

300 personalities back anti-CAA protestersContinued from Page 1

Over 300 eminent personali-ties from the creative andscholarly community of Indiasaid: “We salute their collec-tive cry for upholding theprinciples of the Constitutionof India, with its promise of aplural and diverse society.

"We are aware that we havenot always lived up to thatpromise, and many of us havetoo often remained silent inthe face of injustice. The grav-

ity of this moment demandsthat each of us stand for ourprinciples," the statement read.

Writers Anita Desai, KiranDesai, actors Ratna PatakShah, Jaaved Jafferi, NanditaDas, Lillete Dubey, sociologistAshis Nandy, activists SohailHashmi and Shabnam Hashmiwere also among the signato-ries. "The policies and actionsof the present government,passed quickly through parlia-ment and without opportuni-ty for public dissent or open

discussion, are antithetical tothe principle of a secular,inclusive nation.

"The soul of the nation isthreatened. The livelihoodsand statehoods of millions ofour fellow Indians are at stake.Under the NRC, anyoneunable to produce documen-tation (which, in many cases,does not exist) to prove theirancestry may be renderedstateless. Those deemed 'ille-gal' through the NRC may beeligible for citizenship under

the CAA, unless they areMuslim," the statement fur-ther read.

The personalities said thatcontrary to the stated objectiveof the government, the CAAdoesn't appear to be a "benignlegislation only meant to shel-ter persecuted minorities".

They questioned why theminorities from neighbouringcountries like Sri Lanka,China and Myanmar have been excluded from the CAA.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The aim of Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy is to see thatfruits of welfare schemes reachthe door step of the poor andneedy, said Speaker TammineniSitaram.

He participated in the swear-ing in ceremony of AP BrahminCorporation Chairman MalladiVishnu at TummalapalliKalakshetram here on Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion, thenew Chairman of theCorporation Malladi Vishnusaid that the Chief Minister allo-cated the chairman post foruplift of the poor Brahminsacross the State. He alleged that

the TDP government haddiverted funds allocated to theBrahmin Corporation. Hepointed out that Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy allocat-ed Rs 234 crore for the develop-ment of temples and Rs 100crore for Brahmin Corporation.

He said that they are planningwelfare hostels for the poorBrahmin children inVisakhapatnam, Vijayawadaand Tirupati to support thosewho perform Upanayanams.He assured that the VidesiVidya Deevena scheme moneywill deposit for the Brahminbeneficiaries by March-end andeligible beneficiaries would gethouse sites.

Speaker Tammineni Sitaram addresses a gathering in Vijayawada on Sundayduring the swearing in ceremony of Malladi Vishnu as Brahmin Corporationchairman

‘Ensuringhassle-freedarshan isTTD priority'PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The priority of TTD is toensure hassle-free darshanand providing amenities topilgrims by weeding out cor-ruption, black marketeersand middle men, said TTDadditional executive officerAV Dharma Reddy.

During the Republic Dayaddress at Gokulam RestHouse Ground on Sunday,the additional executive offi-cer called upon the workforce of TTD working inTirumala to dedicate them-selves in the pilgrim service."Pilgrims come for darshan ofSri Venkateswara Swamy andfor all of us pilgrims arealmighty."

"During the lastIndependence Day, we tooka pledge to weed out middle-men and we succeeded doingso in darshan and ladduprasadam by bringing outreforms with the introductionof SRIVANI Trust linkingwith darshan and makingsale of laddus in open.

Malladi Vishnu sworn in asBrahmin Corpn chairman

Centre's infraprojects willboost steelindustry: RINL PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

RINL-Visakhapatnam SteelPlant celebrated the 71stRepublic Day with patrioticfervour at Ukkunagaram onSunday.

PK Rath, chairman andmanaging director, RINL-VSP, unfurled the nationalflag, took the salute andreceived the guard of honouraccorded by CISF jawans,home guards, schoolchildrenof Ukkunagaram at thesprawling Trishna Groundsin the township.

Addressing a large numberof employees and their fam-ily members, Rath observedthat the per capita consump-tion of steel would bound toimprove with the govern-ment's initiatives of hugespending of Rs 100 lakh croreallocation for infrastructurein the next five years and gavethrust to projects such asindustrial corridors, dedicat-ed freight corridors, BharatMala, Sagar Mala and SmartCity Mission. These projectsdefinitely help in bridging therural-urban divide andimprove transport infrastruc-ture and steel consumption,Rath added.

Rath said that RINL on itspart, is contributing it's mitein nation building. Theexpansion programme ofcapacity enhancement to 6.3mtpa has been completedand production ramped upsignificantly.

The modernisation plan to7.3 mtpa has also been com-pleted and facilities are beingput in operation, Rath added.

The slowdown in Indianeconomy in 2019-20 added afew challenges to the steelindustry. The long productsegment suffered the most asthe construction and auto-mobile sector sustained pro-longed sluggishness.However, the situation isimproving.

The imported coking coalprices are reducing and glob-al steel prices are firming up,Rath stated.

The Governorwas accompaniedby First LadySupravaHarichandangreeted guestsand dignitaries,who attended the functio

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | JANUARY 27, 2020 nation 04

CAPSULE

UMARIA (MP): A tiger mauled todeath a man and his cow inUmaria district in MadhyaPradesh on Sunday, a forestdepartment official said. Theincident happened in Akamanihavillage, some 40 kilometres fromthe district headquarters, closeto the Bandhavgarh TigerReserve, he added. "NarbadSingh (35) was grazing his cownear the forest when a tigerattacked them. Before villagerscould come to their rescue, thetiger had killed them both. It fledinto the forest after a crowddescended on the spot," saidNourojabad police stationinspector Rakesh Uike.

Tiger mauls to deathman, cow in MP

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister K Palaniswami onSunday greeted the Padmaawardees from TamilNadu and wished they bringmore laurels to the state.Industrialist and TVS MotorsChairman Venu Srinivasan andsocial worker KrishnammalJagannathan from Tami Maduare among those named for thePadma Bhushan award by theCentre. The Lalitha-SarojaChidambaram duo, ManoharDevadoss, S Ramakrishnan, KSMahaboob and SM Subani duoand Prof Pradeep Thalappil fromTamil Nadu are the Padma Shriawardees. In a statement,Palaniswami said these personshad brought pride to the state bywinning the prestigious awards."I greet and laud them on behalfof the people of Tamil Nadu aswell as myself and wish theybring more laurels to thestate by winning more awards,"he said. The Chief Ministerexpressed joy that thepersonalities have been chosenfor the awards in recognition oftheir contributions in theirrespective fields.

TN CM greets Padmaawardees from state

New industries in MP have toemploy 70% local youth: GuvPNS n BHOPAL

Madhya Pradesh GovernorLalji Tandon on Sunday saidthe state government wasaccelerating job creation bysetting up new industries,which have to compulsorilyemploy 70 per cent localyouths. Giving a speech at theRepublic Day function here, healso said that the state govern-ment was focusing on foodprocessing, new renewableenergy, logistics, mining, clothand garment industries toenhance investment.

"The state government isworking to provide employ-ment to youths. Along withsetting up of new industries, itis being ensured that 70 percent youth of the state get jobsin these establishments com-

pulsorily," Tandon said. Statingthat improvements have beenbrought about in the industri-al policy for smooth operationof the sector, Tandon said a lawwill be introduced to give allrequisite permissions within aweek for setting up new indus-tries. "The state governmenthas brought the number ofpermissions required in the

realty sector from 27 to five.This sector generates immenseemployment opportunities,"the governor said.

The state government isbuilding 1,000 cow sheds witheach of them having a pasturearea of five acres, Tandon said.

The daily fodder allowanceper cow has been hiked fromRs 3 to Rs 20, he added.

NEW DELHI: CPI(M) leaderBrinda Karat, who has beennamed in an unsigned letter sentto noted actor Prakash Raj and13 others threatening to"eliminate" them, called thegroup which had sent it"cowards" and said this will notstop their work. Raj, who sharedthe letter on Twitter, said it wasfrom a group of "cowards" andquoted Faiz's iconic poem "HumDekhenge". The letter isaddressed to NijagunanadaSwami, a prominent critic of theSangh Parivar, and mentions 14others, including Karat, Raj andformer Karnataka chief ministerH D Kumaraswamy. "Thesecowardly threats will never stopour work. Police should takenote and take required action,"Karat said. The threat letter wasreportedly posted to the Seer'sashram in Belagavi. The letter,which is in Kannada, reads,"Muhurtham for the 'samhara'(elimination) of you and the'dharmadrohis' & 'deshadrohis'with you, has been fixed from2020, January 29.

This cannot stop ourwork: Brinda Karat

The state governmenthas brought thenumber of

permissions required in therealty sector from 27 to five.This sector generatesimmense employmentopportunities

LALJI TANDONGovernor of Madhya Pradesh

Maoist killed byvillagers in OdishaPNS n MALKANGIRI

One Maoist was killed by vil-lagers in Odisha's Malkangiridistrict, a senior police officersaid on Sunday.

Two Maoists had come toJanturai village on Saturdaynight and told the residents toobserve the Republic Day as'black day', the officer said.

However, the residentsopposed the Maoist diktatand instead chased the duo outof the village. As the Maoistsopened blank fire to terrorisethe people, the villagers retal-iated with their traditionalweapons like bows and arrowsbesides resorting to stone pelt-ing in which one Maoist waskilled and another was injured,he said. The villagers were ofthe opinion that they weredeprived of development pro-grammes because of theMaoist presence in the area.Recently, the Maoists hadopposed the construction of aroad to Janturai village locat-ed in the cut-off area of thedistrict.

The village is cut off fromrest of the state as on threesides of it is encircled by waterof Balimela reservoir whilethere is a forest on one sideadjoining to Andhra Pradesh.

One Maoist was killed andanother seriously injured inthe incident, the first such inci-dent of villagers attackingMaoists in the state, police

said.The villagers later handed

over the body of the deceasedMaoist to the BSF jawans attheir camp located at nearbyHantalguda village.

Malkangiri Superintendentof Police, R D Khilari said: "Wehave been told that the vil-lagers retaliated when Maoistsopened fire. It is said that oneMaoist was killed."

Security personnel includ-ing BSF jawans have beenrushed to the village as the res-idents fear revenge-attack byMaoists, police said.

The police have rushed theinjured Maoist to the districtheadquarter hospital inMalkangiri for treatment.

Meanwhile, a report fromKalahandi district said anexchange of fire took placebetween security personneland Maoists near Niyamgirihills.

On January 22, Maoists hadstopped a road constructionwork in Niyamgiri locality.

India-Nepal understanding onkey issues benefits both: OliPNS n KATHMANDU

India is not only a key devel-opment partner of Nepal, it isalso the largest friend in mul-tiple fields such as trade, tran-sit and technology, and theunderstanding on a range ofsectors will lead both the coun-tries to a "win-win situation",Prime Minister K P Oli said onSunday.

In his message on the occa-sion of India's 71st RepublicDay, Oli congratulated andextended best wishes to hisIndian counterpart NarendraModi, the Indian governmentand the people of India acrossthe globe for their good health,happiness and continued pros-perity.

"India is not only a keydevelopment partner of Nepal;she is also the largest friend interms of trade, transit, invest-ment, infrastructure, technol-ogy, energy, education, health-care and so on," he said in hismessage published in majorNepalese newspapers onSunday.

"We believe that the high-level visits from both sides in

recent few years have furtherreinforced the age-old cordialrelations between the twocountries with the pursuit ofbilateral cooperation even inthe fields of agriculture, railwayand waterway connectivity,infrastructure, energy, and oth-ers.

"We believe that the under-standing on these sectors willlead both the countries to win-win situation and also supportus in translating the vision of'Prosperous Nepal, HappyNepali' into reality for theprosperity and wellbeing of ourpeople," Oli said.

Nepal-India Chamber ofCommerce and Industry iscelebrating the 71st RepublicDay of India in the country.

The multifaceted relation-ship between the two countriesat government to government,business to business and peo-ple to people level bonded byglorious common religion, cul-ture and tradition hasremained exemplary since timeimmemorial, the NepalesePrime Minister said.

On the occasion, India'scharge'd affairs in Nepal AjayKumar expressed his deepgratitude to the people ofNepal "who cherish and sup-port the strong bond of friend-ship between India and Nepal".

"Economic partnershipbetween our two countries is

an important part of our mul-tidimentional relationship. Thepast two years witnessed signif-icant steps to enhance connec-tivity between our two coun-tries to further boost andupgrade economic linkages,"he said.

In Nepal, the 71st RepublicDay was celebrated by hoistingthe flag at the embassy premis-es.

In New Delhi, celebrationsbegan with Brazilian PresidentJair Messias Bolsonaro in atten-dance as the chief guest. PrimeMinister Modi paid his tributesto martyrs by laying a wreathat the National War Memorialin the presence of DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh, thethree service chiefs and Chiefof Defence Staff Bipin Rawat.

Oli congratulated and extended bestwishes to his Indian counterpartNarendra Modi, the Indiangovernment and the people of Indiaacross the globe for their good health,happiness and continued prosperity

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court has askedthe newly elected Jharkhandgovernment to clarify whetherit wants to withdraw casesagainst four tribal activistsbooked under sedition chargesfor allegedly writing Facebookposts supporting thePathalgarhi movement in thestate. The top court wasinformed by the accused thatthe Hemant Soren govern-ment in the state had, in oneof the first decisions of theCabinet, announced that itwould take back all criminalcases related to the move-ment. Pathalgarhi is a namegiven to a tribal protest whichseeks autonomy for villagesabhas (gram sabhas). Thosedemanding Pathalgarhi wantno laws of the land be applic-able on the tribal people in thearea. The Pathalgarhis rejectgovernment rights over theirforests and rivers.

As part of the movement,Pathalgarhis erect a stoneplaque or signboard outsidethe village/area, declaring thevillage a sovereign territoryand prohibiting the entry ofoutsiders.

A bench of Justices L

Nageswara Rao and HemantGupta asked standing counselfor Jharkhand, Tapesh KumarSingh, to take instruction andinform it in two weeks aboutany decision of withdrawal ofcases. "List after two weeks. Inthe meanwhile, learned coun-sel for the state of Jharkhand

is directed to get instructionsas to whether the state intendsto proceed with the criminalcases registered against thepetitioners," the bench said inits order uploaded recently.

At the outset, advocate Joel,appearing for four petitionersled by one J Vikash Korainformed the court that newgovernment was sworn in thestate and it announced in itsfirst cabinet meeting that crim-inal cases arising out ofPathalgarhi movement will betaken back. Advocate TapeshKumar Singh representing thestate said that if that is the casethen the petitioners shouldwithdraw their appeal againstthe Jharkhand High Courtorder of last year refusing toquash the cases against them.

SC seeks J'khand govt viewon Pathalgarhi case accused

Pathalgarhis erecta stone plaque orsignboard outsidethe village/area,declaring thevillage a sovereignterritory andprohibiting theentry of outsiders

Stunts by police personnel highlight of Guj R-DayPNS n AHMEDABAD

Daredevil stunts performedby police personnel on motor-cycles and horses, tableauxshowing achievements ofGujarat and cultural eventsmarked the states 71st RepublicDay event held at Rajkot inSaurashtra on Sunday.

State Governor AcharyaDevvrat, Chief Minister VijayRupani, state ministers andsenior government were pre-sent at the function held at theRacecourse Ground.

A large number of peoplewere present to witness theevent held in the morning.

After unfurling the tricolour,the governor inspected theguard of honour in an openjeep, with Rupani accompany-

ing him. The governor receivedsalute from 28 platoons.

As many as 922 policemen

took part in the event alongwith the platoons of IndianArmy, Indian Coast Guard,

police commandos, and statereserve police jawans, amongothers. Teams of policemenand policewomen performeddaredevil stunts on motorcyclesand horses. School studentspresented various cultural pro-grammes. Tableux showcas-ing the achievements of thestate were also part of theparade. Talking to reporterslater, Rupani said, "Parade,cultural events and stunts by

police were part of the RepublicDay function in Rajkot. It wascelebrated in a very enthusias-tic way." The Republic Day wasalso celebrated with fervour inother parts of the state.

A group of senior citizensand children unfurled the tri-colour by standing in sea wateroff Porbandar coast, while stu-dents of Jamnagar took out atiranga yatra holding 111-metre long national flag.

Teams of policemen and policewomenperformed daredevil stunts onmotorcycles and horses. Schoolstudents presented various culturalprogrammes

Nigerian held,cocaine worthover Rs 3 lakhrecovered

LearningAssamese tillClass 10 nowmust for jobsPNS n GUWAHATI

Assam Education MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma hassaid that Assamese will bemade a compulsory subject inall schools of the state andonly those who have studiedthe language till Class 10will be eligible for its govern-ment jobs.

Sarma, however, clarifiedthat the rule will be applica-ble to all areas in the state,barring the three Barak Valleydistricts and the BodolandTerritorial AutonomousDistricts (BTAD), where sim-ilar clauses will be intro-duced for Bengali and Bodolanguages respectively.

The state cabinet has takena decision to make Assamesea mandatory subject in allmediums of schools and a billwill be tabled in the Assemblyin this regard during theBudget session, the ministertold reporters on Saturday.

He also said that his twochildren, who study outsidethe state, will not be eligiblefor any Assam governmentjob as they have not studiedthe language in school.

PNS n THANE

Police have arrested a 22-year-old Nigerian man fromKoparkhairane in NaviMumbai and seized cocaineworth over Rs three lakhfrom him, an officil said onSunday. The arrest was madeon Friday evening, he said.

"Based on a tip-off, NaviMumbai Police kept a vigil inKoparkhairne and nabbedthe accused, identified asIkkechukku PreciousOnedikachi. Cocaine weigh-ing 26 gms and valued at Rs3.13 lakh was recovered fromhim," DCP Pankaj Dahane(Zone I) of Navi Mumbai saidin a statement.

"The accused was goingtowards a food joint to sell thecocaine, when he wascaught," the official said.

An offence was registeredagainst him at Koparkhairanepolice station under theNarcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances(NDPS) Act.

PNS n MUMBAI

Maharashtra GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari onSunday said that since agricul-ture is the foundation of thestate's economy, the govern-ment is trying to make farm-ers "stress-free and debt-free".

Giving his Republic Dayspeech in Marathi at ShivajiPark in Mumbai, he said thatMaharashtra is an industrial-ly advanced state and thegovernment will give priori-ty to solving the problemsfaced by the industry.

Koshyari also said that thestate has made remarkableprogress in agriculture, edu-cation and employment inthe past 60 years, and the gov-ernment intends to bringabout a radical change in allthese fields through the con-

tribution of entrepreneurs. elauded the Marathi theatremovement for completing 175years and announced that amuseum would be set up inMumbai to commemorate itsglorious history.

The museum will allow theworld to see a united specta-cle of the theatre movement,he said.

"Maharashtra is an indus-trially advanced state. In thecoming time, the governmentwill give priority to quickleresolve the problems faced bythe industry," he said.

"Agriculture is the founda-tion of the state's economyand progress would only hap-pen if farmers are happy andcompetent," the governorsaid.

"The government is tryingto make them stress-free anddebt-free. Effective imple-mentation of crop insuranceschemes in the state is neces-sary. The state has already

formed a cabinet sub-com-mittee on this," he said.

The Maharashtra VikasAghadi (MVA) governmentheaded by Uddhav Thackerayhas brought MahatmaJyotirao Phule loan waiverscheme of upto Rs two lakhfor farmers, with a cut off dateof September 30, 2019.

Koshyari said the state gov-ernment is committed tospeeding up work on thememorials of ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj, off the coastof Mumbai, and BabasahebAmbedkar in Dadar's InduMill compound.

Trying to make farmers stress-free, says Maha GuvMaharashtra is an industrially advanced state. In thecoming time, the government will give priority toquickle resolve the problems faced by the industry

— BHAGAT SINGH KOSHYARI, Governor oof Maharashtra

PNS n DARBHANGA (BIHAR)

A team of researchers fromLucknow mistaken as survey-ors for NRC was caught byresidents of a village hereand handed over to the police,a senior official said onSunday.

Superintendent of Police,Darbhanga, Babu Ram saidthe incident took place onFriday when the team, com-prising 12 people, includingfour women, visited a villageunder Jamalpur police stationarea. The team was from aLucknow-based researchorganization, which wasengaged by a US-based PhDscholar.

However, as they beganvisiting households and col-lecting information, the wordspread that "NRC surveyors"had arrived following whichvillagers grew furious andheld them hostage for some

time before dragging them tothe police station.

The situation was defusedat the police station whereofficials verified the identitiesof the researchers andexplained the fact to the vil-lagers, who then went backsatisfied, the SP said.

He, however, added thatsimilar incidents have takenplace in the district in recentpast and an awareness cam-paign has been launched aspart of which residents arebeing told to "inform thepolice or local administrativeofficials" if any surveyors in

their area aroused suspicion"instead of illegally detainingthem".

With the protests againstthe Citizenship (Amendment)Act (CAA), the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC)and the National PopulationRegister (NPR) spreading indifferent parts of Bihar, peo-ple engaged in conductingsurveys for private researchand marketing companies arebeing mistakenly targeted.

Prime Minister NarendraModi and Chief MinisterNitish Kumar, whose JD(U) isan ally of the BJP, have beenat pains to explain that theCAA would expedite grant ofcitizenship to refugees fromBangladesh, Pakistan andAfghanistan, having fled reli-gious persecution in theircountries, without affectingIndians and that there was nomove so far to bring in thenationwide NRC.

Researchers in Bihar mistaken forNRC surveyors, handed over to police

Pilot: People who worked for pollwin must be made to feel important PNS n NEW DELHI

Hailing the setting up of a coor-dination panel by the Congressin Rajasthan as a "good move",Deputy Chief Minister SachinPilot on Sunday said peoplewho struggled for ensuringvictory in polls must be madeto feel a valuable part of the rul-ing dispensation as sometimesone tends to take the partyorganisation for granted aftergovernments are formed.

Pilot also asserted that theseven crore people of Rajasthanhad reposed their faith in andvoted for the Congress party,and it was only after that theparty decided who will be chief

minister, deputy CM and min-isters.

His remarks come followingcriticism of Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot's handling ofthe Kota infant deaths issue andCongress chief Sonia Gandhi

forming coordination andmanifesto implementationcommittees in Rajasthan andother Congress-ruled states toensure smooth working of theparty and government in tan-dem.

Pilot, who last week complet-ed six years as president of theRajasthan Pradesh CongressCommittee and is the longestserving chief of the state unit,said as part of the governmentand the RPCC head, it is hisresponsibility to ensure that thehard labour of party workers isrecognised and they arerewarded for their efforts inbringing the party back topower.

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | JANUARY 27, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

‘Honouring unsungheroes with Padmaawards is discovery’NEW DELHI: Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu on Sunday saidhonouring unsung heroes withthe Padma awards is in a waydiscovery of India.Congratulating all the Padmaawardees, Naidu, in a series oftweets, said this year's Padmaawards are also an "ode to theunsung heroes" who havequietly contributed to the causeof our society in different ways."I appreciate the Governmentfor recognizing theunrecognized irrespective oftheir visibility. One way, this is adiscovery of India," he said.Complimenting all the Padmaawardees, the vice presidentappreciated their spirit ofselfless service to the cause ofthe nation.

Ahead of flag hoistingby MP CM, 2 Congleaders hit each other

Mamata urges peopleto uphold principles of ConstitutionKOLKATA: West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee onSunday urged people to take apledge to protect theConstitution of the country anduphold its principles. Taking toTwitter, she said, "On#RepublicDay, let us pledge toprotect our #Constitution anduphold the principles ofsovereign, socialist, secular,democratic, republic, justice,liberty, equality and fraternity,as enshrined in the Preamble."India is celebrating its 71stRepublic Day on Sunday. Onthis day in 1950, theConstitution of India came intoeffect.

Man held with USdollars worth Rs 12lakh at Delhi airportNEW DELHI: A Bangkok-boundpassenger was apprehended byCISF personnel on Sunday atthe Delhi airport for allegedlycarrying US dollars worth Rs12 lakh concealed inside a pairof sandals kept in his bag,officials said. MohammedWaseem was apprehended atthe Terminal-3 of the IndiraGandhi International Airport at5 am when his bag was beingscanned, they said. The CISFpersonnel seized 17,000 USDworth about Rs 12 lakh fromthe pair of sandals kept inWaseem's bag, the officialssaid. He was handed over toCustoms authorities for furtherprobe, they added.

Republic Day: 51 BSF officials getpolice medalsNEW DELHI: As many as 51Border Security Force (BSF)personnel were honoured withthe distinguished andmeritorious service policemedals on the occasion of theRepublic Day, a forcespokesperson said on Sunday.The awardees for thedistinguished service medalinclude Inspector General (IG)Sonali Mishra and Deputy IGsM S Sharma, R S Rathore,Pradeep Katyal and V S Yadav.Mishra, a 1993-batch IndianPolice Service officer ofMadhya Pradesh cadre, is atpresent serving as the chief ofthe intelligence or the 'G'branch of the force here. Shehas also headed the BSFformation in the Kashmirvalley as its IG. Thosedecorated with the president'spolice medal for meritoriousservice include CommandantsRajan Sud, Nilotpal KumarPandey, Harendra SinghRautela and Constable (cook)Shankar Kumar Ghosh amongothers.

INDORE: Two Congress leadersin Indore on Sunday hit eachother after an altercationminutes before MadhyaPradesh Chief Minister KamalNath was to arrive at the partyoffice to hoist the tricolour onRepublic Day. A video, whichwent viral on social media,showed state general secretaryChandrakrant Kunjeer andsenior party colleague DevendraSingh Yadav arguing and hittingeach other, before beingseparated by onlookers andpolice. The fight started afterKunjeer reached close the stageand Yadav raised an objection,eye witnesses said. Minutesafter the fight, Nath arrived andhoisted the national flag.

PNS n NEW DELHI

For 85-year-old Keval Krishna,this year's Republic Day paradeon the Rajpath had a specialsignificance as it was one of thelast such processions on thehistoric stretch before beingredeveloped under the govern-ment's ambitious Central Vistarenovation plan.

"I have been here more timesthan I can count. I am awarethat the government plans toredevelop the Central Vista.The Rajpath may not look thesame... The old Rajpath will beremembered and the new onewelcomed," Krishna, who hails

from Punjab, said.The redevelopment project

of Central Vista envisages a tri-angular Parliament buildingnext to the existing one, com-mon Central Secretariat andthe revamping of the 3-km-

long Rajpath -- fromRashtrapati Bhavan till IndiaGate.

According to sources, thehistoric Rajpath will go forredevelopment works soonafter hosting the Republic Day

parade in 2021.Many others voiced con-

cerns about the project affect-ing the heritage character ofLutyens' Delhi.

Samsun Mumei, fromManipur's Tamalong district,believes heritage should begiven priority over develop-ment.

"The redevelopment projecthas alarmed heritage lovers.

This is the finest place in theentire city. When (Edwin)Lutyens designed it, he had anidea in mind. The governmentis welcome to redevelop thelandscape, spruce it up withoutfiddling with its heritage char-acter," he said.

Digambou Newmai, 27, whowas viewed the Republic Dayparade on the Rajpath for thefirst time, suggested that the

government should invest inplanting trees and reducingpollution.

"The buildings are in a fineshape. The India Gate lawnsand the Rajpath are a go-toplace for a picnic or a drive. Iam not sure if the public will beallowed move freely here aftertwo years," he said.

Aniket Ghosh (31) fromKolkata, witnessing his fourthR-Day parade, said develop-ment is good, but it shouldnot come at the cost of her-itage.

Derrier, a French tourist,said he prefers heritage overdevelopment.

Planned Central Vista makeover makes R-Day special

POMP AND SHOW MARKS R-DAY IN EASTBomb blasts in Assam, CAA protests in BengalPNS n GUWAHATI/ KOLKATA/PATNA

The 71st Republic Day was cel-ebrated with pomp andpageantry across the easternregion on Sunday, even as fourserial explosions rocked Assamearly in the day, and sparseprotests over the new citizen-ship law were reported fromparts of the state and neigh-bouring West Bengal.

Barring Meghalaya, whereTathagata Roy is on leave sinceDecember, governors in theirrespective states, unfurled theTricolour and presided over theceremonial parade, amidheightened security.

In Assam, four power explo-sions - three in Dibrugarh andone in Charaideo districts -shook Upper Assam, withpolice sources suspecting it tobe a handiwork of ULFA(Independent) militants, whohad called for a boycott ofRepublic Day celebrations.

All four blasts occurred in aspan of 10 minutes - between

8.15 and 8.25 am, a police offi-cer said, adding no casualty hadbeen reported, as RepublicDay being a holiday, peoplewere mostly indoors.

Later in the day, GovernorJagdish Mukhi said the Assamgovernment was committedto protect the political, cultur-al and linguistic rights of

indigenous people and a com-mittee, headed by retiredGauhati High Court judgeBiplab Sharma, would soonsubmit a report in this regard.

Assam minister HimantaBiswa Sarma and BJP MLAAngoorlata Deka were shownblack flags by anti-CAA pro-testers at separate locations inthe state, when they were ontheir way to attend functions.

In West Bengal, GovernorJagdeep Dhankhar led the cel-ebrations, as he hoisted thenational flag and inspected theparade by armed forces andpolice personnel.

Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, who attended theprogramme along with cabinetcolleagues, greeted the gover-nor at the conclusion of theprogramme.

Members of an interfaithgroup came out on the streetsin state capital Kolkata andformed human chains in vari-ous parts of the city, as a markof protest against theCitizenship (Amendment) Act.

PNS n GUWAHATI

Banned outfit ULFA(Independent) has claimedresponsibility for the fourpowerful explosions in Assamearlier on Sunday prior toRepublic Day celebrations inthe state.

The ULFA(I), in a state-ment signed by Lt Joy Asomof its Publicity Department,claimed that all the four blastswere carried out by the outfit.

The Paresh Barua-ledULFA(I), along with a fewother militant outfits of theNortheast, had called for aboycott of the Republic Daycelebrations in the region.

Three blasts had takenplace in Dibrugarh and one inCharaideo districts of UpperAssam in a span of 10 minutes-- between 8.15 and 8.25 amon Sunday, a police officersaid. There has been no report

of any casualty, as RepublicDay being a holiday, peoplewere mostly indoors, he said.

The first blast was report-ed outside a shop at Teokghatin Sonari police station area ofCharaideo district.

Three explosions followedsoon after in Dibrugarh dis-

trict -- two at Graham Bazarand AT Road, beside a gurud-wara, and another at the oiltown of Duliajan Tiniali, just100 metres from the localpolice station, AdditionalSuperintendent of Police(ASP) Padmanabh Barua toldPTI.

ULFA(I) claims responsibilityfor R-Day Assam blasts

According to sources, the historicRajpath will go for redevelopment workssoon after hosting the Republic Dayparade in 2021

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, whoattended the programme along withcabinet colleagues, greeted thegovernor at the conclusion of theprogramme.

Centre should mind its job: Ajiton NIA probe in Elgaar casePNS n PUNE

The Maharashtra governmentwas trying to go to the root ofthe 2017 Elgaar Parishad casewhen it was suddenly handedover to the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA)by the Centre, Deputy ChiefMinister Ajit Pawar said hereon Sunday.

He also sought to remindthe Centre about the federalstructure of governance whenasked about the development.

"I feel that the Centre andstate governments should dotheir respective works. TheCentre can intervene when anissue of the national level cropsup," Pawar told reporters onthe sidelines of the launch ofRs 10 'Shiv Bhojan Thali'--aflagship scheme of the Shiv

Sena-NCP-Congress govern-ment.

Pune Police are probingwhether "provocative" speech-es made at the Elgaar Parishadconclave in Pune on December31, 2017, led to the caste vio-lence around Koregaon Bhimain the district the next day.

Police had first used theterm 'urban naxals' during the

investigation after arrestingnine activists and lawyers,including Telugu poet VaravaraRao and Sudha Bharadwaj.

"I recently met state homeminister Anil Deshmukh andhis deputy Satej Patil. We werebriefed about the case by inves-tigating officials. I felt theywere trying hard to probe thecase," Pawar said whileresponding to a query on theNIA taking over the probe.

"In the event of any unto-ward incident, the basic objec-tive is to investigate that inci-dent, go to its root, checkfacts and avoid any communalrift. The state governmentwasin tending to investigate thecase on that line, but sudden-ly the Central governmentdecided to take over the case,"he said.

PM Modi continues‘safa' tradition, sportssaffron ‘bandhej'

Maha launches Rs 10 lunchplate scheme on pilot basisPNS n MUMBAI

The Shiv Sena-ledMaharashtra government onSunday launched its much-awaited 'Shiv Bhojan'scheme, which is aimedat providing a meal tothe poor for just Rs10, on the occasionof the 71stRepublic Day.

Under thescheme, which waslaunched on a pilotbasis, thalis or lunchplates would be availableto people at designated cen-tres/ canteens during a stipu-lated time in all the districts.

Launching of the schemewas one of the poll promisesmade by the Shiv Sena, whichshares power with the NCPand Congress in a coalition

government.In Mumbai, district

guardian minister AslamShaikh inaugurated the "ShivBhojan Thali" canteen at the

civic-run Nair hos-pital.

A similarcentre wasunveiled byTo u r i s mM i n i s t e ra n dM u m b a i

s u b u r b a nd i s t r i c t

guardian minis-ter Aaditya

Thackeray at the collector'soffice in Bandra.

Guardian ministers of Puneand Nashik, Ajit Pawar andChhagan Bhujbal formallylaunched the scheme in theirrespective districts.

Under the pilot scheme, atleast one 'Shiv Bhojan' canteenhas been started at districtheadquarters.

According to officials,guardian ministers and otherdignitaries inaugurated thecenters in various districts.

The 'thali' consists of twochapatis, one vegetable, riceand dal.

The thalis would be availablefor people between 12 noonand 2 pm, officials said, addingthat each canteen is going toserve at least 500 thalis (plates)per day.

On the inaugural day, scoresof people queued up at manysuch centres at various places.

While some people praisedthe scheme and quality offood, some others demandedthat the existing two-hourtime be extended.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Continuing his tradition ofdonning colourful turbans onRepublic Day andIndependence Day celebra-tions, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi sported a saf-fron 'bandhej' headgear with atail for the 71st Republic Dayon Sunday.

Wearing his traditionalkurta pajama and jacket, Modipaid homage to the fallen sol-diers at the newly-builtNational War Memorial hereon the Republic Day for thefirst time instead of the AmarJawan Jyoti beneath the IndiaGate arch.

Bandhej is a print developedusing tie and dye methodpracticed mainly in states ofRajasthan and Gujarat.

Turbans have been a high-

light of the prime minister'ssartorial choices atIndependence Day andRepublic Day events.

Modi had sported a multi-coloured turban when he gavehis sixth Independence Dayspeech from the rampants ofthe Red Fort last year aftersecuring a second term.

For his maidenIndependence Day address asthe prime minister in 2014,Modi had opted for a Jodhpuribandhej turban in bright redcolour with green at the tail.

A yellow turban coveredwith criss-crossed lines in dif-ferent shades of the samecolour, along with a few in redand deep green, marked his2015 look, and he chose a tieand dye turban in hues of pinkand yellow for his appearanceat the Red Fort in 2016.

Ajit Pawar

PNS n RAIPUR

Local Chhattisgarhi languageand different dialects will bemade the medium of instruc-tion in primary schools acrossChhattisgarh from the nextacademic session, ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel saidon Sunday.

Speaking at the state-levelRepublic Day function held inJagdalpur, around 290 kmsfrom here, he also cautionedpolitical parties by quoting DrBabasaheb Ambedkar's state-ment that if parties place theircreed above the country, thenpeople's freedom will once

again be in danger and mightend forever.

Appealing to the people towork towards protecting theConstitution, he said its differ-ent aspects will be taught inschools.

The state government had

on Friday issued a circular toschools, asking them to holddiscussion on the Constitutionafter prayers every Monday.

He said the previous UPAgovernment at the Centre hadmade a provision in the Rightto Education Act 2009 toensure children are taught intheir mother tongue as muchas possible.

"But ironically, the state hasnot yet taken any concretestep in this direction," he said.

"From the forthcoming aca-demic session, arrangementswill be made to use localChhattisgarhi language anddialects like Gondi, Halbi,Bhatri, Sargujia, Korwa, Pando,Kudukh, Kamari and others asmedium of instruction in pri-mary schools," Baghel said.

Modi payshomage tofallen soldiers PNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday paid homageto the fallen soldiers at thenewly-built National WarMemorial here on the RepublicDay for the first time insteadof the Amar Jawan Jyotibeneath the India Gate arch.The iconic memorial in theIndia Gate complex behind thecanopy was inaugurated byPrime Minister NarendraModi on February 25 last year.

Amar Jawan Jyoti is symbol-ised by an inverted bayonetand soldier's helmet over itwith an eternal flame burningbeside it. It was built in 1972underneath the India Gatearch to commemorate sol-diers martyred in the Indo-PakWar of 1971. Spread over anarea of approximately 40 acres,National War Memorial com-prises four concentric circles,namely -- the 'Amar Chakra','Veerta Chakra', 'Tyag Chakra'and the 'Rakshak Chakra' withnames of 25,942 soldiersinscribed in golden letters ongranite tablets.

It also includes a central15.5-m obelisk, an eternalflame and six bronze muralsdepicting famous battlesfought by the Indian Army, AirForce and the Navy in a cov-ered gallery (Veerta Chakra).

Let us raiselevel ofprotests: PCPNS n NEW DELHI

Amid pan-India agitationsagainst the Citizenship(Amendment) Act, seniorCongress leader PChidambaram on Sundaycalled for raising the "level ofprotests", saying "as long asfreedoms are denied to anynumber of people, the wholepopulation is denied free-dom".

Greeting the people onthe occasion of 71st RepublicDay, he said the soul of theConstitution lies in the free-doms guaranteed in partthree of the document.

These freedoms were givenby the people unto them-selves and no governmentcan take them away, the for-mer home minister said in aseries of tweets.

‘Local dialects to be medium of instruction’ EDUCATION IN CHHATTISGARH

Bhupesh Baghel

Appealing to thepeople to worktowards protectingthe Constitution,he said its differentaspects will betaught in schools

Postal Dept toprovide civicservicesPNS n Allahabad

Several civic services includingbirth and death certificates,Aadhaar enrolment and udpa-tion, and bus and flight tick-eting would be provided by thePostal Department in UttarPradesh from April 1, with aspecial portal being set up forthe purpose, an official said onSunday. Superintendent ofpost offices, Allahabad divi-sion, Sanjay D Akhade toldPTI that initially these serviceswill be available in the headpost offices of the state andlater they will be expanded.

He said the governmenthas planned to provide citizen-centric services through aCSC portal across the country.

Akhade said for this pur-pose a Common ServiceCenter-Special PurposeVehicle (CSC-SPV) has beenset up which will work close-ly with the Department ofPosts. The head post office atParliament Street in NewDelhi has been made thenodal office. Under the newservices, people will be able toapply for PAN card, PradhanMantri Awas Yojana, SoilHealth Card, Pradhan MantriCrop Insurance Scheme andPDS, he said.

PNS n NAGPUR

Stating that Muslims werenever subjected to discrimina-tion in India, RSS general sec-retary Bhaiyyaji Joshi onSunday alleged that misinfor-mation was being spread in thecountry over the Citizenship(Amendment) Act (CAA).

He was talking to reportersafter hoisting the national flagat the Sangh headquarters here

on the occasion of the 71stRepublic Day.

"Till date, the followers ofIslam have never been subject-ed to any kind of discrimina-tion in thiscountry. If any cit-izen from there, be it a Muslim,come to India, then they canalso get citizenship as per thelaw which is already in place.What is the problem in that?"Joshi said in response to aquestion on the CAA. Bhaiyyaji Joshi

‘Misinformation being spreadon CAA, atmosphere vitiated’

Iwas reading a piece on the popularonline platform, Medium. In thesaid article, I came across an inter-esting tidbit about an Americanfootball coach, Bill Parcells. He has

been listed in the “Pro Football Hall ofFame” and is one of the most successfulfootball coaches in the US. While he haswon many championships and broughtgreat success to his team, most fansremember him for his famous quote ratherthan something he had done on the field:“You are what your record says you are.”This is a lovely take on the classic adage,“You are what you say you are.” Both phras-es are rooted in real-life experiences.There can be no greater example of it thanthe prevailing political scenario in NewDelhi.

Elections in the national capital are duein February. With the media’s focus on thesaid polls, it is likely that one may have hada chance to hear about or must have comeacross the different political campaigns cur-rently at play by various parties in the city.One of the favourite catch phrases for oneof the political opponents of the AamAadmi Party (AAP) has been “Pakistan.”It’s very hard to escape any mention aboutit. Whenever any panellist speaks againstthe AAP on a television debate or other-wise, it is almost inevitable that referenceto “Pakistan” is made. This is in stark com-parison to the catch phrase of the AAP,which reads: Kaam Pe Vote.

Why is there such a difference in theapproach of both parties? To understandthis, the phrase, “You are what you say youare” may be of help. When the AAP explod-ed into the Indian political landscape, itcame up with a message that was entirelydifferent from the prevailing political nar-ratives at that time. There was no talk aboutdivision along religious or caste lines.Instead, the message of hope that wasoffered then was that the AAP is in poli-tics to change the narrative and that of thepoliticians. Communalism or crony capi-talism was not on the agenda. Instead, thefocus was on “development” and to providecheaper power and ample water supply tothe people of Delhi.

At that time, this mandate was onlybased on “hope” because back in 2015, theAAP had no prior record in Indian poli-tics. Fast forward it to 2019 and the storyis quite different now. Just how differentwill be dealt in detail later in this piece. Thereason why the AAP chose to speak about“development” and aimed to provide basicamenities to the people is simple. Itsfocus on these issues isn’t one of “obsession”or “identity.” On the contrary, AAP’s beliefis that most Delhiites, and for that mattermost Indians, do not care as much aboutwhat makes them different but what cantake them and their children forward. It’san aspirational view of politics that speaksto not only what it can be about but also

how a commitment to thisbasic principle can help the cit-izens move forward.

On the other hand, theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP)has made “Pakistan” its mainfocus area. Party spokespersonsspeak little or do not even talkabout development. But if onewere to ask them aboutPakistan, they can write a the-sis about our neighbour. Thisis why BJP leaders have little orno idea about how to improvethe state of education or to pro-vide cheap electricity. The BJP’sagenda is to focus on whatdivides us. Differences aboundamong Indians; we have differ-ent religions, eating habits, cli-mates, spices and differentcolours. But just because wehave differences doesn’t meanthat we must be divided.

Our greatest asset lies in“diversity” and Delhi is amicrocosm of it where citizensfrom all across the countryhave come together to make ittheir home. I believe that asIndians, we are in unison aboutat least one thing: We want ourchildren to see a better Indiathan what we have seen untilnow. Citizens want affordableelectricity, a corruption-freeGovernment, good roads andan empowering education sys-tem. These formed the founda-tion of the AAP’s 2019 slogan,Kaam Pe Vote.

While 2015 may have beenan election about hope, in2020, the AAP has asked for

votes only on the basis of thework done by it. This is amarked departure from theway its political opponents,who are obsessed with identi-ties, have campaigned. TheAAP is obsessed with “work.”This is where Bill Parcells’quote comes into picture: “Youare what your record says youare.”

Since 2015, the AAP hasreduced teacher vacancies byover 70 per cent. The party’sfocus, which is to improveDelhi’s education system, hasbeen recognised by the world.The fact that 1.4 lakh childrenin the national capital havebeen shifted from “private” to“Government” schools is a tes-timony to the fact that peoplehave recognised and appreciat-ed the work done by it. In thehealthcare sector, too, the partyhas already set up 450 mohal-la clinics till December 2019and has served around twocrore people in the city.

The power sector, too, hasundergone a transformativechange. Delhi is the only Statewhere both domestic and com-mercial tariffs have reducedand where 24x7 electricity is areality. Under previousGovernments, an increase intariffs was all but regular. Toreceive 24x7 electricity was atreasured rarity. Delhi is goingthe way most Indians wantIndia to go. Its economy isgrowing and the AAPGovernment has managed a

surplus by reducing leakagesand corruption at every level.

I can go on and on speak-ing about the efforts and resultsof the AAP in Delhi but thisarticle is about something morethan this. It’s about how in2010, the term, “India” was oneveryone’s lips. Great thingswere expected of us and theentire world looked upon thecountry to provide them “intel-lectual” and “human capital.”

We were on the cover ofinternational magazines as anemblem of hope. Now, we areon their covers as an exampleof a divided nation. A mixtureof corruption, incompetence,entitlement from certain polit-ical parties and politics ofhatred, division and commu-nalism on the part of certainpolitical parties has brought usto this unfortunate moment.

However, all is not lost.Amidst all this din, the fact isthat Delhi stands as a calm out-lier that has done actual workfor the people. It has done soby leaving the task of talking tobe done by those who aremore adept at it. And when theAAP does speak, it’s aboutkaam (work) not “Pakistan.”The party believes in thephrase, “You are what you say.”Does anybody not believe us?Have a look at our records andthey will speak for themselves.

(The writer is a former IPSofficer, a former MP and cur-rently a member of the AAP)

Roger Federer is not just a sporting leg-end. He is a human story and an inspi-ration for everybody because he has

demonstrated true grit that survival requires inour times, surprising us every time when wefeel he has just gone over the hill. And at a timewhen individual power sports is all aboutburnouts, Federer has crafted lastability as acredo despite the competition and overcomechallenge from millennials. He has produced sev-eral great performances over the years. One of

those performances came in the match against Australia’s John Millman dur-ing the third at the Australian Open 2020 on Friday where the former world num-ber one was looking down and out in the fifth-set super tie-breaker after fallingbehind with the score of 8-4. However, he showed why he has won 20 GrandSlams in his career by picking up six consecutive points and cementing his spotin the fourth-round at the first Grand Slam of the year. And he did it in a thrillingmatch that began Friday night in Melbourne and ended after midnight Saturday.Who cares if he is 38 years old when he keeps finding new ways to redefinehis greatness? Unlike other tournaments — such as Wimbledon and the USOpen, which play first-to-seven in a tiebreaker — the Australian Open has a first-to-10 format, and Federer fell behind 8-4 early on. So imagine the kind of rally-ing he had to do with six straight points to win the tiebreaker and the third-roundmatch, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (10-8). With this, he has also become thefirst singles player to win 100 matches in two different Grand Slams; his Wimbledon100 happened last year. In his post-match interview, Federer joked that whenMillman had that huge lead in the tiebreaker and was two points away from tak-ing the match, he was already preparing himself to offer excuses during his pressconference for why he lost. Now we know how he didn’t let his doubts get thebetter of him. So tennis can still be an old man’s game. Just like life itself.

If the ruling BJP is indeed serious about itsoutreach to civil society, which it feels is analien species and needs an education in

Bharat Parv, then its methodology of hammer-ing home truths is grossly and crudely mis-placed. And at best ends up as an egoisticassumption of what a dialogue should be like— more and more force-feeding, treating ques-tions like malignant spyware and blaming allof the nation’s problems to either Pakistan orBangladesh. How else does one explain thedistasteful transgressions of the BJP candidate

for the Delhi polls Kapil Mishra and Bengal BJP in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya?The former, clearly defying the party diktat to dispel fears on the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA), likened civil protest spots, like Shaheen Bagh, to mini-Pakistan. He even called the Delhi polls an Indo-Pakistan match, clearly imply-ing Hindutva as India and lumping all sorts of otherness into one disposable bas-ket. The Election Commission, which had overlooked incendiary remarks dur-ing the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls last year, has thankfully issued a noticeand the Delhi police has lodged an FIR against him. Vijayvargiya, who is to drivethe party’s campaign in Bengal, has found out a simpler method of identifyinginfiltrators that does not need documents at all. He feels people eating flattenedrice or chidwa are confirmed Bangladeshis, totally ignoring the fact that all Bengalishave this as a staple snack or that poha is a breakfast favourite even in his homeState, Madhya Pradesh. At least, he seems to have dispelled the need to go foran elaborate process of compiling and sorting out the National Population Register(NPR). The point is such racist, misogynist and uncouth statements are not evenfunny any more. They are dangerously serious considering that they are givenlegitimacy, either because the party’s top leadership stays silent or because fringeleaders of the Sangh, who were once kept under wraps by the old BJP, have beencoopted and rewarded in proportion to their success in disseminating a divisiveagenda. What else could explain how even a seasoned senior leader from theold school like Prakash Javadekar had to reduce the Delhi electoral battle to thebinaries of who is more committed to Indianness and who is a traitor. He labelledthe fight as one between “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Jinnah wali azaadi.” One canunderstand that the BJP has nothing to show as a record of its performance unlikeits key opponent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Can that, therefore, justify this dog-whistling politics? BJP leaders know that their party cannot match the hyper-localised agenda of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and are, therefore, counteringthat with an umbrella issue that can generate a swell of emotion, which in thecurrent scenario of identity politics, happens to be the most virulent strain of nation-alism. Having been out of power in the city for almost 20 years, most of whichhad seen high-performing regimes, the BJP can no more claim to champion any-thing revolutionary. Even its war room expert and Home Minister Amit Shah hasnot picked up any issues except pledging ̀ 1 lakh crore for bolstering infrastruc-ture in the recently regularised colonies. And now that AAP deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia has also publicly extended support to the women protesting cit-izenship laws at Shaheen Bagh, the BJP feels it has drawn out its opponent toan arena where civic issues become somewhat national.

What is frightening though is that in the process, the BJP is dictating the zeit-geist of contemporary politics. Worse, it is changing the DNA of political dis-course with a mythologised sanctity of India’s greatness that has been eaten awayby all kinds of imposed viruses until the party rescued it. There was a time whenPrime Minister Narendra Modi himself reined in party motormouths and had advisedthem to stay away from media platforms. Now that same man is either painful-ly silent or sometimes guilty of playing to the gallery. Anyway, his restraint wasjust in the nature of an advisory and the fact that someone like Pragya Thakuris now a bonafide MP or that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is alloweda free run with his religion-specific remarks, proves that they not only have theblessings of higher-ups but are deployed as their prize arrowheads. If the Modiof 2014 was about the ABCs of development, he himself has been rather brazenif his comments of green versus pink revolution (against meat-eaters) and kabris-tan versus shamshan ghat are any indications. So clearly, toxicity was not justlimited to campaign rhetoric. And 2014 was just a stepping stone to get a holdof national consciousness in 2019. Now that the BJP has that at its command,it wants to replicate the Sangh’s vision as a voluntary national will that has noth-ing to do with science, reason, history or culture. With a new obsession on whomwe need to be as Indians, issues like the economy can be easily swept underthe carpet or become a secondary concern. The saddest part is that this doesgreat disservice to Hinduism and the tenets of an Indic civilisation.

Toxic war of words

Widening gap

Sir — Recently, a study conduct-ed by Oxfam revealed that oneper cent of the richest people inIndia holds more than four-foldthe wealth of the poorest 70 percent of the population. In theGlobal Hunger Index, Indiaranked a middling 55th in 2014.In 2019, the country ranked102nd. Yet, we are supposed tobe a socialist country. It is, thus,crucial for lawmakers to ensurethat basic resources such as foodreach the marginalised sectionsof society. The Government muststrive to uplift the poorest of thepoor to a level of self-sufficien-cy where no person is deprivedof the most fundamental requi-sites — food, clean water, clothesand shelter.

Shivanshu K SrivastavaLucknow

Be alert and prepared

Sir —This refers to the editorial,“Another deadly virus” (January23). The spectre of coronavirushas caught the attention of theentire world, especially China,where as many as 40 people have

reportedly died and more than800 people have been infected.The disheartening news is that thedisease is spreading like wildfire,causing consternation. As a result,Chinese health authorities urgedthe people in the city of Wuhan

to avoid crowds and public gath-erings. Authorities have urged thepeople to stop travelling in andout of Wuhan. The appeal camein the backdrop of the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO)convening an emergency meeting

of experts to advise whether theoutbreak should be declared aglobal emergency.

Since coronavirus has not pre-viously been identified in humans,no virus-specific treatment is avail-able at the moment. New outbreaks

are worrying but they do give usan opportunity to prepare for thenext threat. In the light of this,India must take all precautionarymeasures to prevent the entry ofcoronavirus into our country.

TK NandadanChennai

Reduce food wastage

Sir — This refers to the shockingreports about 25,000 rotis (bread)being wasted daily in Delhi’sTihar jail as the prisoners do nottake their full diet due to mentalpressure. The report revealedthat the situation is more preva-lent among under-trial prisonerswho form the majority of theinmates, while the convicted anddeath row prisoners have a bet-ter diet. The system must be mod-ified. Meals can be cooked on anaverage basis rather than theprescribed diet to avoid suchlarge-scale wastage of food,including rotis. Further steps canbe taken to utilise the surplus rotisto produce biscuits.

Madhu AgrawalDelhi

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

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

op nionVIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | JANUARY 27, 2020

06

You’re what you say you’re

AJOY KUMAR

People in Bangladesh havetaken several measures tomitigate the crisis. However,on our side of the border,there is very little awarenessabout climate change.

Author—Amitav Ghosh

Books have played a very bigrole in bringing me out of thedarkest period of my life. Iread copiously and indis-criminately. I read Russianwriters like Dostoevsky.

Supermodel-actor—Lisa Ray

India's broadening strategichorizons over the past twodecades have resulted in a shiftaway from a passive foreignpolicy to one that advances itsinterests more vigorously.

US official—Alice Wells

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

Address key issues to remain relevant

It’s high time that the Government realises that a slewof gigantic projects launched by it in the name of devel-opment has failed to impress the common man. In fact,

the aam aadmi has now come to terms with the stateof affairs of the economy, which has shown little or nosigns of recovery despite the tall claims made by theGovernment. The country is passing through harrowingtimes and the Modi sarkar is in no mood to even acceptthe stark reality. With the prices of almost all essentialfood items skyrocketing, citizens are not mistaken to feelthat they have been let down by the Government.

With inflation and unemployment being the true indi-cators of the deteriorating economic situation, it is butnatural for the people to be bothered. Surprisingly, in con-trast to the popularity that Prime Minister Narendra Modipresumes he is enjoying among the masses, the agen-da pursued by him so far has been anti-people. In anapparent bid to assert its will over the nation, theGovernment has diverted the attention of the people frompressing issues to dwell on debates on the controver-sial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Here, too, it hasnot yet clarified all doubts. Rather, its statements haveled to more confusion. It has by now become evidentthat if matters of national importance are dealt with bla-

tantly, as the Central Government has done with CAA,there will be some repercussions. The combined stancetaken by various State Governments and a slew of peti-tions filed against it in the Supreme Court provide aglimpse of what could happen if a decision is taken with-out consent. The primary duty of any Government istowards the people. But when the welfare programmesenvisaged for the masses pale in comparison to the larg-er machinations, the nation is in for troubled times ahead.

Pachu MenonMargao

SINCE 2015, AAP HAS

REDUCEDTEACHER

VACANCIES BYOVER 70 PER

CENT. THE FACTTHAT 1.4 LAKH

CHILDREN IN THECAPITAL HAVEBEEN SHIFTEDFROM PRIVATE

TO GOVERNMENTSCHOOLS IS A

TESTIMONYTO THE FACT

THAT PEOPLEAPPRECIATED

THE WORK DONE BY IT

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Roger thatSome of our voters do notunderstand the importanceof their franchise. In mostdemocratic nations, common people had to agitate to get the franchise.

President—Ram Nath Kovind

The BJP seems to have lost the plot with its support to rabidstatements by party leaders and is in no mood to engage

With his fightback at Australia Open, Federer is the firstsingles player to win 100 matches in two Grand Slams

In the midst of all the din created by parties that has earned India the dubious title of a dividednation, Delhi stands as a calm outlier. AAP has significantly changed perceptions

Listen to the teenage zealot

KEJRIWAL HAD PROMISED TO BUILD 500 SCHOOLS.FAR FROM BUILDING NEW ONES, THE CONDITION OF

EXISTING ONES REMAINS IN SHAMBLES. —UNION MINISTER

AMIT SHAH

DON'T MAKE EDUCATION A PART OF YOUR DIRTYPOLITICS. PLEASE TAKE OUT TIME AND COME WITHME TO VISIT GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS.—DELHI CHIEF MINISTERARVIND KEJRIWAL

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

An unfamiliar white patina coveredour lawn recently, something seldom seen any longer, certainlynot here in the South: A frost. Forthe first time this year, I considered

digging out my heavy coat from the depths ofthe cupboard but it wasn’t really cold enough.

Where have our winters gone? I miss them.No doubt having written those words, thecountry will freeze for the next month butthere is no sign of anything remotely wintryin the long-term forecast anywhere in thecountry, not just in London. It is hard to recallan old-fashioned winter where it would snowat least two or three times between Decemberand April.

This mild pattern is noticeable across theentire European continent and has been forsome time now. In Moscow, the authoritiessprayed fake snow around the city centre overthe New Year to give the residents a sense ofthe season. The temperature in the Russiancapital last week was 4oCelsius; usually it is -10oCelsius or lower.

I remember visiting Moscow in lateJanuary and it was -25oCelsius, with the RiverMoscva frozen so solid you could drive acrossit. They used to call it General Winter —weather so ghastly that it was an integral partof Russia’s defences, repelling Napoleon andHitler, among others. Now it’s not even Lance-Corporal Slightly Chilly.

All the great eastern and central Europeancities — Berlin, Warsaw, Vienna and StPetersburg — are exceptionally mild, thoughwinter could yet have a sting in the tail. Theso-called Beast from the East that arrived latein the season a few years ago temporarilyshocked us out of our complacency but it wasrelatively short-l ived and not that exceptional in any case.

Mild Januaries are now the norm. We havea lovely old wooden toboggan that has hard-ly been put to use since the 1980s, which is thelast time I can remember a succession of coldwinters. Growing up in Kent in the 1960s and1970s, heavy frosts and blizzards were an annu-al occurrence. Not now.

I am reluctant to attribute what mightprove to be temporary weather glitches to long-term climate change but there is clearly some-thing going on that cannot be ignored. Wedon’t have to buy into the apocalyptic angst ofSwedish environmental activist GretaThunberg, on show again in Davos last week,to recognise that something has to be done.

Whether or not you are a sceptic about theimpact of carbon dioxide on the climate orquestion man’s involvement in producing thegreenhouse gas, our energy future is a non-car-bon one, like it or not. Virtually everyGovernment across the world has committedto this as an overt aspect of public policy andthose that haven’t, like China or the US, havea rapidly growing green energy sector poisedto exploit the move to a carbon-free future.

If US President Donald Trump wants to beremembered for anything other than beingimpeached, he would throw his weight behindit because it is happening anyway, even in his

own backyard. American greenhouse gasemissions are falling despite his commitmentto fossil fuels.

Perhaps Trump would be persuadable if hewere to recognise there is a hard-headed eco-nomic imperative here. He should listen tosomeone like Marco Alvera, an oil and gasCEO who understands what is going on andhas ideas to address it.

At a conference in Venice at the weekend,he said we should commit to the one cleanenergy source that is plentiful, easy to trans-port and getting cheaper to produce. It is allaround us, does not have to be drilled out ofthe ground in parts of the world favoured withthe right geology and does not pollute theatmosphere. It is hydrogen, the most wide-spread element in the universe. Like manybusinesses reliant upon carbon-based energy,Alvera’s Italian energy infrastructure compa-ny, Snam, has no long-term future unless itadapts because its pipelines, compressors andstorage tanks will be useless as oil and gas comeunder pressure from state actors around theworld. They can be used for hydrogen instead.

However, this is more than just a commer-cial calculation. Alvera has published a bookcompellingly setting out the case forGovernments, manufacturers and investors toget behind hydrogen now before they head offdown other less-promising blind alleys.

Hydrogen can be burned to drive a turbine,can be piped into homes for boilers, cookersand air conditioners and converted into elec-tricity using a fuel cell to power a car or a lorry.Unlike wind and solar power, it is easily stored and can generate the intense heat need-ed by industrial processes including manufac-turing steel and cement. The only waste

product is water.True, there is nothing new about the con-

cept. Fuel cells were developed in the mid-19thcentury and some buses were running onhydrogen in Germany and Britain in the 1930s.There are cars today that have been convert-ed to hydrogen but they are expensive andthere is no infrastructure to support them.Manufacturers like Toyota are developinghydrogen cars with their Mirai range but fewothers are following suit. They should.

In the past, hydrogen has been too expen-sive relative to fossil fuels but that will changeas new taxes are loaded onto coal and gas tomeet carbon dioxide targets and the cost ofrenewable energy continues to fall. No one pre-tends the transition will be straightforward butif there’s widespread adoption of the technol-ogy and the necessary infrastructure, it willbecome increasingly affordable.

This is a reasoned, not a hysterical,approach. Alvera likes to adapt the argumentknown as Pascal’s wager to our climate changeconundrum. The 17th century French philoso-pher and mathematician asked what weshould do if we had to bet our lives on the exis-tence of God. Pascal posited that the rationalresponse was to behave as though he did existbecause we have nothing much to lose if itturns out that he doesn’t but risk eternaldamnation if he does.

Climate change is the same. If Greta is rightthen the consequences of doing nothing arecalamitous. But if she is wrong, changing to acleaner energy future is a good thing in itselfand can even generate growth and prosperi-ty. You do not have to be a teenage zealot tosee sense in that.

(Courtesy: The Telegraph)

One does not have to buy into Greta Thunberg’s apocalyptic angst to see that something has tobe done on climate change. Changing to a cleaner energy future is a good thing in itself

analysis 07

Endless protestsand their fallout

VINAYSHIL GAUTAM

For any protest to last beyond a small fraction ofsustainable time, it needs the support of sponsors. The

challenge is in keeping it free from vested interests

PHILIP JOHNSTON

There’s a feeling of disquiet among segments of the cross sec-tion of a news-aware people across the country. They con-sume news either in print or television, which is dominated

by private players. This has led to a situation where financiers viewtheir broadcasting channel to be a surrogate of their own politi-cal, social and economic inclinations. This is a fact of life that isseldom flagged. By and large, the so-called public is unaware ofthe political slant of the promoters and protectors of the mediumwho carry the news. Hence, the distinction between facts, com-ments and commentary often becomes dubious. Comments paradeas facts and commentary often becomes the explanation there-of. This makes the job of the reader — to understand what is actu-ally happening — even more complex. The result is that rabble-rousing often gets mistaken for a vibrant democracy.

The current atmosphere of agitations for and against an issuehas raised some fundamental questions. One of them is: Howsignificant are street protests as a counterfoil of a dominant major-ity of parliamentarians, who in their wisdom, took a decision ona given topic? It is generally assumed that given the total vot-ing population of the country, a parliamentarian represents approx-imately 16 to 17 lakh voters. No single demonstration ever approx-imates that number. What makes a demonstration great is themedia coverage it receives and how for hours, certain shots canbe repeated over and over again. That some people get animat-ed and get prone to posture in an excitable manner is no secret.Thus, it is that process give a slant to a situation representedby a selection of facts. Repetition of this approach across morethan one forum serves as a drumming up. It goes far beyondthe wildest dreams of the sponsors of that limited agitation onthe crossroads.

Brigades of two types of professionals then descend uponthe location. On January 23, an aspiring leader-to-be descendedwith a mike on the crowd of protesters in Shaheen Bagh to encour-age them. He promised that he would create 500 or better still,5,000 more Shaheen Baghs across the country. The same day,while delivering a memorial lecture, a now retired VVVIP laudedthe very act of protest as something very encouraging. Whetherit is encouraging or not is another matter. The bald truth remainsthat it raised several unanswered questions. For instance, protestis a desirable process in a democracy but the concurrent ques-tion is: What form should it take? How should the theme be cho-sen? What is the mode of protest? Is it disrupting the life of anaverage citizen, who is interested in nothing more than leading anormal, quiet and ordinary life? The questions are numerous butanswers are few. At the end of the day, any protest that has tolast beyond a small fraction of sustainable time needs the sup-port of sponsors. Somebody has to promote it and that personwould not do so without a vested interest.

Across world history, from Paris Commune to BolshevikRevolution, lessons are easy to identify. The Paris Commune col-lapsed when organised sponsorship withdrew. Perhaps, there wouldhave been no Bolshevik Revolution if the Germans had not smug-gled Lennon into Czarist Russia. In such circumstances, serenad-ing protest for the sake it, especially by the young and distinguishedprofessionals, who have no track record of having participated ina significant populist protest movement, can only be panderingto the gallery. Such episodes cannot be overlooked because theytend to feed upon themselves, get drummed up and projected.The ultimate spread effect cannot be a gain to anyone or anyprocess. There are innumerable cases where protest movementshave fizzled out because of the absence of a sustainable agen-da. That, too, would be a tragedy because protests or any processshould be an input to be more robust. The danger of throwing thebaby in the bath water is too risky to sustain or even consider. Itwould have made sense if some leader of standing, credibility andpast records made a headline by pointing out how protests canget out of hand.

Besides, there are ripple effects, too. Reports have it that alady enumerator of a certain, totally a political social intervention,while dealing with a community of people of her own faith in Kota,was summoned back to the colony after she collected data ofnames and addresses. She was threatened not to use them. Thiskind of contagion is highly infectious. A little later, hundreds of milesaway from Kota, a programme run in the aid of internet aware-ness by Google India and Tata Trust got into foul weather. The rea-son was that enumerators were asking for the names and address-es of the trainees. The upshot was that the programme, at theend of December 2019, was halted in all the five districts of WestBengal because the trainers faced trouble. Is this right?

(The writer is a well-known management consultant)

Across India, protests haveerupted against the contro-versial Citizenship

Amendment Act (CAA) that wasenacted in December last year.Even though the law is widely beingdeemed “anti-Muslim”, many non-Muslim Indians, too, have partici-pated in the protests. They see thelaw — passed by the Right-wingBharatiya Janata Party (BJP)Government — as an attack on thecountry’s Constitutional secular-ism, first established in 1950.

At the centre of the protests arethousands of university and collegestudents. One of the most activecampuses in this respect has beenDelhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University

(JNU). On January 5 this year, atleast 40 JNU students were admit-ted to the hospital with injuries.According to a January 6 report bythe BBC, masked men and at leastone woman, allegedly belonging tothe student wings of Hindu nation-alist parties, attacked students of theJNU and vandalised universityproperty.

For decades, JNU has been oneof India’s most politicised campus-es. It is often described as a hot-bedof radical Left-wing politics.According to a study of politics inJNU, published in the March 2018edition of Economic and PoliticalWeekly, Jean-Thomas Martelli andKhlaiq Parkar wrote that on 33 occa-sions, radical Left-wing studentoutfits have won JNU’s studentunion elections.

Even though the student wingsof the BJP and the paramilitaryHindu nationalist organisation theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) are also active there, only oncehave they won the presidential postin the university’s union.

The university’s union has

remained in the hands of Left-wingstudent groups and alliances due towhat Martelli and Parkar say isJNU’s “dominant anti-establish-ment discourse.”

The BJP and RSS student wingshave lamented that anti-Left politicsis suppressed at the university.There are also, of course, universi-ties and colleges in India whereRight-wing student outfits are dom-inant and Left-wing student groupsaccuse them of repression.

So what makes a universitycampus Left wing or Right wing?Recently, in the US, conservativethink-tanks, academics and stu-dent outfits accused their Left-wing counterparts of blatantlyrepressing free speech by disallow-ing conservative groups to operateon various campuses. They accused“radical” Left-wing professors of“indoctrinating” students in thename of liberalism and socialism,while, in fact, turning them into“Left-wing fascists.”

Such allegations are not entire-ly unfounded. In their 2005 essay fora journal called The Forum,

researchers Stanley Rothman, SRobert Lichter and Neil Nevettiwrote that Left-wing “ideologically-based discrimination in academicadvancement deserves serious con-sideration.” Even many “moderate”commentators in the US have nothesitated in pointing out the prolif-eration of “political correctness”,purportedly formulated on “Left-leaning” US campuses as the reasonbehind the off-campus “backlash”that eventually put Donald Trumpin the White House.

But again, what makes a cam-pus Left or Right wing? In February2017, the American journalist ScottJaschik (in an essay for Inside HigherEd) analysed four studies conduct-ed between 2007 and 2016. Thestudies concluded that faculty mem-bers of most American universitiesleaned Left. Professors thus play amajor role in shaping the students’ideological orientation and biases.

I shall briefly discuss cases ofsome specific universities to elabo-rate this. Locally, between the early1960s and 1970s, the KarachiUniversity (KU) was seen as a

vibrant bastion of diverse studentpolitical activity. But a formerfounder of the erstwhile PakistaniLeft-wing student outfit, theNational Students Federation (NSF),Husain Naqi, and another NSFluminary, the late MerajMuhammad Khan often accused theuniversity’s Vice Chancellor — from1961 till 1971 — Dr Ishtiaq HussainQureshi, of siding with Right-wingstudent groups to curb NSF’s elec-toral influence in KU.

Naqi told The NewsInternational in June 2007 that NSFwas popular among KU’s studentsbut Qureshi went the extra mile tochange this. Therefore, by 1970,KU’s student union had been wonby the Right-wing Islami JamiatTalaba (IJT) and NSF broke into var-ious factions.

In 1968, KU had been activeduring the largely Left-wing move-ment against the Ayub Khan regime.But in 1977, it went the other wayby becoming the epicentre of aRight-wing movement against the“socialist” ZA Bhutto Government.Of course, there is more to this than

just a faculty turning Right andinfluencing the students but after1977, it became tough for Left-winggroups to operate at KU withoutbeing harassed. The results weretragic. Another example in thiscontext is of Tehran University. Inhis book, Democracy in Iran, thesociologist Misagh Parsa wrote thatbetween the 1950s and 1979, studentpolitics in almost all major campus-es in Iran, especially the TehranUniversity, was a mixture of Left andRight groups.

Most of these groups wereopposed to the Iranian monarchy.According to Parsa, after the monar-chy was toppled in 1979, the Iranianclergy, under Ayatollah Khomeini,attempted to oust its former anti-monarchy allies on the Left. Protestsagainst many of Khomeini’s pre-scribed “Islamic laws” erupted at theTehran University.

In June 1980, Khomeini ordereda “cultural revolution” to eliminateall “Western,” “anti-Islam” andLeftist influences from Iran’s univer-sities. Leftist students were physical-ly attacked by pro-Khomeini groups

and faculty members suspected ofbeing Leftists or liberal wereexpelled, replaced by teachers andprofessors sympathetic to Khomeini.

Commentators perturbed bythe Left-Right “cultural wars” thathave erupted on US campuses haveinsisted that when faculty members— both on the Right and the Left —try to mould the ideological orien-tation of the students, they are actu-ally endangering the whole idea offree speech and critical thinking.

They are blocking young mindsfrom intellectually engaging withthose who may hold different opin-ions. That’s why the young IndianHindu nationalists from “Right-wing campuses” decided to useiron rods to engage with their leftcounterparts at JNU. And that’s why,in November last year, Left-wingstudents at California’s BerkeleyUniversity went on a rampage andrefused to allow a speaker from theother side of the ideological divideto speak at the university. The casu-alties in both cases were free speechand basic democratic norms.

(Courtesy: The Dawn)

Students of a featherWhat makes a university campus Left wing or Right wing? Fact is, both try to mould the ideological orientation of the students.

They are actually endangering the whole idea of free speech and critical thinking

NADEEM PARACHA

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | JANUARY 27, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

F I R S T C O L U M N

HYDROGEN CAN BEBURNED TO DRIVE A

TURBINE, CAN BEPIPED INTO HOMES

FOR BOILERS,COOKERS AND AIR

CONDITIONERS ANDCONVERTED INTO

ELECTRICITY USING AFUEL CELL TO POWERA CAR OR A LORRY.UNLIKE WIND AND

SOLAR POWER, IT ISEASILY STORED ANDCAN GENERATE THE

INTENSE HEAT NEEDEDBY INDUSTRIAL

PROCESSESINCLUDING

MANUFACTURINGSTEEL AND CEMENT

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | JANUARY 27, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

Republic Day: AirIndia distributes 30Knational flags amongits passengersNEW DELHI: The nationalcarrier Air India celebrated the71st Republic Day bydistributing 30,000 Indianflags made of eco-friendlyseed paper among itspassengers at airports inmetro cities and Srinagar onSunday. The airlines also putup a big hoarding at thehistoric Lal Chowk in the heartof Srinagar to congratulate thepeople on Republic Day. It wasthe first Republic Daycelebration in Srinagar afterthe abrogation of Article 370provisions that gave specialstatus to the erstwhile state ofJammu and Kashmir. Thehandmade flags prepared bySahariya tribals of MadhyaPradesh were distributed atthe airports in Delhi, Mumbai,Chennai Kolkata, Bengaluru,Hyderabad and Srinagar, saidAir India spokespersonDhananjay Kumar.

Six of top-10 coslose Rs 81,148 cr inm-cap; RIL hit hardNEW DELHI: Six of the 10most valued Indian companiessuffered a combined erosionof Rs 81,148 crore from theirmarket capitalisation lastweek, with Reliance IndustriesLimited (RIL) taking thebiggest knock. TataConsultancy Services (TCS),HDFC Bank, HDFC, KotakMahindra Bank and ITC werethe other bluechips whichwitnessed a drop in theirmarket capitalisation (m-cap)for the week ended Friday,while HUL, ICICI Bank, Infosysand SBI finished on thegainers' side. The marketvaluation of RIL, the country'smost valued firm, plunged Rs37,369.7 crore to Rs9,64,639.40 crore.

Sarovar Hotels toadd 15 propertiesacross India NEW DELHI: Hospitality firmSarovar Hotels and Resorts islooking to open 15 moreproperties across India by theend of this year, addingaround 900 rooms to itsportfolio as part of itsexpansion plans in thecountry, a top company officialsaid. The company currentlymanages 85 hotels with 6,500rooms in India and threelocations overseas. "We areoptimistic that we shouldcross the hundred mark thisyear. We plan to open 15hotels across India by end of2020," Sarovar Hotels andResorts Managing DirectorAjay K Bakaya told PTI.

GOYAL-AMAZON ROW

India should welcomeinvestments, says UKIBC PNS n MUMBAI

The Indian government isresponsive to concernsexpressed by businesses butneeds to do more to attractinvestments into sectors suchas e-commerce, the UK IndiaBusiness Council (UKIBC)has said.

The comments from thelobby grouping come afterthere was a sharp criticism ofGoyal for saying Amazon wasnot doing India a favour by theinvestment announcement.India's GDP growth is set toslow to a decadal low of 5 percent for 2019-20 and all eyesare set on the strategy deployedby the government in theupcoming Budget.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezoshas said the e-commerce majorwill invest USD 1 billion (overRs 7,000 crore) in digitisingsmall and medium businessesin India.

Declining to commentspecifically on the impact oninvestors because of Goyal'scomments, UKIBC ChiefExecutive Officer RichardHeald told PTI here that the e-commerce sector has a tremen-dous potential, especially forthe smaller businesses, who get

a platform to sell their wares."I am a great fan of e-com-

merce and I think that e-com-merce is misunderstood to acertain extent and it benefitsthe general public and thosepeople who operate within thesupply chain in ways that arenot popularly understood," hesaid.

Heald said Mukesh Ambani-promoted RIL also has plans toenter the e-commerce seg-ment through a different busi-ness model and one can haveher own preferences on busi-ness models.

"Encouraging investmentsinto India is important,encouraging the e-commerce

sector is important because itbenefits small businesses dis-proportionately to large busi-nesses," he said adding thatBritish businesses may not be"startled" at the posturing.

India represents a largeopportunity for the Britishbusinesses and even a slower4.8 per cent GDP growth ismuch faster than what the UKor Europe is witnessing, hesaid.

When asked if the govern-ment is responsive in India, heanswered in the affirmativeand said, "What I found strik-ing (in conversations with gov-ernment officials) was thatincreasingly, it is a two-waydialogue. The Indian govern-ment wants to understand andengage, it wants to understandwhat the operating issues areand get those addressed, pos-itives as well as negatives."

Welcoming the cut in cor-porate taxes, Heald advocateda relaxation in fiscal deficit tar-gets in the upcoming Budgetand added that the UKIBC willkeenly watch the narrative ongrowth being set by the Indiangovernment and look for spe-cific measures on rural pover-ty alleviation and infrastruc-ture spends.

I am a great fan of e-commerce and I think that e-commerce is misunderstood to a certain extent

and it benefits the general public and thosepeople who operate within the supply chainin ways that are not popularly understood

—RICHARD HEALDUKIBC Chief Executive Officer

Industry tells FM: Addresspolicy issues stalling growthPNS n NEW DELHI

Leading industry body IndianAuto LPG Coalition hassought GST reduction on AutoLPG as well as on conversionkits for gaseous fuels to pro-mote the adoption of cleanautomotive fuels.

LPG used as fuel in automo-biles or Auto LPG, which isamong the cleanest alternativefuels with a Global WarmingPotential of 'zero' is currentlytaxed at 18 per cent GST. Also, theGST rates on Auto LPG/CNGconversion kits stand at a pro-hibitive 2 per cent, IAC said.

High GST rates on cleanfuels and conversions kits arein complete variance to thegovernment's stated greenmobility push, it said in astatement.

"We seek the attention ofFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman towards the immi-nent need for devising friend-ly policies to allow rapid growthof environment-friendly trans-port fuels such as Auto LPG.Auto LPG which is being pro-moted actively by governmentsacross the world is facing dis-criminatory policies in India. Itis taxed at a high GST slab of18 per cent. Similarly, conver-sion kits for auto LPG and CNGare placed at the highest slab of28 per cent which is meant foreither luxury goods or demer-it items like tobacco products,"

said Suyash Gupta, DirectorGeneral, Indian Auto LPGCoalition (IAC).

IAC said LPG is the mostwidely used alternative fuel in theworld, with a proven track recordof improvement in air quality.

The global consumption ofAuto LPG has risen by over 40per cent over the past 10 years,fuelled by environmental con-cerns. Among the key nationsthat have successfully adoptedthis green fuel for their trans-portation requirements areSouth Korea, Turkey, Poland,

Japan, Australia, Italy, Mexicoand Russia.

The association said even asIndia plans a long-term shift toelectric vehicles, it is missingout the environmental benefitsthat can be gained by adoptinglow hanging fruits like AutoLPG. Investing in a wider bas-ket of clean alternative trans-port fuels that are more read-ily available can bring about animmediate improvement inair quality unlike EVs that arestill a decade away frombecoming commercially viable.

High GST rates on clean fuels andconversions kits are in complete varianceto the government's stated green mobilitypush, it said in a statement.

Reliance's partnership with S Aramco not retreat from energy bizPNS n NEW DELHI

Reliance Industries' partnershipwith Saudi Aramco for its USD75 billion oil-to-chemicalsbusiness signals expansionrather than retreat as growthopportunities are expected toboost the petrochemical andrefining vertical, market analystfirm Bernstein said.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambanihad in August last yearannounced initial agreements tosell a 20 per cent stake in the oil-to-chemical business to theSaudi national oil company.Also, a 49 per cent interest in fuelretailing business was sold toUK's BP plc for Rs 7,000 crore.

"Reliance has pivoted awayfrom energy to the new econ-omy. But energy still accountsfor 64 per cent of EBITDA.While RIL has divested stakesto BP and Aramco, we expectRIL to grow their petrochem-ical and refining business given

the secular growth opportuni-ties," it said in a report.

Stating that India has sig-nificant secular expansion (thatis, unaffected by short-termtrends) ahead in refined prod-

ucts and petrochemicals, itsaid with the lowest demandper capita of 1.3 barrels per per-son, demand for refined prod-ucts will grow by 5 million bar-rels per day over the next two

decades, more than any othermajor market.

Ethylene demand could growten-fold from 5kg per personper annum to 50-60kg pp/pa asconsumer demand rises.

"Reliance partnership withAramco and BP signals expan-sion ahead rather than retreat,"Bernstein said. "Aramco'sinvestment is to secure marketaccess and growth. While refin-ing is a cash cow for the busi-ness, we believe that there aresignificant opportunities forpetrochemical expansion aheadgiven demand growth and syn-ergies with refining."

Fuels marketing will be sig-nificantly expanded given thepartnership with BP and plansfor 5,500 stations, it said.

Ambani had in August lastyear announced that the dealwith Aramco will close byMarch 2020 but it is nowexpected to close within thecurrent calendar year.

Refining and petrochemicalsare a cash cow for Reliance.

"But to think of this as an ex-growth part of the businesswould be a mistake. In India,there is strong secular demandgrowth ahead. India is esti-mated to be the fastest growingrefined fuels market over thenext 20 years (faster than

China) and will also one of thefastest growing markets forpetrochemicals given the percapita demand which will growwith the GDP," it said.

As part of the August deal,Saudi Aramco will supply500,000 barrels per day ofcrude on a long-term basis toRIL's Jamnagar refinery com-plex (40 per cent of the refin-ing capacity).

"While bears will argue thatReliance is stepping away fromenergy to digital, we see this dealas an opportunity to expand thedownstream business in Indiawith a solid partnership. ForAramco, the deal provides directaccess to what is widely expect-ed to be the fastest growingrefined oil product market overthe next 20 years," it said. "ForReliance, it provides cash tofund expansion of their digitalbusiness and further expan-sion of downstream capacitywith an experienced partner."

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani had in Augustlast year announced initial agreementsto sell a 20 per cent stake in the oil-to-chemical business to the Saudi nationaloil company. Also, a 49 per cent interestin fuel retailing business was sold toUK's BP plc for Rs 7,000 crore

PNS n NEW DELHI

Providing a major relief toRaheja Developers, theNational Company LawAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT)has set aside the insolvencyproceedings against the NCR-based real estate firm andhanded over the managementof the company back to itsboard of directors.

Earlier, on August 20 last year,the Delhi-based principal benchof the National Company LawTribunal (NCLT) had directedto initiate insolvency proceed-ings against the company overthe plea filed by one of its flatbuyers citing delay in the pro-ject and appointed an interimresolution professional.

Setting aside it, a three-member NCLAT bench head-

ed by Chairperson Justice S JMukhopadhaya said that delayin the project was not becauseof the real estate firm butcaused due to absence of clear-ance by the competent author-ities, which was beyond itscontrol and the NCLT "failedto appreciate the fact".

"If the delay is not due to the'corporate debtor' but forcemajeure, it cannot be allegedthat the 'Corporate Debtor'(Raheja) defaulted in deliver-

ing the possession," said theNCLAT.

The NCLAT also questionedthe role of its flat buyers andobserved that they moved theNCLT to initiate insolvencyproceedings against the com-pany "fraudulently with mali-cious intents".

The NCLAT said thatRaheja Developers had offeredpossession of flats to the buy-ers but they wanted refund ofthe amount with more interestand refused to take the actualamount in terms of flat buyer'sagreement.

"We have no other optionbut to set aside the impugnedorder dated August 20, 2019.The application preferred by1st and 2nd respondents underSection 7 of the 'I&B Code' isdismissed," said the NCLAT.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Foreign portfolio investors(FPI) have infused a net sum ofRs 1,624 crore into the Indiancapital markets in January sofar, buoyed by the signing ofthe first phase of the US-Chinatrade deal.

As per latest depositoriesdata, FPIs invested a net Rs13,304 crore in equities andwithdrew a net Rs 11,680 crorefrom the debt segment betweenJanuary 1-24. This translatesinto a total net inflow of Rs1,624 crore.

"After starting the year on amuted note, investments fromFPIs has picked up pace andmost of that flows came afterUS and China signed a tradedeal putting the trade warbetween them on a pause," saidHimanshu Srivastava, senioranalyst manager research at

Morningstar InvestmentAdviser India.

The latest investments camedespite challenges such asenhanced geopolitical tensionbetween the US and Iran anddwindling domestic economicgrowth, Srivastava noted.

On the domestic front,"there are some signs of Indiashaking away the slowdownwith business activity picking

up and this is reflecting in theinvestments coming into equi-ties. Besides, after the limit towhich FPIs can invest in debtinstruments has beenincreased, more inflows intothe debt category can beexpected," said Harsh Jain,co-founder and COO atGroww.

The Reserve Bank of Indiaon Thursday raised the invest-

ment limit for FPIs in govern-ment and corporate bonds, amove that is likely to bring inmore foreign funds in thecountry.

According to the currentnorms, short-term investmentsby an FPI should not exceed 20per cent of the total investmentof that FPI in either centralgovernment securities (includ-ing treasury bills) or state

development loans.The same norms are applic-

able on investments in corpo-rate bonds.

The short-term investmentlimit has now been increasedfrom 20 per cent to 30 per centin both the cases, the RBI saidin a circular.

Additionally, the RBI hasalso made relaxation in the vol-untary retention route (VRR)for FPI investments in debt.The investment cap throughVRR has been doubled to Rs1.5 lakh crore, the RBI said inanother circular.

Going forward, "all eyes willnow be on the upcomingBudget to get further cues. Thiswill play major role in terms ofshaping up the investmentviews of foreign investors anddecision to invest in the Indianequity markets," Srivastavaadded.

US-China deal effect: FPIs pour in Rs 1,624 cr FPIs invested a net Rs 13,304 crore inequities and withdrew a net Rs 11,680crore from the debt segment betweenJanuary 1-24. This translates into atotal net inflow of Rs 1,624 crore.The latest investments came despitechallenges such as geopolitical tensionbetween the US and Iran and dwindlingdomestic economic growth

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government plans to com-plete three of the 22 express-ways and green corridors inthe next three years, includingthe flagship Delhi MumbaiExpressway being built at anew alignment, Union minis-ter Nitin Gadkari has said.

These 22 projects comprising7,500 km of greenfield express-ways and corridors are plannedto be completed by FY25 at acost of Rs 3.10 lakh crore.

"We will complete the flag-ship Delhi Mumbai ExpressHighway in the next threeyears. The work will be donein 51 packages and work hasalready been started on 18.This will be India's longestexpressway at 1,320 km andwill reduce travel timebetween Delhi and Mumbaifrom 24 hours to 13 hours,"the road transport and high-ways minister said.

Of the projects, six are 2,250km expressways to be built ata cost of Rs 1.45 lakh crore.

The remaining 16 are green-field corridors, including 5,250km projects to be constructedat a cost of Rs 1.65 lakh crore

Besides Delhi MumbaiExpressway, the minister saidthe trans-Rajasthan and trans-Haryana projects will be com-pleted within the next threeyears.

About Delhi MumbaiExpressway, he said green-field alignment has beenselected to avoid habitationand optimise cost of landacquisition.

These 22 projectscomprising 7,500km of greenfieldexpressways andcorridors areplanned to becompleted byFY25 at a cost ofRs 3.10 lakh crore

Gadkari: 22 expressways,green corridors to bebuilt at Rs 3 lakh-crore

NCLAT sets asides insolvencyproceedings against Raheja Developers

MG Motor eyesincreasingproduction ofSUV Hector PNS n NEW DELHI

MG Motor India plans toincrease production of itsSUV Hector by around 30 percent after BS-VI emissionnorms come into effect fromApril 1, according to a seniorcompany official.

The company, which lastweek launched the ZS EV, isalso set to review plans for asub-Rs 10 lakh electric vehi-cle (EV) considering therobust response to its pureelectric SUV.

"In case of Hector we areplanning for another ramp upand hopefully that shouldhappen in two-three months'time," MG Motor IndiaPresident and MD RajeevChaba told PTI.

Gold imports dip6.77 pc duringApril-Dec 2019PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold imports, which have abearing on the current accountdeficit (CAD), fell 6.77 percent to USD 23 billion duringthe April-December period ofthe current financial year,according data from the com-merce ministry.

Imports of the yellowmetal stood at USD 24.73 bil-lion in the correspondingperiod of 2018-19.

The decline in gold importshas helped in narrowing thecountry's trade deficit to USD118 billion during the period,against USD 148.23 billion ayear ago.

Govt likely to soonallow Indian cos tolist overseasPNS n NEW DELHI

The government is likely tosoon decide on permittingIndian companies to list theirequity shares overseas,according to an official.

Apart from providing anadditional fund raisingavenue for the corporateslooking to expand and boosttheir business activities, over-seas listing of shares wouldalso help in bringing morecapital into the country.

The official said manycompanies are interested inlisting their equity shares inforeign countries. Currently,quite a few Indian companieshave American DepositoryReceipts (ADRs) that are trad-ed in the US.

doorGopalakrishnan —one of the mostrecognised Indianfilm directorsacross the world,

ranking alongside stalwartsof Satyajit Ray and MrinalSen — on the recent drift inIndian cinema towards inno-vative concepts, away fromwhat is consumed throughmainstream commercialmovies, said, “I usually preferto not watch mainstream cin-ema as the process of sittingthrough these movies issomething which I honestlyfind to be a gruesomeprocess. However, it is goodto see that there are youngpeople nowadays who aretrying to make movies whichstand out and that is mostwelcome. They are different

from what commercial cine-ma has been churning out sofar. This shows promise inthe next generation.”

“I don’t make standardfilms. I make films the way Ilike it. The technique, storyand the narrative I use aredifferent each time,” Adoorspoke about his method andprocess of making a movie.Adoor Gopalakrishnan hasdirected 12 films in his careerspanning more than 50 years.Each of which has receivedseveral accolades on variousnational and internationalplatforms. He is the recipientof the Padma Shri Award in1984 and Dadasaheb PhalkeAward in 2004.

While there are so manyupcoming directors workingon films without having to goto a film school, AdoorGopalakrishnan was of theopinion that a formal educa-tion in filmmaking is impor-tant.

In an exclusive with ThePioneer, Adoor Gopalakri-shnan said, “One shouldknow their medium. Formaleducation in the subject isimportant for a filmmaker iswhat I believe. Even if adirector has a basic under-standing about the movie hewishes to make, there willstill be people under him

who know the subject and itis they, who would end upcreating the movie for him.Hence if the director doesn’tknow his subject the directorreceives credit for somethingthat cannot be called hisoriginal work.”

But Adoor Gopalakrishnanalso focussed on the kind oflearning that comes fromstudying cinema by justwatching them. He gives theexample of Bengali filmmak-er Satyajit Ray as someonewho made it without any for-mal training.

It is a known fact that film-making and other suchcareer prospects in arts weremostly frowned upon duringhis younger days but Adoorhad the support he needed.“Fortunately I was born intoa family of artists. They wereparticularly patrons ofKathakali for generations andsponsored Kathakali troopsknown as the KathakaliYogam. Hence when Ishowed interest in filmmak-ing, my family members wereequally enthusiastic. Whileone of my uncles on myfather’s side of the family wasan artist another was apainter and a sculptor, whohad both been tutored underthe guidance of Rama Varma,the son of the celebrated

artist Ravi Varma. RamaVarma had an art school inMavelikkera. My mother'seldest brother was a connois-seur of art. I joined the Filmand Television Institute ofIndia (FTII) in 1962. By thetime I joined I had dabbledin writing, directing and act-ing in theatre,” Adoor saidand added that his rolemodel is G. Shankara Pillaiwho he met during his timein theatre.

So what does it take to becast in a movie directed byAdoor Gopalakrishnan? “I

don’t even do screen tests. Ilook at a person and decidewhether I find them fit for aparticular role or not. I’veworked with both wellknown and experiencedactors just as much as I haveworked with new actors whomay not even have an ideaabout acting and the film-making process,” AdoorGopalakrishnan said.

“Several actors I picked tostar in my movies eventuallymade it big in the industry.Abhirami, who was laternicknamed ‘Adipoli

Abhirami’ in Tamil industry,first starred in my filmKathapurushan and went toact alongside Kamal Hassan.Similar is the case withNarain who debuted in Ni-zhalkuthu, Sudheer who usedto be a set boy earlier, Bhara-th Gopi who starred in Ko-diyettam, or Karamana Jan-ardanan Nair among others.”

When asked about whichmovie of his he holds dear, hesays, “All my movies hold thesame amount of importanceto me. They are all alike. I’mhappy about each one of

them. I don’t make manyfilms but the ones I do workon, I make sure I spendenough time on it and I don’tregret anything about any ofthe films I made as I nevercompromised on the quality

of the content.” “What Ibelieve are my futureprospects is something I can’treally tell you as even I amclueless about my future, justas much as you are,” he con-cluded with a laugh.

A

ANUSHKAPRADEEP

speaks to AdoorGopalakrishnan,

one of thepioneers of the

new-wave inMalayalam

cinema, aboutthe training

required to be afilmmaker, his

journey intomovies and

more

Hyderabad-based Akhil

Reddy createdvarious

platforms andinitiatives to help

bring out thehidden artistinside each

individualthrough righttraining, finds

V SATEESHREDDY

khil ReddyKommidi, founderof Dabaki plat-form, is inspiredby various cul-tures and art

forms from around theworld. A photographer anddocumentary filmmaker byprofession, he also has theexperience of working onprojects to boost localtourism funded by the stateand the central governments.He founded Dabaki as acommon platform for artistesfrom all disciplines to cometogether and collaborate.

“Dabaki is a multi-disci-plinary artist engagementplatform dedicated to con-tent creation and art produc-

tion. Dabaki is the existentialjourney through which weconstantly discover answersto three questions — whereare you from, what feedsyour soul and where are wegoing. We are helping artistsfrom various states andbackground to work withother artists, which now is at75, and perform their best,”Akhil said.

He curates a programmecalled ‘Heart Talks’ throughwhich artists narrate theirjourney through their work.In the recently concludedHyderabad Literary Festival,Akhil held talks with variousartists for literature lovers.“In Heart Talks, we takeartists to a farmhouse and

they would stay there forthree days. During this time,the artists work with seniorartists to improve their artthrough panel discussions,workshops and more, andfinally learn how to buildtheir ideas into formativeand substantial perfor-mances,” said Akhil whoadded that the next editionof Heart Talks would be heldfrom February 21 to 23.

Speaking to The Pioneer,Akhil says, “I learned pho-tography at Rajan’s School ofPhotography, Hyderabad.While working as a photog-rapher and a documentaryfilmmaker, I realised that ifyou don’t do mainstreamwork like covering weddings,

then we could not keep ourpassion alive. Hence, I hadan event management firmcalled The Show which Imanaged for four years. Ialso worked for educationalcompanies and curated pro-grammes for high schoolstudents. As a photographerand a filmmaker who has

gone through all these expe-riences, I can understand theplight of an artist.”

Akhil also guides artists tocome out of their comfortzone and work while travel-ling. As part of one of hisassignments, he had travelledto Cambodia to documentthe lives of farmers. Akhil

said, “Travel takes artists outof their comfort zone andhelps them try somethinginnovative. I went toCambodia alone to docu-ment the lives of farmersthere and to find out howthey manage their agricul-ture even with sudden cli-mate changes. I wasimpressed with their tech-niques and later followed itwith another trip toCambodia where I tookmany artists along with me.That trip was a success.”

Recently, Akhil and teamtravelled to the Nilgiris. “Ouraim behind the Nilgiris tripwas to make the artists inter-act with nature and the peo-ple there and share their sto-ries through art. We haddocumented our work there.We will be releasing it soonas a web series titled Art InMotion,” said Akhil andadded that he has plans to goto the Northeast nextbecause he feels that manyare not aware of the cultureand traditions of that region.

UNDERSTANDING ANAUTEUR'S JOURNEY

I was born into a family of artists. Theywere patrons particularly of Kathakali forgenerations and sponsored Kathakalitroops known as the Kathakali Yogam.Hence when I showed interest infilmmaking, my family members wereequally enthusiastic

ADOOR GOPALAKRISHNANFILMMAKER

A

PROVIDINGA CANVASFOR ARTISTS

he 11th editionof the RepublicRide ofLifeCykul inassociation withSynchrony was a

great success. The eventwas fully digitalised withthe introduction of theLifeCykul app. The app canconnect interested partici-pants across the globe totake part in the ride irre-spective of their locationand time zone. People cansimply download theLifeCykul app, enroll andstart the Republic journeyfrom anywhere in theworld. The Republic Rideis a yearly fixture inHyderabad’s cycling calen-dar and has seen around50,000 cyclists participateduring the past 11 years.

The event was held atPala Pitta Cycling ParkGachibowli, Hyderabadand was attended by AndyPonneri, Senior Vice-President and BusinessLeader-India, Synchrony,

and KameswariGangadharabhatla, Vice-President, HumanResources, DeenanathHarapanahalli, CEOLifeCykul along with othersenior leaders from variouscorporations who flaggedoff the ride which saw theparticipation of more than2,000 amateur and procyclists.

Speaking on the occa-sion Andy Ponneri said,“The annual Republic Ridehas helped encouragecycling in Hyderabad. Weare happy to participateand were amazed to seesuch an overwhelmingresponse. It’s a wonderfuland healthy way of cele-brating our Republic Daytogether. I thank all theparticipants and enthusias-tic citizens who came tocheer on the riders. Tohelp drive a culture ofwellness, we are pleased tosupport fitness programslike these that promote ahealthy lifestyle.”

T

A journey of THOUSAND

STEPS

A still from Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s movie, Pinneyum (Once Again)

We take artists toa farmhouse andthey would stay

for three days. During thistime, the artists work withsenior artists to improvetheir art throughdiscussions andworkshops, and finallylearn how to build theirideas into somethingsubstantial

AKHIL REDDY KOMMIDIPHOTOGRAPHER, FILMMAKER

MondayJanuary 27, 2020

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

ollywoods formercouple Brad Pitt andJennifer Anistonhave reportedly“reignited theirromance”.

According to their closefriends, the exes dated at leastfive times prior to their screenreunion last weekend, reportsmirror.co.uk.

A confidante of the actresssaid: “I don’t think she’s everreally stopped loving him,even though he broke herheart when he left her forAngelina Jolie.”

“It has taken a long time butshe has forgiven him for every-thing — forgiveness has been abig part of them moving on.”

A long-time associate ofPitt’s movie production com-pany Plan B confirmed: “All hecan talk about is Jen. Theyhave reignited their romanceand I haven’t seen either ofthem this happy in years.”

TV cameras had recentlycaught Pitt beaming andmouthing the words “Oh,wow!” during Aniston’s accep-tancespeech at

the Screen Actors Guild cere-mony.

Later the pair were spottedbackstage smiling warmly atone another and claspinghands.

Asked about their first pub-lic reunion, the actress said: “Itjust feels like a really fun nightto cheer each other on. We’veall grown up together, we real-ly have.”

Pitt said: “I don’t know. I’mblissfully naive and I’m gonnastay that way.”

ollywood actress Kangana Ranaut,filmmaker Karan Johar and producerEkta Kapoor have been honoured withthe Padma Shri for their contributionin the field of performing arts. ThePadma awards were announced by

Government of India on the eve of Republic Dayon Saturday.

Popular singers Adnan Sami and SureshWadkar were also honoured with Padma Shri.

“I’m humbled and I’m honoured. I thank mycountry for this recognition and I dedicate this toevery woman who dares to dream. To everydaughter... to every mother... and to the dreams ofwomen who will shape the future of our country,”Kangana said.

Her film Panga has released on Friday anddirector of the film, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, felt

proud of the actress and mentioned: “Thereare very few humans who have the ability to

be visionaries not for just themselves but alsofor others. Kangana has risen on her own

through her dedication and hard work despitemany challenges and limited support.”

“This recognition empowers many morewomen of our beloved country to walk their ownchosen path fearlessly,” added Ashwiny.

Ekta Kapoor is known for her constant contri-bution not only on television and cinema, but alsoon the digital entertainment platforms. As a pro-ducer and content creator, Kapoor, too, is happywith the award.

Karan Johar, on the other hand, is overwhelmedto be honoured with the award. “It’s not very oftenthat I’m at a loss for words, but this is one suchoccasion. The Padma Shri... such an honour toreceive one of the highest civilian awards in thecountry. (I am) overwhelmed by so many emo-tions right now,” he said.

“(I am) humbled, elated and also thankful forthe opportunity to live my dream every day, tocreate and to entertain. I know my father wouldbe proud and I wish he was here to share thismoment with me,” said Johar.

10

Vijayawada Monday January 27, 2020 what’s brewing?

B

H

Kangana, Ekta,Karan Johar,among BTownPadma Shrirecipients

Kabir Khan’s The Forgotten Armymakes Guinness World Record

Brad-Aniston ‘BACK IN LOVE'

ilmmaker KabirKhan’s debut webseries The ForgottenArmy has createdGuinness WorldRecord for being the

biggest team of musicians toperform live ever.

The team of Amazon PrimeVideo’s The Forgotten Army paidtribute to the unsung heroes ofthe Azad Hind Fauj at a musicalevent on Friday night at a subur-ban hotel here. The live operaticmusical event saw 1000 singers

and instrumentalist comingtogether to perform three songsfrom the show’s album, whichhas been composed by Pritam.

Guinness World Record adju-dicator Swapnil Dangarikarannounced that The ForgottenArmy now holds the record forthe largest indian cinematicmusic band.

“It was a spectacular perfor-mance with the highest level ofproficiency. It’s my great pleasureto be present here to be able tosee and listen to the largest indian

cinematic music band,” he added.Present at the event were

musician Pritam, Kabir and thecast including Sunny Kaushal,Sharvari Wagh, RohitBharadwaj, and TJ Bhanu.

Kabir hailed the performanceand said it was able to “capturethe very spirit of the Azad HindFauj”. Pritam said he was excitedto have witnessed a “unique liveperformance”.

The Forgotten Army startedstreaming on Amazon PrimeVideo from Friday.

F

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

hen veteran actor-pro-ducer Krishnam Rajurecently announcedthat his next produc-tion with nephewPrabhas will mostly

likely release during this year-endor in the summer of 2021, theyoung rebel star fans were deject-ed. Sensing the dejection amongfans, it seems that the actor hasdecided to release his film,directed by Jil fame RadhaKrishna, a little before theyear-end. With the thirdschedule, which started onJanuary 17 completed onSaturday, the makers want toamp up the proceedingsnow. “The next schedule willstart in Hyderabad fromFebruary 7, post which theunit will embark on lengthy

schedules to finish the film atthe earliest. Beginning

April, the Austriaschedule of60 to 75days willwrapupthe

principle shoot, leaving the unitto film some songs. The releasedate will be decided once RRRmakers officially confirm theirdate first. Right now, they are eye-ing a date in October. Also, themakers have made up their mindto regularly update about thefilm’s development in view ofmounting pressure from Prabhasfans,” said a source.

We also hear that to avoid leaksabout the actor’s look and pro-duction design; the makers haveheightened security measures.“More than 20 sets replicatingEurope have been erected inprominent studios of Hyderabad

and in Tellapur and the makersare in no mood to have any

leaks,” added the source.Being made simultane-

ously in Telugu, Tamiland Hindi, the film, alove story, is a jointproduction venturebetween Gopi KrishnaMovies and UVCreations.

fter bouncingback withRakshasudu lastyear, filmmakerRamesh Varmahas now landed a

Ravi Teja film. Althoughbuzz about the same hasbeen doing rounds for pasttwo weeks, the project wasofficially announced on RaviTeja’s birthday on Sunday.Speaking exclusively to ThePioneer, Ramesh scoffedreports that the film isanother remake for himafter Rakshasudu. “It’s anoriginal screenplay fallingunder the action-thriller

genre. I’ve shared the plotline with Ravi Teja garu lastOctober and he wasimpressed with it. He gaveus the go-ahead to fullydevelop it. Fifteen days ago,me and my team, gave him adetailed narration for three-and-half hours and he wassold. We wanted toannounce the project nextmonth but since Sunday ishis birthday, we’ve decidedto advance our plans andgreet him this way,” thedirector said.

The director is plan-ning to take the film tofloors in February-end or

in early March, while theofficial muhurat will be heldearly next month. “Around50 per cent of it will be shotin Hyderabad, while theother half will be filmedacross Azerbaijan. It willfeature will two heroines.While one actor will have aprominent role, the otherwill last around for 20 min-utes on screen. The castingprocess is on,” he added.

Ramesh had earlierteamed up with Ravi Tejafor Veera (2011), which wasan above average grosser.On small screen though itcontinues to rake in goodTRPs whenever it is telecast.“Veera was an okay filmoverall but I didn’t get agood name out of it. Theprotagonist of the film wasnot my kind of hero. I hadto do the film because ofcertain situations. I’ve justdelivered a hit in the formof Raid and felt doing a filmwith Ravi Teja will keep memoving forward. The stabili-ty that I have today, I didn’tpossess it back then. Veeracould’ve been done by anyother hero than Ravi Tejabut this new film of mineneeds only him,” he stated.

The director is collaborat-ing with educationalistKoneru Satyanarayana againafter Rakshasudu for theuntitled film. On his choiceof producer, Ramesh said, “Idid get many offers last yearbut I had a great time work-ing with Satyanarayana garuon Rakshasudu and felt theneed to continue myassociation withhim again. He isa good produc-er. There isHavish as wellin the back-end,” he con-cluded.

Vijayawada Monday January 27, 2020

Veera was an okay film overall but I didn’t get a goodname out of it. The protagonist of the film was not mykind of hero. I had to do the film because of certainsituations. I’ve just delivered a hit in the form of Raidand felt doing a film with Ravi Teja will keep memoving forward. The stability that I have today, Ididn’t possess back then

RAMESH VARMA, DIRECTOR

THE LOVE STORY WILLBE SIMULTANEOUSLYMADE IN TELUGU, TAMILAND HINDI

WA

11

tollywood

he Pioneer was the first (on December 28)to inform you that director Ajay Bhupathihas got the nod from Sharwanand andSamantha to front his second filmMahasamudram. To this end, thelatest we hear is that there

is a high probability for the filmto be shot in Tamil as well. “Itwas Sharwa who first put for-ward the proposal of shootingin it Tamil besides Telugu ashe felt that the film’s contentand backdrop can resonatewith Tamil audience aswell. He has a sizeablefollowing there and thefact that his next withTamil productionhouse Dream WarriorPictures is a Telugu-Tamil bilingual meantthat he wants to consol-idate his Tamil market.Plus, there is Samanthawho is as popular inTamil as she is inTelugu. Bhupathicouldn’t agree more.However, a lot dependson who will play the sec-ond hero — a cop —besides Sharwanand. Nameslike Vijay Sethupathi, AtharvaMurali and Bobby Simha areattached to it,” informed a highly-placed source close to the unit.

Major portions ofMahasamudram, a love story set inthe backdrop of smuggling, will beshot in Visakhapatnam. SitharaEntertainments is tipped to producethe project, while ChaithanBharadwaj is already on board torender music. It will move to floorsmostly in May. — NG

Film with RAVI TEJA an action-thriller:

RAMESH VARMARameshVarma wantsto make it bigon the screen with Ravi Teja.NAGARAJGOUD findsout what thedirector has instore for hisnext film withMass Maharaja

Trivikram's punchto O Pitta Katha

PRABHAS' next torelease this year itself

ilmmakerTrivikramSrinivas, who isbasking in theafterglow of AlaVaikuntha-

puramlo, has unveiled thetitle of production houseBhavya Creations’ next ven-ture in Hyderabad onSunday. Featuring Viswant,Sanjay Rao, Nithya Shettyand Brahmaji in lead roles,the film, titled O Pitta

Katha, has been directed bydebutant M. Chandu. Thefilm is a comedy thriller andits shooting has beenwrapped up.

Trivikram said, “I foundthe story interesting. Whenthe director told me aboutthe title options, I evincedmy interest on O PittaKatha. I suggested runningit with a caption ‘it’s a longstory’. My contributionended there itself. The title

is good and I hope peoplewill connect to it.”

Terming the film as ascreenplay-driven film,director Chandu added,“The story unfolds in a vil-lage in a realistic ways. Onone hand it will have theaudience in the theatresrolling with laughter, on theother it will keep themglued to their seats with sus-pense. The twists will add tothe thrills.”

F

he cast of S.S. Rajamouli's ambitiousRRR has grown bigger. The Pioneerhas exclusively learnt that ShriyaSaran is on board to play a key sup-porting role in the film. What’smore is that the Delhi beauty has

already joined the sets in Vikarabad.“Shriya is cast opposite Ajay Devgn in the

film. Soon after the Singham star landed inHyderabad last week, the actress followedsuit. They will be seen as husband-wife inthe film and portions involving them as ayoung pair are being shot at in Vikarabadforests by Rajamouli as we speak. Besides heracting chops, the fact that Shriya is a notablefigure in Hindi belt has sealed the deal forher,” said a well-placed source who furtheradded that shoot will go on in Vikarabadfor another five to six days, post which thesetting will shift to other sets in Hyderabad.

RRR, which is riding high on expecta-tions, already sees an impressive roster ofprominent supporting actors such as

Samuthirakani, Satyadev and RahulRamakrishna. The source further added that

Makrand Deshpande is also playing a smallrole.

Set in early 1920s, the film, a productionventure of DVV Danayya, is a fictional storybased on two real-life heroes and freedomfighters — Alluri Seetharama Raju andKomaram Bheem. Tarak is playing the youngerBheem, with English actress Olivia Morrispaired alongside him, while Charan will beseen as younger Ramaraju, with Alia Bhatt ashis love interest. — NG

T

AND NOW, SHRIYA

JOINS RRRT

Mahasamudramto be a

bilingual

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | JANUARY 27, 2020 sport 12

CHRISTCHURCH: Ishan Kishanwas left stranded on anunbeaten 71 as India A lostfour wickets in nine balls tosuffer a narrow five-run defeatin the deciding third ODIagainst New Zealand A onSunday.

Chasing 271 for a series-win, India A needed sevenruns from the final over withtwo wickets in hand but wick-et-keeper batsman Kishantook a single off the secondball after playing a dot to

expose the tail.It proved quite costly as

pacer Kyle Jamieosn (4/49)knocked off Sandeep Warrierand Ishan Porel off consecu-tive balls to end the matchwith two balls to spare.

In the 49th over, India Alost well-set Axar Patel (32)and Rahul Chahar (0) to left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel, as NewZealand snatched the momen-tum when it mattered themost.

India had got off to a good

start with young openerPrithvi Shaw (55) and RuturajGaikwad (44) putting on aconfident 79-run stand for theopening wicket. SkipperMayank Agarwal (22) got astart but could not convert itinto a big knock.

After the top three, onlyKishan and Axar offered resis-tance as Suryakumar Yadav (5)and Vijay Shankar (19) couldnot last long.

New Zealand A’s left-armspin duo of Ajaz Patel (3/44)

and Rachit Ravindra (2/43)did considerable damage toIndia’s middle and lower order.

It was Mark Chapman,who got New Zealand backinto the match with an unbeat-en 110-run knock.

India had reduced thehost to 68 for four and then105 for six at one stage withdismissals at regular intervalsbut Chapman and Todd Astle(56) raised a 136-run partner-ship for the seven wicket to putup a fighting total. PTI

PTI n AUCKLAND

India tightened their grip onthe T20I series with a seven-wicket drubbing of New

Zealand in the second matchafter their bowlers stifled thehosts on a pocket-sized EdenPark on Sunday.

Boasting a formidable bat-ting line-up, chasing 133proved to be a cakewalk for thevisitors on a pitch that wasslightly on the slower side.

The very short boundaryensured the match ended withas many as 15 balls to spare.

The trio of Ravindra Jadeja,Jasprit Bumrah andMohammed Shami allowed norespite to Kane Williamson’steam after New Zealand sur-prisingly chose to bat, restrict-ing them to 132 for five.

K L Rahul then scored 57not out off 50 balls whileShreyas Iyer scored 44 off 33balls, the duo adding 86 runsfor the third wicket and afterRohit Sharma’s twin failure.

Tim Southee took 2-20 asIndia had to do without majorcontributions from bothSharma and skipper ViratKohli.

Sharma (8) was out caughtat slip in the first over offSouthee. New Zealand’s newball bowlers were compact anddidn’t let the Indian top orderget away unlike the first T20Ion Friday.

Even so, Rahul and Kohliadded 31 runs for the secondwicket. The latter then wascaught behind off Southee inthe sixth over with Tim Seiferttaking a brilliant diving catch.

Kohli scored 11 off 12 ballsand the wicket’s slow naturewas starting to impact proceed-ings. New Zealand held backtheir spinners too, but Rahul-Iyer settled down in this pas-sage of play.

They rotated strike welland added 50 in 55 balls byminimising risks. Rahulbrought up his 11th T20I half-century off 43 balls.

Overall, Rahul hit threefours and two sixes, while Iyerhit one four and three sixes.

India crossed 100 in the15th over after which Iyer cutloose to approach the finishline. He fell just prior, holingout off Ish Sodhi (1-33).

But Rahul stuck aroundwhile Shivam Dube finished thejob with a six over midwicket.

This was after Indianbowlers made good use of aslower pitch.

Opting to bat, the BlackCaps couldn’t generate enoughmomentum in the middle oversand finished with a sub-partotal.

Martin Guptill top-scoredwith 33 off 20 balls, while TimSeifert was unbeaten on 33not out off 26 balls.

Guptill and Colin Munro(26) provided a measured startto New Zealand putting on 48

runs for the first wicket.Surprisingly, India held

back Jasprit Bumrah (1-21) asShardul Thakur (1-21) andMohammed Shami (0-22)bowled four overs in the powerplay. The tactic worked asThakur got rid of Guptill at endof six overs.

India then used the slownature of the used-wicket to putbrakes on the New Zealandmiddle order. Wickets came ata regular interval as the BlackCaps struggled to get the bigshots out.

Yuzvendra Chahal (0-33)and Shivam Dube (1-16) com-bined well after the powerplay,while Ravindra Jadeja was thestand out bowler with figures of2-18 from four overs.

Overall, India also raisedtheir fielding effort barring abizarre drop from Virat Kohlilate in the innings.

PTI n AUCKLAND

Senior New Zealand openerMartin Guptill blamed the

sluggish Eden Park track fortheir flop show with the bat inan absolute surrender to theIndian side.

Guptill scored a quickfire 33off 20 balls but Indian bowlerskept a tight leash on the BlackCap restricting them for 132 andthen reaching the target in only17.3 overs.

“We certainly felt that thepitch was getting slower andslower when we were batting. Itgot harder and harder to bat asthe game progressed. We need-

ed one of the top three-four tobat majority of the innings. Weweren’t able to get partnershipsto add up the total,” Guptill toldreporters after his team lost sec-ond successive game.

The surface was slowercompared to the first gamewhere New Zealand scored 203.

“It was a slightly differentwicket. Earlier on, it was com-ing nicely. Colin (Munro) and Iwere off to a reasonable start.We lost momentum thereafterthe sixth over, and we had tosort of rebuild from there,” hesaid.

The target was not a toughone to chase down admitted

Guptill.“We probably knew we were

light on runs. But we had to tryand defend that, and get earlywickets upfront. Thought thebowlers did well in the front sixovers, we needed more wicketsafter Virat got out. Shreyas Iyerand KL Rahul batted very welland we were not able to breakthat partnership,” he added.

Guptill and Colin Munroput up 48 for the opening standafter 80 in the first game.

“Our role in the team is tobe aggressive and we go outthere to do that. One of uswould have been good to bat 15overs to set the innings up and

have guys bat around us. It wasnot supposed to be today and wehave time to try to do that in thenext game and do a better per-formance,” he added.

The opener felt that Indiaonce again out-batted them ona difficult track.

“They played very well, ashard as they did the other night.They built partnerships to putpressure on us. We were not ableto do that and got out-battedtonight. India have got somegreat players and match win-ners. It is hard for the boys to goout there and try their best.Sometimes you come up short,”Guptill further added.

PTI n AUCKLAND

There is no one better than Virat Kohli when itcomes to chasing down totals in white-ball

cricket, something that India’s newest No 4 ShreyasIyer wants to emulate on a consistent basis in com-ing days.

With a half-century and 44 off 33 balls in thesuccessful chases in the first two T20 games, Iyeris fast becoming another viable option for the Indianteam apart from its talismanic skipper when itcomes to trickyrun-chases.

“I personallyfeel that you havea fair idea howmany runs you aregoing to chase andat what run-rateyou have to chasethem. Virat Kohliis the perfectexample when hegoes out to bat andthe way he planshis innings. I learna lot from himpersonal ly, theway he grinds outand he tries to fin-ish the game.That’s the best partabout him,” Iyertold mediaper-sons.

He also learnsa lot from hissenior Mumbaiteammate RohitSharma, who can demolish any attack on his day.

“(I) Also (learn from) Rohit Sharma, whenev-er he’s given an opportunity, he makes the best useof it. All these amazing characters in the team seta really good example for us youngsters.

“There’s a lot to learn from them and that’s whatI try to apply whenever I go out there. I think that Ihave to stay not out and it really helps me grindthroughout that middle period and when the timecomes, I take on the bowlers. That’s how you plan yourinnings when you are chasing,” Iyer said.

The 25-year-old is known for his penchant forhitting big sixes but he also understands the value ofrotating the strike as a middle-order batsman.

“You have to play all sorts of shots and take sin-gles. As well as when you want to hit sixes, you haveto be aware of the fact that you have to create thatmoment for yourself. You have to give yourself thattime to get set. That’s what I usually do.”

He has now played 34 white-ball games for India(15 ODIs and 19 T20Is) and realises that staying atthe crease an important virtue.

“I have realized playing so many matches that aslong as I stay on the wicket, I tend to see the ball real-ly well and I can take on the bowlers,” he opined.

PTI n AUCKLAND

India captain Virat Kohlilauded his bowling unit for

taking control of the proceed-ings from the onset after anemphatic seven-wicket victoryagainst New Zealand in the sec-ond T20.

“I think we had anothergood performance today, espe-cially with the ball. The bowlersstood up and took control ofwhat we wanted to do outthere. Sticking to one side of thewicket was a very good featurefor us as a team to restrict agood New Zealand team to 132which I think was below par,”Kohli said at the post-matchpresentation ceremony.

The low target led to Indiachasing down the total with 15balls to spare.

“The low total led us to batin that manner but we thoughtthe pitch was good for 160 inthe first half. We understoodthe angles of the field better,how the pitch was playing andI had to think on my feet as acaptain,” he added.

Kohli’s opposite numberKane Williamson reckonedthat the pitch was tough forbatting compared to the firstmatch and that they were 20runs short.

“It was a tough day. Thewicket was quite different fromthe first game. I think as a bat-ting unit we needed another 15or 20 to make it a little bit morecompetitive. But credit to theway India bowled,” Williamsonsaid.

He termed India as a “classside” which put them underconstant pressure.

“They’re a class side in alldepartments and they put usunder pressure in that middleperiod. Even though we onlyhad 130 on the board on asmall ground, we still knew ifwe were able to take earlywickets and build pressure likethey did, then you never real-ly know.

“But they showed theirexperience and took the gamemuch deeper than we were ableto in the first innings and theywere very clinical.”

B'DESH TTO HHOST ZZIM IIN FFEB-MMARCHDhaka: Bangladesh will host Zimbabwe in an int’lseries in Feb-March, B’desh Cricket Board said onSunday. The series will kick off with a one-off Test inDhaka on Feb 22, and will also include three ODIsand two T20Is.The three ODIs will be held in the portcity of Chittagong on March 1, 3 & 6. The tour willwrap up with two T20Is in Dhaka on March 9 &11.

YUVRAJ, AAKRAM TTO PPLAY IIN RRELIEF MMATCHSydney: Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh andPakistan fast bowling great Wasim Akram on Sundaybecame the first players outside Australia to confirmtheir availability for the charity cricket matchorganised to raise funds for the bushfire victims.Australia's prolific Test opening duo of Justin Langerand Matthew Hayden are also set to reunite after thelatter's name was added to the squad list. They’ll bejoined by Australian men's team greats AndrewSymonds, Brad Haddin, Mike Hussey, Ponting,Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Langer, MichaelClarke, Shane Watson and Alex Blackwell.

FED CCUP MMATCHES MMOVED OOUT OOF CCHINANew Delhi: The Indian Fed Cup team on Sundayheaved a sigh of relief after the ITF shifted the FedCup matches from the Coronavirus-hit China toKazakhastan but the side is likely to compete withoutSania Mirza, who has aggravated a calf-injury.Concerned for its players' health due to a medicalemergency in China, AITA had written to the ITF,requesting the world governing body to considereither shifting the venue or postponing thetournament, originally scheduled in Dongguan fromFebruary 4. After rejecting their request twice, the ITFfinally shifted out of China.

INDIAN MMEAN’S TTT TTEAM'S OOLYMPIC BBID EENDSGondomar: The Indian men's table tennis team'squest for an Olympic berth ended in disappointmentafter it suffered a 1-3 defeat to Czech Republic in aplay-off match of the qualifying event. The losssignificantly reduced India's chances of qualifying forthe 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. The Indian teamwill now hope to make the cut during the AsianOlympic qualification tournament to be held inBangkok, Thailand from April 6 to 12. AGENCIES

SINGLES

JOHANNESBURG: South Africanopening bowler VernonPhilander, who is playing in hisfinal Test, has been fined 15 per-cent of his match fee after a send-off of England batsman JosButtler during the second day ofthe fourth Test at the WanderersStadium.

The International CricketCouncil announced on Sundaythat Philander had been foundguilty of a level one offence for“using language, actions or ges-tures which disparage or whichcould provoke an aggressive reac-tion from a batter upon his/herdismissal in an internationalmatch.”

Buttler was fined 15 percentof his match fee after the secondTest in Cape Town where he wascaught on camera swearing atPhilander. AFP

AFP n JOHANNESBURG

Joe Root made a patient half-centuryas England set South Africa a world

record target of 466 to win the fourth andfinal Test at the Wanderers Stadium onSunday.

The England captain scored 58 andplayed an anchor role before he was lastman out as England were bowled outshortly before the close for 248.

Root decided not to enforce the fol-low despite England leading by 217 runson the first innings.

Fast bowler Mark Wood took five for46 as South Africa were bowled out for183 in their first innings.

Quinton de Kock (76) and DwainePretorius (37) kept England in the fieldfor most of the morning and probablymade sure England would decide to batagain.

De Kock and Pretorius put on 79 forthe eighth wicket and prevented England

from wrapping up the innings early.De Kock scored his fourth half-cen-

tury of what has been a poor series forthe South African batsmen.

His team-mates have contributed

only five other 50-plus scores betweenthem.

Vernon Philander was out to thesixth ball of the day, reducing SouthAfrica to 93 for seven, at which stage afollow-on seemed a strong possibility.

It was an unhappy day for Philander,who will be retiring from internationalcricket at the end of the match as hepulled up with a hamstring injury afterbowling just nine balls in the secondinnings.

He left the field immediately and wassent for a scan.

Despite the loss of their leadingbowler, South Africa bowled and field-ed better than in the first innings whenEngland scored 400.

Left-arm seam bowler BeuranHendricks claimed a five-wicket haul ondebut, finishing with five for 64 whenRoot was last man out to a sensationaldiving catch by South African captain Fafdu Plessis at a wide slip.

Walk in Eden Park

KL Rahul raises his bat after completing his second consecutive half-century against New Zealand KL/Instagram

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson on his way back to pavilion after being caughtout by Yuzvendra Chahal off Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling AP

AUCKLAND: Indian batsman KL Rahul on Sunday said hehad to change his approachin the second T20I due to theslightly slow nature of thepitch at Eden Park.

Rahul, who had smashed56 off 27 balls to set up India’ssix wicket win in the firstT20I, produced an unbeaten50-ball 57 to anchor the vis-itors’ seven-wicket victoryin the second game.

The 27-year-old said hehad to make some changes tohis game as the pitch was dif-ferent than the one Indiaplayed during the openingmatch.

“Obviously different cir-cumstances, the target wasdifferent, the pitch was a lit-tle different from what weplayed on a couple of daysago. So I knew I couldn’t playthe same way I played a cou-ple days ago,” said Rahul,who was adjudged the Man

of the Match.“I had a different respon-

sibility today. We lost oursenior players Rohit andVirat early so I had to stay inthere and make sure I finishthe game.”

Rahul, who has been insizzling form in white ballformat, said he has improvedin his shot selection andreading of the game.

“I think the understand-ing of my game and how I’mreading the situation andreading the game has gottenbetter for me. That’s helpedme be more consistent andI’ve always put the teamahead and thought aboutwhat the team requires at thatmoment,” he said.

“More often than notI’ve come up with the rightshots and right answers sothat’s been the mantra for mysuccess in the last severalT20s.” PTI

Couldn't play like first gameas pitch was different: Rahul

Bowlers stood up &took control: Kohli

Pitch became hard for batting as game progressed: Guptill

Martin Guptill hits a six off Shardul Thakur’s bowling during second T20I AP

Mark Chapman in a file picture NZ/Twitter

Iyer learnt art ofchasing watchingKohli bat

Shreyas Iyer plays a shot over wicketkeeperTom Seifert’s head during 2nd T20 AP

India A suffer five-run defeat

Philander fined forButtler send-offEngland close to series win

Indian bowlers trap Kiwis in slow track and win 2ndT20 by 7 wickets to go 2-0 up in five-match series