ktr for changes in archaic laws - the pioneer

PNS n HYDERABAD

IT and Industries Minister andTRS working president K TRama Rao on Sunday said thetime had come to amend thearchaic laws of the country thatlet perpetrators of violenceagainst children and women goscot free.

The Minister, in a series oftweets addressing PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, urgedthe latter to bring in changes inthe concerned laws during thecurrent Parliament session.Recalling the ghastly rape andmurder of Nirbhaya in NewDelhi seven years ago, RamaRao expressed dismay that theconvicts are yet to be hung.

"A nine-month-old childwas raped recently, the lowercourt ordered capital punish-ment, but the High Courtrevised it to life imprison-ment," the Minister said point-ing out at the recent HighCourt's order commuting thedeath sentence on K Praveen tolife sentence in the rape andmurder of a nine-month-oldgirl child in Hanamakonda inJune last.

"A young veterinarian is bar-barically murdered inHyderabad. Let us act swiftly tosave our nation from thesebeasts, who seem not to fear lawof the land," the Minister tweet-ed. "Narendra Modi Ji, I appealto you on behalf of millions ofcitizens who're aggrieved, yetfeel helpless and want us law-makers to raise up to the occa-

sion and deliver expeditiousjustice," he said in the tweet.

Rama Rao wanted the NDAgovernment at the Centre toamend the Indian Penal Code(IPC) and Code of CriminalProcedure (CrPC) in such a

way that anyone who commitssuch a heinous act of violenceon women and children aregiven capital punishment with-out delay with no option what-soever for review.

Continued on Page 3

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VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPALRAIPUR CHANDIGARH BHUBANESWAR

RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD

PNS n MUMBAI

Major telecome operators inthe country Airtel, VodafoneIdea and Reliance Jio onSunday announced to increasemobile call and data charges.

"Bharti Airtel on Sundayannounced its revised tariffplans for its mobile customers.These tariffs will be applicablefrom Tuesday, December 3,2019," the company said in astatement.

The company tooannounced new plans, whichwill cost up to 42 per cent morecompared to the price thatAirtel pre-paid customers payat present for plans in the"unlimited" category.

"Airtel's new plans, representtariff increases in the range ofa mere 50 paise per day to Rs2.85 per day and offer gener-ous data and calling benefits,"

the statement said. In addition,Airtel said that it will provideexclusive benefits as part of theAirtel Thanks platform, whichenables access to premiumcontent from Airtel Xstream-comprising 10,000 movies,exclusive shows, and 400 TVchannels, Wynk Music, deviceprotection, anti-virus protec-

tion and much more. VodafoneIdea had also announced ahike in tariffs on Sunday, theirfirst mobile tariff hike in fouryears. Under the new plans,call and data charges will bedearer for its pre-paid cus-tomers by up to 42 per centfrom December 3.

KTR for changes in archaic lawsCapital punishment condign for rapists PRIYANKA REDDY MURDER

PNS n HYDERABAD

Remand report of the sensa-tional gang-rape and murder ofthe veterinarian revealed thatthe prime accused did notpossess a driving licence andthree days before the crime, onNovember 24, MahabubnagarRoad Transport Office (RTO)had seized their truck for nothaving the driving licence.

He has been driving thelorry for the past two years,evading authorities, sourcessaid, adding that he has beenillegally driving the lorry,owned by one Srinivas Reddysince 2017.

Officials found the lorryoverloaded with bricks thatwere being transported fromGangavathi in Karnataka toHyderabad. After the roadtransport authorities inter-vened, the prime accusedMohammed Areef had calledup the owner to manage the sit-uation. He was advised by theowner to remove the self-motor cable and wait to preventRTO officials from seizing thevehicle.

However, later, with the RTOauthorities leaving, the fouraccused had managed to con-tinue their journey on

Mahbubnagar-Bhootpur road.Not much thought was given tothe legal violations that thelorry driver had committed,and that has ultimately cost a26-year-old her life.

Continued on Page 3

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Revenue Department ismaking swift moves to ensurethat land sites are distributedto 25 lakh beneficiaries on asingle day on the comingUgadi day. While the govern-ment already has 22,850 acresof land in its possession, it hasdecided to acquire another19,000 acres spending Rs10,000 crore. So far, 22.78lakh beneficiaries have beenselected.

With Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy keen ondistributing sites to the pooron a single day, officials are ontheir toes to complete theprocess of acquiring land asfast as they can. Besides, it hasbecome a daunting task forthem as the prices of land inresidential localities haveincreased phenomenally.

According to officialsources, the Chief Ministerhad given his nod for releas-ing funds for land acquisition,

the revenue officials are underpressure to complete theprocess. While flats will bebuilt, for the poor in urbanareas due to non-availability ofland and high cost, the govern-ment will provide sites to peo-ple living in rural areas.

Continued on Page 3

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao hasinstructed officials that theaccused in Priyanka Reddy'sghastly murder should be triedon a fast track and the culpritsshould be given stringentpunishment. He also decided toset up a fast track court to dealwith the case. He asked officialsconcerned to take measures onthe issue. In the minor girlmurder case in Warangal, due tosetting up of the fast track court,the verdict came after 56 daystrail. He felt that in PriyankaReddy's case, too, the verdictshould come quickly. Heannounced that the government

would extend all the necessaryhelp and support to the kin ofPriyanka Reddy. Earlier, he described the incidentas ghastly and expressed hisanguish. He was upset that theperpetrators of such heinouscrimes are living amidst us. Hesaid Dr Priyanka Reddy's murderwas a gruesome and an inhumanact.

RBI may cutinterest ratesagain tosupport growthNEW DELHI: The ReserveBank may cut interest ratesfor the sixth straight time onDecember 5 to supportgrowth that has continued toslip to more than six-yearlow on slump in manufac-turing, bankers and expertssaid. RBI has cut interestrates on every single occa-sion the multi-membermonetary policy committee(MPC) has met sinceShaktikanta Das took over asthe Governor of RBI in lastDecember. In five reductionsso far in 2019, interest rateshave been lowered by a totalof 135 basis points overconcerns that growthmomentum is slowing downand also to try to boost liq-uidity in the financial sys-tem.

‘Centrecreatingonion scarcityin Delhi’ NEW DELHI: The AAP-ledDelhi government on Sundayaccused the Centre of delib-erately creating scarcity ofonion in the national capitalby not releasing it despitehaving enough stock.

Delhi's deputy chief min-ister and AAP leader ManishSisodia claimed that theCentral government had onSeptember 5 said it had56,000 metric tonne onion"but surprisingly the Centralgovernment has stopped giv-ing it to Delhi government".

The onion prices have sky-rocketed to Rs 75-120 per kgacross major cities in thecountry.

99% Muslimswant review ofSC judgmenton Ayodhya LUCKNOW: The All IndiaMuslim Personal Law Board onSunday asserted that 99 percent of Muslims in the countrywant a review of the unani-mous Supreme Court verdicton the Ayodhya dispute. TheAIMPLB, which was not aparty to the law suit, has pre-viously said a review petitionwill be filed by December 9. Afive-judge bench had ruled onNovember 9 that a templeshould be built through a trustset up by the government onthe disputed site, where themosque was demolished in1992. "Muslims trust judiciarythat is why a review petition isbeing filed. However, the trusthas weakened after the SCverdict on Ayodhya," AIMPLBGeneral Secretary MaulanaWali Rahmani told PTI.

SIT to probe‘attack’ onNaidu's convoyPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Director General of Police(DGP) Gautam Sawang hasconstituted a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) onthe attack on TDP chief NChandrababu Naidu's con-voy on November 28.

Additional SP of GunturRural has been appointed thein-charge of SIT. The casesregistered at the Tulluru policestation have been transferred

to the SIT. TheDGP has

asked theSIT to sub-mit a reportwithin oneweek.

The policearrested two

persons identified as Bapaiahand Sandeep in the case. But,the DGP's statement followingthe incident created a furorein political circles.

The DGP said, "We havetaken two people into custody.One is a farmer and anotheris a realtor. They are angrywith Chandrababu Naidu.Everybody has freedom ofexpression."

Continued on Page 3

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy has noright to ask Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to grantSpecial Category Status (SCS)to Andhra Pradesh, Jana Senachief Pawan Kalyan has said.

He further alleged,"Jaganmohan Reddy is assum-ing that he is the ChiefMinister for only a few people,so he is calling him by name.If he thinks he is the CM of allpeople, I shall refer to him asthe CM."

During his tour in Kadapadistrict on Sunday, headdressed a public meeting inKadapa town on Sunday, inter-acted with farmers at RailwayKoduru. He assured the farm-ers that he would take theirproblems to the notice ofPrime Minister NarendraModi. Later, he consoled thefamily members of Siva Prasad,a Jana Sena worker, who com-mitted suicide recently.

Pawan Kalyan said thatRayalaseema is reeling under

man-made drought.Jaganmohan Reddy shouldfocus on the development ofhis own district, he said andalleged that he is focusingmore on Bharati Cement thanon setting up of a steel facto-ry in the district.

He said: "The governmenthas time for uranium projectsbut not for steel plant." PawanKalyan suggested toJaganmohan Reddy to layefforts to bring investments tothe State and clarified that heis not against English mediumeducation at governmentschools, but winding upTelugu medium instruction.

Continued on Page 3

Jagan has no rightto seek special tagfor AP: Pawan

Pawan Kalyan

Mohammed Areef

Remand report showsA1 did not have licence

The prime accused hasbeen driving the lorryfor the past two years,evading authorities,sources said, addingthat he has beenillegally driving thelorry, owned by oneSrinivas Reddy since2017

nWhile the government already has22,850 acres of land in itspossession, it has decided toacquire another 19,000 acresspending Rs 10,000 crore. So far,22.78 lakh beneficiaries have beenselected

nWith Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy keen ondistributing sites to the poor on asingle day, officials are on theirtoes to complete the process ofacquiring land as fast as they can.Besides, it has become a dauntingtask for them as the prices of landin residential localities haveincreased phenomenally

LAND SITES FOR POOR

Citing the recent gang rapeand murder of Priyanka

Reddy, he wondered whether onecan comfort the grieving family."And the perpetrators have beennabbed. But, I wonder how we canoffer solace to the grieving family

— K T RAMA RAOIT and Industries Minister

Fast-track court will deal withPriyanka case: KCR

State governmentexpedites process

{

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated December 01, 2019 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Margashirsha & Shukla PakshaPanchangamTithi : Panchami: 07:13 pmNakshatram: Uttara Ashadha 09:41 amTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 04:13 pm- 05:36 pmYamagandam: 12:04 pm – 01:27 pm

Varjyam: 02:01 pm - 03:45 pm

Gulika: 02:50 pm - 04:13 pmGood Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 12:26 am - 02:10 amAbhijit Muhurtham: 11:42 am - 12:27 pm

VIJAYAWADAWEATHERForecast: Mostly cloudyTemp: 33/23Humidity: 75%Sunrise: 06.29Sunset: 05.40

Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Jio raise mobile and data charges

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CAPSULE

Padi Sare reachesTiruchanoorVIJAYAWADA: The 'Padi Sare' isa gift to Goddess Padmavathifrom Lord Venkateswara fromTirumala and reachesTiruchanoor on Sunday. Theprocession of 'Sare' took placein Tirumala between 4.30 amand 5.30 am and later a team ofofficers went to Tiruchanoor.Later the 'Sare' consisting ofturmeric, vermilion, pattu sariand prasadams, which werecarried on a temple elephant,was collected at PasupuMandapam and from therecarried to Panchami TheerthaMandapam. TTD EO Anil KumarSinghal, Addl EO AV DharmaReddy, Temple Dy EOHaridranath and others tookpart.

Special train toSecunderabadVISAKHAPATNAM: The EastCoast Railway is launchingspecial train betweenBhubaneswar andSecunderabad. The weeklyspecial express will leaveBhubaneswar on SundayDecember 8 at 23.20hrs whichwill reach Duvvada on next dayat 07.15hrs and depart at07.17hrs and will reachSecunderabad on the Monday at18.30hrs. In return direction thetrain will leave Secunderabad onMonday (December 9) at20.00hrs which will reachDuvvada next day at 09.38hrsand depart at 09.40hrs andreach Bhubaneswar at 17.45 hrson Tuesday.. These trains willhave stoppages at Khurda Road,Brahmapur, Palasa, SrikakulamRoad, Vizianagaram, Kottavalasa,Duvvada, Rayanapadu Warangalbetween Bhubaneswar andSauntered in both the directions.

MONDAY | DECEMBER 2, 2019 02

Call for more women-specific courtsPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Members of Forum for LegalProfessionals and Power, a vol-untary organisation for womendevelopment, exhorted the stu-dents of BVK College to standup for their rights and demandprotection from the govern-ment.

Forum president Muralidharspeaking at the meeting saidthat the government has madevery stringent laws to ensuresafety and security of women.The problem lay in imple-mentation of rules and greaterawareness required by womento defend themselves fromuntoward incidents.

Muralidhar demanded thatthe government establish morenumber of women related spe-cific courts and judgmentsmust be delivered within a spanof three months after filing ofcharge sheet by the police inthe court. He called upon stu-dents to develop will power

and be in groups while comingand going from home and col-lege. Power organiser AbdulRaqueeb called upon the gov-ernment to strictly implementthe laws. Senior advocate

VS Khandelwal and BTulasidas , NSS programmeofficer BV Ramanayya spokeon the occasion. Principal ofBVK College AB Nageshwara

Rao presided over the meet-ing.

Earlier, Chief justice ofAndhra Pradesh High CourtJK Maheshwari on Saturdayvisited the District Court BarAssociation. He assured fullsupport to the demands of theadvocate fraternity. JusticeMaheswari said that he wouldtour the entire State and

explore the feasibility of hav-ing proper location of theHigh Court. He called uponthe advocates to strive for thesuccess in the legal profession.Lok Adalat and arbitration arethe best sources for amicablesettlement of disputes.

Pres ident of BarAssociat ion GM Reddypresided over the meeting.

Principal district judge BSBhanumati and other judicialofficers participated in themeeting. President of judicialemployees Mohd Fasiduddinsubmitted a memorandum tothe chief justice requestinghim to fill up the vacanciesof the staff. A large numberof advocates attended themeeting.

n Forum for LegalProfessionals and Powerpresident Muralidharsaid that thegovernment has madestringent laws to ensuresafety and security ofwomen

n But, the problem lay inimplementation of rulesand greater awarenessrequired by women todefend themselves fromuntoward incidents

n Muralidhar demandedthat the governmentestablish more number ofwomen related specificcourts and judgmentsmust be delivered within aspan of three monthsafter filing of charge sheetby the police in the court

n He called upon studentsto develop will power andbe in groups while comingand going from home andcollege

CM urged to includeHIV/AIDS in ArogyasriPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Well known medical profes-sional in the city and an expertin HIV awareness and controlPadmasri awardee DrKutikuppala Surya Rao askedChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy to include HIV/AIDS inthe Arogyasri scheme.

Dr Surya Rao said every yearnew therapies are gaining moreground in treatment and possi-ble curing of HIV and AIDS. Forinstance, nano-suspensions ofanti-retovirals are being investi-gated for trusted source for bothHIV treatment and prevention.These medications would betaken every four to eight weeks.They could improve adherenceand reduce number of pills peo-ple need to take. Leronlimab, aweekly injection for people, whohave become resistant to HIVtreatment, has seen success inclinical trials. It has also receivedfast track designation trustedsource from FDA, which willspeed up the drug developmentprocess. A monthly injection thatcombinesrilpivirine with newINSTI cabotegravir is sched-uled to become available in early2020, Dr Rao said and added thatthere was also ongoing work onpotential HIV vaccine.

Advances in medication arealso making adherence toHAART much easier. These

advances have reduced to thenumber of pills a person musttake. They also reduced the sideeffects for many people usingHAART. Since this advancedmedication might cost, the gov-ernment should incorporateHIV/AIDS in the Arogyasriinsurance scheme in the State.

Earlier, in the morning DrRao, on the occasion of WorldAids Day, hugged a number ofHIV patients in the city tospread the message that HIV wasnot a contagious disease. Heappealed to the ministers, MLAs,MPS and film personalities tohug the patients to spread thesame message. This givesstrength to the patients, who getinto depression due to socialostracism.

Dr Kutikuppala Surya Rao hugging an AIDS patient in Visakhapatnam city on theoccasion of World Aids Day. Some women patients are also seen

n Well known medicalprofessional in the cityand an expert in HIVawareness and controlPadmasri awardee DrKutikuppala Surya Raosaid every year newtherapies are gainingmore ground intreatment and possiblecuring of HIV and AIDS

n For instance, nano-suspensions of anti-retovirals are beinginvestigated for trustedsource for both HIVtreatment andprevention

Gold continues to be a hotfavourite of global investorsPNS n HYDERABAD

Even as hot and cold relation-ship between the two superpowers viz. the US and Chinaeluded the end of trade war,gold continued to be a hotfavourite of global investors.Although during Novembergold declined by 39 dollars or2.63 per cent, the undercur-rent is fairly strong.

New York gold closed at USdollars 1,466.18 (per oz).Silver too, remained firm andclosed at US dollars 16.98.

Now that the Nepal govern-ment has raised gold importduty substantially, smugglingfrom Nepal to India is expect-ed to come down in the daysto come.

Other economic parame-ters remained upbeat. USDollar : Rs.71.74, BritishPound: Rs.92.76, Euro:Rs.79.06, Australian Dollar:Rs.48.51, UAE Dirham:Rs.19.54, Canadian Dollar:Rs. 54.02, Omani Riyal:Rs.186.36, Saudi Riyal :Rs.19.13, Kuwaiti Dinar:Rs.235.90 and FrenchFranc: Rs. 71.75. GoldMCX closed at Rs.38,782 (per 10 gms)while Silver MCXclosed at Rs.44,506 (per kg).Sensex andNifty 50d e c l i n e dm ar g i n a l l yand closed at40,793.81 and 12,056 pointsrespectively.

Similarly, Brent and Crudeoil recorded a moderatedecline and closed at 60.73dollars (per barrel) and 3,969respectively. Copper stood atRs.432 (per kg). NY Metclosed at Dollars 57.93.

In the local market, stan-dard gold (24 carats) closedlower by Rs.160 at Rs.38, 100(per 10 gms). Ornamentalgold also moved in tandemand was quoted in the rangeof Rs.36, 180-36,280. Silver(0.999) too, declined byRs.200 and closed at Rs.44,300 (per kg). Platinum and

palladium closed at Rs. 28,270(per 10 gms) and Rs.39,263.83 respectively.

COMMODITIESThe sentiment in the prin-

cipal wholesale commoditymarkets in different locali-ties of Hyderabadremained strong. The

adverse impact ofheavy floods which

virtually inundat-ed standing crop

and soil in mostparts of the

country hasa l r e a d ybegun to befelt in mar-

kets. The crop estimates forcereals and pulses, paddy,wheat, bajra, jowar, maizeand oilseeds such as ground-nut, soyabean, till and mus-tard have been lowered.

However, the situation isnot out of control. The hugebuffer stock of food grains,oilseeds and sugar will comehandy to help combat scarci-ty in winter and summer sea-sons.

The local markets includ-ing Risala Abdullah,Osmangunj, Begun Bazar,Maharaj gunj, Kishan gunj,Dilsukhnagar, Kukatpally,Bowenpally, Mir Alam Mandi

and General Bazar recordednormal business within high-er price ranges.

Among perishables, onceagain onions have taken thecentre space. With the price ofthis pungent common veg-etable touching almost Rs.100per kg, there has been a lot ofhue and cry from the peopleall over the country. On ear-lier occasions acute shortageof onions had contributed tothe threat to the governmentsof the day. But that situationwas to a great extent artificial.The opposition parties, withthe help of hoarders, wereable to manipulate the marketand create scarcity. However,this time the situation is dif-ferent. Nature has played spoilsport. The markets are flood-ed with almost rotten onions.Still, people have to buy themat high prices because there isno alternative. Other com-mon vegetables too ruled athigher levels.

The NECC wholesale eggprice in Hyderabad zoomed byRs.21 at the weekend closingprice of Rs.441 (per 100). Thehighest price of Rs.517 wasrecorded at Varanasi, while thelowest of Rs.431 was recordedat Namakkal. In view of theongoing winter season, theegg price has been on a rise.

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW

Now that the Nepal govt has raised goldimport duty substantially, smugglingfrom Nepal to India is expected to comedown in the days to come

HC UPADHYAY n HYDERABAD

At last, the curtains have fallen onthe Maharashtra drama enactedfor about a month with all theingredients of a Shakespeareanplay. The high-sounding claimsmade by almost all the partiesthat mattered in the scene havefallen flat. Unfortunately, this isnot for the first time that the peo-ple have watched with awe anddisbelief the naked dance of thepower-mongers hailing from dif-ferent political parties. History isreplete with similar incidents inGoa, Karnataka and other States.

Indeed, this is a solemn occa-sion for all right-thinking people,including the people in power,judiciary, legal fraternities, andthose who really believed in thedemocratic values enshrined inthe Constitution to ponder thepros and cons of the sordiddrama. The Constitution of Indiais a guiding source for all matters

connected with governance of thecountry. It deals with the creationof States, election of the law-mak-ers, formation of governments atthe State and Central levels,Constitutional authorities, judi-ciary, defence, finance, power-sharing, fundamental rights,directive principles, duties of cit-izens etc. It is fairly an exhaustivedocument which leaves a littlescope for confusion.

However, the ground realitiesare not akin to the Constitutionalspirit. Firstly, people are left toguess at the time of votingwhether they are voting for a par-ticular person or a political party.Quite often, it so happens thateither of them is of no liking toa voter. Still the helpless voter hasto exercise his franchise. Thencomes 'Marketing' of a politicalparty which is done by a docu-ment called, manifesto. Ideally,this document should containtwo parts: one, the promisesparty would implement in next

five years if voted to power; andtwo, the promises, if voted suc-cessively for a long-term, it wouldimplement. The tendency tomake tall, impracticable andfalse promises in manifesto needsto be curtailed. For this, suitableprovisions may be incorporatedin the Representation of PeopleAct whereby not fulfilling theelectoral promise/s, after comingto power should attract exem-plary fine, including debarmentof the party from contestingfuture election for a certain peri-od.

Further, in order to put a breakon the corrupt practices like

'horse-trading' by a party or par-ties subsequent to the outcome ofan election with a view to musternecessary strength to form thegovernment, not only pre-pollalliances between contesting par-ties should be registered with theElection Commission, but alsostringent provisions like levyinghefty fines and suspension or de-recognition of a party dishonour-ing such pre-poll alliance shouldalso be incorporated in theRepresentation of People Act.

Similarly, appropriate legalprovisions should be incorporat-ed in the existing law and Rulesof the police and other security

agencies to ensure that after get-ting elected to an elective post, theprotection and well being ofsuch elected representativesbecomes the responsibility of theadministration automatically.Such protection should be givento the family members of theelected representatives also andthe same should continue for thecomplete term. This measurewould root out the laughablepractice of 'hijacking' the newlyelected public representativesand keeping them at secret placesor secured places like five-starhotels.

These measures could effec-tively prevent the repetition of theunsavoury situation of shame anddisrepute brought by recentlyenacted Maha Drama by power-hungry politicians.

Pak SC shows guts!For one good reason, the

dauntlessness of the Chief Justiceof Pakistan (CJP), Asif Saeed

Khan Khosa, deserves to be con-gratulated by those who haveunimpeachable faith in Judiciaryand the Rule of Law that italways observes.

CJP Khosa has taken a bolddecision with regard to thethree-year extension of ser-vice from November 30this year granted toGeneral Qamar JavedBajwa, the 10thand current Chiefof Army Staff( C O A S ) .Undoubtedly,such a bold deci-sion takenagainst the defacto ruler of thecountry requiresguts, and the CJPKhosa has proved by his decisionthat he is made of a different metal.Everyone knows that in Pakistan,there is no real democracy, thoughit boasts of it. The civilians areselected, elected and retained at

the behest of terrorist outfits suchas ISIS, Talibans etc; and the voiceof citizens always turns to the deafears of terrorist junta. Army andother defence wings are the pup-pets in the hands of terrorists.Amidst such a pathetic scenario,

a judicial order granting just sixmonths time to amend the rel-evant laws to facilitate contin-uation of further extension of

service of General Bajwaor else sendinghim home onretirement is

indeed, a forceful assertionof Pakistan's judiciary of its

supremacy.

One can't be his ownjudge: SC

In an important judgementdelivered by the apex court onNovember 26, it has been heldthat a person who has an inter-est in the outcome or decision ofthe dispute must not have the

power to appoint a sole arbitra-tor.

The bench, comprising JusticeUday Umesh Lalit and JusticeIndu Malhotra, dealing withPerkins Eastman Architects DPCvs. HSCC (India) Ltd ruled thatClause 24 of the Agreementempowered the Chairman andManaging Director (CMD) ofthe company to make theappointment of a sole arbitratorwas arbitrary and hence thepower of the CMD was obliter-ated.

Citing the judgement of TRFLimited vs. Energo EngineeringProjects Ltd the bench observed:".. . the Managing Director wasfound incompetent, it wasbecause of the interest that hewould be said to be having in theoutcome or result of the dispute.The element of invalidity wouldthus be directly relatable to andarise from the interest that hewould be having in such outcomeor decision."

Indeed, this is a solemn occasion for allright-thinking people, including the people inpower, judiciary, legal fraternities, and thosewho really believed in the democratic valuesenshrined in the Constitution to ponder thepros and cons of the sordid drama

Time ripe for making electoral promises legally binding

LEGALROUNDUP

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

As part of the Navy Day cele-brations, the Indian NavalSymphonic Orchestra, anensemble of highly acclaimednaval musicians performed infront of the Governor BiswaBushan Harichandan at theSamudrika Naval Auditoriumon Sunday. The concert wasfollowed by a `Sound n Light'show and a banquet hosted bythe Indian Navy for theGovernor in the ENC Officer'sMess. The event was attendedby a host of dignitaries, includ-ing senior officials from theCentral and State governmentsin addition to serving andretired senior officers andheads of establishments.

The Governor interactedwith the guests and naval per-sonnel during the event. Thisis the second visit of theGovernor to ENC and maidenparticipation in Navy Day cel-ebrations after being sworn inas the Governor of Andhra

Pradesh on July 24. As a part of the hour-long

band concert, an enthralling

ensemble of tunes were playedby the Navy Band and includeda various range of Martial music,

Carnatic Fusion and PatrioticTunes. A scintillating Sound nLight show by naval personnelfrom Local Flotilla depicted theincredible story of the IndianNavy since independence dur-ing various wars, operationsand beautifully highlighted theMilitary role in safeguardingnational security and maritimeinterests, the Diplomatic role insupport of foreign policy objec-tives by building 'bridges offriendship' and strengthen inter-national cooperation, in con-stabulary role enforcing law ofthe land and in benign role likehumanitarian aid and disasterrelief, search and rescue (SAR)missions.

Earlier, the Governor wasreceived by Vice Adm AtulKumar Jain, FOC-in-C ENCand a fifty-men Guard ofHonor was paraded at INSDega on arrival. The Governorwas seen off by the C-in-C atINS Dega on his departurefrom Visakhapatnam on com-pletion of the event.

Governor Biswa Bushan Harichandan being recieved by Collector V Vinay Chandat navy airport INS Dega in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. The Governor came toEastern Naval Command to witness Navy Band concert at Samudrika Auditorium

Governor witnesses Navy band concert

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Wellknown woman activist andlast of the Visakhapatnamzamindars Indrani Jagga Rowpassed away at her residence inVisakhapatnam on Sundaymorning. She was 83.

Indrani was born onSeptember 27, 1934 in Kolkota.She was daughter of India's firstdeputy auditor generalSamindranath Gupta, She stud-ied at Shantiniketan,

Visawabharathi University,both founded byR a b i n d r a n a t hTagore. She lateron passed MA inEnglish literaturefrom DelhiUniversity. She alsolearnt dance andmusic during herschool days. She came toVisakhapatnam and marriedAnkitam Jagga Row andchanged her name to Indrani

Jagga Row. She was closelyassociated with Mrs AVN

College, the first Englishmedium school estab-lished in 1860.It wasconverted into collegein 1878. Indranibecame correspondent

of the college onDecember 1, 1993. She

was member of Indian RedCross Society and took keeninterest in adult education inVisakhapatnam rural areas.

Anand Mahindratweets onWyoming dhabaPNS n NEW DELHI

Punjabis'love forfood andall thingsfine is toow e l l -k n o w n .And theexperience of partaking of foodat a roadside 'dhaba' or eaterywhile on the go has a uniquecharm of its own. After aTwitter user posted a clippingabout a dhaba in Wyoming inthe US, Indian industrialistAnand Mahindra had a sugges-tion to make. A user by thename of S.P. Shukla posted theclipping on @Prakashukla onNovember 30 and wrote,"Delicious food at roadsidedhabas can be enjoyed all overIndia. Now, Wyoming in theUSA has got its first dhaba ata truck stop on a highway.Dhaba goes global."

‘Deliver judgements in three months’

North Andhra’s first woman activistIndrani Jagga Row passes away

MONDAY | DECEMBER 2, 2019 03

Continued from Page1

"Time has come to amend archa-ic portions of our Acts and Laws Sir," he wrote.

Citing the recent gang rape andmurder of a veterinarian Dr PriyankaReddy on the outskirts of the city, hewondered whether one can comfortthe grieving family. "And the perpe-trators have been nabbed. But I won-der how we can offer solace to thegrieving family seeking justice forPriyanka Reddy. Justice delayed isjustice denied sir. As Parliament is insession, I urge you to take up theissue for a day-long discussion onpriority," Rama Rao said, batting forspeedy justice.


Later, house will be built inthe lands allotted to themunder various housingschemes.

The government is learntto have considered therequest of the East GodavariDistrict Collector to permitconstruction of G+3 build-ings even in rural areas asland prices are too high inthat district. Deputy ChiefMinister Pi l l i SubhashChandra Bose disclosed thatit was orally communicatedto the Chief Minister that s10,000 crore is required for

land acquisition. He said theCM had agreed to release thefunds in three installments ofa minimum of Rs 3,000 crore.Apart from the 22,850 acreswith the government, anaddition land of 8,000 acresin rural areas and 11,000acres in urban is required forthe purpose.

Subhash Chandra Bosesaid the government is tryingto avoid land acquisition asmuch as it can due to highprices. He said the officials ofal l districts have beeninstructed to identify asmuch government land aspossible.

Land sites for poor:Govt expedites process

SIT to probe‘attack’...


Taking maximum advan-tage of the incident and thesubsequent remarks by DGP,the TDP has gone the extentof raising the issue inParliament and submitting acomplaint to the Governor.

It is learnt that the DGPhas taken the decision toconstitute the SIT in consul-tat ion with the ChiefMinister to clear the airover the issue. Generally,SIT is appointed to solveimportant cases. But, due tothe a l legat ions madeagainst the police by theOpposition, the govern-ment has landed in anembarrassing situation.

Jagan has no rightto seek specialtag for AP: Pawan


Earlier, the Jansena Chiefwas accorded a tumultuousreception at Renigunta Airport.His supporters took out a hugerally from Renigunta toRailway Koduru. A large num-ber of cars, two-wheelers wereused in the rally organised towelcome Pawan Kalyan.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Inclement weather has not ham-pered the enthusiasm of devo-tees, as the pilgrims fromSouthern States, especially fromTamil Nadu turned out in hugenumbers for PanchamiTheertham on Sunday.

Every inch of PadmaPushkarini was occupied bydevotees, who stood in sacredwaters of the temple tank forover four hours braving inces-sant rain to take a holy dip.

The annual KarthikaNavahnika Brahmotsavamscome to grand finale with themost auspicious event ofPanchami Theertham, whichwas conducted with pomp andgaiety in Padma Sarovaram.

Earlier, the processional deityof Sri Padmavathi Devi was setready for Choornabhishekam inDhwajastambha Mandapam. Asit was the birthday of MotherGoddess, She was rendered hair

bath by applying sesame oil andChoornam paste by reciting SriMantram and Sri Sooktam.Later,She was taken to PanchamiTheertha Mandapam in a celes-tial procession. The Goddesswas seated on a specially designedplatform in Panchami TheerthaMandapam, along with Sri

Sudarshana Chakrattalwar andNavakalasa Avahana was per-formed. This was followed byVishwaksena Aradhana,Punyahavachanam and otherrituals as per Pancharatra AgamaVidhi. The gift from LordVenkateswara on the birthday ofHis beloved Consort Goddess

Padmavathi was also offeredduring snapanam.

The sare reached Tiruchanoorin a grand procession at around11.30 am from Tirumala, whichwas started at 4.30 am. TirumalaAdditional EO AV DharmaReddy accompanied the proces-sion, which was joined by EO

Anil Kumar Singhal, JEOBasanth Kumar at Tiruchanoor.

This year as a present fromLord Venkateswara, diamondstudded golden LakshmiVaddanam (waist ornament)weighing around 1.3 kiloswas decked to GoddessPadmavathi Devi as birthday

present during Snapanam.During the snapanam, gar-

lands and crowns made of dif-ferent flowers, fruits and seedswere decked to Goddess.Garlands and crowns includeddry grapes, coconut tree leaves,dry fruits, cuscus, flowers andbasil seeds. The garlands made

out of basil seeds and Pavitrasstood as special attraction.Donors Rajendra, ShanmugaSundaram, Subramanyam fromTiruppur of Tamil Nadu andNarahari of Nellore contributedfor these garlands and crowns.

At the stipulated auspicioushour in the noon, the

Chakrattalwar was given a holydip by priests. Devotees alsotook a dip simultaneously chant-ing Govinda…Govinda.

Board members V PrasanthiReddy, Siva Kumar, templedeputy executive officer CGovindarajan and other officerswere also present.

The annualKarthika NavahnikaBrahmotsavamscome to grandfinale with themost auspiciousevent of PanchamiTheertham. Thiswas conductedwith pomp andgaiety in PadmaSarovaram

Braving rains, devotees turn up in huge numbers for Panchami Theertham

PNS n AMARAVATI

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy has called upon DistrictCollectors to prefer field visits tovideo conferences with offi-cials. Issuing certain guidelinesto Collectors on Sunday, he saidfrequent inspections andovernight stay at hospitals andschools will provide insights intowhat actually is going on at theground-level administration.

The feedback that comesfrom the general public, bene-ficiaries of various schemes andother sections of people will becrucial for the government totake any decisions.

He said that Collectors shouldvisit villages for 15 days everymonth. Only two video confer-

ences should be conducted in aweek with mandal-level officials.They should conduct the firstvideo conference after taking

part in the video conferencewith the Chief Minister everyTuesday and the second oneshould be held anytime within

the week. "It has come to mynotice that some Collectors arenot following my instructions tomake overnight stay at hostelsor hospitals once in a week,"Jaganmohan Reddy said andwarned them to change theirways.

The Chief Minister said theCollectors are the eyes and earsof the government, which getsa lot of ground-level informa-tion from them. The informa-tion provided by them is usefulfor the government in takingdecisions over many issues.

"The Collectors should notforget that they should serve asa bridge between between thepeople and the government,"Jaganmohan Reddy said.

Be on field for 15 days everymonth: CM to Collectors

Remand report shows A1did not have licence


Furthermore, on thefateful day of the crime,police officers had askedthe accused not to parktheir lorry on the road-side. The previous dayafter reachingThondapally village ataround 9 pm, they hadparked the vehicle on the

roadside and slept insidethe vehicle. With policepersonnel interfering, theymoved the vehicle nearthe Gachibowli OuterRing Road (ORR) tollgate. The lorry owner hadinstructed the four to waitthere until further orders.The location had turnedinto a crime scene soonafter.

KTR for changes inarchaic laws

Make AP AIDS-free,Alla Nani tells peoplePNS n VIJAYAWADA

Deputy Chief Minister andHealth Minister Alla Nani hascalled upon the people to turnAndhra Pradesh into an AIDS-free State. Inaugurating a semi-nar at Tummalapalli KshetrayyaKala Kshetram conducted byAPSACS on the occasion of theWorld AIDS Day on Sunday, hesaid in the past many peopleinfected by HIV had committedsuicide assuming that there wasno cure to it, but now thepatients have realised that they,too, can have long life with sev-eral medicines at their disposal."It is just any other nagging dis-ease like diabetes or high bloodpressure," he observed.

Nani said it is the responsibil-ity of every person in the soci-ety to instill confidence amongAIDS patients. "The govern-ment will support them in theirefforts to counsel AIDS patients.Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy is giving top priority tohealth call it a basic right of peo-ple," he said. The Deputy Chief

Minister said '104' and '108' ser-vices are being made available atall district-level hospitals andnutritious food is being provid-ed to all patients. Monthly pen-sion of Rs 2,250 is being extend-ed to about 34,000 AIDS patientsabove the age of 60 years, he saidand disclosed that the State gov-ernment is planning to providethe facility to another 74,000patients in the State.

He lauded the efforts of vari-ous NGOs for their campaignagainst AIDS and expressedhappiness over a large numberof people taking part in a proces-sion in the city. He promised all

support to voluntary organisa-tions working to provide relief toAIDS-affected people. Thespread of the disease has comedown by 38 per cent due to theefforts of NGOs, he said.

"Let us not treat HIV positivepeople as untouchables. All of usshould fill confidence in theirlives," Nani said. EndowmentsMinister Vellampalli Srinivassaid it is the duty of citizen tosupport the government's effortsto prevent the spread of AIDS insociety. The government willincrease its focus on eradicationof the disease in the days tocome.

Vijayawada Central MLAMalladi Vishnu said, in SouthIndia, AIDS cases were firstidentified in Chennai in 1986and in Hyderabad in 1987. Sincethen, the successive govern-ments have been taking steps tocurb the spread of the disease."Earlier, HIV-affected had to goto Hyderabad for test andmedines but now they are avail-able across Andhra Pradesh," hesaid.

Cops bust fake currency racket, arrest 3PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The MVP Colony police arrest-ed three persons and seizedfake currency notes of the facevalue of Rs 2.96 lakh in the cityon Sunday. Three persons werecharged for carrying and circu-lating the fake currency notes.The police also seized Rs7,000worth genuine currency notesand three mobile phones fromthe gang.

The arrested persons wereidentified as Kadavala NagaVenkata Satya Narayana (49)and Rowthu Jaya Ram (30),both residents of Vizag city andBontha Padma Rao (42) ofVizianagaram district.

The police launched man-hunt for two prime accusedpersons Shaik Abdul Rehmanof Chodavaram in Vizag dis-trict and Sayyed MujiburRehman of East Godavari dis-trict in connection with thecase.

Giving details of the case,commissioner of police RKMeena said Satya Narayanaand Padma Rao are real-estatebusinessmen and Jaya Rao isthe driver of Satya Narayana.The trio procured the FakeIndian Currency Notes (FICN)of Rs3 lakh face value (Rs2,000

and Rs100 denomination fakecurrency) from Shaik AbdulRehman and Sayyed MujiburRehman by paying Rs1.17 lakhgenuine currency (1:3 basis) tocirculate the notes in theVisakhapatnam region.

The trio had exchanged twoRs2,000 fake notes atChodavaram in Vizag districta couple days ago. Based on theconcrete information that somepeople are carrying fake cur-rency notes and trying toexchange them at HB Colonyand Steel Plant Quarters areas,the MVP Colony police led by

circle inspector Ch ShanmukhaRao and his team on Sundaycarried out a surprise raid atHB Colony.

The police recoveredRs2,000 and Rs100 fake cur-rency notes of the face value ofRs2.96 lakh from the trio.During the interrogation, thetrio revealed that they had

obtained the FICN from ShaikAbdul Rehman and SayyedMujibur Rehman, RK Meenatold the reporters. We are sus-pecting that the fake currencynotes were being pumped intothe city by some persons fromPakistan or Bangladesh. ShaikAbdul Rehman and SayyedMujibur Rehman might haveobtained the fake currencynotes from parts of WestBengal, which shares the bor-der with Bangladesh, the policechief said. The police havelaunched a comprehensiveprobe suspecting that a racketcould be involved in obtainingand circulating the FICN inother parts of the Vizag region.

Hunt on for two prime accused

The closure of governmentliquor shops at 8-00 pmsharp and the steep 40%

increase in prices have forced tip-plers in the city to halve their con-sumption, compared to what theywere guzzling prior to October 1.On an average, a somewhat addict-ed man belonging to the middleclass consumed 180 ml with pricesranging from Rs 130 to Rs 250.With the floor prices shooting upand due to non-availability ofliquor in shops after schedule time,they have cut down the consump-tion levels, regardless of their crav-ing, to 90 ml or 120 ml. Cursingthe new Chief Minister for depriv-ing them of their usual quota, thesemen have decided to progressive-ly give up the habit. This isrefreshingly in sync with the gov-ernment policy to gradually bringin the dry law. Something is bet-ter than nothing, be it liquor or thedry law! So, just like the men,

women are quite happy since theshops around the locality are closedas per scheduled timings and thereare no more drunken brawls on thestreets during odd hours. They arealso happy that their men aremore often coming home sober.When people from outside the stateare enquiring about the new gov-ernment, women take the lead inanswering them. Good governance.No more high tempers at home oron the streets!

Welfare vs developmentThe Jaganmohan Reddy govern-

ment is gloating over its achieve-ments in the past six months andreeling out the welfare schemeslaunched for the uplift of varioussections of society. YSRCP leaders

are making the most of every pub-lic platform to publicise them.The government's munificence inraising pensions for various cate-gories of people, hiking salary forcontract workers, expanding superspecialty services under theAarogyasri scheme, subsidizingdiesel and increasing compensationamount for fishermen during thefishing ban period are certainlycommendable. However, dolingout cash incentives under theAmma Vodi and Vahana Mitraschemes is debatable.

The government has lost sixmonths in taking a decision ongrounding any major project.Capital construction has been acasualty, not to speak of other pro-jects like Bundar Port, Express

Highway between Anantapur andthe Capital region. The expertcommittee on Capital is yet to sub-mit its report. People are waitingto know when the government willset the ball rolling for development.

Can Sajjanar pull it off inKCR regime?

Following the horrendous gang-rape and murder of veterinary doc-tor Dr Priyanka Reddy, many peo-

ple are now suggesting thatCyberbad CP Sajjanar should meteout 'Warangal-style' justice for thevictim. They are alluding to theDecember 2008 case in which twogirls students of Warangal wereattacked with acid following spurnedlove. The three suspects in the casewere subsequently gunned down inan 'encounter' with the police.Netizens are now asking Sajjanar topull it off once again. Sajjanar coulddo it during the YSR regime. Sources,however, say the present governmentwants law to take its course.

IT and TourismMahabubnagar district, better

known for the innumerable labour-ers it contributes to the construc-tion sector in various parts of the

country, is slowly but surely emerg-ing as the hub of IT and Tourism.Thanks to this, migrations fromthis part have been on the decline.Post bifurcation, several develop-mental programmes and conceptslaunched by the TRS governmenthave become a reality over the pastfew years. The district will soonhave the critical mass it requires tomake it big in the IT sector as somemultinational IT companies haveevinced interest in establishingtheir units in this part of the state.Likewise, Anantagiri and its envi-rons are evolving into hot touristdestinations with several new con-cepts. Thanks to the efforts of localministers Srinivas Goud andNiranjan Reddy, Mahabubnagaris inching progress.

Disturbingly different Not just Hyderabadis, people

across the country and elsewhere inthe world have expressed theiranger at the gang-rape and murderof Dr Priyanka Reddy. The same dayanother rape-murder of Manasa, abirthday girl, took place inWarangal. While the Hyderabadhorror has attracted national atten-tion, the Warangal case is not underspotlight. Some leaders visitedManasa's residence the next day.That's all. There has been no pub-lic outrage or anger spilling on to thestreets like in the Hyderabad case.The reasons are difficult to fathom,though both were unfortunate hap-penings and a blot on society.

(Contributed by Seelam Arozie,

Kolishetty Venkateshwarlu, K Murali Prasad Patnaik,

Naveena Ghanate and Avinash Deepak Puli )

REPORTERS’

D ARY

Tipplers halve liquor intake, wives happy

PNS n GUNTUR

TDP leader Vemuri AnandSurya on Sunday lambastedthe State government forallowing other religions' activ-ities at Tirumala and demand-ed thorough enquiry into theTTD website featuring thename Sriyesaiah on its website.

Addressing the media atthe TDP office here, he allegedthat Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy's approachtowards Tirumala temple is todamage the holiness of thetemple.

He remarked thatJaganmohan Reddy is follow-ing the foot-steps of his latefather Dr YS RajasekharReddy, who regardedTirumala consisting of only

two hills. He mentioned theother religion's campaign onRTC bus tickets at Tirumala,content of Christ in the TTDwebsite and others.

People of other religions areworking in Tirumala, but noofficial is courageous enoughto send them to other depart-ments. This Government hasslashed the budget for thetemple proposed to be built inAmaravati, he alleged.

He said whoever hasmaligned holiness of the Godwere punished and urged theChief Minister and thisGovernment to change theirattitude towards HinduTemples. Otherwise, he saidthat the government wouldhave to invite the wrath of theirate Hindus.

Probe sought into TTDwebsite featuring namesof deity of other faith

Kakinadaengineeringcollegealumni meetPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The 38th alumni meet of theKakinada Engineering Collegewas held at the IntegralInstitute of AdvancedManagement in MVP Colonyof the city on Sunday. It wasfun, joy and emotion for thealumni, who met their friendsafter a long time. The alumnihugged each other, recalled andshared nostalgic momentsfrom their college days. Theevent, which started at about10:30 am, ended at 4 pm. Theguests complimented ASNPrasad, the founder presidentof the KEC-JNTU Alumni fortaking the initiative in organ-ising the alumni meet regular-ly without any break over thelast 38 years.

(Left) Snapana Thirumanjanam being performed to Goddess Padmavathi as part of Karthika Brahmotsavams in Tiruchanoor on Sunday (right) A large number of devotees taking a holy dip in Padma Sarovaram

MONDAY | DECEMBER 2, 2019 nation 04SHORT READS

Mumbai coaching classteacher held forsexually harassing teenMUMBAI: A teacher of a well-known coaching class inMumbai has been arrested forallegedly sending vulgar videosand lewd texts to a 15-year-oldgirl student over the last twomonths, police said on Sunday.Nikhil Dave (37) was arrestedby Charkop police in thenorthern suburbs late Saturdaynight after the victim narratedthe ordeal to her father whothen filed a complaint, anofficial said. "The 15-year-oldgirl has complained of sexualharassment by Dave. Theaccused recently wrote namesof two songs in the victim'sbook and asked her to see thevideos. She found the contentof these videos indecent. Hetried to ply her with gifts butthe victim always refused," theofficial informed. Dave, whoruns Gurukul Coaching Classesin Charkop, has been chargedunder section 354 ((outragingthe modesty of a woman) ofIndian Penal Code and section12 of Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences (POCSO)Act, he said.

C'garh: Charred bodyof woman found; copssuspect rape, murder

Man impersonatingIPS officer arrested inmolestation caseNEW DELHI: A 38-year-oldman who allegedly posed as anIPS officer was arrested in amolestation case in SouthDelhi's Kotla Mubarak Pur,police said on Sunday. Theaccused was identified as GauriShankar, a resident ofKushinagar district of UttarPradesh, they said. Accordingto police, Shankar used toharass women by sendingobscene videos and vulgarmessages on their mobile.

BJP MLA's nephew, 4others killed in roadaccident in J'khandGARHWA (JHARKHAND): Fivepersons, including the nephewof a BJP MLA, were killed onSunday after their vehiclecollided with a truck nearPaswan village in Garhwadistrict, police said. Theincident took place on NationalHighway-75 around 5 am,Ramuna police station in-charge Lal Bihari Prasad said.One of the deceased, PrasantSingh, was the nephew of BJPlegislator Bhanu Pratap Sahi,who contested from theBhawanathpur constituency inthe first phase of the assemblyelections on Saturday, policesaid.Singh, who hailed fromUttar Pradesh's Rawatsganj,and his four friends, weretravelling to Banshidhar Nagarin the district when the mishaptook place, Prasad said.

BALRAMPUR: The charredbody of an unidentified woman,in the 20-30 age group, wasfound in Chhattisgarh'sBalrampur district on Sunday,police said. The body wasrecovered from a forest nearGopalpur Murka Dam underRajpur police station limits aftera shepherd spotted it, said anofficial. "It seems the deathoccurred two to three days ago.We suspect the woman wasraped and murdered. A bagcontaining a liquor bottle andsome food items were found atthe spot. We are awaiting thepost mortem report," he said.Balrampur Superintendent ofPolice TR Koshima was at thespot and overseeing the probe,he added.

PNS n KOLKATA

With a monthly pension of justover Rs 50,000, a septuagenar-ian retired professor hasclaimed to have donated Rs 97lakh to educational institutes inWest Bengal since 2002.

Chitralekha Mallik, wholives alone in a modest flat inBaguiati area the city, told PTIon Sunday she wants to helpresearchers in need of financialassistance. "Of the Rs 97 lakh,I had donated Rs 50 lakh to myalma mater JadavpurUniversity (JU) last year inmemory of my research guidePandit Bidhubhusan

Bhattacharya," she said.The former Sanskrit profes-

sor at Victoria Institution inRajabazar area of the city saidshe had also donated Rs 6 lakhto JU in memory of hisresearch guide's wife HaimabatiBhattacharya for instituting ascholarship for students.

Mallik said she had given herfirst donation of Rs 50,000 toVictoria Institution for infra-structural development before avisit of members of the NationalAssessment and AccreditationCouncil (NAAC) in 2002.

Her another major contribu-tion was of Rs 31 lakh to theIndian Research Institute for

Integrated Medicine in Howrahin the name of her parents.

Mallik said she had donatedthe remaining amount to var-

ious institutes between 2002and 2018 for the education andwelfare of the poor. "TheUpanishads have taught us to

denounce material comfortsand stick to simple living. How

much do I need for my dailyexpenses? Not much," she said.

The retired professor saidshe is planning two more dona-tions to organisations involvedin philanthropic work.

A senior JU official con-firmed that Mallik had donatedRs 50 lakh to the university toinstitute a research scholarshipin the name of PanditBidhubhusan Bhattacharya, whohad mentored her. "She (Mallik)is in constant touch with us. Shecame to the university afterpuja vacation this year andwanted to know how the fundwas being managed," the officialof Arts faculty said.

Retd Bengal prof donated Rs 97L to edu institutesMallik said she hadgiven her firstdonation of Rs50,000 to VictoriaInstitution forinfrastructuraldevelopment beforea visit of members ofthe NationalAssessment andAccreditationCouncil in 2002

MP: ‘Gandhiji' printed in placeof 'gambling' in test paperPNS n BHOPAL

One of the answers in theclass 10 preparatory exampaper of the Madhya PradeshState Education Board(MPSEB) had the word'Gandhiji' printed instead of'gambling' in what seems tobe a typing mistake.

The embarrassing errorappeared in a 45-minute modeltest paper to prepare weak stu-dents before they appear for thefinal exams.

In reply to a question on whatwere the qualities of "subuddhi"

(righteous man) and "kubuddhi"(immoral man), the answer read"kubuddhi was a wicked manand led a life of drinking andGandhiji", instead of "drinkingand gambling".

Maya asks BSPworkers to expandparty's basePNS n LUCKNOW

Bahujan Samaj Party supre-mo Mayawati on Sunday helda meeting of her party's officebearers to deliberate upon theways and means of expand-ing the party base.

During the meeting, heldat the office of her party'sUttar Pradesh unit here,Mayawati also asked the herparty workers to observe thedeath anniversary of thearchitect of ConstitutionBabasaheb BhimraoAmbedkar at large scale.

Dr Ambedkar's deathanniversary falls onDecember 6. At the meeting,deliberations were held andinstructions issued toincrease the party's voterbase in the country, a state-ment issued by the BSP said.

Discussions on the currentpolitical scenario in the coun-try were also held.

‘Kerala govt aimsto end corruption’PNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Kerala CM Pinarayi VijayanSunday said the state govern-ment aims to wipe out corrup-tion and urged the people,including governement officials,to act accordingly. He was react-ing to a 2019 survey byTransparency International andLocal Circles which declaredKerala as the least corrupt statein India. "The government aimsto wipe out corruption com-pletely. To achieve this, we needthe government officials and thegeneral public to act together,"Vijayan tweeted. Kerala is one ofthe least corrupt states accord-ing to the survey - 10 per centof the people admitted to pay-ing a bribe directly or indirect-ly to get work done; 50 per centsaid they got work done withoutbribe while 40% said they didnot have the need to pay a bribe.

‘Need to explorewaterways as alternativemode of transport’PNS n PANAJI

Goa Ports Minister MichaelLobo has said there was a needto look at inland waterways asan alternate mode of transportin the coastal state.

He also dismissed apprehen-sions that construction of jettiesunder the Centre's Sagarmalaproject was to help transporta-tion of coal in the state.

"We don't want to bring coalat Sinquerim or Cumbharjua(both in North Goa districtwhere jetties are proposed). Ifthere is a jetty built for tourismpurpose at the Chapora river,coal cannot be brought there. Ithink we have to be realistic,"Lobo said on Saturday.

He was addressing a functionof trade bodies here. "We needto look at inland waterways asan alternate mode of transportsince roads are crowded as 15lakh vehicles are already regis-tered in Goa," he said. Theminister said an environment

impact assessment of Sagarmalaprojects has already been con-ducted. "We will complete thejetty projects. Not only these sixjetties (which are proposed), wewant more jetties, the smallerones, to explore tourism in ourstate. We want more than 20small jetties to be built," he said.

Sagarmala is a flagship pro-gramme of the Ministry ofShipping to promote port-leddevelopment in the country byexploiting India's 7,500 km longcoastline, 14,500 km of poten-tially navigable waterways and itsstrategic location on key inter-national maritime trade routes.

‘Anti-NRC campaign, appealto Bengali pride helped TMC’PNS n KOLKATA

The ruling TMC in Bengal hassteadily regained its glory andconfidence after a temporary set-back in the Lok Sabha elections,riding on anti-NRC campaignand frequently stoking "Bengalipride", senior leaders of theparty said.

The TMC's win in the threecrucial assembly seats --Karimpur, Kaliaganj andKharagpur Sadar -- was an indi-cation that the party made sig-nificant efforts to retrieve itspolitical ground in the stateafter being battered by its archrival, the BJP, in the Lok Sabhaelections, they said.

Earlier this year, the BJP hadstormed into the fortress ofMamata Banerjee, bagging 18 ofthe 42 Lok Sabha seats in WestBengal, bringing down the TMCtally from 34 in 2014 to 22.

State Food Supplies MinisterJyotipriyo Mullick told PTI thatthe Mamata Banerjee-led partyhad been working hard sinceJune for a turnaround in its polit-ical fortunes.

The Trinamool Congress(TMC) successfully wrested con-trol of all seven municipalities ithad lost to the BJP after the par-liamentary polls, he noted.

"There were signs that com-mon people as well as our lead-ers, who had switched allegianceto the BJP, were not happy andwanted to return to the partyfold. We applied a two-prongedstrategy to take on the saffronparty -- by revising our plan ofaction and fixing organisation-al lacunae," Mullick said.

The minister contended that

appointing poll strategistPrashant Kishor to revive itsmass awareness campaign alsoworked in the favour of the party,which had earlier channeledmost of its energy and resourcesto bash the BJP-led Centre andthe erstwhile state governments.

"The anti-NRC campaign andthe issue of Bengali pride helpedus regain our lost ground.Kishor's 'Didi KeBolo' (Tell Didi)campaign rejuvenated ourdemoralised cadres. All these fac-tors came in to play during thebypolls," a TMC MP said.

PNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Kerala police, along with theMotor Vehicle Department ofthe state, on Sunday intensifiedvehicle-checking and also wear-ing of helmets by pillion riders.

The Kerala High Court hadrecently asked the state govern-ment to make it mandatory forthe pillion riders also to wear hel-mets. "Today, we are just warn-ing the pillion riders without hel-mets. From Monday or perhapsduring the week, we will startimposing fine on them," a motorvehicle inspector told mediahere. The TransportCommissioner has instructedthe vehicle inspectors to warn theriders initially. As the new MotorVehicles (Amendment) Act, it ismandatory for every personabove four years of age to don thehelmet. All pillion riders whoviolate the rule would be fined Rs

500 under the Act. The highcourt order came while dispos-ing of an appeal filed by the stategovernment against a single-judge order staying rule 347A ofthe Kerala Motor Vehicles Actwhich exempted the pillion rid-ers from wearing helmets.

Following this, there was amixed response from the gener-al public with most of them sup-porting the rule saying it was for

the safety of the passengers. "Iwould say Kerala is quite late inimplementing this rule. Helmetfor the pillion rider is a necessi-ty as in case two people are rid-ing, and an accident happens,both of them could getinjured...Yes, it will be a bit diffi-cult at the beginning, but peoplewill get used to it," Arun Kumar,a government employee, whoregularly rides a bike, told PTI.

Contempt ofcourt petitionagainst Bedisoon: Pondy CMPNS n PUDUCHERRY

Chief Minister of Puducherryand senior Congress leader VNarayanasamy on Sundaysaid he would soon movesoon against the TerritorialLieutenant Governor KiranBedi for allegedly impedingimplementation of decisionsof the elected governmentconstantly. He told reportersat his residence here thatBedi has been blocking sev-eral welfare schemes despitethe order of the Madras HighCourt issued on April 30this year that she should notinterfere in the functioning ofthe government.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court hasdirected that all its employeeswill be paid an equal amount ofclothing and dress maintenanceallowance, saying there is no jus-tification for discrimination.

The court's verdict came ona petition by several employ-ees of the high court, aggriev-ed by disparities in grant ofclothing and dress mainte-nance allowance, also called'washing allowance'.

A bench of Justices SMuralidhar and Talwant Singhrejected the explanation givenby the counsel representing thehigh court that officials direct-ly assisting judges inside courts"are required to maintain deco-rum and discipline of the courtby wearing the prescribed uni-form".

"The court fails to under-

stand how only the staff serv-ing inside courts is required tomaintain decorum, while thoseworking in the Registry arenot. In fact, every employee ofthe high court should berequired to maintain deco-rum of the court, both insideand outside the courthalls/complex.

"In the entire high courtcomplex, each staff memberprojects the image of the courtand has to be mindful ofhis/her conduct," the benchsaid.

The bench directed that"with effect from the date ofthe last revision for the catego-ry to which the petitioners(employees) belong, that is,May 8, 2019, the petitionersand others belonging to theircategory will be paid the sameclothing and washingallowances as employees fallingunder Category-I... The arrearsas a result thereof will be paidwithin eight weeks from today(November 29)."

It added that all staff mem-bers assist judges, whetherinside or outside the court, andtheir services are indeed indis-pensable for proper function-ing of the court.

In their petition, the courtemployees had submitted thatthere was discrimination ingrant of allowance for uniformand washing clothes on thebasis of their designation.

HC directs equal clothing, washingallowance for employees

Kerala cops crack down onpillion riders without helmets

‘Double standard to seekreview of Ayodhya verdict’PNS n KOLKATA

Terming the decision of AllIndia Muslim Personal LawBoard and the Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind to seek a review of therecent Ayodhya verdict as dou-ble standard, spiritual leader SriSri Ravi Shankar said Hindusand Muslims should move onand work towards strengthen-ing the economy.

The spiritual leader, who waspart of the Supreme Court-appointed mediation panel inthe Ayodhya case, said thematter would have been solvedlong back, had one side notbeen insistent on building amosque at the disputed site.

Speaking on the currentfinancial crisis in India, he saida lot needed to be done to pushthe economy forward. "Yes, Iam happy with the Ayodhyaverdict. I have been telling thissince 2003 that both commu-nities can work on it... buildmandir on one side and masjidon the other. But yeh zidd kimasjid wahi banana hai ka koimatlab nahi tha (stubborn-ness to build mosque at the dis-puted site was meaningless),"Sri Sri Ravi Shankar told PTIin an exclusive interview here.

Sri Sri was in the city to

address a gathering at NetajiIndoor Stadium, where he alsoannounced his new nationwideprogramme 'Vyakti Vikas seRashtra Vikas' (from develop-ment of individual to develop-ment of the country).

He hailed the apex court ver-dict as a "very good decision toresolve the long-standing dis-pute". A special bench ofSupreme Court, in its unani-mous verdict on November 9,cleared the way for the con-struction of Ram temple at thedisputed site at Ayodhya inUttar Pradesh and directedthe Centre to allot a five-acreplot to the Sunni Waqf Boardfor building a mosque.

In what is assumed as one ofthe most-important and most-anticipated judgments inIndia's history, the court put anend to the over-a-century-olddispute that was harming thesocial fabric of the nation.

When asked about the AIM-PLB planning to file a reviewpetition, the spiritual leadersaid not everybody could bepleased with a decision.

"Naturally, everybody can-not be made happy with a deci-sion; different people have dif-ferent views... The same peo-ple who are planning to go fora review had earlier said theywill accept the Supreme Courtverdict, now they have changed

their position," the founder ofThe Art of Living Foundationsaid.

The Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hindsaid last week that the draft ofthe review petition against therecent verdict was ready andthe plea would be filed onDecember 3 or 4. The AIMPLBalso said that the review pleawould be filed beforeDecember 9.

Asked if the Islamic organi-sations were adopting doublestandard on the matter, Sri Srisaid, "It is obvious... Earlier theyhad said they would accept theverdict, even if it goes againstthem. Now they are sayingsomething different."

Maha to ensure 80 pc quotain pvt jobs for locals: GuvPNS n MUMBAI

Maharashtra Governor B SKoshyari on Sunday said theMaha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)government is concerned overunemployment and it willenact a law to ensure 80 percent reservation in private sec-tor jobs for the "sons of thesoil". Koshyari made theannouncement while address-ing the joint sitting of the statelegislature at Vidhan Bhawanin which he laid out the newgovernment's broader agendafor the coming years.

He said the governmentwould provide meal at Rs 10 tocommon citizens and build asuper-speciality hospital inevery district of the state.

Providing statutory 80 percent reservation in jobs forlocal youths, Rs 10 meal andbuilding super-speciality hos-pitals were part of theCommon MinimumProgramme (CMP) finalisedby the ruling Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine.

"The Sena-NCP-Congresscombine's Maha Vikas Aghadigovernment is concerned overunemployment. The new gov-ernment will enact a law toensure 80 per cent reservationin private sector jobs for thesons of the soil," Koshyari said

in a speech which he made inMarathi. He further said thegovernment will soon presenta "true picture" of the econom-ic status of Maharashtra. "Thatpicture will broadly talk aboutthe economic status of thestate and its financial condi-tion," he said.

"The government will set upcentres to provide meal at Rs10 in the state. Clinics will beset up where health screeningwill be done at the cost of Rs1. Super-speciality hospitalswill be constructed in everydistrict," he said.

The governor also saidappropriate measures would betaken to bail out farmers whoseKharif crop got damaged inunseasonal rains in November.

"Farmers from 349 tehsils in 34districts of Maharashtra suf-fered crop loss due to untime-ly showers. Appropriate mea-sures would be taken to easetheir woes. This governmentwill also work for providingappropriate remuneration tofarmers' for their produce," hesaid. Koshyari also said thegovernment would try to offereducation to women free ofcost and build hostels forworking women.

"A progressive society offersopportunity for the people. Wewill try to offer higher educa-tion for women for free. Thisgovernment will also try toprovide hostels for workingwomen at all the districtplaces," he added.

In what is assumedas one of the most-important and most-anticipated judgmentsin India's history, thecourt put an end tothe over-a-century-olddispute that washarming the socialfabric of the nation

MONDAY | DECEMBER 2, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

Guj: Crocodile rescued from canalVADODARA: Dec 1 (PTI) A 12-feet-long crocodile was rescuedfrom a canal in Raval village inVadodara district of Gujaratafter a four-hour operation onSaturday, a Forest official saidon Sunday. The official said thecrocodile was spotted at 10:30am, following which forestdepartment was informed. "Theoperation to rescue thecrocodile lasted for four hoursbefore it was finally released inthe nearby lake which is hometo many crocodiles," he said,adding that it was the thirdsuch incident in the samelocality in the last one year.

Fadnavis is Leader of Opposition in Maha Assembly

Veteran journalistBhaskar Menon is deadCHENNAI: Veteran journalistBhaskar Menon died here onSunday following cardiacarrest, his family said. The 87-year old Menon, who retired asthe Regional Manager (South)of the Press Trust of India (PTI)here, is survived by wife and ason. He had joined the newsagency as a Sub-Editor androse through the ranks beforeretiring as the head of itsregional bureau. Menon wasknown for his command overEnglish language and sharpediting skills and alwaysinsisted on speed and accuracy.He had handled several keynews developments, includingthe assassination of formerprime minister Rajiv Gandhi atSriperumbudur near here inMay, 1991. Menon remainedactive for many years post hisretirement and had taken up thetask of analysis of thenumerous PTI stories for someyears when he used to pointout to errors and at the sametime applaud where it was due.

QS Varsity Rankings:JU tops among state-run varsitiesKOLKATA: Jadavpur Universityhas topped the list of state-rununiversities in the country,according to a latest ranking andsecured the 11th spot amongIndian higher educationalinstitutes, officials said onSunday. The QS UniversityRankings: Asia 2020, conductedamong the Asian highereducational institutes, wasreleased on November 27, theofficial said. "This was a proudmoment as the QS ranking isone of the top global rankings ofinstitutions of higher education.JU had always occupied higherpositions in globally recognisedrankings," Jadavpur UniversityVice Chancellor Prof SuranjanDas told PTI. He said theuniversity has "a stronginterdisciplinary faculty" in botharts and engineering, whichencourage research works indifferent fields and "consistentlytopped" the list of publicationsamong stat-run universities.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra BJPlegislature party leaderDevendra Fadnavis was onSunday named Leader ofOpposition in the stateAssembly. Speaker Nana Patolemade the announcement in theHouse. Patole said that the BJPis being accorded the status ofopposition party in theAssembly and Fadnavis wouldbe the new Leader ofOpposition. CM UddhavThackeray and some ministersgreeted Fadnavis, former CM,after Patole made theannouncement.

Amid MP groupismrumours, Nath-Scindiatake joint chopper rideBHOPAL: Congress leaders inMadhya Pradesh werepleasantly surprised after ChiefMinister Kamal Nath andformer MP Jyotiraditya Scindiawent to a wedding together in ahelicopter, amid reports ofparty factionalism pitting themon opposite sides. Scindia, wholost from family strongholdGuna in the 2019 Lok Sabhapolls, has been the target ofrumours that he is unhappy inthe party, though the Gwaliorroyal family scion himself hasbrushed them aside severaltimes. According to partysources, Scindia, who was tomove to Morena by road fromGwalior on Saturday to attend awedding in the family of MPminister Banwari Sharma,phoned Nath and then decidedto go to the venue in ahelicopter with the CM. The tworeturned to Gwalior in the sameaircraft, they said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Eagerly waiting for his releasefrom prison next month,Manish exhibited his lyricalhip-hop style by dancing to thetunes of the popular 2018 song"Kya Baat Ay".

Wearing slim-fit black pantsand a light brown shrug, hismoves appeared perfect andexpressions adorable; heseemed poised to start his owndance academy.

His cousin, Suraj, a footballenthusiast and co-inmate, is intalks with a director from theSouth for a career in the movieindustry. The director hasassured to work with him afterseeing his versatility in pre-recorded videos of 'Tihar Idols',a competition organised byprison authorities for inmates.

The authorities have set upan exclusive green-walled one-

room studio inside CentralJail 1 for inmates to hone theircraft. It has a huge mirror anda number of music instru-ments like congo and speakers.Next to the studio runs theTihar FM station.

For most, jail would be anegative space. Still, therewould some who find oppor-tunities in adverse circum-stances. Manish, 32, and Suraj,

35, found dance and music andfilm to leave their past behind.

Before being convicted in a2011 kidnapping case andlanding up in Tihar, Surajworked as a salesman with aconsumer goods firm andManish, who hold a bachelor'sdegree in Hotel Management,was a bar tender.

Being a sports enthusiast,Suraj was not only an active

participant in inter-schoolsports competitions but alsorecalled playing with Indiannational football team captainSunil Chhetri in the Under-16tournament and his practicesessions in Chhatrasal Stadiumin Delhi.

"I was a very active sports-man back in school and havealso played Under-16 footballtournament. I was also inter-ested in dance and acting.Back then, I did not see this asa profession. It was my pas-sion," said Suraj.

Their passion for dance

encouraged the cousins to join'Flying Souls', a music-cum-dance group launched by Tiharinmates in 2011. Since then,they have inspired and trainedother inmates to join them.

The group now has 11 activemembers and it performs on allmajor occasions inside the jail.It has won awards in in-housecompetitions under variousstyle forms including Bhangra,Hip Hop and Bollywood.

The group conducts twosessions daily at the studio forthose inclined to learn musicand dance.

For most, jail would be a negative space.Still, there would some who findopportunities in adverse circumstances.Manish, 32, and Suraj, 35, found dance andmusic and film to leave their past behind

Tihar inmates say found peace in music,now honing their skills for a fresh start

PNS n NEW DELHI

There is a need to build trustand ensure that problems of theJammu and Kashmir tourismsector, which is on "ventilator",are addressed at the earliest,experts said at a seminar on theeconomic situation of J-K afterabrogation of Article 370 pro-visions.

Experts from various fields,including the travel industry,had gathered at the seminar"Kashmironomics", which washeld in the national capitalrecently, and they said the timehad come to bury the past andlook towards a better tomorrow.

The government on August5 had abrogated provisions ofthe Article 370 that gave specialstatus to the state of Jammu andKashmir and bifurcated it intounion territories of Jammu andKashmi, and Ladakh.

Asif Iqbal Burza, who ownsa chain of hotels in the KashmirValley, said tourism encouragespeople to people contact andintegrates people culturally,socially and economically. "Weneed to ask ourselves do webuild these bridges of hope orbreak these bridges. We needtourists to visit Jammu and

Kashmir, and share their storiesand experiences about theirtravel as Kashmir, besides itsnatural landscape, has a uniquecuisine, culture and way of life."From the government, thetourism industry needs serioushandholding as it is on ventila-tor. We need bailout packages tosurvive these difficult times,"Burza said at the event which

was held recently. ChiefExecutive Officer of travel com-pany Ebix group Naveen Kundusaid he feels that it is time forprivate investors to step in.

"We have to take Kashmirison board as without them itwon't happen. It is a futuristicsociety and an example to thatis the convention centre that wasbuilt several years back.

PNS n MUMBAI

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray on Sundaytaunted former CM DevendraFadnavis over the latter'simpassioned pre-poll "Mepunha yein" (I will return)assertion which had evokedmany social media memes.

Thackeray was speakingafter Fadnavis, leader of stateBJP legislature unit, wasnamed the new Leader ofOpposition in the House bySpeaker Nana Patole.

Describing Fadnavis as afriend, Thackeray also said hedoes not view him as opposi-tion leader.

"I never said I will comeback, but I came in thisHouse," Thackeray said duringhis congratulatory speech.

"I can assure this House andpeople of Maharashtra that Iwill not do anything at mid-night. I will be working for theinterests of the people," he

said. Thackeray's swipe wasapparently about the earlymorning hush hush swearingin of Fadnavis as CM onNovember 3, along with NCPleader Ajit Pawar as deputychief minister, after night-long dramatic political devel-opments in Mumbai andDelhi.

PNS n MUMBAI

Senior Congress MLA NanaPatole was on Sunday electedunopposed as the Speaker ofthe Maharashtra LegislativeAssembly after the BJP with-drew its candidate KisanKathore.

Pro-tem speaker Dilip WalsePatil made the announcementin the Assembly after whichChief Minister UddhavThackeray and some seniorMLAs escorted Patole, 57, tothe Speaker's chair.

Thackeray and BJP legisla-ture party leader DevendraFadnavis lauded Patole's workas legislator and farmers'leader.

The BJP said it has with-drawn the nomination ofKathore to maintain the state'stradition of electing theSpeaker unanimously.

"I am happy that the son ofa farmer has occupied thispost," Thackeray said.

Patole had quit theCongress and won 2014 LokSabha election on a BJP ticketbut returned to the party inDecember 2017 citing differ-ences with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and Fadnavis.

Minister Jayant Patil of theNCP said he appreciates thespirit of understanding shownby the opposition BJP in with-drawing their candidate andensuring that Patole is electedunopposed.

Patole succeeds HaribhauBagade of the BJP who was theSpeaker during 2014-2019when Fadnavis was the CM.

Patole represents SakoliAssembly segment inVidarbha, while Kathore isfrom Murbad in Thane dis-trict. This is the fourth term asan MLA for both.

The Uddhav Thackeray-ledMaha Vikas Aghadi govern-ment passed the floor test inthe state Assembly on Saturday.

Altogether 169 MLAs votedin favour of the motion of con-fidence after the BJP, which has105 MLAs, staged a walkout

before the head count began inthe 288-member House.

Patole's election has givenVidarbha region the presti-gious post of speaker for thefirst time in last two decades.

Born in Sakoli tehsil ofBhandara district in Vidarbhain a government officers fam-ily in 1962, Patole started hispublic life as university rep-resentative in 1987 fromNagpur University. Aftercompleting his graduation incommerce, he joined theCongress and becameBhandara Zilla parishadmember in 1991.

KARNATAKA BY-POLLS

PNS n BENGALURU

Sounding upbeat after forminga coalition government inMaharashtra, Congress inKarnataka on Sunday made itclear that it was not averse tojoining hands with JD(S) onceagain, in case the ruling BJPfails to garner required num-ber of seats to be in majority,after December 5 bypolls.

JD(S) leaders have alreadydropped enough hints aboutthe party being open to such apossibility.

The Congress and JD(S),who ran a coalition govern-ment for 14 months in the stateand contested Lok Sabha pollsin alliance, have parted waysafter the collapse of the H DKumaraswamy ministry in Julyfollowing the rebellion by 17MLAs, and are contesting thebypolls independently.

The ruling BJP led by ChiefMinister B S Yediyurappaneeds to win at least six seatsin the bypolls to 15 con-stituencies to remain in amajority in the 224-member

assembly, which would stillhave two vacant seats-- Maskiand R R Nagar.

"In order to protect the con-stitution, democracy and toprovide social justice with sec-ular principles, when the situ-ation arises, we will take nec-essary steps after discussingwith our allies and UPA part-ners on such a matter," veter-an Congress leader MallikarjunKharge said.

Speaking to reporters here,he said, "Let's see what happensin the future... winning in 15

seats is what we are lookingfor.. we will let you know. Wewill give you a correct pictureon December 9.. we will giveyou good news."

Kharge, who is alsoCongress General Secretaryin- charge of Maharashtra,where the party formed acoalition government inalliance with Shiv Sena andNCP and successfully managedto keep BJP out of power,noted that the party took sucha decision in the neighboringstate to "protect" democracy

and in the interest of the peo-ple.

"Look at Maharashtra, whereShiv Sena, NCP and Congresshave formed a governmenttogether.

To tell you the truth, ourPresident (Sonia Gandhi) wasnot in favour of it and wantedus to be in opposition, but thepeople, parties with progressivethinking told us to look atkeeping BJP away frompower..," he said.

Under pressure from legis-lators, and other partiesincluding leftist parties, adecision was taken with anintention to keep out BJP,which is "fascist" and func-tions against the democracy,he added.

Patole had quit the Congress and won2014 Lok Sabha election on a BJPticket but returned to the party inDecember 2017 citing differences withPM Narendra Modi and Fadnavis

Asif Iqbal Burza, who owns a chain ofhotels in the Kashmir Valley, saidtourism encourages people to peoplecontact and integrates peopleculturally, socially and economically

Need to build trust, address problemsfacing J-K tourism sector: Experts

PNS n PANAJI

A couple of days after ShivSena leader Sanjay Raut saidthere would be "big move-ment" in the political circlesof Goa, similar to the comingtogether of non-BJP forces toform government inMaharashtra, the coastalstate's lone NCP MLAChurchill Alemao rejectedthe prediction.

Incidentally, the NCP inMaharashtra under the lead-ership of veteran SharadPawar was the prime moverin the political realignment inthe neighbouring state thatled to the formation of acoalition government, alsoinvolving the Shiv Sena andCongress, led by UddhavThackeray.

Raut, after meeting andspeaking to some non-BJPGoa MLAs, on Friday hadsaid "you will soon see bigmovement in Goa where a(BJP) government is found-ed on immoral grounds".

Churchill, MLA fromBenaulim, told reporters insouth Goa on Sunday ChiefMinister Pramod Sawant was"performing well" and wasrepresenting "a larger sectionof Goa society".

"I don't favour any changein government at this time. Ihave not got any communi-cation from Sharad Pawar onthis (realignment). If he con-tacts me, I will tell him whathas to be told," Alemao said.

PNS n SURAT

Seven members of a gang werearrested here on Sunday and131 mobile phones and aniPad, collectively worth over Rs11 lakh, which were eitherstolen or snatched from people,were recovered from them,police said. The phones werestolen/snatched by the gangmembers from different partsof the city over the last threemonths, police said.

The arrest was made by theSurat crime branch.

"In the wake of rising inci-dents of mobile phones ofautorickshaw passengers beingstolen and other people'sphones being snatched bymotorcycle-borne criminals,the Surat police had formed ateam," a crime branch officialsaid. Initially, four persons werearrested from an autorikshawfor their alleged involvement instealing mobile phones of pas-sengers, he said.

"During their interrogation,they named one JunaidKapadiya, a second-handmobile phone dealer. Based ontheir inputs, his house wasraided and 131 mobile phones

and an iPad, total worth Rs11.37 lakh, were recoveredfrom there. Besides, Rs 12.9lakh cash and a cash countingmachine were also recovered,"he said, adding that Junaidwas arrested.

Junaid had roped in around10 persons to steal phones,which he would buy from themand then sell them to Kasimalias Mamu, another accusedfrom Botad, a town locatedaround 260 kms from Surat.

"The mobile phones recov-ered from Junaid's house arethose that were stolen orsnatched over the last threemonths. With today's seizure,police have cracked 16 casesregistered across five policestations in the city so far," theofficial said.

PNS n CHANDIGARH

Punjab Minister Tript RajinderSingh Bajwa on Sundaydemanded that the joint engi-neering entrance examination(main) should be held inPunjabi and other regional lan-guages too. The minister for thePunjab Higher Education andLanguages made the demand inhis letter to Union HRDMinister Ramesh PokhriyalNishank.

"The admission test was ini-tially conducted in English,Hindi and Gujarati languages.

On the demand by the differentstate governments, the UnionMinistry, however, has decidedthat from 2021 this entrance test

would be conducted inAssamese, Bengali, Tamil,Kannada, Urdu, Marathi, Oriyaand Telugu as well," Bajwa has

written to the Union minister,said a Punjab government state-ment here.

The statement quoted theminister as saying that it is veryunfortunate that Punjabi has notbeen included in this list "whichis a matter of clear discrimina-tion towards this language".

The Punjab minister said theJEE (Main) entrance test is animportant test through whichadmissions are done in thecountry's leading engineeringcolleges, including IITs, for theengineering and architecturalcourses.

PNS n PANAJI

Goa Pradesh MahilaCongress Committee(GPMCC) president PratimaCoutinho on Sundaydemanded that the accused inthe Hyderabad woman's rapeand murder case be hangedor shot dead publicly.

The rape and murder ofthe 25-year-old veterinarianin Hyderabad on Thursdaynight has sparked off anationwide outrage. Fouraccused, all lorry workers,have been arrested in thecase.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, Coutinho said, "Iwon't mind if the law preva-lent in Islamic countries isused in this case- shoot all thefour accused in public orhang them."

"Court trial in the caseshould end within seven days.Then shoot them dead andshow it on television so thata strong message to sent tothe pervert minds that thiswould be the consequences ifthey indulge in a crime likethis," she said.

Never said ‘I willreturn’: Thackeraytaunts Fadnavis

‘Hold JEE (main) exam in Punjabi’

‘Publicly shootor hang Hydrape-murdercase accused’

Goa NCP MLA rejects Sena claim

Uddhav Thackeray

Devendra Fadnavis

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut

The phones werestolen/snatchedby the gangmembers fromdifferent parts ofthe city over thelast three months,police said

JD(S) leaders havealready droppedenough hintsabout the partybeing open to sucha possibility

131 stolen mobile phones recovered, sevenmembers of gang held

Senior Congress MLA Nana Patole

Nana Patole of Cong elected Speakeras BJP withdraws candidateNot averse to joining hands

with JD(S) again, says Cong

Participative or liberal democraciesare predicated on the concept ofcivilian control over the military. Inhis book, The Soldier and the State,Samuel P Huntington expands on

the idea as “the proper subordination of acompetent, professional military to the endsof policy as determined by civilian authori-ty”, wherein the State apparatus of thearmed forces is constitutionally subordinateto the civilian-elected politicians or the con-stitutional heads. Various democracies havewired this uniquely within their own polit-ical frameworks, with the President assum-ing the role of the supreme commander ofthe Indian armed forces. In the UK, the reign-ing monarch is referred to as the comman-der-in-chief of the armed forces of the Crown.In the US, Article II of the Constitution estab-lishes the President to be the commander-in-chief.

However, the healthy deference to theprofessional, doctrinal and experientialrealm of necessities and skills has ensured thatthere is minimal interference on military mat-ters. Only in exceptional cases has the “com-mander-in-chief” exercised that power tointrude — other than ensuring the overalldirection and deployment of the armed forces— in line with the national plans, objectivesand vision. This delineation of day-to-dayfunctioning has resulted in the discipline andefficacy of the armed forces, as indeed in thefruition of the democratic culture in suchcountries.

Instances where a US President inter-vened in the affairs of the military are far andfew and such occasions entailed a certainseniority and issue-of-magnitude, whereinthe direction of the military was seen to begoing in contravention with the declared sov-ereign preference. For example, AbrahamLincoln dismissed General George BMcClellan in the American civil war; HarryS Truman relieved Gen Douglas MacArthurduring the Korean war. More recently, for-mer US President Barack Obama acceptedGen Stanley A McChrystal’s resignation.These are instances, which had stakes of pol-icy or strategic dissonances.

However, the recent act of US PresidentDonald Trump intervening churlishly in theproceedings against the chief petty officer,Edward Gallagher, the Navy Seal, had all thehallmarks of undercutting professionalauthority, systems and culture of Americanarmed forces. Gallagher was initially accusedof murdering a wounded Islamic State (IS)militant (for which he was acquitted by a mil-itary court) and for posing with the dead pris-oner’s body (for which he was found guilty).A US Navy had initiated a probe to determinethe suitability of Gallagher continuing to servein the elite Navy Seal team, which earnedTrump’s attention and ire. In a shocking cal-lous manner, Trump tweeted against his ownNavy and ordered a probe by the TridentReview Board. He ranted, “The Navy will notbe taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal

Gallagher’s Trident Pin. Thiscase was handled very badlyfrom the beginning. Get back tobusiness!” This unnecessaryinterference with the military-judicial proceedings led to theresignation of the Secretary ofNavy, Richard Spencer, whostated dignifiedly,“Unfortunately, it has becomeapparent that in this respect, I nolonger share the same under-standing with the commander-in-chief, who appointed me.”Spencer’s comment was eerilysimilar to the parting commentmade by James Mattis (formerSecretary of Defence), who, too,met with a frustrating roadblockin explaining military matters tothe whimsical Trump.

Both Spencer and Mattis areformer Marines, who under-stand the command structures ofthe military realm where theauthority to exercise and enforcediscipline ought to be respected,uninterrupted. No amount ofprofessional counsel by the “uni-formed” staff or experiencedveterans in the Trump regime —about the larger impacts on dis-cipline, morale, authority-com-mand structures, as also settinga dangerous precedent — couldconvince him to backtrack his ill-thought decision.

Navy Seals are acknowl-edged as the “cream of the crop”in terms of combat efficacy thatis born out of superhuman train-

ing, discipline and skills in com-bat operations. Yet, concernshave been expressed lately bynone more relevant than theCommander of Naval SpecialWarfare Command (in-charge ofSeals), Rear Admiral CollinGreen. He warned bluntly, “Wehave a problem. I don’t know yetif we have a culture problem. Ido know that we have a goodorder and discipline problemthat must be addressed immedi-ately.” He noted the importanceof accepting the same to “recal-ibrate culture and regain credi-bility.” While the importance ofdiscipline, ethics and charactercan never be overstated for thesort of sensitive and high-profileoperations that the Seals under-take, the heft of the same is com-pletely lost on Trump. He milksany opportunity towards hispopulist, reckless and divisivepolitics.

This latest slight in the ongo-ing civil-military relations is notjust about Spencer but the entire-ty of the Naval “uniformed”staff (including Rear AdmiralCollin Green), who were infavour of restoring discipline andprofessionalism. The psycholo-gy behind Trump’s intransigentand irascible politics is rooted inhis supposedly “muscular”actions that seem to allay themanufactured fears of varioussupposed “dangers.” Towardsthe same, positing such deviant

Seals as “heroes” is the sort ofRamboism that goes down wellamong a large section of theignorant and polarised society.

All of Trump’s actions arepart of the uber-nationalismdrive that necessitates fear mon-gering, extremist military reac-tions and unashamed disdain fordecorum. This gives him the bul-let-proof image to emerge as theall-American superhero in theheartland of the proverbial “red-necks.” It is an approach that thelate military veteran, SenatorJohn McCain, lamented towardshis supporters, “What he did washe fired up the crazies.”

However, this short-termtactic of intruding into the hal-lowed precincts of the militaryorder, traditions and ethos is toplay with fire in the long term.It is sure to dilute the culturewithin the rank and file of themilitary with the infusion of par-tisan politics, interference andthe diminishment of the existingcommand structures.

This unprecedentedprecipice risks undoing theproud steel of the US militaryand its accompanying culturethat has persevered for cen-turies, especially that of theNavy Seals who pride in saying,“The only easy day was yester-day” — all for vote bank politics.

(The writer, a military veter-an, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islands)This past quarter saw India register its low-

est economic growth in over a decade atjust 4.5 per cent. With full-year forecasts

not being much higher, India’s economic growthfor 2019-2020 will almost certainly be undersix per cent. In fact, coupled with the valuedestruction in the real estate sector and, thus,the “black” market over the past eight years,one could cogently argue that the Indian econ-omy has actually been shrinking over the pastfew quarters. The Finance Ministry and thePrime Minister’s Office are clutching at straws.

They do not seem to have a grip on how to get the growth engine restarted. Withtax officials on the rampage, can the Government do anything to rev it up? Well,for a start, the Government as well as the tax officials, who are behaving likeCerberus, the hound at the gates of hell, should ease off. The former should notlook at every company and citizen as a tax cheat. Sure, India has a very low taxincidence and several steps taken by this Government, including the damagingdemonetisation, were at the end of the day attempts to improve tax collection.Trying to reform the system overnight has been far more damaging to growththan what Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his economic honchos thought. Yes,improving tax collections was important but as economic growth has droppedoff and led to the consuming classes holding onto their cash instead of spend-ing it, jobs have disappeared. With a million new youth joining the job marketevery month and now unable to find employment, that and not a desperation toincrease tax collections should be the concern.

The way to solve this is to increase spending. As car sales in the festive sea-son proved, consumers have money to spend if they are incentivised. One easyway would be to get them spend the cash that they have been hoarding. Simplyput, relax the requirements for quoting your income tax Permanent Account Number(PAN) when making purchases exceeding two lakh rupees. Making that limit fivelakh rupees might lead to more cash flow into the economy as would encour-aging people to spend with income tax cuts. India desperately needs to createnew jobs and those can only come through improving consumption. India’s con-suming class remains abysmally small compared to the population. Most impor-tantly, the Government needs to bring in experts from across the board to thinkof ideas, even individuals it may not like. Diversionary tactics like discussing therights and wrongs of Nathuram Godse might keep the economy off the head-lines for a day or so but the fact remains it has been the biggest headline makerin 2019 and Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seem to have noclue what to do. Whether they like it or not, what they do now will define theirlegacy for decades to come.

No matter what the law, nobody bothersfollowing it in letter and spirit. No mat-ter how dehumanising the brutality of

every rape, nobody goes beyond the tokenismof expressing shock and anguish in words, sim-ply because that doesn’t require us to assumeresponsibility. No matter what the momentarytrauma on our collective conscience, it does-n’t change our attitude, behaviour and mind-set. We just look back in anger but are not angryenough to demand correctives. Instead we lookat scapegoats — Was the girl right to be out

alone at that time of night? Was the road deserted? Was the police patrol miss-ing? So when news streamed in of the heinous rape and murder of a 27-year-old veterinary doctor by four truckers near a toll plaza of an expressway in Hyderabad,its public analysis revealed why we aggravate instead of rein in predatory behav-iour. The Telangana Home Minister reacted by doubting the girl’s emergencyresponse instincts, publicly asking why she called her sister and not the police,ignoring the fear psychosis that must have frozen her sensibilities as the menleered at her. And while the State police may have swooped down on the culpritsthe same day after the outrage snowballed across the country, its initial responsewas not just wanting, it was reprehensible. The family members of the victim hada tough time registering an FIR on the incident, which happened at around 9:30pm, as two branches of the State police settled territorial jurisdiction. The com-plaint was finally logged in at 3 am, by which time precious hours had been lostin tracking the whereabouts of the dead girl. It is also a telling comment that theveterinary doctor was raped near the Cyberabad police station. It is even moreshameful that netizens, who are so vocal about their outrage on social media,sought to lend a communal colour to the grossest human rights violation, say-ing it was orchestrated in “Muslim-majority Shamshabad” when the accused wereall from Narayanapet district. If we cannot be responsible, at least let us not beirresponsible. Or turn apologists. It is precisely this insipidity that drives predato-ry behaviour. For on the same day, another woman’s charred body was found inthe vicinity. And in Tamil Nadu’s Neyveli village, a 32-year-old widow was gang-raped by five men while she was returning home with her kin on a two-wheeler.One of the accused was even killed by the others over a dispute about who shouldtake turns. Meanwhile, in Ranchi, a law student was gang-raped by 12 men atgunpoint in a high-security zone. The little solace is that because the rapes seemedlike a baton run on a single day, all the culprits have been booked. But how manywill ultimately be convicted and sentenced is the bigger question. Currently thatfigure is one in four nationally.

Rape accounts for 11.5 per cent of the total crime statistics. The 2012 Nirbhayarape, which shook the conscience of not just the nation but the world, too, com-pelled our parliamentarians to strengthen the punitive justice delivery system. Itled to some crucial amendments to the law, which included changing the verydefinition of “rape”, the establishment of fast-track courts, harsher punishmentsfor the accused, with the provision of death sentence for extreme cases, and theabolition of two-finger tests. Besides, as the Hyderabad incident has shown, ques-tion marks remain on the use of the death penalty as criminals are now murder-ing their victims to destroy evidence. For the criminal, there is no deterrent. Butyes, he can be stalled if deterrence is built into the system by fast-tracking pro-cedures and ensuring swift justice. Conviction rates need to go up proportion-ately. At present, fast-track courts are no different from the usual courts in termsof case pile-ups and vacancies. A quick, fair and unbiased judicial set-up withrequisite number of judges is a sine qua non. A continuously responsive systemis a bigger deterrent than one or two landmark rulings. This will also spur insti-tutional and judicial reforms. And last but not the least, as expressways becomea reality in the heartland of India, we need more police patrols to keep womenusers safe. We can use technology to map their safety. A single woman on atwo-wheeler was not out there on her free time, she was out on work.

Statute is sacred

Sir — With its verdict on theMaharashtra imbroglio, theSupreme Court has made it clearthat meddling with the tenets ofthe Constitution will not be tol-erated by it. The entire nation wasshocked by the manner in whichthe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)managed to grab power for ashort time in the western State. Itsactions showed an obvious disre-gard for Constitutional principles.

The apex court Benchobserved that it is the duty of thecourt to protect democracy at anycost. This can be seen as anindictment of the Governor’sopenly partisan behaviour; heshould resign without delay. Nowthat disparate parties — theNationalist Congress Party(NCP), the Shiv Sena and theCongress — have come togetherto form the Government, onehopes that they will set their dif-ferences aside and keep the wel-fare of the people foremost. TheGovernment must refrain fromtinkering with the Constitutionalprovisions and instead focus onissues that matter to the people.

Tharcius S Fernando

Chennai

The other view

Sir — This refers to the article,“The real truth about Rama”(November 28) by Markandey

Katju. The writer has every rightto condemn, be contemptuous orintensely dislike what is nowknown as “Hindutva”, whichaccording to him, has polarisedand communalised the atmos-phere in the country.

I am glad that he concedesRama as a historical person. Becauseof his exemplary rule, MahatmaGandhi always wanted Ram Rajyafor India. Definitely, in Rama’s time,there was no concept of majority orminority, no democracy for the peo-

ple to choose their ruler via ballotbox and there were no offshoots ofHinduism such as Jainism,Buddhism, Sikhism or that ofChristianity and Islam. According tosome historians, there was no con-cept of “nationalism.” It is, therefore,irrational on his part to push the pre-sent situation to Rama’s times.

The writer’s heart bleeds for theMuslims killed in stray incidentswhile ignoring how his communi-ty was hounded out of Kashmir in1990 and thereafter. This proves thelack of sympathy for his own com-munity.

SC PandaBhubaneswar

Real issues

Sir — With the new UddhavGovernment sworn in, it isexpected to tackle the most pecu-liar problem of farm distress. Butit must not resort to offering farmloan waivers. It should work forrural development by improvinginfrastructure and providingalternative income options.

ShashankVia email

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

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op nionMONDAY | DECEMBER 2, 2019

06

Sinking naval ethos

BHOPINDER SINGH

Promise after promise…twocrore jobs every year, dou-ble the price of crops, gooddays, making the economy$5 trillion… Will anypromise be accounted for?

Congress leader—Priyanka Gandhi

I do not have any preset notionon what I should or should not be doing on screen. Whenwe play a character on screen, it is about the journey of the character.

Actor—Emraan Hashmi

There’s transparencybetween the Board, MS andthe selectors. When you dealwith such champions certainthings have to be kept withinthe closed doors.

BCCI chief —Sourav Ganguly

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

A saviour of the system

India celebrated the 70th anniversary of the adoptionof the Constitution on November 26 amid Oppositionprotests against the remorseless assault on it in

Maharashtra. That State had witnessed an unexpectedand concerted campaign that interpreted theConstitutional decrees conveniently or misinterpreted pur-posely and even attempted a little transgression to servepartisan politics and capture power. This time, fortunate-ly, the Supreme Court stepped in to protect democra-cy from injury and prevent horse-trading in time.

The apex court’s order on the petitions of theOpposition parties, which set in motion a chain of reac-tion that culminated in the Maha Vikas Aghadi assum-ing the mantle with Uddhav Thackeray, the Shiv Sena chief,as the Chief Minister, was unambiguous and forthright.The court had affirmed, “This case pertains to one suchsituation, wherein this court is called upon to adjudicateand maintain democratic values and facilitate the foster-ing of the citizens’ right of good governance.” Presentingan unassailable argument for intervention, the court said,“In a situation wherein, if the floor test is delayed, thereis a possibility of horse trading, it becomes incumbentupon the Court to act to protect democratic values.” Avisibly concerned apex court ordered an immediate floor

test, even prioritising it ahead of the election of the Speakerand ensured transparency through open voting and livetelecast. It intercepted all sorts of horse-trading, widelyknown as “Operation Lotus”, as well. Sadly, however, thisincident — wherein the top Constitutional heads exert-ed their combined might, even undermining the valuedConstitutional morality — prepared the ground for a par-ticular political outfit to capture power covertly. That isdeeply disturbing.

Haridasan RajanKozhikode

WHILE THEIMPORTANCE OF

DISCIPLINE, ETHICSAND CHARACTER

CAN NEVER BEOVERSTATED FOR

THE SORT OFSENSITIVE ANDHIGH-PROFILE

OPERATIONS THATTHE SEALS

UNDERTAKE, THEHEFT OF THE SAME

IS COMPLETELYLOST ON TRUMP.

HE MILKS ANYOPPORTUNITYTOWARDS HIS

POPULIST,RECKLESS AND

DIVISIVE POLITICS

Send yyour ffeedback tto:[email protected]

Restart the growth engine

India will not spare anyonetrying to mess with it.Pakistan’s use of terror forproxy war is an admissionthat it can’t defeat India in aconventional or limited war.

Union Minister—Rajnath Singh

The Hyderabad rape reminds us that a continuous responsivesystem is a bigger deterrent than one or two landmark rulings

The economy is in the doldrums and nothing theGovernment is seeming to do is helping. What’s the cure?

Trump’s short-term tactic of intruding into the hallowed precincts of military order is toplay with fire in the long term. It is sure to dilute the culture within the rank and file

Crying shame

The right thing to do

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Afive-member Constitution Bench of theSupreme Court (SC), headed by the ChiefJustice of India (CJI), has given a landmark

verdict bringing the office of the CJI under the RTIAct. This ruling, delivered by the SC after dismiss-ing an appeal by its own Central Public InformationOfficer (CPIO), added yet another milestone in anera requiring transparency. The judgment, coupledwith another recent verdict by the apex court datedSeptember 17, declaring the DAV College Trust andManagement Society a public authority under theRTI Act because of substantial Government fund-ing, will have far-reaching positive implications.

The order set a precedent for bringing manysuch bodies under the purview of the RTI Act,something that they have been resisting for long.Some well-deserving cases are listed below:

NDDB subsidiaries: Earlier, the CentralGovernment in a reply in the Parliament revealedthat it had advised the National Dairy DevelopmentBoard (NDDB) to abide by the Central InformationCommission’s (CICs) April 15, 2011 decision, thatwas upheld by single-Bench of the Delhi HighCourt (HC), to bring Mother Dairy under the RTIAct. Mother Dairy has filed an appeal in theDivision Bench of the Delhi HC against this.

While all NDDB subsidiaries should be cov-ered under the RTI Act, most people, even pub-lic authorities, are unaware of the fact that NDDBhas to provide information about all its subsidiariesunder Section 2(f) of the RTI Act as it is the reg-ulatory body.

IBPS: The then CIC chief RK Mathur in hisverdict noted that the Institute of BankingPersonnel Selection (IBPS) is not a public author-ity under the RTI Act, even though four millioncandidates appear every year for examinations con-ducted by it.

IFFCO: The cooperative giant IFFCO giftedprime properties worth hundreds of crores in NewDelhi to its office-bearers. Even the Comptrollerand Auditor General’s (CAG’s) report pointed outmassive irregularities in its functioning.

BCCI: The Board of Control for Cricket inIndia (BCCI) challenged the CIC’s verdict declar-ing it as a public authority under the RTI Act atthe Madras High Court despite the Union Ministryof Sports supporting the CIC’s verdict. It is note-worthy that even the Law Commission, on beingapproached by the Centre subsequent to the SC’sdirections, was in favour of the BCCI being broughtunder the purview of the Act.

Land and Building Departments: TheseCentral and State Government departmentsshould study all cases of allotment of land oraccommodation at subsidised rates or lease anddeclare all these as public authorities under the RTIAct. Plus, an undertaking should be taken fromthem in this regard.

Tightening scope of Section 8(1)(j) of the Act:The SC, in its November 13 verdict, has laid

down important principles for tightening the scopeof Section 8(1)(j) of the Act regarding personalinformation. Undoubtedly, like all other legislations,the RTI Act is also being misused because of whichthe apex court had to be so elaborative. But prin-ciples laid down there should have been applica-ble to other wings of the democratic system also,rather than just the judicial system. For example,

the verdict restricts misuse throughsurveillance only for the functioning ofthe judiciary. While all the public author-ities, especially sensitive ones like thePresident’s Secretariat, the PrimeMinister’s Office and ministries ofDefence and External Affairs may alsobe facing misuse of the RTI Act for sur-veillance.

Fee uniformity fee can prevent mis-use: Misuse of the RTI Act has becomea big challenge for which the Centre canissue notifications without amending thelegislation. Sections 27 and 28 of the RTIAct give power to competent authoritiesand State Governments to draft their ownrules, which include fixing of RTI fee andmode of payment. Several competentauthorities and States misused theirpower by charging high fees arbitrarily,aimed at discouraging its use. SeveralStates also fixed a fee for filing firstappeals. However, the SC in its verdicton a petition filed by Common Causecapped the fee at `50. India should begoverned with the principle of “onenation, one rule” at least in respect of RTIfee and its mode of payment.

Make ID proof compulsory: TheRailway Board has made it compulsoryto attach ID proof with the RTI applica-tions to curb fake pleas being filed in thename of others. The Department ofPersonnel and Training (DoPT) shouldissue a circular which makes ID proofcompulsory with every RTI application,First Appeal and Second Appeal or com-plaint filed with InformationCommissions. Odisha has already adopt-ed this and those who do not want to dis-close their identity can file applicationsthrough a post-box.

There is no logic in some NGOs andRTI activists opposing the move for

attaching ID proof on the plea that theidentity of applicants would be exposed.The identity as it is gets disclosedthrough the names and addresses givenon the applications. ID proof is just a wayto ensure the genuineness of the appli-cant. This will also prevent foreignersfrom filing applications because theRTI Act, 2005 is meant for Indian citi-zens only. In the absence of ID proof,authorities cannot distinguish betweencitizens, people of Indian origin andthose who have taken the nationality ofother nations.

Need for RTI stamps: With publicdepartments going totally cashless, manyof them, like the National Green Tribunal(NGT) have stopped accepting moneyand are asking RTI applicants to enclosepostal orders of `10 for the fee. Manypost offices do not sell postal orders,while others, including the Head PostOffice at Parliament Street, restrict thesale of postal orders till 4 pm, inconve-niencing people. Plus, most publicauthorities require postal orders in dif-ferent names even though the DoPTrequires postal orders towards RTI pay-ments to be in the name of accounts offi-cer only, complicating matters further.

So, the best remedy is to accept theCIC’s recommendation that the postaldepartment issue special RTI stamps (likethe ones issued earlier for payment oflicence fee of radio and TV sets) indenominations of `2, `10 and `50.These stamps should be made availablenot just at post offices and Governmentdepartments but also at other convenientsale points.

Post free RTI applications: Thefacility of posting free RTI applicationsaddressed to Central public authoritiesshould be extended to all 160,000 post

offices rather than just 4,500 post officesat present. It’s not difficult becauseevery post office, however small it maybe, sends a mail bag daily to the HeadPost Office. This mail bag can also carrypost-free RTI applications. In fact, spe-cial RTI envelopes costing `50 (in casebasic fee is increased to `50) should beintroduced by the postal departmenttogether with RTI stamps where theseenvelopes can be attached with applica-tions by the authorities as proof of pay-ment of fee.

Auto-emailing of responses forapplications filed online: The portal forfiling online applications should bemodified so that RTI responses andorders of First Appellate Authorities maybe auto-emailed. This will save theapplicants the trouble of going to the por-tal to view responses. SMS alerts regard-ing the emailing of the responses mustalso be sent.

Immediate repeal of Delhi RTI,2001: This is in reference to an order inthe Anil Dutt Sharma versusGovernment of NCT Delhi case, where-in the court has mentioned that the RTIAct, 2005 would override the Delhi RTIAct, 2001 (DRTI Act) as it would occu-py the entire legislative field.

The demand to repeal the meaning-less DRTI Act is being made as it has lostall relevance now given the 2005 Act andonly a few applications are being filedunder it. In fact, most Delhi Governmentofficers are totally unaware of its provi-sions and the infrastructure set up tohandle applications is a complete wasteof precious public resources. Hopefully,the powers that be will take cognisanceof this.

(The writer is a noted RTI activist andconsultant)

The SC’s historic order, bringing the Chief Justice of India’s office under the ambit of the Right To

Information Act, strengthened it and increased the scope for ushering in more transparency

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

The gig economy is getting stronger

MEENAL SHARMA JAGTAP

As more business processes get automated infuture, there is going to be a debate on how toprotect the interests of independent workers

SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL

In the context of the way the Industrial Revolution 4.0 is set to rev-olutionise the future of work and jobs, one term that is being com-monly used is “gig economy.” “Gig” refers to a short job or a task.

Smartphones, super-fast internet networks and other technologies haveresulted in the springing up of many companies that offer platform-based services and employ people for specific tasks while offering wagesaccording to tasks accomplished. For example, many app-based ser-vice delivery platforms like Uber, Ola, Zomato, Swiggy, UrbanClap andso on employ people for delivery of products/services and offer incen-tives in accordance with trips completed, number of customer ser-viced or number of hours devoted. There are several advantages anddisadvantages of this. For workers, it means flexibility and indepen-dence from strict 9 to 5 schedules, a way to earn money in accor-dance with the number of hours devoted and so on. The advantagesfor companies are that they are able to engage human resources thatthey otherwise may not have been able to afford. Also, the talent requiredfor each task can be sourced from the best pool available without thecompulsion of retaining them. Hence, it saves cost to a large extentas firms don’t have to give benefits like pension, gratuity, providentfund, bonus to the workers. The workers seem to have no rights exceptin cases of breach of contracts by the employer. This is a major down-side as in the absence of any codified laws on regulation, workers arevulnerable to exploitation.

As more and more business processes get automated, there isgoing to be a debate on how to protect the interests of people work-ing as independent contractors or workers, as several processes inindustries, may get automatised, courtesy, Industrial Revolution 4.0.

Given the rising number of such people, governments are takingmeasures to recognise them as employees, a case in point beingCalifornia, where lawmakers passed a Bill recognising gig economyworkers as employees. In India, too, the new Social Security Code thatis being framed by the Ministry of Labour and Employment aims tolook into interests of gig workers. Words like ‘gig economy’, ‘platformeconomy’ and ‘sharing economy’ are appearing in Government doc-uments for the very first time. However, India was always a gig econ-omy. Ancient scriptures like the Atharva Veda tell us that besides agri-culture, people engaged in occupations like carpentry, pottery-mak-ing, jewellery-making, weaving, carpentry and so on, when they werenot engaged in any agrarian activity. In fact, these trades or skill-basedoccupations were passed on from generation to generation and thisled to the classification of society into occupation-based castes.

Further, there were people who were service providers who cateredto the needs of society. They were other groups of professionals likephysicians, professional singers, dancers, potters and instrument play-ers. These professionals enjoyed high status in society, thus it can beeasily said that possession of skills commanded respect in ancientIndian economies. Skills were aspirational and since skills were passedon from generations to generations, therefore how skill developmentwould take place for youngsters was not a major problem. However,once India lost independence to the British and its people were boundto help in the administration of the country, Indians started aspiring tobe part of the so-called clerical, bureaucratic or “white-collared” work-force. Slowly, educated Indians lost interest in traditional skills and believedthat only white-collared jobs would help them lead a prosperous life.The economy that was once self-sustained, was reduced to one thatwas trying to develop with the development model of the West. Theresults of the same are now before us.

The future of work that the world is talking about today has manyaspects. Two aspects that would particularly impact emerging economieslike ours are that human workers in future will be required to work togeth-er with machines as their co-workers. And, many job roles that existtoday will be redundant in future as machines will be competent enoughto carry out the tasks previously performed by people. Thus, it is imper-ative that governments should be prepared to face the challenge ofensuring “decent work” to the youth. They should be trained in skillsets that are expected to remain relevant in the wake of industrial dis-ruptions. Once this is ensured, juggling different tasks or jobs ratherthan sticking to one becomes feasible. It is being predicted that thecompanies would prefer to engage people on processes that wouldessentially entail human intervention rather than that of machine andthe workers would be engaged for a shorter duration till needed. Thiswork culture is growing globally and is pointing towards strengthen-ing of the gig economy. However, experience tells us that there is noth-ing to be afraid of. Humans invented machines and now we have toensure that they remain our helpers and do not become a threat.

(The writer is Professor and HOD Management andCommerce, Trinity Institute of Professional Studies, IPGGSU)

MONDAY | DECEMBER 2, 2019

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PUNJAB’S GST COLLECTION IS THE WORST IN INDIA.THE GOVERNMENT IS RESORTING TO A MISCHIEVOUS

CAMPAIGN TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM ITS FAILURES.— SHIROMANI AKALI DAL LEADER

PARMINDER SINGH DHINDSA

THE 10-YEAR RULE OF THE SAD-BJP COMBINE IS TO BLAME FOR THE PRESENT (POOR) ECONOMIC SITUATION IN PUNJAB. —PUNJAB CONGRESS CHIEF SUNIL JAKHAR

It seems like one more shocker hashit the Indian economy as theGross Domestic Product (GDP)

growth has gone below the five percent mark and touched a worryingsix-year low of 4.5 per cent. TheIndex of Industrial Production (IIP)that has been at its worst in the lasteight years is further expected tocome down in the following quarters.But has this downturn just started orwere the warning signs there muchearlier?

The self-reinforcing spiral in therural economy, the manufacturingslump, low-wage pressures in theeconomy, ambiguous trends of con-sumption, banks burdened with badloans and exports at their lowest,have together contributed their bit tothe fiscal woes over the years. There

is an ongoing debate on whether theslowdown emanates from the supplyside or the demand side growthshock. All signs point towards thedwindling economic fundamentals,be it domestic consumption, privateinvestment, Government spending,foreign consumption or exports.Unfortunately, the Government, too,is exhibiting signs of nervousness andthe situation is being termed as a“financial emergency.”

Hence, it is mandatory to digdeeper in order to get some clarityon the issue. Is it justified to cate-gorise the current deceleration as“economic sluggishness” or could itbe considered “episodic and anecdo-tal”? Why is there a prolonged fall inthe GDP? Is consumption at risk?What is the plausible role of theGovernment in all this?

It has been discussed at variousplatforms that the current demandslowdown cannot be called cyclicalwhich can be corrected throughmonetary or fiscal measures such asslashing interest rates or a tax-cut.Rather, it is a result of having missedthe manufacturing export-led growthalong with effective deployment of

structural reforms, followed by theshock of demonetisation, a stressedbanking sector and faltering imple-mentation of the Goods and ServicesTax (GST) which has impacted theinformal sector the most.

Until recently, the Governmenthad remained in denial mode, espe-cially in the tempting environmentof hiding behind the global econom-ic slowdown due to trade conflictsand geopolitical tensions. Developingnations can sustain the growth tra-jectory mainly by inculcating theinvestment-driven realm. Hence, itis even more vital to recoup high lev-els of investment, for which corpo-rate tax cut may not be an adequatesolution.

Former irrational excitementduring the high growth period of2002-08, followed by the shock of theglobal financial crisis in 2008, are thetwo deep-rooted fundamental trig-gers of today’s corporatedistress/indebtedness. Undisputedly,the Indian economy is confrontingproblems from multiple spheres.

Needless to mention, someparts of it are a direct derivative ofthe current global economic decel-

eration but decisions like demoneti-sation, the bad loans crippling banks,the crisis the Non-Banking FinancialCompany sector is facing, theComptroller and Auditor General(CAG) and Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) probes actuallyworsened the situation, which in turnimpacted consumption and invest-ment (hence overall aggregatedemand) far more severely.

The recent corporate tax cutselicited a euphoric response from thefinancial markets and got the much-needed mass media attention. But,was this adequate to contain thefalling output demand? Maybe not atleast in the short-run. Economistslike Renu Kohli and Deepak Nayyarhave already debated this move andpointed out that it will only add torising income inequalities. Theyhave principally not supported it,either in theory or in practice.Certainly, there could be more effec-tive ways to incentivise consumers tostimulate the final demand of goodsand services.

Further, it is argued that thedream to convert the informal econ-omy into a formal economy has actu-

ally impacted domestic consumptionnegatively. Perhaps, a combination ofdemand-side push factors alongwith real efficiency-productivityreforms could provide the requiredboost to the ailing economy in theNarendra Modi-led Government’ssecond term at the helm of affairs inthe country?

Also as proposed, the corporatetax cut may be essential but not suf-ficient for a long-term investmentboost in India. Overall, the currentpredicament could be perceived as anabysmal structural matter ratherthan simply a short-term one. Maybethe Keynesian philosophy (toincrease fiscal/Government expendi-ture) that has the precedence of suc-cessful growth story even in the caseof India between 2014 to 2017 andas propagated during the greatdepression of America, could be asustainable way forward.

Some economists suggest thatIndia is at the brink and at this pointin time. So supply-side measures likecorporate tax cuts (including themerger of some public sector banks,recapitalisation, loan melas andmoratorium on repayment of Micro,

Small & Medium Enterprises loans)may not help. Pull from the demand-side like rural-led growth, structur-al transformative reforms such asinland acquisition, banking regula-tion, labour and so on could be theonly option to sail through.

Additionally, it is equally impor-tant to mention that the Governmentshould actively develop the manufac-turing sector with an eye on exportmarkets to improve the situation.

Thankfully, we are still not in arecession and while concocting amishmash of solutions, policymak-ers must comprehend that short-term measures can only make a dentwhile dealing with structural prob-lems. More concrete measures areneeded to fix the problems that ailthe economy permanently. Onehopes that the ongoing WinterSession of the Parliament will bringforth the Insolvency & BankruptcyCode and Banking Regulation Act asthe key economic tools to resolve thepersisting slowdown pressures moreeffectively.

(The writer is Assistant Professorand Senior Research Scholar, DRC/FMS, University of Delhi.)

Is the economic slowdown really sporadic?We are still not in a recession and while concocting solutions, policymakers must comprehend that short-term measures can only

make a dent while dealing with structural problems. Concrete measures are needed to fix problems that ail the economy permanently

MEGHA JAIN

F O R E I G N E Y E

This week, logically, Britainought to be working withFrance to lead and redefineNATO’s role from theEuropean side. But Brexit, farfrom meaning that Britainwill “do more on theinternational stage” as theTory manifesto claims,means the reverse. If theclaim were true, all eyes thisweek would be on whetherNATO’s difficult issues werebeing purposefully resolved.Because it is false, all eyeswill simply be on USPresident Donald Trump andhis impact on Britain’sdomestic arguments.

(The Guardian editorial)

BRITAIN’S EYES ONTRUMP, NOT NATO

THE SC, IN ITSNOVEMBER 13

VERDICT, HAS LAIDDOWN IMPORTANT

PRINCIPLESFURTHER

TIGHTENING THESCOPE OF SECTION

8(1)(J) OF THE RTI ACTREGARDINGPERSONAL

INFORMATION.UNDOUBTEDLY,

LIKE ALL OTHERLEGISLATIONS,THE RTI ACT IS

ALSO BEINGMISUSED,

BECAUSE OFWHICH THE APEX

COURT HAD TO BESO ELABORATIVE

MONDAY | DECEMBER 2, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

Mahindra totalsales down 9 pc at41,235 units in NovNEW DELHI: Auto majorMahindra and Mahindra(M&M) on Sunday reported a9 per cent decline in totalsales in November at 41,235units. The company had sold45,101 units in thecorresponding month lastyear, M&M said in a regulatoryfiling. In the domestic market,sales were down 7 per cent at38,614 units last month ascompared to 41,564 units inNovember 2018. Exports alsodeclined 26 per cent to 2,621units as against 3,537 units inthe year-ago month. In thepassenger vehicle segment,which includes utility vehicles,cars and vans, the companysold 14,637 units last monthas compared to 16,188 unitsin the same month last year,down 10 per cent.

Honda Cars salesdip 50 pc in NovNEW DELHI: Honda Cars IndiaLtd (HCIL) on Sunday reported50.33 per cent decline indomestic sales to 6,459 unitsin November as against 13,006units in the same month lastyear. "Our sales numbers arebetter than our plan for themonth," HCIL Senior VicePresident and Director, Salesand Marketing Rajesh Goelsaid. The company is in the lastleg of BS IV and accordinglysupplies had to be optimisedas it progresses towards BSVItransition model by modelsequentially, he added.

Hyundai Motorsales up 7 pc in NovNEW DELHI: Hyundai MotorIndia Ltd (HMIL) on Sundayreported a 7.2 per centincrease in total sales at 60,500units in November. Thecompany had sold 56,411 unitsin the same month last year,HMIL said in a statement.Domestic sales were up 2 percent at 44,600 units as against43,709 units in November2018, the company added.

JIO BOXED INTO CORNER

CII, FICCI JOIN CAUSE TOSEEK RELIEF FOR TELCOSPNS n NEW DELHI

Rival industry associations CIIand FICCI have closed ranksand written to FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanseeking relief for telecom com-panies that have been orderedby the Supreme Court to payRs 1.47 lakh crore in paststatutory dues, in an apparentattempt to counter billionaireMukesh Ambani-run Jio's nar-rative on the issue.

While Jio has been stronglyopposing a bailout of telecomcompanies at taxpayers'expense saying they had "suf-ficient" financial capacity topay dues, CII and FII presi-dent's have in separate lettersasked Finance Minister toaddress "precarious" financialposition of telcos saddled witha debt of Rs 7 lakh crore andensure robust competition forvibrancy in the sector.

CII president VikramKirloskar in the November 19letter sought revisting the cur-rent revenue-sharing businessmodel - where the governmentis paid a predecided share outof the income generated fromusing scarce natural resource,and replace it with "competitiveand transparent" model that

also "address the possibleadverse impacts on banks"having exposure to sectorswith such business model.

FICCI president SandipSomany wrote to Sitharamanon the issue on November 27,which was first reported by PTIon Friday.

"The recent developmentson the Adjusted Gross Revenue(AGR) dues of Telecom ServiceProviders (TSPs) , have trig-gered a great deal of concernnot only to the seriously-affect-

ed TSPs, but also amongstothers who are part of the over-all telecom eco-system.

"The precarious financialhealth of key players in this sec-tor and their massive debtburden (estimated to be Rs 7lakh crores), threaten not onlytheir individual existence butalso the much-needed vibran-cy in this sector of nationalimportance," Kirloskar wrote.

The Supreme Court onOctober 24 upheld the gov-ernment position that non-

telecom revenue should beincluded in calculating AGR, apercentage of which is paid tothe exchequer as statutorydues. Telcos such as BhartiAirtel and Vodafone Idea wereasked to pay Rs 1.47 lakh crorein past dues within threemonths.

"In this context, CII urgesthe Government to consideraddressing the situation in amanner which continues therobust competition in theindustry and ensures fur-ther investments in infra-structure for new technolo-gies," the November 19 lettersaid.

It went on to say that tele-com services are a 'raw mate-rial' for the rest of the econo-my serving as a productivity-enhancer for many other sec-tors. "A robust vibrant ecosys-tem of TSPs is critical for

some of the key nation businessinitiatives of the government ofIndia, including the drivetowards a less cash-based econ-omy and the larger DigitalIndia programme. In essence,a vibrant telecom sector is inthe national interest."

"CII urges the government tocontinue with its policy ofencouraging healthy competi-tion in the telecom sector withat least 3-4 strong players, andwork towards addressing theissues facing the sector withthat prespective. This is essen-tial in the national interestand the interest of the con-suming masses," it said.

FICCI in the letter had stat-ed that the apex court rulingnot just lead to the collapse ofthe telecom sector but willalso have a cascading effect onseveral other sectors includingpower, steel and railways.

"The recent developments on theAdjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues ofTelecom Service Providers (TSPs) , havetriggered a great deal of concern not onlyto the seriously-affected TSPs, but alsoamongst others who are part of theoverall telecom eco-system

PNS n NEW DELHI

Indian alcohol manufacturershave approached NITI Aayog,seeking exemption of importduty on extra neutral alcohol(ENA), which is the primaryraw material for making alco-holic beverages.

The alcohol manufacturershave pleaded that there is a mas-sive shortage in domestic sup-plies of ENA following diversionof ethyl alcohol for bio-fuelblending by oil marketing com-panies (OMCs) in the country.

"Short availability of ENA(high-purity ethyl alcohol) hasplaced domestic alcoholic bev-erage industry in a precarioussituation. Price of ENA, whichwas around Rs 45 per bulk litreuntil recently, is now breachingRs 60 mark. Even at this price,

the supply is uncertain andunder stress," Confederation ofIndian Alcoholic BeverageCompanies (CIABC) DirectorGeneral Vinod Giri said in a

letter to NITI Aayog CEOAmitabh Kant.

The CIABC, in its letter, saidrecent floods in Maharashtraand Karnataka have adversely

impacted sugarcane crop inthe region which shall worsenthe supply of ENA even furtherand therefore, it is of the viewthat the Commerce Ministry

may be advised to allowimports of ENA exempt fromimport duty until domesticsupply improves.

High import duty is a bighinderance for import of ENAfrom international market.

The price of ENA in inter-national market is around Rs50 per litre. At current duty(150 per cent), imported ENAwill cost Rs 125 per litre whichis unsustainable. But with no ormarginal duty, price can be at

Rs 50 to 55 per litre. Availabilityof ENA at such prices will makeit sustainable for the industry,the CIABC said.

Reduced availability of theprimary raw material endan-gers the survival of the indus-try and all those who dependon it for livelihood, it added.

Alcohol industry contributesalmost Rs 2 lakh crore by wayof various taxes, sustains liveli-hood of nearly 40 lakh farmers,and employs nearly 20 lakh

people directly and indirectly. Tax revenues from alcoholic

beverages consist of 20 to 40 percent of most states' tax receipts.This way, the alcohol industryis one of the largest contributorsto the Indian economy, it added.

Terming the availability ofENA as a multi-ministry issue asit is also being used for bio-fuel,Giri said the Centre is pushinghard for blending ethanol inauto fuels to reduce importdependence in petroleum, butshortage of ENA and its grow-ing costs will make the moveeconomically unsustainable forOMCs and fail to achieve blend-ing target from current level of7.2 per cent to 20 per cent.

"We have already said this toPetroleum Ministry in our let-ter written a couple of monthsago," he added.

NITI Aayog urged to exempt import duty on neutral alcohol The alcohol manufacturers havepleaded that there is a massiveshortage in domestic supplies of ENAfollowing diversion of ethyl alcohol forbio-fuel blending by oil marketingcompanies (OMCs) in the country

FPIs net buyers for3rd month; investRs 22,872 cr in NovPNS n NEW DELHI

Foreign investors remainednet buyers in the Indian cap-ital market for the thirdstraight month in November,putting in Rs 22,872 crore onnet basis during the month,according to depositories data.

Analysts said expectationsof a trade deal between the USand China, and more reliefmeasures as well as disinvest-ment drive by the governmentamong other factors helpedkeep FPIs stuck on the capitalmarkets.

A net sum of Rs 25,230crore was flowed into equitiesby FPIs in November, the datashowed. However, they pulledout Rs 2,358.2 crore from thedebt segment, translating intoa total net investment of Rs22,871.8 crore by FPIs inNovember.

FPIs had invested a net

sum of Rs 16,037.6 crore inOctober and Rs 6,557.8 crorein September.

"FPIs have been consistentnet buyers in November main-ly due to expectations of atrade deal between US-China,relief measures along withdisinvestment drive by thegovernment, hopes for a scrap-page policy and a few others,"said Umesh Mehta, head ofresearch at Samco Securities.

Besides, "tax reformsannounced in September 2019will now to be legislated. Thistakes away ambiguities onimplementation of thesereforms," said Pranay Bhatia,partner and leader tax and reg-ulatory services at BDO India.

The tax reforms and posi-tive approach will go a longway in reducing the overalltaxes for businesses, leading togreater liquidity and econom-ic growth, he added.

PNS n KOLKATA

Corporate bigwigs Amazon,Infosys and Yes Bank areamong the 28 companies whichhave responded to an expres-sion of interest (EoI), floated byTea Board, for using blockchainand allied technologies todetermine the traceability oftea, an official said.

Tea Board deputy chairmanArun Kr Ray said that thisexercise is required for long-term sustainability of theindustry as costs are rising andprices of tea have been flat atauctions.

"We are going to start anexercise for determining thetraceability of tea, particular-

ly of the orthodox variety,using blockchain technolo-gy", Ray told PTI.

He said the use of tech-nologies will also help todetermine whether a variety of

tea has been grown organi-cally or not.

"Amazon, Infosys, Yes Bankand 25 others have respond-ed to the expression of inter-est. The selected consultant

will give advice on the costsfor carrying out the exerciseon a long-term basis", he said.

Ray said India is the secondlargest producer of the bever-age after China.

"However, India's teaexports have been stagnatingat around 250 million kilo-grams. The way tea is export-ed currently does not fetch afair price in the overseas mar-kets," he said.

Unless tea growers realisebetter prices of their produce,they will not be able to payhigher wages to the labourers,Ray said.

"If this (stagnating price)situation continues, thelabourers will go away andfine plucking, for whichIndia is famous, will notexist," he said, adding thatthis will spell doom for theindustry.

We are going to start an exercisefor determining the traceability of

tea, particularly of the orthodoxvariety, using blockchain technology

ARUN KR RAY, Tea Board deputy chairman

PNS n NEW DELHI

GST collections crossed the Rs1 lakh crore mark after a gapof three months in November,growing by 6 per cent to Rs1.03 lakh crore aided by festi-val demand.

The GST collection stood atRs 97,637 crore in the samemonth last year while revenuecollection under this head wasRs 95,380 crore in October.

After two months of negativegrowth, GST revenues wit-nessed an impressive recoverywith a positive growth of 6 percent in November 2019 overNovember 2018 collections, anofficial statement said.

According to official sources,the number reflects pick up inconsumption and improve-ment in compliance as well.

Non-intrusive means of taxcollection has helped improvedcompliance, sources said.

During the month, the GSTcollection on domestic trans-actions witnessed a growth of

12 per cent, the highest duringthe year, it, said.

"Of gross Rs 1,03,492 crorein November, CGST is Rs19,592 crore, SGST is Rs27,144 crore, IGST is Rs 49,028

crore (including Rs 20,948crore collected on imports)and Cess is Rs 7,727 crore(including Rs 869 crore col-lected on imports)," it said.

The statement further saidthat November 2019 collectionis the third highest monthly col-lection since the introduction ofGST, next only to April 2019and March 2019 collections.

This is the eighth time sincethe inception of GST in July2017 that monthly collectionhas crossed the mark of Rs 1lakh crore.

GST revenue grows 6 pc tocross Rs 1 lk cr in Nov

According to officialsources, the numberreflects pick up inconsumption andimprovement incompliance as well

Axis Bank more thandoubles loan provisionsfor troubled sectorsPNS n MUMBAI

Third largest private sectorlender Axis Bank is settingaside more capital, more thantwice over the regulatoryrequirements, for loans in sec-tors it has identified as "stressed",a senior official has said.

The bank is maintain-ing a standard assetprovisioning of 1percentage pointfor bad loans insuch sectors, asagainst the regu-latory provisionof 0.40 per cent,its executive direc-tor Rajiv Anand toldPTI.

The move, which is beingfollowed at least since April,comes amid continuing con-cerns on high quantum ofnon-performing assets in itsbook. The high level of NPAsand the ensuing provisioning

have impacted the profits of amajority of lenders, includingAxis Bank, over the past fouryears.

"In sectors identified ashigh risk, we have increasedthe standard provisioning to100 bps as against the man-dated 40 bps to take care of any

concerns," Anand said.In April 2019, thebank had first dis-

closed that it hadstarted to pro-vide extra capi-tal, but had notgiven out the

exact levels of theadditional provi-

sioning or spelledout the sectors.

When asked if the troubledsectors like real estate or non-bank finance companies(NBFCs) are included on thelist, Anand declined to speci-fy the sectors which the bankhas identified as stressed.

JAYPEE INFRA CASE

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned NBCC Ltd islikely to offer more land tolenders and reduce timelinefor completion of about 20,000flats in its final bid to acquirebankrupt realty firm JaypeeInfratech, sources said.

NBCC is considering togive additional land to lendersin lieu of its offer to provideprofit share in unclaimed flatsand some land parcel, whichis pledged as well as under lit-igation, they added.

For homebuyers, NBCC islooking to reduce the deadlinefor completing pending flatsfrom four years timeline pro-posed in the bid submitted onNovember 17.

In the last meeting of theCommittee of Creditors(CoC) held on November 28,lenders asked NBBC andSuraksha Realty to make afinal offer by next Tuesday(December 3) after revising

their earlier bids by removingimpediments and making itmore lucrative for homebuy-ers as well as banks.

Lenders had asked theNBCC to provide more landwith clear title in lieu of its cur-rent offer of over 600 acresland that is under litigationand some unclaimed flats.Also, they wanted completeYammu Expressway Projectwithout any debt obligation.

To settle an outstandingclaim of nearly Rs 9,800 croreto bankers, NBCC, in its bidsubmitted last month, offered1,426 acre land worth Rs 5,000crore.

NBCC may offermore land to lenders

PNS n KOLKATA

State-run Steel Authority ofIndia Limited (SAIL) is plan-ning to commence manufac-turing of special quality railsfor high-speed train corridorsand metro projects in the nexttwo years, an official said.

The steel maker could startmaking of the speciality railsat its Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP)in Chhattisgarh and IISCOSteel Plant at Burnpur in WestBengal, he said.

"We expect to commencehead (hardened) rail project intwo years. However, it is now

in the planning stage. Thecapacity and investments havenot been firmed up," SAIL'sBhilai Steel Plant CEOAnirban Dasgupta told PTI.

With more strength thanthe normal rails, the speciali-ty product is used in metro railprojects and high speed traincorridors.

"Feasibility studies will becarried out at BSP andBurnpur plant as only onefacility will not be enough forSAIL, given the projecteddemand. The project wouldhelp for substituting imports,"Dasgupta said.

CG Hospitalitypartnerswith IHCL PNS n NEW DELHI

Nepal-based CG Hospitalitysaid it has signed a pact withTata Group's Indian HotelsCompany Ltd (IHCL), underwhich its property in Dubaiwill be managed by the Indianfirm as Taj Jumeirah LakesTowers. The soon-to-be-launched property will be thecompany's first hotel proper-ty in the region, CGHospitality said in a statement.

Taj Jumeirah Lakes TowersDubai will help the companymake deep inroads into animportant Middle East mar-ket CG Hospitality MDRahul Chaudhary said.

Tata Motorstotal salesdown 25 pc PNS n NEW DELHI

Tata Motors on Sundayreported a 25.32 per centdecline in total sales to 41,124units in November.

The company had sold atotal of 55,074 units in thesame month last year, TataMotors said in a statement.

Total domestic sales weredown 25 per cent at 38,057units as compared to 50,470units in November last year,it added.

Passenger vehicle sales inthe domestic market duringthe month stood at 10,400units as against 16,982 unitsin the same month previousyear, down 39 per cent.

Amazon, Infosys, 26 other firms respond to Tea Board's plan

‘SAIL specialityrails in two yrs’

he TelanganaRowing Asso-ciation on Sundayorganised aunique rowingtriathlon in the

city to promote rowing as asport among the city resi-dents. The triathlon — com-prising cycling, running androwing — was held on the

eve of the 38th SeniorNational Rowing Champions2019 for Men and Womenthat will be held fromDecember 2 to 7.

Over 200 national andstate-level rowers took partin the event, which startedfrom the Lumbini Parkentrance near the Secretariatand culminated near the

Secunderabad Boats Club.“With this triathlon we

hope to put rowing on parwith other national sports.The Telangana RowingAssociation firmly believesin catching sports enthusi-asts at an early age andnuturing their talent. Thissport is dynamic in natureand would make rowing

enthusiasts stronger andbuild a wider talent pool inthe city, state, and the coun-try. The ultimate objective ofpromoting rowing is tomake India a strong con-tender for an Olympicmedal in the sport,” saidIsmail Baig, coach,Telangana RowingAssociation.

In a conversation with V SATEESH REDDY,

television actor MeghnaRaami shares about herjourney into TV and her

social activities

elevisionactressMeghnaRaamihas beenhelping

the needy with edu-cation, food andothers through herorganisation, Feedthe HungryFoundation, since2015. Her NGO’sactivities include,education for poor

children, distributingblankets for the home-

less, helping burn vic-tims and talking to sin-

gle women about theirproblems and so on. “I, along with my col-

league, Anish, have organisedmany social activities. Wehave volunteers who researchabout the problems of peopleliving in orphanages, poorchildren and others, and giveus a report on the funds andother help they need from us.Later, we conduct events tocollect money for the cause.Till date, we did more than20 such events,” said MeghnaRaami.

Meghna entered the cine-ma field in 1999 in TamilNadu and later moved totelevision. She did couple ofserials in Tamil and enteredthe Telugu TV industry in2000.

Her mother hails fromAndhra Pradesh and herfather is a Gujarati. She actedin movies like KanuluMoosina Neevaye and others.Till date, she has acted inmore than 50 serials inTelugu and her latest one

being Radhamma Kuthuru. Speaking to The Pioneer,

Meghna Raami says, “Ialways wanted to become anactor since childhood. Peopleused to tell me that I’m goodlooking and that has inspiredme to choose acting. I haveno family background thathas worked in films and myparents were not happy withmy decision to choose actingas a career. But I managed toconvince my parents aboutmy career.”

Meghna is known for hermother roles. She said thatmany have often commentedabout her doing mother rolesat a young age when she canbe doing the lead roles.Reacting to it, Meghnashares, “A 21-year-oldwoman can do a lead actress’role anytime, but doing amother role at a young age ischallenging. I took the chal-lenge and did my best. Manyco-stars advised me to dolead roles but I being a moth-er in television serials is whatI enjoyed the most.”

Meghna also played amother to late AkkineniNageshwar Rao, and actorKrishna.

She adds, “I acted as a wifeand also a mother for ANRin Oke Okkadu serial by por-traying two roles — one as a16-year-old and the other asa 60-year-old. I also actedwith superstar Krishna in atelefilm. It’s a big achieve-ment for me playing the roleof a mother for legendaryactors.”

When asked about howher experience differed whenit came to acting in movies

and serials, she shares,“Serials have more crazewhile cinemas get more sup-port from people. Previously,cinema actors used to lookdown upon us but the sceneis changing now. We are gar-nering a good reputation andname for ourselves comparedto people working in cinema.In cinemas too, people whohave come from a televisionbackground have provedtheir acting skills. A cinema

endsin

threehours but a

serial runs foryears and thousands of

viewers connect with us overand remembers us for theroles we play in serials. Everyday, we indulge in shootingvarious serials and it’s chal-lenging for us. Televisionactors are good at multitask-ing.”

She married her co-star inthe hugely popularChakravakam serial,Indraneel Varma, whosemother-in-law she played inthe serial.

She says, “Because of ourroles in the serial manythought that Indraneel isyounger to me, but that is notcorrect. Roles are just for thetelevision. We have beenmarried for 14 years now andI am very happy with ourmarriage.”

At present, Meghna isstriving to set up a waterplant for Sattupalli village inKhammam district. Sheshares, “Lack of quality wateraffects children’s future in theyears to come. We are settingup the water plant there andit will be completed byFebruary 2020. We will alsoplanning to set up waterplants for many villagessoon.”

he business model ofIndian cinema has changed.Films no longer just belongto the North or the South.Nowadays films are madein Hyderabad and Chennai

with the intent of reaching audience inUttar Pradesh and Delhi. This new-found North-South chemistry was themain topic of discussion among filmpersonalities at an event held by theRoyal Stag Barrel Select Large ShortFilms, over the weekend.

The discussion was hosted by filmcritic, Anupama Chopra, and wasattended by actor-producer AnilKapoor, director Farah Khan, actorAdah Sharma, actor-director TinnuAnand and director Seema Desai

As Anupama opened the floor fordiscussion, Anil Kapoor and FarahKhan spoke about how much theyadmire the South Indian industry andhow much Bollywood can learn fromit and vice-versa.

“This current period in cinema isthe revival of the collaboration that theNorth and the South had back in the80s,” said Anil speaking on a numberof films in Hindi that were originallymade in Telugu by film pioneers suchas L.V. Prasad and Nagi Reddy.

“Back then we used to choose ascript that needed language adaptationby instinct. Many actors, including meand Jitendra, acted in many such filmsthat came out in Telugu or Tamil first.A couple of films I made were remakesof films done by Kamal Haasan andthey gave me big hits. But, now therights of the films are bought on thebasis on box office numbers in theSouth which may not get repro-duced in the North. Filmmakersneed to take this into consider-ation,” the actor said. FarahKhan too seconded Anil’sopinion saying that unlikethe previous era, when filmproducers used to exchangerights with much moreease, nowadays the price ofremake rights has gone upexponentially.

The film personalitieswere also positive aboutthe advent of the OTT(over the top) servicesasserting that nothing willchange with respect to peo-ple watching movies in the-atres. “People would alwayswant to watch the blockbusterson the large screen. Watching amovie in a theatre is a collectiveexperience that is different fromwatching it on a small screen. Theappeal of a theatre will always stay,”said Farah Khan speaking to ThePioneer. She did, however,acknowledge the fact thatthe trend of taking pridein a film completing100 days in the the-atres has longgone, thanks tothe same filmsgetting arelease instream-ing

services. Anupama Chopra alsoechoed the same saying that the Indianfilm scenario is far from getting affect-ed by streaming services. Although,she was of the opinion, type of contentthat will be produced from henceforthwill change.

Adah Sharma, while expressing herinterest to star in international pro-jects, mentioned about her debut intoweb series with Holiday. She says sho-oting for a series is similar to a film.

When asked about the recent debateover the portrayal of ‘bad boys’ onscreen that began with ParvathyThiruvothu confronting Vijay Devera-konda in a discussion on the latter’srole in Arjun Reddy (and its remake asKabir Singh), the response was var-ied. “Do you think characterslike Arjun Reddy don’texist in real life? Sowhat is the problemif they are por-trayed on scr-een?” askedFarah Khan.Adah Sharma,however, wasmore carefulabout her onscreen person-ality. “I knowthat a lot ofpeoplelook

up to me so I wouldn’t want to dosomething that might send a wrongmessage. For example, in a recent film,I was asked to smoke on screen,which I refused to, since I didn’tfeel that my character neededto. So it depends onwhether a particular beh-aviour goes with therole or not,” saidAdah.

Whether be ittheatres or stre-aming, all ofthem agreedthat a strongurge to tell astory is what

Big budget films have become apan-India phenomenon andfilmmakers couldn't be happierabout it. More audiencemeans more money. Butwill the North and Southfilmmakers face anythreat from theOTT services,asks KEDAR T

BRIDGING THE CREATIVEDIVIDE IN FILMS

GIVINGBACK

TO THESOCIETY

Serials provide morecraze while cinema getsmore support. Cinema

actors used to lookdown upon us but the

scene is changing now.We are garnering a

good reputation andname for ourselves

compared to them. Incinemas too, people

who have come from atelevision background

have proved their actingskills.

MEGHNA RAAMIACTOR, SOCIAL WORKER

T

T

Rowing to victory in style

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MondayDecember 2, 2019

10

Monday December 2, 2019 what’s brewing?

ivek Oberoi saysthe kind of lob-bying and con-stant disempow-erment he facedin his career is a

stuff for a tell-all biography,where people have writtenhim off time and again, buthe has survived them all.

The actor said he is a sur-vivor by nature and thispositive mentality has kepthim going all these years.

“I’ve been that guy whoprobably has the worldrecord for the most amountof obituaries written for hiscareer. ‘He is done, he is fin-ished, after this it’s all over.’I just keep laughing at it

because I’m a survivor bynature.

“I’ve had to face a lot ofdisempowerment, lobbies,and lots of crazy stuff.Maybe one day, I’ll write atell-all biography!,” Vivektold PTI.

The actor in his career ofmore than 15 years hasrealised that he can’t givethe power to anyone to nei-ther write him off nor puthim on a pedestal.

“I had to claw-back a lotand fight for my power.That’s why today I don’t givemy power to anyone else toturn my destiny. I don’texpect that because a showis successful, it’s all me. It

isn’t, it’s a collaborativeeffort. If it fails and youwrite yourself off, who’sgoing to believe in you, ifyou don’t?”

Vivek said he has built acareer on “getting advicesand shutting them down”,right from his debut“Company” to his latest,Amazon Prime Video’sInside Edge.

“People thought my fatherwould produce a film for mewhich would act like ashow-reel of how his sondances, wears designerclothes, romances. I remem-ber one of those scriptsbeing written for me and Iopted out respectfully. It wasan Abbas-Mustan filmwhich my father was pro-ducing.”

“I got myself into‘Company’ after a lot ofstruggle. When the filmbecame a hit, people saidstick to action but I didSaathiya. People said, nowstick to romance but I did aMasti. I agreed to play asupervillain in Krrish andpeople said ‘you are mad.Hrithik is so contemporary,why would you do it’. But Ilove being the disruptor,” headded.

Vivek, 43, is now lookingto empower every storytellerwho he feels need backing.One such, was KaranAnshuman, the creator ofInside Edge.

“With whatever power Ihad, I decided I’m going toempower and enable.Whether it was KaranAnshuman, who people saidwas coming from a flop film,so be careful, but I believedin the guy. It gives me a kick,to be on the other end ofthings. I went through this,so I’m going to make sureothers don’t,” he added.

Inside Edge is set in thelandscape of sports anddeals with power, money,fame and the mind games.

It stars Richa Chadha,Vivek Oberoi, Sayani Gupta,Angad Bedi, Sapna Pabbiamong others. The secondseason of the show willdebut on December 6.

I've had most number of obituaries written for my career: VIVEK OBEROI

V

‘Don’t think there is anythingcontroversial in Dabangg 3’

uperstar SalmanKhan says it hasbecome sort of anorm in the moviebusiness that when-ever a big film is

getting ready for release, it getsstruck by a controversy.

The actor’s latest Dabangg 3has found itself at a centre of acontroversy after a Hindu out-fit objected to a sequence inthe title song Hudhud Dabanggthat shows saffron-clad sadhusdancing with guitars.

Some people on socialmedia also disapproved thescene and soon after#BoycottDabangg3 was trend-ing on Twitter.

On Saturday, Salmanaddressed the controversy dur-ing the launch of the songMunna Badnaam, which fea-tures him besides Loveyatri

star Warina Hussain.“Every time a big film comes

there is always some contro-versy around it. At least, it isacknowledged that this is a bigfilm and I’m happy about it,”the actor said.

“We had done a film withWarina, where the title of herfilm had led to controversy,which has been cleared anddismissed. So controversies dohappen, they get cleared. Idon’t think there is anything inthis film, that a controversycan be created,” he added.

Salman was referring toLoveyatri, which starredWarina and Ayush Sharma inthe lead. The film’s title waschanged from original,Loveratri, after some rightwing organisations had object-ed to it, claiming that it dis-torts the name of a Hindu fes-

tival.The actor said some people

are trying to “get fame” by cre-ating a controversy around thesong Hudhud Dabangg.

“The song is ours and it isthere for quite sometime.People are just trying to getfame by linking them with us.They get publicity and it is ok.Some fans also support them.”

About Munna Badnam,Salman said it was his idea toget the song for the threequel.

“We have actually tried todestroy the song, we have triedto make it worse than the firstone but it just worked out, godis on our side,” he added.

Dabangg 3, directed byPrabhu Deva, also starsSonakshi Sinha, Arbaaz Khanand Sai Manjrekar. It is sched-uled to be released onDecember 20.

S

�� Dheeme dheeme��

ctor KartikAaryan has fulfilled Deepika Padukone’srequest of teaching her the hook step of the for-mer’s song Dheeme dheeme from the upcom-ing movie Pati Patni Aur Woh.

On Sunday, the two were spotted shak-ing leg with each other on the song out-

side Mumbai airport.Deepika was seen wearing a red jacket while

Kartik looked uber cool in a purple jacket.After the dance session, Deepika went inside

the airport to catch a flight and Kartik headedback to his car.

They both even took to Instagram to share a glimpse of theirDheeme Dheeme Challenge.

Deepika posted a thank you note for Kartik.“Thank you Kartik for your warmth and enthusiasm. All the best

and lots of love,” she wrote.Kartik shared that he had “too much fun” with Deepika. “#DheemeDheemeChallenge has reached the next level. Deepika...

too much fun,” Kartik captioned the images in which he is seen takingon the Dheeme dheeme challenge with Deepika.

A day ago, Deepika had showed her interest to participate in thechallenge and asked Kartik to teach her the signature step from thesong Dheeme dheeme.

Taking to her Instagram story, Deepika tagged Kartik and wrote:“Kartik will you please teach me the Dheeme dheeme step? I want totake part in the #dheemedheemechallenge!”

Pati Patni Aur Woh also stars Bhumi Pednekar and Ananya Panday,and is a remake of BR Chopra’s 1978 hit of the same name. The film isslated to release on December 6.

A

FUN TIME

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

ith Ninnu Kori (2017),Shiva Nirvana emergedas a filmmaker to watchout for. The layeredromantic drama was notonly a major box-office

success, but also is best rememberedfor Nani’s career-best performance till then.Nirvana later went on to make Majili, star-ring Naga Chaitanya and Samantha. Releasedearlier this summer, it is counted as one ofthe biggest super hits of the year, amassingmore than Rs 50 crore. And now, the film-maker has roped in the leading man for his

third directorial, which will be producedjointly by Sahu Garapati and HarishPeddi under Shine Screens. Admittedly,there is a lot of excitement surroundingthe film both from the audience andtrade. It was supposed to be launchedon Sunday but as a mark of respect to

Dr Priyanka Reddy who was brutallyraped and murdered last week in theoutskirts of Hyderabad; Nani deferred

the muhurat to some other time.Speaking to The Pioneer exclu-

sively, Nirvana billed thefilm as an emotional fami-

ly drama. And unlike hisearlier two ventureswhich more or less hadan urban backdrop, hehas chosen to go rural

with this untitledfilm. “The entire

film will unfold in avillage, including thefilming of songs. It hasbeen sometime sinceTelugu audience saw afull-fledged rural fami-ly drama with an A-lis-ter in the lead and thisis that film.Performance-wise forNani anna, the filmwill be a step aheadthan Ninnu Kori. Infact, while doing NinnuKori itself, I felt thatthere’s still a lot thatcan be tapped from

him and this film is an attempt in that direc-tion,” Nirvana said.

As an after-thought, he added, “I believethe more you mirror the relationships theway they are in real, the more the audiencewill connect to the film. The film has a con-temporary story and focuses on bond withina family. The idea is to shoot it in a way thataudience after watching it will say, Bhale vun-narra vallu (They are so good). It will not

have any trace to Ninnu Kori whatsoever butthe impact will be more.”

Nirvana informed that they will startfilming from January-end. “Nani anna willwrap up his film V with Indraganti MohanaKrishna by mid-January, post which we willtake a week or 10 days to finalise his lookfor the film. There won’t be any majorchangeover as such because he is not play-ing an unusual character but I want him to

be different from his previousfilms. We are planning to shoot itin Godavari belt or inNarsipatnam, Visakhapatnam. Iwill finalise the setting afterundertaking a recce. We mightmostly arrive in August,” heinformed.

Casting-wise, the filmmakersaid that he has signed on RituVarma to be the film’s leadinglady, while he is in talks withAishwarya Rajesh for a crucialrole. Technically, he will be work-ing with a different composerinstead of Gopi Sunder, who wasthe music director for his earliertwo films.

Nirvana speaks

to NAGARAJ

GOUD about

his next with

Nani, shooting

in rural areas

and others

ver since its release in September-end, thefirst single from Allu Arjun-starrer AlaVaikunthapuramlo, Samajavaragamanahas been on a record-breaking spree.After topping charts and emerging as themost liked Telugu song sometime back,

the latest honour the song received is the fact that ithas got 100 million views and is still counting, a featthat no other south Indian film has managed toaccomplish so far. The melodious number has beencomposed by SS Thaman, while Sid Sriram sang it.The lyrics have been penned by veteran SirivennelaSeetharama Sastry.

With the song receiving so much atten-tion, director Trivikram Srinivas pulledout all stops to ensure that the visualsmatch the music and vocals. It hasbeen shot in untapped locations ofParis under the supervision ofchoreographer Sekhar mid lastmonth.

Featuring an ensemble cast con-sisting of Tabu, Sathyaraj, RajendraPrasad, Sushanth, Navdeep, NivethaPethuraj, Jayaram, Sunil, RahulRamakrishna, Brahmaji, HarshaVardhan and Vennela Kishore, thefilm, a film, a joint productionventure between AlluAravind and RadhaKrishna, will open incinemas on January12. The teaser willbe out later thisweek.

Monday December 2, 2019

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11

tollywood

W

issing in actionfor a while, actorTanish hassigned a newfilm titled MahaPrasthanam. The

tagline is journey of anemotional killer. A roman-tic crime drama, it is direc-tor Jaani’s second film afterhorror thrillerAnthakuminchi and wouldbe completely filmed inHyderabad. To be shot in astart-to-finish schedule, itwill roll later this week.

Jaani said, “The filmwould be told from the pro-tagonist’s point of view. It’san emotional story and Ifelt Tanish was apt for it.Audience will connect tothe sea of emotions that hispart goes through.”

A production venture ofOmkareswara Creations,

the likes of KabirDuhan Singh,

Gagan VihariandKancharapalemRaju will beseen in sup-porting roles inthe film, whileSunil Kashyapis on board tocomposemusic.

M

Tanish'sOkaRomanticCrimeKatha

SAMAJAVARAGAMANAcontinues to topple records

Pawan unveils remixversion of hisrevered song

ctor-Jana Senapresident PawanKalyan unveiled theremix version of hisrevered montagenumber Ee Manase

Se Se from his 1998 block-buster Tholi Prema forMismatch, starring UdayShankar and AishwaryaRajesh, in Hyderabad onSunday. Uday, film’s producerG Sriram Raju and other crewmembers were present asPawan launched the new ver-sion composed by Gifton Eliasand sung by Revanth.Speaking later, Pawan extend-ed his best regards to UdayShankar and wished the wholeteam on their endeavor.

With his favourite starlaunching the song, Uday wasnaturally a happy man. Herecalled Pawan launching asong from his maiden film as alead, Aatagadhaara Shiva andblessing him. “That film gotme good name as an actor.Tholi Prema was a blockbusterand I’m happy that a songfrom the film has beenremixed on me. We shot it in asingle take,” the young actorsaid.

A love story between arural girl who is a boxerand an IT guy, Mismatchhas been directed byTamil filmmaker NirmalKumar from a script of vet-eran Bhupati Raja.

A

Balayya'snext to beshot inthe US

aving wrapped up Ruler with KSRavikumar last week, NandamuriBalakrishna will dive into theshoot of Boyapati Sreenu’s nextlater this month. Announced inSeptember, the untitled film

marks the third time that the formidablecombination of Balayya and Boyapati will becoming together after hits Simha andLegend. Like their earlier collaborations, theuntitled film will tread a societal issue as thecore theme and will see Balayya in a brandnew slim avatar. A little birdie tells us thatan extensive US schedule is planned by themakers for some key portions of the film.While it is unclear whether the shoot willkick off with the US leg of filming or withthe Hyderabad leg, one thing’s for certain isthat the unit is set to camp in the US foralmost a month.

An action entertainer, the film’s pre-pro-duction is going at a fast clip as the makersare keen on releasing it in May next year.Kannada actress Rachita Ram and Roja aresaid to be in race to play key roles in thefilm, a Miryala Ravinder Reddy production.

H

Film with Nani is an emotional family drama:

SHIVA NIRVANA

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | DECEMBER 2, 2019 sport 12

AFP n ADELAIDE

Pakistan was battling to stave offdefeat in the day-night secondTest against Australia on

Sunday after being forced to followon, with Tim Paine’s men needingseven wickets to clinch the series 2-0.

The visitors, who have lost 13consecutive Tests in Australia, werein big trouble at 39 for three whenrain forced an early end, 248 runsbehind with two days left and theirtop order decimated.

They had resumed on an over-cast and cold afternoon teetering at96 for six in their first innings, inreply to Australia’s 589 for threedeclared, built on the back of DavidWarner’s monumental 335 not out.

Yasir Shah smacked a doggedmaiden Test century and BabarAzam hit 97 but they were all out for302 and still 287 runs adrift, withMitchell Starc the hero, taking 6-66.

Australian skipper Tim Paineenforced the follow on and it start-ed badly for Pakistan, whose first taskwas to survive intact for 15 minutesbefore the dinner break.

They failed with opener Imam-ul-Haq — recalled after being over-looked for the first Test in Brisbane,which they lost by an innings and fiveruns — out lbw for a duck to JoshHazlewood.

It was quickly 11 for two withStarc tempting skipper Azhar Ali intoa thick outside edge and Steve Smithtaking a quality catch just secondsbefore a shower forced them off.

The rain had been threatening allday and when they returned after 30minutes Hazlewood bagged the keywicket of dangerman Azam for two,caught behind by Paine. But morerain soon blew in, to Australia’s frus-

tration, and the umpires called it aday.

Earlier, Yasir and Azam hadkept Pakistan’s slim hopes alive withdisciplined first innings batting.

Better known as a spin bowler,Yasir had never gone better than 42in his previous 36 Tests, making his113 against one of the world's mostfearsome pace attacks even moreremarkable.

GLOOMY CONDITIONSIn a scintillating spell under

lights on Sunday night, left-armerStarc snapped up four quick wickets

and the omens for Pakistan did notlook good.

But the gloomy conditions atAdelaide Oval offered little for thebowlers during daylight hours onSunday and Azam and Yasir tookadvantage.

They put on a 105-run stand andAzam looked destined for a third Testcentury until Starc pounced again,with the 25-year-old edging anattempted drive to Paine behind thestumps on 97.

Azam — who scored a centuryin the first Test at Brisbane and israpidly emerging as his country’s top

batsman — left the field dejected butto a standing ovation.

The very next ball Starc grabbedhis sixth, with Shaheen Afridi plumblbw before Mohammad Abbas fend-ed off the hat-trick ball.

Abbas made a gutsy 29 before hewas undone by a Pat Cumminsbouncer, caught at gully by Warner.

At the other end, Yasir showedcomposure to compile his first-everton, bringing up the milestone off192 balls, clattering 12 fours and kiss-ing the turf in celebration.

He had a near-miss off the bowl-ing of Marnus Labuschagne on 33.

Steve Smith believed he caught himat slip and made a big appeal, butreplays showed the ball fell justshort of his fingertips.

Yasir was then dropped byLabuschagne off his own bowling on43.

He was finally out hooking aCummins delivery to Nathan Lyon.

AFP n HAMILTON

Despite centuries to Joe Rootand Rory Burns England

expressed disappointment atstumps on day three of the sec-ond Test against New Zealandafter losing late wickets inHamilton on Sunday.

England captain Rootended his run drought with anunbeaten 114 while Burns rodehis luck to post 101.

But after they took Englandto 201 for two, the touristswere 269 for five at stumps andstill trailing New Zealand by106.

“I enjoyed the fact I got it(hundred) but at the same timedisappointed me and Rootycouldn’t stretch our partnershipand get us deeper into thegame,” Burn said.

“We’re disappointed to losea couple of wickets at the backend as well.”

With only five wicketsremaining and 16 overs washedout by rain in the final session,England’s vision of building ahealthy lead was rapidly fading.

The tempo swung away

from England when Burns wasrun out and New Zealand fol-lowed up with the quick wick-ets of Ben Stokes and ZakCrawley.

With Root and Burnsputting on 177 for the thirdwicket, England found the “bat-long” partnership they had beensearching for in their attempt tofollow the same recipe NewZealand used to win the firstTest.

But following the dismissalof Burns, Ben Stokes was gonefor 26 while Zak Crawley madeone on debut.

Root was under added pres-sure to not only guide Englandto a position of strength but also

to end his own run dearthamid suggestions the pressure ofcaptaincy was affecting his form.

To that end, he was in nomood to take risks as he faced258 deliveries in six hours toreach 99, before his centurycame on a surprise mistimingthat saw an inside edge fly pastthe wicketkeeper to the bound-ary.

Crawley’s maiden Testinnings only lasted six ballswhen he was caught behind togive Neil Wagner his first wick-et.

For New Zealand, Southeehas taken two for 63 whileWagner and Matt Henry have awicket each.

PTI nMUMBAI

BCCI President SouravGanguly on Sunday

indicated that there will beno extension for membersof the selection committeewhose tenures have ended,saying “you cannot gobeyond” that.

Going by the Board’sold constitution that has aprovision for a maximumfour-year term for the selec-tion panel, its chairmanMSK Prasad and his col-league Gagan Khoda'sterms have expired.

Prasad and Khoda wereappointed in 2015, whileJatin Paranjpe, SarandeepSingh and Devang Gandhi,who joined them in 2016,have one more year left intheir respective tenures asper the old constitution.

The amended constitu-tion, though, has a provi-sion for a maximum five-year term.

“Tenures are finished(means) tenures are fin-ished. They have done agood job. You cannot gobeyond your tenure and allof them don’t finish, so

majority of them stay and Idont think it should be aproblem,” Ganguly saidwhen asked about Prasad’stenure after the BCCI’s 88thAnnual General Meeting(AGM) here.

Ganguly said they can-not appoint selectors everyyear.

“As you must haveheard, ICC now wants tour-

naments every year, thatdoes not mean selectorscontinue forever. We willhave a tenure and we will(heed) to the tenure.”

Going by Ganguly’sstatements, the new selec-tors will have five-yearterms.

“There term is fiveyears, they can stay for fiveyears, but what we will dois that we will fix a term forselectors and appoint them.”

Asked about his opin-ion on the performance ofthe Prasad-led selectionpanel, the former captainsaid, “We are fine with it.(Just) because we are notinvolved that does notmean the selectors are bad,they have done a good job,the team has done welland we don’t have anyproblem.”

The Indian teamenjoyed plenty of successduring the five-man panel’stenure with the positives faroutweighing the negatives,but it often found itself atthe receiving end of relent-less criticism owing to theirlimited internationalcareers collectively.

PTI n LUCKNOW

Indian shuttler SourabhVerma’s impressive run at

the Syed Modi Internationaltournament came to an endafter he lost in straight gamesto Chinese Taipei’s WangTzu Wei in the men’s singlesfinal here on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Indian,who won two BWF Super100 titles in Hyderabad andVietnam this year, wentdown 15-21, 17-21 to worldNo 22 Tzu Wei in a 48-minute summit clash to missout on his maiden Super300 crown here.

Sourabh came into thesummit clash with a 1-1head-to-head record, hav-ing lost narrowly to Tzu Weiat the Tong Yun Kai Cup inMarch this year.

The Indian, who was atthe court for 75 minutesduring his semifinal winover Korea’s Heo Kwang Heeon Friday, couldn’t producehis best in the final as TzuWei claimed his first title inthree years.

The duo engaged in longrallies with Sourabh trailing1-3 initially but the Indiansoon managed to make it 4-

3 in his favour.Sourabh waited for

errors from his opponentsand punished any weakreturns to grab a 7-4 advan-tage.

Tzu Wei then tried toplay closer to the net and it

worked as he not only drewparity at 8-8 but lead 10-8.

Sourabh grabbed twopoints before finding the netas Tzu Wei held a slender 11-10 lead at the break.

The Taiwanese shuttlerdominated the proceedings

after the interval and openedup a 18-13 lead after theIndian went long.

Tzu Wei eventuallysealed the opening game afterthe Indian made a judgementerror at the backline.

In the second game,Sourabh struggled with thelength and lagged 0-5 at thestart. A superb backhandshot gave him a point but TzuWei put a lot of power in hissmashes to make life difficultfor the Indian.

Sourabh fought his wayback to narrow the gap to 5-7 before a focussed Tzu Weimanaged to hold on to athree-point lead at the break.

The momentum shiftedin Sourabh’s favour after thebreather as he clawed his wayback at 13-13 when Tzu Weiwent wide.

Tzu Wei broke the run ofplay with a body smashbefore Sourabh returned thefavour and grabbed the leadfor the first time in the sec-ond game at 15-14.

The Taiwanese, however,again took the lead andgrabbed three championshippoints and sealed the matchwhen Sourabh went longagain.

AFP n ABU DHABI

Lewis Hamilton delivered sumptuousconfirmation of his title-winning

supremacy on Sunday when he claimed his84th career victory and 11th in 21 racesthis year by dominating the season-end-ing ‘twilight’ Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Starting from a record 88th poleposition, the 34-year-old Briton wasunchallenged from lights to flag as hecruised to an untroubled triumph 16 sec-onds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappenand Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, who faceda post-race investigation for fuel irregular-ities.

The six-times world champion’s suc-cess extended his points-scoring run to arecord-equalling 33 races, levelling with hisown record, and brought him his 50th vic-tory from pole position.

His fifth win at the Yas Marina circuitalso drew level with Ayrton Senna in claim-ing a 19th start-to-finish triumph.

Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mateValtteri Bottas, who had started from theback of the grid after taking a new engine,came home fourth ahead of four-timechampion Sebastian Vettel in the secondFerrari and Alex Albon in the second RedBull.

It was a welcome morale boost for thecompetitive Finn, three days afterannouncing the end of his three-year mar-riage to Emilia.

Sergio Perez took seventh for RacingPoint on the final lap, Lando Norris waseighth for McLaren, Daniil Kvyat of ToroRosso ninth and Carlos Sainz, in the sec-ond McLaren, took 10th.

“That was an absolute master-class,”Hamilton’s race engineer Peter Bonningtontold him on team radio. “You didn’t evenbreak into a sweat!”

The winner, who secured title num-ber six with two races to go in Texas lastmonth replied: “I can assure you, I am def-initely sweating.”

Hamilton scored a classic ‘grand slam’with pole position, fastest lap and race vic-tory.

Yasir Shah celebrates his 100 during second Test against Australia AP

Joe Root and Rory Burns chat during 2nd Test match England/Twitter

Carolina Marin poses with Gold after winning Syed Modi C’ship Marin/Twitter

Lewis Hamilton celebrates after wining the EmiratesFormula One Grand Prix AP

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly chats with secertary Jay Shah BCCI/Twitter

BALBIRNIE IIS IIRELAND TT20 SSKIPPERDublin: Cricket Ireland has appointed AndyBalbirnie as their T20I skipper ahead of the ICCMen's T20 World Cup 2020. Balbirnie, who wasrecently named the ODI and Test captain also, willreplace Gary Wilson in the shorter format of thegame. “Both Gary and the selectors believe thatAndrew Balbirnie should have the opportunity toforge his leadership style and his standardsacross all the three formats,” Andrew White,Ireland's chairman of selectors was quoted assaying by the ICC.

INDIA FFACE PPAK IIN SSAG VVOLLEYBALLKathmandu: Defending champions India willface Pakistan in the summit clash of the men'svolleyball competition in the South Asian Gamesafter their respective wins in the semifinals hereon Sunday. India defeated Sri Lanka 27-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-21 in a hard-fought match whilePakistan beat Bangladesh 25-15, 25-21, 26-24 inthe other semifinal. The final will be played onTuesday.

RAILWAYS TTAKE GGRECO RROMAN TTITLEJalandhar: Living up to their favourites tag,Asian Championship Silver medallists GurpreetSingh and Sunil Kumar clinched Gold medals asthe Tata Motors senior national wrestlingchampionships concluded here on Sunday withcompetition in Greco Roman style. Punjab'sGurpreet overcame two-time junior worldchampionships medalist Sajan Bhanwal,representing Services, 3-1 in the 77kg category,to lift his fourth national title. Sunil also managedan easy win over Punjab's Prabhal. The Railway'sgrappler used all his experience to crush thePunjab wrestler 5-1 in the 87kg final. HardeepSingh, who was the first Greco-Roman wrestlerto qualify for the Olympics, received a walkoveragainst Ravi Rathi of Railways in 97kg final.

VISHNU, MMUZAMMIL EEMERGE WWINNERSGreater Noida: Chennai's Vishnu Prasad andBengaluru's Syed Muzammil Ali stole the showand emerged as champions at the JK Tyre Festivalof Speed here on Sunday. Vishnu of MSportpipped his friend, team-mate and rival, RaghulRangaswamy, to win the crown in the covetedFormula LGB-4 category of the JK Tyre FMSCINational Racing Championship. Muzammil, whohad an overnight two-point lead, made sure thathe hit the post ahead of Tanay to clinch the Cup.

PSG -MMONACO GGAME PPOSTPONEDMonaco: Paris Saint-Germain's Ligue 1 match atMonaco on Sunday evening has been called offdue to forecast heavy storms. The fixture “will bepostponed to a later date” Monacoannounced.Two French regions, including Alpes-Maritimes which surrounds the principality, wereplaced on red alert for floods by Meteo France, theFrench weather service, on Sunday morning.Itsaid the area faces what it called a “markedMediterranean episode” of intense storms. PSGare five points clear of Marseille with Monaco in14th, just three points clear of the relegation zone.

NEPAL PPREZ DDECLARES SSAG GGAMES OOPENKathmandu: The 13th South Asian Gamesformally kicked off on Sunday with NepalPresident Bidya Devi Bhandari declaring themopen during a colourful ceremony at theDasharath Stadium here. Bhandari's formalannouncement to open the Games featuring theseven South Asian nations was followed byfireworks and cultural shows at a gala function.The opening ceremony began with the march-past by the athletes.The SAG is being held fromDecember 1 to 10 in three cities — Kathmandu,Pokhara and Janakpur— with the participation ofaround 2700 athletes.

AGENCIES

SINGLES

Aus close to series sweepStarc takes six in 1st innings despite Yasir’s maiden hundred to put hosts on brink of whitewash

Josh Hazlewood celebrates the wicket of Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq during their 2nd Test at Adelaide AP

PTI n ADELAIDE

Dashing Australian openerDavid Warner believes

India's Rohit Sharma has the fire-power to surpass West Indiesgreat Brian Lara’s record 400 notout in a Test match.

Though he couldn’t breakthe record, Warner believes it ispossible to surpass the 400-mark and backed Rohit toachieve the feat in near future.Lara’s 400 not out is the highestindividual score in Test cricketwhich came against England in2004.

“Yeah, look, I think it’s aboutthe person himself. We’ve gotlong boundaries, it is quite dif-ficult at times. When fatigue setsin, it’s very hard to try hard andthrow your hands at it,” Warnertold ‘Fox Sports’.

“At the end, I tried to runtwos to lift the ante because Icouldn’t actually think like Icould clear the ropes.

“I think, one day, if I’ve toname a player, I reckon it couldbe Rohit Sharma. Definitely.”

Rohit can breakLara’s record

Root ended run drought English captainovercomes poor formto score hundred in3rd day of 2nd Test

You cannot go beyond tenures:Ganguly on selection committee

“Tenures are finished(means) tenures arefinished. They have

done a good job. Youcannot go beyondyour tenure and allof them don't finish,so majority of themstay and I dont think

it should be aproblem”

Marin wins Syed Modi C’ship Hamilton wraps seasonwith another masterclass

ktr for changes in archaic laws - the pioneer

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