HYDERABAD, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 30, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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MONEY 8BASMATI: INDIA CHALLENGES PAK’S

CLAIM AT EUROPEAN UNION

ANALYSIS 7A YEAR OF LOSTOPPORTUNITIES

SPORTS 12BOXING DAY

CHALLENGE CONQUERED

}RAKUL

TESTS NEGATIVEFOR CORONA

VIRUS

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VANTAGE POINT -NNARSIM

FRENCH FASHION DESIGNER PIERRECARDIN NO MORE

ALIBABA'S $10-BILLION BUYBACK PLANFAILS TO HALT STOCK SLIDE

BARC DEVELOPS EYE CANCER THERAPYFOR TREATMENT OF OCULAR TUMOURS

RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN IS NOW BESTLEFTHANDER WITH 192 WICKETS

French fashion designer Pierre Cardinpossessed a wildly inventive artistic sensibility

tempered by a stiff dose of business sense. Hehad no problem acknowledging that he earnedmore from a pair of stockings than from ahaute-couture gown with a six-figure price tag.Cardin, who died Tuesday at age 98, was theultimate entrepreneurial designer. Heunderstood the importance his exclusive hautecouture shows played in stoking consumerdesire and became an early pioneer of licensing.His name emblazoned hundreds of products,from accessories to home goods. The numbers dont lie, Cardin said in a1970 French television interview.

Alibaba shares slumped 9 per cent to theirlowest since June on Monday, as the

firm's upsized $10-billion buybackprogramme failed to ease concerns about aregulatory crackdown on co-founder JackMa's e-commerce and financial empire. Asharp selloff over two sessions has knockedalmost $116 billion off the tech giant's HongKong-listed shares. The downward spiralintensified when Chinese regulatorsannounced on Thursday the launch of anantitrust investigation into Alibaba and saidthey would summon its Ant Group affiliate to meet. Alibaba's USshares sank more than 15 per cent during the day.

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre inMumbai has developed an eye cancer

therapy in the form of the firstindigenous Ruthenium 106 Plaque forthe treatment of ocular tumours, anofficial statement said on Tuesday. Thehandling of plaque is very convenient forsurgeons and it has been acknowledgedto be at par with international standards,the statement said. Minister of State forAtomic Energy Jitendra Singh has laudedthe institute for developing the eyecancer therapy in the form of the first indigenous Ruthenium106 Plaque, it added.

India's Ravichandran Ashwin on Tuesdaybecame the bowler to take the most

wickets of left-handers in Test cricketwhen he bowled Josh Hazlewood inAustralia's second innings in the secondTest at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.Ashwin has now taken 192 wickets of left-handers, one more than the previous bestof 191 of Sri Lanka's MuttiahMuralitharan. Ashwin has 375 Testwickets to his credit at an average of25.22 from 73 Tests. He picked up twowickets in Australia's second innings and three in the first in theMelbourne Test.

Keep politicsaway fromgrowth: Modi

5

Telangana vil-lages synony-mous with clean-liness, says KCR

4 2

For those in power, inquirycommissions servelittle purpose

Salary, retirement age to be hikedKCR'S ‘NEW YEAR GIFT' TO EMPLOYEES

Appoints committee headed by CS to recommend quantum of hikeAssures to resolve staff issues by Feb-end

VENKAT RAM REDDY LAKKADIn HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao, as aNew Year's gift, has decided tohike the salaries of governmentemployees across categories,increase the age of superannu-ation of government staff, andrecruit employees in all thegovernment departments; witha CS-led three-member paneltasked to arrive at the quantumof hikes and the number ofvacancies to be filled.

The CM announced that thesalary hike would benefit gov-ernment employees, grants-in-

aid employees, work-chargedemployees, daily wagesemployees, full-time contin-

gent employees, part-time con-tingent employees, homeguards, anganwadi workers,

contractual employees, out-sourced employees, ASHAworkers, Vidya Volunteers,

Serp employees, people receiv-ing honorariums and pen-sioners.

Employees in all categoriesnumber 9,36,976, and thesalary hike would be extend-ed to all, the CM said. If needbe, the financial burden onthe TSRTC due to salary hikewould also be borne by thestate government, the CMsaid.

The CM also announcedincrease in the age of retire-ment, giving promotions,effecting transfers, formulationof simplified service rules,

Employees Unions leaders thank Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao at Pragathi Bhavan on Tuesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

Two UK returnees, one eachfrom Telangana State andAndhra Pradesh, have testedpositive for the new strain ofcoronavirus B 1.1.7, whichwas first reported in theUnited Kingdom. The genomesequencing of the samples ofboth the individuals was takenup at the city-based Centre forCellular and MolecularBiology (CCMB).

Overall, six UK travellersfrom across India have testedpositive for the new mutantstrain SARS-CoV-2 out of the114 samples tested, accordingto a press release issued by theUnion Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare (MOHFW) inNew Delhi on Tuesday.

Of the six individuals whotested positive for the newstrain of coronavirus, threeunderwent tests positive in

NIMHANS, Bengaluru; two inCCMB, Hyderabad and one inNIV, Pune.

The sole positive UKreturnee in Telangana State hasadmitted in an exclusive iso-lation ward in a governmenthospital. Close contacts of thepositive person are already inquarantine and their healthstatus is being closely moni-tored, state health officials onTuesday said.

TS, AP report newcoronavirus strain

TS Govt relaxes norms fornon-agri property registrationsPNS n HYDERABAD

The TS government on Tuesdayissued orders relaxing certainnorms for registration of non-agricultural properties.The gov-ernment has allowed registra-tion of old plots/structures thatwere not regularised underLRS/ BRS/ BPS schemes.

However, the registration ofnew plots/ structures being pur-chased now in new unapprovedlayouts will not be allowed. Theorders issued by the state govern-ment read:"Registrations can be

taken up in respect of open plots/structures, if the same has beenacquired by the present ownerthrough a valid registered docu-ment earlier. However, no 'new

plot' shall be registered unless ithas been approved by the com-petent authority or is in anauthorised layout.

Rajini junks politics after ‘warning from God’PNS n NEW DELHI

Actor Rajinikanth, who final-ly appeared ready to launch hispolitical party with a "now ornever" announcement earlierthis month, has now decided toopt for the latter course, citinghealth concerns. "With extremesadness I say that I can't enterpolitics. I alone know the painI went through while announc-ing this decision," he said in astatement today -- two daysafter his discharge from hospi-tal where he was admittedover the weekend with bloodpressure fluctuations.

"Without entering electoralpolitics, I will serve the people.

This decision of mine will dis-appoint my fans and people butplease forgive me," read thestatement of the actor, who set

up the Rajini MakkalMandram two years ago witha promise to practice "spiritu-al politics".

"My hospitalisation was awarning given by God. Mycampaign will impact healthamid the pandemic," he added,explaining the reason for hisdecision.

The 70-year-old'sdebut in politics hasbeen anticipated byfans for nearly 25years but despiteweighing in on varioussubjects, he had nottaken the plunge.

‘Rajinikanth won't use his influenceto back BJP’: P Chidambaram

Expressing happiness that his friend, Rajinikanth, had decided tonot enter politics in view of his health, veteran Congress leader P

Chidambaram said the 70-year-old superstar was a "devout Hindu,but a secular man" and unlikely to support the BJP.

The reaction was among the many that came frompolitical parties in Tamil Nadu where elections are duein months and alliances have started to show strain.Rajinikanth's decision to stay away from electoralpolitics, taken days after he was hospitalised amid acoronavirus scare, has created buzz about who the70-year-old would support to "serve the people without

entering politics", like he said in his emotional letterreleased today. "I am happy for Rajinikanth.

Infighting, land disputes hitting TRS hardPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti,presently in disarray, is believedto be facing the worst organi-zational crisis since its incep-tion. A concatenation of eventssuggests that the pink party hasbeen harmed more by infight-ing involving some Ministers,legislators and leaders belong-

ing to the party than by recentelectoral setbacks.

Sources conceded that theinvolvement of some TRSMLAs, MLCs and party lead-ers in land encroachments,land disputes and settlements,among other issues, hascaused more damage to theparty than any of the recentelectoral setbacks. Things have

come to such a pass in TRSthat the leadership appears tobe losing its hold on the party.

A few ministers, MLAs andMLCs in TRS are frequentlylanding in controversies,bringing disrepute to the party.On top of that, some partyleaders are openly clashing inpublic.

One reason for the erosionin organization culture couldbe the fact that there has notbeen a single instance of party

leadership initiating punitiveaction against any of its erringleaders since the party came topower in June 2014. This isbelieved to have emboldenedsome leaders to treat with lev-ity controversies that springfrom their overt or covertactions.

PNS n HYDERABAD

AIMIM chief AsaduddinOwaisi on Tuesday hit out atBJP governments for bring-ing ordinances against reli-gious conversion throughfraudulent means, includingthose for the sake of mar-riage, claiming these violatedthe fundamental rights underthe Constitution.

He also described theCentre's agri-marketing actsas 'draconian' and dared theNarendra Modi governmentto come out with laws on pro-viding minimum supportprice (MSP) to the farmers,employment and unemploy-ment dole.

‘Love jihad’ordinances byBJP-ruledstates illegal’ 70% of Covid deaths in

India are among menPNS n NEW DELHI

COVID-19 has hit men hard-er than women in India, where70 per cent of the approxi-mately 1.47 lakh people whodied since the national out-break in January were male.

The data was shared byHealth Ministry on Tuesdaywhen it briefed the nation onits fight against the coronavirusamid detection of the moreaggressive UK-variant in India.

"Seventy per cent of alldeaths due to COVID-19 havebeen reported among men.Forty-five per cent deathshave been reported in thosebelow 60 years of age," UnionHealth Secretary RajeshBhushan said giving an age-and gender-wise distributionof the total cases.

3K govt teachershold mass dharnaANUSHA PUPPALA n HYDERABAD

About 3,000 Telangana gov-ernment teachers held a massdharna at Dharna Chowk hereon Tuesday, demanding pro-motions, transfers and recruit-ment. Leaders of the JointAction Committee ofTeachers' Unions and theStruggle Committee ofTeachers' Unions alleged thatpromotions and transfers hadbeen pending since formationof Telangana State.

According to the TelanganaTeachers Associations, thestate government had com-pletely failed to address theimmediate problems of teach-ers, such as promotions,

UK flightsuspensionlikely to beextendedPNS n NEW DELHI

India is likely to extend thesuspension of passengerflights to and from the UnitedKingdom to check the spreadof the new strain of coron-avirus, Aviation MinisterHardeep Singh Puri saidTuesday.

The ministry had last weeksuspended all flights betweenthe two countries fromDecember 23 to December31 over the mutated variantof the virus which is morecontagious.

"I foresee a slight extensionof temporary suspension ofIndia-UK flights," the minis-ter told a press conferencehere on Tuesday.

Farmers write to Centre,take hard line onagenda for talks todayPNS n NEW DELHI

Protesting farmer unions onTuesday wrote to the Centreon the talks scheduledbetween the two sides onWednesday, saying the discus-sion will only be on themodalities of repealing thethree legislation and giving alegal guarantee on the MSP.

The government has invitedthe protesting farmers for thesixth round of talks onWednesday. In its letter onTuesday, the Samyukt Kisan

Morcha, which represents 40farmer unions, said the discus-sion will be only on modalitiesfor the repeal of three farm lawsand a legal guarantee on MSP.

India stepsup mutantCovid testsG

enome sequencing will beconducted on all

international passengers whowere symptomatic and testedpositive for coronavirus in the14 days from December 9 to22, the government said aftersix people tested positive forthe super-infectious UK strainof the virus today. The rest willbe followed up by the statesand their local administration.The longer time span andsweeping scope was decidedon after it became clear that themutant virus has spreadbeyond UK.

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hyderabad 02HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2020

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(IN HYDERABAD)

For decades now, suc-cessive governmentshave let down

inquiry commissions,constituted to go in-depth into some majorissues, and in doing so,they also let down thepeople.

When in opposition, polit-ical parties have this tenden-cy to relentlessly pursue theirdemand of a ‘high-level’ probeinto major issues and conve-niently shelve, or in somecases, reject outright the find-ings of inquiry commissions tosuit their political purpose.

Scant regard is given to thetime and crores spent to enablethe inquiry commission get tothe root of the problem.

Some governments tend tosit on these reports for yearswithout taking a final decisionon the implementation of thesuggestions offered, even as theissues remain in publicdomain. Since the root of the

problem remains,the danger of the issuereigniting is always pre-sent.

If one takes note ofsome major inci-

dents that took place in thecountry, it is the people who

ultimately suffer due to thestoic silence adopted by thegovernment.

The Justice LiberhanCommission on the BabriMasjid demolition, JusticeSrikrishna Commission ofinquiry on Mumbai riots of1992-93 in the aftermath of theBabri demolition, Justice KBNSingh Commission on thebrutal murder the Congressleader Vangaveeti MohanaRanga Rao and the large-scaleviolence, looting and arsonthat followed in Vijayawada in1988 are some examples of thehard work of such inquirypanels being allowed to gowaste.

The Justice Liberhan

Commission was appointed toinquire into the demolition ofBabri Masjid at Ayodhya onDecember 6, 1992. The inci-dent took place at the behestof thousands of karsevaks inthe presence of top leaders ofthe BJP.

The incident reverberatedacross the country and alsoneighbouring countries likePakistan and Bangladesh. Theramifications included damageto centuries-old temples. Infact, emotions were so highthat even historical temples in

Pakistan, that had remaineduntouched even during theinfamous partition of India in1947, were razed.

Despite the LiberhanCommission being given spe-cific parameters for its inquiry,it suggested a multi-religiousstructure be constructed at thedisputed site in Ayodhya toreflect religious harmony.

However, the Union govern-ment didn't bother about thesuggestions and instead choseto bide time.

While it’s a different matter

altogether that the SupremeCourt gave its verdict after afew years, the fact remains thatprecious years of the JusticeLiberhan Commission werewasted, not to mention thenearly Rs 20 crore of publicmoney.

Lack of commitment toresolve burning issues like theBabri Masjid dispute and

implement the suggestionsoffered, has led to people los-ing faith in inquiry commis-sions.

Another important com-mission, headed by JusticeSrikrishna, was constituted toprobe the Mumbai riots thatfollowed the Babri Masjiddemolition. The riots were amajor issue; the Commissionis believed to have confirmedthe involvement of a promi-nent political party that open-ly supported demolition inMumbai riots.

But being part of the rulingalliance in later years, this par-ticular political party influ-enced the then government toignore the report of theSrikrishna Commission.

Ironically, Justice Srikrishnaalso headed a Commission togo into the demand of reorgan-isation of undivided AndhraPradesh. After its extensivetour and taking of countlessopinions directly from the

public, the Commission madefive recommendations. Thenoteworthy fact was that thepanel suggested continuationof a unified state while ensur-ing safeguards for Telanganaregion as the best way forward.

However, the UPA govern-ment opted for the other rec-ommendation favouring for-mation of separate Telanganastate, ignoring the 'order of pri-ority' of the recommendations.

Yet another Commission,appointed after the gruesomemurder of Congress MLA VMRanga, and the large-scale vio-lence that followed, was evenallowed to complete its task.

Justice KBN Singh, aretired judge of Patna HighCourt, was given the respon-sibi l ity to head theCommission. Nearly 2,000criminal cases had been reg-istered in various police sta-tions over the violence thatfollowed Ranga’s murder.

While the Commission was

still doing its job, the state sawa change of guard, and MarriChanna Reddy became theChief Minister. He scrappedthe Justice KBN SinghCommission, and withdrewthe about 2,000 criminal caseswith a single stroke of his pen.

This was not an isolatedincident; successive govern-ments both at the Centreand states use, or misuse, thefindings of inquiry commis-sions as per their politicalpurpose.

If the rulers are awarethat circumstances won’tallow them to implementthe suggestions, do theymerely treat inquiry com-missions as an easy means tobuy time and let public angerdissipate? If this is the case,how could those in powerwaste public money andtime? Also, it is not an insultto the people for whom theentire system should beworking?

M D RATNA KUMAR

Senior Journalist

The Justice Liberhan Commission was

appointed to inquire into the demolition

of Babri Masjid at Ayodhya on

December 6, 1992. The incident took

place at the behest of thousands of

karsevaks in the presence of top

leaders of the BJP

PIN

POINT

For those in power, inquiry commissions serve little purpose

T KARUNAKAR n KARIMNAGAR

The Karimnagar PoliceCommissionerate has been inthe forefront in curbing crimeand detecting them by usingadvanced technology.Commissioner of Police VBKamalasan Reddy said thatresponsibility of police sta-tions in the KarimnagarCommissionerate has beenfurther enhanced as theyreceived national recognitionfor two consecutive years bymaintaining law and order andproviding better services.

When the Coronavirus wasfirst identified in Karimnagarwith the travel of Indonesians,police immediately took stepsto curb the spread of the virusby setting up of containmentzones for the first time in thecountry, he reminded. Herecalled that the Bureau ofPolice Research andDevelopment has praised the

actions taken by police in con-taining the Coronavirus.

Addressing the media hereon Tuesday, he termed thecrimes committed across theCommissionerate in 2020 andthe steps taken to control them.Continuous patrolling by the

Blue Colts, installation ofCCTV cameras, enforcementof the PD Act on hardcorecriminals, continuous train-ing of police teams in the useof modern technology, launch-ing history sheets on offendersand keeping a close watch ontheir movements, identifyingareas of high crime intensity.He acknowledged that they

could work for better peace-keeping by keeping tabs, iden-tifying criminals through anautomated fingerprint deviceand checking inter-state gangsusing facial recognition tech-nology.

In 2020, there 3,673 inci-dents took place across theCommissionerate, of which Rs93,47,504 lakh were stolen andRs 86,66,350 lakh were seized.In all, 150 have been arrestedand will be produced in courtin connection with the crimes.He said crimes such as murder,robbery, theft and chainsnatching could be controlledup to 40 per cent. In 2019, 372such crimes were recordedand this year the number hasbeen reduced to 223.

He said the Commissioneratewas able to enhance the sense ofsecurity among the people bysetting up 6,000 CCTV cameras.He said CCTV cameras wereable to crack 64 cases and arrest

47 accused and seize propertyworth Rs 50.60 lakh from theirpossession.

He said a Cyber Forensic Labhad been set up to check thegrowing number of cybercrimesdue to the use of technology andsocial media. He said the settingup of 16 She teams under theCommissionerate has signifi-cantly reduced crime andharassment against women."We have registered casesagainst 386 people in connec-tion with the sale of gutkha tar-geting a crime-free society andseized illicit tobacco productsworth Rs 1,62,43,057 lakh," hesaid.

The KarimnagarCommissionerate, a pioneer inthe use of modern technologyin a criminal investigation, hastaken it a step further by intro-ducing a Mobile CommandControl Vehicle that is onlyavailable in countries likeSingapore.

Karimnagar police get high on techPolice station under Karimnagar Police Commissionerate get national

recognition for two consecutive years

‘Love jihad’ordinances byBJP-ruledstates illegal’Continued from page 1

Owaisi said that an adultcan marry anyone they wantand alleged the intention ofthe BJP in bringing suchlaws against religious conver-sions was to make a mockeryof the Constitution.

He was referring to recentpromulgation of an ordi-nance by the Uttar Pradeshgovernment against forcibleor 'dishonest' religious con-versions and the MadhyaPradesh cabinet giving itsnod for a similar measure onTuesday. “These laws andordinances issued and givennod by some BJP ruled statesare against the Constitutionand the BJP is creating anatmosphere of hate for theMuslim community," theHyderabad MP said.

Continued from page 1

"Sixty-three per cent of totalcases were amongst men... 52per cent cases were in the 18-44 age group but only 11 percent deaths were reportedfrom this segment," he said.

According to the healthMinistry, daily deaths in thecountry - among lowest permillion in the world - haveslipped to under 300 a day,active cases are at 2.7 lakhafter six months, and thecumulative positivity is at6.02 per cent.

As the Health Ministryshared the significant stridesmade in containing thespread of the coronavirusdisease in India, it also sharedthat the UK-coronavirusmutation - "70 per cent moreinfectious" than the old one- has been detected in at leastsix travellers who landed inthe country.

"It is important to remem-ber that it is easy to tackle avirus or a new strain at thebeginning, before there aremultiple chains of transmis-sion," the centre said as itmade genome sequencing ofall Covid-positive foreignreturnees between December

9 and 22 mandatory.The "70 per cent more

communicable" mutationhas emerged in India just asthe country recorded itslowest daily case rise in oversix months, fanning fears ofanother wave of infectionsthat may lead to more lock-downs across states and UTs.

Continued from page 1

"In a day or two, we will findout if any additional stepsneed to be taken, or when wecan start easing the currenttemporary suspension," hesaid.

Earlier in the day, theUnion Health Ministry saidsix people who returned toIndia from the UnitedKingdom have tested positivefor the new strain of the virus.

The Health ministry alsosaid that samples of all inter-national passengers whoarrived in India fromDecember 9-22 and testedpositive for Covid-19 will besubjected to genome sequenc-ing, which helps in under-standing how the new virusvariant spreads and evolves.

The presence of the newUK variant has already beenreported by Denmark, theNetherlands, Australia, Italy,Sweden, and other countries.

Meanwhile, AirportsAuthority of India (AAI)Chairman Arvind Singh toldthe press conference the gov-ernment is planning to holdthe next round of privatisa-tion of airports in the firsthalf of 2021.

Continued from page 1

New plot would mean a freshplot which is being brought forregistration for the first time orbeing sold by developers for thefirst time."

The orders further stated:"As clarified earlier, there is norestriction on registration ofplots in authorised layouts,plots regularised under earli-er LRS schemes and buildings,structures covered under ear-lier BPS/ BRS schemes."

On August 6, 2020, thestate government issued orderswith regard to registration ofplots and structures. Certaindifficulties have been encoun-tered by the public and sever-al representations have beenreceived in this regard. Inorder to obviate any hardshiprelating to registration of prop-erty documents, the govern-ment relaxed certain norms,the orders stated.

TS Govtrelaxes normsfor non-agriproperty...

Infighting, land...Continued from page 1

Constant friction and fre-quent tussles between old-timers and new entrants arecompounding the woes of theparty. Infighting between oldand new leaders has gone tosuch an extent that bothgroups are not flinching fromsabotaging the party'sprospects in their zest to set-tle scores at personal levels orto gain an upper hand inintra-party politics.

A postmortem done by theTRS party leadership to deter-mine the reasons for the set-backs in the recent Dubbakbypoll and GHMC polls indi-cated that more than publicanger against TRS, it was 'sab-otage' by party's own leadersthat hurt the party badly. PartyMLAs brazenly refused tocooperate with the candidatesselected who had be selectedagainst their wishes by theparty leadership for theGHMC elections.

This apart, a few TRS lead-ers are frequently interveningin land disputes and threat-ening journalists who report

their irregularities, leading topolice booking cases.

On December 8, LabourMinister Ch Malla Reddyand his son Bhadra Reddywere booked under chargesof criminal trespass andintimidation by the Dundigalpolice, after a woman namedShyamala Devi lodged acomplaint, stating that theythreatened her with dire con-sequences if she does not giveaway her land in Suraram.Shyamala Devi alleged thatMalla Reddy, elected fromthe Medchal Assembly con-stituency, fabricated a saleagreement between her andhis men. She added that theMinister, his son, advocateand their men, threatened tokill her.

An engineering college(Malla Reddy College ofEngineering) owned by thesame minister Malla Reddywas blacklisted by NAACfor a period of five years lastweek, after it was found thatthe college management hadsubmitted 'fake documents'to secure NAAC accredita-tion.

Continued from page 1

giving all terminal benefitson the day of retirement tothe employees and biddingthem a respectful farewell,making appointments oncompassionate grounds, andall other employee-relatedmatters would be solved bythe end of February. The CMalso declared that the processof recruitment, after identi-fying all the vacant posts ingovernment departments,would begin from February.

To study all these issuesand to have discussions withthe employees' unions, the

CM appointed a committeeunder the chairmanship ofChief Secretary SomeshKumar, with PrincipalSecretary (Finance)Ramakrishna Rao and WaterResources PrincipalSecretary Rajat Kumar asmembers. The committeewill study the PRC report inthe first week of January. Inthe second week of January,the committee will have ameeting with the EmployeesUnions. The Committee willadvise the government onmatters such as: How muchsalary revision should bemade? To what extent the

retirement age should beincreased? How to pre-pare/modify service rules?What policy should beadopted for promotions?What strategy is required toget over the legal problemsfor implementing the zonalsystem?

Later, the State cabinetwould meet and take deci-sions.

"Government employeesplayed a pivotal role in theseparate statehood move-ment. The TelanganaGovernment employeesunder the TNGO protectedthe Telangana Identity under

the united AP regime. Wehave estimated that ifTelangana State is formed itwill be a rich state. Then wethought the TelanganaGovernment employeeswould be given good salariesfor their service to Telanganapeople and the government.As expected, we got theTelangana State. TelanganaState became a rich statefinancially. The state gov-ernment is implementingseveral welfare schemes forthe farmers and the poor. Wehave taken many measuresfor the welfare of employees.After the formation of

Telangana State, the govern-ment gave 42 percent fitmentto the government employeesand hiked their salaries. Thegovernment hiked salariesto Government employees,pensioners, employees in theState Public SectorUndertakings, outsourcedemployees, contractualemployees, employees work-ing with meagre salaries,employees of the municipaland panchayat departments.Now there is a need to hikethe salaries of these employ-ees. The government hasdecided to hike the salaries tothe extent possible based on

its financial condition," theCM announced.

"Under the united AP, everyissue of the employees is rid-dled with problems. Everyissue used to be a controver-sy and they were all at themercy of court cases. Theyhave continued even afterformation of the TelanganaState. The Telangana govern-ment made several attempts,held many discussions andcleared all the legal tangles andnow it getting some clarity onthe issues. By March all theemployees should be freedfrom any problem, "the CMsaid.

Salary, retirement age to be hikedContinued from page 1

The UK variant of the coronavirus hasalready been identified in UK, Denmark,Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain,Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Ireland,Germany, Iceland, Belgium, South Korea.

TS, AP report new...

Continued from page 1

PRC, transfers, regularisationof jobs, health care, and fillingof vacant posts.

During the protest, theteachers appealed to ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao to "give freedom" to theMinister of Education andempower him to exercise thepowers of managing transfersand promotions of teacherswithin his department. Theyaccused the government ofbeing negligent towards edu-cation.

The Teachers' associationsdecided to go for another mas-sive struggle in January 2021until their demands are met.Chava Ravi, UTF GeneralSecretary, said, "Initially the

promotions were not givenbecause of service rules disputebetween Panchayat Raj andgovt teachers. So, we asked formanagement-wise promotionsand the issue is now inSupreme Court. Later re-organisation of districts alsobecame a problem as presiden-tial orders were issued for 31districts, but stay order wasgiven by high court. Last year,the Education Minister accept-ed our demands and we werepromised, but the concernedofficers were transferred. Nowits COVID-19 crisis and thereis no further development inthis matter. The state govern-ment is least bothered aboutgovernment teachers; that'swhy have started protestingagain for our rights".

Rajini junks... 70% Of Covid deaths...Continued from page 1

In October, he said he wasadvised by doctors to stayaway from the heat and dustof a campaign. His immunesystem has been weak after arenal transplant, which madehim more susceptible to thecoronavirus, he said after aleaked letter -- supposedlywritten by him -- triggeredspeculation that he was delay-ing his political debut forhealth reasons. The actor saidthe letter was not his, but theinformation was correct.

On December 3, Rajinikanthannounced that he has decid-ed to launch his party and con-test the Tamil Nadu election.The date of the launch was tobe announced on December 31and the launch was tentativelyscheduled for January, fivemonths before the state elec-tions in Tamil Nadu. It wasexpected that the date wouldcoincide with the Pongal festi-val or the birth anniversary ofMG Ramachandran, thefounder of AIADMK.

The prospect had triggeredmuch excitement as the com-ing election promised to belackluster in the absence of the

two giants of Tamil Nadu pol-itics, AIADMK's J Jayalalithaaand DMK's M Karunanidhi.

The deaths of both leadershave left a vacuum in the statepolitics, and it was expected thatthe entry of Rajinikanth and fel-low actor-politician KamalHaasan would help fill the gap.

‘Rajinikanth Won't...Continued from page 1

I have been his friend formany years, going back to1996. I had advised himearlier that he should notenter politics directly... Hewas a strong moral influencein 1996, and he can still be astrong moral and ethicalinfluence in 2021 and in thefuture," Chidambaram said.Asked if he would back theBJP, as the party had hopedahead of the elections in TamilNadu where its prospectsseem to have run into choppywaters over differences withally AIADMK, MrChidambaram said, "I am surehe will bear his support infavour of parties that opposethe BJP."

India steps...Continued from page 1

While the country temporarilybanned flights from the UK onDecember 21, the UK strain ofvirus -- said to be 70 per centmore contagious -- hasreached Denmark,Netherlands, Australia, Italy,Sweden, France, Spain,Switzerland, Germany,Canada, Japan, Lebanon andSingapore. "It is easy tosuppress the virus in thestarting. Once thetransmission is toowidespread, it is hard tocontrol," Dr VK Paul, amember of Niti Aayog, said atthe health ministry briefingthis evening.

UK flight... 3K govt teachers...

Farmers write to Centre...Continued from page 1

The Morcha further said theagenda of the meeting shouldalso include amendments tobe made and notified in theCommission for the AirQuality Management in

National Capital Region andAdjoining Areas Ordinance,2020 to exclude farmers fromits penal provisions. Throughthe letter, the Morcha also for-mally accepted the govern-ment's invitation for the dia-logue.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2020hyderabad 03

Air India is all set to launch itsfirst-ever non-stop servicesbetween Bengaluru and San

Francisco and between Hyderabadand Chicago from January 9 and 13respectively. According to an AirIndia, the flight AI-107 fromHyderabad to Chicago would operateonce a week every Friday, departing from Hyderabad at 12.50 pm toarrive in Chicago at 6.05 pm (local time) the same day. The returnflight AI-108 from Chicago to Hyderabad will operate everyWednesday leaving Chicago at 9.30 pm (local time) to arrive inHyderabad at 1.40 am by Boeing 777LR aircraft. The flight AI-175from Bengaluru to San Francisco will operate with a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays departingfrom Bengaluru at 2.30 pm to arrive in San Francisco at 5 pm (localtime) on the same day. The return flight AI-176 from San Franciscoto Bengaluru will operate on Saturdays and Tuesdays leaving SanFrancisco at 8.30 pm (local time) to arrive in Bengaluru at 3.30 am.Passengers from Bengaluru and Hyderabad, both gateways toSouth India, will enjoy huge benefits travelling to San Francisco andChicago as this will enable faster and easier connectionsm, Air Indiaofficials said.

Air India’s Hyd-to-Chicago flight from January 13

Mornings in the Statecapital have turnedfoggy with the minimum

temperatures remaining low.The temperature, which was13.5 degrees Celsius onMonday, is likely to dropfurther. According to officials,chilly winds and fog were verylikely to continue for the next four days in the city. As per theweather forecast from the Regional Meteorological Department,Hyderabad, mist/shallow fog was very likely to occur in the city andsurrounding areas during morning hours. Vehicular movement isbeing affected in the morning hours due to fog with vehicles seenmoving very slowly, especially on the city outskirts due to poorvisibility. Vegetable sellers, delivery executives and milkmen werefacing a tough time in reaching the city in the early morning hourswith the highways into the city remaining enveloped in fog. TheCyberabad Police has already issued a traffic advisory urging peopleto avoid travelling during the early hours of the day as visibility onthe road would be poor. “It’s better to travel in sunlight when thevisibility is clear,” the advisory said.

Mornings in Hyderabad turnfoggy as temperatures dip

Aworkshop on ‘Creating aChildren Friendly andProtective Environment for

Children in Contact withRailways' was organised byRailway Protection Force (RPF)of South Central Railway incoordination with UNICEF,CPRC-CESS and Terre dasHommes, Netherlands. Themain objective of the workshopsto build the capacity of the RPF&GRP personnel on the procedure tobe followed to provide care and protection to the children found atrailway stations as per the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. As many as42members have participated in the workshop that includes officialsfrom RPF and GRP, Kacheguda Railway Child line and DCPU-Hyderabad. Shri Ramesh Chandra, DIG, RPF, South Central Railwaywas the chief guest Speaking on the need to prioritize theprotection of children in railway premises, Ramesh Chandra, DIG,RPF, SCR said that Indian Railways is one of the largest railwaynetwork in the world and in every five minutes a child arrives aloneat some major railway station in India as per the data.

Workshop on creating childrenfriendly, protective environment

CITY LIGHTS

Residents raise stink as garbage piles up in KalapatharANUSHA PUPPALAn HYDERABAD

Residents of Basharath Nagarin Hyderabad's Kalapathar arevexed as waste materials aredumped in an empty place inthe area. Garbage is gettingpiled up with each passingday, residents in the vicinitycomplained. The residents ofthe area expressed angeragainst Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC) for failing to collectgarbage. They claim that thegarbage has been piled upsince last one month and mostof the road in their area is cov-ered by garbage.

They alleged that garbagewas not cleared despite sever-al complaints. Annoyed withthe foul smell due to thegarbage, residents are tired ofcomplaining to the civicauthorities as there is no

response from them since onemonth. According to residents,the increase in garbage hasmeant larger presence of dogs

and cattle rummaging thedump. They drag the garbageto the road and make a mess ofthe entire street. The garbage

emits a foul smell; mosquitoes,flies and other insects breed onit.

SQ Maqsood a resident and

activist told Pioneer, "Localofficers of GHMC are neglect-ing public grievances. It'sobserved since few days thatthe GHMC official are notresponding to the complaintslodging by people includingthrough My GHMC App.Earlier they were taken action

quickly on the complaintsthrough twitter and MyGHMC App because the seniorofficers was monitoring thegrievances".

32-year-old Salim Hussain aresident of Ranjan Colonyroad at Basharath Nagar toldPioneer, "Even if my house isbit away from the road wheregarbage is piled up we get foulsmell because of the garbage.Whenever we cross that roadwe suffer with foul smell androad is completely filled withgarbage that there is no placeto walk or drive. We are tiredof complaining because noth-ing has changed despite sever-al complaints and the garbageis still piled up on the road. Thecivic body needs to do some-thing about it." When the res-idents complained again onMonday on Twitter, GHMCconveyed, "They will informthe concerned officers".

GHMC officialsare neglectingour grievances.They are notresponding tothe complaintslodged by usthrough MyGHMC App, saida resident ofKalapathar

PNS n HYDERABAD

The overall crime rateincreased by 6.65 per centunder Cyberabad PoliceCommissionerate limits here in2020 as compared to last year.

The number of cases regis-tered during 2020 stood at24,868 as against 23,320 casesin 2019, recording a 6.65 percent rise, CyberabadCommissioner of Police V CSajjanar told reporters hereonTuesday. Cyber crime casesincreased by 135 per cent whileeconomic offences rose by 42per cent in 2020.

Crime against womenreduced by 18.66 per cent dur-ing this year with a total of2,302 cases registered as against2,830 cases registered in theprevious year.

There was a slight increasein culpable homicide andcheating cases and the increas-ing crime reporting also indi-cates transparency in policefunctioning, growing confi-dence among the public onpolice investigation and peoplefriendly approach of police,Sajjanar said.

There was a drastic decreasein robberies, house break, theft,murders, kidnappings and fatalroad accidents due to visibleand proactive policing done,the Commissioner said.

Stating that the increase inthe cases was due to trans-parency and increasedapproachability of the police tothe public, Sajjanar said thatdespite devoting many hours tocontainment of the Covid-19pandemic, the Cyberabad

Police ensured that regularpolicing duties never suffered.

"We also kept vigil with anunswerving commitment totackle crimes that arose out ofsocio-economic inequalitieswhich came under sharp focusduring this period," he said,adding that cases of ordinarytheft, robbery, burglaries, mur-der, rioting, kidnapping, rapeand fatal road mishaps, whichhad come down sharply duringthe initial days of the lock-down, witnessed a surge inJuly-August.

"We dealt with them effec-tively as we had anticipatedwell in advance and specialteams were spread out to dis-tant areas to curtail differentcrimes," he said, pointing outthat in the latter part of theyear, there was a slight increasein non-fatal accidents and

cybercrime cases, which weredealt with firmly. "We observedthat due to the lockdown andwork from home facilities,fraudsters got plenty of optionsto cheat people online, leadingto increase in cybercrimecases," Sajjanar added.

Cyber CrimeJust like in the Hyderabadand Rachakonda limits,Cyberabad too reported anincrease of 135 per cent incybercrime. This year alone1,119 cyber crime cases werebooked compared to 477 casesin 2019. However, the detec-tion rate stands at 7 per cent,while the recovery rate is 1.4per cent. Some of the cybercrimes include OLX frauds(173), KYC frauds (163),Customer case fraud (143), jobfraud (83), loan fraud (69) and

other frauds.Commenting the reason

behind phenomenal rise incybercrimes, Sajjanar said,"We have tried over best tobring most of the cyber Crimecases to logical end". Most ofthe cyber fraudsters are fromJarkhand, Rajasthan, UttaraPradesh and other NorthIndian states and police could-n't travel in view of Covid-19restrictions and arrest them.Earlier, the Commissioner ofPolice thanked Chief MinisterK Chandrshekhar Rao andTelangana Police Chief MMahender Reddy who helpedthem in better policing. Heappreciated the CyberabadPolice officers who came for-ward and donated plasma."Around 6,000 units of bloodwas donated to 17 bloodbanks," he said.

2020 ANNUAL REPORT

Cyberabad sees rise in cybercrimeCyber crime cases increased by 135% while economic offences rose by 42% in 2020

PNS n HYDERABAD

As many as 1,448 economicoffences were registered inCyberabad limits as against840 in the previous year.Cyberabad PoliceCommissioner VC Sajjanarsaid, "Special wing ofEconomic offences wasinaugurated in 2018 tocrackdown against whitecollar criminals involved inmultilevel marketing, depositschemes, Ponzi schemes andother financial frauds." CyberCrimes (1,119) cases were thehighest economic offencesfollowed by criminal breach oftrust (99), misappropratiation(73), NDPS Act (46) andothers. Some of the importantcases include Maa SanthoshiChit fund scam where theaccused Jwala Prasad alongwith his accomplices collectedhuge amount of money to atune of Rs 11. 5 crore from300 people under the guise ofchits and fixed deposits andcheated them. Cyberabad Commissioner of PoliceSajjanar said, "Products arejust a camouflage but the backend is a Money Circulationschemes. These fraudsters arecheating home makers, retiredpersons, students,unemployed youth in thename of part time jobs.”

Beware ofponzischemes: CP

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana recorded 397 freshCOVID-19 cases, taking thetotal positives to over 2.85lakh while two fatalitiespushed the toll to 1,535.Actor Ram Charan wasamong those who tested pos-itive for the virus. He request-ed people who have beenaround him in the past cou-ple of days also to get tested.

"I have tested positive forCOVID-19. No symptoms &quarantined at home. Hope toheal soon & come outstronger," he tweeted. GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC)accounted for the most num-ber of cases with 92, followedby Medchal Malkajgiri andRangareddy with 37 and28respectively, a governmentbulletin said on Tuesday pro-viding details as of 8 pm on

December 28. The total num-ber of recoveries stood at2,77,931.

As many as5,999 patientsare under treatmentand42,737 samples were test-ed on Sunday. Cumulatively,over 67.93 lakh samples havebeen tested. The samples test-ed per million populationwas over 1.82 lakh, the bul-letin said. The case fatalityrate in the state was 0.53 percent, while it was 1.4 per centat the national level. Therecovery rate in Telanganawas 97.36 per cent, while itwas 95.9 per cent in thecountry.

397 new cases, twodeaths in Telangana

PNS n SANGAREDDY

Two persons drowned in atank at Antharam village ofMunipal ly Mandal inSangareddy district onMonday evening. Thedeceased were identifiedas Pitchakunt laNarasimhulu andPitchakuntla Srinivas.

According to Sub-Inspector, MaheshwarReddy, Narasimhulu ven-tured into the tank for fish-ing and drowned. Srinivas,a relative, got into the waterto bring out the body,which was seen floating, onTuesday morning. He alsodrowned in the process.Efforts are on to fish outthe two bodies from thetank. The villagers are in astate of shock with the twodeaths in a gap of a fewhours.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The city police have arrestedthree drug peddlers and seized1.5 litres of Hashish Oil andthree mobile phones, all worthRs 4.8 'ails from them. Actingon specific information, thesleuths of Special OperationsTeam (SOT), Malkajgiri Zonealong with Saroomagar Policeapprehended three drug ped-dlers--Chintha Sandeep ofYousufguda, Shinde Saicharanof Yousufguda and YapaNaveen Sagar of Film Nagar onMonday when they were try-ing to sell Hashish oil, a policerelease here said on Tuesday.

Since the selling of Ganja isbecoming more difficult,instead of transporting theGanja, the ganja peddlers usedto sell the Hashish oil to theneedy customers as it facilitates

them for easy transportationfrom Visakhapatnam agencyarea. The drug peddlers sell theHashish Oil to the customers atRs 3,000 per 10 ml, which thecustomer mixes it with the fil-tered tobacco, subsequentlyfills in the cigarette and thenconsumes. Since the purchas-ing of Hashish oil becameexpensive, the accused planned

to purchase it directly from theactual suppliers at Arakuagency area for self-consump-tion, as well as to sell it to theneedy customers. The accusedpurchased the Hashish oilAraku of Andhra Pradesh atthe rate of Rs 20,000 per litreand sold the same inHyderabad at Rs 3,000 per 10ml, the release added.

Cyberabad Commissioner of Police V C Sajjanar addressing the media in the city on Tuesday

Entry fee for zooparks likely to be raisedPNS n HYDERABAD

In a bid to improve revenuesin zoo parks in the after-math of Covid-19 pandem-ic, the Forest Departmenthas decided to increase theentry fee and also organiseinnovative programmes toattract large crowds. A deci-sion to this effect was takenat a meeting of the Zoos andParks Authority ofTelangana (ZAPAT) chairedby Forests Minister AIndrakaran Reddy here onTuesday.

Following the pandemic,the footfal l in NehruZoological Park inHyderabad along with eightzoo parks and other forestparks in the State hadreduced drastically. As aresult, there has been nomajor revenue earnedthrough visitors in the parkswhich in turn had severeimpact on operation of zoo-logical parks including foodto animals and other oper-ations. The Minister sug-gested diversion of addi-tional revenue generated inmajor parks and also exam-ine provision for divertingother funds in this regard.He also advised the author-ities to come up with inno-vative ideas to improve therevenues of zoo parks andother forest parks. He askedthem to work in coordina-tion with organisations likeWild Life and Snake Societyto submit necessary pro-posals.

PNS n HYDERABAD

State-owned SingareniCollieries Company LimitedChairman and ManagingDirector N Sridhar on Tuesdaysaid that all job vacancies inthe mining industry will befilled up in the next 6-months.

Addressing at the 46th tri-partite safety conference heldat Hyderabad SingareniBhavan here, where SingareniCollieries management repre-sentatives, director general of

mines safety, recognised rep-resentatives of worker unionsand representatives of the offi-cers' union participated,Sridhar explained that in thelast 5 years, more than 16,000vacancies were filled throughdirect recruitment, compen-satory recruitment and inter-nal postings. He made it clearthat Singareni gives utmostimportance to safety mea-sures and there is no compro-mise even on expenses forsafety and safety of workers.

With Sankranthi fast approaching, youngsters are thronging kite shops in thecity. The market is flooded with kites designed using photographs of cricketers,

birds, bollywood and tollywood actors — SSV Chary

Two drowned in village tank

Singareni to fill up all jobvacancies in the next 6 months

Drastic decrease in fatalroad mishaps in 2020PNS n HYDERABAD

There has been 11 per cent and23 per cent reduction in totalroad accidents and fatal acci-dents this year when comparedto that of 2019 in Cyberabadlimits. According to annualdata released by CyberabadPolice on Tuesday, this is main-ly due to Covid lockdown inthe months of April to July andalso certain road safety mea-sures initiated by theCyberabad Traffic Police.

Among all the cases behindroad accidents, over-speedingcaused highest number of acci-dents in Cyberabad limits in2020, according to Cyberabadpolice annual report. Apartfrom over speeding, anothermajor reasons for fatal acci-dents were drunken driving,drowsiness, dangerous dri-ving, driving by unlicensedpersons, not maintaining prop-er distance between vehicles,triple driving, poorIlluminated, over loading, sud-den lane changing, signal overtaking etc.

About 144 fatal accidentsoccurred due to drunken dri-ving, 67 fatal accidentsoccurred due to imperfect dri-

ving, 32 accidents occurreddue to drowsiness, 22 accidentsdue to dangerous driving andnot maintaining distancebetween vehicles, 23 accidentsdue to jay walking, 19 acci-dents due to triple riding.

About 627 fatal accidentsoccurred in the year 2018,809 fatal accidents in the year2019 where as 625 fatal acci-dents occurred this year up toNovember 2020. 3,369 totalaccidents occurred in the year2018 where as 3,313 accidentsoccurred in 2019 and 2,951accidents occurred this yearupto November 2020. 662deaths occurred in the year2018 due to road accidentswhere 861 deaths occurred in2019 and 663 deaths occurredthis year upto November 23,

2020.According to the road wise

report of Road Accidents,highest numbers of fatalitiesare occurring on NationalHighways followed by R&Band GHMC roads. These hasbeen an increase in accidentson ORR due to sleeplessnessduring COVID lockdown dueto scarcity of drivers and alsodue to long distance driving bypeople due to lack of trans-portation. Drunk and drivecases, driving without license,minor driving cases have seensignificant reduction due toCovid pandemic. However,selective enforcement of DDand w/o DL cases in beingdone randomly at vulnerableplaces with all safety precau-tions for Covid.

FESTIVAL OF KITES

The drug peddlers sellthe Hashish Oil to thecustomers at Rs 3,000per 10 ml, which thecustomer mixes it withthe filtered tobacco,subsequently fills inthe cigarette

Three drug peddlers arrested; 1.5 litres of Hashish oil seized

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2020 hyderabad 04

PNS n GODAVARIKHANI

The mighty Godavari Riverreeling under severe pollutionis ringing alarm bells.Environmentalists haveexpressed concern over thegrave threat posed by pollutionto the very existence of theperennial river with a deltaspreading over 3.12 lakh squarekm.

Releasing of effluents intothe river by industrial units andsewer water into it by townsand cities, the river water hasbecome polluted and some-times it is unbearable to take aholy dip in the river. The riverflows through religious placeslike Basara, Bhadrachalam,Dharmapuri, Kaleswaram,Manthani, Koti Lingala andson and many industrial townsin its journey of 275 km inTelangana.

The cement, paper, coalmines, ceramic units, thermalpower units and towns andcities with high density of pop-ulation release their affluentsinto the river leading to theriver water emitting a reekingsmell. Devotees visiting thereligious places on the banks ofthe river also throw the garbageinto the river polluting it fur-ther.

Moreover, the towns ofDharmapuri, Luxettipet,Mancherial, Ramagundam,Godavarikhani and Manthanihave been emptying drainagewater into the river without

treating it with the help of thesewerage treatment plants. TheRamagundam MunicipalCorporation alone discharges44 MLD into the river withouttreating it first.

The diesel and grease used inSrirampur and Ramagundamcoal mines are discharged into

the river and also the chemicalaffluent from cement, paperand other industries and ashgenerated in thermal powerunits is being discharged in tothe river.

The chemical fertiliserssprayed on crops in catch-ment areas of the river and pes-

ticides, detergents, used plasticgoods are finding their way into the river. In 1999, the Centreas part of the National RiverConservation Project spentcrores of rupees and estab-lished STPs on river banks atBasara, Mancherial, GodavariKhani, Ramagundam,Malkapur, Sundilla andBhadrachalam. The plantsworked well for sometime.The municipalities paid noattention to their maintenanceapprehending the costs.

As part of the KaleswaramProject, barrages have beenbuilt at various places. Becauseof the affluents finding its wayinto the river, the water is

emitting a reeking smell. Thestate government is releasingthe water from the project tomeet drinking water purposes,irrigation purposes fromGodavari purifying the water atthe pump houses. But there isno such facility at pilgrimagecentres located on the banks ofthe river.

Environmental specialistUma Maheshwar said that theone clean river has nowbecome polluted. Severalindustries located on the banksof river from Nasik toNizamabad have been releasingtheir wastes into the river. Thegovernment of Telanganashould pay attention to this.The government should takesteps to build STPs in townsand cities that have dense pop-ulation. Otherwise, the riverwater will become completelypolluted, warns the environ-mentalist.

However, Telangana StatePollution Control Board exec-utive engineers Ravi Das saidthat the water samples from theriver are being checked in lab-oratories. For want of STPs intowns and cities nestled on theriver banks, drainage waterand effluents from industriesare being released into theriver. In spite of this, there is nopotential problem to the peo-ple. The river water can be usedfor drinking water purposesafter treating it in pump hous-es. People can also take a holydip in the river safely.

Godavari reeking due to heavy pollution

Release of untreated industrialeffluents into the river by firms locatedon Godavari banks in Adilabad,Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammammay sound death knell for the lifeline ifconservation measures are not taken

RAJESH JAIN NIDARKAR

n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad, which boasts of as theCity of Nawabs, pearls, Iranichai and biryani, has lost theSecretariat building, one of theheritage monuments, which wasconstructed by the Nizams.

With 2020 coming to an end,the old Secretariat building hasbecome a thing of the past. Theold Secretariat had an old Nizamperiod heritage structure called asPeshi or G-block. It had 10 blocksand spread over 25.5 acres. Afterthe State bifurcation, the build-ings were divided into 58:42 forAndhra Pradesh and Telanganafor 10 years, until 2024. The landof the entire area is 25.5 acres.

The oldest G-block was built in1888 during the reign of VINizam Nawab. The building wasthen renamed Saifabad Palace.The old Secretariat has its old-

world charm and each buildinghas its own significance. The A-block building complex was inau-

gurated in 1981 by the thenChief Minister T Anjaiah, C-Block was started in 1978 by the

then Chief Minister M ChannaReddy. A Block Phase II wasstarted on August 10, 1998 when

N Chandrababu Naidu was theChief Minister. On the otherhand, the foundation for the D-Block was laid by N ChandrababuNaidu in 2003, but was started in

2004 when YS Rajasekhara Reddybecame the Chief Minister. TheJ-Block and L-Block were inau-gurated by the then ChiefMinister Marri Channa Reddy onNovember 12, 1990.

It is well known that J-Block isthe largest block in theSecretariat. All the buildingstogether spread over 9,16,653square feet of various branchesand sections said officials of theDepartment of Engineering,Roads and Buildings.

It may be recalled that onJune 28, 2019, Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao performedpuja for the construction of thenew Secretariat and Assemblybuildings. At the same time,opposition Congress leaders andothers filed cases in the HighCourt, hence, work was halted.Exactly, one year later, the demo-lition has begun after decks werecleared by the High Court.

Historic Secretariat building now a thing of pastThe TRS govtrazed the oldsecretariatbuilding, whichstood the test oftime andwitnessed therise and fall ofseveralgovernments, toconstruct a newcomplex

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS)chief Prof Kodandaram onTuesday demanded the StateGovernment to solve thedemands of teachers. Healleged that the state govern-ment is hatching a conspiracyon implementing PRC.

While participatingin JACTO and UPSCUnions MahaDharna demandinggovernment to solvetheir problems onTuesday at IndiraPark, Kodandaramalleged that it is unde-mocratic act on part of gov-ernment to make police arrestteachers who were on their toMaha Dharna. “The credit ofputting teachers behind barsgoes to TRS government,” he

said. MLC Narsi Reddy demand-

ed the government to conducta meeting with teachersunions to resolve their prob-lems. CPI senior leader AzeezPasha stated that teachersMaha dharna is a warning to

the government. The gov-ernment is not ful-

filling its assur-ances on PRC,transfers andvacant jobs.There is noother SouthIndian state

like Telanganato allocate less

budget for educa-tion, he pointed out. He ques-tioned Telangana governmentto reveal as to why it is not tak-ing steps to increase literacyrate

Solve teachers' issues:Kodandaram to Govt

PNS n HYDERABAD

Under the supervision ofSingareni Chairman-cum-Managing Director N Sridhar,the Singareni Solar PowerDivision has intensified itsefforts to construct floatingsolar plants at major reservoirsacross the State. On Monday,a high-level team of experts ledby Singareni Director DSatyanarayana Rao visited theLower Manair Dam (LMD) inKarimnagar.

The Telangana StateRenewable EnergyDevelopment CorporationLimited (TSREDCO) hasrecently submitted a feasibili-ty report to the SingareniCMD. A team of Singareniofficials carried out a study inthis regard.

The TSREDCO has sub-mitted a report to theChairman of Singareni thatthree major reservoirs in theState are favourable for setting

up of the solar plant. TheLower Manair Dam next toKarimnagar is suitable for a350 MW solar plant, officialssaid. When the reservoir isfilled with water, it covers anarea of 82 square kilometres.Of this, only 12.5 sq km is suit-able for the establishment of350 MW plant.

In this context, Singareni

CMD N Sridhar directed theSingareni officials to visit theLower Manair Dam.Therefore, Director (electricaland mechanical) DSatyanarayana Rao, a team offive experts, along withTSREDCO district managerRavinder, IrrigationDepartment (Lower ManairDam) officials Siva Kumar

(SE) and Vamsi (AE) visitedthe reservoir at Manair Damoffice. The water storage capac-ity, acreage and summer waterstorage area were then dis-cussed and a suitable site forsetting up of a solar plant in thereservoir from the dam wasexamined.

After visiting the reservoir,D Satyanarayana Rao said thatthe Maneru dam was suitablefor a floating solar plant of 350MW. The same will be report-ed to the Chairman. Theteam of Singareni expertsGeneral Manager (Solar Plant)DV Suryanarayana Raju,General Manager (E&M) NNageshwar Rao, SOViswanatha Raju, Solar RegionManager Srinivas, SolarAdvisor Muralitharan,Rajagopalan and others accom-panied the Director.

Caption: Singareni DirectorD Satyanarayana Rao interactwith the staff of Lower ManairReservoir in Karimnagar.

Floating solar plant in LMD in the offing

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) presidentand MP N Uttam KumarReddy on Tuesday unveiledthe schedule for a massive agi-tation against the decision ofTRS Government to shutdown the procurement cen-tres in villages to stop pur-chase of agricultural producefrom the farmers.

Uttam on Tuesday held ameeting with CLP LeaderMallu Bhatti Vikramarka,MLC Jeevan Reddy, MLAsSridhar Babu and JaggaReddy, TPCC working presi-dent Ponnam Prabhakar andother office bearers of KisanCongress. The meeting wascoordinated by All India KisanCongress Vice ChairmanKodanda Reddy andTelangana Kisan CongressChairman Anvesh. They hada detailed discussion on therecent decisions taken byChief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao andtheir impact on farmers ofTelangana.

Addressing a press confer-ence later, Uttam said that theCongress party would organ-ise protests in all MandalHeadquarters acrossTelangana State from 30thDecember to 8th January andmemorandums would be sub-mitted to Mandal RevenueOfficers (MROs). On January11, protests will be held at allDistrict Headquarters and aState-level protest will be heldon 18th January. He said aRound Table Conferencewould also be held in the nexttwo-three days.

He strongly condemnedthe decision of CM to wind upall procurement centres andsaid that KCR has no moral tocontinue on the post of ChiefMinister. He said that a major-ity of population in Telanganawas dependent on agricultureand the people do not need agovernment which is ignoringthe farm sector. He allegedthat CM was implementingthe new farm laws of BJPGovernment to benefit thecorporates and hurt the inter-est of farmers.

‘KCR has no right to continue as CM’

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao desiredthat the Palle Pragathi pro-gramme which is changingthe topography of the villagefor good should go forwardwith the same spirit. The ChiefMinister expressed satisfac-tion that the programmestaken under the Palle Pragathiprogramme have made theTelangana Village a role modelall over the country.

The Chief Minister said thatthe aims fixed under the PallePragathi programme have allbeen realised and in some vil-lage where the programmehave not reached target shouldbe completed immediately. Thevillage situation is now can beassessed as before Palle Pragathiand after Palle Pragathi. Hewanted each MLA to take a spe-cial interest concentrate andreview works under the PallePragathi programme. The ChiefMinister specially congratulat-ed Panchayat Raj MinisterDayakar Rao, Panchayat Rajdepartment officials, represen-tatives of the local bodies,Sarpanches and secretaries formaking the programme a grandsuccess. "The governmentwanted clean and green vil-lages through the PallePragathi programme. This tar-get is reached cent percent. TheTelangana villages have

become synonym for cleanli-ness and greenery. As part ofthe programme when theunused wells are closed,unwanted trees are removed,garbage is cleaned, sanitizationimproved and when the wateris no longer stagnated, theMosquito menace came downdrastically. Due to sanitationprogrammes taken under PallePragathi, there is less numberof Dengue and malaria cases inthe villages. The targets fixedby the government such as for-mation of plant nurseries inevery village, construction ofVaikunta Dhamas, arrange-ments of Trolley Tractors andtankers, supplying safe drink-ing water through MissionBhagiratha to every house-hold. Formation of commonvillage dump yards, creation ofVillage natural forests, makingthresh grounds in the agricul-ture fields, construction ofindividual toilets have all arealmost fulfilled now. No otherstate in the country has suchvillages with so many facilities.Telangana villages havebecome role models to others

in the country. The sanitationdrive and increasing the green-ery in the villages should con-tinue," the CM said.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao onTuesday instructed the officialsconcerned to complete on fasttrack Brahmana Vellamla UdayaSamudram project to providewater to one-lakh acres underNakrekal, Munugode andNalgonda Assemblyconstituencies. On the requestmade by Nakrekal MLAChirumarthi Linga Reddy, theChief Minister instructed theofficials to take up landacquisition and tunnel works onUdaya Samudram project andrelease the required fundsimmediately. He also wanted theofficials to speed up works onPillaipalli Canal andDharmareddy Canal.

Telangana villages synonymouswith cleanliness, says KCR

‘Fast track UdayaSamudram works’

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

BJP leader and former legisla-tor K Mruthyunjayam allegedthat the Kaleshwaram lift irri-gation project would turn intoa 'white elephant'.

Addressing the media hereon Tuesday, he said that theKaleshwaram would be a bur-den on the exchequer. Allegingthat the execution ofKaleshwaram lift irrigationproject was the biggest corrup-tion scam to ever take place inthe country, he charged thatthe government hadredesigned the project fromthe earlier proposedPranahita-Chevella fromTummadi-Hatti to Medigaddaonly to make money byincreasing the project cost.

Ridiculing the TRS gov-ernment's claim that theUnion government was notdeclaring the Kaleshwaramproject as a national the pro-ject, he asked whether theState government had submit-ted the DPR. He alleged thatthe TRS government was notsubmitting the DPR of theproject as it was scared of athorough inquiry into the pro-ject by the Union govern-ment.

PNS n MULUGU

Minister for Tribal WelfareSathyavathi Rathod laid thefoundation stone for SakhiCentre at Bandarpally villageand inaugurated several devel-opment works in Mulugu dis-trict. The Minister, MuluguZilla Parishad chairman K

Jagadeeshwar and other partyleaders had darshan ofGoddess Gattamma. Later, sheproceeded to Jangalpally vil-lage where she inaugurated asanitary napkins unit, whichwill be run by tribal women.Speaking on the occasion, shecalled upon the women tostand on their own feet.

Sathyavathi Rathod laysfoundation for Sakhi centre

PNS n HYDERABAD

Alleging discrepancies over increasein estimation cost of Kaleshwaramproject, Forum for Good Governancedemanded the state government torelease white paper on it. Further, iturged Governor TamilisaiSoundararajan to intervene and lookinto the matter.

With an idea to utilise Godavariwater to irrigate the parched lands ofTelangana state, Government haveaccorded permission to diverting 160TMC of water from Pranahita rivernamed it as Pranahita ChevellaProject. After a detailed field studiesfor two years, the government gaveaccord to start the project. Later, theinitial target of irrigating 12.2 lakhacres increased to 16.4 lakh acres.With this move, the project cost alsohiked to Rs 80,190 crore, revealed an

RTI reply from Irrigation and CADDepartment.

"The project, which was thought inthe year 2005 with an estimated costof Rs 17,875 crore is now costing Rs80,190 crore and likely to increase to1,10,000 crore," said M PadmanabhaReddy Secretary of forum for GoodGovernance. After formation ofTelangana state, the project tookmany twists and turns. In the name ofre-engineering, the total project waschanged and given a new nameKaleshwaram Project.

"We are not against the project, butour objection is regular cost escalation.Irrigation department is known formaintaining utmost secrecy in expen-diture, and overnight increase of esti-mates. Every pie spent onKaleshwaram Project is tax payersmoney as such people have a right toknow as to what is happening,” he said.

FGG demands whitepaper on Kaleshwaram

KLIS will turn into a‘white elephant': BJP

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2020 nation 05

Eight Naxals, includingfour allegedly involvedin killing a BJP MLA in

April last year, surrenderedin Chhattisgarh'sinsurgency-hit Dantewadadistrict, police said onTuesday.The cadres, whowere active in south Bastar,turned themselves in beforesenior police and CRPFofficials on Monday, citing their disappointment with the "hollow"Maoist ideology, an official said. The ultras also said that the recentsurrender by their colleagues as a part of 'Lon Varratu" (return toyour home/village) campaign of the district police had alsoencouraged them to quit violence, the official said. Of the eightcadres, Aytu Bhaskar (25), who was activeas a section commander in platoon number 13 of Maoists, wascarrying a reward of Rs 3 lakh on his head, Dantewadasuperintendent of police Abhishek Pallava said. Bhaskar had been injail for close to 11 months in 2019 in connection with the uprootingof railway tracks by Naxals in Bhansi area and is currently out onbail, the official said.

INDIA CORNER

The Tripura Police arrestedone person for allegedlymolesting a pregnant

woman at a hospital inUnakoti district, police saidon Tuesday. Officer-in-Chargeof Kailashahar Women PoliceStation, Rinki Debbarma, saidthe accused entered thepatient's room in the attire ofa doctor and molested the woman on the pretext of examining her.When the woman and one ASHA worker raised alarm, theperson fled from the scene, police said.Her husband later filed apolice complaint, following which the accused was arrested andproduced before the chief judicial magistrate, who remanded theman in police custody till December 30.

Man arrested for molestingpregnant woman in Tripura

Union Minister of State for HealthAshwini Kumar Choubey has saidthat he has tested positive for

COVID-19 and is under homeisolation. In a tweet, Choubeyinformed on Monday that heunderwent a test after showing initialsymptoms of coronavirus infection. Heurged everyone who came in contactwith him recently to get tested for thedisease. "On getting the initialsymptoms of coronavirus infection, Igot a test done and the report came positive. My health is fine and Iam following all guidelines in home isolation on the advice ofdoctors. I request those who have come in contact with me in thelast few days to please isolate themselves and get a test done," hesaid.

Union Minister Choubey testspositive for Coronavirus

Prime Minister NarendraModi will lay thefoundation stone of the All

India Institute of MedicalSciences in Rajkot, Gujarat, onDecember 31 via videoconference, the PMO said onTuesday.Over 201 acres ofland has been allotted for theinstitute, which will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 1,195 croreand is expected to be completed by mid-2022, the Prime Minister'sOffice said. The state-of-the-art 750-bed hospital will also have a 30-bed AYUSH block. It will have 125 MBBS seats and 60 nursingseats, the PMO said.

PM to lay foundation stone ofAIIMS Rajkot tomorrow

PNS n LUCKNOW

Prime Minister Narendra Modion Tuesday accused previousgovernments of delaying thededicated freight corridor pro-ject and ignoring modernisa-tion of railways, and said pol-itics should be kept away frominfrastructure development.

Inaugurating the NewBhaupur-New Khurja sectionof the Eastern DedicatedFreight Corridor (EDFC) viavideo conferencing, he saidthe "roar" of Bharat and'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' (Self-reliant India) were clearly heardas the first freight train oper-ated on the Khurja-Bhaupurfreight section, and assertedthat the corridor will also helpfarmers transport their harveston time.

The prime minister alsodeprecated the tendency ofpeople to target infrastructureduring protests and demon-strations, saying infrastructuredoes not belong to any leader,political party or governmentbut is that of the country andits citizens.

Attacking previous govern-ment on the pace of carryingout projects, Modi said thefreight project was given per-mission in 2006 but it was onlyon paper as the then govern-ment lacked the "seriousnessand urgency" with which it hadto take it up with the states.

Till 2014 not a single kmtrack of the project was laidand the funds sanctioned

could not be spent properly.After 2014 ,it was restarted andofficials asked to take it for-ward and by then the budgethad gone up by 11 times, henoted.

The prime minister saidthat on coming to power, hepersonally monitored the pro-ject and held a dialogue withstakeholders and got new tech-nology as a result of whichabout 1100 km work got com-pleted in the next few months.

"Imagine not a single km ineight years and 1100 km in 6years," he said.

The 351-km section hasbeen built at a cost of Rs 5,750crore. The EDFC is 1,840-km-long and extends from

Ludhiana in Punjab to Kolkatain West Bengal.

Modi also inaugurated theEDFC's operation centre atPrayagraj and flagged off thefirst 1.5 km long goods trains.

The prime minister saidpolitical apathy not just ham-pered the freight corridor pro-ject but also had a bearing onthe entire railways system.

Earlier the focus was onincreasing number of trains forpolitical benefit in electionsbut not on the tracks on whichthe trains were run as therewas no investment on it, hesaid.

There was no seriousnesstowards modernisation of therail network, trains were being

run on slow speed and theentire network was full ofdangerous unmanned cross-ings, he said.

"We changed this work cul-ture and thinking after 2014and ended the separateRailway budget, invested in railtracks, ended unmannedcrossings, focussed on broad-ening and electrification of thenetwork", he said.

In the past few years,reforms have been carried outat all levels and can be seen. Beit cleanliness, better food andother facilities, the changes canbe seen, he said.

“Past experience tell us thatpolitics should be kept awayfrom infrastructure as it is thepath to development of thenation and not means of fiveyears of politics,” he said,adding that if political partiesneed to compete, they shouldcompete on quality, speed,scale of infrastructure.

Modi also slammed the ten-dency of targeting infrastruc-ture during demonstrations.

“I also want to stress onanother mentality which weoften see during protests anddemonstrations. This mental-

ity is of harming infrastructureof the country and its proper-ty. We should remember thatthis infrastructure does notbelong to any leader, politicalparty or government but is thatof the country and its citizens,”he said.The sweat and moneyof the poor and middle classtaxpayers is harmed by this.While discharging our demo-cratic rights we should alsoremember our national duty,he stressed.

The prime minister notedthat how the railways, which isoften targeted, has helped intimes of crisis was seen duringthe coronavirus pandemic.

It brought labourers back totheir homes, ferried food-grains and medicines to thecorners of the country besidesfunctioning as corona hospitalsand it will always be remem-bered, he said

The prime minister notedthat India has taken a big leapin 'atmanirbharta' (selfreliance) in the field of railwayrelated manufacturing andadded that the country is notjust manufacturing moderntrains for its own use but alsofor export purposes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modiaccused previous governments ofdelaying the dedicated freight corridorproject and ignoring modernisation of railways

Keep politics away from growth: ModiPNS n BOLPUR (WB)

Iterating that the BJP is a"party of outsiders", WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee on Tuesday assertedthat the land of Nobel LaureateRabindranath Tagore willnever allow hate politics to tri-umph over secularism.

Banerjee, during a rally inBolpur, branded Visva- BharatiVice-Chancellor BidyutChakrabarty as a "BJP man",and said that he plans todestroy the rich heritage of thehallowed institution by"importing divisive and com-munal politics inside its cam-pus".

"Those who don't respectMahatma Gandhi and other

icons of the country aretalking of building 'SonarBangla'(Golden Bengal).Rabindranath Tagore hasalready created 'Sonar Bangla'several decades ago, all weneed to do is to protect the

place from the communalonslaught of the BJP," Banerjeesaid during her address, fol-lowing a four-kilometre road-show here.

Hitting out at Visva-BharatiVC, the feisty TMC boss said"attempts to destroy Tagore'scultural abode have to beresisted with all might".

"I feel bad when I see effortsare on to pursue communal

politics at Visva-Bharati. TheVC there is a BJP man, he istrying to tarnish the heritageof this institution by practisingcommunal politics," the chiefminister claimed.

Talking about the recentdefections from the TMC,

Banerjee said saffron campmay have bought a few MLAs,but it can never buy her party.

Land of Tagore will neverallow hate politics: Mamata

PNS n NEW DELHI

NCP supremo and formeragriculture minister SharadPawar on Tuesday accused theCentre of bulldozing threenew farm laws without consult-ing states and asserted thatagriculture cannot be run "sit-ting in Delhi" as it involvesfarmers toiling in distant vil-lages.

As farmers' protest on Delhiborders against these laws hasentered its second month andfive rounds of talks so far havefailed to resolve the crisis,Pawar also raised questionsabout the composition of thethree-member ministerialgroup negotiating with theunions, saying the ruling partyshould have put forward lead-ers with "in-depth" under-standing of agriculture andfarmers' issues.

In an interview with PTI, theformer union minister saidthe government needs to takethe protests seriously and it was"unfair" on the part of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toblame opposition parties forthe agitation by farmers.

He said opposition partieswill take a call on their futurecourse of action on Wednesdayif the government fails toresolve farmers' issue in thenext scheduled meeting withrepresentatives of 40 protesting

unions.On Union Agriculture

Minister Narendra SinghTomar's claim that Pawar as thethen agriculture minister dur-ing the Manmohan Singh-ledUPA government also wantedfarm reforms but failed to doso due to political pressure, theNCP leader said he certainly

wanted to bring some reformsin the sector but "not in theway" BJP government hasdone, and they were differentfrom the current ones.

Pawar said he consulted allstate governments before ini-tiating the reforms and didn'tmove forward until all theirreservations were resolved.

"I and Manmohan Singhalso wanted to bring somereforms in the agriculture sec-tor but not in the same way asthe current dispensation did.That time the AgricultureMinistry held long delibera-tions on the proposed reformswith agriculture ministers of allstates and experts of the sector,"Pawar said.

The ministers of some stateshad some strong reservationsabout the reforms and beforetaking a final decision, the agri-culture ministry at that timeagain wrote to state govern-ments seeking their opinion, hesaid.

Pawar, who has served asUnion Agriculture Ministertwice, said agriculture is arural phenomenon and itrequires consultation withstates.

Free WiFi hotspots will be setup at Singhu border for theprotesting farmers, AAP

leader Raghav Chadha said onTuesday. Addressing a pressconference, he said the decisionhas been taken by "farmers''sevadar Arvind Kejriwal"."We want the farmers to stay intouch with their family. We haveidentified a few spots to install

the WiFi hotspots. This is aninitiative of Arvind Kejriwal andthe party," Chadha said.He said more such hotspots willbe installed if there is moredemand.Farmers from variousparts of the country have beencamping at different borderpoints of Delhi for over a monthnow to demand repeal of thethree agri laws, which were voted

through in Parliament inSeptember amid strong protestsby opposition parties.Kejriwal and his Aam AadmiParty have come out strongly insupport of protesting farmers.Earlier this month, he had visitedSinghu border, one of the protestsites, and reviewed arrangementsmade for farmers by the AAP-ledcity government.

Govt bulldozed three farm laws, says Pawar

Free WiFi hotspots to be set up for farmers

PNS n NEW DELHI

All international passengerswho arrived in India fromDecember 9 to 22 and testedpositive for COVID-19 will besubjected to genome sequenc-ing as part of the Centre'sstrategy to detect the mutatedcoronavirus strain that hasemerged in the UnitedKingdom recently.

Others will be followed upby the state and district surveil-lance officers, and will be test-ed as per ICMR guidelines,even if asymptomatic, betweenfifth and 10th day of arrival,according to the Union HealthMinistry's guidance documenton genomic sequencing.

"All the international passen-

gers who have arrived in Indiaduring the last 14 days (fromDecember 9 to 22), if sympto-matic and tested positive, willbe subjected to genomesequencing," the documentstated.

The presence of the new UKvariant of the coronavirus hasalready been reported byDenmark, the Netherlands,Australia, Italy, Sweden, France,Spain, Switzerland, Germany,Canada, Japan, Lebanon and

Singapore so far.The health ministry has

established the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium(INSACOG) for laboratoryand epidemiological surveil-lance and to expand the wholegenome sequencing of thecoronavirus in the country,aiding in the understanding ofhow the virus spreads andevolves.

India has put in place a pro-

active and preventive strategyto detect and contain themutant variant of the virus. Itincludes temporary suspen-sion of all flights coming fromthe UK with effect from themidnight of December 23 tillDecember 31 and mandatorytesting of all UK returnee airpassengers through RT-PCRtest.

Ten regional laboratorieshave been identified by the

Centre where states will sendfive per cent of their COVID-19 positive samples for genomesequencing to detect the newcoronavirus variant. StandardOperating Procedure (SOP)for EpidemiologicalSurveillance and Response inthe context of new variant ofSARS-CoV-2 has already beenissued by the Health Ministry.

The purpose of this initiativeis to ensure proper screening ofinternational travellers arrivingin India for early detection ofnew SAR-CoV-2 variant cases.Further, epidemiological sur-veillance of the passengers,who have arrived in Indiasince November 23, will beconducted in the communitythrough active follow up.

Genome sequencing for all Covid-19 positive flyersPassengers who arrived in India fromDecember 9 to 22 and tested positivefor Coronavirus will be subjected togenome sequencing, the Union HealthMinistry said

Gujarat BJPMP MansukhVasava quitspartyPNS n BHARUCH

Gujarat BJP MP and formerUnion minister MansukhVasava, who has been vocalon tribal issues, on Tuesdayquit the party and said hewould resign from Lok Sabhain the budget session ofParliament.

Vasava had written a letterto Prime Minister NarendraModi last week seeking with-drawal of a Ministry ofEnvironment, Forest andClimate Change notificationdeclaring 121 villages ofNarmada district as eco sen-sitive zone.

A six-term MP fromBharuch, Vasava in his letterto Gujarat BJP President C RPaatil said, "I am resigning sothat the image of the party isnot damaged because of mymistakes.

I have been a loyal workerof the party, so please forgiveme." In the letter toPaatil dated December 28,Vasava said he will resign asBharuch MP after meetingthe Lok Sabha Speaker dur-ing the budget session ofParliament.

PNS n MUMBAI

Mumbai Police have submit-ted a C summary reportbefore a metropolitan courthere in a case filed against awoman who was accused ofholding a "Free Kashmir"poster during a protest heldat the Gateway of Indiaagainst the JNU violence inJanuary this year, a seniorpolice official said onTuesday.

A C summary report isissued by the police in amatter when the criminalcase was filed due to mistakeof facts or the offence com-plained about is of a civilnature.

"The C-summary reporthas been submitted in a caseregistered against MehakMirza Prabhu at Colabapolice station," the officialsaid. An FIR had been regis-tered against Prabhu atColaba police station in southMumbai under section 153 B(Imputations, assertions prej-udicial to national integra-tion) of the Indian PenalCode (IPC).

PNS n COIMBATORE

The Nilgiri MountainRailway(NMR) train services inthe entire MettupalayamUdagamandalam (Ooty) sectionwill resume on daily basis witheffect from December 31.NMR

services on resumption will beoperated as Fully ReservedSpecial Trains. One pair of fullyreserved special train will be runbetween Mettupalayam andUdhagamandalam and threepairs between Coonoor andUdagamandalam.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Haryana has not stopped dis-charging industrial pollutantsinto the Yamuna despiterepeated reminders, Delhi JalBoard Vice-Chairman RaghavChadha said on Tuesday as heurged the Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB) to takeimmediate remedial measures.

Ammonia concentration inthe river at the Wazirabadbarrage has increased to 7ppm (parts per million)against the permissible limit of

0.8 ppm which is likely toaffect the water supply, hesaid.

"Discharge of industrial pol-lutants in Yamunathrough Rohtak X-Regulator and DD6has not stoppeddespite repeatedreminders to theHaryana govt,"Chadha said in atweet.

"Such irresponsiblebehaviour of Haryana govtadversely impacting the water

supply in Delhi must be dealtwith sternly," he added.

Chadha urged the CPCBand the Upper Yamuna River

Board to take immedi-ate cognisance of the

"nonchalant" atti-tude of theHaryana govern-ment and takeremedial measures.

The DJB onMonday said water

supply from Wazirabad,Chandrawal and Okhla watertreatment plants would remain

affected till the ammonia levelin the river reduces to a treat-able limit. These plants supplydrinking water to Central,North, West and South Delhi.

The CPCB had earlier thismonth raised concerns overpollution and frothing in theriver and asked Delhi, Haryanaand Uttar Pradesh to ensureeffective sewage treatment.

According to a CPCB state-ment, the monitoring of 22drains in Delhi has found 14drains "untapped and dis-charging sewage".

Ammonia levels in Yamuna spike againPNS n PATNA

Several people were injured ina lathi charge at a busy crossingin the heart of the city whenpolice personnel tried to stop aprocession, taken out in protestagainst the farm laws fromheading towards Raj Bhavan.Traffic was thrown out of gearas thousands of protestors,comprising members of variousfarmers organizations and pro-Left outfits, marched through

Frazer Road before they werethwarted at the Dak Bungalowcrossing. According to police,the crack down at DakBungalow crossing was preced-ed by skirmishes between thedemonstrators and police andadministrative officials at theGandhi Maidan, the startingpoint of the rally, where agita-tors tookexception to theirentry being allowed inside thepublic ground only through oneof the many gates.

Anti-farm law protesterslathi-charged in Patna

NMR services from Dec 31

Cops file ‘Csummary'report

‘FREE KASHMIR'

POSTEREight Naxals surrender inChhattisgarh's Dantewada district

The vertical split in theNepal Communist Party(NCP) was inevitable.After all, it was an arti-

ficial alliance of two ideologicalvariants of Marxist-Leninist ide-ology and bitter rivalry betweentwo unrelenting leaders —Prachanda, who led the Maoistsin the civil war and set the stagefor transformation in Nepal, andPrime Minister KP Oli (UnitedMarxist-Leninist) who createdthe tsunami of nationalism tosweep the polls on a largelyanti-India sentiment. The merg-er of the two parties and power-sharing on the basis of votes wonwas at the root of the “two-and-a-half years each” agreementbetween Oli and Prachandabecoming untenable. Theattempt at gluing fractures fol-lowing multiple crises was alsobound to fail.

The key actors in Nepal’smake-and-mend process arePresident BD Bhandari andChinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi.For China, it is a no-holds-barred effort to maintain unity inthe NCP which it had helped toforge and establish primacy inNepal over India for the first timein nearly 200 years. Its ongoingsalvage operation includes dis-patch of a four-member ChineseCommunist Party (CCP) delega-tion to Kathmandu over theweekend to patch up the Oli-Prachanda feud with whatever ittakes. China wants Oli to remainthe Prime Minister, withPrachanda and former PrimeMinister Madhav Nepal as theparty’s co-chairs, no revival ofParliament and elections, when-ever feasible. But the players arekeeping their options open.

Global Times, though, hasreported that China has no pref-erence for any party; it justwants a stable Government.India’s anodyne statement that“we have noted recent politicaldevelopments in Nepal; these areinternal matters for Nepal todecide as per its democraticprocess”, does not mean that it isa bystander. The split has alsodestabilised six of the sevenNCP provincial governments.

While both sides haveappealed to the ElectionCommission for ownership ofthe party’s name and symbol, theSupreme Court will decidewhether the dissolution of theHouse was legal and whether itsrevival is possible, and start thehearings next week. The mid-term elections slated for

April/May 2021 are unlikely tobe held on time. Oli hasexpanded his Cabinet, accom-modating several ofPrachanda’s people.Conspicuous is the lack of sup-port and empathy for Oli’sunconstitutional and undemocratic actions withnearly all political parties andcivil society condemning hismove, the latter even calling it ‘Oli-garchy’.

On the streets ofKathmandu, people are saying“India has done it”, or that“There was a phone call fromDelhi.” Some reports are sug-gesting that Oli and/or ForeignMinister Pradip Gyawaliwould visit New Delhi short-ly, the latter mentioned onMonday by NepaliAmbassador to IndiaNilambar Acharya. WhenIndia was the dominant powerin that country, Nepal’s criseswere blamed on New Delhi’s“micro-management”. NowChina is being accused ofinterfering in Nepal’s internalaffairs after Yanqi began herlatest round of interventions.Last week’s protest held out-side the Chinese Embassy inKathmandu was an extreme-ly rare event as the media andpublic angst is generallyreserved against India.

The Nepalese are linkingthe “phone call” to the flyingvisit to Kathmandu in Octoberby R&AW chief Samant Goel,who had a long conversationwith Oli that extended beyond

midnight. If India is indeed behind the friendlypersuasion of Oli in dissolvingParliament, it is a victory for the “agencies”, the name bywhich R&AW is called inNepal. For India, the breakupof the NCP is a triumph forNSA Ajit Doval.

In the past, the “agencies”have failed also spectacularly:Preventing the Dasehraalliance of the Left parties inOctober 2017 or Nepal’sConstitution-making coup in2015. On both occasions, Indiawas stumped. Chinese intelli-gence saved the short-livedOli-Prachanda coalitionGovernment once in 2017 butnot the second time whenPrachanda split and joinedthe Nepali Congress-led coali-tion. China supported the LeftAlliance in the 2017 electionsand the merger of the Allianceinto the NCP.

The CCP and the NCPenjoy fraternal relations andthe Chinese party’s ideologueshave been teaching the NCPcadres the “Xi JinpingThought”. China is investedheavily in Nepal — politically,economically, militarily andpeople to people. They will noteasily give up their recent pre-eminence in Nepal.

Two scenarios are beingpredicted. First, no revival ofParliament and no elections asscheduled, with Oli carryingon as the caretaker PrimeMinister indefinitely. Informedobservers say this is an Oli-

fixed match that India is sup-porting. The second scenarioenvisions restoration ofParliament, a coalitionGovernment formed byPrachanda-NCP with supportfrom the Nepali Congress andthe Janata Samajwadi PartyNepal. This combination alongwith its variant — Deuba sup-porting Oli in forming theGovernment — has been doingthe rounds for a long time.There is a third outcome whichthe Chinese are pursuing:Same as the first scenario butwith the NCP reunited andPrachanda and Madhav Nepalas party co-chairs. No one hasso far petitioned for a caretak-er Government for electionslike the one in 2012 headed byChief Justice Khilraj Regmi.

In 1994, Prime MinisterGP Koirala’s dissolution of theHouse was upheld by theSupreme Court. In 1995, PrimeMinister Manmohan Adhikaridissolved his minorityGovernment but the Housewas revived. In 2002, KingGyanendra dismissed PrimeMinister Sher Bahadur Deubafor failure to hold elections,calling him “incompetent”.

The same year, when theDeuba faction split from theNC under GP Koirala to formthe NC (Democratic), the sym-bol and name of the party wasretained by the Koirala faction.Consequent to the lessonsfrom frequent turnover ofGovernments (11 PrimeMinisters in 12 years), the

2015 republican Constitutionmade no provision for dissolu-tion of the House.

Neither Oli nor Prachandawant to be seen as splitting the party. Currently, the deckis arrayed in favour ofPrachanda retaining theparty’s name and symbol, theSun. He has the support of 300 of the 441 CentralCommittee members and 100of the 176 lawmakers. Whilethe EC will take a call on theownership of the party’s nameand symbol, the SupremeCourt will determine the legality and wisdom of termi-nating Parliament after 31months, with more than twoyears of its term remaining.

The Doval game planappears to be to support bothsides: Oli to keep Parliamentin abeyance and hold electionslater, and Prachanda to keepthe party divided even if theHouse is restored. China isbetting on both too, but tokeep its flock together. Oli’sFinance Minister BishnuPoudel came up with thisgem: “China should be happy.It has two NCPs — one inGovernment and the othertrying to restore the old one.”Best of both worlds is not aHappy 2021 for Nepal!

(The writer, a retired MajorGeneral, was Commander, IPKFSouth, Sri Lanka, and foundermember of the Defence PlanningStaff, currently the IntegratedDefence Staff. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

Many of us would want 2020 to be a blur of mem-ory while history would record it with more clar-ity as a turning point in human civilisation; one

where life as we knew it dissolved and liquefied and theCOVID-19 outbreak showed that our species was def-initely not sitting comfortably atop the evolutionary peak.And given its prolonged spell, the tiny microbe — fox-ing us by mutating itself and resisting all our efforts totame it — has for the first time made us uncertain aboutthe future, something that has been shaping our hori-zon, helping us plot the roadmap of our lives. Now, withour lives changing every moment, there’s certainly noth-ing to work towards or a predictive compass to guideus. And it is this absence of a future that is our great-

est loss this year, making us look more fragile than the virus has made us feel, claim-ing millions of lives. And the losses have been on many fronts. First, the loss of peo-ple — from scientists, virologists, doctors, celebrities, the rich and the poor, to allthe people we loved around us. We lost extraordinary talent, mourned those who stillhadn’t done their time, cried for those who had no reason to leave so early and leftmuch work unfinished. Humanity has been hollowed out with a severity that has notleft a single person unhurt. The second loss has been that of livelihood, be it throughjob and salary cuts, the closure of businesses and sunrise sectors of the economyshutting down. Never in our experienced history have we felt so economically dis-empowered, or helpless about continuing life without resources. The third obviousloss, therefore, has been that of a ritualised lifestyle that we had built up around our-selves on aspiration and which we fuelled with our ambitions. The forced break ontravels, celebrations, gatherings and parties has meant the loss of social commu-nion as we experienced and defined it. A year of denial has meant the loss of con-spicuous consumption, something which we used to announce our self-worth within society.Perhaps these losses have confirmed our worst failures as human beingsand provided an opportunity to not just improve ourselves but rebuild a more com-passionate, shared and equitable future. Even reset the template with the best ver-sion of ourselves and making the right choices. That is how we will make good ourlosses and convert 2020 from being a “lost year” to a “turnaround year” for human-ity. It might appear high-sounding but we have to go back to basic values and altru-istic living and, given our uncertain life spans, fill the time we have now with mean-ingful pursuits. Of course, it is difficult to overturn the politics of convention and powerplay. There is too much focus on returning to our pre-pandemic ways by overtly depend-ing on the vaccine to defeat the virus and reclaim our lives. But the emergence of arecent deadlier strain has shown that we need more and that old selfish mindsetsand self-serving attitudes simply won’t work anymore. We must become our ownhope to silence the virus. For that is forcing us to look inward and value our familiesand the communities around us. Making us realise that an experiential indulgence ofthe senses is no substitute for the emotions of fulfilling relationships. Where a sharedchore, a mundane task or running an errand seems exciting and less of a drudgery.Where the satisfaction of a job well done and moments well lived, no matter howsmall or insignificant, settles deep inside us. And where the honesty of what we real-ly are can lift the haze around us. That would dissolve the fear of the virus. Yes, 2020has been a great disruptor. The question is can we make 2021 a great creator of humangains?

In the pantheon of India’s top cricketing wins, Melbourne2020 may not be at the top. In fact, it won’t becauseuntil something truly remarkable happens, nothing will

ever top Eden Gardens, 2001. But Melbourne will havea place near the very top; not because it was a greatwin, but because of what preceded it at Adelaide a weekago when India’s vaunted batting line-up was bowledout for a truly embarrassing 36. India then lost two ofits strike bowlers, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma,to injury and its talismanic leader Virat Kohli took pater-nity leave in order to be next to his wife when she deliv-ers their first child. With all this happening, Indian crick-

et fans feared the worst, a truly apocalyptic whitewash Down Under. Yet, powered on bya desire to redeem themselves, not only in the eyes of 1.3 billion fans but also their own,the Indian cricket team delivered a truly astonishing and comprehensive win at the MelbourneCricket Ground which, like Eden Gardens, is one of those cathedrals to the sport. As wehead into a new year, after living through the worst year in recent memory, and one whereunfortunately many millions across the world who have lost their lives to a truly awful dis-ease will not join us, this win should give every single one of us hope. Sport is, in essence,a distraction from life but nothing is as powerful as a story of redemption in sports. Andmore powerful still is a story of an unexpected redemption. Because such stories give ushope, false hope some might argue, because we do not know how the remaining twoTests in the series will go and India might still lose the series just like even with severalvaccines being deployed, humanity might not win the battle against COVID-19 anytimesoon; but hope is what is important.

Hope comes from leadership. Ajinkya Rahane was thrust into a leadership position hedid not necessarily want but one where he conducted himself brilliantly. The debutantsMohammed Siraj and Shubman Gill calmed the fire of the crucible of Test cricket well.Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah proved again that they are among the best bowlersin the sport, and India fell in love with Test cricket, a format pilloried by the attention-deficitgeneration as old, stodgy and way too long. Most importantly, India’s players have dealtwith the emotional deprivation of the “bubble” well, steering clear of breaking it no matterwhat the temptations, something many other Test teams such as Pakistan, the West Indiesand even England at home have not managed. The pandemic has not been easy on any-body but trying to understand how top athletes can manage themselves in a bubble isbeyond most of us. On this front, Lewis Hamilton, who recently won his record-equallingseventh F1 title, should be an inspiration to all. Of course, the Indian team has major ques-tions ahead of it. Our top order, particularly our opening slots, is still up for debate. Injurieshave ravaged the bowling unit, the latest victim being Umesh Yadav, and replacementscan’t just be flown in easily. The next two Test matches will be a challenge; Sydney hasalready been dropped as the host of the third Test match thanks to the Coronavirus run-ning rampant in Australia’s biggest city and it losing out on its traditional New Year’s slot.Maybe familiarity with the conditions will help India but maybe the Australian players willwant redemption themselves with talk of David Warner, an explosive batsman disgracedin a scandalous ball-tampering issue a couple of years ago, potentially making his returnto the Test team as well. Who knows? But we should enjoy this win and hope that India,and the world, can learn from this and find it possible to bounce back as well in 2021.This is the best New Year’s sports gift that India has ever received.

Resilience pays!

Need to restore faithSir — This refers to the article‘The media must become thevoice of people’ (December 29).With the world “media” or theFourth Estate comes to mind asense of honesty, responsibili-ty, transparency, truth and clar-ity of expression about all theimportant developments hap-pening domestically andaround the world.

The media’s role assumessignificance as it keeps peopleabreast of news and explains thenuances of complicated andintricate issues. The role of themedia in disseminating infor-mation and spreading awarenessagainst Government policiesalso keeps the ruling dispensa-tion on its toes. The elected rep-resentatives often cite the issuesraised by the media to attract theattention of the Government topeople’s concerns.This is reallya sorry state of affairs that themedia seems to have lost trackof important news and is focus-ing its energy and attention onseveral mundane and insignif-icant issues only to obfuscate thematters of public interests.

Azhar A KhanRampur

Powering aheadSir — The recent announcementby the Railway Board regardingthe complete electrification of itsrailway network by 2023 is a wel-come step. The Railways is muchdependent on fossil fuel and thediesel-powered locos affect theenvironment badly. The electri-fication of its entire network willreduce carbon emission levels

and make it a highly sustainableand eco-friendly organisation.

The 2023 target should beachieved well in time by work-ing in phases across all the rail-way zones, including the railwaylines along the Konkan Railwayroute. The complete electrifica-tion move would bring immenseopportunities to the IndianRailways, both in terms of pas-

senger commute and freighttraffic, and may help identifyways to reduce the burden on theexchequer. The organisationshould make all the efforts toinch closer towards achievingeco-friendly electrified lines bydoing away with diesel-pow-ered locos by 2023.

Varun DambalBengaluru

New-age warriorsSir — The plight of migrantworkers after the outbreak ofthe COVID-19 virus willremain imprinted in our mindsfor a long time, perhaps as longas we live. However, the scenearound us wasn’t all bleak all thetime. Punctuating the poignantimages we saw around us mostof the time, were also stories ofgrit, determination and hero-ism.

The sheer dedication ofdoctors, healthcare staff, police-men, suppliers of daily needs,safai karamcharis et al stood outand we honoured them with anew name, Corona Warriors.Indeed, they helped millions ofIndians by putting their ownlives in danger. While the pan-demic showed us the positiveside of humanity, poor publichealthcare infrastructure wasonce again exposed. Hopefully,the Government has learnt itslessons and will now pay swiftattention to improving it on awar footing.

Bal GovindNoida

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

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op nionHYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2020

06

Good decision to shun politics, Thalaiva!

At last, citing health reasons, superstar Rajinikanthhas announced that he is not floating any party. Adeeply religious man, he has regarded his illness

as a premonitory divine warning againsttaking risks. For all the occasional speech-es he made, the superstar appeared to bedisinclined and reluctant to join politics.It is widely believed that the pressure fromthe BJP made him say “yes” after a longperiod of indecision.

The fluctuations in his blood pressure,besides his family’s love for him and hisdedication towards his family, have even-tually dissuaded him from making apolitical foray. His ill health would not have permittedhim to undertake an extensive campaign withoutwhich he could not have fought the electoral battle. Hewould not have liked to reach the masses only throughsocial media. His decision to not join politics seems to

be wise considering his age, fragile health and publicresentment against Right-wing politics of which heappears to be a representative. Rajinikanth’s espousal

of “spiritual politics” has come to be viewedas “saffron politics”.

He has sought the forgiveness of hisfans for disappointing them and assured thepeople of Tamil Nadu that he will continueto serve them. Rajini Makkal Mandram willcontinue its welfare work. There is no wayto know whether Rajini, affectionatelyknown as Thalaiva, has been cut out to bea politician. As a screen hero, Rajinikanthcommands a lot of love and affection. But

cinema and politics are worlds apart; it is difficult to besuccessful in both in equal measure. Whether he extendshis support to any party in the run-up to the Assemblyelections remains to be seen.

G David Milton Kanyakumari

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

The year of loss

David (Warner) looks reallygood. He has started traininga bit and started runningbetween the wickets. I thinkthe early signs with him arevery good for the third Test.

Australia skipper—Tim Paine

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

S O U N D B I T EThe amount of hostility Ifaced for standing up for mybeloved Mumbai baffled me.Today I went to Mumba Deviand Shri Siddhivinayak jiand got their blessings.

Actor—Kangana Ranaut

India’s victory in Melbourne is a lesson in the power of commitment. A determination to bounce back

Can we convert 2020 from being a ‘lost year’ to a ‘turnaround year’ for the sake of humanity?

Trouble in NepalPrime Minister KP Oli and contender Prachanda indulge in a power tussle as China has aimed its salvage operation at maintaining unity in the NCP

ASHOK K MEHTA

I quit the Cabinet, I quitthe Assembly which thepeople welcomed. I havenow joined the BJP andthe people of Nandigramsupported me.

BJP leader—Suvendu Adhikari

Right now, we just aren'tgetting all of the informationthat we need from the outgoing administration. It's nothing short, in myview, of irresponsibility.

US President-elect—Joe Biden

YEARENDER

2020

A year of lost opportunities

IT’S UNFORTUNATE FOR THE CONGRESS THAT THE

PERSON BEING CONSIDERED FOR THE POST OF

PARTY CHIEF IS ABSENT ON ITS FOUNDATION DAY.

—MADHYA PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER

SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN

I DON'T THINK THE BJP SHOULD HAVE ANY

OBJECTIONS TO HIM (RAHUL GANDHI) VISITING

AN AILING GRANDMOTHER.

—CONGRESS CHIEF SPOKESPERSON

RANDEEP SURJEWALA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

This was a unique year in many differentways and is bound to be remembered asone of the most eventful ones in living

memory. However challenging it might havebeen for Governments, world leaders and thecommon man, for the Indian judiciary, 2020 wasa year of major challenges and lost opportuni-ties. It was unusual for the judiciary and partic-ularly for the apex court, because the challengesposed before it were unprecedented and theexpectations from it were extraordinarily high.This was a year of major constitutional changes,the consequences of which were exacerbated bythe Coronavirus pandemic and the challengesposed by it. For the judiciary, particularly theSupreme Court of India, this could have beenan opportunity that it might have wanted to grabon to and send out a strong message that it func-tions independently.

It should have sent out the message that itis not an executive court: An image that has beenassociated with it only recently. However, at theend of the year, the results are starkly differentand suffice it to say that they don’t seem to bein favour of the top court.

At the end of last year, the Centre hadbrought in the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA). The challenge to the constitutionality ofthe CAA and its supposedly deadly combinationwith the National Register of Citizens (NRC) andlater the National Population Register (NPR) wasbrought before the Supreme Court.

The CAA is arguably one of the most con-troversial pieces of legislation in the recent past.The Act amends the Citizenship Act of 1955 andallows Indian citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs,Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who havefled from the neighbouring Muslim majoritycountries of Pakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan due to religious persecution or fearof religious persecution. This is all well and goodand a helpful move for the people fleeing per-secution. However, the Act perpetuates the exclu-sion of many who have already sought and con-tinue to take shelter in this country.

Reports have shown that State Governmentsin several parts of the country have started con-structing detention centres for those who willnow become illegal immigrants in the countrythey have considered to be their motherland andhave contributed to as well. Those who have beena witness and part of its growth and developmentstory.

In a democracy, when governments turnmajoritarian the only option left before the peo-ple is to either protest or seek a remedy beforethe courts. There were widespread protestsagainst the CAA across the country. TheShaheen Bagh protest in the Capital hadacquired international fame because of itsrelentless effort to start a dialogue with the State.The State, on the other hand, had continuous-ly termed the protest and the protesters “anti-national.”

In extreme distress, several petitionersapproached the court under Article 32 of theConstitution of India challenging the constitu-tionality of the CAA and the NRC. The respon-dents, in another petition, also approached thecourt challenging the right to protest of the pro-testors at Shaheen Bagh. In the Amit Sahni vs.Commissioner of Police case, it was argued thatthe protestors must not be allowed to protest at

public places for an indefinite periodbecause such demonstrations causeextreme inconvenience to the public atlarge and would, therefore, fall withinthe ambit of the restrictions withinArticle 19(2). So, at this point, therewere two petitions tabled before thecourt: One on the constitutionality ofthe CAA and the second on the pro-tester’s right to protest at public spaces.

The court has until today notheard the CAA petition, whereas thejudgment in the second petition hasalready been delivered, wherein thecourt has held that public places can-not be occupied for an indefinite peri-od for the purpose of a protest and thatthe State must provide an alternativespot for the same. This, especially whenthe Government was arresting protest-ers from several parts of the country.

Even until this day, members fromthe ruling party continue to make state-ments during election rallies withrespect to throwing out illegal immi-grants from the country and theSupreme Court has still not heard thematter to clear the air of confusion sur-rounding it. This has led to the rulingparty gaining more and more groundelectorally while the protest seems toseep down to irrelevancy with everypassing day.

Similar is the fate of the petitionthat is pending before the court againstthe abrogation of Article 370 thattook place on August 5, 2019. Therewere three kinds of pleas before thecourt post the abrogation. First werethe habeas corpus petitions against thedetention of several prominent polit-ical leaders in the Valley.

Former Chief Ministers and UnionMinisters who have served not just thepeople of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)

but also the country were locked upand detained for more than a year andmany continue to be detained eventoday. Many habeas corpus petitions arepending before the court and no judg-ment has been delivered to date. Manyof these petitions have become infruc-tuous after the executive branch of theState decided to release the detainees.But the court took no notice of it.

Second were the batch of petitionson media restrictions and communi-cations blackout. To its credit, the courtpassed a pathbreaking judgment in theAnuradha Bhasin and Ghulam NabiAzad vs. Union of India case this year,upholding the freedom of speech andexpression through the internet.However, the judgment was not fol-lowed by the J&K Administration anda contempt petition is pending beforethe court for over eight months now.The challenge to the constitutionalityof abrogation of Article 370 is alsopending for more than a year.

The court faced flak also withrespect to its selective outrage on theissue of arrest of citizens, socialactivists, politicians, free thinkers andwriters. The stark dichotomy becamea matter of contention and citizenswent on to criticise the court on everysocial media platform. Many journal-ists and social activists are underarrest even today and the court hastaken little to no notice of it, citingsome technical ground on which thepetitioners have failed to establishtheir case.

The last issue that I would like tobriefly touch upon is the Electoral BondScheme. The Finance Bill, 2017, intro-duced electoral bonds, that are inter-est-free bearer bonds. It is an instru-ment that is used to donate money to

political parties. The parties involvedwill probably be a donor, a politicalparty and the Reserve Bank of India —which acts as the intermediary. Such ascheme introduced in India is one thatis first of its kind in a democracy.Political parties are being funded in anon-transparent way and such ascheme would only add to the woundsof Indian democracy. The scheme waschallenged before the court as early as2018; however, the top court has notheard the matter until today.

The fact that the judiciary was inthe news this year for the way it hasfunctioned in the recent past is trou-bling. Contempt petitions against thosecriticising its style of functioning wereevidence of the fact that the judiciaryhas narrowed its understanding of therole it is supposed to play in a democ-racy. Citizens have either ways taken tothe streets this year and have protest-ed in solidarity with those who havebeen at the wrong end of the rope whenit comes to the protection of their fun-damental rights.

While 2020 was a year of majorchallenges and lost opportunities, 2021will be a year of aspirations from thejudiciary. Parties before the courts willwant to see a different image of thejudiciary: One that is more empathet-ic, strong, a protector of people’s fun-damental rights, authoritative and onethat doesn’t back down before the exec-utive. Citizens would want their caus-es to be heard with more alacrity andmore concern. In the new year the judi-ciary needs to redefine its role in ademocracy and it cannot be the onethat it has chosen to play in 2020.

(The writer is from the NationalLaw University, Visakhapatnam. Theviews expressed are personal.)

In the new year, the judiciary needs to redefine its role in a democracy and it shouldn’t be the part that it has chosen to play in 2020

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

A labour of love

RAM ACHARYA

A quick glance shows that more than 95 per centmembers of US President-elect Joe Biden’s

transition team fall in the category of volunteers

ANURAG TIWARY

WHILE 2020 WASA YEAR OF

MAJORCHALLENGES AND

LOSTOPPORTUNITIES,2021 WILL BE A

YEAR OFASPIRATIONS

FROM THEJUDICIARY.

PARTIES BEFORETHE COURTS

WILL WANT TOSEE A DIFFERENT

IMAGE OF THEJUDICIARY: ONE

THAT IS MOREEMPATHETIC,

STRONG, APROTECTOR OF

PEOPLE'SFUNDAMENTAL

RIGHTS,AUTHORITATIVEAND ONE THATDOESN'T BACKDOWN BEFORE

THE EXECUTIVE

As we all know, a relay race is a track-and-field sport consist-ing of a set number of stages. Each leg is run by a differentmember of a team. The runner finishing one leg is usually required

to pass on the baton to the next one, while both are running in a markedexchange zone. This is done so that the momentum of the race isnot lost. The American presidential system is quite like a relay race,with each successive President-elect not only selecting the key play-ers of his administration but also setting up a Review Team duringthe transition period. The job of the Review Team is to help the President-elect in framing the policies of his administration. This enables himto hit the ground running once he is sworn in. This is a time-hon-oured tradition followed by the US since its inception. The time avail-able to the leader, between his being declared the President-elect andtaking over of the presidency, is meant for handing over of the prover-bial baton. Of course he may choose to change the colour and shapeof the baton or carry an entirely new one on the run. But then that’sa different story!

Even as outgoing US President Donald Trump continues to putup roadblocks and the two leaders continue to spar on a daily basis,President-elect Joseph Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harrisare ploughing on, undeterred. They have set up a website display-ing the names of the members of the advisory team which is help-ing them shape their policies and action plan. The website says the“review teams are responsible for understanding the operations ofeach agency, ensuring a smooth transfer of power and preparing forPresident-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris and their Cabinetto hit the ground running on Day One.”

In order to keep everything transparent and above board, the USPresidential Transition Act requires the President to disclose the all-important “source of funding” of all Review Team members. As perthe details on the website, hundreds of volunteers have signed up tohelp the new administration. Then there are those who are full timetransition employees paid by the Transition Fund and, lastly, there areindividuals who will be funded through an appropriation administeredby the General Services Administration.

However, a quick glance shows that more than 95 per cent ofthe Review Team members fall in the category of volunteers. In addi-tion to their names, the list also provides their credentials such asarea of expertise and employment details. The subjects on which theteam is expected to advise the new administration are wide-ranging.They will examine the US Postal Services where the team would reviewthe working of the Postal Regulatory Commission, the US Departmentof Agriculture where the team would review the Farm CreditAdministration and Federal Agriculture Mortgage Corporation.

A team of 28 members, advising on the Department of Commercewhich is responsible for steering the nation’s economy, would alsoreview the Export-Import Bank, while an even larger team of 38 wouldadvise on matters pertaining to the all-powerful Department of Defence.The team would review the country’s force posture worldwide andoperations to deter enemies, as well as the budget planning under-way at the Pentagon and other security agencies. The 26-strong teamon the Department of Education will review the Corporation for Nationaland Community Service and includes a couple of Persons of IndianOrigin (PIO) like Ajita Menon of Calbright College and Shital Shah ofthe American Federation of Teachers.

Each team also has a nominated leader, who will organise meet-ings, collate views from various members and present an action planfor Biden and Harris to pursue. Interestingly, the crucial Departmentof Energy, which would review the Federal Energy RegulatoryCommission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is headed bya PIO, Arun Majumdar of the prestigious Stanford University.

A 32-strong team, mostly comprising volunteers, would be look-ing into the Department of Health and Human Services and review-ing the Consumer Safety Commission. The team with perhaps thelargest number of tasks on its plate is the one reviewing the Departmentof Justice. It is required to examine the Federal Election Commission,the US Election Assistance Commission, the US Commission on CivilRights, the National Council on Disabilities, the US Access Board,AbilityOne, the State Justice Institute and the Legal Services Corporation.During this transition period the President-elect also gets to make over4,000 appointments in key portfolios, such as departmental heads,some of whom may have to be confirmed by a select committee.Compared to this, in the Indian system the all-powerful Prime Ministergets to choose just his Council of Ministers and the top bureaucratmanning his own office, while the majority of the officials in variousMinistries and other Government departments and bodies continueas before, studiously following age-old systems and procedures.

How much of the inputs from various US transition teams willbear fruit is anybody’s guess. But one thing is certain: It will serveto shake up things and bring about change. Only time will tell if thesechanges are for the better, or for worse.

(The writer is a former member of the Railway Board. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

As we approach 2021, we cannothelp looking back at the trail ofdeath and devastation left

behind by the COVID-19 pandem-ic. The year 2020 was no less than anightmare as governments worldwidegrappled with the virus even as theglobal economy plummeted to a newlow, leaving millions unemployedand at their wits’ end.

During the fight against COVID-19 in India, environmental concernsand priorities took a back seat as theGovernment put all its weight behindfighting the deadly virus and its

socio-economic impact on the nation.As per the latest count, India had atotal of 10,224,797 COVID casesand 1,48,190 casualties, while thenumber of cases worldwide touched81,767,170 with 1,784,026 peoplesuccumbing to the infection.

The successive waves of infectionand the lockdown necessitated by theCOVID-19 pandemic left India’seconomy shattered and ruined.Unemployment figures drasticallyrose from 6.7 per cent in March to 26per cent in April, which translates tonearly 140 million people losingtheir jobs in a shockingly short spanof time. Further, during the same peri-od, business activity fell sharply from82 per cent to 44 per cent, followedby the largest ever Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) contraction of minus24 per cent in the First Quarter (Q1)of the Financial Year (FY) 2020-21. Infact, the Indian economy is estimat-ed to have suffered a loss of ̀ 7-8 tril-lion during the first 21 days of thelockdown. The world has not fared

well either. According to a study con-ducted by the Asian DevelopmentBank, the economic losses triggeredby the pandemic are expected to hitnearly $8 trillion, which is nearly nineper cent of the global GDP. Amongthe adverse impacts of the pandem-ic, much less debated or talked aboutis the severe blow to women in theworkforce. Many of the women, wholost their jobs or took time off dur-ing the pandemic in India and glob-ally, are now finding it difficult toreturn to any gainful employment.Adding to their woes are a host of fac-tors including unavailability ofdomestic help, the burden of house-hold chores, care work and onlineschooling of children forced to stay athome during the pandemic.

Other factors, too, have dealt anunexpected blow to the economywhich suddenly finds itself bereft of30 per cent of its dedicated and skilledworkforce. This has not only impact-ed household finances but also provedto be a setback to gender equality at

the workplace. According to theZinnov-Intel Gender Diversity studyonly 11 per cent of the Indian work-ing women make it to top leadershippositions compared to the global aver-age of above 20 per cent. This bleakscenario is set to get worse as womenfind it difficult to find jobs in the cur-rent environment.

Needless to say, these extraordi-nary circumstances have sentGovernment departments into a tizzyand the overburdened administrativemachinery has been unable to payattention to other pressing areas thatwere already in a critical stage beforethe outbreak. Environmental deterio-ration in the wake of climate changespurred by rising greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions was a contentiousissue, with feverish debates and delib-erations happening both on the nation-al and international forums. However,the contagion put an abrupt halt to allthis. For a beleaguered environment,this is akin to a death knell. Even beforethe pandemic hit the world, the dete-

riorating state of the environmentand the impact of climate change wereputting a huge strain on the economy.A report prepared by the UnitedNations titled ‘Economic Losses, Povertyand Disasters 1998-2018’ pegged thelosses suffered by the Indian economydue to climate change at $79.5 billionin a period of two decades. Thisunderlines the pitiable condition of theenvironment and the toll it is taking onour economy.

The pandemic has taught usmany painful and expensive lessonsbesides revealing the vulnerabilitiesand the strengths of our nation.Amid this suffering, an optimisticIndia must discover the silver liningand chart the future course keepingthe best interests of the environmentin mind. The gravity of the pandem-ic forced us to evolve the best responsemechanism that was able to mitigatethe spread of the infection to a cer-tain extent, which bought us sometime to develop a vaccine. The samedetermination now needs to be

applied to climate change adaption,environmental preservation and sus-tainable development.

More or less, the strategies adopt-ed to tackle the COVID-19 pandem-ic should also be applied in handlingthe problem of environmental degra-dation. The very first stage in fight-ing the contagion involved acceptingthe problem. As the pandemic struck,the affected nations, especially India,rapidly acknowledged the problemand set about addressing it. Thesame strategy needs to be followed forhandling environmental deteriorationand exploitation. We need to active-ly understand and acknowledge thedepth of the problem that pollutionand climate change present.

Second, the COVID-19 outbreakhas shown a superlative level of com-munication between the Governmentand the common man. This raised thelevel of public awareness regarding thepandemic and helped in ensuring thateach and every member of the com-munity became aware of the infection

and the safety protocols. This becameone of the largest public awarenessprogrammes ever conducted in India.A similar large-scale public awarenessprogramme must be kick-started bythe Government for the conservationof the environment. Third, theGovernment showed exemplary willby strictly enforcing the rules pertain-ing to COVID-19 prevention andmanagement.

It ensured that people adhered toCOVID protocols and proceduresthat helped slow the transmission ofthe infection. This kind of enforce-ment, if practised for preserving theenvironment and ensuring climatechange adaption, will go a long wayin preserving the environment andprotecting it. As we enter 2021, onecan only hope that the Governmentwill put its might behind fighting cli-mate change and environmentaldegradation.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist. The views expressed are per-sonal.)

Put environment conservation front and centreAs 2021 nears, one can only hope that the Govt will put its might behind fighting climate change and environmental degradation

KOTA SRIRAJ

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com analysisYEARENDER

2020

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2020 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals onTuesday said it has launched a

fixed-dose combination drug forthe treatment of Type 2 diabetes inthe country. It has introduced afixed-dose combination ofRemogliflozin Etabonate and

Vildagliptin in India for the management of Type 2 diabetes, theMumbai-based company said in a statement. The drug containsRemogliflozin (100 mg) and Vildagliptin (50 mg) in a fixed-dose andmust be taken twice daily to improve glycemic control in patients, itadded. The company has launched the product under two brandnames -- Remo V and Remozen V -- in the country. "Glenmark is thefirst company in the world to launch Remogliflozin + Vildagliptinfixed-dose combination and India is the first country to get access tothis FDC drug," the drugmaker said.

Engineering and constructionconglomerate Larsen & Toubro

(L&T) on Tuesday said it has won a‘significant' contract in Chhattisgarh.The company did not provide theexact contract value. However, asper its classification, a significantcontract ranges between Rs 1,000

crore to Rs 2,500 crore. "The Water and Effluent Treatment businessof L&T Construction has secured an EPC (engineering, procurementand construction) order involving design, engineering, supply andinstallation of plant and equipment to lay 135 km of slurry pipelineand water pipeline systems between Bacheli and Nagarnar andassociated facilities in the state of Chhattisgarh," the company said ina statement. L&T is already executing a pumping facility as part ofanother package for the same client in the same area that involvessupply of positive displacement pumps and construction of a slurrypump house, it added. L&T is an Indian multinational engaged in EPCprojects, anufacturing, defence and services with over USD 21 billionin revenue. It operates in over 30 countries.

Global investment manager AMPCapital and Sterlite Power have

entered into a partnership todevelop energy transmissionprojects in the country with a totalequity investment of USD 300million. "Global investmentmanager AMP Capital has

established a 50:50 partnership with Sterlite Power Transmission Ltd(Sterlite Power) for the development of energy transmission projectsin India," according to a joint statement by the two companies. Itadded that this marks the first investment in India for AMP Capital'sglobal infrastructure equity strategy. AMP Capital and Sterlite Powerwill each invest an initial amount of about USD 150 million in thedevelopment of four transmission projects, and have put in placedebt financing, which represents a total capital outlay of around USD1 billion. These projects have a circuit length of nearly 1,800 km oftransmission lines across the western, southern and northeasternregions of India.

AMP Capital, Sterlite Power tie upfor energy transmission projects

Glenmark launches fixed dosecombination drug for diabetes

Ratings agency ICRA on Tuesdaysaid it has revised its outlook

on the auto component industryfrom negative to stable, on theback of demand revival acrossoriginal equipment manufacturers(OEMs), replacements andexports. ICRA expects the

domestic auto component industry's revenue to grow 16-18 percent in the financial year starting April 2021, supported by factorssuch as increasing content per vehicle, low base effect, and higherrealisations. Long-term demand drivers include increased focus onlocalised supply chains by Indian OEMs. Diversification of supplychain risk by global OEMs is also expected to lead to increasedsourcing from India in the coming years, ICRA said in a statement.OEMs, which account for over 56 per cent of the auto componentdemand, have recorded a sharp increase in demand sinceSeptember across all segments, barring the medium and heavycommercial vehicle (M&HCV) industry, it added. Volumes of theautomotive industry will take 2-3 years to revert to the pre-COVID-19 highs. Schemes such as production-linked incentives couldencourage OEMs and large auto component vendors to advancetheir investment plans, targeted at exports.

L&T wins ‘significant'contract in Chhattisgarh

Auto parts industry revenue to

grow 16-18 pc in FY22

PNS n MUMBAI

Equity benchmark indicesSensex and Nifty continuedtheir bull run for the fifthstraight session on Tuesday toscale new peaks as investorsentiment remained upbeatamid positive domestic andglobal cues.

The BSE gauge Sensex set-tled with gains of 259.33 pointsor 0.55 per cent at a new clos-ing high of 47,613.08.

Starting off on a bullishnote, the 30-share index wenton to hit its all-time intradayhigh of 47,714.55 before paringsome gains.

L i ke wis e , t he NSEbarometer Nifty ended high-er by 59.40 points or 0.43per cent at a fresh closinghigh of 13,932.60. Intraday,the 50-share Nifty markedit s a l l - t ime re cord at13,967.60.

On the Sensex chart,IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank,Tech Mahindra, HDFC, ICICIBank, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank,SBI and ITC were prominent

gainers.On the other hand, Nestle,

NTPC, PowerGrid, Dr Reddy,Reliance Industries, ONGCand Mahindra & Mahindrawere among the losers.

Elsewhere in Asia, mostbourses closed with gains fol-lowing positive global trendsafter the US clears the much-awaited coronavirus relief bill.

US President Donald Trump

signed into law a massive USD2.3 trillion spending bill thatincludes a USD 900 billioncoronavirus relief package,averting a government shut-down and extending coron-avirus aid to millions sufferingfrom the economic impact ofthe pandemic.

The advancement of rolloutof COVID-19 vaccines in Indiatoo uplifted domestic senti-

ments, leading to positivemomentum across all the sec-tors, analysts said.

Meanwhile, the global oilbenchmark Brent crude futuresrose 0.88 per cent to USD 51.40per barrel.

Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) purchased shares wortha net Rs 1,588.93 crore onMonday, according toexchange data.

PNS n NEW DELHI

With an epic battle of billion-aires for supremacy in one ofthe world's most prolific mar-kets and a pandemic-pro-pelled surge in online shop-ping in the background,India's nearly trillion-dollarretail market is hoping totouch 85 per cent of the pre-COVID business in the firsthalf of the new year.

In a year when theCOVID-19 carnage rippedapart the retail business, circa2020 will best go down for theunravell ing of the warbetween Jeff Bezos, theworld's wealthiest man, andrichest Indian MukeshAmbani for pre-eminence inthe booming market that isestimated to reach USD 1.3trillion by 2025.

It all started with Ambani'sReliance Industries agreeingin August to buy assets of thenation's second-largest retail-er for Rs 24,713 crore, just ayear after Bezos' Amazonpurchased an indirect stake inthe indebted Future Retail.Amazon opposed the deal,claiming it violates Future

Group's investment agree-ment with it.

Since then, the story hasbeen playing out in Singaporeand Indian courts, and theoutcome may shape India'sretail landscape for years tocome.

Amazon's success will slowReliance's plans to expand its

e-commerce business and thecountry's largest offline retailchain while a win for Ambani,who has already armed him-self with Rs 47,265 crore offunds raised through minor-ity stake sales in his retail ven-ture in a matter of 45 daysduring COVID-19 period,will put brakes on expansionplans of the US giant.

That apart, the USD 854billion (Rs 63 lakh crore)retail sector is hoping that thefirst half of 2021 would bringit close to normal levels ofbusiness although industryplayers feel that recovery willnot be possible without'unconventional solutions andgovernment support'.

Markets on a roll: Sensex,Nifty scale new peaks

Likewise, theNSE barometerNifty endedhigher by 59.40points at a freshclosing high of13,932.60.Intraday, the 50-share Niftymarked its all-time recordat 13,967.60

From the brink to recovery,retail sector pins hope on ’21

PNS n ISLAMABAD

While Pakistan is fighting acase in the European Unionagainst the Indian move to getBasmati rice registered as itsproduct, the commodity is stillnot registered as a local prod-uct in the country, according toa media report.

Laws require that beforeapplying for registration ofany product in the internation-al market it has to be protect-ed under the geographical indi-cation (GI) laws of that coun-try.

The Dawn reported thatthere are no rules of theGeographical Indications(Registration and Protection)Act, 2020 enacted in March thisyear and as a result, Basmati is

not yet a protected product inPakistan.

A rice exporter told theDawn that exporters, particu-larly the Rice ExportersAssociation of Pakistan, hadbeen urging the governmentsince early 2000 to formulatethe GI laws.

"The laws were finally madein March this year, but theauthorities have not yet framedthe rules of GI law. As a resultmany local exportable productscannot be registered anywherein the world with Pakistani GItagging," the exporter said.

"Even now the pressure ofthe case at the EU is driving theauthorities to finalise the rulesfor GI law at the earliest," headded.

The issue of protecting

Basmati rice as a product ofPakistan came to the forefrontafter India submitted an appli-cation to the European Unionclaiming sole ownership of thecommodity in September thisyear.

In its application India hasclaimed that 'Basmati' is speciallong grain aromatic rice grownand produced in a particulargeographical region of the sub-

continent.After highlighting the brief

history of Basmati rice, Indiaalso claimed that the region isa part of northern India, belowthe foothills of the Himalayasforming part of the Indo-Gangetic plain.

Incidentally, the issue waspointed out to the ministry ofcommerce and its attacheddepartment, the Intellectual

Property Organisation (IPO) ofPakistan by the rice exportersafter observing the details offresh applications at the EUwebsite.

Since the case was placed forpublic hearing and invitationof objections, the matter wastaken up by the authorities andAdviser to the Prime Ministeron Commerce Abdul RazakDawood held a meeting in

October.Eventually, the Indian claim

to the EU was challenged ear-lier this month and the mainargument by Pakistan wasthat basmati rice was a jointproduct of India and Pakistan.

Pakistan exported 500,000-700,000 tonnes of basmatirice annually to different partsof the world out of which200,000 tonnes to 250,000tonnes is being shipped to EUcountries.

Meanwhile, responding to aquery IPO Spokesman MeesakArif said that the rules of GIlaw were at the final stages andwere likely to be notified soon.

“The rules are in the print-ing process and will be noti-fied by the commerce ministrysoon,” Arif said.

Basmati: India challenges Pak’s claim at European Union

PNS n NEW DELHI

Transporters' apex bodyAIMTC on Tuesday said it isagainst reduction of E-Way billvalidity period from January 1,and said that the move will dis-rupt supply chain and createchaotic condition.

The All India MotorTransport Congress (AIMTC)is the umbrella body of trans-porters that represents about95 lakh truckers and entities.

Acute adversities are facedby this sector and "there is yetanother impractical scenariocreated from the governmentvide amendment in rule ...videnotification no 94/2020-Central Tax dated 22-12-2020,wherein the E-Bill validityperiod is halved.

The said amendment is ill-informed, and ill-conceived. Itis bereft of any considerationof the ecosystem of the roadtransport sector and is notifiedwithout any consultation with

the stakeholders," the AIMTCsaid in a statement.

It said this amendment mayresult in disrupting the smoothflow of supply chain and cre-ate chaotic conditions byimpacting even essential sup-plies including medicines andperishable items.

"The New Amendment inSection 138 (10) of the CGSThalves the time period that isallowed for delivery of mate-rial. This is not as per groundrealities and does not takeinto consideration the cir-cumstantial reasons of delayand will open a pandora boxleading to unforeseen condi-tions, disruptions and large

number of non-compliancesleading to disruption ofsmooth flow of supply chain,"the AIMTC said.

Under the circumstances itsaid "validity of E-way Bill ofone day for every 200 kilome-ter travelled is not practical...It takes transporters at least 4-5 days to collect goods fromvarious agencies/suppliersand then carry it to the des-tined place" and cited variousreasons like logistics chal-lenges.

"Entire policy needs to bereviewed and need detaileddeliberations in light ofamendments in MV ACT,1988 and mandatory FASTagfrom 01-01-2021. The review-ing of the permissible transittime in terms of e-way billvalidity requires a detaileddiscussion and deliberationwith all stakeholders forsmooth & better complianceof legal procedures," itdemanded.

Transporters against E-Way billvalidity period reduction from Jan 1

Steelmakers write to PMO defending price hike

PNS n NEW DELHI

FMCG maker GodrejConsumer Products Limited(GCPL) on Tuesday said it hasforayed into home cleaningproducts, a segment which iswitnessing fast growth after thepandemic. The Godrej groupfirm would provide surfacecleaning and disinfecting solu-tion under its newly-launchedbrand Godrej ProClean, thecompany said in a statement.

According to the marketingresearch firm AC Nielsen, thehome cleaning products seg-ment, which includes brandedfloor, toilet and bathroom clean-ers, is estimated to be around Rs2,600 crore. Moreover, due toincreased awareness aboutcleanliness and hygiene, con-sumers are opting for homecleaning products and theirpreferences have also shaped thedemand for durable, new-ageproducts as against the tradition-ally used cleaners like phenyl.

Godrej Consumerforays into homecleaning products

Rupee settles 7 paise higher at 73.42against US $ PNS n MUMBAI

Rising for the fourth straightsession, the rupee appreciat-ed by 7 paise to close at 73.42(provisional) against the USdollar on Tuesday, trackingweakness in the Americancurrency and positive domes-tic equities. The sustainedforeign fund inflows also sup-ported the rupee, traders said.

At the interbank forex mar-ket, the domestic unit openedat 73.42 against the US dollarand witnessed an intra-dayhigh of 73.34 and a low of73.44. The local unit finallysettled at 73.42 against theAmerican currency, register-ing a rise of 7 paise over itsprevious close. On Monday,the rupee had settled at 73.49against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index,which gauges the greenback'sstrength against a basket of six cur-rencies, fell 0.32 per cent to 90.04.On the domestic equity marketfront, BSE Sensex ended 259.33points or 0.55 per cent higher at47,613.08, while the broader NSENifty jumped 59.40 points or 0.43per cent to 13,932.60.

Dhanlaxmi Bankproposes toappoint ShivanJK as new MDPNS n NEW DELHI

Debt-ridden DhanlaxmiBank has proposed Shivan JKas its new Managing Directorand Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and has sought share-holders' approval for thesame. Shivan retired as ChiefGeneral Manager of StateBank of India and handledvarious roles, including forexoperations. It has sought theapproval from its sharehold-ers to authorise the board toappoint Shivan as MD andCEO of the bank, DhanlaxmiBank said in a notice ofpostal ballot.

The development came aday after the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) appointed itsGeneral Manager D KKashyap on the bank's boardfor two years. Shareholders ofDhanlaxmi Bank inSeptember ousted formerCEO Sunil Gurbaxani.

Amazon invests `11,400 crin India in FY20PNS n NEW DELHI

US e-commerce giant Amazonhas pumped in over Rs 11,400crore (about USD 1.5 billion)during FY2019-20 across itsmarketplace, payments andwholesale business units inIndia to bolster its position inthe country's burgeoning digi-tal commerce market.

The investments have beenmade even though most of theAmazon's business units inIndia registered losses duringthe fiscal.

Data analysis from regulato-ry filings by various Amazonentities showed that AmazonSeller Services, AmazonWholesale (India), Amazon Pay(India) and AmazonTransportation Services sawtheir losses adding up to Rs7,899 crore in FY20 as againsta loss of Rs 7,014.5 crore in thepreceding fiscal.

Amazon Seller Services,Amazon Wholesale (India),Amazon Pay (India) and

Amazon TransportationServices had registered losses inFY20 at Rs 5,849.2 crore, Rs133.2 crore, Rs 1,868.5 crore andRs 48.1 crore, respectively.

Amazon Internet Services,which had clocked a net profitof Rs 71.1 crore in FY19, slippedinto the red with a loss of Rs 20lakh in FY20, the data showed.

The e-commerce giant,which has been investing mil-lions of dollars towards promo-tions, building infrastructureand logistics as it woos cus-tomers to shop online, has seenits losses mount on account ofhigher expenses.

Filings showed that AmazonPay's total expenses grew 62 percent to Rs 3,234.8 crore inFY20, while Amazon SellerServices saw its total expensesrising over 25 per cent to Rs16,877.1 crore in the said peri-od.

In response to a detailedquery sent to the company, anAmazon India spokespersonsaid: "We continue to be invest-ed in India with a long-termview enabling customers inIndia to enjoy the ease and con-venience of e-commerce andother digital products and ser-vices."

In January this year, Amazonfounder Jeff Bezos hadannounced USD 1 billion (overRs 7,000 crore) investment inIndia to help bring small andmedium businesses online.Previously, the online retailgiant had committed USD 5.5billion investments in India, oneof Amazon's most importantmarkets outside of the US anda key growth driver.

CEPI ties up with BiologicalE.Ltd for vaccine candidatePNS n HYDERABAD

Norway-headquartered CEPI,(Coalition for EpidemicPreparedness Innovations) andcity-based Biological E. Limitedon Tuesday announced a col-laboration to advance the devel-opment and manufacture of thelatter's COVID-19 subunit vac-cine candidate.

CEPI will initially contributeup to USD five million towardthe cost of scaling up theprocess for manufacturing thevaccine and will explore provid-ing additional funding with agoal of potentially enabling theproduction of 100 million dosesin 2021, Bio.E said in a pressrelease here.

Bio E initiatedPhase 1/2 clin-ical trial in the country lastmonth to evaluate the safetyand immunogenicity of thevaccine candidate and expectsinterim data from the trial to beavailable in the first quarter of2021. CEPI and Bio E are com-mitted to global equitable accessof COVID-19 vaccines and

have agreed that vaccine outputfunded by CEPIs investmentwill be made available for pro-curement and allocation, ifproven to be safe and effective,through the COVID-19Vaccine Global Access(COVAX) Facility, the releasesaid. The COVAX Facility aimsto ensure equitable access toCOVID-19 vaccines for allcountries, at all levels of devel-opment, that wish to partici-pate. CEPI Chief ExecutiveOfficer Richard Hatchett saidBio Es vaccine candidate has thepotential to be produced atscale, and characteristics whichcould make it suitable for broaddistribution in developingcountries. Im pleased to part-ner with Bio E to progress thedevelopment of this promisingvaccine."

India's nearly trillion-dollar retail market ishoping to touch 85 percent of the pre-COVIDbusiness in the firsthalf of the new year

Laws require that before applying for registration of any product in the international market it has to be protected under thegeographical indication (GI) laws of that country

PNS n KOLKATA

A steel producers' body haswritten to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, explainingthat the metal price hike wasdue to surging raw materi-al costs, and demanded aban on iron ore export forsix months, an official saidon Tuesday.

The Indian Stee lAssociation informed thePMO ab out the pr iceincrease of the metal afterUnion Road Transport andHighways Minister NitinGadkari wrote a letter to thepr ime minis ter on theimpact of rising steel priceson infrastructure projects.

"We would like to high-light some of the very seri-ous and compelling reasonswhich have left the steelindustry with no recourse,but to raise prices of steelfrom time to time," the ISAsaid in its letter to the PMO.

Hot-rolled coil prices

have increased by 46 percent to Rs 52,000 per tonnein November as comparedto Rs 37,400 per tonne inJuly this year. Rebar TMT,which is used in the hous-ing and construction sec-tors, had touched Rs 50,000a tonne, industry sourcessaid.

The ISA mentioned aboutthe issues related to iron ore,price rise of raw materials,shortage in global steel sup-ply and lower capacity util-isation due to COVID-induced disruptions.

"Due to a temporar yshortage of steel in the wakeof the COVID-19 disrup-tions, the internationalprices surged to over USD750 per tonne from the bot-tom of USD 397 per tonnewitnessed this year. As Indiais an open economy, thesteel prices in the countrymove up with the globalprices," ISA secretary gener-al Bhaskar Chatterjee said.

hort films havechanged the way weviewed movies. Frommere entertainment,it created in us anappetite for off beat

and artistic films too. Thanks toYouTube for playing host to suchtrends. This year, the rise in OTTviewership propelled content-hungrycreators and consumers to make andlook for good short films. In such atime, Royal Stag Barrel Select LargeShort Films, one of the most celebratedshort films platforms in India, recentlyhosted some of the greatest minds fromthe world of films for an engaging con-versation on the evolving world of cine-ma. Step into a world of cinematic bril-liance where viewers can experience greatcinema and a quality, we-time experienceon Zee Café.

Moderating the interesting segment insecond episode, Mandira Bedi sets the righttone bringing together IIFA and Nationalfilm awardee Nawazuddin Siddiqui, up-andcoming web series favourite Sayani Gupta,popular face of Bollywood Manoj Bajpayeeand Sheweta Basu Prasad to share their schoolof thought on progressive cinema through theages.

Speaking on the format of short films thatclubs together a riveting plot in the shortestspan of time, Sayani Gupta shares her thoughtson this, “There are certain stories that couldn’t bewritten in a novel but it’s very interesting. For alot of the new directors and new talent, it’s a greatway for them to find their language and voice andfigure out the kind of stories they want to tell.”

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has a similar feeling aboutshort films, having started his career in one, he says,“I had started out with short films and have workedon close to about 60-70 so far. When it comes toshort films, it isn’t an easy affair as you need to con-vey the message in a short span, similar to a shayarwho encapsulates the world’s philosophy in a couplet.At times, this is difficult to achieve for even a full-fledged 3-hour feature.”

Speaking about his favourite short film, he said, “Byfar, The Bypass is my most favourite short and silentfilm and interestingly one that I have worked on.”

The role that feminism has played in the industry andthe opportunities that revolve around the female protag-onist is now being given significant importance. ManojBajpayee says, “It’s a time for female actors to get and berespected for what they are and what they can deliver.This is something that only they were looking for but weas male counter parts were also looking for a situation likethis where everybody is getting what they deserve.”

On a much joyous note, both Sayani and Shwetaexpressed their gratitude and appreciation to NawazuddinSiddiqui and Manoj Bajpayee saying, “We thank you fornever giving up and it is you guys that have really paved thepath for a lot of actors.” Sayani was more than overjoyed attheir presence on set exclaiming that they were the reason sheis currently poised for success within the industry.

Tune-in to watch this candid conversation with some of theindustry’s most brilliant actors and film makers only on RoyalStag Barrel Select Large Short Films on Zee Café.

he year 2020 changedseveral aspects of ourlife as the COVID-19virus unleashed itswrath all over theworld. One of the

biggest considerations was whatwe eat, as the pandemic helped tore-focus our attention on thehealth risks associated with apoor, unhealthy diet. With peoplespending more time indoors, it

was inevitable to cut down on badeating habits and focus on ahealthy diet to achieve optimal fit-ness. So, here we take a look atthe diet trends that took the frontseat in 2020.

The Ketogenic DietThe keto diet emphasises pro-

teins and fats and limits the intakeof carbohydrates so that the bodyburns fats rather than carbohy-drates. Similar to other low-carbdiet trends like the Atkins diet,the keto diet necessitates main-taining a ratio of 4:1 by weight offat to combined protein and car-bohydrates. This type of dietexcludes high-carb foods like sug-ars, grain, pasta and bread alongwith starchy vegetables and fruits.Instead, it focuses on increasingconsumption of dairy and nutswhich are healthy fats.

Intermittent FastingIntermittent fasting can be con-

sidered as a nutritional regimerather than a conventional dietsystem. However, it is presentlythe most popular fitness andhealth trend in the world. Peoplearound the globe are accepting itas a part of their lifestyle toimprove their health and loseweight. It is basically a fasting pat-tern that observes certain periodsof eating and fasting. The mostwidely adopted is the 16:8 methodwhere a person can eat for 8hours and the remaining 16 hoursis the fasting period. Such a nutri-tional regime can help reduceinflammation, body weight andalso reduces cholesterol levels.

The Paleo DietPaleo diet is also known by the

name ‘Caveman Diet’ focuses onconsuming foods similar to amanner consumed by primitivepeople in the Paleolithic era. Inpractise, a paleo diet refrains from

processed foods that can causeserious health issues like diabetes,heart problems and obesity. Thediet advises people to stick tolocally sourced products like freshfruits, vegetables, fish, nuts andseeds that result in a diet withhigh fibre and protein. The dietalso recommends to stay awayfrom wheat products, dairy,legumes, potatoes along with saltand sugar.

Vegan DietVeganism is a way of living that

aims to exclude every form of ani-mal cruelty and exploitation, be itfor food or any other purpose. Asa result, people adhering to avegan diet avoid all types of prod-ucts that are derived from animalslike eggs, dairy products and

meat, but consume all types ofvegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts,legumes and grains. People whostick to a vegan diet tend to bethinner with lower Body MassIndex. Several studies have shownthat vegans benefit from a lowerrisk of diabetes.

When it comes to diet, it isimportant to understand that no“one cap suits all”. Every individ-ual has different dietary require-ments, which is why it is always agood idea to make an educateddecision by researching, learningabout the different diet types andtaking the help of a professional ifrequired.

The writer is a consultant inGastroenterology, RegencySuperspeciality Hospital.

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WednesdayDecember 30, 2020

Suriya

The actor enjoys astrong fan base due tohis impressive rolesand a powerfulscreen presence withhis intelligent selec-tion of roles, the lat-est being a proper-ty-owner of an air-line in the mosttalked-about filmSoorarai Pottaruon AmazonPrime. Suriyahad starred inquite someblockbusters buthe proved

that his digital debut too,is a force to be reckonedwith. The audience istoday spoilt for choices onOTT and no longer cap-tive to the closed doors ofa cinema hall or are to suf-fer through a terrible filmjust because the ticket andpopcorn have been paidfor. Nonetheless, his debutwas a welcoming changefor other stars as well, whowere apprehensive ofworking for an online plat-form being A-listers.Everyone started slow butnow one and all are on thetop of their OTT game!

Nani

Once theatres were shut,viewers lapped up webseries and films across lan-guages and genres on digi-tal streaming platforms.Smaller screens at homewere no match for the the-atrical experience buthome-viewing turned outto be a great leveler aseveryone could get a tasteof the first-day first-showexperience. Among them,Nani was the Telugusuperstar who made animpression with his Vwhich turned out to beone of the biggest Telugufilms, so far, to opt for adirect digital release. Naniadmitted that it was atough decision to make forthe team as they alwayslooked forward to witness-ing the first-day, first-showreactions of fans in a cine-ma hall. And everyonesincerely felt that V wouldhave been a great watch ina cinema hall but getting adirect release on an OTTwas a unique experiencetoo.

Anushka Shetty

OTT allowed the audi-ence to view not justdiverse content fromaround the world but alsoexperience new genres! Italso allowed for a lot moreexperimentation and mostof the Indian original con-tent getting greenlitseemed to be basedaround the crime, thrillerand horror genres such asAnushka Shetty’sNishabhdham. Having tomake her digital debutwith a psychologicalthriller, the actress was toogood with her perfor-mance, especially when itcame to pulling off a sub-tle role of a deaf and muteartist, her character devel-opment throughout themovie that was definitelyworth watching the leadactress on our smart-phones. So, right from thefirst major Tollywood filmV that came on OTT andthe list of films that fol-lowed, we knew the enter-tainment game was chang-ing fast and how!

Nithya Menen

Unable to go the the-atres to watch films, wewelcomed film personali-ties into our homes. It feltas if content came directlyfrom Ramoji Film City toour living room’s couch!And while the hope is thatcinema experience willultimately prevail, it wasstill a case of ‘when’. So anA-lister like Nithya Menonmade her OTT debut withthe web series Breathe:Into the Shadows thatdropped on an OTT plat-form in early July. She saidthat the format was rightup her alley because it wasthe kind of project she hadalways aspired to do,regardless of any medium.She also considered it tobe her best performancetill date and that OTT wasanother tool in enhancingher act.

Satyadev Kancharana

It is worth mentioningthat the OTT phenome-non has only just begun.With the digital revolu-tion, the platform is boundto grow by breakthroughs!With an OTT platform, it’sentertaining that smart-phone users who wish todevour content in theirconfined and happy space,they can now. With that,they witnessed Satyadevmaking his digital debutwith the comedy-dramafilm Uma MaheshwaraUgraroopasya. Gone arethe days when brandingwas most important, nowwhat matters is a talentedactor in the Telugu cinemastreaming on an OTT plat-form and he made themost of it by giving a phe-nomenal performance assomeone whocan do

drama and comedy withequal finesse.

Keerthy Suresh

OTT platforms are wit-nessing more acceptanceand growing popularity.Notably, creators too, areoffering a lot of content inregional languages andthere is no shortage of tak-ers, one of them beingKeerthy Suresh. She madeher digital debut withEashvar Karthic’s Penguin.The actress was widelypraised for her perfor-mance in it. No doubt,OTT platforms are offer-ing shows and movies thatare more radical, relatableand thought-provoking tothe current generation.

Sudhir Babu

Movies being made forOTT is common now thatdigital platforms are wherethey eventually end up.Actor Sudhir Babu ofPrema Katha Chitram andSammohanam fame alsorecently made his OTTdebut with MohanKrishna Indraganti’s V.The time for OTT to takeover the way movies areconsumed is here andfilm-makers and audiencesalike will have to evolvealong with the newchanges.

Anand Deverakonda

Five years ago, someonewho stated they had a sub-scription for Netflix orAmazon Video, it wouldhave come as a surprise.However, the scenario isnow reversed. That’s thegrowth of the OTT plat-form in the country. VijayDevarakonda’s brother,Anand, inspired by hisbrother's success, made hisOTT debut with the filmMiddle Class Melodies.After taking all sorts offeedback into his stride,Anand decided to go for acontemporary subject ashis second film. WhatAnand has achievedthrough OTT is to geteven the older generationshooked on to these plat-forms. He sure was able towiden his fan base.

Raj Tharun

This year, a lot ofmovies made for the bigscreens were pushed to bedigitally released on OTTplatforms. Orey Bujjiga, inwhich Raj Tarun plays themain lead, was all set to bereleased theatrically inMarch but the pandemicmade them reconfiguretheir plans as they releasedit on Aha in October. Theyoung Telugu actor enjoyshis own fan base whichreceived the romantic-comedy with open arms.The movie itself did notreach the heights it wasmeant to, but the OTTplatform Aha steadilygained increasing viewer-ship with the addition ofsuch titles.

Sidhu Jonnalagadda

After Guntur Talkiesin 2017, actor-screen-writer SidhuJonnalagadda made areappearance in filmslike Krishna And HisLeela, a romanticdrama that wasreleased on Netflixand Aha.

Breaking barriersof language andlocation, OTTplatforms providecontent to alltheir sub-scribers. Whichis how KrishnaAnd His Leelaand subse-quently MaaVintha GadhaVinuma wasenjoyed bypeople allover. Therefreshingstory showsrelation-ships real-istically,and themovieswerewell-lovedandappre-ciatedfortheirhon-esty.

Celebs breaking through OTT2020 was a gamechanger formany celebs! The degree towhich OTT platforms madehay while a lockdown-wearyaudience hustled for a ray ofsunshine, these streamingplatforms received theultimate shot in the arm:hungry superstars who wereobstinate about entertainingtheir fandom regardless of themedium. It saw a barrage ofmovies and webseries beingreleased thatturned out tobetrendsettersof the

year!Now, of those

movies and web series, therewere some that marked theirdigital debut. The Pioneer’s SHIKHADUGGAL lists the mostsuccessful OTT debuts ofactors in 2020, take a look!

Eat it upEat it upEat it upEat it upEat it upEat it upEat it upEat it upEat it up

The year was allabout eatinghealthy andworking on one'sfitness. DrPraveen Jha liststhe trends in dietthat were onpeople's to-dolist

Bye bye 2020

2020 usheredin qualitycontent

ast-changing viewers’sentiments towardsvideo consumption arecontributing immenselyto the evolving onlineentertainment space.

Further, as the pandemic confinedpeople to stay at home, it hasresulted in a surge for online con-tent. Given this spike, and tounderstand the changing behav-iour patterns among viewers inSouthern India, Disney+ Hotstarrecently conducted a study inTelangana. The study reveals someinteresting facts.

Reality and drama grabbedeyeballs this year

In Telangana, Hyderabad leadsthe entertainment consumptionchart with 90%. The OTT plat-form this year, had also witnesseda 117% rise in the viewership incomparison to non-metro cities inthe state.

The report also stated that theconsumption of reality and dramashows was higher this year ascompared to other genres.

Bigg Boss ruled the roostBigg Boss Telugu remains the mostwatched show in Telangana.Interestingly, season 4 viewershipin the state surpassed last season'sviewership, recorded 60% increasein consumption. Interestingly, 25%of Bigg Boss viewers in the statestayed up till late to watch theirfavorite episodes on the app.

Women constitute 40% ofviewership

The study also showed thatwomen consume 40% of the totalentertainment content on the plat-form in Telangana.

Pratiroju Pandage mostwatched film

This film starring Sai DharamTej and Raashi Khanna was thetop-most watched movie inTelangana, followed by Baaghi 3,while Karthika Deepam was the2nd most preferred show afterBigg Boss. The 86th episode of BiggBoss Telugu season 4 receivedmaximum traction in terms ofvotes on the app.

f

117% rise inOTT viewership

10

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FESTIVE FERVOUR

City Centre, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, played host to

Christmas and pre-New Year celebrations. Visitorsacross all age groups were charmed by the events

held and exciting gifts. Guests were dressed in their best,looking all fresh and vibrant.

BEAUTYBUZZ

The 57th edition of theFemina Miss India wasconducted in an elegant

manner. Telangana andOrissa’s beautiful winners Ms.

Manasa Varanasi and Ms.Subhashree Rayaguru held ameet & greet at VLCC amid a

lot of excitement.

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

CALVIN AND HOBBES

Hyderabad Wednesday December 30 2020what’s brewing?

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t seems filmmakerSurender Reddy has sethis sights on introduc-ing a newbie with hisnext with AkhilAkkineni, which was

announced earlier this September.According to the grapevine, Suri,as Surender Reddy is fondlyaddressed as in the industry cir-cles, was impressed with the port-folio of Mumbai-based modelSakshi Vaidya, and later conduct-ed a photo shoot with her inHyderabad recently. It remains tobe seen whether he picks her asthe heroine or not as the directoris known to go with establishednames mostly.

Suri is directing the as-yet-

untitled project from ascript of VakkanthamVamsi. Together,they’ve delivered pop-corn entertainers likeKick, Oosaravelli and RaceGurram in the past. Thefilm, a joint production ven-ture between Anil Sunkara’sAK Entertainments and Suri’sSurrender2Cinema, is a globe-trotting spy thriller embellishedwith commercial bells and whis-tles. Besides a compelling emo-tional center, it is peppered with agenerous dose of humour as well.Akhil is attached to play the roleof an intelligence officer, whofinds himself hot on the trail of amajor terrorist plot.

11

tollywoodHyderabad Wednesday December 30, 2020

Charan and Varun Tej test positive for COVID-19

ctors andcousinsRamCharan andVarun Tejon Tuesday

announced that theyhave been tested posi-tive for novel coron-avirus and are current-ly quarantined athome.

While Charan wasthe first to make astatement taking to hissocial media pages,Varun posted a state-ment on Tuesdayevening. The formerrequested everyonewho “has been aroundhim for the past coupleof days to get tested”.

“I have tested posi-tive for COVID-19. NoSymptoms andQuarantined at home.Hope to heal soon andcome out stronger(sic),” read the actor’sstatement on his veri-fied Twitter page.

Unlike Charan,Varun has mild symp-toms. “Earlier today Itested positive forCOVID 19 with mildsymptoms. I am cur-rently quarantined athome taking necessaryprecautions. I’ll beback soon,” he posted.He is the third mem-ber from his family-after his parents — tohave tested positive.His parents contractedthe virus in Septemberand recovered.

Charan contractingthe virus comes as aheavy blow to the unitsof both RRR andAcharya, which needhis attention. WhileRajamouli’s film is 80percent over afterresuming more thantwo months ago,Koratala’s film needs his presencefrom January-end.With the actor set toobserve quarantine for

over a week, RRR’sschedule might bepushed and it willinadvertently affectAcharya.

Varun, on the otherhand, resumed shoot-ing of his still-untitledboxing drama withKiran Korrapatirecently. The film hadrun into multiple inter-ruptions from thelockdown to Varun’ssister Niharika’s mar-riage and this latestinterruption is boundto delay the shoot fur-ther. Both the megacousins join the list ofother top-tier Telugupersonalities like SSRajamouli, MMKeeravani, Rajasekhar,Jeevitha, Naga Babu,Sunitha, S Naga Vamsi,Rakul Preet Singh andAjay Bhupathi amongothers who havecaught the infectiousvirus in the last fivemonths.

Both the cousins took to their social media pages,hours apart, on Tuesday to indicate that they'vetested positive for coronavirus. While Charan isasymptomatic, Varun is exhibiting mild symptoms

aolstering thesupporting castof Ravi Teja-star-rer Khiladi —after the recent

signing of action king Arjunand Anasuya — further aretwo new additions: SarathKumar and UnniMukundan. According to asource close to the unit, thefilm’s script offers space forsupporting actors to shineand it is the reason why theusually selective Kumar andUnni joined the project.

The source informs,“While Sarath Kumar will beseen as a home minister inthe film, Unni plays Ravi’sclose confidant and has hisown story. The former hasclose to six-seven importantscenes, while the latter willbe seen in a full-length rolealongside Ravi, and has evenjoined the sets. Rao Ramesh,Murali Sharma and VennelaKishore are playing othersupporting roles.”

The source adds that thefilm’s shoot is presentlygoing in a specially erectedset at Pragathi Nagar,Kukatpally, and the actionwill shift to Mumbai nextmonth. “Director RameshVarma has canned close to40 percent of the film so far

and with the Mumbaischedule of 15 days, heis looking at wrappingup 55-60 percent. Thetalkie portions will be

wrapped up withthe final foreign

schedule,” the source con-cludes.

An action thriller, thefilm, co-starring MeenakshiChaudhary and DimpleHayathi, is a production ven-ture of KoneruSatyanarayana under AStudios, while Bollywoodproduction house PenStudios is presenting it. ADevi Sri Prasad musical,Sujit Vaasudev of Lucifer islensing the film.

More heavyweights join

Khiladi

s expected the dubbedTelugu version of Tamilsuperstar Vijay-starrerMaster, directed byKhaidi fame LokeshKanagaraj, will release

for Sankranti — January 13. Theannouncement was made onTuesday by producer Mahesh SKoneru who snatched the rightsof the film last December. Itcame minutes after Master origi-nal production house XB FilmCreators officially announced theTamil release on January 13.

While Vijay has consolidatedhis Telugu market after his last,Whistle, did a business of Rs 10crore (it was bought by Maheshfor Rs 7 cr), Master, however,faces stiff competition from otherreleases like Krack, Red andAlludu Adhurs in terms of rev-enue and in theatre allocations.Mahesh is confident of giving thefilm a widerelease though.“Get ready for#Master .. Jan 13th!

Special Pongal treat. Massiverelease across Telugu States.Special thanks to @actorvijay sirfor the trust,” he posted onTwitter. He acquired the dub-bing rights for a price of Rs 8.75crore, making it the highestamount for a Vijay film till date. In a first for a Vijay film, theproducer purchased the rights ofthe project while it was still onfloors.

An action-thriller set in thebackdrop of a college, Master seesMalavika Mohanan of Pettafame as the leading lady, whileVijay Sethupathi will be seenas Vijay’s bête noire. The likesof Andrea Jeremiah, GouriKishan (who played theyounger version of Trisha in’96), Jallikattu actorAntony Varghese,Shanthnu Bhagyaraj,Sriman and Brigidahave played supportingroles.

Tamil superstarSarath Kumarand Malayalamheartthrob UnniMukundanboard Ravi Teja-starrerKhiladi for vitalsupportingroles, findsNAGARAJGOUD

week aftertesting posi-tive forCOVID-19,Rakul PreetSingh on

Tuesday revealed thatshe is virus free,

adding that adding sheis excited to start 2021

with good health andpositivity. “Happy to share that I have

tested negative for COVID-19. Iam feeling absolutely fine. Thank

you for all your wishesand love. Can’t wait tostart 2021 with goodhealth and positivity.

PS: let’s be responsible,wear masks and take all pre-cautions,” read the statementRakul posted on Twitter.

The actress will soon jointhe sets of Ajay Devgn-star-rer May Day in RFC,Hyderabad, where she willbe seen as a pilot. She hascompleted filming forTelugu titles like Krish’sKondapolam (tentativetitle) and ChandrasekharYeleti’s Check sometimeback, and both films arelikely to release earlythis summer.

b

a

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i

Now, Master entersSankranti race

Newbie Sakshiopposite Akhil?

Rakul tests

negativefor

coronavirus

PTI n MELBOURNE

Hungry for redemption, Indiarecorded a win for the agesunder an inspirational

Ajinkya Rahane, beating Australiaby eight wickets in the second Testto level the four-match series 1-1here on Tuesday.

The target of 70 was never a bigone but for a team that was bowledout for its all-time lowest score of 36only 10 days back, one can’t faultthem if that played at the back oftheir minds.

Shubman Gill (35 not out)and skipper Rahane (27 notout) knocked off the runs in15.5 overs to complete thevictory.

This was after the quar-tet comprising Jasprit Bumrah(2/54 in 27 overs), debutantMohammed Siraj (3/37in 21.3 overs),R a v i c h a n d r a nAshwin (2/71 in37.1 overs) andRavindra Jadeja(2/28 in 14overs) showedmaniacal consis-tency over aperiod of 100overs on the flattest ofdecks, where extrabounce became theirgo-to weapon.

“The talk was allabout showing atti-tude, intent and char-acter. One hour took

the game away from us in Adelaide,but we still have a lot to learn,”Rahane said.

Indian teams, since the turn ofthe new millennium, have hadsome memorable overseas victories

but when the backdrop and con-text of this Test at the iconicMCG is recorded for posteri-ty, Rahane and his magnificentbowling unit will find more

than an honourable mention inthe pages of history.

“Really proud of all theplayers, credit to our

debutants Gill and Siraj.The way they showed

character was amaz-ing,” Rahane said.

The Indianteams of yoreused to lose

stomach for a goodscrap after humiliat-

ing defeats but notthis one. It stood out

for the manner of itscomeback in the absenceof a genius called ViratKohli and a magician inMohammed Shami.

Australia captainTim Paine had nothing

to offer as an explanation for whyhis side could not capitalise on thebig absences.

“Very disappointed, played poorcricket, sloppy cricket. Let’s not takeanything away from India, theyforced us to make mistakes,” he said.

In the last three and half days,Rahane, first with his hundred andthen with solid leadership, showedwhat Kohli meant when he spokeabout ‘New India’.

Along with skills, it was themental fortitude that shone throughas the team didn’t take too muchtime to bury the ghosts of Adelaideand clear the cobwebs in theirminds getting Australia all-out for195 and 200 in two innings.

On the first day, it was aboutassessing the moisture on the sur-face and giving Ashwin a go beforedebutant Siraj in the first hour of thematch, all the while keeping that leg

gully in business for Steve Smith.It worked wonderfully well

and then he understood prettyquickly that Siraj, with his hit-the-deck bowling, could work wonderswith the semi-new or old kook-aburra when the seam would flat-ten.

While batting, he was like thatbandmaster, who knew how to con-duct his orchestra whether it wasyoung Gill or the seasoned

Ravindra Jadeja.Rahane rates his hundred in a

winning cause at Lord's six yearsback as his best effort but for fans,the innings at Melbourne willalways be way more precious.

On fourth morning, Rahane,after giving a three-over spell toBumrah on the, understoodinstantly that the old ball is notdoing anything and took him offthe attack to keep him fresh for thesecond new ball.

It was another great tacticaldecision as Bumrah bouncedCummins to end the stand thatconsumed more than 36 overs.

The second new ball did thetrick as Cameron Green (45 off 146balls) and Cummins (22 off 103balls) were dismissed after theirfrustrating 57-run stand for theseventh wicket.

Green’s gutsy knock had fiveboundaries as he tried to getAustralia out of the woods duringa classical Test match session.

It was a well-directed bounceraimed between the batsman's jawand shoulder and the awkward fendwas taken by Mayank Agarwal atsecond slip.

Green, who was starting to

become a thorn in the flesh, triedto pull Siraj but the extra bouncedid him in as Ravindra Jadeja, field-ing at mid-wicket, timed his spotjump to perfection ending thebatsman’s vigil.

Siraj and Ashwin then moppedup the tail setting a total of 70 fortheir batsmen.

The victory was unquestion-able but again it was Rahane, a for-mer Karate 10th Dan black belt,decided to guide Gill, doing hisapprentice in Test cricket.

The skipper first played a per-fect Sunil Gvaskar-like forwarddefensive stroke where the balllands on the feet of the batsmen likean obedient cocker spaniel.

The next ball, brought out animperious pull-shot, showing theintent which let Gill blossom in thatshort period of time.

It was only fitting that hefought fire with fire during thatbrief knock and it was poetic jus-tice that he was there till the end.

Kohli will be back in whites inabout a month and half when hewalks out at the Chepauk leadinghis band of men but one won’t for-get ‘Captain Rahane’ in a hurry.

sport 12HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2020

Multiple legendary sportingpersonalities passed away in

2020. PIONEER SPORT looks attheir legacy in individual sports

DIEGO MARADONA, 60Maradona’s death brought

Argentina to a standstill and causeda wave of grief in his adopted homeof Naples. He brought joy to thesouthern Italian city by leadingunfashionable Napoli to two SerieA titles and the 1989 UEFA Cup.

The passing of Maradona,who dragged Argentina to glory atthe 1986 World Cup where hescored the ‘Goal of the Century’against England — as well as theinfamous ‘Hand of God’ goal, ledto three days of national mourningin his home country.

KOBE BRYANT, 41

Bryant was killed in Januaryalongside his 13-year-old daughterin a helicopter crash outside LosAngeles that also took the lives ofseven other people.

LA Lakers icon Bryant was afive-time NBA champion in acareer that began in 1996 straightout of a high school.

He was a two-time Olympic

Gold medallist, helping spark theUS squad to titles in 2008 and 2012.

PAOLO ROSSI, 64

Rossi is a national hero in Italyfor firing the Azzurri to World Cuptriumph in 1982.

He finished the tournament astop scorer after scoring six goals,including a hat-trick in a 3-2 winover flamboyant Brazil, both goalsagainst Poland in the semi-finalsand the opener in the final win over

Diego Maradona kisses FIFA World Cup trophy after Argentina beat West Germany 3-2 in final of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico AP

West Germany.Pablito only played in Spain after

returning from a ban for his part in thebetting scandal.

BALBIR SINGH SR, 96Three-time Olympic Gold medal-

winning hockey legend Balbir SinghSr died on May 25 after battling mul-tiple health issues. His world recordfor most goals scored by an individ-ual in the men’s hockey final of theOlympics still remains unbeaten).Balbir Singh, who captained India at the

1956 Olympic Games and was the man-ager of 1975 World Cup winning team.

CHUNI GOSWAMI, 82 Legendary Indian footballer

Chuni Goswami, whocaptained the 1962

Asian Games Gold-winning team andfinished runner-upat the Asian Cup in

1964, died after suf-fering a cardiac arrest.

He was a striker during

the golden generation of Indian football.In a celebrated career, Goswami played50 international matches for the nation-al team from 1956 to 1964, and spenthis entire career playing forMohun Bagan in clubfootball. The iconicsportsperson, whoalso played first-classcricket for Bengal.

PK BANERJEE, 83Pradip Kumar

Banerjee was among

those who put Indian football on aninternational stage through hisfeats, first as a record-breakinggoalscorer and then as the most suc-cessful Indian coach. He was part ofthe 1962 Asian Games Gold medal-list team and also led India in the1960 Rome Olympics, in which hescored the equaliser against Franceto help his side secure a 1-1 drawagainst the European giants. He wasawarded the FIFA Order of Merit in2004. He was also the first Indianfootballer to win the Arjuna Award— he won in 1961, the year theawards were instituted.

CHETAN CHAUHAN, 73

Former India cricketer andcabinet minister in Uttar Pradeshstate Government Chetan Chauhan,passes away due to complicationsand multiple organ failure. He wasSunil Gavaskar’s long-time openingpartner, and despit scoring 16 fiftyplu scores in Test cricket, he finishedwith a zero in the centuries’ columnin the format, despite coming closeon many occasions: he got to 80seven times, on two of those occa-sions getting to 93 and 97. He helda dubious record — most Test runswithout scoring a century — formany years before being topped byShane Warne.

DEAN JONES, 59

The Australian World Cupwinner and prominent commenta-tor died of a heart attack while inMumbai to do IPL commentary. Hecollapsed, was rushed to the hospi-tal and declared dead there.

TONY LEWIS, 78Lewis was one of the men

behind the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method used in weather-affected limited-overs cricketmatches. He devised the

method alongside fellow mathe-matician Frank Duckworth.

GÉRARD HOULLIER, 73

The Frenchman put Liverpoolback on track to domestic andEuropean glory as manager from1998 to 2004, winning a treble oftrophies in 2001 and paving the wayfor the long-term recovery of a clubhe cherished.

ANGELA BUXTON, 85Two-time Grand Slam champi-

on Buxton, who had Jewish heritageand was refused entry to tennisclubs her entire career, was a dou-bles partner and lifelong friend ofAlthea Gibson, whose 1956 FrenchOpen title was the first Grand Slamsingles triumph by a black Americanplayer.

Buxton won the women's dou-bles alongside Gibson at bothRoland Garros and Wimbledon in1956, the latter of which was the firstAll England Club title to be won bya British-Jewish player.

RAJINDER GOEL, 77

Rajinder Goel was born at thetime when there was no shortage ofgood spinners in the country butonly one was selected to play forIndia. And despite not being able torepresent India in the longest for-mat of the game, he keep takingwickets in the domestic cricket andwent on to become the recordwicket taker in Ranji Trophy (637).A record that still stands.

RAY CLEMENCE, 72Former England and Liverpool

goalkeeper Clemence was one of thefinest stoppers of his generation,winning three European Cups andfive First Division titles during 14years.

In theHands of God

AP n CENTURION

South Africa took little time inclosing out an innings and 45-

run victory over a depleted SriLanka in the first Test on Tuesdayas the tourists’ promising start tothe match and the series wasundone by a string of injuries.

Four of the five Sri Lankans toget hurt during the test still cameout to bat in a vain effort to savetheir team, but it didn’t matter.

South Africa’s fast bowlersneeded just over a session on thefourth day to finish off Sri Lanka’ssecond innings. Sri Lanka, start-ing the day 65-2 and facing defeat,was bowled out for 180 in 46.1overs.

Allrounder Dhananjaya deSilva was the one casualty who

wasn’t able to bat at all because ofhis thigh injury, meaning SouthAfrica needed just nine wickets inthe end to win.

South Africa took five wick-

ets in the day’s first session and fin-ished Sri Lanka off with the lasttwo wickets less than half-an-hourafter lunch, despite some resistancefrom Kusal Perera (64) and

Wanindu Haranga (59).South African pacers Lungi

Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, WiaanMulder and Lutho Sipamla all col-lected two wickets each in theinnings.

Sri Lanka’s heavy defeat wasthe result of a marked turnaroundin the test after the Sri Lankansmade a strong start, posting 396in the first innings for their besttest total in South Africa.

But Sri Lanka was depleted bythe stream of players leaving thefield injured: de Silva left on thefirst day while batting, fast bowlerKasun Rajitha was injured onDay 2 having bowled just 13deliveries, and bowlers LahiruKumara and Haranga and bats-man Dinesh Chandimal were hurton Monday.

AP n MOUNT MAUNGANUI

Tim Southee claimed his 300th testwicket as New Zealand edged clos-

er to a win over Pakistan Tuesday onthe fourth day of the first cricket test.

New Zealand set Pakistan 373 towin after leading by 192 on the firstinnings and declaring its secondinnings at 180-5, shortly before tea.

At stumps Pakistan was 71-3, still202 runs behind, with Azhar Ali 34 notout and Fawad Alam 21. The unbroken34-run partnership between Azharand Fawad which occupied 89 minutesbefore stumps helped the touristsrecover from a dreadful start which sawthem two wickets down without a runon the board.

Southee took the first Pakistanwicket to fall Tuesday and finished theday with 2-15 from nine overs.

Southee became the third Kiwi after

Richard Hadlee (431) and DanielVettori (361), the 34th bowler from allnations and only the fourth active play-er to achieve the 300 wicket milestone.

His wickets have come in 76 tests at anaverage of 28.48 and a strike rate of 56.8.

Those statistics compare favorablywith the England pair James Andersonand Stuart Broad who have 600 and 514wickets respectively but have playedtwice as many tests as Southee.Anderson averages 26.7, Broad 27.6 andboth have strike rates around 56.

Southee's regular new ball partner,Trent Boult, is also closing on the 300wicket mark. He currently has 275wickets at an average of 28.

New Zealand began its secondinnings at the start of play Tuesday afterbowling out Pakistan for 239 in replyto its first innings of 431 late on thethird day.

“I like test cricket and I want to playit as long as I can,” he said. “I don’t liketo put a number on it but you look atthe likes of James Anderson, still doinga hell of a job at the age of 38.

Black Caps on brink of victory

Tim Southee celebrates his 300th test wicket AP

SA win big over stricken SL in 1st Test

South African cricket team celebrate their victory against Sri Lanka AP

Boxing Day challenge conqueredRahane steps forward in Kohli’s absence to guide India to historic series-levelling win

Indian cricket team celebrate their victory against Australia during fourth day of the second test match AP