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OPINION 6WHO IS

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SPORTS 12EYE

OPENER

HYDERABAD, FRIDAY OCTOBER 18, 2019; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNVIJAYAWADA

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HYDERABADWEATHER

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any important work)Rahukalam: 10:34 am – 12:01 pmYamagandam: 02:55 pm – 04:22 pmVarjyam: 08:37 am- 10:18 am10:45 pm - 12:24 amGulika: 07:40 am - 19:07 amGood Time: (to start any important work)

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PNS n HYDERABAD

The crucial public meeting ofTRS president and ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao at Huzurnagar onThursday was cancelled osten-sibly due to 'adverse weatherconditions'.

KCR was scheduled toaddress a huge rally in theevening as part of theparty's campaign-ing for theOctober 21stby-election tot h eHuzurnagarA s s e m b l yseat, whichwas vacated byTPCC chief NUttam KumarReddy upon his electionto the Lok Sabha. Leaders ofTRS had made elaboratearrangements for the meeting,since they were tasked tomobilise at least one lakhpeople. However, an officialrelease from the ChiefMinister's Office on Thursdaysaid KCR's meeting atHuzurnagar has been can-celled.

The office release was

accompanied by a copy of aletter written by Director ofAviation V N Bharat Reddy tothe CMO, stating that it wasnot advisable for the ChiefMinister to fly to Huzurnagardue to adverse weather con-ditions.

The letter said there wouldbe heavy rain and thunder-storms in Huzurnagar and

surrounding areas, accom-panied by lightning,

squally winds, and apossible cloudburst.

"There will bereduced flight vis-ibility and weath-er conditions aredetrimental to

flight safety. Hence,it is not advisable for

the CM to f ly toHuzurnagar," Bharat said in

the letter.The CMO said the weather

conditions were adverse andheavy rain, accompanied bylightning and storms, wereforecast in Huzurnagar. It alsosaid the Aviation Departmenthad not given clearance foroperating the helicopter inwhich the Chief Minister wasschedule to fly to Huzurnagarfrom the Begumpet airport.

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

With digital transactionsincreasing at most of the reli-gious places, digital hundishave become the need of thehour.

The Tirumala TirupatiDevasthanams (TTD) recent-ly announced that cashlesstransactions were picking upin Tirumala, be it for accom-modation or other purchases.In this context, ChiefSecretary Dr S K Joshi onThursday tweeted that it wasimportant to make hundiscashless. Seeking suggestions,Dr.Joshi said: "Certain mediareports have stated that cash-less transactions are on therise in the religious places.Now the challenge is to makethe Hundis cashless whileprotecting the spirit of secretdonations (gupt danam). It isimportant to achieve the goal.Suggestions are welcome."

Devotees in Telangana havebeen at the forefront in doingdigital transactions at templesand some villages have alreadyadopted the cashless path tohundis.

For instance, in Mukhra, avillage of just 650 people inAdilabad district, during theDussehra festival in 2017, vil-lagers donated money byscanning QR codes placed atthe temple hundi. Even priestsare of the view that donations

in any form are good - cash orcashless.

M Pavan Kumar Sharma,convenor of TelanganaBrahmana Association, said,"Donations can be given inany form and in anyway.People put money in hundi forpunyam or dravya shuddhi orother reasons. How the dona-tion is done shouldn't be ofconcern".

Continued on Page 2

Digital hundis helpingtemples go cashless

L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

Ostensibly in a bid to break theimpasse with regard to the 13-day-old RTC strike, GovernorTamilisai Soundararajan onThursday intervened personal-ly and called up TransportMinister Puvvada Ajay to knowthe steps taken by the State gov-ernment to end the stir. Shereportedly asked the Minister tocome over to Raj Bhavan andbrief her about the RTC strike.

Interestingly, the Ministerwas with Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao at a reviewof the RTC strike at PragathiBhavan when the Governor'scall landed. The minister, whocould not visit Raj Bhavan dueto the review, deputed transportsecretary Sunil Sharma to briefthe Governor on the status ofthe RTC strike and the measuresbeing taken by the state gov-

ernment to end the strike andrestore RTC bus services.

The Governor's interventionassumes significance in thebackdrop of the state govern-ment and RTC unions remain-ing adamant on their respectivestance with no solution in sightfor the two-week-long deadlock

in talks. The RTC strike hascrippled public transportationacross the state since October5th, causing severe hardships tocommon people. Even theHigh Court had sought an affi-davit from the RTC manage-ment on the steps taken to mit-igate hardships to people.

Noticeably, this is the firsttime in Telangana State that aGovernor has deemed it appro-priate to personally intervene inan issue being handled by thestate government. The previousGovernor, ESL Narasimhan,never intervened in affairs con-cerning governance.

Continued on Page 2

Guv Tamilisai steps into end TSRTC impasse!l KCR feels the heat of Raj Bhavan for the first time

The Governor'sintervention assumessignificance in thebackdrop of the stategovernment and RTCunions remainingadamant on theirrespective stancewith no solution insight for the two-week-long deadlockin talks

Growth of wealth of ultra rich slows down in 2018l Number of ultra rich falls to 2.56 lakh in 2018 from 2.63 lakh: Report

PNS n NEW DELHI

High networth individualshave seen their wealth growthslowing down in 2018 to 9.62per cent from 13.45 per cent ayear ago, while their numberhas de-grown, says a report.

High networth individualsare those with an investiblesurplus of over $1 million,and their number has crimpedto 2.56 lakh in 2018 from 2.63lakh in 2017, according to thedata collated by Karvy WealthManagement.

According to the Karvyreport, these 2.63 lakh ultrarich are worth Rs 430 lakhcrore in 2018, up from Rs 392lakh crore in 2017.

The report comes even as

more eye brows are beingraised repeatedly over the ris-ing inequality in the country,where the rich are getting rich-er and the poor, becomingpoorer and at a faster clip.

As much as Rs 262 lakhcrore of the wealth possessedby the high networth individ-uals are in the form of finan-cial assets, while the rest areparked in physical assets, itsaid, adding the ratio hasremained broadly the same at60:40.

Among financial assets,direct equity exposure is thelargest at Rs 52 lakh crore, butgrowth in this segmentplunged to 6.39 percent froma high 30.32 percent in 2017. Inline with broader trends,

growth in fixed deposits andbonds rose 8.85 percent to Rs45 lakh crore in 2018 from 4.86percent growth in the previousyear. Insurance is the thirdbiggest component amongfinancial assets at Rs 36 lakhcrore, while bank deposits isworth Rs 34 lakh crore.

Much to the chagrin of thepolicymakers, gold is the mostpreferred asset class amongphysical assets for the rich aswell, with nearly Rs 80 lakhcrore of their wealth parked inthe yellow metal.

In line with market trends,growth in value of real estateholdings, second biggest assetclass worth Rs 74 lakh crore,slipped to 7.13 percent from10.35 percent in 2017.

Draw of lotsfor liquorshops todayl TS earns Rs 968 crthrough application fees

PNS n HYDERABAD

The draw of lots to selectlicencees for setting up liquorshops in Telangana will beheld on Friday across thestate. The draws will be heldat all the district headquartersin the presence of respectivedistrict collectors.

The State government hasinvited applications to set up2,216 liquor shops for a twoyear period — fromNovember 1, 2019 to October31, 2021. The deadline to sub-mit applications ended onThursday. Each applicant wasrequired to furnish a non-refundable deposit of Rs 2lakh towards application fees.The State government earneda whooping Rs 968 crore byway of application fees as48,301 applications were sub-mitted for the 2,216 liquorshops.

KCR cancels H’nagar rallydue to bad weather

The venue of Chief Minister K Chandrasaker Rao’s public meeting in Huzurnagardecked up on Thursday

PNS n HYDERABAD

Governor TamilisaiSoundararajan expressedanger over the failure of thestate government in utilizingCentre's RUSA funds for thedevelopment of universitiesin state. Governor held areview meeting at Raj Bhavanon Thursday with officials ofRUSA.

She directed the vice-chan-cellors of seven universities,that were selected for RUSAfunding, to take steps imme-diately to utilize RUSA fundswithout any lapse by March2020.

When VCs brought to hernotice about the failure of thestate government in releasingits matching grant to availRUSA funds released by theCentre, due to which there isa risk of Centre's RUSA fundsgetting lapsed by March 2020,she expressed anger anddirected VCs to take steps tosecure matching grant fromthe state government and fillvacant faculty positions inuniversities.

Guv decriesGovt's failureto utilizeRUSA funds

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao hasdirected the advocate- gener-al (AG) to effectively presentarguments on behalf of thestate government in the HighCourt during hearing of thecase relating to TSRTC strikeon Friday.

The Chief Ministerheld a review onThursday, alongwith TransportM i n i s t e rPuvvada Ajayand senior offi-cials from transportand law departments,in view of the hearing ofTSRTC strike case in the HighCourt on Friday.

Officials are understood tohave informed KCR that theHigh Court had only madecertain 'observations' on RTCstrike two days ago and that itdid not issue any directions tothe government.

The High Court had asked

government and RTCunions to resume talksto end strike and to

appoint managingdirector for TSRTC;

hence, they were in thenature of 'observations' and not'directions' by the High Court,the officials reasoned. In thisbackdrop, KCR asked the offi-cials to gather information soas to help the AG presentstrong arguments over why thestate government had to adopta tough stance on RTC strike.

Continued on Page 2

Present state govt’sarguments strongly inHC today, AG told

Officials areunderstood to haveinformed KCR thatthe High Court hadonly made certain'observations' on RTCstrike two days agoand that it did notissue any directions

to the government

Devotees inTelangana havebeen at theforefront in doingdigital transactionsat temples andsome villages havealready adoptedthe cashless pathto hundis

50K cab drivers in TS to go onindefinite strike from SaturdayPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana State Taxi andDrivers Associations' JAC onThursday announced that 50,000Ola, Uber and IT companies' cabdrivers will launch an indefinitestrike on October 19. The cabbieshave called the strike in support oftheir list of six demands given onAugust 8th to the Transport

Ministry as well as Uber, Ola andIT sector companies.

The drivers are seeking betterliving and work conditions by peg-ging the minimum fare at Rs 22 perkilometer. They claim that they arebeing exploited by cab aggregatorsas they are being paid a maximumRs 14 per km even during periodsinvolving surge pricing.

Continued on Page 2

PNS n VARANASI

The First War ofIndependence in 1857 wouldhave been regarded as a revolthad it not been for VeerSavarkar, said Home MinisterAmit Shah said here onThursday amid a row over theBJP suggesting that theHindutva icon be given theBharat Ratna.

Stressing the need to rewritehistory from India's point ofview, Shah credited Savarkarfor calling the 1857 rebellionas India's first independencestruggle.

Shah said had it not been forhim, the rebellion of 1857would have become historyand India would have seen itfrom the British point of view.

His remarks came two daysafter the Maharashtra BJPunit said in its election man-ifesto that the party would askthe Centre to confer the BharatRatna, India's highest civilianaward, on Vinayak DamodarSavarkar, popularly known asVeer Savarkar.

"Had it not been VeerSavarkar, the 1857 'kranti'(revolt) would not havebecome history and we wouldhave been seeing it from theBritish point of view," the

home minister said. "It wasSavarkar who gave the nameFirst War of Independence tothe 1857 'kranti', otherwise,our children would haveknown it as a revolt," he said,inaugurating a two-day inter-national seminar here on' G u p t v a n s h a k - V e e r :Skandgupta Vikramaditya' atBanaras Hindu University(BHU).

A large number of histori-ans, scholars and politicalthinkers from India andabroad attended the seminar.

Referring to eminent histo-rians in the audience and onthe dais, he said, "It is myrequest to all that there is aneed to rewrite the Indian his-tory from India's point ofview but without blaming any-one."

Need to rewritehistory from India'spoint of view: Shah

‘Nitish to leadNDA in 2020Bihar polls’PNS n PATNA

Speculations about the BJP-JD(U) alliance in Bihar suf-fering yet another split wereput to rest on Thursday withUnion Home Minister AmitShah stating that the NDA willcontest the assembly pollsnext year under the leadershipof Chief Minister NitishKumar.

Leaders of the JD(U), head-ed by Kumar, erupted in joy assnippets of an interview givento a news channel by Shahwere beamed, capping weeksof bad blood between the twoparties.

"The gathbandhan (coali-tion) is atal (unshakeable).

The NDA will contestassembly polls under the lead-ership of Nitish Kumar inBihar. Nationally, it is PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, whowill continue to lead the coali-tion," Shah was shown as hav-ing said in the interview, to betelecast later in the day.

Bihar manjumps insidelion enclosurein Delhi zoo

Pak: Bid byIndia to divertwater would be‘aggression'ISLAMABAD: Pakistan saidon Thursday that it has "exclu-sive rights" over three Westernrivers and any attempt byIndia to divert the flow of theserivers would be considered an"act of aggression". ForeignOffice spokespersonMohammad Faisal made theremarks during his weeklymedia briefing here inresponse to a question regard-ing Prime Minister NarendraModi's recent remarks to stopwater flowing to Pakistan.

Addressing an election rallyin Haryana early this week,Modi reportedly said that hisgovernment would stop thewater flowing to Pakistan.Faisal said that Pakistan had"exclusive rights" over thewaters of three Western riversunder the Indus Water Treaty.

NEW DELHI: A 28-year-oldman jumped inside the enclo-sure of a lion in the Delhi zooon Thursday, but escapedunhurt as the alert zoo staffacted quickly and tranquillisedthe animal, official sourcessaid. The incident happened atbeat number 17 at around12.30 pm. The situation isunder control now, zoosources said. Rehan Khan, anative of Bihar's EastChamparan district, was in aninebriated state, the sourcessaid, adding that the man wasrescued by the zoo staff andhanded over to the police.

First AI varsitylaunched in Abu DhabiDUBAI: The UAE has set upan artificial intelligence uni-versity, claimed to be the firstin the world, in Abu Dhabi.The Mohamed bin ZayedUniversity of ArtificialIntelligence (MBZUAI) wasinaugurated and it offers cours-es for undergraduate students.

It is also accepting applica-tions for its first masters andPhD programmes this month.All admitted students will begiven full scholarship plusbenefits such as a monthlyallowance and accommoda-tion. "AI is already changingthe world, but we can achieveso much more if we allow thelimitless imagination of thehuman mind to fully exploreit. The university will bring thediscipline of AI into the fore-front, molding and empower-ing creative pioneers," saidSultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAEMinister of State, who hasbeen appointed chair of theMBZUAI Board of Trusteesand is spearheading the uni-versity's establishment.

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HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 18, 2019 hyderabad 02

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Harish inauguratesprocurement centresPNS n SIDDIPET

Siddipet MLA and FinanceMinister T Harish Rao onThursday inaugurated paddyand cotton procurement cen-tres at Gajwel Market Yardalong with MP KottaPrabhakar Reddy, MLCFarooq Hussain and others.

Promising purchase of com-modities at MSP, he asked farm-ers to dry their produce beforebringing them to market yardunder the present dispensation,which he called as pro-farmer.

He said paddy will be pur-chased at Rs 1,835 a quintal,while cotton is procured at Rs5,550 a quintal. He asked

farmers to make use of thefacility. Groundnut seeds arebeing sold at a subsidised priceof Rs 42 a kg. The governmentis making available five types ofseeds, including paddy, maizeand sun flower, on subsidy.

The government subsidy onthe cost of seeds is 35 per cent. Heput the MSP for maize at Rs 1,760

a quintal. If necessary, more pro-curement centers will be openedsoon, he said. The capacity ofgodowns has increased from3,000 tonnes to 50,000 tonnes inGajwel constituency, soon afterKCR became the CM, he said.

He distributed KalyanaLakshmi and Shaadi Mubarakcheques worth Rs Rs 1 croreamong the beneficiaries. In all,850 cheques pertaining toKalyana Lakshmi and ShadiMubarak have been kept pend-ing and these would bereleased in 4 or 5 days. Heasked the Finance Departmentofficials to not to keep KalyanaLakshmi and Shaadi Mubarakcheques pending.

Telangana set for recordKharif crop harvest: ErrabelliPNS n WARANGAL

Panchayath Raj and RuralDevelopment MinisterErrabelli Dayakar Rao onThursday exhorted the officialsand people's representativesin the district to work togeth-er for attaining the remunera-tive prices for the Cotton pro-duce for the farmers.

The Minister along withthe former Deputy ChiefMinister Kadiam Srihari andMLAs Aroori Ramesh,ChallaDharma Reddy and Peddisudarshan Reddy participatedin an awareness programme atAmbedkar Bhavan .

Collectors Haritha andPrashanth Jeevan Patil, offi-cials along with ZPTCs, MPPs,Society chair persons, andrepresentatives of RythuSamanvaya Samithi partici-pated in the programme.

The meeting laid emphasison the paddy and cotton pro-duce for the Kharif season of2019-20 in the district andKadiam Srihari detailed howthe produce may surpass theexpected targets during thecurrent year in the districts.

Since a bumper season ofmonsoons was evident, thedistricts have transplantedpaddy and cotton in extensiveareas, he said and added thatthe cultivation extent has sur-passed the limits and the pro-

duce is likely to surpass theexisting targets, he said. "Thegovernment would take neces-sary steps to provide remuner-ative prices for the farmers," theMinister said. On the cottonpurchases, the CCI wasadvised to take necessary stepsand since Warangal erstwhiledistrict tops the productiongraphs in the entire state, theCCI should take the responsi-bility of accomplishing thepuchases, he said. TheMinister advised the officialsto appoint special officers forCCI pichade points and IKPcentres and for monitoringthese purchases he suggestedthe district administration toallocate supervising authoritiesat the mandal level.

MinisterErrabelliDayakar Raoexhorted theconcernedofficials in thedistrict to workfor remunerativeprices for cotton producedby the farmers

Kakatiya rulers' statues to adorn Gundam CheruvuPNS n WARANGAL

Municipal Administration andUrban Development (MAUD)Principal Secretary ArvindKumar on Thursday said thestatues of Ganapathi Devudu,Rudram Devi andPratharudrudu would beinstalled at the GundamCheruvu.

"We are trying to getfunds from the State tourismdepartment," he said, duringa visit to Fort Warangalhere. Accompanied by for-mer deputy mayor KatteSaraiah, he also visitedKeerthi thoranams, SwabhuShambuni temple, Gundamcheruvu park, Kushmahaland other places. He saidthat the government wastaking steps to place Fort

Warangal on the country'stourist map.

He stressed on the need toimprove the amenities at theFort Warangal as shootings ofthe movies and short films aretaking place at the hillocknear Gundam Cheruvu.When Katte Saraiah said thatthere was a need to acquireprivate lands as there arestatues and idols located inthe middle of some houses, hesaid that he would look intothe matter. He said that stepswould be taken to promoteFort Warangal at the interna-tional level to attract foreigntourists.

Later, he planted saplingsalong with Collector PJ Patilon the premises of the campoffice of the GWMC commis-sioner. MA & UD Principal Secretary Arvind Kumarand others during their visit to the Warangal Fort on Thursday

Finance Minister T Harish Rao inspects paddy after inaugurating a procurement centre in Gajwel on Thursday

Minister Errabelli addresses the media in Warangal on Thursday

‘Focus on uplift of SCs’PNS n HYDERABAD

]Minister for Welfare KoppulaEshwar has urged the officialsof the Welfare Department tocompile data on how manystudents benefited to whatextent under state govern-ment's scheme for overseaseducation.

Reviewing the implementa-tion of minority developmentand SC welfare departments'activities at his office here onThursday, he said that the gov-ernment wants students toachieve empowerment througheducation. He asked officials totake steps to improve employ-ment opportunities of theunemployed by imparting train-ing to them in various skills.

The Minister said that fundswould be allotted to the stategovernment's overseas educa-tion scheme so that it wouldbenefit many more students.The Welfare Department gaveguarantee to banks so thatmany drivers could obtainloans to purchase cars underthe government's subsidyscheme, he said asking officialsto prepare a plan to extend

similar loans to people of ruralareas.

The officials were told tocomplete installation of bio-metric system of recordingattendance in social welfareresidential schools and hostels.The Minister said that hisministry would be arranging a

meeting with various industri-al organisations to help SCs setup small-scale and medium-scale industries.

He asked the officials toensure that there should be nocomplaints from eligible thatthe fruits development didnot reach them.

Minister Koppula Eshwar and others at a review meeting on Thursday

Kopula Eshwar also directed officialsto complete installation of bio-metricsystem of recording attendance insocial welfare schools

Man, paramourcommit suicidein NalgondaPNS n NALGONDA

A man along with his para-mour committed suicide byconsuming pesticide atThalikal village of Narekalmandal in Nalgonda districton Thursday. The duo wasidentified as Karingu Saidulu(41) and Yakala Bhavani (30),both residents of Thatikal vil-lage. Saidulu was marriedand has two children, whileBhavani's husband died afew years ago. She was livingalone as she didn't have anychildren.

According to CircleInspector of Nakrekal PNDPrasad, the two were into anillicit relationship for the lastthree years. When they wentmissing a year ago, policebooked a missing case follow-ing a complaint lodged bytheir family members.

They were tracked downand handed over to their rel-atives subsequently. Heatedarguments broke out betweenthe relatives of Saidulu andBhavani on the issue of theirextra martial affair. Followingthis, the two committed sui-cide by consuming pesticidemixed with soft drink on theoutskirts of the village. Thevillagers found their bodieson Thursday morning andinformed the police. A casehas been registered.

‘TS assisting Mahain conduct of polls’PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana has taken severalsteps in coordination with theMaharashtra government toassist that State in the smoothconduct of the MaharashtraAssembly elections onOctober 21, Chief SecretarySK Joshi has said.

During a video conferencewith officials from the ElectionCommission of India in NewDelhi, Joshi said particularattention was being paid to thefour bordering districts ofGadchiroli, Nanded,Chandrapur and Yavatmal andthe 14 check-posts on roadsconnecting Telangana andMaharashtra.

Joshi informed the ECI offi-cials that a coordination meet-ing was already held withMaharashtra officials.

Telangana will ensure imple-mentation of dry day 48 hoursbefore the polling begins onOctober 21 and also on theday of counting of votes.

Director General of PoliceM Mahender Reddy informedthe ECI officials thatTelangana police was workingalong with Maharashtra policeand has already deployed1,800 home guards. Telanganahas also installed CCTV cam-eras at the checkposts onroads connecting withMaharashtra to monitor vehi-cle and people movement.

The meeting was attendedamong others by ChiefElectoral Officer Rajat Kumar,Special Chief Secretary(Revenue) Somesh Kumar,Principal Secretary (Home)Rajiv Trivedi and AdditionalDirector General of PoliceJitender.

Cops launch uniqueawareness drivePNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

As part of the martyr's memo-rial week, the Mahabubnagarpolice officials have launcheda unique awareness pro-gramme here on Thursday. Onthe occasion, YasaniVenkateshwarlu, a magician,performed blindfold driving.

Addressing this pro-gramme, Superintendent ofPolice Rema Rajeshwari saidthe police were taking up aunique service task of provid-ing security to the society aspart of protecting the country'spride. The SP said the policewere holding several service-oriented programmes as partof seven-day martyr's memo-rial week and on Thursday, thetraffic police have organised

blindfold driving by a magi-cian. "The police are success-fully holding awareness pro-grammes in guiding the peo-ple about achieving a peacefulatmosphere from the clutchesof the anti-social and naxaliteelements in the state," shesaid.

She detailed that how thepolice laid down their lives forthe sake of society and howthey were targeted by theextremists. The SP called uponthe people and police forces topay rich tributes to the mar-tyrs. Stating that the society isbeing lent a supportive role byeach and every individual, theSP said the police forces toowere offering the service in thesame fashion for protectingthe interest of the society.

The government willpurchase paddy at Rs 1,835 a quintal,

while cotton will be purchasedat Rs 5,550 a quintal

HARISH RAO Finance Minister

50K cab...Continued from Page 1

JAC said that a tab shouldbe kept on the number ofcabs attached to aggrega-tor marketplaces in orderto guarantee minimumbusiness to all drivers.

They also sought rein-statement of off-boardeddrivers. Shaik Salauddin,chairman of the TelanganaState Taxi and Drivers'JAC (TSTD JAC), saidthat the taxi drivers would refrain from workand switch off theirphones as a mark of theirprotest.

Guv Tamilisai stepsin to end TSRTC...

Continued from Page 1

He titular head of state heremained aloof even when theentire municipal staff and san-itary workers across Telanganawent on 12-day strike in 2015demanding pay hike, leavingthe entire state stinking as allstreets and roads turnedgarbage dumpyards.

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao andGovernor Narasimhan dis-played unusual bonhomie, rightfrom June 2014 to September2019, when ESL relinquishedhis post, following the appoint-ment of Tamil Nadu BJP chiefTamilisai Soundararajan asGovernor of Telangana.

In fact, KCR created a recordof sorts in visiting the RajBhavan to meet Narasimhan.He used to visit ESL almostevery week and in some caseseven twice. Ever since Tamilisaitook over as Governor, KCR hasavoided the Raj Bhavan. KCRvisited Raj Bhavan only once onSeptember 9, and that too toattend the swearing-in-cere-mony of Tamilisai as Governorin the morning and for theswearing-in ceremony of hiscabinet ministers since heexpanded his team the sameday.

KCR never met Governorlater, except on October 2, onthe occasion of 150th birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi. KCR met Governor onOctober 2, when both of themoffered floral tributes to Gandhiat Bapu Ghat in Langar Houzon the outskirts of the city.

Grapevine in political circleshas it that KCR was comfortablewith Narasimhan as Governorwho was a 'bureaucrat', but isunable to adjust with Tamilisai,who is a pucca political leader,having headed Tamil Nadustate wing BJP.

Moreover, she assumedcharge at a time when the rul-ing TRS and BJP are engaged ina bitter political battle. Post LokSabha results in May, the BJP,having bagged four Lok Sabhaseats and trounced KCR'sdaughter Kavitha in NizamabadLok Sabha seat, has been posi-tioning itself as an alternative toTRS in the state.

With palpable support fromcentral leaders, BJP state unitleaders have been sketchingplans to dislodge TRS in the2023 Assembly polls.

No wonder, Telangana BJPleaders are visiting Raj Bhavanfrequently and lodging com-plaints against KCR and TRSgovernment on several issues.

AG asked toargue well inHC on TSRTCstrikeContinued from Page 1

J He asked officials to bringto the notice of the HighCourt how the State govern-ment had increased salariesfor RTC staff by 67 percent in 2015 and how thegovernment infused Rs3,000 crore funds tostrengthen RTC.

KCR wanted the AG to letthe court know why it wasnot possible to meet thedemand of RTC unions formerger of TSRTC with stategovernment.

He directed officials toinform the court about theefforts made by the stategovernment to ensure oper-ation of about 75 per cent ofRTC buses despite RTC staffand the plans made toachieve 100 per cent busservices in another two daysto mitigate the problem ofcommuters.

KCR wanted officials to letthe court know that the gov-ernment is ready for talkswith RTC unions anytime, ifthey withdraw their strikeand sit across the table fortalks to resolve the matteramicably.

Digital hundis helpingtemples go cashlessContinued from Page 1

However, there is another viewthat feelings of divinity andpeace at religious places will belost if people use their phonesat hundi which are typicallyplaced at various spots.

Another priest called forremoval of hundis and cre-ation of Daily Puja Fund.

Chilkur Chief Priest C SRangarajan said, "The wholeconcept of hundi is not part ofour religion as there cannot bea transaction between Godand devotee. At Chilkur, wefollow the method of DailyPuja Fund, a corpus wherepeople can make online dona-tions, and it is digital to ensure

we can meet the needs of thetemple. In fact, the Chilkurmodel of Daily Puja Fund forsmall temples was also accept-ed by the Supreme Courtwhen my father presented theidea in 1996."

Chilkur doesn't have ahundi on its premises. Hesaid, "Public sector banks canact as enablers by making'Daily Puja Fund' financialinstrument as per SC order.They can ease opening thisaccount in the name of deitiesand ease devotees' donationsto this fund with a provisionthat the principal can never bewithdrawn. PSBs can giveguaranteed interest to be pro-vided every year to temple."

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 18, 2019 hyderabad 03

RIMEORNERC

Woman dies, causeof death suspectHYDERABAD: A 24-year-oldwoman was found dead undersuspicious circumstances ather residence in NBT Nagar atin Banjara Hills Road 12 onThursday. The deceasedwoman has been identified as PGeeta. Police who reached thespot said that she is suspectedto have committed suicide.However Geeta's family allegedthat harassment from herhusband and in-laws forced herto end her life. The body wasshifted to the Osmania GeneralHospital morgue for an autopsyto ascertain the cause of death.

TV9 CEO in police custodyHYDERABAD: Former TV9 CEOV Ravi Prakash was taken intocustody by Cyberabad police ona prisoner transit warrant fromChanchalguda prison inconnection with a pending case.Ravi Prakash is presently injudicial remand after the BanjaraHills police arrested him forillegally withdrawing Rs 18 croreof company funds in the nameof bonus and ex-gratia.Meanwhile, police bookedanother case against RaviPrakash under the relevantprovisions of the IT Act forcreating a fake ID in the name ofNatarajan. According to sources,the police booked a case againstRavi Prakash under Section406/66 of InformationTechnology Act, for allegedlycreating a fake identity card inthe name of Natarajan, workingfor I-Labs. Police picked up RaviPrakash from Chanchalguda jailon PT warrant and producedhim before a local court atMiyapur, which sent him tojudicial remand. Howeversources said that Ravi Prakashwas granted bail in the fake IDcase but was still in judicialremand for the previous casesfiled against him.

Banned foreigncigarettes seizedHyderabad: Police raided agodown in Begum Bazaar andarrested its owner on chargesof procuring banned foreigncigarettes. Cigarettes worth Rs6 lakh were seized from him.The arrested person wasSantosh Dave (46), owner ofMahalaxmi Marketing and aresident of Osman Shahi inAfzalgunj. According to thepolice, he used to procureforeign cigarettes -- which didnot have the mandatorypictorial warnings and violatedthe guidelines of Cigarette andOther Tobacco Product Act --from unknown sources inneighbouring states. Theforeign cigarettes contain avery high content of tobaccodust which is hazardous tohealth. The accused washanded over to the Shah InayatGunj police for investigation.

NAVEEN KUMAR n HYDERABAD

The DCP of West Zone, BSumathi IPS, will flag off theworld's largest event to raiseawareness against human traf-ficking being held inHyderabad for the first time onOctober 19.

The event will take place at450 plus locations across 50countries simultaneously. TheWalk for Freedom, hosted by'The Movement India', anNGO, is being held in India forthe third year in a row.

Over 6,000 participantsfrom 10 Indian cities --Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune,Delhi, Kolkata, Shillong,Chennai, Kochi, Bengaluruand Panjim - have signed up totake part in the event.

The event is a silent walkwhere participants pledge tohelp end human trafficking intheir lifetime. Globally, theWalk is organized by A21, aninternational NGO in the fightagainst modern-day slavery.

The walk in the city will startfrom and end at YMCA inSecunderabad, and travel viaSD Road and Sangeet Lane.

In the lead up to the event,The Movement India has con-ducted over 40 awarenessworkshops about human traf-ficking reaching over 4,000participants across India in thelast 1.5 months.

"The common public isextremely unaware of the mag-nitude of the issue. We want tospread awareness on the formsof trafficking - bonded labour,organ rackets and sexualexploitation. We want peopleto recognise indicators of traf-ficking. So these awarenessprogrammes will help identi-fy cases of trafficking in theirdaily life," said Biju Thampy,founder of The Movement

India."There are millions of slaves

in the world-but there are bil-lions of us who can bringchange. Not all of us can doeverything, but each of us canchoose to do something," saidChristine Caine, A21 founder.

According to theInternational LabourOrganisation (2016), 40.3 mil-lion are caught in variousforms of modern-day slaveryglobally. Of these, right now,there are 8 million peopletrafficked in India for sex,labor, organs, forced marriagesand domestic servitude,according to the Global SlaveryIndex 2018.

PNS n HYDERABAD

City-based Genome Labs BioPrivate Limited on Thursday saidit planned to set up a manufac-turing plant in the city within next10 months to produce edible cups,touted as an environment-friend-ly alternative to both plastic andpaper cups.

Company executive directorSuresh Raju said they were in theprocess of setting up their ownplant tp manufacture 'EAT CUP',currently being imported, on anine acre site in Shamirpet andhave sought necessary permis-

sion from the government.EAT CUP was not only eco-

friendly and biodegradable, but

also beneficial to diet, he claimed.EAT CUP is made from natur-

al grain products and is completelyedible, crunchy and delicious totaste. Rich in fibre, it is also a gooddietary supplement... (you can) eatthe cup after finishing the bever-age, Raju told reporters announc-ing launch of the product.

As of now EAT CUP was beingimported through Europe-basedmanufacturing partner ofGenomelabs, a manufacturer ofnutrition, fitness, wellness andlifestyle products, he said.

Raju said that once the govern-ment gave its approval, the unit

will be set up and start productionin the next nine to ten monthswith a capacity of 10 lakh cups perday.

EAT CUP was a step forward inreducing negative ecologicalimpact and massive carbon foot-print, he said adding it was suit-able for all kinds of hot and coldbeverages, soups, desserts andyoghurt and would not get soggyfor up to 40 minutes.

According to him, even thedisposable paper cups were poly-ethylene-lined, and pose a risk tothe environment as they are notbiodegradable.

City firm set to launch ‘edible cups'Plans to set up unit to make eco-friendly alternative to plastic and paper cups

Int'l walk against slavery onOct 19; 6,000 to take partEvent to be flagged off from YMCA in Secunderabad;to be held at 450+ locations in 50 countries worldwide

DCP B Sumathi

The silent walk,where participantspledge to help endhuman traffickingin their lifetime, isled by internat-ional NGO A21which fightsagainst modern-day slavery

PNS n HYDERABAD

Institute of Management &Foreign Studies (IMFS) host-ed its 7th annual Global EduFest in the city on Thursday.Over 2,000 students aspiringfor foreign education attendedthe event, which saw 70 uni-versities from eight countries-- US, UK, Australia, Canada,UAE, Singapore, Ireland andGermany -- interacting withstudents. The one-day eventwas inaugurated by Dr DNRao, chairman of VNR VigyanJyothi Educational Trust, whileDileep Konatham, director ofDigital Media of the Telanganagovt and PVRK Murthy, chair-man of Sri Gayatri EducationInstitutions were the 'Guests ofHonour'.

Representatives of the USConsulate and Education USwere also present and con-ducted an informative sessionon various aspects for studyingin the US along with the visaapplication process.

KP Singh, founder of IMFSsaid that over the last fewyears, we have been witnessingan increase in the number ofstudents preferring to goabroad to pursue undergradu-ate programmes. The reasonsbeing multi-fold viz., rise inincomes of middle-class fam-ilies, young global citizen work

force, easy availability of finan-cial support throughInstitutional loans and increas-ing number of internationalschools in India, which offereducation equal to interna-tional curriculum in additionto greater commitment levelsand superior pedagogy."However, with the availabili-ty of number of options therecomes the confusion in takingthe right decision. Every stu-dent needs to consider manyfactors while choosing a rightuniversity for their study.These factors include budget,future, jobs, languages known,etc. So, we as experts in thefield are trying to guide themthrough this fest," Singh said.

According to Pienews, astudy portal which is widely

followed by international edu-cation professionals and uni-versities, a survey conductedby heads of InternationalBaccalaureate schools and aca-demic coordinators and careercounsellors at residential day-schools across the countryreveals that more than 75% ofstudents planning to studyabroad are interested in bach-elor's programmes.

An interesting aspect of thestudy is that 90% of respon-dents preferred engineeringcourse, while business com-merce was mentioned by 87%,putting it before computer sci-ence and IT, listed by 80% ofrespondents. Humanities &arts and biology, biotechnolo-gy & life science were each list-ed by 50% of respondents.

Foreign shores calling: Over2k students throng Edu FestAbout 75% of Indian students plan to doBachelor’s programmes abroad, finds study

Students collect course literature at the Edu Fest in the city on Thursday

BHEL staffer kills self, suicidenote talks of abuse by DGMDeceased Neha Chouksey's suicide note stated that she washarassed by male and female colleaguesPNS n HYDERABAD

A 32-year-old woman, anaccounts officer in BHEL,committed suicide by hangingherself at her residence inMiyapur on Thursday.

The deceased woman hasbeen identified as NehaChouksey, a native of MadhyaPradesh, who was transferredfrom Bhopal to BHEL's unit inRamachandrapuram in Junethis year.

According to the police, herhusband Sunil found her hang-ing from the ceiling fan in theirhouse in Bhanu township inMiyapur in the afternoon.

Officials said a suicide notefound at her residence statedthat some officers in BHELwere harassing her. "Apartfrom naming a few seniorlevel officers, she also saidthat her phone was hacked andshe was being monitored. Shewrote that an officer who hadhacked her phone was black-mailing her with her personal

details for favours," said apolice official.

The suicide note containednames of quite a few people inBHEL Ramachandrapuram aswell as Bhopal. "She wrotethat Kishore Kumar, a deputygeneral manager (DGM) hadhacked her phone and washarassing her. She said that

Kishore had also hacked herhusband's phone and had onmany occasions planned andthreatened to kill her," said anofficial from Miyapur policewho is investigating the case.

Mohanlal Soni, SitharamPentakota, Mahesh Kumar area few other names of maleemployees in BHELRamachandrapuram who hadharassed her. Obscene remarksmade against her also figuredin the letter.

Apart from writing aboutharassment from male employ-ees, Neha also wrote that

Neelima, Ruchita, Kalpana,Swathi and Neha working inBHEL Bhopal had mentallyharassed her, police said.

According to the suicidenote, Neha had earlier com-plained to the Miyapur policeabout her phone being hacked.She said the Miyapur policedirected her to file a complaintwith the Cyber Crime Police inCyberabad. After approachingthe CCP, she said that she did-n't get satisfactory responseand was disappointed.

However, police said thatNeha, who had sought trans-fer to BHELRamachandrapuram fromBhopal had stated the samereasons earlier too. "She wasparanoid about her phonebeing hacked and monitored,and had sought transfer fromBhopal on the same grounds,"said the police official. A casehas been registered under sec-tion 306 of the IPC (abetmentto suicide) and the police areinvestigating the incident.

Neha Chouksey

According to thepolice, herhusband Sunilfound her hangingfrom the ceilingfan in their housein Bhanu townshipin Miyapur

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Army recruitment rallyunder Unit HeadquartersQuota will be held at AOCCentre Secunderabad for enrol-ment of soldier clerk (SKT), sol-dier general duty, soldiertradesmen, outstanding sports-men (Open category) andmusician (Open category) fromDecember 2 to January 19.

Outstanding sportsmen(Open category) are requiredto report at Thapar Stadiumat AOC Centre at 8 am onNovember 29 for sports tri-als. Sportsmen who have rep-resented in boxing, football,basketball, handball, hockey,swimming, wrestling, athlet-ics, kabaddi can participatealong with their certificates.

Musicians in Open catego-ry (military band only) shouldreport on December 2 at 6 amat Thapar Stadium. Age limitfor sportsmen is 171/2 to 21years and for musicians (mil-itary band only) 171/2 to 23years. For more details candi-dates can contactHeadquarters, AOC Centre,East Marredpally,Secunderabad-15.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Novotel Hyderabad Airport appointedRubin Cherian as the hotel's new GeneralManager. In his new role, Rubin will focuson enhancing overall guest experience atNovotel Hyderabad Airport, bringing aboutgrowth in revenues, and develop a talent-ed and committed team to manage the hoteloperations in the ever-evolving businessenvironment.

He has been associated with Accor for over16 years, having worked at Novotel Mumbai,Juhu Beach, Novotel Bengaluru, and ibisHyderabad, Hitec City, before taking on hiscurrent role at Novotel Hyderabad Airport.In 2019, he was awarded as the "GeneralManager of the Year" by BW Hotelier for thebudget and economy segment of Hotels inIndia in 2018.

Rubin Cherian newGM of Novotel

PNS n HYDERABAD

As many as 14 of the 127 per-sons with suspected ISIS linksarrested from all over thecountry in recent years werefrom Hyderabad. According toreports, most of the 130-oddpeople arrested by securityagencies in India for suspect-ed ISIS links were inspired bythe speeches of controversialIslamic preacher Zakir Naik, atop official of NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA)Alok Mittal told a conferenceof anti-terror forces recently.

The largest number of per-sons were arrested from TamilNadu, 33, Uttar Pradesh, 19and Kerala, 17, Telangana 14,Maharashtra 12, Karnataka 8and Delhi 7. The other statesfrom where ISIS suspects havebeen arrested are Uttarakhand,West Bengal, Jammu andKashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat,Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

Sharing data at the NIANational Conference of chiefsof the Anti-Terrorism Squads(ATS) and Special Task Forces(STF), NIA Inspector GeneralAlok Mittal said the internet isbeing systematically exploitedby ISIS sympathisers for ter-rorist purposes.

"The international terroristorganisation has exploitedinternet in a very organisedway for its every terror-relat-ed activity like radicalisation,

training, recruitment, plan-ning and execution," he said.

IG Mittal said it was com-mon in all the modules bust-ed in Hyderabad, Kerala,Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh orDelhi that the leader of thelocal outfit was in contactwith a "foreign handler" whochannelised the module.

Preacher Zakir Naik, theMumbai-born founder of thecontroversial 'Peace TV', hasbeen living in Malaysia since2017. He has run into sometrouble in Malaysia too whichbanned him from deliveringpublic talks. But the Malaysiangovernment has indicated thatit was reluctant to deport himto India, and yet was open himto send him to any othercountry that was willing totake him.

In his speech at the confer-ence of counter-terror officials,NIA director YC Modi alsooutlined the emerging terrorchallenges before the country.He also noted that theBangladesh-based terror out-fit Jamaat-ul-MujahideenBangladesh (JMB) hasexpanded its footprints inKerala, Karnataka andMaharashtra.

JMB started activities inWest Bengal in 2008, whentwo of its senior leaderscrossed over to West Bengal toevade arrest and persecutionin Bangladesh.

14 of 127 held for ISISlinks were from cityTerror outfit used internet to

radicalise recruits: Security agencies

Three-day spell ofrain forecast in TSPNS n HYDERABAD

The cyclonic circulation con-tinues to bring rain in theTelugu speaking states. Light tomoderate rain or thundershowers are likely at someplaces in TS. However, IMDissued a heavy rainfall warningat isolated places in the districtsof Mahabubabad, BadradriKothadugem, Nagar Kurnool,Suryapet, Khammam,M a h a b u b n a g a r,W a n a p a r t h y ,Nalgonda andJogulamba Gadwalon Thursday.Thunder stormaccompanied withlightning are likely at isolatedplaces in TS.

South-west monsoon thoughhas completely withdrawn fromthe state. The city witnessed adrop in temperature onWednesday due to the onset ofthe northeast monsoon south ofpeninsular India with the mer-cury plummeting to 25.6 degreeCelsius, while on Thursday thetemperature again rose to 30.0degree Celsius.

The IMD said, "A trough

runs from the above cycloniccirculation over Maldives toTelangana across Kerala, southinterior Karnataka andRayalseema, between 3.1 and5.8 km above mean sea level.The trough in easterlies fromsouthwest Bay of Bengal offsouth Tamil Nadu coast towest central Bay of Bengal hasbecome less marked."Parts ofHyderabad witnessed heavy

rainfall - areas suchas Serilingampally,Santosh Nagar,Charminar andMalakpet receivedmore than 20 mm

rain. According to

Telangana State Developmentand Planning Society weatherforecast update, "The weatherconditions over the state sug-gest light to moderaterain/thunder showers at a fewplaces for next three days(October 17-20). Maximumtemperatures are expected to bein the range of 31 degreeCelsius to 33 degree Celsius,while the minimum in therange of 21 degree Celsius to 24over the next three days."

Armyrecruitment drivebegins Dec 2

Rs 1 lakh penalty slappedon Paradise over hygienePNS n HYDERABAD

The GHMC on Thursdaylevied a penalty of Rs 1 lakhon Paradise Food CourtPrivate Limited's restau-rant at Secunderabad forunhygienic conditions in thekitchen, vegetables found inrotten conditions in thepremises and usage of singleuse plastic.

On Wednesday, a customerlodged a complaint withGHMC regarding quality ofthe food following which ateam of officials includingfood inspectors, veterinaryand vigilance wings inspect-ed the restaurant.

"During our inspection, we

n o t i c e dunhygienic conditions in thekitchen and found rotten veg-etables. Despise a ban on sin-gle use plastic, the manage-ment was found to be ram-pantly using the single useplastic," said GHMC foodinspector Sudershan.

GHMC fines KLM Rs 3L,Café Bahar Rs 1L

GHMC has slapped a fine ofRs 3 lakh on KLM shopping

mall in Chandanagar forillegal video display. Themall however continues toplay the videos on its

façade. GHMC imposedthe penalty for the third timeagain on Thursday. It alsoimposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh onhotel Cafe Bahar at AlekhyaTowers on Sagar Ring Road.

Officials inspected andnoticed unhygienic conditionsapart from non-segregationof waste and lack of tradelicense. In another instance,GHMC issued penalty of Rs10,000 on pan shop owner andRs 20,000 on Agarwal Agencyin Fathenagar for littering.

Man pusheswife to deathfrom 3rd floorPNS n HYDERABAD

A 23-year-old woman wasallegedly pushed down fromthe third floor of a buildingin Vanasthalipuram by herhusband.

Seema, a native ofMadhya Pradesh, succumbedduring treatment onThursday morning.

According to the police,Seema got married to Dilip,25, about 15 days ago in MPand the couple came toHyderabad in search of a job.Following an argument onlate Wednesday night, Dilipallegedly took her to thethird floor at their apartmentand beat her.

He then pushed her downfrom there. She suffered seri-ous injuries on the head,waist and legs.

The area locals rushedand shifted her to a nearbyclinic, where the doctorsadvised them to shift her toOsmania Hospital. She suc-cumbed to injuries therelater, said the police.

Following a complaintfiled by Seema's relativeagainst Dilip, a case wasbooked under section 302(murder) of the IPC and aninvestigation was taken up.Dilip is reportedly abscond-ing.

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 18, 2019 hyderabad 04

No end in sight to RTC strike impasse With no initiative from either TSRTC management or the govt for talks, over 48,000 employees continue their protestsPNS n HYDERABAD

The indefinite strike byemployees of Telangana StateRoad Transport Corporation(TSRTC) entered 13th day onThursday as no end appears insight to the impasse despiteHigh Court directions to boththe government and employ-ees to find a negotiated settle-ment. With no invitation fromeither TSRTC managementor the government for thetalks, over 48,000 employeeswere continuing the strike.

The striking employeesstaged protest in front of busdepots to prevent the busesfrom coming out but theywere arrested by the police.Security has been furthertightened at the depots and busstations as TSRTC has steppedup efforts to restore normaloperations with the help oftemporary employees.

TSRTC officials said theywere operating 75 per cent ofbus services and would soonbe restoring full operations toensure that there is no incon-venience to people. Making itclear that there is no change inhis stand, Chief Minister K.Chandrashekhar Rao told ameeting of officials late onWednesday that there will beno talks with the strikingemployees.

He also ruled out takingback the employees who failedto report to durty before theexpiry of the deadline. Themeeting with TransportMinister P. Ajay and seniorofficials lasted for five hours.While unlike after the previousmeetings, no statement wasissued from the ChiefMinister's Office (CMO), offi-cial sources said the chiefminister ruled out any talks orcompromise with the strikingemployees.

KCR, as the Chief Ministeris popularly known, notedthat the strike during festivaltime has caused a loss of Rs150 crore to TSRTC, adding toits financial woes. Pointing outthat his government providedRs 3,300 crore to the transportutility in last five years, KCRsaid there was 67 per cent

jump in the salaries of theemployees.

KCR asked officials to goahead with recruitment oftemporary drivers and alsohire more private buses.Meanwhile, striking employeesin Karimnagar tried to laysiege to the residence of stateminister Gangula Kamalakarto protest what they called hisprovocative statements on thestrike. Police arrested the pro-testers.

Joint Action Committee

(JAC) of striking employeeshas called for 'dhoom dhaam'or protests with the display offolk arts across the state onThursday. Student bodies willalso take out rallies in supportof the employees. A rally isplanned from OsmaniaUniversity later in the day. TheJAC is also going ahead withits plans for Telangana shut-down on Saturday. Oppositionparties and several tradeunions have declared supportto the shutdown.

Police arrest student union leaders during a protest in Hyderabad on Thursday

Solve issues or we will also strike,TNGO, TGO warn TRS govt

Left parties’ leaders on fast in support of stirPNS n HYDERABAD

Leaders of the Left parties andpeople's organisationsobserved a day-long fast hereon Thursday in support of thestrike by employees of theTelangana State RoadTransport Corporation(TSRTC), which entered its13th day. Several leaders andactivists of Communist Partyof India (CPI), CommunistParty of India-Marxist (CPI-M), other Left parties andpeople's organisations partic-ipated in the mass hungerstrike to show solidarity withthe striking employees.

CPI-state Secretary ChadaVenkat Reddy, CPI-M stateSecretary TammineniVeerabhadram and other lead-

ers paid tributes to twoemployees, who committedsuicide earlier this week toprotest the government's deci-sion to sack 48,000 strikingemployees. ProfessorNageshwar, eminent acade-mician Chukka Ramaiah,TSRTC Joint Action

Committee leaderAshwathama Reddy alsoaddressed the participants.

The speakers blamed thegovernment for the TSRTCrunning into huge losses.Ashwathama Reddy pointedout that the government is col-lecting Rs 300 crore as tax on

diesel every year. He demand-ed that the state governmentwaive the tax on diesel asdone in Tamil Nadu. They saidthat while private buses areallowed to operate on profit-making routes, the TSRTCbuses are run on loss-makingroutes.

Professor Nageshwar saidthe strike by employees wasnot for their salaries but forprotection of the TSRTC. Healleged that the government iscarrying out a false propagan-da to blame employees for theTSRTC's losses. Meanwhile,police arrested scores of stu-dents at Osmania Universitywhen they were trying to takeout a rally to Pragathi Bhavan,the official residence of theChief Minister.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Non-GazettedOfficers (TNGO) andTelangana Gazetted Officers(TGO) leaders have said thatthere is no word like 'SelfDismiss' and made it clear thatthe state government employ-ees too will go on strike if thegovernment failed to solve thedemands before the time givento them. Hoping that the stategovernment will solve theirproblems, the TNGO leadersalso made it clear that they willparticipate in the RTC's pro-posed state bandh to be heldon October 19.

TNGO president KaremRavinder Reddy, TGO presi-dent Mamatha met the ChiefSecretary SK Joshi onThursday and submitted amemorandum on interimrelief (IR). Later speaking tothe media at Secretariat,Ravinder Reddy urged theRTC employees not to lose

confidence. The state govern-ment employees are extendingtheir support to the RTCstrike.

"We explained about theongoing RTC strike to CS. TheHigh Court too directed thestate government to solve theRTC issue. We gave the mem-orandum with 17 demands.The revenue employees arealso facing lot of pressure.The government has to bringTelangana employees work-

ing with Andhra Pradesh stateimmediately to Telangana. Thegovernment has to increase theretirement age of employeesbesides solving pension issue.Chief Secretary responded inpositive manner. We are hop-ing that the problems of allemployees will be solved bythis month end. We will par-ticipate in the RTC proposedstate bandh on October 19. Wealso urged the government tosolve the problems beforegiven time. If not, we are alsoready to go on strike. There isno word like self dismiss. Wedidn't become part of the RTCdiscussions held with govern-ment," he said.

Mamatha said that theyrequested the CS to solve theRTC employees issue imme-diately. Several departmentsincluding revenue are facingsevere pressure. The

government has to solvethe problems of the employeesimmediately.

Extending support,the TNGO, TGOleaders also madeit clear that theywill participate inthe RTC'sproposed statebandh onOctober 19

Maoists extendsupport for Oct 19 bandhPNS n KARIMNAGAR

The official spokesperson ofCPI Maoists, Jagan onThursday called upon the peo-ple to support the bandh callgiven by the striking RTCworkers on October 19.

In a statement, he exhortedthe RTC workers to continuetheir stir until they succeed inthe withdrawal of Privatisationproposal of the RTC.

Terming RTC workers werefighting in a democratic man-ner for their demands, theMaoist leader called upon thepeople to lend a supportiverole to the fighters in achiev-ing the long pending demands.The statement came downheavily on the state govern-ment and the TRS leadershipfor its anti-workers stand andcriticised the approachesadopted by the government toweaken the spirit of the work-ing class.

‘CM post not permanent’PNS n HYDERABAD

Convener of JAC of RTCworkers Aswathama Reddyhas alleged that his phone isbeing tapped. Speaking tomedia at the TMU office hereon Thursday, he felt thatintelligentsia keeping mumon RTC strike does not augurwell for society. He, there-fore, urged Ministers EtelaRajender, T Harish Rao andJagadish Reddy to break theirsilence.

Reiterating the JAC's will-ingness to participate innegotiations with the gov-ernment, he and the otherJAC leaders would explainthe government the feasibil-ity of merger of the RTC withthe government, providedthe government invites the

JAC leaders for talks. In an indirect reference to

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, he saidthat dictatorial tendencieswould not do in Telanganastate, which is the result ofsacrifices by many. The JACleader reminded the rulingparty that the CM post is not permanent. He wasafraid of a constitutionaldeadlock surfacing in thestate if the strike remainedunsolved.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Union Minister of State forHome Affairs G KishanReddy expressed ire on MeeSeva centres in the state forallegedly collecting excessand illegal charges from con-sumers.

Taking serious note of thewidespread discrepancies andillegalities at Mee Seva cen-tres, Kishan Reddy orderedTelangana Mee SevaCommissioner to crack downon the erring Mee Seva agentsand submit an action takenreport to Union HomeMinistry.

Though Mee Seva Centreswere brought in by theTelangana government toensure transparency andspeed in delivering variousgovernment services online,these citizen services deliv-ery centres have been mak-ing news for several wrongreasons of late. Large num-ber of complaints are beingmade by people, about theexcessive delay in delivery ofservices and also collectionof user charges illegally.

"It has been brought to thenotice of Union HomeMinistry that for PattadarPassbook authentication,Mee Seva Centres are charg-ing between Rs 50 to 100 foreach passbook, thoughTelangana government hasdecided to deliver this ser-vice free of cost. Mee SevaCentres are collecting Rs100 but giving receipt topeople for zero amount.Union Minister G KishanReddy desires that theCommissioner of Mee Sevatakes appropriate action onthe agents collecting usercharges illegally and pre-sents an action taken report,"stressed a letter sent toTelangana Mee SevaCommissioner from UnionHome Ministry onThursday.

Mee Sevacollectingexcess userfee: Kishan

HUZURNAGAR BY-POLL

Revanth, Vijayashanthi to wrap up campaignK VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

TPCC working president andMalkajgiri MP A RevanthReddy and TPCC CampaignCommittee chairpersonVijayashanthi are all set togive a finishing touch to theHuzurnagar by-elections cam-paign by participating in thecampaign on last two days - onOctober 18 and 19.

According to sources, boththe leaders would participate incampaign for two days andhold public meetings in allseven mandals of the con-stituency. However,Vijayashanthi's participationis not yet confirmed as she isbusy with her Mahesh starrerTelugu film 'SarileruNeekevvaru'.

According to sources, she isinterested in participating in

campaign at least on the finalday of the campaign i.e. onOctober 19 as her film pro-ducer is not accepting her toallow in participating in thecampaign. On the other hand,the TPCC leaders were tryingto get permission from theElection Commission onThursday for the sake of herparticipation in election cam-paign by submitting a requisi-

tion letter to the EC. Thesenior leaders are hoping thatshe will come to Huzurnagar atleast on final day. Vijayashanthifailed to lift the phone whenthis reporter contacted her.

Already, TPCC general sec-retary and Revanth Reddy'sprogramme coordinatorManavatha Roy released theroad map couple of days agoat Huzurnagar. Revanth Reddy

will participate in road showsand public meetings in allseven mandals-Huzurnagar,Neredcherla, Garidepally,Mattapally, Mellachervu,Chinthalapalem, Palakaveeduin his two day tour inHuzurnagar constituency.

The Congress leaders earli-er thought that RevanthReddy, who created a contro-versy by proposing ChamalaKiran Kumar Reddy's namefor Huzurnagar by-poll, maynot join the campaign.However, Revanth Reddy'sannouncement that he wouldparticipate in the campaignwill put an end to all therumours of rift within theleaders.

"No doubt Revanth Reddy'scampaign will work as a cat-alyst to the winning prospectsof Congress candidate in theseby-elections. People are eager-

ly waiting for his speeches inHuzurnagar constituency",said Manavatha Roy.

The party is keeping highhopes on Vijayashanthi's par-ticipation in campaign. Theparty leaders are thinking thather campaign may help theparty in a great manner as shewill be a crowd puller as anactor-turned-politician, TPCCworking president JettiKusuma Kumar, who is busyparticipating in campaign inMellacehrvu mandal, said.

Interestingly, both the lead-ers are firebrands and makessharp criticism against TRSand Chief Minister KChandrasekahr Rao. Already,party senior leaders JanaReddy, Komatireddy VenaktReddy, Bhatti Vikramarka, DSridhar Babu, Seethakka andseveral others are participatingin campaign rigorously.

PNS n HYDERABAD

All India Congress Committee(AICC) national spokesper-son Dr Dasoju Sravanexpressed happiness over thecancellation of TRS publicmeeting, which was to beaddressed by Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao, inHuzurnagar on Thursday dueto heavy rains.

Addressing a press confer-ence in Huzurnagar, Sravansaid even nature has turnedagainst Chief Minister andprevented him from boardinga helicopter to reachHuzurnagar. "While the roughweather in Hyderabad forcedKCR to abort helicopter ride,for the first time during thecampaign, it rained heavily atthe public meeting venue lead-ing to its cancellation. This wasnothing short of a God's mir-acle. The Almighty wanted toprevent people of Huzurnagarfrom listening the speech of ahabitual liar. These are clearsigns that even God and hisnature were against KCR andTRS Government," he said.

Sravan said if there was a

public meeting, then KCRwould have spoken a bundle oflies consisting of false claimsand hollow promises.Therefore, God saved the peo-ple by sending heavy rainsboth in Hyderabad andHuzurnagar, he said. "KCR isfacing the curse of RTCemployees, jobless youth andother sections of the societywhom he betrayed. He did notshow any sympathy or concerntowards anyone and did utter

injustice with everyone in abrutal and dictatorial manner.Therefore, God prevented hisentry into Huzurnagar to savethe people from furthermanipulation," he said addingthat the way nature rejectedKCR, TRS would face similarrejection by people on October21 when they would vote infavour of Congress candidateUttam Padmavathi.

The AICC Spokespersonstrongly condemned the Chief

Minister for not obeying theorders of High Court on RTCstrike. He said KCR has report-edly refused to initiate talkswith the RTC employees orprocess their Septembersalaries on the grounds thatHigh Court had not given anywritten orders.

He said that the victory ofCongress party in Huzurnagarby-elections was essential andin the interest of people ofTelangana. "If TRS candidateSaidi Reddy wins, he will bejust another 'Kaurava inDhuryodhana Sabha' and one among many slaves ofKCR. In TRS party, even min-isters have no access to theChief Minister and MLAs haveno authority to raise theirvoice,” he said.

AICC spokesperson D Sravan addresses the press at Huzurnagar on Thursday

KCR is facing thecurse of RTCemployees, jobless

youth and other sections ofthe society whom he betrayed.He didn’t show any sympathytowards anyone

DR DASOJU SRAVAN AICC national spokesperson

Even nature is against KCR, says Sravan

PNS n HYDERABAD

Industries Minister KT RamaRao on Thursday expresseddispleasure over the tardyprogress in reviving theBallarpur Industries Limited(BILT) at Kamalapur inWarangal district.

He spoke his mind to BILTChief Operating Officer NeharAgarwal, Chief GeneralManager Hariharan when theycalled on the IndustriesMinister here on Thursday toapprise him of the progress.

The Minister said that theprogress was tardy in spite ofthe government extending var-ious concessions to it for itsrevival in the interest of theworkers. He found fault withthe style of functioning of thecompany. The government isfirm on protecting the interestsof the workers and livelihood.

The Minister reviewed theagreement the company

reached with the workers onpayment of arrears. The com-pany had agreed to give

Rs 10,000 to each of theworkers towards Diwali festi-val advance.

The BILT management toldthe Minister that the compa-ny's consultants submitted areport to banks to get moreand more loans. As part of therevival of the firm, IT net-working work is going on,they said exuding confidenceof the company going onstream by August next.

The Minister cautioned theBILT management that thedeadline given to the compa-ny for revival already expired.If it failed to resume commer-cial operations by August nextyear, the government will haveto open the doors for newmanagement cancelling incen-tives offered to the existingmanagement.

Erection of machineryshould commence immedi-ately, he directed the BILTrepresentatives. He asked theIndustries Secreary JayeshRanjan to take an undertakingfrom the company that therevival would be done withinthe revised deadline andsupervise the progress fromtime to time.

The COO assured theMinister to complete the workswithin the deadline and attrib-uted missing the deadline ear-lier to late commencement ofthe revival works.

BILT revival: KTR ultimatum

Huzurnagar result willchange TS politics: UttamPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) presidentand Nalgonda MP N UttamKumar Reddy said that the vic-tory of Congress party inHuzurnagar by-elections, to beheld on October 21, woulddecide the future of politics inTelangana State.

Addressing a press confer-ence along with TelanganaJana Samithi president Prof MKodandaram, Congress MLAT Jeevan Reddy, formerMinister Damodar Reddy andother leaders, at Huzurnagaron Thursday, Uttam said thatthe victory of Congress candi-date Padmavathi was essentialnot only for the people ofHuzurnagar constituency, butfor the entire State.

He said that people's verdictin Congress party's favourwould send a strong messageto Chief Minister that his arro-gance and dictatorial style offunctioning was no longer

appreciated by people. He said defeat in

Huzurnagar might force TRSGovernment to focus on ful-fillment of electoral promisesand inculcate a fear that itwould face similar rejection inall other constituencies in theState. He said that the resultsof Huzurnagar by-electionswould play a major role in

restoration of democracy inthe State and pressurise thegovernment to act in a respon-sible and accountable manner.

Uttam said it would be high-ly unfortunate for the people ifTRS wins the by-polls. Hewarned that TRS leaders wouldturn Huzurnagar constituencyinto a den of mafia activities ifthey win the by-elections.

TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy at a rally in Huzurnagar on Thursday

TS to developcrop colonies PNS n SANGAREDDY

Telangana would utilise BigData in agriculture to createcrop colonies across the State,Jayesh Ranjan, PrincipalSecretary, Industries,Commerce and Informationand Technology, said.

Stating that the concept ofcrop colonies was a processthat was under progress inthe youngest State in India,Jayesh Ranjan said the gov-ernment will work closelywith International CropResearch Centre for Semi-arid Tropics (Icrisat) andother stakeholders to utiliseBig Data in agriculture tobring precision in agricul-ture activities in Telangana.

Addressing delegatesfrom across the world at theinaugural function of athree-day convention onBig data in Agriculture-2019 at the Icrisat campus,he said the State govern-ment believes that Big Datatools will certainly enhancethe yield and incomes offarmers.

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 18, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

INX Media: Delhi courtreserves order on EDplea for PC custodyNEW DELHI: A Delhi courtThursday reserved order on theplea of Enforcement Directorateseeking 14-day custodialinterrogation of former financeminister P Chidambaram in theINX Media money launderingcase. Special judge Ajay KumarKuhar is scheduled topronounce the order shortly.The probe agency has sought14-day custodial interrogationof the 74-year old seniorCongress leader. The court hadon Wednesday issuedproduction warrant against himin the INX Media moneylaundering case lodged byEnforcement Directorate.

BJP disqualifies eightleaders for 'anti-partyactivities' in J-K

JK admin ordersabolition of legislativecouncilJammu, Oct 17 (PTI) Ahead ofthe bifurcation of Jammu andKashmir into two unionterritories later this month, the62-year-old state legislativecouncil came to an end withthe state administration issuingorders for its abolition andasking its 116-member staff toreport to the generaldepartment. The order wasissued on Wednesday night,less than a fortnight before thestate is spilt into two unionterritories -- Ladakh andJammu and Kashmir -- on themidnight of October 31.Jammu and Kashmir will be aunion territory with a stateassembly.

27 yrs on, cops solvemurder case only tofind accused deadTHANE: Thane police inMaharashtra have cracked a27-year-old case of killing of asub-inspector, only to find thatthe accused died seven yearsago, an official said onThursday. On July 23, 1992,sub-inspector Mahendra SinghPatil, then attached to MahatmaFule Chowk police station inKalyan town, was stabbed todeath by the accused, Iqbalalias Nanhe Khan, during aconfrontation, crime branch'ssenior inspector Nitin Thakresaid. After the killing, theaccused, who was also wantedin connection with severalrobberies in the area,absconded and eluded thepolice for nearly three decades,he said.

JAMMU: The BJP's Jammuand Kashmir unit on Thursdaydisqualified eight party leadersfor filing their nominations asIndependents against theofficial candidates for the BlockDevelopment Council (BDC)elections, scheduled to be heldon October 24, a partyspokesperson said. Meanwhile,the state Bharatiya Janata YuvaMorcha (BJYM) alsodischarged its senior leaderAqib Mir from his present partypost of state secretary due to"breach of party discipline", hesaid. "Taking strong note of thefiling of nominations asIndependents by party leadersagainst the official candidatesof the BJP for the BDCelections, the state BJP hasdisqualified them for indulgingin anti-party activities," thespokesperson said.

PNS n NEW DELHI/PATNA

The centuries-old PatnaCollectorate, endowed withhigh ceilings, huge doors andhanging skylights, is one of thelast surviving signatures ofDutch architecture in the Biharcapital whose fate currentlyhangs in the balance.

Patna, a historic city withover 2,500 years of uninter-rupted civilisation, has a deepconnection with theNetherlands going as far backas the 17th century, and theongoing visit of the royal Dutchcouple to India has made manylocal residents rue the "poorupkeep" of the "shared archi-tectural heritage" of the twocountries.

Octogenarian J K Lall, aveteran architect, and conven-er of INTACH Patna Chaptersaid Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maximaare on their first state visit toIndia, but how many evenknow about Patna's Dutchconnection.

"The king and queen visited

Bombay yesterday andGateway of India was lit upwith a Dutch theme to cele-brate the ties between the twocountries. And next they visitKerala which has a significantDutch heritage. Patna couldhave been on their itinerary, ifonly we had preserved our her-itage, instead they are eitherfacing the axe or kept poorly,"he rued.

The Bihar government inearly 2016 proposed to demol-ish the Patna Collectorate,

parts of which are Dutch-era,including the iconic RecordRoom which has a colonnad-ed facade with Tuscancolumns. The building alsofeatured in 1982 Oscar-win-ning film 'Gandhi'.

After hearing two PILs filedby the Indian National Trustfor Art and Culture (INTACH),the Patna High Court recent-ly stayed the proposed demo-lition of the government com-plex while restraining the stateauthorities from "causing any

harm to the collectorate build-ing until further orders", bring-ing some relief among the her-itage lovers.

"Patna is one of the historiccities globally, and the collec-torate along with PatnaCollege's main administrativebuilding, parts of theGovernment Press atGulzarbagh and a few otherbuildings, should have beenlong back tied into a Dutchtourism circuit, but we allowedthem to either decay inglori-ously or slip into obscurity,"Lall said.

Kolkata-based photograph-er Rajiv Soni, who grew up inPatna said, the visit of theDutch royals should make usrevisit the "forgotten Dutchhistory of our city" and Patnashould also recall and thank thethen Ambassador of theNetherlands, AlphonsusStoelinga, who had written aletter to Chief Minister NitishKumar three years ago, appeal-ing to him to spare the demo-lition and preserve it as a"shared heritage".

Stoelinga is part of the Dutchdelegation accompanying the

visiting king and queen.Recently, his book 'India: Landvan de Toekomst' was launchedin Amsterdam, according to anofficial at the Dutch Embassy.

In his 2016 letter to Kumar,he had said, "I came acrossreports about the possibility ofthis shared built heritage ofIndia and the Netherlandsbeing demolished anytime."

"I sincerely believe that thisbuilt heritage depicting theIndo-Dutch history can berestored and alternate uses canbe planned. I am writing thisletter to appeal to you to list thecomplex of buildings as per thenorms of the state archaeolog-ical department," Stoelingasaid.

Aditya Jalan, a heritageenthusiast and a core memberof a civil society-led movement'Save Historic PatnaCollectorate' started in April2016, said Patna being a his-torical city had been on theitinerary of so many royals andVVIPs who have toured India,from British Raj era to post-independence period.

PNS n NASHIK

NCP president Sharad Pawaron Thursday questioned PrimeMinister Narendra Modi's"doob maro" jibe directed atthe Opposition in connectionwith scrapping of Article 370in Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a poll rally inNiphad here in NorthMaharashtra, Pawar askedModi why he was daringOpposition leaders to bringback Article 370 of theConstitution after it was nul-lified by Parliament in August.

Pawar also hit out at UnionFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman for saying thatpublic sector banks had the"worst phase" under the com-bination of former PrimeMinister Manmohan Singhand RBI Governor RaghuramRajan.

The Maratha strongman wasa senior member of the

Manmohan Singh-led cabinet.Modi had on Wednesday

slammed Opposition leaders,seeking a link between thescrapping of Article 370 andthe Maharashtra Assemblypolls, and told them to godrown (doob maro) for criti-cising the nullification of thecontroversial provision thatgave special status to Jammuand Kashmir.

"How can they (Opposition)say that Jammu and Kashmirhas nothing to do withMaharashtra? They should beashamed of such thoughts.Don't they have any shame?Doob maro," the PM had said,using the two-word phrase inHindi.

Referring to the comment,Pawar said, "Parliament abro-gated Article 370. Modi sahibtook the initiative. We do notoppose that. Some people keptforth their views on the issue,but they were labelled by some

as anti-national. They becomeanti-nationals?"

"The prime minister yester-day said doob maro. He daresus to bring Article 370 back. Itwas decided to scrap Article370, Parliament scrapped it andnow why are you now talkingabout bringing it back?" hequestioned.

The former Union ministerfurther said that there wereseveral issues concerning thepeople, yet BJP leaders wereconsistently talking aboutdefanging of Article 370.

PNS n NEW DELHI

In the battle for Devi Lal's lega-cy, the young DushyantChautala seems to havetrumped his uncle in Haryana.

The Dushyant Chautala-ledJJP has managed to replaceINLD, which is headed by hisuncle Abhay Chautala, as thethird force in the Haryanaassembly elections with hisparty putting up a decent fightin many seats, reducing theIndian National Lok Dal(INLD) to the fringes of statepolitics which it once domi-nated.

In almost every seat whereINLD, which was founded byformer deputy prime minister

Devi Lal, enjoyed influence, JJPhas emerged as the inheritor ofhis legacy and has core supportamong voters.

Following a rift within the

Chautala family, INLD suf-fered a vertical split with for-mer Hisar MP DushyantChautala floating his ownparty Jananayak Janata Party(JJP).

The name, incidentallydraws from the popular imageof Devi Lal, great grandfatherof Dushyant, as Jananayak.

Presenting him as Devi Lal'strue inheritor, Dushyant inhis speeches talks about himand his model of politics butrefrains from mentioningabout his grandfather OmPrakash Chautala, who backedhis uncle Abhay in battle oflegacies. But at the same timedoesn't attack them also in hisrallies.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Chess legend ViswanathanAnand has authored an inspi-rational book where he looksback on his experience toshare lessons on how to navi-gate life.

In "Mind Master: WinningLessons from a Champion'sLife" (as told to journalistSusan Ninan), Anand revisitshis greatest games and worstlosses, his unique experiencesof playing against the bestminds, and the methods heemploys to prepare for wins,cope with disappointmentsand, simply, stay in the game.

The book, published byHachette India, is releasingon December 11.

Currently playing in the Isleof Man International ChessTournament, India's firstgrandmaster and five-timeworld champion said this book

has been an interesting jour-ney.

"I have memories of themajor events in my career andlife, but when you put themdown on paper, you suddenlyhave to organise your thoughtsand are forced to thinkthrough them in detail. Itallowed me to rediscover manyinteresting stories and inci-dents," he said.

"Above all, it made merealise that during my greatest

accomplishments failure wasnever far away, and in the low-est moments there were alwaysthings that lifted me up. Ratherthan just making this about mystory, I've tried to distil in thisbook some of the lessons Ilearnt, the strategies thathelped me perform better andtackle life as it happened," headded.

PNS n JAIPUR

Any person who is not acouncillor can now becomethe chairperson of the urbanlocal bodies in Rajasthan.

A gazetted notificationin the regard was issued bythe state government onWednesday.

The notification amend-ing the RajasthanMunicipalities Rules, 2019,was issued after the statecabinet in its meeting onMonday decided to holdindirect elections, reversingits earlier decision of hold-ing direct elections to thepost.

The elections to the urbanlocal bodies in the state aredue later this year.

As per the new rule, aperson shall be eligible forbeing chosen as the chair-person if he is qualifiedunder the provisions of theAct for election as a mem-ber of a municipality. Thename of the candidate forthe post of the mayor/chair-person can be proposed bya political party and theycan be elected by council-lors.

The first direct election tothe post was held in 2009when the Congress was inpower.

PNS n SATARA

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday assertedthat his government hasadhered to warrior kingChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj'sprinciples of nationalism andnational security, and possess-es the strength to give a befit-ting reply to those having "evildesigns" against India.

Addressing an election rallyin Maharashtra's Satara district,Modi said just like ChhatrapatiShivaji, his government workedto strengthen the defenceforces.

"In the last five years, theCentre and the state govern-ment have adhered to the val-ues of Shivaji Maharaj.

Nationalism and nationalsecurity is our top priority.

Those having evil designsagainst the country will begiven a befitting reply," hesaid.

"We took decisions fornational integration which theearlier governments did nothave guts to take," he said.

Hitting out at the Congressand NCP, Modi said theyopposed decisions taken fornational security and integra-tion, which caused a "deephurt" to Satara district, which

sends maximum number ofsoldiers in the Indian Army.

"In the land of 'rashtra rak-shaks' (protectors of nation),there is no place for those whospeak against the nationalinterest. Your excitement, ener-gy is making the oppositionlose its sense," he told thegathering.

Modi said the Congress andNCP questioned the bravery ofsoldiers.

"They even spread mispro-

paganda against Rafale (fight-er jet deal with France) andtheir stand on abrogation ofArticle 370 has hurt the peo-ple of Satara. They leave nochance to malign (Hindutvaideologue) Veer Savarkar," hesaid.

‘Those with ‘evil designs’ on nation will get befitting reply’

PNS n NEW DELHI

The All India CongressCommittee (AICC) commu-nication in-charge, RandeepSingh Surjewala, is eyeing ahat-trick from his strongholdof Kaithal in the October 21Haryana assembly election.

A total of 18 candidates arein the fray from Kaithal, but itwould be a direct contestbetween the Congress andBJP nominees.

The BJP has pitted formerMLA Lila Ram Gujjar againstSurjewala.

Lila Ram won as an INLDcandidate in the 2000 election.

Madan (BSP), Anil Kumar(INLD), Ramphal Malik (JJP),Shyam Lal (LSP), Jasvir(Sarvhit Party) are the othernotable candidates.

Kaithal has 2.03 lakh voters-- 1.08 lakh males and 95,000females.

Kaithal has 208 pollingbooths, out of which 13polling booths have been iden-tified as vulnerable.

Surjewala, who is the chiefspokesperson of the Congress,has a personal following as henursed the constituency whilebeing a cabinet minister in theCongress government from2004 to 2014.

BJP candidate Lila RamGujjar is highlightingachievements of the the BJPgovernments at the Centreand in the state.

PNS n VARANASI (UP)

Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath has asked theofficials concerned to initiate acampaign to ensure that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi's par-liamentary constituencyVaranasi is the cleanest in thecountry.

Modi had won the seat in theLok Sabha elections held earli-er this year by a huge margin of4.79 lakh votes. He had not onlyretained the seat, but also sawhis victory margin increase bynearly 1 lakh votes as comparedto the 2014 general elections.

The chief minister held areview meeting of the devel-opment work and law andorder situation in the state hereon Wednesday night andinstructed the officials to make"Kashi number 1 in the coun-try" in terms of cleanliness.

According to an officialspokesperson, he also asked theofficials to launch special clean-liness drives in villages as wellas urban areas before the festi-val of Diwali.

Roads, parks and vacantplots of land should be includ-ed in the campaign. In view ofChhath Puja, start a specialcampaign to clean the ghats ofthe Ganga, the chief ministersaid. Do something special sothat Kashi remains illuminated

from Diwali till Dev Diwali,Adityanath said as he directedthe PWD to make the roadsfree of potholes by October 30.

The government is commit-ted towards the makeover ofKashi. Prime Minister Modihad laid the foundation stone ofmany projects in February 2019out which 13 have been com-pleted and the remaining 25will be completed in this finan-cial year,he said.

Sharad Pawar

Narendra Modi

Referring to the comment, Pawar said,"Parliament abrogated Article 370. Modisahib took the initiative. We do notoppose that. Some people kept forththeir views on the issue, but they werelabelled by some as anti-national. Theybecome anti-nationals?"

"I have memories ofthe major events in mycareer and life, butwhen you put themdown on paper, yousuddenly have toorganise your thoughtsand are forced to thinkthrough them in detail.It allowed me torediscover manyinteresting stories andincidents," he said.

The chief ministerheld a review meetingof the developmentwork and law andorder situation in thestate here onWednesday night andinstructed the officialsto make "Kashinumber 1 in thecountry" in terms ofcleanliness

"In the land of 'rashtra rakshaks'(protectors of nation), there is no placefor those who speak against thenational interest. Your excitement,energy is making the opposition lose itssense," he told the gathering

Viswanathan Anand

Yogi Adityanath

‘PM's constituencymust be cleanest’

Devi Lal

"Patna is one of the historic citiesglobally, and the collectorate along withPatna College's main administrativebuilding, parts of the Government Pressat Gulzarbagh and a few other buildings,should have been long back tied into aDutch tourism circuit, but we allowedthem to either decay ingloriously or slipinto obscurity," Lall said.

Non-councillorscan be chiefs ofULBs in Raj now‘Amarinder

playingreligious card’ PNS n PHAGWARA

Punjab BJP president ShwaitMalik on Thursday accusedChief Minister AmarinderSingh of playing religiousand divisive cards to vitiatethe atmosphere in the stateand divert people's attentionfrom burning issues.

The Congress governmentin the state has failed on everyfront and Singh has not ful-filled even a single promise,Malik claimed as he predict-ed a landslide victory for theBJP-SAD combine in thebypolls to all the fourAssembly seats, that will"prove to be a Waterloo forAmarinder Singh".

The Rajya Sabha MP alsoalleged that Singh's "weakpolicy" led to resurgence ofmilitancy in Punjab.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, Malik said, "Thefact is that militancy is grow-ing in the state. The chiefminister wants to create fearpsychosis among the peopleof the state in order to grindhis political axe and derivepolitical mileage."

HARYANA ASSEMBLY POLLS

Cong backed scrapping of A 370,but not BJP's high-handed wayPNS n MUMBAI

The Congress does not need acertificate of patriotism fromanyone, former prime minis-ter Manmohan Singh said onThursday, pointing out that itvoted in favour of the abroga-tion of Article 370, butopposed the high-handed wayin which it was done.

The economist-turned-politician also said that agen-cies such as the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) should not beused to settle "political scores".

Singh's comments came at atime when prime ministerNarendra Modi and the BJPhave been attacking Congresson Article 370 during thecampaign for the MaharashtraAssembly polls, while NCPleaders including Sharad Pawarand Praful Patel are beinginvestigated by the ED in var-ious cases.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, Singh said theCongress opposes the "high-handedness" with whichArticle 370 of the Constitution-- which gave a special statusto Jammu and Kashmir -- was

introduced in Parliament.Earning goodwill of the

people of Jammu & Kashmirwas necessary before such amove, the former prime min-ister said.

"Congress voted in favour ofthe move (the abrogation) inParliament, not against it.Congress feels that Article 370is a temporary measure, but ifa change is to be brought, it hasto be with the goodwill of thepeople of J&K," he said.

The ED, under the NDAregime, has got more powersthan ever, and should not beused for political vendettaagainst leaders of "different

hues", Singh said."Our hope is these powers

will be used not to settle polit-ical scores," he said, expressingconfidence that the govern-ment will do justice to PrafulPatel.

Asked about the BJP's pollpromise to seek Bharat Ratnafor V D Savarkar, who was anaccused in the MahatmaGandhi assassination case butwas acquitted, Singh said theCongress only opposesSavarkar's Hindutva ideology.

Referring to the HinduMahasabha leader with a rev-erential "Savarkar-ji", Singhsaid former Congress primeminister, late Indira Gandhihad issued a postal stamp inSavarkar's memory.

"(But) we are not in favourof the Hindutva ideology thatSavarkar-ji patronised andstood for," Singh said.

Singh also hit out against theNDA government'sCitizenship Amendment Bill,calling it a divisive move thatdiscriminates against theMuslims by facilitating Indiancitizenship for persons of allfaiths except Muslims.

Manmohan Singh

Randeep Singh Surjewala

Randeep eyeing hat-trick from Kaithal

‘Why talk about bringingback Article 370 now?’

Battle for Devi Lal's legacy in Haryana

Anand pens inspirationalbook for navigating life

Patna cuts sorry figure before Netherlands king and queen

One of my favourite ways totravel around the country isto board a train.Unfortunately, due to press-ing engagements and the

urgency of modern life, I have not beenable to take as much advantage as I wouldwant of this uniquely Indian way of trav-elling. There’s something quintessential-ly Indian about taking the train, gettingto know the fellow passengers and chat-ting with them over a cup of tea as theyhead to their respective destinations.While writing these lines, there is a vividimage in my mind of one such journey Imade and I’m certain, a similar imagemust have appeared in the minds of thereaders, too.

An interesting aspect of train travelis the diversity on display during the jour-ney. One gets to hear of so many lan-guages, accents, smell a variety of foodand absorb different perspectives. Once,it got me thinking about what it meansto be an Indian.

Unlike other nations like Pakistan,India is not defined by a particular reli-gion. Some may argue that being a Hindu-majority country, an Indian’s identity is pri-marily driven by this majoritarian outlook.Such an argument does not hold groundbecause not only does India contain a mul-tiplicity of religions but significantly alsoa multiplicity of castes. Therefore, aBrahmin Hindu (approximately five percent of the Hindu community) can hard-ly claim to represent all Hindus. It’s thesame with languages as well.

The recent debate about Hindibecoming a “national” language does nothold water because of the variety of lan-guages spoken in our country. If you donot believe me, just ask a Maharashtrianor a Tamilian about how they feel about“Hindi” being a national language. Thetruth really is that “Indian identity isforged in diversity and everyone of us isa minority”, as Congress leader ShashiTharoor put it eloquently.

But this still doesn’t explain what itmeans to be an Indian. The story ofGhulam Dastagir, however, does. Dastagirwas the deputy station superintendent onduty at the Bhopal Railway station onDecember 2, 1984 — the day when theBhopal gas tragedy took place. By mid-night, the railway station, which wasextremely close to the Union Carbideplant, was filled with poisonous gases thatkilled everything in its path.

On that fateful night, the bravedeputy station master stepped on the plat-form with itchy feeling in the throat anda burning sensation in his eyes.Immediately, he knew something waswrong. Unaware that 23 of his colleagueshad already succumbed to the gas leak,he tried to get clarity on what was hap-pening and sought further instructions.

With none forthcoming,Dastagir took matters intohis own hands and informedhis superiors to suspend alltrains that were headed toBhopal. He then summonedhis staff. While he was barelyable to stand or breathe andagainst all protocol, he direct-ed his staff to clear theGorakhpur train for departureeven though 25 minutes wereleft for it to roll out. Heassured his staff that he wouldtake full responsibility for anyblowback that may follow.

In doing so, Dastagirsaved hundreds of lives. Hedid not, however, stop here. Asterror spread across Bhopal,large crowds of the affectedpopulation descended on tothe station in an attempt toescape the gas chamber.Dastagir went from platformto platform, attending to andconsoling victims and sent anSOS to all nearby railway sta-tions to send ambulances anddoctors.

He himself suffered terri-bly due to the gas leaks. Hedied in 2003 and a large partof his life was spent in the hos-pital due to exposure to toxicfumes. He also lost his son inthe tragedy. However, throughhis bravery and courage, he

ensured that hundreds offathers didn’t suffer the samefate as he did.

Dastagir was a trueIndian. In such moments, weforget about which religion aperson belongs to, which castehe was born into or which lan-guage he speaks. All that wecare about and all that weremember is the great sacrificeof an Indian brother. In real-ity, this is what it means to bean Indian. It means recognis-ing that at the time of inde-pendence, we promised our-selves and our future genera-tions that we would set asideall that divides, to forge a bet-ter India. The poignant storyof Dastagir reminds us of thiscore value.

Another value that formsthe core of being an Indian isthe respect and admiration forknowledge. This is evidentfrom the fact that whenever abook falls down to the ground,we almost unknowingly touchit to our forehead as a sign ofrespect. It is this core valuethat has enabled India to beblessed with brilliant minds.We have had leaders in thefield of mathematics, litera-ture, technology and philoso-phy among others and Ibelieve that one of the prima-

ry reasons for our intellectu-al prowess is the manner inwhich our culture respectsknowledge and the pursuit ofthe same.

The most recent exampleis that of Indian-origin econ-omist Abhijit Banerjee, one ofthe winners of the Noble Prizefor economics. His win addsto a very rich list of Indianluminaries.

Sadly, however, some ofour leaders attempt to replacethese values with those thatare antithetical to Indian corevalues. We are told now tofocus on our differences ratherthan strengths and our lead-ers repeatedly show disdainfor knowledge with an affin-ity for dogma. This is not theidea of India we cherish andit is not what it means to be anIndian.

I imagine most of us swellwith pride when we recountthe story of Dastagir or whenwe talk about the contributionsmade by Banerjee to the fieldof economics. We must ensurethat we retain our core valuesand try to inspire similar pridein others. After all, that’s whatit means to be an Indian.

(The writer is a former IPSofficer, an MP and currently amember of the AAP)

Digest this! According to estimates by theUnited Nations DevelopmentProgramme, nearly 40 per cent of the

food produced in India is wasted or lost andthis costs the country one lakh crore rupeesevery year. And, yet, according to the GlobalHunger Index (GHI), that measures the levelof hunger and under-nutrition worldwide, Indiahas slipped from the 95th rank in 2010 to the102nd in 2019, behind its neighbours Nepal,Bangladesh and Pakistan. The four indicatorsfor the index are undernourishment, child stunt-

ing, child wasting and child mortality. Alarmingly over one in every five childrenin India is “wasted” (low weight for height), the highest for any country. Thisdamning report is full of irony as from being an importer of food in the 1960s,when India had to rely on shipments from the US, today the country has becomethe largest exporter of rice in the world. We are the second-largest producer ofboth rice and wheat. Between 2012 and 2015, three years, India exported 63million tonnes of grains. Besides, now we have a smart buffering capacity todeal with shortages and crisis. Why then are we slipping on hunger targets?

First, we need to adopt better strategies for storage and avoid rotting. Latestdata shows 4,135.224 metric tonnes of foodgrains were wasted. We could learnfrom advance food strategies of China, which has invested in state-of-the-artstorage facilities. We need to curb food wastage at every level, right from har-vesting, transporting, processing, packaging to consuming that is caused dueto the loopholes in the transport and infrastructure system. Plus, we have thearchaic public distribution system to blame for the inadequate and patchy sup-plies. Many times, even those who are the right candidates for the food subsidyare excluded on the basis of differential BPL (Below Poverty Line) status as thecriteria for identifying a household is arbitrary and varies from State to State.Undoubtedly, several nutrition schemes are in operation but aren’t properly imple-mented. For instance, in Bihar and Odisha, where the poverty ratio is very high,poor implementation of the Mid Day Meal Scheme has a major impact on foodsecurity. After 2024 we will have the largest population on this planet. The aver-age household spends 40 to 45 per cent of its budget on food. So, for the next30 years, the demand for food will spiral. If nothing is done at the policy level interms of coordination and rationalisation, we will continue to hang our heads inshame and never be able to shed the tag of a nation with starving millions.

Acontext effect is an aspect of cognitivepsychology that describes the influenceof environmental factors on one’s per-

ception of a stimulus. That’s exactly what hashappened in the Ram-Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid tussle at Ayodhya. At one time, itembodied the beginning of identity politics, theaccommodative Hindu versus the appeasedMuslim swiftly turning into a disparate equa-tion based on denial for a new narrative.Therefore, the “rightist” Hindu wanted a his-torical revision of being the original claimants

of civilisational land, in this case the birthplace of one who defined the ultimateethics of being human and behavioural propriety, Maryada Purushottam, or LordRam. One that had been ordained by faith than historical evidence and the mys-ticism of which, many felt, should override every human construct and depre-dation, in this case a mosque built in the Mughal era of Babar. That thought process,claimed by the BJP, posited itself against the liberal-secular matrix of the time asa bequeathed colonial legacy. It codified nationalism or Bharatiyata for a gener-ation that was far removed from the freedom struggle and was fast finding itsfeet in a globalised world. What it also did was separate Hinduism, the philoso-phy, from Hindutva, the practice of it. That has come full circle and now that theBJP has got a mammoth verdict, it has legitimised the majoritarian discourse.To that extent, there is a general acceptance of the reality of the temple. Evenresidents of Ayodhya are tired of being circumscribed by a political context thatdoesn’t help their aspirations and are accepting of any solution, so long as thereis closure. With jobs and education on their mind, an entire generation, be it Hinduor Muslim, born under the shadow of the dispute is ready to cast away a beastof burden. This changed perspective then has dulled much of the appeal of Ayodhya.

Of course, the Supreme Court must be appreciated for stripping down thecomplexity of religiosity to the titular nature of land ownership and attempting amediation. The three main parties — the Nirmohi Akhara, Ram Lalla Virajmanand the Sunni Waqf Board — have presented their points of view. Nirmohi Akharalays its claim by virtue of being servitors of Lord Ram for generations while theSunni Waqf Board has based its case on the fact that the Babri Masjid stood till1992. Yet some of its members have reportedly softened up to settle for an alter-native mosque, a counter assurance that no other mosque will be touched andthat ASI would restore other mosques in the area. Ram Lalla, who became alegal party in the title suit only in 1989 when former Allahabad High Court judgeDeoki Nandan Agrawal moved the High Court, claimed the entire birthplace asdivinity reincarnate. So, now the court has to sift through issues like memory,continuity, belief systems, tradition and historical evidence, howsoever little ofthe last. But weighing abstractions and perceptions may be an extremely deli-cate matter. The Ram Mandir was an emotionally galvanising force that had gotthe Sangh Parivar close to claiming political power through the BJP. And thoughthe Atal Bihari Vajpayee era, by virtue of its coalition pressures, demanded prag-matism in governance, the current Narendra Modi regime has no such reasonto compromise. There are also expectations of it to translate ideological rever-ence into action, considering it has to justify the core of its being, the commit-ted Sangh Parivar cadres. The party brass is hoping it will at least be seen asattempting a closure within legal perimeters, even if not entirely successful. Perhaps,Modi is in a rush to foreground Hindutva concerns like abrogation of Article 370,Ram temple, immigrants and uniform civil code so that they do not remain irri-tants to his definition of the Hindu Rashtra and by implication development. Thatitself is fraught with grave challenges as without sales pitches and illusionarydiversions, he will have to now walk the talk on real issues. Modi’s bigger con-cern is the electorate which feels betrayed on livelihood and comprises the poor,both rural and urban, and the middle classes. That job is tougher if indeed theBJP pursues the idea of Ram Rajya. For Lord Ram willingly sacrificed Ayodhya’sthrone for harmony in the kingdom, avoided any criticism and stood firm on hisprinciples. He also gave back Lankans their land after the war with Ravana. Yetthe Ayodhya dispute has only entrenched divisiveness in the country. Perceivedjustice over historical injustice may not be walking in his path.

Ayodhya closure

Bridge the gap

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Bangla pride” (October 15). TheNobel Prize for Economics award-ed to Indian-American AbhijitBanerjee, his French-Americanwife Esther Dufflo and MichaelKremer for “their experimentalapproach to alleviating globalpoverty” underlines the renewedconcern over global poverty andways to alleviate it. The husbandand wife have spent considerabletime studying various povertyalleviation programmes. Welcomeas much this is, we will perenni-ally regret the decision of the wisemen to deny a Nobel prize to theMahatma despite the fact that hewas nominated thrice.

We revel in the general feel-ing of happiness among Indiansthat one of them, albeit with anAmerican passport, is a Nobellaureate yet again. Indians arecompetent to excel in any field butfor that, a conducive environmentis required, which unfortunatelyis not available in our universities.It is a sad fact that needs seriousintrospection by our politicians,academicians and policy makers.

JS Acharya Hyderabad

IRCTS’s market debut

Sir — The great success ofIRCTC, where its shares doubledovernight, calls for the issuanceof long-term bonds by it to setup large-scale production unitsin every district of the country

for packaged water, confec-tionery items and other foodproducts to replace cooked mealin trains and schools, wherecomplaints of sub-standard foodin unhygienic conditions arequite common.

The setting up of such bigunits in large numbers by IRCTC

with the help of long-term bondswill provide huge employment inthe public sector, apart from giv-ing sizeable profits to the publicexchequer. Products can be soldin the open market so as toensure that private players bringdown their prices.

Employment in the public

sector can go up, too, by retriev-ing unaccounted money throughthe Voluntary DisclosureScheme, whereby those declaringmay be asked to invest 50 percent of the amount in other long-term infrastructural bonds withnominal interest to be issued bypublic sector undertakings likethe IRCTC.

Madhu AgrawalDelhi

Poll rhetoric

Sir — Prime Minister NarendraModi’s statement at an electionrally that India will not allow itswater to flow to Pakistan andinstead put it to use here is yetanother example of empty “pollpromise.” The Indus WaterTreaty signed between India andPakistan makes it clear that theformer is bound to release waterto the latter. It is strange that thePrime Minister raised an emotiveissue just for votes, to the extentof showing no respect to exist-ing bilateral agreements.

SwadhaVia email

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

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op nionHYDERABAD | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 18, 2019

06

Who is an Indian?

AJOY KUMAR

Ghulam Dastagir, who saved hundreds of lives during the Bhopal gas tragedy, andNobel Prize winner Abhijit Banerjee are true Indians who continue to inspire us

Both, me and Kantilal Bhuriahave reached an age wherewe should retire. The timehas come for youngsters tocome forward.

Senior Congress leader—Digvijaya Singh

We've got a great new dealthat takes back control. Now,Parliament should get Brexitdone so that we can moveon to other priorities.

UK Prime Minister—Boris Johnson

S O U N D B I T E

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

Ganguly has an onerous task at hand

This refers to the editorial, “Bangla pride” (October15). Sourav Ganguly is described as a good crick-et tactician. His experience on the cricket field —

as a batsman who played the game fearlessly and as acaptain who groomed many a talent — has made hima legend. His aura can be gauged from the love andrespect he commanded both on and off the field. Givenhis talent to spot and groom cricketers, his elevation asthe head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) bodes well for Indian cricket. Though his tenureis short, he can work wonders even in the 10 monthshe has at hand.

Ganguly’s election has come at a crucial time whenthe BCCI’s functioning needs to be streamlined. The crick-et body has been hit by scandals, infighting and short-sightedness. Consolidation of affairs is what is required.The issue of “conflict of interest” has become a stick toridicule and browbeat some famed cricketers. Imaginea man like Rahul Dravid being asked to quit his job atIndia Cements to retain the junior head coach post. Whatand what not constitutes a job for profit must be definedclearly. However, bringing in the much-required “trans-

parency” and “accountability” into the daily functioningof the BCCI must be Ganguly’s priority. One hopes onlyprofessionals occupy the BCCI top post. Most impor-tantly, Dada, as he is fondly referred to, has an oneroustask of taking all stakeholders — players, coaches, State-level bodies and administrators — together.

Ganapathi BhatAkola

WE ARE TOLD TOFOCUS ON OUR

DIFFERENCESRATHER THAN

STRENGTHS ANDOUR LEADERS

REPEATEDLYSHOW DISDAIN

FOR KNOWLEDGEWITH AN AFFINITYFOR DOGMA. THIS

IS NOT THE IDEAOF INDIA WE

CHERISH AND ITIS NOT WHAT

IT MEANS TO BEAN INDIAN

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Still too hungryParliament of India will notallow malicious efforts tosucceed. We expect betterfrom parliamentarians thenvituperative mudslinging.

Congress leader—Shashi Tharoor

The issue can hardly churn up emotions the way it did inthe 1990s. Now that it has been flogged enough, what next?

India has slipped from the 95th to the 102nd rankbehind neighbours on a global index of nutrition

I am proud that whether it’sFarhan’s first film Dil ChahtaHai or Zoya’s first, they don’thave any reflection of my poet-ry. They are their own voices.

Screenwriter—Javed Akhtar

A stirred and shaken India

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Colonial India’s Muslim leaders shivered atthe thought of being perpetually controlledby Hindus in a united India once the

British left the country, unless there were safe-guards enshrined in the Constitution. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi has proven them right.By pursuing a populist ultra-nationalist agenda,he has unwittingly validated the much-maligned“two-nation” theory that formed the rationalebehind dividing British India to create Pakistanas a Muslim homeland.

His policy pits Hindus against Muslims, anunfortunate schism that all of his predecessorsfought against. Seven decades after the blood-soaked Partition, hyper-nationalist Modi won alandslide re-election victory in May, donning thesaffron-coloured garb of Hindu gurus andallowing divisiveness based on Islamophobia.

His crown is made of two emotion-filledexplosive elements: Kashmir and migration, bothhaving a common thread of bias and suspicionagainst Muslims. They have roots in the centu-ry-old vision of Hindutva, or Hinduness, outlinedin the 1920s by VD Savarkar, a violent revolu-tionary-turned-ultra-nationalist. Savarkar, aBritish-trained lawyer and avowed atheist,espoused several ideas to deal with India’sminorities, mimicking Adolf Hitler’s racist solu-tion to Germany’s Jewish question.

Since his re-election, Modi’s administrationhas aggressively moved on both Kashmir and thealleged illegal migration from Bangladesh, whichis India’s most friendly neighbour. In earlyAugust, keeping local leaders in detention anddeploying nearly a million security personnel inKashmir, it abolished a decades-old law thatgranted Kashmiris special rights — their own flag,own laws and land rights. Meanwhile, India’sHome Minister Amit Shah, who heads Modi’snationalist BJP and is widely expected to succeedhim as Prime Minister, is pressing ahead with hisagenda to deport fictitious 40 million illegalBangladeshi migrants.

Clash over Muslim migrants: This idea hasprovoked a sharp backlash from Bangladesh.Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has dis-missed the BJP’s assertion, noting thatBangladesh’s economy is at par with India’s, sono one from his country’s stays illegally in India.Still the matter turned acrimonious enough dur-ing Shah-Khan talks in Delhi in August to pre-vent them from issuing a customary joint state-ment.

India, nevertheless, seems determined topush ahead its agenda. It has started a campaignto round up Muslims unless they can prove theyhave lived in India way before 1971 whenBangladesh was created. They will be put in con-centration camps, which ironically the migrantsthemselves are building now.

Of India’s 1.3 billion people, 14 per cent areMuslim. Modi’s party does not target migrantBangladeshi Hindus, classifying them as refugeesand minorities from neighbouring countries. Butit seeks to deport Muslims. In fact, India hasalready deported Rohingya Muslim refugees toMyanmar and detained hundreds of them.Modi faced global criticism for the Godhra mas-sacre in 2002 in his home State of Gujarat. Heruled Gujarat for 13 years before becoming PrimeMinister in 2014.

What is most disturbing in this government’s

policy is its anti-minority agenda. It isthis very posture of the professedly sec-ular Indian National Congress partyand its paramount leaders — JawaharlalNehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel —that propelled British India’s Muslimsto demand a separate homeland as theyfeared that the Hindus would perpet-ually control the Muslims once theBritish left.

The Congress balked at grantingspecial rights and Britain createdPakistan in 1947. But problems surfacedsoon afterward with semi-autonomousprincely States, including Kashmir.The picturesque Himalayan regionencompasses roughly 135,000 squaremiles, almost Germany’s size, withabout 18 million people. India controls85,000 square miles, Pakistan 33,000and China 17,000. Both Pakistan and India claim the entire area as theirown.

In 1948, after a Indo-Pakistanfight, India raised Kashmir in theUnited Nations Security Council, whichcalled for a referendum on the territo-ry’s status. It asked Pakistan to withdrawtroops and India to cut military pres-ence to a minimum. A ceasefire cameinto force but Pakistan refused to pullout. Kashmir has remained partitionedever since.

Until Hindutva swept Modi topower, India assuaged minorities bypursuing a policy that emphasised onnational unity. In contrast, Modi beganhis tenure by killing a centuries-oldMuslim marriage law. Even theMughals and the British left Indian per-sonal law untouched. The governmentvoided the Muslim law but kept simi-

lar laws for other minorities intact.What’s behind Hindutva poli-

tics? To boost his re-election bid,Modi fired up his anti-Muslim rhetoricand took the crusade to India’s north-eastern State of Assam, plagued by ahalf-century-long hate-based politics.The politics that originated with ademand to drive out non-Assamesequickly turned into an anti-Bangladeshioutcry at the BJP’s instigation. Modi hasvowed to rid the State of all the allegedBangladeshi migrants.

Following his re-election, theNational Register of Citizens, whichverifies citizenship, after several flawedcounts, has classified nearly two millionlong-term residents as non-citizens orstateless. Most of them are at the bot-tom of the economic ladder. They willbe detained in camps with limitedrights, considering that the governmenthas promised not to send anybody backto Bangladesh, which fears a reverseinflux.

Unfortunately for the Hindutvabrigade, the citizenship count hasbecome a boomerang. Of the two mil-lion designated non-citizens, 1.2 mil-lion unexpectedly turned out to beHindu. Modi’s followers are now cry-ing foul, demanding a recount. The BJPhad expected to find four millionmigrants in Assam, most of themMuslim.

Assam’s neighbour West Bengal,which shares a common language anda rich culture with Bangladesh, is gear-ing up to play political hotball againstthe BJP. The hardliners want to repli-cate the citizenship drill in West Bengalbut Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s

party has vowed to fight it. State BJPchief Dilip Ghosh, who is seeking todeport the alleged migrants, remainsadamant because rhetoric is the magicwand for his party to win votes.

Muslims foresee the BJP’s game:Ironically, while Ghosh wishes to expelthem to an unnamed country — pre-sumably Bangladesh — Modi is urgingHindus to flock to Muslim-majorityKashmir, which barred non-Kashmirisfrom owning land until New Delhiscrapped its autonomy in August.

The BJP prescription to push moreHindus into Kashmir is intended tochange the demographic balance in therestive territory of 12 million people.Modi’s arbitrary action is the mother ofseveral repugnant ideas. This is exact-ly the kind of capriciousness on the partof the overwhelming Hindu majoritythat British India’s Muslim leadersfeared most.

One of those leaders, Liaquat AliKhan, the right-hand man of Pakistan’sfounder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, artic-ulated this concern while talking withGeorge Merrell, then America’s high-est-ranking diplomat in India, onDecember 27, 1946. Liaquat believedthat the Congress was “determined toseize power without regard for Muslimrights.” Now, 73 years later, Modi’sHindutva agenda, which calls for aMuslim-free India, has proven Liaquatright. By scrapping Kashmir’s status, thePrime Minister has taken a highly riskygamble in challenging the secularmatrix and embedding a majoritarianconsciousness.

(The writer is an established authoron Bangladesh-related issues.)

By pursuing an ultra-nationalist agenda, Modi has validated the two-nation theory thatformed the rationale of dividing British India to create Pakistan as a Muslim homeland

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

Time for some‘Freakonomics’

KUMARDEEP BANERJEE

Would tweaking a few procedures actually helpthe country’s economy recover? Maybe the

answer lies in field trials

BZ KHASRU

FOLLOWING HISRE-ELECTION, THE

NATIONALREGISTER OF

CITIZENS, WHICHVERIFIES

CITIZENSHIP,AFTER SEVERAL

FLAWED COUNTS,HAS CLASSIFIED

NEARLY TWOMILLION

LONG-TERMRESIDENTS AS

NON-CITIZENS ORSTATELESS. MOST

OF THEM ARE ATTHE BOTTOM OFTHE ECONOMICLADDER. THEY

WILL BEDETAINED INCAMPS WITH

LIMITED RIGHTS

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank havecut down India’s growth forecasts to six per cent for the fis-cal year 2019-20, from nearly seven per cent, riding on a weak-

ening domestic demand. Industrial growth shrank 1.1 per cent inAugust, after a gap of 26 months, reinforcing fears of a slowingeconomy and deteriorating consumer sentiment. Industrial produc-tion, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), hadgrown 4.8 per cent in August last year. Data released by the sta-tistics office showed the April-August factory output growth at 2.4per cent, well below the 5.3 per cent for the same period in the lastfiscal. These numbers paint a rather grim picture of a long winterahead for the economy of the country. So, is it time to useRandomised Controlled Trials (RCT) to test and/or tweak policiesin select pockets to bring out better results?

For the uninitiated, RCTs are most commonly used in the fieldof medicine to check the impact of a particular chemical concoc-tion on a randomly chosen group of patients with a condition. Twoor three sets are “administered” or “not administered” different vari-ations of the drug to see the beneficiary impact on health.

Coming from the creative soil of Kolkata, Nobel laureate AbhijitBanerjee chose to apply a similar model for solving big picture issuesat the ground level. The economist and his co-awardees, throughtheir trials, studies and experiments, argue that it is possible to arriveat optimal policy solutions based on empirical evidence, having test-ed their variables in controlled trials on a small target. This meansbreaking down macro problems such as poverty, malnutrition oran economic slowdown into smaller packets. Then pockets of focustarget groups are subjected to policy trials, allowing faster resultsand direct solutions. It seems to be opening a host of possibilitiesfor lawmakers and policy formulators, not to forget those who haveto implement them.

Coming back to the deepening economic slowdown issues —if we consider this to be the real challenge for India in the short term— it would, with the will of the policy-makers, be possible to allowsome controlled trials on select groups for a short period. This wouldbe a test case for boosting demand in the particular micro-pocketof the economy. For example, if the Government wants to increaserural offtake for houses and two-wheelers or even four-wheelers,it can (at least in theory) offer a cashback /interest-free limited equat-ed monthly installment (EMI) or an insurance free, with every loansanctioned at the much talked about Loan Mela.

A particular pocket can be subjected to this or a variation (eitherall of the options or some) loan mela bonanza during the festivalseason, while the other can have plain vanilla bank offers meantfor this region and sub-group of customers. The results emergingfrom this limited trial can throw some long-term solutions to tack-ling ghosting small-time borrowers and impacting or predicting con-sumption behaviour. Who knows, some far-reaching insights on theimpact of demonetisation and the digital economy can also be foundin the side alleys? Yes, it needs an economic scientist to honey-comb tons of data on consumer behaviour, have a clarity of thoughtand principle to arrive at effective solutions, before being put acrossthe bureaucrat’s desk to be formulated into a meaningful macro pol-icy document.

Herein lies the critique of the now Nobel-awarded proof of break-ing big problems into smaller, manageable questions and solvingparts, for the “whole matrix”, in short, RCT.

The first being that such experiments reduce the scope of eco-nomic uncertainties by eliminating the possibility of manual selec-tion. The second and perhaps more apt (if we were to look at theproblem of the economic slowdown) is that small interventions andpolicy tweaks or a bit of additional benefits with a loan may increaseofftake in the short-term and also perk up consumption. But it has-n’t been proven to be of benefit for the larger economy. Perhapsthe impact of a large population could be disastrous, which maydelay consumption, for want of a better sop or cashback (if youwill). Also the question of whether this will ultimately lead to over-all prosperity and not really impact the macro monetary decisionsof the Government will need hard thinking.

Now, with all this “Freakonomics” possibilities, we jump backto the consumption economy which is fast becoming a Doomsdayprediction coming true. The Government is seen taking widespreadreforms (not randomised) agenda, giving tax sops and announc-ing sectoral booster packages but the consumer is reluctant. Is ittime for senior policy makers to actually start doing the rounds ofthe country to see the impact of the fiscal reforms on the ground?Would tweaking a few procedures actually help the economy recov-er? Maybe the answer lies in field trials.

(The writer is a policy analyst)

The fast-approaching wintermonths have now become syn-onymous with a worsening

air quality in the Delhi-NationalCapital Region (NCR). The pollutionreaches unmanageable levels, large-ly due to the smoke emanating fromcrop residue burning in the neigh-bouring States of Punjab, Haryanaand Uttar Pradesh (UP), blowingover to Delhi-NCR.

Incidents of stubble burninghave already begun increasing inPunjab and Haryana and are likelyto peak in the next 10-12 days as theharvest season picks up in Sangrur,Patiala, Ludhiana and Fatehabaddistricts. Here, the tradition of openfield burning is rampant and contin-

ues unabated in spite of the activitybeing deemed illegal. According toa report by the Centre-run System ofAir Quality and Weather Forecastingand Research (SAFAR), this biomassburning is likely to add nine per centto Delhi’s PM 2.5 concentration.

In spite of all this, enforcementof the law pertaining to crop burn-ing in Punjab has been lax, to say theleast. This toxic mix of smoke andvehicular pollution has resulted inDelhi-NCR’s Air Quality Index(AQI) plummeting to alarming lev-els. However, all is not lost as a bevyof efforts undertaken by theGovernment and authorities con-cerned has had a positive impact onan otherwise grim scenario.

First, awareness regarding thequality of the air we breathe inthrough regular publicity of the AQIhas made people conscious. Second,the introduction of the much-clean-er BS-VI fuel ahead of schedule hasalso instilled confidence among thecitizens. Furthermore, the closure ofcoal-based power plants and fall in

the sales of diesel vehicles havehelped salvage the situation in Delhiand the situation now is much bet-ter than what it was five years ago.

But clearly much more needs tobe done. Probably, keeping this inmind, the Delhi Government hasintroduced the Graded ResponseAction Plan (GRAP) early this yearto handle pollution in an incremen-tal manner, depending on the levelof severity, especially in the winters.

GRAP came into force fromOctober 14 with the objective to curb

air pollution in Delhi-NCR, byproactively rolling out measures likediscouraging private vehicles on thecity’s roads, stopping trucks fromoutside, using diesel generators, clos-ing brick kilns and stone crushingunits. It seemed a timely step as onOctober 13, the AQI was “verypoor” with the level going beyond the300-mark. On October 14, the AQIimproved by around 50 points butthe situation has continued to oscil-late between “poor” and “very poor”over the last few days.

Even though experts have hailedGRAP for the gradual reduction inpollution levels over the years and forfixing accountability — as it clearlymarks the agency responsible foreach action to be taken — the effi-cacy of the plan is yet to be proven.

This is because many of the pol-lution-triggering factors are beyondthe purview of the Arvind Kejriwaladministration and the DelhiGovernment needs active coopera-tion and collaboration of the StateGovernments of UP, Haryana andPunjab. In the absence of a cohesivecollaboration strategy, the GRAPmight just end up being a knee-jerkreaction to the pollution onslaught.

The gaps in the fight against pol-lution are becoming visible with gen-erators being used in Gurugram withimpunity due to the exceptionalpower cuts the city faces. Similarly,many questions were raised on theGRAP’s efficacy in January 2019.

This is because toxic levels of airpollution monitored over Delhialmost every week, from November

1, 2018 to January 6 this year,showed that the Government’semergency plans to tackle the city’sannual crisis had failed, according toa report of the United Residents’ JointAction (URJA), a collective of thecity’s resident welfare associations.

The report summarised the find-ings of 45 Right to Information(RTI) applications filed at 14Government departments.Responses were sought from Central,State and municipal bodies to assessthe effectiveness of GRAP. Theanalysis of data collected by URJA for68 days showed that except for oneday in Central Delhi’s ITO, thenational Capital’s air quality was con-tinually above permissible limits.

The GRAP initiative for this yearcannot be allowed to be a rerun oflast year. The Government mustundertake necessary steps to over-come possibilities of failure andachieve the objective of curbingpollution levels effectively.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

Can Delhi GRAPple with pollution?In the absence of a cohesive collaboration strategy with neighbouring States, the Graded Response Action Plan

might end up being just another knee-jerk reaction to the pollution onslaught in winters

KOTA SRIRAJ

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 18, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS DID NOT HAVE A WORSTPHASE THAN WHEN THE COMBINATION OF SINGH AND

RAJAN, AS PM AND RBI GOVERNOR, HAD.—FINANCE MINISTERNIRMALA SITHARAMAN

THE GOVERNMENT IS OBSESSED WITH TRYING TOBLAME ITS OPPONENTS, THUS IT IS UNABLE TOFIND A SOLUTION FOR REVIVAL OF THE ECONOMY.—FORMER PRIME MINISTERMANMOHAN SINGH

F O R E I G N E Y E

Brexit involves choices thatwill shape the strategicdirection of Britain forgenerations and affectmillions of livelihoods. Anydeal Prime Minister BorisJohnson can strike now isjust the vehicle forwithdrawal; what mattersmost is the eventualdestination. The rhetoric hehas relied upon, thefanatics he flatters and thepolitical trajectory of hiscareer all indicate a plan totake Britain in the wrongdirection.

(The Guardian editorial)

BREXIT DEAL NOTA GAME OF CHESS

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 18, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

Air India AssetsHolding raisesanother Rs 7,985 crNEW DELHI: Raising funds forthe third time in little over amonth, Air India AssetsHolding Ltd (AIAHL) onThursday raised Rs 7,985crore through bond sale,which was oversubscribed. Aspecial purpose vehicle of AirIndia, AIAHL has mopped up atotal of Rs 21,985 crore byway of bond issues sinceSeptember 16 and theproceeds would be utilised torepay debt of the nationalcarrier. The civil aviationministry on Wednesday saidthe third bond issue of AIAHLwas fully subscribed. Theissue of 10-year tenure bondsworth Rs 1,000 crore with agreen shoe option of Rs 7,064crore received bids to the tuneof Rs 15,100 crore. Thesebonds have been subscribedat a rate of 7.39 per cent. "Thecompany received bids worthRs 15,100 cr.

NEW DELHI: ) IT major HCLTechnologies on Thursdaysaid it has been selected byVolvo Cars as one of thesuppliers for IT services andits digital transformationprogramme. "The engagementis an expansion of acollaboration that began in2016 and will see HCL supportthe global premium carcompany in its ongoing digitaltransformation initiatives," astatement said. This large-scale transformationprogramme includesorganisation-wide technologyshifts that will help Volvo Carsto capitalise on newopportunities to improveinternal business processesand customer experiences, itadded.The collaborationbetween the two organisationsis expanding to include severalaspects of digitaltransformation includingproduct orientation, DevOpsand application integration thestatement said.

Gold falls Rs 105 onstronger rupee,weak cuesNEW DELHI: ) Gold prices onThursday declined Rs 105 toRs 38,985 per 10 gram in thenational capital on a strongerrupee and weak global cues,according to HDFC Securities.However, silver surged by Rs509 to Rs 46,809 per kg herefrom its previous close of Rs46,300 per kg. On Wednesday,gold closed at Rs 39,090 per10 gram. "International goldprices traded weak on Brexithopes and the US-China tradedeal optimism," HDFCSecurities Senior Analyst -Commodities Tapan Patel said.Gold was trading lower at USD1,488 an ounce in theinternational market, whilesilver quoted higher at USD17.45 per ounce.

PNS n MUMBAI

Extending its gains for the fifthconsecutive session, equitybenchmark BSE Sensex rallied453 points on Thursday as glob-al investors cheered a Brexitdeal reached between Britain andthe EU. Domestic traders werealso enthused after FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanhinted at more stimulus mea-sures as she urged internationalinvestors to pump funds intoIndia.

After opening on a subduednote, the 30-share Sensex surgedin afternoon trade to close at39,052.06, up 453.07 points, or1.17 per cent.

The broader NSE Nifty toospiked 122.35 points, or 1.07 percent, to settle at 11,586.35.

Yes Bank was the biggest gain-er in the Sensex pack, soaring15.19 per cent, followed by TataMotors, IndusInd Bank, SBI,Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, AxisBank, Tata Steel and Maruti, ris-ing up to 9.82 per cent. On theother hand, HCL Tech, Vedanta,

PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, Infosys,ONGC, Tech Mahindra, L&Tand HDFC Bank fell up to 1.04per cent. According to traders,domestic market followedEuropean equities that ralliedafter Britain and the EuropeanUnion said they have struck anoutline Brexit deal after pro-longed negotiations.

The deal, however, must still

be formally approved by thebloc and ratified by the Europeanand UK parliaments.

"Government's intention toprovide further fiscal stimulus inthe future as per the needs of theeconomy lifted the market sen-timent today. Easing trade ten-sion and positive developmenton Brexit provided further boostto the market.

"Risk taking ability is improv-ing in the market with optimismover recovery in the economy ledby stimulus, festive demand,good monsoon and lower inter-est rate," said Vinod Nair, Headof Research, Geojit FinancialServices.

Sectorally, BSE auto, bankex,

finance, energy, FMCG,metal, healthcare andpower index rose up to2.93 per cent. BroaderBSE midcap and smallcap indicesgained up to 1.77 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses inShanghai, Hong Kong, Seouland Tokyo ended on a mixednote. Further, the Chinese gov-ernment's appeal to Washingtonto negotiate a quick end to theirtariff war also buoyed marketsentiment. Meanwhile, theIndian rupee appreciated 24paise to 71.19 against the USdollar intra-day. Brent crudefutures, the global oil bench-mark, fell 0.24 per cent to USD59.28 per barrel.

39,052.06Sensex

+ 453.0711,586.35NSE Nifty

+ 122.35

Yes Bankwas thebiggestgainer intheSensexpack

percent15.19

On the other hand, HCL Tech, Vedanta,PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, Infosys,ONGC, Tech Mahindra, L&T and HDFCBank fell up to 1.04 %

Office space leasing up 23%, may reach record 60 mn sq ft PNS n NEW DELHI

Office space leasing rose 23 percent to 15.4 million sq ft in theJuly-September quarter acrossnine major cities, and maytouch an all-time high this yearat over 60 million sq ft as techcorporates and co-workingplayers continue to expandtheir operations, according toproperty consultant CBRE.

The cumulative absorptionor leasing of office space hasincreased by over 30 per centto cross 47 million sq ft in thefirst nine months of 2019 cal-endar year, the consultant saidin its India Office MarketViewQ3 2019 report.

India's commercial realestate segment has been per-forming well even as overallproperty market, especiallyhousing, is facing a multi-yeardemand slowdown.

According to the data, officespace leasing jumped over-two fold in Hyderabad to 4.1million sq ft during July-September from 1.7 million sqft in the year-ago period.

Chennai also witnessed more

than two-time increase in leas-ing at 1.8 million sq ft from 0.7million sq ft, while Pune saw amarginal increase to 1.4 millionsq ft from 1.3 million sq ft.

The demand for office spacein Mumbai fell to 1.5 million sq

ft from 1.7 million sq ft, whileBengaluru saw leasing activitiesdeclining to 4 million sq ft from4.4 million sq ft. In Kochi,demand fell to 0.01 million sqft from 0.1 million sq ft.

Office space leasingremained flat in NCR, Kolkataand Ahmedabad at 2.3 millionsq ft, 0.2 million sq ft and 0.1million sq ft, respectively.

".. .we expect furtherstrengthening of occupier sen-timent in the medium to longterm, backed by corporateslooking to expand or consoli-

date their operations," saidAnshuman Magazine,Chairman & CEO, India, SouthEast Asia, Middle East andAfrica, CBRE.

Favourable government ini-tiatives, transparency in realestate sector and right reformswill improve investor senti-ments greatly in the comingquarters, he added.

"Similar to last year, weexpect that occupiers wouldput in greater efforts to incor-porate flexibility in their port-folios due to changes in the

business environment,"Magazine said.

According to the report,tech corporates, accountingfor about a third of the leasingactivity, drove office space leas-ing in the country during July-September 2019, followed byresearch, consulting & analyt-ics companies (19 per cent) andflexible space operators (15per cent).

The rise in share of flexiblespace (co-working) operators(10 per cent in Q2 2019) wasprimarily a result of their con-tinued expansion across almostall cities. These operators tookup both primary and sec-ondary spaces in mostly corelocations across cities.

Other sectors such as engi-neering & manufacturing (7per cent) and BFSI (7 per cent)also contributed to the increasein leasing activity.

India's commercial real estatesegment has been performing welleven as overall property market,especially housing, is facing a multi-year demand slowdown

PNS n NEW DELHI

Housing sales declined 25 percent in nine major cities to65,799 units during July-September quarter, while newlaunches fell 45 per cent as con-sumers sentiments anddemand remained subdued,according to property broker-age firm PropTiger.

Earlier this month, Anarockand JLL India also reported 18per cent and one per cent,respectively, decline in housingsales during July-Septemberperiod across seven major cities.

In its report 'Real Insight',News Corp-backed PropTigersaid that housing sales declinedto 65,799 units during July-September 2019 from 88,078units in the same period last year.

New launches fell to 33,883units from 61,679 units duringthe period under review.

These cities are -- MumbaiMetropolitan Region (includ-ing Navi Mumbai & Thane),Pune, Noida (including GreaterNoida & Yamuna Expressway),Gurugram (including Bhiwadi,Dharuhera & Sohna),Bengaluru, Chennai,Hyderabad, Kolkata andAhmedabad.

"New launches continued toshow a downward trend in theSeptember quarter even as thegovernment continues to movetowards a solution to the ongo-ing NFBC issue, a problem thathas dried up a key source offinance for real estate devel-opers in India. As buyers post-poned their purchase deci-sions to time it with the festiveseason, sales numbers also fellduring the quarter," said DhruvAgarwala, Group CEO, ElaraTechnologies.

Singaopre-based Elara is full

stack real estate technologyplatform that ownsPropTiger.com, Housing.comand Makaan.com.

"While newlaunch numbersmight continue tofall in the comingquarters due to theliquidity crunch, weexpect home salesnumbers toimprove in the sub-sequent quarter, factoring in thehigher purchase activity thatnormally takes place during the

festival season," he added.According to the data, hous-

ing sales in Mumbai region fellto 21,985 units during July-September 2019 from 28,563units in the year-ago period. InPune, sales fell to 13,644 unitsfrom 16,946 units.

In Bengaluru, demanddeclined to 7,772 units from10,929 units. Housing sales inHyderabad went down to 6,141units from 6,783 units.

Housing sales inAhmedabad fell to3,951 units from5,413 units, whiledemand dipped inChennai to 3,656units from 4,898units. Kolkata sawsales of 3,081 unitsas against 4,030units.

Gurugram witnessed sales of2,742 units as against 3,988units, while Noida saw sales of

2,827 units compared to 6,528units during the period underreview.

PropTiger said that unsoldinventory declined 13 per centyear-on-year, primarily becausenew launches fell at a faster clipthan sales did.

As of September, builders inIndia's nine top markets havean unsold stock consisting of7,78,627 units. Notably, morethan half of this unsold inven-tory is affordable stock.

Barring Hyderabad whereproperty prices have seen ajump of 15 per cent y-o-y,prices have undergone onlyslight changes in other markets.

However, only two marketsmarkets have seen a downwardmovement in pricing in thepast one year, Gurugram ( 4per cent) and Chennai ( 1 percent). Other markets saw pricesappreciation by 2 to 4 per centy-o-y.

Housing sales down 25% across nine cities: Prop Tiger

Earlier this month, Anarock and JLLIndia also reported 18 per cent andone per cent, respectively, decline inhousing sales during July-Septemberperiod across seven major cities

‘Gems, jewelleryexports may decline5-10% this year’PNS n MUMBAI

The overall gems and jewelleryexports is expected to declineof 5-10 per cent in this finan-cial year on the back of US-China trade war, protests inHong Kong and the imple-mentation of VAT in theMiddle East, Gems andJewellery Export PromotionCouncil (GJEPC) said.

"We saw a decline of 5.70per cent dip in exports at Rs1,32,170.32 crore from April-September 2019, against Rs1,40,158.83 crore during thesame period of FY19. Theexports have been impacteddue to weak demand from theUS market, the continuingtrade war between the USand China," GJEPC vice chair-man Colin Shah told reportershere.

The on-going protests inHong Kong and the slow-down in the Middle East afterthe implementation of value-added tax (VAT) from January2018 has also affected gemsand jewellery exports, Shahsaid.

He said, looking at thesetrends the overall gems andjewellery exports are expectedto decline by 5-10 per cent in

this financial year compared to2018-19.

In September, the overallgems and jewellery exportsdipped by 7.43 per cent to Rs23,788.01 crore duringSeptember 2019, comparedto Rs 25,698.6 crore in the cor-responding month of 2018,according to the governmentdata.

The cut and polished dia-monds during Septemberdeclined by 18.87 per cent toRs 13,874 crore from Rs17,101.45 crore in September2018.

Further, Shah said, the fes-tive demand also seems sub-dued on the back of a slow-down in the economic sce-nario and lack of consumerdemand.

TVS Motor Q2net up 15 pc atRs 256.88 crPNS n NEW DELHI

TVS Motor Co on Thursdayreported a 15 per centincrease in consolidated netprofit at Rs 256.88 crore forthe second quarter endedSeptember 30.

The Chennai-based com-pany had posted a consoli-dated net profit of Rs 223.19crore in the correspondingperiod last fiscal, TVS MotorCo said in a regulatory filing.

Revenue from operationsstood at Rs 4,960.27 crore inthe second quarter as com-pared to Rs 5,466.94 crore inthe year-ago period, down9.27 per cent.

TVS Motor said its overalltwo-wheeler sales, includingexports, were at 8.42 lakhunits during the quarterended September 2019 asagainst 10.49 lakh units in thesame quarter last fiscal, adecline of 19.73 per cent.

Motorcycle sales for thequarter under review were at3.42 lakh units as against 4.20lakh units in the year-agoperiod, down 18.57 per cent.

Scooter sales for the sec-ond quarter were at 3.33 lakhunits as against 3.88 lakhunits in the same period lastfiscal, a decline of 14.18 percent, the company said.

Total exports grew 6 percent to 2.11 lakh units in sec-ond quarter from 1.99 lakhunits in the same period lastfiscal, the company added.

In the first half (April-September) of the fiscal, con-solidated net profit was at Rs408.12 crore as compared toRs 383.24 crore in the year-ago period, the companysaid.

Revenue from operationsin the first half of the ongo-ing fiscal stood at Rs 9,978.61crore as against Rs 10,082.73crore in the same period lastfiscal.

SECL aims at 262 MT coal production by 2025-26 PNS n KOLKATA

South Eastern CoalfieldsLimited (SECL) is expected toproduce 262 million tonnes(MT) by 2025 -26, contribut-ing 26 per cent to the one bil-lion tonne coal productiontarget of Coal India, officialssaid on Thursday.

The subsidiary of the coalbehemoth aims at playing alead role to meet the produc-tion goal with its new rail cor-ridor being built at a cost of Rs3,055 crore, the officials said.

"The 136 km East Rail Corridorfrom Kharsia-Korichapar -Dharamjaygarh-Korba will play akey role to meet the productiongoal, Coal India officials said.

The miner had also decidedto procure rakes of its own toexpedite supplies of the fuelthrough the mode of railways.

In 2018-19, SECL had pro-duced 153 million tonne ofcoal and the new railway trackswill help coal evacuation fromgreenfield and existing mines,the miner said.

In the first phase, the 44-km

of new railway line inChhattisgarh between Kharsiaand Korichapar has been madeoperational from October 12.

"Already, two rakes a day arebeing loaded but this will beincreased, and coal is nowsupplied to power stations ofMaharashtra and Gujarat," anofficial said.

East Rail Corridor is developedby the Chhattisgarh East RailwayLimited (CERL), a SpecialPurpose Vehicle (SPV) betweenSECL, Chhattisgarh governmentand IRCON International at acost of Rs 3,055 crore for laying

down a 136 km rail line fromK h a r s i a - K o r i c h a p a r -Dharamjaygarh-Korba.

While SECL holds a stake of64 per cent in this tri- partite SPV,Chhattisgarh government andIRCON have 10 per cent and 26per cent holding respectively.

The next phase of the 30 kmrailway line betweenKorichapar andDharamjaygarh is likely tocome up by middle of 2020and from Dharamjaygarh toKorba, a stretch of 62 kms, isexpected to be linked by endby 2022.

PNS n KOCHI

Semiconductor and softwaredesign multinational giantARM Holdings has tied upwith Keralas Maker Village,enabling India's largest elec-tronic hardware incubator toreinforce its presence at theglobal level.

Kochi-based Maker Village,which functions under theUnion government withKerala Startup Mission as thesupporting partner, will thushold special training and guid-ance programmes under theUK-headquartered ARM,designer for 90 per cent ofelectronics semiconductor andmobile gadgets in the market,according to a release here onThursday.

As the first step towards thecollaboration, Maker Villagethis week hosted a workshopon 'Secure DeviceManagement at Scale' at thefacilitys premises inKalamassery near here.

"The sessions were led byexperts comprising ARMIndia Vice-President Kuttappa

Bittiananda," PrincipalEngineer Kumaar Guhaan andsoftware engineer SanjitPanigrahi.

ARM University RegionalManager (Program) ApurvaVarma was the coordinator.

The next move in the col-laboration will be facilitationof networking between theincubating firms at an inter-national range, according toMaker Village CEO PrasadBalakrishnan Nair.

The sessions wereled by expertscomprising ARM India

Vice-President KuttappaBittiananda

—KUMAAR GUHAANPrincipal Engineer

ARM Holdings ties upwith Maker Village

SENSEX CLOSES ABOVE 39,000-MARK

Vodafone ldeaextends pact withTCS for 5 yrsPNS n NEW DELHI

Vodafone Idea Ltd has extend-ed its partnership with TataConsultancy Services (TCS)for an additional five years, thecountry's largest IT servicesfirm said on Thursday.

"TCS and Vodafone IdeaLtd (VIL) have extended theirdecade-long strategic part-nership for a further fiveyears. VIL is adopting the lat-est technologies for customerexperience enhancement, asit undertakes the world'slargest network integration inIndia," TCS said in a regula-tory filing.

TCS has been VIL's tech-nology partner in this jour-ney, managing all of itscustomer-facing applica-tions, it added.However,the statement did not dis-close any financial details.

TCS' earlier partnershipwas with Vodafone India.

Volvo selects HCLfor IT services

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dailypioneer

FridayOctober 18, 2019

Stand-up comedy as an art form took a while to pick up inIndia. While many people aspire to become stand-upcomics, there are very few who actually make it big. VirDas is among those select few. He has been in the comedyscene in India right from its nascent stage. Ahead of hisshow in Hyderabad, he tells ARUN DANIELYELLAMATY about thecomedy scene in thecountry, the changes ithas undergone, his lovefor Hyderabad,upcoming projects and more

GET

with

ctor-comedian Vir Dasthinks that Indian audi-ences are louder thantheir western counter-parts. The Indian come-dian who has been busy

touring the world on his presentseries, Love Tour, speaks about howthe Indian audience is different. Hesays, “The difference between theIndian and the western audience is

not really that different at all.We are all watching Netflix

and Amazon. We are allthe same, but the

Indian audiencetake time to openup, and when theydo they are waylouder than thewestern audiences. Ithink we are muchbetter here when itcomes to stand-up

comedy andas an

audience. We understand that thisis one of the last forms of rawexpression out there and we aresupporting it.”

Opening up about his upcomingLove Tour in Hyderabad for theFunnnybuzzness comedy gig series,he said, “The idea behind the touris that it’s a comedian asking him-self if is he’s good at love? That issomething we all grapple with indifferent stages of our life. But it’snot just romantic love, it is love foryour parents,yourcoun-try,yourdog,yourfellowcountry-men, forfreedomofexpres-

sion totell jokes,

for traveland much

more. There is ahuge variety here.”Vir, who is popular for

doing intelligent and wittyshows, said that this is a differ-ent kind of show.

“This is the most interna-tionally relatable material Ihave ever written. It’s workedjust as well as in Hong Kong asit did in the US. It’s deeplypersonal but mainly about theemotions that you experience.It’s some of the edgiest materi-al I have ever written as

opposed to politics, religion, orsomething you cannot hold back.”

“There are enough comics nowin India that the novelty of being acomedian has gone and peopleexpect you to be good at it. So onlythose who are innovative can sur-vive,” he adds. When asked how heended up doing comedy, he said, “Ididn’t choose this career, it choseme. After years of rejection fromwomen and vodka, this career ch-ose me. This is what I wanted to doall my life and I am happy doing it.”

For Vir, Hyderabad has alwaysbeen very special.

He said, “The comedy scene inHyderabad is amazing. I love com-ing down to Shiplakala Vedika. Ihave been coming to Hyderabadfor a decade and it’s always beengood to me. I am as much a fan ofthe biryani as for the comedy.”

Advising future comedians hesaid, “Don’t take tips from oldercomics. Just do your own thing.”

Sharing about his upcoming pro-ject, he said, “There is a lot goingon. I have a Netflix special, anAmazon show, a World tour, then aseries on a platform and then twomovies. Those are my major plansright now. I plan to take a vacationwith my wife and dog and sleep 8hours, because that sounds reallynice.”

When asked about how he han-dles it when people get offended,he said, “I speak whatever is on myheart and mind at that particularmoment. Sometimes that’s an issuefor people, sometimes it isn’t. I amnot actively going out there tospeak about issues. They generallybackfire when the joke is not funny.But a comedian should be able totalk about whatever they want totalk about.”

Catch Vir Das on the October 20,Sunday at HICC, Novotel. Ticketsavailable on Bookmyshow.

ROFLVIR DAS

A

READY

This is the most internationally relatable material I have ever written. It’sworked just as well as in Hong Kong as it did in the US. It’s deeply personalbut mainly about the emotions that you experience. It’s some of the edgiestmaterial I have ever written as opposed to politics, religion, or something youcannot hold back

VIR DAS, ACTOR-COMEDIAN

Ever wondered how it would be like to eat like a king or a queen? Get ready as dishes from the history books have now come alive

n this day andage to under-stand how theerstwhile royalfamilies inIndia lived all

we have are monumentsand artifacts. But, what ifyou can taste the richand delicious food fromthe royal kitchens justlike how it was served tothe kings and queensback in the day whentheir rule used to be thenorm of the land? Theroyal heirs of some ofthose kingdoms pre-served those hundred-year-old recipes and con-tinued their legacy bytreating the present gen-erations to lavish din-ners.

One such event hasbeen put together by theITC Kakatiya who will beoffering a 10-day royaltreat from the traditionalroyal kitchens ofThanjavur.

Thanjavur is popularlyknown for the greatthousand-year-oldBrihadeeswarar temple,which is also a UNESCOWorld Heritage site. Fewknow that the Marathaking Shivaji’s legacy liveson in Thanjavur.However, the only visibleMaratha influence todayis seen there in the CityPalace, where the royalfamily continues to be inresidence.

The royal family con-sists of the Maharaja ofThanjavur, Babaji RajahBhonsle Chattrapathy, hisbrother, Abaji RajahBhonsle and his wife, A.Dhanashree. RajahBhonsle, along with chefPraveen have curated aspecial royal menu, to getthe Thanjavur food toHyderabad. This cuisinewill give a great mix offood of Maratha andTamil Nadu dishes.

“This is one of thoserare times when we bringout the food, made by achef who works in theroyal kitchens, directly toa restaurant on a com-mercial scale. We havenot changed any of theoriginal ingredients. Infact, we got with us a fewingredients from thepalace. We have beentraveling with our ownchefs who cook for us toensure the same royaltaste is served to every-one,” the Maharaja toldThe Pioneer.

The heirloom recipesare preserved inSarabendra Pakashastra,an ancient text whichwas written in Modiscript (script used towrite Marathi), and con-tains details of the foodscooked in the palace. Itwas Rajah Serfoji II whobegan documenting therecipes in the book in1812. “Sarabendra

Pakashastra is a treasurefor all and is kept at theSaraswathi MahalLibrary in Thanjavur.The book gives aninsight into the workingof the royal kitchens,”said S. Abaji RajahBhonsle.

For the next few days,the Dakshin at ITCKakatiya will offer anarray of exclusive heir-loom recipes from theroyal kitchen. Some ofthe dishes that comehighly recommendedfrom the Maharaja him-self are: the ‘MashyacheKebab’, Murrel fish filletsmade in green chili andpan-fried in ghee; the‘Komdiche Kebab’, chick-en kebab made withcoriander, pepper, andginger; ‘Kesari Maas’,mutton mince soaked insaffron and a few selectspices and the ‘KomdaPulao’, a popular Tanjorespecial chicken pulaoand a must-try from themenu.

There are enoughchoices for people whoprefer vegetarian foodwith dishes such as the‘Khendatta’, a vegetablecurry with four kinds ofpulses; ‘PorathiKozhambu’, curry madeof brinjal with coconutand chilies; ‘ShakarBiranji’, sweetened pulaowith almonds, coconutand sultanas. These are

just some of the dishesthat will transport thecity folk back in time.

When asked about hisfavourite dish, theMaharaja said “I like ourtraditional sambar andidly. Not many know thatthat was sambar wasoriginated in the kitchenof Thanjavur Maratha.”Digging into history weget to know that duringthe reign of Shahuji, theroyal kitchens were busycreating a dish calledAmti using toor dalinstead of moong dal andtamarind extract forkokum. Later this dishwas named ‘sambharafter’ Sambhaji who wasthe second emperor ofthe Maratha Empire.However,this origin storyremains a topic of con-tention among the foodhistorians. Whether itoriginated in Tamil Naduor Maharashtra, all weknow today is that sam-bar has become a stapleitem in many house-holds.

The restaurant has alsogone the extra mile ofcreating the royal ambi-ence for the visitors. Theroyal food will be servedtill October 20 at theDakshin, ITC Kakatiyaat Begumpet. So hurryup and book your tablebefore the royal foodheads back to the palace.

— ADY

I

DINE LIKE

ROYALTY

TO

he story is really good. And thescreenplay has shaped up reallywell. The narration will bethrilling and entertaining,

Dr Rajasekhar had said last monthabout his next with Tamil filmmak-er Pradeep Krishnamoorthy. Anemotional thriller, it was to beproduced by G. Dhananjayanunder his Creative Entertainers& Distributors. The makerseven prepared a schedule andthe idea was to wrap it up in astart-to-finish schedule inHyderabad and Chennai.However, according to thegrapevine, the actor has devel-oped cold feet about featuringin the project. Unhappy with

this, the makers seem haveknocked on actor Sumanth’s

door. The project is saidto be the official remake

of Kannada hitKavuladaari, a crime

thriller, though themakers have gone onrecord.

The Pioneer has reachedout to the executive producerof Pradeep’s film, Siva Prasad, tocheck its status. He said, “Wewanted to do one script initiallywith Rajasekhar sirbut the team decided

to do another one now.Dr Rajasekhar and the

film’s team will decideupon it shortly.”

— NG

uzz aboutKrishnaVamsidirecting

the Teluguremake of

Marathisuper hitNatsamrat has beenon rounds for thepast two years. Butthe filmmaker hasnever commentedon it. However, onWednesdayevening, an officialword about the filmwent public:Krishna Vamsi willhelm the project and

Prakash Raj andRamya Krishna will

spearhead the project. Titled Ranga

Marthaanda, the film

will be a joint production ven-ture between Abhishek Jawkarand Madhu Kalipu. While notmany details in the open, it issaid that Uttej, Vamsi’s fre-quent collaborator, has beentasked to adapt the script toTelugu ‘sensibilities’. “Byretaining the soul of the origi-nal, Vamsi is keen on giving acomplete new spin to the nar-rative,” a source close to theunit said.

This would be the secondtime that Vamsi, in his illustri-ous career, would be handlinga remake. His Chandralekha

(1998), starring Nagarjuna,was a remake of a Malayalamhit of the same name directedby Priyadarshan. Natsamrattold the story of a veteranShakespearean actor (playedby Nana Patekar) who retiresfrom the stage into the painfultragedy of old age, facing hisungrateful family alone. Thefilm was the screen adaptationof noted Marathi playwrightKusumagraj’s iconic Marathiplay Natsamrat which wasfirst staged in 1970. PrakashRaj will be stepping into theshoes of Patekar.

Hyderabad Friday October 18, 2019

10

tollywood

n eventualitythat could haveled to the clashof titans wasaverted whenbetter sense pre-

vailed. The makers ofVenky Mama, starringVictory Venkatesh andNaga Chaitanya, havedecided to stay away fromthe Sankranti releasedate, leaving the festive

season for other biggies likeSarileru Neekevvaru and AlaVaikunthapuramlo. Last week,producer Suresh Babu, who has

jointly produced Venky Mamaalong with People MediaFactory, decided to release thefilm during Sankranti keepingin mind the holidays. The filmis made on a budget of Rs 50-55crore. Realizing Babu’s plans,the makers of SarileruNeekevvaru and AlaVaikunthapuramlo rushed tooccupy the January 12th slot.But in a latest development, ThePioneer has learnt that Suresh isnow looking to release his filmearly, whose shoot is overexcept for two days of work inDecember.

So what has led the leadingproducer to change his mind? Asource close to Venky Mama’sproduction team confirmed tous that, “Producers Dil Raju,Anil Sunkara and S. RadhaKrishna met Suresh Baburecently and asked him if hecan reschedule his release. Thechief of Suresh Productions toldthem he believes in a win-winsituation and if he gets a solowindow, he is happy to changethe release date of Venky Mama.Radha Krishna and Raju havealso moved their productions,Bheeshma and the ’96 Teluguremake, to early next year

instead of December." “Likewise, Disco Raja, the

distribution rights of which arewith Asian Cinemas and SureshProductions, has been deferredto the second half of January. SoDecember is relatively lessoccupied now compared towhat it was a couple of weeksago. Venky Mama will nowarrive in December. SureshBabu will decide the exact dateon Monday. Now, it remains tobe seen whether both MaheshBabu’s and Allu Arjun’s filmswill fight it out for January 12or will one of them come a cou-ple of days early,” they added.

Festival moviereleases are always

tricky to navigateas everyone wants

to have theirmovie reach the

audience first.Here is how the

makers of VenkyMama dealt with

this dilemma,reports

NAGARAJGOUD

A

CLASH OF THETITANS AVERTED

eerthy Suresh’s first lookfrom her film, a light-hearted sports drama lacedwith romance, withacclaimed director NageshKukunoor was unveiled

by the makers on Thursday in tunewith her 27th birthday celebrations.For the first time in a film of hers,the actress has gone with make upand hairdo. “She has also shot forthe film completely without makeup and hairdo. It’s just Keerthy inher truest form. I’m proud that Ipartly brought that side of her for theaudience. She just looks breathtaking.With this film, just like Mahanati, herfame will transcend boundaries,”film’s co-producer Shravya Varmatold The Pioneer.

The next schedule of the filmwill commence from November11. “We have songs and climaxthat will be shot in this leg offilming and by December 1. Theentire shoot will be completed soonafter leaving us with a good two-month period for post-production.The shoot will take place in Pune,Hyderabad, Vikarabad and possi-bly in Bengaluru for a couple

of days. We are looking at January 31for the film’s release but we will con-firm it mostly after the shoot ends. We

will scale up promotionsbeginning Diwali post

which we will unveilthe first looks ofJagapathi Babu,Aadi Pinisettyand RahulRamakrishna.The film will be

dubbed intoTamil as well,” she

said. — NG

K

KEERTHY goesmake up free forKukunoor's film

Krishna Vamsi to castPrakash Raj, Ramya

Krishna

BT

peculations about ManchuManoj and his wifePranathi heading for adivorce did rounds for

more than a year. Last June, theactor even denied the news.However, on Thursday, Manojconfirmed that he and his wifehave divorced. In a lengthy post onTwitter, he said, “With a heavyheart I would like to inform thatmy divorce has come through andwe have officially ended what wasa beautiful and well-cherishedrelationship. We had our differ-ences and we went through a lot ofpain. After much introspection,we’ve decided to have our separatelives going forward. We alwayswere and are two individuals whohave all the respect and caretowards each other. (sic)”

“Since my heart was not in theright place I couldn’t act or con-centrate on work. I wouldn’t havesurvived this storm without thehelp of my family, friends andespecially my fans who stood byme in my absence,” he said andadded from here on he would ded-icate his life to acting. Manoj hadmarried Pranathi in May 2015.

S

RAJASEKHAR intwo minds overPradeep’s thriller drama?

THE MAKERS HAVE ALREADY PREPARED A SCHEDULEIN HYDERABAD AND CHENNAI. HOWEVER, IT IS SAIDTHAT THE ACTOR HAS DEVELOPED COLD FEET ABOUTFEATURING IN THE PROJECT

MANCHU MANOJconfirms divorce

with Pranathi

hy exactly Hill is passing therole is currently unknown.Insiders told variety.com thatwhen the news was initiallyreported, it was very early inthe negotiations and that a

deal was far from closing. The newscomes after Zoe Kravitz was recentlytapped to play Selina Kyle, also knownas Catwoman, in the Matt Reeves-directed movie that also stars RobertPattinson as the Caped Crusader. Oneof the points brought up in negotiationswas whether Hill would play thePenguin or Riddler, and nowReeves and Warner Bros. willhave to go back to the drawingboard to see which actors willtake on those roles.

Hill starred oppositeEmma Stone in Netflix’ssci-fi series Maniac andmade his directorial debutlast fall with MID90S,which he also wrote. Hemost recently appearedalongside MatthewMcConaughey in BeachBum, which hit theatres in

March. Pre-produc-tion on the Warner

Bros.-DC Comicsmovie is expectedto start this sum-mer. An officialstart date has not

yet been set,although a sourcesaid that filmingcould start in late 2019or early 2020.The

Batman is scheduled tohit theatres on June 25,2021.

JONAH HILL REFUSESTO DO THE PART IN‘THE BATMAN'

ooks like actor LindaHamilton took hertraining sessions for therole in the upcomingTerminator: Dark Fate

way too seriously. In order toreprise her role as Sarah Connorin the flick, the actor has losthuge amount of weight, reportedFox News.

“There were no carbs in mylife for a year. I got so lean, whenI arrived they had to build me abutt,” Hamilton admitted whileappearing on ITV’s LorraineWednesday (local time). The 63-year-old actor added, “Theyadded to the bottom, somethingyou don’t ever see coming —who wants more bottom? — butapparently... I shouldn’t give mysecrets away!”

Hamilton, who is returning tothe silver screen with her iconicrole also talked about the typeof training she has been receiv-ing. “Time off was militarytraining, Spanish lessons,scuba, we had to do it all.There was never a momentwe weren’t learning some-thing or acting,” she said.

The Separate Lives star’s co-actor, Mackenzie Davis, alsoagreed with her about howintense it is to work inTerminator: Dark Fate.“It was so hard mak-ing this god damnmovie,” she said.While comparingthe male and thefemale cast,Hamilton jok-ingly said thatthe women aretougher thanArnoldSchwarzenegger,who alsoreturned to playthe futuristic halfhuman-half robot.

“We get to dosome really goodwork together thistime rather than justrunning from him,” shesaid of reuniting with theaction hero. The film whichalso stars Natalia Reyes,Diego Boneta, and Gabriel Lunais set to hit big screens onNovember 1, 2019

W

Hyderabad Friday October 18, 2019

11

celeb talksNICOLE, ALEXANDER

TO REUNITE FORROBERT EGGERS'THE NORTHMANith his latest film The Lighthouse set to bow this week-

end, Robert Eggers’ next film has cast two leads, BigLittle Lies alums Nicole Kidman and Alexander

Skarsgård. The pic, titled The Northman, is described asa Viking revenge saga set in Iceland at the turn of the 10th century.In talks to join Kidman and Skarsgård are The Witch’s Anya Taylor-

Joy, It’s Bill Skarsgård and Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe.Eggers will direct the film from a script he co-wrote with

Icelandic poet and novelist Sjón. Midsummer producer LarsKnudsen will produce, with New Regency financing.

Skarsgård can next be seen in tentpole Kong vs Godzilla, andrecently booked the plum part of Randall Flagg in CBS All Access’

adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand. He is repped by CAA.Kidman recently starred in the second season of Big Little Lies —

her work in the first season earned her a Primetime Emmy for bestactress — and will star as Gretchen Carlson opposite Charlize

Theron and Margot Robbie in awards season contender Bombshell,which opens this December. Taylor-Joy recently wrapped a starring

turn in Last Night in Soho for Edgar Wright and next stars inWorking Title’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. The Lighthouseopens on October 18 and stars Dafoe alongside Robert Pattinson.

WGF actress SrinidhiShetty, who made heracting debut viaKannada film KGF, isall set to foray intoTamil filmdom with

Vikram’s next yet-untitled project.An official announcement fromthe makers is yet awaited.

It is learnt from reliable sourcesthat Srinidhi is most likely to bepared with Vikram in the project,current dubbed Chiyaan Vikram58. Priya Bhavani Shankar isbelieved to be playing one of theleads as well.

To be produced by 7 ScreenStudio in association with Viacom18 Studios, the project went onthe floors recently and the makersplan to release it in April 2020.

“This film will be a pan-Indianproject catering to the Tamil,Hindi and Telugu audience. It willbe produced on a massive scale inassociation with Viacom 18Motion Pictures. The cast andtechnicians will have big names ofall industries collaborating forthis film,” reads a statement fromthe makers.

The project marksthe maiden collabo-ration of Vikram

and director Ajay Gnanamuthu,who is best known for helmingDemonte Colony and last year'sImaikka Nodigal starringNayanthara.

Talking about the project, Ajaysaid, “The only thing I candivulge right now is that Vikram’srole will be a challenging one. Ofcourse, he has always taken upchallenging roles, but I think thisone will be better than all ofthose.”

The first look poster, whichwas released in June, featureswhat appears to be Vikram inmultiple avatars he will be seen inthe film. There are rumours thatVikram might be seen playing aphotographer in the film whichwill be an out-and-out action-thriller.

The industry grapevine is thatVikram will be seen sporting 25different looks in the film.

The makers have approached aUS-based to design Vikram’s dif-ferent looks in the film. The firstlook poster, which was released inJune, features what appears to be

Vikram in multipleavatars he will be

seen in the film.

K

KGF ACTRESS TOMAKE TAMIL DEBUTWITH VIKRAM

L

LINDA SHEDS WEIGHT FOR ROLE INTERMINATOR

ollywood star

Britney Spears

is back with her

signature

blonde look.

Spears, who

has returned home after

vacationing in Maui,

recently shared a video

where she flaunts her new

hair colour, reports daily-

mail.co.uk.

Along with the video,

she wrote: “So maybe

blondes do have more

fun...It’s not professional

Hollywood hair and

make-up .... but hey it’s

real and I’m watching

Vacation !!! ...P.S. Just got

out of pool so hair is wet

... sorry.” Dressed in a

white tube top and shorts

while sitting on a couch in

her Los Angeles home,

Spears looks directly into

the camera and flashes

facial expressions as if to

say: “Oops... I did it

again.”H

BRITNEY SPEARS BACK

WITH SIGNATURE

BLONDE LOOK

sport 12HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 18, 2019

PTI nMUMBAI

West Indian batting great Brian Lara on Thursday praisedthe current Indian pace attack, which reminded him of

the deadly West Indian attacks of yore.The Indian pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and

Mohammed Shami, in 2018, picked the record 142 wicketsamong them in Test matches.

Asked what makes Indian team special, Lara said: “It’s theIndian pace attack. Unbelievable. I saw them in the West Indies.When you look at the quality —(Jasprit) Bumrah, (Mohammed)Shami, (Umesh) Yadav — all these guys, and the guys on thesidelines, like Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) are unbelievable.”

“It reminds me a little bit of the (pace bowling) strengththat the West Indies had in the 80s and 90s. The reserve strengthis very important in assessing a team’s ability. It means that yourattack has quality,” Lara added.

Lara, who had scored 11,953 Test runs, was also lavish inhis praise for Virat Kohli, whom he termed the ‘UltimateCaptain’.

“He’s (Kohli) the ultimate captain. In terms of his perfor-mances, he leads by example. And I mean that in all facets ofthe game, and off the field too. He is came off very well in thebackground of MS Dhoni, who laid the foundation, and didthings in a different way.

“So, I think Indian cricket, as we all know, is headed in theright direction. It’s influenced by some of the best people, andis reaping the benefits of it,” Lara told reporters here.

Lara also seemed happy that a player of Rohit Sharma’s cal-ibre is set to play regularly across formats.

“I think that Rohit is an awesome player in all formats ofthe game. Obviously, in the limited overs game, he’s been verysuccessful. I don’t see any reason why he should not be in Testcricket. It seems that he has the passion to play and wants toprove himself on that stage (Test cricket) as well.

“To exclude a player like that (from the Test team) will bevery difficult, with the talent that I see. So, hopefully, he willbe successful. He is a gifted batsman,” said Lara.

Lara, who holds the record for highest individual run scor-er in Tests, also welcomed the ICC move of Test Championship,saying it has provided contest to the game.

“I think (World Test Championship should have startedearlier). In terms of Test Championship, where there is an end,it culminates into a team becoming Championship, that is some-thing that should have happened a long time ago and happyto see it now. Even if you play against theminnows—Afghanistan, Bangladesh — it means something.

AFP n SYDNEY

All-rounder MitchellMarsh is set to miss

the opening Test againstPakistan after fracturinghis right hand punchinga wall, with Australiancoach Justin Langerbranding him “an idiot”.

The WesternAustralia captain took hisfrustrations out in thechanging rooms after hewas dismissed for 53 in aSheffield Shield matchagainst Tasmania onSunday.

Scans revealed a frac-ture, and an apologeticMarsh said he faced up tosix weeks on the sidelines.

That would almostcertainly rule him out ofthe opening Test againstPakistan in Brisbane start-ing on November 21.

“It’s my middle finger,just below the wrist — afracture straight through

the bone,” Marsh, whowas sporting a cast on hisarm, told reporters.

Marsh had only beenrecalled to the Test sidefor the final game of theAshes against Englandlast month after a longperiod out of favour andthere are no guarantees hewill win a spot back.

“It’s a good lesson for

me. Hopefully it’s a goodlesson for other people aswell,” added Marsh,whose blunder couldopen the door for MarcusStoinis in Brisbane.

“At the end of the day,it’s a game of cricket.Sometimes you get beat-en, sometimes you getout, and you can’t bepunching walls.”

PTI n ODENSE

India’s campaign at the $ 775,000 Denmark Opencame to a disappointing end with the trioka of PV

Sindhu, B Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma — all-exit-ing after suffering straight-game losses, here onThursday.

World Champion Sindhu, seeded fifth, yet againstruggled to buck the trend of recent early exits asshe was knocked out after she lost 14-21, 17-21 toKorea,s An Se Young in a 40-minute second-roundwomen,s singles clash at the BWF World Tour Super750 event.

It turned out to be a dismal day for Indian shut-tlers in general as B Sai Praneeth, Sameer Verma, andmen's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy andChirag Shetty also went down in straight games intheir second rounds.

While Praneeth was outclassed by two-timeWorld Champion Kento Momota of Japan 6-21, 14-21 in yet another dominating show, Sameer lost 12-21, 10-21 to Olympic champion Chen Long of China.

Thailand Open champions Satwik and Chiragalso suffered a 16-21 15-21 defeat against sixth seedChinese combination of Han Cheng Kai and ZhouHao Dong in men's doubles.

Later in the day, Pranaav Chopra and N SikkiReddy put up a gallant fight before going down 24-26 21-13 11-21 to fourth seeded Malaysian pair ofChan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying in the mixed dou-bles competition.

AGENCIES n ANTWERP

Stan Wawrinka was made towork hard at the European

Open on Wednesday as theSwiss veteran outlastedFeliciano Lopez 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(4) to reach the quarter-finalsin Antwerp.

The 34-year-oldWawrinka, seeking his firstATP trophy since he lifted thetitle in Geneva two years ago,served 17 aces — one lessthan Lopez — and convertedone out of four break-pointopportunities to edge the tightmatch.

Up next for the worldnumber 18 is unseeded GillesSimon, who powered past hisFrench compatriot Jo-WilfriedTsonga 6-4, 7-5.

Wawrinka has beatenSimon four times in sevenmeetings but the Frenchmanprevailed in straight sets thelast time they played eachother on the hardcourts ofShanghai in 2016.

Argentina,s Guido Pellajoined the duo in the last eightafter beating South Korea,sKwon Soon-woo 7-5, 7-5 to setup a clash with Ugo Humbertor second seed David Goffin.

In first-round action, PabloCuevas beat Hugo Dellien 6-4,6-3 and will take on BritonAndy Murray next. AmericanFrances Tiafoe overcameGermany's Yannick Maden 7-6(7), 6-3.

PTI n DHAKA

Left-arm spinner ArafatSunny and pacer Al-

Amin Hossain were recalledas Bangladesh on Thursdayannounced a 15-membersquad for next month’sthree-game T20I seriesagainst India.

Opener Tamim Iqbalalso made a comeback aftera break during which hemissed the tri-series athome involving Afghanistanand Zimbabwe.

Both Sunny andHossain have been out ofcontention for a long timehaving played their last T20Iin 2016.

The 33-year-old Sunny,who has taken 12 wickets in10 T20Is, was suspendedduring the 2016 ICC WorldTwenty20 for an illegalbowling action. He had alsospent two months in jailafter being arrested in 2017for his involvement in afamily dispute.

The 29-year-oldHossain also last featured inthe 2016 ICC WorldTwenty20.

“We have recalledSunny because we needsomeone experienced forIndia, which is a toughcountry. Al-Amin comes

into the squad as some ofour other fast bowlers areinjured,” said chief selectorMinhajul Abedin.

The selectors alsodecided to drop SabbirRahman, Nazmul HossainShanto, Rubel Hossain andTaijul Islam from the teamof the last T20 Bangladeshplayed during the tri-nationseries at home.

The T20I series willbegin with the first matchon November 3 at ArunJaitely stadium in NewDelhi. The next two gamesare at Rajkot and Nagpur onNovember 7 and 10 respec-tively.

Squad: Shakib Al Hasan(C), Tamim Iqbal, LitonDas, Soumya Sarkar, NaimSheikh, Mushfiqur Rahhim,Mahmudullah Riyad, AfifHossain, MusaddekHossain, Aminul IslamBiplob, Arafat Sunny,Mohammad Saifuddin, Al-Amin Hossain, MustafizurRahman, Shafiul Islam.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Three-time Olympic medallistCarmelita Jeter is impressed with

India’s Dutee Chand and said a reput-ed coach can guide the country’s talent-ed sprinters reach the highest level infuture.

“I have seen Dutee Chand competeat the Olympic Games. She has donesome remarkable things. I hope moreyoung ladies will step up and representthe country,” said Jeter, who is the inter-national event ambassador at the 15thedition of the Airtel Delhi HalfMarathon.

“I feel that all sprinters need goodcoaches. If a big name coaches Indianathletes, then you will certainly see a riseof Indian sprinters in the future,” saidJeter.

The fastest woman alive, Jeter isdelighted to see over 40,000 participantsready to give it their all at the HalfMarathon, which is an IAAF Gold LabelRoad Race, on Sunday.

A world record holder, Jeter hadfinished with a winning time of 10.64seconds at the Shanghai Golden GrandPrix in 2009, giving her a spot in his-tory as the second-fastest woman ever

in the 100 meters.Carmelita Jeter was a part of the his-

toric 4x100m USA team which set theworld record at the 2012 Olympics. TheAmerican said that sharing a medalwith three other women was even morespecial than an individual medal.

“It was a moment for the USAteam. It was a special team out there.People think that four of the fastest run-ners form a good 4x100m group, but no,a team has to have four people who trusteach other and have chemistry. It wasgreat to share a Gold medal with a team.Winning a medal with three otherwomen was even more special,” she said.

PTI n RANCHI

South Africa opener Dean Elgarsays he got “stretched” as acricketer and learned a lot

more about himself during what hasbeen a humbling India tour, part ofwhich included visiting “smallerplaces and staying in hotels” not thatgood.

After managing a 1-1 draw inthe T20 series, South Africa sufferedbig defeats in the first Two Tests ofthe three-match rubber against adominant outfit led by Virat Kohli.

“It’s a challenging tour. You getstretched as a person, you getstretched as a cricketer, I think youget to know yourself quite a lot as aperson when you come to thesmaller places where the hotels aremaybe not as good, and you get chal-lenged on the field,” Elgar said.

“It’s always a good learningcurve coming to India.”

The introduction of the WorldTest Championship means SouthAfrica still have “quite a lot to playfor” in the third Test despite conced-ing the series, Elgar said.

“Back in the day it was alwaysa bit of a dead rubber game but nowwith the World Test Championshipsaround, we still have points to playfor,” Elgar said.

“We can still get 40 points by fol-

lowing our process against India inthe last Test. That’s something wecan’t neglect going into this game.There is still a lot to play for,” headded. Elgar, who became the firstSouth African batsman to score a

hundred in India after nine yearsduring the opening Test, said theProteas batsmen will have to go backto the basics to tackle the Indianbowlers in the final game.

“It’s no secret that it’s been a bit

of a challenge for all of us. We haven’tplayed our greatest cricket, consis-tent cricket. But we are trying to bepositive. The senior players are try-ing to keep the guys motivated. Weare still representing our country

which is an immensely proudmoment for every player.

“We still motivate everyonewithin our squad. It has been a chal-lenging few weeks but it’s still not toogloomy for us. We are upbeat, the

morale in the camp is still very good.“We still have one game and we

can actually change quite a lot. Weare still pretty hopeful and prettypositive going into the last Test,” heasserted.

RANCHI: Having already lost thethree-match series, South Africaskipper Faf du Plessis has called onhis players to come out with animproved performance, especiallywith the bat when they face India inthe final Test beginning Saturday inRanchi.

The Proteas have not been ableto make use of their first innings —barring the Vizag Test where theymanaged to score 431 in reply toIndia’s 502. India, on the other hand,have dominated by getting big runsin their first innings. In the first Test,

the hosts scored 502 runs while theyput on 601 runs in Pune.

And, du Plessis wants his batsmento learn from the Indian batters andmake most of their first innings in thefinal Test.

“We need to put big runs on theboard in the first innings,” said duPlessis while addressing a press confer-ence on Thursday.

“When you get runs in the firstinnings anything from there is possi-ble. For us first innings runs will be vitaland then anything could happen in thesecond innings,” he added. IANS

PTI n RANCHI

Skipper Virat Kohli and opener RohitSharma skipped the optional practice

session but spinner Kuldeep Yadav lookedto hone his batting skills ahead of India’sthird and final Test against South Africahere on Thursday.

Kuldeep, who sat out of the first twoTests, made full use of the net session dis-playing some elegant cover drives in theirafternoon practice which was also attend-ed by Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara,Mayank Agarwal and Ishant Sharmaamong others.

Earlier chief coach Ravi Shastri andbowling coach Bharat Arun had a close lookat the pitch which wore a dry look, indi-cating that it would have something for thespinners.

Spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin andRavindra Jadeja have been the key bowlersfor India, bagging 14 and 10 wickets eachand Kuldeep’s inclusion will only be at thecost of a pacer.

The pacers too have made crucial con-tributions with Mohammed Shami claim-ing eight wickets at a strike rate of 41 andUmesh snapping six wickets at an even bet-ter strike rate of 21 and it remains to be seenif Kohli tinkers with his winning combina-tion.

The Proteas trained in the morning ses-sion with focus on their batsmen.

South Africa’s training was attended byskipper Du Plessis, Temba Bavuma,Theunis de Bruyn, Quniton de Kock,Senuran Muthuswamy as they faced the netbowlers.

Vernon Philander was seen among thebowlers but the new-ball bowler wasmostly seen honing his batting skills.

PTI n RANCHI

A“frustrated” South Africanbatsman Aiden Markram

was on Thursday ruled out ofthe third and final Test againstIndia, having sustained a wristinjury after punching a solidobject.

As per Cricket SouthAfrica’s media release, “Theinjury took place following theopener’s dismissal in the secondinnings of the match. In amoment of frustration with hisown performance, he lashedout at a solid object, resulting in

his injury.”Markram has had a mixed

tour of India. While he scoredtwo hundreds in the practicegames, he couldn’t carry forwardhis form into the Test series.After scoring 5 and 39 in thefirst Test, he was dismissed fora pair in the second.

He left for South Africa on

Thursday morning. The teammanagement hasn’t called upany replacement.

A disappointed Markramadmitted he has let his teamdown and said, “It’s sad to begoing home on this note and Icompletely understand whatI’ve done wrong and take fullaccountability for it.”

Eye openerProteas opener

Elgar says Indiatour is a good

learning curve for him

South Africa's Dean Elgar bats during fourth day of second Test between India and South Africa in Pune AP

Self-destruction‘Frustrated’ Markram punches object, injures wristto be ruled out of 3rd Test

Score heavy in 1st innings: Faf tells SA batsmen

India sans Kohlisweat it out at optional practice

Indian pace attack remindsLara of old Windies

Al-Amin back in B’desh T20 team

Al-Amin Hossain in a file picture

Marsh set to miss Pak Test

AFP n COLOMBO

Sri Lanka's T20 skipperLasith Malinga along

with Kusal Perera andNiroshan Dikwella, whoskipped the recentPakistan tour citingsecurity fears, were onThursday included in a16-man squad to playagainst Australia.The opening match willbe at the Adelaide Ovalon Oct 27 with thesecond at Gabba on Oct30 and the final game atthe MCG on November 1.The squad: Malinga, KPerera, K Mendis, DGunathilaka, A Fernando,Dickwella, D Shanaka, SJayasuriya, B Rajapaksa,O Fernando, WHasaranga, L Sandakan,N Pradeep, L Kumara, IUdana & Kasun Rajitha.

SL names T20squad for Aus tour

Reputed coach can helpIndian sprinters: Carmelita

India’s campaignend in Denmark

Wawrinka reach Antwerp quarters

Stan Wawrinka celebrates after win