@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneer Follow us on: CELEB TALKS 10 WITH KHAYYAM, MUSIC LOST A NOTE ANALYSIS 7 THE OVERLEVERAGE FIX SPORTS 12 HEALTH RIVALRY AUGURS WELL TEAM’S PACE ATTACK: UMESH VIJAYAWADA, WEDNESDAY AUGUST 21, 2019; PAGES 12 `3 www.dailypioneer.com RNI No. APENG/2018/764698 Established 1864 Published From VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUN HYDERABAD *Late City Vol. 1 Issue 296 *Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable } BIG B IS THE ONE AND ONLY MEGASTAR: CHIRU Page 11 { Is AP govt contemplating an alternative to ‘Amaravati'? PNS n VIJAYAWADA Minister for Municipal Administration Botsa Satyanarayana's observations on Amaravati have raised many an eyebrow as he has stated that construction cost of the capital city is too high and internal dis- cussions are going on in the gov- ernment over the capital. "Flyovers and huge structures have to be built in Amaravati, while the construction cost in other areas of the State is low", Satyanarayana said. It may be noted that the budget allocation for the Capital City of Amaravati is just Rs 500 crore. Stating that Amaravati is a flood-prone area, the minister said the State government would assess the damage caused by floods and decide on the extent of compensation. He hit out at the 'yellow' media for putting out distorted news and pointing fingers at the YSRCP govern- ment's prompt steps, which minimised the damage to prop- erty and prevented human loss. Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy had constantly enquired about the flood situation in the State from the US and issued appropriate directions. Exactly a year ago, the then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had directed the CRDA officials to expedite capital con- struction to win the confidence of the people. Naidu had suggested to CRDA officials to elicit the opinion of the common man apart from global experts to seek suggestions for making Amaravati the happiest place. However, Satyanarayana's comments contradict the for- mer CM's observations by say- ing that Amaravati construction would be a costly affair. It may be recalled that former bureaucrat EAS Sarma had said one year ago "The State budget figures show that as a result of the diversion of revenue for non-productive purposes and shrinkage in the space for cap- ital investments, the State is unable to devote enough resources for lifeline sectors such as agriculture and crucial sectors like social welfare. While the State's finances are deterio- rating, there seems to be no con- scious effort on the part of the government to observe econo- my and austerity. Meetings are held not in modest state guest houses, but in five star hotels. Special aircraft are routinely used for travel, unmindful of the fact that even the US ministers are reluctant to charter special aircraft, fearing public uproar." INTENT IS CLEAR WITH RS 500-CR ALLOCATION W ith an allocation of Rs 500 crore for Amaravati construction in the State Budget, the YSRCP government had dropped enough hints on its priorities. With this, the government has reiterated its stand on the 'reverse tendering', which is to be taken up in a phased manner in all capital works. It may be recalled that Capital Amaravati was the top priority during the TDP government's regime. Former Professor of Economics Dr LSN Prasad said he was amazed at a single line mention of the allocation of funds for construction of Capital City Amaravati. "The allocation to social welfare and education was more than expected," he said and added that allotting only Rs 500 crore for the capital construction was something that needs to be discussed at length. Allocation of Rs 92,050 crore for development activities was laudable, he said and added that making budgetary allocation towards financial aid for barbers, tailors and auto drivers is a new concept. Prasad further stated that the revenue deficit is only Rs 1,700 crore and the total deficit is Rs 32,500 crore. l Botsa Satyanarayana's comments that Amaravati construction would be a costly affair raise eyebrows l Keeping the observations of experts in view, the State government is contemplating spending less on the capital city Amaravati and also finding out the ways and means for an alternative to it as most of the areas of Amaravati are inundated in the recent floods, said a bureaucrat Where has all the money gone? L VENKAT RAM REDDY n HYDERABAD A severe 'cash crunch' is being felt across all sectors in the country. Even state govern- ments in the Telugu States are feeling the squeeze, with pend- ing bills of Telangana state gov- ernment touching Rs 30,000 crore while that of Andhra Pradesh are pegged at Rs 22,000 crore. Both the state govern- ments have stopped all pay- ments, except salaries/pensions for their staff. The tight finan- cial condition has raised a trou- bling question: "Where has all the money gone?" Private hos- pitals in Telangana have stopped Arogyasri services after the government failed to clear arrears amounting to over Rs 1,000 crore. The government could not solve the problem even four days after the hospi- tals stopped services, due to paucity of funds. The private sector is also feel- ing the pinch of 'cash crunch'. Private companies are default- ing on payments, citing 'no cash'. The real estate sector is reeling under cash crunch with poor sales of apartments/inde- pendent houses as unsold units have touched a high of nearly 8 lakh units by June-end in nine major cities in the country, including Hyderabad. The state governments are blaming the Centre for the cash-scarcity situation, while the Centre is pointing fingers at the Reserve Bank of India for maintaining high levels of cash reserves with it which is lying idle, contending that no coun- try in the world maintains such large reserves. As per official estimates, the RBI currently has Rs 9.60 lakh crore of reserves with it, lying idle. The Centre argues that if RBI releases a certain portion of the reserves, it can ease the cash crunch situation in the country. The state governments on the other hand are blaming the Centre's FRBM Act of 2003 for the cash crunch, arguing that they could not mobilise funds despite having repayment capacity due to stringent norms prescribed under the Act. Even the Centre has to adhere to FRBM Act, forcing it to not raise funds above the prescribed limit. The severe cash crunch is fuelling calls for scrapping the FRBM Act or easing borrowing norms under the Act. India adopted the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act in 2003 that capped borrowings by the Centre and states by linking it to tough fiscal deficit criteria. Some economists have argued that FRBM Act has robbed the government of the right to print money at will, unlike before 2003. They point out that the Bank of Japan has been printing $70 billion of cash every month. Continued on Page 3 PNS n HYDERABAD The seal of the bottle may be intact, but the content may not be the intended brand of beer or other liquor, but spu- rious liquor adulterated with harmful ingredients. The whole thing is packaged so well that detection is next to impossible. Due to administrative neg- ligence, 'spurious liquor busi- ness' is thriving like anything. Things have come to such a pass that when liquor shops receive their stocks from depots, unscrupulous ele- ments manage to supply spu- rious liquor using the same vehicle. Adulteration is rampant on the outskirts of the city. The product targeted most for adulteration is beer. The nefarious practice was previ- ously limited to bars, but now it is spreading among wine shops, more so if they have 'permit' rooms. The counterfeit liquor that excise officials seized on Monday at Abudllah Nagar is just the tip of the iceberg and reflective of the pernicious practice. Hazardous chemi- cals are sometimes used to adulterate liquor. Often water mixed with sugar, chemicals, soap nut juice and shampoo (which give it a frothy look when shaken) is palmed off as beer. Upon mixing the ingredients, the bottle is sealed after being filled with soda and gas. No wonder, when the bottle is opened the effervescence would make it look like noth- ing but beer. Continued on Page 3 Check your beer before drinking l Adulteration of beer, other liquor rampant on outskirts Naidu sees conspiracy in inundation of his house PNS n VIJAYAWADA Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu has alleged that the State gov- ernment has hatched conspir- acy to inundate his residence on Krishna riverbank in flood- waters. He said many poor families have lost their homes. Naidu, who visited the flood-affected areas in Krishna district on Tuesday, lashed out at ministers and the DGP for treating the drones issue as a small one. He opined that with the help of drones, any- body can bomb the premises. Operating drones in a high- security zone where Z Plus security is arranged without any permission is ridiculous and all the mnisters and police officials are treating it as a rou- tine affair, he added. Naidu opined that the Government had failed in avoiding damage due to floods. The officials had delib- erately delayed the release of water from Prakasam Barrage, only to inundate riverbank areas on Undavalli Karakatta ( bund) and villages in the cap- ital region. “They wanted to see my home in floodwater. If the Lingamaneni Guest House is submerged, it is the worry of the owner. Why are the ministers bothered?” he said. Naidu alleged that local MLAs Alla Ramakrishna Reddy and Sridevi were con- centrating only on my home, leaving all other victims affect- ed by floods. The TDP chief said if Anna Canteens were present at the time of floods, they would have been a great help to the victims. City students look for neighbouring cities for internship SHARMILA n VIJAYAWADA Students of Vijayawada are migrating to other cities for internships due to lack of opportunities here. Of late, internship has become a pop- ular option among students to enhance career prospects by gaining real-time industry exposure. Today, almost all universities have made it mandatory for students to pur- sue internships in the middle of their academic sessions. An internship provides an opportunity for a student to work alongside regular staff in a workplace to gain some basic hands-on experience and edu- cational and professional insight into a career path. But in the capital city, it is more like a course. Students spoke to The Pioneer and shared their views. Says Haseena, a student: "As part of our academic regula- tion, the students have to go through a minimum of three internships in all eight semes- ters to get more practical edu- cation to get hands-on experi- ence. We are not able to find a proper internship, though we have online websites like Internshala. Internships are in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and other cities. It is difficult for us to go there and stay for an internship. Even though the government is saying that it is going to make Amaravati as an IT hub, if the situation is not encouraging for students, who want to do an internship in Vijayawada. I want to go to Hyderabad for three months of internship". Sunil, a student, said: "Basically, the internship is a primary step to learn con- cepts, a method to execute ideas about the project, get the knowledge to excel in a pro- fessional career in the special field. I have been to internships in Vijayawada, but they are more like coaching classes. In the name of the internship, they are conducting classes and charging heavy fees. It's better to go out of the city for a proper internship to acquire certain skills". Says Vignesh: "Internship is a part of the academics and a few colleges in the city have industrial connect to offer internship during the acade- mics. The city started growing after the capital city was announced at Amaravati and it will take some time to shape into a big city after industries and IT-related establishments setting up their shops. Presently, students are opting nearby cities for their intern- ship as they are more devel- oped". BENGALURU: In a major milestone for India's Moon mission, the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft successfully entered the lunar orbit on Tuesday. Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuver was completed suc- cessfully at 0902 hours as planned, using the onboard propulsion system, the Bengaluru headquartered space agency said in a state- ment. "The duration of maneuver was 1,738 seconds. With this, Chandrayaan-2 was successfully inserted into a Lunar orbit," ISRO said. Following this, a series of orbit maneuvers will be per- formed on Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft to enable it to enter its final orbit passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from the Moons surface, it said. CHANDRAYAAN 2 Successfully enters orbit of Moon INX MEDIA CASE Chidambaram went missing after HC rejects bail ‘RSS-BJP's real target is social justice’ NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday accused RSS of having "dangerous intentions", and said its chief Mohan Bhagwat pitching for a debate on reservation was just an excuse but the real tar- get of the RSS-BJP is social justice. She also alleged the Modi government of throt- tling pro-people laws. "The confidence of the RSS is high and intentions are dangerous. At a time when the BJP government is throt- tling pro-people laws, the RSS has also raised the issue of debate on reservation," she said in a tweet in Hindi. NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the INX Media case. However, Chidambaram moved the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order reject- ing his anticipatory bail plea in the INX Media case.According to top agency sources, Chidambaram is untraceable. He has switched off his phones. Agencies are on the lookout for him. On January 25, the Delhi HC had reserved its order on Chidambaram's bail plea in the case being probed by the ED and the CBI. On March 11, the HC allowed CBI to file addi- tional documents on record to support its case against Chidambaram in the case. HC reserves judgment on Navayuga plea VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh High Court has reserved its judgment on a petition filed by Navayuga Company seeking cancella- tion of a fresh tender notifi- cation issued by the State gvernment for hydel project construction in Polavaram project. All the arguments were presented by the counsel of Navayuga Company on Tuesday. Navayuga Company was the earlier contractor of the Polavaram Project includ- ing and hydel project. On August 14, the government issued an order cancelling its earlier order stating that the work was not done in-time and issued a fresh notification on August 17. The counsel of Navayuga argued that there was no delay in work from the con- tractor’s side. APGencom, which has signed the agree- ment with Navayuga for con- struction of Hydel project, had failed to identify the place for construction of the power project. He further argued that APGenco is the appropriate authority to take a decision on cancellation of work order and not the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The cancelled order issued by the government is not valid, he said. Assembly furniture finds its way into Kodela’s home PNS n VIJAYAWADA There seems to be no end to controversies surrounding for- mer speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao. This time around it is the furniture at the AP Assembly building in Hyderabad found in his resi- dence that put him in trouble. According to sources, the furniture in question has been shifted to his residence at Sattenapalli, while he was speak- er of the Assembly. This was revealed while the officials were verifying the inventory of items following handing over of the buildings by the AP Government to its Telangana counterpart in Hyderabad. The Assembly Secretary issued a notice to Siva Prasada Rao on the issue. Narasaraopet MLA Gopireddy Srinivasa Reddy, who won against Siva Prasada Rao, lashed out at him over the issue. He said the for- mer speaker had dented the image of Narasaraopeta with his act. Surprisingly, Dr. Kodela Siva Prasada Rao admitted that a few items of furniture were shifted to his home at Sattenapalli. He further said that he is ready to pay for them or the authorities can take them back. “I have sent my reply to the notice of the Assembly Secretary in detail, maybe they didn’t see it,” he added. Now, the Government is in a dilemma on whether a case has to file on Dr Kodela Sivaprasada Rao or to take back the furniture. Already, many complaints have come against Dr Kodela’s son and daughter in the last two months. l Severe 'cash crunch' felt in all sectors l TS govt's pending bills touch Rs 30,000 crore, AP's at Rs 22,000 crore l States blames FRBM Act for cash crunch l Centre blames RBI's high reserves of Rs 9.60 lakh crore lying idle l Demand for restoring power of Centre to print money at will floated to resolve cash crunch PNS n HYDERABAD An up-and-coming actor of Tollywood, Raj Tarun, was involved in a road mishap when his car careened and crashing into a divider near the Outer Ring Road at Alkapur in Narsingi in the wee hours of Tuesday. According to sources, another person was travel- ling in the car, along with the 27-year-old actor. They were returning to Hyderabad when the inci- dent occurred. "The place where the mishap occurred is an acci- dent prone zone. Many seri- ous accidents have taken place at that area as there is a sharp u-turn with no prop- er lights," said an official. Continued on Page 3 Tollywood actor Raj Tharun crashes car at Narsingi An internship provides an opportunity for a student to work alongside regular staff in a workplace to gain some basic hands-on experience; educational and professional insight into a career path. But in the capital city, it is more like a course VIJAYAWADA WEATHER Current Weather Conditions Updated August 20, 2019 5:00 PM ALMANAC Month & Paksham: Shravana & Krishna Paksha Tithi : Shashthi: Full Night Nakshatram: Ashwini: 12:48 am (Next Day) Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start any important work) Rahukalam: 12:19 pm – 01:53 pm Yamagandam: 07:37 am – 09:11 am Varjyam: 08:25 pm – 10:10 pm Gulika: 10:45 am - 12:19 pm Good Time: (to start any important work) Amritakalam: 04:54 pm – 06:39 pm Abhijit Muhurtham: Nil Forecast: Thunderstorm Temp: 32/26 Humidity: 78% Sunrise: 04.54 Sunset: 06.39 TODAY
Transcript
@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:
CELEB TALKS 10WITH KHAYYAM,
MUSIC LOST A NOTE
ANALYSIS 7THE OVERLEVERAGE
FIX
SPORTS 12HEALTH RIVALRY AUGURS WELL
TEAM’S PACE ATTACK: UMESH
VIJAYAWADA, WEDNESDAY AUGUST 21, 2019; PAGES 12 `3
*Late City Vol. 1 Issue 296*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable
}BIG B IS THE ONE AND ONLY
MEGASTAR: CHIRU
Page 11{
Is AP govt contemplating analternative to ‘Amaravati'?PNS n VIJAYAWADA
Minister for MunicipalAdministration BotsaSatyanarayana's observationson Amaravati have raised manyan eyebrow as he has stated thatconstruction cost of the capitalcity is too high and internal dis-cussions are going on in the gov-ernment over the capital."Flyovers and huge structureshave to be built in Amaravati,while the construction cost inother areas of the State is low",Satyanarayana said.
It may be noted that thebudget allocation for the CapitalCity of Amaravati is just Rs 500crore. Stating that Amaravati isa flood-prone area, the ministersaid the State government wouldassess the damage caused byfloods and decide on the extentof compensation. He hit out atthe 'yellow' media for puttingout distorted news and pointingfingers at the YSRCP govern-ment's prompt steps, whichminimised the damage to prop-erty and prevented human loss.Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy had constantly enquiredabout the flood situation in theState from the US and issuedappropriate directions.
Exactly a year ago, the thenChief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu had directed the CRDAofficials to expedite capital con-struction to win the confidenceof the people.
Naidu had suggested toCRDA officials to elicit theopinion of the common manapart from global experts to seek
suggestions for makingAmaravati the happiest place.
However, Satyanarayana'scomments contradict the for-
mer CM's observations by say-ing that Amaravati constructionwould be a costly affair.
It may be recalled that formerbureaucrat EAS Sarma had saidone year ago "The State budgetfigures show that as a result ofthe diversion of revenue fornon-productive purposes andshrinkage in the space for cap-ital investments, the State isunable to devote enoughresources for lifeline sectorssuch as agriculture and crucialsectors like social welfare. Whilethe State's finances are deterio-rating, there seems to be no con-scious effort on the part of thegovernment to observe econo-my and austerity. Meetings areheld not in modest state guesthouses, but in five star hotels.Special aircraft are routinelyused for travel, unmindful of thefact that even the US ministersare reluctant to charter specialaircraft, fearing public uproar."
INTENT IS CLEAR WITH RS 500-CR ALLOCATION With an allocation of Rs 500 crore for Amaravati construction in
the State Budget, the YSRCP government had dropped enoughhints on its priorities. With this, the government has reiterated itsstand on the 'reverse tendering', which is to be taken up in a phasedmanner in all capital works. It may be recalled that Capital Amaravatiwas the top priority during the TDP government's regime.Former Professor of Economics Dr LSN Prasad said he was amazedat a single line mention of the allocation of funds for construction ofCapital City Amaravati. "The allocation to social welfare and educationwas more than expected," he said and added that allotting only Rs500 crore for the capital construction was something that needs tobe discussed at length. Allocation of Rs 92,050 crore fordevelopment activities was laudable, he said and added that makingbudgetary allocation towards financial aid for barbers, tailors andauto drivers is a new concept. Prasad further stated that the revenuedeficit is only Rs 1,700 crore and the total deficit is Rs 32,500 crore.
l Botsa Satyanarayana's commentsthat Amaravati construction would bea costly affair raise eyebrows
l Keeping the observations ofexperts in view, the State governmentis contemplating spending less on thecapital city Amaravati and alsofinding out the ways and means foran alternative to it as most of theareas of Amaravati are inundated inthe recent floods, said a bureaucrat
Where has all the money gone?L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD
A severe 'cash crunch' is beingfelt across all sectors in thecountry. Even state govern-ments in the Telugu States arefeeling the squeeze, with pend-ing bills of Telangana state gov-ernment touching Rs 30,000crore while that of AndhraPradesh are pegged at Rs 22,000crore. Both the state govern-ments have stopped all pay-ments, except salaries/pensionsfor their staff. The tight finan-cial condition has raised a trou-bling question: "Where has allthe money gone?" Private hos-pitals in Telangana havestopped Arogyasri services afterthe government failed to cleararrears amounting to over Rs1,000 crore. The governmentcould not solve the problemeven four days after the hospi-tals stopped services, due topaucity of funds.
The private sector is also feel-ing the pinch of 'cash crunch'.Private companies are default-ing on payments, citing 'nocash'. The real estate sector isreeling under cash crunch withpoor sales of apartments/inde-pendent houses as unsold unitshave touched a high of nearly8 lakh units by June-end in ninemajor cities in the country,including Hyderabad.
The state governments areblaming the Centre for thecash-scarcity situation, whilethe Centre is pointing fingers atthe Reserve Bank of India formaintaining high levels of cashreserves with it which is lyingidle, contending that no coun-
try in the world maintains suchlarge reserves.
As per official estimates, theRBI currently has Rs 9.60 lakhcrore of reserves with it, lyingidle. The Centre argues that ifRBI releases a certain portionof the reserves, it can ease thecash crunch situation in thecountry.
The state governments on the
other hand are blaming theCentre's FRBM Act of 2003 forthe cash crunch, arguing thatthey could not mobilise fundsdespite having repaymentcapacity due to stringent normsprescribed under the Act. Eventhe Centre has to adhere toFRBM Act, forcing it to not raisefunds above the prescribedlimit. The severe cash crunch isfuelling calls for scrapping theFRBM Act or easing borrowingnorms under the Act. Indiaadopted the FiscalResponsibility and BudgetManagement (FRBM) Act in2003 that capped borrowings bythe Centre and states by linkingit to tough fiscal deficit criteria.Some economists have arguedthat FRBM Act has robbed thegovernment of the right toprint money at will, unlikebefore 2003. They point out thatthe Bank of Japan has beenprinting $70 billion of cashevery month.
Continued on Page 3
PNS n HYDERABAD
The seal of the bottle may beintact, but the content maynot be the intended brand ofbeer or other liquor, but spu-rious liquor adulterated withharmful ingredients. Thewhole thing is packaged sowell that detection is next toimpossible.
Due to administrative neg-ligence, 'spurious liquor busi-ness' is thriving like anything.Things have come to such apass that when liquor shopsreceive their stocks fromdepots, unscrupulous ele-ments manage to supply spu-rious liquor using the samevehicle.
Adulteration is rampant onthe outskirts of the city. Theproduct targeted most foradulteration is beer. Thenefarious practice was previ-
ously limited to bars, but nowit is spreading among wineshops, more so if they have'permit' rooms.
The counterfeit liquor that
excise officials seized onMonday at Abudllah Nagar isjust the tip of the iceberg andreflective of the perniciouspractice. Hazardous chemi-cals are sometimes used toadulterate liquor.
Often water mixed withsugar, chemicals, soap nutjuice and shampoo (whichgive it a frothy look whenshaken) is palmed off as beer.Upon mixing the ingredients,the bottle is sealed after beingfilled with soda and gas. Nowonder, when the bottle isopened the effervescencewould make it look like noth-ing but beer.
Continued on Page 3
Check your beer before drinkingl Adulteration of beer, other liquor rampant on outskirts
Naidu sees conspiracy ininundation of his housePNS n VIJAYAWADA
Telugu Desam Party (TDP)chief N Chandrababu Naiduhas alleged that the State gov-ernment has hatched conspir-acy to inundate his residenceon Krishna riverbank in flood-waters. He said many poorfamilies have lost their homes.
Naidu, who visited theflood-affected areas in Krishnadistrict on Tuesday, lashedout at ministers and the DGPfor treating the drones issue asa small one. He opined thatwith the help of drones, any-body can bomb the premises.Operating drones in a high-security zone where Z Plussecurity is arranged withoutany permission is ridiculousand all the mnisters and policeofficials are treating it as a rou-tine affair, he added.
Naidu opined that theGovernment had failed inavoiding damage due tofloods. The officials had delib-erately delayed the release ofwater from Prakasam Barrage,only to inundate riverbankareas on Undavalli Karakatta( bund) and villages in the cap-ital region. “They wanted tosee my home in floodwater. Ifthe Lingamaneni Guest Houseis submerged, it is the worryof the owner. Why are theministers bothered?” he said.
Naidu alleged that localMLAs Alla RamakrishnaReddy and Sridevi were con-centrating only on my home,leaving all other victims affect-ed by floods. The TDP chiefsaid if Anna Canteens werepresent at the time of floods,they would have been a greathelp to the victims.
City students look for neighbouring cities for internshipSHARMILAn VIJAYAWADA
Students of Vijayawada aremigrating to other cities forinternships due to lack ofopportunities here. Of late,internship has become a pop-ular option among students toenhance career prospects bygaining real-time industryexposure. Today, almost alluniversities have made itmandatory for students to pur-sue internships in the middleof their academic sessions.
An internship provides anopportunity for a student towork alongside regular staff ina workplace to gain some basichands-on experience and edu-cational and professionalinsight into a career path. Butin the capital city, it is more likea course.
Students spoke to The
Pioneer and shared their views.Says Haseena, a student: "Aspart of our academic regula-tion, the students have to gothrough a minimum of threeinternships in all eight semes-ters to get more practical edu-cation to get hands-on experi-ence. We are not able to find aproper internship, though we
have online websites likeInternshala. Internships are inHyderabad, Bengaluru andother cities. It is difficult for usto go there and stay for aninternship. Even though thegovernment is saying that it isgoing to make Amaravati as anIT hub, if the situation is notencouraging for students, who
want to do an internship inVijayawada. I want to go toHyderabad for three months ofinternship".
Sunil, a student, said:"Basically, the internship is aprimary step to learn con-cepts, a method to executeideas about the project, get theknowledge to excel in a pro-fessional career in the specialfield. I have been to internshipsin Vijayawada, but they aremore like coaching classes. Inthe name of the internship,they are conducting classesand charging heavy fees. It'sbetter to go out of the city for
a proper internship to acquirecertain skills".
Says Vignesh: "Internship isa part of the academics and afew colleges in the city haveindustrial connect to offerinternship during the acade-mics. The city started growingafter the capital city wasannounced at Amaravati and itwill take some time to shapeinto a big city after industriesand IT-related establishmentssetting up their shops.Presently, students are optingnearby cities for their intern-ship as they are more devel-oped".
BENGALURU: In a majormilestone for India's Moonmission, the Chandrayaan-2spacecraft successfully enteredthe lunar orbit on Tuesday.
Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI)maneuver was completed suc-cessfully at 0902 hours asplanned, using the onboardpropulsion system, theBengaluru headquarteredspace agency said in a state-ment. "The duration ofmaneuver was 1,738 seconds.With this, Chandrayaan-2 wassuccessfully inserted into aLunar orbit," ISRO said.
Following this, a series oforbit maneuvers will be per-formed on Chandrayaan-2spacecraft to enable it to enterits final orbit passing over thelunar poles at a distance ofabout 100 km from the Moonssurface, it said.
CHANDRAYAAN 2
Successfullyenters orbit of Moon
INX MEDIA CASE
Chidambaramwent missingafter HCrejects bail
‘RSS-BJP'sreal target issocial justice’NEW DELHI: Congressleader Priyanka GandhiVadra on Tuesday accusedRSS of having "dangerousintentions", and said its chiefMohan Bhagwat pitching fora debate on reservation wasjust an excuse but the real tar-get of the RSS-BJP is socialjustice. She also alleged theModi government of throt-tling pro-people laws.
"The confidence of theRSS is high and intentions aredangerous. At a time whenthe BJP government is throt-tling pro-people laws, theRSS has also raised the issueof debate on reservation,"she said in a tweet in Hindi.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi HighCourt on Tuesday rejected theanticipatory bail plea of formerFinance Minister P.Chidambaram in the INXMedia case. However,Chidambaram moved theSupreme Court against theDelhi High Court order reject-ing his anticipatory bail plea inthe INX Media case.Accordingto top agency sources,Chidambaram is untraceable.He has switched off his phones.Agencies are on the lookout forhim.
On January 25, the DelhiHC had reserved its order onChidambaram's bail plea in thecase being probed by the EDand the CBI. On March 11, theHC allowed CBI to file addi-tional documents on record tosupport its case againstChidambaram in the case.
HC reservesjudgment onNavayuga pleaVIJAYAWADA: AndhraPradesh High Court hasreserved its judgment on apetition filed by NavayugaCompany seeking cancella-tion of a fresh tender notifi-cation issued by the Stategvernment for hydel projectconstruction in Polavaramproject. All the argumentswere presented by the counselof Navayuga Company onTuesday. Navayuga Companywas the earlier contractor ofthe Polavaram Project includ-ing and hydel project. OnAugust 14, the governmentissued an order cancelling itsearlier order stating that thework was not done in-timeand issued a fresh notificationon August 17.
The counsel of Navayugaargued that there was nodelay in work from the con-tractor’s side. APGencom,which has signed the agree-ment with Navayuga for con-struction of Hydel project,had failed to identify theplace for construction of thepower project. He furtherargued that APGenco is theappropriate authority to takea decision on cancellation ofwork order and not theGovernment of AndhraPradesh. The cancelled orderissued by the government isnot valid, he said.
Assembly furniture findsits way into Kodela’s homePNS n VIJAYAWADA
There seems to be no end tocontroversies surrounding for-mer speaker Kodela SivaPrasada Rao. This time aroundit is the furniture at the APAssembly building inHyderabad found in his resi-dence that put him in trouble.
According to sources, thefurniture in question has beenshifted to his residence atSattenapalli, while he was speak-er of the Assembly. This wasrevealed while the officials wereverifying the inventory of itemsfollowing handing over of thebuildings by the APGovernment to its Telanganacounterpart in Hyderabad.
The Assembly Secretaryissued a notice to Siva PrasadaRao on the issue. Narasaraopet
MLA Gopireddy SrinivasaReddy, who won against SivaPrasada Rao, lashed out at himover the issue. He said the for-mer speaker had dented theimage of Narasaraopeta with hisact. Surprisingly, Dr. Kodela SivaPrasada Rao admitted that a fewitems of furniture were shiftedto his home at Sattenapalli. Hefurther said that he is ready topay for them or the authoritiescan take them back. “I have sentmy reply to the notice of theAssembly Secretary in detail,maybe they didn’t see it,” headded. Now, the Government isin a dilemma on whether a casehas to file on Dr KodelaSivaprasada Rao or to take backthe furniture. Already, manycomplaints have come againstDr Kodela’s son and daughter inthe last two months.
l Severe 'cash crunch' felt inall sectorsl TS govt's pending billstouch Rs 30,000 crore, AP's atRs 22,000 crorel States blames FRBM Actfor cash crunchl Centre blames RBI's highreserves of Rs 9.60 lakh crorelying idlel Demand for restoringpower of Centre to printmoney at will floated toresolve cash crunch
PNS n HYDERABAD
An up-and-coming actor ofTollywood, Raj Tarun, wasinvolved in a road mishapwhen his car careened andcrashing into a divider nearthe Outer Ring Road atAlkapur in Narsingi in thewee hours of Tuesday.
According to sources,another person was travel-ling in the car, along with
the 27-year-old actor. Theywere returning toHyderabad when the inci-dent occurred.
"The place where themishap occurred is an acci-dent prone zone. Many seri-ous accidents have takenplace at that area as there isa sharp u-turn with no prop-er lights," said an official.
Continued on Page 3
Tollywood actor Raj Tharun crashes car at Narsingi
An internship provides an opportunity for a student to work alongside regular staff in a workplace to gainsome basic hands-on experience; educational andprofessional insight into a career path. But in thecapital city, it is more like a course
VIJAYAWADAWEATHER
Current Weather ConditionsUpdated August 20, 2019 5:00 PM
ALMANACMonth & Paksham:Shravana & Krishna PakshaTithi : Shashthi: Full NightNakshatram: Ashwini: 12:48 am
(Next Day)Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start
any important work)Rahukalam: 12:19 pm – 01:53 pmYamagandam: 07:37 am – 09:11 amVarjyam: 08:25 pm – 10:10 pmGulika: 10:45 am - 12:19 pmGood Time: (to start any
important work)Amritakalam: 04:54 pm – 06:39 pmAbhijit Muhurtham: Nil
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CAPSULE
KRISHNA DISTRICTBADMINTON CHAMPFROM AUGUST 21VIJAYAWADA: Krishna DistrictBadminton Association isorganising SureddyVenkataratnam Sureddi KasturiMemorial districtchampionship at DRRMCIndoor Stadium here on August21 to 23, according to KDBAsecretary E. Thirumurthy hereon Tuesday. He said thetournament will be held for u-13 and u-15 sub-junior boys& girls,u-17 and 19 junior boys& girls and men & women insingles and doubles. "Thetournament will be inauguratedDistrict Collector MohammadImtiyaz on August 21 at 10a.m.," said Ramineni RamMohan, President, KrishnaDistrict Badminton Association.
GAS LEAK CLAIMSLIFE OF AN OLD MANKURNOOL: A 70-year old man,Pullaiah, succumbed to burninjuries when fire broke out athis residence due to gas leak-age on Monday. According topolice, his daughter-in-lawSaraswati switched on thestove in the morning for cook-ing. But due to gas leakagefrom the cylinder, the fire brokeout and began to spread acrossthe house. Sarswathi and herhusband Balayya ran out of thehouse. However, the old man,who was on the bed, could notrun and was charred to death.The body was shifted to theNandyal Government Hospitalfor post-mortem. Deceasedson and daughter-in-lawescaped with minor injuriesand were admitted to a hospi-tal. The police registered a caseand took up investigation.
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | AUGUST 21, 2019 vijayawada 02
Interim report on RTC merger to CM soon, says ministerPNS n VIJAYAWADA
Minister for Transport andInformation and PublicRelations Perni Venkataramaiah(Nani) on Tuesday said that aninterim report will be preparedat the experts’ panel meeting onRTC merger with the StateGovernment and it (the report)will be submitted to ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan Reddysoon after his return from theUS.
Speaking to media persons atthe Meet-the-Press event organ-ised by the Andhra PradeshUnion for Working Journalists(APUWJ), he said the FinanceMinister will also attend themeeting. “The Cabinet decisionto merge RTC is implementedearnestly. The roadmap hasbeen prepared and the mergeris within the vicinity.”
Answering to a question onroad safety, he said the State gov-ernment has earmarked arevolving fund of Rs 100 crorefor traffic management and tocreate awareness among stu-dents on traffic rules especiallyfrom Class VIII and above.
“The amount will be used forvarious publicity and precau-tionary pursuits to make roadsa safe place for the users. Thehigh-end two-wheelers withmore horsepower are enteringthe market luring riders to ridethe vehicles at an alarmingspeed.”
He said majority of accidentstook place owing to the negli-gence of drivers.
He said accidents involvingmore people were comingdown, but mishaps involvingone or two were increasing at analarming rate mostly owing toreckless driving and violation of
traffic rules. “Deaths while dri-ving two-wheelers are more.Roads are widened anddividers were laid to streamlinetraffic at crucial places. But,many youngsters often take U-turns to trigger accidents.”
The minister said that themedia played a prominent rolein modern society and it wasthe responsibility of the mediamanagement to look after thebasic needs of the journalists,who were working with com-mitment. “It is unfortunatethat several media manage-
ments are not taking care of thebasic needs of the journalists”.
He said that governmentswere afraid of the media asthey showcased news andviews to people in an unbi-ased manner. “But unfortu-nately journalists are unableto solve their problems.Having an accreditation cardand a subsidy bus pass is notenough. I will make efforts toaddress your problems," hepromised.
He agreed that theInformation Department was
a poorly managed owing toshortage of funds andpromised to transform it intoa media-friendly one. “I knowthe journalists are put to a lotof inconveniences, while cov-ering government pro-grammes. Next year, Ipromise you an air-condi-tioned bus for covering gov-ernment programmes."
Responding to a questionon Bunder Port, the ministermade it clear that the projectwould be taken up by the Stategovernment if the efforts by itto work in tandem with theCentral government depart-ments fail.
“The AP government andsome Central Governmentdepartments are planning toform into a consortium tocarry out the port works. Ifthe efforts fail then AP willtake up the Bunder Portworks all alone”.
Minister for Transport and Information and Public Relations Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani) addressing the Meet-the-Pressprogramme in Vijayawada on Monday
PNS n VIJAYAWADA
A book – ‘Early History ofAndhra Pradesh:Archaeological Sources’ -written by Dr E SivanagiReddy, renowned archaeolo-gist , and Dr BSubrahmanyam, formerDeputy Director,Archaeology Department,was released by Minister forInformation Technology andIndustries Mekapati GautamReddy at his chambers at theSecretariat here on Tuesday.
The minister congratulat-ed Reddy andSubrahmanyam for writingthe authentic history of pre,proto and early historicalperiods with archaeologicalevidence retrieved throughexcavations and supplement-ed by a good number of pho-
tographs covering both theTelugu Sstates.
Sandeep Mandava, CEO,Malaxmi Properties andRecharla Realcon PrivateLimited, and DeepaBalasubramanian, CEO, TheSedibus, a start-up ecosys-tem, participated in the pro-gramme.
Minister for Information Technology and Industries Mekapati Gautam Reddyreleasing a book on ‘Early history of AP’ in Vijayawada on Tuesday
The ministercongratulated theauthors on writingauthentic history ofpre, proto and earlyhistorical periods
GangavaramPortdistributesscholarshipsPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM
As part of its Corporate SocialResponsibility programme,the Gangavaram Port Limitedon Monday provided scholar-ships to select students anddisbursed stationery materialsfor them. The ceremony wasattended by MLA of GajuwakaConstituency Tippala NagiReddy, in the presence of CEOSambasiva Rao, COO VJanardhan Rao, Vice President-Vigilance (R&R and Security)B Balakrishna, and VicePresident (R&R and Security)L P S Ramu Naidu, along withother staff members ofGangavaram Port.
Ajeya Kallam inauguratesvintage photo exhibitionPNS n VIJAYAWADA
Principal Adviser to ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan ReddyAjeya Kallam on Tuesday saidblack and white photographsserve as an objective lesson tomodern digital lensmen.
Inaugurating a photo exhibi-tion - ‘Echoes of Time, aPhotographic Journey - at theCultural Centre of Vijayawada& Amaravati, he emphasised theimportance of capturing his-torical events in photo framesfor posterity.
The exhibition was organisedby Photogenic Arts Circle tomark the centenary celebrationof Dr Bhagawan Das, formerchief secretary of AndhraPradesh.
Kallam complimented K.Sudhakar Reddy, secretary,Photogenic Arts Circle, fororganising the expo.
Sudhakar Reddy briefed hisentry into the field and on theguidance he received from DrBhagawan Das in photographyand photogrammetry.
He fondly remembered hisassociation with Das, thefounder president of APPhotography Academy andpaid rich tributes for his con-tribution to the field of pho-tography.
The organisers felicitated
Ajeya Kallam, and presentedthe book ‘Echos of time aPhotographic Journey’ consist-ing of the more photographs ofBhagawan Das, compiled bySudhakar Reddy.
A. Laxmi Kumari, CEO, APState Creativity and Cultural
Commission, Indla RamaSubbareddy, renowned physia-trist, E. Sivanagi Reddy, CEO,Cultural Centre of Vijayawada& Amaravati, and GollaNarayana Rao, secretary,Andhra Arts Academy, werepresent.
Principal Adviser to Chief Minister Ajeya Kallam inaugurating a vintagephotography exhibition in Vijayawada on Tuesday
Principal Adviser to Chief Minister AjeyaKallam fondly remembered his associationwith Das, the founder president of APPhotography Academy and paid rich tributesfor his contribution to the field of photography
Santosh is districtcoordinator ofYSR Aarogya SriPNS n VIJAYAWADA
PHRS Santosh took chargeas the Krishna districtcoordinator of Dr YSRAarogyasri on Tuesday.He was transferred fromWest Godavari district.
Santosh said that thereare 121 government andcorporate hospitals regis-tered under Aarogya Sri.The scheme will benefitpeople with white rationcard to the tune of Rs 5lakh and all eligible peoplecan get the benefit of thescheme.
He said if the hospitalmanagement showed anyslackness towards Dr YSRAarogya Sri patients, sternaction will be takenagainst the hospitalsbesides cancellation of thepermissions.
He said for better ser-vices, the Aarogya Sricardholders can contactdistrict coordinator on8333814009, DistrictManager Naveen(8333814010), TeamLeader Shyam Babu(8333814044), VijayKumar (8333814043),Rama Krishna(8333814045), SivaramPrasad (8333814079) andRamesh Babu(8333814078).
The minister said the State govt hasearmarked a revolving fund of Rs 100crore for traffic management and tocreate awareness among students ontraffic rules especially from Class VIIIand above
G RAVI KIRANn VIJAYAWADA
The recent floods hampered theplastic ban campaign, which wastaken up by the VijayawadaMunicipal Corporation (VMC)on a war-footing.
The campaign was kept asidefor a while as the entire admin-istration was concentrating inthe relief works at various cen-tres.
With floods receding, theVMC is planning to acceleratethe plastic ban campaign. “Thecity is all set to return to nor-malcy after two days. The VMCwill take up the plastic ban issuewith renewed vigour, said anofficial.
The VMC has started a vig-orous campaign avoiding usageof single-use plastic bags in thecity. From August 1 onwards,this campaign was put to motionby Commissioner V PrasannaVenkatesh, who conducted sev-eral awareness meetings for dif-ferent sections of people. He alsoplanned rallies and awarenessprogramme from August 15, butthe unexpected floods had dis-turbed his plans.
The programme of visitingshopping malls and proposingalternative single-use plasticbags - like jute and cloth – is con-
tinuing irrespective of floods asthey are coordinated by NGOs.But, the programmes plannedwith the staff of VMC andother government departmentwere postponed due to floods.Awareness programmes in col-leges, meetings with businessfolk and others are postponed.
Chief Medical Officer ofHealth, VMC Dr Arjuna Raosaid: “Actually, plastic ban pro-gramme was not disturbed byfloods. A few teams are con-tinuing their work at groundlevel despite floods. But, as far asVMC teams were concerned, asall of them were involved inflood relief works, hence, plas-tic ban programmes were post-poned. Meeting meat shop own-ers are going as per schedule thisweek. Many awareness pro-grammes are also scheduled inthe colleges”.
With floods receding,the VMC is planning toaccelerate the plasticban campaign.It willtake up the plastic banissue with renewedvigour, said an official
With floods receding,VMC back to driveon plastic ban
APSSDC organisingconference to train studentsPNS n VIJAYAWADA
The Andhra Pradesh StateS k i l l D e v e l o p m e ntCorporation (APSSDC),the nodal agency for skilldevelopment in the State isorganising a conference toc o n n e c t i n d u s t r y a n dacademia from the phar-maceutical and life sci-ences sector on August 21at Vi j ay aw a d a C l u b,a c c o r d i n g t o D r A r j aS r i k a nt h , Ma n a g i n gDirector, APSSDC, hereon Tuesday.
He said the chief guest ofthe programme would be D r LV S u b r a h m a ny a m ,Chief Secretary, and the keyspeakers would be Dr LankaSrinivas, Mentor, ELIXGlobal, AVB Reddy, ex-pres ident AP Phar mac yC o u n c i l , R a m a Mu r t hyNaidu, Registrar to PharmaCouncil, and JSV Prasad,Special Chief Secretary.
He said with the inten-tion to impart skill to stu-dents and youth as perindustry needs, the APSS-DC was collaborating withLife Sciences Sector Skill
D e v e l o p m e nt C o u n c i l(LSSSDC) for impartingtraining to trainers. Hesaid knowledge dissemi-nation and providing on-t h e - j o b t r a i n i n g a n dap p r e nt i c e s h i p i n t h epharmaceutical and lifesciences sector were partof the programme.
“Target Group for theabove training are stu-dents and unemployedyouth having a minimumqualification of Class X,ITI, Intermediate, gradu-ates and postgraduates,”he added.
PNS n VIJAYAWADA
Andhra Greens emergedchampions with five pointsand lifted RVVK PrasadTrophy in the quadrangularone-day limited-overs tour-nament that ended atMulapadu here on Tuesday.
Four teams - AndhraGreens, Andhra Blues,Himachal Pradesh and Bengaltook part in the under-19 tour-nament meant for giving the
much-needed exposure to thecolts.
In the valedictory functionconducted Dr Gokaraju LailaGangaraju ACA cricket com-plex, Vijayawada Central MLA
Malladi Vishnu participatedas chief guest and handed overthe trophies to winners and thetop performers.
ACA secretary Ch ArunKumar, Dr Kinjal Suratwala,
ACA General Manager (GameDevelopment). MulapaduGrounds AdministrativeManager Koka Ramesh, ACAmedia manager CR Mohantook part in the function.
Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu presenting the winners trophy to Andhra Greens skipper at Mulapadu on Tuesday
Andhra Greens tops table, lifts trophy
Andhra Greens,Andhra Blues,Himachal Pradesh andBengal took part in theunder-19 tournament
The Andhra PradeshState SkillDevelopmentCorporation wascollaborating with LifeSciences Sector SkillDevelopment Council(LSSSDC) forimparting training totrainers
SCR GM calls on Governor,meets Chief Secretary PNS n VIJAYAWADA
South Central Railway GeneralManager Gajanan Mallya dur-ing his visit to Vijayawada divi-sion on Tuesday called onGovernor Biswa BhusanHarichandan.
He also met LV
Subrahmanyam, ChiefSecretary, at the Secretariat,along with Sreenivas, DivisionalRailway Manager, and discussedthe progress of various ongoingand new railway projects in theState.
He sought cooperation fromthe State government regardingland acquisition. He also metAjeya Kallam, Principal Advisor.
Later, he met DamodarGautam Sawang, DirectorGeneral of Police, and dis-cussed on the issues pertainingto the provision of security tothe passengers in the zone’sjurisdiction.
Earlier, he inaugurated therenovated orthopaedic andphysiotherapy block at theRailway Hospital. He inspectedvarious wards in the hospitaland interacted with patientsand enquired with doctors on
facilities available and furtherimprovements at the RailwayHospital in Vijayawada.
He inspected the ElectricalTraction Training Centre(ETTC), Satyanarayanapuram,and interacted with AssistantLoco Pilots undergoing training.He discussed on training mod-ules adopted and various cours-es being conducted.
He, along with DivisionalRailway Manager, VijayawadaDivision, planted saplings forthe green environment on thepremises of ETTC.
The General Managerreviewed the achievements andperformance of Vijayawadadivision with the divisional offi-cers. He complimented officialsand staff for their best perfor-mance and advised them tomaintain the high levels of per-formance.
South Central Railway General Manager Gajanan Mallya meeting Andhra PradeshGovernor Biswabhusan Harichandan ar Raj Bhavan on Tuesday
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | AUGUST 21, 2019 vijayawada 03
Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan flagging off the mobile dental care unit atthe Raj Bhavan in Vijayawada on Tuesday
"Nothing is unde-served for makingpoetry"… is the
famous poetic expression ofgreat Telugu writer of 20thCentury Srirangam SrinivasaRao, popularly known as SriSri. Principal political playersof Andhra Pradesh appearedto have imbibed the essenceof such poetic saying andunleashed a veiled attack ontheir political rivals, evenover flood havoc that dis-turbed the lives of lakhs ofpeople in the state. RulingYSR Congress and principalOpposition partyTelugudesam are fullyengaged in verbal duel, par-ticularly when the devastatingflood in river Krishna inresult of releasing lakhs ofcusecs of water from projects
upstream. Darts flew fromboth sides following theflood, particularly in theabsence of Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy who is ona visit to US.
The two political rivals,YSRC and TDP, severely crit-icized each other over floodand water 'management'. Thealleged operation of dronecameras over the residence ofN Chandrababu Naidu on thepretext of surveying the floodsituation sparked severe crit-icism. A private person oper-ating the drone without per-mission over the residence ofNaidu who enjoys NSG pro-tection is the main cause ofuproar from Opposition. Thegovernment has evaded adirect reply to this aspect anddefended it as being a part of
flood survey. Actually, YSRChas been concentrating on theissue of a private bungalowthat was taken byChandrababu for residentialpurpose during his tenure asCM, and lives there evennow as Leader of Oppositionin AP Assembly. But YSRCongress has been persis-tently stating that it's an ille-gal building that came upnear the flood bank, whichattracts the provisions ofRiver Conservation Act.
Apart from that building,the government has also
issued notices to the other 22structures constructed along-side the river bund/floodbank. Since those build-ings might happen toobstruct the riverflow and cause severedamage duringfloods, the gov-ernment is of thefirm opinion thatsuch buildings,including Chandrababu'shouse, must go.
What appears to be thealarming part in this episodeis the government maintain-
ing excess water in thePrakasam Barrage, in whosevicinity Naidu's residence islocated, beyond its storagecapacity of 3 tmc. In such asituation, the 'target' may getinundated, maybe to the lik-
ing of his opponents who areout to prove that the buildingis an illegal construction builton river flood bank. Whatneeds to be done is releasingall water in excess of thebarrage capacity and initiaterelief operations.
All this brings to mind thedevastating floods in Krishnariver in 2009. The grim situ-ation was effectively tackledby then CM K Rosaiah byearly release of water from thetwo major projects ofNagarjuna Sagar andSrisailam even before floodwaters reached their reser-voirs.
The current government'spriorities appear to be differ-ent from its predecessors'.Even former CM Dr YSRajasekhar Reddy handled
the flood situation duringhis tenure very deftly in theface of severe criticism fromhis own party quarters. Hestood up for the interests ofhis own region -- by effective-ly using flood waters withoutbreaching the reser voircapacity limits -- and gotdue recognition in the end.
Whatever be the currentAP government's objectives,it still couldn't get the waterneeded to meet the require-ments of Rayalaseemathrough Pothireddipadu(PRP) head regulator in theupstream of Srisailam projectwhich is designed specially tocater to the needs of parchedlands of the region. The opti-mal use of high water levelsduring floods can hardly bedone if the rulers don't grab
the opportunity and have alethargic attitude in gettingthings done in a timely man-ner.
A staggering 200 tmc ofsurplus water - enough tomeet the water requirementof 13 lakh of acres of land inthe Krishna delta -- gotdrained into the sea in floodsthis time. Large amounts ofsurplus water could have beensaved by diverting it intoseveral medium and minorprojects in the state.
In other words, govern-ment didn't act responsiblyand instead chose to prioritisetargeting its political rival,when it could have used floodwaters sensibly for the bene-fit of people and collect valu-able brownie points in theprocess.
Optimal use of high water levels during floodscan hardly be made if the rulers don't grab theopportunity and have a lethargic attitude ingetting things done in a timely manner
AP GOVT'S WATER PRIORITIES WOEFULLY WRONG
PINPOINT
M D RATNA KUMAR Senior Journalist
Collector seeks donations for flood-hitPNS n VIJAYAWADA
Krishna District Collector MdImtiaz on Tuesday appealedNGOs and philanthropists tocome forward with donationsfor the flood-affected peoplein the district. The Collectorheld a meeting with membersof the Rotary Club, Chamberof Commerce, cloth merchantsand a few NGOs to mobilisehelp for those affected by theflood.
The Collector said thatmany villages and islands inKrishna river basin had beensubmerged. As many as 46 vil-lages in 19 mandals wereseverely affected. As a precau-tionary measure, 49 specialcamps were set up and shelterwas given to about 13,450people in municipalities.Similarly, 13 special campsproviding shelter to about7,800 people that were set upby the Vijayawada MunicipalCorporation (VMC).
The Collector said thatapart from providing shelter,other amenities such as food,blankets, sarees, lungis, mos-quito nets, towels and utensilsshould be provided to theflood victims. He stated thatNGOs and voluntary organi-sations should lend helpinghand and school bags andbooks should be provided tothe students. He also empha-sised the need to organisemedical camps to control the
spread of diseases.He ordered officials to dis-
tribute rice, red gram dal andpalm oil to all eligible familiesaffected by floods in the dis-trict. He, along with JointCollector Madhivilatha, held avideo conference with villageand mandal level officials.
Speaking on the occasion,the Collector said that all eli-gible families affected byfloods would get 25 kg rice,one kg red gram and one kgpalm oil. He appreciated thestaff for shifting the people torescue shelters from the flood-
affected areas and for provid-ing facilities. He stated thatthere were around 103 fairprice shops under the flood-affected areas in the district,adding that stock was availableat 50 fair price shops and therest would get the stock byTuesday evening.
Differently-abled WelfareDepartment AdditionalManager AVD Narayana Rao,Cloth Merchants AssociationPresident Jaganmohan Rao,Rotary Club President P AnilBabu and others were also present.
n Md Imtiaz said that many villagesand islands in Krishna river basinhad been submerged. As many as46 villages in 19 mandals wereseverely affected
n As a precautionary measure, 49special camps were set up andshelter was given to about 13,450people in municipalities
n Similarly, 13 special campsproviding shelter to about 7,800people that were sets up by theVijayawada Municipal Corporation
Governor flags offmobile dental care unitPNS n VIJAYAWADA
Governor Biswa BhusanHarichandan on Tuesdayflagged off the mobile dentalcare unit at the Raj Bhavanhere on Tuesday, an initiativeby Child Welfare Committeeof Vijayawada, in associationwith Dr Sridhar Oral HealthFoundation.
The Governor appreciatedthe efforts of BVS Kumar,Chairman of Child WelfareCommittee, Vijayawada, andDr Sreedhar Reddy for theirinitiative to offer dental care toorphans and semi-orphansstaying at various child careinstitutions in Vijayawada andother places in Krishna dis-trict. The Chairman explainedto the Governor how they goabout rescuing orphans and
child labour and rehabilitatethem by providing shelter at 92childcare institutions locatedin various places in Krishnadistrict.
He informed that the den-tal care programme fororphans will go for threemonths, covering all the child-care institutions in the district,offering necessary examina-tion, treatment and providingclips costing around Rs 2,000wherever required. TheGovernor had earlier looked atthe dental examination equip-ment and other facilities pro-vided inside the mobile den-tal care unit. Mukesh KumarMeena, Secretary to Governor,Arjuna Rao, Joint Secretary toGovernor, and other officialsof Raj Bhavan were also pre-sent.
A garland of scorpions for the LordPNS n KURNOOL
India is a land of customs andbeliefs with some of themunique and dating back tocenturies. The act of offeringflowers, fruits and milk to thedeity is a common practice intemples across the country.However, the temple ofKondalarayudu in Kurnooldistrict hosts a surprising rit-ual - that of offering scorpionsas prasadam for the Lord.
The temple, located amongthe hills at Kodumur mandal inKurnool district, practises thecustom of offering live scorpi-ons to the deity on every thirdSaturday of the holy month ofShravana. The tradition itselfdates back to five decades,
with the villagers enthusiasti-cally participating.
The villagers catch the scor-pions that hide under the rocksfrom the hills and carefully takethem to the temple, where
they will made into a garlandthat would be placed on thedeity. The interesting part isthat everyone participates inthe ritual without fear. Formany, it is almost a competi-
tion to see who can carry themaximum number. Accordingto the locals, if the scorpionsbite them, a three time circum-ambulation around the templewould keep them away fromharm.
The locals of Kodumur andsurrounding areas believe thatthe creatures will not harmthem while they work in their
fields and at their homes, ifthey offer the scorpion poojasto the deity. It is also believedthat the sting of the scorpions,which would be poisonous onother days, become specifical-ly impotent on this day.
The temple managementcommittee president RamManohar Reddy providesdrinking water and prasadamto the devotees, who comeonce a year to witness theunique ritual. Various devoteesfrom all walks of life, includingchildless couples, believe thatif they visit the Kondalarayudutemple and seek the Lord'sblessings, all their wishedwould be fulfilled. More than7000 people had come to par-ticipate this year.
The Collector said that apart from providingshelter, other amenities such as food,blankets, sarees, lungis, mosquito nets, towelsand utensils should be provided to the floodvictims.
PNS n VIJAYAWADA
A book with title 'TeluguDiaspora' through the agesfrom the earliest times' editedby Prof P Chenna Reddy, for-mer Director of Archaeologyand Museums, erstwhileAndhra Pradesh, was releasedby Principal Advisor to ChiefMinister Ajeya Kallam onTuesday at the Secretariat.
Speaking on the occasion,Ajeya Kallam praised theefforts and contribution ofProf Chenna Reddy in high-lighting the rich culture andheritage of Andhraites acrossthe globe. Telugu Diasporarefers to the Telugu speaking
people of Indian States resid-ing mainly in other countrieslike the US, Europe and Gulf.Prof Chenmna Reddy is a wellknown archaeologist and ispopular for his books onEmperor Krishna Devarayawherein he has mentioned in
detail about the jewelleryoffered to Lord Venkateswaraand also nine other famoustemples like Simhachalam,Nagulapuram, SreeKalahiasthi, Ahobilam, SreeShailam, Udayagiri andDharanikota (Amaravati).
Ajeya Kallam releases bookon ‘Telugu Diaspora'
Crop loss in Krishnadistrict put at Rs 19 croreG RAVI KIRANn VIJAYAWADA
The recent floods have dealta big blow to farmers inKrishna district, causing acrop loss of up to Rs 19crore in an extent of about of23,500 acres.
In Vijayawada, hundreds ofpeople lost their homes in thefloods. Enumeration of lossbegan on Monday after com-pletion of which, the com-pensation to be paid by thegovernment will be decided.
Standing crops are under2.5-foot water at many placesso there is no scope for esti-mating the crop loss now.Maybe within three days, theloss can be assessed proper-ly by Village Committeesformed by the government incoordination with the rev-enue department.
According to reports, mostof the commercial crops likecotton, chilli and horticul-ture crops were damaged dueto floods.
Still, in many island vil-lages, people are travelling onboats to reach a few places.Food arrangements havebeen made by governmentofficials at various places.However, the victims inisland villages have allegedthat there are no sufficientarrangements for food for the
past two days. Officials haveinformed that medical camps
will be continued for threemore days. Power restoration
in island villages is going onand it may be completed byWednesday.
VMC CommissionerPrasanna Venkatesh distrib-uted relief materials to floodvictims in Krishnalanka inthe city.
District Collector Imtiyazsaid, "Assessment of floodloss will be done within threedays. As water is still there inthe standing crops, assessingthe crop damage may taketime. We have obtained someinformation already. Fulldetails of crop loss with thenames of victims will be pre-pared this week itself ".
n Still, in many island villages, people are travelling on boatsto reach a few placesn Food arrangements havebeen made by governmentofficials at various places.However, the victims in islandvillages have alleged that thereare no sufficient arrangementsfor food for the past two days
n Officials informed thatmedical camps will becontinued for three more days
n Power restoration in islandvillages is going on and it maybe completed by Wednesday.
Standing crops areunder 2.5-foot waterat many places sothere is no scope forestimating the croploss now. Maybewithin three days, theloss can be assessedproperly by VillageCommittees formedby the government incoordination with therevenue department.
‘Telugu Diaspora through the ages from the earliest times' a book edited by Prof P Chenna Reddy, former Director of Archeology and Museums, erstwhile AP,being released by Principal Advisor to CM Ajeya Kallam, in Vijayawada on Tuesday
Officials told tocompleterepair workson TirumalaPNS n TIRUMALA
Tirumala Special Officer AVDharma Reddy instructedofficials to complete therepair works of public toiletsin Tirumala before the annu-al Brahmotsavams and caterto the demand of the pil-grims.
During the weekly reviewmeeting of senior officersheld at Annamaiah Bhavan inTirumala on Tuesday, theSpecial Officer instructed theCE Ramachandra Reddy toensure that all cottages andtoilet blocks are free fromrepairs and cater to the needsof the multitude of pilgrimsvisiting Tirumala during theannual fete.
The Special Off icerinstructed senior officers,who had adopted each areato ensure its overall develop-ment, and stated that theirstatus would be reviewedfrom next week onwardsfor the betterment of the sys-tem. He also reviewed thepending civil, electrical andwater works in Tirumala,along with sanitation andprocurement of ingredients,required to makeprasadams.
TTD SO inspectsrest houses,queue complexes PNS n TIRUMALA
TTD Special Officer AVDharma Reddy made exten-sive inspections of TTD resthouses, mada streets, andVaikuntam queue complexeson Tuesday, directing officialsto take various devoteefriendly steps. During hisvisit to Panchajanya,Kausthubham, and HVC RestHouses, the SO instructedofficials to take up change oflinen as well as repairs. Healso interacted with devoteesat the Panchajanya rest houseand received feedback fromthem. Along with CVSOGopinath Jatti, he inspectedthe mada streets, UgranamAnanthalwar Thota,Vaikuntam queue complex 2and Divya Darshan com-plexes, and made suitablesuggestions to officials on theunderground cable worksand darshan line queue man-agement.
Where has allthe money gone?Continued from Page 1
"The government gave up thatpower to print money underthe FRBM Act. There is asevere liquidity problem nowand these are issues whichneed to be discussed. Butsome of our economic theo-reticians oppose blindly theprinting of money to over-come cash crunch," one econ-omist said.
The current total capital ofRBI is about Rs 10.53 lakhcrore. Of this, the revaluationreserves on account of foreignexchange and bullion the RBIholds amount to Rs 7 L cr. Theeconomists' fraternity too isdivided on how to resolve thesituation. While some econo-mists say the current liquidi-ty crisis could have been han-dled better if the governmenthad the power to print curren-cy at will, some others arguethat an unfettered right toprint money will trigger aninflationary spiral, rekindlingmemories of the 1960s and1970s when the RBI was print-ing money to finance the gov-ernment's huge budget deficit."Indiscriminate printing ofmoney is inflationary and willhurt the poor the most.Inflation will make lifetougher, the poor poorer, andthe rich richer. The politicalfallout of such a policy is usu-ally negative," they opine.
Devotees offering scorpions to the Lord at Kondalarayudu temple Kodumur mandalin Kurnool district on Tuesday
The temple practisesthe custom of offeringlive scorpions to thedeity on every thirdSaturday of the holymonth of Shravana
Telugu Diaspora refers to theTelugu speaking people ofIndian States residing mainly in other countries like the US, Europe and Gulf.
Check your beer before drinkingContinued from Page 1
As per new rules, if the salesexceed the fixed quota, wineshops are required to pay addi-tional licence fee. But some ofthe wine shop owners, insteadof paying the fee to govern-ment, are selling spuriousliquor.
Spurious liquor is also madeby boiling water mixed with
sugar, cleaning liquids, nailpolish remover, creams used torub cars to give the desiredkick to tipplers. Even brandedliquor is being adulteratedwith water or cheap variants ofliquor since the bottles aremade of plastic and not glass.Sometimes mineral water isbeing used to adulterate liquor.
There are expert techni-cians who can open the bottle's
cap without damaging the seal.One fourth of the liquor isremoved from them and thebottles are then filled withcheap liquor and water. Later,the seal is carefully replacedwithout giving rise to anydoubts. The technicians visitthe wine shops now and then.They charge the wine shopsdepending on the number ofbottles tampered with.
Tollywood actorRaj Tharuncrashes car Continued from Page 1
Police reached the spot aftersome local people informedthem of the crash. Theyidentified the car as regis-tered in the name of aPradeep from Lead IndiaPrivate Limited Company.
After the mishap, the actorleft the scene in another car.CCTV footage obtainedshowed the actor walkingaway from the crash site.
Due to similarity of thesurnames, veteranTollywood actor TarunKumar started getting calls,with people seeking toenquire about his 'condi-tion'. The actor later clari-fied that he was safe in hishouse, much less involved inany accident. However, theNarsingi Inspector of Police,G V Ramana Goud, deniedthat any such incident hadoccurred. "No such thinghas happened. There was nocrash. No Tollywood actorwas involved in anything,"said the official when con-tacted.
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | AUGUST 21, 2019 region 04
CAPSULE
TTD JEO INSPECTSKALYANAMANDAPAMS Tirupati: Joint ExecutiveOfficer (JEO) P Basant Kumaron Tuesday inspected theongoing development worksof TTD Kalyana Mandapamsand Sri Venkateswara Swamytemple in Vijayawada andKrishna districts.He visited the ongoing worksof TTD Kalyana Mandapamsat Uyyuru as well as SriVenkateswara Divyakshetramat Venkatapalem in the capitalcity of Amaravati. He alsoinspected the ongoing worksof TTD Sri VenkateswaraSwamy temple in Nimmakuruof Krishna district, along withofficials.
TWO YOUTHSDROWN IN A BID TORESCUE WOMANVIJAYAWADA: In a tragicincident, two youngsters -Sivarama Krishna and Sai Ajay- drowned in Rives Canal onTuesday. Sivarama Kriahna,was a carpenter belonging toFerry area of Ibrahimpatnamand Sai Ajay was a his B. Techgraduate from Madhuranagarin Vijayawada. According topolice, a housewife Rani fromMachavaram in the city had aquarrel with her husband a fewdays back and came to hermaternal home. Her parentsconvinced her and were takingher back to her in-laws' houseat Eluru by a vehicle. Thewoman came out of the vehicleat a bridge across Ryves Canalnear Gunadala saying she wasfeeling like vomitting. Then,she suddenly jumped into thecanal filled with floodwaters. When her parents cried forhelp, four youngsters jumpedinto the canal to save thewoman. Two of them broughther back safely. Unfortunately, SivaramaKrishna and Siva Ajay drownedin the canal. NDRF teamstraced the body of SivaramaKrishna. They are continuingsearch for the body of SaiAjay.
PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM
The passing out parade of 63Hull Artificers (HA) appren-tices comprising of 56 IndianNavy HA sailors and sevenCoast Guard Yantriks wasconducted at INSVishwakarma on Tuesday.
The parade was reviewedby Rear Admiral Sanjay Datt,Chief Staff Officer (Technical)of Headquarters EasternNaval command (HQ ENC),who marked the completion
of the two and a half year-long professional ab-initiotraining that comprised ofboth theoretical and practicaltraining on various hull sys-tems and equipment. HAApprentice Basant KumarSingh was awarded with theFOC-in-C SNC Gold Medal
for standing First in overallorder of merit, while Amanwas awarded theVishwakarma Rolling Trophyfor Best in Parade Training.All sailors who completedthe programme would short-ly assume their appointmentsat frontline warships.
Car owner gets e-Challan for notwearing helmetPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM
In another erroneous e-Challan incident, the ownerof a four-wheeler received ane-Challan for not wearing ahelmet. Rambilli traffic policeissued the challan on July 31against the car owner for notwearing helmet and the duedate to pay the fine amount ofRs 135 was mentioned asAugust 15.
The e-challan that thecar owner received on hisregistered mobile numberalso had an additional fineof Rs 1,135 for defectivenumber plates and wrongparking of the car duringlast December. The carowner checked the details ofthe e-challan on the portalof the AP traffic police and
was shocked to see a differ-ent picture. However, thepicture was later removed.
When asked about theincident, Additional DeputyCommissioner of Police(Traffic) M Ramesh Kumarsaid that it had been a typ-ing error while uploadingthe details of the vehicleover the portal. He furthersaid that such incidents havebeen common due to irreg-ular number plates andadded that traffic policeofficials might type incor-rect information as the reg-istration numbers are notclearly visible to them. Heurged the vehicle owners toapproach the traffic police incase of wrong e-challans so that they could be immediately cancelled.
Man impregnates minor girl,aborts pregnancy PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM
In another case of sexualassault, a man was arrested forraping and impregnating aminor girl in Vizag. Theaccused threatened the minorto go under abortion afterfour months of pregnancy byallegedly bribing the doctors atthe King George Hospital.
The Vizag police on Tuesdayarrested Ravi Kumar, a residentof Gopalapatnam area in Vizagcity, for raping the 14-year-oldgirl studying in class X. The 16-week pregnancy was illegallyterminated by a team of doc-tors at KG Hospital. Four oth-ers were also arrested in con-nection with the case for sup-porting the accused.
According to DeputyCommissioner of Police, SouthZone, B Uday Bhaskar, the vic-tim, along with her mother,had been residing atGopalapatnam in Vizag for thepast few years. The girl's neigh-bour Ravi befriended her andraped her at his home severaltimes.
Earlier this month, she expe-rienced stomach pain and sowas rushed to a private hospi-tal, where doctors learnt thatshe was four months pregnant.
Ravi, along with his familymembers, threatened them.The girl underwent abortion atKG Hospital in Vizag onAugust 7, 2019 and was dis-charged on August 15.
Later, Ravi and his familymembers took the girl toAnakapalle to hush up theentire episode.
However, the victim's grand-
mother B Sarojini, who cameto know the events,approached the Gopalapatnampolice. "We have investigatedthe case in various aspects andnabbed the accused Ravi andfour others, who helped himwith the crime. We will lookinto other angles to nab theothers involved," the DCPsaid.
n Policearrested fivepersons inthe case
n Investigation is on tonab theothers
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police,South Zone, B Uday Bhaskar, the victim,along with her mother, had been residing atGopalapatnam in Vizag for the past fewyears. The girl's neighbour Ravi befriendedher and raped her at his home several times
63 Hull Artificers passing outfrom INS Vishwakarma
All sailors whocompleted theprogramme wouldshortly assume theirappointments atfrontline warships
Rajiv’s vision put India on growthpath: Prithviraj ChauhanPNS n HYDERABAD
Former Maharashtra ChiefMinister Prithviraj Chauhanhas called upon the Congressworkers to take the sacrifices offormer Prime Ministers lateIndira Gandhi and RajivGandhi to the people. He stat-ed that Rajiv Gandhi hadbrought anti-defection law tocontrol 'Ayarams andGayarams' in political partiesbut the trend is going on still.
Recalling the services ofRajiv Gandhi, Chouhan saidthat Rajiv Gandhi, who lost hermother in the attack of her ownsecurity guards, strived hard tosee that such situation not ariseto anybody. The conditionswere serious when Rajivbecame the Prime Minister ofthe nation, but he worked hardto protect law and order and forpeaceful country, Pridviraj said.
Addressing the gathering onthe occasion of 75th birthanniversary celebrations of lateRajiv Gandhi here on Tuesdayat Gandhi Bhavan, Pridvirajsaid that Rajiv became PrimeMinister of the nation by win-ning more than 400 MP seats.He identified the necessity of
computers for transparent gov-ernance. He worked for peacein Punjab, Assam andMizoram. He was also ready fordiscussions with SrilankaTamils and sent peace Army toLanka. But LTTE killed Rajiv bynot digesting the peace discus-sions with Srilanka Tamils,Pridviraj said. Rajiv Gandhiintroduced Navodaya schools,Operation Black Boardschemes as part of RuralEducation Policy. Rajiv wasalso introduced Telecom,Water, Education TechnologyMission for the growth ofnation, he recalled. Former
Andhra Pradesh Chief MinisterK Rosaiah, TPCC Chief NUttam Kumar Reddy, MLC TJeevan Reddy, former MLCProf K Nageshwar, senior jour-nalist Dr KRamachandramurthy, AICCsecretaries Saleem Ahmed,Bose Raj, Srinivas Krishnan,former Minister Sailajanath,AICC in-charge RC Kuntia,former MP V HanumanthaRao, MLAs Bhatti Vikramarka,D Sridhar Babu, T Jagga Reddy,Ponnala Laxmaiah, and othersalso participated.
In the morning, VH and for-mer Minister Shabbir Ali wel-comed Rajiv Sadbhavan ralliesreached to the statue of RajivGandhi located at Punjagutta.Later, the leaders paid floraltributes to Rajiv Gandhi statue.
After that, the leaders alsopaid floral tributes to the por-trait of Rajiv Gandhi at GandhiBhavan. Later, Uttam launchedYouth Congress' blood dona-tion camp at Gandhi Bhavan.Hundreds of Youth Congressactivists donated their blood onthe occasion. The YouthCongress was also organized aphoto exhibition on RajivGandhi at Gandhi Bhavan.
GOVT YET TO PROVIDE NATIONALHEALTH PROGRAMME FOR MENSUMIT ONKA n VISAKHAPATNAM
The government of India is yetto introduce a national healthprogramme for men even astheir life span shows a steadydecrease, not only in India butacross the globe.
According to statistics, twothirds of the world's oldestpopulation (85 years andabove) are women. Given thedeath rate, more men are dyingdue to cancer and cardio-vas-cular diseases than women.
The government needs tocome up with health pro-grammes for men in preventivehealthcare in the light of thisincreasing gap between theaverage age of women andmen, said Dr Rajeev Sood,President of Men's HealthSociety of India (MHSI) andHead of Department of
Urology & Renal Transplant atRam Manohar Lohia. He wasgiving a presentation on 'Men'sHealth and the Aging IndianMale' at the NationalConference of Sexology held inVizag. "The difference in lifespan of the two sexes rangefrom 3-12 years in most regionsof the world, making it an
almost universal phenomenon.Many diseases like metabolicsyndrome, suicide, cardiovas-cular disease, road traffic acci-dents, occupational hazardsand mental illnesses affect andkill men more than women. Ithas been estimated that most ofthese chronic illnesses are pre-ventable (upto 70%) and arise
out of lifestyle issues and socio-cultural factors," he pointed out,adding that even thoughwomen fall sick more oftenwith minor ailments, they havelower mortality resulting frombetter care.
The need for health promo-tion and illness prevention touplift health care for men is alsolargely unmet in India andadds to the morbidity.
According to Dr Sood, "Theupcoming issues in the promo-
tion of men's health includeincreasing the men's health lit-eracy, making a centrally fund-ed global programme on men'shealth, and the need of provid-ing professionals dedicatedtowards the issue. NGO's canplay a huge role by providingtrained professionals special-ized in the area. There is also aneed to promote research, butabove all, the focus needs to beon encouraging men to beopen about their health issues."
PNS n SRIKAKULAM
The state-level Chief Minister'sVolleyball Tournament openedon grand note here on Tuesday,where players from all the 13districts took part in the open-ing ceremony.
District In-Charge and stateEndowments Minister VSrininvasa Rao, along withRoads and Buildings MinisterDharmana Krishnadas,unveiled the sport flag of theState and formally launched
the three day tournament,which will conclude on August22.
Speaking on the occasion,Rao stated that the State gov-ernment had been encouragingsports and games across thestate, and announced theschedule of various games to beheld at state level in differentdistricts till THE end of 2020.
D Krishna Das appreciatedthe administration and sportsofficials for making elaboratearrangements on a short
notice. Addressing the players,the Minister said that winningand losing were the part of the
game and that everyone shouldpresent their sports skills andsportsmanship during thethree day tournament.
District Collector J Niwas,who made all the necessaryarrangements for the tourna-ment, stated that Srikakulamwas known for sports as a largenumber of national and inter-national players were from thedistrict. "The volleyball tourna-ment is expected to be a mem-orable event for everyone intheir careers", he added.
D Krishna Dasappreciated theadministration andsports officials formaking elaboratearrangements on ashort notice
Chief Minister's Volleyball tourney begins
Asian Pulp & Paper Industry verymuch with us: Minister for ITPNS n VIJAYAWADA
The Government of AndhraPradesh condemned the cam-paign on investments goingback in the State. Speaking tothe media on Tuesday, Ministerfor IT, Industries &Commercial Taxes MekapathiGowtham Reddy said thatthere was no truth in the cam-paign on the Asian Pulp &Paper industry, which hadplanned to install a plant atRajahmundry.
He said that the manage-ment of the Asian Pulp &Paper Industry was in touchwith the officials of the govern-ment and talks were going ontowards the final decision oninstalling the plant in the pro-posed place itself.
"But, a few people are cam-
paigning that the companyhas gone back and that otherindustries will go back toobecause of the new govern-ment," he said.
The news that Asian Pulp &Paper Industry had withdrawnfrom its proposal of installinga big plant at Rajahmundrywent viral in social media, as
well as the mainstream media.Earlier in January 2019, theyhad signed an MoU with thegovernment of AndhraPradesh under the TDP rule.
Gowtham Reddy stated thatthe government was going torelease a white paper on thestatus of industries soon toclarify and rule out any
rumours. He added that thebest industrial policy wasunder preparation and thatChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy was inviting investorsfrom across the world.
The Minister said that underthe YSRCP government,Andhra Pradesh IndustrialInfrastructure Corporation(APIIC) had received 800applications within twomonths. "Even at the OutreachConvention, we received agood response," he added, andstated that the Adani Grouphad come forward to invest Rs5,500 crore in Krishnapatnam.The Minister made it clear thatthere would be no backdoordealings or kickback agree-ments with any company bytheir government, unlike theprevious TDP rule.
Root out Devadasi system fromsociety: AP Chief JusticePNSn VIJAYAWADA
The Chief Justice of AP HighCourt Vikram Nath has calledupon people to join hands forthe eradication of Devadasisystem from the society as it isone of the most heinous prac-tices committed against women.
Addressing a state-levelworkshop organised by theAndhra Pradesh ScheduledCaste Development FinanceCorporation (APSCCFCL)here on Tuesday, Chief JusticeVikram Nath said that it wasthe responsibility of everyonein the society to fight againstthe social evil. He added thatit was being practised in sevendistricts in the State and not asingle case had been filed.
"Even now, a considerablenumber of girls and youngwomen are initiated into thissystem every year and thereare more than 80,000Devadasis in our State. Thetraditional system is takingdifferent forms dependingon the social, geographicaland economic factors. Whilethe system is followed by
many communities of theScheduled Caste andScheduled Tribes, studiesindicate that over 80 percentof the Devadasis are fromScheduled Castes," saidJustice KC Bhanu.
Gandham Chandrudu,Vice-Chairman and ManagingDirector APSCCFCL statedthat they would create aware-
ness and take up rehabilitationworks to support the Devadasifamilies. "Special sensitisationand skill development pro-grammes should be organisedfor the victims so that they cantake up income generationactivities to lead a dignifiedlife," said devadasi welfareactivist Professor ChallapalliSwarooparani.
The Chief Justice of AP High Court Vikram Nath lighting the traditional lamp to inaugurate a workshop on eradication ofDevadasi system in Vijayawada on Tuesdaty
Gandham Chandrudu,VMD, APSCCFCL,stated that they wouldcreate awareness andtake up rehabilitationworks to support theDevadasi families.
Advocatesboycott courts,demand for HighCourt in Vizag cityPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM
Legal professionals acrossNorth Andhra Pradeshboycotted courts andstaged demonstrations onTuesday, demanding theState government to relo-cate the AP High Courtfrom Nelapadu to Vizagcity.
"The AP High Courthas been functioning froma temporary structure nearNelapadu in Guntur dis-trict for past few months.Nelapdu is on the out-skirts and there was is nodevelopment in the area.Vizag city has excellentinfrastructure and legaltalent and it is the bestplace for establishing theHigh Court," said Presidentof the Joint ActionCommittee (JAC) of thelegal fraternity, NorthAndhra Pradesh, GMaheswara Reddy.
Holding placards, theadvocates, including a fewwomen lawyers, raised slo-gans in Vizianagaram,Srikakulam district,demanding the govern-ment to fulfil the demandsof the legal fraternity.
Members of theVisakhapatnam BarAssociation opined thatthe relocation of the APHigh Court was solely inthe hands of the govern-ment and that Vizagwould be an appropriatelocation. They added thatthe establishment of a HighCourt in Vizag had beenthe demand of the legal fra-ternity for decades, andadded that they wouldintensify their agitation inthe coming days.
According to Dr Sood, "The upcomingissues in the promotion of men's healthinclude increasing the men's healthliteracy, making a centrally fundedglobal programme on men's health, andthe need of providing professionalsdedicated towards the issue”
Complaint filed against NTV scribeRehana for "anti national FB post"Hyderabad: The president ofHindu Sanghatan filed a com-plaint with the Saidabad Policeon Tuesday against a journal-ist alleging her post on asocial media platform was'anti-national'.
In a statement to the police,
Karunsagar Kashimshetty, thepresident of the Hindu organ-isation had claimed that thejournalist's post on Facebookwas fake news and was donewith an intention to cause arift citizens and the Indiangovernment.
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | AUGUST 21, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS
Four TN fishermenheld for fishing offNeduntheevuRAMESWARAM(TN): FourTamil Nadu fishermen werearrested by the Sri Lankan Navyon Tuesday for allegedly fishingoff Neduntheevu, a fisheriesdepartment official said.The fishermen fromKottaipattinam in Pudukottaidistrict had ventured into thesea on Monday and werefishing near Neduntheevu whenthe Sri Lankan naval personnelreached the spot and arrestedthem, Assistant Director ofFisheries, Pudukottai,Kumaresan said. Thefisherfolks were taken toKangesanthurai port in theisland nation along with theirboat, he said. On August 13,seven fishermen from herewere arrested by the LankanNavy for allegedly fishing offNeduntheevu.
Another elephantattack claims life ofhospital employee
Gangster Chhota Rajanconvicted in attempt-to-murder caseMUMBAI: A special court hereconvicted gangster ChhotaRajan and five others onTuesday in a 2012 attempt-to-murder and extortion caselodged against them by aMumbai hotelier. Arguments onthe quantum of punishment willbe held later in the day. Specialcourt judge A T Wankhedeconvicted the six under varioussections of the stringentMaharashtra Control ofOrganised Crime Act (MCOCA)in the case of hotelier B RShetty, who was shot at insuburban Andheri when he wasgoing to meet his friend. Rajanis currently lodged in Tihar jailin Delhi after his deportation toIndia following his arrest inIndonesia in October 2015.
COIMBATORE: A privatehospital employee was killed bya wild elephant atThoppampatti, near here, andthis is the second such incidentreported in two days. Two men,both aged 27, were sitting andtalking near Ganapathi Gardenlate Monday night when theelephant came down from a hillnear the CRPF camp, policesaid Tuesday. Seeing theelephant, the men took to theirheels, but the elephant tookPrem Karthik with its trunk,hurled him down and trampledhim to death, they said. Hisfriend Vignesh managed toescape and informed thevillagers about the incident.They, in turn, alerted the policeand the forest departmentpersonnel. The personnelrecovered the Prem's body andsent it for a postmortem at thegovernment hospital. On earlyMonday, an elephant attackoccurred just three km awayfrom Pannimadai, where adriver was trampled to death,leading to panic among thepeople of the vicinity.
PNS n NEW DELHI
The Centre has approvedrelease of over Rs 4,432 croreto Odisha, Karnataka andHimachal Pradesh for the dam-age caused by natural calami-ties in these states during thelast financial year.
In a statement, the homeministry said a high-level com-mittee, headed by Union HomeMinister Amit Shah, hasapproved additional centralassistance of Rs 3338.22 croreto Odisha for the damagecaused by the cyclone Fani, Rs1029.39 crore to Karnatakafor drought and Rs 64.49 croreto Himachal Pradesh foravalanches and hailstorm dur-ing 2018-19.
The funds will be disbursedfrom the National Disaster
Response Fund (NDRF).This additional assistance is
over and above the fundsreleased by Centre in the StateDisaster Response Fund(SDRF) already placed at thedisposal of states.
During 2018-19, the centralgovernment had released Rs9,658 crore to all states andduring 2019-20, till date, it hasreleased Rs 6,104 crore to 24
states from the SDRF, the state-ment said.
In view of cyclone Fani, Rs340.87 crore was released toOdisha in advance on April 29from the SDRF. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi visited thestate on May 6, and asannounced by him, an imme-diate assistance of Rs 1,000crore was released in advance.
Additionally, an ex gratia of
Rs 2 was provided to next ofthe kin of the deceased and Rs50,000 to those seriouslyinjured in the cyclone fromPM's Relief Fund.
During cyclone 'Fani', thecentre had deployed 71 teamsof the National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF), 19columns of Army, nineEngineering Task Force (ETF),27 aircraft/helicopters and 16ships of Armed Forces forrelief and rescue operations, thestatement said.
It said that more than 15.5lakhs people were taken tosafety and the centre had pro-vided all necessary assistance inrestoration of power supplyand communication in affect-ed districts, including that ofproviding necessary stores, gen-erator sets, steel poles andskilled manpower. As otherstates were also likely to beaffected, an amount of Rs 688crore was released in advancefrom SDRF to Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
Govt okays Rs 4,432 cr aid to Odisha, K'taka
PNS n KOLKATA
West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee's 'Didi KeBolo' (Tell Didi) campaign ishelping the TMC reach out topeople in distress, but at thesame time forcing party lead-ers to handle uncomfortablequestions about cut money,arrogance of local leaders andsyndicates.
As advised by poll strategistPrashant Kishor and his organ-isation, appointed by theTrinamool Congress (TMC)after its poor performance inthe Lok Sabha polls, Banerjeeon July 29 had launched a ded-icated helpline number and awebsite as part of 'Didi KeBolo', to enable people to havea direct interface with partyfunctionaries.
As part of the programme,over 1,000 party leaders are vis-iting 10,000 villages to redressthe grievances of people.
Senior TMC leaders citedexamples of Rima Datta ofNorth 24 Parganas district,Samar Mandal of South 24Parganas district, EbadurRahman of Hooghly district,Jagannath Chakraborty ofHowrah district and Md Firozof Jalpaiguri district who hadreceived assistance for medicalemergency or getting admis-sion to colleges.
"After getting calls frompeople in distress, we contact-ed local TMC leaders anddepartments concerned, who
were asked to resolve the issues.All the complaints wereaddressed within 24 hours," asenior TMC leader told PTI.
Even people from WestBengal who were stuck infloods in Karnataka and Keralawere rescued after their loca-tion and coordinates werepassed on to the disaster man-agement department, the TMCleader said. However, the ini-tiative has also raised someallegations against a section ofparty leaders.
"People have called up thehelpline number and com-plained about extortion, cutmoney and syndicates. As soonas we received such calls, we
looked into their grievances."Some callers have com-
plained against certain leaders,especially those who havejoined the TMC from otherparties after we came to powerin 2011," another TMC leadersaid on condition of anonymi-ty.
During the mass outreachprogramme too, the party lead-ers are being forced to bite thetongue while answering querieson cut money and allegedarrogance of local TMC lead-ers, a party functionary said.
"We are facing a tough timeanswering these questions. Butwe can assure the people thatsteps will be taken to address
these issues," a TMC leader,who faced such uncomfortablequestions, told PTI.
Among those participatingin the outreach programme aresenior party leaders and min-isters Rabindranath Ghosh,Jyotipriyo Mullick, Arup Roy,Firhad Hakim, ParthaChatterjee, Sashi Panja, SadhanPande, Tapan Dasgupta,Nirmal Ghosh and AbdurRezzak Mollah.
"In some of the areas that wehave visited, people are ques-tioning us why we are hesitat-ing to throw out corrupt andarrogant leaders from the party.We will submit our observa-tions to the leadership," saidanother TMC leader.
Reacting to the develop-ment, state BJP president DilipGhosh said people of WestBengal are "fed up" with themisrule of the state govern-ment and "cut money business"of the TMC.
Didi Ke Bolo: Testing time for TMC leaders
PNS n NEW DELHI
In an effort to allay fears, theUnion Home Ministry onTuesday said non-inclusion ofa person's name in the final listof NRC does not by itselfamount to him or her beingdeclared a foreigner andassured that adequate arrange-ments have been made forappeal against it.
The ministry also said it willamend the rules to increase thetime limit of filing of appealsin foreigners tribunals (FTs)from 60 to 120 days for thosewho would be excluded fromthe final National Register ofCitizens, a list of Assam's res-idents to be published onAugust 31.
The decisions were taken ata high-level meeting chaired byUnion Home Minister AmitShah and attended by AssamChief Minister SarbanandaSonowal and others here onMonday.
In a statement, the ministrysaid under the provisions ofForeigners Act 1946 andForeigners (Tribunals) Order1964, only foreigners tribunalsare empowered to declare aperson foreigner.
"Thus, non-inclusion of aperson's name in NRC doesnot by itself amount to him/herbeing declared as a foreigner,"it said.
In order to facilitate the
persons excluded from NRC,adequate number of such tri-bunals is being established atconvenient locations.
"It has been decided thatstate government would alsomake arrangements to pro-vide legal aid to the needy peo-ple amongst those excludedfrom NRC. As it may not bepossible for all those excludedfrom final NRC to file theappeal within the prescribed
time, the MHA will amend therules to increase the presenttime limit of filing of appealsin FTs from 60 days to 120 daysregarding exclusion from finalNRC," the statement said.
At the meeting, it was alsodecided that adequatearrangements will be made bythe state government to pro-vide full opportunity to peo-ple excluded from the NRC listto appeal.
"Every individual, whosename does not figure in the
final NRC, can representhis/her case in front of theappellate authority i.e. for-eigner tribunals," it said.
The Citizenship(Registration of Citizens andIssue of National IdentityCards) Rules, 2003 are alsobeing amended accordingly.
To maintain law and order,the ministry said, central secu-rity forces are being providedto the state.
The Union Home Ministryand the Assam governmenthave held extensive delibera-tions in recent weeks, the state-ment said.
When the draft NRC waspublished on July 30, 2018,there was a huge controversyover the exclusion of 40.7 lakhpeople from it. The draft NRCincluded the names of 2.9crore people out of the total3.29 crore applications.
In the list published in June2019, over a lakh more peoplewere excluded.
PNS nTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM
Malayalam superstar ManjuWarrier and her film crewwere among those stranded inHimachal Pradesh as flashfloods and landslides blockedroads in many parts of thestate. Three days of heavyrain led to snapping of sever-al key road links. They havebeen rescued and are beingmoved to safety, the HimachalPradesh Chief Minister said.
Around 30 to 40 people,including Manu Warrier, film-maker Sanal KumarSasidharan and the crew of afilm they were shooting forwere stuck in the hill state'sChattru. Around 200 peoplewere stuck in the flood-affect-ed area.
"They were taken out of thearea a short while ago and sent
in vehicles safely," HimachalPradesh Chief Minister JairamThakur told reporters.
The actress managed to callher brother on Monday nightat around 9 pm through asatellite phone as telephonelines were not working.
She said they were runningout of food and other essen-tials which were likely to lastjust another day, according tothe brother Madhu Warrier.
PNS n KOLKATA
The Calcutta High Court onTuesday extended the protec-tion from arrest to WestBengal CID AdditionalDirector General RajeevKumar in connection withthe Saradha chit-fund scam.
Justice Madhumati Mitraextended Kumar's interim pro-tection till August 28 after aCBI counsel submitted beforeher that his senior was out oftown in connection withanother case. The junior coun-sel for the CBI prayed for anadjournment of hearing ofKumar's petition seekingquashing of a notice served onhim by the agency to appearfor questioning in connec-tion with the Rs 2,500-crorescam. The court said the mat-ter would be heard again onAugust 27. Kumar, a formercommissioner of KolkataPolice and Bidhannagar Police,was appointed ADG, CID, bythe Mamata Banerjee-led gov-ernment before the 2019 LokSabha election.
PNS n PUDUCHERRY
Senior Congress leader MukulWasnik Tuesday charged theNDA government at theCentre with trying to "stran-gulate" the democraticallyelected government inPuducherry.
Addressing a meeting to cel-ebrate the 75th birth anniver-sary of late Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi Tuesday here,Wasnik said the Centre was"creating problems" for the ter-ritorial government.
"But, Chief Minister VNarayanasamy and his cabinetcolleagues would fight out thechallenge posed by the Centreand they would all be suc-cessful in their efforts to pro-tect democracy."
The All India CongressCommittee General Secretaryrecalled that late leader RajivGandhi had launched severalmissions to promote technol-ogy, literacy, empowermentof women and also country`seconomic growth.
Hitting out at the centralgovernment for withdrawingthe special status granted toJammu and Kashmir, wasniksaid "Jammu and Kashmirhad a state government. Butnow it had been reduced to a
status of a Union Territory andtwo Union Territories havebeen carved out of Jammu andKashmir."
"This is for the first time astate had been reduced to aUnion Territory. This is thestyle of functioning of thecentral government," he said.
The Congress leader calledupon the party cadre to take apledge on the occasion toensure that the mission ofRajiv Gandhi to make Indiaastrong democratic countrywas achieved.
"We will not compromisewhenever democracy isattacked.
It is our bold and cleardetermination," he added.
PNS n BHOPAL
Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Kamal Nath onTuesday dubbed the arrest ofhis nephew Ratul Puri in amoney laundering case as"action with malicious inten-tion", even as the BJP said theEnforcement Directorate'smove was based on its inves-tigation.
Accusing the Union gov-ernment of using the centralagencies to target leaders likeformer finance minister PChidambaram and others,Nath expressed hope that thecourt will take a right decisionin the case.
Puri, a businessman, wasarrested late Monday night bythe Enforcement Directorate(ED) under provisions of the
Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) afterhe appeared before the centralprobe agency in New Delhi.
He was arrested by the EDin a fresh case of money laun-dering linked to an alleged Rs354 crore bank loan fraudcase.
Reacting to it, Nath said, "Ihave no connection with their(Puri's) business. But, I think
the arrest appears to be anaction take with maliciousintention."
"It is sad that all the agenciesare being misused for politicalpurpose," he told reporters onthe sidelines of a programmeorganised here to mark formerprime minister Rajiv Gandhi'sbirth anniversary.
Nath was asked a questionabout Puri's arrest. Accusingthe Centre of using its agenciesto target leaders likeChidambaram, others andindustrialists, the chief minis-ter said, "I don't bother aboutanything."
The ED has summonedChidambaram in connectionwith its money launderingprobe into alleged aviationrelated financial irregularitiesduring the UPA dispensation.
PNS n PUNE
On the occasion of the sixthdeath anniversary of NarendraDabholkar on Tuesday, hisfamily members and activistsdemanded arrest of "real per-petrators" responsible forkilling the rationalist.
Members of Dabholkar-founded AndhashradhaNirmulan Samiti (ANS) andhis family members organiseda protest march at theOmkareshwar bridge whereDabholkar, 68, was shot deadby motorcycle-borne assailantsduring a morning walk on thisday in 2013.
The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) is cur-
rently probing the case.As per the chargesheet filed
by the CBI in June, 2016,Hindu Janajagruti Samitimember Virendra Tawde wasthe alleged mastermindbehind Dabholkar's killing.
"It has been six years nowsince my father was killed butthe probe has stopped at onepoint. Before his deathanniversary in 2018, the sus-pected shooters were arrestedand it was expected that realperpetrators too would beexposed, but in reality nothinghappened," said HameedDabholkar. He said the casehas progressed only because ithas been monitored by thehigh court.
PNS n NEW DELHI
Former prime ministerManmohan Singh on Tuesdaysaid "unpleasant trends" ofgrowing intolerance, commu-nal polarisation, and incidentsof violent crimes propelled byhatred of certain groups willdamage our polity.
Remembering former primeminister Rajiv Gandhi on his75th birth anniversary, he saidthese trends are repugnant topromotion of peace, nationalintegration and communal har-mony, which are cherishedobjectives enshrined in ourConstitution.
"All of us need to reflect onhow we can contribute toarresting these trends," he said.
Recalling Rajiv Gandhi'swords, Singh said, "Nothing ismore important than the unityand integrity of our nation.India is indivisible. Secularismis the bedrock of our nation-hood. It implies more than tol-erance. It involves an activeeffort for harmony."
"No religion preaches hatredand intolerance. Vested inter-
ests, both external and internal,are inciting and exploitingcommunal passions and vio-lence to divide India," he said.
Singh said another cause forsolemn reflection today is some"disturbing trends" that ourcountry has been witnessingover past few years.
"These unpleasant trends ofgrowing intolerance, commu-nal polarisation, growing inci-dents of violent crimes pro-pelled by hatred of certaingroups and of mobs taking thelaw in their own hands can onlydamage our polity," the formerprime minister said.
He said Gandhi's birth
anniversary is an occasion toremember values of broad sec-ular outlook, spirit of tolerance,commitment to communalharmony and empathy to oth-ers, which define our nation-hood.
"Our homage to Rajiv jishould not only be a remem-brance of his extraordinarypersonality and contribution tonation building - it should alsobe marked by a reaffirmation ofour commitment to abide by
these very values," he said.Describing Gandhi as an
"illustrious" and a young formerprime minister who was a truevisionary, Singh said he trulyset the direction for equippingour nation for entering the newmillennium with a progressive,modern and scientific outlook.
Singh also noted that majorstrides in communication andinformation technology, instrengthening democracy atthe grass roots level, in educa-tion, in ending the decade-oldinsurgency movement inMizoram, in opening a freshdialogue with China, in launch-ing technology missions, havebeen the direct results of hisvision and efforts.
They have given us today afirm platform to launch furtherinitiatives for growth and devel-opment, he said.
He also said homage to RajivGandhi should not only be aremembrance of his extraordi-nary personality and contribu-tion to nation building, but alsobe marked by a reaffirmation ofour commitment to abide bythese values.
"Thus, non-inclusion of aperson's name inNRC does not byitself amount tohim/her beingdeclared as aforeigner," it said
"No religionpreaches hatredand intolerance.Vested interests,both external andinternal, areinciting andexploitingcommunalpassions andviolence to divideIndia," he said
Mukul Wasnik
SARADHA SCAM
HC extendsprotectionto Kumar
Manmohan Singh
‘Unpleasant trends of intolerance,polarisation can damage our polity’
Dabholkar's kin seekarrest of ‘real killers’
Manju Warrier
Actor Manju, crewstuck due to HP floods
Mamata Banerjee
This additional assistance is over andabove the funds released by Centre inthe State Disaster Response Fund(SDRF) already placed at the disposalof states
Kamal Nath
Puri's arrest: Nath dubs it actionwith ‘malicious intention'As part of the programme, over 1,000
party leaders are visiting 10,000villages to redress the grievances of people
GOVT SAYS NON-INCLUSION DOES NOT MAKE ONE FOREIGNER
ALLAYS FEARS ON NRC ‘Centre trying tostrangulate electedgovt in Pondy’
The outcome of External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar’s visit toChina has been positive, not onlyin terms of India explaining itsstand but also clearing the air for
future exchanges. The External AffairsMinister is not only a distinguished diplomatbut having been India’s Ambassador toChina, he knows the system and personali-ties whom he has to deal with. One majorpoint made by him to China’s ForeignMinister Wang Yi was to emphasise that thefuture of the India-China relationship willdepend on “mutual sensitivity” to eachother’s “core concerns.” In return, MinisterWang Yi emphasised “the five principles ofpeaceful co-existence”, which have “funda-mental interest and long-term interest of ourtwo peoples and also contribute to worldpeace and human progress.” As an immedi-ate measure, India and China signed fouragreements covering cultural exchanges,healthcare, sports and cooperation in muse-um management. In particular, bothJaishankar and Yi emphasised the importanceof cooperation in the field of traditional med-icine, wherein both China and India, the twomost ancient civilisations in the modernworld, have cumulative knowledge.
The time has come now to provide a neworientation in China-India relations. In theeconomic field, bilateral trade between the twocountries touched almost $90 billion in2017-18 but trade deficit increased to $62.9billion in China’s favour. China must followLao Tzu: “If you do not change direction, youmay end up where you are heading.” It clear-ly has interests which are long term, given itsancient history and traditions and it isunlikely that it would think in terms of mereshort-term benefits that could lead to frictionand disputes. Our External Affairs Ministerclearly mentioned that any bilateral differencesshould not become disputes.
China has major ambitions to emerge asthe largest and most influential global powerin the world. Its growth rate has been phe-nomenal and poverty, which was widelyprevalent, has more or less been completelyeliminated. This writer first visited China in1981 and today, the country representsprogress which most other nations haveachieved in almost a century. Yet, China can-not ignore the fact that it shares a large bor-der with India and the latter is a rising powerin a complex world. There is every need forthe two nations to come together and worktowards the establishment of global peace andsecurity.
One major area where the two countriesmust cooperate is in respect of promoting apattern of sustainable development whichdeviates substantially from the Westernmodel. Unfortunately, both nations have beenfollowing this model. China in particular hasadopted it much too rapidly with major eco-nomic success but with some adverse conse-quences both at the global and national lev-els. Gandhiji was not in any way exaggerat-
ing when he predicted that for thecivilised West “a time is comingwhen those who are in the madrush today of multiplying theirwants, will retrace their steps andsay; what have we done….Modern civilisation is such thatone has only to be patient and itwill be self-destroyed.” What wefind across the entire world,which is mindlessly aping theWestern model, is human-induced climate change resultingfrom the burning of fossil fuels,a loss of biodiversity and destruc-tion of the earth’s ecosystems.
China and India are largecountries, which are also suffer-ing from the consequences ofthese disastrous trends. As theIntergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) has pro-jected and as is becomingincreasingly evident today, thefrequency and intensity ofextreme events is rapidly on theincrease. These take place in theform of heat waves, extremeprecipitation events and severalsea level related disasters. Thereare areas which are suffering fromprolonged drought, which at thesame time, witness floods duringcertain seasons.
China already has a majorproblem of water scarcity, partic-ularly in its western region. India,too, is suffering from the conse-quences of global climate change,
which clearly makes this a “coreconcern” for both societies. It isalso important for the populationof China and India to set a newpath of development which is rel-evant not only for the two coun-tries but also for the rest of theworld. Together, China and Indiaare close to three billion peoplein a world which holds today anestimated 7.7 billion. Clearly,therefore, whatever path is set bythe two countries will have amajor influence on the world asa whole.
An area in which coopera-tion is needed would be to devel-op and use renewable sources ofenergy. The IPCC has clearlyassessed the reasons for theworld to keep within the 1.5oClimit by the end of the century.It has also defined the implica-tions of land use, including mas-sive consumption of meat, whichis totally unsustainable. Today,China has increased its con-sumption of all forms of meat toa huge level. However, fortunate-ly, it is one of the leaders in theuse of renewable energy where-in both countries would derivemutual benefits from workingtogether.
In Prime Minister Modi’sIndependence Day speech, heemphasised the need for waterconservation, including precisionagriculture, rainwater harvesting
and waste water treatment. Healso highlighted the indiscrimi-nate use of plastic. Additionally,he addressed the need for cuttingdown on the use of chemical fer-tilisers in agriculture by up to 25per cent. He stated: “This wouldbe a great service to the nation.This would be a great step in sav-ing our Mother Earth.”
China and India can worktowards the use of bio-fertilis-ers, which would enable us todo away with chemical fertilis-ers. “Saving our Mother Earth”is clearly a core concern forboth societies. This writer hasinteracted with those responsi-ble for conceptualising a facil-ity called “Science City”, whichis to be established outsideBeijing over an area of 100square kilometres.
The ambition behind thisinitiative is to see that Chinaaddresses global problems of along-term nature. PerhapsIndia could also join handswith China, with delineation ofprinciples governing intellectu-al property and clear areas ofcommon endeavour to cooper-ate in “Science City” so that wework towards developing glob-al solutions for a sustainablefuture.
(The writer is former chair-man, Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change, 2002-15)
At the memorial of the late great SushmaSwaraj, many mourners noted how theformer Foreign Minister had vacated her
official accommodation soon after leaving theGovernment. Her actions are in direct con-trast to the shameful and thuggish behaviourof Jat leader Ajit Singh, who tried to hold onto his official quarters even after being trashedat the hustings. He further tried to hire goonsto threaten the Government back in 2014.Thankfully, Singh realised that he could notmuster any public sympathy for his squat-
ting, which he tried to rationalise calling it a “matter of Jat pride” and left hishouse in a huff. But others like Adhir Ranjan Choudhury of the Congress, whorefused to give up his ministerial quarters after his party’s defeat in 2014, hadto be physically evicted. Now in 2019, the Modi Government is taking it uponitself to ensure that Members of Parliament (MPs) do not overstay their wel-come in Government housing. It has given errant MPs and former Ministers,several of them members of the BJP, a week to vacate their houses.
Frankly, this move was long overdue and there should be no quarter given.Several MPs have used all sorts of excuses to overstay their welcome. Somehave moved the courts to get stay orders but after the Supreme Court ordereda cleanup in 2013, that avenue was closed. However, some high-security indi-viduals, who are in the ‘Z+’ security category, such as LK Advani and PriyankaGandhi, might be allowed to remain in exclusive housing because they are eas-ier to protect. Government housing is a privilege that parliamentarians enjoy onlyfor their term and this rule has to be enforced. If previous occupants do not leave,how will new MPs and Ministers function? Just because a person wants to retaina fancy New Delhi address, he/she should pay the same market rentals in pri-vate colonies that ordinary citizens do. Nobody should have an extremely inflat-ed sense of self like Ajit Singh, a man now reduced to being a political nobody,ignored by the community for whom he said he wanted to keep his house. Atthe same time, the shortage of housing in central Delhi is also evidence of theneed to build new and better housing facilities for Government servants, defencepersonnel and parliamentarians in the centre of the city. Several older Governmentcolonies and many bungalows built in ‘Lutyens Delhi’ are showing signs of age.They are in desperate need of repair if not outright reconstruction. Old rules donot apply to housing anymore and old structures must be removed.
Whatever be the domestic apprehen-sions about the many controversialmoves of Modi 2.0, particularly over
the revocation of Article 370 and reorganisa-tion of Jammu and Kashmir, diplomatically ithas managed to keep the opinion of the bigpower players on its side. Considering 14 ofthe 15 members at the UN Security Councilwere largely dismissive of Kashmir as a mat-ter to be settled bilaterally and with China hav-ing no locus standi in the matter as it has beenreorganising its own territories and legitimis-
ing PoK, India is moving to now matters maritime. And in a direct challenge toChina’s “string of pearls” approach in the Indian Ocean Rim (IOR), one that hasits military and commercial facilities dotting our littoral states, from the Chinesemainland to the Horn of Africa, India is looking to France to narrow down itshawk’s eyes. India’s new space endeavour with France, where the two coun-tries will launch 8-10 satellites as part of a “constellation” for maritime surveil-lance, will help safeguard strategic interests at sea. This new venture, to be finalisedduring Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris, will provide an inside-outinformation about developments over, on and under the sea surface and coastalareas. This has become almost a necessity considering China is known to havebuilt artificial islands over the last decade or so. Besides, its interest in theScarborough Shoal near the Philippines and its military fortification of islands inthe South China Sea have complicated the security environment. Consideringthat France has been supportive of India’s position and has even spearheadedresolutions to protect it from Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the UN, there couldbe no better ally in this project of a larger national security.
The Chinese belligerence on our waters is worrisome simply because sealines run through several major maritime choke points such as the Strait of Mandeb,the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz and the Lombok Strait as well as otherstrategic maritime centres in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives andSomalia. Right now, China has effectively encircled India and reinforced its supe-riority by setting up outposts and ports in countries which are beholden to it cour-tesy the economic projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. Apart from mili-tary muscularity, such control also bodes ill for the ease of trade in these waters.India itself conducts nearly 40 per cent of its trade with littoral nations along IORand has been consistently working with some of them to preserve the integri-ty, inviolability and freedom of oceanic channels. While we have been conduct-ing joint naval exercises, fact is our Navy is not as cutting edge as China’s, hencethe need for pre-emptive surveillance. The new age of conflicts means that weare as prone to the dangers of maritime terrorism, smuggling, transnational crime,drug trafficking, illegal immigration besides climate change issues. This satel-lite cluster will, therefore, monitor sea traffic management. While the IOR is ofconcern to India, France, too, has its territories spread across the Indian, Pacificand Atlantic Oceans and is seeking cooperation on its vigil campaign. India wasa natural choice as a partner because France has had space cooperation withus for about six decades and is now involved even in ISRO’s human missionprogramme, Gaganyaan. This alliance is expected to continue in our future inter-planetary endeavours. Of late, India has found a strategic and technological sound-ing board in France as its relations with others have their own set boxes — Russiaremains our oldest defence partner and despite leaning towards China for prac-tical reasons, still honours the legacy of a shared past. China, despite every-thing that is disputed, remains our key trading partner and the US is a new-foundally. Over the decades, India and France have emerged as true democratic part-ners, who honour the spirit of international law, and have been developing coop-eration in counter-terrorism, intelligence-sharing and cooperation on investiga-tions and judicial processes. Despite global outcry over the nuclear tests in 1998,France was the first to resume nuclear talks with India and among the first topush nuclear trade in later years. One area that remains unexplored is that ofbilateral trade between the two. On the basis of this trust, India may even becomea middle power with its own bargaining chips.
French eye
Strengthen data law
Sir — Agro-chemical productstake a long time to grow. In addi-tion, new molecules at presenttake about six to seven years to beregistered. The bureaucraticprocess delays the delivery of theproducts to farmers, leaving themwith no option but to buy cheap-er, low-quality products. It isrecommended that theGovernment look into this issueat the earliest.
Also, while Indian formula-tions are mostly generic productsas research and development(R&D) is expensive, overseascompanies frequently spread theirassortment and are eager to investin India on product R&D andmarketing. Data selectiveness inthe agrochemicals sector will notonly delay the entry of generics bycreating an additional period oflegal monopoly but will also makeagrochemicals or pesticides unaf-fordable to Indian farmers. Dataprotection or selectiveness willobstruct growth of indigenousmanufacturers and will workagainst the Government’s vision of“Make in India.”
Vijaykumar HKRaichur
Nurture ties with Bhutan
Sir — In the backdrop of China’spropensity to open diplomaticties, Prime Minister NarendraModi’s second visit to Bhutan notonly weighed heavily on the bilat-eral front but was also an oppor-tunity to woo the youth overthere. The Prime Minister’s grandwelcome on the streets from
Paro to Thimpu spoke volumesabout his popularity among theBhutanese people.
India’s long-term commit-ment to foster economic and cul-tural ties with Bhutan has beenvital in developing a strong bondwith the neighbouring country.This visit marked a new chapter inrelations between the two coun-tries. A total of 10 Memoranda ofUnderstanding (MoUs) were
signed and the Prime Minister didnot miss the opportunity to nar-rate the Indian story to the youthover there. However, it is also a factthat with the world growing, andmore strategic powers courtingBhutan, much remains to be doneto retain ties. Both India andBhutan must address each other’sconcerns.
Janga Bahadur SunuwarBagrakote
Challenging times
Sir — Internet services haveagain been suspended in theJammu and Kashmir region. Postthe abrogation of Article 370, theGovernment was bound to facechallenges in restoring normalcyin the Valley. We will also need tocontinue engaging with the worldcommunity over current andpast issues over Jammu &Kashmir with alacrity and lessreservation. This, too, will be achallenge. So, the need for theGovernment is to remain trans-parent across the aisle. More sowhen this historical step is boundto entail far-reaching socio-polit-ical connotations.
The Government must alsorealise that a strong Oppositionis needed to sustain our democ-ratic ethos. And, hence, it needsto be nurtured. Tide and timeswill constantly impact and testour mettle — the J&K issue is butone of them. The strife to addincremental value and strength toour polity will never cease.
The time has come to provide new orientation to India-China relations. The two nationsmust come together and work towards the establishment of global peace and security
Choosing scripts that areradical and are not easilyacceptable by another artiste,I think that is my safetybracket, my zone.
Actor—Ayushmann Khurrana
I cut back $1.3 billion a year toPakistan. When I cut it back, Ihave a better relationship with — as you know, we have a great relationship.
US President—Donald Trump
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
Schools cannot foster divisiveness
It was a crying shame that in some schools in TamilNadu, students were made to wear colour-coded wristbands as “caste markers” as distinct from religious
threads. The wrist bands — which came in hues of red,yellow, green and saffron — were giveaways of the wear-ers’ caste identity. How students were looked at and treat-ed (with respect or contempt) depended on the wristbands they wore. To be branded like this is the ultimatehumiliation. There can be nothing more dehumanisingand degrading than designating pupils as lower castesand higher castes. The practice underlines that there isno hope of escape from caste even for school kids. Itwidens the rifts between castes. It is a stain on the so-called proud culture of Tamil Nadu.
We are at loss to understand how it became pos-sible for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(AIADMK), a party with roots in the Dravidian movement,to validate the naked display of caste discrimination. Thehumiliation of lower caste people is accepted as a social
and cultural norm. Caste is premised on the notions ofpurity and pollution and superiority and inferiority. Itnegates the noble idea of equality contained in a Tamilverse Pirappu okkum ella uyirkum — all lives are equalin birth. The emergence of a new India is not possiblewithout breaking the hideous chains of caste.
At a time when the BJPGovernment is throttlingpro-people laws, the RSShas raised the issue ofdebate on reservation.
Congress leader—Priyanka Gandhi
India to launch 8-10 satellites with France as part of a ‘constellation’ for maritime surveillance
The poor often get unfairly tarnished for squatting on publicproperty whereas the worst culprits are entitled politicians
The tension and anxiety kept onbuilding as the clock ticked. Itwas a great relief and joy whenthe Chandrayaan-2 was put intothe lunar orbit successfully.
ISRO Chairman—K Sivan
The overleverage fix
I HAVE NO CONNECTION WITH THEIR (PURI’S)BUSINESS. BUT, I THINK THE ARREST APPEARS TO BE
AN ACTION TAKEN WITH MALICIOUS INTENTION. —MADHYA PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER
KAMAL NATH
ED TOOK ACTION ON BASIS OF ITS PROBE. PEOPLEINVOLVED IN PLUNDERING COUNTRY’S MONEYWOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO GO SCOT-FREE.—MADHYA PRADESH BJP SPOKESMAN RAJNEESH AGRAWAL
POINTCOUNTERPOINT
The recent suicide by Café Coffee Dayowner jolted every coffee lover in thecountry and brought to the fore the grim
reality that high debt can be dangerous for acompany. A business is said to be overlever-aged when it carries too much debt and isunable to make interest payments on loans andmeet other expenses.
Overleveraged companies are often unable topay operating expenses because of the burdenbrought on by debt in the form of interest pay-ments and principal repayments. Overleveragingcan sometimes lead to a downward financial spi-ral where the company cannot generate enoughrevenue to make the debt payments and pay itsusual operating expenses. This leads to the com-pany having to borrow more to stay in operation,and the problem gets worse. This spiral usuallyends when the company closes its doors or filesfor bankruptcy protection.
A less leveraged company can be betterpositioned to sustain drops in revenue becausethey do not have the same expensive debt-relat-ed burden on their cash flow. Businesses thatborrow money to add to a product line,expand internationally, or upgrade their facil-ities are often better able to offset the risk theytake on when borrowing.
Leverage can be measured by financial lever-age ratios, sometimes called equity or debtratios, which measure the value of equity in a com-pany by analyzing its overall debt picture. Theseratios either compare debt or equity to assets aswell as shares outstanding to measure the truevalue of the equity in a business.
This shows how much of the companyassets belong to the shareholders rather than cred-itors. When shareholders own a majority of theassets, the company is said to be less leveraged.When creditors own a majority of the assets, thecompany is considered highly leveraged. All ofthese measurements are important for investorsto understand how risky the capital structure ofa company is and if it is worth investing in.
The most common financial leverage ratiosare debt ratios, debt-equity ratios and equity ratios.Debt ratio is a solvency ratio that measures a firm’stotal liabilities as a percentage of its total assets.In a sense, the debt ratio shows a company’s abil-ity to pay off its liabilities with its assets. In otherwords, this shows how many assets the compa-ny must sell in order to pay off all its liabilities.
The debt to equity ratio is a financial, liq-uidity ratio that compares a company’s total debtto total equity. The debt to equity ratio showsthe percentage of company financing thatcomes from creditors and investors. A higherdebt to equity ratio indicates that more credi-tor financing, i.e., bank loans, is being used thaninvestor financing, i.e., shareholders.
The equity ratio is an investment leverageor solvency ratio that measures the amount ofassets that are financed by the owner’s invest-ments by comparing the total equity in the com-pany to the total assets.
In fact, some years ago, a team of financialscholars at Stanford Graduate School of Businessand at Germany’s Max Planck Institute studiedbanks and found that they have become “addict-
ed” to increasing their debt levels steadily.According to them, “leverage begets leverage”.However, it was further analysed that other cor-porations have become addicted to debt, evenwhen it reduces the total value of the enterprise.Once a company begins to take on debt, they say,the leverage becomes almost “irreversible.”Shareholders will generally oppose measures thatreduce debt and support moves to increase itwhenever the opportunity arises.
According to Paul Pfleiderer, a professor offinance at Stanford, taking leverage is like eat-ing potato chips. One cannot stick to the com-mitment of eating just a few chips. So, if one can-not stop after eating just one chip, one might bebetter off not eating them at all.
The authors argue that since reducing debtentails a transfer of risk - and wealth - fromshareholders to creditors, there is a clear disin-centive for shareholders to cut back on borrow-ing. If a company buys back its bonds, for exam-ple, bondholders will demand a premiumabove the current market price for those bonds.That’s because bondholders will insist that thebuyback price reflect the fact that the remain-ing debt will be at less risk of default.
In other words, bondholders get all the ben-efits of debt reduction and shareholders have tofoot the cost upfront. Government tax policymakes companies even more biased towardhigher debt, because it allows companies to deductinterest payments from their taxable income.
In theory, creditors can protect themselvesby insisting on contracts or “covenants” that restricta company’s ability to increase its leverage in thefuture. Among other things, covenants canrestrict a company from selling additional bondsor making big payouts to shareholders, whichreduce the company’s equity.
In practice, the authors argue, covenants aredifficult to enforce. Most covenants give compa-nies at least some discretion to take on more debt,
because companies need flexibility in dealing withnew opportunities and problems. On top of that,the creditors are often dispersed and unable to takea unified position.
The most obvious risk of high debt is theincreased danger of falling into financial distressor even bankruptcy. But on the other hand, ris-ing leverage can also make companies reluctantto invest in promising new projects.
That’s because part of the increase in valuegenerated by an investment would flow not to theshareholders but to the creditors, because theirbonds and loans would become more secure.Corporate boards take a hard new look at howmuch they compensate management throughstock options and other grants of equity in thecompany. The more money managers earn fromgrants of stock and options, rather than from theirsalaries, the more they will align their self-inter-est with shareholders rather than creditors
As bad as it may seem, at some point, almostall businesses must take out loans. Debt financ-ing can be attractive to business owners becausebanks won’t dictate how they should spend themoney and they don’t have to split up compa-ny ownership. Highly leveraged companies arevery sensitive to economic declines and at high-er risk for bankruptcy.
There are several problems of a highly lever-aged company. First, the lenders require borrow-ers to pay back their loan in a timely manner.This becomes a problem for fledgling compa-nies that borrow money for projects with long-term returns. If payments come due before thecompany starts seeing returns, loan repaymentscan be a crippling expense.
Paying back the loan on a regular basismeans less money to finance operations andinvest in growth opportunities.
Second, substantial loan payments can eas-ily cripple a highly leveraged company. A com-pany doesn’t have an obligation to repay capi-
tal from equity sources. However, banks and lenders have top senior-
ity when it comes to repayment in the event ofa bankruptcy. This means that lenders will getpaid out before anyone else, including the com-pany owner. If the company has a secured loan,the bank can repossess company assets.Depending on the business structure and theterms of the loan, the owner of the company mayalso be personally liable for the loan repayment.
Third, just like with individual lending, banksscrutinize corporate credit reports before dolingout more loans. Banks are unlikely to provide fur-ther funding to highly leveraged organizations.Not only are these companies at high risk forbankruptcy, the new lender might not get paidback if the company goes under.
Older loans typically carry higher senioritycompared to newer loans, so lenders are hesi-tant to put themselves at the bottom of the listfor recouping their investment. In the event abank does issue a loan, the interest rate will behigh enough to account for that increased risk.
Fourth, one of the options a company hasto reduce its financial leverage is to increase theamount of equity capital.
However, investors rarely give money tohighly leveraged businesses. Investors avoid highly leveraged companies for all the same reasons lenders do, plus they’re the last in lineto get repaid.
If an investor is willing to invest in a high-ly leveraged company they’ll expect to receive anespecially large percentage of ownership inexchange for their money.
It’s important that further research shouldbe done to shed light on why companies canbecome hooked to high debt. As they say aboutother forms of addiction, admitting you have aproblem is the first step towards solving it.
(The writer is Assistant Professor, AmityUniversity)
More research must be done as to why firms become hooked to high debt. As theysay about addiction, admitting you have a problem is the first step towards solving it
analysis 07F I R S T C O L U M N
Reunification ofIndia a necessity
MARKANDEY KATJU
The idea of Indian reunification is one whosetime has come though there’s no doubt that it
will take a long time to achieve. However, it must be under a strong, liberal leadership
HIMA BINDU KOTA
For a long time, I have been propagating the idea that India,Pakistan and Bangladesh should reunite under a secu-lar government for their mutual good (see the Mission
Statement and articles on indianreunificationassociation.co.in).I have long said that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are real-ly one country, with a common culture, and were one for cen-turies.
Many people have criticised this idea, more so in lightof the recent developments in the subcontinent. ManyPakistanis, including Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, saythat recent developments in the region prove that the founderof Pakistan, MA Jinnah, was right in insisting that Muslimsget their own homeland otherwise atrocities (e.g. lynching,attacks and incarceration of Muslims for long periods ontrumped-up charges) would be committed on them in a unit-ed India. So these developments prove that Partition was goodfor Muslims, and the idea of Indian reunification is only a pipedream, they point out.
My reply is as follows: Our aim must be to create a high-ly industrialised country, because only then can we gener-ate the wealth needed for the welfare of our people and givethem decent lives. Only a high level of industrialisation cancreate millions of jobs to wipe out unemployment.
The Partition of India in 1947, and creation of an Islamicstate, which was a historical British swindle on the basis ofthe bogus two-nation theory, was aimed at preventing thisgrowth. If India emerges as another China, then, with its cheaplabour, our industries will undercut their rivals from devel-oped countries. Who will buy their costly goods then and won’ttheir industries shut down? One China has become a headachefor the West. Will they permit another?
So the secret understanding among developed countriesis that India must not be allowed to emerge as a modern indus-trial giant like China. To prevent that, Indians must remaindivided on the basis of religion, caste, region etc.
All this talk of improving relations between India andPakistan (such as that touted by the campaign Aman ki Asha)is unrealistic and nonsense. The very purpose of creatingPakistan as an Islamic state was that there shouldn’t be peacebut hostility between the two neighbors and Hindus andMuslims. If there are good relations then the very purposeof creating Pakistan will be defeated.
Our common enemy is massive poverty, record unem-ployment, appalling child malnourishment, farmers in distress,spiralling prices, ignorance, lack of healthcare, unabated cor-ruption, atrocities on minorities, etc. We waste our scant andprecious resources fighting each other instead of joining handsand fighting against these problems that are our real enemies.
To say that Partition was necessary to safeguardMuslims is puerile. First, there are as many Muslims in Indiaas in Pakistan (about 200 million in each). Second, Muslimsin Pakistan may be safe from Hindu bigots, but are they safefrom Muslim bigots? Are Ahmadis, Shias safe? Are Barelvissafe from Deobandis? They often bomb mosques, dargahs,etc. And are the Muslims there free from the evils of unem-ployment, price rise, malnourishment, ignorance, lack of health-care, corruption, etc? It was a stupid idea that creation ofPakistan will keep Muslims safe. In fact Partition has increasedthe problems of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians there.
So, unless we reunite, we will keep wasting our scantresources fighting each other, and will never become a high-ly industrialised country, and thus remain poor with many socialevils. As mentioned earlier, we are really one nation with acommon culture, and were befooled by the British into think-ing we are each other’s enemies. But how are we to reunite?
This can only be done peacefully and voluntarily, and willtake a long time, maybe 10-20 years. The communal venomwhich was injected into our body politic by vested interestsfor over a century, will take a long time to be expelled. Duringthis period, we must patiently explain to the masses the truththat we are really one nation, were one for centuries, andspread the idea of Indian reunification among them.
As Victor Hugo said, “There is one thing more powerfulthan all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whosetime has come.” The idea of Indian reunification is one whosetime has come though it will no doubt take a long time toachieve.
We will be called daydreamers by many. But whenGiuseppe Mazzini spoke of Italian unification, he too was calleda daydreamer, though the dream became a reality thanks tothe efforts of Count Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi. West andEast Germany reunited in 1990 after partition in 1945. Northand South Vietnam reunited in 1975 after a partition of over21 years.
At present, all that needs to be done is to spread the ideaof reunification, as is being done by the Indian ReunificationAssociation. Later, when the idea has gripped the imagina-tion and minds of the masses, then people will use their cre-ativity and find ways to make a peaceful reunification a real-ity.
However, it’s vital that such a reunification is under a lib-eral leadership, which while ensuring religious freedom doesnot tolerate religious bigotry from any quarter and crushesit with an iron hand. Such progressive leaders will rapidlyensure industrialization of the nation, provide for the welfareof the people and catapult India into the front ranks of theworld community. How and when such a historic transfor-mation will take place, who these leaders would be, is impos-sible to predict. But it is a necessity.
(The writer is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India)
Eyebrows were raised when PrimeMinister Narendra Modiexpressed concern about the pop-
ulation explosion in the country in hisrecent Independence Day speech.There was a feeling of surprise that thePrime Minister chose to bring up anissue that has been a ‘No- No’ for manypoliticians from the days of Emergencywhen the Indira Gandhi governmentused coercive population control mea-sures. Her Family Planning programmereceived widespread condemnationand effectively never realized its pur-pose. Later the ministry’s name waschanged to Family Welfare.
India’s population is 1.34 billion,which is nearly a four-fold increasesince Independence. Modi has reasonsfor concern as according to the WorldPopulation Prospects 2019 of theUnited Nations, India is expected to add
nearly 273 million people between 2019and 2050. Inevitably, with these figures,“India is projected to surpass China asthe world’s most populous countryaround 2027”, the report said. Thebiggest challenge for India is its unpre-paredness to accommodate such ahuge population. Looking at these fig-ures, “The time has now come that weshould take such challenges ahead,”Modi said.
Interestingly, while Modi talkedabout India’s demographic dividend inhis first term, in his second term he hasrealised that though a large populationby itself may not be a bad thing, it hasto contribute to the growth of thecountry. This needs to be supported bycapital, technology and infrastructure,as well as skills. That is why the PrimeMinister is now talking of education asa means of both moderating the risingpopulation and making it productive.
The country is already facing anacute drinking water crisis, garbage dis-posal and sewage treatment problems,inadequate rainfall, climate change,increased levels of pollution, highinfant and child mortality rate and poorstandard of living in the economicallyweaker sections.
The Prime Minister’s speech was
mainly targeted towards these poorersections of society and his appeal to themfor keeping the family small was aimedat improving their standard of living.
He is aware that the poor are miss-ing out on opportunities to climb up theeconomic and social ladder because theyhave too many mouths to feed. Makingit a nationalistic issue, he said, “Thosewho follow the policy of a small familyalso contribute to the development of thenation; it is also a form of patriotism.”
Why did Modi talk of populationexplosion now? It obviously stems fromthe fact that his hands are strengthenedafter the massive mandate he receivedin the 2019 polls.
Politically, Modi is much strongertoday, while the Opposition is weak likenever before. Add to that the PrimeMinister’s recent success in Parliamentin getting controversial Bills like TripleTalaq and abrogation of Article 370 per-taining to the special status of Jammuand Kashmir passed, despite being in aminority in the Rajya Sabha.
Second, the Indian Right-wing,including the BJP, has always expressedconcerns about the increasing minori-ty population. They feel that the Muslimsare trying to overtake Hindus in thecountry by multiplying fast. The
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)chief Mohan Bhagwat, during his annu-al Dussehra address some time ago,noted, “We need to rise above vote bankpolitics to formulate a holistic approach,equally applicable to all citizens, towardsthe population policy.”
In Parliament too, BJP membershave raised this issue. Recently RakeshSinha, a BJP Member of Parliament,introduced a Private Member’s Bill toregulate population. Earlier, another BJPmember Sanjeev Balyan, who is now aminister, had also introduced anotherBill with the backing of 124 members.
The late BJP stalwart Atal BihariVajpayee too had made such an attemptin 2000 by bringing a forward-lookingNational Population Policy. However, itmade the two-child norm a voluntarycommitment for individuals. The ModiGovernment has also followed the sameapproach that the family planning pro-gramme in India is target-free and vol-untary in nature.
Modi’s speech has triggered specu-lation that a mild interventionist popu-lation policy is not far off. It is a very sen-sitive issue both at the state level as wellas the religious level.
The North-South divide and theHindu-Muslim divide are the two
issues that raise their heads wheneverthe spotlight is on population control.While the southern states feel that theirgreat success in bringing down the pop-ulation is costing them in terms ofresources devolved from the Centre, theMinority Affairs Minister MukhtarAbbas Naqvi has claimed this week thatit is a social reform.
The Prime Minister is not one towaste words and he has used theIndependence Day speech to prepare thecountry for population regulation, goingforward. There is an urgent need toaggressively push concepts like the two-child policy, child spacing, increased useof contraceptives and voluntary sterili-sation. The two-child norm should bemade a uniform criterion for govern-ment jobs, getting aid and subsidies andother benefits. Perhaps incentives anddisincentives might work better in con-taining the size of the family. Thehealth ministry is already implementingmany of these schemes, but much morewill be needed to create awareness andto make an impact in the long run.
As India aspires to become a majoreconomic power, it’s time to definewhether a growing population is anopportunity or a danger.
(The writer is a senior journalist)
Time to defuse population bombWhile Modi talked about India’s demographic dividend in his first term, in his second term he has realised
that though a large population may not be a bad thing, it has to contribute to the country’s growth
KALYANI SHANKAR
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | AUGUST 21, 2019
www.dailypioneer.com
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | AUGUST 21, 2019 money 08
CAPSULE
Artimas Fashionsties up with ViratKohli brandKOLKATA: Artimas Fashions, asubsidiary of listed hosieryfirm Lux Industries, hasentered into a tie-up tomanufacture and market amale innerwear brand,promoted by Indian cricketcaptain Virat Kohli. Initially, the'one8' brand would beavailable on e- commerceplatforms, after which retail-channel sales would follow,Nischal Puri, the MD of city-based Artimas Fashions, said."The size of mid-to-premierinnerwear market in India is Rs5,400 crore and growing at11.5 per cent per annum," Purisaid. He said that 'one8'products would address thepreferences of the present-dayyouth of the country who areliving in 'an era of self-indulgence'. Puri said that thecompany would be knitting itsown fabric at its own factory inWest Bengal while premiumcotton would be imported,adding that the manufacturingand marketing rights of theVirat Kohli-brand in thecountry had been licensed toArtimas Fashions.
Sterling and WilsonSolar shares tumbleover 10% on debutNEW DELHI: Shares ofSterling and Wilson Solarmade a disappointing debuton the bourses on Tuesday,falling more than 10 per centover its issue price of Rs 780.The scrip opened the day atRs 700, with a discount of10.25 per cent over its issueprice on the BSE. At the NSE,shares got listed at Rs 706,down 9.48 per cent from theissue price. The Rs 3,125crore initial public offer ofShapoorji Pallonji group firmSterling and Wilson Solar Ltdwas subscribed 92 per cent.The price range for the offerwas fixed at Rs 775-780 pershare. The firm had said thatthe portion of the net proceedswould be utilised towardsfunding full repayment ofloans.
Non-life insurersregister 23% riseNEW DELHI: Non-lifeinsurance companies earned apremium income of Rs14,378.45 crore in July thisyear, up nearly 23 per centfrom a year ago, data from theInsurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority ofIndia (Irdai) showed. The 34non-life insurance firms hadcollected a premium incomeof Rs 11,715.05 crore in thecorresponding month a yearago. Of these, 25 generalinsurers recorded a rise of 14per cent in their collectivepremium in July at Rs12,275.93 crore as against Rs10,782.34 crore in the samemonth of 2018, as per Irdaidata. The seven standaloneprivate sector health insurerswitnessed a 44 per cent jumpat Rs 1,116.85 crore from Rs777.01 crore premiumcollected a year before.
PNS n BENGALURU
Wipro Limited on Tuesdayannounced a strategic part-nership with the IndianInstitute of Science (IISc) toconduct advanced appliedresearch in autonomous sys-tems, robotics and 5G space.
The two organisations havejointly set up the Wipro IIScResearch and InnovationNetwork (WIRIN), an indus-try academia collaborationunit. A group of senior pro-fessors and research stafffrom IISc and engineers,developers, architects andresearchers from theautonomous systems, robot-ics and 5G domains at Wiprowould constitute the team atWIRIN, Wipro said in a pressrelease. They would focus onthe research and develop-ment of cutting-edge tech-nologies in artificial intelli-gence, machine learning,visual computing, humancomputer interaction (HCI)and vehicle-to-everythingcommunication (V2X), itsaid.
PNS n NEW DELHI
State Bank of India (SBI), thecountry's largest lender, onTuesday announced a numberof offers including cheaperrates for home and auto loanborrowers, to cash in on festi-val fervour. Customers canavail the cheaper loans withadded benefits such as waiverin processing fees, pre-approveddigital loans and loans with noescalation in interest ratesspread across various cate-gories, SBI said in a statement.
The bank has not specifiedthe time period for which thisfestival offer would be valid.However, the move would befollowed by the other lenders aswell. "SBI has waived process-ing fees on car loans during fes-tival season. The bank is offer-ing lowest interest rate startingfrom 8.70 per cent to cus-tomers opting for car loan,with no escalation in interest,"it said. No escalation will ensurethat the customer will not haveto face fluctuation in the inter-est rate.
For customers applying for a
car loan online through thebank's digital platform likeYONO or website, a 25-basispoint concession on interest ratecan be availed, it said.
The salaried customers canalso avail the loan up to 90 percent of the car's on-road price,it said. Recently, SBI reducedmarginal cost of funds-basedlending rate (MCLR) by 15 bpsdue to which overall homeloan interest rate is now reducedby 35 bps since April 2019.Currently, the bank offerscheapest home loan with aninterest rate of 8.05 per cent asrepo rate-linked home loanand this rate will be applicableto all existing and new loanfrom September 1, it said. Withregard to personal loan, itclaimed Rs 20 lakh will be avail-able at the lowest interest ratestarting from 10.75 per centwith the longest repaymenttenure of 6 years, reducingequated-monthly instalment(EMI) burden on the cus-tomers. Additionally, salaryaccount customers can availpre-approved digital loans up toRs 5 lakh through YONO.
PNS n NEW DELHI
With an aim to further safeguardinvestors' interests and to takedefaulters to task, capital mar-ket regulator Sebi is planning tounveil a slew of reforms, includ-ing for greater checks on creditrating agencies and for reward-ing informants in insider trad-ing cases with up to Rs 1 crorereward.
The regulator is also planningto ease its norms for 'MuniBonds' to allow smart citiesand other entities undertakingtasks similar to municipalities toraise funds through this routeand get their securities listed onthe stock exchanges.
Officials said that Sebi's board,
at a meeting scheduled onWednesday in Mumbai, is alsolikely to take up issues relatingto mutual funds, startup listingplatform and buybacks, amongother agenda items.
Amid concerns over banksciting 'client confidentiality' toresist sharing of information ondelayed loan repayments andpossible defaults by their bor-rowers, Sebi is planning to tight-
en its norms to make it manda-tory for companies to providethese details to credit ratingagencies.
Amid numerous cases ofhuge loan defaults, including incases like IL&FS, rating agencieshave also come under the scan-ner for failing to flag potentialcredit risks of the securities andentities rated by them.
However, rating agencies have
often sought to shift the blameto companies and lenders byclaiming that they do not getinformation about delay inmeeting bank obligations andpayment failures, which areconsidered early indicators of adefault. Sebi is now proposing toamend its regulations for ratingagencies to ensure that any list-ed or unlisted entity, beforegetting rated, gives an explicit
consent to obtain from theirlenders and other entities fulldetails about their existing andfuture borrowings as also theirrepayment and delay or defaultof any nature and provide thesame to the rating agencies.
The move is aimed at helpingrating agencies get timely infor-mation about the rated entity'sfinancial strength and incorpo-rate it in their ratings.
In another major proposal,Sebi plans to propose that aninformant will get up to Rs 1crore reward, a hotline for shar-ing details confidentially, and apossible amnesty or settlementfor minor wrongdoings inreturn for cooperation in theprobe.
PNS n NEW DELHI
Shell India, the local arm of theNetherlands-based Royal DutchShell Plc, on Tuesday exited thecity gas business in the countryafter it sold its 10 per cent stakein Mahanagar Gas Ltd for Rs770 crore.
According to stock exchangedata, BG Asia Pacific Holdings(BGAPH), a wholly-owned sub-sidiary of Shell, sold 9.98 millionshares in the company throughblock deals at Rs 780 apiece.
Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL),where the majority stake isowned by state-owned GAILIndia Ltd, sells compressed nat-ural gas (CNG) to automobilesand piped-cooking gas to house-
holds in and around Mumbai.When MGL was listed in July
2016, Shell and GAIL held 32.5per cent stake each in the com-pany. Last year, Shell sold 24 percent of its shareholding in twotranches -- 8.5 per cent in Apriland 14 per cent in August -- in
the open market through bulkdeals. The government ofMaharashtra has 10 per centshareholding in MGL, while theremaining is with the public.Shell sold its stake in the openmarket after GAIL waived off itsfirst right of refusal. According
to the shareholding agreement,partners had the first right tobuy in case either one of themwanted to exit.
"We already have a control-ling stake. What purpose wouldit have served to buy the addi-tional stake at market price," asenior GAIL official said. Hesaid the sale price was "too high".
"It doesn't make any sense forus to buy the stake at the mar-ket price," he added.
When Shell first started dilut-ing its take in MGL in April lastyear, the company had statedthat this was "part of Shell'songoing portfolio optimisationto transform Shell into a simplercompany, delivering strongerreturns".
Shell exits city gas business in Indial Sells Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL) stake in open market
PNS n NEW DELHI
TikTok on Tuesday said itwill launch an awareness cam-paign to sensitise Indian neti-zens about safe andresponsible use of user-generated content plat-forms as the Chinesecompany looks to curbincidents of people risk-ing their lives to shootvideos. The firm, which hasdrawn flak from the Indiangovernment and courts onalleged misuse of its platform,said it has partnered with theDigital Empowerment
Foundation (DEF) to executea digital literacy programme inthe country. "As internet pen-etration grows at a rapid paceacross india, the need to drive
awareness around safeuser behaviour is feltlike never before. Webelieve that#WaitASecToReflectwill encourage all digi-tal citizens to use the
internet and online platformsin a more responsible, respect-ful and constructive manner,"TikTok Director of PublicPolicy (India) Nitin Salujasaid in a statement.
PNS n NEW DELHI
South Korean auto majorHyundai on Tuesday expand-ed its compact segment port-folio in India with the launchof Grand i10 Nios hatchback,priced between Rs 4.99 lakhand Rs 7.99 lakh (ex-show-room). The company, which ispresent in the country througha wholly-owned subsidiary,has introduced the modelwith both petrol and dieselpowertrains. The petrol vari-ants, with manual and auto-mated manual transmission(AMT), are priced between Rs4.99 lakh and Rs 7.14 lakh.
Diesel trims, includingmanual and automatic variantsare tagged between Rs 6.7 lakhand Rs 7.99 lakh.
The company claimed fuelefficiency of 20.7 km/litre forthe 1.2 litre petrol manual vari-ants and 20.5 km/litre for theAMT versions.
PNS n NEW DELHI
Property brokerage firm SquareYards, which is backed by AnilAmbani led-Reliance Group,has clocked 53 per cent growthin its revenue at Rs 59.5 crore forthe first quarter of this fiscal, atop company official said onTuesday. It had posted a revenueof Rs 38.9 crore in the year-agoperiod. During the April-Junequarter, Square Yard said thatIndian real estate operationscontributed 64 per cent to thegroup's overall revenue, fol-lowed by international realestate with 25 per cent contri-bution, while the remaining 11per cent came from the mort-gage business.
Q1FY is seasonally weakestquarter for India real estate
which follows the best quarterfor the calendar year (January-March), Square Yards CEOTanuj Shori said, adding that"launches and sales are at annu-al lows, and this year was no dif-ferent. Infact volumes were at alltime low in top 9 cities, coupledwith regulatory tightening onlending norms for mortgageproducts". On the company'sperformance, he said it hasdelivered strong results in theweak industry backdrop, with
revenues growing by 53 percent. Elaborating further, Shorisaid the distribution expansion(increase in sales employees)continued with about 80 percent jump year-on-year, con-tinuing from similar expan-sion in the last quarter.
Square Yards launched itsdeveloper enterprise platformSquare Edge last quarter and re-launched its broker aggregationplatform - Square Connect. Ithas also started a brand cam-paigns, with a view to positionthe company as first port of callfor real estate buying experience.
"We continue to ramp up dis-tribution capacity, and are cre-ating both tech and physicalinfrastructure to prepare for a100 per cent growth target inFY20.
PNS nMUMBAI
Reserve Bank deputy governorNS Vishwanathan Tuesdayexhorted bankers to ensuretimely resolution of stressedassets under the new frameworkto extract the best value andunderlined the need for dealingonly in "genuine" cases.
The central bank will becoming out with the final guide-lines for private and foreignbankers' compensation soon, hesaid, speaking at the annualindustry event Fibac.
Vishwanathan said the RBI'srevised framework on resolutionof stressed assets introduced onJune 7 is "less intrusive" as itgives banks the leeway to drafttheir own resolution plans for aparticular case.
"Timely resolution is veryimportant. I'd request you toensure that the resolutions aredone in time, not just for theregulatory requirement but alsobecause it will result in bettervaluation going forward," hesaid. "We've given a lot of free-dom to banks to determinevarious contours. We are mak-ing less intrusive regulations and
hope that banks will use this todeal with genuine stress in theirbalance sheets to address theproblem," he added.
The RBI issued the newNPA recognition and resolu-tion guidelines on June 7 afterthe Supreme Court had inApril declared the earlier oneissued on February 12, 2018 asultra vires. The new frameworklays focus on better coordina-tion between banks while deal-ing with a stressed assets bymandating them to sign inter-creditor agreements and decideon a resolution strategy in 30days, which will have to be
implemented in 180 days.Meanwhile, Vishwanathan alsosaidthe RBI will soon be com-ing up with the final guidelinesfor top management compen-sation.
"Last year we had issueddraft guidelines on revised com-pensation policy, aligning itwith global guidelines. We havegot excellent comments fromthe market, bankers and HRpractitioners and we will sooncome out with final guidelineson the revised compensationpolicy," he said.
It can be noted that in thedraft guidelines, the RBI hadproposed measures includingmaking50 percent of the com-pensation of senior officials ofprivate and foreign banks'should be variable". Accordingto media reports, the centralbank is also planning a "claw-
back" clause, such that a key offi-cial has to pay past bonuses andincomes if she has been foundto have erred in any aspect.
Vishwanathan reiterated thatthe country has adopted a flex-ible approach when it comes toadopting the post global finan-cial crisis regulations formed atthe global level, which includesbeing conservative on a fewthings and consciously deviat-ing in others.
The strategy is to "calibrate"the regulations in sync with thelocal requirements, he said, list-ing out the deviations whichhave been opted for.
The deviations include netstable funding ratio which hasbeen deferred to April 2020,adopting group exposuresframework in April 2020 evenafter adopting the large exposureframework in April 2019.
PNS n NEW DELHI
Mahindra & MahindraFinancial Services (MahindraFinance) on Tuesday said it hasentered into a joint venture dealwith Sri Lanka's Ideal Finance toacquire up to 58.2 per cent stakein the company for LKR 2 bil-lion (nearly Rs 80 crore).
Mahindra Finance will investLKR 2 billion until March 2021for up to 58.2 per cent stake inIdeal Finance, it said in a release.
The rural and semi-urbanfocussed non-banking finan-cial company (NBFC) said thejoint venture (JV) will capitaliseon Mahindra Finance's 25-yearexpertise in the financial servicesdomain and Ideal Finance'sdomestic market knowledge tobuild a market leading financialservices business in Sri Lanka.
"The strategic investment inIdeal Finance is a significant stepin Mahindra Finance's globalexpansion strategy. The com-pany has been looking atexpanding its market overseas aspart of its global growth strate-
gy. Sri Lanka, with its culturaland geographical similarity toIndia and its vibrant financialservices market, emerged as thefirst choice," it said.
With this JV, MahindraFinance aims to replicate its busi-ness model in Sri Lanka, it said,adding that the company hasfuelled the entrepreneurial aspi-rations of over 6.2 million cus-tomers in over 3,70,000 villagesin India. It manages assets undermanagement (AUM) of overUSD 10 billion.
Ideal Finance Ltd (IFL)focusses on rural and semi-urban sector, caters to com-
mercial trucks, motor cars,three-wheelers, two-wheelers,gold loans and personal loans.
IFL, which started opera-tions in 2012, has an asset baseof LKR 4.4 billion and an equi-ty base of LKR 1.1 billion and asmany as 10 branches.
"We believe that the SriLankan market holds greatpotential for growth. We see astrong, long-term growth oppor-tunity in this market and arecommitted to bringing in therequired capital and expertise to fuel this growth," said RameshIyer.
PNS n NEW DELHI
Tech giant Samsung onTuesday said it is confident ofcornering 65 per cent marketshare in the premium smart-phone segment (Rs 30,000and above) with the launch ofits flagship Galaxy Note 10and 10+ in India.
The company, which com-petes with the l ikes ofOnePlus and Apple, in thissegment, said in the first halfof 2019 (January-June), itsmarket share was at 63 percent in value terms in the pre-mium category (as per GfKdata).
"We had 52 per cent valuemarket share in the premiumsegment in 2018. This rose to63 per cent in H1 2019,"Samsung India Senior VicePresident and Head ofMarketing, Mobile BusinessRanjivjit Singh told PTI.
He added that by the year-end, the company is confidentof expanding this share fur-ther to 65 per cent and above.
"The premium category,estimated to be about Rs15,000-20,000 crore, is grow-ing at about 9-10 per cent. Weare growing at strong doubledigits and expect to grow atover 20 per cent," he said.
Apart from the Note series,the company's lineup in thepremium category includesSamsung Galaxy S series andA80. He said the Note 10series has powerful flagshipdevices that will take the pro-ductivity and creativity ofmillennial users to the nextlevel. “For the first time ever,Galaxy Note10 comes in twosizes, so consumers can findthe Note that's best for them.It has an enhanced S Pen thatconverts handwriting to dig-ital text, and enhancedSamsung DeX for PC and linkto Windows for all meetingproductivity needs of the cus-tomers," Singh added.
Engineers at Samsung R&DInstitute in Bengaluru haveworked on several of theinnovative features of the
Galaxy Note10. From August23, Galaxy Note10+ will beavai lable for Rs 79,999onwards, while GalaxyNote10 is priced at Rs 69,999.Galaxy Note10+ will be avail-able in two variants – 12GBRAM and 256GB memory,and 12GB RAM with 512GBmemory. The Note 10 has8GB RAM with 256GB inter-nal storage.
The Note 10 features 6.3-inch display, triple camerasetup (16MP+12MP+12MP)and 3500 mAh battery.
The Note 10+ has 6.8-inchdisplay, quad camera setup(16MP+12MP+12MP andVGA) and 4,300 mAh bat-tery. Both devices have10MP front camera. The SPen has been equipped withgesture control.
Hyundai drivesin Grand i10Nios at Rs 4.99L
Wipro inkspact with IIScfor research inrobotics, 5G
NS Vishwanathan
The RBI issued the new NPA recognitionand resolution guidelines on June 7 afterthe Supreme Court had in April declaredthe earlier one issued on February 12,2018 as ultra vires
Mahindra inks JV deal to acquireover 58% in Sri Lanka firm
TikTok safe usercampaign launched
Samsung eyes 65% mkt shareof India's premium smartphone SBI festival home, auto
loans cheaper rates
Square Yards’ Q1 revenue rises 53% to Rs 60 crore
Resolve stressed assetson time: RBI to bankers
Officials said that Sebi's board, at a meetingscheduled on Wednesday in Mumbai, is alsolikely to take up issues relating to mutualfunds, startup listing platform and buybacks,among other agenda items
With this JV, MahindraFinance aims to replicateits business model in SriLanka, it said, addingthat the company hasfuelled theentrepreneurialaspirations of over 6.2million customers in over3,70,000 villages in India
Sebi mulls slew of reforms tighter check on rating
* Last weekhas seen two major
films release with BatlaHouse and Mission
Mangal, both onThursday, August 15, to
cash in on the nationalholiday. Both have reaped
the benefit with goodcollection figures for the
opening day. WhileMission Mangal hasmanaged a hefty `29
crore on the opening day,Batla House has
collected about `14.75crore.
* Jabariya Jodiremains poor. The film
collects about `16.5crore for its first week.
* JudgementallHai Kya fails to
deliver.
With each year, filmmakers are facing a dearthof content as well as direction, with newgenres and ideas that are provingto be risky devoid as they areof right stars anddirectors
ith the kind of filmsthat unspool everyweek, one can con-clude that there is adearth of not onlyideas but also direc-
tion! Varied kinds of films arebeing made, as each filmmak-er is trying to come out withsomething different. Thisincludes all — big as well asmedium-range producers. Theidea seems to be taking a shotin the dark. It is all about tak-ing chances.
Some producers are fallingback on period costume dra-mas, which work out very cost-ly and are not every director’scup of tea. This genre wasavoided for a long time mainlybecause of these two reasons:capability and cost. Yet, wehave had period films likeBajirao Mastani andPadmaavat, Manikarnika andKesari. There have been a fewflops in this genre like MohenjoDaro, Rangoon and Thugs OfHindostan. The backers of suchfilms would do it only based onsaleable stars, coupled with acapable director. Still, it oftenproves risky.
Each week, a new kind of filmis dropped in the market. Forinstance, last week we hadKhandaani Shafakhana, a filmdiscussing sexual problems forthose who can make sense of thetitle! For one, sex and problemsrelated to it are not generally dis-cussed in India. Delhi and sur-rounding areas do have suchclinics but that does not makethe subject acceptable all over.
One may have thought ifVicky Donor could work, whynot take it a step further? Oddsubjects like Vicky Donor orPiku, very personal to people, dowork. However, they need to bewoven into a plausible story anddealt with a fair amount ofhumour. Recent such films arePiku, Padman, and Toilet: EkPrem Katha. This is calledreaching out to personal mattersof people. Humour is a mustsince it delivers the messagewithout making the proceedingsseem mundane.
It seems filmmaking is allabout inspirational and aware-ness films. A small film about aperson few had heard about,Paan Singh Tomar, followed byBhaag Milkha Bhaag, opened upa new genre — the biopic.Neerja, MS Dhoni: The UntoldStory and Dangal followed inquick succession. The filmindustry calls this a “daur”(trend). It does not last long,though.
Most writers who script sto-ries like Piku or Vicky Donor, ordirectors who make films likeDangal, Bhaag Milkha Bhaagand Neerja, have always had thisproblem, regarding what next.They usually have nothing thatmatches the earlier success. Nomaker seemed to have a worthysuccessor. Therefore, they goback to the usual claptrap andcome a cropper.
There were also some biopicslike Manjhi: The Mountain Manor Sachin: A Billion Dreams,where the makers just chose togo with the trend but turned the
film into a documentary. Afilm like Sachin: A BillionDreams costs crores as royaltyto the character on whose life itis based, as well as to acquirereal-life footage. The film onSachin was a victim of failing todramatise. The idea is to pick alife story and add a fair amountof fiction along with the musicas was done with the Dhoni film.
Akshay Kumar has become atorchbearer of the films thatconvert real-life stories into reellife sagas. He has been greatlysuccessful in his endeavours. Hisimage of being a thoroughbrednationalist probably adds tothe acceptability of his films. Hisinstincts and beliefs seem to bepaying up so far. Then, there isJohn Abraham. He loves toplay the incredible hulk tacklingmajor cases like the RajivGandhi assassination orPokhran nuclear tests. He hasbeen partly successful.
It is believed that there areonly seven basic storylines inthis world. Films were madeaccordingly. There was a timewhen some makers stuck tomaking religion-based ormythological films while a fewothers only made horrormovies. The mainstay for mostmakers, however, was romanceand family socials. Actionmovies were not in vogue in the
mainstream cine-ma till mid-
1970 anda c t i on ,in a mea-s u r e damount, wasa part of regularmovies. Actionmovies as suchwere rated B Grade,released only at desig-nated cinema halls, andit was left to actors likeKamran Khan and SheikhMukhtar. Dara Singh laterintroduced action movieswhere wrestling was thetheme.
There were a few cos-tume dramas andcomedies. Whilemost producersstuck to theirformula ofcatering tothe familya u d i e n c e ,some even stuckto certain alpha-bets to name theirfilms with. ProducerJ Om Prakash (whopassed away last week)named all his films start-ing with alphabet A, as didproducer Mohan Kumar.Another filmmaker, ArjunHingorani, preferred alphabetK to name his films.Filmmakers, like many others,are quite superstitious and thistrend of faith in a certain alpha-bet still prevails in filmmakerslike Rakesh Roshan, whosefilms have titles beginning withK.
Now, the genres of familysocials, horror and mythologyhave been taken away by televi-sion serials. Action films areaccepted only coming from acouple of stars. There is little
choice left for filmmakers.The limited choice is between
romance, action and comedy,with few writers and makers tojustify the latter. While ideas areborrowed from foreign films(which includes this year'sNational Award winner,Andhadhun), and films fromSouth languages are beingsought once again for remakesby a few.
So, after each successful film,the question arises — whatnext? From the records, themakers of Piku, Bhaag MilkhaBhaag, Dhoni: The UntoldStory, Dangal, Neerja and manysuch films have either deliveredflops or are at a loss for an ideafor their next! — IANS
Old movies are liketextbooks foryoungsters who wantto learn filmmaking. In thisdigital era, while we upgradeto the latest technology, wealso forget to restore andpreserve the movies we madeon celluloid. I have donemore than 90 films and I’mnot sure how many of those Ihave to save
NAGARJUNA AKKINENI
We are very happy tohelp make this a bigevent. It is our duty,
as film personalities, toshow our youngsters the
greatness of classicmovies and help them
learn how to save thosefilms. I’m requesting the
entire Telugu filmfraternity to come forward
and join this workshopAMALA AKKINENI
THERE WAS A TIME WHEN SOME MAKERS STUCK TO MAKING PATRIOTIC OR MYTHOLOGICAL FILMS, WHILE THE MAINSTAY FOR MOSTMAKERS WAS, HOWEVER, ROMANCE AND FAMILY SOCIALS
W
ld movies are liketextbooks foryoungsters whowant to learn film-making. In thisdigital era, while
we upgrade our techniquesto the latest technology, weare also forgetting to restoreand preserve the movies wemade on celluloid,” said actorNagarjuna, who launchedthe poster of the 5th editionof Film Preservation andRestoration Workshop India2019 at Annapurna Studioson Tuesday. The event wasalso attended by actress-activist Amala Akkineni, andPrincipal Secretary of IT,Government of Telangana,Jayesh Ranjan.
The one-week long work-shop would be organised byFilm Heritage Foundation inassociation with Viacom 18,and International Federation ofFilm Archives from December8 to 15 at Annapurna Studios.The workshop helps enthusi-asts to learn about varioustopics like film preservation,restoration, paper and photo-graph conservation, digitalpreservation and restoration,archive strategy, film repair,film scanning, colour correc-tion and more.
The actor further says, “Isaved my iconic movies suchas Annamayya in a harddisk, but the files got corrupt-ed years later. I’m ashamed ofmyself for not having pre-
served or restored a singlemovie of mine to date. I havedone more than 90 filmsand I’m not sure how manyof those I have to save due totheir present situation.”
Film experts from all overthe world guide participantson techniques to save cellu-loid cinema and on how todeal with issues relating todigital cinema. Nagarjunaadds, “My father used to tellme about films from theSilent Era. Now, none ofthose films has been saved.Hard disks can become unre-liable any time and so, weneed to find a solution topreserve and restore our clas-sics. These workshops start-ed four years ago in Indiaand saved more than 300films. I hope it will inspirefilm enthusiasts to join in thisworkshop and to save thecinema.”
Amala mentions that theyhave arranged 20 classroomsfor this workshop. “We arevery happy to help make thisa big event. It is our duty, asfilm personalities, to showour youngsters the greatness ofclassic movies and help themlearn how to save those films.I’m requesting the entireTelugu film fraternity to comeforward and join this work-shop.”
Jayesh Ranjan says, “I’malso running a film club —Moving Images — and wescreen old classics for cine-
ma lovers. The club startedthree months ago and has agreat response from the audi-ence. More than 300 peopleattends our screening. It isalways important to knowthe iconic movies of ourpast. We are ready to screenthe movies restored throughthis workshop.”
Sudhanshu Vats,Viacom18 CEO and MD,says, “Cinema is an integralpart of our country’s cultur-al DNA and we owe it to ourfuture generations to pass iton. This is the reason why wehave collaborated with thisworkshop. To take it further,we are also conducting around table conference withthe Telugu film fraternity todiscuss the workshop.”
Shivendra Singh, thefounder of Film HeritageFoundation, says that film isan art form and reflects thetimes we live in. “To saveIndian cinema, we startedconducting workshops since2015 and have been trainingindividuals on restoring oldcinema. More than 200 filmenthusiasts will participate inthe workshop. People fromSri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal,Bhutan, and Afghanistan areparticipating in it as well.”
The applications for theworkshop will be open fromAugust 25 to October 20.One can apply atwww.filmheritagefounda-tion.co.in
Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop India2019, which aims to preserve and restore the glory of
Indian cinema by teaching film enthusiasts on itstechniques, will begin in Hyderabad on
inger Mika Singh, who was banned by the Federationof Western India Cine Employees association(FWICE) after he performed at a wedding in Karachi,awaits the final verdict which will be out after he meetsthe members of the film body.
According to a report published in Mid Day, thefederation has said that, any artist working with Mika till the ver-dict arrives may face ban. He was reportedly speaking with ref-erence to an upcoming six-city gig in the US where Salman Khan
and Mika will be performing.Titled Up, Close and Personal
With Salman Khan, the show hasbeen scheduled for next week.Mika is expected to join them inthe Houston leg of the pro-gramme on August 28. AshokDubey, general secretary, FWICE,explained the technicalities of theban. He told Mid Day, “If weimpose a ban, it means all ourtechnicians — including actors,directors and even spot boys —will not work with Mika. Ifsomeone works with Mikaduring this ban, say Salman oranyone else, then he too will bebanned.”
Commenting on whetherthe ban applies to gigs held out-side the country, Dubey said,“Whether it’s an organiser fromthe US or any other country, wecannot stop anybody from con-ducting an event. Our policy issimple, we will not work with theperson who has been banned.”
The show has been put together bySohail Khan’s event management com-pany in coordination with one JordyPatel’s company called JA Events in Indiaand Bhavesh Patel in the US. The reportquotes Jordy as saying, “We are only dealingwith Bhavesh Patel as our contract is with him.Some local promoter in the US must have signedon Mika and added him to the line-up. Salman willhave nothing to do with Mika at the event. They willnot even interact on stage.”
Mika had on Sunday put out a video on Twitter, where fed-eration member BN Tiwari mentioned that Mika has expresseda desire to apologise to the nation.
hen the creator ofsome of the mostmemorable compo-sitions, Nationala w a r d - w i n n e rKhayyam’s death
broke on Monday night, astring of celebrities, includingLata Mangeshkar and AmitabhBachchan were left shocked.
The Bollywood musiccomposer whose
real name wasMohammedZ a h i rH a s h m ipassed awayat the age of92, late onMonday ata privateh o s p i t a lhere fol-lowing a
brief illness, an aide said. ThePadma Bhushan awardee wasadmitted to Sujay Hospital insuburban Juhu a few days agoowing to breathing issues andother age-related illnesses. “Hedied at Sujay Hospital at around9.30 pm,” a family friend said.
According to the composer’sspokesperson, Khayyam’s mor-tal remains will be kept at hisresidential complex from10 am onwardsfor people topay theirl a s t
respect. Thereafter, his funeralwill take place with full statehonours, the spokesperson said.
Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday expressedsorrow at the demise ofacclaimed music directorKhayyam, saying he will beremembered for his efforts tosupport upcoming artists.“India will remain grateful toKhayyam Sahab for giving ussome of the most memorablecompositions, which will beremembered forever,” he tweet-ed.
Modi said Khayyam will alsobe remembered for his human-itarian gestures to supportupcoming artists. “His demiseis extremely saddening,” hesaid.
celeb talksVijayawada Wednesday August 21, 2019
S
10
ctress Radhika Apte was a part of two films —Andhadhun and Padman — that baggedNational Film Awards this year. She is grate-ful, but says she isn’t crazy about awards.
“I am glad that both the films won NationalFilm Awards. I am happy and grateful for the
awards, but I don’t look at films like ‘this should win aNational award’. I just think people should watch the
film and hope they like it. I am not an award-crazyperson,” Radhika told IANS.
While Padman was declared Best Film onSocial Issues, Ayushmann Khurrana and Vicky
Kaushal jointly received the Best Actor Awardfor their performances in Andhadhun and
Uri: The Surgical Strike. Apart from theBest Actor Award, Andhadhun also
won Best Hindi Film award and anhonour for its screenplay writer
(adapted).Radhika feels
Sriram
Raghavan’s Andhadhun is a well-scriptedand shot effort. “The performances weregood. It was extremely thrilling. Every fewminutes, you would find yourself in a differ-ent turn or twist in the script. It kept youhooked throughout the plot. The story wasvery interesting,” said Radhika.
She feels that over the years, National FilmAwards have been recognising Hindi movies fortheir potential, so she doesn’t think suddenly theyare looking at Hindi cinema in a different way.She agrees content of Hindi cinema haschanged and at some level, “it has improved”.
“What’s happening today is that peoplewant to watch different cinema and morecontent, so it is a good time if a filmlike Andhadhun can fit into boththe brackets of critically-acclaimed cinema andcommercial success,”she said.
RADHIKANOT AN AWARDCRAZY PERSONA
WITH KHAYYAM,MUSIC LOST A NOTE
W
Many Bollywood celebrities and eminent personalitiespaid tribute to the legendary musician, whose funeral
will be held with full state honours
Several B-town celebritiestook to social media to pay
tribute to the composer.
Lata Mangeshkar tweeted inHindi: Legendary musician and abeautiful soul, KhayyamSaab is no more. I can'texpress in words how sadI am. An era of musicended with his demise. Ipay my tribute to him.
Anil Kapoor: A humbleman, a great composerand a true artist.Khayyam Saab was andwill remain an inspira-tion. He will truly bemissed.
Vishal Dadlani: Feels likemusic lost a note today.Khayyam Saab, thank youfor your music and yourkindness each time wemet. Wish it could havebeen more often, but I’mglad I was able to thankyou in person for the...
Kailash Kher: Fondly knownas Khayyam Saab compos-er of Kabhi Kabhi Mere DilMein, In Ankho Ki MastiKe, Dikhai Diye Yun andmany more epic songs.Thank you for leavingtreasures of music behind.RIP.
Shekhar Suman: RIPKhayyam Sahab. Theworld will miss yourmelodious music. Youwere a maestro and a gen-tleman. The music ofUmrao Jaan. Stays as oneof the best forever. Alvida!
Hansal Mehta: An entire erawas blessed with musicfrom Madan Mohan, SDBurman, Naushad,Khayyam, RD Burmanand Kalyanji Anandjiaided by singers at theirpeak and some greatpoetry. What we have ismostly mediocrity andnoise with only a fewexceptions. Sound rulesover melody and poetry.
Madhur Bhandarkar:Khayyam sir, yourimmense contribution tothe world of music willbe always remembered.
Adnan Sami: I’m extremelysaddened to learn of thedemise of our LegendaryMusic ComposerKhayyam Sahib. He iscredited with some of themost iconic film sound-tracks. Umrao Jaan,Kabhi Kabhi, RaziaSultana to name a few.God bless his soul.
Amitabh Bachchan: A legendin music. A soft-spokenamiable soul. One that con-tributed to several films andsome of the more importantones of mine pass away.Khayyam sahib for all thememorable music he con-ducted and produced.Prayers condolences.
AR Rahman: A True Patriotand a MasterSongwriter... MohammedZahur Khayyam.
AAKHRI KHAT...Aakhri Khat was Rajesh Khanna's debutfilm and on the other hand, Khayyam'slast Hindi film before his eight-yearsabbatical. The lyrics of the songs werepenned by Kaifi Azmi and the soundtrackincludes the famous song Baharon MeraJeevan Bhi Sanwaro, sung by LataMangeshkar. Bhupender Singh marked hisdebut as a playback singer with this filmalbum.
KABHIE KABHIE...Khayyam composed the music ofmegastar Amitabh Bachchan's film
Kabhie Kabhie. The film received threeFilmfare Awards for Best Lyrics, BestMusic and Best Male Playback Singer.Reportedly, Yash Chopra asked Khayyamto pray for the film's success. And KabhieKabhie broke all the records at the boxoffice!
UMRAO JAAN...The music of Rekha's Umrao Jaan wascomposed by Khayyam, however, he wasnot the first choice of the director of thefilm. Reportedly, Khayyam was broughton board after the original musiccomposer of the film and the director hadsome irreconcilable differences. He won
both the Filmfare Award and the NationalFilm Award for Best Music Director.
PHIR SUBHA HOG...IFor Phir Subha Hogi, Sahir Ludhianvirecommended Khayyam. The composeralso had to pass Raj Kapoor's test oftuning a Tanpura to get the film. Songslike Cheen O Arab Hamara and the duetversion of Woh Subah Kabhi To Aayegibecame popular among the audience.
BAZAARBazaar had many great songs. But thebest pick will always be Karoge yaad to
har baat, brilliantly sung by the giftedBhupinder Singh. Beautifully picturised onNaseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil whoare considered as the two of Hindicinema's most talented actors.
RAZIA SULTAN...Khayyam was nominated in FilmfareAwards in the category of Best MusicDirector for the music of this film. Thelyrics were penned by Jan Nisar Akhtarand Nida Fazli. However, music directorduo Laxmikant-Pyarelal was the firstchoice of the director of the film. He askedthem to rework on a particular song.When he went to meet them, he was
asked to wait as the duo was in a meeting.Feeling insulted, the director replacedthem with Khayyam.
NOORIE...The music of the film played a major rolein making Manmohan Krishna's only filmas director. The film was a huge hit at thebox office and the seventh highest-grossing film in 1979. The film starredFarooq Shaikh, Poonam Dhillon, MadanPuri and Iftekhar in lead roles.
AHISTA AHISTA...1981 was a great year of Khayyam as
three of the four albums released in theyear were hits. The songs Kabhi Kisi KoMuqammal Jahan Nahin Milta, Manateri nazar mein, Bin bulaye hum chaleaaye and Nazar se phool chunati hainazar from the film had the music loversraving it.
THODISI BEWAFAII...This is the only film in which Khayyamworked with Gulzar. And their worktogether was welcomed by everyone.Songs Hazar Raahen Mud Ke Dekhin andAaj Bichhde Hain, which were the sadsongs of separation, made a place in
everyone's heart.
REM
EMBE
RING
THE
MAE
STRO
’STI
MEL
ESS
COM
POSI
TION
S
SALMAN MAY FACE BAN IFHE WORKS WITH MIKA
ith his Tony Stark-ish goateelook getting trolled heavily —after a picture, of him with a fan,made the rounds on Mondayevening — the makers of
Nandamuri Balakrishna’s next with KSRavikumar have quickly gone into dam-age control mode and released his firstlook from the film on Tuesday.
Appearing to have gone for a com-plete makeover from head to toe, theactor, sporting a van dyke beard,looked dapper in a suit. The film’sshooting is presently going on in
Thailand and on Tuesday, the director start-ed filming an action sequence under thesupervision of a local stunt choreograph-er. After the completion of the actionsequences, some key portions will be shotthere. Later, the setting will shift toHyderabad.
The action-drama sees Sonal Chauhanand Vedika as Balayya’s romantic interests,while the likes of Jayasudha, Prakash Raj,Bhumika Chawla, Sayaji Shinde,Nagineedu, Saptagiri and Srinivas Reddyround off the supporting cast. C Kalyan isproducing the film under Happy Movies.
11
tollywoodhe teaser of MegastarChiranjeevi-starrer SyeRaa Narasimha Reddywas unveiled at agrand event inMumbai on Tuesday.
Speaking at the event, which wasattended by the principal cast andcrew comprising Kichcha Sudeep,Vijay Sethupathi, Ravi Kishan,Tamannaah and Ram Charanalong with Hindi presents FarhanAkhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani and AnilThadani, Chiru dubbed AmitabhBachchan as his real-life mentor.The iconic Bollywood figure isplaying the Telugu star’s guruGosai Venkanna in the costumedrama. “He is my mentor. I feelthere is only one megastar andthat is he. I’m indebted to him forhaving accepted to be part of myfilm,” Chiru said.
Recalling Big B’s participation,he added, “Film’s directorSurender Reddy said if Amitabhji plays my guru, then therewould be nothing like it. I said Iwould try. I rang him and askedhim if he can be a part of the film.I told him, “It is produced by RamCharan and has an amazing story’.To which, he said, ‘You’ve neverasked me anything until nowand since you are asking, I’m say-ing ok’. He asked me to send myteam later to Mumbai, which Idid. I extend my heartfelt thanksto him.”
He further said that he shot forthe action sequences on his own.“During the narration, I feltSurender Reddy and Charan willuse a body double for the actiongiven the technology at disposal.However, they wanted me to per-
form stunts on my own. I was justrecuperating from a shouldersurgery but they were unyielding.It was not fair (smiles) but I washappy. I always cherished doinghard work,” he noted and quippedthat because of his punctuality, hiswife Surekha felt that Charanwould get a bad name. “I used toreport to sets 7 am every daywhile the current lot, includingCharan, is known to go to sets alittle late.”
He further said the Tamil ver-sion of the film would haveKamal Haasan’s voice-over. Whilethe Telugu version teaser had thevoice-over of his brother PawanKalyan, the Malayalam versionhad Mohanlal’s. “I requestedKamal to lend his voice for thefilm and he said he is willing todo it. He couldn’t give the voice-over for the teaser, as he is notfeeling well. But for the film, hewill be,” Chiru suggested.
T BIG B is the one andonly megastar: CHIRUThe actor, speaking at Sye Raa teaser release event in Mumbai, saidthat he is indebted to the Bollywood actor for being a part of the movie
VISHNU INDURI ANDSONY JOIN HANDS
Edaina Jaragocchustory gave me goosebumps: Bobby Simha
They will produce films of south Indiandirectors who recently won the best directorawards at the recent SIIMA
The actor mentioned that K Ramakanth'swriting and the way he etched the characterssealed the deal for him
ational award-winning actor Bobby Simha, who willbe seen as the prime antagonist in Edaina Jaragocchu,featuring Sivaji Raja’s son, Vijay Raja, says the filmhas been a two-year-long journey for him. “Whenthe makers first approached me for the film two
years ago with a brief line, I kind of liked it but I was look-ing for more. In the third meet, the story gave me goose-bumps. The director’s writing and the way he etched char-acters sealed the deal for me. Irrespective of it being a smallfilm I said I’d do it,” the actor said. He was speaking at a pro-motional event of the film in Hyderabad recently.
In the crime horror thriller, Vijaywill be seen as a guy who is into mul-tiple part-time jobs. One of hisavatars — that of a bank recoveryagent — makes him fall in love witha girl (Pooja Solanki) and the follow-up events are narrated comicallywith a twist. A joint venturebetween Wet BrainEntertainment andSudharm Productions, thefilm marks the directori-al debut of K Ramakanth,who earlier worked as anassistant director toChandrasekhar Yeleti.
Speaking about Vijay,Bobby added, “I neverfelt that he was a new-comer. He was not cam-era shy or was afraid of it.He slipped into the charac-ter with relative ease. I founda younger brother in him.”
ARJUN-CARTHYK TO DIRECT ASATIRICAL COMEDYProducer MLV Satyanarayana has given hisnod for their writer-director duo's secondventure, as he was impressed with the waythey went about making Rajdooth
fter making their directorial debut with Rajdoothlast month, writer-director duo Arjun-Carthyk isset for their next. The Pioneer has understood thatthey got the nod of their first producer MLVSatyanarayana aka Satti Babu for their second effort
as well. “Satti Babu was impressed with the way the duo wentabout making Rajdooth. They promised him that they willfinish the project under ̀ 2.50 crore but they wrapped it upunder `1.50 crore. Also, he was impressed with the pace atwhich the duo shot the film,” said a source.
The new project will be a satirical comedy and will fea-ture three young and happening comedians, while an expe-rienced comedian will be the leading face. Sudarshan hasalready been zeroed in as one of the three young comedi-ans, while the duo is on the hunt for other actors. “The filmwill have satires on government and on the current stateof media where a small issue is blown out of proportion,albeit in a lighter tone. Without taking sides, it will also takea dig at Andhra-Telangana bifurcation in a funny way. Itwill have the flavour of the iconic Hollywood comedyHangover, but story-wise, it’s a completely original screen-play,” added the source.
resently associ-ated with thebiopic of formerChief Minister ofTamil Nadu J
Jayalalithaa and 1983World Cup triumph, pro-ducer and entrepreneurVishnu Induri will bejoining hands with SonyPictures Entertainmentto produce films of Southdirectors who recentlywon the best directorawards at SIIMA award at Doha, Qatar.
In Telugu, Vishnu, who has produced the two-partbiopic of NTR earlier this year, and Sony Pictures, whichwill mark their debut with Adivi Sesh-starrer Major, willbankroll RX100 director Ajay Bhupathi’s third film. InTamil, they will pool in resources for Nelson’s next. Theywill also produce ventures of Mahesh Kumar andZakariya Mohammed from Kannada and Malayalamindustries respectively.
Coming to Telugu, Bhupathi is attached to makeMahasamudram, starring Ravi Teja, Siddharth and AditiRao Hydari, with Gemini Kiran. A crime drama set inVisakhapatnam, it will move to floors in October.
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The teaser of Sye Raa is a visual treat for the fans, as it promises a rivetingdrama. It had a glimpse of breathtaking action sequences, productiondesign befitting a bygone era and above all, a thundering Chiranjeevi as
freedom fighter Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy. For legions of Telugu filmbuffs, the icing on the cake is the voiceover by Pawan Kalyan, Chiranjeevi'sbrother or Power Star as he is referred to by his fans. The teaser opens withthe narrator saying how we can never forget heroic freedom fighters, andsoon, we are introduced to Chiranjeevi as Narasimha. He has been touted asthe first rebel that India has forgotten. The teaser also gave glimpses of otheractors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Tamannaah, and Sudeep. It doesn’t justfocus on war scenes and valour but goes beyond that, leaving a lastingimpression. The multi-starrer, produced by Ram Charan and helmed bySurender Reddy, will hit silver screens on October 2. The shooting had kick-started in 2017, and it was recently wrapped up. The makers shot a vital warsequence, reportedly spenting a whopping `45 crore for it. International stunt-choreographers such as Greg Powell, Lee Whittaker and Ram-Laxman wereroped in for the action scenes. The movie will clash with Hrithik Roshan andTiger Shroff’s War and Sidharth Malhotra and Tara Sutaria’s Marjaavaan.
SYE RAA TEASER TOUTS THEFIRST REBEL INDIA FORGOT
DAPPER BALAYYA
The actor will be seen as soldier in an Armybackdrop from the '80s for the action period
drama, finds NAGARAJ GOUDfter wrapping up Vikram Kumar’s GangLeader, Nani dived headlong into the setsof Indraganti Mohana Krishna’sV earlier this month. TheSammohanam filmmak-
er’s murder mystery requiresNani’s dates till November,after which, we’ve learnt, theactor will be joining forceswith his KrishnagadiVeeraprema Gaadha film-maker Hanu Raghavapudifor a new feature.
A highly placed sourceclose to the developmentconfirms to The Pioneer, “Thefilm, a gritty action perioddrama, will be set in an armybackdrop of the ’80s and will seeNani as a soldier. Hanu has beenresearching the story for the past six months, trav-elling across the country for the material. One of
the most promising filmmakers around, heunderstands that he disappointed the audience
with his last Padi Padi Leche Manasu,which is why he has gone back to the
drawing board and is investingheavily on the writing front to
come up with a watertightscript. He got Nani’s consentlong back. The actor ratesthe director very high.”
The source adds, “Thefilm will move to floors inApril or May next year inLadakh with a 40-day
schedule before it moves toother parts of the country.
Nani has to significantly prepfor his part. It remains to be seen
whether he will start another projectbefore joining Hanu’s sets or will allot
time for prep. Mythri Movie Makers are tippedto produce the film.”
NANI IN HANU'SPERIOD PIECE
a
Vijayawada Wednesday August 21, 2019
sport 12VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | AUGUST 21, 2019
AFP n LEEDS
England’s Ben Stokes has toldAustralia to expect morebouncers from Jofra Archer
in the remainder of the Ashes.“It’s part of the game and a big
part of Jofra’s game, being aggres-sive, not letting batsmen settle,”said Stokes.
Archer produced a hostileand compelling display on debutas the rain-affected second Testended in a draw at Lord’s onSunday.
Not only did he take five wick-ets, he repeatedly unsettledAustralia with a short-pitchedballs. The 92mph bouncer that hitSteve Smith on the neck forced thestar batsman to miss the last daywith concussion.
“When someone takes a nastyblow no bowler is going to say ‘I’mnot going to bowl that againbecause I don’t want to hit themagain’,” Stokes, a lively seam bowler,added.
“The concern is always therewhen someone takes it, but nextball, when you get back to themark, it’s ‘I’m going to keep doingit’.” Smith, who could be ruled outof the third Test at Headingleystarting on Thursday as well, hadearlier been hit a painful blow byArcher on his left forearm.
Marnus Labuschagne, Smith’sreplacement at Lord’s as cricket’sfirst concussion substitute, wasthen hit flush on the grille of hishelmet second ball by anotherArcher thunderbolt.
All the deliveries are consid-ered a legitimate part of a fastbowler’s armoury and Stokes saidArcher had no reason to changehis approach in Leeds.
Stokes believes Archer’s extrapace can help England overturn a1-0 deficit in the five-match Ashesseries following their 251-run lossin the first Test at Edgbaston.
“Everything is so rhythmicalwith Jofra it is tough to see whenthat bouncer is coming,” saidStokes.
“There’s no ‘tell’. He bowled alot of them, but they don’t seem topick it up.
“He gives another dimensionto our bowling attack. The firstinnings he bowled 29 overs but hislast spell of eight was one of thebest out-and-out fast bowlingspells I have seen since I startedplaying,” he added.
“We’ve seen (Australia’s)Mitchell Johnson do it to us,
especially in 2013, but Jofra justmakes it look so easy. I’d ratherhave him on my team than haveto face him. He’s a frightening tal-ent.
“The sky is the limit for himand he’s a great addition to our Testteam.”
England’s top order remains aconcern but after all-rounderStokes’s elevation to number fivein the second innings at Lord’s, hescored an impressive 115 not out.
“It just depends on what hap-pens in the game,” he said.
“I went to six because mybowling workloads have gone upin the last few years. I’m sure it willchange.
“We’re a very versatile battingline-up, some days it might beJonny Bairstow at five, some daysJos Buttler, some days me. We’reall capable, it just depends onworkloads.”
AFP n WASHINGTON
Andy Murray onMonday fell in the first
round of the ATPWinston-Salem Open,where the three-timeGrand Slam champion wasgiving his surgicallyrepaired hip just its secondtest in singles.
Britain’s Murray, whofeared in January that hiship trouble would end hiscareer, accepted a wild cardinto this week’s tourna-ment in North Carolinaafter falling in his singlescomeback in Cincinnatilast week.
He again showedglimpses of his once-dom-inant self, but was inconsis-tent in a 7-6 (10-8), 7-5 lossto 73rd-ranked AmericanTennys Sandgren in amatch lasting 2 hours and10 minutes.
“Some things were abit better today I think,”Murray said. “I was hittingthe ball a bit cleaner thanI did maybe in Cincinnati...I feel like I moved fairlywell to some drop shots,which maybe last week Iwasn’t running to.
“So there’s some goodthings in there but alsosome stuff I would like todo better.”
LANDMARK FORLEE
Having said inCincinnati he would dis-continue doubles tofocus onreturning topeak singlesf o r m ,M u r r a ysaid hemight con-sider play-ing an ATPChallenger Tourevent before heading toAsia, where he is entered inSeptember’s ZhuhaiChampionships and theChina Open.
“Maybe I need to play
a level down to get somematches and build mygame up a little bit beforeI start playing on the touragain,” he said.
In other action on aday when rain wreakedhavoc on the schedule,South Korean Lee Duck-hee became the first deafplayer to win an ATP Tourmatch, beatingSwitzerland’s HenriLaaksonen 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.
“My message for peo-ple who are hearingimpaired is to not be dis-couraged.
If you try hard, youcan do anything,” said Lee,who will next face third-seeded Hubert Hurkaczof Poland.
Lee was two pointsfrom victory when thun-derstorms swept through.
When he andLaaksonen returned somefive hours later, Lee quick-ly polished off a win headmitted he hadn’t beenexpecting.
“I thought that I wasjust going to do my bestand try to stay focused,”Lee said.“But Icameout aw i n -ner.”
PTI n NEW YORK
India’s Ankita Raina knocked out ninth seedBelgian Ysaline Bonaventure to progress to the
second round of the US Open Qualifiers butRamkumar Ramanathan bit the dust in the men’ssingles here.
The 194th ranked Ankita was up against ahigher-ranked player but prevailed 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 for her second win against the Belgian on thePro Tour.
She had beaten the 111th rankedBonaventure in her own country in 2014 on clay.
Ankita has not gone beyond the secondround at the Grand Slam qualifiers and she hasa good chance to better that stat as she is upagainst Czech Republic’s Denia Allertova, whois placed 85 places below her at 279.
In the men’s singles, RamkumarRamanathan bowed out with a 5-7, 6-7(9) defeatagainst Italy’s Filippo Baldi.
IANS nWELLINGTON
Right-arm pacer Tim Southee willcaptain New Zealand in a three-
match T20I series against Sri Lankastarting September 1 in Kandy.
Regular skipper Kane Williamsonand paceman Trent Boult will bereturning home for a pre-planned restfollowing the current Test series,which Sri Lanka are currently leading1-0.
The 14-man squad features threespecialist spinners in Ish Sodhi,Mitchell Santner and Todd Astle.
“Kane and Trent played an enor-mous role in our recent World Cupcampaign and with a big summerahead, we see it as a good opportuni-ty to give them a rest,” said selectorGavin Larsen.
“The series in Sri Lanka will be achallenging one against a team whoare tough to beat in their own condi-tions.”
He also said the series represent-ed the start of a new T20 cycle, withnine T20Is series scheduled for theside ahead of next October’s WorldT20 in Australia.
“Following that amazing ride inthe ODI World Cup, it’s exciting to
begin setting our sights on anotherworld event,” Larsen said.
“Our T20 team has been prettyconsistent over the past couple of yearsand we’re really happy with the powerand versatility we have in this squad.”Squad: Tim Southee (c), Todd Astle,Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhomme,Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill,Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell,Colin Munro, Seth Rance, MitchellSantner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi,Ross Taylor.
PTI n KABUL
Off-spinner Rashid Khan will leadAfghanistan in their one-off Test
against Bangladesh and the triangu-lar series featuring Zimbabwe. TheTest will begin on September 5 whilethe tri-series will kick-off fromSeptember 13.
Alongwith Mohammad Shahzad,who is serving a suspension, middle-order batsman Nasir Jamal, left-armspinner Sharafuddin Ashraf, pacemanWafadar Momand, and left-armwristspinner Waqar Salamkheil havenot been included in the squad.
On the other hand, experiencedleft-arm paceman Shapoor Zadran,who is yet to feature in the longest for-mat of the game, and Afsar Zazai, thewicketkeeper-batsman who playedAfghanistan’s maiden Test — againstIndia in June 2018 have been includ-
AFP nWELLINGTON
Serena Williams announced onTuesday she will warm-up for
January’s Australian Open at theAuckland Classic, a tournament thathas mixed memories for the Americansuperstar.
Williams slumped to a shock sec-ond-round loss in her only previousappearance in New Zealand in 2017,
lashing out at windy conditions shedescribed as some of the “leastfavourite” she had ever experi-enced.
But she went on to win theAustralian Open later thatmonth, claiming the most recentof her 23 majors to pass Steffi
Graf’s Open-era benchmark of 22.She also announced her engage-
ment to Alexis Ohanian while inNew Zealand and it later emerged she
was pregnant with her first child whilecompeting at the tournament.Currently ranked eighth in the world,the 37-year-old said she wanted toshow New Zealanders what she coulddo on the court.
“Oh man, I want to win that titleso bad,” she said in a statement.
“Last time I was there I had somuch going on and although I foughtthrough to win my first match, I knowI didn’t play to my level.”
Since her 2017 triumph atMelbourne Park, Williams has beenchasing a 24th Grand Slam to matchAustralian Margaret Court’s record.
She is battling back problemsahead of the US Open that forced herto retire from warm-up tournamentsin Toronto and Cincinnatti.
‘Frightening’ Archer won’t let up: Stokes
Jofra Archer walks back to his mark before bowling to Usman Khawaja AP
IANS n NEW DELHI
Former Pakistan speedsterShoaib Akhtar believes
England have got a greatweapon in Jofra Archer but theyneed to preserve him and man-age his workload in a way thatthe 24-year-old doesn’t getinjured very often.
“Archer is an exciting talent.He is strong but I believe he isthe perfect candidate for beinginjury prone. With his actionand speed, I believe he can haveback injuries, so he needs to bepreserved,” Akhtar said in a
video posted on his Youtubechannel.
“My suggestion will be toplay him in fewer matches, heshould not bowl 27 overs in aninnings. What he cannot do in14 overs, he won’t be able to doit 27 overs,” he further said.
Akhtar also feels that Ashes,which is currently 1-0 in favourof Australia, would now take aturn with Archer’s inclusioninto the England lineup.
“I think Ashes will nowtake a turn. I believe fastbowlers should bowl with moreintensity now.
IANS n LONDON
The legendary Glenn McGrathis a big supporter of Jofra
Archer and feels the Englandpace sensation is going to playTest cricket for a long time.
“I’ve been a big supporter ofArcher for a long time and I lovewhat I see there,” McGrath wasquoted as saying by BBC wherehe will be part of the Test MatchSpecial commentary team andcontribute a regular column tothe BBC Sport website.
“It’s quite rare to be able tobowl with pace and accuracy forsuch a long time. To have pace isso unique and with Archer, it isall natural. His action doesn’t looktoo stressful, he has a nice,smooth run-up and goes throughthe crease really well.
It’s a fairly stress-free actionand he’s young and fit. He keepsit simple: “He just comes in,bowls good areas and with goodpace.”
Archer took the cricketingfraternity by storm on his Testdebut, bowling hostile spellswhich put even the likes of SteveSmith in all sorts of discomfortduring the course of the game,reminding fans of the famousbodyline series.
“At Lord’s he bowled somequite lengthy spells, but he main-
tained his pace throughout hisovers. That is a brilliant sign thathe can bowl long spells at top pacethen come back and bowl secondand third spells no problem at all,”McGrath pointed out.
“With a guy with his action
and technique, I don’t see any rea-son why he can’t play plenty ofTests. It’s just experience that heneeds and he will be fine,” said theformer Australian fast bowlerregarded as one of the finest thegame has produced.
Eng need to preserveArcher: Akhtar
McGrath loves what he sees in Jofra
Jofra Archer bowls as he takes part in a training session at Lord’s AP/File Picture
Umesh Yadav bowls during India’s nets session PTI/File Picture
Healthy rivalry augurswell for team’s paceattack, says Umesh
Murray falls infirst hurdle
Rashid to captain Afghans in B’desh
Rashid Khan celebrates after taking wicket AP/File Picture
Ankita Raina prepares to return a shot Ankita/Twitter
Southee to leadNZ in SL T20s
Tim Southee bowls during practice match AP
Ankita progressesto 2nd round
Serena to playin Auckland
Serena Williams AP/File Picture
ed in the side. Announcing the squad,
chief selector Andy Molessaid: “We have selected a 17-member squad for the T20Imatches as per the advice ofthe captain as we have twoimportant tournaments —T20I Asia Cup and ICC T20World Cup 2020 — ahead ofus. We will seek to preparegood sides for these tourna-ments and those players whoperform well, will be consid-ered for selection.
“We will also consider theperformance of players in theupcoming Shpageeza CricketLeague and AfghanistanPremier League T20 for futureselection.”Squad for Test againstBangladesh: Rashid Khan (C),
Pacer Umesh Yadav says he has regained confi-dence after working on his erratic line and length
in the time away from the Indian team and is con-fident of making the playing eleven in the Test seriesagainst the West Indies starting on Thursday.
Umesh, who took three wickets for 19 runs inthe West Indies A first innings in the warm-up gamewhich concluded on Monday here, said he workedon getting his rhythm back at the Vidarbha CricketAcademy with coach Subroto Banerjee in the lastfew months.
“As a fast bowler you have to practice and youneed to set your rhythm, to know at what line andlength you have to bowl. I have also tried the same,to get my rhythm right. I was preparing myself todo what I will be doing in a match situation,” Umeshsaid after the drawn warm-up game.
“I went to Vidarbha Cricket Academy andworked with coach Subroto Banerjee there andasked him for his opinion. There were these issuesof length of deliveries. It happens to a lot of fastbowlers, when you are playing a lot continuously,you’re unable to settle into a specific line and length.I worked on that,” he added.
He said he was able to bowl into the right areasduring the warm-up game against the West IndiesA team.
“I am playing a practice match after a long time.I had earlier come here to play for India A and Iplayed one game. The wicket is not too different andit has swing.
“(In the warm-up game) I was focussing on theareas I have to put the ball. My mindset was to putthe balls in those areas and bowl dot balls. I wasbeing able to do that,” he added.
The 31-year-old played his last Test in Australiain December 2018. He then played for Vidarbha inthe domestic competitions and followed it up witha stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL.
“After the Australia tour, I played in Ranji tro-phy and we (Vidarbha) won and then IPL came. Inthe two and half months after that, I gave myselfsome time to work on my errors and get my rhythmback. Accordingly, I prepared my mindset.
“I worked on bowling drills and trained a loton whatever bowling problems which I thought Ihad. You need off-time because it is only during youroff-time that you can re-shape your mindset on whatneeds to be done,” he added, when asked about thedrills at the Vidarbha academy.
Asked about the competition in the currentIndian team in the fast-bowling department, he said,“When you know you’re going to play back-to-backTest matches, you need that kind of bench-strength.
“All the fast bowlers know there is a good com-petition and that everyone is going to get an oppor-tunity. Whoever does well, will get to play more. Ifwe think in that manner, it’s good for us becausewe will try to improve ourselves.
“It is a healthy competition and it is good forthe team. It make us more exciting and challeng-ing and will improve our performance.”
