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MONEY 8GAIL TO INVEST RS 1.05 LAKH-CRON GAS-BASED ECONOMY INFRA

ANALYSIS 7REDUCE THE INCOME GAP

SPORTS 12MASSI ‘GREATEST’ AHEADOF MARADONA: GATTUSO

HYDERABAD, TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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Published FromHYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNVIJAYAWADA

‘Modi proved thatIndians can achieveanything with hard work’

PNS n AHMEDABAD

US President Donald Trumpon Monday said that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi's risefrom his humble backgroundas a "chai-wallah" (tea-seller)underscored the "limitlesspromise of the great nation",remarks which reflected thebonhomie shared by the twoleaders. Everybody loves him,Trump said of Modi at the"Namaste Trump" event here,and then added that the primeminister is a very "tough"negotiator.

"Prime Minister Modi, youare not just the pride ofGujarat. You are a living proofthat with hard work and devo-

tion Indians can accomplishanything, anything at all, any-thing they want," Trump saidamid loud cheers from anestimated one lakh-strongaudience at Motera stadium.

"The life of Prime MinisterModi underscores the limitlesspromise of this great nation.He started out by his father'sside as a chai-wallah, as a tea-seller. When he was a youngman he worked at a cafeteriain this city," the US presidentsaid and urged Modi to standas he greeted his host.

PNS n AGRA

US President Donald Trumpand First Lady Melania Trumpon Monday evening visitedthe iconic Taj Mahal as theymarvelled at the famed 17thcentury Mughal-era mau-soleum built as a monument oflove.

Trump, accompanied by hiswife, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, arrivedhere from Ahmedabad.

The Taj Mahal, which wasbuilt by Mughal Emperor ShahJahan in memory of his wifeMumtaz Mahal who died in1631, has been refurbished forthe visit.

President Trump and theFirst Lady held hands as theystrolled at the Taj complexand later wrote in the visitors'book. They were also briefedabout the history and impor-tance of the monument

The US President's visit toAgra and Taj has generatedhuge excitement among localresidents. Some shops haveeven displayed their own ban-

ners, welcoming Trump toIndia.

Trump also took to Twitterto express his sentiments abouthis first official visit to India,which began with a visit to

Ahmedabad."First lady and I have trav-

elled 8,000 miles around theworld to give a message toeach citizen of this countryAmerica loves India, America

respects India, and the peopleof America will always betrue and committed friends ofthe people of India," theAmerican leader tweeted inHindi.

From the Kheria airbasehere, Trump's convoy of over30 vehicles drove to OberoiAmarvilas hotel near the TajMahal complex, as over 15,000school students who lined upboth sides of the route held USand India flags and cheered theUS president as his motorcadepassed by.

Massive billboards bearinggreeting messages and pic-tures of Trump, First Lady andModi dotted the nearly 13-kmconvoy route as street round-abouts decked up with US andIndia flags symbolised the US-India friendship.

An extensive three-layeredsecurity is in place for hisAgra visit, and authorities hadgot the Taj Mahal premisescleared of visitors by noon,hours ahead of Trump's visit tothe celebrated architecturallandmark.

Trump and the First Ladyenjoyed the view of the marblemarvel in the evening as a coolbreeze added to the pleasantweather.

PREZ TRUMP SAYS AMERICALOVES INDIA,VISITS TAJ MAHAL

From referring to Modi’s earlier days as a ‘chaiwala’ to skippinghigh tea arranged at the Sabarmati Ashram, Donald Trump,during his first ever-visit to India as the President of the UnitedStates, praised India, denounced the menace of terrorism,wooed the 1.25 lakh-strong crowd at the Motera stadium withhis over 25-minute-long speech interspersed with Hindi words.He and Melania were left enchanted during their visit to thefamed 17th century monument to love, the Taj Mahal.

PNS n AHMEDABAD

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday hailed USPresident Donald Trump's visitto India as a "new chapter" inthe historic Indo-US relations,adding their ties is no longerjust another partnership but afar greater and closer relation-ship.

Welcoming the President atthe 'Namaste Trump' event atthe new-look Motera stadiumshortly after his arrival on thefirst leg of his two-day trip,Modi said a "new history" isbeing created and assertedthat foundations of new align-ments, challenges, opportuni-ties and changes are beinglaid.

"India and the US relationsand cooperation will play animportant role in deciding thecourse of world in the 21st cen-tury. I am of the categoricalview that India and the US arenatural partners," he told anestimated one lakh-strong

audience who broke intocheers frequently.

Underscoring the strong tiesbetween the two nations, Modisaid the US is now India'slargest trading partner andthe Indian military is involvedin its biggest war exercise withthe US.

Trump's visit to India at theturn of the new decade is a bigopportunity, he said.

The Indo-US ties are nolonger just another partnershipbut have touched far greaterheights, and the Trump's tripwith his family showsthis, Modi said.

"Welcome toworld's biggestdemocracy," theprime minister said.

Modi saidPresident Trump'svisit is a newchapter in therelations betweenIndia andAmerica.

Protester seen firing gun in the air in presence of police, heavy stone pelting reported PNS n NEW DELHI

A Delhi Police head constablewas killed and a deputy com-missioner of police injured asclashes over the amended cit-izenship law broke out again innortheast Delhi's Jaffrabad andMaujpur on Monday, with pro-testers torching houses, shopsand vehicles, and hurlingstones at each other.

Violence between groupssupporting and opposing theCitizenship (Amendment) Act(CAA) was also reported in theChandbagh and Bhajanpuraareas.

This is the second day ofclashes in the city where USPresident Donald Trump willarrive on Monday evening.

Police fired tear gas shellsand also resorted lathicharge todisperse the violent crowd of

protesters.Ratan Lal, a head constable

attached to the office of theACP Gokalpuri, was killed.Several police personnel,including DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), Shahdara, AmitSharma, were injured whiletrying to quell the protests.

The police also imposedsection 144 of the CrPC, which

prohibits assembly of four ormore people, in areas affectedby violence in northeast Delhi.

There was heavy stone pelt-ing in Maujpur, while policebaton-charged to disperse pro-testers in Jaffrabad. Shops andhouses were vandalised and seton fire in Maujpur andBhajanpura.

A protestor was also seenmoving towards a Delhi Police

personnel with a gun in hishand. He shot a few rounds inthe air. According to officials,a fire tender was damaged bythe protesters after it respond-ed to a fire call in the area.

Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal urged the Centre torestore law and order in thenational capital. LieutenantGovernor Anil Baijal hasinstructed Delhi Police

Commissioner AmulyaPatnaik to ensure the situationis brought under control.

"Very distressing newsregarding disturbance of peaceand harmony in parts of Delhicoming in. I sincerely urgeHon'ble LG n Hon'ble UnionHome Minister to restore lawand order n ensure that peaceand harmony is maintained.

Violencebetween groupssupporting andopposing theCAA was alsoreported in theChandbagh andBhajanpuraareas

On his maiden visitto India as US Presi-dent, Trump invokedSwami Vivekananda,a revered spiritualleader who has oftenbeen described byModi as an inspira-tion to him.

Modi said a "newhistory" is beingcreated,foundations of newalignments,challenges,opportunities andchanges are beinglaid.

Trump’s visit ‘new chapter’in Indo-US ties, says Modi

Cop killed, DCP injured in fresh clashes over CAA in Delhi

US First Family says ‘Wah Taj’ at the sight of the refurbished 17th century monument

KCR to present shawls, silverfiligree Charminar to TrumpsTo gift Pochampally, Gadwal silk saris to Melania, Ivanka

L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao will pre-sent a 'silver filigreeCharminar' and Pochampallyshawl to Donald Trump onTuesday, when he attends thedinner being hosted byPresident Ramnath Kovind atthe Rastrapathi Bhavan inhonour of the US President.

The replica of the iconicCharminar, manufactured inKarimnagar, weighs 4 kg andis 2.5 feet in height. KCR willalso present Pochampally,Gadwal silk saris to DonaldTrump's wife Melania Trumpand daughter Ivanka Trump.

KCR is one of the few ChiefMinister in the country whohave received an invite fromthe President to attend the din-ner. He will leave for Delhi bya special flight from Begumpet

airport on Tuesday and reachRastrapathi Bhavan by 6 pm toattend the dinner at around7.30 pm. Karimnagar attainedinternational fame in manufac-turing filigree items.

Karimnagar-based filigreeitems were presented toDonald Trump's daughterIvanka Trump, when she vis-ited Hyderabad in December2017 to attend the GlobalEntrepreneurship Summit(GES).

The 400-year-old ancient

filigree art is still continuing inthe Karimnagar district asdedicated artisans pass onlegacy to their next generation.

The silver filigree art ofKarimnagar , considered to bethe symbol of Telangana's her-itage, held an enduring appealfor hundreds of years like theTarakasi of Cuttack. But unlike'Taraksasi', the Karminagar'ssilver filigree is crafted entire-ly by hand and the silver usedis not mixed.

‘Fantastic, biggest-ever tradedeal' with India, hints TrumpPNS n AHMEDABAD

US President Donald Trumpon Monday announced thatIndia and the US are in discus-sion for a "fantastic" tradeagreement.

Terming that the proposedagreement will be among thebiggest ever made, he said"Over the course of my visit,Prime Minister (Narendra)Modi and I will also discussour efforts to expand the eco-nomic ties between our twocountries."

The US President said thatcommerce between the two

nations has increased "by morethan 40 per cent".

"We will be making a very,very major, among the biggestever made trade deals," thePresident said.

Detailing on it, he said,"We are in the early stages ofdiscussion for an incredibletrade agreement to reducebarriers of investments,between the US and India andI am optimistic that workingtogether, the Prime Ministerand I can reach a fantastic dealthat's good and even great forboth of our countries."

Anglo-Indians loseHouse entry quotaK VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

Anglo-Indians will no longerbe nominated to LegislativeHouses as per the 126thAmendment, as is apparentfrom the proceedings inParliament.

While the Central govern-ment extended The ScheduledCastes and The ScheduledTribes reservation for anotherten years i.e. up to 2030, thereis no mention of reservation forAnglo Indian.

As per the Amendment, SCand ST have made considerableprogress in the last 70 years, thereasons which weighed withthe Constituent Assembly inmaking provisions, so now it isproposed to continue the reser-vation of seats for theScheduled

Castes and the ScheduledTribes for another ten years i.e.up to January 25, 2030.

It may be recalled thatCongress MP from MalkajgiriA Revanth Reddy, who alsoaddressed a letter to the Centrein this regard, on December 10,2019 demanded in the LokSabha doing away with the sys-tem of nominating AngloIndians as MLAs and MPsand introducing a system ofnominating members of thethird gender to the Legislatures.

The discussion also came upin Rajya Sabha on the issue onDecember 12, 2019.

Following the discussion,the House moved the 126Amendment Bill, 2019, a Billfurther to amend theConstitution of India, in this

regard.

KTR asks GHMC totake cue from ChinaPNS n HYDERABAD

Coping with coronavirus, theChinese have set a precedentfor the world in creating emer-gency infrastructure facilities.China has completed con-struction of a 1,000-beddedhospital in just 10 days inWuhan in efforts to containspread of the virus.

With several worksand projects takenup by GHMCpending fordecades, MunicipalMinister KT RamaRao, furious over thedelays and report-edly said thatwhen theChinese canbuild a hugehospital in

10 days, why are minor engi-neering works pending foryears in the state.

KTR apparently fumed atthe officials, saying that whenwe aspire to compete withglobal economies, we shouldbe able to deliver like them. "Ittakes more than estimatedtime to complete flyovers;partially or completely," theMinister reportedly said dur-

ing a meeting on Saturday."China has a record of

getting things, even monu-mental projects, done andhere we go on extendingdeadlines even for relatively

minor engineering workslike addressing a pot-

hole," the Minister isbelieved to havesaid.

Student brakesto avoid dog,both deadPNS n HYDERABAD

A BBA student was killed ina road mishap early onMonday when he appliedsudden brakes to avoid adog near the KBR Park. Hedied of injuries on the spot.The dog too died.

A resident of Ameerpet,23-year-old Charan Yadavwas on his KTM bike, bear-ing Registration No. TS09EK6606, when he noticeda dog crossing the road.

The silver filigreereplica of the iconicCharminar,manufactured byartisans fromKarimnagar, weighs4 kg and is 2.5 feet inheight.

US President Donald Trump poses with his wife during their visit to the Taj Mahal on Monday.

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HYDERABADWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated February 24, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

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PATTANA PRAGATHI KICKS OFF PNS n MAHBUBNAGAR

Municipal Administration andUrban Development MinisterKT Rama Rao on Mondaylaunched ‘Pattana Pragathi’programme in Mahbubnagar.

Speaking on the occasion,the Minister said the adminis-tration was keen on resolvingthe problems faced by peopleliving in the urban areas and itis making a concerted effort toimplement development pro-grammes.

The Minister said that thedistrict administration is tak-ing all steps for construction ofpublic toilets in Mahbubnagartown and called upon the pub-lic to take necessary steps tomake it clean and green.

He advised the public not tomisuse the baskets provided forsegregating dry and wet waste.“The councilors and the wardcommittee members shouldprepare ward-wise sanitationplans with primary focus onsegregating dry and wet waste.The elected representativesshould also sensitise people onthe need for segregating wastefor their effective disposal.This would go a long way inavoiding spread of swine flu,dengue and other such conta-gious diseases,” the Ministersaid.

Citing an example, theMinister said, “Segregation ofwaste in Sircilla Municipalityhelped the urban local bodyraise Rs 3 lakh through powergeneration from the solid wasteand given its dimensions.Mahbubnagar could raisemuch higher amounts annual-ly,” he said.

The government on its parthad introduced severalreforms, including biometric

attendance system for sanita-tion workers, and it was for thepeople to strengthen these ini-tiatives for the development oftheir respective wards, he said.

Speaking on theMunicipalities Act, theMinister said, “The govern-ment had enacted the newMunicipalities Act with citizenservices as primary responsibil-ity and at least 10 per cent ofthe Budgetary allocation will beutilised towards green initia-tives.” The Minister cautionedthe officials concerned andelected representatives on theprovisions that had been incor-porated in the legislation to ini-tiate action against those fail-ing to achieve targets likeensuring survival rate of at least85 per cent of trees planted aspart of the green initiatives.

Speaking on the occasion,Excise Minister Srinivas Goudsaid Pattana Pragati, the petscheme of Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao wouldbe implemented systematical-ly in Mahbubnagar. TheMinister said that the integrat-ed-market yard would be com-

pleted in six months. The ITMinister, accompanied bySrinivas Goud earlier laid thefoundation stone for an inte-grated market complex andlaunched works relating toconstruction of toilets. Later,he interacted with senior citi-zens and enquired about theimplementation of differentschemes like Kalyana Lakshmiat the ground level. He want-ed the officials concerned toensure availability of adequatenumber of auto-rickshaws fortransporting dry and wet waste.

CS bats for green coverPNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Secretary SomeshKumar on Monday alongwith Principal Secretary(MA&UD) Arvind Kumar,local legislator ManchireddyKishan Reddy and CollectorAmoy Kumar has launched'Pattana Pragathi' programmein Ibrahimpatnam of RangaReddy district.

Speaking on the occasion,Somesh Kumar said, "Noother State in the country hasallocated large amount offunds for developing greenerylike Telangana. Ten per centof the Budget in every munic-ipality has been set aside asGreen Budget to developgreenery in towns and citiesof the State."

He said the Chief Ministerwanted to replicate the suc-cessful 'Palle Pragathi' pro-gramme in urban areaspaving way for the 'PattanaPragathi' programme. "The10-day programme will con-

tinue till March 4. In order toincrease participation of cit-izens in the new MunicipalAct, it has been proposedthat 60 persons be roped inunder four committees inevery ward," he said.

Etela puts the onus on officialsPNS n KARIMNAGAR

Health Minister EtelaRajender on Mondaylaunched PattanaPragathi pro-gramme inHuzurabad wherehe asked officials towork with commit-ment to maintain cleanlocalities.

“Poor people are not in a

position to absorb medicalexpenses if they are affected by

diseases caused by unhy-gienic conditions. It is

the responsibility ofofficials to maintainclean towns byensuring removal ofgarbage regularly,

increasing greeneryand prevent water stag-

nation,” he said.The Minister also advised

the people not to vent their ireat political leaders and officialswho visit their localities ongovernment duties.

“Explain your problems tothe officials and get your worksdone,” Health Minister Etela said, and asked coun-cilors to visit their respectivewards everyday and getacquainted with the local prob-lems by interacting with thepeople.

AADHAAR ROW

PNS n HYDERABAD

A delegation of BJP leaders, ledby party’s Telangana unit chiefDr K Laxman on Monday metDGP M Mahender Reddy andurged him to conduct inquiryinto the issue, where 127 peo-ple allegedly obtained Aadhaaron ‘false pretences’.

The BJP demanded a com-prehensive probe with a ded-icated team of officials in allthe districts of Telangana withan objective to weed out ille-gal immigrants, including “thelarge chunk of Rohingyas”,Laxman said.

He also took potshots atAIMIM chief AsaduddinOwaisi for allegedly extendingsupport to Rohingyas.Telangana BJP, in its memoran-dum submitted to the DGP,stated that “We have beenstating for several years nowand in fact submitted manymemorandums to the policedetailing how Hyderabad andrest of Telangana have becomesafe havens for RohingyaMuslims. Whenever the BJPhas raised the issue, for reasonsbest known to the administra-tion, the submissions were notgiven due importance.However, there have been rev-elations in the recent past thatover 127 people securedAadhaar cards by producingfalse documents and caseshave been registered againstthem at the behest of UIDAI.It is further come to our noticethat of the 127 people to whonotices have been served, 124are Rohingyas.”

“There are credible reportsthat thousands of Rohingyas allacross Telangana have securedAadhaar cards, voter ID cards,and ration cards. Many of themare even getting pension undervarious state welfare schemestoo. Non-Indians securing allsuch cards is a matter of seri-ous concern, but unfortunate-ly the state government, itappears, hasn’t viewed the issuewith adequate seriousness,” itfurther said. Later, Laxmancalled upon the people to par-ticipate in huge numbers in themeeting to be held on March 15in support of CAA at LBStadium. It may be recalled thatthe Unique Identification

Authority of India has clarifiedthat it issued notices to 127 peo-ple in Hyderabad to substanti-ate their claims for gettingAadhaar cards, though thenotices clearly asked them toprove their citizenship.

With reports of Aadhaarcard holders receiving noticescreating panic among resi-dents, UIDAI clarified that thenotices were issued to 127people after its regional officein Hyderabad received reportsfrom the Telangana Police thatthey obtained Aadhaar on falsepretences. Preliminary enquiryfound them to be illegal immi-grants who were not qualifiedto obtain Aadhaar number.

BJP state unit chief Dr K Laxman addresses the media in the city on Monday

There are credible reports that thousands of Rohingyasall across Telangana have secured Aadhaar cards,voter ID cards, and ration cards

DR K LAXMAN, Telangana BJP chief

BJP starts processfor new TS chiefPNS n HYDERABAD

The BJP high command hasinitiated the process to appointa new president for itsTelangana state wing.

Party national general sec-retary Anil Jain and BJPnational vice-president andspokesperson Baijayant Pandaarrived here in Hyderabad onMonday to elicit the opinionsof senior leaders before select-ing the replacement for Dr KLaxman. Telangana BJPsenior leaders—existing stateparty unit chief Dr K Laxman,Union Minister of state forHome Affairs G Kishan Reddy,MPs Bandi Sanjay, SoyamBapurao, Dharmapuri Arvind,MLA Raja Singh Loath, MLCN Ramchander Rao and partyN Indrasena Reddy, APJithender Reddy, ChintalaRamachandra Reddy, NVSSPrabhakar, Chada Suresh

Reddy, Mantri Srinivas, PeralaShekar Rao, Nadendla BhaskarRao, DK Aruna, MothkupallyNarsimhulu, PonguletiSudhakar Reddy and severalaspirants expressed their viewsto Anil Jain and BaijayantPanda. According to sources,some aspirants are backingLaxman’s candidature in casethe high command doesn’tconsider them. Later, AnilJain said that they would sub-mit leaders’ opinions to theparty national leadership.

KTR asks GHMC totake cue from ChinaContinued from Page 1

It may be mentioned herethat Chinese can overcomebureaucratic nature and finan-cial constraints and are able tomobilise all resources.Engineers would be brought infrom across China in order tocomplete construction in time.

On Monday, KTR heldanother meeting with GHMCengineers over ongoing 18works under SRDP. He askedthe agencies to deploy addi-tional manpower and machin-ery to take up parallel workssimultaneously instead of oneafter another to complete themat the earliest.

The Minister asked theengineer officials to come outwith an innovative manner, onhow to tackle the situationsand to overcome the problemsto complete projects on time.

KTR directed officials totake up works round the clockwhich are now being doneonly for 5-6 hours. He said thatfor this, if required trafficdiversion can be taken up atimportant junctions in consul-tation with the traffic police.

He said that currently oneworks are being done in a lin-ear way one span after theother, starting at one end anddoing a row, ending at the end.He said all the spans need tobe done in tandem and ifneeded, micro-level planningdone on how to work withagencies faster.

Mayor Bonthu Rammohan,Principal Secretary ArvindKumar, GHMCCommissioner Lokesh Kumar,CE Projects Sridhar and seniorofficials from Engineering,HMWS&SB, DISCOM andagencies attended.

Student brakesto avoid dog,both deadContinued from Page 1

"While trying to avoid hit-ting the animal by applyingsudden brakes, he lost controlof the bike and rammed intothe road divider. He sus-tained a severe head injuryand succumbed on the spot"said Sub-Inspector of JubileeHills, Shekar.

Following a complaintfrom his father, Raju Yadav,the Jubilee Hills policebooked a case and shiftedthe body for post mortemto Osmania GeneralHospital.

The modified KTM bikehas a pending challan fromlast month and was tem-porarily seized for not havinga number plate and docu-ments. The police have registered a case and havelaunched investigation.

KCR to presentshawls, silverfiligreeCharminar...Continued from Page 1

What makes Karimnagarsilver filigree so unique is thefact that no two works of artare ever the same. Each itemis a distinct, elegant master-piece, which is a result ofincredible craftsmanship andthe close attention to detailthat goes into creating it.

The art has been extendedfrom jewelry to other house-hold articles like tea-trays,ornament containers, keychains and even cigaretteboxes.

KCR will return toHyderabad on Wednesday.

Cop killed, DCPinjured in freshclashes...Continued from Page 1

Nobody should be allowed toorchestrate flagrations (sic),"Kejriwal tweeted.

Taking to Twitter, Baijalsaid, "Instructed@DelhiPolice and @CPDelhito ensure that law and orderis maintained in North EastDelhi. The situation is beingclosely monitored. I urgeeveryone to exercise restraintfor maintenance of peaceand harmony."

Delhi minister andBabarpur MLA Gopal Raialso urged the people in thearea to maintain peace in thewake of the clashes over thecitizenship law, saying somepeople were purposely tryingto disturb the atmosphere.

On Saturday night, a groupof women blocked a car-riageway outside theJaffrabad Metro stationagainst the CitizenAmendmentship Act.

Left stage protestagainst Trump's visitPNS n HYDERABAD

CPI (M) secretary in TelanganaTammineni Veerabhadram onMonday said US PresidentDonald Trump's visit to Indiawould only benefit America. Ina statement here, he said croresof farmers and daily wageearners in India would be in

the streets if America begins toincrease export of items likemilk, poultry, apple andamonds from India. He criti-cised Prime Minister NarendraModi for his silence on the'worry' of Indian-Americansover issues such as green cardsand citizenship given to chil-dren born in the US.

Anglo-Indians lose House entry quotaContinued from Page 1

As per the Bill, the Actshall be called the Constitution(One Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Amendment) Act, 2019.It shall come into force onJanuary 25, 2020.

In Article 334 of theConstitution (a) for the mar-ginal heading, the followingmarginal heading shall be sub-stituted, namely; "Reservationof seats and special represen-tation to cease after certainperiod". (b) in the long line,after clauses (a) and (b), for thewords 'seventy years", thewords "seventy years", thewords "Eighty years in respectof clause (a) and seventy yearsin respect of clause (b)" shallbe substituted.

As per statement made bythe Union Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad, Article 334 ofthe Constitution lays downthat the provisions of theConstitution relating to thereservation of seats for theScheduled Castes and theScheduled Tribes andLegislative Assemblies of theStates shall cease to have effecton the expiration of the peri-od of 70 years from the com-mencement of the constitu-tion. In other words, these pro-visions will cease to have effecton the January 25, 2020, if notextended further.

Although the ScheduledCastes and The ScheduledTribes have made considerableprogress in the last 70 years,the reasons which weighed

with the Constituent Assemblyin making provisions withregard to aforesaid reservationsof seats have not yet ceased toexist. Therefore, with a viewto retaining the inclusive char-acter as envisioned by theFounding Fathers of theConstitution, it is proposed tocontinue the reservation ofseats for the Scheduled Castesand the Scheduled Tribes foranother ten years i.e. up toJanuary 25th, 2030.

On the other hand, a dele-gation of the Anglo-Indianscommunity met Ravi ShankerPrasad in this regard and toldhim that the communitydeserved reservation of seatsin Parliament and stateAssemblies. A team of 11from across the country led by

Barry O'Brien, the president-in-chief of the All IndiaAnglo-Indian Association,handed over a memorandumto minister Ravi ShankarPrasad seeking "kind interven-tion" on the issue.

They submitted a memoran-dum to Ravi Shanker Prasadstating that "The Anglo-Indiancommunity which has servedour beloved India and con-tributed significantly to nationbuilding and continues to doso, is deeply aggrieved by this(revocation of reservation), asthis is the only privilege givenby the Founding Fathers of theIndian Constitution for theirvoices to be heard".

However, the Centre has torelease an official gazette in thisregard by taking a decision.

‘Fantastic, biggest-ever trade deal'...Continued from Page 1

According to Trump "PrimeMinister Modi is a 'very tough'negotiator."

India is now a major marketfor American exports and theUS is India's largest exportmarket, he said.

Trump added a "booming"America is a great thing forIndia and also for the worldand "that's why, we are sohappy to announce that wehave had the greatest economyever in the history of the US."

"We have proven that thebest way to attract jobs and

opportunity is to reduce bur-dens on business, knock downbarriers to new investmentsand eliminate unnecessarybureaucracy, red tape, regula-tions and taxes in the US," hesaid. Trump added that PrimeMinister Modi has alreadymade significant reforms inIndia, and the world is lookingforward to even more rapidimprovement in India's busi-ness climate.

"Under his (Modi's) leader-ship, he wants to do and he isdoing this at a record pace,"Trump added.

His remarks on trade barri-

ers, red tape, taxes, regulationsare being seen as subtle waysto nudge India on reforms asbefore coming to India he hadsaid US is not treated well byIndia. His sudden announce-ment on a trade agreementwith India has raised hopesthat there could be a trade dealduring his visit though it is stillnot clear if that would beannounced on Tuesday whenhe meets Modi officially.

There are many issues fromtrade to sensitive areas likeduties, agriculture, dairy, dataprotection and localisation, e-commerce and other sectors.

Trump’s visit ‘newchapter’ in Indo-USties, says ModiContinued from Page 1

"A chapter that will become anew document of progressand prosperity of the people ofAmerica and India," he added.

There is so much that thetwo countries share, Modisaid.

He said the two countriesalso share spirit of enterpriseand innovation, shared oppor-tunities and challenges andshared hopes and aspirations.

Modi also appreciatedTrump administration's effortsin the field of health.

The biggest strengthbetween two people or nationsis trust, Modi said while quot-ing an old adage that "friend-ship is where trust is unshak-able".

In the last few years, trustbetween the US and India hasstrengthened further and hasreached historic levels.

"What you have done forhealthy and happy America isgetting good results. Whatyou are doing for children insociety is admirable," Modisaid.

Modi said today 130 croreIndians are jointly building a'new India'.

"Our youth power is full ofaspirations. Setting big goals,achieving them is becomingthe hallmark of new Indiatoday," he said.

Modi noted that India not

only has a the world record ofsending the maximum num-ber of satellites simultaneous-ly, but also is making theworld record by doing thefastest financial inclusion.

"Today the country withwhich India has the mostextensive research and devel-opment partnership isAmerica," he said.

‘Modi provedthat Indians...

Continued from Page 1

Describing Modi as the"tremendously successfulleader" of the vast Indianrepublic, Trump referred tothe BJP leader's "landslidevictory like no other in thelargest democratic electionever held anywhere on the faceof the earth". On his maidenvisit to India as US president,Trump also invoked SwamiVivekananda, a revered spiri-tual leader who has oftenbeen described by Modi as aninspiration to him, andtouched on the reach of India'spopular culture. All over theplanet people take great joy in'bhangra' and watching bolly-wood films like DDLJ andSholay, he said and then alsoreferred to cricketing greatsSachin and Virat Kohli. Prez Trump says America loves...

Continued from Page 1

They also posed for picturesfor photographers. The couplewill spend about an hour at Tajto catch the sunset from theUNESCO heritage site, beforeheading to Delhi.

The last US president to visitthe the Mughal-era wonderwas Bill Clinton who hadcome to India in 2000. He had

seen the Taj along with daugh-ter Chelsea Clinton.

In 1959, then US presidentDavid Dwight Eisenhower hadvisited Taj along with thenprime minister JawaharlalNehru.

From massive billboardsbearing greeting messages tostreet roundabouts decked upwith US and India flags, Agrahad waited excitedly to wel-

come President Trump andauthorities made arrangementsto present a "lively Agra" to thevisiting President, seeking toshake off the old tag of city ofghosts'. During Clinton's visitthe city streets were deserteddue to security arrangements,prompting him to call it a cityof ghosts'. This time the excite-ment can be felt in the air," saidMohit Kumar.

IT Minister KT Rama Rao interacts with an elderly woman in Mahbubnagar on Monday

124 are Rohingyas: BJP

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2020 hyderabad 03

RIMEORNERC

Pregnant womandies of swine fluduring treatmentApregnant woman died of

swine flu at Gandhi hospital.She succumbed to cardiacarrest while the doctors weretreating the patient on Monday.The deceased was identified asShehnaz, a resident of BijigiriShareef in Jammikunta mandalof Karimnagar district. Shehnazwas initially admitted in ahospital in Warangal and waslater referred to Gandhi. Shewas put on a ventilator for thelast five days at Gandhihospital. The patient suffered acardiac arrest and died onMonday morning. The doctorsoperated her and delivered thebaby. Meanwhile, familymembers of patient alleged thatthe doctors were irresponsiblewhile treating Shehnaz. Basedon their complaint, the hospitalauthorities issued a memo tothe doctors.

30-year-old manhangs himselfover ‘love failure'A30-year-old techie hanged

himself by committingsuicide at his residence inKondapur on Monday. Policesuspect a failed love affair tobe the reason behind theextreme step. The victim wasidentified as AgnieshwarChakrawarty, a softwareengineer at NTT Gachibowli. Anative of West Bengal, he wasresiding in a rented apartmentalong with another softwareemployee, from the same state.According to the police,Chakrawarty's roommate, 28-year-old Saptarshi Mukarjee, asoftware engineer, had come totheir room and found the roomlocked from inside. Heimmediately called the policewho broke open the doors onlyto find Chakrawarty's lifelessbody hanging. Chakrawartywas found hanging from theceiling fan with the help of abed sheet. Victim's roomatesaid that Chakrawarty wasdepressed over a love failureand might have taken theextreme step because of it. TheGachibowli Police registered acase under section 174(suspicious death) of the Crpcand have began aninvestigation into the death.

Temperatures set to riseby 2 to 3 degrees in HydPNS n HYDERABAD

The state of Telangana, espe-cially Hyderabad, is likely towitness an increase in maxi-mum and minimum tempera-ture by 2 to 3 degrees Celsiusby the end of this week.

From February 22to 28, themaximum temperature willrise by 2 to 3 degrees Celsiusabove normal for this time ofyear.

According to the weatheroutlook released by TelanganaState Development PlanningSociety (TSDPS), "Minimumtemperatures are expected tobe in the range of 19 to 22degree Celsius, while the max-imum temperatures are in therange of 32 to 35 degreeCelsius."

The temperatures will risedue to the prevailing Southwinds over the state. Due to theabsence of any weather system,mainly dry weather is expect-ed during this week. In the lastweek, the highest maximumtemperature of 37.9 degree

Celsius was recorded at PathaMancherial (Mancherial) onFebruary 16, while lowest min-

imum temperature of 8.2degree Celsius was recoded atGinnedari (Kumuram Bheem)

on February 19, 2020.Hyderabad city will experi-

ence mainly dry weather overthe next couple of days. In thecity minimum temperaturesare expected to be in the rangeof 18 to 20 degree Celsius,while the maximum tempera-tures to be in the range of 32to 34 degree Celsius.

However, due to the earlyonset of summer conditionsthis year, there are possibilitiesof temperatures soaring furtherin the next few months.

Hyderabad has alreadystarted to face humid condi-tions making it difficult tocope with the afternoons. "Thepossibilities of the tempera-tures getting into 40 degreeCelsius range early in Marchcannot be ruled out," said anofficial.

Moreover, as the day tem-perature go up, nights alsobecome warmer as the mini-mum temperatures touchesalmost 30 degree Celsius mostof the days between March andMay.

The city will experience dry weatherover the next couple of days. Minimumtemperatures are expected to be inthe range of 18 to 20 degree Celsius,while the maximum temperatures tobe 32 to 34 degree Celsius

Nizam-era John Morrisfire engine bags trophy PNS n HYDERABAD

The John Morris fire enginehas won the prestigious JMAItrophy at the 54th StatesmanVintage Car Rally held at NewDelhi on Sunday.

The John Morris fire engine,manufactured in the year 1914,was originally used by NizamState Railway in Hyderabadand now a prominent exhibitat the National Rail Museum,New Delhi. John Morris fireengine was the oldest partici-

pant in the rally which saw vin-tage vehicles taking to theroads. It is the only vehicle toparticipate in the rally havingthe age of more than 100years. Grabbing attention ofthe huge Sunday crowd of

Delhiites who thronged to wit-ness vintage car rally event inthe country, the John MorrisFire Engine completed the fullrally distance of 70 kilometers.The JMAI trophy it bagged,marks a proud come back, sin-ce it earned the honours aftera gap of 13 years. General ma-nager of SCR Gajanan Mallyacomplimented SCR team ofCarriage Workshop, Lallagudafor the laurels, the John Morrisfire engine brought to thezone and Indian Railways.

Accord priority for ‘safety drives’ at level crossing gates: GajananPNS n HYDERABAD

General manager of SouthCentral Railway GajananMallya conducted a detailedreview on safety, loading andpunctuality of the zone todayat Rail Nilayam inSecunderabad on Mondayalong with principal headsand officials.

Divisional railway managersof all the six divisions includ-ing Vijayawada, Guntakal,Guntur, Secunderabad,Hyderabad and Nanded par-ticipated through video confer-ence. Gajanan Mallya held adetailed review on the inci-dents relating to safety andemphasised on the need toaccord priority in conductingsafety drives at level crossinggates to ensure safety and bet-ter maintenance, sensitisation

and educating the staff regular-ly to inculcate good workingand safe practices in trainoperations.

The general mangerinstructed the officials to drawthe action plans in advance toimprove cement, food grainsand fertilizers loading and

speeding up of freight move-ments as to reach the target set,in the approaching end ofcurrent financial year. He alsoadvised the officials to main-tain Punctuality of thePassenger and Express trainswith due priority to safetymeasures.

22-yr-old woman commits suicide PNS n HYDERABAD

A 22-year-old woman com-mitted suicide by hanging he-rself in her room in Malakpeton Monday.

The victim was identifiedas P Himabindhu, a beautici-an by profession. A native ofSuryapet, she was residing inMalakpet for a livelihood.

According to the police,Himabindhu was foundhanging from the ceiling fanin her bed room. Her bodywas shifted to a private hos-pital where she was declared,brought dead. Based on acomplaint from her father,the police registered a case ofsuspicious death and beganinvestigation. According tosources, Himabindhu wasstaying as a paying guest inDhatri Nilayam at VenkatadriNagar Colony. Himabindu'sfather suspects the role ofVictim's friend brother, SaiKishore, in his daughter'sdeath and has named him asa suspect in the complaint.The Malakpet police had reg-istered a case and startedinvestigation.

Couple beatsadopted minorgirl, bookedPNS n HYDERABAD

A 7-year-old girl was beatenup by a couple who illegallyadopted the girl after hermother left her before elopingwith paramour. The victimwas living with the couple,Mahipal Singh and Asha Kaur,residents of the Kachiguda.

The ACP said that the girlhowever claims that the inj-uries are from the time shefell on the road and the cou-ple claims that she has an all-ergy. "Her mother's paramo-ur did not approve the girl asshe already had two more ch-ildren. She left the girl whenshe was 3-years-old. We havesent the girl for a medical ch-eckup and will take actionbased on the doctor's report,”said the official. The couplewere booked under Section324 of the IPC.

Kukatpally Zone may havehighest number of illiterates PNS n HYDERABAD

On the first day of door-to-door survey to enumerate lit-eracy rate in the city, GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) foundthat Kukatpally Zone has high-est number of illiterates.

Out of 1.2 lakh householdssurveyed in Hyderabad onMonday, 17,365 illiterates werefound. Of the 34,837 house-holds surveyed, Kukatpallyhas 4,772 illiterates, with 2,950women and 1,822 men.

This is followed by

Secunderabad zone with 3,678illiterates of the 22,659 house-holds, Serilingampally with2,843 illiterates of the 11,389households and LB Nagarwith 2,468 illiterates of 21,144households surveyed onMonday

Of the 17,365 illiterates,10,642 are women while 6,723are men indicating the lack ofeducation in females in thecity. While only 1.2 lakhhouseholds were surveyed onMonday, GHMC will be sur-veying totally 25.49 lakhhouseholds.

Deputy Mayor Baba Fasiuddin and GHMC officials check the certificates ofresidents during the literacy survey in the city on Monday IITs, IIMs to boost country’s

entrepreneurship ecosystemPNS n HYDERABAD

Premier technical and manage-ment institutions in the coun-try have joined hands to launcha consortium to boost Indianentrepreneurship ecosystemthrough high quality researchin innovation, venturing andentrepreneurship.

Called 'Innovation-Ventur-ing and Entrepreneurship inIndia Network (iVEIN),' itsfounding members are facul-ty at IIT Madras, IIT Bombay,IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcuttaand IIM Kozhikode. This net-work of institutions will lever-age strengths of the partners

and would work with otherstakeholders such as incuba-tors, government and investorsto generate and disseminateknowledge.

iVEIN was launched onFebruary 15 along the sidelinesof 'Dialogue with Stakeholders'event held by SINE at IITBombay.

Objectives of iVEIN netwo-rk include - creating an inter-disciplinary body of knowl-edge synthesising multipleperspectives, to track the con-tours of the vibrant innova-tion, venturing and entrepre-neurship segment in the coun-try among others.

Bikes gutted infire at chemicalagencyPNS n HYDERABAD

A major fire was reportedfrom Malakpet area onMonday, and is believed tohave gutted property worthRs 3 crore worth.

Sources said that it tookabout three hours for the fireofficers to douse the flames.

The incident was reportedat a high glass chemicalagency at Malakpet-Mahbubgunj area. The causeof fire is yet to be ascertained. "The fire gutted two autorickshaws and two bikesamong other things. It tookfour fire engines to controlthe situation" said the offi-cials, adding that no causal-ities or injuries were report-ed.

Metro commuters can now rentpowerbanksPNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad Metro stationsnow allow its passengers torent powerbanks.

A startup company Plugohas setup mobile powerbanksat 20 selected metro stationsin the city.

To borrow a power bank,the customer will have tomake a deposit of Rs 199,which will be refunded. Therent for each power bank isRs 3 per hour, while it is Rs9 per day.

If the user continues to usethe powerbank beyond 24hours, Rs 9 will be chargedper day.

A commuter needs todownload the app and navi-gate to the nearest Plugokiosk and scan the QR codeto release a powerbank.

BON VVOYAGE

Home Minister of Telangana Mohammed Mahmood Ali sends off Vice-President of India M Venkaiah Naidu at the Begumpet Airport on Monday.

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2020 04

PNS n AHMADABAD

US President DonaldTrump arrived inAhmedabad on

Monday for the first leg of hisIndia trip. The Air Force Oneplane carrying Trump andhis wife Melania landed at theSardar Vallabhbhai Patel inter-national airport here at 11.37am, officials said. It was sched-uled to land at 11.40 am.

Prime Minister NarendraModi, who reachedAhmedabad over an hourbefore Trump did, was presentat the airport to welcome theUS president at the airport.

Huge billboards of the twoleaders and replicas of historicplaces in Gujarat have also beenplaced along the roads wherepeople greeted the two leaders.

Over 10,000 police person-nel, besides officials of theUnited States Secret Service,and personnel of the NationalSecurity Guards (NSG) and

the Special Protection Group(SPG) have been deployedfor the high profile visit.

The seventh US president tovisit India, Trump on Sundayretweeted a video in which hisface was superimposed on thehit Indian movie-characterBahubali, showing him as agreat saviour.

White jumpsuitand green sash,Melania dazzles

PNS n NEW DELHI

Accessorising her white jumpsuit with a green silk andgold embroidered sash, US First Lady Melania Trumpdoffed her hat to Indian textile heritage on Monday

when she landed here for the first leg of the USpresidential visit. The breezy white jumpsuit, by French-American costume designer Herve Pierre, was cinched atthe waist with the moss green and golden metallic threadsash that was discovered by the designer in an early 20thcentury Indian textile documentsgiven to him by his friends.While her husband, USpresident Donald Trumppaired his dark suit with abuttercup yellow tie,Melania opted for crepeand silk in keeping withthe weather. Her whiteensemble is part of thelabel's Atelier Caito for HervePierre range. "Arriving in India, theFirst Lady #flotus is wearing a whitejumpsuit from@atelier_caito_for_herve_pierre increme crepe. The sash was cutin an early XX century Indiantextile documents I found inParis through very goodfriends who are collectors."The sash is made out ofgreen silk and gold metallicthread. We used the borderwhich was the mostInteresting piece we coulduse as it was a vintagepiece," Pierre posted onInstagram alongside thephotograph of the sketchof the outfit. Melaniakept her hair loose andmake up subtle for herfirst appearance in India.

Culturalextravaganzawelcomes POTUS

PNS n NEW DELHI

US President Donald Trump landed here onMonday for his first visit to India to a grandwelcome by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and

thousands of people who lined the streets and packedinto the Motera stadium to say "Namaste Trump".There were tableaux, folk dancers and musiciansrolling out the cultural tapestry that is India, at the

airport, on the way and atthe spanking new cricketstadium where about1,00,000 people waitedpatiently since early in themorning to hear the twoleaders speak.

Air Force Onecarrying Trump, his wifeMelania, daughter Ivankaand son-in-law JaredKushner landed at theSardar Vallabhbhai Patelinternational airport hereat 11.37 am, officialssaid. It was scheduled to

land at 11.40 am. Trump stepped out wearing a blacksuit and a buttercup yellow tie while the first lady wasin a white jumpsuit by French-American costumedesigner Herve Pierre. In a hat tip to Indian textiles,the jumpsuit was paired with a green silk with goldthread embroidery discovered by the designer in anearly 20th century Indian textile documents given tohim by his friends. Modi, who reached Ahmedabadabout an hour before Trump did, welcomed Trump andthe US first lady at the airport, hugging the presidentand warmly shaking hands with Melania. The first stopin the Trump visit was the Sabarmati Ashram, home toMahatma Gandhi between 1917 and 1930 duringIndia's freedom struggle. The 22-km 'India roadshow'began as the cavalcade, with the US president'sgleaming black car that has earned the moniker 'TheBeast', moved out of the airport towards the Ashramand then to stadium.

Her whiteensemble is part

of the label's AtelierCaito for Herve

Pierre range

Trump praises only Modi inGandhi Ashram visitor's book

PNS n NEW DELHI

Setting a precedence, USPresident Donald Trump instead

of writing something on MahatmaGandhi, praised Prime MinisterNarenrda Modi in the visitor'sbook at the Gandhi Ashram atSabarmati, here on Monday.

Whenever a foreign or nationaldignitary or a celebrity visit theGandhi Ashram, they express theirfeelings in the visitor's book.

Trump visited the Ashram withthe First Lady Melania Trump onMonday. They visited 'Hriday Kunj',the house in which MahatmaGandhi lived for 13 years. They alsotried their hands on Charkha, thespinning wheel.

The American couple spentaround 12 minutes at the Ashram.They were informed about Gandhiand his philosophy. Modi tooshared few words about the great

man with the first couple of the US.When the visitor's book was

presented, the US President wrote,"To my great friend Prime MinisterModi, thank you for this wonder-ful visit." The first lady also put her

signature beneath it.The President also didn't pay

tribute to the Gandhi's bust with'cotton yank', a tradition followedby every visiting dignitary to theAshram.

The Americancouple spentaround 12minutes at theAshram. Theywere informedabout Gandhiand hisphilosophy. Moditoo shared fewwords about thegreat man withthe couple.

US President Donald Trump writes in the visitor’s book at Sabarmati Ashram as First Lady and PM Narendra Modi looks onCultural troupes perform on Donald Trumps arrival

There weretableaux,

folk dancersand

musiciansrolling out

the culturaltapestry that

is India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whoreached Ahmedabad over an hourbefore Trump did, was present atthe airport to welcome the USPresident at the airport

Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes President of United States of America DonaldTrump on his arrival at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, at Ahmedabad

on Monday

Ahmedabad rolls out

RED CARPETfor the TRUMPS

MODI, TRUMP TO HOLDEXTENSIVE TALKS TODAY

PNS n NEW DELHI

US President DonaldTrump and Prime

Minister Narendra Modi willaim to expand India-US glob-al partnership in their exten-sive talks on Tuesday, a dayafter both lavished praise oneach other and vowed toscript a better future for peo-ple of the two democracies.

In an address at a massive"Namaste Trump" rally atMotera stadium inAhmedabad, the US presidentannounced that deals to sellstate-of-the-art military heli-copters and other equipmentworth over USD 3 billion willbe sealed on Tuesday.

Trump, accompanied byhis wife Melania, daughter

Ivanka, son-in-law JaredKushner and top brass of hisadministration, arrived inAhmedabad around noon onMonday for a nearly 36-hour-long maiden visit to India.

The US president was fetedat the world's largest cricketstadium in the NamasteTrump event and was cheeredby tens of thousands of peo-ple as Prime MinisterNarendra Modi invited himto address them.

"We love you. We love you,India, very much," Trumpsaid finishing his 27-minutespeech in which he heapedpraise on Modi and spokehighly about India's achieve-ments in diverse areas.

Talking about defence andstrategic ties between the two

countries, Trump said theUS is looking forward to pro-viding India with some of thebest and most feared militaryequipment on the planet.

"We make the greatestweapons ever made: airplanes,missiles, rockets, ships. We makethe best. And we're dealing nowwith India. But this includesadvanced air defence systemsand armed and unarmed aerialvehicles," Trump said.

The deals mentioned byTrump will include procure-ment of 24 MH-60 Romeohelicopters by India from theUS at a cost of USD 2.6 bil-lion. Another contract toacquire six AH-64E Apachehelicopters for USD 800 mil-lion from the US is also on thetable.

Hand-in-Hand, Trumps tour Taj MahalPNS n AGRA

President Trump and theFirst Lady walked on the

manicured lawns alongsidefreshly spruced up fountains asthey were taken on a guidedtour of the monument.

Agra: US President DonaldTrump and First Lady MelaniaTrump spent nearly an hour onMonday at the Taj Mahal inAgra, their second stop afterarriving in India for a two-dayvisit. The Trumps enjoyed themagnificent marble monumentin the glow of the fading sun,the complex completely cleared

of any other visitor or staff.The Trumps walked hand-

in-hand into the 16th centurymausoleum, known worldwideas the monument of love, builtby Mughal emperor Shah Jahanfor his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

"The Taj Mahal inspires awe.A timeless testament to the richand diverse beauty of Indian cul-ture. Thank you India," PresidentTrump wrote in the visitors' booksoon after stepping into thecomplex for a private visit.

President Trump and theFirst Lady were unhurried asthey walked on the manicuredlawns, alongside spruced up

fountains, on their guided tourof the Taj Mahal.

For the job of escorting theTrumps, many guides werescreened; three were short-listedand only one made it. The onlyother "company" for the couplewas a flock of birds that vanishedas suddenly as they appeared.

Half-way to the monument,President Trump - who onceowned a casino in Atlantic Citynamed Taj Mahal -- andMelania Trump stopped at thefamed love seat where mostforeign dignitaries pose, andsmiled for the cameras, hold-ing hands.

Donald Trump will see ‘brandnew India’: Mukesh Ambani

PNS n MUMBAI

A brand new India is welcom-ing US President Donald

Trump in 2020-- showcas-

ing a thriv-ing digitaleconomyw i t hr o b u s ttransfor-mation that

is underway

across industries -- which pre-vious US presidents never wit-nessed, Reliance IndustriesLtd (RIL) Chairman andManaging Director MukeshAmbani said on Monday.

The US President and hisfamily received a rousing wel-come from an estimated 1.10lakh people at the Motera sta-dium in Ahmedabad, the firstday of their two-day state visitto India.

"India that he (Trump) will

see in 2020 is very differentfrom India that eitherPresident (Jimmy) Carter sawor (Bill) Clinton saw or even(Barack) Obama" witnessedwhen they visited the country,Ambani told the visitingMicrosoft CEO Satya Nadelladuring an interaction at thecompany's 'Future DecodedSummit' in Mumbai.

Nadella is also in India fora three-day official visit thisweek. Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tour the historic Taj Mahal, in Agra

PNS n AHMEDABAD

US President Donald Trump onMonday reached out to Indiansby hailing the "genius" of theHindi film industry and recall-ing two all-time favourites,"Sholay" and "Dilwale DulhaniaLe Jayenge" (DDLJ).

Addressing the 'NamasteTrump' event at the MoteraStadium here, the US presidentsaid people "take great joy" inwatching Bollywood films andunderstanding Indian culturethrough them.

"This is the country that pro-duces nearly 2,000 movies a yearfrom the hub of genius and cre-ativity known as Bollywood," hetold the gathering of about100,000 people packed into thestadium.

"All over the planet peopletake great joy in scenes ofbhangra, music and dance,romance and drama, and clas-sic Indian films like 'DDLJ' and'Sholay'," Trump said.

While the 1975 multi-starrer"Sholay", labelled a "curry west-ern" by many, is an action-adventure film that has stoodthe test of the decades, the1995 Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol-led "DDLJ" is an out and outromance.

This is not the first effort bythe US president to use popu-lar culture to strike a chord with

movie loving Indians.Ahead of his maiden visit to

India, Trump shared a video inwhich his face was superim-posed on the hit movie-charac-ter Baahubali.

"Look so forward to beingwith my great friends inINDIA!" Trump tweeted onSaturday alongside the 81-sec-ond clip.

Before that, Trump praised

Ayushmann Khurrana's latestrelease "Shubh Mangal ZyadaSaavdhan".

On a tweet complimentingthe movie for celebrating asame-sex love story on the cel-luloid, Trump last week com-mented "great".

Former US president BarackObama also referenced "DDLJ"during his 2015 visit to Indiawhen he quoted Shah Rukh's

famous dialogue from the icon-ic film.

"Last celebration here we cel-ebrated festival of lights inMumbai. We danced with somechildren. Unfortunately, we werenot able to schedule any danc-ing in this visit. 'Senorita, badebade desho mein'... You knowwhat I mean," Obama saidwhile addressing a town hallevent in Delhi.

PNS n AHMEDABAD

US President Donald Trump,First Lady Melania Trumpalong with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi visitedSabarmati Ashram for a fewminutes after Trumps arrivedat Ahmedabad airport onMonday.

A roadshow from theAirport to Sabarmati Ashramwas organised during whichthousands of people enroute ofthe cavalcade greeted the USPresident who is visiting Indiafor the first time.

Trump and First Lady paidtributes to Mahatma Gandhi atthe Sabarmati Ashram.

During the brief stay here,they tried their hands on thecharkha.

Trump spun charkha brieflyand wrote in the visitor's diary,"To my great friend PrimeMinister Modi - Thank You

for this wonderful visit."However, there was no

mention of Mahatma Gandhiby Trump in his remark in thevisitors' diary at Sabarmatiashram.

From Sabarmati Ashram,Trump and the First Ladyarrived at Motera Stadium, inAhmedabad where apart fromModi, Union Home MinisterAmit Shah, Gujarat Chief min-ister Vijay Rupnai andGovernor Acharya Devvratare also present.

Trump all praise for Bollywood,remembers DDLJ and Sholay

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President of USA Donald Trump and First LadyMelania Trump at Motera Stadium, in Ahmedabad on Monday

India, US committed todefend people from radicalIslamic terrorism: TrumpPNS n AHMEDABAD

India and the US are commit-ted to defend their peoplefrom radical islamic terrorism,resolved to significantlyexpand defence ties and areworking on a "fantastic" tradedeal, said US President DonaldTrump on Monday whileasserting that his country"loves" and is "loyal" to India.

Addressing a huge crowd at'Namaste Trump' event at theMotera stadium here, the USpresident, accompanied by hiswife Melania and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,talked about India's great tra-dition of embracing individualfreedom, rule of law, dignity ofevery human being and wherepeople worship side-by-side in

harmony.On his maiden visit, Trump,

who was welcomed by Modion his arrival here, said hiscountry will remain a "loyal"friend of India and called thePrime Minister an "excep-tional leader" who works dayand night for the country.

"India and the US are com-mitted to fight terrorists andtheir ideology; that is why mygovernment is working withPakistan to crack down on ter-ror groups," Trump said in thepresence of his family --daughter Ivanka, son-in-lawJared Kushner-- and top brassof his administration.

"The US will always befaithful and loyal friend ofIndia. Thank you for the spec-tacular welcome," he added.

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump trying their hands on charkha at Sabarmati Ashram US President Donald Trump greeting Ivanka Trump at Ahmedabad Airport on Monday

PNS n NEW DELHI

US President DonaldTrump's speech onMonday at Ahmedabad'sMotera stadium leftTwitter in splits over hisseveral mispronunciationseven though the Americanleader won some praiseover his references toBollywood and Indianpublic figures.

From calling PrimeMinister Narendra Modithe son of a "chiwala"("Chaiwala" or tea-seller)to mentioning "TheVestas" (The Vedas) and abotched up pronunciationof Swami Vivekananda,social media users notedseveral instances ofTrump-isms.

Some also praised MrTrump for speaking aboutthe "genius" of the Hindifilm industry and recallingtwo all-time favourites,'Sholay' (which he called"Shojay") and 'DilwaleDulhania Le Jayenge'("DDLJ").

No religiousmatters: SenaPNS n MUMBAI

The Shiv Sena asked visitingUS President Donald Trump‘not to interfere’ in issues per-taining to religious freedom inIndia as the same were India's"internal matter".

Referring to media reportsthat Trump is likely to expresshis reservations on aspects ofreligious freedom with PrimeMinister, Sena said that besidesfaith, issues like Shaheen Bagh,CAA, NRC and NPR are "alldomestic concerns of India"which the (Indian) govern-ment is tackling. "This countryis run by a democraticallyelected government and needsno lessons from outsiders onmatters pertaining to freedomor dignity... it will be better ifthe US President completes his'sight-seeing tours' ofAhmedabad, Delhi and Agraand packs off," the Sena said.

“To my greatfriend PrimeMinister Modi -Thank You for thiswonderful visit,”Trump wrote inthe visitor’s diary

‘Vivekamanan’ to‘vestas’: twitter is ROFLover mis-pronunciations

What you have done for healthy andhappy America is getting goodresults. What you are doing for

children in society is admirable. America'scommitment to defeating terrorism and theleadership of President Trump has servedhumanity and, therefore, I believe that aspecial leader like President Trump and aspecial friend of India coming to India at thebeginning of this decade is a big occasion. Hisvisit to this country has created a new historyin Indo-US relations.

NARENDRA MODIPrime Minister

Prime Minister Modi, you are not justthe pride of Gujarat. You are a livingproof that with hard work and devotion

Indians can accomplish anything, anything atall, anything they want. The life of PrimeMinister Modi underscores the limitlesspromise of this great nation. He started out byhis father's side as a chai-wallah, as a tea-seller. When he was a young man he workedat a cafeteria in this city and now, and hislandslide victory like no other in the largestdemocratic election ever held anywhere

DONALD TRUMPUS President

PNS n NEW DELHI

It was love in the air as IvankaTrump, in a Proenza Schoulerfloral printed dress, took a strollat the Taj Mahal with her hus-band Jared Kushner on Monday.

Proenza Schouler is awomen's wear and accessoriesbrand founded in New York in2002 by designers JackMcCollough and LazaroHernandez. "Taj Mahal. Thebeauty of the Taj Mahal is aweinspir ing!"she post-ed onh e r

Instagram page. "And so are you,keep fighting the good fight,"posted a follower on herInstagram page. In a nod to sus-tainable fashion, Ivanka wore arepeat Proenza Schouler dresswhich she wore on her visit toArgentina back in 2019. "Kyabaat hai. Beautiful," postedanother follower. In a Sundaytweet, Ivanka said she is hon-oured to return to India. "Twoyears after joining @naren-dramodi at the GlobalEntrepreneurial Summit inHyderabad, I am honoured toreturn to India with@POTUS and @FLOTUSto celebrate that the grandfriendship between theworld's two largest

democracies has neverbeen stronger!" Ivanka

tweeted.

Ivanka puts Insta on fire with ‘awe inspiring'Taj pics

PNS n AHMEDABAD

Over a lakh people gath-ered at the newly builtcricket stadium in Moteraarea on Monday to witnessUS President DonaldTrump and PrimeMinister Narendra Modiaddressing the gathering atthe Namaste Trump event.

Though Trump'saddress was scheduled tostart after 1.30 pm, peoplefrom across the state start-ed arriving at the stadium,touted as the world'sbiggest, since 8 am.

There was a continuousstream of people walkingtowards the stadium sincemorning as parking areasfor vehicles were awayfrom the stadium. Whilemany of the attendees weretransported to the venue inbuses, some were from thecity and were eager to seeboth the leaders. Many inthe stadium were seenwearing masks with imagesof Modi and Trump print-ed on them. For securityreasons, each invitee wasgiven a personal invitation

and police conducted theirbackground checks.

Bollywood singerKailash Kher and localGujarati singers entertainedthe audience for a couple ofhours before Trump andModi reached the stadi-um, which has the capac-ity to accommodate 1.10lakh people, the highestfor any cricket stadium inthe world. Gujarati singerslike Kirtidan Gadhvi,Geeta Rabari and KinjalDave also entertained theaudience for over twohours. The invited guestsalso included NonR e s i d e n tIndians and

businessmen. For securityreasons, no one was allowedto carry any banner or flaginside the stadium.

Over one lakh turn out atvenue to hear Trump, PM

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump receiving a traditional welcome upon their arrival at AhmedabadAirport on Monday. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath can also be seen

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures to the crowd

Trumps visit Sabarmati,try hands on charkha

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2020 05

The agitation against theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA), the National PopulationRegister (NPR) and related mat-ters, triggered largely by fears

that the Union Government will deprivemillions of Muslims of their citizenship, isone of the most confusing agitations thatthis writer has witnessed over the past fivedecades. The CAA has nothing to do withthe Indian citizens. It only seeks to providecitizenship to a limited number of peoplewho have been persecuted in three IslamicRepublics neighbouring India. The premiseon which the agitation is being carried onis completely baseless and is indicative ofthe extent of mischief a bunch of malcon-tents can do when the electorate rejectstheir agenda.

Organisers of the agitation are callingpeople to the protest sites by spreadingrumours that the CAA will enable theGovernment to snatch away their citizen-ship, when the fact is that the law has noth-ing to do with the people of this country.More importantly, anyone, who reads theCitizenship Act, 1955, (the entire Act andnot just the 2019 amendment to it), willrealise how water-tight the citizenship ofa natural-born citizen (a person born onIndian soil) is under this Act and that inreality, no one has the power to take it away.Section 3 of the Citizenship Act, 1955,describes citizens of India “by birth.” It says:

“Every person born in India (a) on orafter January 26, 1950, but before July 1,1987; (b) on or after the July 1, 1987, butbefore the commencement of theCitizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003,and either of whose parents is a citizenof India at the time of his birth; (c) on orafter the commencement of theCitizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003,where (i) both his parents are citizens ofIndia; or (ii) one of whose parents is a cit-izen of India and the other is not an ille-gal migrant at the time of his birth, shallbe a citizen of India by birth.”

As can be seen, probably 99 per centor more of the Indian citizens fall in thiscategory called “citizens by birth” and theybelong to all religions — Hindu, Muslimand Christian among others. Such peopleare also known as “natural born” citizens.They are distinct from naturalised citizensand indeed constitute the highest class ofcitizens (for example in the US, only a nat-ural born citizen can be the President).These citizens (this writer included) do not“apply” for citizenship. They become citi-zens when they first breathe life. They donot make an oath, swearing allegiance tothe Constitution of India because theirevery breath is deemed allegiance. Theirloyalty is taken for granted. They can giveup their Indian citizenship but no powercan deprive them of their citizenship.Among such citizens, those who commitrape and murder, can be hanged for the

offence, if the law so provides,but their citizenship cannot besnatched away from them. TheAct does not provide for it.They will take their citizenshipto the gallows. Such is thequality of this citizenship.

The citizenship Act offersother categories of citizenshiplike citizenship by registration(Section 5) and naturalisation(Section 6). These are basical-ly for foreigners who wish tosettle in India and seek Indiancitizenship or people of Indianorigin living abroad who wantto return to India and live as cit-izens in this country. There isanother category — foreigners,who marry Indian citizens andsettle down in the country.Sonia Gandhi, the president ofthe Congress, is an Italian expa-triate who moved to India afterher marriage to former PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi in 1968.

Under Section 5(2), Indiancitizenship can be granted to aperson coming via the registra-tion route. There is a similarprovision under Section 6 (2)for expatriates who apply forIndian citizenship through“naturalisation.” In both cases,citizenship is granted, subjectto conditions and restrictions,and only after they make theoath of allegiance.

In the case of SoniaGandhi, as per the law at thattime, she could have applied forIndian citizenship five yearsafter marriage but she did soonly after 15 years on April 7,

1983, and was granted citizen-ship on April 30, 1983. Despitebeing an Italian citizen in 1980,she illegally entered the elec-toral rolls that year and follow-ing a complaint, her name wasdeleted from the rolls.However, this is another storyfor another day. But one mayask, how is all this relevant?

These facts are pertinentbecause unlike natural-borncitizens, Sonia Gandhi’s citizen-ship is extremely vulnerable.Being a “naturalised” citizen,her citizenship is subject to sev-eral conditions and restric-tions. Further, if she violatesany of those conditions, her cit-izenship can be cancelled.

Section 10 of the citizen-ship Act lists out the situationsin which a citizen by registra-tion or naturalisation can bedeprived of his/her citizenship.It says that if the registration orcertificate of naturalisationwas obtained by means offraud, false representation orthe concealment of any mate-rial fact; or that citizen hasshown himself by act or speechto be disloyal or disaffectedtowards the Constitution ofIndia as by law established; orthat citizen has, during any warin which India may beengaged, unlawfully traded orcommunicated with an enemy;or that citizen has been ordi-narily resident out of India fora continuous period of sevenyears”, his/her citizenship canbe cancelled.

Further, unlike citizens bybirth, a naturalised citizen hasto swear allegiance to theConstitution of India. It cannotbe taken for granted. EveryMuslim citizen, who is swayedby the anti-CAA argument,must ask himself/herself thefollowing questions in order toknow the quality of citizenshiphe/she enjoys: Did he/she ever“apply” for citizenship likeSonia Gandhi? Was he/sheever asked to swear allegianceto the Constitution of India,like her? So, this is the powerand quality of the citizenship of99 per cent of the citizensunder the Citizenship Act,1955, but the Congress, after itsdecimation in the 2019 LokSabha poll, wants the Muslimsof India to believe that their cit-izenship is as fragile as that ofits party president.

This is nothing but anattempt to spread falsehoodand disaffection. It could evenbe seen as an attempt to over-throw a duly electedGovernment through guile andsubterfuge. Proud natural-borncitizens of India — Hindus,Muslims, Christians, Sikhs,Jains, Buddhists, Parsis andJews — must disengage them-selves from this campaignwhich is dangerous for ourdemocracy and for our consti-tutional well-being.

(The writer is an authorspecialising in democracy studies. Views expressed arepersonal.)

That Indian cuisine is high on flavour is anundisputed fact but so is the reality thatit is making us sick. Not because

there’s anything wrong with our food butbecause our eating habits are askew and weare over-dependent on coating our food withfat. We think nothing of adding more butter toour food and eating deep fried snacks, biryani,paranthas and so on, especially in the met-ropolitan cities where there’s a culture of indul-gence, easy availability of rich foods, even lateat night thanks to food apps and an increas-

ing capacity to pay for foods that we crave for. It’s no surprise then that a recentsurvey by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on consumption pat-terns in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbaishows that the average intake of added fat in all the seven metro cities pooledtogether was 32.6 grams per person each day, which is higher than the ICMR-recommended levels of 20 grams. Out of these seven cities, Delhi and Ahmedabadtopped the list in the daily average consumption of fat. Overall, 18 per cent ofthe total intake of energy was obtained from visible fat and vegetarians consumedmore fat at 40.7 grams per person daily than non-vegetarians at 30.2 grams.The survey also revealed that men consume more fat at 34.1 grams than womenwho consume 31.1 grams per day. These figures are worrying as the country’sburden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is escalating at an alarming rate.

While NCDs typically affect people above 55 in most developed nations, inIndia, they occur at least 10 years earlier. Not only are they eroding our humancapital, an increasing healthcare burden is one of the major public health chal-lenges the country is facing. And as Government spending on health is a dis-mal 1.2 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), this means that the bur-den of rising lifestyle diseases like cancer, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascularcomplexities is increasingly being borne by individuals out of their pockets.Ludicrously, India is fighting the twin burden of undernutrition and overnutrition,which leaves the Government and healthcare professionals with the dilemma ofsolving both issues concurrently. Also, it is ironic that both Delhi and Ahmedabadtop the list of unhealthy eaters, considering the fact that in Delhi, Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal has been improving healthcare facilities and Prime Minister NarendraModi, who hails from Gujarat, has been an avid proponent of the Fit India Movement.Maybe, it’s time Governments began looking at creating more awareness as partof their efforts to keep India healthy.

Desperate times call for desperate mea-sures and when a global crisis has a newname called Coronavirus with a hydra-

headed manifestation, then politics should bethe last concern between nations who mustunitedly fight it. Unfortunately, China, which isfiltering the extent of its health crisis lest it beconstrued as bad propaganda for its globalstakes, has let that unease creep into its bilat-eral ties with India. Seems like the spirallingepidemic has torn the “relative calm” in thestrategic partnership. A spat that could have

been settled by discussion and mutual understanding has unnecessarily beenallowed to gain traction. The current row stems from China’s refusal to grantpermission to our military aircraft for the evacuation of several Indians from theCoronavirus-hit Wuhan. Although China facilitated the civil flights by rescue mis-sions, it is dragging its feet over clearances for this one, attributing it to proce-dural norms given the disease has reached a higher degree of criticality. But Indiamaintains that it is precisely because of this and its responsibility to protect itscitizens that it was sending in the C-17 Globemaster, equipped with medical facil-ities, to bring back Indians, assuming they were infected. Yet in a tit-for-tat response,Beijing accused New Delhi of being selfish and holding back essential medicalequipment required by local authorities and medical workers for treating patients.More, China has called upon the Indian authorities to follow the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) guidelines that call for resumption of all trade and person-al exchanges with it to restore normalcy. Yet the world knows that when it comesto humanitarian missions, India has never held itself back. So this strong-armand negotiatory tactics by the Chinese are not warranted. In all this bickering,not least unexpected, the Chinese response was the same as it was during theoutbreak of the virus, “denial.” So the fate of around 100-odd Indians, who remainstuck in the Chinese city, is still undecided.

Besides, Beijing cannot justify its “selective” engagement with India on theevacuation process, allowing permission to some while denying it to others. Asit turns out, in the same “critical period,” three other nations were allowed tooperate their evacuation flights. What is incomprehensible is that just a few daysago, the Chinese authorities applauded the “kindness” shown by New Delhi inhelping them tackle the outbreak. Premier Xi Jinping had himself lauded Indiafor offering solidarity and assistance. The mixed messages are typical of the larg-er Chinese strategy of keeping us on our toes by speaking in a forked tongue.Despite this blow-hot-blow-cold attitude of the Chinese, the Indian Governmentchose to keep differences aside and sought to aggressively push itself to helpChina contain the virus. From agreeing to test clinical samples from abroad inits laboratories to offering help with the evacuation of people from affected areasto lifting the ban on the export of personal protection equipment — it has doneit all. The least one could have expected of the Chinese, given their continuedemphasis on strategic relationship and intention to look at trade and other broad-er areas of cooperation, was to acknowledge the role played by other nations,including India, in fighting the epidemic. But that’s too much to ask from it. Inall the three sorties carried out to date, where more than 600 Indians have beenairlifted, working with China has been a nightmare with the biggest hurdle com-ing by way of getting approvals from its authorities — Central, provincial as wellas local. It must also not be forgotten that ripple effects of the spread of the virusare being felt in India, as in other nations. We, too, need to be prepared to tack-le any potential crisis. India’s stand with regard to restrictions on some medicaldevices assumes prominence on account of our fast depleting stocks and lowdomestic output. In fact, the crisis has led to the deep realisation of how we areheavily reliant on the Chinese for the procurement of raw materials and key ingre-dients for the production of medical equipment and drugs. So much so that theGovernment is all set to create new opportunities for Indian firms to emerge asan alternative producing destination to fill the supply vacuum. This outbreak shouldserve as a warning for Indian industries to diversify their supply chains and encour-age the production of critical components within India. Till we are dependent onsupplies from China, it will use our weakness to leverage diplomacy.

Indo-China row

Emulate Kerala

Sir — The Kerala Governmentmust be lauded for its ambitioussanitation initiative as it plans toset up 12,000 pairs of public toi-lets on highways. The lack of pub-lic toilets on freeways causesinexplicable difficulties for people,especially women and children.Most often, travellers are clueless.There are either unmaintainedpublic toilets on the way or peo-ple have to visit hotels and spendmoney on food simply becausethey have to use the toilet there.

The land of the Government,public sector undertakings (PSUs)and cooperative institutions willbe utilised for this purpose. TheGovernment has decided toinstruct local self-Governmentinstitutions to identify land intheir areas alongside the State andnational highways.

The Government has fur-ther stated that those agencieswilling to cooperate with theproject would be made partners.There is also an idea to start smallshops and snack parlours alongwith these complexes, which can,in turn, give employment as wellas boost the economy. But thepublic will have to use them and

maintain them properly. OtherState Governments can followKerala’s template.

M PradyuKannur

Ill-conceived decision

Sir — By ordering that barswould remain open till late in

some Haryana cities, the StateGovernment is looking toincrease its revenue from liquorsales. While increasing liquorcontracts and the number of

vends will generate someemployment and income forpeople associated with the sec-tor, the increase in liquor con-sumption may also cause a spurtin crime. The sale of liquor atshopping malls will also add tothe problem. This method ofadding on to the State’s revenueis against public welfare.

Yugal Kishore SharmaFaridabad

Stalemate continues

Sir — Rumours are rife thatCongress leader Rahul Gandhimay once again take charge of theparty. But more than once, theCongress scion has demonstrat-ed that he is unsuited to lead theparty. Leaders, too, are toeing thesame line because they cannot beseen to be publically writing himoff. But Rahul does not seem toconnect with the masses. If theCongress cannot really lookbeyond the family. why not per-suade Priyanka Gandhi to step in?But who will bell the cat?

SrinivasVia email

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

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

op nionHYDERABAD | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2020

06

A Constitution not so fragile

A SURYA PRAKASH

Proud, natural-born citizens of the country must see through the dubious plans of selective propaganda on CAA and NPR

Democracy in India gave riseto identity-based politics.From the lens of deepeningdemocracy, this is a positivedevelopment because it leadsto wider representation.

Former President—Pranab Mukherjee

There was a struggle in thebeginning because very fewcommercial films were beingmade then. Today less com-mercial films are made buthatred has turned into love.

Filmmaker—Rohit Shetty

S O U N D B I T E

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

A versatile genius, really?

Supreme Court judge Arun Mishra was fulsome inhis praise for the Prime Minister at the InternationalJudicial Conference in New Delhi. His laudatory

characterisation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi asa “versatile genius who thinks globally and acts local-ly” flabbergasted watchers of Indian politics and judi-ciary. His encomium that Modi is an “internationallyacclaimed visionary” left the citizens speechless in dis-belief. Did the learned judge mean what he said? Didhe know the meaning of what he said?

Usually, singing the paeans to a leader is left tohis followers. The nature of his job has not deterredJustice Mishra from extolling the incumbent PrimeMinister as a “versatile genius.” He seems to have beensmitten by “Modi worship syndrome.” The moot ques-tion is whether a judge can lavish praise on a leaderin an unbounded manner even if he is popular and hasa huge cult following and risks being bracketed withsycophants. Modi bhakts abound in our country; theyinclude television anchors, serving and ex-Army offi-cers, yoga gurus and even Governors.

Now, a Supreme Court judge has joined the “Modifans club.” In glorifying the Prime Minister in suchglowing terms, Justice Mishra has revealed his polit-ical and ideological leanings. But his praise does notalter the fact that Prime Minister Modi is a profound-

ly polarising figure with a chequered past and a pro-moter of the interests of privileged upper caste Hindusand corporate behemoths. In school, we learnt thatLeonardo da Vinci was a versatile genius; he was apainter, a scientist, a mathematician, an engineer, anarchitect, a sculptor, a musician, a man of the theatre,a paleontologist, and a lot more, all rolled into one.Versatile geniuses hold a lofty place in our imagina-tion. Modi does not.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

EVERY MUSLIMCITIZEN, WHO IS

SWAYED BY THE ANTI-CAA

ARGUMENT, MUSTASK HIMSELF THE

FOLLOWINGQUESTIONS IN

ORDER TO KNOWTHE QUALITY OF

CITIZENSHIPHE/SHE ENJOYS:

DID HE/SHE EVERAPPLY FOR

CITIZENSHIP LIKESONIA GANDHI?

WAS HE/SHE EVERASKED TO SWEAR

ALLEGIANCETO THE

CONSTITUTION OFINDIA, LIKE HER?

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Fatty Indians

It (air purifier) helps neu-tralise the air but a biggerproblem in Delhi is what todo with the far more toxicand harmful PM 2.0 mole-cules of Modi’s second term.

Congress leader—Shashi Tharoor

Beijing’s selective engagement with India on the Wuhan evacuations is plain confrontationist

Delhi and Ahmedabad top the ICMR’s study ofpeople consuming fats above prescribed levels

The US and India are the twolargest democracies in theworld and share many values. There is much to begained from the friendship ofModi and Trump.

Indian-American politician—Nikki Haley

Reduce the income gap

WHILE TARGETTING US, THE BJP SHOULD SEE WHAT ISHAPPENING IN CENTRALLY-RULED NEW DELHI, WHERETERRORISTS STORMED JNU AND BEAT UP STUDENTS.

—MAHARASHTRA CHIEF MINISTER UDDHAV THACKERAY

THE FREQUENCY OF ASSAULTS, IN WHICH SOMEWOMEN EVEN LOST THEIR LIVES, IS SERIOUS AND CANNOT BE IGNORED.—FORMER MAHARASHTRA CHIEF MINISTERDEVENDRA FADNAVIS

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Successive Governments have remainedobsessed with accelerating economic growthwithout caring about how it impacts income

distribution, forget any attempt to internalise thiscrucial aspect in development strategies. Theybelieve that the fruits of growth will automati-cally percolate to the lowest strata of society.Nothing could be farther from the truth. This isevident from a piece of research, Time to Care,released by rights group Oxfam ahead of the 50thAnnual Meeting of the World Economic Forum(WEF) held in Davos (Switzerland) from January21-24. According to the study, India’s richest oneper cent hold more than four-times the wealthheld by the 953 million people who make up thebottom 70 per cent of the country’s population.Further, the combined total wealth of 63 Indianbillionaires is higher than the total UnionBudget of the country for the fiscal year 2018-19.

At the global level, too, the report (for cal-culations, it draws upon latest data sources avail-able, including the Credit Suisse ResearchInstitute’s Global Wealth Databook, 2019 andForbes’ 2019 Billionaires List) brings out glaringinequalities in the distribution of wealth. Theworld’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth thanthe 4.6 billion people who make up 60 per centof the planet’s population. The 22 richest men inthe world have more wealth than all the womenin Africa. The report notes, “global inequality isshockingly entrenched even as the number of bil-lionaires has doubled in the last decade”.

The Governments world over are fully awareof these glaring inequalities as well as their con-sequences. For instance, the WEF’s annualGlobal Risks Report (GRR) — which was thor-oughly discussed during the brainstorming ses-sions at Davos — observes, “inequality under-lies recent social unrest in almost every continent,although it may be sparked by different tippingpoints such as corruption, constitutional breach-es or the rise in prices for basic goods and ser-vices”. It also warned, “the downward pressure onthe global economy from macroeconomic fragili-ties and financial inequality continued to inten-sify in 2019.”

They also routinely pledge to address theseinequalities and come out with lofty declarationsat multilateral platforms, including those underthe auspices of the United Nations to bridge thegap between the rich and the poor, including byuse of what the GRR terms as “deliberateinequality-busting policies.” Yet, when it comesto action on ground zero, there is acute lack ofpolitical will on the part of Governments andother stakeholders; hence, the business as usualscenario and ever-increasing inequities.

Fundamentally, inequalities are intrinsic tothe way businesses are planned and orchestrat-ed. It all starts with the Government offering apolicy environment in which investors areoffered an opportunity to earn an attractive rateof return on investment. What that attractive rateshould be is not normally defined (though in cer-tain sectors like power, it guarantees a minimumreturn); so any level, howsoever high, can fallwithin the scope of “attractiveness.” A vastmajority of the businesses pursue the famousadage “profit maximisation” to the hilt. They dis-tribute their expenses in such a manner that theleast amount is given to the labour and the bulkof it comes back to the owner (or promoter) as“retained earnings.” The owners/promoters also

leave no stone unturned in ensuringthat their tax liability is kept at a bareminimum (for this, they retain the besttalent viz. chartered accountants andother financial wizards, paying themextraordinarily high salaries). Big busi-nesses also enjoy pricing power. Forinstance, those operating in metals suchas copper, zinc or in hydrocarbon viz.oil and gas enjoy natural monopoly.Leveraging this, they charge highprices, making windfall gains even asconsumers suffer erosion in purchas-ing power. This also applies to bankswho enjoy margins of three-four percent (difference between the averageinterest earning and the average cost offunds) yielding mammoth profit.Furthermore, there are companies inthe IT (information technology) andIT-enabled sector which use their intel-lectual prowess to post huge profitsyear-after-year.

Then, there are enterprises in thechemical, petrochemicals and agro-chemicals sectors who have hugely ben-efitted from a protective policy environ-ment, with high tariff on imports as wellas licensing and registration require-ments. These companies make moneyat the expense of millions of consumers,including farmers (for instance, theyhave to pay a high price for “new” cropprotection solutions for which domes-tic substitutes are not available).

The micro, small and mediumenterprises (MSMEs) may not be sowell positioned vis-a-vis large enterpris-es but ape the latter when it comes todistributing the proceeds of wealth gen-eration. Their owners spend the leaston payment to workers thereby boost-ing their retained earnings. They, too,get tax bonanza from the Governmentin a variety of ways (for instance, spe-cial package under composition schemeof Goods and Services Tax as well asincome tax). They may not find a placein the billionaires’ club but definitelyearn the multi-millionaire tag.

Then, there is the trader class, par-ticularly entities dealing in farm com-

modities. They buy products fromfarmers at a throwaway price — theminimum support price (MSP) notifiedby the Government remains mostly onpaper as its agencies don’t have thewherewithal to procure their produce— and sell to the consumer at a highprice. Irrespective of whether there issurplus or deficit, Indian markets areso orchestrated that only traders emergeas the real beneficiaries at the expenseof farmers at one end and consumersat the other.

There is yet another class of richwho are an offshoot of corruption ingovernance systems. This includes cor-rupt bureaucrats, politicians (besidesdubious businessmen) who amasswealth disproportionate to their knownsources of income by siphoning offfunds from welfare schemes and diver-sion of funds borrowed from public sec-tor banks to personal accounts or shellcompanies of which they are the ulti-mate beneficiaries.

How does the Government addressincome inequalities? Typically, thistakes the form of giving relief to thepoor by providing State assistance incash or kind. For instance, under thePM-KISAN, the Government gives`6,000 per annum to each of the 145million farmers in the country in threeinstallments of `2,000 each. As for helpin kind, it provides Mid-Day Meals toschoolchildren or free medical servicesto Economically Weaker Sections inhospitals.

There are umpteen instances ofsuch assistance — both by the Centreand States — entailing a mountain ofburden on the public exchequer. All ofthis goes only to help millions barelysurvive even as a good slice of this issiphoned off (the malice continues insubstantial measure despite theGovernment’s efforts to prevent it,using the direct benefit transfer mech-anism). However, it does nothing toaugment their productive capacity andprepare them for getting jobs. Evenwhere funds are given for empowering

and increasing the income earningcapacity (for instance, availability ofcredit at concessional rate of interest tofarmers and others engaged in pettyoccupations, supply of agriculturalinputs such as fertilisers at subsidisedrate, free electricity to farmers and soon), much of the promised help eitherdoes not reach or is cornered mostly bybetter-off farmers. Even those who gainfrom these support measures are at thereceiving end when it comes to inter-face with traders for selling their pro-duce.

Quite clearly, despite mammothsums spent on welfare of the poor or“empowering” them, income inequal-ities increase even during periods ofrapid economic growth. Even when,growth decelerates (for instance, dur-ing the current year when it declinedto an 11-year-low of five per cent), thenalso the inequalities persist as the poorlose much more than the loss experi-enced by the rich.

The solution doesn’t lie in moresops, concessional credit, fiscal incen-tives and so on. There is need for a fun-damental change in the way our indus-trialists do business and politicians andbureaucrats conduct themselves. While,the former need to shed their overzeal-ousness for profits, charge less fromconsumers, distribute more to workersand pay more taxes, the latter mustensure that every rupee is spent for thewelfare and empowerment of the poor.

Even as the Government shufflespolicy choices to attune them for cre-ating more jobs and increase income(by promoting labour-intensive sectorssuch as textiles, apparels, food service,hospitality and so on), unless thestakeholders change their mindsettowards the majority who are not soprivileged, inequalities will continue tohaunt and as pointed out in the GRR,even growth will remain vulnerable tothe deep divide between the rich andthe poor.

(The writer is a New Delhi-basedpolicy analyst)

The solution doesn’t lie in more sops, fiscal incentives and so on. There is need for changein the way our industrialists do business and netas and babus conduct themselves

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

Waiting forGodot, as usual

DEEPAK SINHA

The military justice system is in jeopardy and isonly surviving due to the efforts of the SC andserving members in the Armed Forces Tribunal

UTTAM GUPTA

EVEN AS THEGOVERNMENT

SHUFFLES POLICYCHOICES TO

ATTUNE THEMFOR CREATING

MORE JOBS ANDINCREASE

INCOME (BYPROMOTING

LABOUR-INTENSIVE

SECTORS SUCHAS TEXTILES,

APPARELS, FOODSERVICE,

HOSPITALITY ANDSO ON),

UNLESS THESTAKEHOLDERSCHANGE THEIR

MINDSETTOWARDS THE

MAJORITY WHOARE NOT SOPRIVILEGED,

INEQUALITIESWILL CONTINUETO HAUNT AND

AS POINTED OUTIN THE GRR, EVEN

GROWTHWILL REMAIN

VULNERABLE TOTHE DEEP DIVIDE

BETWEENTHE RICH

AND THE POOR

It is no secret that what differentiates us from countries like Pakistanis our commitment to the rule of law. However bruised or bat-tered our justice system may be, it still continues to be trusted

and it delivers, albeit rather slowly. This, however, does not holdtrue for the health of the military justice system, which has beenin serious jeopardy for the last three years or so. That it continuesto survive on the respirator and provide justice is only because ofthe extraordinary efforts of the Supreme Court and serving mem-bers in the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT). This state of affairs candirectly be attributed to the shenanigans of senior bureaucrats inthe Defence Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office, who were caughtout when they first attempted to subvert the independence and func-tioning of the AFT by way of enacting new rules through a GazetteNotification issued under the Finance Act, 2017. In this, they changedthe selection criteria and procedures for the appointment of the chair-person and members, especially with regard to that of the admin-istrative members. Whether this was done with the tacit approvalof their political bosses, is moot.

Since the role of administrative members is to advise the judi-cial members on aspects of military law, ethos, customs and func-tioning, only military veterans meeting a specific criterion could beconsidered for appointment, as per the Armed Forces Tribunal Act,2007. However, the Finance Act, 2017 opened this up to “a per-son of ability, integrity and standing having special knowledge ofand professional experience of not less than twenty years in, eco-nomics, business, commerce, law, finance, accountancy, indus-try, public affairs, administration or in any other matter useful to theArmed Forces Tribunal.”

How anybody without the requisite expertise or domain knowl-edge could be useful in advising on matters military was not elu-cidated. However, it is not difficult to reach the conclusion that theintent was to provide further avenues for post-retirement sinecuresfor worthy members of our civilian bureaucracy. That apart, byattempting to tighten its hold on the selection process for the chair-person and members, the Government had unambiguously madeclear that it expected those aspiring to be appointed to the AFT tofollow its diktats. Obviously, if these amended rules were accept-ed, then the AFT would represent sheer tokenism of the worst kindas it would be a complete travesty of natural justice and go againstthe very concept of rule of law.

However, fortunately these reprehensible efforts were nullifiedwhen the Supreme Court initially stayed the matter and then sub-sequently struck it down on the grounds that “they were contraryto the parent Act and principles enshrined in the Constitution” (RojerMathews vs South Indian Bank Ltd and Others). The court furtherpointed serious anomalies in the rules and directed the Governmentto reframe them. In the ensuing stand-off between the apex courtand the Government, serving personnel and veterans alike becamevictims of bureaucratic apathy and bloody-mindedness.

In a show of extreme vindictiveness and an utter lack of empa-thy for the military community, and with complete disregard of theiractions on morale, the bureaucracy did what it does best, refusedto move files, thereby ensuring vacant posts could not be filled. Froma time when 17 Benches were functional (each Bench has one judi-cial and one administrative member) across the country, we arenow down to two regular Benches in Delhi and one ad hoc rovingBench that moves from city to city in an attempt to try and providesome semblance of justice. The obvious implication is that the waitfor justice just became even longer, with over 16,000 cases pend-ing. If the stalemate continues, as it looks to, the situation will onlyget worse as administrative members complete their tenure aroundJuly, unless of course the apex court extends their terms, as it hasdone for the two judicial members.

That this Government has no intentions of changing course overthe matter, despite all that has occurred, has been clearly broughtby the issue of a new Gazette Notification in February under theFinance Act, 2017. The new rules notified therein are only margin-ally different with regard to selection criterion of the chairperson andjudicial members but have made no attempt to change the previ-ously-rejected selection criteria with regard to administrative mem-bers. Clearly this action on the part of the Government is not onlycompletely brazen but also appears to be in contempt of the SupremeCourt, if its directions were to be viewed in the spirit of the law. Asto whether the court itself will view this matter seriously, only timewill tell. However, one can be certain that there are bound to be aspate of writ petitions filed against this outrage. This implies we areback on the merry-go-round or maybe just as in Samuel Beckett’splay of the same name we will continue “waiting for Godot.” Whata shame.

(The writer, a military veteran is a consultant with the ObserverResearch Foundation, New Delhi and Senior Visiting Fellow withthe Peninsula Foundation, Chennai)

Malaria, is known as the “dis-ease of poverty” as it often hitsthose who have the least

access to healthcare. Statistics show that80 per cent of cases occur among 20per cent of the country’s population,mostly communities living in remoteareas. For India, malaria has been atricky foe with varying outcomes overthe decades. It has achieved greatstrides in curbing the disease everytime the Government has increasedintensification and on the groundimplementation of eradication pro-grammes. The reverse is also true.

Malaria was nearly eliminated in

the early 1960s but it soon re-emergedas a major public health problem. Earlysetbacks in its eradication coincidedwith DDT shortages and in the late ’60smalaria cases in urban areas started tomultiply. In the ’70s its resurgence wasa result of technical, financial and oper-ational problems. As a result, in 1976,a whopping 6.45 million cases wererecorded which led to the discontin-uation of eradication efforts. In orderto control the massive upsurge, theModified Plan of Operation waslaunched in 1977 which brought thesituation under control for five-sixyears. Malaria cases fell to 2.18 millionin 1984 and climbed back to three mil-lion in 1995, with substantial mortal-ity reported. However, since 2000,India has reduced the number of casesby more than half and the number ofdeaths by more than two-thirds. In theWHO’s World Malaria Report 2019,India was lauded for strengthening itsfight against the disease. These con-certed efforts need to be sustained,reinvented and amplified if we are

going to end malaria by 2030. Challenges ahead: In 2015, Prime

Minister Narendra Modi declared thecountry’s commitment to eliminatingthe disease by 2030. Soon after, in 2016,India introduced its National StrategicPlan for Malaria Elimination andtook several measures to end the mal-ady. But the biggest challenge remainsas India’s true burden of malaria isunknown. To understand and mapmalaria cases and fatalities, Indiasolely relies on data from Governmenthospitals. This highlights a big gap inthe realities of its malaria burden whenapproximately 70 per cent of urban and63 per cent of rural households use theprivate sector to seek medical care. Insome States malaria has been declareda notifiable disease, this means that pri-vate sector establishments have toadhere to Government guidelines,use recommended anti-malarial drugsand report cases to the authorities.However, it is yet to be declared a noti-fiable disease for many States, whichamplifies the gap in mapping the over-

all malaria burden. Several concretesteps are needed to win this fight.

Disease mapping: We must takealong the private sector to ensure a col-laborative surveillance method toobtain malaria’s exact burden. For thiswe need to foster a healthy partnershipbetween the private and public sectorfor mapping the disease in a holisticmanner. If such a mechanism for gath-ering data is implemented and the trueburden is identified, then India will bewell-placed to end the disease.

Effective partnerships:Collaboration between various stake-holders is the key to success. To cite anexample, an NGO, Malaria No More,launched a Malaria Action Coalition(MAC) in September 2019. The MACacts as a multi-sectoral coordinationplatform, chaired by the malarial Stateof Odisha, with representation fromnon-Government technical, researchand implementation agencies as wellas the private sector, donors, investorsand media partners to support theNational Vector Borne Disease Control

Programme.Creating awareness: Creating

awareness has been one of the majorcatalysts to reduce, if not completelyeliminate, a disease. Advocacy, aware-ness and on-ground programmes gohand in hand and the public and pri-vate sector have an equal role in it. Toreduce the burden of malaria it isimportant to empower communitiesby educating them. An individual hasto first learn to recognise and then pre-vent the disease. To further this effort,it is important that the individualspread information on malaria inhis/her area. This empowerment willonly come with education and self-awareness.

Government’s commitments:Modi and the Health Minister haveechoed India’s seriousness to endmalaria by 2030 on national andinternational platforms, includingduring last year’s CommonwealthHeads of Government Meeting, when52 leaders committed to halve malar-ia by 2023. With more Government

funding still needed, the CentralGovernment nearly trebled the outlayfor the National Vector Borne DiseaseControl Programme (NVBDCP) overthe last two years.

Ensuring adequate investment inmalaria is imperative to achievingIndia’s elimination goals.Implementing the Five Year Plan formalaria elimination shall require`10,653.16 crore. While theGovernment has increased it’s fund-ing for the NVBDCP, the CentralGovernment-allocated funds for it getdivided for disease control pro-grammes/interventions for six diseases,malaria, dengue, chikungunya, kala-azar, lymphatic filariasis and Japaneseencephalitis, creating a paucity ofresources. This makes private sectorcontributions extremely critical tobolster the Government’s efforts butthere is a lack of funding from it.However, sustained focus andincreased funding are crucial to boostthe fight against malaria. Its elimina-tion in India is important from a glob-

al and regional perspective because thecountry has the highest malaria bur-den outside sub-Saharan Africa. Some1.26 billion Indians are at risk of malar-ia and the country shares its borderswith several nations aiming for malar-ia elimination, including Bhutan,Bangladesh and Nepal. Sri Lanka,which eliminated malaria in 2016, isseparated by only a small stretch of sea,with frequent air travel occurringbetween the two neighbours. India alsoshares borders with Myanmar wherea drug-resistant malaria parasite hasbeen reported. Successful malariacontrol in India will enhance elimina-tion efforts across the region and theworld.

The challenges for the mammothtask — private sector partnership,increased domestic funding, surveil-lance mechanism, impact on the vul-nerable population — need to beaddressed. Till then there’s no room forcomplacency.

(The writer is Co-Founder, SmileFoundation)

Keep the momentum going to eliminate malariaThe challenges for the mammoth task — private sector partnership, increased domestic funding, surveillance mechanism, impact on the

vulnerable population — need to be addressed. Till then there's no room for complacency

SANTANU MISHRA

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

PNS nMUMBAI

With mobile networks better orat par with anywhere else in theworld, India has an opportuni-ty to become a 'premier digitalsociety', billionaire MukeshAmbani said on Monday as hesaw the country becoming thethird world's largest economywithin the next decade.

Speaking at a fireside chatwith Microsoft CEO Satya

Nadella, he said the bigchange driving this trans-formation was the deep-

ening of mobile net-

works which were working at amuch faster pace than before.

"I can easily say that themobile networks in India noware better or at par with any-where else in the world,"he said. "The opportuni-ty that we have forIndia, really, is theopportunity to becomethe premier digital soci-ety in the world."

India, he said, has all thecomponents in place to "growand march forward".

"I have no doubt in my mindthat we will become among the

top three economies in theworld," he said. "We can argueabout whether it will happen in5 years or 10 years but it's going

to happen, and we will bein the top three

economies in theworld." When thathappens, he won-dered: "Will we be the

most technologicallyenabled society? Will

we be having all our devel-opment enabled by all the toolsof technology? Can we really bea pacesetter in terms of using alltechnology?"

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2020 money 08CAPSULE

GMR Infra sharessoar 12% on stakesale in airport bizNEW DELHI: Shares of GMRInfrastructure on Mondaysurged over 12 per cent afterthe CCI gave approval for theGMR group's proposed 49 percent stake sale in its airportbusiness to France's GroupeADP. The stock hit a high ofRs 26.55, up 12.5 per cent, onthe BSE. Later, it shed somegains to trade higher by 10.81per cent at Rs 26.15. On theNSE, the scrip was trading atRs 26.30, up 11.21 per cent.The Competition Commissionof India (CCI) on Friday gaveapproval for GMR group'sproposed 49 per cent stakesale in its airport business toFrance's Groupe ADP. Theregulator's clearance isthrough the green channel,which allows for an automaticsystem for speedy approval ofcombinations, subject tocertain conditions.

Microsoft, SBI joinhands to traindifferently-abledMUMBAI: Global tech majorMicrosoft on Mondayannounced a partnership withSBI to train differently-abledpeople find jobs in thebanking, financial services andinsurance (BFSI) sector. Over 500 differently-abledyouths will be upskilled in thefirst year of the collaboration.“It is an ideal partnership. Thisis a new beginning in trainingand finding people with anykind of disability butemployable. Our experiencewith them has been fantastic,”SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumartold reporters here. Microsoft'spresident of global sales,marketing and operationsJean-Philippe Courtois saidthere are 26 million differently-abled people in India and it isessential to use newer ways touse technology to enable themparticipate in the 21st centuryeconomy.

Nobody wants to killtelecom sector,says SBI chief

AGR ISSUE

MUMBAI: With the telecomfirms staring at a massive Rs1.47 lakh crore of AGR dues,SBI chairman Rajnish Kumaron Monday said "nobodywants to kill the sector". Thestate-owned bank is yet to hearfrom the government on theissue, he said, when asked if ithas sought views frombankers. "Nobody wants to killthe sector, let me be veryclear," Kumar said, when askedabout the problems beingfaced by the telecom industry.It can be noted that earlier thismonth, Kumar had said thatState Bank of India has a loanoutstanding of Rs 29,000 croreto the telecom sector andanother Rs 14,000 crore inbank guarantees, which canget invoked in case of a non-payment of dues by the telcos.

Sensex tanks 807 pts ascoronavirus alarm spreadsPNS n MUMBAI

Indian equity benchmarkSensex on Monday plungedabout 807 points in line withmassive sell-offs in globalequities as spike in new coro-navirus cases beyond Chinaspooked investors.

The 30-share BSE gaugesettled at 40,363.23, dropping806.89 points or 1.96 per cent.

While, the broader NSENifty sank 251.45 points or2.08 per cent to 11,829.40.

All Sensex componentsended in the red, with TataSteel cracking 6.39 per cent,followed by ONGC, Maruti,Titan, ICICI Bank, HDFC andBharti Airtel.

In a worrying sign for theglobal economy, the deadlycoronavirus is fast spreadingbeyond China. South Koreawent on high alert on Sundayfollowing a sharp jump incoronavirus cases, and Italyand Iran took their own dras-tic containment steps.

Further, the IMF alsowarned that the deadly epi-demic could put an alreadyfragile global economy recov-ery at risk. Chinese PresidentXi Jinping on Sunday said thecoronavirus epidemic is thecountry's "largest public healthemergency". The death tollfrom the deadly virus climbedto 2,592 in China on Monday.

Seoul stocks ended in deepred after South Korea report-ed 161 more coronavirus caseson Monday, taking the overallvirus cases to 763 and makingit the world's largest total out-side China.

Bourses in Shanghai, Tokyoand Hong Kong also closedwith significant losses.

Stock exchanges in Europesank in opening trade withMilan's FTSE MIB plungingover 4 per cent after Italy

reported its fourth death fromthe virus as the number ofpeople contracting the viruscontinued to mount. Brentcrude oil futures dropped 3.62 per cent to USD 55.84 perbarrel.

On the domestic front,investors were eyeing USPresident Donald Trump'stwo-day visit to India for fur-ther cues on trade front. Hereached Ahmedabad earlier inthe day.

Maruti Suzukilaunches petrolversion ofVitara BrezzaPNS n NEW DELHI

The country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki Indiaon Monday launched thepetrol version of its popularcompact SUV Vitara Brezzapriced between Rs 7.34 lakhand Rs 11.4 lakh (ex-show-room Delhi).

The BS-VI petrol VitaraBrezza is powered by 1.5litre K-series engine with 5-speed manual and automat-ic transmission optionswith smarthybrid, thec o m p a n ysaid in astatement.

Otis to supply elevators to Bengaluru Metro projectPNS n MUMBAI

Otis Elevator Co. announcestoday, it has been selected toprovide 112 Gen2®elevatorsfor the second phase of theBengaluru Metro project con-ducted by Bangalore MetroRail Corporation Ltd.(BMRCL). Otis – a unit ofUnited Technologies Corp.(NYSE: UTX) – will supply theunits from its local manufac-turing facility in Bengaluru.The Bengaluru Metro pro-ject, also known as theNamma Metro project, isexpected to be India's thirdlongest metro network oncecomplete. In 2018, its ridingnetwork boasted a recorded

annual ridership of 131.7 mil-lion. “We're excited to be cho-

sen for this project and to bepart of India's infrastructure

growth story,” said Sebi Joseph,president, Otis India. “Thisproject reflects our deep com-mitment to the “Make inIndia” initiative. Further, ourunits will help keep the peo-ple of India moving and willsupport the country's efforts todrive local indigenous manu-facturing by using our state-of-the-art Bengaluru facility.”

Otis' manufacturing facili-ty has received several indus-try-renowned certificationsand awards in both qualityand sustainability. The facili-ty – which is Gold rated by theIndian Green BuildingCouncil – produces a bulk ofIndia's Gen2 elevators, reduc-ing overall energy consump-

tion rates up to 75 percent,and answering India's call forincreased sustainability. Themetro project's second phaseis expected to be completed by2023. It will cover 27 stationsconnecting the city's manufac-turing and tech hubs ofElectronics City andWhitefield. It is overseen byBMRCL, which serves as aspecial purpose entitybetween the Government ofIndia and the Government ofKarnataka.

Otis has been moving peo-ple and goods in India since itinstalled its first elevator in thecountry in 1892. Since then,Otis has played an integral rolein enabling urbanization in the

area that experts widely agreeto be the world's second largestelevator market.

About OtisOtis is the world's leading

manufacturer and maintainerof people-moving products,including elevators, escalatorsand moving walkways.Founded more than 165 yearsago by the inventor of the safe-ty elevator, Otis offers prod-ucts and services through itscompanies in approximately200 countries and territories.For more information, visitwww.otis.com or follow Otison LinkedIn, YouTube and as@OtisElevatorCo on Twitter,Facebook and Instagram.

Pradhan urges Japanese toinvest in Indian steel market PNS n NEW DELHI

Union Steel MinisterDharmendra Pradhan onMonday urged Japaneseinvestors to invest in India'ssteel sector, saying the countryoffers a fast-growing marketand steel consumption willmore than double in the com-ing years. Pradhan also assuredinvestors that India will pro-vide necessary support to facil-itate them in setting up busi-nesses. He was speaking at a'Workshop on EnablingProcedures for Increase ofSteel Usage for the Growth ofEconomy' event organised byjointly ministry of steel, indus-try body CII and Ministry ofEconomy, Trade and Industry,Japan.

"We are here to discuss top-ics such as increase of steelusage in India, market in India,economic growth. ... we (India)aim to become a USD 5 trillioneconomy by 2024-25. Indiawould spend about Rs 100 lakhcrore on infrastructure. Allthis will result in increased useof steel," he said while address-ing the participants.

Indian steel sector is a fast-growing steel market, he saidadding that besides setting up300 steel making capacity by2030, the country is also aim-ing to increase its per capitasteel consumption to 160 kgfrom about 70 kg at present.

By 2022, he said, govern-ment's ambitious housingscheme Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana will be completed. Steelin huge quantity will berequired to build the housesunder the scheme.

"We (India) also aim to setup new gas pipeline of 14,000-km in next 3 years. Our aim isto to provide piped water toevery household. So there are

lot of areas where steel findsapplication," he said.

Railways, highways, road-ways and bridges are anotherkey focus area of the govern-ment where steel will berequired in huge quantity,Pradhan said.

"All these areas will requiredifferent grades of steel andJapan which is a master intechnology can explore busi-ness opportunities in our steelsector," he said while assuringthem full government support in setting up business-es in India.

Indian CEOs need to build inclusive techcapabilities: NadellaPNS n MUMBAI

Microsoft chief executive SatyaNadella on Monday urgedIndian business leaders tobuild technology capabilitiesthat are inclusive in nature.

Beginning his three-day visitto India, Nadella was address-ing Microsoft's FutureDecoded CEO Summit here.

"Indian CEOs need to buildown tech capability and ensurethat the solutions are inclusive,"he said. Stating that the lastdecade saw emergence of theaggregators, he asserted thataggregators are not enoughalone. "We need to ensure thatdigital interventions lead tobroadening of productivity."

Nadella stated that 72 percent of jobs for software engi-neers in India are outside of

the technology industry.Speaking at the same event,Rajesh Gopinathan, chief exec-utive and managing director ofTata Consultancy Services(TCS) said the companyprefers to train internal talentfor the changing technolo-gies and ensure that goodquality talent is retained,rather than searching for itexternally.

He said the millennials pos-sess phenomenal knowledgeand are quick learners as well,but need to be trained on thesame. The era of multi-year pro-jects in IT is over; and threeyears ago, TCStook a bet tocompletelyadopt Agiletechnologiesby 2020, he said.

We are here todiscuss topics suchas increase of steel

usage in India, market in India,economic growth. ... we (India)aim to become a $5 tneconomy by 2024-25. Indiawould spend about Rs 100 L cr on infrastructure.All this will result in increaseduse of steel

— DHARMENDRA PRADHANUnion Steel Minister

VIRUS: EUROPEAN STOCKS FALL SHARPLY LONDON: European stock markets sank at the start of trade on Monday,with the heaviest falls in Italy as alarm spread over the growingcoronavirus outbreak, dealers said. In Italy, which on Monday confirmedits fourth fatality from the COVID-19 epidemic, Milan's FTSE MIBbenchmark shares index tumbled 4.2 per cent to 23,740.11 points.London's FTSE 100 index sank 2.2 per cent to 7,239.47, Frankfurt'sDAX 30 slumped 2.9 per cent to 13,187.62 and the Paris CAC 40 shed2.9 per cent to 5,854.11 compared with Friday's closing levels.

Indian CEOs need to build own techcapability and ensure that the solutionsare inclusive

— SATYA NADELLAMicrosoft chief executive

GAIL to invest Rs 1.05 lakh-cron gas-based economy infra PNS n NEW DELHI

GAIL India Ltd, the country'slargest gas utility, will invest Rs1.05 lakh crore over the next fiveyears to expand pipelines, laycity gas distribution networkand raise petrochemical produc-tion capacity, its new chairmanand managing director ManojJain said on Monday.

Gas pipelines are planned totake the fuel to the east andnortheast regions as well as toconsumers in the south as partof the government push to raisethe share of natural gas inIndia's energy basket to 15 percent by 2030 from the current6.2 per cent, he said.

"We have planned a capex ofRs 45,000 to Rs 50,000 crore inlaying pipelines, Rs 10,000 crorepetrochemical capacity expan-sion and another Rs 40,000crore for city gas distribution(CGD) business," he toldreporters here.

GAIL's push for infrastruc-ture creation is in line withPrime Minister NarendraModi's vision of creating a gas-based economy that is lessreliant on polluting fuels formeeting its energy needs.

India currently consumessome 160 million standard cubicmeters of gas per day and theconsumption has to rise to 600

mmscmd to reach 15 per centshare in the energy mix, andGAIL is laying the infrastructureto help achieve that.

At present, GAIL operates12,160-km of pipeline networkand markets two-thirds of all-natural gas sold in thecountry. It will addabout 7,000 kmof pipelinelength in thenext five years,Jain said.

The company isscaling up on liquefiednatural gas (LNG) importcapacity. Besides owning a partof Petronet LNG Ltd, India'sbiggest liquid gas importer, italso owns and operates a 5 mil-lion tonnes LNG import facili-ty at Dabhol in Maharashtra.

"We have awarded the con-tract for construction of a break-water at Dabhol to L&T and thisshould get completed in two-and-half-years. The completionwill help operate the Dabhol ter-minal at its full capacity of 5 mil-

lion tonnes per annum,"he said.

Currently, opera-tions are restrictedduring monsoonmonths as high tide

could damage shipscarrying gas in its liquid

form.Also, the company has

booked capacity at AdaniGroup's upcoming terminal atDhamra in Odisha, Jain noted.

Domestic gas productionmeets just half of the country'sdemand and the rest has to be

imported. Pipeline projects athand include the ambitiousUrja Ganga Project to take gasto Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha,and Jharkhand as well as Kochi-K o o t a n a d - B a n g a l o r e -Mangalore line; andIndradhanush North East GasGrid.

Besides pipelines, GAIL isalso expanding city gas distrib-ution (CGD) networks forretailing of CNG to automobilesand piped natural gas to house-hold kitchens, he said, addinginvestments are also planned forthe expansion of Pata petro-chemical plant in Uttar Pradeshas well as converting a LPGrecovery unit at Usar inMaharashtra into 5,00,000tonnes Polypropylene plant.

GAIL is looking to put up 400CNG stations and give out arecord 10 lakh piped natural gas(PNG) connections to house-hold kitchens in the next 3-5years. The company is buildinga 2,655-km gas pipeline fromJagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh toHaldia in West Bengal, Bokaroin Jharkhand and Dhamra inOdisha. Jagdishpur-Haldia &Bokaro-Dhamra Natural GasPipeline (JHBDPL) project, alsoknown as the 'Pradhan MantriUrja Ganga' project, was inau-gurated by the Prime Ministerin July 2015.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Software firm TCS and realtymajor DLF have sought gov-ernment nod to set up specialeconomic zones (SEZ) for ITsector in Haryana and UttarPradesh.

These proposals will betaken up by the Board ofApproval, the highest deci-sion-making body for SEZ, inits meeting on February 26here. The inter-ministerialbody is chaired by the com-merce secretary.

TCS has proposed to set upan IT/ITeS SEZ at Noida inUttar Pradesh in an area of19.9 hectares, according tothe agenda paper of the board

meeting. The total proposedinvestment for the project is Rs2,433.72 crore.

D e v e l o p m e n tCommissioner of Noida SEZhas recommended the propos-al for grant of formal approvalfor setting up the zone.

On the other hand, DLF hasproposed to set up two SEZs inHaryana. The proposed invest-ments for these projects are Rs

793.95 crore and Rs 761.54crore.

The requests of these twocompanies have been placedbefore the Board of Approvalfor consideration, it said.

SEZs are major export hubsin the country as the govern-ment provides several incen-tives and single-window clear-ance system.

As on November 14, 2019,the government has approved417 such zones in the country.Out of this, 238 zones are oper-ational. Exports from thesezones grew by about 14.5 percent to Rs 3.82 lakh crore inApril-September 2019-20. Itwas Rs 7.02 lakh crore inentire 2018-19 financial year.

TCS, DLF seek Centre’snod for SEZs in Haryana, UP

PNS n NEW DELHI

Expressing grave concernsover the worsening air quali-ty, the IMA has written toEnvironment MinisterPrakash Javadekar, seekinginclusion of all non-attainmentcities in the National Clean AirProgramme and an increase inthe number of monitoringstations across the country.

Non-attainment cities donot meet national ambient airquality standards and the gov-ernment launched the NCAP,a time-bound national strate-gy to tackle increasing airpollution, in January 2019.

To Javadekar, the IndianMedical Association said cleanair is the "principal prerequi-site to sustain healthy lives ofpeople" as air pollution hasbecome the fifth largest causefor premature deaths globally.

The doctors' body said stud-ies show the number of pre-mature deaths due to air pol-lution in India is "only a frac-tion less" than that of deathsdue to smoking.

"Polluted air from beingjust an environmental issue

has become a massive healthand economic crisis," it said inthe letter.

It said the situation is equal-ly alarming in Delhi as themonth-wise PM10 analysis ofdata from Delhi PollutionControl Committee (Jan toDec 2018), indicated PM10values were 225 μg/m3 —much higher than the pre-scribed annual standard of 60μg/m3.

"We acknowledge that theministry has launched theNational Clean AirProgramme in January 2019.The NCAP offers tentativetargets of 20-30 per centreduction of air pollution lev-els by 2024," the IMA said.

Clean air programmemust cover more: IMA

Abbott launches quadrivalentvaccine for influenza in IndiaPNS n NEW DELHI

Global healthcare majorAbbott on Monday said it haslaunched a new inactivatedquadrivalent vaccinefor influenza offer-ing protectionagainst four virusstrains in India.

It is the only 0.5ml quadrivalent fluvaccine in India thathas been approvedfor use in childrenbelow three years, Abbott saidin a statement.

"We are excited with thelaunch of the quadrivalent ver-sion of our flu vaccine, which

can be offered to both childrenabove six months and adults.This particular type of vaccineprovides good immuneresponse with less side-effects,"

Abbott India MedicalDirector Srirupa Dassaid. This is yet anoth-er significant step inAbbott's endeavour toprotect as many peopleas possible against theflu, she added. Influenzais a highly infectious

respiratory diseasecaused by viruses.

In India, Abbott was estab-lished in 1910, and currentlyhas over 12,000 employees inthe country.

India at cusp of becomingpremier digital society: Ambanil To be among 3 top world economies: Billionaire

riram who comesfrom an agricul-tural family inKakinada under-stands the impor-tance of nature

and how human activitiesaffect global weather condi-tions.

“It was in 2012 when I firstnoticed widespread felling oftrees for expanding roads inHyderabad and felt very badabout it. If we fall ill, our par-ents take care of us. But if

nature gets affected who willtake care of her? I love natureand since my childhood Ihave vowed to take care of it.My NGO, Earthlings, which Istarted in 2016 in Hyderabadis the result of that wish,” saidA Sriram, who started workin the field of conservingnature even before he startedhis NGO.

“I and my team have visit-ed many areas in the city andcleaned up the streets there.After cleaning up the lanes,we gather the residents of thearea and speak to them aboutthe importance of nature andsaving our natural resources,”Sriram told the The Pioneer.

Sriram added that,“During our visits, we foundthat some areas have waterproblems and some areashave a sanitation issue.Depending on the area wework towards fixing that par-ticular problem that plaguesthe residents. We raise aware-ness among the residents onhow to conserve water andhow to dispose their garbagesafely.”

On Sundays, Sriram andhis team visit the variousmarathons that are held indifferent times of the year.Their exercise is to pick upafter the runners to makesure that the roads are keptclean.

“There is a lot of plasticthat is generated due tomarathons. So we not onlycollect the waste later, butalso act as partners promot-

ing ecological sustainabilityfor many of the marathons.After collection of the waste,we segregate the plastic andthe non-plastic waste andsend it to government autho-rised recyclers. We have alsotied up with the GHMC andare working on reducing theusage of plastic by individu-als and organisations,” hesaid.

Earthlings conducted vari-ous awareness activities inthe city about the dangers ofsingle use plastic covers andrequested people to use clothbags for purchases.

He says, “We also starteddistributing saplings in thecity. This year, we feel that wemight face severe waterscarcity compared to last yeardue to higher temperatures.To tackle this, we are going toapproach apartment com-plexes and communities toexplain to them on how touse water carefully.”

Apart from all these activi-ties, the organisation alsoworks on providing steelwater bottles to governmentschool students in the city.Sriram explained, “Most ofthe government schools haveno proper water facilities.Some students carry theirown plastic bottles to schoolbut those bottles can causehealth issues in the long run.So we are going to distributemore than 1,000 steel bottlesto government school stu-dents at Langer House andMadhapur.”

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

During our visits, we found that some areas havewater problems and some areas have a sanitationissue. Depending on the area we work towardsfixing that particular problem that plagues theresidents. We raise awareness among theresidents on how to conserve water and how todispose their garbage safely

A SRIRAM SOCIAL WORKER

THE CENTRE HASSTATE-OF-THE-ARTEQUIPMENT ANDEXPERTPHYSIOTHERAPISTS

S

TuesdayFebruary 25, 2020

mrit VarshaKapadia Centrefor Physiotherapyand Yoga, which isgoing to startoperations from

February 26, claims to offeraffordable physiotherapy ser-vices. The centre is a part ofSankruti Shikhar, a charitabletrust.

Dr Kumud Dharia, one ofthe founder trustees of theNGO said that physiotherapyis the need of the hour. “But,these services are not afford-able by most of the lower andthe middle strata of society.Keeping this in view,Sankruti Shikhar startedAmrit Varsha Kapadia Centreat Prakashnagar inBegumpet,” he said.

According to the doctor,the centre has state-of-the-artequipment for physiotherapyand expert physiotherapistsand their guidance.

Physiotherapy isn’t a treat-ment reserved for the elitefew or for athletes alone, oreven for those recoveringfrom an injury. In fact, it canbe used to improve health inmany surprising ways, DrKumud Dharia said. — PNS

Affordablephysiotherapyfor everyone

EDUCATING ABOUT THEENEMIES OF NATURE

Breathing life into 2-D artthree-dimension-al art not onlybrings to life anexpression, andextends itself to amore physical

form, but also exerts theartist to create the remain-der of the image; a freshimagination in continuum.What happens when artistsconvert their 2-D artworkon canvas into bronze sculp-tures?

‘Bronzed - From Paint toPatina’ is a project inspiredby four artists whoseimagery has managed tocapture the popular imagi-nation.

Jogen Chowdhury, RamKumar, Krishen Khanna andThota Vaikuntam have cre-ated a visual associationwith their viewers throughthe iconic images they havepainted over time in theirdistinctive style.

For this project, the artistscollaborated with skilledartisans to give new form totheir artwork. Now it’s notonly the ‘front’ of the figurethat you can see but also thepreviously ‘invisible’ sides.This provided the artists anexciting opportunity to lookat their paintings afresh andconstantly visit aspects theyhad not attended to previ-ously.

Ram Kumar, who isknown as an abstract artist,painted his figurative workin the 1950s and wasimmensely excited with theidea of revisiting the subjectin a different dimension andseeing his work ‘TheVagabond’ come to life sixdecades after it was firstpainted. The process beganwith the selection of indi-

vidual figures from theirpreviously created paintingsand drawings, whichbecame the starting point ofthe project as the initialpoint of reference.

Hereafter, wax or claymodels were shaped, uponwhich the artists providedtheir inputs on revisions andfurther changes that were tobe made into moulds. Thisproject was fulfilled in col-laboration with Bronze AgeLondon, a leading sculpturecasting foundry in the UK,resulting in the production

of the most premium qualitybronzes.

Jogen’s pieces especiallyproved to be a challenge dueto the visual cross-hatchingeffect being an integral partof his artwork, which is dif-ficult to recreate in a bronzesculpture. He took printedimages from every angle ofthe clay model so he coulddraw over and make alter-ations wherever required.

Krishen, who hasexplored sculpture moreexten-sivelyovertheyears,

enjoyed seeing his bandwal-las come to life in bronzewith the assistance of hisdrawings and subsequentpatina suggestions.

The final task was ensur-ing that the patination ofthese bronzes was in linewith the artists’ overallcolour palettes.

Since patina is not likepaint it has its limitationswith regard to the extentand tones of colours thatcan be used. Some of the

artists specially painted

the desired patina outputoptions with varied colourpatterns, which was used asreference to ensure that thefinal pieces were as much inline with the artist’s vision astechnically possible.

Overall, this exerciseturned into a symbioticassociation between theartists, skilled craftsmen andBronze Age London in cre-ating these bronze sculp-tures.

Once the final model wascreated passing the rigorousvetting of the artist, themodel was signed by therespective artist and sent toLondon to be cast in bronze.The lost wax process was

used to create the highestquality bronze casting.

This project allowedthe artists to extendthemselves beyond theconstraints of their mostdistinguished works andthrough a stroke of re-

imagining, see their iconicfigures come to life in

these twenty-six bronzesculptures. — PNS

AA

Hyderabad’sSriramand his

organisation areworking hard to

save nature byspreading

awareness aboutthe factors that

adversely affectthe environment,

writesV SATEESH

REDDY

Hyderabad’sSriramand his

organisation areworking hard to

save nature byspreading

awareness aboutthe factors that

adversely affectthe environment,

writesV SATEESH

REDDY

PARTY

10

lBh

avan

a

lAm

esha

Hyderabad Tuesday February 25, 2020

CITY GUIDE

GET YOUR EVENT LISTED: To get your events listed, send your details alongwith a poster and contact number to pioneer.features@gmail.com

EVENTS

l An Inspector Calls, is the Telugu adaptation ofthe original English play by the same name by JB Priestly written in the year. The play revolvesaround the alleged suicide of a young womannamed Shwetha and an unsuspecting familywhich is visited by a mysterious Inspector. The play will be staged at Pheonix Arena onFebruary 28 at 8 pm.

AN INSPECTOR CALLS

lSutradhar Theatre Group is staging a play Kisi AurKa Sapna directed by Shahrukh Surani on March 5at Lamakaan from 8 pm.

KISI AUR KA SAPNA

l The documentary film festival Change Chitra will be held on February 29 at Lamakaanfrom 2 pm.

l Radisson Hyderabad, Kondapur is organisingDimsum food festival until February 28 between7.30 pm and 11 pm.

DIMSUM FESTIVAL

FOOD FESTIVAL

RAJA RAVI VARMA PAINTINGS lAn exclusive preview to 30 landmarkpaintings of Raja Ravi Varma, a translation ofthe art into wearable canvas by designerGaurang Shah will be on display today atSaptaparni, Rd No 8, Banjara Hills between 11am and 6 pm.

FILM FESTIVAL

lHotel Aditya Park, Ameerpet is organising kebab,biryani and paratha food festival until February 29between 7.30 pm and 11 pm.

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

l Each row and column cancontain each number (1 to 9)exactly once.

l The sum of all numbers inany row or column mustequal 45.

Yesterday’s solution

what’s brewing?

FASHIONGALAInternational Institute of Fashion

Design at Hitec City organised afashion show at the Lemon Tree

Premier, Madhapur. Modelswalked the ramp flaunting thelatest fashion apparel designed byupcoming designers. Theattendees were all praises for theyoung designers for theirexceptional craftsmanship. Theshow highlighted the best creativecollections, taking inspirationfrom traditional conceptswhile incorporating globalfashion. The play of paintingtechniques, braiding, patchwork, mirror work on variedfabrics was mesmerising.

Phot

os bb

ySV

Char

y

l Manjusha Kale

l Vinishma l Krupa l Madhu Sree

l Krithiya l Pravalika

s Nani turned a yearolder on Monday, pro-duction house SitharaEntertainments madetheir next project —after the acclaimed

Jersey last year — with the actorofficial. Disclosing the film’s title

as Shyam Singh Rai, the makershave also unveiled a conceptvideo of the film, which will bedirected by Taxiwaala fameRahul Sankrityan.

Presently in pre-production,

the film will go to sets in June —immediately after Nani completeshis on-sets film Tuck Jagadishwith Shiva Nirvana. The film willbe an intense love story but there’san extra layer to it, which will bethe USP.

Sankrityan is planning to showthe actor in a complete newlight. A major part of the filmwill be shot across Hyderabad.Names like Pooja Hegde and SaiPallavi are bandied about for thefemale lead role.

A

ecently there were reports thatMehreen Pirzada was forced to checkout of an upscale hotel in Hyderabadafter producers of Aswathama failedto clear her hotel bill. However,

there’s a different story that isemerging now. Productionhouse Ira Creations roped theactress for Rs 65 lakh to be apart of the action-entertainer

and except for holding backRs 10 lakh, which they

wanted to pay after shecompletes her promo-

tional duties, the mak-ers paid her full remu-

neration. Eventhough they had to

foot Rs 1.37 lakhand Rs 1.40 lakhrespectively asher laundry andfood expensesin addition totravel expens-es, the makers

were unhappywhen she failed to turn up for the film’smajor promotional events, infuriating

them. “When they confronted her overit, she had excuses like skin infection andthat she was not well. Upset over themakers seeking an explanation, she left

the hotel without informing the hotelstaff. It’s another story that Ira imme-

diately cleared the bills as they did-n’t want to tarnish their reputa-

tion,” says a source.With this piece of news

snowballing into a controver-sy, Mehreen took to Twitterto present her version.Without going into details,she wrote, “Making movieson women empowermentbut disrespecting them inreal life doesn’t makesense. I stand up whenit comes to my dignity& selfesteem. I believein mutual profession-alism & respect toan individual’s per-sonal space. MayGod bless you all(sic).”

Starring NagaShaurya in thelead,Aswathama,which releasedlast month,has ended upas an averagegrosser.

akshmi Parvathi, wife oflate NTR and presentYSRCP leader, is makingher acting debut with asmall film titledRadhakrishna. Filmmaker

Sreenivass Redde is presenting thefilm while P Sagarika and KSrinivasu are producing it under theHarini Adarya Creations. FeaturingAnurag and Muskan Sethi in leadroles, the film is a heart-touching

romantic drama set in the backdropof the famous Nirmal art, which hasa history of 400 years. Directed byPrasad Varma, the film has com-pleted its shooting formalitiesand is right now in post-pro-duction. The likes of Ali,Krishna Bhagawan,Sampoornesh Babu andChammak Chandra haveplayed supporting roles in thefilm, an MM Srilekha musical.

Hyderabad Tuesday February 25, 2020

L

11

tollywood

ilmmaker SSRajamouli, whoattended the pre-release event ofVishwak Sen-starrerHit, produced by Nani

and Prashanti Tipirneni, inHyderabad on Sunday evening,said that he was impressed withthe promotional materials ofthe film released so far.“The story idea looksgood, so is the sneakpeek. I rememberwatching a sneak peekof a Hollywood film,2012. It was a cleverploy by the makersto raise curiosityaround the film andit worked, as the filmended up as a big hitlater. The movieHit is nowgoing todeal

with its first case and I hope itwill be a hit at the box-office,spawning into a franchise,” thedirector, who is close to Naniand Prashanti Tipirneni, said.

Nani said that when the film’sdirector Sailesh Kolanu narratedhim three story ideas, he pickedHit. “Sailesh is a lecturer at an

Australian university.While encouraging

him with his storyideas, I simulta-

neously advisedhim not toresign from hisjob given the

uncertainty ofthe industry. I've

watched the filmon Sunday noonand I can proudly

tell that he canresign from

his lecturerpost,

and make films. The first thing Itold him post the film was that‘he has arrived’. He has handledthe film like an experienceddirector,” the actor informed.

He added that Vishwak canace any role as he is versatile,while raving the work of com-poser Vivek Sagar, comparinghim as the film’s second heroafter Vishwak.

The likes of K RaghavendraRao, MM Keeravani, AllariNaresh, Dil Raju, AnushkaShetty (in a rare appearance) andNandini Reddy graced the event.

Hit isready to

hit theatres.Nani and

Rajamoulitalk about the future of the film

and thedirector who

helmed it

LAKSHMI PARVATHI MAKES HER ACTING DEBUT Fallout between

MEHREEN and IraCreationsR

n the news for thepast four months,Andhadhun remakewith Nithiin waslaunched inHyderabad on

Monday. The actor’s homebanner Sresth Movies is pro-ducing the film, a MerlapakaGandhi directorial, whileTagore Madhu is the presenter.Bollywood cinematographer,who shot films like MunnaMicheal and Heropanti, hasbeen signed on as the directorof photography.

For the muhurat ceremony,Suryadevara Radha Krishna,chief of Haarika & Hassine

Creations, handed over thefilm’s script to the makers.Producer Shyam Prasad Reddysounded the clapboard for thefirst shot, as Dil Raju switchedon the camera. SurenderReddy directed the honoraryfirst shot.

Nithiin, who is basking inthe glory of Bheeshma, willbegin shooting for the filmfrom June. He will mostly becompleting Rang De withVenky Atluri and Check withChandrasekhar Yeleti by then.The actor also has lyricist-turned-director KrishnaChaitanya’s Power Peta linedup. As things stand now, it

looks like Chaitanya may haveto wait a little longer. TheTelugu remake is beingplanned for a release towardsthe year-end.

Released in 2018,Andhadhun in Hindi, featur-ing Tabu, AyushmannKhurrana, Radhika Apte andAnil Dhawan in key roles, wasa murder drama at the centerof which is a pianist who mayor may not be blind. Directedby Sriram Raghavan, it wasraved for its unconventionalplot, edge-of-the-seat narra-tive style, as well as the actingof its lead and supportingcharacters.

Andhadhun remaketo roll from JuneI

lthough debutant direc-tor Kiran Korrapatiplanned to take hislong-in-the-develop-ment boxing dramawith Varun Tej to floors

some 10 days ago, it has finallywent to floors on Monday inVisakhapatnam. A source says ittook time for Varun to achieve thedesired look of a boxer and so, thedelay. “Back to sets! Day 1 invizag.. Need all your love, (sic)”Varun tweeted with a still of thefilm’s cameras. He had trainedwith national-level boxer Neeraj

Goyat to attain the boxer’s lookfor the film.

The Vizag schedule will goon for a month nearly, postwhich the unit will film inHyderabad for an outing ofthree weeks. NationalCapital region (New Delhi)will host the final schedule.

Producers Sidhu Muddaand Allu Venkatesh havealready locked a releasedate for the film as July30. Yes, it’s the samedate that SS Rajamouliinitially planned for hisperiod drama RRR. Aswe’ve reported earlier,Dabangg 3 girl SaieeManjrekar has been roped in to romance VarunTej in the film, while Jagapathi Babu, Nadiya,Vennela Kishore and Satya will be seen in supporting roles.

A

Varun takesRRR's date

PRODUCERS SIDHU MUDDAAND ALLU VENKATESHHAVE ALREADY LOCKED ARELEASE DATE FOR THEFILM AS JULY 30

F

Nani's next withRahul Sankrityangets a title

NANI SAID THAT WHENTHE FILM’S DIRECTORSAILESH NARRATED HIMTHREE STORY IDEAS, HEPICKED HIT

Rajamouli hopesHIT TURNS INTOA FRANCHISE

AFP n PARIS

Edinson Cavani scored his 200thParis Saint-Germain goal andMarquinhos netted twice as the

Ligue 1 leaders bounced back fromtheir Champions League defeatby Borussia Dortmund to beatBordeaux 4-3 on Sunday, buttheir victory was marred byNeymar’s late sending-off.

After losing 2-1 in Germanyin their Champions League last 16first leg in midweek, PSG’s defen-sive weaknesses were again exposedas South Korean international HwangUi-jo gave Bordeaux the lead at theParc des Princes.

PSG turned it around thanks togoals by Cavani and Kylian Mbappeeither side of a Marquinhos brace, butat the other end there was a bizarregoal credited to the Brazilian defend-er Pablo and a Ruben Pardo strike hadthe home side hanging on at the fin-ish.

The evening concluded withNeymar being sent off in stoppagetime for a second yellow card for grap-pling with Bordeaux’s Yacine Adli,leaving the world’s most expensiveplayer facing a suspension.

Along with the shortcomings atthe back, it is another problem forcoach Thomas Tuchel to think about,even if his team are now 13 pointsclear atop Ligue 1 from Marseille, wholost 3-1 to Nantes on Saturday.

Tuchel’s men endured a bad startagainst mid-table Bordeaux, withskipper Thiago Silva going off hurtjust before Hwang put the away sidein front on 18 minutes, heading in acorner for his sixth Ligue 1 goal.

PSG were level in the 25thminute, though, as Di Maria’s crosswas headed in by Cavani, allowing theUruguayan to reach a double centu-ry of PSG goals.

He then hit the post from closerange before Marquinhos put Paris in

front in first-half stoppage time,using his shoulder to covert Di Maria’sfree-kick.

Nevertheless, there was still timefor Bordeaux to equalise at 2-2 beforethe interval.

Selected ahead of Keylor Navas ingoal, Sergio Rico’s clearance from aMarco Verratti back-pass struck Pabloand the Spaniard looked on in hor-ror as the ball ricocheted back into thenet.

However, Marquinhos nettedfrom close range for his second of thenight in the 63rd minute to make it3-2. Then, when Ruben Pardo lostpossession, Cavani set up Mbappe toscore PSG’s fourth, and his 16th in theleague this season.

Pardo made some amends with astunning strike for Bordeaux’s third,and the ninth goal Paris have conced-ed in three games altogether.

Icardi then had another goal dis-

allowed before Neymar was sent offfor his second yellow at the death.

“They have had quite a difficultweek in terms of results and theirconfidence has taken a knock too,”said Bordeaux’s Laurent Koscielny ofPSG.

“When you lose points andgames then your confidence canquickly disappear but they are greatplayers and they are capable of over-coming that.”

PTI n LONDON

India wil l host theCommonwealth shooting

and archery championships inJanuary 2022 and the medalsfrom the two events will becounted in the final tally of theBirmingham Games, anunprecedented moveapproved by the CGF.

However, the medals willbe added one week after theconclusion of the multi-disci-plinary sporting event inBirmingham, the

Commonwealth GamesFederation (CGF) announcedon Monday.

The decision was made atthe CGF’s Executive Boardmeeting here from February21 to 23.

It can be considered a bigwin for India since it hadthreatened to boycott theBirmingham edition of theGames for dropping shooting,an optional sport, from the

roster. Archery is also anoth-er optional sport.

“A CommonwealthArcher y and ShootingChampionships is set to takeplace in India in 2022 after aproposal to stage the eventwas approved by the CGFExecutive Board,” the CGFsaid in a release.

The two events will beheld in Chandigarh in January2022 while the Birmingham

Commonwealth Games arescheduled from July 27 toAugust 7, 2022.

“The decision confirmedthat Chandigarh 2022 andBirmingham 2022 will be twoseparately organised andfunded Commonwealth Sportevents. “One week followingthe Closing Ceremony ofBirmingham 2022Commonwealth Games, theCGF shall issue a medal table

that includes results from theChandigarh 2022Commonwealth Archery andShooting Championships, as afurther and final legitimateranking of competing nationsand territories from therespective competitions,” theCGF added.

Rarely the sporting worldhas seen such an arrange-ment that the medals of cham-pionships held outside major

Games are counted in thefinal tally (of the main event).

National Rifle Associationof India (NRAI) PresidentRaninder Singh, who mootedthe idea of theCommonwealth ShootingChampionships, admitted thatCGF’s decision was a “uniqueand unprecedented develop-ment” as well as “truly a gamechanging methodology”.

He was also candid incalling NRAI and IOA’s pro-posal as “admittedly againstthe grain”.

sport 12HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2020

MADRID: Atletico Madrid followed uptheir surprise win over Liverpool by beat-ing Villarreal in La Liga on Sunday as JoaoFelix marked his return from injury witha first league goal since September.

Felix came off the bench at the WandaMetropolitano after almost a month outwith an ankle problem and the 20-year-oldlooked refreshed as he drove in Atletico’sthird in an impressive 3-1 vic-tory.

Kieran Trippier wasalso back after recoveringfrom a groin injury and hewas involved in Atletico’ssecond goal as Koke headedin.

Angel Correa had earliercancelled out Paco Alcacer’sstrike for Villarreal.

Atletico’s inconsistencythis season meansthey are out of thetitle race, 12 pointsadrift of leadersBarcelona, whothrashed Eibar 5-0 onSaturday.

But momentumwould be timely asAtleti bid to consoli-date their place in thetop four and capi-talise on their 1-0advantage againstLiverpool in theChampions Leaguelast 16 next month.

Diego Simeone’s sidemove up to third in La Liga,level on points with Sevilla,who earlier struck a superb 3-0 win away at fellow top-fourrivals Getafe. AFP

AFP n NAPLES

Lionel Messi is the “greatest”footballer of all time, ahead

of even Diego Maradona, Napolicoach Gennaro Gattuso saidon Monday ahead of his side’sChampions League clash withBarcelona.

The 32-year-old Messiscored four goals at the weekendin Barcelona’s 5-0 win overEibar and has now beeninvolved in more than 1,000goals in his career, scoring 696and assisting another 306.

Gattuso was quick to praiseMessi, comparing the Barca starto Napoli legend Maradona.

“He’s the greatestand an example foreveryone,” said Gattusoahead of the sides’ last-16first leg today.

“He never says any-thing inappropriate. Hedoes things that only exist on thePlaystation, unthinkable things.

“But I saw him (Maradona)on VHS, or DVD. I never sawhim up close, at a stadium.

“I know the champion hewas and I know I missed some-thing wonderful. I regret it.Today I see Messi doing thingsthat Maradona was doing.”

Napoli captain LorenzoInsigne was not so keen toaccept that Messi has reachedgreater heights than 1986 WorldCup winner Maradona.

“Messi is the best in theworld today,” said Insigne. “Butfor us Neapolitans, Maradona is

everything and I don’t want tocompare them. Maradona issacred.”

But Insigne and Gattusoagreed that their team have to becareful not to focus only on try-ing to stop Messi.

“We have to be careful withtheir whole team, because it's notjust Messi,” said Gattuso.

Napoli are enjoying a recentupturn in form after a dreadfulstart to the Serie A seasonwhich culminated in the sack-ing of Carlo Ancelotti following

a 4-0 win over Genk thatsent them into theChampions Leagueknockout stage.

Last season’s Serie Arunners-up have won sixof their last seven games.

“Tomorrow (Tuesday), Iwant a Napoli side that are notafraid,” added Gattuso.

“I want to see a team thatknows how to battle... You needto stand up to Barcelona — youcan’t worry.

“I want to see a lively teamthat plays with joy until the end.Can Napoli win the ChampionsLeague? Never say never.”

It is the first time Napolihave reached the knockoutrounds since a last-16 loss toReal Madrid in 2017, whileBarcelona are bidding to makethe quarter-finals for a 13th con-secutive season.

Napoli vs BarcelonaLive from 1:30am IST

SONY TEN 2 NETWORK

Messi ‘greatest’ aheadof Maradona: Gattuso

FC Barcelona posts picture collage of Lionel Messi & Diego Maradona via Twitter

India to host Commonwealth shooting, archery events

Felix backwith bang

PSG's Edinson Cavani, left, celebrates after his teammate Marquinhos scores against Bordeaux during League One match at Parc des Princes AP

200 & COUNTINGCavani becomes first player to complete double century of goals for PSG