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NIT-Srinagar campus closed;135 Telugu students evacuatedl AP, TS governments act to ensure safe return of students DEEPTHI NANDAN REDDY n HYDERABAD

Amid widespread insecurity inKashmir, the governments ofTelangana and AndhraPradesh on Saturday initiatedsteps to bring around 135Telugu students studying at theNational Institute ofTechnology--Srinagar toHyderabad, considering thatclasses have been suspendedindefinitely.

NIT — Srinagar authoritieshave suspended classes untilfurther orders, citing instruc-tions from the local adminis-tration, following the govern-ment's advisory to Amarnathyatris and tourists to leave thevalley as soon as possible dueto security concerns. Soonafter, some students fromTelangana sought Telanganagovernment's support, tweet-ing to TRS working presidentand former Minister KT RamaRao.

"Been receiving some anx-ious messages from Telugustudents of NIT, Srinagar asGovt of India has asked forcampus to be vacated & askedstudents to leave immediately.Be rest assured, Govt ofTelangana will assist you insafe return. Have alerted ourofficials to reach out & help,"tweeted KTR on Saturdaymorning, assuring students of

safe return from the Kashmirvalley.

Later, Telangana ChiefSecretary Sunil Joshi directedTelangana Bhavan officials inNew Delhi to take steps for thesafe return of about 130 Telugustudents from Srinagar.

"Telangana Bhavan officialshave already started steps tobring Telangana students safe-ly from Srinagar. TelanganaBhavan ResidentCommissioner already spoketo officials of Jammu andKashmir Bhavan. Students willbe brought in buses on road toDelhi via Jammu. From Delhithey will travel to Hyderabadon train. Telangana Bhavanofficials are in touch with stu-dents through mobile phones,"said Chief Secretary SunilJoshi, explaining the measures taken by the Telangana stategovernment.

KTR (@KTRTRS)Any student/parent

wanting assistance,please call our ResidentCommissioner SriVedantam Giri at 011-2338 2041 or on hismobile +91 99682 99337at Telangana Bhavan,New Delhi

Panic sets in Valley amidshortage of essentialsSRINAGAR: Provisions are fast vanishing from the shelves ofdepartmental stores and even from small grocery stores in townsand villages across the Valley. Petrol pumps are going dry asunending queues of cars, two-wheelers and even people carryingcans hope that supplies would come and they would be the first to have their vehicle tanks and cans filled. Hospitals have beenalerted to keep their necessary complement of doctors present atemergencies and for patients. ATMs across Srinagar city and indistricts like Ganderbal, Badgam, Pulwama, Kulgam, Baramulla,Shopian, Kupwara and Sopore town are running out of cash aspeople fear long hours of curfews could be imminent."Ambulances have been made ready to cope with emergencies. We have been advised to lodge at places close to the hospital or athospital quarters", said Dr Nisar Shah, a super specialist atSrinagar's largest hospital, the SMHS Hospital. Ali Muhammad Dar has a brick kiln in Chadura area of Badgam district. His skilledlabourers had arrived in April, like every previous year, to do theirwork in the Valley before cold sets in. "Our business is finishedthis year. All my skilled labour from Uttar Pradesh have left out of panic.

BJP organicentity not anassembledone: PM PNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP is an "organic" entityand not an "assembled" enti-ty, Prime Minister NarendraModi told the ruling party law-makers here as he asked themto remain active as groundworkers even after becomingministers or legislators.

"The BJP is an organic enti-ty and not an assembled enti-ty. It has reached here becauseof its ideology and thoughtsnot because of one family'slegacy," Modi told the BJP MPsduring a two-day trainingprogrammes for them. "Theparty worker in you shouldremain alive always even if youbecome a minister or an MP.Irrespective of your age, alwaysremain a student so that learn-ing process goes on," Modi wasquoted as saying byParliamentary Affairs MinisterPralhad Joshi. The PM wasaddressing the BJP lawmakersat a two-day training pro-gramme for them that beganhere on Saturday.

During the training pro-gramme, the party MPs willalso be addressed by HomeMinister Amit Shah, DefenceMinister Rajnath and partyworking president JP Nadda.

Babu held forcausing deathof scribeTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM:IAS officer SriramVenkitaraman was arrestedhere Saturday for causing thedeath of a scribe by alleged-ly driving in an inebiratedstate, police said.

The 33-year-old IAS offi-cer, who was appointedSurvey Director by the statecabinet on Thursday, wasarrested under Section 279(rash driving on a publicway) and 304 (punishmentfor culpable homicide notamounting to murder) of theIndian Penal Code.

Man says‘triple talaq'to wife fromSaudi, bookedGORAKHPUR: A man wasbooked for allegedly pro-nouncing 'talaq' thrice onhis wife over phone inneighbouring Kushinagardistrict, police said onSaturday, four days afterthe passage of a bill inParliament that criminalis-es such practice. An FIRunder section 4 of theMuslim Women (Protectionof Rights on Marriage) Actwas lodged against the manat Nebua Naurangia policestation following a writtencomplaint by the father ofthe woman, they said.

Ahmed Ali told policethat his son-in-law AbdulRaheem, who is working inSaudi Arabia, divorced hisdaughter Fatima Khatoonby uttering 'talaq' threetimes over phone onWednesday. Raheem hadmarried Khatoon, 25, a res-ident of Jakhnia village, in2014. He went to SaudiArabia four months after themarriage. Ali said Raheemused to visit his family buthis behaviour with Khatoonwas not good. He allegedthat Raheem's family mem-bers were also harassing hisdaughter.

Govt to prepare NPR to layfoundation for pan-India NRCPNS n NEW DELHI

The government has decidedto prepare a NationalPopulation Register (NPR) bySeptember 2020 to lay thefoundation for rolling out acitizens' register across thecountry. Once the NPR iscompleted and published, itis expected to be the basis forpreparing the NationalRegister of Indian Citizens(NRIC), a pan-India versionof Assam's National Registerof Citizens (NRC), an officialsaid. For the purpose of NPR,a usual resident is defined asa person who has resided ina local area for past sixmonths or more or a personwho intends to reside in thatarea for the next six monthsor more.

"In pursuance of sub-rule(4) of rule 3 of theCitizenship (Registration ofCitizens and Issue of NationalIdentity Cards) Rules, 2003,the central government here-by decides to prepare andupdate the PopulationRegister.

And the field work forhouse-to-house enumerationthroughout the countryexcept Assam for collectionof information relating to allpersons who are usuallyresiding within the jurisdic-tion of local registrar shall beundertaken between the 1stday of April, 2020 to 30thSeptember, 2020," said a noti-fication issued by Vivek Joshi,Registrar General of CitizenRegistration and CensusCommissioner.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Former Union Minister andBJP MP in Rajya Sabha SujanaChowdhary, showing concernover the political developmentsin Andhra Pradesh, wonderedwhether the vendetta game-plan unleashed by ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy during the Budget ses-sion was indicative of moremurkier things on the morrow.

As the Assembly sessionwas confined mostly to tradingof charges, the MP doubted theintension of the ruling partyover the execution of thePolavaram project. In order toget a good grasp of the actual-ities, he will minutely study theprogress of the project fromMonday onwards.

He dreaded to think of whatwould befall the State if the rul-ing party goes on digging intothe past of the TDP. It seemedlike the government had noother business to discharge. Hesaid a major ramificationwould be that potential indus-trialists would shy away andbring in no investments intothe State.

If the contracts awarded bythe previous regime are can-celled in to to, no bank willcome forward to extend loansto AP in future, he said addingthat his remarks were neitherpolitical nor personal but weremade keeping in mind theinterests of AP.

The Centre would take adecision after studying devel-opments taking place in AP, he

declared. Once a project isawarded to a contractor, thecontracts remain valid even ifthere is a change of guards inthe State. Thrashing out con-tracts allotted by an earlier gov-ernment were unheard of inthe country, he said.

He lamented that Polavaramproject works have come to agrinding halt. Works pertain-ing to building the State capi-tal at Amaravati also remainedstatic, he said. Advisors whocertified that everything wasperfect during the TDP regimeare now crying hoarse claimingirregularities had taken place,which is rather regrettable, hepointed out.He welcomed thenew regime to point out mis-

takes, but annulment of all con-tracts would cause immenseloss to the State in the long-run.There is no dearth of funds forthe Polavaram project, hesaid. The task of executing theproject was given to AP only to ensure its speedy exe-cution.

The support to the projectfrom the Centre is complete, hesaid defining the supportwould mean not mere alloca-tion of funds in the budget.

He termed TDP's with-drawal from the NDA was ahistoric blunder and main-tained that he had tried to pre-vail upon Chandrababu Naidubut the latter stuck to his deci-sion.

Jagan's politics of vendetta will destroy State: Sujana

YS Chowdhary expressed worry over whatwould be in store for AP if the ruling partygoes on digging into the past of the TDP asif the government has no other business todischarge

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

YSRCP leader V VijayasaiReddy on Saturday warnedthat whosoever was involved inthe Vizag city land scam wouldface dire consequences. Hemade this remark while par-ticipating in a District ReviewCommittee (DRC) meet here.Addressing people represen-tatives and district officials,Vijayasai Reddy said the StateGovernment has taken a seri-ous note of such irregularities.He demanded stringent actionagainst all those involved in theland scam.

Reddy demanded inclusionof Waltair Railway division inthe new Railway zone asVisakhapatnam Headquarters.He pointed out that towardsthis all MPs from the AndhraPradesh would be meeting theRailway Minister in New Delhion Monday.

Minister of Tourism andYouth Muttamsetti SrinivasaRao, raised an issue related toweb land by pointing out theissues faced by tenant farmersat Majjivalasa village. As perthe State Government guide-lines, the benefits can be

received once the farmers reg-ister their names in web land.He said that the village farm-ers, however, were are yet toregister them in the web land.He demanded an explanationfrom the Revenue officer.

SEWAGE IN AKKIREDDYPALEM VILLAGE TANK

PCB warns of action againstVisakhapatnam civic bodyl APPCB puts civic body, food companies on notice PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Andhra PradeshPollution Control Board(APPCB) on Saturday issuednotices to GreaterVisakhapatnam MunicipalCorporation (GVMC) for nottaking preventive measures tostop discharge of sewage intothe Akkireddypalem villagetank by two private compa-nies.

An official release saidnotices were also issued toLiberty Frozen Foods (P) Ltdand Vijaya Visakha MilkProducers Co. Ltd for notoperating effluent treatmentplant properly. The Boardsuspects that they have dis-charged effluents into theAkireddypalem village tankthereby polluting the waterbody. Board officials duringthe inspection on July 24observed dead fish in a smallpond, near the village, whichhappened because sewage wasgetting mixed with the indus-trial effluent from AutonagarIndustrial area.

The officials observed that

Liberty Frozen Foods (P) Ltdhas been generating about35KLD of effluents and thereis no adequate land to use thetreated effluents within thepremises. The board officialsalso suspected the dischargeof the effluents into thesewage drain.

A recent review meeting onenvironmental protection and

rising pollution levels, theChief Minister and APPCBofficials, resolved to takeaction against GVMC, VijayaVisakha Milk Producers andLiberty Frozen Foods if theyfailed to respond within afortnight. They stated thataction would be initiatedagainst them under Section33(A).

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Responding to complaints oftourists on youngsters boozingin open and indecent behav-iour of couples at the majortourist spots in the city, theVizag city police will nowdeploy plain-clothed police onthe beaches and places record-ing high tourist footfalls.

For instance, KambalakondaEco Tourism Park andThotlakonda Buddhist siteshave turned into lovers' nest.According to police, they arereceiving at least 20 complaintsfrom the visitors on the week-ends and most of them are ondrinking liquor in public andobscene act of the couples.

"We have observed that opendrinking and indecent behav-iour of couples at Thotlakonda,Bavikonda and also at beach-es and parks causes much

inconvenience to the visitorsduring the weekends. The vis-itors are greeted with emptyliquor bottles on the roadsand other places in and aroundthe tourist places," pointed outDeputy Commissioner of

Police (North Zone) S RangaReddy. Apart from the opendrinking, the indecent behav-iour of the couples at the pub-lic places is one more issue tobe resolved. No one can ban acertain section of the public

from visiting the parks andbeaches and other tourist spots.

"Our teams will visit touristspots during the weekends tocheck illegal activities and row-dyism and vehicles of theerrant persons," he added.

Sources said that thosecaught for open drinking arebooked under the Excise Actand the accused were pro-duced before the court. Inmost of cases the court slaps afine of Rs 500 and releases theoffenders on the promise ofgood conduct.

Plain-clothed cops to nab unruly elements at beach

Dead fish found floating in Akkireddypalem water body in Visakhapatnam onSaturday Photo: Tirupati Rao G

The indecentbehaviour of thecouples at the publicplaces is one moreissue to be resolved.No one can ban acertain section of thepublic from visitingthe parks and beachesand other touristspots

Vijayasai Reddy said the StateGovernment hastaken a serious noteof such irregularities.He demandedstringent actionagainst all thoseinvolved in the land scam

Vijayasai Reddywarns of strict actionagainst land grabbers

7 Naxaliteskilled inRajnandgaencounterRAIPUR: Seven Naxals,including five women, werekilled on Saturday in anencounter with securityforces in Chhattisgarh'sRajnandgaon district, policesaid. A jawan of the DistrictReserve Guard (DRG) wasalso injured in the gun battle,they said. The exchange offire took place around 7 amin the forest near Sitagota-Serpar villages under theBaghnadi police station areawhen a joint team of DRGand local police was out on ancounter-insurgency opera-tion, Deputy InspectorGeneral (anti-Naxal opera-tions) Sundarraj P said.

Acting on a specific inputabout the movement ofultras, security forceslaunched the operation.

No seatsvacant at IITs:HRD MinistryNEW DELHI: In a first, noseats have been vacant thisyear at the prestigious IndianInstitutes of Technology(IITs) across the country,according to HRD Ministryofficials. "There have been atotal of 13,604 undergraduateadmissions in IITs this yearwith nil vacant seats. This isthe first time ever to fill allseats in all IITs leaving novacant seats which has beenachieved by proactive coop-eration of all IITs," HRDHigher Education Secretary RSubrahmanyam said.

Last year, 118 seats in all 23IITs were vacant.

Then HRD ministerPrakash Javadekar had attrib-uted the vacant seats to stu-dents not showing interest incertain disciplines.

Noticing the number ofseats lying vacant in the pre-mium institutes as risingtrend in the five years, exceptin 2014, the HRD ministryhad in 2017 set up a panelwhich made several recom-mendations to address theissue.

VIJAYAWADAWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated August 3, 2019 5:00 PM

ALMANAC Month & Paksham:Shravana & Shukla PakshaTithi : Chaturthi: 06:48 pm Nakshatram: Uttara Phalguni:

01:44 am (Next Day)Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 05:08 pm – 06:44 pmYamagandam: 12:22 pm – 01:57 pmVarjyam: 10:35 am – 12:02 pmGulika: 03:33 pm - 05:08 pmGood Time: (to start any

important work)Amritakalam: 07:15 pm – 08:41 pmAbhijit Muhurtham:

11:56 am – 12:47 pm

Forecast: CloudyTemp: 32/26Humidity: 69%Sunrise: 05.56Sunset: 06.48

TODAY

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CAPSULE

ACA PRESIDENT'S XI POSTS WINVIJAYAWADA: ACA President’sXI defeated ACA Secretary’s XIby 41 runs in the ACA seniorsand under-23 probables T-20match at JKC College grounds atGuntur on Saturday. President’sXI made 119 for seven in theallotted 20 overs with K Devikamaking 30. M. Bhavana was thehighest wicket taker with four for26. In reply, ACA Secretary made78 in 16 overs. G. Divya was thepick of the President’s bowlerswith three for 13. The scores:ACA President’s XI 119 for sevenin 20 overs (K. Devika 30, MBhavana four for 26) bt ACASecretary 78 in 16 overs (Harika22, G Divya three for 13).

PROG ON HIGHEREDN IN AUSTRALIACONDUCTEDVijayawada: Every yearhundreds of students arepursuing higher education inAustralia, said AECC Global statehead V Chaitanya. An awarenessprogramme on higher educationin Australia was organised hereon Saturday. Students fromvarious engineering,management and degree collegestudents participated in theprogramme.Speaking to the media,Chaitanya said thatrepresentatives of topuniversities from Australia werepresent to interact with studentsof Engineering, Pharmacy andManagement courses, who wishto pursue post-graduation inAustralia. He said studentsjoining PG courses in Australiawill be given scholarships andstudents would get jobs by thetime they complete theircourses. He said that a goodnumber of students are willing topursue PG courses in Australia.Representatives of AustraliaCatholic University, AustraliaNational University, FlindersUniversity, Griffith University,James Cook University, KaplanUniversity, Federation University,Melbourne University, RMITUniversity, University ofCanberra, University ofTasmania, University of WesternAustralia and Victoria Universityinteracted with students andcreated awareness about the visaprocessing, courses, admissionand other details of theiruniversities.

FIRE BREAKS OUT ATBRITANNIA BISCUITFACTORYVijayawada: A fire broke out atthe godown of Britannia biscuitfactory at Konatanapadu villagein the early hours of Saturday.As many as six fire tendersrushed to the spot and firemendoused the flames. According tofire officials, the blaze mighthave occurred due to an electricshort-circuit. According to initialestimates, there has been loss ofproperty to the tune of crores ofrupees. More details are awaited

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | AUGUST 4, 2019 vijayawada 02

Work stoppage at Polavaram,a backward step: CongressPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh CongressCommittee on Saturday foundfault with work stoppage atPolavaram project and said itwas a step backward.

Criticising the ChiefMinister for his fool-hardlymove, APCC vice-presidentTulasi Reddy said the improp-er decision in the name ofirregularities, will lead toincrease in expenditure andalso would delay the comple-tion of the project. “The ter-mination of Navayuga was awrong step,” he added.

He said the Polavaram pro-ject was initiated by late chiefminister YS RajasekharaReddy and his son, who cameto power using the name of hisillustrious father, is harmingthe interests of AndhraPradesh by blocking the worksat the project.

“The Polavaram project is anational project, but the thenTDP government, despitefinancial constraints, took upthe responsibility of con-

structing it. The new govern-ment, instead of followingvendetta politics, should takesteps to continue the projectfor the benefit of the people”.

He said nearly 30 lakhs peo-ple in 540 villages will getdrinking water and Vizag SteelPlant will get sufficient water

for production. “Nearly 80tmc feet of Godavari water canbe diverted to Krishna to helpKrishna Delta. Nealry 11lakhs farmers in GodavariDelta will be benefited and 960megawatts power can be gen-erated".

AP Mahila Congress leader SunkaraPadmasri, in a release, said thatas water from the river Krishnahas reduced, it was a necessi-ty to divert the surplus waterfrom Godavari for the benefitof farmers. “The governmentshould set up committees toprobe into the irregularities, ifany, under the TDP regime.Stoppage of works will notaugur well for the state devel-opment”.

She said the even the irri-gation experts were baffled bythe decision taken by the ChiefMinister. “People are doubtingJagan‘s intention and the stepis seen as a ploy to benefit hiscorporate friends. He is alsokeen to benefit the TelanganaChief Minister, at the cost ofAndhra Pradesh”.

The new government,instead of followingvendetta politics, shouldtake steps to continuethe project for thebenefit of the people”,says Tulasi Reddy

Delay in ‘Golden Hour' treatmentmajor cause of deaths: Ramesh PNS n VIJAYAWADA

As many as 75 lakh people dieof cardiovascular diseases everyyear out of which 90 per cent diedue to delay in receiving‘Golden Hour’ treatment,according to P Ramesh Babu,chief cardiologist, RameshHospitals, here on Saturday,

He said most people wereneglecting the pain in chestassuming it as gastric problem.

Addressing the media, hesaid by the time the patientreaches hospital, the heart goesbeyond repair. “In the first hourof the pain or discomfort inchest, the patient should reachthe hospital. Only then the lifecan be saved”.

He said that in some cases theST elevation of ECG does notshow any changes in the heart.“This condition is known as‘Wellens Syndrome’ in medicaltechnology. This can be diag-nosed only by expert cardiolo-gists. Even though there ismajor damage to the heart (dueto Wellens syndrome), ECGmay not indicate the problem”.

For patients with this syn-

drome, there is a chance of hav-ing a major block in the LAD(Left Anterior Descending)artery. “If this is not diagnosed,it would be fatal”. Referring toa case of P Krishnaji, a patientwho suffered pain in the chest

at midnight and thought it wasa gastric problem. Luckily, hereached the hospital in the‘Golden Hour’.

“On diagnosing the ECGand ECHO Cardiograms theyshowed changes in the heartwhich indicated Wellens syn-drome. He underwentangiogram procedure and wasfound that most importantblood vessel carrying oxygen toheart was blocked. Immediatelythrough emergency angioplas-ty procedure stunt was fixed,said Dr Ramesh.

P Ramesh Babu, chief cardiologist, Ramesh Hospitals, explaning about ‘GoldenHour' treatment to the media on in Vijayawada on Saturday

Most people wereneglecting the pain inchest assuming it asgastric problem, saysDr Ramesh Babu

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Andhra Pradesh Chamber ofCommerce and IndustryFederation, in association withIndia Society of HeatingRefrigerating and Air condi-tioning Engineers,Visakhapatnam chapter,(ISHRAE), American Society ofHeating, Refrigerating and Airconditioning Engineers(ASHRAE) and National Centrefor Cold Chain Development(NCCD), conducted one- dayconference on Cold Chain andRefrigeration REFCON withthe theme ‘Refrigeration andCold chain Solutions towardsSustainability’ here on Saturday.

Brigadier Kumanan ofIndian Navy welcoming thedelegates said that there is vastscope and opportunities for

cold chain sector in the IndianNavy.

M Sudhir, Vice-Chairman,AP Chambers said the confer-ence is very crucial in the exist-ing scenario as air conditioningin India consumes nearly 10 percent of the power consumption.He said the need of the hour isthe energy efficiency in air con-

ditioning. It will also help thefarmers reduce wastage of theirproduce, and also the latesttechnology to be used inupgrading the existing units , headded.

G Sambasiva Rao, President, AP Chambers of Commerceand Industry Federation spokeabout the importance of cold

storage and refrigeration andexpressed workshops like thesewill provide platform for exist-ing entrepreneurs in upgradinglatest technology and becomingcost consciousness.

James Anand , President ,ISHRAE also spoke . ManishKulkarni, Satish Kumar, Mr.Vijay Bhaskaran , NBalachandran spoke on energysaving, modular warehousing,usage of appropriate gases incold rooms and safety measuresto be taken for health and envi-ronment, energy-intensive tech-nology in chilling and freezing,design of cold storages, main-tenance and improving pro-ductivity of existing cold stor-ages.

More than 100 participantsfrom different sectors took partin the conference.

‘Energy efficieny in ACs need of the hour’

Delegates seen at a conference on ‘refrigeration and cold chain’ in Visakhapatnamon Saturday

Abhishek Popleshines for Bengal PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Bengal made 249 for nine in 77overs against Andhra Blue atthe end of the rain-marred sec-ond day's play in the PopularCup, a quadrangular four –daytournament. Organised byAndhra Cricket Association, atMulapadu here on Saturday,.

Batting after winning thetoss, Bengal, powered by 99 byAbhishek Pople, made 249 fornine in 77 overs. The pick ofthe Andhra Blue blower wasDinesh Chandra with five for28. The other match betweenHimachal and Andhra Greenfailed to take off owing to rain.

The scores: Bengal 249 fornine in 77 overs (Abhishek

Pople 99, Shekar SinghChouhan 68, HarshavardhanSingh 28, Dinesh Chandrafive for 28, Sk. Ismail two for44) vs. Andhra Blue.

Bengal's Abhishek Pople who scored 99

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

GITAM Deemed to be Universitysigned MoU with Germany basedUniversity of Applied SciencesNeubrandenburg here on Saturday.GITAM Deemed to be UniversityRegistrar Prof KVGD Balaji andUniversity of Applied Sciences Prof DrIng.Andreas Wehrenpfenningexchanged the MoU documents in thepresence of GITAM Vice-ChancellorProf K Sivarama Krishna, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof K Sivaprasad andGITAM Joint Secretary M Bharadwajin the campus.

As part of MoU both the organisa-tions decided to cooperate towards theinternationalization of higher educa-tion in education and research by wayof organising joint research projects,conferences, cultural programs,exchange of faculty and students.

While addressing the gatheringGITAM Vice-Chancellor Prof KSivaramakrishna informed that the

engineering students are showingmore interest to continue their stud-

ies in Germany which has been offer-ing special courses on German lan-guage. He said that international aca-demic relations will improve theteaching and research standards. Hementioned that the university is estab-lishing strong linkages with interna-tionally reputed institutions to face theglobal challenges.

Prof Wehrenspfenning said theywere offering innovative programs likegeo informatics and geodesy, land-scape architecture and green spacemanagement, land use planning, agri-culture production management,nursing administration, food and bioproduct technology.

He further mentioned that his uni-versity is offering 33 bachelor andmaster degrees through 25 faculties.He interacted with GITAM senior fac-ulty members and also participated ina cultural program arranged byGITAM School of Gandhian Studies.

GITAM registrar Prof KVGD Balaji and University of Applied Sciences Prof Dr Ing.AndreasWehrenpfenning exchanged the MoU documents in the presence of GITAM Vice-Chancellor Prof KSivarama Krishna, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof K Sivaprasad and GITAM Joint Secretary M Bharadwaj inVisakhapatnam campus on Saturday

Research on gut microbiota in critical stagePATRI VASUDEVAN n VIJAYAWADA

A group of researchers underthe guidance of Prof AllamAppa Rao, former Vice-Chancellor of JNTU, has afinding to address Type-2diabetes. The team has car-ried out a study on gut micro-biota.

The gut microbiota bene-fits humans through short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) pro-duction from carbohydratefermentation and deficiencyin SCFA production associ-ated with type 2 diabetesmellitus (T2DM).

A randomised clinicalstudy of specifically designedisoenergetic diets suggestedthat a select group of SCFAproducing strains was pro-moted by dietary fibre andthat other potential produc-ers were either diminished orunchanged in patients withT2DM.

When the fibre-promotedSCFA producers were presentin greater diversity and abun-dance, participants had bet-ter improvement in hemo-

globin A1c levels, partly viaincreased glucagon-like pep-tide-1 production.

Promotion of these positiverespondents diminished pro-ducers of metabolically detri-mental compounds such asindole and hydrogen sulfide.

Targeted restoration ofthese SCFA producers maypresent a novel ecologicalapproach for managingT2DM, according to thestudy carried out by theInstitute of Bioinformaticsand Computational Biology(IBCB).

The resident microorgan-isms in the gastrointestinaltract are collectively referredas gut microbiota.

In mammalians, the gutmicrobiota mainly compris-es four main phyla :Actinobacteria, bacteroidetes,firmicutes and proteobacte-ria.

These phyla are vital in thehost metabolism and physi-ology regulation.

The number of bothprokaryotic cells and hosteukaryotic cells in the guttotals to approximately 100

trillion, which is threefoldthat of the total number ofhuman body cells.“It is only in these recent yearsthat technological advanceshave allowed researchers tofurther comprehensively

understand the holistic impactof the gut microbiota on thewhole host metabolic system,"explained Allam Appa Rao.

Apart from digestion, thegut microbiota is importantin up- keeping the optimal

state of host health, but it isalso implicated in the patho-genesis of numerous meta-bolic diseases, such as obesi-ty, diabetes, chronic kidneydisease and atherosclerosisand intestinal diseases, suchas inflammatory bowel dis-ease and colorectal cancer.

For the past 50 years, theincreased use of vaccinationsand antibiotics and increas-ingly improved hygiene stan-dards have significantly low-ered the prevalence of sever-al infectious diseases.

There are some strains ofbacteria that are resistant toantibiotics and therefore,antibiotics consumption willskew gut microbiota compo-sition. As fibre cannot be

digested by the human diges-tive fluid, they are fermentedby the gut microbiota, there-by generating short-chainfatty acids (SCFAs) asmetabolites. SCFAs exertsys-temic anti-inf lammatoryef fects by producingimmunoglobulin A andi m m u n o s u p p r e s s i v ecytokines.

Loss of early-life exposuredue to increased use ofantibiotics and a decrease infibre in take results in dys-biosis, which is implicated inthe increased incidenceobserved in inflammatorydiseases, including diabetes.

The studies included inthe present review empha-sise that diabetes pathogen-

esis could be a result of sep-tic pathogens, butmetabo-lites produced by gut micro-biota, such as bile acids,also play an important part.

However, the exact impactof gutmicrobes and theirmetabolites on the incidenceand pathogenesis of dia-betes have yet to be eluci-dated.

Taking these into consid-eration, Appa Rao and hisresearchers strongly stand bythe methodology of inte-grating metagenomic andmetabolomic information asit is an important tool thataids further understandingof the gut microbiota.

As diabetes is multi-fac-torial and can progress toother related metabolic dis-eases, such as cardiovascularproblems, it is of importantthat the delicate inter-rela-tionship between gut micro-biota and hostmetabolismare well understood inorder to suggest appropriatelifestyle and nutrit ionalinterventions towards pre-vention and maintenanceremission of diabetes.

Prof Allam Appa Rao, former Vice-Chancellor of JNTU, Kakinada

The gut microbiota benefits humans throughshort-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production fromcarbohydrate fermentation and deficiency inSCFA production associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)

GITAM signs pact with German University

DPS studentsbag karate beltsVIJAYAWADA: A karatecoaching camp and a belt testwas conducted at Delhi PublicSchool on Saturday in which46 students participated andwon various belts.

About 14 students wereawarded Yellow and 11 baggedOrange. As many as 11 stu-dents won Green, five Purpleand five Brown belts.

The test was conducted inthe presence of KarateGrandmaster J Vijay Kumarunder the guidance schoolCoach M Syam Kumar.“Karate is a way to expand thelimits of the individual bothphysical and mental capabili-ties,: said the Vijay Kumar.

School Pro-Vice ChairmanP Narendra Babu, Directors, KPraveen, and P Pavan Chand.

Naidu's stroll in US goes viralVijayawada: Former Chief Minister and Leader of OppositionN Chandrababu Naidu have been vacationing in the United States.The video of Naidu walking on the streets eating popcorn, alongwith Komati Jayaram and a few other NRIs, has become viral onthe social media. Naidu went to the US on July 30. He planningto come back to India on August 4.

26 bitten by sankes in 72 hours PNS n VIJAYAWADA

At least five pesons weresubjected to snake bite inKrishna district withSaturday alone account-ing for five snake-biteincidents taking the totalnumber of victims due tosnake-bite during the past72 hours to 26. Thesnakes seems to be on abiting spree in Krishnadistrict as the weathercooled down a bit follow-ing monsoon showers.

The GovernmentHospital at Movva hasstocked additional anti-snake venom injectionsas a precautionary mea-sure.

The snake-bite vic-tims have been making abeeline to the hospital,where the medical offi-cers have been advisingpeople to bring thesnake-bite victims to thehospital immediately sothat their lives could besaved.

EGG RATES

` 35,577 (10 gm)

127

GOLD

` 41,364 (1kg)

364

HYDERABAD 326VIJAYAWADA 335VISAKHAPATNAM 352RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `33..3355

SILVER

VIJAYAWADABULLION RATES

`//110000

CHICKEN RATES

Dressed/With Skin `144

Without Skin `163

Broiler at Farm `99

`//KKGG

(IN VIJAYAWADA)

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | AUGUST 4, 2019 vijayawada 03

CAPSULE

ILLEGAL MINING: CASEREGISTERED AGAINSTTDP LEADERGuntur: A case was filed againstTDP leader YerapathineniSrinivasa Rao and 12 others onSaturday in connection withillegal mining. The Guntur policeslapped the case against theoffenders based on directivefrom the court. Mining assistantdirector Jagannadh Rao, RDOMurali, and Circle InspectorHanumantha Rao were alsonamed in the case.The illegal mining in the regioncame to light when oneGuruvachari moved the court toexpose the misdeeds of TDPleaders. This angered the TDPleaders and Guruvachari wasassaulted by the followers of theleaders. Despite assault on him,Guruvachari lodged a complaint,but no case was registered bythe police. As he had no option,he approached the High Courtand it is in this connection acase was registered.

IMPART VEDICKNOWLEDGE TOMANKIND: TTD SOVijayawada: TTD special OfficerAV Dharma Reddy exhortedstudents of Vedic studies thatthe essence of Vedas andancient knowledge should beimparted to future generations topromote righteous and moralbound lifestyle in society.Speaking at the 127thconvocation of the DharmagiriVeda Vignana Peetham onSaturday, he said TTD set upVeda Pathashala to rejuvenatethe eclipsing Vedic studies byproviding free education,economic support and basicfacilities. As a result, thousandsof students are popularising theimportance of Vedas today. Healso applauded parents ofstudents for encouraging theirwards in Vedic studies.He said Vedic students areequally important to IAS, IPS,IRS, doctors, engineers andother professions. Veda VijanPeetham principal KuppaVenkata Shiva SubramanyamAvadhani highlighted its 136glorious years chequeredhistory and said 610 students in17 faculties led by 50 teachersare presently engaged in thepeetham. He said students of12 year long Vedic studiesattracted TTD financial grant ofRs 3 lakhs in bank deposits andRs 1 lakh for those whounderwent eight years courses.Students received these funds,including the interest accruedafter the completion of studies.They also became eligible forprofessional posts of Vedapandits, priests, teachers andalso a dignified status insociety, he added.

Rammohan stages protestin front of Anna Canteen

LOKESH TERMS CLOSURE AS A POLITICAL VENDETTA

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Gadde Ramamohan Rao stageda protest in front of AnnaCanteen at Krishnalanka RaniGari Thota on Saturday and dis-tributed food to the poor.

Speaking on the occasion, hesaid it was pitiful that the can-teens feeding the poor at a nom-inal cost of Rs 5 have been shutdown. The leaders demandedthat reopening of canteens willbenefit the poor and needy. YSRCongress-led government hastemporarily closed AnnaCanteens, popular among thepoor and lower middle-class,alleging corruption in thescheme.

TDP General Secretary NaraLokesh took to twitter to slamthe YSRCP government forshutting down the canteens.Lokesh tweeted that the gov-ernment shut down the can-teens due to political vendet-ta."The Chief Minister hungerdoesn't know politics. Shouldthe poor go hungry for yourpolitical vendetta", he asked.

The people of AndhraPradesh are going to miss thedelectable food the AnnaCanteen was serving at just Rs5, for too long.

The YSR Congress party is

reportedly planning to refur-bish the scheme and is expect-ed to re-launch it after rebrand-ing it as 'Rajanna Canteen'.Criticising the move, the TDPhas accused YS JaganmohanReddy of practising vindictivepolitics and ignoring priorities.Meanwhile, there is still noclarity as to how long it will

take for the authorities to re-open canteens with a newname

YSRCP leaders alleged thatthe TDP has used the schemelaunched on the eve of electionsto further its political interestsby painting the canteens yellow(colour of TDP's flag). As thecanteens were named afterTDP founder and former ChiefMinister NT Rama Rao,YSRCP government plans torename them. NTR, as thelate leader was popularlyknown, was also affectionate-ly called 'Anna' (elder brother).

The canteens may now benamed 'Rajanna' as ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy's father and the lateChief Minister YS RajasekharaReddy was fondly called.

City youth not keen onFriendship Day feteCH SHARMILAn VIJAYAWADA

Friendship is a very special bondbetween two friends. This bondis a result of years of togetherness,understanding, passion andcompassion. It is a blessing tohave great friends and a friend istruly a blessing in disguise.Although, Friendship Day isprimarily celebrated across theworld, these days the youth in thecapital city are saying a big no tothat.

Shafi, a student, says"Friendship is a mutual rela-tionship. Friends are like siblings.For me, every day is a FriendshipDay. It's not just one day to cel-ebrate for a friend, who advisesyou like a father, care for you likea mother, fights like a sibling. Acombination of all in one person,I always believe in friends makeour life worth living."

Nandini, a private employee,says "It's just another day like 365days in a year. I don't believe incelebrations of these kind ofevents. Every year on FriendshipDay, I've been tagging byFacebook friends with whom I'venever spoke before. There are afew people, who drop a messageon Facebook and WhatsAppfor New Year, Diwali or any other

festival. They were just acting likefriends. I don't believe in wish-ing that particular day andremaining strangers for the restof the days. They were peoplewho celebrate their friendshipirrespective of the day. I believein such kind of friendship".

Santosh, a student, said"Friendship Day is just anotherday invented by marketing peo-

ple. So, not wishing your friendon Friendship Day, or buying agift on that day should really notannoy a true friend. As long asyou both like being around eachother there is no need for a spe-cific day to cherish your rela-tionship or buy gifts. I don't needa Friendship Day to celebrate andcherish my friendship".

Krithika, an employee in

Honeywell, says "Friendshipdoesn't mean that you have towish your friend on this day, orany other day. True friendship isnot dependent on a day like this.True friendship is a friendship inwhich even after you meet afriend after four years you stilltreat him the same way that youused to do before. Friendshipcomes from the heart, not fromthe day like this."

n Santosh, a student, said "Friendship Day is just another dayinvented by marketing people. So, not wishing your friend onFriendship Day, or buying a gift on that day should really notannoy a true friend. As long as you both like being around eachother there is no need for a specific day to cherish yourrelationship or buy gifts. I don't need a Friendship Day tocelebrate and cherish my friendship"

Krithika, anemployee inHoneywell, says"Friendshipdoesn't mean thatyou have to wishyour friend on thisday, or any otherday. A truefriendship is thatif you meet yourpal even afterfour years youstill treat him thesame way thatyou used to dobefore”

Aday after India's coffeeking V. G. Siddharthawas laid to rest in

Chikkamagaluru in Karnataka,news came that the AndhraGovernment was terminatingthe Polavaram project contractawarded to NavayugaEngineering CompanyLimited (NECL). A questionmay rightly be asked: What iscommon between the tragedythat befell Café Coffee Day andthe travails of Navayuga.

One is a beverage giant andthe other a construction behe-moth known for its record ofbuilding mega engineeringprojects. Cafe Coffee Day'sfounder had a squeaky-cleanimage till he owned responsi-bility for mistakes he com-mitted in running his busi-nesses and wanted the law to

hold him accountable for with-holding information aboutcertain transactions fromeveryone. NECL may not fallin the same bracket for morethan one reason.

The flagship company ofNavayuga group, it bagged thePolavaram project after it wastransferred from the originalbidder Transstroy whose chair-man is Rayapati SambasivaRao, a rich contractor andpolitician. Navayuga was underthe radar of Registrar ofCompanies in 2018 wheninvestigations showed 47 groupcompanies functioning fromthe same address.

Its chairman C. VisweswaraRao was questioned by the CBIin the Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddydisproportionate assets casein 2012. The company alsofaced investigations, along withindustrialist Nimmagadda

Prasad, in their joint venturefor developing Vodarevu-Nizampatnam Port andIndustrial Corridor (VANPIC)without going through theopen competitive biddingprocess.

Although described bysome as "an admired memberof India's business elite",Siddhartha had reportedly runup debts in excess of Rs. 11,000crore, a key factor that led tohis suspected suicide. What issignificant is the fact that, inhis final letter, Siddhartha said

he was not only unable to copewith the mounting debt butalso facing harassment byincome tax authorities.

"There was a lot of harass-ment from the previous D-G(director-general) Income Taxin the form of attaching ourshares on two separate occa-sions to block our Mindtreedeal and then taking position(?) of our Coffee Day sharesalthough the revised returnshave been filed by us. This wasvery unfair and has led to seri-ous liquidity crunch", said the

coffee king. While emphasis-ing that he gave his all to thecompany, he rued "I failed asan entrepreneur".

Siddhartha is beingmourned as an earnest entre-preneur who failed whereas inAndhra the concern revolvesround the Polavaram project

rather than sympathy forNavayuga or its promotors.Declared as a national project,Polavaram is designed to irri-gate seven lakh acres and alsoto divert 80 tmc of Godavariwater to Krishna through thePattiseema Lift IrrigationProject.

For public consumption,Navayuga's contract is beingscrapped because theIrrigation Department hadaltered the EPC (engineering,procurement and construc-tion) mode to lumpsum modewhile awarding it work worthRs. 2,500 crore. But the mainreason is Chief Minister JaganMohan Reddy's belief that hispredecessor N. ChandrababuNaidu struck a quid pro quodeal with the contractor.Naidu claims that the currentregime had put the brakes onPolavaram after his

Government had completed70 per cent of the project."Polavaram will continue toremain a dream".

In a separate world,Nimmagadda Prasad remainsstranded in Belgrade after hisrelease from a Serbian jail fol-lowing a red-corner noticeissued at the behest of Ras AlKhaimah (RAK), an emirate ofUAE, over the VANPIC pro-ject.

Tough times indeed forbusinessmen - good, bad orugly. Business houses are suf-fering from cash crunch andslow growth. Claims that Indiahas improved its rank on theease of doing business scalefrom 100 to 77 remains justthat. Andhra ranked at the topamong the 36 States andUnion Territories in 2018. Itwill be a huge challenge to sus-tain its position now.

Work on all infrastructureprojects-irrigation, capitalregion included -- has come toa grinding halt after theGovernment's decision to pullthe plug on contracts estimat-ed at Rs. 50,000 crore. TheWorld Bank and the AsianInfrastructure InvestmentBank have decided not toextend loans for Amaravatiand construction labourersare returning to their homes inChhattisgarh, Bihar and UttarPradesh.

The decision to do awaywith the free sand policy andselling it directly to consumersfrom September 5 has stoppedeven minor construction activ-ity. The half-finished road fly-over at NAD junction nearVisakhapatnam airport tellsthe whole story to anyone vis-iting what is billed as the Cityof Destiny.

Although described by some as "anadmired member of India's businesselite", Siddhartha had reportedly run updebts in excess of Rs. 11,000 crore, a key factor that led to his suspectedsuicide

S NAGESH KUMARFormer Resident Editor,

The Hindu

‘ALL ANDSUNDRY’

Ease of doing bussiness a myth as work grinds to a halt in AP

The YSRCP isreportedly planningto refurbish thescheme and isexpected to re-launch it afterrebranding it as‘Rajanna Canteen'

Governor celebratesbirthday on a grand note PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Governor Biswa BhushanHarichandan celebrated his85th birthday on a grand noteat Raj Bhavan on Saturday.

Ministers KodaliVenkateswara Rao, VellampalliSrinivas, Perni Venkataramaiahand MLA Malladi Vishnuextended greetings on behalf ofthe government as ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy was away on a foreigntour.

Chief Secretary LVSubrahmanyam and BJP StatePresident KannaLakshminarayana and otherleaders met the Governor andgreeted him.

Priests of Tirumala TirupatiDevestanams (TTD) andDurga Malleswara SwamyvarlaDevastanam blessed theGovernor amidst chanting ofVedic hymns.

The Governor's secretaryMukesh Kumar Meena pre-sented a portrait of theGovernor, along with his wife,to the visitors.

The Governor, who entered86, took part in several socialevents and spent time withchildren, tribal and Dalit stu-dents. He presented newclothes and notebooks to them.A tailor was specially hired forthis purpose to take their mea-surements. Children offeredroses and took photographs

with him. Under the directive ofthe Department of CulturalAffairs, several programmes,including Kuchipudi dace, wasconducted.

While attending a blooddonation camp at AndhraLoyola College, the Governorsaid: "As the President ofIndian Red Cross Society, I amhappy to see many young peo-ple participating in the volun-tary blood donation camp.They are the people to shapethe future of our country."

He said Indian Red CrossSociety was a humanitarianorganisation that serves andsupports the poor and helplesswith concern. "Red Cross isrunning 18 blood banks, whichare providing 82,000 bloodunits a year. Red Cross is alsorunning a cancer hospital, yoga

centres, old age homes,orphanages, generic medicalshops and first aid training cen-tres".

He said Andhra PradeshRed Cross unit served the vic-tims of fire accidents, floodsand natural calamities."Thousands of young volun-teers trained in first aid. Theyoffer their services to create abetter and humane society".

District Collector MdImtiyaz, DGP Gautam Sawang,Vijayawada PoliceCommissioner DwarkaThirumala Rao, AdditionalDG Law and Order RaviShankar Iyengar, Raj BhavanJoint Secretary Arjun Rao,principals and correspondentsof various colleges participat-ed, along with functionaries ofIndian Red Cross Society.

Ministers greeting Governor Biswa Bhushan Harichandan at Raj Bhavan inVijayawada on Saturday

EAMCET convenerdirects to obtainEWS certificatesPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Candidates, who are desirousof seeking the admissionunder the EWS quota inEAMCET-2019 admissions,are directed to obtain a cer-tificate issued by the tahsildarin the prescribed format.

In a communiqué issuedhere on Saturday, theConvener andCommissioner of TechnicalEducation, APEAMCET-2019 Admissions, BabuAhmed, stated that theGovernment of AndhraPradesh has already issueda GO Ms No 39 HigherEducat ion (EC)Department, for imple-mentation of 10 per cent ofsupernumerary seats forEWS (Economically WeakerSections) in educationalinstitutions.

Candidates, who aredesirous of seeking theadmission under the EWSquota in EAMCET-2019admissions, are directed toobtain a certificate issued bythe tahsildar in the prescribedformat, Babu Ahmed hassuggested and informed thatthe CTE and Convener hasissued a notification onAugust 1 to update the EWScertificate online through thew e b s i t ehttps://apeamcet.nic.in fromAugust 1 to 8.

Civic staff for 010salaries schemeimplementationPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh MunicipalEmployees Union, affiliated toCITU, on Saturday organised around table to discuss the travailsof employees suffering fromnon-implementation of 010salaries scheme by the govern-ment.

CPM senior leader Ch BabuRao said both the civic employ-ees and pensioners were suffer-ing owing to the delay in imple-mentation of the salaries scheme.

"We asked VMCCommissioner PrasannaVenkatesh to take the initiativeto provide at least an advance ofRs 50,000 each employee tomeet their domestic compul-sions. But, he has not reacted".

He said there were 1,800 pen-

sioners suffering owing to thestep motherly treatment of thegovernment. Rao said salariesthough treasury was paid only to73 employees and another 1,576were yet to get salaries.

"All the employees aredepending on their salaries andthey have no other source of rev-enue. Now schools and collegesreopened, hence, parents arefeeling the heat".

He said the CITU will lead aagitation if the demands were notmet. The CITU leader saidthough the Telugu Desam gov-ernment had given green signalfor payment of salaries to civicemployees through treasury, thenew government has not imple-mented the scheme and sincefour months, employees were liv-ing without salaries.

Civic employees taking part in a workshop on 010 salaries schemeimplementation in Vijayawada on Saturday

Essentials tobe distributedin flood-hitmandalsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Collectors of East Godavariand West Godavari districtsare directed to ensure dis-tribution of essential com-modities to eligible familiesof 32 habitations located inDevipatnam mandal andalso other villages in EastGodavari and WestGodavari districts with ade-quate publicity about thefree distribution to the eli-

gible families. Keeping in view of the

Godavari floods, the gov-ernment has initiated reliefmeasures.

In a GO released onSaturday, Special ChiefSecretary Dr ManmohanSingh issued directive torevenue officials over theimplementation of scale ofassistance and distributionof essential commoditiesover and above the normsfixed under SDRF/NDRF inthe affected areas in EastGodavari and WestGodavari districts.

All the eligible families inthe 32 habitat ions ofDevipatnam mandal in EastGodavari district will bedistributed 25 kgs of rice,two litres of kerosene, onekg of red gram, one litrepalm oil, one kg of onionsand one kg of potatoes.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In all, 192 students, who have beenimparted training in ServiceNowApplication Developer by certified fac-ulty of ServiceNow India DevelopmentCentre, participated in Hackathon. Thisexperience will improve the technicalcompetency of students and help to

appear for global certification exam andalso enable them to participate in

ServiceNow job fair in August. Studentsformed 32 batches with six memberseach selected a problem statement dis-cussing with professors in the univer-sity to develop an application onServiceNow Developer instance by util-ising features of ServiceNow platform.

Dr V Srikanth, dean, SkillDevelopment, thanked the team from

ServiceNow India Development Centrefor training the faculty and certifyingthem as ServiceNow ApplicationDevelopers. Dr LSS Reddy, Vice-Chancellor of KL University, said this wasa great opportunity for students inenhancing their domain knowledgelearning from the leading cloud enterprisecompany in developing digital workflows.

KLU VC said Hackathon is agood opportunity for studentsin enhancing their domainknowledge

KL University students take part in Hackathon

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | AUGUST 4, 2019 region 04

CAPSULE

VENKANNA NOT TOCONTINUE AS URBANAFFAIRS IN-CHARGEVijayawada: TDP MLC BudhhaVenkanna has declared that hewon't continue as the TDP UrbanPresident for next term. Justbefore coming out from the TDPUrban party coordinationcommittee meeting, BudhhaVenkanna announced hisdecision. It may be noted that MPKesineni Nani and MLAVallabhananeni Vamshee didn'tattend this meeting. It may benoted that MP Kesineneni Naniand Buddha Venkanna are warpath on twitter for some time,which even has drawn theattention of the party ChiefChandrababu Naidu. However,latest developments havesuggested that Venkanna hasbeen reportedly asked by theparty headquarters to distancehimself from urban partyactivities for some time.

VHR QUESTIONSKCR'S SILENCE ONHAJIPUR RAPES Hyderabad: Congress seniorleader V Hanumantha Rao hassought to know why theTelangana state government hasso far not taken the Hajipur rape-cum-murders seriously, unlikethe Centre which had actedswiftly on the Unnao rape case. On Saturday, VHR alleged thatCM KCR, who visited ChinaJeeyar Swamy, relatives andfriends, had no time to visitHajipur village to console thebereaved victims. The CM mustspell out why he was not givingRs.10 lakh to all villages just ashe had done in the case of hisnative village --Chintamadaka.

FEEDING MILK TOSNAKES CAN KILL THEM Hyderabad: Feeding snakes withmilk on Naga panchami or NagulaChavati to be celebrated onMonday will lead to thedeterioration of the health. Animalactivists ask people to becautious this Naga panchami.According to ShaikHussain,Projest Scientist, "One ortwo Months before Snake MostlyCobras are Caught by the snakechambers they are Defranged,Brutally Sewed with needles tokeep their mouths Closed,Cut orslit opened at the cheeks of theirpoison Glands and then kept onclosed Baskets in a closed DarkRoom during this process 90%of Snakes Die". "Just before theday or on the day of NagaPanchami these Snakes arebrought out by the snakecharmers to cities to earnMoney,where they are given orfed with milk and other holySubstance like KumKum,Turmeric are sprayed onthem.As the snakes have beenhungry from past many days theydrink Milk which is not their Dietbut later on they die by Vomitingor because of Indigestion", heexplained Snakes are reptiles andtheir diet is at,Frogs,Rodents,etc.Activists ask people not toentertain the use and display oflive snakes by snakes charmerson Naga Panchami.

Environmentalists dismayed at untreated effluents in seaPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The city-based environmen-talists urged the civic officialsto immediately take steps toensure that untreated industri-al effluents are not released intothe sea. They have called for amass movement to protect andrestore water bodies in Vizagwith a firm action plan.

Environmentalist BolisettiSatyanarayana invited KHChoi, an environmentalistfrom South Korea, whoworked as vice-president ofHitech Energy in implement-ing several power projectsacross the globe, to see some ofthe most pollution-makingindustries in India. Both ofthem visited steel plants andother industries inVizianagaram andVisakhapatnam districts.

They noticed that MaaMahamaya Industries had toput more efforts to reducepollution.

"The company's Vice-President has informed thatthey are implementing somechanges to bring the pollution

under control," Satyanarayanasaid adding "A lot of negligenceis seen in protecting surfaceand underground water

resources."Most of the chemical indus-

tries directly release theirwastes using reverse boring

method, which implies perma-nent damage to the groundwater resource. This will dam-age lives of people living overa radius of several kilometres.He urged AP Pollution ControlBoard officials to take steps tobring down visible pollutionfrom industries.

The environmentalist raisedseveral doubts on the function-ing of effluent treatment plants(ETPs) in Ramky's PharmaCity as the management hasstrictly restricted the entry ofoutsiders. He mentioned abouthow some chemical manufac-turing units and ETPs, run byKorean government, haveachieved almost zero pollutionover the last 15 years.

Choi wondered how thelocal authorities allow theuntreated chemicals and sewerinto water bodies. "In Korea,we cannot see visible smokecoming from chimneys.Industries can make moneyfrom pollution also. They canrecover heat from the stack anduse it in the process to reducetheir fuel consumption as wellas pollution in the air," he said.

Govt employeesurged to patronisetribal products PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

In a bid to popularise tribalnatural products among gov-ernment employees and pub-lic sector employees of Centraland State governments, GirijanCooperative Corporation(GCC), Visakhapatnam, hasdecided to allow them a spe-cial discount of 1.5percent onGCC products by issuing"Loyalty Cards", according toits Vice-Chairman andManaging Director T BaburaoNaidu here on Saturday.

He said that GCC is helpingthe tribal across the statebringing wide range of fin-ished products to the con-sumers directly after process-ing minor forest produce andagricultural produce of thetribal farmers.

Baburao stated that theseorganic and natural tribalproducts are made availabledirectly to consumers on timethrough newly opened retailoutlets, mobile sale counter,online shops of Flipkart andAmazon and also GCC onlineshop at www.apgirijan.com.

For this the employeeshave to register their nameswith other details with thiscorporation which wouldmake them eligible for takingGCC products on discountrates through online GCCshops (on door delivery basis),at all GCC retail outlets andmobile shops.

On receipt of details,Loyalty Cards will be issuedand sent to the employees.

The company's Vice-President has informedthat they are implementing some changesto bring the pollution under control,"Satyanarayana said adding "A lot ofnegligence is seen in protecting surface andunderground water resources.

VPT is ranked third in handling cargo traffic PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Port of Visakhapatnamattained third position amongmajor ports in cargo trafficduring April to July in the cur-rent financial year. VPT scaledup by one slot from the earli-er fourth position for the cor-responding period of 2018-19fiscal.

VPT handled cargo traffic of23.70 million tonnes duringApril to July 2019 against21.52 million tonnes of corre-sponding period of previousyear; thus, an incremental vol-ume of 2.18 million tonnes isachieved. The growth of morethan 10 percent achieved byVPT is the highest among

major ports.Increase in volumes of Iron

ore and pellets, Coking coal,Crude oil and petroleum prod-ucts and Container cargo havecontributed to the growth intraffic at VPT. Cargo traffichandled at Port ofVisakhapatnam is continuingto be on growth trajectory for

the fourth successive year. Port of Visakhapatnam has

constituted a business develop-ment team and is adoptinginnovative marketing strate-gies. VPT has taken up pro-viding end-to-end logisticssolutions to its customers. AMoU was signed on Saturdaywith TANGEDCO for under-

taking end-to-end service oftransportation of coal frommines to the power plant inTamil Nadu. The logisticsolution include undertakingservices outside VPT's bound-ary by monitoring wagon load-ing at mine heads, liaisingwith Railways for transporta-tion to the port besides provid-ing port services like unload-ing from rakes, storage ofcargo and loading into ships.

Rinkesh Roy, ChairmanVisakhapatnam Port Trusthailed Team VPT for theachievement. Roy expressedconfidence that the port wouldcontinue the upward marchand accomplish the 70 milliontonne mark.

Increase in volumes of Iron ore and pellets,Coking coal, Crude oil and petroleum productsand Container cargo have contributed to thegrowth in traffic at VPT. Cargo traffic handled atPort of Visakhapatnam is continuing to be ongrowth trajectory for the fourth successive year.

TODAY IS WORLD BONE AND JOINT DAY

Millions getting affectedby osteoporosisPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Every August 4 is observed asWorld Bone and Joint Day. Onthis day, many experts in thefield ponder and come upwith suggestions on makinglife better for everyone, inparticular to those who cannotafford quality medical care.

Osteoporosis is a pandem-ic affecting about 300 millionpeople in India alone. It ismaking people live with painand adding to their disabilitybecause of different complica-tions. The statistics in AndhraPradesh are equally spine-chilling with more and morecases being reported fromacross the State.

Osteoporosis is defined asdecreased density of bones andincreased fragility of bones,leading to fractures.Osteoporosis is rampant inmiddle aged and elderlyfemales more commonly dueto improper dietary habits,food deficient in calcium andVitamin-D, lack of adequateexposure to sunlight and exer-cise, states Dr B Udaya Kumar,Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon atKIMS Icon Hospital.

Specialists in the field indi-cate that different risk factorsfor osteoporosis are advancedage, menopause, deficiency ofestrogen and androgens,rheumatological and autoim-mune disorders, improper lifestyle like smoking, alcoholconsumption, excess coffeeintake, sedentary life style,usage of drugs like steroids

and certain antiepileptics, pro-longed immobilisation.

Management of osteoporo-sis is one of the greatest chal-lenges in the field oforthopaedics, as osteoporosisrenders bone weak and asbrittle as chalk.

Dr Udaya Kumar pointsout that daily intake of about1200-1500 mg of calcium and800 to 1000U of Vitamin-Dwill be a good antidote.

Regular exercises, especial-ly extension exercises for back,walks after sunrise and beforesunset are advocated for ade-quate exposure to sunlight.

Dr B Udaya Kumar

PNS n HYDERABAD

The city-based tech start-up,Anvayaa Kin Care, achieved animpressive double in the pres-tigious awards ceremonyorganised by HyderabadSoftware EnterprisesAssociation, (HYSEA).

A national leader as anArtificial-Intelligence (AI)enabled, holistic and person-alised, one-stop, senior careprovider, it bagged awards intwo separate categories-BestSoftware Product in the socialimpact category and for beingranked among the ten hotstart-ups for 2019.

The annual HYSEA awardswere given away by a illustri-ous group comprising VineetNayar, founder-Chairman andCEO of Sampark Foundation,Chief Secretary SK Joshi,

Principal Secretary (IT) JayeshRanjan and Director Generalof Software Technology Parksof India Dr Omkar Rai.

Responding to the honour,Prashanth Reddy, founder-Director of Anvayaa Kin Care,said, "Winning these presti-gious awards are a testimony to

our commitment and core val-ues. The scarcity of trainedcaregivers to deal with thehealth, social and emotionalneeds of an ageing populationcontinues to be perhaps themost serious drawback facedby many countries. AnvayaaKin Care bridges this gap and

has been providing elder caresupport to over 800+ familiessince its inception in 2016."

Anvayaa Kincare, a person-alised and App-based serviceexclusively designed for seniorcitizens.

Osteoporosis isdefined asdecreased density ofbones and increasedfragility of bones,leading to fractures

Anvayaa Kin Care bags HYSEA double

Prashanth Reddy, founder-Director of Anvayaa Kin Care receiving the HYSEA award

A national leader as anArtificial-Intelligence (AI)enabled, holistic andpersonalised, one-stop,senior care provider, itbagged awards in twoseparate categories-Best Software Product inthe social impactcategory and for beingranked among the tenhot start-ups for 2019

GCC is helping the tribalacross the state bringingwide range of finishedproducts to the consumersdirectly after processingminor forest produce and agricultural produce of the tribals

4 injured asprivate busturns turtle Hyderabad: A private travelsbus returning to Hyderabadfrom Anantapur turned turtlenear Nehru Zoological Parkinjuring at least 4 personsonboard on Saturday. The bus,belonging to a private traveloperator SS Travels, wasreturning to Hyderabad fromAnantapur and had to drop offpassengers at Afzalgunj, whenthe incident occurred at amedian near the Zoo park.According to locals who hadreached the scene first, the dri-ver of the bus was in an ine-briated condition and rammedinto the median. The bus had15 passengers on board at thetime of the incident. Theinjured were shifted to a hos-pital for better treatment.

A project to link rivers that needs political de-linkingK VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

Inter-linking of rivers maysound good as a massivebenevolent project even iftechnical objections are raisedand the topography of thecourses of the rivers con-cerned do not permit smoothrun due to environmental andother concerns. A far moreformidable challenge lies inde-linking such a project frompolitical stakes.

A case in point is the pro-posed inter-linking ofGodavari and Krishna rivers,which sounds quite good onthe drawing boards, but is like-ly to get entangled in Centre-States knots depending onwho gets the credit and whofoots the bill.

Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao and hisAndhra Pradesh counterpartYS Jagan Mohan Reddystrongly pitched for inter-linking of two major rivers tomeet the water requirementsof the Telugu states and to putan end to acrimonious waterdisputes. They also decided toexplore the possibility ofdiverting Godavari riverwaters to Srisailam (Krishna)reservoir.

However, the moot questionis: Who will foot the bill and

from where should the moneybe mobilized? Answers tothese questions, well inadvance, are crucial, consider-ing that both Telangana andAndhra Pradesh are not in aposition to invest huge

amounts needed for the pro-ject on their own and maydepend willy-nilly on theCentre to fund the whole or apart of the cost of divertingGodavari water to Srisailam.

KCR has a point when he

says that the erstwhileMahabubnagar and Nalgondadistricts in Telangana andPrakasam and Nellore dis-tricts in Andhra Pradesh statewould benefit from such link-ing as they would be in a posi-tion to utilize about 3,000TMC water, which, otherwise,is going waste into the sea.

The project needs nearlyRs.80,000 crore. Besides, thetwo Telugu states are alreadyhaving a tough time complet-ing pending irrigation pro-jects, some of which are stuckmid-way. As things stand, thetwo states have to bring sub-

stantial loans if they decide tolink the rivers on their own.

Of course, the two statesmay be inclined to request theCentre to recognize the river-linking as a national projectand according allot funds toit.

Although the BharatiyaJanata Party is in favor of theriver linking project and hadeven proposed linking ofGodavari and Krishna muchearlier; in view of the changedpolitical equations, it maynot accord national status tothis huge project.

The Centre has alreadyaccorded national status toPolavaram in Andhra Pradeshstate. A proposal to givenational status to Kaleswaramproject is pending.

According to sources, theBJP-led NDA governmentmay not accord national sta-tus to the project envisagedfor linking Godavari andKrishna rivers. For, it may notwant the credit for the projectto go to KCR and Jagan.

According to political ana-lysts, BJP is keen on growingin the Telugu states. So, it maynot spoil the party by givingnational project status to thelinking of Godavari andKrishna rivers knowing fair-ly well the present politicalimplications.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Jana Samiti presi-dent Prof Kodandaram was onSaturday taken into preventivecustody at Hajipur en routethe Nallamala forest region,where tribals have beenprotesting against explorationfor uranium deposits.

Protesting his arrest, leadersof the Anti-Uranium StruggleCommittee leaders and resi-dents of Padara and Amrabadmandals blocked theSrisailam-Hyderabad high-way, leading to snarls for sev-eral hours.

A large posse of policementhwarted attempts of ProfKodandaram to reachAmrabad in the Nallamalaforest region.

Several TJS activists raisedslogans condemning thedetention. The slogans thatrent the air included "Uraniumvaddu-Nallamala Muddu".

The Amrabad TigerReserve in Telangana state isthe second largest tiger reservein the country. It is home tobio-diversity. Tribals and polit-ical outfits have been express-ing concern over "disastrousconsequences" should theCentre give its final nod forexploration of the radio-active

mineral in the Nallamala for-est region.

The Atomic MineralsDirectorate (AMD), at a high-level meeting held in Delhi onMay 22, received in principleapproval to explore uraniumin an area of 83 square KM inthe tiger reserve.

However, the Union ForestDepartment advisory councilfelt that the AMD's proposalslacked clarity and hence it onlygave its consent to undertakea survey.

The opposition parties andtribals in the region have beenresisting drilling in the forestregion for the purpose ofundertaking survey, appre-hending that it would harmbio-diversity in the region.The tribals are reluctant toleave their traditional homesfor relocation elsewhere.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Raoand his Andhra Pradesh counterpart YS JaganMohan Reddy strongly pitched for inter-linking oftwo major rivers to meet the water requirementsof the Telugu states and to put an end toacrimonious water disputes.

Prof Kodandaram detaineden route Amrabad

KCR'snegligencehurtingfarmers: BJPPNS n HYDERABAD

BJP official spokespersonAnugula Rakesh Reddy hassaid that Telangana farmershave been left in the lurch asChief Minister KChandrashekar Rao has failedto waive farm loans.

More than half of the farm-ers had not received RythuBandhu money despite com-mencement of agriculturaloperations, he told mediapersons here on Saturday.

"CM KCR has failed toimplement farm loan waiverand cheated farmers. EvenRythu Bandhu money has notbeen deposited into theaccounts of more than half ofthe farmers, though agricul-tural operations have alreadystarted. As a result, farmersare facing problems due tocash crunch. As old loans areyet to be repaid, bankers aredenying new loans to farm-ers. Thus, lakhs of farmers inthe state have been left in alurch due to utter negligenceand recklessness of the TRSgovernment," said RakeshReddy, criticising govern-ment for neglecting farmers.

"The Government hasfailed to provide even seedson subsidy to farmers. Notjust farm loan waiver, KCRhas turned a blind eye to allother poll promises andschemes," he said. KCR hadnot increased pensions,though seven months hadelapsed after he assumedpower, he said.

"Funds are not beingreleased to beneficiaries ofKalyana Lakshmi and ShaadiMubarak schemes. Grampanchayaths are reelingunder problems due to fundcrunch. Discoms are staringat losses.

Why hasn't the govern-ment presented budget tillnow, though it is close toeight months since it cameback to power? Is there afinancial emergency inTelangana?" Rakesh Reddysought to know.

‘BDL focusing onndigenisation'Hyderabad:Bharat DynamicsLimited's focus on indigenisa-tion came to the fore during itsGolden Jubilee Celebrationsin the august company ofDefence Minister RajnathSingh and other dignitaries.

Rajnath inaugurated aMissile storage building, a solarplant, rainwater harvestingplant; unveiled a statue of DrAPJ Abdul Kalam and a postalstamp dedicated to commem-orate the vision of the belovedformer President. Missile pro-duction - a journey whichstarted 50 years ago -- has nowbecome number one multi-product enterprise and weaponsystem integrator for makingthe finest defence equipment inIndia. "For defence capabilityand preparedness, we needmore indigenous productionand BDL has to play a vital rolein it," said Rajnath Singh.

The new Rain WaterHarvesting facility is 'Jal Nidhi'at the upcoming Unit of BDLin Ibrahimpatnam. It is expect-ed to help store of 24 lakh litresof water and can help improveground water levels. The 5-megawatt solar power plant,spread across 30 acres, is des-tined to produce 79 lakh unitsof electricity at BDL'sIbrahimpatnam unit, whichwill supply electricity for mak-ing defence systems.

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | AUGUST 4, 2019 nation 05

Sidda flays Yedi over delay in Cabinet expansionPNS n BENGALURU

Congress leader Siddaramaiahon Saturday hit out atKarnataka Chief Minister B SYediyurappa for the "delay" incabinet expansion and allegedthat the administrative machin-ery has come to a standstill.

The Congress LegislatureParty leader sought to knowwhether the Governor, whosent "letter after letter" to the pre-vious government to provemajority, was not aware of the"plight of the people" under aone-man cabinet in the statewhere different regions werereeling from drought and floods.

"Administrative machineryhas come to a standstill. Is thisa democracy or dictatorship?"Siddaramaiah said on Twitter.

"Why Yediyurappa whoshowed hurry in taking oath asthe chief minister was notshowing similar hurry inexpanding the cabinet? Peopleof the state are in distress dueto drought and floods in dif-ferent parts," he said.

BJP leader Yediyurappaassumed charge as the chief

minister on July 26 and provedmajority on the floor of theAssembly on July 29, after theouster of the Congress-JD(S)government.

Siddaramaiah pointed outthat there are no ministers forrevenue, agriculture and ruraldevelopment departments,which have to deal withdrought and floods.

"Is the Governor who sentletter after letter (to previousKumaraswamy-led govern-ment) to prove majority, not

aware of the plight of the peo-ple of the state under one mancabinet with no ministers?" heasked.

As the H D Kumaraswamy-led Congress-JD(S) coalitiongovernment "delayed" the trustvote after moving a motionseeking vote of confidence inthe Assembly, GovernorVajubhai Vala had written twoletters to the then chief minis-ter and one to the then Speakerfixing deadline to prove major-ity, which, however, was not

adhered to. Subsequently, theKumaraswamy governmentcollapsed with the defeat in thetrust vote on July 23.

Karnataka Pradesh Congresschief Dinesh Gundu Rao tooquestioned the delay in Cabinetexpansion and said the admin-istration in the state has nottaken off.

"It has been eight days sincetaking oath as Chief Minister,still council of Ministers hasnot been formed, and such pos-sibilities are also not visible. It

looks like Yediyurappa is inmood to continue the regimeunder his monopoly for somemore time," Rao tweeted.

Amid criticism from theopposition and pressure with-in on cabinet formation,Yediyurappa had on Fridaysaid he would discuss it withthe central leadership duringhis visit to Delhi next week.

According to top sources inthe state BJP, the Cabinetexpansion may take five to sixdays, as it can happen only afterthe chief minister gets approvalfrom central leaders.

Only 10 to 12 members arelikely to be inducted into theministry in the first round, they

said.It is likely to be a tight rope

walk for Yediyurappa who willhave to satisfy the aspirationsof many in the party and out-side. With the then SpeakerRamesh Kumar disqualifying14 Congress and 3 JD(S) legis-lators until the expiry of theterm of the House, they cannotcontest by-polls and becomeMinisters immediately, unlessthey get respite from theSupreme Court, where theyhave moved an appeal.

The resignation by the rebelsMLas and their abstainingfrom Kumaraswamy's trustvote had made way for the BJPto come to power.

Meanwhile, disqualifiedCongress legislator K Sudhakarmet Yediyurappa here onSaturday.

Later, Sudhakar said he hadcome to congratulateYediyurappa on becoming thechief minister and discusseddevelopmental works to beundertaken in hisChikkaballapura constituency.

He said he was upset withthe functioning of the previouscoalition government. "I willdiscuss with my people on thenext course of action. I will goby their order," he said.

He criticised the Congressand former Speaker RameshKumar for disqualifying theMLAs and termed it"immoral", "inhuman" and"unlawful".

"We have approached theSupreme Court challengingthe disqualification, and havecomplete trust in it," he added.

Congress and JD(S) haveboth expelled disqualified leg-islators from their respectiveparties and have begun prepa-rations for by-polls in 17 con-stituencies.

The Congress Legislature Party leader soughtto know whether the Governor, who sent "letterafter letter" to the previous government toprove majority, was not aware of the "plight ofthe people" under a one-man cabinet in thestate where different regions were reeling fromdrought and floods

New Delhi, Aug 2 (PTI)Patients at several governmenthospitals in Delhi continued toface hardships as resident doc-tors went on with their strikeand withdrew all services inprotest against the NationalMedical Commission Bill, evenas Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan appealed tothem to resume work.

Doctors from several associ-ations have been expressingreservations over certain pro-visions of the Bill and allegedthat these were "anti-poor, anti-student and undemocratic".

Around Friday midnight,emergency services resumed atmost of the hospitals, includingAIIMS, RML Hospital andDelhi government-run facilities.

The protesting doctors willcontinue to withdraw non-essential services, including inout-patient department (OPD).

The decisions were taken atmeetings of resident doctorassociations that went on tilllate night.

The resident doctors' asso-ciations of AIIMS, SafdarjungHospital, RML Hospital andthose attached with theFederation of Resident DoctorsAssociation (FORDA) andUnited Resident Doctors'Association (URDA) had boy-cotted work including that atthe emergency department andheld demonstrations onThursday over the issue.

They continued their strikeon Friday after the passage ofthe NMC Bill in Rajya Sabhaon Thursday evening.

Patients at AIIMS, LNJPHospital and several otherfacilities continued to faceproblems in accessing medicalcare, many of whom had comefrom neighbouring cities.

Poonam Rai, 50, a native ofUttar Pradesh, said she had

brought her daughter to thecapital on Thursday and want-ed to consult a doctor, butcould not do so and was askedto visit later.

"After coming to Delhi, Irealised there was a doctors'strike. I don't know how we willmanage our stay here as we areputting up on the roadsidepavement facing the hospital,"Rai rued.

Resident doctors at DrHedgewar Aarogya Sansthan ineast Delhi's Shahdara, whichgets a lot of outstation patients,went on strike from Fridaymorning only.

"The resident doctors werenot on strike yesterday, butfrom today morning theyjoined the stir, affecting ser-vices. Our OPD that gets adaily footfall of about 3,000 is

closed and the emergencydepartment is being handled bysenior medical officers," a hos-pital official said.

Vardhan, meanwhile,appealed to the striking doctorsto resume work, saying the Billwas in the "interest" of the doc-tors and patients.

The health minister madethe appeal during a meetingwith a delegation of residentdoctors from AIIMS and var-ious other associations.

"I have explained to themthat this historic bill is in theinterest of doctors and patients.I have also addressed queriesthat they had on certain pro-visions of the bill.

"I also appealed to them toend their strike. I told themthat there is no reason tostrike. Doctors should not defytheir duties towards patients,"Vardhan said. FORDA generalsecretary Sunil Arora said themeeting was "not satisfactory" atleast from the association's per-spective.

PROTEST AGAINST NMC BILL

Emergency services resume, non-essentials remain affected

‘Guv assured there's no move to change J-Kspecial status, but we want statement in Parl’PNS n SRINAGAR

National Conference leaderOmar Abdullah on Saturdaysaid Jammu and KashmirGovernor S P Malik has assuredhis party that no moves areplanned on repealing articles 370and 35A of the Constitution, orthe state's trifurcation. However,the former J&K chief ministersaid he wants an assurance onthese issues from the Centre inParliament on Monday as "theGovernor is not the final word onJammu and Kashmir".

Abdullah and some of hisparty colleagues met theGovernor on Saturday on theseissues. "He assured us that therewas no movement on (repealing)Article 370 or Article 35A ordelimitation (of constituencies inthe state)," Abdullah toldreporters here. The Governoralso issued a statement after themeeting, saying the state has noknowledge of any changes toConstitutional provisions and

assured that the deployment ofadditional paramilitary forceswas purely for security reasons.

Abdullah said he has asked hisparty MPs to move a motion inParliament on Monday seekinga statement from the Uniongovernment on the situationthat has developed in Jammu andkashmir over the past few weeks.

The NC delegation's meetingwith the Governor comes a dayafter the state administrationissued a travel advisory toAmarnath Yatri and tourists

asking them to cut short theirsojourn and return as soon aspossible. The travel advisorycame after the Army said therewas a terror threat to the pil-grimage. Abdullah told reportersSaturday, "We want that onMonday the Centre also make astatement in the parliament toexplain what was the need forissuing the order for vacating pil-grims and tourists. We want tohear from the Parliament that thepeople here need not worry.

"The Governor has assured us

but the Governor is not the finalword on Jammu and Kashmir.The final word on Jammu andKashmir is of Government ofIndia. Now, we want to hear fromGovernment of India in theParliament what is their intentionabout Jammu and Kashmir andwhat is their assessment of the sit-uation here," he said.

Abdullah said his party MPshave already raised the issue inLok Sabha last time through acalling attention notice but "Iwould request them to giveanother notice on Monday toraise this issue again. We will tryto seek an answer from the gov-ernment on this." Asked aboutthe meeting between PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and aNational Conference delegationon Thursday, Abdullah said theywere satisfied after the meetingas there was no indication of thethreat perception that wouldhave led to steps like evacuationof Amarnath pilgrims andtourists from the Valley.

the former J&K chiefminister said he wantsan assurance on theseissues from the Centre inParliament on Mondayas "the Governor is notthe final word on Jammuand Kashmir"

SHORT READS

Mamata declares ruralBengal opendefecation-freeKOLKATA: Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee has declaredrural West Bengal as opendefecation free (ODF) and saidthat her government will nowfocus on solid wastemanagement. Around 1.35 crorehouseholds in rural Bengal havebeen covered by the 'MissionNirmal Bangla', which aimed atmaking all villages opendefecation free (ODF) by October2. "I'm happy to share with all ofyou that rural Bengal is nowopen defecation free.Government of India hasconfirmed our achievementwhich was our mission towardscleaner and greener environmentand safe living," Banerjeetweeted on Friday night. "Ournext focus will be solid wastemanagement," she added.

Tourist from Keraladies, 2 injured as carfalls into gorge

Another trader held inMP under NSA formilk adulterationGWALIOR: A 38-old-year traderwas arrested in Madhya Pradeshon Saturday under the NationalSecurity Act (NSA) for allegedmilk adulteration, an official said.The trader, Ummed SinghRawat, was arrested and sent tojail this morning under the NSA,District Collector AnuragChoudhary told PTI. He is thesecond trader to be arrested andsent to jail under the NSA in thelast three days. An Ujjain traderwas held on Thursday foradulterating milk products. Theaction against Rawat comesafter adulterated milk andchemicals were recovered fromhis shop at Mohna locality,around 40 km from here, duringthe raids conducted on July 24and 25, he added. Choudharysaid Rawat was charged withadulterating milk even in 2017and 2018. Meanwhile, stateHealth Minister Tulsi Silavat saidpeople adulterating milk andfood will not be spared. "Thosewho adulterate food productsshould leave Madhya Pradesh orbe ready to go behind bars," hesaid. He said people werebecoming victims of diseaseslike cancer due to adulteration.On July 19, the government hadlaunched a drive against milkadulteration and manufacturingof products using adulteratedmilk. The government has alsostarted the process of makingthe law stricter for curbing foodadulteration, Silavat said.

UDHAGAMANDALAM: A touristfrom Kerala died on the spotand his two companionssustained injuries when the carin which they were travellingfell into a gorge near Gudalur,some 80 km from here, in theearly hours of Saturday. SyedMohammed, Dipu and Sameerwere coming here fromNilambur in Kerala, when thecar went out of control and fell.Syed Mohammed died on thespot, police said. A fewpassersby and villagersmanaged to rescue the twoothers and sent them to ahospital in Kerala, they said.

Doctors from severalassociations havebeen expressingreservations overcertain provisions ofthe Bill and allegedthat these were "anti-poor, anti-studentand undemocratic"

Maha CM's poll yatra will befutile, BJP will lose: NCPPNS n MUMBAI

The NCP on Saturday attackedChief Minister DevendraFadnavis on his 'MahajanadeshYatra' (mega mandate march),saying he will stand "exposed"during the campaign and pre-dicted Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh-like defeat for theBJP in Maharashtra. The BJPhad lost Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh Assembly pollsheld late last year.

Drawing a parallel,Maharashtra NCP chief JayantPatil noted that former MadhyaPradesh and Chhattisgarh chiefministers, Shivraj SinghChouhan and Raman Singhrespectively, had undertakensimilar outreach programmesahead of the polls but had to facedefeat.

Fadnavis launched his month-long state wide campaign earli-

er this week. The MaharashtraAssembly polls are due inSeptember-October.

"The Fadnavis governmenthas not fulfilled the expecta-tions of the people. The govern-ment will be exposed wherever@CMOMaharashtra will cam-paign in the state," Patil tweetedin Marathi. "The people ofMaharashtra will give result likethe one given by people inMadhya Pradesh and

Chhattisgarh and won't sit idleuntil the Fadnavis government isbrought down," the NationalistCongress Party leader added.

Meanwhile, Patil echoed thedemand raised by oppositionparties in Maharashtra on Fridaythat the Election Commissionhold Assembly polls using bal-lot papers instead of electronicvoting machines (EVMs).

Two-day trainingprogramme forBJP MPs beginsPNS n NEW DELHI

A two-day training pro-gramme for all BJP MPsbegan here Saturday, duringwhich ruling party lawmak-ers will be addressed byPrime Minister NarendraModi, Home Minister AmitShah, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh and partyworking president JP Nadda.

The training programme,"Abhyas Varga", is beingorganised at Parliament andissues like the party's ideolo-gy and Parliamentary proce-dures will be discussed atlength. Last week, the partyhad communicated to all itsMPs to ensure that theyattend the workshop. Theparty's parliamentary officehad sent a message to MPsrequesting them to be presentin the national capital onAugust 3 and 4.

PNS n AHMEDABAD/VADODARA

Several areas in south Gujarat,mainly parts of Surat and Valsaddistricts, have received heavyrains on Friday and Saturday.

For Sunday, the Met depart-ment has predicted "heavy tovery heavy rainfall" at a fewplaces and "isolated extremelyheavy rainfall" in Valsad, Navsari,Dangs, Tapi and Surat in southGujarat. Due to heavy rains,many rivers are flowing near thedanger mark, keeping authoritieson their toes.

Owing to heavy rains, fourteams of NDRF were deployedin different districts of the southGujarat region, officials said.

In the six hours since Saturdaymorning, Olpad taluka in Suratreceived 298 mm rains whileUmerpada received 204 mm.Dharampur in Valsad districtreceived 125 mm rainfall in thesame period. Mangrol in Suratreceived 269 mm rainfall in the24 hours till 8 am on Saturday,as per the State EmergencyOperation Centre (SEOC) data.

The downpour resulted intoseveral areas and arterial roadsgetting water-logged and theKim and Auranga rivers flowing

near the danger mark, officialssaid. Commuters faced difficul-ties as many roads in Surat wereinundated. The district admin-istration has declared holiday forschools on Saturday.

In Vadodara, the water level ofthe Vishwamitri river which

flows through the city fell belowthe danger mark. The districtadministration has deployed 78water pumps to flush out waterfrom flooded areas in the city.Teams of medical personnelhave been deployed to controlwater-borne diseases.

"As the Kim river, whichflows through Surat district,crossed the warning level of 11metres, personnel of the NationalDisaster Response Force(NDRF) and the State DisasterResponse Force (SDRF) weredeployed to evacuate the resi-dents of low-lying areas," saidSurat district collector DhavalKumar Patel.

Very heavy rains predicted insouth Gujarat today

PNS n MUMBAI/THANE

Incessant rains lashed Mumbaiand its surrounding areas onSaturday and the IndiaMeteorological Departmentsaid more heavy rainfall isexpected in the metropolisduring the next 24 hours,prompting authorities todeclare a holiday in schoolsand colleges.

The IMD cautioned people,saying heavy rainfall warningon a "very-high-tide day"(Saturday) is "not a good com-bination". In neighbouringThane and Palghar districts,heavy rains disrupted normallife. One person was electro-cuted in Thane city while

another suffered seriousinjuries after the roof of a bak-ery collapsed in Mumbra in thedistrict, officials said.

The unceasing downpour inPalghar district promptedauthorities to declare a holidayfor educational institutions onSaturday. The BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation issuedan advisory asking Mumbairesidents to not venture intothe sea or in water-loggedareas in view of the IMDwarning.

"The IMD gave a warning ofextremely heavy rainfall for thenext 24 hours from 1 pm onAugust 3. Citizens shouldavoid venturing around seaalso at water-logged areas,"

the civic body said in a state-ment. BMC said in a tweet thata holiday has been declared forschools and colleges in the city.

Deputy Director General ofMeteorology (IMD Mumbai)K S Hosalikar tweeted intenserainfall is expected in Mumbai,Thane and Navy Mumbai in24-36 hours.

"The highest high tide of thefour monsoon months is alsotoday of 4.90 metres at after-noon, exactly during the peri-od when IMD has forecastintense rains for the city. Heavyrainfall warnings on very hightide day in Mumbai is not agood combination. Pleaseavoid outing, beaches," he saidin another tweet.

Extremely heavy rainfall warning forMumbai, holiday for schools and colleges

In the six hours sinceSaturday morning, Olpadtaluka in Surat received298 mm rains whileUmerpada received 204mm. Dharampur in Valsaddistrict received 125 mmrainfall in the same period

Fadnavis launchedhis month-longstate widecampaign earlierthis week. TheMaharashtraAssembly polls aredue in September-October

Railway provides free wififacility in 2,000 stationsPNS n NEW DELHI

Free wifi facility is now availableto passengers at around 2,000railway stations across the coun-try, officials said on Saturday.

Rana Pratap Nagar railwaystation of Ajmer division inRajasthan became the 2000thstation in the country to havefree internet facility, PuneetChawla, the CMD of RailTel,said.

"Our team is working roundthe clock and with each pass-ing day execution pace is onlyincreasing. Yesterday we made74 stations live and while wespeak some more stations arebeing made live with free wifiwhich is an incredible feat forus," he said in an official state-ment. RailTel, a railway PSU,started providing free wifi ser-vices at Indian railway stationswith a vision of turning theminto a platform for digitalinclusion. In the first phase,the wifi was made live at 1,600stations across the country.

Rly writes to firms ofpeople caught travellingin special coachesMUMBAI: Central Railway hasbegun writing to the employersof people caught travellingunauthorisedly in suburban traincoaches meant for passengerswith disabilities or cancer andwomen in advanced stage ofpregnancy, an official saidSaturday. In the past two days,as part of a special drive, CR hasnabbed 766 passengers andletters have been sent to 42employers, the CR official said.The offence is punishable with afine or jail under section 155 ofthe Railway Act. The initiative willcurb the menace of illegal travelin such special coaches asviolators will fear disciplinaryaction from their employers, saidSunil Udasi, chief public relationsofficer, CR. "We have collectedRs 22.36 lakh in fines from9,173 such offenders betweenJanuary and July this year.

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | AUGUST 4, 2019 money 06

CAPSULE

Over 450 Indianstudents, staffers getErasmus scholarshipNEW DELHI: Nearly 450Indian students and staffmembers have been awardedthe prestigious Erasmusscholarship and mobilitygrants funded by the EuropeanUnion to study in leadinguniversities across Europe thisyear, a 23 per cent increasesince the last year.According to the EU, inaddition to this, 350 studentsand staff from Indian highereducation institutions havebeen selected for scholarshipsunder Erasmus' InternationalCredit Mobility (ICM)programme, which fundsmobility agreements betweenEuropean and Indianuniversities. "Out of these 450,89 Indian students – 48females and 41 males – havebeen awarded a fully-fundedscholarship for ErasmusMundus Joint Master's Degreeprograms (EMJMD), offeringthe opportunity to attenduniversities in at least twodifferent countries in Europe,"an official statement said.With23 per cent jump in Indiannationals bagging the Erasmusscholarships, compared to thelast year, India remains one ofthe top five third-countriesrecipients of the scholarship, itsaid.

Kingfisher Airlines:RBI imposes Rs 50lakh fine on PNB NEW DELHI: State-ownedPunjab National Bank (PNB)on Saturday said the RBI hasimposed a penalty of Rs 50lakh on it for delay in reportingof fraud in the account ofKingfisher Airlines. "RBIobserved from the fraudmonitoring report-1 submittedby Punjab National Bank onJuly, 10 2018 that the bankhad delayed the reporting offraud in the account ofKingfisher Airlines Limited,"PNB said in a regulatory filing.In exercise of the powers

conferred under varioussections of the BankingRegulation Act, 1949, apenalty of Rs 50 lakh wasimposed by the RBI on thebank, it added. In a separatefiling, Bank of Baroda said theRBI has imposed a fine of Rs50 lakh on it for delay inreporting fraud in an account.

PTI n NEW DELHI

India has sought greater mar-ket access from China for itsproducts like sugar, rice andpharmaceuticals to narrow thehigh trade deficit, which isimportant for the finanlisationof proposed mega free tradeagreement RCEP, an officialsaid.

The issue was raised byCommerce Secretary AnupWadhawan in his meeting withWang Shouwen, the ViceMinister of China's CommerceMinistry, on the sidelines ofRCEP inter-sessional ministe-rial meeting in Beijing onFriday.

Wadhawan emphasised theproposed trade agreementRCEP should duly consider theexisting level of trade imbal-ance between India and China.

In his meeting with HuChunhua, Vice Premier ofChina, the secretary advocat-ed for an agreement whichduly addresses the current

level of trade imbalance.RCEP bloc comprises 10

ASEAN group members(Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore,Thailand, the Philippines, Laosand Vietnam), and their tradepartners India, China, Japan,South Korea, Australia andNew Zealand.

Wadhawan also used theopportunity to push marketaccess related issues of variousother items such as milk andmilk products, pomegranate,soyabean meal, and okra.

Besides, he flagged issuespertaining to Indian servicessector including IT and ITeSand easing business visas by

China to Indian business trav-ellers, the official said.

India registered a tradedeficit in 2018-19 with as manyas 11 RCEP member countries- including China, South Koreaand Australia - out of thegrouping of 16 nations that arenegotiating a mega trade pactsince November 2012.

In 2018-19, India's tradedeficit with China stood atUSD 50.2 billion.

Wadhawanemphasised theproposed tradeagreementRCEP shouldduly considerthe existinglevel of tradeimbalancebetween Indiaand China

Pentagon stalls $10 bn cloud contract eyed by AmazonAFP n SAN FRANCISCO

The Pentagon has put offawarding a 10 billion cloudcomputing contract sought byAmazon, saying Thursday thatthe process will be reviewed bythe newly-appointed defensesecretary.

Amazon was considered astrong contender to providetechnology for the JointEnterprise DefenseInfrastructure (JEDI) pro-gram -- a contract that is alsobeing pursued by Microsoft -- but critics argued that thebidding process favored theSeattle-based technologytitan.

The move to stall the con-tract process came a week afterMark Esper was confirmed asthe new US secretary of

defense.Esper was selected by US

President Donald Trump, whohas lashed out at Amazon andcompany founder Jeff Bezos,who owns The WashingtonPost.

"Secretary Esper is looking atthe Joint Enterprise DefenseInfrastructure (JEDI) pro-gram," defense departmentspokeswoman Elissa Smith toldAFP.

"No decision will be made onthe program until he has com-pleted his examination." Thecontract has caused contro-versy over whether internetgiants claiming to be trying tomake the world better shouldbe involved in the defenseindustry.

Amazon chief Bezos hasdefended the company's bid for

the contract, saying it wasimportant to support USdefense efforts, even if it isunpopular.

"This is a great country andit does need to be defended,"Bezos said late last year at a

conference in San Francisco.Bezos was asked about his

position on defense contractsafter Google dropped its bid forthe Pentagon cloud computingcontract because it would beinconsistent with its principles.

"We are going to continue tosupport the DoD," he said,referring to the DefenseDepartment.

"If big tech companies aregoing to turn their back on theUS Department of Defense,

this country is going to be introuble." Bezos added thatmany in the tech industry feel"conflicted" by the current stateof politics, but maintained thatthe United States "is still thebest place in the world" where,he said, "everybody is trying tocome."

Microsoft is Amazon's onlyrival in the bidding for the win-ner-take-all contract, despiteemployees urging it to dropout.

"Many Microsoft employ-ees don't believe that what webuild should be used for wag-ing war," read a blog post onMedium.

"The contract is massive inscope and shrouded in secre-cy, which makes it nearlyimpossible to know what we asworkers would be building.

Esper wasselected by USPresident DonaldTrump, who haslashed out atAmazon andcompany founderJeff Bezos, whoowns TheWashington Post

NTPC chief forclean power projectswithout PPAsPTI n NEW DELHI

Amid a row between discomsand clean energy developersover renegotiation of tariff,NTPC Chairman andManaging Director GurdeepSingh on Friday suggestedsetting up of renewable pro-jects without power purchaseagreements (PPAs).

In the current scenario,bankers and financial institu-tions insist for long-term PPAsbefore financial closure orfund tie-up of a project.

Participating in a panel dis-cussion here, Singh said buy-ers can either purchase poweron capacity contracts (PPAs)or from market. "There couldbe long-term contracts butenergy can be purchased on aday-to-day basis or monthlybasis."

Asked about feasibility ofthis idea, he said, "10 yearsback, no one was believing thesolar energy prices will comedown. Let's not underesti-mate the power of the devel-opment of technology...solarcells would be more efficientand there is offshore windpower."

Recently, an AndhraPradesh discom asked thestate-run power giant NTPCand Solar Energy Corporationof India (SECI) to revise tar-iff downwards for some solarprojects for which PPAs werealready concluded.

The discom had asked tolower the tariff to an all-timelow tariff of Rs 2.44 per unit.But, SECI and NTPC refusedto do so saying the lowest tar-iff was discovered in a differ-ent auction in different cir-cumstances.

There has been instanceswhere states insisted for rene-gotiating tariffs even afterconclusion of the PPAs, asclean energy prices havedropped sharply during thepast few years.

Solar power tariff, whichwas once Rs 17 per unit, hasdropped to as low as Rs 2.44per unit.

About stranded gas-basedpower projects and those run-ning at suboptimal levels, hesaid, "Invariably, you will findthat most of the time, the gas-based capacity on power gridis 4 gigawatt (GW) to 5 GWand rarely goes to 6 GW 7 GW.That is because of the the pric-ing part.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Indian and American officialson Friday agreed to pursue apolicy environment conduciveto collaboration between thedefence industry and start-upsin both countries.

An understanding in thisregard was reached during the15th meeting of the India-USDefence Policy Group (DPG)here on Friday.

The Indian side was led byDefence Secretary SanjayMitra. The US was led by theUndersecretary of Defence forPolicy, John Rood.

The DPG is the apex official-level meeting mechanismbetween India and the US ondefense issues, which compre-hensively reviews and guides allaspects of bilateral cooperationbetween the two countries.

"The meeting today tookstock of the progress made invarious fields of defence coop-eration in recent years, includ-ing in defence trade, technol-ogy, procurement, industry,R&D and mil-to-mil engage-ment," a media release said

Friday.During the meeting, the

two countries recognised thebenefit of enabling defenceagreements concluded by thetwo sides and appreciatedIndia's designation as a MajorDefence Partner of the US.

"They underlined theimportance of collaborationbetween the defence industryand start-ups in the two coun-tries and agreed to pursue apolicy environment conduciveto this," said a statement issuedby the Indian Embassy here.

Various working groups andmechanisms under the DPGbriefed the Co-chairs of theprogress made in their respec-tive areas and got the latter'sguidance on addressingprocess issues for meaningful,sustainable and mutually ben-eficial cooperation, it said.

The two sides reaffirmedthe role of the DPG as animportant part of the ministe-rial 2+2 mechanism, helpingtranslate the shared strategicvision of cooperation into real-ity.

FM to meet heads ofbanks tomorrowPTI n NEW DELHI

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman will meet heads ofpublic as well as major privatesector banks on Monday toreview flow of credit to impor-tant sectors of the economy,including MSME, automobileand housing sectors, as per anofficial statement.

Generally, the finance min-ister holds review meetingwith heads of public sectorbanks and financial institu-tions, but this time the min-istry has also invited major pri-vate sector lenders.

The meeting will "reviewmatters relating to growth ofcredit in various importantsectors of the economy, such asMSME, retail, automobiles,affordable housing,NBFC/HFCs and areas of pri-ority for the banking sector inthe coming months for accel-erating GDP growth", thefinance ministry said in astatement on Friday.

Meanwhile, sources said sec-retaries of department of rev-enue and corporate affairsministry too would be attend-ing the meeting.

In the last few months, therehave been signs of revival inpublic sector banks.

India's largest bank, SBI hasposted a profit of Rs 2,312 crorein the first quarter of the fiscalas against a loss of over Rs 4,876

crore in the year-ago period onbetter asset management.

State-owned banks haverecovered Rs 3.59 lakh croreover the last four financialyears, including record recov-ery of Rs 1.23 lakh crore dur-ing 2018-19, the governmentsaid in a reply to a question inParliament recently.

The statement further said,Sitharaman will hold a meet-ing with stakeholders and rep-resentatives of other ministriesto discuss recommendations ofthe U K Sinha committeereport on the MSME sector.

The Sinha panel, which sub-mitted its report to the gov-ernment in June, has made overa 100 far reaching recommen-dations for the MSME sector,one of the largest job creatingsegments in the country.

The recommendationsencompass various domains,such as credit, equity funding,technology, marketing, delayed

payment issues, institutionalarrangement, need for legisla-tive changes, rural enterprises,and risk mitigation.

It has also suggested settingup of specific funds for theMSME sector by the govern-ment with a view to enhancetheir competitiveness.

As implementation of theproposals will involve inter-ministerial or inter-agencycoordination, the finance min-ister will be meeting the stake-holders and representatives ofseveral ministries, includingMSME, MEITY, and ruraldevelopment, among others.

Meanwhile, the financeminister is taking meetingswith secretaries of all depart-ments under the finance min-istry daily with a view toimprove inter-departmentalcoordination and also to dis-cuss urgent economic issuesand implementation of thebudget announcements.

Meanwhile,sources saidsecretaries ofdepartment ofrevenue andcorporate affairsministry too wouldbe attending themeeting

PTI n NEW DELHI

Production and supply fromTalcher Coalfields ofMahanadi Coalfields Ltd(MCL) was hit for the 10thday on Friday, owing to anagitation by locals backed bypolitical parties after fourworkers died in a mishap at amine last week.

Though BJP activists with-drew its strike after talks withthe administration and MCLauthorities on Wednesday,villagers backed by BJD lead-ers then initiated stoppage ofwork, stalling operations at allmines in Talcher Coalfields inAngul district.

Subsequently, members ofTalcher Suraksha Parishad, asocial outfit, submitted a setof demands which included

compensation of Rs 3 croreeach to the family of thedeceased and a permanent jobto the deceased nominee, anMCL spokesperson said.

Four workers were killedand nine others injured in themishap at Bharatpur mineon July 23, triggering protestsby political parties and locals.

BJP activists had firstlaunched an agitationdemanding a compensation ofRs 50 lakh for families of eachdeceased.

Coal miners have beenasked to resume operationsand the company has alsotaken up the issue with thestate authorities, the

spokesperson said. The clo-sure of the mines has not onlyincurred huge losses to thecompany, the state and cen-tral exchequer, but alsoaffected the income of 15,000workers of MCL and 12,000contractual workers, heclaimed.

"The entire blockade hasimpacted the earnings of over40,000 families of Talcher," thespokesperson said.

The shut down since July 24has resulted in coal produc-tion loss of 16.84 lakh tonnesvalued at Rs 170.96 crore and19.32 lakh tonnes of despatch,he added.

MCL has announced afinancial assistance of Rs 5lakh each to the family of thedeceased, the spokespersonsaid.

Talcher Coalfields work hit for 10th day

PTI n MUMBAI

Equity benchmark Sensex onFriday fell over 300 points inline with global market sell-offsas investors panicked after theUS decision to impose freshtariffs on Chinese goods.

The trade war tensionsbetween the US and Chinaalong with unabated foreignfund outflows weighed heavi-ly on the market sentiments,traders said.

Tracking tepid global markettrend, the 30-share index wastrading 333.32 points, or 0.90per cent, lower at 36,685.00.Similarly, the 50-share Niftyslipped 105.15 points, or 0.96per cent to 10,874.85.

In the Sensex pack,HeroMotoCorp emerged asthe biggest loser with a slide of2.78 per cent, followed byVedanta, ONGC, Bajaj Finance,

HCL Tech, Tata Steel.However, Bharti Airtel, Asian

Paint, Tata Motors and Infosysgained in the morning trade.

In the previous session,

Sensex plunged 462.80 pointsor 1.23 per cent to end at37,018.32. The broader NSENifty dropped 138 points or1.24 per cent to close below thekey 11,000-mark at 10,980.00.

US President DonaldTrump's decision to imposenew tariffs on Chinese goodstriggered fresh tension amonginvestors over the trade battlebetween the two largesteconomies.

Trump on Thursdayannounced that the US willimpose a 10 per cent levy onUSD 300 billion in Chinesegoods. The new tariffs isexpected to go into effect fromSeptember 1.

Foreign investors sold shares

worth Rs 1,056.55 crore on anet basis on Thursday, as perprovisional data with stockexchanges.

Elsewhere in Asia, ShanghaiComposite Index, Hang Seng,Nikkei and Kospi were tradinglower in their respective earlysessions.

Wall Street stocks finishedlower on Thursday afterannouncement of a new roundof tariffs on Chinese goods.

Meanwhile, the rupeedeclined by 21 paise to 69.27against the US dollar in morn-ing trade.

The global oil benchmarkBrent crude futures surged by2.61 per cent to 62.08 per bar-rel.

Trump pinshopes on Pakfor help inAfghanistanPTI n WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trumpon Friday hoped thatPakistan will help the US inAfghanistan as peace talkswith the Taliban has appar-ently entered its last phase.

Trump said he had devel-oped a "good chemistry" withthe Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan, whom he met athis Oval Office last week.

"We're doing very well, asyou know, with Pakistan. Imet a gentleman who I likeda lot -- as you know -- lastweek, from Pakistan. I have alot of respect for him. Wehave a good friendship -- agood feeling, good chem-istry. I think Pakistan willhelp us, and I think others willget involved," Trump toldreporters at the White House.

Responding to a questionif the Taliban could be trust-ed, Trump said "I don't wantto say if they can be trustedor not. Look, history, Iwould say, is not so good,but they don't like us mucheither. But we've broughtthem down; we've broughtthe number of soldiers downvery substantially. We aretalking to them.

India must invest in education, human skillsto be among top 3 economies: ExpertsPTI n NEW DELHI

As India hopes to be among theworld's top three economies inthe next 15 years, it must investin education and human skills,a white paper released by athink-tank of top businessschools has said.

MBAUniverse.com, a thinktank and network of leading B-schools in the country, organ-ised the 10th edition of the

Indian Management Conclave(IMC) and also released awhite paper on the occasion.

According to it, India willhave to double its GDP, like it didbetween 2000 and 2006, whenthe GDP doubled from 476 bil-lion dollars to 949 billion dollars.This period saw strong spurt inmanagement and engineeringeducation.Robust higher edu-cation focus leading to skillingand employability will help

India to become a true serviceseconomy, the report said.

Gross Enrolment Ratio(GER) target of 35 per cent by2025 and 50 per cent by 2035is necessary, which only match-es that of China and is still halfof the US GER, it added.

The white paper also saidthe number of universities,which stands at 950, needs togrow to over 1200 by 2025 tosustain the GER growth.

Sensex crashes over 300 points on US-China trade tensionsHowever,BhartiAirtel,AsianPaint, TataMotors andInfosysgained inthemorningtrade

India, US to collaboratein defence sector

India seeks market accessto Chinese products

rom staring off at theCollector's house ina Bihar village to liv-ing in one ofHyderabad's best-known adresses,

Principal Secretary ArvindKumar has seen quite a fewthings in life. In a freewheelinginterview with The Pioneer,Telangana's top bureaucrat talksabout work, family and goals.He's from the 1991 batch ofIndian Administrative Service(IAS) officers, who has workedin various capacities in the Stateand at the Centre. Here, herecalls the summer vacations inthose early days in villages ofBihar which gave him sense ofwhat it truly means to be an IASofficer. While his English isperfect, Arvind was a Hindi-medium student back in the day.He proclaims that if you havedone horse riding, you don'tneed meditation. A traveller bychoice, a caricature artist, a pro-tective father, he keeps the ele-ment of uncertainty about himalways on.

HOW IT ALL STARTED…Since class VIII in school, I

was clear in my mind that Iwanted to be an IAS officer. Myparents are from Bihar, andwork put them in Delhi but Iused to spend summer vacationsin the village. We used to witnessa lot of poverty in Bihar villagesand among relatives. Among theshoddy, downtrodden houses,there was this bungalow of dis-trict collector, who helped peo-ple get good roads, water sup-ply… like anything and every-thing. That's how my exposureto IAS started. I studied in gov-ernment school Navoday tillclass XII. After class X, wheneveryone opted for sciencestream, I took arts - psychology,maths, economics and geogra-phy - a very weird combinationand ahead of time for a govern-ment school student. Creditgoes to my parents who didn'tobject. St. Stephen's Collegemade the difference; economicswas especially good there and itexposed me to worldview of IASin the real sense.

BACKUP PLAN…There was a slight deviation

in my career even though I knewI'll be writing the IAS exam,while everyone else was prepar-ing for CAT. I asked what CATmeant — that was my ignorancelevel (giggles). My plan was, if Idon't get into IAS, I would have

a job. I got an MBA seat in IIMAhmedabad, Bengaluru andCalcutta, and picked IIM-A as19 out of 34 students of my class

in Stephen's joined there. Later,I joined Maruti Udyog Ltd for awhile. The only reason for me tojoin Maruti was that I could buymy own car as the companywould give subsidy for employ-ees, and it was in Delhi. Within15 days of joining, I bought aMaruti car. I first bought a carand then learnt driving. In sixmonths, I took leave and stud-ied for IAS.

DELHI LAD TO APCADRE…

My cadre was Gujarat and Idid district training inBhavnagar. I was married to myIAS batchmate. When you getmarried within service, youcould move to either of the loca-tion or completely different one.My ex-wife tried Gujarat, butcouldn't get it as they didn'twant more IAS officers then.So that's how my cadre isAndhra Pradesh and has beenthe same since then. Whereveryou are, the ability to make achange in the lives in variousdegrees, no other service canafford the platform like theIAS, which is phenomenal. Mycontemporaries might be earn-ing well, but in terms of our abil-ity to sleep well at night, to meno other service can give suchsatisfaction.

YOUNG ARVIND AS IAS…My first posting in was in

Rampachodavaram. Whilethere were no threats as such,not to the best of knowledge,but Mr AK Khan says there wasone. In my very early days, Inever used to take escorts,even though they used to askme. While travelling in forests,our gypsy overturned. AKKhan says someone was follow-ing, and he complained to col-lector saying 'Please ask thisboy to take escorts'. I wasmore like 'I have Gypsy, andhum apna jungle mein jayen-ga'. It is virgin forest; nothingis there except Tribal hamletsand very beautiful landscape.

HIGH MOMENTS INCAREER…

Specifically, my posting asdistrict collector of Khammamduring 2002-2004 which wasfluoride-affected area then. Weworked extensively on provid-ing water facilities. In each of

the villages, we arranged forOHSRS, water tanks, watersupply and clean portabledrinking water in village. It wasa hugely satisfying moment aswe made lot of change. Secondbiggest was my posting as dis-trict collector of Hyderabad,wherein we could curb andarrest the incidence of femalefeticide. At its peak, we seized104 scan centres out of the 389scan centres operating in cityduring 2004-2006. This inter-vention has made a significantchange as Hyderabad whichhad lowest sex ratio of 23 dis-tricts of AP as per 2001 Census,

by 2001, reached the 9th rank.We could save 3,800 girl fetus-es, which is a very satisfyingexperience. Another was mytenure as joint secretary forMinistry of Finance. Webrought about a lot of changein the Insurance Act. Microinsurance was created by usand it was very successful.

DIFFERENCE INWORKING FOR STATEAND CENTRE…

State is action-oriented asyou are thrown in the field andyou have to perform, but Delhiis more about policy. My cur-rent role as Principal SecretaryMAUD and former PS ofIndustry are field-oriented andaction-packed jobs. Everydaysomething is happening. Asindustry PS, I could work onTS-ipass, new solar policy andnow as MAUD PS - municipal,

masterplan and Kokapet infradevelopment. The best part isthat every two-three years ourarena keeps changing, andthat's the variety. Delhi is allabout policy-making — in onestroke and it affects the entirecountry. Delhi is exciting forpolicy-making and getting in-depth knowledge.

BALANCING ACT…I live alone here in Hyderabad

and reach home around 8:30pm with 8-10 boxes of files wait-ing for me to clear. I am not aworkaholic by choice but work

fills up my times. I very con-sciously avoid socialising,because you know it's a circle initself where you need to keepobliging to requests. Rather, Imight watch some silly serial. Iam very comfortable with myprivacy and prefer it over social-ising.

ARVIND WHEN NOT ATWORK…

My favorite indulgence isshopping in 'sale season'. I go forwindow shopping a lot andwherever sales and discounts arebeing offered. Especially, withthose which have 60 per cent off.It is 'sale season' again and Ibought some stuff. The 'sales'abroad are genuine. WheneverI go to Europe, I plan my trip ina way that I can cover the 'Sale'put up at Massimo Dutti. About90 per cent of my wardrobe isMassimo Dutti. My trip toEurope is covered with 'Sales'.Otherwise, I like to relax andoften make my own tea. My teais a mix of earl gray, which myfavourite, and red tea. I drive tohave breakfast alone as it is fun,sitting in crowd and havingfood.

TRAVEL LIKE THERE ISNO TOMORROW…

I am fond of travelling andI make it a point to visit newplaces. I have travelled to about34 countries. Last year, I wentto Sweden… Northern Lights!I try and go to Europe onceyear. Countries on my list areMongolia, caravan riding inArgentina and Chile. I want totravel like a backpack tourist inMexico and find out groundrealities, and Portugal andSpain are on the list. This year,the target is Iceland, at least inwinter. I was planning for June,but couldn't due to work.

PASTIMES… I do swim and play squash.

Swimming is more of a regu-lar activity, like twice a weekoften in the evening on wayback to home. I read a lot, Ispend at least four-five hours aweek reading. I grow Bonsaiplants. In Delhi, I have lot of

plants. When you are pruningor giving shape, it is engagingand sets my mind, and ispeaceful. Bonsai plants…because the shape of the plantis not overwhelming and iswithin my reach. I am a cari-cature artist. However, off late,I couldn't indulge in drawing.

ABOUT YOUR NAUGHTYSIDE…

I might seem not soapproachable, but that's not thecase. I crack jokes often. It isdisappointing sometimes whenpeople don't get it, especially inthe bureaucracy. At home, Iplay pranks. A stage camewhere my nephew was askednot to spend time with 'badepapa' as I was spoiling him byplaying pranks. This child inme keeps me going.

CRITICISM THAT COMESYOUR WAY…

At work, criticism is for thechair not the individual. Peopleare pointing out some griev-ance or something that is notdone properly. Now, we have amechanism where we mark itto the person concerned.Having come from lower mid-dle strata, I know the kind ofproblems people face. Andmost of the time, they havesome truth in it. I don't brushit off. It doesn't affect mebeyond a point.

LANGUAGE SKILLS…Until class VIII, I could not

speak English. My medium ofcommunication was Hindi. Iused to read newspaperswhich improved my English. Iknew how to read and write,but my spoken English wasn'tgreat. Even in Stephen's, Iwould not speak a word inclass because I didn't wantpeople to judge my English. Itwas only in IIM that thingsimproved. I now speak threelanguages —b Telugu, Hindi,English and little bit ofGerman. In 2012, I did acourse in Delhi. When I attendthe class for German, everyonegot up thinking I was theteacher. They were not surehow to address me — 'Name,sir, uncle'?

HORSERIDING…

Every-one has tolearn horseriding during theIAS course. The ridefrom Mussorie toDehradun gave me someconfidence. When I was inDelhi, I used to go to ArmyPolo Club, definitely twice aweek. Even in winter in Delhi,we would be there. Once youare on a horse, it is canteringand galloping. You only hear thewind passing by. That feeling ofcutting through the winds, noother feeling can replace it.

You are recharging. If youhave rode horses, you don'tneed meditation. You are cutoff for 3040 minutes. I used todo it regularly in Delhi, buthaven't done in Hyderabadsince 2014.

Best advice you got - Stay grounded, never let

the feeling of the Chair getto your head.

Do you have pets - I am scared of losing pets.

I am a very sensitive personand I cannot take the loss. Iwould love to keep aGerman Sherperd, but itwould restrict my travel.

Movies that you like - Karwaan, Bareli ki Barfi,

Dil Chahta Hai, Zindagi naMilega Dobara; Englishones… The Gladiator,Scent of a Woman, TheKarate Kid (2010).

Movie that made you cry - Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

Describe yourself threewords -

Humble, honest to theassignment, naughty.

Biggest pet peeve -Showoff

What scares you the most - Loss of loved ones.

Secondly, I am scared ofthe day I start gettinginfluenced and guided bygossips ( I have studiouslyavoided falling in the trapso far).

What would you do if youdidn't have to worktomorrow -

I will travel.

Favourite spot inHyderabad -

Osman Sagar area. Iwalk there often as

it is not crowded

and peaceful.If you had a spirit animal -

It is a bird maybe aneagle. I would like to flylike a drone, to get a topview.

Superpower - Immediate answer, I will

make all roads ofHyderabad perfect, sansany ditch and absolutelyclean.

Favourite actor - Tabu, Salman Khan,

Prakash Raj, Tom Hanks.

TV series - Mirzapur (It depicts

reality of Eastern UP),Modern Family, Sarabhaivs Sarabhai (both seasons)

Authors or books - Fiction - John Grisham,

Jeffery Archer. I read a lotof non-fiction related topublic policy, history, poli-ty.

Music that keeps youhooked -

Classical ghazals ofMehdi Hasan are my all-time favourite, HemantKumar. Coldplay and RodStewart in English.

Education -Graduated in Economics

from St. Stephen's, Delhi;MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad; Masters inPublic Policy (MPP) fromWoodrow Wilson School(WWS), PrincetonUniversity; a course onLeadership & Globalizationfrom LSE London, UK as aChevening Scholar.

QUICK BITESAdventurousadministratorFrom staring at the Collector's house in a Bihar villageto living in one of Hyderabad's best-known addresses,TS Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar takes usthrough his journey, writes Naveena Ghanate

F

DAUGHTER MEANS THE WORLD…

One person who means the world to me is my daughter Maansi.I am separated legally; my daughter has been away for a while.

She moved to Beijing and later Houston, and she recently start-ed working. I love to spend time with her and it is quality father-

daughter time. She was here recently. I make it a point to be backhome in time and we go out for dinner. She is a good friend. Shecorrects a lot of thoughts, even jokingly. We share a lot of seri-ous things. She is a strong person on gender and equality, and isagainst racism, casteism. I am not able to spend as much time asI would like to, but life is all about balancing.

ARVIND AS A CHILD AND SON…

Iwas very studious, extremely introvert. I would never speaka word and was scared of public speaking. I would hide

myself. I remember in class IX when I was asked to speakin the assembly, I was shivering. Till I graduated, my dailyroutine was home to college and library. Things changedat IIM-A. My parents are in Delhi. My father retired as clerkin RBI and my mother is a housewife who studied maybetill class X. We are three siblings and I have an elder sisterand a younger brother. Mine is a lower middle class upbring-ing and I lived in a typical government house in Delhi. Iam sure my parents are very proud of me. My father, evenif you do well in studies, he just nods like 'it's okay'. My momis more expressive, I have seen her pride. I try and ensureI remain a son to them more than anything else.

NEXTGOALS

I want to fly a heli-copter, but my daughterdoesn't want to sit along(laughs). I want to learnpiano, but now she is learningpiano. I used to sing quite wellin school. I do imagine singing

someday, and I will gather thecourage to do that. I am planningto buy a bike, a Jawa, and will goon long drives - Warangal,Karimnagar or Khammam. I

plan to buy it nextmonth.

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

SundayAugust 4, 2019

sundaymagazine

11

Vijayawada, August 4, 2019

09What machines can’t learn

My life is goodbecause I am notpassive about it. I

invest in what is real.Like real people, to

do real things, for thereal me

— Gwyneth Paltrow

Human sensitivities have developedthrough a chain of evolution, these

cannot be inculcated through AI

Probably half the world thinks theyare fat. At this day and age, whenvanity scores over everything else, afeeling such as this may weigh heavi-ly on many bodies and mind. We live

in an image-heavy society — online and inperson — where social media, advertisementsin magazines, newspapers, billboards, shop-ping windows, and everything around usensures that focus on appearance is strongerthan ever. And because our society loves thin,be it in print ads, movies, music videos, pic-tures etc., seeing something different isn’t con-sidered fashionable. Often, not meeting thecriteria induces inadequacy among people,especially the youth and now even middle-age.

So rampant is the negativity arising fromthe ‘perceived’ faulty body size that it worksboth ways. People too thin are feeling thepain as well. The greetings these days arepunctuated with a comment (and scrutiny)on one’s ‘weight’. And that does not apply tothe ones getting married! The modern Indianobsession of “when are you getting married?”is now replaced with “What are you doingwith your weight?”.

SHAMED AT HOME AND BY THE WORLDLet’s accept it, body shaming is of two types:direct (criticising overweight people), andindirect (both subtle and blatant messagesthat the society throws via environmentalcues and via media — visualise toothpickthin models here?).

Even the “well wishers” tend to go wronghere. More often than not, body shamingstarts at home — a sister shaming her brotherinto lose weight so he can score a good-look-ing girlfriend; a father packing off her 24-year-old daughter who has just finished hermedicine studies for a strict three month ‘getthin’ programme at a health farm, as heintends to find her a match soon; a friendpoking fun of someone’s losing battle withweight in public or a colleague sniggering atsomeone going for a second helping of thedessert… These are all real life instances thatone has encountered in one’s practice as anutritionist. The effect on a person’s bodyimage and self esteem is an instant negative.

Contrary to what that “well wisher” maybelieve, fat shaming does not help peoplestop and reconsider their lifestyle patterns.On the contrary, it makes them eat evenmore and throws them in a vortex of hope-less diets, which actually worsens the situa-tion. Studies suggest that there is a profound

psychological impact (harm) of the condi-tion. It can induce severe stress in the body,cause depression, eating disorders, reducedself-esteem and raise the risk of all sorts ofmental problems.

Alexia Michel knows this all too well. ThisFrench national corporate stalwart quit herlucrative job to start a foundation ‘I am not myanorexia’ recently. Michel struggled withanorexia all through her growing years, tillrecently when she managed to leave her disor-der behind with the help of yoga and tran-scendental meditation. Through her founda-tion, she is now working to help others suffer-ing from an eating disorder. The foundationextends help to support recovery and preventthese disorders via a natural, holistic andempowering programme, both online andoffline. To this effect, she recently organisedher first knowledge sharing seminar atMaharishi hospital in Delhi and has a retreatplanned in Delhi and Rishikesh in October.

THE MARKET FORCESThen of course there are the market forcesthat stand to gain from this insecurity. Whilefat to fit may be a good mantra for leading ahealthy lifestyle. Fit is being deliberatelyreplaced by thin. The paranoia to gain a cer-tain figure or size is causing wellness, fitnessand aesthetic industry to grow. Conceded notall institutions falling under these heads followdubious processes, but there are some thatpush people into spending by playing withtheir insecurities.

Trisha Khanna was referred to a leadingdermatologist in the city by a physician for thetreatment of alopeacia. The dermatologist, asshe discovered, also runs a swanky aestheticand wellness centre in an upmarket locality.“To my surprise, before I could even utter aword, the doctor had suggested I could shedoff excess weight around my waist, chin andarms using one of their fancy machine treat-ments and gave me a fat quote! She was noteven interested to find out my medical condi-tion or the real reason why I was there in thefirst place,” shares Khanna. The facility, sheadds, was buzzing with women of all agebooking for treatments including fillers andbody sculpting procedures. Khanna wenthome with a shampoo and conditioner worthRs 10,000 and is hoping that her conditionwill get treated soon.

“A lot of people want to lose weight quickwithout putting any effort,” says Dr PriyankaTyagi, a Delhi-based dermatologist and aes-

thetician. “Obesity is a condition and whatwould work for someone suffering from anacute condition is definitely not recommendedfor someone who is otherwise healthy but hasa few fat pockets that the body has cultivatedto fight toxins and other conditions. Sameapplies to their skin. The race to get that flaw-less skin is often tempting people to use prod-ucts that are otherwise meant to treat seriousinfections.”

As a nutritionist and weight managementconsultant, I have personally treated caseswhere perfectly healthy patients have beensuffering emotional trauma and feeling ofworthlessness due to a certain shape of bodythat they may own.

OWN UP TO YOURSELFBecause we all need to understand that we arenot defined by just our weight alone. We walkand live as ‘us’ which is a sum of a lot of ourfacets — our personality, our achievements,our disposition and the vibe we emit.Definitely, how we look is a part of this pack-age. Only, we seem to have made it our com-plete being.

For starters, this is what you must do —keep your weight and appearance aside, andflaunt your other assets and plus points, andsee how others pick up on that. You’d beamazed to see the how a chain of positivity istriggered.

Two, there is a big misconception aboutthe thought process. There is a big section ofpeople who believe that by being super criticalof their bodies, they might be able to pushthemselves into losing weight. Called ‘bodyhate’, it is now acknowledged by the experts asa mental epidemic. A lot of these people endup hurting themselves as a result of faultydiets, extreme exercises, stringent detoxes andnegative self talk. It actually works the otherway around. The weight actually piles up,instead of shedding. Even worse, their mindgets trapped in an eating disorder (likeanorexia, bulimia or binge eating). The moreyou chain yourself in stringency, the more themind and the body will rebel. Train your mindto think healthy and work on your lifestyleand see the change.

WRITTEN WORD HELPSBody positive is a movement. And this is notto be confused with encouraging anunhealthy lifestyle. There are people likeShuchi Singh Kalra who are writing againstbody shaming. Kalra’s 2016 book ‘I am Big.

So What!?’ is about a plus-sized girl and herjourney from an insecure teen to a confidentyoung woman. Her story explores bodyimage and self-esteem issues, and how shenavigates the society at different stages of herlife, wearing her size proudly on her sleeve.

Incidentally, Kalra herself was the inspira-tion for the book. “Having been at the receiv-ing end of it, as several of my friends and peo-ple I know, it was my voice to the plus sizedgirls,” she shares. True, plus-sized girls havebeen severely under-represented in Indianmainstream fiction, but writers like Kalra aremaking sure that the pattern is broken.

‘Body Respect’ by Linda Bacon and LucyAphramor speaks of body insecurity and howit is time to overcome the shame and distresssurrounding it. And to show everybodyrespect. Another book, ‘The Gifts ofImperfection’ by Brené Brown holds powerfulmessages surrounding body image.

Written word has an impact, both nega-tive as well as positive. Kalra shares that shewas most touched by an email from a fatherwho bought the book as a gift for his daugh-ter who lacked confidence because of herweight. It shows that the thought pattern ischanging and people are reaching out tothose affected.

CELEB INSPIREDWomen magazines with photoshoppedwomen on cover, celebs talking about their‘diets’ and pursuit for thin-ness, fitness arti-cles taking about the latest fad diets, moviesshowing heroes falling for thin, pretty girls,all leave a mark on developing psyches ofchildren and teenagers.

Amidst this seemingly popular content,celebs talking about their struggles lend aninsight into real situations. Actor RichaChadha deserves kudos for coming out as abulimic in 2016 (bulimia is a disorder whenpeople purge out the food via vomiting or byusing laxatives in an attempt to not gainweight) when no one expected her to, simplybecause she wanted to help remove the stigmathe eating disorders face in our society. Shedisclosed details of her battle with the disorderand how she alternated between feeling guiltyabout being hungry, then staying hungry forlong hours and breaking off only to binge onprotein bars. Not everyone is that strongthough. She is now writing a book on it.

In a world driven by social media appearance pressure, being thin does not necessarilytranslate into being healthy and vice-versa. It is time to own up to ourselves, stop body shamingand focus on lifestyle corrective measures that promote good health, writes KAVITA DEVGAN

Every existence in this world is thereto serve a designated purpose, vitalfor sustenance of the living world

F R O M T H E I N S I D EShiva is about inclusiveness

>> p9

STUDIES SUGGESTTHAT THERE IS A

PROFOUNDPSYCHOLOGICAL

IMPACT (HARM) OFTHE CONDITION

(EXCESSIVE DIETING).IT CAN INDUCE

SEVERE STRESS INTHE BODY, CAUSE

DEPRESSION, EATINGDISORDERS,

REDUCED SELF-ESTEEM AND RAISE

THE RISK OF ALLSORTS OF MENTAL

PROBLEMS

sundaymagazine

spirituality 09Vijayawada, August 4, 2019

YOU HAVE TO GROW FROM THEINSIDE OUT. NONE CAN MAKE YOUSPIRITUAL. THERE IS NO OTHERTEACHER BUT YOUR OWN SOUL.

— SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

HIDDENSOULSPRAMOD PATHAK

AI or Artificial Intelligence is suddenly the global trend.It took almost six decades for AI to become a revo-lution but it seems it is here to stay. What will then

be left of HI or Human Intelligence? A big question thatneeds to be pondered over. Let us also consider if AI willactually bring the “Robocalypse” as coined by someone tooapprehensive of the growing trend of robotisation along withcorporatisation and mathematicisation that is becoming anobsession world over. There are two distinct schools ofthought on the subject. One school opines that AI will makeHI redundant and will replace humans in a big way or rathercompletely in the long run. The other school, however, theconservative one, believes that the AI is being overhypedand humans will remain in charge. But between these over-enthusiasts and conservatives, there is a reasonable band ofopinion which is closer to the truth. AI can only do certainthings and not all. Yes the computational ability of AI is muchmore than the human mind. For that matter even a 500 rupeepocket calculator is much more sophisticated than humanmind as far as calculations are concerned. But are humanbeings only for calculations? Coming to deep learning, ithas a much wider band of functions and has the ability torecognise patterns and provide solutions. It is being arguedthat they can be much better than human beings in mak-ing decisions based on interpretation of those patterns.Similarly, they can be much better at taking decisions becausethey can store, manipulate, infer and disseminate astronom-ically large quantum of data which is an impossibility forhumans. Now comes the crucial question. Do humans takedecisions only on be basis of data? Human decisions are acombination of information, emotion and values or else itwould have been impossible for the Pandavas to kill Bhishmain the battlefield of Kurukshetra. And for some who maybe sceptical about the Mahabharata, there is this story fromthe Silicon Valley. It was at the Bay Area LeadershipConference at San Francisco on June 15 that this colum-nist had an opportunity to interact with John Thomson, theChairman of Microsoft, which is on the forefront of the cur-rent AI revolution. In his deliberations John had talked aboutthe qualities that made him recommend Satya Nadella asCEO of Microsoft. But those qualities were not technicalor computational skills. They were empathy, sensitivity andthe emotional ability. On asking whether those qualitiescould be engineered in AI, John very candidly replied inthe negative. Human nature is beyond the scope of even themost advanced of the algorithms to replicate. In the Indianphilosophical thought the supreme quality of humans is theblend of Intelligence Quotient, Emotional Quotient andMorality Quotient. The one word in which this quality canbe summed up in Hindi is viveka. Human sensitivities aredeveloped through a long chain of evolution that is a resultof a complex interaction of the Biological, the Psychologicaland the Sociology factors. Interestingly, none of these canbe inculcated into the machine through AI. Deep learning,contrary to the popular assumption then, is not all that deep.

Pathak is a professor of management, writer, and an acclaimed public speaker. He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com

We, human beings, have beendesigned to go through fivestages to reach the top level.

These stages are annamaya, ie state of achild, when we are content to be fed.Then comes pranamaya, that is the stateof manual labour, who is content to bealive. The third stage is the manomaya,when our minds become active. This iswhen we need plenty of answers andguidance. If we don’t get them webecome anxious, fearful and generallynegative. The fourth stage is gyanamaya,when some answers are available, andone can be somewhat peaceful andhappy, because he has received someknowledge that addresses his prob-lems. The last and the topmost is that ofvigyanamaya, in which one is connect-ed with God and gets everything herequires. However, crossing frommanomaya to vigyanamaya stage takessome doing, even to gyanamaya frommanomaya. The first two stages are auto-matic, and the third belongs to educat-ed persons, who do white-collar jobs, orare not menial workers.

This is the reality of the cosmicdesign. Human existence can be classi-fied in two levels. There is normal liv-ing and there is special existence. Toreach the later level and gain all kindsof benefits like peace, security, support,sukha (genuine happiness), guidance,help, etc, one must connect with God,who is all in all of the entire creation, ashas been indicated in the verse # 7.19 ofthe Geeta. I am giving a brief descrip-tion of God. He is omniscient, that is Heknows everything. God is omnipotent,that is he has the complete power. Thisis not a theoretical concept dreamt bysomeone. This can be experienced.How do I do it? When I need guidance

on something which is not straightfor-ward like the need to charge a cellphone,I pray to God for guidance, and Heinvariably responds, as only God can.Similarly, when I need some help whichis beyond my reach, God helps; He findsa medium to make it available. All these

have happened countless times and can-not be treated as coincidences.

Therefore, if someone, who is in themanomaya stage and most important-ly in the gyanamaya stage, he must seekGod’s help. This is possible by doingtapasya or sadhana to deserve all that

God can give. To cite my own example,I disseminate God’s messages/ instruc-tions by writing articles and books. It isanother matter that God empowers meto do this. Then, I visit various temples.I try to spend some time in the compa-ny of the Lord and soak the spiritualatmosphere in these holy places.

I spend considerable time during theday in the company of God in His photoform — a sort of meditation. I read spir-itual texts regularly. Of course myfavourite is the Geeta. I chant regularlyon beads. I am proud to state that I havebeen doing so for more than threedecades. I have a devotee friend withwhom I discuss spiritual topics on a dailybasis. This is not only pleasing but alsohighly informative. God is never far awayfrom my mind; I remember Him whensomething good or bad transpires.Lastly, we have a pooja ghar in our homewhere we worship Shri Laddu Gopal inHis deity form regularly. This has alsobeen going on for many decades.

All of the above has given me enor-mous benefits over the years. I regular-ly get guidance from God. He invariablyhelps when I need that. I am gettingincreasingly more peaceful. I also expe-rience sukha — a sort of bliss occasion-ally. I feel secure and know that God willalways support me. He gives me shakti(strength) in various ways such as tol-erance. And I seek God’s forgiveness formistakes made.

Therefore I strongly recommendthat everyone from manomaya stageonwards should try to please God in theway it suits. Gone will be the days of neg-ativity, fear and anxiety.

Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached atspiritual@ajitbishnoi.com

August 15, 2019 is caught ina rare paradox. As usual,it is the acclaimed day ofIndia’s freedom from for-eign rule but at the same

time it is a day of “Bandhan” that isRaksha Bandhan. While the publicknows well about the former, I wouldlike to throw some light on the latter.Although it is called Raksha Bandhanthere is no bandhan or bondage of theusual kind. This is a bandhan of lovemostly celebrated between brothersand sisters. Thanks to the innovativetouch offered by Rabindranath Tagoreto this event due to which it is also cel-ebrated as exchange of good wishesbetween any two individuals formal-ly tying a “Rakhi” as a symbol of pro-pitiousness.

However, one of the legends nar-rates the origin of the event. As weknow in great historic epicMahabharata there is description ofthe Rajasuya Yajnya performed byemperor of the world, YudhistirMaharaj. When the time came todeclare the chief personality of theYajnya Yudhistir declared LordKrishna as impeccable person for thepurpose. While everyone agreed joy-ously for the proposal Lord Krishna’scousin Shishupal vehemently opposed

it. Not only did he oppose but alsostarted abusing the supreme person-ality of Godhead, Krishna. Everyonewas enraged and ready to pounce onthe envious reprobate but Krishnawith his glance withheld them. AfterShishupal crossed his concessionallimit of blasphemy, Krishna sum-moned Sudarshan and dexterouslychopped his head off without spillingeven a drop of blood in the sacredarena.

Krishna, who is supreme person-ality of Godhead having a spiritualbody unlike us, just to enhance hispastime managed to cut his own fin-ger while dislodging the disc weapon.Everyone was hysterically searchingfor a bandage to apply while Draupadi,a great devotee of Lord without a sec-ond thought tore a piece from hersaree and tied on Krishna’s lotus fin-ger. Krishna very much gratified bythis gesture of love promised to repayback at right time. Later, whenDraupadi was being disrobed byKauravas in the assembly, Lord repaidher love by appearing as ceaseless sareeand protecting her.

This is believed to be the originof Raksha Bandhan where sisters tierakhi to brothers while brothers bringvaluable gifts for sisters and promise

to give them protection. At manyplaces, mothers, friends, relatives alsotie rakhi to their loved ones. Now itis no longer restricted to a celebrationof brothers and sisters. It is a gestureof peace, harmony and love betweentwo individuals.

While the event is cherished forthe harmonious message it emits, wemust understand it is incompletewithout God in centre. A person whois a perfect moralist may drive his caron the road following all the trafficrules perfectly but if he is unaware ofthe destination, he is simply wastinghis time. Being a peace-loving personand just wishing well for everyonewithout actual knowledge is an eye-wash. If someone is lodged in the lux-urious prison for a certain crime, hewill certainly experience misery dueto his abridged freedom. Even if he isgiven the best facilities there, it maymake him comfortable but not happyfor sure. He is comfortably miserablein the first-class prison. For him to behappy he needs complete freedom,which is outside the prison.

To make the world peaceful andharmonious place is good but gettingout of this world and going to ouroriginal place, kingdom of God is best.

This world is described by

Krishna in Bhagavad Gita as tempo-rary and miserable. One may try tomake this world a better place but donot try to settle here permanently. AsJesus Christ rightly said, “Don’t try tomake your residence on a bridge”.Bridge is meant for crossing not forsettling perpetually. Even if one triesto transform this place into paradise,the harsh realities will surely surfacemore than often. One cannot changethe harsh realities of life. As onephilosopher said, “One who thinks theworld needs reformation himselfneeds reformation.”

I remember my childhood dayswhen we would visit our sisters stay-ing at distant places on the RakshaBandhan day. There would be greatjoy and celebrations. Sisters would tierakhi and pray for the brothers’ well-being while the brothers would offergifts to sisters and promise to protectthem. Now so many years havepassed, and I have lost touch with mysisters. They have gone their way andme on my way. There is no news ofthem what to speak of protecting themfrom dangers. This is the onerousreality of life.

Time and space make a differencein the material relationships of thisworld. I may wish well for my lovedones but that doesn’t change thevicious nature of material world. I maypromise to protect my loved ones, butthe fact is I cannot even protect myself.Ultimate shelter for everyone is theKrishna, the supreme personality ofGodhead. He is our real well-wisher,friend and protector waiting fervent-ly for us at our original home. So, letus celebrate Raksha Bandhan by tyingrakhi to our loved ones and prayingfor their well-being while alwaysbeing conscious of our real goal of lifeof going back to the Godhead.

The writer is a spiritual guru at InternationalSociety for Krishna Consciousness

What machinescan’t learn

A PROMISE AND A PRAYER

The importance of sadhanaTo reach a higher level in spirituality and attain ultimate sukha, one must connectwith God through sadhana and tapasya, says AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI

While Raksha Bandhan is cherished for the harmonious message it emits, we mustunderstand it is incomplete without God in focus, writes RADHANATH SWAMI MAHARAJ

Taapsee Pannu, an actorknown for her selec-tion of intelligent roles

(her role as an undercoveroperative in Baby had theaudiences floored), is veryclear on the subject. Duringan interview on how she gother new svelte self, she con-fessed to being unaffectedby any of the drama sur-rounding fitness and doingher own thing. “How canyou let others decidewhether you are thin or fat,pretty or ugly? These aresubjective terms and hardlyimportant. Ideally, weshould aim to feel healthyfrom within, and active andenergetic throughout theday. That is the only thingthat is important,” she says.

THE RIGHT WAYThe process of weight cor-rection cannot and shouldnot be stressful. In fact tobe successful, it has to befar from that. And bodyshaming (leading to pun-ishing diets and self inflict-ed pain) works in exactlythe opposite direction.While good and correctinformation is important,no one needs a sermon inself-improvement (eat well,sleep well, exercise rightetc). What works best is tobegin a journey on the pathof improvement, slowly butsurely by informing oneselfright. Sedentary lifestyle isthe biggest bane of all andmain culprit behind failinghealth. Correct your

lifestyle patterns. Work onnutrition rather than diet.Set your own goals, yourown pace with the onlycondition being not to falloff the path. And make ithappen.

Most important, changeyour thought process — theway you look at people,what you consider healthy.Stand up for a friend who isbeing picked on for her (bigor small) size, stay clear ofbusinesses that body shameand sell “ideal body type” topeople. There is no idealbody type. Just that you areeither healthy or not.

— The writer is weightmanagement consultant,

nutritionist and author

ALTHOUGH IT ISCALLED RAKSHA

BANDHAN THERE ISNO BANDHAN ORBONDAGE OF THE

USUAL KIND. THIS ISA BANDHAN OFLOVE, MOSTLYCELEBRATED

BETWEENBROTHERS AND

SISTERS

F R O M P A G E 8

Perfectly Imperfect

sundaymagazine

opinion 10Vijayawada, August 4, 2019

CCoonnsseerrvvaattiivvee PPaarrttyy iiss oonn iittsswwaayy ttoo bbeeccoommIINNGG aannEEnngglliisshh nnaattiioonnaalliisstt ppaarrttyyrraatthheerr tthhaann aa uunniioonniisstt oonnee..HHoowweevveerr,, ddeessppiittee aallllccoonnttrroovveerrssiieess ssuurrrroouunnddiinnggBBoorriiss JJoohhnnssoonn’’ss ppeerrssoonnaalllliiffee,, wwhhaatt hhaass hheellppeedd hhiissttaakkiinngg uupp tthhee rreeiinnss ooff 1100DDoowwnniinngg SSttrreeeett iiss tthhee rroocckk-ssoolliidd ssuuppppoorrtt ooff tthheeCCoonnsseerrvvaattiivvee vvootteerrss aannddtthhee ppaarrttyy mmeemmbbeerrss ffoorr hhiisshhaarrddlliinnee ssttaanndd oonn BBrreexxiitt..NNooww aafftteerr hhee hhaass wwoonn tthheePPMM rraaccee,, hhiiss ttaasskk iiss ccuutt oouutt

MAKHAN SSAIKIA

Alexander Boris de PfeffelJohnson has taken up the

reins of the British PrimeMinister’s office at a crucialjuncture when the UK is nei-ther moving out of theEuropean Union nor is it ableto decide what should be thenext viable course of action.Some say Johnson is an illu-sionist, some claim he is a truepost-modern classicist, and forothers, he is “first BritishFrench Prime Minister” and“Donald Trump of Britain”.However, his true identity willbe known only when he takesfeasible steps to redeem hispromise of Brexit.

The Brexit task, whichtook the job of his predecessorTheresa May, is very troublingfor Johnson too. This Brexitdebate between Brexiteers andremainers has increasinglybecome radical. Critics seeboth Johnson and his do-or-dieBrexit as nothing but the riseof English nationalism. Thusthe Conservative Party is on itsway to fast become an Englishnationalist party rather than aunionist one. A recent YouGuvpoll indicated that 63 per centof Tory members would rathersee Scotland independent thanlose Brexit. Further, theConservative Party is nowmore concerned about losingvoters to another Englishnationalist party i.e. NigelFarage’s Brexit Party, than it isabout keeping this great his-toric land intact. They all mustunderstand that the economiccost of a Brexit-led break-up ofthe UK would be definitelyunmanageable.

Johnson’s MinisterialCabinet is far too right thanformer Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher of the1980s. Thatcher never had aHome Secretary as remotelyilliberal as Priti Patel, never hada Foreign Secretary as xeno-phobic as Dominic Raab, nevereven had a Chancellor as anti-state interventionist as SajidJavid, and never had a DefenceSecretary as bellicose as BenWallace. Thatcher deliberatelywrecked the social democrat-ic society wherein many hadgrown up to live their lives.And this was done to destroyany capability of the workingclass people to protect them-selves from the wraths of thewealthy sections of society.But Thatcher never broughtprivate players to the NationalHealth Service or state-runschools. She maintained freeuniversity education inEngland and in Wales. Thatwas destroyed by Tony Blairduring his ten years of rule. Butthen many of the Britons hadaccepted the Thatcher regimeas the definitive most right-wing Government possible inthe recent political history of

the country. However, the cur-rent one, many observes, canbe treated as the most vocifer-ous and right-wingGovernment since 1832. PritiPatel openly admires theapproach to law and order fol-lowed by Benjamin Netanyahuin Israel. She also voted againsta measure to stop pregnant asy-lum seekers being sent toimmigration detention cen-tres pending hearing. Javid,who is a Chancellor now, oncevetoed as a Business Secretarythe tariffs in Brussels againstdumped Chinese steel thatfinally caused the problems forBritish steel. Raab, who is nowhandling the crucial ForeignOffice, had negotiated a dealwith the EU but ultimatelyresigned because it was toobad. Thus how the newGovernment would spearheadBritain is a matter of seriousquestion for the Britons aswell as for the global policyobservers.

Around the same time,former Prime Minister Gordon

Brown, in an electrifyingspeech, highlighted the shameof anti-semitism in his ownLabour Party. He warned, “TheUnion is today more at riskthan at any time in 300 yearsand more in danger than whenwe had to fight for it in 2014during a bitter Scottish refer-endum.” He also noted thatthere was much more at riskthan simply the unity andintegrity of the country. Tohim, the country is fast losinga series of values, which it usedto enjoy in the past for gener-ations i.e. “tolerance, respect fordiversity and being outwardlooking”. These all are threat-ened by various competingnarrow nationalisms.

About Johnson himself,people are not sure how he willlead Britain out of the EU. Hecan easily be regarded as one ofthe most arresting and enter-taining political leaders of thecountry at this moment. He isdefinitely a sprezzatura whogoes completely out of his wayto look dishevelled and sound

unprepared whenever he isappearing in the public.

He as many says, is tryingto project himself as Britain’sfirst French Prime Minister.The way he is safeguarding hisprivate life resembles how in thepast the French President’s likeFrançois Mitterrand andFrancois Hollande did. Butunlike the French people, theBritish people take keen inter-est in the personal lives of theirpolitical leaders. This could beone of the few challenges thatJohnson might encounter incourse of time. This mightserve as a fatal blow even to hispolitical survival if he handlessuch matters recklessly.

Many say that Johnson hastaken a Trumpian path to reach10 Downing Street. EvenTrump called him “Britain’sTrump” while congratulatinghim for his victory in the elec-tion. This former Londonmayor resembles more to the45th President of the US,Donald Trump, than anyoneelse. Three years ago, the slo-

gan to stop Trump was“#NeverTrump” and it camefrom the conservatives lobbyonly. It was done to preventTrump from winning presi-dential nomination from theRepublican Party. In the samemanner, the establishmentConservatives in the UK issueda call, saying “Anyone butBoris”. The establishmentTorries rallying cry was meantto stop Johnson from becom-ing the next Prime Minister ofBritain. Unfortunately, like the“#NeverTrump” movement,this one in Britain has miser-ably failed. Rather, it has gar-nered more support forJohnson to head hisWestminster Cabinet for whichhe was desperately waiting forquite some time.

Both Trump and Johnsonare true evidences that demon-strate that voters like those whospeak their minds. Even ifthey do not understand whatthey are speaking, people votedfor them and came out in theirsupport. Interestingly, their

political speak is replaced byspontaneous thought, leavingmany a time, both their criticsand sympathisers enraged andenthralled. Johnson looksremarkably inept.

Unlike Trump, Johnson isnot very active in his twitteraccount. But like Trump, hispenchant for making political-ly incorrect blunders simplysuggest this public platformwould suit him very well.Moreover, Johnson is con-cerned with publicity stuntsthan with the nuts and bolts ofpolitical reform that Britainawaits desperately at themoment.

Despite all the controver-sies surrounding him and hiscountry at the moment, whathas helped Johnson coming tothe 10 Downing Street is theconsistent support of theConservative voters and theparty members who werebehind him for his hard-linestand on Brexit. Though he hasbeen ducking debate with hisopponent and Foreign

Secretary Jeremy Hunt, hisvoters supported him for thetop job. Throughout the cam-paign, he was largely invisible.After facing constant criticismfrom the Opposition, he start-ed appearing in a series ofinterviews speaking about hisplan to leave the EU byOctober 31 to his hobby ofpainting buses on old wineboxes. But he was cleverenough to avoid his private lifeall the time.

However, to be a goodleader and a successful politi-cian, Johnson has to take firmstands, because a politiciancan’t achieve anything tangiblewithout taking hard decisions.Amid the Brexit campaign,Remainer Amber Rudd, theformer Home Secretary, oncesaid, “Boris is the life and soulof the party, but you would notwant him driving you home.”But today, Boris Johnson is dri-ving the entire nation “home”.

(The writer is an experton international affairs)

UK’s Trump moment: Britain under Boris

Brexit is a ‘massive economic’ opportunity: JohnsonBritish Prime Minister Boris

Johnson on Saturday saidBrexit is a “massive eco-

nomic opportunity” but had beentreated under his predecessorTheresa May as “an impendingadverse weather event”.

In a speech in Manchesterwhere he pledged new investmentin Leave-voting areas, Johnsonpromised to step up negotiationson post-Brexit trade deals and setup free ports to boost the econo-my.

“When people voted to leavethe European Union, they were notjust voting against Brussels, theywere voting against London too,”he said. Johnson promised to givemore powers to local communities,as well as boost broadband andtransport infrastructure in a speechfocused on domestic issues.

“Taking back control doesn’tjust apply to Westminster regain-ing sovereignty from the EU, itmeans our cities and counties andtowns becoming more self gov-erning,” he said. “Leaving the EUis a massive economic opportuni-ty to do things we’ve not beenallowed to do for decades,” he said.

Asked about the prospect ofBrexit negotiations, Johnson said hewas willing to engage with EU part-ners but only if the backstop clause

was removed from the currentdivorce agreement struck by May.

The backstop seeks to ensurea free-flowing post-Brexit borderbetween British Northern Irelandand the Republic of Ireland, an EUmember state, in all eventualities.

“The approach of the UKGovernment is not going to be dis-engaged or aloof or waiting forthem to come to us, we are goingto try to solve this problem,” hesaid.

“We can’t do it as long as thatanti-democratic backstop, thatbackstop that seeks to divide ourcountry, divide the UK, remains inplace. We need to get it out andthen we can make progress.”

The new leader earlier tried todampen speculation as he couldcall an early election. The formermayor of London, who only tookcharge on Wednesday, haspromised to take Britain out of theEU by the latest deadline ofOctober 31 — deal or no deal. Buthe has focused on domestic prior-ities in his first few days in office,including a pledge on Friday toreverse drastic cuts to the policeforce made under May.

Commentators have speculat-ed that he could be preparing tocall a general election, hoping toregain the Conservative majority

that May lost at the polls in 2017.Johnson on Friday “absolutely”ruled out initiating such a pollbefore Britain leaves the bloc.

“The British people voted in2015, in 2016, in 2017,” he said dur-ing a visit to the central English cityof Birmingham. “What they wantus to do is deliver on their man-date, come out of the EU onOctober 31. They don’t wantanother electoral event, they don’twant a referendum, they don’twant a general election.”

However, Britons could beheaded to the polls if MPs bringdown Johnson’s new Governmentin a no confidence vote in order totry and prevent a no-deal Brexitfrom happening.Britain voted 52per cent in favour of leaving theEuropean Union in a shock 2016referendum that partially reflect-ed deep resentment over econom-ic inequality.

Johnson said Saturday’s speechintended to “set out his vision torebalance power, growth and pro-ductivity across the UK”. May alsocame to power promising to fightBritain’s “burning injustices” buther domestic agenda was over-whelmed by Brexit negotiationsand her failed attempts to persuadeparliament to vote in favour of herexit deal. AFP

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a speech on domestic priorities at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester on Saturday. Economists have warned that leaving the Europeanbloc without an agreement in under 100-days would disrupt trade to impact on finances and investment AP

You need to pay attention to your health. Be observanttowards finer solutions and avoid postponing certaindecisions regarding your health, like getting a test doneor maybe surgery. Timely action would help yourecover from your health woes. Maintain positivethinking and a balanced behaviour. On the career front,you will be overburdened and likely to be weigheddown by responsibilities and commitments. Adopt timemanagement techniques and delegate work to ensurethat the work commitments do not exhaust you. Taketime out for rest. Relationship wise, this week indicateshappy family time, both for committed and singlepeople. You and your partner will enjoy a peaceful timeas you both are on the same page.

Lucky number: 1Lucky colour: IndigoLucky day: Friday

ARIES March 21-April 19

This week do not neglect your physical and emotionalhealth. It is highly recommended to change your lifestyleand choose a more healthy way of living. Take some timeout for yourself where you can rebuild your physical,mental and spiritual energies. You have to develop apositive outlook towards life to deal with health issues.On the career front, some negative energy may causemental pressure upon you. Be sincere towards your workand nothing will harm you. Stay away from gambling asmajor loss is indicated. Financially, this is not a goodtime for you, therefore, avoid any financial dealings.Those in a committed relationship may expect gain inintimacy and joy. Singles may find deep and true love insomeone.

Lucky number: 10Lucky colour: Off-WhiteLucky day: Monday

TAURUS April 20-May 20

You will enjoy good health. Think of new ways tomaintain it either by following a new fitness routine or adiet plan. This would help you increase your energyand strength. Emotionally, you are content and willspend some good time with friends and family. On thework front, you will be successful in achieving your setgoals. Some of you will be acknowledged for yourefforts. This week you will shine, but make sure thatsuccess doesn’t get to your head as this may bringdisappointment. Those seeking jobs may find one. Inyour love life, if things are not going well, then talk toyour partner openly. Singles, you need to be aware ofyour emotional issues and get rid of them, beforestarting a relationship.

Lucky number: 11Lucky colour: Pastel BlueLucky day: Thursday

GEMINI May 21-June 20

This week, you must attend towards persisting healthissues. It is advisable to make some changes for ahealthy lifestyle. You need to be careful about yourdiet, exercise, and also relaxation time. If required,consult a health professional. In career, those lookingfor a new position, will attain it. This week will play acrucial role for you. You are likely to gain a newproject or a venture. Work towards maximising yourpotential for a longer period of time. With hard workand persistence, you will leave a positive impact onsenior management. Love life is not so rosy. Arelationship has either ended or is on the verge ofgetting over. Don’t be disheartened. Give yourself timeto overcome this situation.

Lucky number: 3Lucky colour: PeachLucky day: Saturday

CANCER June 21-July 22

This week you will enjoy good health and feel upbeatabout your future. Work on maintaining your currenthealth status. Stay away from situations that make youlazy. Those who have been suffering from an ailmentmay expect a speedy recovery. It is important to bethankful to those who stood by you. Work life looksgood this week. Those who are employed are likely toget the next position in line. If required do negotiateyour value, it is worth your effort. Those looking for ajob may find one. A partnership proposal from an oldfriend or colleague is on the cards. Go for it as thiswill prove lucky for you. Those in a relationship,express your feelings with passion. Singles may findlove this week.

Lucky number: 7Lucky colour: BrownLucky day: Thursday

VIRGO Aug 23-Sep 22

You will enjoy good health this week. It is recommendedthat you invest your energy into something productive.This is the right time to start a new health regime — adopta new fitness plan, a diet plan or an exercise routine.Those facing health challenges are likely to recover soonwith the help of people around them. It will help tomaintain a positive outlook towards life. On the careerfront, things look favourable at your workplace. You will behappy to help others and will make your workplace apleasant area. The money will be in abundance. In love life,you are likely to face conflicts. Try to have opencommunication with your partner to avoid anymisunderstandings. This is not a good time for singles toget into a relationship.

Lucky number: 13Lucky colour: Rose GoldLucky day: Tuesday

LIBRA Sep 23-Oct 22

This week you need to have patience and mental strengththat will help you have a healthy life. Stay positive andsend good vibes to the people around you. Share yourmotivation and inspiration with others and you might justas well heal them. Those of you who are dealing with badhabits, this is the right time to correct them. Career-wise,uncertainties and confusions will dominate you and makeyour goals unclear. Colleagues and peers might try tolimit your capabilities. Stay positive and confident andyou will overcome all the opposition. On the relationshipfront, your partner and you are likely to feel inspired andmotivated. Make sure to express your feelings. Singles, anew beginning may come your way. Use your creativeenergy in a productive manner.

Lucky number: 20Lucky colour: GoldenLucky day: Sunday

SCORPIO Oct 23-Nov 21

This week you will have the inner strength to take upany physical and mental challenge. You will work onyour fitness level by following a workout regime. Alegal issue will have you a little worried. You will worktowards getting rid of your negative vibes and hencemaking yourself a confident person. Follow meditationand yoga to maintain a positive flow of energy. On thecareer front, you will finish all pending work. Thosewho have started a new venture may have a cause toworry, but this is only temporary. Amidst all, you needto stay calm. Relationship wise, love will bloom and sowill you. Happiness and contentment in all relations areon the cards. Your dream for a perfect relation maycome true.

Lucky number: 9Lucky colour: RedLucky day: Tuesday

AQUARIUS Jan 20-Feb 18

Be careful as stress and anxiety may affect your healththis week. You are likely to face disappointment in amatter which may leave you emotionally exhausted. Makesure you meditate and take proper rest. Stay optimistic.Career-wise, you are likely to face a difficult situation dueto your own thoughts and perspective. Try and approachthings differently and you may find options to work outthe difficulty. Those looking for employment would getoptions to choose from. On the personal front, you willfind that your relationship is becoming boring. You mustsit and discuss your feelings openly with your partner.Things will change for the better. Singles, before gettinginto a relationship, analyse what you want from therelationship.

Lucky number: 16Lucky colour: WhiteLucky day: Sunday

PISCES Feb 19-March 20

The week holds something big for you. You are full ofenthusiasm and feel adventurous to face the challengeslife throws at you. Healthwise you are at your best andwill experience high energy and vitality. Positive attitudeand cheerfulness will enhance your personality. In termsof career, you have to stay focussed and keep a positiveoutlook. Be careful of your rivals. Do not disclose yourstrategies and plans to anyone. The week is favourablefor spiritual healers and medical practitioners. Utilise thistime to enhance your knowledge. Let your inner voiceguide you. In terms of a relationship, couples may planan exotic outing and make your bonding more exciting.Your reputation and goodwill will fetch you rich dividendsand this will help you lead a charmed life.

Lucky number: 17Lucky colour: SilverLucky day: Saturday

CAPRICORN Dec 22-Jan 19

This week you will enjoy a sound mind and bodyconnection. You need to reorient your behaviour whiledealing with a health issue. Genetic and environmentalfactors will play an important role in creating congenialconditions. Stay positive. Negative thinking will make thesituation worse. If needed, seek help from a counsellor todeal with any negativity. On the career front, you need tothink before acting on any situation, else it will lead to anunfavourable consequence. If required, re-evaluate yourwork goals and change your priorities. Those recoveringfrom a breakup will dwell in the memories from the past.You may heal by forgiving and learning from themistakes. Singles, you need to wait for the right person toenter your life.

Lucky number: 8Lucky colour: Camel BrownLucky day: Friday

LEO July 23-Aug 22

You will be full of energy and vitality this week and willenjoy a perfect harmony of body, mind and soul. Youknow exactly what you want from life and will maintain abalance between personal and professional life. It isrecommended that you take some time out to relax. Onthe career front, the time is satisfactory and productive.Those in the field of media, finance and art will performbetter. Trust your communication skills and listen to yourinner voice. Doing so would bring you the desiredresults. You are likely to meet important people whomatter to your professional growth. On the relationshipfront, a fresh start is on the cards. It is a good time forlove birds. Singles, might find their true love in thecoming days.

Lucky number: 12Lucky colour: YellowLucky day: Wednesday

SAGITTARIUS Nov 22-Dec 21

YYOOUURRWWEEEEKK

AHEADMADHU KOTIYA

sundaymagazine

tarot 11JUST AS YOU HAVE THE JOKER INPLAYING CARDS, IN TAROT CARDSYOU HAVE THE FOOL. THE FOOL IS

NUMBER 0 AND MARKS THEBEGINNING OF THE PACK Vijayawada, August 4, 2019

Picking up threads from the previ-ous issue, let us now see how LordShiva, engages with multitude of

existences forming his entourage, eachunique and at variance with others. He,despite evolutionary barrier of incom-municability amongst them, remains inaccord with all of them at the sametime. Overlooking their individualisticvagaries, he engages with all of them oneven terms. It’s not that he is unaware oftheir individual limitations. He ratherpurposely ignores them, as would hishalf-open and half-closed eyes imply.For, he knows that all creatures, bythemselves, are imperfect, and incapableof meeting even the existential needs bythemselves. But all put together, com-plement and supplement each other tomake a self-sufficient world. If each oneof them is bound by individual limita-tions, simultaneously they are alsoarmed with such virtues, as would benecessary to nourish and sustain thecollective existence.

Lord Shiva is aware that every exis-tence in this world is there to serve adesignated purpose, vital to sustenanceof the living world. Take the case of atrivial looking termite, which otherwise

spoils wood, paper, and if left unattend-ed even crops. But then, the termite digholes deep inside the soil structure tofacilitate the entry of oxygen and acti-vate creative potential of the earth mass.In the process, the termite eats earthmass, and to digest it, its body releasesnecessary enzymes. It consumes a smallpart needed for its own sustenance, andexcretes the rest, and that being rich inenzyme, further adds to the fertility ofthe soil. But the termite has to meet itsend before the crop comes up, but notbefore serving the cause of larger exis-tence. Similarly, bacteria in a drain or asewer pit treats the night soil, but forwhich, life will become inhabitable. Infact, all the creatures form a food chain,which together sustain the existentialorder, made out in a way that doesn’tallow them to grow beyond due andmaintain biodiversity balance.

Lord Shiva, in order to get the bestout of one and all and facilitate smoothrun of the worldly order, purposelyignores their individual limitations. Itdoesn’t, however, come about easy. Hehas to absorb their negativity as his poi-son-fed blue neck would imply. He doesthat in the larger interest of the existen-

tial order, but for which life will becomeunbearable. Individually also, nothingcomes about easy in life as no move-ment takes place without being metwith resistance. Should we get stuck upin the hang of all the negatives experi-ences that we encounter, we would notbe able to put in our whole towards ourpriority preferences.

Serving as provider, Lord Shivanourishes the living order with all hisresources in hand — the cosmic energydrawn through lunar crescent, waterstream of river Ganges. Remember, weplunder the earth in a bid to secure oursurvival. The earth on its part, however,bears with it kindly, and still keeps sup-porting us with all provisions — thefood it produces or water bodies it holdsin its womb, vital to our existence. We,knowingly or inadvertently, vitiate eventhe atmosphere, which could disturbecological balance, evidently detrimen-tal to our healthy existence. Nature,however, on its part has been kindenough to make provisions for absorb-ing them all, but for which our veryexistence would be at stake.

The message that emerges loud andclear is that the living world happens tobe a unified organism, premised on theconcept of “Unity in diversity”.

Accordingly, a harmonious coexistenceof all is called for. In this scheme ofthings, multitude of species and objectsin existence are to discharge theirassigned roles towards essential suste-nance and smooth run of the livingorder. The interdependence of theirexistence needs to be underlined here.For, it is their efforts in togethernessthat could take care of the existentialneeds of the living order. Lord Shiva,therefore, wishes to hold them togetherto ensure smooth run of the worldlyorder, as his mount, the bull keeps mov-ing unprovoked at an even pace.

This existential truth needs to bedrilled in every human mind. Mere aca-demic awareness would not suffice. It isthrough continued self-reflection thatthe sense of all-inclusiveness may getabsorbed in the inner realms of mind,before it reflects in our day-to-day con-duct. Hence, a month-long exercise tobecome Shiva like in our approach tolife.

The wwriter iis aan aastrologer, vvastu cconsultant and sspiritual ccounsellor. WWrite tto hhim aat

G-1102, BBharat NNagar, NNew FFriends CColony, New DDelhi-1110 0025

Tel: 991-111-449848475/9818037273 Email: bbharatbhushanpadmadeo@gmail.com

Website: wwww.bharatastro.com

ASTROTURFBHARAT BHUSHAN PADMADEO

Madhu Kotiya is a tarot card reader, spiritual healer, and Founder, MShezaim Institute of Tarot and Divination. Contact details: madhu@indiatarot.com, www.indiatarot.com, M: 9873283331

Shiva is all about inclusiveness

TEAM AGENDA DESK > NAVNEET MENDIRATTA, CONSULTING EDITOR | H LAYOUT AND DESIGN > SATISH CHANDRA JAKHMOLA, SENIOR EDITOR (CREATIVE)

NNooww yyoouu ccaann wwrriittee ttoo uuss aatt aaggeennddaappiioonneeeerr@@ggmmaaiill..ccoomm

AFP n ASUNCION

Argentina star Lionel Messi wasbanned from playing for his nation-

al team for three months and fined$50,000 on Friday by CONMEBOL afterhe heavily criticized the South Americanfootball governing body during the CopaAmerica.

The 32-year-old Barcelona forwardhad accused CONMEBOL of “cor-ruption” after he was sent off againstChile during the third-place play-off during the tournament inBrazil, which ended last month.

Messi was angered by twoincidents during the June-JulyCopa hosted by bitter rivalsBrazil.

Argentina were denied two penaltyclaims in their 2-0 semi-final defeat to thehosts, after which Messi claimed Brazilwere “managing a lot in CONMEBOLthese days.” And when he was harshlydismissed in the next game, whichArgentina went on to win 2-1, he could-n’t contain his anger.

“Corruption and the referees arepreventing people from enjoying thefootball and they’re ruining it a bit,” Messisaid.

He was given his marching orders

after a first-half scuffle with Chile cap-tain Gary Medel in which television pic-tures suggested he’d done little wrong.

The CONMEBOL statement on itswebsite didn’t specify why Messi wasbeing punished but said it was related toarticles 7.1 and 7.2 of its disciplinary reg-ulations. One such clause refers to “offen-sive, insulting behavior or making defam-atory protests of any kind.”

Another clause mentions “breachingthe decisions, directives or orders of the

judicial bodies.” The ban means onlythat Messi will miss a handful of

friendly matches as Argentina’snext competitive fixture is notuntil the South American qual-ifiers for the 2022 World Cup inQatar begin in March.

However, he has alreadyreceived a one-game ban fromCONMEBOL for his red cardagainst Chile meaning he’ll missthe first of those. Argentinahave two friendlies lined up inthe United States in Septemberagainst Chile and Mexico andanother in October away toGermany.

Messi would miss all three ofthose but be free to play for hiscountry again in November.

AFP n WASHINGTON

Three-time Grand Slamchampion Andy Murray

moved closer to a singles returnsix months after right hipsurgery while Greece’s StefanosTsitsipas rolled into the world’stop five Friday at the ATPWashington Open.

Britain’s Murray and hisbrother Jamie, in their firstdoubles event since the 2016 RioOlympics, lost to New Zealand’sMichael Venus and SouthAfrican Raven Klaasen 6-7(3/7), 7-6 (8/6), 10-7 in a quar-ter-final at the US Open tune-up event.

Murray has practiced sin-gles this week to improve hisconditioning after the long lay-off.

“I feel fine,” Murray said.“Practice has been fine. Noissues physically. So progressingwell. Just keep practicing thenext 10 days or so and see whathappens.”

Top seed Tsitsipas beatFrench 10th seed Benoit Paire7-5, 6-0 to reach the semi-finals and ensure he will over-take Germany’s AlexanderZverev to crack the world rank-ings top five on Monday.

“Once you’re in a certainposition for a long time, youreally crave for more,” Tsitsipassaid.

“This one position differ-ence might not feel a lot for somepeople but for me it reallymeans a lot because there hasbeen a lot of hard work behindit, just a lot of suffering in gen-eral.

“I feel I deserve this position.It means a lot for sure.”

The 20-year-old AustralianOpen semi-finalist, who lost toZverev in last year’s Washingtonsemis, booked a semi-finalagainst Australia’s Nick Kyrgios,who ousted Slovakian luckyloser Norbert Gombos 6-3, 6-3.

“I’m excited to play him,”Kyrgios said of Tsitsipas. “He’sone of the best players in theworld right now.”

Murray, who feared hiscareer might be over after theJanuary operation, hasn’t playedsingles since the AustralianOpen but says he might returnat the ATP Cincinnati Mastersstarting August 12.

“If I feel like I’m ready, I’llgive it a go. If not, I’ll wait prob-ably until after New York. But sofar it has been fine.”

Murray, set to play doublesnext week at Montreal alongsideSpaniard Feliciano Lopez, does-n’t want his first singles match-es back to be the best-of-five-setvariety offered in Grand Slams.

He ruled out playing inWinston-Salem the week before

New York, figuring he would bebetter off practicing for a post-US Open return.

SHOE ISSUESThe Tsitsipas victory was

marked by his third straightgame with a delay to change leftshoes, having said he damagesthe laces when he slides incor-rectly. “There’s nothing I can doabout it,” he said. “The onlything is probably change myfootwork, stop doing that.”

Russian third seed DaniilMedvedev advanced to thesemi-finals by defeatingCroatian sixth seed and 2014 USOpen champion Marin Cilic 6-4, 7-6 (9/7).

Medvedev, chasing his fifthcareer ATP title, took the onlybreak at the start and never faceda break point.

Next up for Medvedev willbe 122nd-ranked German luckyloser Peter Gojowczyk, whooutlasted British 13th seed KyleEdmund 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

Gojowczyk, who only madethe event after AustralianBernard Tomic dropped outwith a finger injury, won his onlytitle in 2017 at Metz.

In the accompanying WTAevent, Taiwan’s 31st-rankedHsieh Su-Wei lost to CatherineMcNally 6-4, 6-3. The Americanfaces Italy’s Camila Giorgi in thesemi-finals. Russian qualifierAnna Kalinskaya ousted France’sKristina Mladenovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to book a semi-final date withAmerican Jessica Pegula.

sport 12VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | AUGUST 4, 2019

PTI n BANGKOK

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy andChirag Shetty on Saturdaybecame the first Indian

men’s doubles pair to enter thesummit clash of a BWF Super500 tournament with a three-game win in the Thailand Opensemifinals, here.

The world number 16Indian duo prevailed 22-20,22-24, 21-9 against the 19th-ranked Korean team of KoSung Hyun and Shin BaekCheol after battling hard for 63minutes.

It is first final of the 2019season for Rankireddy andShetty, the men’s doubles Silvermedallist at 2018Commonwealth Games.

The unseeded India com-bination will face third seeds LiJun Hui and Liu Yu Chen ofChina in the summit clashtoday.

Rankireddy and Shetty wereslow off the blocks as the Koreanpair had the better share ofexchanges in the first game tolead 3-0 and then 11-10 at thebreak. But after the break, theIndians lifted their game anddrew parity at 13 apiece beforesurging ahead 20-18. But Hyunand Cheol pocketed two con-secutive points to draw level at20-20.

The Indians kept their com-posure and earned two crucialpoints to take the first game.

It was the other way roundin the second game as theRankireddy and Shetty cameout positive to take a 3-0 leadinitially.

The Koreans,however, foughtback with somesmart play at thenet and overheadsmashes to lead11-9 at the break, which theylater extended to 19-12.

But the Indian looked in nomood to surrender as theyclawed back to make it 20-all.The two pairs fought tooth and

nail before the Koreans even-tually pocketed the secondgame 24-22 to stretch thematch into the decider.

In the final game, it was acakewalk for the Indians astheir Korean rivals failed to sus-

tain the tempo.Rankireddy

and Shetty start-ed aggressivelyin the deciderand easily sealedthe match.

Shetty attributed their suc-cess to a calm and composedapproach.

“Well I feel that both of usbecame a lot more calmer andthat was the major improve-

ment,” he said after the win.“We missed two match

points in the second game. Butwe were able to win the deciderquite comfortably because wewere calm. We weren’t eager toscore points. Whenever wehad chances we went for them.We didn’t rush and that’s whywe didn’t commit mistakes.

“The highlight of thematch was obviously the lastpoint as it was simply amazingto win a semifinal matchagainst Hyun and Cheol as wehave looked up to them in thepast. So it was special,” Shettyadded.

Rankireddy said the willtry to make the country proudtoday.

“Well we are pretty happywith our performances. Playingwith a calm and positive mind-set is helping us a lot. We areconfident of pulling off thematch tomorrow,” he said.

“We won’t be doing any-thing different in the finals. Weare very excited about our firstfinals and will give our best andmake India proud.”

PTI n LOS CABOS

India’s Divij Sharan and hispartner Jonathan Erlich

exited from the men’s dou-bles event of the ATP 250Los Cabos tournament, los-ing the semifinal to topseeds Dominic Inglot andAustin Krajicek, here.

Sharan and Elrich lost2-6, 6-3, 3-10 to the British-American pair in the last-four stage match which last-ed one hour and 20 minutes.

After the losing the firstset, the unseeded Sharanand Elrich fought back totake the second set but thetop seeds dominated theSuper Tie breaker.

Sharan and Erlich hadknocked out Hans HachVerdugo and DennisNovikov 7-5, 6-3 in thequarterfinals before defeat-ing the fourth seeded pair ofBen McLachlan and John-Patrick Smith 7-5, 6-1 in theround of 16.

AFP n BUDAPEST

Max Verstappen celebratedhis long-awaited maiden

pole position with record-break-ing speed on Saturday when hetopped the times for Red Bull ina tense and closely-fought qual-ifying session at the HungarianGrand Prix.

In doing so, he became the100th different pole sitter inFormula One, doing so at thesame Hungaroring track wherehis father Jos had claimed hisfirst podium for Benetton 25years earlier in 1994.

The 21-year-oldDutchman’s first pole came at his94th Grand Prix and after he haswon seven.

Verstappen’s success sparkedrowdy celebrations among hislarge following of Dutch fans inthe open grandstands after hehad out-paced the two Mercedesdrivers Valtteri Bottas and LewisHamilton in a breathless finish.

Verstappen’s best lap in oneminute and 14.572 seconds wasjust 0.018 beyond the reach ofBottas with Hamilton a closethird — ahead of Ferrari’sCharles Leclerc and SebastianVettel. Pierre Gasly was sixth inthe second Red Bull ahead of

British rookie Lando Norrisand his resurgent McLarenteam-mate Carlos Sainz withKimi Raikkonen ninth for AlfaRomeo ahead of RomainGrosjean.

“It’s incredible,” saidVerstappen.

“I am very happy! There’sstill a race to do and at the endof the day, it is the most impor-tant, but it’s very nice and it isgreat for all the team.”

A disappointed Bottas said:“It’s obviously very close withMax. They’ve (Red Bull) beenvery quick, but as always, thereis still the race to come.”

Hamilton, who lost time inthe first section of his final lap,said: “Max did a great job and sodid Valtteri, but we’re in a greatposition to win — and I amalways up for a fight.”

The session began in warmconditions with an air temper-ature of 24 degrees and the trackat 45 degrees Celsius, near per-fect for a big crowd boosted byvisitors from Finland, theNetherlands and Poland.

AFP n LONDON

Pep Guardiola has urgedManchester City to prepare

for the “incredible challenge”of battling Liverpool for thePremier League title by land-ing an early blow against theirrivals in today’s CommunityShield.

Guardiola’s side pippedLiverpool to the PremierLeague by one point last sea-son after a thrilling title racewent down to the last day.

The two clubs renew theirgrowing rivalry when theymeet at Wembley in the annu-al curtain-raiser to the Englishtop-flight season this weekend.

While City won anunprecedented English trebleof Premier League, FA Cupand League Cup last term, andare the bookmakers’ favouritesto win the title for a third suc-cessive year, Guardiola is wellaware of the challenge likely tobe posed by Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp’s men lostonly once in the league lastseason — at City — and erased

the frustration of failing tocatch Guardiola’s team by beat-ing Tottenham to win theclub’s sixth European Cup inJune.

Despite a spat betweenthe pair this week whenGuardiola hit back at Klopp’sjibe over City’s big spendingon transfers in recent years, theSpaniard remains a huge

admirer of the Liverpool bossand the team he has built atAnfield.

“He inspires me in manythings. He is a class manager,a top manager. He’s so goodand it is an incredible chal-lenge for me every time I facehis teams,” Guardiola said.

Guardiola’s irritation atKlopp’s suggestion that City

are one of a handful of clubswho live in a transfer “fanta-sy land” lit the fuse on whatpromises to be a fascinating10-month battle for suprema-cy between City andLiverpool.

With City yet to win theChampions League andLiverpool without an Englishtitle since 1990, it is possible

they would gladly settle for atrophy-swap this season.

But Guardiola knowsCommunity Shield holdersCity could become thefirst team to win threeconsecutive PremierLeague tit les sinceManchester Unitedbetween 2006 and 2009,so he won’t settle for onlytargeting European glory.

“We won almostevery trophy; not all of them.It was quite remarkable,” hesaid of last season.

“We start from zero now— we start again — but we areready to accept the challenge.”

For Liverpool, the glam-our friendly represents achance to fine-tune theirpreparations after an unevenpre-season.

Three defeats and somelethargic displays sparkedfears that Liverpool were suf-

fering a Champions Leaguehangover.

Sadio Mane is still restingafter the Africa Cup ofNations, but with RobertoFirmino, Alisson Becker andMohamed Salah back in thefold after international com-mitments, Klopp expects a

more cohesive display atWembley.

“When you aretired, you are tired, andit’s quite difficult tothen play your bestfootball. Now it’s gettingbetter. The quality ofthe boys who came

back, of course it helps,” saidKlopp, whose club last wonthe Community Shield in2006.

“Because the training wason such a high intensity levelin the games sometimes wewere really done.

“Unfortunately, we playin public so everybody couldsee that. But the Lyon gamehelped. We were not in doubtabout that but it’s nice to getthe proof as well.”

Hungry Grand PrixLive from 6:40pm ISTSTAR SPORTS NETWORK

Man City vvss LiverpoolLive from 7:30pm IST

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Satwik-Shetty Open in Thai final

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty returns a shot during men’s doubles game BWF/File Picture

Stefanos Tsitsipas returns the ball during Citi Open match against Benoit Paire AP

Tsitsipas movesinto top five

Sharan-Erlich exitsfrom Los Cabos

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen holds the pole position award AP

Max celebratesmaiden pole

City face Liverpool for Community Shield

John Stones attempts to successfully save Mohamed Salah’s shot during PL tie between Liverpool and Man City PL/Twitter

Messi banned for 3 months

AFP n BANGKOK

Two-time winnerRatchanok Intanon edged

a thriller against compatriotPornpawee Chochuwong toreach the final on home soil.

Former world championRatchanok, 24, cutPornpawee’s rousing come-back short as she won in threegames 23-21, 17-21, 21-19 infront of a packed home crowd.

In today’s final she will faceChinese top seed Chen Yufei,

who is yet to drop a game afterbeating Sayaka Takahashi 21-16, 21-19.

Ratchanok faced unseed-ed Pornpawee in a boisterousatmosphere at the IndoorStadium Huamark as the for-mer world number one con-tinued her quest for a third titlein Bangkok.

Victory was sheer jubila-tion for the third-seededRatchanok, who had to digdeep as she found herself trail-ing in the third game before

recovering aggressively.Elsewhere, Chou Tien-

chen of Taiwan beat Malaysia’sLee Zii Jia in straight games toreach the men’s final where hewill play Hong Kong’s AngusNg, who upset reigning cham-pion Kanta Tsuneyama 21-9,23-21.

The women’s final willsee Du Yue and Li Yinhui, theeighth seeds from China, playJapanese seventh seeds ShihoTanaka and KoharuYonemoto.

Ratchanok to face Chen

Ratchanok Intanon BWF/File Picture

Thailand Open finalLive from 12:10pm IST

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Rankireddy-Chirag become 1st Indian men’s doubles pair to enter BWF Super 500 tournament decider