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VIJAYAWADA, THURSDAY DECEMBER 24, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 3 Issue 44*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

{

VANTAGE POINT -NNARSIM

People from UK being

rigorously traced; situa-

tion under control:

Satyendar Jain

5

Farmers’ agitation:Putting the cartbefore the horse

2

VIJAYAWADAWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated December 23, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Margashirsha & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Dashami: 11:16 pm

Nakshatram: Ashwini: Full Night

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 01:38 pm – 03:00 pm

Yamagandam: 06:46 am – 08:09 am

Varjyam: 03:06 am – 04:54 am

Gulika: 09:31 am - 10:53 am

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 11:29 pm – 01:17 am

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FFoorreeccaasstt:: SunnyTemp: 30/17Humidity: 61%Sunrise: 06:43 amSunset: 05:48 pm

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

Enforcement Directorate (ED)has arrested three promoters ofthe scam-tainted AndhraPradesh-based Agrigold group.ED arrested Agrigold grouppromoters Avva Venkata RamaRao, Avva Venkata SeshuNarayana Rao, Avva HemaSundara Vara Prasad who arethe main accused in the PMLAinvestigation into the Rs 6,380crore Agri Gold Ponzi scam.

The accused were producedbefore the ED PMLA Court,Hyderabad, which has grant-ed 14 days of judicial custodyto all the three accused.The probe by the ED found

that the accused had set upcompanies abroad and divert-ed large amounts of funds tooff-shore entities. Theirnames also figured in theinfamous Paradise Leaks andthey had incorporated com-panies with the help of theinfamous Mossack Fonsencain Cayman Islands.Earlier, searches were con-ducted at the residences of

Avva Venkata Rama Rao andother directors including theresidences of auditors atVijayawada and Hyderabad.ED has initiated an investiga-tion into Agrigold’s Ponzi

scam based on multiple FIRslodged in Andhra Pradesh,Telangana and Karnataka.The scam was perpetrated byAvva Venkata Rama Raothrough Agri Gold Group of

Companies.

Vijayawada: Investigationunder PMLA also revealed thatthe accused started companiesabroad and diverted largeamounts of funds to off-shoreentities. Their names also figuredin the Paradise Leaks and theyhad incorporated companieswith the help of the infamousMossackFonsenca in CaymanIslands.Various property-relateddocuments, cash amount of Rs22 lakh, digital devices, andother documents were recoveredand seized. On the basis of theinvestigation carried out so far,accused Avva Venkata RamaRao, Avva Venkata SeshuNarayana Rao, Avva HemaSundara Vara Prasad have beenarrested for their involvement incommitting offense of MoneyLaundering. The ED will beseeking custody of the accusedfor their custodial interrogation.

Cooperate with SEC, HCtells govt on local body polls PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh HighCourt on Wednesday directedthe state government to extendcooperation to the StateElection Commission (SEC)for holding elections to localbodies.

Hearing a counter affidavitfiled by the State ElectionCommission (SEC) on theconduct of local body elec-tions, the High Court statedthat the three top officials ofthe AP government have tomeet and discuss about con-ducting polls to local bodies.

The Advocate General (AG)of Andhra Pradesh urged theCourt to consider all the issueslisted over the conduct of elec-tions in the state. He said thatnot only the election date butalso the month in which theelections are to be held shouldbe discussed in the petition.

The High Court directed theAG to write a letter to the StateElection Commissioner with-in three days citing the objec-tions of the state government

over the conduct of the localpolls,

The High Court also direct-ed the Chief Secretary, stateofficials involved in the con-duct of the elections to discusswith the Election Commission.The High Court reserved itsjudgment in petitions filed inconnection with the conduct ofelections to local bodies.

The State ElectionCommission proposed to con-duct the local body elections inFebruary to which the stategovernment had raised objec-

tion citing Coronavirus pan-demic situation in the state.

The state government isalso planning to conduct theCovid-19 vaccination pro-gramme shortly and this mightclash with the conduct of theelections, it stated.

SEC had earlier filed a peti-tion in the High Court chal-lenging the interlocutory peti-tion filed by the state govern-ment seeking to suspend theproceedings issued by the SECfor conducting local bodypolls.

A new dawn in higher education: 4-yr Bachelor degree nowPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

In a bid to give wings to its skilldevelopment plans and com-plying with the new NationalEducation Policy, 2020, AndhraPradesh government, onWednesday, restructured itshigher education system. Theearlier three-year durationBachelor's degree programmeis made 4-years with exitoption. As the four-year HonoursProgrammes are introduced,all three (3) year HonoursProgrammes are withdrawnfrom 2020-21.

Issuing a Government Order,the Higher Education depart-ment urged the Universities inthe State to adopt the ordersissued by the Government withthe approval of their respec-tive Statutory Boards for its

implementation of the orders inall the University Colleges and itsaffiliated colleges under theirjurisdiction from the academicyear 2020-21.

According to the new NationalEducation Policy, the 4-year UGcourses of the Bachelor's degreemultidisciplinary will give a

choice of whether they want a 1-year, 2-year-, 3-year or a 4-yearcourse. Depending on how longa course they study, they will beawarded a diploma or a degree.

However, the AP governmenthas approved the exit option afterthird year only.

The review meeting on Higher

Education with all functionariesof Higher Education andTechnical Education held onAugust 6, headed by the chiefminister Jagan Mohan Reddy hasunanimously decided to go for a4-years Honours programmewith an exit option after three 3-years from the academic year2020- 21.

The meeting also decided that

the students who opt to exit afterthree years will be awarded aUG Degree (BA/B.Sc/B.Com)and students who complete four(4) years Degree Programmewill be awarded an HonoursDegree. After careful examina-tion of the matter, theGovernment hereby decided toaccord permission to the State-funded Universities in the State

of Andhra Pradesh for intro-duction of four (4) yearHonours Programmes with ten(10) months of mandatoryinternship, with an exit option atthe end of the 3rd year. Studentswho complete a four (4) yearsDegree Programme with a rig-orous research project in themajor area(s) of study will onlybe awarded an Honours Degree.

MLA, ex-MLA take oaths in templeto prove honesty, trade chargesSUMIT ONKA n VISAKHAPATNAM

In a peculiar high-voltagepolitical drama that unfoldedat Sri Lakshmi Ganapathi tem-ple in Biccavole in EastGodavari district onWednesday, Anaparthi YSRCPMLA Sithi SuryanarayanaReddy and former MLA andTDP leader AnaparthiNallamilli Ramakrishna Reddyvisited the temple simultane-ously to take vow in the nameof god to prove their honesty.

Anticipating a tense situa-tion, the police imposed sec-tion 144 in the area. Theincumbent YSRCP MLA hasbeen accused of gross corrup-tion by the TDP ex-MLA onthe basis of some RTI informa-tion. Responding to the chargesmade by Ramakrishna Reddy,

MLA Suryanarayana Reddychallenged his predecessor toprove his honesty by taking avow in the name of god.

Both the leaders along withtheir cadres reached LakshmiGanapathi temple in Biccavole onWednesday afternoon amidstthe presence of a battalion ofpolice.

Suryanarayana Reddy alongwith wife took oath in the tem-ple and later Ramakrishna Reddy

along with his wife took oath.Meanwhile, both the leaders lev-elled allegations against eachother while taking oaths in thetemple in the presence of thepolice and a few people who wereallowed into the temple.

The police enforced Section144 and Act 30 in Anaparthi andBiccavole mandals, besides plac-ing several leaders under housearrest in both the mandals.

DGP for transparencyin policing C PRADEEP KUMAR n VISAKHAPATNAM

Andhra Pradesh DGPGoutam D Sawang hasstressed the need for trans-parency and accountability inmaintaining law and order inthe state.

Addressing the Annualpress conference 2020, theDGP explained the statecrime report for the year2020 to the media persons atthe DGP off ice onWednesday. He praised the police who

were at the forefront in fight-ing against the pandemicrisking their lives to save thepeople.He said cognisable crimesdecreased by 15 per cent andcrime against womendecreased by 7.5 per cent in2020 compared to 2019. Thepolice are trying to imple-ment the criminal justicesystem inefficient manner toensure rule of law and protec-tion to all people particular-ly the women and vulnerablesections in the society.

Disha helps ensurewomen safetyPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The initiatives of AP police toensure women safety areyielding good results as Dishamobile app is coming to theirrescue on several occasions.As many as 523 calls werereceived regarding offencesagainst women throughDisha app, while FIRs wereregistered in 107 cases.

Addressing the annual pressconference 2020 here, the DGPsaid that as many as 11.8 lakhpeople downloaded the Dishaapp in their mobile phones.About 97,525 SOS requestswere received, including 671actionable calls, and 135 FIRswere registered. In all, 377Zero-FIRs were registered (316in 2020 and 61 in 2019). AZero-FIR can be filed in anypolice station irrespective of thejurisdiction of the place wherethe incident happened andthe FIR is later transferred tothe concerned police station.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Andhra Pradesh government,on Wednesday, fixed theadmission fees for the privateun-aided professional institu-tions offering B.Tech, B.Arch,Marine Engineering and B.Pharma courses for the blockperiod of 2020-21 to 2022-23.

The fee is different for allcolleges and the amount isranging from Rs 35,000 to Rs70,000.

The A.P. Higher EducationRegulatory and MonitoringCommission (APHERMC),held three meetings inDecember this year anddetermined the fee structurefor B.Tech., B.Arch. andMarine Engineering coursesand B. Pharma for the blockperiod 2020-21 to 2022-23 inrespect of Private UnaidedProfessional Institutions inthe State of Andhra Pradesh.

The same fee shall contin-ue for the students admittedduring the block period of2020-21 to 2022-23 till theycomplete the course.

Agrigold promoters who ran ponzi scheme divertedfunds collected through deposits to CaymanIslands

PERPETRATORS OPENEDOFFSHORE COS WITH HELPOF MOSSACK FONSENCA

ED arrests Agrigold promotersfor money laundering

What NEP saysn The 4-year multi-disciplinary bachelor's degree inan undergraduate programme will have multiple exitoptions.n These will include professional and vocationalareas and will be implemented as follows:n A certificate after completing 1 year of studyn A diploma after completing 2 years of studyn A Bachelor's degree after completion of a 3-yearprogrammen A 4-year multidisciplinary Bachelor's degree (thepreferred option)

WHAT AP INCORPORATED

n However, AP will give exit option after three-yearduration only.n Students who complete a four (4) years DegreeProgramme with a rigorous research project in themajor area(s) of study will only be awarded anHonours Degree.

2

222

Govt fixes fees forengg, pharmacourses in pvtcolleges

2

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 24, 2020

EGG RATES

` 50, 800 (10 gm)

` 470

GOLD

` 70, 500 (1kg)

` 3100

VIJAYAWADA 511

HYDERABAD 516

VISAKHAPATNAM 500

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀55..1111

SILVER

HYDERABADBULLION RATES

`̀//110000

CHICKEN RATES

Dressed/With Skin `152

Without Skin `173

Broiler at Farm `105

`̀//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

Women empowerment takeswings in AndhraPNS n VIJAYAWADA

From being a mere slogan andrhetoric, women empower-ment has become a stark real-ity in Andhra Pradesh withChief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy implementing itin the true letter and spirit.

The Chief Minister hasbrought in YSR Cheyutha andYSR Asara for social and eco-nomic empowerment.Depositing the financial incen-tives of students into theirmothers' bank accounts andregistering the house sites inthe name of woman of thehousehold gives an insight tohis commitment for womenempowerment.

He has provided reservationsto women in all nominatedposts and nominated works. Ofthe 728 posts of Chairpersonsand Directors to the 56 BC

Corporations, 365 are women.One of the Deputy ChiefMinisters and Home Ministerare women in YS JaganmohanReddy cabinet.

To address malnutrition andanemia among pregnant andlactating mothers and chil-dren aged between 6-72months, the State governmenthas brought YSR SampoornaPoshana Plus and YSRSampoorna Poshana schemesto provide supplementarynutrition through Anganwadicentres.

About 30.16 lakh mothersand children are being benefit-ed from the two schemes,where the State has beenspending Rs 1,863 Crore perannum. It was found that over52.9 percent of the pregnantwomen across the State weresuffering from acute anemia,while 31.9 percent of children

are having low birth weight and31.4 percent of the children aresuffering from stunted growth.While YSR SampoornaPoshana Plus is intended tosupply nutritious food exclu-sively in 77 tribal areas cover-ing 8,320 Anganwadi Centres,the remaining urban and ruralareas will be covered underYSR Sampoorna Poshana.

The two schemes cost Rs1,100 per beneficiary everymonth. The brilliance ofAmma Vodi scheme is that itnot only addresses the schooldropout rate but also resolvesthe problem of child labourand checking low literacy rate.The State provides Rs 6,000crores benefitting 43 lakhmothers across the State.Jagananna Vidyua Deevenaand Jagananna VasathiDeevena for full fees reim-bursement and hostel and mess

charges are also credited intothe mother's bank account.

YSR Cheyutha and Aasaraschemes are focused toempower women between 45-60 years belonging to the weak-er sections and minoritiesthrough entrepreneurship indairy, grocery, and other cho-sen fields with an annual incen-tive of Rs 18,750 for a periodof four years. Women of Kapu,Ontari and Balija communitiesof 45-60 age group are given Rs15,000 per annum under YSRKapu Nestham.

In order to provide businessopportunities for the women,for a sustainable income and asafe investment, the State gov-ernment had signed MoUswith giant companies likeAMUL, Proctor and Gamble,ITC, Allana Group, Reliance,among others. The womengroups also have the backing of

banks for soft loans.In addition, Jagananna Jeeva

Kranti was launched to distrib-ute over 2.49 lakh sheep andgoats units and 4.69 lakh unitscows and buffaloes in a phasedmanner with a cost of Rs 5400Crore.

Fulfilling the padyatrapromise, the Chief Minister hascredited Rs 6,792.21 crorestowards the first installment ofthe total due of Rs 27,168.83crores to banks of 87,74,674women belonging to 8.7 lakhSHGs under YSR Aasarascheme. YSR Zero interestloans for the self-help groupswould boost business opportu-nities.

Disha Bill was brought in forspeedy trial in cases of crimeagainst women, where specialpolice stations, fast track courtswere also set up across theState.

Chief Secretary designate Adityanath Das met Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy at camp office here on Wednesday.Accompanied by DGP Gautam Sawang, Adityanath Das thanked the Chief Minister. Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney will retireon December 31 and Adityanath will take over as the new Chief Secretary.

COURTESY CCALL

Disha helps ensure women safetyContinued from Page 1

Under Disha Act, charge-sheet was filed within seven daysin 89 rape cases and 256 sexu-al offences and judgment hadbeen pronounced in 97 cases.

Among the 97 cases, accusedin three cases were sentenced forlife imprisonment (until death).

While in ten cases, theaccused were sentenced to lifeimprisonment, in other twocases, the accused were sen-tenced with 20 years imprison-ment. In about seven cases, 10years imprisonment was sen-tenced, besides imposing finesin several o other cases.

He said that Disha patrollingvehicles were also launched forthe safety of the women in thestate. As many as 900 two-wheelers were distributed toprevent crime against women.All the staff has been trained by

experts to check not only thecrimes against women and child,but also cyber-crimes againstwomen.

Women and child-friendlytraining was imparted to allDisha patrolling staff to instilconfidence among women.

The Disha patrolling staffwill be in direct contact withPolice Control Room (Dial 100& 112) and other Dishapatrolling mobiles within theircluster at sub divisional level.

ensure rule of law and protec-tion to all people particularly thewomen and vulnerable sectionsin the society. He said prevent-ing crime against women is toppriority of the police departmentand the police are working outon it.

The DGP said the state policehave faced many challenges in2020 due to Covid and thepolice personnel rendered brave

services on the roads to protectthe lives of the people. He saidnearly 20,000 police personnelcontracted to Coronavirus,while 109 of them succumbedto the deadly virus.

Briefing the details of thepolicing and crime record, theDGP said white-collar offencesdecreased by 13 per cent, prop-erty offences decreased by 12 percent and bodily offencesdecreased by two per cent in thestate in 2020 compared to theyear 2019.

He said 1,11,112 cognisablecrimes were reported in 2019and the figure decreased to94,578 in the year 2020 due totransformation changes beingmade in the policing andincreasing usage of moderntechnology.

He said Nellore districttopped in cognisable cases with7, 959 cases and Tirupati urban

recorded the lowest with 2,030cases in 2020. There is a drasticreduction in cognisable crimecases in Kadapa district as10,483 cases were registered in2019 and reduced to only 5,345cases in 2020.

He said the State EnforcementBureau (SEB), which wasformed to check the sand andliquor smuggling in the state didan excellent job by checking theoffences particularly the smug-gling of sand, gutka and liquorin the state.

Sawang said excise casesincreased by 72 per cent, sandtheft cases increased by 56 percent, gaming offences rose by33 per cent, gutka smugglingcases increased by 13 per cent.

He said the SEB teams areactive in the state in prevent-ing smuggling and otheroffences.

Giving details of the tech-

nology enhancement in thepolice department, Sawangsaid state police introduced APPolice Seva mobile applica-tion, Disha mobile applica-tion, 4S4U, Cyber Mithra forcitizens, AOCOPS moliceapplication (E Hunt, FRS,Analytics, PIS, CountCalendar) etc.

He reiterated that the statepolice are implementing peo-ple-friendly policing and helpdesks are arranged in all peo-ple stations to receive the com-plaints from the women.

Sawang said: "People have lotof expectations from us and weare working hard to reachtheir expectations of the peo-ple by transformation andintroducing changes in thepolice services. AdditionalDGP Ravi Sankar Ayyannarand other officials were presentin the press conference.

MLA, ex-MLA takeoaths in temple toprove honesty...Continued from Page 1

Tension f lared up asSur yanarayana Reddyaccused RamakrishnaReddy and his wife of nottaking oath in proper man-ner, after coming out of thetemple.

"The ex-MLA made alle-gations in the temple insteadof taking an oath. I don'tcare about the allegationsmade by the ex-MLA any-more as he took oath whole-heartedly in front of god," hesaid.

Countering the allegation,Ramakrishna Reddy saidthat he along with his wifetook oath in the presence ofgod in proper manner andhe is ready to take oathmany more times if neces-sary.

Around 300 police per-sonnel were deployed toprevent any untoward inci-dent in the wake of tension.

ED arrests Agrigoldpromoters for money...Continued from Page 1

Avva Venkata Rama Rao hadearlier worked in the GoldenForest CIS Fraud scheme.Having learnt the tricks of thetrade in that scheme, hehatched a well planned con-spiracy.

Along with his seven broth-ers and other associates, heestablished more than 150companies and started col-lecting deposits from gener-al public with a promise ofproviding developedplots/farm lands or with-drawal at a high rate of returnon maturity/pre-term.Thousands of commissionagents were engaged to lurepeople with various schemesfor hefty commission andmanaged to collect Rs 6,380crore from 32,02,628 suchinvestor accounts. In the end,the gullible investors neithergot plots nor could recovertheir deposits. The groupcollected deposits illegallyfrom across the country.

Vijayawada : According toED, the modus operandi ofthe scheme of the AgriGoldGroup Companies was thatthey would lure the gulliblepeople to join as depositors intheir schemes and encouragethem to pay the desireddeposits either directly orthrough the agents under thepretext of real estate deal.

These companies did notmention either the actualmarket value of the land or itslocation or its boundaries orsurvey numbers or the per-missions required to beobtained for the layouts fromthe concerned authorities.They tried to project it as areal estate business, but inreality it was an unregulatedunlicensed collective invest-ment scheme. The Agri GoldGroup of Companies did notobtain permission from RBIto collect such deposits.SEBI has reported that thebusiness of the M/s AgriGold

Farm Estates India PrivateLimited was nothing but aCollective Investment Schemeand ordered the company tostop taking further depositsand return the money to thedepositors.Instead of complying with

the directions of the SEBI inletter and spirit, accused AvvaVenkata Rama Rao openednew companies and startedcollecting deposits in thenames of new companies onthe pretext of real estate busi-ness with the help of an armyof commission agents, thus,turning it into a ponzischeme.

Continued from Page 1

He said preventing crimeagainst women is top priorityof the police department andthe police are working out onit. The DGP said the state policehave faced many challenges in2020 due to Covid and thepolice personnel renderedbrave services on the roads toprotect the lives of the people.He said nearly 20,000 policepersonnel contracted toCoronavirus, while 109 ofthem succumbed to the dead-ly virus. Briefing the details of thepolicing and crime record, theDGP said white-collaroffences decreased by 13 percent, property offencesdecreased by 12 per cent andbodily offences decreased bytwo per cent in the state in2020 compared to the year2019.

He said 1,11,112 cognisablecrimes were reported in 2019and the figure decreased to94,578 in the year 2020 due totransformation changes beingmade in the policing andincreasing usage of moderntechnology. He said Nellore districttopped in cognisable caseswith 7, 959 cases and Tirupatiurban recorded the lowestwith 2,030 cases in 2020.There is a drastic reduction incognisable crime cases inKadapa district as 10,483cases were registered in 2019and reduced to only 5,345cases in 2020.

He said the StateEnforcement Bureau (SEB),which was formed to checkthe sand and liquor smug-gling in the state did an excel-lent job by checking theoffences particularly thesmuggling of sand, gutka andliquor in the state.

Sawang said excise casesincreased by 72 per cent,sand theft cases increased by56 per cent, gaming offencesrose by 33 per cent, gutkasmuggling cases increased by13 per cent. He said the SEB teams areactive in the state in prevent-ing smuggling and otheroffences.Giving details of the technol-ogy enhancement in thepolice department, Sawangsaid state police introducedAP Police Seva mobile appli-cation, Disha mobile applica-tion, 4S4U, Cyber Mithra forcitizens, AOCOPS moliceapplication (E Hunt, FRS,Analytics, PIS, CountCalendar) etc. He reiteratedthat the state police are imple-menting people-friendlypolicing and help desks arearranged in all people stationsto receive the complaintsfrom the women.

DGP for transparency...

The ongoing agitation byfarmers in various partsof the country is a cause

of concern. It is most unfortu-nate, premature, misguidedand against democratic norms.It is cause of concern andunfortunate because'Annadata', leaving his fields,has come out protesting on thestreets; and premature, as it isbased on mere apprehensions.It could also be termed as mis-guided and undemocratic asmost of the participants arevague about their actual griev-ances and demands, and agi-tating against the law of theland. In this agitation, politi-cal opportunism can also notbe ruled out. Many non-farm-ers had been successful injoining the protesters withtheir own axe to grind, result-ing into simmering tension.

Adding fuel to the fire,media reports suggest that"the farmers have a constitu-

tional right to continue withtheir agitation as long as theirdissent against the controver-sial agricultural laws does notslip into violence." Has it beendetermined by the competentcourt that in terms of eithercontents or procedures, thesaid laws fail the test of con-stitutionality? If a similar agi-tation is mounted by affectedparties against some judicialpronouncement or the presentagitation slips into violence,who will be held responsible?

Let us focus our attentionon the subject by overlookingnot-so-healthy developments;and put some straight ques-tions to the detractors of thenew farm laws. If the existingframework is good enough,what is the cause of distressamong the farming communi-ty? What needs to be done toameliorate the condition offarmers? Lacking construc-tive suggestions, detractors

are harping for a law on min-imum support price (MSP). Isit going to be the panacea forall problems in the farm sec-tor? Armchair intellectualssupporting this agitation per-haps even don't understandthe concept of MSP, how is itdetermined and implementedon different farm types ofproduce. Those supportingthe new farm laws are also notdoing any great service totheir cause because of theirunsubstantiated utterances.

In order to initiate a mean-ingful dialogue, let us firstunderstand what is writtenthere in three Acts enacted inSeptember 2020 after a two-decade-long consultativeprocess. As of now, the tradeis restricted as the farmers arebound to sell their farm pro-duce in the designated marketyards. The inter-state as wellintra- state trade is alsorestricted of the most farmproduce.

First, is the Farmers

Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Act; second, theEssential Commodities(Amendment) Act; and, thirdis the Farmers(Empowermentand Protection) Agreement onPrice Assurance and FarmServices Act. All the three Actsput together construct

enabling provisions providingwider opportunities to thefarmers for trading their farmproduce at more remunerativeprices than the current prices.

The Farmers Produce Tradeand Commerce Promotionand Facilitation Act intends toprovide farmers produceremunerative prices throughcompetitive alternative tradingchannels. It has been envis-aged that promoting efficienttransparent and barrier-freeinter-state and intra-state tradeand commerce of farmersproduce will provide this facil-itative framework. Anotherrelated aspect is electronictrading and commerce thatwould further improve theefficiency. The EssentialCommodities (Amendment)Act comes out with an inno-vation by imposing stock lim-its based on a price rise trig-ger. It also exempts theprocessor or value chain par-

ticipant of any agricultureproduce from regulating stocklimits.

The third Act is meant forproviding a national frame-work on farming agreementsenabling farmers to engagewith agribusiness firms,processors, wholesalers,exporters or large retailers.The Act also protects theinterests of farmers by a clear-cut provision (section8) thatno farming agreement shall beentered into for the purpose ofany transfer including sale,lease, and mortgage of the landor premises of the farmer.

Although agriculture is astate subject and all the sub-sidiary matters under theagriculture belong to the statelist, Parliament is competentto enact on the subject underthe entry 33 of theConcurrent List where pro-duction, supply, distribution,trade and commerce subjects

are covered. It is also as perthe doctrine of federalsupremacy which is well-established in India. In aParliamentary democracy, thepower to make laws restswith parliamentarians. Everypolitical party may have aparticular view either on theentire legislation or partsthereof. During the discus-sion in the House, membersare free to express their viewson the subject. Once a Bill ispassed by both the Housesand after getting Presidentialaccent, it becomes a law of theland that should be acceptableto all people even though theymight have opposed the Bill.Of course, one should agitatein case of difficulties encoun-tered during the implementa-tion phase of any of the legalprovisions.

Let us hope and pray thatthe better sense prevails andfarmers call off their agitation.

DR SHAILENDRA JOSHI,IAS (RETD)

First, is the Farmers Produce Tradeand Commerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Act; second, theEssential Commodities(Amendment) Act; and, third is theFarmers(Empowerment andProtection) Agreement on PriceAssurance and Farm Services Act

Farmers’ agitation: Putting the cart before the horse

Maoists killanother tribalPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The barbarism act of theMaoists continues in VizagAgency as another tribal wasgunned down by the out-lawed outfit on Wednesday.The tribal was branded aspolice informers.

The incident took place inthe outskirts of Vanakarai vil-lage under Injari Panchayatof Pedabayalu Mandal ofVizag Agency on Tuesdaynight. The PedabayaluMandal has been witnessingviolence of Maoists at a reg-ular interval.

The deceased was identi-fied as Chikudu Satya Rao, anative of Chintagaruvu vil-lage under GinnelakotaPanchayat of PedabayaluMandal in the district.

After murdering the trib-al Satya Rao, Maoists left aletter at the spot which saidpeople were acting as policeinformers and deprivingAdivasis of their rights.

According to locals, theMaoists slit the throat ofSatya Rao after dragging himout of his home in the night.Satya Rao was a small farmer.

This was the second suchincident reported thismonth. Maoists killed a trib-al, G Krishna Rao suspectinghim to be a police informeron December 14. The inci-dent occurred in Vakapallivillage of G MadugulaMandal in the agency area, afew hours af ter pol icegunned down two Maoistson the Andhra-OdishaBorder area.

They tried to project itas a real estatebusiness, but in realityit was an unregulatedunlicensed collectiveinvestment scheme

Modus operandi of the schemeGovt fixes fees forengg, pharma...Continued from Page 1

The institutions whose affil-iations are not extended by theaffiliating Universities for theacademic year 2020-21 are notentitled to collect any fee. Theinstitution shall not charge eitherdirectly or indirectly any otheramount over and above the feefixed by the government and ifany other amount is chargedunder any other head like dona-tions, the same would amountto charging of capitation fee andin that case the institution shall beliable to be prosecuted underSection 9 of Andhra PradeshEducational Institutions(Regulation of Admissions andProhibition of Capitation Fee) Act,1983 (Act No. 5 of 1983) apartfrom imposing appropriate penal-ty under the APHERMC Act,2019 and the APHERMC Rules,2019 as amended subsequentlyfrom time to time.

03THURSDAY | DECEMBER 24, 2020

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP supremo N ChandrababuNaidu on Wednesday slammedthe YSRCP government forcontinuing its 'anti-farmer'policies without extending anysupport to the farmers whenthey suffered losses due tofloods, cyclones and heavyrains.

Naidu warned that the JaganMohan Reddy regime wouldeventually drown in the farm-ers' tears if the governmentturned a blind eye to the plightof farmers.

Due to myriad reasons andlack of assistance, farmer's areresorting to extreme step andcommitting suicides ever sinceYSRCP came into power in thestate.

AP stood third in farmers'suicides in the entire countryin such a short period of time.

The TDP chief extendedwishes to the farmers on theoccasion of National Farmers'Day being celebrated all overthe country.

"The TDP has always envis-aged policies for farmers' pros-

perity as they sacrifice theirblood and sweat for producingfood for other people. No gov-ernment will survive if itignores the problems of farm-ers," he said.

Naidu deplored that thefarmers in Amaravati area havebeen agitating in the streetswithout food and sleep for thepast 372 days.

About 110 farmers fromAmaravati martyred for thecause of continuing Amaravatias the only capital city for AP.

It would not be good for thegovernment if the farmerswere subjected to such agonyand anguish for no fault oftheirs.

Naidu said that the propos-al to fix current metres foragriculture pumpsets was onlyaimed at driving the farmersinto debt trap. The JaganReddy regime was not both-ering about the future burdenthat would be placed on thefarmers if current metres wereto be fixed, he lamented.

110 farmers martyred in Amaravatiagitation, says Chandrababu Naidu

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy directed theofficials to monitor the perfor-mance of the employees ofVillage and Ward secretariatsand ensure that the secretari-ats work efficiently.

During a review meeting onVillage/ Ward secretariats hereon Wednesday, the ChiefMinister said that the call cen-tre number, 1902, must bedisplayed at every Village/Wardsecretariat so that people canregister their issues and griev-ances. This arrangement wouldbe useful to get feedback on theperformance of the staff of theSecretariats, he said.

The Chief Minister directedthe officials to make arrange-ments as the duties of sub-reg-istrars are also to be carried outwithin the Village Secretariat.

He said the engineering

assistants in village/ ward sec-retariats should be given train-ing and tests should be con-ducted after the training. Headded that they would com-plete the probation period onlyif they qualify the test whichwill be conducted once inevery three months.

He said village level agricul-ture committees should also beset up and as they already existat the mandal, district andstate levels; there is flexibilityto coordinate with them.

The officials said 3.95 lakhstaff is working in 15,004 vil-lage/ward secretariats across

the state. The Chief Minister was

informed that the village/wardsecretariat system is beinglauded across the country andthere were enquiries from sev-eral states and Central govern-ment as well.

Chief Secretary NilamSawhney, , Chief Commissioner of Land AdministrationNeerab Kumar Prasad, SpecialChief Secretary of WaterResources Adityanath Das,Principal Secretary to the ChiefMinister Praveen Prakash,Principal Secretary of theVillage and Ward SecretariatsAjay Jain, Health PrincipalSecretary Anil Kumar Singhal,Special Chief Secretary ofFinance SS Rawat, GeneralAdministration SecretaryShashi Bhushan Kumar, SchoolEducation Principal SecretaryBuditi Rajasekhar and otherofficials were present.

Monitor performance of village, wardsecretariat employees, CM to officials

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Leader of the Opposition andTDP chief N Chandrababu Naiduon Wednesday slammed theYSRCP Government for'miserably failing' to takenecessary measures for ensuringsmooth and peaceful darshan for

the devotees at the Balaji Templein Tirumala. Naidu condemnedthe lathicharge resorted to by thepolice on the pilgrims who werealso not allowed to go to thetemple atop Tirumala hills. Thedevotees came from far offplaces for the darshan but theGovernment ill-treated them and

caused a lot of embarrassmentand pain. Naidu asked why theauthorities did not take action toprevent the unruly and noisyYSRCP activists who heldprocessions in violation of therestrictions on the Seven Hills.The security officials shouldanswer why they did initiate any

action when the ruling partycadres flew even drones in thesacred sky at the TTD temple.Chandrababu Naidu deplored thatthe prestige of the highly reveredTirumala temple was beingtarnished and spoilt ever sincethe YSRCP came to power in theState. He told the Government

that every citizen and devoteehad a right to have darshan at theTTD temple. The YSRCP regimeshould set aside its arrogant andillogical publicity propaganda. Allthe required steps should betaken immediately for a safe andsmooth darshan to the devoteesat the Tirumala temple.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Minister for AgricultureKurasala Kannababu said thatthe third tranche of YSR RythuBharosa and Nivar Cyclonecompensation would bereleased on December 29.

Speaking to the media hereon Wednesday, he said underthird phase of Rythu BharosaRs 2,000 each would be dis-bursed to about 50.47 lakhfarmers.

Along with this, the statewill also credit Rs 646 croretowards compensation forNivar Cyclone crop loss.

It was identified thatKrishna, Guntur, Prakasam,Kadapa, East Godavari, WestGodavari, Visakhapatnam, andChittoor districts sufferedmaximum crop loss in thecyclone. Nearly 8.34 lakh farm-ers would be compensatedwith the input subsidies.

The Minister said that thisseason started off with goodrains, where almost all thereservoirs, dams were filled upto the brim, but due to floodsand cyclones, crops were dam-aged to a great extent.However, Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy hadreleased the input subsidies inthe same season of the croploss in less than a month.

The input subsidies for Juneto September was given inOctober by disbursing Rs136.14 crore and the compen-sation for crop loss in Octoberwas paid in November bycrediting Rs 132.63 crore, tak-ing it to a total of 268.77crore, excluding the Nivarcyclone compensation.

As part of the cyclone relief

measures, nearly 1.15 lakhquintals of seed have beenprovided to the farmers at 80per cent subsidy.

While the state governmenthas been working as farmerpriority, the opposition TDPleaders are still playing cheappolitics over the crop insuranceand input subsidies, he said.

The crop insurance for 2019,was released this year by cred-iting Rs 1,252 crore benefitingover 9 lakh farmers across thestate. The previous govern-ment had left unpaid arrears ofRs 784 crore towards croploans, which was cleared by thecurrent government. He saidthat the opposition leadershave no moral right to speakon the farmer's issues.

The Minster challenged theopposition leaderChandrababu Naidu to comefor a discussion on farmers andagriculture reforms taken up inboth the governments, theminister added.

Minister Kannababu saidthat the Chief Minister shalltake part in the distribution ofhouse site pattas in EastGodavari district and alsoinaugurate a big layout inKomaragiri near Kakinada onDecember 25. He said that thedistribution of house site pat-tas will take place as a fort-nightly celebration and thoseeligible people who didn'treceive the parts can reapplyand will be provided withhouse patta in 90 days.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP MLC Nara Lokesh onWednesday paid rich tributes tothe former Prime Minister lateCharan Singh and recalled thedeparted leader's outstandingservices to the farmers duringhis long political career. Lokesh said that it has been atradition to celebrate CharanSingh's birthday as the NationalFarmers' Day all over thecountry. This was in recognitionto the landmark laws brought inby Charan Singh to protect thefarmers' interests and also tosafeguard the tenant farmers'rights in getting agriculturalloans. Lokesh slammed theruling YSRCP for creating aworse situation in the farmsector that farmers' suicideswere being reported in the stateevery day. No help is being

extended to farmers in subsidyseeds, fertilizers or inputs.While the farmers were cravingfor help and silently wailing intheir farmlands, the YSRCPMinister for Agriculture wasbusy enjoying the recordingdance programmes. Stating thatthe farmers were the backboneof the country, Lokesh said thatthe TDP would stand by theside of the tillers in all their upsand downs. He extended hisheartfelt wishes for the farmerson the occasion of the NationalFarmers' Day celebrations tomark Charan Singh birthday. Itmay be recalled the TDP hasbeen agitating against theYSRCP regime's proposal to fixcurrent metres on the griculturalpumpsets. The TDP has beenarguing that free power wasfarmers' right they had earnedfor themselves

Lokesh pays tributes to CharanSingh, demand help for farmers

Naidu decries lathicharge on devotees at Tirupati

Rythu Bharosa, NivarCyclone relief on Dec 29

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

A subway connecting theKurusura and TU-142 muse-ums on the beach road inVizag comes under the activeconsideration of the Visakhapatnam Metro Region Development Authority (VMRDA)now. VMRDA officials dis-cussed the construction ofthe subway from the KurusuraSubmarine Museum on BeachRoad to the opposite TU-142aircraft museum as part of theweekend review.

VMRDA Commissioner PKoteswara Rao discussed theproject proposal with the engi-neers and made several sug-gestions. Authorities were alsodirected to make arrange-ments to start traffic fromNSTL to the airport, as well asfrom Gopalapatnam toMarripalem, from December25 on the flyover constructed

at NAD Junction. Earlier, VMRDA had

planned to construct a 2-kmsubway at the beach road inVizag. The subway would helpin reducing the traffic problemand allocate proper parking forthe tourists who visit the place.

The walkers on the beachroad face problems as thevehicles occupy most of thearea. During auspicious eventsconducted at the beach, thetransport and traffic prob-lems are at a high rate. Withthe addition of TU-142Aircraft Museum, the tourism,and footfall on the beach roadincreased to a large scale.

VMRDA plans subwayconnecting museums

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

YSRCP MLA Jogi Rameshcame down heavily on TDPChief Nara ChandrababuNaidu for maintaining silenceon the scams committed byTDP leaders and challengedhim to write a letter to CBIdemanding probe into hisassets.

Speaking to the media hereon Wednesday, The MLAsaid TDP leaders are involvedin large scale corruption andlooted public money throughbanks. TDP former MPRayapati Sambasiva Rao ofTransstroy (India) Ltd isindulged in bank fraud of Rs7,926 crore and CBI has filedcharges against him, formerTDP MP Sujana Chowdary isindulged in 8,000 crore bankfraud, he said.

TDP leaders VakatiNarayana Reddy, BollineniRama Rao, Ganta Srinivasa

Rao and CM Ramesh havelooted crores of rupees of thepublic money through banks,he said.

The MLA said TDP hasbecome a gang of scamsterslooting thousands of crores ofpublic money.

The MLA said it wasNaidu who awardedPolavaram contract to thecompany of RayapatiSambasiva Rao and now he issilent acting innocent overthe scam.

The MLA challengedNaidu to seek CBI probeinto his assets if he is not cor-rupt.The share of Naidu andthe amount received by TDPleaders in the bank fraudshould be revealed to people,he said. Naidu has been try-ing to mislead the peoplethrough zoom conferencesand create hindrance to thedevelopment initiatives ofthe state, he said.

YSRCP MLAslams TDP chief

Under third phase of Rythu BharosaRs 2,000 each would be disbursed toabout 50.47 lakh farmers. The statewill also credit Rs 646 crore towardscompensation for Nivar Cyclone croploss.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The state police have pre-pared Standard OperatingProcedure (SOP) for investi-gating instant online loanfrauds. The police depart-ment has prepared proceduresto be followed to check harass-ment by the online moneylenders.

The State police haveresponded quickly to somecomplaints received by themin the state against a fewmicro-finance companies,which are harassing the cus-tomers for delay in payment ofloans. These micro-financecompanies were violating theReserve Bank of India (RBI)norms and been using fakeapplications to provide loans

at high interest rates and col-lecting money. The policeidentified that nearly 30instant online apps/compa-nies are giving loans to thecustomers without collectingdocuments and proofs. Theseunauthorised micro-financecompanies are following,threatening and harassing thecustomers for the late repay-ment of loans.

AP DGP Gautam D Sawangtold the media during theannual press conference onWednesday that the policehave received 20 complaintsfrom the people and had start-ed a probe.

He said the police will bookcases against the recoveryagents of the finance compa-nies for harassing, continuous

calling and blackmailing thecustomers in case of delay inrepayment of loan installmenttaken by woman customers.

The DGP said the policewill book cases on micro-finance companies for notusing proper payment prac-

tices as prescribed the govern-ment or the RBI and the pay-ment loan giving apps operatewithout proper documents.The victims of the micro-finance instant online apps/unauthorised micro financecompanies can lodge com-plaint at the local police or reg-ister a complaint with theRBI under ombudsmanscheme. He said sending fakeFIRs, letters, and creatingthreat to customers is anoffence. The police can regis-ter case under the section463, section 464, section 466and section 469 of the IPC.Customers can approach thelocal police station to file acase against the micro financecompanies for sending fakeFIRs and letters.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Dharmavaram police onWednesday nabbed theaccused in the brutal murderof M Snehalatha, an 18-year-old outsourcing bank employ-ee. The accused has been iden-tified as Guthi Rajesh.

The parents of the victimlodged a missing complaintwith Dharmavaram RuralPolice station on Tuesdaynight. The police immediate-ly swung into action andlaunched a search operation

after gathering the requiredinformation from the familymembers. The body of the 18-year-old was recovered onWednesday morning.

According to the prelimi-nary investigation, Rajesh

invited the victim to the mur-der spot by on the pretext ofhaving a conversation.

After the victim reachedthe location, the accused mur-dered her by choking her.Within hours after recoveringthe body, based on the inputsgiven by the family of the vic-tim, the Dharmavaram policetook the prime accused intocustody and is presently inves-tigating to determine if anyother accomplices wereinvolved in the execution ofthis barbaric crime.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh StateWomen's CommissionChairperson VasireddyPadma urged the DGPGoutam D Sawang onWednesday to take action onthe obscene posters acrossthe state.

In a letter addressed to theDGP, she stated that obsceneposters of the movie 'DirtyHari' displayed at VundavalliCentre, Guntur District andother public places across thestate were causing inconve-nience to the women.

She said that the obsceneposter of the movie was dis-played which offendswomen's modesty and digni-ty, besides misleading theyouth.

As we know that display ofobscene movie posters atpublic places is in violationof advertisement ethics,defacement of public prop-erty and is a narrow catego-ry of pornography that vio-lates contemporary commu-nity standards and ethics.

It is requested to register acase against the Producers,Director and AdvertisementAgency of the film oncharges of misleading theyouth with obscene posterspasted in public places.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Spandana grievanceprogramme of AP policedepartment was a big hit in theyear 2020 as 96,551 petitionswere received under the pro-gramme. About 70,574 peti-tions were disposed, FIRs reg-istered in 21,827 complaintsand only 4,150 petitions arepending.

AP DGP Gautam Sawangsaid that free reporting, freeregistration of FIRs, increasedtransparency and accountabil-ity and monitoring by the CMyielding good results in theSpandana system. He said thatpetitions were disposed swift-ly within seven days.

The road accident decreased16 per cent and 15,512 caseswere registered this year whencompared to 18,462 last year.The East Godavari, Prakasamand Kurnool topped in roadaccidents and Guntur urban,Rajahmundry urban andTirupati urban secured lastthree places.

The POCSO act cases regis-tered a 13 per cent increasewith 1,598 cases against 1,386cases of last year. The WestGodavari, Guntur rural andEast Godavari were in the topthree places andVisakhapatnam rural, Kadapaand Tirupati urban were in thelast three places in POCSOcases. As many as 211 govern-ment officials found involvedin excise and sand cases this

year in the state in total 162cases. About 32 cases related toexcise and sand were registeredin Kurnool district, followed by25 in Prakasam, 23 in WestGodavari, 19 in Krishna, 17 inGuntur urban, 11 each inAnantapur and Chittoor, 10 in

Visakhapatnam city, 9 each inVijayawada city, Srikakulamand Nellore, 8 inVisakhapatnam rural, sevenin Rajahmundry, six each inVizianagaram and Gunturrural, five in East Godavari andfour in Kadapa district.

211 govt officials booked inexcise, sand cases : DGP

Police nab prime accused inDharmavaram murder case

Cops prepare SOPs for handling online lending

Vasireddywants 'DirtyHari" postersremoved

32 cases related to excise and sand were

registered in Kurnool district, followed by

25 in Prakasam, 23 in WG, 19 in Krishna,

17 in Guntur urban, 11 each in Anantapur

and Chittoor, 10 in Vizag , 9 each in

Vijayawada city, Srikakulam and Nellore,

8 in Vizag rural, seven in Rajahmundry, six

each in Vizianagaram and Guntur rural,

five in EG and four in Kadapa district

AP Police onhigh alert toface Coronasecond wavePNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh DGPGautam Sawang said that thepolice department was onhigh alert in the wake of thesecond wave of Coronavirusdisease. Speaking to themedia person on Wednesday,he said that all precautionarymeasures are being taken bythe department in the state.He advised the people to bemore vigilant in the wake ofthe second wave.

Cops will book

cases against the

recovery agents of

the finance

companies for

harassing,

continuous calling

and blackmailing

the customers

After the victimreached thelocation, theaccused murderedher by choking her

THURSDAY | DECEMBER 24, 2020 nation 04

PTI n MUMBAI

Terming farmers as the coun-try's "spine", Shiv Sena MPSanjay Raut on Wednesdaysaid it is unfortunate that thecentral government is "ignor-ing" the plight of peasants.

Talking to reporters hereon the occasion of theNational Farmers' Day, Raut,without taking any names,alleged that attempts arebeing made to weaken culti-vators to benefit some indus-trialists. Amid the ongoingprotest by farmers at Delhi'sborder points against theCentre's three new farm laws,Raut urged the Union gov-ernment to shun ego and talkto the peasants.

He said the NationalFarmers' Day being observedon Wednesday is a "blackday" for cultivators. Farmersare the spine of our country,but attempts are being madeto weaken them to benefitsome industrialists," theRajya Sabha member alleged.

He claimed 12 farmers havedied so far during the ongo-ing protest. "Keep your egoaside and talk to farmers.This is a request with foldedhands," he appealed to theCentre.

Farmers are protesting onthe outskirts of Delhi andelsewhere, he noted.

"The government is notlooking at farmers' interests.It is unfortunate that thegovernment is ignoring theplight of farmers," the ShivSena's chief spokesmanalleged.The Centre wanted toimplement the new agri lawsfor the benefit of some indus-trialists, he further charged.

Farmers ‘spine' of country, but ignored: Raut

PTI n

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan onWednesday slammed the NDAgovernment at the Centre allegingthat they were protecting theinterests of corporates and notfarmers, and demandedwithdrawal of the threecontentious farm laws, againstwhich farmers are protesting nearDelhi. Averring that the ongoingfarmers' agitation was one of thefiercest and most iconic of suchprotests ever witnessed in thecountry, Vijayan said farmerswere the food-givers of thecountry and so their demand

should be seen as the generalinterest of the nation..Whileinaugurating a Left front-supported meeting at theMartyr'scolumn here to expresssolidarity with the agitatingfarmers, he also accused theunion government of taking backto back tormenting steps againstryots and attempting to quellthe protests by creatingcommunal division in the society.Vijayan came down heavily on thecontroversial farm lawsa day after Kerala Governor ArifMohammed Khan declinedapproval for a special assemblysession planned on Wednesdayby the Left governmentto discuss

and pass a resolutionagainst it. However, the Leftveteran, in his brief speech, didnot refer to the suspended specialassembly session or the widely

criticised act of Governor Khandenying approval for it. "The BJPgovernment at the Centre is notupholding the interest of farmers.They are giving importance to the

interest of corporates above all.The Centre should be ready toaccept the demands of farmers,"the Chief Minister said. Hepointed that if there was anyscarcity of food articles in thecountry, it would affect all states,including Kerala, and so thefarmers' agitation should not beseen as confined to any particulararea alone. "Our state is still notself-sufficient in many areas. So,if there is any shortage of foodarticles, the crisis would affect allstates including Kerala. As we arealso part of this country, thefarmers' issues will affect us also.That's why we have decided tosupport and be a part of the

agitation," he said. An array ofLeft Democratic Front leadersincluding CPI (M) state secretaryA Vijayaraghavan, CPI leaderPanyan Raveendran, JD (S)leader Mathew T Thomas, KeralaCongress (M) chief Jose K Mani,ministers E P Jayarajan, A KSaseendran, J Mercikutty Amma,V S Sunil Kumar and so on werepresent during the event.Khan's decision on Tuesday hadevoked a sharp response from thegovernment side with AgriculturalMinister V S Sunil Kumar callingit "undemocratic", while Congressleader Ramesh Chennithala said itwas unfortunate and against"democratic values".

Pinarayi expresses solidarity with farmers, attacks Centre

PTI n NEW DELHI

West Bengal CM MamataBanerjee on Wednesdayspoke to the farmerscamping at the nationalcapital's Singhu borderprotesting the Central farmlaws and assured them of hersupport in their stir, theTrinamool Congress said.This was second time in a monththat the TMC supremo had atelephonic interaction with theagitating farmers. Five TMC MPsmet the farmers at the Singhu

Border on Wednesday toshow solidarity with

them. "On MamataBanerjee's direction,a five-memberdelegation

comprising DerekO'Brien, Satabdi Roy,

Prasun Banerjee, PratimaMondal and Md Nadimul Haqueon behalf of the All India TMC, ismeeting and interacting withfarmers from who are on a relayhunger strike on the highway atthe Singhu Border to showsolidarity.

Mamata speaks to farmers atSinghu border, assures support

PTI n MUMBAI

Various activists arrested in theElgar Parishad-Maoist links' caseare observing a day-longhunger strike on Wednesday atTaloja jail in Maharashtra insupport of farmers who areprotesting against the Centre'snew farm laws. The activists, in ajoint statement on the occasionof the National Farmers' Day,said they are lodged in the jail inNavi Mumbai and cannotparticipate physically in thefarmers' agitation. Hence, theyare observing a day-longsymbolic hunger strike in thejail."The demands you (farmers)have raised are absolutely rightand just," they said in thestatement, conveyed through

advocate Nihalsingh Rathod. Theactivists currently behind bars inthe Elgar Parishad-Maoist links'case include Sudhir Dhawale,Surendra Gadling, AnandTeltumbde, Hany Babu, SagarGorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor,Mahesh Raut, Arun Ferreira,Vernon Gonsalves, Father StanSwamy, Gautam Navlakha andRona Wilson, Rathod said. Theactivists in their message saidthey had decided not to involveStan Swamy and Navlakha in theprotest, despite their insistence,due to their health issues.

Maha: Jailed activists on hungerstrike to back farmers' stir

PTI n AMBALA

Haryana Police has registered acase against 13 farmers onvarious charges including attemptto murder and rioting after agroup of peasants protestingagainst the Centre's new farmlaws had allegedly blocked andhurled sticks at Chief Minister ML Khattar's convoy. On Tuesday, agroup of protesting farmers hadshowed black flags to Khattarwhen his convoy was passingthrough Ambala City. Some of thefarmers had allegedly tried toblock Khattar's motorcade butpolice managed to provide a safepassage to the chief minister aftersome time. The case against thefarmers was registered late

Tuesday on the complaint ofsome security personnel. Policeon Wednesday said somefarmers tried to charge towardsthe convoy and blocked itsmovement for some time.They said some farmers alsoallegedly hurled sticks towardssome vehicles in the motorcade.Ambala City police registered acase against 13 farmers undervarious IPC sections including307 (attempt to murder) 147(rioting), 148 (rioting, armed withdeadly weapon), 149 (offence

committed by any member of anyunlawful assembly), 186(obstructing public servant indischarge of public functions)353 (assault or criminal force todeter public servant fromdischarge of his duty) and 506(punishment for criminalintimidation). Khattar was inAmbala on Tuesday to addresspublic meetings in support of theparty's mayoral and wardcandidates for the upcoming civicbodies polls. The farmers hadwaved black flags at the chiefminister's convoy while it wascrossing the Agrasen Chowk.They also raised slogans againstthe government and said theywould continue to protest till thethree farm laws are repealed.

PTI n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath onWednesday said the continu-ation of farmers' protestsdespite the government'sattempts to clear their appre-hensions on the new agri lawsshows cultivators are being"provoked and misled" by theOpposition.

"It is being said repeatedlysaid that the MinimumSupport Price (MSP) will notbe abolished but farmers arestill getting misled on this. Itis being said again and againthat the 'mandis' will not end.The prime minister has saidmandis are being connectedwith technology, but farmersare being misled on this aswell. What kind of politics isthis?" Adityanath said.

Addressing a programorganised on the 118th birthanniversary of former primeminister Chaudhary CharanSingh, the chief minister said,"In order to bring prosperity tofarmers, the government hasmade extensive reforms andbrought the new farm laws.But those who did not likeprogress and development ofthe country and happiness onthe face of the farmers are mis-leading and provoking them."

Taking a dig at theOpposition, he said, "These(opposition parties) will notallow things to be done in theinterest of farmers. The gov-ernment is working in a ded-icated way for the farmers andafter Independence, no gov-ernment at the Centre, exceptthe one led by the BJP, hasbrought so many schemes inthe interest of farmers."

The chief minister allegedthat people who do politics in

the name of farmers becomesilent on their issues whenthey come to power.

"In former PM ChaudharyCharan Singh's area, Ramalasugar mill was awaiting revivalfor the last 30 years. I thankthe Minister of Sugarcane,who arranged for the dailycrushing of 50,000 quintals ofsugarcane last year under theexpansion of the mill," hesaid.

Adityanath said the centraland state governments areworking with full commit-ment for the interests of farm-ers. "The government's com-mitment is clearly visible onevery occasion. In UP, about16.5 per cent of the country'spopulation lives, but due to thehard work of farmers, this statecontributes 21 per cent to thetotal food production of thecountry," he said.

He said, "We already havefour agricultural universities.Recently, a central agricultur-al university was inauguratedby PM Narendra Modi inJhansi. Presently, 89 KrishiVigyan Kendras are workingin the state with a resolve todouble the income of farmerswith the help of new conceptsand new techniques." Earlierin the day, the chief ministergarlanded a statue ofChaudhary Charan Singh andpaid tribute to him.

Opposition partiesmisleading farmers,says Adityanath

People who don’tlike developmentand happiness onthe face of thefarmers aremisleading them,says UP CM

PTI n JAMMU

The PAGD has got a clearmajority in six districts, fol-lowed by the BJP in five in themaiden DDC election inJammu and Kashmir but thealliance of seven mainstreamparties has got an edge over thesaffron party in six other dis-tricts as it is just short of oneor two seats for the majority.

Independent candidateshold sway in the rest of the twodistricts – Srinagar and Poonch– where they have won sevenseats each . An independentcandidate is also leading inanother seat in Poonch district,where the counting for one ofthe constituencies is still inprogress.

The People's Alliance forGupkar Declaration (PAGD),which among others includesregional heavyweights NationalConference and PDP, swept themaiden District DevelopmentCouncil (DDC) polls by win-ning 110 seats, while the BJPemerged as the single largestparty by getting 74 seats andthe maximum vote share inJammu and Kashmir.

The results of four con-stituencies - one each inBandipora and Kupwara dis-tricts of north Kashmir andPoonch and Rajouri districts inJammu region - are still await-ed.

The counting of votes for the280 DDC constituencies -- 14each in 20 districts -- started onTuesday morning after thepeaceful culmination of theeight-phase election fromNovember 28 to December19. This was the first democ-ratic exercise in Jammu and

Kashmir post abrogation ofArticle 370 and bifurcation ofthe erstwhile state into twounion territories last year.

Out of the 276 seats forwhich results have beendeclared by the J&K ElectionCommission so far, besidesPAGD and BJP, Independentcandidates have won 49;Congress 26; Apni Party 12;PDF and National PanthersParty (NPP) two each; and BSPone.

In the Kashmir Valley, thePAGD got full majority in

Kupwara (nine seats), Budgam(10), Pulwama (nine),Anantnag, Kulgam (12) andGanderbal (11) and is justshort of one seat from clearmajority in Baramulla, Shopianand Bandipora districts, whileSrinagar district is open as thePAGD and the Apni Partywon three seats each and theBJP one besides seven baggedby the Independents.

In Jammu division, the BJPhas got the majority in Kathuaand Samba (13 seats each),Jammu and Udhampur (11each) and Doda (eight), whileit has an edge in Reasi districtwhere it got seven seats againstthree by the PAGD, two ApniParty, one Congress and oneIndependent.

The PAGD has emerged as

the largest party in Rambanand Kishtwar in Chenab valleyregion by winning six seatseach besides securing samenumber of seats in Rajouri dis-trict in Pir Panchal range, allfalling in Jammu division.

The Congress, which haswon seats in all the districtswhere PAGD is short of themajority, can play a major rolein the formation of the DDCs.The national party was initial-ly a part of the PAGD but dis-tanced itself from the allianceas the BJP targeted the oppo-sition party for being in leaguewith the "Gupkar Gang".

Although the Congress wentalone in the last seven phases,it is widely believed that itsunderstanding with the PAGDremains intact.

DDC polls: PAGD gets majority in 6 districts PAGD has got a clear majority in sixdistricts, followed by the BJP in five inthe maiden DDC election in J&K butthe alliance of 7 mainstream partieshas got an edge over the saffron partyin six other districts as it is just shortof one or two seats for the majority.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Army chief Gen MMNaravane on Wednesday vis-ited various high-altitude for-ward areas in eastern Ladakhand reviewed India's overallmilitary preparedness as thetense border standoff withChina in the region prolongedfor over seven months, theArmy and official sources said.

The Army said GenNaravane visited the forwardareas including Rechin La and

undertook a first-hand assess-ment of the situation along theLine of Actual Control(LAC)in Ladakh. Nearly 50,000troops of the Indian Army aredeployed in a high state ofcombat readiness in variousmountainous locations in east-ern Ladakh in sub-zero tem-peratures. China has alsodeployed an equal number oftroops, according to officials.

Lt Gen PGK Menon, thecommander of the Leh-based14 Corps, popularly known as

'Fire and Fury' Corps, briefedthe Army chief on variousaspects of the situation in east-ern Ladakh.

Sources said Gen Naravanereached Ladakh at 8:30 am ona day-long visit with an aim toreview the ground situation inthe region. "General MMNaravane #COAS visited for-ward areas of #FireandFuryCorps including Rechin Laand undertook a first-handassessment of the situationalong the LAC.

Naravane reviews situationin Ladakh amid standoff

PTI n CONTAI (WB)

Several persons were injuredin a clash between TrinamoolCongress and BJP activists atRamnagar in West BengalWednesday ahead of TMC'srally in Contai, the strong-hold of Suvendu Adhikariwho joined the saffron partyrecently.

Police said the clash brokeout when a procession by BJPactivists was passing near aTMC party office onRamnagar Road in PurbaMedinipur district.

Several persons wereinjured in the clash, whichtook place when one groupattacked another and thesubsequent retaliation, policesaid. Police brought the situ-ation under control and TMCand BJP traded charges onthe clash.

BJP alleged that TMCactivists attacked its partyworkers without any provo-cation when they were mov-ing in a procession.

Several injuredin BJP-TMCclash

PTI n LUCKNOW,

Uttar Pradesh government hasmade online provision fornew colleges to secure univer-sity affiliation and for existingcolleges to get no-objection-certificates for starting newcourses.

The online provision hasbeen implemented to bringmore transparency, DeputyChief Minister DineshSharma, who also holds theHigher Education Departmentportfolio, said on Wednesday.

"For existing colleges to takeNOC to start new courses andfor the new colleges to secureuniversity affiliation, theprocess has been made online,”Sharma said in a statement.

“The affiliations will only begiven online from the acade-mic session 2021-22," headded.

Sharma said till now theNOC and related proposalswere disposed of through

offline processes. Sharma said the process of

obtaining the NOC for theestablishment of minority edu-cational institution too hasbeen simplified and madeonline.

"Now the application can bemade online to the concerneduniversity along with all thenecessary documents and theconcerned university will issuethe NOC after that," he said.

Additional Chief Secretary,Higher EducationDepartment, Monica Gargsaid a time table has been setfor online disposal of NOCand affiliation proposals.

New colleges in UPcan get affiliation online

PTI n PANAJI

Maharashtrawadi GomantakParty (MGP) presidentDeepak Dhavalikar onWednesday ruled out apre-poll alliance with the BJPfor the 2022 Goa legislativeAssembly elections.

Addressing a press confer-ence, Dhavalikar said the

party is open to a pre-pollalliance with other like-mind-ed opposition parties in thestate.

"The MGP has decided toadopt the policy of 'ekla chalore'. But if time comes, we mayhave a pre-poll alliance withother like-minded oppositionparties, but not with the BJP,"the MGP chief said.

The party has decided tofight the upcoming Assemblypolls with its full might, hesaid. Dhavalikar alleged thatsome leaders in the BJP andothers, who are opposed to theMGP, were trying to show thatthe party has split.

MGP rules out truck with BJP PTI n MUMBAI

Shiv Sena MLA PratapSarnaik's son VihangSarnaik appearedbefore the ED here onWednesday for ques-tioning in an allegedmoney launderingcase. This is the sec-ond time that theMLA's son is appearingbefore the probe agency.Vihang Sarnaik reached theED's office at Ballard Estate insouth Mumbai around 12noon. Earlier, his father wasquestioned by the ED on

December 10.On November 24, the

ED launchedsearches at ten

properties of Pratap Sarnaik,Tops Groupand its pro-moter RahulNanda and a

few others inMumbai and

n e i g h b o u r i n gThane. After the

searches, the ED officials hadpicked up Vihang Sarnaik fromhis residence and questionedhim. The agency last month

arrested Amit Chandole, analleged associate of PratapSarnaik, and Tops GroupManaging Director MShashidharan under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act. The caserelates to a complaint lodgedby Ramesh Iyyer, a formeremployee of Tops Group.

Iyyer alleged that in 2014,under a contract with theMumbai Metropolitan RegionDevelopment Authority forsupply of 350 to 500 securityguards, the security firm pro-vided only 70 per cent of theagreed number.

Sena MLA’s son appears before ED

13 farmers booked for blocking CM’s convoy

THURSDAY | DECEMBER 24, 2020 nation 05

The Gujarat High Court hasdischarged NCP MLAKandhal Jadeja in a criminal

case registered against himunder the Arms Act in 1998. Inan order issued on Monday,Justice Vipul Pancholi allowedthe discharge plea of Jadeja,after his lawyer argued there was no evidence against him and thestatement made by the co-accused was not admissible before law.Jadeja is an MLA from Kutiyana in Porbandar district. The case waslodged against Jadeja in Porbandar after he was allegedly caughtwith weapons in 1998. The HC had earlier stayed framing of chargesagainst him in a local court. Jadeja moved the HC in 2015 after thelower court rejected his plea to discharge him in the case. Jadeja,the only NCP MLA in Gujarat, has several criminal cases registeredagainst him, including of rioting armed with deadly weapons,voluntarily causing hurt, unlawful assembly, inpolice stations inPorbandar, Rajkot and Ahmedabad, as per his poll affidavit.

INDIA CORNER

Gujarat HC discharges NCP MLAKandhal Jadeja in Arms Act case

Cold conditions prevailedin Haryana and Punjabon Wednesday, with

places like Hisar, Adampurand Ludhiana reeling underintense chill. According to theMeteorological Departmentofficials here, the minimumtemperature hovered belownormal limits. Hisar inHaryana braved the chill recording a low of 2.7 degrees Celsiuswhile Adampur and Ludhiana in Punjab also reeled under biting coldrecording respective minimums of 2.5 degrees Celsius and 2.8degrees Celsius.

Cold weather conditions persist in Haryana, Punjab

Cold conditionintensified in Kashmirwith most parts of the

valley witnessing a dip intheir minimumtemperatures onWednesday. The weatherhas remained dry and coldacross Kashmir since itsnowed on December 12,with the night temperaturestaying several degrees below the freezing point, a meteorologicaldepartment official said. The weather department has forecast thatthe cold and dry weather would continue till Christmas Day. TheValley continued to reel under sub-zero night temperatures onWednesday as well, even though there was a slight improvement inthe mercury at most places.

Cold wave intensifies in Kashmir,dry weather to continue till X-mas

The head of Khandrawlivillage in neighbouringShamli district has

been arrested inconnection with a clash inwhich two men were shotdead and another wasinjured last week, policesaid Wednesday. A casehas been registered againstvillage head Sompal, histwo sons and his supporters, Station House Officer of the Kandhlapolice station Rozan Tyagi said.

Village head held over clash inUttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar

PNS n NEW DELHI

Delhi Health MinisterSatyendar Jain on Wednesdaysaid people who have arrivedhere from the UK are being rig-orously traced and tested forany COVID-19-like symptoms.

He asserted that the coron-avirus situation in the city isunder control with the positiv-ity rate plummeting to belowone per cent.

Interacting with reporters,Jain said the suspension offlights to and from the UnitedKingdom was a prompt moveby the Centre and will help incontaining the spread of thenew coronavirus strain detect-ed in that country.

"We are alert and watchful atour end. People who havearrived here from the UK in thelast several days are being rig-orously traced and tested forslightest of COVID-like symp-toms," Jain said.

"A team has been made andhouse-to-house tracing is beingdone... they (UK returnees) arebeing advised self-isolationtoo," he added.

Delhi has fought difficultbattles with COVID-19 and allefforts will be made to ensurethat the gains made in themanagement of the pandemicare "not reversed" due to thenew situation in the UK, Jainhad said on Tuesday.

"Delhi situation is undercontrol as of now with less than1,000 cases being reported forthe third successive day... thepositivity rate has dropped toless than one per cent which isthe lowest in the last eightmonths. We will do every-thing to keep this situationunder control," he said.

Asked about the newCOVID-19 strain threat andthe Delhi government's pre-paredness to combat it, Jainsaid, "Only ICMR and scien-tists can give us insight into this

new strain. They say it's morecontagious and some scientistsconjecture the coronavirusstrain in circulation in Indiamay have already reached thenew mutative state".

"The coronavirus mutateswith time and the best shieldfrom any strain is to wearmasks and observe safetynorms," he added.

He reiterated that the Delhigovernment has made storageand logistics preparations andtrained staff too as it awaits thearrival of a COVID-19 vaccine.

On Centre contemplating

to not vaccinate childrenagainst COVID-19 at this stage,Jain said, "The idea is to elim-inate the virus and the vulner-able sections are being pre-ferred first."

"So, the healthcare workers,frontline workers, people above50 years and those below 50years with serious ailments arethe first ones who will get thevaccine," he said.

Sources on Tuesday had saidthat an institutional quarantinefacility was being set up at theLNJP Hospital for passengersfound positive at Delhi airport,amid mounting concern overthe new strain of the virus.

The Civil Aviation Ministryon Monday had said all flightsfrom the UK to India and viceversa will remain suspendedfrom Wednesday to December

31 in view of the emergence ofa mutated variant of the coro-navirus there.

Six passengers travellingon Air India's London-Delhi flight tested positive

for COVID-19 on arrival, asenior government officialhad said on Tuesday.

K’taka imposes night curfew from Dec 23 till Jan 2Bengaluru: Karnataka ChiefMinister B S Yediyurappa onWednesday said the stategovernment has decidedto impose night curfew fromDecember 23 night till January 2across the state aimed atcontaining the new COVID-19strain. The Chief Minister madethe announcement following ameeting with Health Minister KSudhakar, members of the state

TAC for COVID-19 and seniorofficials. Addressing reporters, hesaid, "In view of the new strainof the COVID-19 virus and as perthe advice of the Governmentof India and Technical AdvisoryCommittee, it is decided toimpose night curfew from todaytill January 2, 2021 between 10pm and 6 am." "It will beapplicable for the entire state.. Irequest all public to cooperate to

prevent and contain the newCOVID- 19 strain." Earlier in theday Sudhakar had held a detaileddiscussion with the TAC membersconsisting of senior health expertsin the state. NeighboringMaharashtra on Monday haddeclared a night curfew inmunicipal corporation areas as aprecautionary step amid growingconcerns over a new coronavirusvariant spreading in Britain.

COVID-19: Total tests in India nearing 16.5 croreNew Delhi: India's total testsconducted for detection ofCOVID-19 are nearing 16.5 crore,the Union Health ministry said onWednesday highlighting that anaverage of more than 10 lakhtests conducted daily has ensuredthat the cumulative positivity rateis sustained at low levels.The share of COVID-19 activecases in the total infections hasfurther shrunk to 2.86 per centwith 26 states and UTs havingless than 10,000 active cases, theministry said. India's tests permillion population (TPM) are

1,19,035. Twenty-three states andUTs have better tests per millionthan the national average, theministry said.Sixteen states and UTs haveweekly positivity rate less than thenational average.Fifteen states and UTs havecumulative positivity rate lessthan the national average, theministry said. The ongoing trendof contraction of India's totalactive cases continues, theministry said adding the activecaseload of the country stands at2,89,240 as on date. "The daily

recoveries exceeding the dailynew cases have ensured a totalnet reduction of the activecaseload," the ministry underlined.While 23,950 persons were foundpositive in a span of 24 hours,India has registered 26,895 newrecoveries during the sameperiod. A net decline of 3,278cases has been recorded in thetotal active cases in a span of 24hours, it said. Keeping in linewith its commitment to conductmore than one million tests everyday, 10,98,164 samples weretested in a day.

MAHA AUTHORISESCOLLECTORS TOCLAMP NIGHTCURFEWMumbai: The Maharashtragovernment on Wednesdaywidened the scope of thenight curfew, which wasimposed in municipal limitson Tuesday amid growingconcerns over the emergenceof a new coronavirus strain inUK, authorising collectors toissue similar orders, subjectto approval of chief secretary. As a precautionary step amidgrowing concerns over themutated COVID-19 variant,the state government clampeda curfew from 11 PM to 6 AMin the limits of 27 municipalcorporations, includingMumbai, from December 22to January 5. "District collectorsareauthorised to impose a nightcurfew in their jurisdictionsubject to approval from thestate chief secretary," thestate government said in anorder issued on Wednesday.

Maha task forcehead doubts virusvaccine potentialMumbai: In the wake of a newcoronavirus strain detected in theUK, Maharashtra COVID-19 taskforce head Dr Sanjay Oak onWednesday said vaccinescurrently available in somecountries may not be 100 percent effective against the newvariant. Talking to reporters here,Oak also said mass gatheringswere acting as COVID-19 super-spreaders and should beavoided. The vaccines which arein approval stage or have beenapproved in some countries weredeveloped on the earlier strainsof coronavirus, he said. "Even aminor change in the mutatedCOVID-19 strain could challengethe efficacy of the vaccineswhich are recently developed,"Oak said. The outer layer of thevirus has spikes which look like acorona, hence the virus is calledas coronavirus.

TN allows Jallikattu,says events mustfollow Covid norms

Chennai:'Jallikattu,' the popularbull taming sport in Tamil Nadu,could be held next month byfollowing the guidelines imposedin view of the COVID-19pandemic, the government saidon Wednesday. A maximum of 300 participantswould only be allowed forJallikattu and 150 for 'ErudhuVidum Nigazhchi', another varietyof the sport. Spectators shall besubjected to thermal scanningbefore entry into the open spacesearmarked for the events andthey must follow requisite socialdistancing and wear masks, thegovernment said in an officialrelease.

SC keeps wheels turning; paved way for hanging in Nirbhaya casePNS n NEW DELHI

Wide-ranging directionspassed in the “world war”against COVID-19 to alleviatethe plight of citizens and keep-ing the wheels of judiciaryturning by delivering severalkey verdicts, including the onewhich led to the hanging offour convicts in the sensation-al Nirbhaya gang rape andmurder case, were the keyimprints left by the SupremeCourt in 2020.

All the odds notwithstand-ing, the apex court kept deliv-ering verdicts having far-reach-ing impact, including theorders passed in matters relat-ed to anti-CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA)protest at Shaheen Bagh, to thelatest order on farmers' agita-tion against new farm laws atDelhi's borders.

Besides, it took a giant leaptowards gender justice bygranting permanent commis-sion for women officers in the

armed forces.The year also saw the top

court face strong criticism onvarious counts even as it upheldfree speech and expression forthe citizens.

As the country came to astandstill amid the coron-avirus-induced lockdown, theapex court not only swiftlyevolved a system and switchedto video conferencing and e-fil-ing instead of physical hearingsbut also showed the way toother courts across India toensure that citizens continue tohave uninterrupted access tojustice.

While it held in the ShaheenBagh case that public spacescannot be occupied indefinite-ly and demonstrations have tobe in designated places alone,it said that farmers' agitationshould be allowed to continue“without impediment” asprotest is a fundamental right.

The top court stood firmlywith the cherished freedom ofspeech and expressions for cit-

izens, especially the media, bygranting protection to scribeslike Vinod Dua, ArnabGoswami and Amish Devganand famously observed:“India'a freedom will rest safeas long as journalists can speakto power without being chilledby a threat of reprisal.”

The apex court, whichrefused to stay the operation ofCAA without hearing theCentre, said that a five-judgeConstitution bench would

decide its validity. Similarly, ithas sought response of theCentre on a batch of pleasagainst the new farm laws.

The year also witnessedunprecedented controversywhen Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy made allegations againstJustice N V Ramana, who is inline to become the next ChiefJustice of India, in a letter toincumbent CJI S A Bobde.

Later, while speaking at a

condolence meet for formertop court judge ARLakshmanan, Justice Ramanasaid greatest strength of judi-ciary is the faith of people in itand judges must be “steadfastin holding on to their princi-ples” and “fearless in theirdecisions” to withstand allpressures and odds.

In 2020, the top court faceda barrage of criticism overallegations of not acting swift-ly towards the plight of lakhs ofmigrant workers, who startedreturning to their native placesfrom big cities with their fam-ilies trudging hundreds ofmiles due to the sudden nation-wide lockdown.

It took cognisance of sever-al COVID-19 related issues,including on migrant workersin which it passed a slew of dir-ections to ensure that theyreach home safely and are pro-vided with food and shelter,and also on providing treat-ment as well as dignified han-dling of dead bodies in hospi-

tals.“Due to unprecedented pan-

demic, everybody in the worldis suffering, one way or theother. It is a world war againstCOVID-19. Therefore, thereshall be government publicpartnership to avoid worldwar against COVID-19,” theapex court said.

The country's wait for justicein the 2012 Nirbhaya case wasover when the four convictswere hanged on March 20after the apex court, during anunprecedented pre-dawn hear-ing at 2.30 AM, dismissed theplea filed by one of the convictschallenging rejection of hissecond mercy petition by thePresident.

Contempt cases in theapex court hogged the lime-light during the year but thematter which caught theattention was the convictionof activist-lawyer PrashantBhushan for criminal con-tempt for his two tweetsagainst the judiciary.

PIL in SC seeks fair,peaceful Assemblypolls in West BengalPNS n NEW DELHI

A PIL has been filed onWednesday in the SupremeCourt seeking directions to theCentre, the West Bengal gov-ernment and the ElectionCommission to ensure "free,peaceful, safe and fair" assem-bly polls scheduled next yearin the state.

The plea has sought sever-al reliefs including a directionto CBI to probe allegedkillings of political activistsand adversaries of ruling AllIndia Trinamool CongressParty in the state.

The public interest litiga-tion (PIL) h a smade Union Ministry ofHome Affairs, West Bengalgovernment, the Election

Commission, the state pollpanel, the Director General ofPolice and CBI as parties.

"The petitioner is seekingindulgence of this court as thecontinuous violation of fun-damental rights, statutoryrights and human rights inthe state of West Bengal hasreached its zenith and thestate government and itspolice machinery is involvedin such violations.

"No steps to prevent suchviolation of fundamental,statutory and human rights isbeing taken by the state gov-ernment rather it is the stategovernment and its machin-ery which is responsible forsuch brutal violation of rightsin the State of West Bengal,"the plea said.

Independents emerge as keyplayer in Kashmir’s DDC pollsPNS n NEW DELHI

Independent candidates haveemerged as big winners inJammu and Kashmir's maidenDistrict Development Councilpolls, with 49 of them havingbeen declared elected so farfrom 280 seats, putting themahead of parties like theCongress and the PDP.

Among the big Independentwins is Taranjit Singh defeat-ing BJP's two-time MLA andformer minister Sham LalChoudhary in Suchetgarh inJammu region by a slendermargin of 11 votes.

Though the BJP maintainedits supremacy by emerging asthe single largest party with 74seats and is leading in anoth-er seat, the defeat of its stal-warts Choudhary and anoth-er former minister Shakti RajParihar, who lost from twoconstituencies in Doda district,has come as a shock for it.

Choudhary lost to Singh bya razor-thin margin. Singhpolled 12,969 votes againstChoudhary's 12958, accordingto the results declared by theJ&K Election Commissioner inthe early hours of Wednesday.

Choudhary, who original-

ly hailed from Bhimber Tehsilin Pakistan-occupied Kashmirbefore his family migrated toborder village Chakroi in R SPura sector, had wonSuchetgarh assembly seat forthe first time in 2008 andrepeated the performance forthe party in 2014.

Singh expressed grati-tude to his voters and saidt h e vot e for h i m w a s"against the farm lawsimposed by the BJP govern-ment on the farmers of thecountry against their will".

"The BJP went for aggres-sive campaigning bringingunion ministers, chief min-isters and national leadersto divert the attention ofthe voters from the realissues facing the public,"Singh, who finally prevailedafter a neck-to-neck fightwith the BJP leader, said.

Incidentally, this was thesmallest margin win by anycandidate in Jammu region,though an independent candi-date won by just three votesagainst his NationalConference rival in theKashmir Valley, where manywinners succeeded by smallmargins due to the low voter

turnout recorded by variousconstituencies. The indepen-dent candidates have won atotal of 49 seats and one moreis leading in another seat inPoonch district.

Another major defeat forthe BJP was Parihar losing tohis NC rival Asim Hashmifrom Gundana segment andCongress opponent fromMarmat seat MushtaqAhmad, both falling in Dodadistrict, as the day-longcounting witnessed a see-sawbattle between him and hisopponents.

Former MLA ShahMohammad Tantray, who hadresigned from the PDP earlythis year, was defeated byindependent candidate RiyaazChoudhary, who polled 3,829votes against 2,898 by him inLoran constituency of Poonchdistrict. Independent candi-date Avtar Singh was theluckiest among the contes-tants as he won by just threevotes. Avtar Singh polled246 votes against 243 by hisNC rival Ali MohammadBhat to become the winnerfrom Dadsara constituencyin Pulwama distr ic t ofsouth Kashmir.

‘Ayodhya mosqueagainst Waqf Act’PNS n AYODHYA

All India Muslim PersonalLaw Board (AIMPLB) mem-ber Zafaryab Jilani said onWednesday the mosque whichis planned to come up inAyodhya following last year'sSupreme Court verdict isagainst the Waqf Act and "ille-gal" under the Shariat laws.

Athar Hussain, the secretaryof a trust formed to build themosque in Ayodhya, however,said everyone interprets theShariat in their own way andwhen the land has been allot-ted under the directive of theSupreme Court, it cannot beillegal.

The blueprint of themosque and a hospital to bebuilt on a five-acre land inAyodhya's Dhannipur villagewas unveiled on Saturday atthe Indo-Islamic CulturalFoundation (IICF) office inLucknow.

The IICF has been formedby the Uttar Pradesh StateSunni Central Waqf Board toconstruct the mosque andother utilities on the plot.

"According to the Waqf Act,mosques or land of mosquescannot be bartered. The pro-

posed mosque in Ayodhyaviolates the Act. It violates theShariat law as the Waqf Act isbased on the Shariat," saidJilani, who was also the con-venor of the Babri MasjidAction Committee.

Another executive mem-ber of AIMPLB SQR Ilyas said,"We have rejected the propos-al to accept land for themosque at any other place. Welost the title suit and so wedon't need a land for amosque."

He alleged that the SunniCentral Waqf Board wasworking under the pressure ofthe government. "TheMuslims have, however, reject-ed this land at Dhannipurgiven in compensation. Themosque being built by thetrust constituted by the SunniCentral Waqf Board is just asymbolic one."

Regular classesfor SSLC, PUCwill resumefrom January 1 PNS n BENGALURU

The Karnataka governmenton Wednesday said regularclasses for grade 10 and sec-ond year PUC in the statewould resume from January1, as announced earlier.

The government's asser-tion came amid concernsover the coronavirus pan-demic even as a new varianthas been detected in the UK.

The state government hasannounced regular classesfor Class 10, second pre-uni-versity and Vidyagama pro-gramme for governmentschool students from class sixto nine from January 1.

Vidyagama scheme isaimed at taking school edu-cation to the door steps ofstudents in rural areas whocannot afford to attend onlineclasses due to various reasons.

Karnataka Primary andSecondary EducationMinister S Suresh Kumarsaid holding regular classeswas not a matter of prestigefor him but an obligation ofhis department to ensurethat everyone gets educa-tion.

Itanagar Zoo reopensPNS n ITANAGAR

The Biological Park Itanagar,popularly known as ItanagarZoo, reopened for public onWednesday, after remainingclosed for nine months due tothe COVID-19 pandemic, anofficial said.

The zoo was closed forpublic visit on March 21 Zoo'sCurator Raya Flago said visi-tors and staff of the biologicalpark would have to adhere tothe latest COVID- 19 proto-cols issued by the Ministry ofHome Affairs and the CentralZoo Authority. He said till

noon around 20 people havevisited the zoo.

The dos and donts say fivegroups of up to 20 visitors eachwould be allowed in a day andall staff and visitors shall bescreened at the zoo entry gatewith a thermal scanner.

Masks are a must for everyvisitor inside the zoo from thetime of entry to the exit,Flago said. "The visitorsallowed to enter the zooshould not have cough, coldor fever. People with suchsymptoms shall not beallowedentry even if they hold a validentry ticket," he said.

People from UK being rigorously traced;situation under control: Satyendar Jain

Half a century ago,Pakistan’s darkest daywas the surrender of93,000 Pakistanis in

Dhaka on December 16, 1971.Nearly 81,000 prisoners of war(POWs) were from the Pakistaniarmed forces (with some Bengalisoldiers who had chosen to remainwith the Pakistan Army) apart from12,000-odd civilians, including col-laborators. And though everyoneassociates the fall of Dacca (asDhaka was then known) to thenArmy chief General Sam (SHFJ)Manekshaw, who had no doubt alarger than life presence in SouthBlock, a closer reading of one of thefew accounts of how it all happened— since official records in Calcuttawere shredded at Gen Jagjit SinghAurora’s orders — shows that cred-it must instead go to (then) MajGen JFR Jacob along with Maj GenInder Gill, who was then theDirector of Military Operations(there was no DGMO then), andLt Gen Sagat Singh, who was com-manding IV Corps in Tezpur. MajGen JFR Jacob was the Chief ofStaff of India’s Eastern ArmyCommand and was thus involvedin planning and meticulous imple-mentation of the operations in EastPakistan, which is detailed in hisautobiography, An Odyssey in Warand Peace.

Millions of refugees floodedacross eastern India in 1971 into theStates surrounding East Pakistan(now Bangladesh) after Pakistan’sruthless military clampdown there,which was ordered by Pakistan’sdictator Yahya Khan following apent-up demand for their rightsafter election results gave Bengalileader Sheikh Mujib a clear victo-ry. It led to all their Chief Ministersinsisting that India must do some-thing to avert this humanitarian cri-sis. Indira Gandhi summoned thethen Army chief Gen SamManekshaw for a meeting with her‘kitchen Cabinet’. She wanted theGeneral to go to war and liberateenough territory in East Pakistan,so that the refugees could be sentback. However, Gen Manekshawhad apparently cautioned againsthaste since many factors wereinvolved. They were then into thesummer of 1971 and the harvest-ed grain needed to be movedacross the country. The trains androad transport could either ferry thegrain or the troops to battle. Andthen monsoons would follow,which could hamper the movementof military units, especially in theriverine terrain of Bangladesh.

Indira, heeding the military’sadvice, decided to let the armed

forces do what they are best at,to fight a war and win it. GenManekshaw apparentlypromised her that given thetime, he could help her “makehistory and even geography”, asI recall him saying at the firstInfantry lecture at VigyanBhawan in October 1994. Evenas the armed forces began to pre-pare for what truly became a his-toric victory, Indira took up thejob of winning the world’s sup-port for India’s humanitarian ini-tiative. By August 1971, NewDelhi had signed the Indo-Soviet treaty of Peace, Friendshipand Cooperation with Moscow.Not only was it a significantdeparture from the Nehruvianobsession with non-alignment, itwas Russia’s support at the manysessions in the United Nationsthat stalled resolutions at the ini-tiative of Washington to helpPakistan when Indian troopsrolled down the plains of EastPakistan. But Jacob dismisses thisstory that Gen Manekshaw hadoften told — and which I toohave heard the late Field Marshalnarrate in 1994 — about how hestood up to Indira’s demands togo to war in March 1971. Thewar officially started onDecember 3 though militaryoperations along the borders ofEast Pakistan had started in thelast week of November.

Apparently, India — fearinga UN ceasefire — was in a hurryto establish a free BangladeshiGovernment in the port townsof Khulna and Chittagong. Butas the operations unfolded andgathered momentum, Jacobwent ahead with a plan to cap-ture Dacca. This was done bydoing what Pakistan’s Generalshadn’t expected India to do. As

the Pakistani army had fortifiedits garrison towns, some fiercebattles were fought around themwhile there was a simultaneousdrive to get to Dacca. A simpletactical lesson that is taught toevery officer in the Army is neverto re-enforce a failure and, there-fore, the areas of resistance werebypassed. The Pakistani militarydictator, the often drunk GeneralYahya Khan, was however con-fident that three factors would-n’t allow any worthwhile successto the Indian armed forces inEast Pakistan. First, his well-armed military machine in WestPakistan would be enough tothreaten India’s strategic States ofPunjab and J&K. Two, a Chinesemilitary buildup along theHimalayas would tie downenough of the Indian Army.These two factors would beenough to deter India from anyserious military adventurism in East Pakistan. And finally, hewas banking on the US to inter-vene militarily if India’s opera-tions became difficult forPakistan to contain.

But more forces were need-ed than Manekshaw was willingto release to implement an effec-tive blitzkrieg towards Dacca. AsGen Manekshaw believed thatthe Chinese could spoil theparty, he refused to release addi-tional troops from the Sino-Indian border until much later.However, as there were no intel-ligence intercepts to backManekshaw’s claim, Jacob man-aged to get troops from theHimalayan formations moved —without Manekshaw’s knowl-edge — but with help from MajGen Gill. Apparently whenManekshaw did learn of this, hegave Gill a dressing down but by

then things were moving so fastthat the focus shifted to Dacca asthe time was limited, with the USpushing the UN for a ceasefire.If that had happened, all the mil-itary gains would have been lit-erally back to square one. TheIndian Army, ably assisted by theIndian Air Force, raced to Dacca.The IAF literally bombed thedaylights out of the Pakistani AirForce. Soon the skies were clearof any Pakistani fighters: They laywrecked on their airfields. Andthen a heli-borne operation —the first of its kind sinceIndependence — put troopsacross the vast Meghna river andmany other rivers that had untilthen given Dacca a naturaldefence. This was followed by thefirst ever airborne drop of Indianparatroopers. By December 15,the Indian troops had surround-ed Dacca.

During this lull in the battle,Maj Gen Jacob received a callfrom Gen Manekshaw, who said:“Jake, go and get a surrender.” Hethen proceeded to Dacca tomeet Lt Gen AAK Niazi, MC,the overall military commanderin East Pakistan. Jacob salutedhim, and asked him if he waswilling to offer an uncondition-al surrender. A pompous GenNiazi, enjoying an afternoon ofbeer and lunch — with all the sil-ver laid out in their officers’ mess— dismissed the propositionwith a wave of his hand, saying:“Who said I am surrendering?You have come to discuss only aceasefire and withdrawal as pro-posed by me.” He was apparent-ly still hopeful that a ceasefireordered by the UN could savehim and his army a humiliation.But Gen Jacob was adamant andtold him that he had 30 minutes

and then he’d ask him thrice. IfNiazi still didn’t respond, hecouldn’t guarantee the safety ofPakistani families (as the Bengalirebels were waiting to lynchthem all). Moreover, he’d ask forthe resumption of bombings onDacca. Then Jacob — unarmedand thus a little worried — wentfor a stroll and to smoke his pipe,giving Niazi time to ponderover the options.

Gen Jacob met Gen Niaziafter 30 minutes and asked himthrice if he accepted the surren-der document (even though thedocument’s draft was still unap-proved by New Delhi!). Butsince Niazi refused to respond,Maj Gen Jacob picked up thedocument and held it up to say:“I take it as accepted.” Tears rolleddown Gen Niazi’s cheek and hehung his head in shame. OtherPakistanis glared at him in dis-belief. Gen Jacob got up andasked Niazi to move for the sur-render, which was done at theDacca Race Course on a hastilyarranged table and two chairs —as the crowds were shouting anti-Pakistan slogans — a tearfulNiazi removed his badges of rankand handed his pistol to GenAurora before being whiskedaway by India’s senior officers. Heneeded to be kept alive to tell theworld that he wasn’t mutilated tosurrender, but did so — for theworld to see — at the Daccaparade ground. This wasachieved when there were 26,400Pakistani soldiers in Dacca andonly 3,000 Indian soldiers near-by. Niazi later admitted thatJacob had “blackmailed me intosurrendering”.

(The writer is a strategicaffairs analyst. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

With the Delhi Government putting nurseryadmissions on hold, will a cascading effectof other States also shutting down pre-schools

and admissions begin? That is the anxiety and fearthat many parents of younger children are currentlyexperiencing. ‘Work From Home’ is not a reality foreverybody, even some white-collar workers. Not everyfamily either has family support or the assistance ofdomestic help to manage children, and that is justamong India’s elite. Those less fortunate finally findthemselves having to traverse a growing chasm thatis the digital divide. Sure, the access to cheap over-the-air data has ensured that many do not get left

behind and further auctions of spectrum for higher-speed 5G services will definitelyhelp but without access to proper devices and with families too financially stressedto pay school fees, the risk of millions of children falling behind the curve looms largein India. In many rural schools, indeed in areas barely 25 kilometres outside Delhi,schools are still shut and ‘School From Home’ is not an option available to those par-ents. West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee has already announced thatthe Board examinations for Classes 10 and 12 will be held in June, unlike the usualschedule as per which these exams are held between February and March every year.The thought of another lost year for these children and their parents is truly terrifyingand one that the Central and State Governments must work overtime to redress. Becausethe problems will really come home to roost in two decades’ time when a whole gen-eration of children with partial education and poor social skills will join the workforce.

Sure, the best minds in the Government are working on how to deploy various vac-cines to 1.3 billion people in a reasonable amount of time as they start rolling off theline. Hopefully, by the end of 2021 a significant number of Indians would have beeninoculated against the COVID-19 pandemic. Other minds in North Block are working onhow to jumpstart economic growth that has been chewed away by the virus. But weshould start putting our best and brightest minds towards resolving the education issuebecause it will be the single biggest long-term impact of the Coronavirus, particularlyin a nation where a large proportion of our population is still poor. We are often told thatIndia is a country full of youth and that our young population will drive the nation’s eco-nomic growth. That can only happen if this young population is educated and capableof gainful economic contributions; else India can be deemed to be sitting on a time bombwith its uneducated demographic milieu. And this is something that all political partieshave to work on together because this has the potential to destroy our nation.

Yes, democracy has won in Jammu andKashmir. The massive win for the FarooqAbdullah-led Gupkar Alliance in the local body

elections is vindication that traditional leaders are stillthe people’s choice though the Narendra ModiGovernment had not spared any effort to demonisethem as anti-nationals, separatists even, and asmanipulators who smartly leverage the Indo-Pakistan dynamic. It even incarcerated them, know-ing fully well that they would stand in the way of theabrogation of Article 370. That they won a mammothvictory in the District Development Council (DDC)

polls, winning over 100 seats despite the many limitations on campaigning comingtheir way, proves that old leaders, though out of sight for a greater part of the shut-down, are not out of people’s mind. And for all the toxic tirade against them, localvoters still trust them enough to be their fair representative despite the defanged sta-tus of Kashmir. So Article 370 or not, there’s no dislodging whom the Kashmiriswant to lead them. The seven-party alliance, which includes Abdullah’s NationalConference (NC) and Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has defiedthe script and won 45 seats in Jammu, pocketing the sensitive border districts ofPoonch and Rajouri besides Kishtwar and Ramban. Clearly, this is as mainstreamas it can get with Abdullah proving that his appeal is still intact in Jammu. Perhapsthat’s because land ownership resonates among local residents irrespective of reli-gion or region. The new land rules, which allow outsiders to buy non-agriculturalland, have agitated Kashmiris, who see this as an attempt at demographic coloni-sation of the Muslim-majority area. But the Dogras of Hindu-dominated Jammu andLadakhis are not too happy about their local culture and privileges being swept awayunder the same clause, particularly when the Northeastern States are allowed auton-omy under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to protect tribal land. Much of thistidal verdict has got to do with the Modi Government undoing the trust the earlierAtal Bihari Vajpayee Government had developed with the NC as its ally and whichthe current regime continued with the PDP. Locking their leaders up has only unitedthem and made them martyrs to a cause, much to the BJP’s detriment, one that itcould have avoided with mediatory posturing. Had the local parties contested sep-arately, the Muslim votes would have been divided, which the BJP could have usedto win more than the three seats it won in Kashmir. The force-feeding of its agendaof mainstreaming Kashmir neither encouraged a political climate even after a yearof the abrogation nor helped the national party hoist a credible local alternative. Itmay have helped float the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP), drawing rejectsfrom the PDP and NC but that has fared miserably in the polls.

The BJP, of course, has emerged the single largest party with 74 seats, mainlyrelying on the consolidated Hindu vote base in Jammu. But it has also debuted in theValley, winning three seats in Srinagar, Bandipore and Pulwama. Enough for it to claimthat its bold strategies in reintegrating Kashmir have rubbed off on the people a bit,if not completely. The seats it has won are significant in terms of the inroads it seemsto have made on hostile ground. It, therefore, indicates a gradual acceptance of thelarger reality of Kashmir’s changed status. No wonder the BJP spokespersons crowed“The lotus has bloomed” in the Valley. In Jammu, the BJP won 71 seats, scoring alongexpected lines. Just as expected is the decimation of the Congress which has won26 seats, hardly relevant when Independent candidates have picked up 49 seats andare perfectly poised to be kingmakers. Srinagar is the touchstone as Independentshave won seven out of 14 seats here. Assuming the Congress ultimately decides tosupport the Gupkar alliance, the huge number of Independents is a catchment areafor the BJP’s future political laboratory. The Modi regime should have been preparedfor the consequences and not pre-judged compliance by force but by gradual coop-tion. Of course, the BJP has got in seasoned politician Manoj Sinha as the Lt Governor,who used his acumen as a negotiator to get the political process going. But restora-tion of basic civil rights is still a long way off, patchy internet means the students andthe new economy are left out of opportunities, unemployment is at an all-time highand the local economy is going down with a ̀ 40,000 crore plus deficit. Without address-ing these issues, there is no way that the BJP can claim the higher ground. Or elseit could risk Kashmir as being its costliest misadventure.

People win in J&K

Winds of changeSir — This refers to the news item‘Gupkar Alliance steals the showin Kashmir’ (December 23). Thecelebrations that broke out in J&K,particularly in the Kashmir Valley,over results of the DistrictDevelopment Council (DDC)polls were a far cry from the pastelections which were marked byallegations of rigging or criticismthat they reflected the minorityopinion due to abysmal turnouts.

For a change, hailing of thevictories by even the BJP’s rivalswas not grudged by the Centrewhich saw it as a reaffirmation ofthe voters and candidates in thefairness of the eight-phase polls.

There was a time whenIndia’s defeat in a cricket matchagainst Pakistan would spark cel-ebrations on the streets ofKashmir. But the fact that theDDC polls not only witnessedgood participation in the Valleybut also that the results were wel-comed by the People’s Alliancefor Gupkar Declaration (PAGD)constituents, Independents andother parties alike show that theyall want grassroots democracyfor enjoying the benefits ofdevelopment.

N Sadhasiva Reddy Bengaluru

Stranded in the UKSir — The United Kingdom(UK) has identified a new,potentially more contagiousCoronavirus variant linked to arecent surge in the pandemic inthat country. The cases are spi-ralling in the UK amid fears thata mutated form of COVID-19 islashing the country with a five-

fold increase in a fortnight.Though the UK has rolled

out Pfizer’s vaccine to combatthe pandemic, in the absence ofany assured results almost theentire country is likely to be hitby Tier 4 restrictions. The UKGovernment has issued a “Donot travel” advisory followingthe surge in the cases. Multiplecountries have now imposed

restrictions on travellers to andfrom the UK as the variant wassaid to be “out of control”.

The Christmas euphoria ison the wane as thousands ofpeople wanting to reach theirnative places are stranded at air-ports in the absence of flightoperations.

Seetharam BasaaniHanamkonda (Telangana)

Playing politicsSir — Kerala Governor ArifMohammad Khan has refusedto give approval for a specialAssembly session to discussand pass a resolution against thethree contentious Central farmlaws. The move was aimed onlyat antagonising the Centre overits farm policies.

The decision to convene theone-day session was taken by theLDF Government at a Cabinetmeeting presided over by ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The Kerala Government istrying to misuse the powervested in it by the people despitethe fact that the farmers here arevery happy with the benefitsthey get from the Government.However, the session wouldnow not be held as the Governordid not choose to accord hissanction to the proposal.

The State Government hadlast December convened a sim-ilar session, which passed a res-olution demanding scrapping ofthe controversial Citizenship(Amendment) Act.

MR JayanthyKerala

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

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op nionTHURSDAY | DECEMBER 24, 2020

06

Buyers feel the pinch of high LPG prices

Iwas shocked to read that the LPG cylinder price inthe country will be changed every week from next year.Currently, these prices are fixed on a monthly basis

but in view of the daily fluctuation in the price of petro-leum products, oil companies are now planning tochange the cylinder price on a weekly basis.

It may be noted that the prices of petrol and dieselare fixed every day due to which petroleum companieseasily adjust any change in the global crude prices.However, since the price of LPG cylinder is fixed on amonthly basis, these companies have to bear the lossfor the whole month. In the wake of this, the oil com-panies have for long been considering ways to changethe prices effectively. Petrol and diesel prices are updat-ed every day at 6 am, when the new rates come intoeffect. The prices of petrol and diesel almost double afteradding excise duty, dealer commission and other taxes.

However, no announcement has yet been maderegarding this decision. Under the new regime, the priceof LPG cylinder has already been increased twice so farin December. But in the absence of any announcement,people did not get to know about it.

As per the IOC's internal information, the cylinderrate was increased by `50 on December 2 and again bythe same amount on December 15. A cylinder now costsmore than `700 and it has become expensive to cookat home. The Government had pulled back cooking gassubsidy in September as a fall in oil prices and an increasein cooking gas rates brought parity in the market.

Bhagwan ThadaniMumbai

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

The lost year

The PTI Government has toperform at much higher levelsin the remaining time of itsfive-year tenure. The Ministersmust realise that the time forperformance has arrived.

Pakistan Prime Minister—Imran Khan

Hopefully fans around theworld will find inspiration inmy story to commit to theircraft no matter how hard thejourney because everyonecan achieve greatness.

Barcelona FC player—Lionel Messi

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

S O U N D B I T EFour years sober today!Earlier it was malt, pink champagne & packed citybars. Now it is pink skies &deserted country roads. Whatan enriching journey it’s been!

Filmmaker and actor—Pooja Bhatt

Gupkar Alliance wins big, proving that traditional leadersstill have popular appeal; BJP makes inroads into Valley

As the Delhi Govt has put nursery admissions on hold, parentsare worried about the risk of losing a second year of education

Pakistan's darkest dayA number of Army heroes, besides the inimitable Gen Sam Manekshaw, helped

secure Lt Gen AAK Niazi’s surrender in Dacca and liberate Bangladesh

MAROOF RAZA

Our performance in theDDC elections in J&K isencouraging. In the polls,the BJP has got more votes than the NC, PDP and Congress combined.

Union Minister—Ravi Shankar Prasad

The future of work

WEST BENGAL HAS SLIPPED IN MANY DEVELOPMENT

INDICATORS AND BECOME NUMBER ONE IN

CORRUPTION, EXTORTION AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE.

—UNION HOME MINISTER

AMIT SHAH

ACCORDING TO THE NCRB DATA, POLITICAL

KILLINGS, OTHER CRIMES AND RAPES HAVE

DECREASED DURING THE TMC’S RULE.

—WEST BENGAL CHIEF MINISTER

MAMATA BANERJEE

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The Work From Home (WFH) culture thathas become the new normal due to theCoronavirus pandemic and the gig econ-

omy that the socio-economic impact of the out-break has necessitated, are here to stay. Even theGovernment is facilitating this transition in theworkplace. However, this is not the first time thatthe world is seeing a paradigm shift in work ethicsand culture. The intensification of the industri-al revolution in the 18th and 19th centuriesbrought about profound changes. People start-ed leaving their homes and toiling in an outsidework environment. This transformation gavebirth to a new movement of skilled workers andwas the beginning of the 9 AM to 5 PM workschedule in the office. This meant working in aninflexible and regimented environment with toolsor equipment provided by an employer.

Despite the advent of work opportunities out-side the house, some people still continued towork from their residences. The development ofpublic transportation brought further changes inthe office culture as it enabled workers to trav-el easily. Consequently, the 20th century work-force turned into a commuting one, leading toa rise in employment opportunities in offices andfactories engaged in manufacturing and the ser-vice economy. In this setting, companies large-ly controlled the means of production, manufac-turing, office equipment and other work stapleswhich were expensive or not portable enough tobe utilised by individuals working from theirhomes.

The nature of office work further changedin the early 20th century with the advent of thetelephone, telegraph and typewriter, which wereconsidered as precursors to remote work.Though by the early 1960s a majority of the work-force was a commuting one, the beginning of the’70s saw several key changes that pushed remotework to the forefront. Especially after theOrganisation of the Petroleum ExportingCountries’ (OPEC’s) oil embargo and the cleanair Act in the US. In view of the high oil pricesand shortages, the rise of the information econ-omy, environmental concerns and gridlockcommutes, companies began their experiment toformalise remote work for employees.

In fact, The Washington Post published anarticle and suggested that remote work could haveeased the gas crisis. The adoption of WFHincreased manifold in the late 20th and early 21stcentury with the emergence of information andcommunication technologies such as personalcomputers, the internet, email, broadband con-nectivity, laptops, smartphones, cloud comput-ing and videotelephony. Remote work is not newin India too. For about two decades it has beenin trend in the information technology (IT)industry in the country.

COVID-19 and WFH: Now, when theworld is grappling with the COVID-19 outbreak,resilience is being displayed by many employers.They are exploring new ways to ensure seamlessways to continue their business even as the con-tagion shows no signs of abating. The pandem-ic has compelled industrialists to think of inno-vative work solutions in order to get the best outof their employees while keeping them safe. Eventhough the crisis raises questions on the currentwork practices, thanks to digital platforms,employees from all over the world have smart-ly managed their operations remotely.

This can be seen as both, a returnto the pre-industrial revolution workroutines and advancement towardsthe future of work. According to theInternational Labour Organisation,around 68 per cent of the world’s totalworkforce, including 81 per centemployers, are currently living in coun-tries with recommended or requiredworkplace closures.

According to the job search siteIndeed, since the outbreak, searches forremote work have increased by over 261per cent. Similarly on LinkedIn, remotejob posting nearly tripled since March,ranging from 1.5 times in Canada to 4.9times in Brazil. Another global researchreport by Lenovo revealed that 72 percent of the respondents globally agreedthat they would WFH more than theydid before the health emergency hit.HFS Research reports that the global ITindustry showed a remarkable shift inthe way it operated by enabling over 75per cent of the workforce to WFH. Itranges from 62 per cent in thePhilippines, 72 per cent in the UK, 77per cent in India to 93 per cent inChina.

Similarly, as per the Lenovo survey,81 per cent of the respondents fromIndia agreed to shift to WFH after thepandemic abates. An AssociatedChambers of Commerce and Industryof India (ASSOCHAM) report revealsthat 74 per cent of regular workerswould like to continue with someform of a WFH arrangement in a post-Corona world. The survey results showthat around half of the remote work-ers in the country are from the BusinessProcess Outsourcing (BPO) and theInformation Technology EnabledServices (ITES) sector followed by IT-software, education, e-commerce, pub-lishing, banking, financial services and

the insurance sectors. Since the begin-ning of the lockdown in March, almost90 per cent of the 4.3 millionIT/BPO/ITES sector workforce movedto the WFH model in India.

Advantages: Remote working andthe virtual way of life have benefitedemployees, employers and all stake-holders, allowing them to pause, think,and balance their work, social, physi-cal, mental and digital wellness. Theemployers’ benefit is in the reductionor elimination of real estate costs.They can hire and use talent globallywhile mitigating immigration issues.Firms reap productivity gains whileworkers are enjoying geographical flex-ibility which eliminates commutes,giving them a better work-life balance.

In particular, flexible workspacesallow women to restore a work-life bal-ance. A study published in the Lancetfound that WFH not only benefits pub-lic health but also helps with sustain-able travel. It helps cities lower their car-bon footprint and reduces traffic con-gestions that lead to air pollution. Asa result, employees and employers arespared many of the hidden costs asso-ciated with going to the workplace.

Disadvantages: However, as in allthings, there is a flip side of the coin too.WFH poses the unique challenges ofsocial and professional isolation, tech-nological issues, monitoring and eval-uation of work, the quality of virtualinteractions, feedback from clients andcolleagues. The people working fromhome are vulnerable to longer workinghours, frequent interruptions, cybersecurity challenges, lack of peer sup-port, lack of motivation for team workand in some cases even greater stress.Lack of a proper work space at hometoo has created problems for some,while inappropriate working conditions

led to health issues for others. Face-to-face interaction vital to nurturing rela-tionships and facilitating collaboration,has been absent, leading to reducedmental well-being. It is harder inindustries that require physical locationor presence for manufacturing activi-ties. WFH is least suitable for drivers,construction workers, shop sales pro-fessionals and domestic helpers, as theiroccupations requires high human prox-imity.

The way forward: The IndianGovernment has announced simplifiedguidelines for other service providerslike BPOs, Knowledge ProcessOutsourcing and ITES among others toreduce the compliance burden for theindustry and facilitate WFH and ‘Workfrom Anywhere’.

The Government has removedseveral reporting and regulatory com-pliances for service providers such asdeposit of bank guarantees, require-ment for a static Internet Protocoladdress, publication of the network dia-gram and penal provisions.

According to the Labour Secretary,the Ministry proposes to frame guide-lines for workers employed in the ser-vices sector, such as work flexibility andan explicit WFH provision for compa-nies. These steps are important for thefuture of work, not only in the IT sec-tor but for other service sectors, too.This would help to promote a new workculture and provide the much-neededboost to the emerging gig economy,which has a huge potential to generatenew employment opportunities forthe unemployed men and women inIndia.

(Balwant is Senior Faculty at theIHD and Nidhi is Director at TheVision, New Delhi. The views expressedare personal)

The Work From Home culture and the gig economy that the socio-economic impact of theoutbreak has necessitated, are here to stay. Even the Govt is facilitating this transition

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

Quell over-the-topquarrels please

AKSHAT AGARWAL

India must put in place a set of guidelines forcontent creators to follow when it comes to the

depiction of military insignia

BALWANTMEHTA

NIDHI MEHTA

THE INDIANGOVERNMENT

HAS ANNOUNCEDSIMPLIFIED

GUIDELINES FOROTHER SERVICE

PROVIDERS LIKEBPOS,

KNOWLEDGEPROCESS

OUTSOURCINGAND ITES AMONG

OTHERS TOREDUCE THECOMPLIANCE

BURDEN FOR THEINDUSTRY AND

FACILITATE WFHAND ‘WORK FROMANYWHERE'. THE

GOVERNMENTHAS REMOVED

SEVERALREPORTING AND

REGULATORYCOMPLIANCES

FOR SERVICEPROVIDERS SUCH

AS DEPOSIT OFBANK

GUARANTEES,REQUIREMENT

FOR A STATICINTERNET

PROTOCOLADDRESS,

PUBLICATION OFNETWORK

DIAGRAM ANDPENAL

PROVISIONS

As 2020 draws to a close, it is quite clear that this was theyear of over-the-top (OTT) entertainment platforms. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns forced people to stay

indoors and stream content on their phones, tablets and smart tele-visions (TVs). But, as is normal, such dizzying success was accom-panied by hurdles, too. One of the objections was over the depic-tion of military insignia and personnel on OTT shows. While the ArmedForces have often been depicted in Indian films and on TV shows,in recent times some of these portrayals have led to a backlashfrom a few quarters. This month, the Indian Air Force (IAF) object-ed to the trailor of a Netflix film. Though the movie itself is unrelat-ed to the security forces, the promotion material included a clip ofveteran Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor, dressed in an IAF uniform,using a string of expletives. The IAF’s official Twitter handle point-ed out that the uniform was “inaccurately donned” and that “thelanguage used is inappropriate.”

Earlier in June, ALTBalaji was panned for an episode of its show‘XXX’ where an Army officer’s wife is shown to be having an extra-marital affair, with her lover donning her husband’s uniform in asteamy scene. A YouTuber filed a police complaint and hashtagslike #AltBalajiInsultsArmy did the rounds on social media, whileseveral veterans expressed their objection to the show. Perhaps itwas this popular sentiment that prompted the Ministry of Defenceto declare that web series and film content based on the Indian ArmedForces should be released only after a No Objection Certificate (NOC)is obtained from the Government. It is understandable why the ArmedForces and some retired personnel would be incensed by such con-tent. In their eyes, it damages the public perception of the institu-tion, which is something that most of them take great pride in.However, the bigger question this controversy has thrown up is this:Should the precious time and energy of the Defence Ministry andthe Armed Forces, entrusted with the daunting task of protectingthe country, be spent on relatively minor issues like these? Instead,isn’t it time that India put in place a set of guidelines for contentcreators to follow when it comes to the depiction of military insignia?

Such a move would be beneficial on three counts. First, con-tent creators would become more sensitive to the need to upholdthe honour and prestige of the military and calibrate their artisticfreedom accordingly. Often, mistakes in portrayal are not productsof malice but simple ignorance of established protocol such as ranks,uniforms and so on. Second, the Army, the Navy and the IAF willnot have to expend their energies on comparatively minor issueswhen India’s international borders require their urgent attention. Finally,it will insulate the military from the pressures of populist sentiment.

Worldwide, countries have put in place guidelines on how mil-itary insignia can be depicted on screen. Clause 772F of the Title10 US Code, says that, “While portraying a member of the Army,Navy, Air Force, or the Marine Corps, an actor in a theatrical or motionpicture production may wear the uniform of that armed force if theportrayal does not tend to discredit that armed forces.” In Germany,displaying symbols of Nazi rule such as the swastika and the runicinsignia of the Schutzstaffel, a paramilitary organisation, is a crimethat comes with a three-year prison term. However, Section 86 ofthe German Criminal Code does allow these to be used to “pro-mote the arts or science, research or teaching, reporting about cur-rent or historical events or similar purposes.”

A feature common to both, the German and American guide-lines is their broad character. Neither of them list precise rules thatcontent creators have to follow nor do they prescribe things theycan or cannot show on screen. As a result, these guidelines allowcreators to push the boundaries of artistic expression while, at thesame time, being sensitive to public sentiment. It is important tobalance between institutional pride and constitutional rights that allowfree expression within the bounds of the Constitution.

In India, the lack of similar guidelines or protocols means thatthe Armed Forces and content creators have no common standardto evaluate content by, leading to unpredictability where creatorscannot be certain where their creative freedom ends. This is by nomeans uniquely a product of the OTT era either. Back in 2006, theIAF had objected to certain scenes in the coming-of-age movie ‘RangDe Basanti’, despite the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)clearing it for release. A prolonged deadlock ensued during whichboth sides stuck to their demands and the film’s release was delayed.The impasse broke only after Pranab Mukherjee, the then DefenceMinister, saw the film. ‘Rang De Basanti’ went on to become a majorhit, an iconic film for the Indian youth and the incident is long for-gotten. However, the moral of that story is still relevant: TheGovernment of India and the Armed Forces are meant to defendthe country and not to involve themselves in the business of con-tent creation. Broad guidelines that balance artistic freedom and thesentiments of the military will ensure just that.

(The writer is an Associate at Koan Advisory, New Delhi. Theviews expressed are personal.)

With the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) SpecialCourt Judge K Sanal Kumar

pronouncing the verdict in the SisterAbhaya murder case inThiruvananthapuram, sentencingSephy and Thomas Kottoor to lifeimprisonment, an important chapterin this sensational murder case hasbeen closed. However, this is just tem-porary as the accused are likely toappeal against the verdict in theKerala High Court and then in theSupreme Court.

It was a drawn out case becauseSister Abhaya, a novitiate in the Saint

Pius X Convent at Kottayam inKerala, was found dead under mys-terious circumstances in a well on theconvent premises on the morning ofMarch 27, 1992. The Kerala Policewhich probed the case initially, con-cluded that it was a clear case of sui-cide. To substantiate their findings,police officials alleged that Abhayawas from a family which was proneto mental distress and which had ahistory of suicides. Though it has beenmore than 28 years since Abhaya wasfound dead, no journalist could sub-stantiate the claims of the KeralaPolice. Apart from pronouncing thedeath as suicide, the local police aswell as the Crime Branch unit werecompeting with each other to destroythe evidence. A local photographerwho was hired by the police to takethe pictures of Abhaya’s bodydestroyed irrevocably most of thephotographs which showed nailmarks on her neck.

A murder which took place in1992 has come to a conclusion afternearly three decades thanks to the

perseverance of two individuals,Joemon Puthenpurackal, a socialactivist, and Raju, a petty thief whowitnessed the entire drama live whilehiding in a tree in the convent.

A lot could be written aboutAbhaya’s murder but the issue beforeus should not be confined to this casealone. There is a dictum “justicedelayed is justice denied.” If we followthis principle, Abhaya has beendenied justice. Not only Abhaya,there are thousands of people in Indiawho have been denied justice. Whatprevents our courts from speeding upthe litigation process and coming toa conclusion within months of a casebeing filed?

The first time I heard a speech byNarendra Modi was in January 2009when he flew down to Chennai todeliver a keynote address at thePravasi Bharatiya Divas. Modi, whowas the Chief Minister of Gujarat atthat time, centred his speech more onthe development initiatives hisGovernment was taking. He hadsaid that his mission was to ensure a

“zero backlog” of cases in all courtsin the State by 2010. It is hard to tellwhat the current situation in Gujaratcourts is. But if instances like theAbhaya murder case are any indica-tion, India is light years away fromreaching a zero backlog. This has hada detrimental impact on the lives ofmany.

A prime example of this is thecase of the late MKK Nair. Thesenior bureaucrat, who belonged tothe first batch of IndianAdministrative Service (IAS) officersin the country, had his wonderfulcareer cut short by fake cases slappedagainst him by a CBI officer inKerala.

Eventually, the trial court foundthat all charges against Nair weretrumped-up but the damage hadbeen done by then. Nair should haveretired as a Cabinet Secretary in 1977;instead, he was suspended from ser-vice in 1973. It took more than adecade for the court to acquit him ofall charges. It cannot be said that hegot justice. Plus, the country lost the

services of a visionary who was thearchitect of Udyogmandal in Keralathat contributed a lot to the GreenRevolution.

Similarly, AIADMK candidateManoj Pandian, a legal luminarywho contested the Assembly electionfrom Cheranmahadevi constituencyin 2006, was defeated by P Velduraiof the Indian National Congress.Pandian challenged the election in thecourt and it took five years for theapex court to declare Veldurai’s elec-tion as illegal, null and void. The ver-dict came on the day when the peo-ple of Tamil Nadu were on their wayto elect the new Assembly!

In the 2009 election, PChidambaram, the Congress candi-date from the Sivaganga Lok Sabhaconstituency, was declared defeatedinitially. But the counting was stoppedfor a few hours and then it wasannounced by the Returning Officerthat he had won the election, defeat-ing his nearest rival Raja Kannappanby 3,000 votes. Though Kannappanchallenged the result in the Madras

High Court immediately after the poll,the Madras High Court is yet to pro-nounce the verdict, though the coun-try witnessed two Lok Sabha elections(2014 and 2019) since then.

However, it is not just cases relat-ed to elections that get delayed in thecourts. What happened to the 2GSpectrum Scam which was broken byThe Pioneer in 2007? The Coalgatescam? The National Herald case ini-tiated by Subramanian Swamy or theillegal telephone exchange case? Whyare we plagued by this inordinatedelay in our courts? It is no wonderthat kangaroo courts are flourishingin Tamil Nadu and even people whohave reached the age of superannua-tion have enrolled as students in lawcolleges in and around Chennai. It isa sad state of affairs that justice keepson getting delayed and hence deniedin the country. Hopefully, the newyear will bring a renewed effort toclear the backlog of court cases inIndia.

(The writer is a senior journalist.The views expressed are personal)

Justice delayed is justice deniedWhat prevents our courts from speeding up the litigation process and coming to a conclusion within months of a case being filed?

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN

THURSDAY | DECEMBER 24, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

The High Court was correctto halt a disturbing trendamong clinicians in the UKto assume those as youngas 10 were fit to make life-altering decisions aboutgender identity. Children arenot pawns to be deployed inadult debates about identity.Keira Bell’s bravery haspaved the way for a verdictthat gives children theprotection they deserve.

(Observer editorial)

A STEP IN THERIGHT DIRECTION

THURSDAY | DECEMBER 24, 2020 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

The Inland WaterwaysAuthority of India (IWAI)want more transportation of

coal through waterways, anofficial said on Wednesday.National Waterway (NW-1) holdsimmense potential for coalmovement through inlandwaterways but still coalmovement remains scanty, the official said. However, currently mostof the fly ash of power plants in West Bengal are being exported toBangladesh through the protocol route. "I will be meeting the CoalMinister today to move a certain percentage of coal throughwaterways," IWAI chairperson Amita Prasad said while addressingIndian Chamber of Commerce organised e-conference on multimodaltransport.

UK's Cairn Energy Plc has won anarbitration against the Indiangovernment levying Rs 10,247

crore in retrospective taxes, thecompany said on Wednesday. Thethree-member tribunal, which alsocomprised of a judge appointed by theIndian government, ruled that India'sclaim of Rs 10,247 crore in past taxes

over a 2006-07 internal reorganisation of Cairn's India business wasnot a valid demand, sources said. The tribunal asked India to pay thefunds withheld along with the interest to the Scottish oil explorer forseizing dividend, tax refund, and sale of shares to partly recover thedues. Confirming the award, Cairn in a statement said "the tribunalestablished to rule on its claim against the Government of India hasfound in Cairn's favour."

Japanese automakerNissan on Wednesdaysaid it will hike prices

of its vehicles in India byup to 5 per cent acrossmodels from next monthto offset increased costs.The revised prices will beapplicable across allavailable models for

Nissan and Datsun, effective January 2021, Nissan Motor India saidin a statement. The company sells a range of mass market vehiclesunder the Datsun and Nissan brands, including Datsun Redi-Go,newly launched SUV Magnite and Kicks, with prices in the range ofRs 2.89 lakh to Rs 14.15 lakh.

Nissan to hike prices of allvehicles by up to 5 pc from Jan

IWAI wants more coal movement via waterways

Piaggio India onWednesday launched itspremium scooter Aprilia

SXR 160 priced at Rs 1.26lakh (ex-showroom Pune).The model can be booked foran initial amount of Rs 5,000across all dealerships in Indiaand online on apriliaindia.com, the company said

in a statement. The premium scooter is powered by a single-cylinder,4-stroke engine that produces peak power of 11 PS at 7100 RPM. Itcomes with a fuel tank capacity of seven litres. Commenting on thelaunch, Piaggio India Chairman and Managing Director Diego Graffisaid, "designed in Italy, for India, the Aprilia SXR 160 is an epitomeof great style, high performance and great comfort." The scooter willbe available at all the dealerships of the company across India, hesaid adding, "we believe that this scooter will set high standards inthe Indian premium two-wheeler market and will be a testament ofPiaggio's upcoming plans for India."

Cairn wins tax arbitration;India ordered to pay $1.2 bn

Piaggio India launches Aprilia

SXR 160 at Rs 1.26 lakh

PNS n NEW DELHI

Recovering economy, sproutingdemand and improving pricesraise hopes for the country'sbattered steel sector as it stepsinto the new year after pan-demic-induced disruptionsturned 2020 into a "disaster" forthe industry.

As the sector experiencessigns of better times, the apexbody of domestic steel makers,ISA, expects good days aheadand surely no more outbreaklike that of coronavirus infec-tions.

The Indian steel industrygrappled with tough times inrunning their operations aswell as witnessed a sharpplunge in demand for steelsoon after the coronavirus pan-demic and subsequent lock-downs disrupted overall eco-nomic activities.

Adverse market conditionsforced steelmakers to cut downtheir operations by up to 50 percent in April. There was ashortage of manpower as manyworkers migrated to theirnative places amid the lock-down as well as limitations onthe number of staff working atan office or site after gradualunlocking.

The nationwide lockdown

came into force in late Marchand the relaxations began in aphased manner only in June.

While terming 2020 as a"catastrophe" for the steelindustry, Indian SteelAssociation (ISA) DeputySecretary-General ArnabHazra said there is a revival indemand now which will con-tinue to grow in 2021.

"We are expecting good daysahead and no more outbreak ofany virus like corona in thefuture. Year 2020 was a disas-ter, we expect no more disas-ter. This will save us from fur-ther disruption," he said.

The outlook for the sectoris turning positive and theindustry expects the govern-ment will spend more on infra-

structure in the new year,which will have a multipliereffect on demand, Hazra said,adding that the demand willshow resilience to reach topre-COVID level in 2021.

In 2019, the demand wasaround 100.2 million tonne(MT) and that will fall to 81MT in 2020, he noted. Helpedby government spending and

demand coming from steel-intensive sectors, the overallsteel demand is expected toreach 100 MT in 2021.

"Demand is clearly visibleand going forward is expectedto become stronger whichaugurs well for the industry in2021," he said.

JSW Steel Joint Managing DSeshagiri Rao said, 2020 is theworst year in the last 70 yearsand that the unprecedentedpandemic has had a devastat-ing impact on the world eco-nomic growth. Even thoughthe overall steel demand isexpected to fall in 2020, theindustry is experiencingimprovement in realisationand margins, he added.

According to Rao, the com-pany's expansion plans andinorganic growth throughacquisitions are expected tocome to fruition by the end ofMarch 2021 coinciding with a

rebound in economic activity.JSW Steel's priority is to

leverage the availability of addi-tional capacities to meet theincremental demand thatwould arise due to economicrebound to create value tostakeholders, he said.

State-owned SAIL'sChairman Anil KumarChaudhary said that from thethird quarter of the ongoing fis-cal, the market has startedimproving and will continue todo better in the next fiscal year.

The growth in the auto sec-tor, infrastructure and con-struction, white goods andagri equipment will aid the steeldemand in India, he said.

Things are improving in thedomestic and the internation-al prices are on the rise.Domestic prices are governedby the international priceswhether they are of steel or ironore, Chaudhary said.

Economic recovery, demand revivalspark 2021 hopes for steel sector

The Indian steel industry grappledwith tough times in running theiroperations as well as witnessed asharp plunge in demand soon after thepandemic and subsequent lockdownsdisrupted overall economic activities

PNS n MUMBAI

Retail credit has experienced anincrease in serious delinquen-cies, with loans against proper-ty and credit cards being themost affected segments, areport by a credit informationbureau said on Wednesday.

As of August-end, the loansoverdue for over 90 days in thecredit card segment were 0.51per cent up from the year-agoperiod at 2.32 per cent, whilethe same for the loans againstproperty was 0.34 per cent upat 3.96 per cent, TransunionCibil said.

"Credit cards delinquencyrates reflected the wider eco-nomic slowdown, salary cutsand job losses caused by thepandemic. Further, credit cardsoften have a lower payment

priority, with consumerschoosing to pay other creditaccounts first," the bureau said.

For LAP, a product gener-ally used by small businesses asworking capital finance, delin-

quencies had already been onthe rise prior to COVID-19.

It, however, said that thedelinquency picture is "compli-cated" and will take time toemerge as the lagged effect of

financial conditions, relief pro-grams supported by lenders,and shifts in payment prioritiesof consumers play out.

It can be noted that theReserve Bank had announceda moratorium on loan repay-ments for six months endingAugust 2020, under which aloan account cannot be termedas a non-performing asset(NPA) for non-payment.

The central bank had laterintroduced a loan restructuringscheme across all categories forborrowers impacted by thepandemic. However, bankershave been saying that there hasnot been a high amount ofrequests for loan recasts.

The bureau said in the caseof auto loans and personalloan segments, there has beenan improvement from a delin-

quency perspective.From a lending institution

perspective, retail loans extend-ed by non-bank finance com-panies (NBFCs), which typical-ly take riskier loan bets, report-ed a 0.49 per cent increase indelinquencies in August ascompared with the year-agoperiod, while the sameimproved 0.28 per cent forstate-run lenders and 0.10 percent for their private sectorcounterparts.

It said the shape of recoveryin retail-credit markets will bevery much influenced by theability to contain the spread ofthe pandemic along with con-sumer and lender resiliency.

Retail advances growth forthe system slowed to 2.5 percent in August (compared withthe year-ago period of August

2019), as against 8.9 per cent inMay this year and 16.7 per centin February, it said.

The deceleration in balancesgrowth is more pronounced forprivate banks and NBFCs, itsaid. Demand for retail credithas been growing lately and inNovember, retail creditdemand (as measured byinquiry volumes) was back toalmost 93 per cent of the lev-els observed in November2019, it said.

PSU banks saw the biggestrebound in inquiries in theunlock phase, as they wereearly in recommencing opera-tions than their peers, whileprivate banks have witnessed apositive growth in inquiry vol-umes for the first time inNovember 2020 sinceFebruary, it said.

Higher delinquencies in credit card, loans in retail lending

PNS n NEW DELHI

Businesses with monthlyturnover of over Rs 50 lakh willhave to mandatorily pay at least1 per cent of their GST liabil-ity in cash, the FinanceMinistry said as it moved tocurb evasion by fake invoicing.

The Central Board ofIndirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC) has introduced Rule86B in Goods and Services Tax(GST) rules which restrictsuse of input tax credit (ITC) fordischarging GST liability to 99per cent.

“... The registered personshall not use the amount avail-able in electronic credit ledgerto discharge his liabilitytowards output tax in excess of99 per cent of tax liability, incases where the value of taxablesupply ... in a month exceeds Rs50 lakh,” the CBIC said.

While calculating theturnover threshold, sales fromGST exempt goods and zerorates supply would not beincluded.

However, this restrictionwill not apply where the man-

aging director or any partnerhave paid more than Rs 1 lakhas income tax or the registeredperson has received a refundamount of more than Rs 1 lakhin the preceding financial yearon account of unutilised inputtax credit.

EY Tax Partner AbhishekJain said the government hasput restrictions on seamlessinput credit utilisation withintroduction of Rule 89B,which blocks utilisation of ITCbeyond 99 per cent of the out-put liability, for businesseshaving taxable turnover of

more than Rs 50 lakh permonth.

“With the government pro-viding reasonable exceptions tothis rule, the idea remains toprevent misutilisation of cred-it by businesses taking fakecredits,” Jain added.

Further, the CBIC hasamended GST rules restrictingfiling of outward supply detailsin GSTR-1 for business thathave not paid tax for the pastperiods by filing GSTR 3B.

So far, until now, non-filingof GSTR 3B resulted in block-age of e-way bill but will now

result in GSTR 1 blockage aswell.

Abhishek Jain, Tax Partner,EY said, “The government hasnow restricted filing of out-ward supply details in GSTR 1return for businesses who havenot paid tax for the past peri-ods by filing GSTR 3B.

“The government's ideahere seems to be to curb inputtax credit passing by business-es which have otherwise notpaid their GST liability,” Jainadded.

AMRG & Associates SeniorPartner Rajat Mohan said,“These changes indicate thatgovernment is grappling withlower tax collections and hightax evasions, burden of whichwill again be on honest taxpay-ers”.

The CBIC has also notifiedauthentication of Aadhaarnumber or physical verificationof business premises for thepurposes of obtaining GSTregistration.

“This amendment has like-ly been introduced to preventfraudulent registrations,” Jainadded.

Businesses with monthly turnover ofRs 50L to pay at least 1% GST liability

PNS n NEW DELHI

Paytm has doubled down onits efforts to hire staff fromsmaller towns and allow themto continue working fromthose locations instead ofmoving to its offices in largercities amid the pandemic, itsfounder Vijay Shekhar Sharmasaid on Wednesday.

Speaking at the ClearTax e-Invoicing LeadershipConclave, Sharma said thatinitially, the plan was to get thenew recruits to join the larg-er offices whenever the situa-tion would have eased.

"We figured out that wecould now recruit from citieswhere we were previously notgoing and people don't have tomove to the big cities.

"We are doubling down onthat... can now work from wh-erever they are — Chandigarh,Jalandhar, Orissa... Our plan(is) that we will recruit in smallcities and not ask them to join(offices) in the big cities," headded. Sharma said while thecompany has not zeroed downon a specific model but about20-25 per cent of its staff cou-ld continue to work remotelyin the future. The pandemicand the lockdown that fol-lowed had forced companiesacross sectors to allow employ-ees to work from home. IT andIT-enabled services companiesare now looking at bringing ina hybrid model to allow a per-centage of staff to continueworking remotely withoutgoing to offices.

Sharma: Paytm to hire stafffrom small towns

PNS n NEW DELHI

Tata Motors on Wednesdaysaid it has launched a lightcommercial vehicle designedspecifically for urban trans-portation. The Ultra T.7 lightvehicle comes with 1900 mmwide cabin to reduce the turn-around time, Tata Motors saidin a statement. The reducedturnaround time ensures high-er earning potential for thetruck owners and brings moreefficiencies in the logisticssector for profitability, it added.

Tata drives inLCV model tocater to urbantransportation PNS n NEW DELHI

Two people have died in amajor ammonia gas leak acci-dent at IFFCO's Phulpur fer-tiliser unit in Prayagraj, UttarPradesh, though the leakagewas restricted and normalisedin a short time, the companysaid on Wednesday.

About 14 out of 16 employ-ees, including three contractlabourers who were rushed tohospital for treatment, are sta-ble now, the fertilizer cooper-ative major said in a statement.

"Our emergency responsegroup, fire and safety team and

plant operating staff bravelyfought with the emergencysituation and restricted theleakage to small area within theplant and normalized it in a

short time," IFFCO said. A technical enquiry com-

mittee, headed by an executivedirector rank officer, has beenset up to find out the cause ofthe incident which took placeon Tuesday night, it added.

"We deeply regret the sadand unfortunate accident hap-pened yesterday night around10.30pm due to mechanicalfailure at #IFFCO #PhulpurAmmonia Urea unit in#Prayagraj. Our employees atthe site fought bravely to han-dle the situation," IFFCO CEOand Managing Director U SAwasthi tweeted.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Crude oil futures fell by Rs 35to Rs 3,449 per barrel onWednesday as participants cuttheir positions on low demand.On the Multi CommodityExchange, crude oil for theJanuary delivery eased by Rs35, or 1 per cent, to Rs 3,449per barrel with a business vol-ume of 1,555 lots. Globally,West Texas Intermediate crudeoil was trading 0.68 per centlower at USD 46.70 per barrel,while Brent crude was quoting0.60 per cent lower at USD49.78 per barrel in New York.

Crude oilfutures declineon low demand

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold prices on Wednesdaydeclined Rs 252 to Rs 49,506per 10 gram in the nationalcapital, according to HDFCSecurities.

In the previous trade, theprecious metal had closed atRs 49,758 per 10 gram.

Silver also dipped Rs 933 toRs 66,493 per kg, from Rs67,426 per kg in the previoustrade. In the internationalmarket, gold was quoting withgains at USD 1,868 per ounceand silver was flat at USD

25.53 per ounce. NavneetDamani, vice-president (com-modities research) of MotilalOswal Financial Services, said,"Gold prices edged higher asgrim US consumer and hous-ing data bolstered hopes forfurther stimulus to support aneconomic recovery."

He, however, added that anew coronavirus strain in theUK has caused several coun-tries around the world to shuttheir borders to Britain, anddrug makers are scrambling totest their COVID-19 vaccinesagainst it.

Gold declines Rs 252;silver tumbles Rs 933

2 people dead in ammonia leakaccident at IFFCO unit in UP

PNS n NEW DELHI

The commerce and industryministry will be organising aglobal summit on startups onJanuary 15 and 16 next yearwith a view to promoting thegrowth of the sector, an offi-cial said.

Startups from Asian coun-tries, domestic players andglobal entrepreneurs wouldparticipate in the virtual sum-mit, the official in theDepartment for Promotion ofIndustry and Internal Trade(DPIIT) said.

Prime Minister NarendraModi is expected to addressthe participants on January 16.

Global and domestic ven-ture capital funds, regulato-ry authorities like SEBI(Securities and Exchange Bo-ard of India), Reserve Bank ofIndia, Central Board andtaxation agencies - CBDT(Central Board of DirectTaxes) and CBIC (CentralBoard of Indirect Taxes andCustoms) would also partic-ipate in the summit.

DPIIT globalsummit duringstartups onJanuary 15-16

PNS n NEW DELHI

Honda Cars India Ltd(HCIL) on Wednesday for-mally announced closure ofmanufacturing operations atits Greater Noida facility inUttar Pradesh.

The automaker said thedecision to cease produc-tion at the plant, which cameup in 1997, has been taken aspart of realignment of man-ufacturing operations withthe goal of improving busi-ness efficiency.

With the closure ofGreater Noida facility, HCILhas also discontinued CR-Vand Civic models in thecountry. Both the modelswere being manufactured atthe plant.

"To maintain sustainabili-ty of operations by leverag-ing production and supplychain efficiencies, the com-pany has decided to consol-idate the manufacturingoperations for vehicles andcomponents at its Tapukaraplant in Rajasthan withimmediate effect for alldomestic sales and exports",HCIL said in a statement.

All head office functions,India R&D centre and spareparts operations (includingwarehouse) for automobile,two wheeler and power prod-uct business would howevercontinue to operate fromGreater Noida location, itadded.

Honda bringsdown curtainon GreaterNoida plant

Christmas is that oneof the two main festi-vals that Christians in

India look forward, allthrough the year, to cele-brate. This year, however,the pandemic has damp-ened the festive spirit acrossthe globe. With severalcountries like UnitedKingdom and othersimposing lockdowns fol-lowing the new strainwreaking havoc, India isstill looking for ways to ringin the festival withoutenforcing any curbs. Hence,churches have taken it uponthemselves to celebrateChristmas while followingall the necessary precau-tions in the face of the pan-demic.

Churches, duringChristmas, see a larger con-gregation than usual. Notjust members from thechurch but curious touriststoo. The CSI MedakCathedral church is onesuch church that many seeas a pilgrim centre. So howis this largest diocese inAsia prepping forChristmas? “We’re ensuringall members and visitorswear a mask, sanitise regu-larly, and maintain socialdistance. People will alsohave to go through a tunnelthat sprays disinfectant onthem, just to be safe. Wehave specific people toensure all of these are fol-lowed and there’s peace andprecaution,” shares Bishopin Medak, Rev. Dr A.C.Solomon. Another church,one of the biggest in thetwin cities, the CSI WesleyChurch, Ramkote, too isensuring all participants onChristmas follow the guide-lines laid down by the gov-ernment. The pews are allbeing disinfected, we havethree separate units wheretemperature checks, masks,sanitisers and social dis-tancing will all be moni-tored. We trust our congre-gation too, who’re law-abid-ing Christians, will beresponsible citizens,” hopesPrabodh Dasari, Treasurerat the church.

Baptist Church,Narayanguda, looks allpretty in the twinkling, daz-zling lights this month.With just hours left for thefestival, the church is fol-lowing all basic guidelinesto check the spread of thenotorious virus. Raj

Solomon, GeneralSecretary, Telangana UnitedChristians and PastorsAssociation, and member ofthe church informs, “Rightfrom the entrance to thebenches, we have peoplechecking and helping mem-

bers with masks and sani-tisers and reminding themto maintain distance. If any-one forgets their masks,we’re also going to givethem one. A five-seaterbench will have only two orthree sitting on them,depending on whetherthey’re a family.” The CSICentenary Wesley Churchin Karimnagar went a stepahead and asked its mem-bers above 60 years of ageand below 9 years to refrainfrom attending the serviceon Christmas and encour-aged to watch it live onYouTube, instead. “Pews arebeing disinfected, sanitisersand masks are beingchecked and given too, incase people forget them.We’re also looking to ensurepeople don masks not only

while entering the churchbut even when the mass ison,” informs a member ofthe church. They’ll also beputting out a tent outsidethe church, to accommo-date more people consider-ing the social distancingnorm will allow only a hun-dred few inside. Their choirtoo, this year, will have onlytwo people leading thechurch into worship. This,to minimise contraction ofthe virus during practicesand on the day ofChristmas.

With churches vowingand hoping to take all thenecessary precaution whilecelebrating the birth ofJesus Christ, here’s ThePioneer wishing its readersa Merry and safeChristmas!

time, with masks and sanitisersChurches decked up, this

Festivals thisyear have

been a no-show. Rightfrom Ugadi,

Easter andEid to Ganesh

Chaturthi,Dussehra andDiwali - theyhave all been

quiet. It's nowChristmas

time and withplaces of

worship slowlyopening up,

churchesacross the cityand the stateare prepping

for the big dayto celebratethe festival,

whilemindfully

trying to keepCOVID

at bay, finds The Pioneer's

RACHELDAMMALA

2020 has been an unparal-leled experience foreveryone, putting a

pause on many things.However, even the pandemiccouldn’t hold back the excite-ment of movie enthusiastsacross India’s Southern states.Tamil and Telugu entertain-ment fandoms own a particu-larly massive space onTwitter, which only keepsgrowing by the year. Thisyear too, Twitter brought fanscloser to their favourite starsby giving them a space toconnect, have a conversation,and navigate the year togeth-er.

From spreading awarenessabout the pandemic andentertaining their audiences,to sharing movie releaseplans, 2020 enabled SouthIndian cinema to engage a lotmore with their admirers.Fans, too, left no stoneunturned in showing theirlove for their favourites.

Most Retweeted Tweetfrom a Tamil star:Vijay’s selfie with fans.

Actor Vijay Joseph enjoys amassive following on Twitter,as he does in the cinemaworld. His selfie with hisfans, taken at Neyveli, wasthe most retweeted tweet ofthe year, and thus the mostretweeted among the Tamilstars on Twitter.

Most Retweeted Tweetfrom a Telugu star:Mahesh Babu’s birthdaywish to Pawan Kalyan

Mahesh Babu’s tweet wish-ing his fellow actor PawanKalyan on the latter’s birth-day, was the most RetweetedTweet by a Telugu star onTwitter. Picking up on nostal-gia being one of the big top-ics of conversation this year,the Tweet revisits an old pic-ture and showcases how starsand fans continued to takeevery opportunity to cometogether in celebration.

Most Tweeted aboutSouth Indian movies

ÆMaster - Expected in2020, but delayedbecause of thepandemic,Vijay’s movie#Master is oneof the mostanticipated Tamilreleases of 2021.The release of songs and

trailers across the year man-aged to garner love from fanswith the movie topping con-versation chartsin 2020. ÆVakeelSaab -Marking thecomeback ofTelugu actorPawan Kalyan, themovie is a remake of theHindi movie, Pink. ÆValimai -Ajith fans tookto Twitter toshare theirhappinessabout theupcoming filmand developmentsrelated to the movie through-out the year.ÆSarkaru-VaariPaata-DirectorParasuramPetla andmusic com-poser Thaman

took to Twitter and sharedthe motion poster of themuch-anticipated movie on Mahesh Babu’s birthdaywhich received immense loveand admiration from fans. ÆSooraraiPottru - Starringactors Suriya and Aparna Bala-murali #SooraraiPottru wasone of 2020’sbiggest andmost talkedabout releases.Tamil fansdeclared themovie a master-piece on Twitter

while praising the perfor-mances of lead actors.

Special mention:

ÆRRR -Starring actors NTRJr., Ram Charanand Alia Bhatt,the periodaction dramawritten anddirected by SSRajamouli leddiscussions onTwitter as people Tweetedabout various updates related tothe movie.

SHIKHA DUGGAL

Ah, the celebrity feuds — asmuch as we may hate toadmit we all love some

good celebrity conflict now andthen, maybe even more than agood celebrity love story, therehas been no shortage of them in2020. Be it the Twitter fights orfull-out brawls between famousfaces, there have been plenty ofnotorious celebrity fights thisyear that have had our biggeststars butting heads. The Pioneerhas rounded up some of the mostfamous celebrity feuds of thisyear, from iconic rivalriesbetween Bollywood legends tointense fall-outs and more.

Kangana v/s DiljitWhat’s the showbiz world without

any controversy? Looks like the war ofwords between Kangana Ranaut andDiljit Dosanjh won’t see an end any-time soon. Both of them have con-stantly been taking digs at one anotherowing to their differences of opinionregarding the ongoing farmers’protests. Recently, the Thalaivi actressquestioned the Punjabi singer andactress Priyanka Chopra’s stance onthe issue once again through a videoon social media. Well, Diljit was quickenough to respond to this and tookthe help of an audio clip for the same.Not just that, he also mimicked hervoice. Interestingly, amid all the con-troversies that kept Bollywood in theheadlines in 2020, this got the nationbrimming with an opinion.

Kangana v/s Swara

Bollywood actor Sushant SinghRajput’s untimely demise sent shock-waves across the nation. His suicidesparked the debate of nepotism againwith controversy queen KanganaRanaut inciting netizens to start blam-ing star kids for making SSR feel left-out in the industry. When actressesTaapsee Pannu and Swara Bhaskerdenied ever feeling left out becausethey weren’t star kids, Ranaut went onto shame them and call them “B-gradeactresses”. Soon, Taapsee and Swaratook to their respective Twitter han-dles and reacted to Kangana’s remarks!This feud is intensifying with eachpassing day and we wonder what willhappen next.

Karan Johar v/s MadhurBhandarkar

While professional rivalries inBollywood is not a new phenomenon,Madhur Bhandarkar did not shy awayfrom taking personal jibes at KaranJohar in public domain. 2020 becamemore eventful watching these two film-makers lock horns with each otherpublicly! In November, MadhurBhandarkar called out producer KaranJohar and CEO of Dharma ProductionsApoorva Mehta for the title of theirupcoming Netflix show — FabulousLives of Bollywood Wives. He revealedthat he is currently working on a pro-ject titled Bollywood Wives and allegedthat he had denied giving the title toKaran and Apoorva, after which theytweaked it. Karan Johar had later apol-ogised to Madhur Bhandarkar over theFabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives title row.

Ranvir v/s Anurag

Actor Ranvir Shorey engaged in a public war of words with filmmakerAnurag Kashyap recently. Ranvir and Anurag entered into a heated debate onTwitter after Ranvir suggested that a filmmaker, previously known as a crusaderfor independent cinema, had turned into a flunky of the high-and-mighty. It’sKangana Ranaut’s statements that are making Bollywood actors and filmmakersseem to be dividing in Hindi film industry.

Sonu Nigam v/s BhushanKumar

The Sonu Nigam-Bhushan Kumarfeud made headlines ever since thesinger shared a viral video where hethreatened to expose the head hon-cho of T-series. After the demise ofSushant Singh Rajput, the singerhad claimed that he won’t be sur-prised if more people die by suicidein the near future. Sonu added thatthe music mafia is bigger than thefilm mafia. Then, T-Series chairmanand MD, Divya Khosla hit back atSonu Nigam saying ‘T-Series neaapko industry mein break diya’.Bollywood stands divided on thisfront. While some believefavouritism exists, others believethat everything works purely onmerit.

Iconic barbs onsocial media:Who said what

Anushka v/s Sunil

Actor Anushka Sharma slammedformer Indian cricketer SunilGavaskar for his distasteful remarksabout her, while commenting on hus-band Virat Kohli’s performance inIndian Premier League 13. Anushka,who has faced negativity and trollingin the past as well, for Kohli’s perfor-mance, said she was tired of beingdragged into cricket.

With everyone having to stayindoors for most part of 2020,

Twitter was where all thenoise shifted to. Several stars

turned to Twitter to keepaudiences informed and helpenhance awareness about the

pandemic. Others kept fans onTwitter posted on all thingswork - announcing movies,sharing behind-the-scenes

updates, and more. Here’s alook at the most popular

conversations on Twitter fromthe world of Tamil and Telugu

entertainment

How Telugu and Tamilfilms trended in 2020

Male

1. Mahesh Babu

2. Pawan Kalyan

3. Vijay

4. NTR Jr.

5. Suriya

Female

1. Keerthy Suresh

2. Kajal Aggarwal

3. Samantha Akkineni

4. Rashmika Mandanna

5. Pooja Hegde

MOST MENTIONED SOUTH INDIAN ACTORS OF 2020

Rt. Reverand Dr. A.C Solomon Raj

9

Thursday December 24, 2020

10

what’s brewing?Thursday December 24, 2020

Chef Kunal Kapoorshares tips to fulfil youreating resolution in 20212

021 is just a fewdays away and wewant to set the

path right by turninginto a healthier leaf. Alot of people acrossthe world are makingnew year resolutionsthat will help themlead a wholesome life.

Celebrity ChefKunal Kapoor saysevery year, we make aresolution to lead ahealthier life by eatinghealthy and nutrientrich food that con-tains fresh produce.He suggests a fewways that can aid youin fulfilling your fit-ness goal for the year:

Meal Planning:

Make a weekly mealplan and write downthe ingredients thatyou would require.Ensure you do all thegrocery shopping overthe weekend and keepyour fridge wellstocked

Prepping meals:

If you are making adish in the morningthat requires vegeta-bles, you could chopthem the previousnight and store it inthe refrigerator. Thiswill help you inspending less timeprepping for yourmeal the next day

Have a MorningRitual:

Once you wake upin the morning, don'tgrab that cup of coffeeor tea, instead drink aglass of warm water,which will flush outthe toxins from your

sys-temand willaid digestion

Drink waterthrough the day:Ensure that you arehydrated through theday. Dehydration cancause fatigue andmake you even hun-grier

Mindful eating:

Keep your phoneon silent mode anddon’t look at any

screenwhile you

are eating.Concentrate on thefood and savour thetaste of each morsel.Mindful eatingenables you with abetter understandingof your appetite

Moderation iskey:

If you force your-self off fried food and

sweets, it may notnecessarily help you.For example, if youhaven’t eaten aGulab Jamun in awhile and suddenlycome across it, youmight just end up

eating

a lot more than gener-al. It’s okay to indulgein your favourite dish-es, just remember todo so in moderation

Don't starve orskip meals:

Each body type isdifferent and starv-

ing or fast-ing may

not

suit your metabo-lism. Fasting cancause irritability andmood swings in peo-ple and drains you ofthe nutrients yourbody requires

Eat an early

dinner:

Try winding upyour dinner early andensure you have aminimum of 2 hoursbefore you hit the bed

Kapoor says:

“The fruits and veg-etables available insupermarkets andlocal sabzi mandis areoften laden with pesti-cides and germs. It isimperative to make ita routine to washthem thoroughly witha natural action veg-etable and fruit clean-er like Nimwashbefore eating or cook-ing natural produce.”

every-day: While

planning yourmeals, always ensure

that you plan for breakfast,lunch, snacks and dinner. We generally

tend to get hungry during the eveningand grab the closest snack-it could bepotato chips or even ice-cream. Instead,when you plan a snack for the day, youensure that you are consciously makinga choice to eat something healthy. A

snack could be a lip-smacking bhelwith tomatoes and onions or a

simple, easy to makesalad

EEaatt aassnnaacckk

Don’t con-centrate on losing

weight, as weight gainor loss can be caused by a lot of fac-

tors. If the focus is shifted fromweight loss to remaining fit, we won’t

subject ourselves to unreasonablebody standards. This will also ensure

the consumption of a nutritious,balanced diet rather than thelatest diet fad which may not

suit your body!

FFooccuuss oonn

FFiittnneessss::

Bollywood singing sen-sation Shaan says thathe just needs to surren-

der to his natural sensibilitiesto create music. The popularsinger, who calls himself an“80s Bandra boy”, will soonhave his first English con-cert, which entails paying atribute to his music inspira-tion Bryan Adams.

“Music has been a con-stant companion for methroughout my life. Since I’mnot a trained musician, I fol-low my musical instincts. Mypersonal taste is constantlyevolving as I’m always opento new trends. But my com-fort zone has always been80s pop/rock music,” Shaantold IANSlife in an interview.

Shaan will give his ownspin to the works ofCanadian musician BryanAdams in an upcomingonline concert by PaytmInsider’s Jim Beam Originals.One of the most recognisablevoices in the Indian scenewill be reimagining theworks of one of the mostrecognisable voices in theworld when Shaan givesBryan Adams’ discography ashot. Adams, a multi-plat-inum singer, composer, gui-tarist and record producer, isrenowned for his love bal-lads, receiving a Grammy forhis 1991 hit ‘(Everything IDo) I Do It For You’. Hissongs frequently feature inthe rock anthem compila-tions of the past threedecades and until the lock-down brought things to astandstill, Adams was a fre-quently touring legend.

Talking about taking onthe legacy, Shaansays,”Choosing Bryan Adamssongs to reimagine was a no-brainer for me because Ihave grown up listening to alot of his albums, particular-ly Reckless. I’ve also watchedhim perform so many times,especially when he camedown to Mumbai. I will beperforming a day afterChristmas, and I feel it’s theperfect time to sing along tosome of his hits. So many ofhis songs I know at the backof my mind, therefore theprocess of choosing what toperform is very exciting!”

“Through my teens, Bryan

Adams ‘Reckless’ album hasbeen my Top 5 cassettes..and since then from time totime his Love Ballads havenever failed to set the moodfor me. As a singer I alwaysthought I would be prettystraightforward to pull offBryan Adams covers andknowing how popular hissongs are in India, I thoughtit would be a ‘no brainer’... ‘aperfect fit’ but when I gotdown to the details, Irealised how difficult it is tobring out the romance andintensity that he does so nat-urally through his incrediblyappealing rasp. But, sincethere was no looking back once I accepted the

challenge .. I’m going to give it my best and hope myaudience enjoys my take onBryan Adams’s classic RockHits,” Shaan said.

Sharing that it’s his “firstever concert in English” theplayback singer with a gold-en voice said that he is“excited and yet nervous ashell”.

“Besides Bryan Adams myfavourite artists have beenStevie Wonder, FreddieMercury, Sting, GeorgeMichael, MJ and WhitneyHouston. GNR, Scorpions,and also Duran Duran and A-Ha. Like I said, I’m an 80’s Bandra Boy,” saidShaan.

Shaan calls himself an 80sBandra Boy, announcesfirst English concert

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

FUN

CALVIN AND HOBBES

sport 11THURSDAY | DECEMBER 24, 2020

PTI nMELBOURNE

Australia’s “in-depth” planningto subdue Cheteshwar Pujaraworked out well in the open-

ing Test but spinner Nathan Lyon saysit would be a massive challenge tokeep the “world-class” batsman quietthrough the remainder of the series.

Lyon said the home team has acouple of more surprises lined up forthe Pujara, who is considered crucialin the Indian batting line-up for hisdoggedness. The second Test beginson Saturday in Melbourne.

“I can’t reveal secrets, to be hon-est with you. But, obviously Pujara isa world-class batter and he is goingto be a big challenge for us for the restof the series,” 33-year-old Lyon saidat a virtual press-conference onWednesday.

“We spoke about him (Pujara) indepth before the series started, it wasgood to see a couple of plans come offin Adelaide, but we have got a cou-ple more things.

“So, hopefully if he does get in, wecan put into ploy...It is always fun chal-lenging yourself against the bestplayers in the world and Pujara is def-initely one of those guys,” added thesenior spinner but refused to elabo-rate on his plans.

Lyon had dismissed a well-setPujara for 43 in the first innings of theAdelaide Test, which Australia won byeight wickets.

Lyon also said India have gotenough players to fill in the “big hole”left by talismanic skipper Virat Kohli,who has returned to India for thebirth of his first child.

“...Ajinkya Rahane and(Cheteshwar) Pujara, just to name acouple. But you still got the likes of(KL) Rahul and (Mayank) Agarwal,who have been exceptional as well, sothere is (are) enough guys in thatsquad to fill Virat’s shoes,” he said.

“It is going to be a big challengefor us again and we will start ourpreparation really well and make surewe are prepared to take on India againon (the) Boxing Day, it is going to beanother big challenge for us,” addedLyon, who has 391 Test wickets to hiscredit.

Lyon also feels that Indian bats-men will try and attack him onceagain, a strategy that he is bothfamiliar and comfortable with.

“...When you look at the quality

of the quick bowlers that we have gothere in Australian side, I think it’s oneof their tactics to come after me whichis totally fine,” he said.

“I am pretty used to having guyscome after me...So it’s all fun part ofplaying cricket and especially beinga spin bowler,” he added.

India recorded their lowest Testscore of 36/9 in Adelaide but Lyon isconfident that the visitors wouldcome out all guns blazing in the sec-ond Test.

“I don’t think it will be that dif-ficult. You look at the quality of play-ers in the Indian side and they havegot some absolutely world class play-ers throughout the whole squad.

“It is one of the days where noth-ing went right for them and every-thing went right for us...We areexpecting them to come out firing andnot have any scars from the other day.

“...We can’t go out there expect-ing we’re going to bowl them out for50 again.”

PTI n MELBOURNE

Determined to leave behindthe embarrassing defeat in

the series-opener, the Indianteam, under stand-in skipperAjinkya Rahane, switched itsfocus to red-ball cricket onWednesday with Shubman Gilland others grinding it out duringa net session ahead of BoxingDay Test.

Gill, who was not consideredfor the opening Test despitescoring 43 and 65 in the pink-ballwarm-up match, looked in goodnick as he along with MayankAgarwal honed his skills at thenets, indicating that the duocould be the opening combina-tion for the second Test.

The 21-year-old Gill alsoopens for Punjab in the RanjiTrophy and could be favouredover struggling Prithvi Shaw,who returned with scores of 0and 4 in the two innings atAdelaide.

KL Rahul, who received thebacking from the legendary SunilGavaskar for the opening slot,too had a long stint at the nets.

Also back at the nets wasspin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja,who had missed the first Test dueto concussion.

Jadeja went for an hour-longspell at the nets during which hebowled to his Saurashtra team-

mate Cheteshwar Pujara. Heagain returned for a second stintlater, an indication that he couldbe included in the playing XI forthe Boxing Day Test.

With skipper Virat Kohlireturning home for the birth ofhis first child, Rahane will nowhave to take the onus of inspir-ing the team to script a turn-around.

The practice session begunwith head coach Ravi Shastri giv-ing a pep talk to the team mem-bers, who stood in a circle at theMCG.

“We are in Melbourne andnow as the red-ball Tests start, itis time to regroup. #TeamIndia,”BCCI wrote on its Twitter han-dle.

Shastri also had a chat withRishabh Pant, who came out tobat at the nets ahead ofWriddhiman Saha.

With Mohammed Shamiruled out of the remainder of theseries with a fractured forearm,Mohammad Siraj and NavdeepSaini were seen bowling toRahane alongside ShardulThakur as the trio look to stakeclaim for the third pacer’s slot.

Batting coach VikramRathour, meanwhile, had a wordwith young Shaw, who is undertremendous pressure to retain hisplace in the XI after his below parshow in Adelaide.

India begin preps forBoxing Day Test

Jasprit Bumrah prepares to bowl as India head coach Ravi Shastri watches him duringIndia’s net session at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday BCCI/Twitter

PTI n MELBOURNE

Ace Australian spinner NathanLyon says he and India’s R

Ashwin are similar yet different typeof bowlers, so comparisons shouldnot be made between the two.

Lyon spoke highly of Ashwin,who he says stands out with his vari-ations.

“Ashwin is a world-class bowler,to be honest. I have watched him alot especially when I had gone to tourIndia and the subcontinent to try andlearn of him. But he is a very cageybowler, he has got all the variations,”Lyon said on Saturday.

“He’s very cagey with the way hechanges his pace, so he is a very tal-ented bowler. We are similar in a waybut we are very different as well, soI can’t really compare myself to him.I think his records speak for his own,

so hats off to Ashwin,” said the 33-year-old off-spinner.

Ashwin has been India’s premieroff-spinner, who has taken 370 wick-ets from 72 Tests.

Lyon himself is close to touchingthe milestone of 400 Test wickets. He

has taken 391 wickets from 97 Tests.Asked if he would have any

preferable choice for his 400th Testwicket, Lyon said that it doesn’t mat-ter to him.

“Doesn’t worry me, if it’s(Mayank) Agarwal or (Jasprit)Bumrah, or whoever, batter of bowler,doesn’t worry me whatsoever, just itwould be nice feather in the cap to getthere,” he said.

Lyon also dubbed the currentAustralian attack as the best in theworld and said it is a privilege to bepart of it.

“I have said many times before inmy eyes, this is the best bowling attackin the world. We are all, best matesand there is no day goes by whenthere is not a banter being thrownaround in the WhatsApp group,” hesaid about the chemistry among theteammates.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Stand-in skipper AjinkyaRahane is a “bowler’s cap-

tain” whose calm demeanourand clear communication withplayers should help him lead theteam well in remainder of theTest series against Australia, saysIndia fast bowler Ishant Sharma.

With regular skipper ViratKohli returning home for thebirth of his first child, Rahanewill lead India in the remainingthree Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Ishant, who missed theAustralia tour due to a sidestrain injury, said Rahane hasability to nicely play the leader-ship role.

“He’s very quiet and confi-dent and I must say he’s abowler’s captain,” Ishant toldESPNcricinfo.

“Whenever we have playedtogether and Virat has not been

around on the field, he’d ask me‘What kind of field you want?When you want to bowl? If youwant to go on (bowling)?

“He’s a bowler’s captain.He’s not someone who’d say ‘dothis or do that ... He is very clearabout what he wants from histeam.”

Rahane has led India to vic-tories both the times he hadcaptained the side in absence ofKohli against Australia andAfghanistan.

“You can see what kind ofperson he is in his captaincy. Heis very calm and composed. Ican’t say he does not have asense of humor. He jokesaround with us,” Ishant said.

“Jinx (Rahane) spreads calmenergy in a pressure situation.There won’t be any tension, he’dcommunicate with the bowlersvery well.”

Talking about Kohli, the 32-year-old pacer said: “If there’s apartnership growing and it’s aflat phase when fielders arejust going through theirmotions, one player’s energylevel can change the scenario,”he said.

“The kind of energy Viratbrings to the table ... Not every-one can match that.”

PTI n MELBOURNE

Former Australia coach Darren Lehmannfeels India have some quality players in

their ranks to still effect a turnaround in theongoing four-match series Down Under,despite a drubbing in the opener in Adelaide.

“It will be hard now for them, but they’veactually got some quality players if they canget on a roll,” Lehmann told SA Sportsday.

The 50-year-old former Australia bats-man opined that India have a potent bowl-ing attack and if their batsmen cope with thebounce well, then the tourists could stage acomeback in the series.

“They can certainly cause some troublewith the ball, it’s just whether the batsmencan cope with the bounce. The MCG pitchwill suit them a bit better because it’s a bit flat-ter.”

“So we’ll see if their batsmen can bounceback and make some runs, especially in thefirst innings. That’s going to be the key forthem,” Lehnmann said.

KARTHIK TO LEAD TN IN MUSHTAQ ALI Chennai: Out-of-favour India player Dinesh Karthik willlead Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20tournament, to be held in Kolkata from January 10. All-rounder Vijay Shankar has been named Karthik's deputy.However, the team will be without the services of RAshwin, Washington Sundar and T Natarajan, who areon national duty. Medium-pacer Aswin Crist returns tothe state side after a gap of three years due to injurieswhile Sandeep Warrier, who has shifted from Kerala, isalso a part of the team.

TRIPPIER BANNED FOR 10 WEEKS London: England and Atletico Madrid defender KieranTrippier was banned from football for 10 weeks and fined70,000 pounds on Wednesday for breaching bettingrules in a punishment from The English FootballAssociation that applies worldwide. The misconductdenied by Trippier happened in July 2019 — the monthhe left Spurs for Atletico. The ban takes effectimmediately and comes with Atletico top of the La Liga.

ICA NOMINATES PRAGYAN OJHA TO IPL GC New Delhi: The Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) onWednesday nominated former India spinner PragyanOjha as its representative to the IPL governing council, aday before the BCCI's Annual General Meeting. The BCCIwill hold its 89th AGM in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Theassociation was earlier represented by former Indiaplayer Surinder Khanna, as according to the BCCIconstitution, the ICA is required to send a member to theIPL governing council every year.

SHADAB OUT OF 1ST TEST DUE TO THIGH INJURY Tauranga: Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan was onWednesday ruled out of the opening Test against NewZealand due to a thigh injury, which he sustained duringthe third T20I in Napier. Left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar,who was preparing with the Pakistan Shaheens forSunday's T20 match against the Northern Knights, wasnamed as his replacement in the squad for the first Test,beginning at Mount Maunganui on Saturday.

UNION BERLIN, HOFFENHEIM OUT OF DFB POKALBerlin: Liverpool loanee Loris Karius endured amiserable competitive debut for Union Berlin on Tuesdayas his side crashed out of the German Cup in the secondround following a surprise 3-2 home defeat to second-tier Paderborn. Fellow Bundesliga side Hoffenheim werealso on the receiving end of an upset, as they lost onpenalties to second division outfit Greuther Fuerth.

MOMOTA BACK FROM CAR CRASH WITH A WIN Tokyo: Japan's badminton world number one KentoMomota shrugged off nerves to make a winning returnto competition in Tokyo on Wednesday, nearly a yearafter suffering serious injuries in a car crash. Momotabeat Koshiro Moriguchi 21-12, 21-14 in the first round ofthe All-Japan championships, marking his return fromthe accident that left him fearing his career might be overafter fracturing an eye socket.

MOUSSA DEMBÉLÉ BREAKS ARM IN TRAININGLyon: Lyon striker Moussa Dembélé, off to a slow startwith just one goal this season, broke his arm during atraining session, coach Rudi Garcia said. Dembélé won'tbe available when second-place Lyon hosts Nantes onWednesday. “We'll see what the course of action is withhim, but for now he is unavailable,” Garcia said, withoutgiving a timetable for Dembélé's return.

KOHLI IMPROVES TO 7TH IN T20I RANKINGSDubai: KL Rahul retained his third position, while Indiaskipper Virat Kohli improved a rung to the seventh spotin the ICC men's T20I batsman rankings. In fact, Rahuland Kohli are the only two Indians to feature in the top-10 list of players in all three categories. Agencies

SINGLES

AFP n VALLADOLID

Lionel Messi overtook Pele’srecord of goals for a single

club on Tuesday as Barcelonastrolled to a 3-0 La Liga win atReal Valladolid, while AtleticoMadrid kept hold of their placeat the top of the table.

The Argentina forwardstruck his 644th goal for Barca,one more than Brazil legend Pelescored for Santos, in the 65thminute of a routine win forRonald Koeman’s side, who arefifth in La Liga after the win andeight points behind leadersAtletico.

“When I started playingfootball I never thought I wouldbreak any records. And even lessthe one I achieved today,” Messiposted on Instagram shortlyafter the game.

“I can only thank allthose who helped me over theyears, my teammates, myfamily, my friends and allthose who support me everyday.”

Messi had equalled Peleon Saturday in a 2-2 drawwith Valencia. The twomen scored at almost anequal rate for their clubs.

It was the 33-year-oldArgentine’s 749th com-petitive match for Barca,

meaning he has scored a goalevery 1.16 games.

The Brazilian scored 643goals in 757 matches with Santos,where he played between 1956and 1974, or one every 1.17matches.Barca started on thefront foot at the Jose ZorrillaStadium, with Messi flashing a

curling wide in the seventhminute and forcing a superb savefrom Jordi Masip in the 20thminute. Barca took the lead sec-onds later when Messi clippedover a beautiful cross whichFrance defender ClementLenglet headed home.

Martin Braithwaite gave theaway side a deserved second 14minutes later, Messi slippingthrough Sergio Dest who rolledover a perfect low cross for theDanish international to taphome.

Messi, who has looked out ofsorts this season after trying toleave the club in the summer, gotthe landmark goal his excellentperformance deserved with asimple finish after burstingthrough to collect Pedri’s delicatebackheeled assist. The easy win

puts Barca two points behindSociedad and fourth-placedVillarreal, who draw 1-1 athome with Athletic Bilbao.

ATLETI STAY TOPEarlier second-half

goals from MarioHermoso and MarcosLlorente earned Atletico

a huge win away at aSociedad team that started thefixture three points off the leadbut are now six back in third aftertheir third straight league defeat.

AFP n TURIN

Ten-man Juventus crashed totheir first Serie A defeat of

the season 3-0 at home againstFiorentina on Tuesday in anightmare final game beforeChristmas.

The defeat came hoursafter the champions learnedthey must play the matchagainst Napoli which was can-celled on October 4 afterNapoli decided not to travel toTurin because of coronaviruscases.

On Tuesday, Napoli wontheir appeal to the ItalianOlympic Committee (CONI)after being handed a 3-0 defeatand a one-point deduction.

As a result Juventus, whohad started the day with 27points, finished it with 24.

Juventus are fourth, tied onpoints with Napoli and Roma,and seven points behind lead-ers AC Milan, who play Lazioon Wednesday night.

“It’s not a problem for us toplay the Napoli game, but itseems unfair on the otherteams who travelled, and per-haps lost points, with absencesdue to Covid,” said Juventuscoach Andrea Pirlo.

“I’m more sorry for them

than for us.The champions got off to a

terrible start in their AllianzStadium with Fiorentina’sFranck Ribery setting upDusan Vlahovic for the open-er after just three minutes.

Juventus played most of thematch a man down after JuanCuadrado was sent off on 17minutes for a reckless slidingtackle on Gaetano Castrovilli.The referee’s yellow card turnedto red after a VAR viewing.

Fiorentina doubled the leadafter 76 minutes with the ballbouncing off Juventus defend-er Alex Sandro and into thegoal. Martine Caceres turned ina Cristiano Biraghi cross fromclose range five minutes later.

LONDON: Manchester City increased the pres-sure on Mikel Arteta as the League Cup hold-ers powered into the semi-finals with a 4-1demolition of troubled Arsenal on Tuesday.City ensured it will be a miserable Christmasfor beleaguered Arsenal boss Arteta by con-demning his side to a fourth defeat in theirlast six games in all competitions. Gabriel Jesustook just three minutes to put City ahead atthe Emirates Stadium and although AlexandreLacazette equalized, it was another night oftorture for Arteta. Arsenal’s reserve keeper,Alex Runarsson, made a horrendous mistakewhen he allowed Riyad Mahrez’s free-kick tosquirm into the net. Phil Foden and AymericLaporte piled on the pain for Arsenal with fur-ther goals to seal the rout. Languishing 15thin the Premier League after losing five of theirlast seven games — their worst start to a sea-son since 1974-75 — Arsenal are in crisis.Amid talk of dressing room unrest, Arteta,who worked as Pep Guardiola’s City assistantbefore joining Arsenal 12 months ago, will bein danger of the sack if Arsenal’s wretched runcontinues into the new year. AFP

PTI n SYDNEY

In a bid to save its New Yearfixture between India and

Australia, the Sydney CricketGround Trust has offered tohost the Brisbane Test too, if theQueensland Government refuseto grant exemptions to theteams returning from NewSouth Wales.

Cricket Australia (CA) wasput on high alert earlier thismonth after an outbreak of theCovid-19 virus in the northernbeaches in Sydney, which isscheduled to host the third Testfrom January 7.

Even though the situationin northern beaches hasimproved, there are concernsthat Queensland may close itsborder with New South Wales,which will mean players andbroadcasting crews will not beable to travel from Sydney toBrisbane between the third andfourth Tests.

“We can run two Tests ifnecessary, no problems at all,”Sydney Cricket and SportsGround Trust chairman TonyShepherd told The Age.

Under the circumstances,Melbourne, which will be host-ing the Boxing Day fixturefrom December 26, hasemerged as the frontrunner tohost the third Test as well.

However, CA has assertedthat the SCG remains its pre-ferred venue for the third Test.

“We’ve made it very clear toCricket Australia we’re flexibleand would be very, very disap-pointed to lose the Sydney Test.And that’s with the support ofthe NSW Government,”Shepherd said.

Big challenge to keep Pujara quiet: Lyon

Australia's Matthew Wade, bottom, dives in attempt to catch out India's Cheteshwar Pujara off Nathan Lyon’s delivery during 1st Test AP

Can’t compare myself to Ashwin: Lyon

Warner, Abbott tomiss MCG TestMelbourne: Star opener DavidWarner and pacer Sean Abbottwere on Wednesday ruled out ofthe second Test against India,beginning at MCG from Saturday,because of a mix of injuries andCovid-19 protocols.

Both Warner and Abbott wereoutside the team’s bio-secure hubto get treatment for their respec-tive groin and calf injuries.

“While neither player has beenin a specific ‘hotspot’ on Sydney’snorthern beaches as outlined byNSW Health, Cricket Australia’sbiosecurity protocols do not allowthem to rejoin the squad in timefor the Boxing Day test,” CA saidin a statement. “The pair travelledfrom Sydney to Melbourne tocontinue their rehabilitation giventhe changing public health situa-tion in Sydney at the time.”

Warner still hasn’t recoveredfully from the groin injury, sus-tained during the ODI series,while Abbott has recovered froma calf strain but he is unlikely tobreak into a playing XI that beatIndia last week. PTI

Sydney offers to host 2 Tests India can stillscript turnaround,warns Lehmann

Rahane is bowler’s captain: Ishant

Messi breaks Pele’s record

Man City inflict moremisery on Arsenal

Juve suffer firstleague defeatLeo surpasses Brazilian’s feat of most goals for single club

The filming of super-star Rajinikanth-starrer Tamil flick

Annaatthe, which wasprogressing inHyderabad’s Ramoji FilmCity since last week, hadto be suspended onWednesday after fourmembers of the crew test-ed positive for novelcoronavirus. The super-star was tested negative.With multiple reports onWednesday indicatingthat eight members weretested positive, produc-

tion house Sun Picturestook to Twitter andreleased a statement, say-ing only four memberswere tested positive. Thestatement read, “Duringroutine testing at#Annaathe shoot 4 crewmembers have tested pos-itive for Covid19.Superstar @rajinikanthand other crew membershave tested negative. Toensure utmost safety#Annaatthe shooting hasbeen postponed (sic).”

Rajini, according to

sources, left Hyderabadto Chennai onWednesday. The freshschedule, which wasplanned till the middle ofnext month, was to wit-ness the entire shootcoming to an end. In arecent interaction withthe media, Rajini revealedthat only 40 percent ofthe film was left to beshot. A rural actioner, thefilm, directed by SiruthaiSiva, co-stars Nayanthara,Keerthy Suresh, Meenaand Kushboo.

Megastar Chiranjeevi onWednesday extended his bestwishes to Sai Tej-starrer Solo

Brathuke So Better, which debuts incinema halls tomorrow. As it is thefirst big film to release after theatreswere shuttered in March due toCOVID-19 imposed lockdown, theexcitement surrounding it is palpable.

Stating that the film’s release is animportant event for the entireindustry, Chiru posted, “Thereis no doubt that the receptionto the film will inspire andinfuse confidence in theindustry.At the same time I appeal to

audiences to responsiblysport masks and maintainsocial distance while enjoy-ing the film.”

In the fun-filled enter-tainer, Sai plays Virat, astudent who is averse tothe idea of being in arelationship, leadinghim to form a clubcalled SBSB (SoloBrathuke So Better).Nabha Natesh, on theother hand, plays aspunky young girlAmrutha who challenges Sai’ssteely resolve to stay single. AThaman musical, the film marks thedirectorial debut of Subbu, whileBVSN Prasad produced it.

Close on the heelsof shooting for aHindi music video

with rapper Badshah forYRF and Saga Musicearlier this month,Rashmika Mandannahas now stepped foot inBollywood as an actresswith producer RonnieScrewvala’s next ventureMission Majnu, starringSiddharth Malhotra.Screwvala is jointly pro-ducing it with AmarButala and GarimaMehta.

Although Rashmikawas offered Hindi pro-jects in the last oneyear-prominent ofwhich was Hindiremake of Telugu hitJersey-her busy schedulein south meant she hadto overlook Bollywoodcalling. She said she

chose Mission Majnu asher Bollywood debut asshe connected with itsstory. “I am super excit-ed to start my journeyin Hindi cinema and toreach out to newer audi-ences. I am grateful tothe makers for offeringme Mission Majnuwhich is written beauti-fully,” she said.

Set in the 1970s, thefilm, to go on floors inFebruary, follows thestory of India’s mostcourageous mission inthe heart of Pakistanthat forever changed therelationship between thetwo nations, the officialsynopsis read.

“There are thousandsof heroes who workbehind the scenes tosafeguard the interest ofour country from other

terror units and roguenations.

Their work often goesunnoticed and MissionMajnu is an attempt tobring their sacrificesand efforts to the fore-front,” Screwvala said ina statement.

Written by ParveezShaikh, Aseem Arroraand Sumit Batheja, thethriller also marks thedirectorial debut of adfilmmaker ShantanuBagchi.

Malhotra will be seenas a RAW agent, wholeads the mission. “I ameager to revisit a mission that foreverchanged the relationship betweenIndia and Pakistan. I am looking forward tosharing this special filmwith everyone,” he said.

Vijayawada Thursday December 24, 2020

12

tollywood

While the status ofhis next featureremains shroud-

ed in mystery, filmmakerVamshi Paidipally, how-ever, is working on a webseries for Telugu streameraha. According to asource, Vamshi’s digitaldebut is a parentingdrama. “A father himself,Vamshi had been travel-ling with the story ideasince a long time. He hastasked the principal teamof acclaimed web seriesLoser — directorAbhilash Reddy and writ-ers Shravan and

Bharadwaj — to developit further. The youngwriter's trio is more thanhalfway through with thewriting as the show isbeing conceived for eightepisodes. They are inconstant touch withVamshi who is guidingthem. The senior directoris extremely happy withthe way the episodes haveshaped up so far. He willact as the showrunner,”points out the source.

The source adds thatonce all the episodes areon his table and once hegoes through them,

Vamshi will share it withAllu Aravind.

“He will think aboutthe casting after Aravindgives his stamp ofapproval to the script.The series will narrate thestruggle a father goesthrough to bring up hischild, and is interspersedwith a lot of emotionalmoments. Vamshi is con-fident that it will be oneof the top shows to haveemerged from aha as the emotional arc of theshow is exceptionallystrong,” concludes thesource.

A parenting web seriesfrom Vamshi Paidipally

The fightmasters duoof Anbu-

Arivu, who wasraved for theirwork in Yash-star-rer KGF, has beensigned on for RaviTeja-starrerKhiladi, directedby Ramesh Varma.They join Telugufight mastersRam-Laxman foran episode in thefilm, whichaccording to themakers will be anaction extravagan-za.

Right now, thefilm’s shooting isgoing on in a spe-cial jail set erectedin Hyderabad,with Ravi Tejataking part in theshoot. The makerssay the jailepisodes — partic-ularly the actionunder Anbu-

Arivu supervision— will be thebiggest attraction.

A joint produc-tion venturebetween KSatyanarayana andJayantilal Gada,Khiladi, an action-thriller, sees RaviTeja in dual roles,while MeenakshiChaudhary andDimple Hayathiare the leadingladies.

Khiladi isAnbu-Arivu’s lat-est high-profileproject in Telugu.After making theirTelugu debut withAswathama, starring NagaShaurya, earlierthis year, theyhave been tappedby Meher Rameshfor Vedalamremake, starringmegastarChiranjeevi.

Khiladi will be an action extravaganza: Makers

The principal shootof Anil Ravipudi’sF3, headlined by

Venkatesh, Varun Tej,Tamannaah and Mehreen,kicked off in Hyderabad

on Wednesday. Venkateshand Tamannaah joinedthe sets on day itself,while Varun will join the shoot in January-endor in February. Being

made as a full-lengthcomic entertainer, pro-duction house SriVenkateswara Creations istargeting a May theatricalbow.

F3 rolls on

Rajini’s Annaatthe shootsuspended as crew testpositive for COVID-19

The series has beenenvisaged for eight

episodes and scriptingof five episodes has

been completed.While Vamshi has

cracked the story idea,Loser director

Abhilash Reddy andhis writers Shravan and

Bharadwaj aredeveloping it, findsNAGARAJ GOUD

Thesuperstar

has testednegative.

Accordingto sources, he left Hydto Chennai

after theshoot wassuspended

onWednesday

to ensuresafety

Rashmika's B'wooddebut with anespionage thriller

The reception to SBSB willinspire and infuse confidencein the industry: Chiru