not for imposing hindi over regional languages: shah a one-off … · 2019-09-18 · bhopal raipur...

Prakash Reddy

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TODAY

RGIA world’s 3rd fastest-growing airportPNS n HYDERABAD

The latest World Airport TrafficReport released on Tuesdayfeatures GMR HyderabadInternational Airport as the 3rdfastest-growing airport in theworld in terms of passengergrowth. Hyderabad, along withBengaluru, figures in the list oftop five fastest-growing air-ports in the world last year in themore than 15 million passengersper annum category, accordingto Airports CouncilInternational, a trade associa-

tion. ACI revealed the findings.Hyderabad InternationalAirport registered passengergrowth of 21.9% in 2018 overthe corresponding year.

ACI World Director GeneralMs. Angela Gittens said, "India'smove towards a more liberalizedaviation market and the nation'sstrengthening economic fun-damentals have helped itbecome one of the fastest-grow-ing markets with its trafficgrowing rapidly in a relativelyshort time."

Continued on Page 4

Kamala Harris verymuch qualified to runfor US Prez: NJ GuvPNS n HYDERABAD

Indian-origin US Senator,Kamala Harris is an out-standing leader and verymuch qualified to run for thepost of American President in2020 elections, said Governorof New Jersey, Phil Murphyhere on Wednesday.

Noting that there wereprobably 12 to 15 candidatesin the Democratic Party run-ning for the US President, hesaid, "many of them are veryqualified and she (kamalaHarris) certainly is one ofthem."

"I am with my state, myfavourite senator Cor yBooker who I think is terrif-ic. But Kamala Harris is anoutstanding leader as well,"

the NJ Governor said whenasked for his opinion on theHarris' candidature.

He was here to take part inSustainable InnovationSummit 2019 organsied byIndian Chamber ofCommerce.

Continued on Page 4

L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

Was the much-highlightedWorld Telugu Conference(WTC), conceived and execut-ed by Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao ostensiblyto promote Telugu language, lit-erature and culture across theglobe, a one-off affair? Whatabout the promise to make it anannual feature so that Telugu, aclassical language, gets its due atthe global level? On hindsight,WTC seems to have been ahyped show with no enduringelements for promoting Teluguat the international level. For,just one of the promises madein the heat of the moment hasseen the light of the day today!

KCR held the maiden WTCamid much fanfare inDecember 2017 for five days.The entire Hyderabad city wasdecked up in bridal finery withthemes reflecting Telugu lan-guage, literature and culture. Itwas the first conference of itskind to be held in Telangana tocelebrate Telugu language, lit-erature and culture after it wasaccorded classical language sta-tus in 2016. Celebrities, includ-ing film stars and litterateurs,took part and paid glowing trib-utes for the broad canvas givenby the government to projectTelugu. On the whole, about Rs80 crore was spent on WTC.

During the valedictory cere-mony, which was attended by

President Ram Nath Kovind,KCR announced, to the joy ofeveryone present, that the eventwould be organized every year.However, the event was not heldin the subsequent year -2018.There has been no initiativefrom the government till date to

organize the event in the currentyear. No doubt, the ChiefMinister took personal initiativeto make WTF a grand success.He invited President, VicePresident, Governors and otherimportant delegates to attendthe event. The main venue ofthe event was Lal BahadurStadium, where the inauguraland valedictory ceremonieswere held with pomp and gusto.While the inaugural event wasattended by Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu, the valedicto-ry event was attended byPresident Ram Nath Kovind.

Continued on Page 4

World Telugu Conference inauguration ceremony in 2017 (file photo)

Phil Murphy

Head constableshoots himself,succumbsT AMARENDER REDDY n NIZAMABAD

Prakash Reddy, a head con-stable attached to theIndlawai Police Station inNizamabad district, alleged-ly shot himself on the fore-head with the service revolverof the station sub-inspectoron Tuesday morning. Hesuccumbed instantaneouslyto the injuries.

Continued on Page 4

Not for imposing Hindi overregional languages: ShahPNS n NEW DELHI

Amid a huge backlash over hiscomments on Hindi as a "uni-fying language", Home MinisterAmit Shah said today that hehad never asked for the impo-sition of Hindi over regional lan-guages and added, "If somepeople want to do politics, it istheir choice." Amit Shah's com-ment earlier this week on Hindibecoming a unifying languagefor all Indians was read bymany as a precursor to the gov-ernment's bid to impose Hindion non-Hindi speaking states,reviving a decades-old debate.

"I never asked for imposingHindi over other regional lan-guages and had only requestedfor learning Hindi as the secondlanguage after one's mothertongue. I myself come from anon-Hindi state of Gujarat. Ifsome people want to do politics,it's their choice," Amit Shah said.

On Saturday, the HomeMinister had tweeted: "India isa country of many different lan-

guages and each language has itsown significance, but it is nec-essary to have a common lan-guage that becomes the mark ofIndia's identity globally... Today,if there is one language that hasthe ability to string the nationtogether in unity, it is the Hindilanguage which is the mostwidely-spoken and understoodlanguage in India."

The tweet provoked a storm,

especially in southern statesthat have always been opposedto any suggestion that mayseem like wider use of Hindi inthe states and the language tak-ing precedence over theirregional tongue.

Among those who were atodds with Mr Shah's commentwas the BJP's BS Yediyurappa,the Chief Minister of Karnataka.Mr Yediyurappa tweeted that his

government would not com-promise on the importance ofKannada in the state. "As far asKarnataka is concerned,Kannada is the principal lan-guage. We will never compro-mise its importance," he hadposted. Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan had said theclaim that "Hindi unifies ourcountry is absurd".

Amid similar protests fromTamil Nadu politicians, super-star Rajinikanth today said "nosouthern state would accept" anysuch move."A common lan-guage not just for India but anycountry is good for its unity andprogress. Unfortunately, (onecannot) bring a common lan-guage in our country. So youcannot impose any language,"Rajinikanth told reporters inTamil at the Chennai airport.

"Especially, if you imposeHindi, not just Tamil Nadu, nosouthern state will accept that.Many states in northern partswill also not accept that," headded.

Celebrities, including film stars andlitterateurs, took part and paid glowingtributes for the broad canvas given by thegovernment to project Telugu

Uttam, Revanth cross swords overHuzurnagar bypoll candidatePNS n HYDERABAD

Infighting in the State unit ofthe Congress party was out inthe open on Wednesday, asTPCC working president andMP A Revanth Reddy expressedhis displeasure at TPCC chiefUttam Kumar Reddy unilater-ally announcing PadmavathiReddy as the candidate for theHuzurnagar constituency by-polls. While speaking to mediapersons in the Assembly lobbies,Revanth Reddy faulted Uttamfor naming the candidate with-out informing the HighCommand and without con-sulting anyone in TPCC.

In the next breath, expressinghis own preference, RevanthReddy said that he would sup-port the candidature ofChamala Kiran Kumar Reddy.The force with which he saidthat sounded like a revoltagainst TPCC president.

By-elections will be held forthe Huzurnagar Assembly con-stituency, as Uttam vacated theseat after winning the LokSabha polls as Nalgonda MP.

Although notification for theHuzurnagar bye-elections is yetto be announced, infighting inthe grand old party has alreadyspilled on to the streets.

Revanth is said to have met

Telangana Congress in-chargeRC Khuntia and complainedabout Uttam. Khuntia is under-stood to have pacified Revanth,saying he would inform partyHigh Command about theissue. Revanth is known to bejockeying for TPCC presidentpost and his overt defiance ofUttam in the case ofHuzurnagar candidate hasbecome a topic of hot discussionin party circles. Revanth, alongwith his family members, meteven Congress matriarch SoniaGandhi recently, setting offspeculations.

Continued on Page 4

Shamshabad airport

Cabinet clearsRs 2,024 crbonus forRailway staffPNS n NEW DELHI

In a festive season bonanza,the Union Cabinet hasapproved bonus worth 78days' wages for over 11 lakhIndian Railways employees.

"It will motivate employees.This is a reward for their pro-ductivity," Union EnvironmentMinister Prakash Javadekarsaid while briefing the mediaon Cabinet decisions. Thebonus to railway employeeswould cost Rs 2,024 crore tothe national transporter.Javadekar said that the Cabinetdecision on bonus equivalentto 78 days' wages has been thesixth in the row thus setting arecord. The bonus for finan-cial year 2018-19 is linked toemployee productivity andcovers 11.52 lakh eligible non-gazetted railway employees.

"Productivity-linked bonus(PLB) to all non-gazetted railwayemployees is an acknowledge-ment of their contribution to theefficient running of the Railways,"an official statement said.

Telangana and New Jersey ‘Sister States'PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana and New Jerseysigned a 'Sister StatePartnership Agreement' inHyderabad on Wednesday. Theagreement was signed by ChiefSecretary Dr SK Joshi andNew Jersey State GovernorPhil Murphy in the presence ofIT and Industries Minister K TRama Rao.

The agreement facilitatescooperation in specific areas ofeconomic development such asIT, Pharma and Life Sciences,Biotech, Fintech, Media, DataCentres, Clean Energy, HigherEducation, Tourism, Cultureand Healthcare sectors, amongothers. The agreement wassigned to strengthen the part-

nership and good relationshipbetween the people of thestates of New Jersey andTelangana. The pact willencourage continued discus-

sions; develop programmesand activities of mutual inter-est amongst the people of NewJersey and Telangana.

Continued on Page 4

Chief Secretary SK Joshi and New Jersey State Governor Phil Murphy signing the‘Sister State Partnership Agreement' in the presence of IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao

T-HUB INKS MOU WITH ‘VENTURELINK’AND ‘CHOOSE NEW JERSEY’The Telangana government's startup initiative T-Hub on Friday

signed a tripartite MoU with 'Choose New Jersey', an economicdevelopment organization, and 'VentureLink', a community hub fortechnology companies at the New Jersey Institute of Technology forNorthern New Jersey. The MoU will promote technology andinvestment exchange between New Jersey and India throughcollaboration between T-Hub, VentureLink, and Choose New Jersey. T-Hub will provide Indian growth-stage startups with businessopportunities, market understanding, and access to clients in NewJersey. The three entities will collaborate in the areas of startupinnovation, funding and entrepreneurship. Under the agreement,two individuals per startup will get complimentary space for twomonths. The agreement will also enhance the globalcompetitiveness of New Jersey and Indian startups and it willsupport joint research and development in the areas of commoninterest between the parties.

NIA Hydregisters firsthumantrafficking caseHYDERABAD: The city unitof National InvestigationAgency (NIA) booked its firsthuman trafficking case, underprovisions of the recentlyamended NIA Act, againstthree persons including awoman.

The case was booked fol-lowing the arrest ofMohammed Yousuf Khan,Bithi Begum and Sojib, allnatives of West Bengal, whowere living in Hyderabad andwere arrested by Chatrinakapolice in April for their allegedinvolvement in illegal traf-ficking of Bangladeshi womento Hyderabad and their sexu-al exploitation.

Continued on Page 4

MindspaceMetro launchby October endHYDERABAD: If all goeswell, employees working in ITcompanies can use Metro tocommute to Mindspace Metrostation starting this Diwali.Works relating to theRaidurgam Metro Station isnearing completion and Metroofficials say the rest of theworks would be completed byOctober 15. Due to the con-struction of an underpass anda flyover of SRDP, work at thisstation was delayed. CentralChief Electrical Inspectorinspections for overhead trac-tion lines have already beencompleted.

HMRL MD N V S Reddysaid that the residual workswould be completed by mid-October. The inaugural runcould happen betweenOctober 15-30, upon approvalby the Commission of RailwaySafety (CMRS).

Continued on Page 4

Govt bansproduction,import of e-cigarettesNEW DELHI: The UnionCabinet on Wednesdayapproved an ordinance to banproduction, import, distribu-tion and sale of electroniccigarettes, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman, who had head-ed a Group of Ministers(GoM) on the issue, said theCabinet decided to ban e-cig-arettes and similar products asthey pose health risk to peo-ple, especially the youth.

It is believed that there aremore than 400 brands, none ofwhich is manufactured yet inIndia and they come in over150 flavours.

It is Electronic NicotineDelivery System or ENDS,the formal technical name ofe-cigarettes. There was 77.8%growth among school stu-dents taking to e-cigarettes

13 more still missing, 34 dead bodies recovered

PNS n KAKINADA

The search operations forthe still missing in touristboat caponize continued onthe fourth day on Wednesday.

A total of 727 personal andstaff from Indian Navy,NDRF, SDRF, police, AP fireand disaster management areengaged in the search oper-ations that entered its fourthday on Wednesday.

Of the total 73 in thecaponized boat, 26 were res-cued on Sunday, and of theremaining 34 missing, bodieswere recovered in the last four

days from Sunday. Accordingto East Godavari joint collec-tor and additional districtmagistrate Dr G Lakshmishathe search operations will beresumed by 4 am onThursday, for the remaining13 missing, the JC said.

l Boat capsize in river Godavari

PNS n NEW DELHI

Pakistan will not allow PrimeMinister Narendra Modi touse its airspace while travel-ling to the United States, thecountry's Foreign MinisterShah Mehmood Qureshi wasquoted as saying by newsagency ANI on Wednesday.

PM Modi will leave for theUS on September 21for a week-longvisit.

Pakistan hadclosed its airspaceto India after theair strikes on theJaish-e Mohammadterror camp at Balakot on

February 26. But it opted fora partial opening again in

July. Days later, its avi-ation minister said hiscountry suffered losesof over eight billionrupees ($50 million)

from the airspacerestrictions, reported

news agency Reuters.

Infighting inCongress out in theopen, as RevanthReddy raises revoltagainst TPCCpresident UttamKumar Reddy

Won't allow Modi to use our airspace

Was World Telugu Conferencea one-off extravaganza?l No word for over 2 years about ‘annual' conference

l First WTC held amidmuch fanfare inDecember 2017

l Nearly Rs 80 crorespent with a litany ofpromises

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PNS n HYDERABAD

"India is very important mar-ket for us. We are open to dobusiness," said Joel SibusisoNdebele, South African HighCommissioner to India whileaddressing a business seminaron Trade and InvestmentOpportunities in South Africaheld in Hyderabad onWednesday. The meet wasorganised by the Federation ofTelangana Chamber ofCommerce and Industry(FTCCI) in partnership withSouth African HighCommissioner.

"We have set ourselves a tar-get to attract an investment ofUS$ 100 billion in the next fiveyears and we are here to attractinvestments from our prioritymarket India," SibusisoNdebele added. "South Africa

offers immense businessopportunities and potentialfor Indian corporate inGeneral and Telangana in par-ticular. We have robust inde-pendent legal and judiciarysystem with high level ofIndustrial innovation. We arelooking for investments inpharma, IT, infra and renew-able energy sectors," he said.

Speaking at the gatheringattended representatives of big

corporate, government offi-cials and entrepreneurs,FTCCI Sr Vice PresidentRamakanth Inani said, "Thisseminar is aimed at creatingawareness about businessopportunities and promotingtrade and investment part-nerships between India andSouth Africa. We are workingclosely with SA officials andfacilitating trade and businessopportunities for our region."

The seminar was attendedby Khyati Naravane, CEO,FTCCI; E Vishnu VardhanReddy, Regional PassportOfficer, Ministry of ExternalAffairs; Lerato Mashile, ActingConsul General, South AfricanConsulate General, Mumbai;Recado Andrews, Counselor ofEconomic, South African HighCommission in New Delhi,among others.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Finance Minister T Harish Raoon Tuesday said that 9.93 lakhacre of new ayacut will be cre-ated by next kharif season inthe state and fund allocationshave been made in the 2019-20Budget to achieve this.

The irrigation departmenthas drawn up big plans toincrease ayacut in the state, andRs 8,356 crore had been allo-cated in the Budget. This apart,Rs 12,302 crore will be raisedthrough loans from differentfunding agencies, the Ministersaid in the State Assembly,adding that these funds will beutilised for Kaleshwaram LiftIrrigation Scheme, Sitaramaproject, Palamuru-RangareddyLift Irrigation Scheme andother irrigation projects.

"All together, about Rs20,668 crore will be spent bythe Irrigation department dur-ing the financial year. This willhelp in creating a new ayacutof 9.93 lakh acres by nextkharif," Harish Rao said.

Stating that theKaleshwaram Lift IrrigationScheme had begun yieldingfruit, he said that water will besupplied up to Nalgonda,Suryapet and Kodad duringYasangi season this year.Through SRSP Stage II, waterwill be supplied to four lakhacres, while SRSP Stage I willirrigate 9.60 lakh acres.

Irrespective of water inflowsfrom upstream in riverGodavari, water will be sup-plied to 14 lakh acre throughSaraswathi, Lakshmi and othercanals, besides Ali Sagar, the

Minister said amid thumpingof benches by the TRS MLAs.

Pointing out that reversepumping into the flood flowcanal of SRSP to fill the reser-voir with water was a newmodel for the country, he said

with minimum expenditureand least time spent, the floodflow canal was transformedinto a reservoir to store hugevolumes of water. "This is a vic-tory achieved by the TRS gov-ernment. Would this have been

possible if Congress was inpower?", Harish Rao askedpointing to Congress MLAKomatireddy Rajgopal Reddyin the House.

The Minister said thatMLAs, cutting across partylines, had appreciated ChiefMinister K ChandrashekharRao for ensuring water throughriver Godavari. "SangareddyMLA Jagga Reddy and CPIleader Chada Venkat Reddycomplimented the ChiefMinister, while KarnatakaMLA Revanna felicitatedChandrashekhar Rao. NavjotSingh Sidhu came all the wayfrom Punjab and appreciatedthe efforts of the Chief Ministerbut Congress leaders here areoblivious to all these appreci-ations and developments, hepointed out.

The Minister said after for-mation of Telangana State, over12 lakh acres of new ayacutcame under cultivation. Over1.27 lakh acre was stabilizedunder major and medium irri-gation projects and similarlyover 14 lakh acres was stabi-lized through MissionKakatiya. Referring to reversemigration in erstwhileMahabubnagar district, he saidthe State government's initia-tives helped in transformingthe drought-prone district intoa vast expanse of lush greenfields.

Nearly Rs.2,652 crore wasspent on completing pendingprojects in Mahabubnagar dis-trict. This facilitated in sup-plying water to over 7 lakhacres in the district, theMinister said.

PNS n HYDERABAD

City Mayor Bonthu Rammohanand education secretary Dr BJanardhan Reddy inaugurated theSwachh Vidyalaya programme,which aims to raise awarenessabout the sanitation and cleanlinessamong students on Wednesday.This is a joint initiative betweenITC's Wellbeing Out of Waste(WOW) programme, the depart-ment of education, Telangana andGreater Hyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC).

As part of the initiative, the threehave joined hands to implement amajor awareness campaign across5,000 selected schools inHyderabad and Telangana by cre-ating "Swachh Vidyalaya" aimed atdeveloping appropriate knowledge,attitude and behaviour about wastemanagement among children.

The programme is created toencourage school students practiseand spread awareness about wastesegregation and sustainable man-agement of waste. School students,teachers and principals of over 400schools and stakeholders from gov-ernment and non-governmentalagencies participated in the event.

This programme would helpreduce dumping of waste in andaround the school campus andaddress the challenge of environ-mental degradation. It will also help

promote segregation of waste at thesource so that the recyclable mate-rials and wet waste is convertedinto organic compost to be used asmanure for kitchen gardens andfarmers.

The Mayor called upon everystudent to be a Swacch ambassadorand conduct Swacch programmesat home and in and around theirschool. Janardhan Reddy said thatthere are about 29,000 publicschools in the state and over 10,000private schools where SwacchVidayalaya program is being imple-mented. He also said that 39 actionitems were sent to each school toreceive a Swacchta rating. The rat-ing period begins from October1and will run for one full year.

GHMC and ITC WOW will alsojointly conduct "CleanCommunities Championship" inHyderabad to create awareness on

the importance of segregation inhouseholds. Over 300 gated com-munities in Hyderabad will be cov-ered under the programme.

The 2019 inter-schools recy-cling championships was awardedto Kanduri Adit, a Class II studentof Ochrid's International School,Gachibowli, who worked on envi-ronmental protection by collecting2,145 kg of dry, recyclable waste.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr.Sanjay Singh, member, corporatemanagement committee, and chiefexecutive, Paperboards andSpecialty Papers Division, ITCLtd., said, "We have also started the"Clean CommunitiesChampionship" and "Inter-SchoolRecycling Championship AwardsCeremony" to motivate childrenand contribute to the govern-ment's goal of achieving a Swachhand Swasth Bharat."

City Mayor Bonthu Rammohan and state officials take a sanitation and cleanliness pledge atthe event on Wednesday

9.93 lakh acre new ayacut by next KharifFM Harish Rao says irrigation department has been allocated Rs 8,356 crore in the Budget for this

Irrespective ofinflows fromupstream inriverGodavari,water will besupplied to 14lakh acrethroughSaraswathi,Lakshmi andother canals PNS n HYDERABAD

Cloud data management com-pany Informatica, haslaunched its R&D facility inHyderabad on Wednesday.The expansion is an integralpart of Informatica's globalR&D investment, whichexceeds $200 million a yearand enables the company tosupport its continued growthin India.

Informatica has investedover $2 million in Hyderabadto build a new 23,000+ sq ftengineering hub which willspearhead innovation for thecompany. The Hyderabadfacility is focussed on the evo-lution of InformaticaIntelligent Data Platform.

Currently, there are cur-rently over 150 employees atthe Hyderabad engineeringhub and this is expected todouble in a few years.Informatica employs around1,600 people across the coun-try with its three major devel-opment centres in Bengaluru,Chennai and Hyderabad.

Leveraging AI and machinelearning across the company'sentire product architecturevia its CLAIRE engine, theHyderabad office will furtherdevelop InformaticaEnterprise Data Catalog(EDC), and its strategic cloudofferings.

Amit Walia, president ofproducts and marketing said,

"India, specifically Hyderabad,with its highly skilled talentpool is vital to Informatica'sgrowth. With almost half ofour global employees locatedin the three facilities in India,expansion is inevitable.Hyderabad is driving some ofthe most significant innova-tions that have allowedInformatica make a globalimpact."

A lamp being lit to inaugurate the R&D facility in the city on Wednesday

CM peddling lieson recession: BJPParty spokesperson says KCR isblaming Centre to hide hisfailures on TS' financial frontPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana BJP alleged thatChief Minister KChandrashekar Rao was ped-dling blatant lies in case ofstate's financial position andpointing fingers towards reces-sion and Centre to hide hisfailures. BJP's spokespersonAnugula Rakesh Reddydemanded an apology fromCM KCR for misquotingindustrialists Ratan Tata andAnand Mahindra on recessionand misleading Telanganapeople.

"Telangana state's financialposition is in such a patheticsituation that the governmentis not even able to pay salariesand pending bills. KCR hasincreased state's debt from Rs60,000 crore to Rs 3 lakhcrore, but failed to build anynew assets or increase income.If the Centre stops funds, thestate government cannot runeven for a day. Every month,at least Rs 5,000 crore newloans have to be availed to runthe government. Telanganahas come to this situation dueto the utter negligence andinability of CM KCR. But tohide his failure and inability,KCR is pointing towardsCentre and citing recession asthe reason for Telangana'spoor financial position," crit-icised Anugula Rakesh Reddy,speaking in Hyderabad onWednesday.

"KCR said that due to reces-sion, the state's budget hasbeen decreased. He even saidindustrialists Ratan Tata andAnand Mahindra have saidthat India is going through arecession. This is absolutelyfalse. Ratan Tata and AnandMahindra have never com-mented on recession. KCRshould apologise for telling lieson recession," he demanded.

Rakesh Reddy also said thatKCR has been misleadingTelangana people on severaleconomic indicators. "KCR,time and again, says thatTelangana is the number onestate in GSDP, which is glar-ing a lie. According to RBIdata, Telangana is at 8th placein GSDP. KCR is also cheatingpeople saying Telangana isnumber one state in welfare,while it is at 8th place. Even incase of IT sector, Telangana isat 5th position. IT MinisterKTR's English is good but per-formance is bad," allegedRakesh Reddy.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister K ChandrashekharRao on Wednesday said the gov-ernment is ready to solve problemsof the Singareni workers. The CMhas instructed Singareni CMDSridhar to convene a special meet-ing with MPs, MLAs and MLCsfrom Singareni area, discuss allmatters threadbare and suggestsolutions.

CM KCR held a meeting in hischamber in the LegislativeAssembly here with Singareniregion MLAs Balka Suman, GandraVenkatramana Reddy, Divakar Rao,

Vanama Venkateswarlu,Durgam Chinnaiah, SandraVenkata Veeranna, RegaKantha Rao, Hari Priya andKorukanti Chander. SingareniCMD Sridhar, CM PrincipalSecretary S Narsing Rao also par-ticipated in the meeting.

Singareni area MLAs brought tothe notice of the CM the problemsfaced by workers. They urged himthat as was done every year, work-

ers should be given a sharein the profits of the

company for thefinancial year 2018-19 too. The CMresponded posi-tively to this. KCRassured that he

would make a state-ment in the Assembly

on Thursday on the sharefrom profits to be paid to Singareniworkers.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana High Courton Wednesday issued noticesto the state government torespond to a Public InterestLitigation (PIL) filed that ithad been keeping severalGOs secret.

The petition was filed byone Perala Shekar Rao, aresident of LB Nagar in thecity, who told the court thatout of a total of 1.07 lakh GOsissued by Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao led stategovernment ever since itcame to power, about 42,500GOs were not put up in thepublic domain. The peti-tioner urged the HC to issuedirections to the governmentto publish all theGovernment Orders (GO)notifications, rules and cir-culars on Internet and updatethose passed by the govern-ment put in the publicdomain, especially on theofficial website of the stategovernment. Perala Rao alsourged the court to appoint asenior officer who is respon-sible for prompt updating ofthe government website andproper flow of content to thegovernment's official site,besides uploading all futureGOs. A division bench com-prising Chief Justice RSChauhan and Justice AAbhishek Reddy adjournedthe matter for four weeksafter the issuance of thenotices.

Anugula Rakesh Reddy

Land allotment to JeeyarSwamy challenged

YADADRI SHRINE ROW

PNS n HYDERABAD

A PIL was filed in TelanganaHigh Court on Wednesdaychallenging the state govern-ment's decision to transfer 2.3acre land to Jeeyar SwamyVedic Trust in the pilgrim cityof Yadadri.

The petition was filed byone Ch Veera Chari, a socialactivist from Lalapeta area ofSecunderabad. In his petition,Chari urged the high court todeclare the action of secretaryof Yadadri TempleDevelopment Authority(YTDA) in registering the2.30 acres of land in SurveyNumber 172 of Gundlapallyvillage of Yadadri district infavour of Jeeyar IntegratedVedic Academy (JIVA) run bySri Sr i Sr i ChinnaSrimannarayana RamanujaJeeyar swamy on September

5, 2019 as arbitrary and ille-gal and set aside the regis-tration.

The petitioner also urgedthe court to direct the stategovernment to compensatethe Jeeyar Swamy for acquir-ing his Kuteer built in 2004without conducting any alter-nate allotment of land.

A division bench compris-ing of Chief Justice RSChauhan and Justice AAbhishek Reddy adjournedthe matter till next week, fol-lowing a request by the coun-sel for the petitioner.

The Jeeyar Swamy wasmade the sixth respondent inthe case. The principal secre-taries of Revenue andEndowments Department,the secretary of the YTDA,district collector of YadadriBhongir district are the otherrespondents in the case.

He met MLAs fromSingareni area whobrought to his noticeproblems faced byworkers

The PIL claimsthat of a total of1.07 lakh GOsissued, about42,500 were notput in publicdomain

‘South Africa offersimmense businessopportunities andpotential for Indiancorporate inGeneral andTelangana inparticular’

Singareni workers to be givenshare in profits, says KCR

n 1700+ employees inIndia

n Started operations inIndia 16 years ago andopened its Hyderabadoffice 10 years ago

n 150 employees inHyderabad. Headcountto double in two years

n Has seen 20 per centgrowth in employeeseach year

n Data Security Productsand Enterprise DataCatalogue are key. ManyInformatica productsare developed out of itdHyderabad office and ithas expanded in cloud,Artificial Intelligence (AI)and Machine Learning(ML)

Cloud data firm investsRs 1,400 cr in Hyd unit

SOARING HIGH

South Africa pitches fortrade ties with India

HC notice togovt over PIL on GOs

ITC, edu dept, GHMC joinhands for Swachh Bharat

RIMEORNERC

Six held for harassingtraffic copHYDERABAD: The Gandhinagarpolice arrested six persons onWednesday for allegedly abusinga traffic police sub-inspector atTank Bund during Ganeshimmersion procession last week.According to the police, the sixpersons were identified as ShivaShankar, Vinay Kumar, AjayKumar, Shiva, Srinath and Anandabused the Chikkadpally TrafficSI Balraj while he was on Ganeshimmersion duty on September 9.A video of the six personsaccosting the SI and abusinghim went viral on social media.The six persons were allegedlydrunk and were questioning thepolice official why he had abusedthem. On a complaint made bythe SI, the police registered acase against the six personsunder sections 351, 353 ,504 ofthe IPC and placed them underarrest on Tuesday.

Fraud booked forextorting donationsHYDERABAD: The ApolloHospital management haslodged a complaint with theBanjara Hills police stating that afraudster was extortingdonations from doctors andNRIs to be transferred into thebank accounts of the hospital byclaiming that the hospital is incollaboration with the Stategovernment would be treatingdengue patients with the fundscollected. According to sources,the fraudster, G Kranthi Kumarfrom Boduppal, opened a bankaccount with Axis Bank in thename of Apollo Hospitals using afraudulent letterhead of thehospital. He was solicitingdonations from people to betransferred into the bankaccount. The fraud came to lightwhen the bank officialsapproached the hospital to checkthe veracity of the details. Effortsare on to nab the accused, policesaid.

Student mowed downby lorry at MedchalHYDERABAD: A 20-year-oldstudent was killed on the spotwhen a speeding lorry ran overhim at Medchal on Tuesday. Thedeceased student was identified asArigela Dhiraj, studying his B.Techin MREM college. He waspursuing his 3rd year and wasstaying with his brother in a hostelat Medchal. According to thepolice, Dhiraj was heading towardsMedchal check post when themishap occurred. Dhiraj was onhis two wheeler when a lorry beingdriven rashly crashed into the bike.The impact of the crash was suchthat Dhiraj immediately cameunder the wheels of the lorry andwas crushed.


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PNS n HYDERABAD

The only news photographerto be honored with fourPulitzer prizes, Carol Guzy,who formerly worked withThe Washington Post, was inHyderabad on Wednesdayand was heard saying, "Agood news picture is one

which is understood by peo-ple across the globe withouthaving to read the caption."

Carol was interacting withthe city's photojournalists atPress Club in Somajiguda.She said, "The role of jour-nalists is fast changing.Journalists are multi-taskingto remain competitive in the

media market. No more canwe limit journalists to oneparticular role."

Carol is one of the few dis-tinguished photographerswho will participate in theIndia Photo Festival (IPF)festival to begin at the StateArt Gallery in the city onThursday.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Municipal AdministrationMinister KT Rama Rao offi-cially began a review meetingof constituencies under theGHMC. As part of this con-stituency review meetings,works in Amberpet werereviewed along with MinisterTalasani Srinivas Yadav.

The meeting, held at GHMCHQ, was attended by officialsfrom the water board andnational highways and rev-enue department. The meetdiscussed the progress ofdevelopment activities in theconstituency. Officials provid-ed details on sanitation, watersupply, Amberpet flyover andthe possibility of constructionof double-bedroom houses.

Town planning officialsinformed the ministers thatland acquisition required tostart the Amberpet flyover isalmost complete and the sitewill be handed over to theNational Highway Authority ofIndia in the next three weeks.The water board officials saidthat the supply of drinkingwater was sufficient to cover

the constituency. The board issupplying every householdabout 11 gallons of water everyday. The ministers alsoinstructed water board officialsto take immediate action ifthere are any problems.

Officials discussed the func-tioning of Amberpet watertreatment plant and cleanup ofthe sewage in river Musi.Amberpet MLA K Venkateshbrought several issues to thenotice of the authorities. He saida sanitation drive is currentlywell underway and asked formore staff to be allocated. Inaddition, the MLA mentionedseveral areas where the double-bedroom houses can be built.

Officials have been asked tosubmit a report on the situationfacilities in these areas for2BHK houses. Minister KTRsaid that if the governmentidentifies land lying vacant,permits will be granted for con-struction of houses.

The meeting was attendedby Mayor Bonthu Rammohan,Deputy Mayor Baba Fasiuddin,GHMC Commissioner LokeshKumar, HMWSSB MD DanaKishore and other officials.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Kukatpally Y-junction,which was closed about eightyears ago to facilitate Metrostation works, will be openedfor commuters in a week.

The Y-junction atBalanagar in Kukatpally iscrucial link not only for localcommuters but also outsta-tion buses. With state andnational highway touching it,this junction is part of thecrucial Mumbai highway.According to Cyberabad traf-fic police, "This junction isbeing reopened in view of thechaotic situation at U-turnson the stretch and road safe-ty issues."

This was one of the crucialand busiest junctions previ-ously, with traffic personnelbeing deployed round theclock. The proximity of theU-turn to the signal also cre-ates confusion among com-muters.

Commuters, especially ontwo-wheelers and four wheel-ers, end up fighting as theyjostle for space. Clients of thebars and restaurants parktheir vehicles on the road,which only adds to the con-gestion.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana governmenthas decided to declare 2020 asArtificial Intelligence year byorganising various activitiesrelated to the emerging tech-nology, Jayesh Ranjan, princi-pal secretary, IT and Industriessaid here on Wednesday.

"The year 2020 is going tobe celebrated in Telangana asAI year. And throughout theyear, we will be running mul-tiple programs and activities.

A lot of hackathons andmeetings will happen and thegovernment agencies will givechallenges and make availabledata sets on which you (com-panies) can run algorithms,"he said speaking at a pro-gramme. Ranjan said the stategovernment has signed upwith NITI Aayog, which hascome out with the 'NationalStrategy for ArtificialIntelligence' to run pilot pro-jects in Telangana.

He said IT industry bodyNASSCOM is setting up aCentre of Excellence in DataSciences and AI here, which isexpected to start its activitiesin 2020.

MAUD minister assesses infra,sanitation, water, etc in Amberpet

PNS n HYDERABAD

Although the country is facingan economic slowdown, onesector that has no dearth ofjobs is the IT industry, whichis not just expanding, but alsofocussing on flexible hiring,which is a short, fixed-termcontract between six months toa year.

"When market uncertaintysets in, flexi-staffing comes tothe rescue for both applicantsand employers. While appli-cants keep themselves engaged,employers try to manage theircurrent state of affairs withouthiring someone full-time," saidRituparna Chakraborty, pres-ident of the Indian Staffing

Federation.Jobs in industries like IT and

accounting witnessed a hike of6 per cent in Hyderabad, whichis the highest in India, accord-ing to Naukri JobSpeak. Notjust Hyderabad, despite glob-

al slowdown India as a wholehas witnessed big growth overthe past few years and the ITsector is set to lead the way,suggests a report published byIndian Staffing Federation.

According to the report, "It

is anticipated that flex work-force in the Indian IT sectorwould increase to 7 lakh by2021."

"Flexi staffing in the comingyears will be on a fast-pacedgrowth trajectory, as there is ahuge opportunity for organi-sations to use it to meet theirobjectives with appropriately-skilled workforce. As flexistaffing moves up the valuechain in an organisation andthe future workplace becomesagile, mobile and flexible, theopportunity for us as staffingorganisations to grow and cre-ate an impact is immense," saysPaul Dupuis, chairperson ofthe research committee ofIndian Staffing Federation.

Flexi-staffing keeps IT jobsgoing amid economic slumpFixed-term contracts enable IT firms control costs, techies keep jobs

Jobs in sectorslike IT andaccountingwitnessed ahike of 6 percent inHyderabad,which is thehighest in India

Can't confine journalists tojust one role: Pulitzer winner

Pulitzer prize winner Carol Guzy interacts with photojournalists at Press Club in the city on Wednesday

Y-Junction tore-open after eight years

MAUD Minister KTR at the review meeting at GHMC headquarters on Wednesday

ROLLS ARE OUT, IT'S DIGITAL AGE!

2020 to be‘Year of AI’ in Telangana

PNS n HYDERABAD

Indian School of Business(ISB) has secured the seventhposition globally in the ForbesBest Business Schools 2019rankings announced today.ISB is the top-ranked B-Schoolfrom Asia among those sur-veyed. The School has partic-ipated in Forbes rankings forthe first time this year.

The Forbes Best BusinessSchool rankings areannounced every two yearsand rank the schools solely ontheir "5-year MBA gain." It rep-resents the net cumulativeamount the typical alumniwould have earned after fiveyears by getting their MBA ver-sus staying in their pre-MBAcareer.

This year Forbes looked atmore than 100 schools andsurveyed 17,500 alumniregarding their pre- and post-MBA compensation, careerchoice, and location. They didnot consider the schools wherealumni had a negative ROIafter five years.

Sharing his views on thisProfessor R ajendraSrivastava, Dean, ISB said,"We are delighted to be a partof the Forbes Best BusinessSchool 2019 rankings, and itis a pleasure to see ISB'sPGP gaining more and morerecognition globally. Theserankings speak of the valuethat ISB's MBA brings to

the table for both our stu-dents and the corporateworld. It bears testimony toour students' competencies,teachings of our world-classfaculty, the satisfaction of ouralumni as well as the confi-dence of our recruiters. Iwant to thank each of themfor this success. I would alsolike to mention about ourupdated curriculum thathelps the students to honetheir skills as per the fast-changing world today. Welook forward to workinghard and keep moving up theladder in the right directionwith the ISB family together."

Forbes compared the alum-ni earnings in their first fiveyears out of business school totheir opportunity cost of doingan MBA. Their survey mea-sured total compensation,including salary, bonuses, andexercised stock options. Basedon their analysis, they con-cluded that a typical student'ssalary would have risen half asfast as their post-MBA salaryincrease.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Cyber security Center ofExcellence, Telangana in col-laboration with City of LondonCorporation hosted the UK-India Fintech & Cyber securi-ty Forum at T-Hub, Hyderabadon Wednesday. Mayor ofLondon Alderman Peter Estlin,along with a UK delegation offintech and cyber securitycompanies, were in the city toboost India-UK ties in cybersecurity and fintech.

This collaboration will cat-alyze Indian and UK organi-

zations to expand their engage-ment and horizon of businessto both countries. As per thepress statement, Lord Mayor ofthe City of London Peter Estlinsaid "I am delighted to be thefirst Lord Mayor in many yearsto visit India's innovation cityHyderabad and look forward toexploring how we boost tiesbetween the UK and India inareas including insurance, fin-tech and cyber. As a business-man with long ties to India, I'veseen with my own eyes theexplosion of innovation in thisamazing country, which now

boasts over 20,000 start-ups-3,000 alone in fintech.Hyderabad is one of the mostexciting places in India to dobusiness right now, and I can'twait to see what more our twocities can do together."

Jayesh Ranjan, PrincipalSecretary, Industries andCommerce, Government ofTelangana, said, "In the era ofdigitalisation, innovation andrapid change, global collabo-rations such as the India-UKpartnership with Hyderabadplays a vital role in exchangingknowledge and expertise to

address global challenges andexplore potential businessopportunities. Cybersecurityand Fintech are two such areasrich with possibilities for glob-al partnerships."

Speaking at the event, DrSriram Birudavolu, CEO,Cyber security CoE said, "TheCyber security CoE atHyderabad is a nerve centre forinternational and domesticcollaborations. We are happy tofoster engagement among theUK and Indian governmentbodies, companies and acade-mia."

London Mayor in Hyd, bats for UK-India ties

ISB ranks 7th globally inForbes’ best biz school listCity-based ISB is top-ranked B-school in Asia in one-year MBA category

KTR urgesRajnath toask SCB toreopen roadsPNS n HYDERABAD

TRS Working president K TRama Rao on Wednesdayrequested Defence MinisterRajanth Singh to intervene andissue instructions to theSecunderabad CantonmentBoard (SCB) officials toreopen roads in the vicinity toavoid inconvenience to people.

"Extremely strange behav-iour despite repeated requestsfrom Govt of Telangana andthe local residents. I requestHon'ble Defence Minister SriRajnath Singh Ji to interveneand issue instructions to thelocal Cantonment officials toavoid inconvenience to pub-lic," he tweeted. Rao's com-ment came after a Twitteruser, Greensainikpuri, com-plained that roads inSecunderabad's Cantonmentarea were being closed withoutany prior information.

Greensainikpuri tweeted,"Breaking news SecunderabadCantonment roads are againclosed for civilians at ValerianGrammer School from todayonwards. Jawans at the post saythey have received orders fromAHQ ADGPI to close forcivilians. Very shocking situ-ation. Civilians are Orphansagain."

"Shri KTR Garu, they havebeen harassing civilians withthese public roads closuresinspite of clear orders fromtheir boss COAS & DefenceMinister India. Now its duty ofour Vp RKs_RamaKrishnaMLA Garu & MP to enforcethat a special board meeting becalled to table those orders," hesaid in another tweet.

AIMIM holdsfree healthcamps in cityPNS n HYDERABAD

In light of rise in cases ofmalaria, typhoid and denguein Hyderabad, AIMIM presi-dent Asaduddin Owaisi hasdecided to hold free medicalhealth camp at the variouslocations in the city in collab-oration with Owaisi Group ofHospitals. One such camp wasinaugurated by Mayor BonthuRammohan along withAsaduddin Owaisi at OwaisiHealth Centre at Talabkatta onWednesday. Diagnosis, con-sultations and medicines willbe conducted and providedfree of cost at the camps.Speaking to the media, theMayor urge people to avail theopportunity to ensure theirwelfare.

The next few health campswill be held at MF Garden inTolichowki on Friday, at KHKFunction Hall in Asifnagar onMonday, Khilwat Grounds atCharminar on September 25.

London Mayor Alderman Peter Estlin

‘These rankingsspeak of the valuethat ISB's MBAbrings to the tablefor both ourstudents and thecorporate world'

Review meetings forGHMC areas start


Nalgonda gets 20 cm rain in24 hrs; downpour in rural TS

Police analysing ex-AndhraSpeaker's phone calls data

MLA Raja Singh sets up hisown of ‘vigilante army'

MANDAL-LEVEL OFFICIALS ACROSS STATE ASKED TO RECORD DETAILS OF CROP LOSS

BJP leader puts out videos from camp being held at unknown location

PNS n WARANGAL/NALGONDA

Heavy rains lashed Warangaland the nearby region for thesecond consecutive day onWednesday.

Torrential rains started in lateafternoon and continued formore than one hour, inundat-ing low-lying areas in the city.Met officials said the cityreceived about 8 cm rain, whichleft the roads flooded causinginconvenience to vehicle riders.Areas like Hanamkonda,Deenadayal Colony and HunterRoad were submerged in water.Erstwhile Warangal district wit-nessed a heavy downpour whilecertain pockets in westernWarangal received good inflowsinto tanks and ponds onTuesday night.

Irrigation officials said rainswere uniform in all regions,

including Jangaon, Warangalrural, Warangal urban, Muluguand Bhupalpalli andMahabubabad districts. Heavyrain was also witnessed inadjacent Nalgonda andKhammam districts. Nalgonda

in fact recorded the highestrainfall in a century of 20 cmon Tuesday. Flood watercaused heavy losses in slumsdwellers as thatched huts andold houses fell in the incessantrain.

District officials of the agri-culture department in all ruralTelangana districts have askedmandal-level agriculture exten-sion officers to stay alert andrecord details pertaining tocrop loss in the regions whereheavy rains played havoc withthe standing crop.

According to informationreaching Warangal, rainscaused loss to crop in Mulugu,Parakal, Hasanparthi,Wardhannapet andDharmasagar regions. Apartfrom the flood flow canalwaters, almost all the Devadulaconnected reservoirs receivedheavy inflows under the influ-ence of rain over the past twodays. In Eturnagaram forestbelt, upstream inflows to theGodavari swelled followingheavy rains and inRamannagudem.

PNS n HYDERABAD

BJP MLA from Hyderabad,Raja Singh, has announcedthe creation of a vigilante armyto 'deal with' traitors and 'sendthem to hell'. In two videosreleased on Wednesday, the oft-controversial legislator claimedthat he is currently holding aconference to discuss the for-mation of a vigilante army.

Raja Singh said in the video,"Six months back, we hadplanned a camp, decided on adate, and invited Hinduvadibravehearts and patriots toattend the camp. There's agreat discussion underway atthis camp (now). A pledge hasbeen taken at this camp thatevery youngster in India will betrained to become a soldier;India is safe because of ourArmy. Similarly the Indianyouth will be readied like anArmy soldier. If India needs itin the coming days, the Indianyoungsters should not fallbehind. The Army is takingcare of traitors on the outside.

But there should also be anarmy to take care of the terror-ists inside the house, right? Sothat army is now being readied."

"This army will be created inevery corner of India. In thecoming days, any traitor hid-den inside India will bedragged out and worn down,and sent outside India - oreven directly to Jahannum(hell)," Raja Singh threatened."This is our pledge, this is ourprogramme."

"This programme will go onfor seven more days, and wewill continue to have great dis-cussions," he said, hinting thatthis diabolical vigilante armywas only the beginning of hisanti-national activities.

In another video released onthe same day, he said, "We havea determination/commitmenttowards Hindu rashtra, for thisHindu rashtra, we need anarmy. How can this army beformed? All over India, we areforming an army for Hindurashtra, the protection of dhar-ma and the nation. For this,there's a 10-day camp for whichwe have come to Bengaluru."

While one of the videoswas uploaded on his Facebookpage, the other was shared onWhatsApp.

The exact location of thiscamp in Bengaluru is unclear.When TNM asked Raja Singh,he refused to divulge the loca-tion, but said that 470 peoplewere participating in the eventand that the camp would con-tinue till September 24.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad police probingthe suicide of former AndhraPradesh Assembly SpeakerKodela Sivaprasada Rao isanalysing the data on thephone calls he made beforeending his life on Monday.

Assistant Commissioner ofPolice K. Srinivas Rao onWednesday said they wereanalysing the call details.

Talking to reporters, he dis-missed as rumours reportsdoing the rounds on the socialmedia about the last call madeby Kodela, as Rao was popu-larly known.

The conversation Kodelahad during his last phone callscould throw light on the rea-sons for him taking theextreme step. Kodela hangedhimself at his residence in theposh Banjara Hills neigh-bourhood on Monday.

The ACP said so far theyhave questioned 12 people aspart of the investigations intothe suicide case. The state-ments of Kodela's wife anddaughter were also recorded.

Police officials said the state-ment of Kodela's son SivaramaKrishna will be recorded soon.

Krishna, who was abroad,returned home on Tuesday

and is currently in Guntur dis-trict of Andhra Pradesh to per-form his father's last rites. TheACP said the police were yet toreceive the final autopsy report.

Kodela's daughter P.Vijayalakshmi told police inher complaint that she foundhim hanging from the ceilingaround 11.10 a.m. when shewent to his room on the firstfloor to inform him that shewas going to a hospital withher mother.

Vijayalakshmi told policethat with the help of the driverand gunman, she lowered hisbody to the floor and thenshifted him to BasvatarakamIndo-American CancerHospital where doctors failedin their efforts to revive him.

Police have sealed the roomwhere the senior TeluguDesam Party (TDP) leader

hanged himself. The investi-gators, who gathered cluesfrom the scene, were alsoexamining the medicines thedeceased leader was using.

Vijayalakshmi, in her policecomplaint, alleged that the YSRCongress Party (YSRCP) gov-ernment in Andhra Pradesh washarassing her father politically totake revenge. She said false caseswere filed against him and otherfamily members. She allegedthat the government was con-tinuously harassing him mentallydue to which he got depressedand took the extreme step.

Kodela, who had also servedas minister in undividedAndhra Pradesh, is suspectedto have used a cable to hanghimself after he reportedlyfailed in using a cloth for thepurpose. As Kodela was stay-ing at his residence inHyderabad for 20 days, policesources also believe that he hadplanned the suicide.

Terming Kodela's suicide asa murder by the YSRCP gov-ernment, TDP President N.Chandrababu Naidu hasdemanded a probe by CBI. Theformer Chief Minister allegedthat the harassment by thegovernment and the insults hewas subjected to pushed himto end his life.

PNS n WARANGAL

'Best Price' store, a modernwholesale store from WalmartIndia, was inaugurated inWarangal on Wednesday. It is thecompany's fourth store inTelangana and the 27th in thecountry. MPs Banda Prakash,Pasunuri Dayakar, Mayor GundaPrakash Rao, MLA N Narender,District Collector PJ Patil andothers have participated in theinaugural function. Speaking onthe occasion, MP Banda Prakashand MLA Narender have urgedthe management of Walmart torecruit local people.

District collector Patil hassaid that they would facilitate atie-up between the management

and the farmers, especially veg-etable farmers, in order to avoidmiddlemen. Krish Iyer, presidentand CEO of Walmart India said,"We are very excited today as weopen our 'Best Price ModernWholesale Store' in the city ofWarangal. This is the fourth store

we are opening in the state,which reinforces our belief in theease of doing business hereunder the leadership of ChiefMinister K Chandrashekar Rao."

He said that the store inWarangal will cater to the busi-ness needs of underserved small

businesses such askiranas/resellers, offices andinstitutions (O&I) and hotels,restaurants and caterers (HORE-CA) in Warangal city and neigh-boring areas.

"Walmart India will offer themunique propositions of a widerange of quality merchandise &local assortment at 'Every DayLow Prices', unique & multipleshopping options, door-stepdelivery and convenient paymentsolutions," he said and added thatthey source fresh vegetablesfrom clusters in and around ourstores and are proud to share thatred whole chilli from Warangalis supplied to all our stores in theStates of Maharashtra andAndhra Pradesh.

Walmart opens 4th store in Telangana‘BEST PRICE' MEGA STORE IN WARANGAL TO HELP CREATE JOBS, IMPROVE TRADE

PNS n WANAPARTHY

A woman MRO was alleged-ly humiliated by an RDO whoreportedly told the public thatthe former "lacked basicknowledge" of revenue-relat-ed works. The video ofAmarchinta MRO Kalyanistanding with her hands fold-ed while Wanaparthy RDOChandra Reddy himselfaddressed people's revenue-related issues in Pamireddipallimandal of Amarchinta man-dal went viral on Tuesday.

Chandra Reddy, who per-sonally appeared for review ofrevenue-related issues, said,Kalyani lacked basic knowl-edge of revenue-related work

and therefore he had to per-sonally attend the grievanceredressal. Kalyani, who wasseen standing with her handsfolded, told mediapersons thather posture was intended tobring to the notice of theRDO the issues related tolands, so that they could besolved by him.

The picture of the MROstanding with folded handswent viral on social media andmade many to wonder whatmade the RDO take specialinterest in revenue cases ofAmarchinta mandal, whilesimilar issues of farmers fromacross the district were stillunresolved after the LandRecords Updation.

RDO humiliates womanMRO, video spreads

Suspension of 400Twitter handlesirks Pawan KalyanPNS n HYDERABAD

Suspension of as many as 400Twitter accounts of the JanaSena Party (JSP) supportershas evoked protest from partychief and popular actor PawanKalyan, here on Wednesday.

The actor-politician won-dered if the accounts weresuspended for standing byhelpless people and theirissues. "I don't understand thereason for suspending 400Twitter accounts of JSP sup-porters," tweeted PawanKalyan with hashtagBringBackJSPSocialMedia.

Party leaders suspect thesupport for the save Nallamallaforests campaign could haveled to suspension of accounts.The JSP has opposed thereported move to mine ura-nium in the forests, spreadover Telangana and AndhraPradesh.

Attending the all-partymeeting to oppose uraniummining, he had said if neces-sary he would be ready do a'padyatra' over the issue.

Shamshabad3rd fastest-growing airport

Continued from Page 1

As the fastest-growing airport,Hyderabad InternationalAirport is becoming an impor-tant centre for destination-cum-transit location for travelbetween the Eastern and theWestern parts of the world.Currently, the airport is servedby 29 passenger airlines, con-necting 69 destinations bothdomestic and International. TheAirport has experienced robustgrowth in passenger traffic overa period of time, with a 4 yearCAGR of around 20% fromFY15 to FY19. On an average, theairport handles close to 60,000passengers and over 500 air traf-fic movements daily. In the lastone year, the top five global des-tinations connecting HyderabadInternational Airport included -USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,Thailand, while on domesticfront, the metros like - Delhi,Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata,Chennai featured high on pas-senger demand.

Telangana and NJare ‘Sister States'


As per the press commu-niqué, Minister KTR said,"Telangana would benefit inseveral sectors with this sister-state agreement. He stated thata lot of Telugu people reside inNew Jersey and he too was aresident of New Jersey for a

brief period". Appreciating theinvestor-friendly policies ofthe State, New Jersey StateGovernor Phil Murphy saidthat Telangana was suitable forglobal businesses. USConsular Chief Eric Alexanderand Principal Secretary JayeshRanjan were present in theprogram.


Indicating his desire to takecontrol of the party, RevanthReddy recently expressed hisdismay at Congress MLAsskipping the Assembly sessionduring a discussion on powerscenario in Telangana. Theissue was all the more impor-tant for him as he had recent-

ly made serious allegationsagainst the government andpower utilities' CMD on 'irreg-ularities' in power deals. He feltisolated in the House due to theabsence of his party MLAs.Curiously, the Malkajgiri MPsaid that he had no informationabout Congress leaders meet-ing Governor TamilisaiSoundarajan.

Uttam, Revanth cross swords overHuzurnagar bypoll candidate

Mindspace Metrolaunch by October end

Continued from Page 1Corridor-3 is the most

important component of theMetro Rail first phase projectfrom Nagole to Raidurgam asit has potential to furtherincrease footfalls. There arelakhs of people working in theIT corridor, though it does nothave proper public trans-portation system. If the Metrobecomes operational there, itwould be helpful for them. TheMetro is currently running upto HI-TEC City and theRaidurgam Metro Station isbeing constructed atMindspace, just a kilometeraway. People can avoid con-gestion from Cyber Towers toMindspace of about 30minuteswith the Metro extension.

NIA Hydregisters firsthumantrafficking case


The police rescued fivewomen after a raid. OnAugust 9, the case was trans-ferred from the Chatrinakapolice station to the CentralCrime Station (CCS).

According to the police,Khan and Bithi Begum aliasKhadija Shaik were runninga prostitution racket involv-ing illegally traffickedBangladeshi women on apremises near Kandikal Gateat Baji Nagar in Uppuguda.

Based on credible infor-mation, Chatrinaka policesearched the premises onApril 21 and arrested Khan,Bithi Begum and Sojib andrescued five women. Owingto the gravity of the offenceand its inter-state and cross-border connections, the casewas taken over by the NIA fora detailed investigation.


About 7,000 delegates had regis-tered to attend the conference. Therewere representatives from 30 coun-tries and 12 States. Apart from theprime shows at LB Stadium, extend-ed events were held at RavindraBharathi, Telugu Lalitha KalaThoranam and other places. Overall,WTC sounded like a resounding suc-cess, with 20,000 to 25,000 peopleturning up at various venues in thecity. Plenums, evening cultural pro-grammes, literary discussions, poet-ry recitations, avadhanams (ancientmethod that measures man's abilityto multi-task) etc. were held dailyfrom morning till evening.

Overwhelmed at the grand successof conference, KCR, in his valedictoryspeech had announced that the eventwould thenceforth be held everyyear without fail. He announcedvarious other decisions as well to pro-mote Telugu on the occasion. Thisincludes making Telugu compulsoryin all schools from Class I to X. Thispromise alone has been kept. Theothers remain on paper. For instance,

KCR instructed that all private andpublic institutions in Telangana mustdisplay their organisation's name inTelugu on their signboards. TheTelangana government, he said,would pass a resolution in the stateCabinet meet for protection andperseverance of Telugu language andliterature.

Official sources in the CultureDepartment cited Assembly elec-tions in December 2018 for notholding the event last year. Butthey see no reason for not holdingthe event this year.

"If the CM were serious to con-duct WTC this year, the governmentwould have issued directions to theCulture Department to makearrangements by August itself. Butthere has been no word from theCM or the government, though it isnearing October. It takes consider-able time to invite dignitaries, startregistrations and plan programmesfor the event. Since only two monthsare left for the year to end, it isimpossible to conduct the 'annual'event at this juncture," sources com-mented.

Was World Telugu Conferencea one-off extravaganza?

Kamala Harris verymuch qualified to runfor US Prez: NJ Guv


Harris (54), officially launched her cam-paign for the US presidential election in 2020to take on President Donald Trump.

To another query on the chances of anIndian origin senator becoming the USpresident, the Governor said anything is pos-sible in USA.

"The Indian community is one of the mostimportant in America, in our democracy. SoI think anything is still possible in UnitedStates," he said.

Meanwhile, New Jersey signed a sister stateagreement with the Telangana governmentwhich included a wide range of sectors inwhich both the states hope to bolster publicand private sector collaboration includingclean tech cooperation, an official release said.

The governor said the two states wouldcooperate in education and business oppor-tunities.

"The two states will further advance theirrelations in the fields of IT, Pharma, LifeSciences, Biotech, FinTech, Data Centers,Clean Energy, Higher Education andTourism," it said.

Head constable shootshimself, succumbs


The constable has been working in theIndalwai Police Station for the past twoyears. He reported for duty at 7.30 am,relieving the section in-charge Damodar.

According to preliminary enquiries,around 8.30 am, a sweeper heard sometyre-burst like sound from the police sta-tion. When he inside, he noticed the bodyof Prakash in a pool of blood and imme-diately called others. The body has beensent to the Nizamabad GGH hospital forpostmortem.

Nizamabad ACP Srinivas said a depart-mental enquiry would be conducted. Hesaid Prakash Reddy was very sensitive innature. The Sub Inspector had left theweapon with the shift in-charge, he said.Colleagues said the constable, a native ofNizamabad, had complained of healthproblems and work pressure.

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

Sena urges ECI to hikeAssembly pollexpenditure limitMUMBAI: With the assemblyelections in Maharashtradrawing closer, the Shiv Senaon Wednesday urged theElection Commission of India(ECI) to raise the pollexpenditure limit per candidatefrom the existing Rs 28 lakh toRs 70 lakh. The demand raisedby the Sena was supported byits partner the Bhartiya JanataParty (BJP), and also bySharad Pawar-led NationalistCongress Party (NCP). Senaleader and Rajya Sabha MPAnil Desai made therepresentation to the ECI duringthe meeting of publicrepresentatives here with ChiefElection Commissioner (CEC)Sunil Arora, ElectionCommissioners Ashok Lavasaand Sushil Chandra. The pollpanel is in Mumbai to reviewthe preparedness for theelections, due in October. Theresolution stated that theelection expenditure limit foreach candidate should beincreased to Rs 70 lakh fromthe existing Rs 28 lakh.

NCW seeks sternaction against Assamcops for torturingthree sisters

NCP releases first listof candidates forMaha Assembly pollsBEED: NCP chief Sharad Pawaron Wednesday released theparty's first list of fivecandidates, including seniorleader Dhananjay Munde, forthe upcoming MaharashtraAssembly elections. Pawarmade the announcement at ameeting of NCP workers inBeed district, the party said onTwitter. The NCP has fieldedDhananjay Munde, who is atpresent leader of opposition inthe state Legislative Council,from Beed's Parli Assemblyseat, setting up his possibleclash with cousin and stateminister Pankaja Munde yetagain. Pankaja Munde defeatedher cousin in the 2014Assembly polls from Parli by25,895 votes. Besides, the NCPpatriarch also declared thecandidature of four other partyleaders - Sandip Kshirsagar(from Beed seat), VijaysinhPandit (Gevrai), PrakashSolanke (Majalgaon) andNamita Mundada (Kaij). TheBeed Assembly seat iscurrently represented by SandipKshirsagar's uncle and stateminister Jaydutt Kshirsagar,who quite the NCP and joinedthe Shiv Sena earlier this year.The NCP suffered a setbackrecently after some of its seniorleaders joined the ruling BJPand Sena.

NEW DELHI: The NationalCommission for Women (NCW)on Wednesday sought sternaction from Assam Policeagainst officials who allegedlystripped and beat three sistersat a police outpost. Accordingto a media report, the threesisters have accused the AssamPolice of custodial torture,including being stripped, kickedand beaten with lathis, at apolice outpost in Darrangdistrict. Reportedly, one of thewomen was pregnant andsuffered a miscarriage due tothe alleged torture. The womenwere picked up by police onSeptember 9 in connection witha case registered against theirbrother for allegedly abductinga Hindu woman, the mediareport said. The NCW, whichtook suo moto cognisance ofthe issue, condemned thetreatment meted out to thewomen. The commission hasasked Assam director general ofpolice to take up the matterurgently and ensure that theaccused officials are given sternpunishment, the NCW said in astatement. It said it is"anguished" by such allegedmisconduct on part of thepolice officials. The policeofficials, the NCW said, ill-treated the women not involvedin any crime but suspected toknow the whereabouts of analleged criminal. The role ofpolice officials is to help upholdlaw and order impartially, andprotect people, especiallywomen, it said. Thecommission is of the view thatthese officials should be dealtwith very strongly so that theydo not repeat such an act infuture, it said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Aviation regulator DGCA hasgrounded three pilots and twoaircraft maintenance engineers ofIndiGo for not reporting vibra-tions in the Pratt and Whitney(PW) engines of the A320neoplanes in separate incidents thathave occurred since March,senior officials said onWednesday.

"Three pilots -- CaptainKrishna Arjun Reddy, CaptainSanjay Gupta and CaptainPankul Nag -- have been sus-pended for not reporting thevibrations observed in the PWengines of their A320neo planes,"a Directorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA) official said.

While Nag was suspended forthree months, Reddy and Guptawere suspended for a period ofsix months from the date of theirrespective incidents, another

official said. The PW engine-powered A320neo planes ofGoAir and IndiGo have beenfacing glitches mid-air as well ason-ground since their inductionin 2016. This has led to ground-ing of some of these planes.

Two aircraft maintenanceengineers of IndiGo have alsobeen suspended by the DGCAin connection with separateincidents, one of the officials said.

As on August 30 this year,IndiGo and GoAir had 92 and35 A320neo aircraft powered byPW engines respectively in India.A total of 436 such aircraft areoperating globally.

On August 30, the aviationregulator had said it was keep-ing a tab on the issues related tothe PW engines in the AirbusA320neo planes and that itwould act when warranted.

DGCA grounds three pilots, two engineers

PNS n KOCHI

In a suspected case of theft,some computer hardware hasgone missing from the coun-try's first indigenous aircraftcarrier being built in theCochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL)here, police said.

A Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) has launched aprobe into the matter follow-ing a complaint regarding themissing hardware even as theCity Police Commissioner wasmonitoring the investigation.

"Although reported missingfrom the carrier, the hardwaredoes not form part of theequipment of the vessel," theysaid. The incident was report-

ed from the high security zoneof the CSL, where the presti-gious warship was being built.

"However, considering theseriousness of the incidentwhich occurred in the highsecurity zone, we have formeda special investigation teamheaded by ACP crime branch.The probe is being monitoredby Kochi PoliceCommissioner Vijay Sakhare,"a top official told PTI.

PNS n CHENNAI

Veteran actor Rajinikanth onWednesday said the concept ofa common langauge in Indiawas "unfortunately" not possi-ble and asserted any attemptsof Hindi imposition would benot only resisted by southernstates, but even many in thenorth.

The actor's remarks came inresponse to Union HomeMinister Amit Shah's recentpitch for Hindi as a commonlanguage, which drew sharpreactions from various southIndian leaders including DMKPresident MK Stalin andCongress leader and formerKarnataka Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah.

The superstar said Hindishould not be imposed, as theconcept of a common lan-guage was "unfortunately" notpossible in the country.

"A common language notjust for India but any countryis good for its unity andprogress. Unfortunately, (onecannot) bring a common lan-guage in our country. So youcannot impose any language,"he told reporters at the airport

here."Especially, if you impose

Hindi, not just Tamil Nadu, nosouthern state will accept that.Many states in northern partswill also not accept that,"Rajinikanth, who hasannounced that he will enterpolitics ahead of the nextAssembly polls (2021), said.

On Saturday, Shah hadpitched for a common lan-guage for the country and saidit is Hindi which is spoken themost and that it can unite thewhole nation.

The home minister had alsosaid efforts would be made to

expand Hindi to different partsof the country and asked every-one to use their native lan-guages as much as possible."India has many languages andevery language has its impor-tance. But it is absolutely nec-essary that the entire countryshould have one language thatbecomes India's identity glob-ally," he had said.

The remarks had drawnwidespread criticism, espe-cially in Tamil Nadu, with theBJP's ally, the ruling AIADMKsaying there will be only"adverse reaction" if Hindi isimposed in the state.

The DMK, whose leaderMK Stalin had dubbed Shah'sstatement as "shocking," hasannounced a state-wide stir onFriday against Shah's Hindipitch.

Incidentally, KarnatakaChief Minister and BJP veter-an B S Yediyurappa had assert-ed Kannada was the principallanguage in his state and thatits importance would never becompromised.

While all official languagesin the country were equal,Kannada was the principallanguage in Karnataka andthere will be no compromise

with its importance, he hadsaid. Rajinikanth's contempo-rary and Makkal NeedhiMaiam founder-presidentKamal Haasan, had warned ofa bigger protest in Tamil Naduthan the pro-jallikattu agitationin 2017 against any attempts ofHindi imposition.

Tamil Nadu was witness tothe famous anti-hindi agitationsuccessfully taken forward bythe DMK in the 1960s, againstthe alleged imposition of thelanguage.

To a query on erection ofbanners, an issue which hadhogged limelight following thedeath of a techie here lastweek after one such hoardingfell on her, Rajinikanth said hehad always advised his fansagainst such a practice.

A 23-year old woman techieriding a two-wheeler had lostbalance and fell down after anillegal hoarding put up by anAIADMK functionary crashedon her and she was run over bya water tanker that camebehind her.

The incident led to a publicoutrage, with even the MadrasHigh Court frowning on ille-gal banners.

‘Don't impose Hindi; common language not possible in India’

PNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

After their success in dishing outdelicious and cost-effective fooditems, prisoners in Kerala arenow gearing up to manage fuelstations, thanks to an innovativegovernment initiative.

Drawing inspiration fromtheir counterparts in TamilNadu and Punjab, the PrisonDepartment is all set to openpetrol pumps in the outer cam-puses of three central jails in thestate, envisaged to be run byselected inmates.

The Indian Oil Corporation(IOC) is setting up the pumpsin the land, identified by theprison department.

At least 15 convicted prison-ers would be identified andgiven training to run each fuelstation on a shift basis and theywill be given wages for theirwork as per jail rules, authori-ties said.

A top prison official said the

plan is to open the fuel stationsby November-December thisyear. "All necessary govern-ment clearances have beenreceived for the initiative. Thepumps will come up on thecampuses of the central prisonsin Poojappura here, Viyyur inThrissur district and in Kannur,"Prison DGP, Rishiraj Singh toldPTI.

"The IOC will begin the con-struction works soon and thework is expected to be com-pleted in the next one month.We hope that the pumps can beopened by November-December", he said.

Singh said many states likeTamil Nadu already have petrolpumps under the Prisonsdepartment. "They are making

handsome revenue by runningpetrol pumps. Besides generat-ing revenue, the project will alsohelp prisoners engage in con-structive activities," he said. TheDGP said the employees whowould manage the petrol sta-tions would be handpicked fromamong the convicted prisoners.

"Not just this project, butinmates are part of all our major

initiatives like online food or inthe running of prison cafeteria.Those who have knowledge inmanning petrol pumps will begiven preference. All thoseselected will be given training,"he said.

Based on the nature of thework, the inmates are givenwages of up to Rs 160-180a dayin the state prisons and thosedeployed at the fuel stationswould also be given remunera-tion as per the standards, he said.

Seeking to tap the hugelypopular online food market, theKerala Prison Department hadrecently begun offering biriyaniprepared by inmates. For this,they have tied up with Swiggy,the online food delivery player.

The Freedom Food Factory,an enterprise selling food,mainly chappathi and chickencurry combo, prepared byinmates at Kerala prisons, hasbeen engaged in the businesssince 2011.

Now, prisoners to run fuel stations in Kerala

PNS n NEW DELHI

Expressing serious concernover people dying duringmanual scavenging andsewage cleaning in India, theSupreme Court Wednesdaysaid nowhere in the worldpeople are sent to "gas cham-bers to die".

Although over 70 years havepassed since theIndependence, caste discrim-ination still persists in thecountry, the apex court saidwhile making scathing obser-vations on the practice.

A bench headed by JusticeArun Mishra questionedAttorney General K KVenugopal, appearing for theCentre, as to why proper pro-tective gear like mask andoxygen cylinders were notbeing provided to peopleengaged in manual scavengingand cleaning of sewage ormanholes.

"Why are you not providingthem masks and oxygen cylin-ders? In no country in theworld, people are sent to gaschambers to die. Four to fivepeople are dying due to thisevery month," said the benchalso comprising justices M RShah and B R Gavai.

The Constitution has pro-vided that all human beingsare equal but they are notbeing given equal facilities bythe authorities, it said.

The bench termed as "inhu-man" the situation where thepeople are not provided with

any protective gear and they aredying during the process ofcleaning of sewage and man-holes across the country.

The apex court made thesehard-hitting observationswhile it was hearing theCentre's plea seeking review ofits last year's verdict which hadvirtually diluted the provi-sions of arrest under theSC/ST Act.

Venugopal told the benchthat no law of tort, which dealswith civil wrong and its lia-bilities thereof, is developed inthe country and the magis-trates are not empowered totake cognisance on their ownof such incidents.

A case can't be filed againstthe person who is sweepingthe street or cleaning the man-holes but the supervisory offi-cers or the authorities, onwhose instruction the work iscarried out, should be heldliable for this, he said.

"This is most inhuman totreat the human beings likethis," the bench observed. Thebench also made observationson the aspect of untouchabil-ity in the country.

"Despite the constitutionabolishing untouchability inthe country, I am asking youpeople, do you shake handswith them? The answer is no.That is the way we are goingon. The condition mustimprove. We have moved 70years since Independence butthese things are still happen-ing," Justice Mishra said.

MANUAL SCAVENGING

Nowhere in the worldpeople sent to gaschambers to die: SC

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath onWednesday directed officialsin Allahabad and Varanasidistricts to remain vigilant asthe water levels in Ganga andYamuna rivers neared the dan-ger mark. Heavy rains over thepast few days have caused therivers to swell.

A senior official saidauthorities in Allahabad andVaranasi have been asked tomake all necessary arrange-ments to deal with the situa-tion and flood 'chowkis', tomonitor the water levels in therivers, have been activated.

A report from Banda dis-trict said continued rainfall inthe Bundelkhand region andrelease of water in Yamunahad led to flooding in manyareas in Hamirpur, Banda andChitrakoot districts.

Yamuna, Ken and Betwarivers are in spate and severalacres of agricultural land hasbeen submerged, it said.

UP CM asksAllahabad, Varanasito remain vigilant

RIVERS SWELL DUE TO RAINS

PNS n JAMTARA(JHARKHAND)

Union Home Minister AmitShah on Wednesday said PrimeMinister Narendra Modishowed Pakistan its place byabrogating Article 370 and35A and established thatJammu and Kashmir is anintegral part of India.

Shah also said Congressleader Rahul Gandhi shouldtell people of Maharashtra,Jharkhand and Haryana,when he goes there, whetherhe was with the decision toabrogate Article 370.Assembly elections are due inJharkhand, Maharashtra andHaryana this year.

Addressing a public meetingafter launching the BJP's 'JoharJan Ashirwad Yatra', the BJPpresident said his party stoodin favour of removing Article370 ever since it had been there,and asked why the Congressfelt a "stomach ache" followingits annulment.

Located in santhal paragananear Dumka, Jamtara is morethan 250 km from the capitalRanchi. Johar is a tribal salu-tation. Chief MinisterRaghubar Das, Union TribalAffairs minister Arjun Munda

and Bihar minister NandKishore Yadav, who is BJP's in-charge of Jharkhand, were pre-sent on the occasion.

"Removing Article 370,Modi ji showed Pakistan itsplace, and established thatKashmir is an integral part ofIndia," Shah said.

"Our stand has been toremove Article 370 ever since

it had been there," Shah saidand asked "why the Congressfelt a 'stomach ache' followingits abrogation?".

Making a scathing attack atthe Congress, he said the partyhad also opposed and soughtevidence after surgical strike.

"They (Congress) should tellthe people which directionthey want to go," he added.

Shah said even while being inthe opposition, his party lead-ers had supported the govern-ment on important issues.

"Atal Bihari Vajpayee hadsupported former prime min-ister Indira Gandhi after win-ning the Bangladesh Liberationwar.

"Atal ji also put Indias sideat the United Nations on

Kashmir issue when formerprime minister P V Narasimhaasked him to go and put Indiasside," Shah said.

With assembly election inJharkhand expected shortly,the BJP president sought toknow what the Congress-ledUPA government had given tothe state in terms of develop-mental initiatives.

The BJP president said thatthe Congress had not acceptedJharkhand peoples decades-old wishes for a separate state,but it was for prime ministerAtal Bihari Vajpayee who hadfulfilled their dreams. "I donthesitate to say that Atal ji cre-ated Jharkhand and Prime

Minister Narendra Modi jinursed it towards developmentduring the last five years,"Shah said.

Jharkhand was carved out ofBihar and made a separatestate in 2000 by the then NDAgovernment of A B Vajpayee.

Referring to how the previ-ous Arjun Munda-led govern-ments in the state had beenoverthrown due to lack ofmajority, Shah said the peoplehad given a stable governmentin 2014 under the leadership ofChief Minister Raghubar Dasand the state governmentworked for their development.

"There is Modi governmentabove and Raghubar Das gov-ernment below. The doubleengine governments havechanged Jharkhand, and theevidence is that the people ofJharkhand gave 12 of the 14Lok Sabha seats to Modi gov-ernment in the Lok Sabhaelections," Shah said.

"Naxalism was there, butnow Jharkhand is headedtowards almost naxal-free stateand moving forward withdevelopmental initiatives," hesaid.

Shah gave an account to thepeople of how the central and

state governments developedthe sectors like electricity, hous-ing, health care, toilet con-struction, free of cost gas con-nection and drinking water,two battalions comprisingPaharia tribes and setting upnearly 70 Eklavya schools thecurrent regime, and demand-ed that the Congress shouldalso give an account what it haddone during its ten years rule.

"I would like to ask what hasthe UPA given in its ten yearsrule to Jharkhand? While the13th Finance Commission hadgiven only 55 thousand and200 crore to Jharkhand, the14th Finance commissionunder Narendra Modi gave2.5 times more funds, givingone lakh and forty-five thou-sand crore," Shah said.

He said after the "Johar JanAshirwad Yatra" of ChiefMinister Raghubar Das, whichhe kicked off Wednesday fromJamatra, will criss-cross all the81 assembly constituencies andwhen it reaches Ranchi, the BJPwould once again form amajority government.

"The double engine govern-ments will make Jharkhand thenumber one state in the coun-try," Shah promised.

Modi showed Pak its place by nixing Art 370, 35A: Shah“Our stand hasbeen to removeArticle 370 eversince it had beenthere," Shah saidand asked "whythe Congress felta 'stomach ache'following itsabrogation?”

A common languagenot just for India butany country is good forits unity and progress.Unfortunately, (onecannot) bring acommon language inour country. So youcannot impose anylanguage

SIT launches probe intomissing computer hardwarefrom aircraft carrier

The IOC will beginthe constructionworks soon and thework is expected tobe completed in thenext one month. Wehope that the pumpscan be opened byNovember-December

NOT REPORTING PW ENGINE VIBRATIONS

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 nation 06

SHORT READS

Lightning kills 18people in BiharPATNA: At least 18 people werekilled in Bihar in lightningstrikes during heavy rainfallsince Tuesday, officials saidhere on Wednesday. Accordingto the Bihar DisasterManagement Department,lightning claimed altogether 18lives with Gaya and Kaimuraccounting for three casualtieseach, followed by Patna,Bhojpur, East Champaran,Siwan and Arwal (two each)and Katihar and Jehanabaddistricts (one each). Heavy rainlashed several parts of the statesince Tuesday afternoon, whichcontinued till the early hours ofWednesday. According to theweather department, Patnarecorded 95.5 mm of rainfallfollowed by Darbhanga (75.2mm), Dehri (59.6 mm),Forbesganj (51.4 mm) Chhapra(44.6 mm), Supaul (39.1 mm)and Muzaffarpur (21.4 mm).Bihar has recorded deficientrainfall this year, and the statecabinet had last week marked102 blocks of 18 districts forspecial assistance in the wakeof a drought-like situation.

Good samaritanpays off almostentire dues of coupleTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Moved by the plight of a coupleand their minor daughter sittingoutside their home after it wassealed on court orders fordefaulting on a bank loan, agood samaritan has repaidalmost the entire dues. Of thetotal dues of 2.94 lakh, Rs twolakh was remitted by theperson on Wednesday,following which the keys of thehouse was handed over to thecouple, an official of the statebank of India told PTI. Thebalance amount was waived bythe bank, he said, adding thatthe documents of the housewould be handed over to thefamily after consultations withhigher authorities. As the plightof the family came to light onWednesday morning aftertelevision channels airedvisuals, showing Balu andBeena and their daughter Veniin her school uniform sitting infront of their sealed home witha lighted candle, offers of helppoured in. The man had availeda loan in 2014 and hadremitted around Rs 93,000.

Gangster chasing rivalshot at by banksecurity staff in TNSIVAGANGA (TN): One manwas injured when the securitystaff of a nationalised bankopened fire on a gang whichbarged into the premises toattack a murder accused atnearby Manamadurai onWednesday, police said.Thangamani, wanted inconnection with the murder ofan AMMK functionary, raninside the bank as he tried toescape from by the four-member armed gang whichinflicted cut injuries on him,they said. The security staff onduty, an ex-serviceman, shot atand injured one of the gangmembers below the knee usinghis gun, while the three othersescaped. The injured gangsterand Thangamani had beenhospitalised, police said addingfurther investigation was on.

Idea that Hindican alone uniteIndia dangerous:ChidambaramPNS n NEW DELHI

Senior Congress leader PChidambaram, who is lodgedin Tihar Jail, on Wednesdaysaid the idea that Hindi alonecan unite the people of thecountry is a dangerous trend.

Chidambaram said whilehe supported the idea that alllanguages should be devel-oped, he will never acceptthat Hindi can alone unite thecountry.

"I have asked my family totweet on my behalf the fol-lowing: A dangerous ideathat Hindi alone can unite thepeople of this country hasbeen floated," a tweet fromChidambaram's officialTwitter handle said.

"The Tamil people, as wellas all others who speak otherlanguages, will never allowthe imposition of Hindi," hetweeted.

PNS n RAJAPUR

With a mutually agreeableseat-sharing formula forupcoming Maharashtra assem-bly polls still eluding the rul-ing BJP and Shiv Sena, ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavishas hinted at reviving theNanar refinery project in theKonkan region which was puton the hold in view of stridentopposition by the UddhavThackeray-led party.

Addressing a rally onTuesday in Rajapur inRatnagiri district, where theproject was initially proposed,the chief minister said if localswanted the project to comeinto existence he will talk withthem. When Fadnavis wasaddressing a gathering as a partof his "Maha Janadesh yatra",some locals raised the slogansthat the project be broughtback to the coatal Konkan.

The proposed Asia's biggestfirst green oil refinery, wasshelved due to environmentalconcerns at the behest of theSena, as a condition of its pre-Lok Sabha election allianceearlier this year. The chiefminister had then announcedrelocation of the project fromthe ecologically-sensitiveKonkan, a stronghold of theSena.

"If locals wanted this projectI am willing to talk to them

about Nanar," he told the gath-ering. Fadnavis' remarks camedays after Thackeray assertedthat the proposed metro carshed project in Mumbai'sAarey Colony, being opposedby environmentalists and civilsociety groups, will go theNanar way.

The chief minister had alsobacked the Aarey car shedproject for Metro 3 line, sayingit was coming up on the gov-ernment land which does notfall under forest area.

Thackeray and his sonAaditya, who is tipped to becontesting his maiden assem-bly elections due next month,

have raised their pitch againstthe Nanar project amidstintense hassling with the BJPfor evolving a seat-sharingformula for the joint contest.

State-run oil majors havetied up with Saudi Aramco andAbu Dhabi National OilCompany for the refinery pro-ject in Ratnagiri district, whichentails an investment of Rs 3lakh crore.

The 60-million tonne perannum refinery-cum- petro-chemical complex has beenconceived as the largest suchfacility in the world, which wassupposed to be set up on over15,000 acres.

Maha CM hints at revivingNanar project in Konkan

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Allahabad High Courthas rapped the Uttar PradeshInformation Commission for"unnecessarily" summoninggovernment officials, sayingthat it affects public work.

A bench of JusticesMunishwar Nath Bhandari andAlok Mathur said the com-mission is under obligation toissue a proper notice at the ini-tial stage as to whether the per-sonal appearances of the offi-cer is required or not.

The Lucknow bench of thehigh court was hearing a pleafiled by Superintendent ofPolice Sanjay Singh challeng-ing order passed by the com-mission imposing a penalty ofRs 25,000 on him despite fur-nishing of information.

According to the plea, filedby advocates Shubham Gupta

and Vineet Jaiswal, the penal-ty was imposed merely on theground that the PublicInformation Officer (SP) didnot appear before theCommissioner Information.

Advocate Amul ManiTripathi said that the UPInformation Commission did

not take into considerationthat another officer appearedbefore it to inform that therequired information hasalready been supplied, and thedocument taken on record.

"We deprecate the practice ofthe commission to call the offi-cers unnecessarily, as it affect

the public work. They areunder obligation to issue aproper notice at the initialstage as to whether the per-sonal appearances of the offi-cer is required or not. In vari-ably it is seen that while issu-ing notice, the columns are notmarked or deleted," the highcourt said.

Further, it said, theCommission should take careof Section 20 of the RTI Actof 2005 before imposition ofpenalty. The high court saidthat it would have imposed acost on the respondents, but asthe officer has retired, "we arerefraining to impose cost, butcommanding the InformationCommission to comply thedirection and observationmade in this order, so that infuture such an order is notpassed. It is otherwise givingrise to avoidable litigation".

PNS n NEW DELHI

A court here has asked theDelhi government to decidewithin one month on the sanc-tion to prosecute former JNUStudents' Union presidentKanhaiya Kumar and others ina sedition case. ChiefMetropolitan Magistrate ManishKhurana said the delay in tak-ing a decision on the matter hascaused wastage of judicial timeas the case had been listed andadjourned repeatedly since thefiling of the charge sheet.

The court passed the direc-tions after the Delhi Policeinformed the court that the fileregarding sanction is pendingwith the Home Department.

"The time which is beingtaken to finalise the issue of sanc-tion or otherwise has caused

wasted of judicial time as the casehad been listed and adjournedrepeatedly since the filing of thecharge sheet. "It is expected ofthe Delhi government that thedecision regarding the sanctionor otherwise would be takenwithin one month so that furtherprocessing in the present casemay be done," the court said.

The court then posted thematter for October 25, by whichthe reports have to be filed.

On January 14, the police hadfiled a charge sheet in the courtagainst Kumar and others,including former JawaharlalNehru University (JNU) stu-dents Umar Khalid and AnirbanBhattacharya, saying they wereleading a procession and sup-ported seditious slogans raisedon the campus during an eventon February 9, 2016.

PNS n SRINAGAR

Armed militants are trying tospread fear among residentsand defy the administration byforcibly shutting shops, some-times by walking into thepremises and intimidatingowners, through threats madein posters that appear on wallsovernight or by sealing shutterswith tape, officials here say.

Jammu and Kashmir Policehas officially kept mum with noone willing to come on record,but officials said on conditionof anonymity that the situationcould be slipping out of theirhands.

The incidents of terroristssealing shops and posters, bothhandwritten and typed, beingpasted in markets, mosquesand other areas with do anddon't diktats from differentterror groups, have become a

regular feature in KashmirValley, they said.

There have also been

instances of armed militantswalking into shops to warnowners to keep shutters down

and barging into Jammu andKashmir Bank branches insouth Kashmir to ask employ-

ees to stay away from work,they said.

Two shops in Modrigam vil-lage in south Kashmir's Kulgamdistrict were recently sealed byadhesive tapes with a seal of thebanned terror outfit HizbulMujahideen, sending shockwaves in the area. And it is notjust about a far-flung village orone terror group, officials said.

In Karan Nagar market inSrinagar's Civil Lines area, thewords 'LW' were emblazonedon two shops followed by aninsignia of the HizbulMujahideen.

Police deciphered 'LW' tomean 'last warning' as the twoshops had defied the militants,officials said.

"We want to open markets

but who will guarantee oursecurity when we return home.We have held talks with seniorpolice officials privately but nosolution to our problems isforthcoming," said a shop-keeper who did not want to beidentified.

It's a common refrain in theValley, which has been undervirtual lockdown since August5, when the Centre announcedthe revocation of Jammu andKashmir's special status and thebifurcation of the state into theunion territories of Jammuand Kashmir, and Ladakh.Normal life remains hit with acommunications clampdown,markets and other businessestablishments closed, andpublic transport largely off theroads.

"We do not understand whypolice is ineffective and notacting against those creating

mischief," said another shop-keeper.

In Ganderbal in centralKashmir and in Srinagar'sdowntown Fathekadal area,posters came up on behalf ofthe terror outfit Al Badar ask-ing them to socially boycott thefamilies of the policemen.

Several police officials saidthe posters were pasted at nightwhen security deployment waslow.

In another instance, a posterin English from the Musa Babagroup was pasted on the wall ofa shop at Srinagar's BeminaBazar asking shopkeepers tosell essential commodities till8.30 am.

Officials admitted that suchposters were dictating the defi-ance against the administra-tion. Many people were takingthem seriously and preferringto remain indoors, they said.

Terror groups often seal shops, paste threatening posters in Kashmir

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onWednesday set an October 18deadline for conclusion ofhearings in the protractedRam-Janmabhoomi BabriMasjid land title dispute, amove that has raised the pos-sibility of a verdict in the polit-ically sensitive case in the mid-dle of November.

The target date for comple-tion of arguments by both theHindu and Muslim sidesassumes significance as ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi, who isheading the five-judgeConstitution bench hearingthe case, is due to demit officeon November 17.

The apex court also said theparties to the dispute can ami-cably resolve the matterthrough mediation if they wantto but told lawyers from boththe sides that it wanted to con-clude the day-to-day hearingsby October 18 so that thejudges get almost four weekstime to write the judgment.

The Court on Tuesday askedthe counsels for the Hindu andMuslim parties to inform itabout a tentative "time sched-ule" for concluding their argu-ments.

The Constitution bench,

which also comprised JusticesS A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud,Ashok Bhushan and S ANazeer, also said it has receiveda letter from former apex courtjudge F M I Kalifulla, who washeading the three-membermediation panel, in which itwas stated that some partieshave written to him forresumption of the mediationprocess.

"There is an ancillary issue.

We have received a letter thatsome parties want to settle thematter by way of mediation,"the bench said, adding theymay do so and the proceedingsbefore the mediation panelcan remain confidential.

The bench said the day-to-day proceedings in the landdispute case have reached "anadvanced stage" and will con-tinue.

The apex court on August 6

commenced day-to-day pro-ceedings in the sensitive landdispute case as mediation pro-ceedings initiated to find theamicable resolution had failed.

The court had taken note ofthe report of the three-mem-ber panel, also comprisingspiritual guru and founder ofthe Art of Living foundationSri Sri Ravishankar and senioradvocate and renowned medi-ator Sriram Panchu, that medi-ation proceedings, which wenton for about four months, didnot result in any final settle-ment and it had to decide thematter pending before it.

The court, which on March8 referred the matter for medi-ation, had asked for in-cameraproceedings to be completedwithin eight weeks, but latergranted time till August 15 afterthe panel's earlier report saidthe mediators were "optimistic"about an amicable solution.

The top court fixed the seatfor mediation process inFaizabad, Uttar Pradesh,around 7 km from Ayodhya,and said adequate arrange-ments, including the venue ofthe mediation, place of stay ofthe mediators, their security,travel should be forthwitharranged by the state govern-ment.

JUDGEMENT LIKELY IN MID-NOVEMBER

The apex court also said the parties to the disputecan amicably resolve the matter through mediationif they want to but told lawyers from both the sidesthat it wanted to conclude the day-to-day hearingsby October 18 so that the judges get almost fourweeks’ time to write the judgment

The proposed Asia's biggest first green oilrefinery was shelved due to environmentalconcerns at the behest of the Sena, as acondition of its pre-Lok Sabha electionalliance earlier this year

Two shops in Modrigam village insouth Kashmir's Kulgam districtwere recently sealed by adhesivetapes with a seal of the bannedterror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen,sending shock waves in the area.And it is not just about a far-flungvillage or one terror group

JNU CASE

Court asks Delhi govt todecide within a monthSanction to prosecute Kanhaiya, others

HC raps UP Information CommissionSAYS SUMMONING GOVT OFFICIALS “UNNECESSARILY” AFFECTS PUBLIC WORK

PNS n BHARUCH

Three security guards at aglass making factory werekilled and as many othersinjured after a group of 25 to30 people attacked them inGujarat's Bharuch district, apolice official said onWednesday. The exact reasonbehind the attack was not yetknown, though police suspectit to be a robbery bid.

The incident took place lateTuesday night when theassailants jumped the bound-ary wall of the P G GlassCompany, located at Utiyadaravillage in Ankleshwar taluka,to enter the premises andattacked the guards, he said.

The assailants, wieldingwooden stick and iron pipes,

attacked six guards deployed atthe factory, which was shutsince last four years,Ankleshwar (rural) policeinspector (in-charge)Jayrajsinh Chavda said.

"Two guards, who received

head injuries, died on the spot.The four others were rushed byvillagers to a private hospital inAnkleshwar where one of themsuccumbed to his injuries. Thetwo others were undergoingtreatment," he said.

The factory was closed sincelast four years but its ownershad employed six guards totook after the property, he said."We are yet to ascertain the rea-son behind the attack. Primafacie, it appears the attack wasa result of a loot attempt, but aninvestigation is on to ascertainif the assailants managed to getaway with anything," he said.

The deceased were identi-fied as Pirabhai Rabari (40),Govabhai Rabari (47) andDevabhai Rabari (65), headded.

3 factory guards killed in attackby over dozen men in Gujarat

PNS n JABALPUR

A 27-year-old woman has beenarrested in Madhya Pradesh'sJabalpur district for allegedlytrying to extort Rs 20 lakhfrom an advocate and his fam-ily by sending them threaten-ing SMSes, police said onWednesday.

Yashoda Dhurve, a native ofMandla district who was resid-ing in Gorabazar area here,apparently took clues from apopular crime show on televi-sion as she wanted to make aquick buck, Superintendentof Police Amit Singh said.

Dhurve targeted advocateSanjaylal Kataria, his father

and niece by making blankcalls and sending them threat-ening SMSes, while claiming tobe a member of the BabluPanda gang.

To make her threats lookgenuine, she tracked the fam-ily's movements and informedthem that she knew when theyleft or arrived at home.

"The accused asked them todeposit Rs 20 lakh in anaccount, which was in thename of one Nagesh PrabhakarPatil, in a local bank withintwo days, or else face dire con-sequences," he said.

Following Kataria's com-plaint, the police traced thenumber and arrested thewoman on Tuesday, he said,adding that the mobile phoneused in the crime was alsoseized.

The accused was bookedunder Indian Penal CodeSection 386 (extortion byputting a person in fear ofdeath or grievous hurt), hesaid.

Woman held for bid to extortRs 20 lakh from lawyer's kin The incident took place

late Tuesday nightwhen the assailantsjumped the boundarywall of the P G GlassCompany, located atUtiyadara village inAnkleshwar taluka, toenter the premises andattacked the guards

SC sets Oct 18 deadlinefor Ayodhya hearing

Govt doctor heldwhile takingbribe to operateon patientPNS n JABALPUR

A doctor, posted in a gov-ernment hospital in MadhyaPradesh's Mandla district,was allegedly caught onWednesday while acceptingbribe to perform a surgery,the Lokayukta police said onWednesday.

Dr Sunil Kumar Yadav wascaught red-handed whileaccepting a bribe of Rs 6,000at his private clinic, said J PVerma, deputy superinten-dent, Lokayukta Police.

Pramod Kumar Nareti hadfiled a complaint with theanti-corruption agencyLokayukta that Yadav haddemanded a bribe of Rs 6,000to operate on his fatherSonulal Nareti for hernia.

world 07HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

PTI n WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trumpon Wednesday named his

chief hostage negotiator RobertO’Brien as the new NationalSecurity Adviser to replace JohnBolton, who was fired last week.

O’Brien, who has beenserving as the special envoy forhostage affairs at theDepartment of State, has beenchosen for the role, Trumptweeted.

“I am pleased to announcethat I will name Robert C.O’Brien, currently serving asthe very successful SpecialPresidential Envoy for HostageAffairs at the State Department,as our new National SecurityAdvisor.

“I have worked long &

hard with Robert. He will do agreat job!” he said.

In his role as special pres-idential envoy for hostageaffairs, O’Brien works withfamilies of American hostagesand advises on related issues,including recovery policies.

In choosing O’Brien toreplace Bolton, the presidenttapped a longtime lawyer whohas impressed him with hiswork to extricate Americansdetained by countries likeNorth Korea and Turkey, TheNew York Times reported.

O’Brien would be Trump’sfourth national security advis-er of his presidency.

On Tuesday, the WhiteHouse said President Trumphas shortlisted five people forthe NSA’S position.

PTI n KARACHI

Pakistani authorities on Wednesday ordered ajudicial probe within 30 days into the death

of a Hindu dental college student in Sindhprovince after her family claimed that the girl wasmurdered, according to a media report.

Namrita Chandni, a final-year student of BibiAsifa Dental College in Larkana district and asocial activist, was found lying on a cot by herfriends on Monday with a rope tied to her neck.Her room was locked from inside.

Police is yet to ascertain whether the girlcommitted suicide or was murdered.

The Sindh government on Wednesday askedthe sessions court of Larkana to hold a judicialprobe into the death of Chandni, the Dawn Newsreported.

“Section Officer Aijaz Ali Bhatti wrote a let-ter to the district and sessions judge of Larkana,requesting that a judicial inquiry be held in thematter and submit a report to the home depart-ment within 30 days so that further action canbe taken,” it said.

New York: The New York Times is shutting down its Spanish-languageservice called NYT en Espanol, saying it was not “financially successful.” The service launched in 2016 had included around 10 “high-qualityoriginal and translated” New York Times stories a day in Spanish.“We launched NYT en Espanol as part of an experiment to reach andengage more international readers by extending our coverage to differentlanguages,” the newspaper said in a statement. AFP

PTI n UNITED NATIONS

The President of the 74th session of the UNGeneral Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-

Bande, has said he would “collaborate and coor-dinate” with the Security Council, and the UNSecretariat to ensure that greater attention is paidto prevention rather than reaction to full blownconflict.

“I will also advocate for effective early detec-tion and warning systems, as well as mediation,negotiation and peaceful settlement of ongoingconflicts,” Muhammad-Bande of Nigeria said inhis inaugural address as UN General AssemblyPresident on Tuesday. “I will work to engendercooperation that will address drivers of conflictssuch as poverty, exclusion and illiteracy.”

He stressed that he would “collaborate andcoordinate” with the Security Council, and theSecretariat “to ensure that greater attention is paidto prevention rather than reaction to full blownconflict.”

In June, the General Assembly electedMuhammad Bande, Permanent Representativeof Nigeria, President of its 74th session. He servedas Vice-President of the Assembly’s 71st sessionand was active in several other forums, includ-ing as Chair of the Special Committee onPeacekeeping Operations, member of theAdvisory Board of the UN Counter-TerrorismCentre and Chair of the Economic Communityof West African States Group.

AFP n SAO PAULO

Human Rights Watch has accused Brazil’sPresident Jair Bolsonaro of giving a “green

light” to illegal loggers to destroy the Amazon andfailing to protect those defending the world’slargest rain forest.

Bolsonaro, whose anti-environment rhetoricand policies have been widely blamed for a spikein fires and land clearing in the Amazon this year,has promised to open up the remote region tomore development even as he faces growing inter-national criticism.

Official figures show Amazon deforestationnearly doubled in the first eight months of thisyear, compared with the same period in 2018, to6,404 square kilometers (2,472 square miles) --more than twice the size of Luxembourg.

The acceleration in deforestation has beenblamed for the sharp increase in fires this year,which official figures show have reached nearly124,000, as land is cleared and burned to makeway for cattle grazing or crops. A decrease in pre-cipitation and a recent heat wave together withstrong winds are also factors in the blazes.

AFP n WASHINGTON

The United States has con-cluded that an attack on

Saudi oil facilities was launchedfrom Iran, a US official saidTuesday as Vice President MikePence again warned that the USmilitary is “locked and loaded”for a possible response.

The official, speaking toAFP on condition of anonymi-ty, said the strike involved cruisemissiles and that evidencewould be presented at the UNGeneral Assembly next week.

Pence announced thatSecretary of State Mike Pompeowas on his way to Saudi Arabiato “discuss our response.”

“As the president said, wedon’t want war with anybodybut the United States is pre-pared,” Pence said in a speechto the Heritage Foundationthink tank in Washington.

“We’re locked and loadedand we’re ready to defend ourinterests and allies in the region,make no mistake about it,” hesaid, echoing President DonaldTrump’s words on Monday.

The apparent hardeningof the US position came asIran’s supreme leader ruledout negotiations withWashington “at any level.”

However, continuing daysof mixed messaging from theWhite House, spokesmanHogan Gidley refused to ruleout a possible -- albeit nowhighly unlikely -- encounterbetween Trump and IranianPresident Hassan Rouhani atthe United Nations next week.

Trump is “obligated to tryand find peace,” he said.Yemen’s Iranian-backed Huthirebels claimed responsibility forSaturday’s oil installationattacks, which halved outputfrom the petro-state, the world’sbiggest crude producer and aclose ally of Washington.

The Houthis are at warwith Saudi-backed forces inYemen, turning the impover-ished nation into a proxy bat-tlefield for bitter regional rivalsTehran and Riyadh.

The increasingly complexconflict dovetails with the Trumpadministration’s attempt to curbIranian power through a “max-imum pressure” campaign ofcrippling economic sanctions.

Trump began that cam-paign after unilaterally pullingout of a 2015 internationaldeal meant to reward Iran forallowing restrictions on itsnuclear industry. He says thatTehran is secretly cheating and

trying to build nuclear weaponsand must be stopped.

Supreme leader AyatollahAli Khamenei saidWashington’s real goal was tobring his country to its knees.

“The policy of ‘maximumpressure’ against the Iraniannation is worthless and allIslamic Republic of Iran offi-cials unanimously believe therewill be no negotiations with theUS at any level,” he said in atelevised address.

Khamenei also said that aslong as sanctions are in place,direct talks are impossible,including a meeting at the UN.

“Without this, no negotia-tions will happen at any levelbetween the Islamic Republic ofIran’s officials and theAmericans, not during the visitto New York or any othervisit,” he said.

Whether the new stage ofthe long-running US-Iranianstandoff leads to a shooting war

is the big unknown.Saudi Arabia, which has

bought huge quantities of USweaponry, is considered astrategic ally in the region,second to Israel, another bitterfoe of Iran.

Trump called off a retalia-tory US missile attack on Iran inJune after the Iranians shotdown a spy drone. He said hedid not want to kill what gener-als told him could be up to 150people. He has indicated that he

may no longer feel that restraint.“I’m not looking to get into

new conflict, but sometimes youhave to,” he said Monday.

“That was a very largeattack, and it could be met by anattack many, many times larger.”

US Secretary of DefenseMark Esper labelled Iran adestabilizing force in theregion, but stopped short ofdirectly accusing Tehran overthe strikes. The US military, hesaid, was working with its part-

ners to “address this unprece-dented attack.”

In Congress, RepublicanSenator Mitt Romney toldreporters that the United Statesshould not be drawn into war.

“Saudi Arabia is fully capa-ble, with the weapons we’ve soldthem, to respond in a way theythink is appropriate,” he said.

Another Republican,Senator John Thune, said thatif Iran were proven to be behindthe Saudi attack, that “crosses a

line that hasn’t been crossedbefore and, yeah, I think it’d becertainly appropriate for the USand allies to respond.”

The contested strikes hitAbqaiq, the world’s largest oilprocessing facility, and theKhurais oil field in eastern SaudiArabia. Oil markets continued toeye the situation carefully. Pricesreceded five per cent on Tuesday,reversing some of the previousday’s gains as analysts said theywere expecting Saudi output torecover sooner than expectedafter the weekend’s attacks.

As aftershocks continuedto ripple across financial mar-kets on Tuesday, energy spe-cialists S&P Platt said aroundthree million barrels per day ofSaudi crude would remainoffline for at least a month.

Britain and Germany onTuesday urged the internation-al community to forge a “col-lective response” to the attacks.

French Foreign MinisterJean-Yves Le Drian, visitingCairo, said it was “imperativeto put all our efforts together toachieve this de-escalation”.

China condemned theattacks and appealed to allsides to “refrain from takingactions that lead to an escala-tion of tensions in the region.”

Tehran: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday Yemenistargeted Saudi oil facilities as a “warning” about a possible wider war inresponse to the kingdom’s US-backed intervention in their conflict-ravaged country.“The Yemenis... Haven’t hit a hospital, they haven’t hit a school, theyhaven’t hit Sanaa bazaar. They just hit an industrial centre... To warnyou,” Rouhani said after a cabinet meeting.“Learn lessons from this warning and consider that there could be a warin the region,” he said, in a likely address to the rulers of Saudi Arabiawhich has spent billions of dollars on US weapons.Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the strikesbut a US official said Tuesday that the administration of President DonaldTrump concluded the attacks involved cruise missiles from Iran.Saudi Arabia, which has been bogged down in a five-year war in Yemen,has said the weapons used in the attacks were Iranian-made but has notdirectly blamed its regional arch-rival.Tehran has repeatedly denied accusations from Washington and Riyadhthat it arms the Houthis. AFP

Tehran: The US is “in denial” overattacks on oil installations in SaudiArabia, Iran’s top diplomat saidTuesday, after Washington blamedweekend strikes on Tehran despiteYemeni rebels claimingresponsibility.“US is in denial if it thinks thatYemeni victims of 4.5 yrs of theworst war crimes wouldn’t do allto strike back,” Foreign MinisterMohammad Javad Zarif wrote onTwitter.American ally Saudi Arabia leads amilitary coalition that has beenbattling the Iran-aligned Houthirebels since 2015. AFP

Washington: President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced what hesaid would be substantial new sanctions against Iran in the first responseto what US officials say was likely Iranian involvement in an attack onSaudi oil facilities.“I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantiallyincrease Sanctions on the country of Iran!” Trump said in a tweet.The United States already enforces widespread sanctions that havecrippled Iran’s economy, including attempting to shut down its major oilexport industry.There were no immediate details on what the new measures might be.Trump has yet to put categorical blame on Iran for last weekend’sbombardment by drones or missiles of Saudi oil facilities. However, a USofficial has confirmed to AFP that the administration believes Iran isresponsible.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due shortly in Saudi Arabia to meetwith the petro-state’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed binSalman, to discuss a response. AFP

Substantially increase Iransanctions, orders Trump

Rouhani says Yemenis attackedSaudi oil sites as ‘warning’

US ‘IN DENIAL’OVER SAUDIATTACKS: ZARIF

US official says Iran behind Saudi attack, Pence warns of strikes

Trump names US hostagenegotiator as new NSA

New UNGA president bats for settlement of conflicts peacefully

Bolsonaro gives ‘green light’to Amazon illegal loggers,says Human Rights Watch

NYT ENDS SEPARATE SPANISH-LANGUAGE OP Pak authorities order probeinto Hindu girl student’s deathafter family claims murder

Recent fires that have ravaged theAmazon rainforest in Brazil havenot only generated sufficient heatto light up the scene for a freshdebate on development and envi-

ronment but are also responsible, to someextent, for overheating the world of diploma-cy, which was much evidenced at the G7 sum-mit held in France last month. It is obviousthat major forest fires like the ones around theAmazon rainforest and the Indonesian blazecan no longer remain a localised affair. Theytend to assume international dimensions inview of the overall impact on the environmentand in the long run, on climate change. Thetemperature spikes in carbon sinks across theworld end up melting our glaciers.

The allegation that the fires had been litintentionally to make way for developmen-tal projects being undertaken by the BrazilianGovernment in collaboration with privateentrepreneurs may or may not be true but thedamage to the environment has already beendone. Imagine, Brazil was host to the earthsummit in 1992, where the concept of sus-tainable development was initiated and a longterm strategy to deal with climate change wasformulated for the first time.

Back home, we have similar problems inour forested areas, except for those where rain-fall is heavy and trees are able to retain suf-ficient moisture. The coastal areas and forestsof the North-East as well as the Andamansare a case in point. Fires in the forests ofShivaliks and lower Himalayas are well-known. In fact, they have become a regularfeature, except that they keep varying in inten-sity. Experience shows that forest fires in hillareas are more difficult to tackle due to theproblem of accessibility as is noticed in sev-eral districts of Uttarakhand.

The year 2016 almost created history,both in the number of fires as well as theirspread with at least seven casualties beingreported. On account of a virtual absenceof winter rain, signs of a difficult impend-ing summer were quite visible even in mid-February during that time. During my jour-ney from Dehradun to Nainital, while myhelicopter was overflying the forests of Tehriand Pauri, a few isolated cases of smoke ris-ing from deep inside the forests were visi-ble. The absence of any rainfall through themonths of March and April, along with anunusual rise in temperatures, compound-ed the situation.

Despite sufficient warning time beingavailable, necessary steps were not taken.Mobilisation of volunteers and other person-nel on the ground remained inadequate. Bythe end of March, almost a crisis situation haddeveloped when the fires appeared to threat-en settlements and peripheral areas of someof the towns. By then, the State had comeunder President’s Rule and as the thenGovernor, containing the damage done to for-est wealth besides saving life and propertybecame one of my top priorities. It was strangeto see that the forest department was neither

adequately prepared nor commit-ted to fighting the fires. It wasconsidering them to be a normaland an annual feature.

Given the gravity of the sit-uation, the State disaster responseforce along with personnel fromthe National Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF) in large numberswere inducted into the operation.Simultaneously, the police per-sonnel, who were accompaniedby the district revenue authori-ties, were also mobilised. As thefires became more menacingand life-threatening, the IndianAir Force (IAF) was approached,who with the personal interven-tion of the then Air ChiefMarshal Arup Raha, respondedalmost instantaneously.

Choppers with Bambi buck-ets were available at the Sarsawaairbase, not far from Dehradun,which flew to Pauri and Nainitalwithout any loss of time. Theywere immediately opera-tionalised with the lake at Nainitaland the reservoir at the TehriDam providing adequate supplyof water. The only problem facedwas the supply of fuel for thechoppers as the tankers moved ata very slow pace on the windinghilly roads. The ordeal was final-ly over after a few showerstowards the end of April, break-ing one of the longest dry spellsof more than 50 days at a stretch.

While only a certainamount of damage by fires canbe quantified, the adverseimpact on biodiversity andecosystem remains immenseand unquantifiable. Suffice to

say that huge volumes of carbondioxide so released lead to seri-ous environmental impact. Inaddition, nano-sized particlesfrom the smoke tend to settle onsnow-covered areas in the vicin-ity, which is a separate field ofstudy in glaciology. It is, how-ever, well-known that suchdepositions and even a fraction-al rise in temperatures lead toerosion and consequent retrac-tion of the glaciers.

Two very important glaciersin the vicinity of the fire impact-ed area are Gangotri and Milan.Both have extensively been stud-ied by experts. Water from theseglaciers flows entirely into theGangetic river system.

Almost 65 per cent of thelandmass in Uttarakhand isunder the cover of forests out ofwhich the Chirpine (pinus rox-burghii) occupies about 20 percent of the area, which is aboutfour lakh hectares. Every year,large quantities of dry pine nee-dles fall on the ground. These arevery rich in oil, are highly inflam-mable and constitute a majorsource of fire hazard in the State.The Uttarakhand RenewableEnergy Department Agency(UREDA) has since launched ascheme whereby pine needles arecollected by villagers, who arepaid on account of the weight oftheir collection. The needles arethen used as fuel to generatepower.

During the post-fire analy-sis, one aspect that was men-tioned very emphatically byone and all was that the partic-

ipation of Van Panchayats hadalmost been negligible. Earlier,forest dwellers used to providevolunteers, who would maintaina strict vigil and help preventand extinguish the fires well intime. After the introduction ofand sometimes over stringentapplication of the Forest RightsAct, traditional forest dwellersfrom certain areas faced evic-tion, leading to a sort of vacu-um with none to look after thevast tracts of forests. The officialdepartmental guards are eithertoo inadequate or permanent-ly absent from duty.

In some foreign countries,like Australia and elsewhere,spraying of fire retardants is notuncommon when the firesbecome life-threatening.However, such sprays have notbeen used in India. Nevertheless,there is enough scope for techno-logical innovations in this impor-tant area that impacts the envi-ronment. At one time, theUttarkhand Government hadsought to do away with thechirpine plantation and resortedto large scale afforestationthrough oak and other hardytrees. But this was dependent onexpert advice as it had seriousimplications for both the soilstructure and the environment.Considering their impact on theenvironment as well as biodiver-sity, vital decisions need to betaken in the right earnest.

(The writer is a formerGovernor of Uttarakhand and aSenior Advisor at the PranabMukherjee Foundation)The Oxford Dictionary is considered no less

a Bible when it comes to semantics. Suchis its credibility that seldom does one ques-

tion whether its makers need to question inter-nal wisdom rather than deciding what a wordshould mean to the world. Clearly it’s time forsome soul-searching as its editors have managedto offend, enrage and alienate women around theworld through their insensitivity and failure to keepup with the times. An online petition is gathering

steam to redefine the word “woman” which the dictionary still considers syn-onymous with “bitch, besom, piece, bit, mare, filly” and so on. As if this wasnot enough, the sentences that explain the usage of the word or their applica-tion add insult to injury as they objectify and portray women as subordinate tomen. “Ms September will embody the professional, intelligent yet sexy careerwoman” and “I told you to be home when I get home, little woman,” are someof the offensive examples given, clearly out of sync with not just gender sensi-tivities but also the fluidities of modern contexts. This stands out all the morebecause the Oxford Dictionary is very quick to absorb contemporary idioms andeven legitimise a lot of fusion words as part of the mainstream English lexicon.

Signatories of the petition, that was started by UK-based women’s rights activistMaria Beatrice Giovanardi in July, are calling on editors to “eliminate all phras-es and definitions that discriminate against and patronise women and/or con-note men’s ownership of women.” This is not the first time that the compilersof the dictionary have given a misogynistic explanation to a word. Check out“rabid” and up pops “feminist” next to it, search for “nagging” and it is followedby “wife.” This should encourage a larger conversation on whether the Englishlanguage is sexist and needs to modify itself, considering it is a common threadof communication across the world and, therefore, needs to be politically cor-rect. Have we ever wondered why words like “mistress” and “madam”, that actu-ally meant women of authority, have over the decades, undergone degenera-tion? Pejoration of words related to women is a sad reflection on the way soci-ety views their place in it. In a rather weak response, Oxford has said that thecontent referred to in the petition by Giovanardi is not from the scholarly OxfordEnglish Dictionary, but from the Oxford Thesaurus of English and the OxfordDictionary of English, which are drawn from “real-life use” of language. However,other popular online dictionaries like Cambridge and Merriam-Webster, which alsogive examples of “real-life” use of the word, are more respectful and gender sen-sitive. While Cambridge describes “woman” simply as an “adult female humanbeing,” Merriam-Webster adds the words “female” and “lady” to the same descrip-tion given by Cambridge. Given that Merriam-Webster even released an addi-tional dictionary definition of the word “they” to refer “to a single person whosegender identity is non-binary,” isn’t it time that the world’s most trusted lexiconchanges the way it refers to women?

If the Lok Sabha verdict is considered abenchmark in resetting the grammar of pol-itics as swatting the Opposition, then its

impact on regional politics has been such asto eliminate the relevance of federal parties.Once the backbone of powerful coalition gov-ernments at the Centre, State parties are nowmuch like tribal chieftains, good enough forlording over their flocks but too tiny to stall thejuggernaut of national parties gobbling themup. In such a scenario, they have just twooptions, either withdraw to their pocketbor-

oughs or sign up with the big players if they want to stay in the game. So it isthat in Maharashtra, there has been a mass migration from the Congress andthe Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to the BJP-Shiv Sena combine, almost wip-ing off the Opposition space. And in Rajasthan, the ruling Congress governmenthas followed the same pattern of accretion to its ranks by coopting six BahujanSamaj Party (BSP) MLAs, grinding the theory of Dalit consolidation to the dust.

Given the current scenario, Maharashtra really doesn’t need an election, con-sidering that the only tussle will be between coalition partners, the BJP and theSena, over seat percentage and power-sharing, much like a fraternal war of carv-ing out the spoils. Twenty-six MLAs from the Opposition camp, including its leaderin the Assembly, joined the ruling party, creating a political vacuum. The worsthit has been NCP founder Sharad Pawar, no longer appearing to be the Marathastrongman. Such is his condition that except his core team, every other partymember is looking to jump ship. And though NCP is tying up with the Congressto avoid total dissipation, fact is the rump that both parties have become mayjust get them 30 plus seats in a House of 288. The Congress is at its worst levelof preparedness given the dissension within its ranks and the Young Turks, ledby Milind Deora, stepping aside and themselves not averse to charting out anindependent course. Yes it has a new State chief but the will to fight back is sim-ply missing at the unit level. The party would be just about happy with whatev-er it gets courtesy the standing of some of its individual leaders. MaharashtraNavnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, who at least injected some drama intoproceedings by questioning the establishment, is nowhere to be seen what withthe BJP taming him with a slew of Enforcement Directorate (ED) cases. The fringeplayers, who could be vote cutters, like Prakash Ambedkar and Asaduddin Owaisi,have been torn asunder and chasing their own kitties. As for the BJP-Sena duel,the former is now claiming its pound of flesh, considering it can go alone andhas for years stepped back to accommodate the sensitivities of the Sena. Thelatter may want a 50-50 distribution of seats, and maybe even a shot at deputychief minister for Aaditya Thackeray, son of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, butit has no negotiating edge. And while its conscience calls in the form of criticis-ing the Modi government and functioning like an Opposition worked in 2014, itcertainly isn’t attractive anymore. Besides, the Sena must understand that thoughthe Modi charisma works, BJP Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has quietly devel-oped his own stock. If the Sena has so far peddled the local versus outsiderlogic, the BJP has several Maratha leaders now, courtesy the migration of seniorleaders from the Congress, and has even roped in Shivaji’s descendant UdayanrajeBhosale. So the Sena may engage in posturing, yet has no option but to acqui-esce to the BJP’s grand design. The ruling Congress in Rajasthan, too, has justgone by the old formula of buying support with promised doles, something whichhas become part of the BJP’s playbook. In fact, it was to counter the BJP’s poach-ing attempts in Rajasthan and create a Karnataka-like scenario that promptedthe Ashok Gehlot-led government to scoop up allies. Sadly, such rampant horse-trading is just eroding the idea of a federal union and overlaying a new text ofunionised federalism. A throwback to the chaos that we had hoped to clean up.

No need for Opposition

Shocking development

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Farooq, now a threat” (September18). That former Jammu &Kashmir Chief Minister andNational Conference leader FarooqAbdullah was booked under thePublic Safety Act (PSA) exposesthe true intention of the rulingGovernment. Ever since it abrogat-ed the Valley’s special status, therehas been a complete lockdownthere. More than 40 days havepassed but things have remainedthe same. Instead of engagingwith the people or taking steps torestore normalcy, the Governmentis imposing laws that go against thespirit of the Constitution.

Farooq’s detention comesclose on the heels of MDMKleader Vaiko moving a habeas cor-pus petition in the SupremeCourt, seeking the J&KGovernment to set him free. Itmust also be remembered thatFarooq was already under housearrest for more than 40 days, ashave two other former ChiefMinisters Mehbooba Mufti andOmar Abdullah. If Abdullah’sarrest was inevitable, theGovernment must give appropri-ate reasons for the same. It’s

beyond imagination that a verysenior politician and one of themost prominent faces in thecountry is being considered as athreat to security.

Tharcius S FernandoChennai

Gandhian philosophy

Sir — Responding to the call ofGreta Thunberg, the 16-year-oldSwedish climate activist, variousIndian cities, including Delhi,

Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru,Kolkata, Kochi, Allahabad andCalicut will be hosting “climatestrikes” between September 20and September 27. Thousands ofstudents from across the nationwill skip schools to be part of the

“climate strike.”Thunberg’s movement has

had its impact in India and thecountry became a witness tosome of its first school strikeswith students demanding moreaction from authorities regardingglobal warming and climatechange. The May 24 climatestrike saw a great turnout in citieslike Mumbai, Bengaluru andDelhi. Though skipping schoolsand colleges won’t make a differ-ence, certainly it can help createawareness.

However, the best way tocombat pollution, which has beenone of the most pressing environ-mental threats to human health,is to listen to Mahatma Gandhiji’smessage. The issues that the worldcommunity is faced with todaywere envisioned by him decadesago. His idea of swaraj in terms ofclean air and water is more rele-vant in our times than it was whenIndia was under foreign rule.Most importantly, his suggestionwas that school and college stu-dents must be educated about thevalue of clean air.

Srishti Mathur Ujjain

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

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op nionHYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

08

A Himalayan threat

KK PAUL

Fires that engulfed the Amazon rainforests should awaken us to the threat closerhome. Shivaliks and lower Himalayas, too, witness the same risk almost every year

I too come from a non-Hindispeaking State. One has to listen to my speech carefully.If someone wants to do politics, it is their choice.

Union Minister—Amit Shah

I always heard stories abouthow the film industry ran onconnections and jugaad butthey never worked in my favourwhen I was starting out.

Actor—Rajkummar Rao

It was Saudi Arabia, theEmirates, America, certainEuropean countries and theZionist regime (Israel) whichstarted the war in this region.

Iran’s President —Hassan Rouhani

S O U N D B I T E

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

Come to terms with air pollution

This refers to the editorial, “Odd-even blues”(September 16). Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwalbelieves that the odd-even scheme will reduce pol-

lution levels though past experiments have proved to thecontrary. But it is also true that the Government was ableto decongest the roads to a large extent when the rulewas first introduced. With the onset of winter, especial-ly when the farmers start preparing for harvest, air qual-ity becomes twice as polluted than during the spring andsummer. As the Supreme Court had said, Delhi resem-bles a “gas chamber.” The capital city’s image took a mas-sive beating when a 2016 report by the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) described it as the “world's mostpolluted.” The odd-even scheme may not achieve whatis needed. Instead, the Kejriwal Government should takeparallel and reasonable measures like ensuring vehiclesare run on clean fuel. It may as well order the closureof thermal emission plants.

The second time when the “odd-even” rule wasimplemented, people turned on the heat by buying addi-tional cars so that they could use it on a daily basis, thusnegating the cardinal principle of the rule. Most impor-tantly, Kejriwal was right when he declared that hisGovernment would be in close touch with the

Governments in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh toreduce crop residue burning. Planting of trees, identi-fication of pollution hot spots in Delhi, too, have beensteps in the right direction. But the rampant bursting ofcrackers during Diwali needs a solution. Despite aSupreme Court ban on the sale and use of convention-al firecrackers, Delhi records worst air quality every yeara day after Diwali. Kejriwal has claimed that air pollu-tion in Delhi dropped 25 per cent in four years. Only apost-November study will vindicate his stand.

Ganapathi BhatAkola

Send yyour ffeedback tto:[email protected]

Who is a woman?

By showing glitter, saying 5trillion, 5 trillion, everyday, the economy cannot improve.Investors don’t come bysponsoring events abroad.

Congress leader—Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

As federalism gives way to legitimacy of nationalparties, regional ones look at extinction

An online campaign on sexist interpretations in theOxford dictionary is resetting conversations

WHILE ONLY ACERTAIN AMOUNT

OF DAMAGE BYFIRES CAN BE

QUANTIFIED, THEADVERSE IMPACT

ON BIO-DIVERSITYAND ECOSYSTEM

REMAINSIMMENSE AND

UNQUANTIFIABLE.SUFFICE TO SAY

THAT HUGEVOLUMES OF

CARBON DIOXIDESO RELEASED

LEAD TO SERIOUS

ENVIRONMENTALIMPACT

Free the land to save Earth

INSTEAD OF WEAKENING COMMUNAL FORCES, THECONGRESS IS ENGAGED MOSTLY IN WEAKENING THE

FORCES THAT RAISE VOICES AGAINST IT.—BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY CHIEF

MAYAWATI

NO ONE CAN SAY THAT CONGRESS FAILED TO PLAY THEROLE OF OPPOSITION. OUR LEADERS FOUGHT INLEGISLATURES, PARLIAMENT AND ON STREETS. — CONGRESS LEADERAJAY MAKEN

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The fire of humanity’s end has started to burnthe Amazon rainforests. Our hunger fordestruction of forests is older than the

Roman Empire’s greed for wood or Amazonianfarmers’ need for more land. In India, we are vic-tims of rampant logging and deforestation, too.The mighty Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh arestripped for lumber and in the plains trees arechopped to make way for real estate or farmland.Badland use means degraded land of 26 millionhectares (ha) while excessive use of chemicals inindustrial agriculture is resulting in more fertiletracts being destroyed each day. But time is up and,“any wrong step towards Earth’s degradation byanyone, any government around the world affectseach one of us.” This was made clear at the recent-ly-concluded United Nations’ Convention toCombat Desertification Conference of Parties(UNCCD COP14) held in India.

India tops the charts as “the most climate-affected country of the world.” This means thatwe may see temperatures hitting 55 °C, agricul-ture production failing and water wars in the nextdecade. We need to swerve towards healing theEarth and adopt realistic policies to address envi-ronmental degradation with a mass mitigationmovement, otherwise climate change will destroyIndia. And city dwellers can’t do it alone. Indianeeds its farmers to save not just the country butperhaps, the world. And this time cultivators needhelp from our policy-makers too.

India is well stocked in cereals and is in factheading towards over-production in rice andwheat, which is destabilising market prices andnot allowing for farming of other crops. The cul-prit is the state policy of the limited scope of theMinimum Support Price (MSP) scheme. TheGovernment needs to extend MSP beyond wheatand rice, and given the newer challenges of waterscarcity and climate chaos, we need to innovateto expand the scope of farmers’ support system.A direct way is to include more crops under MSP,but the other can be to introduce relaxations toland ceilings as advised by the Economic Surveyof India. This can be strictly done for growers whoare willing to devote over 80 per cent of their landto orchards, agro-forestry using ecological prac-tices like inter-cropping, natural compostingand so on. The Government needs to come outin support of cultivators who can become the van-guard of India’s climate mitigation campaign. Weneed a policy, which incentivises carbon seques-tration by growers and Farmer Producers’Organisations (FPOs) using carbon creditsmatched by water efficiency scores. Carbonsequestration is the process by which carbon diox-ide (CO2 ) from the atmosphere is absorbed bytrees, plants and crops through photosynthesis andstored as carbon in biomass such as tree trunks,branches, foliage, roots and soils.

We don’t need all of the Indian farmland forcereal production and should promote orchardsand agro-forestry, which are good for the culti-vators and the Earth. As per a study conductedby the Environmental Defence Fund (EDF) inIndia, methane and nitrous oxide emissionsfrom rice farms could have the same long-termwarming impact as about 600 coal plants.Compare this to a research on mango orchardsby ICAR-NICRA (Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch- National Initiative on Climate Resilient

Agriculture) published in 2019. Thestudy stated that the, “country as a wholehas sequestered 285.005 million tonnesof carbon in its mango orchards. AndhraPradesh (AP) and Telangana put togeth-er, having a maximum area undermango cultivation, sequestered 69.98million tonnes of carbon. This is fol-lowed by Uttar Pradesh (35.58 milliontonnes) Karnataka (29.57315 milliontonnes), Odisha (21.07 million tonnes)and Bihar (20.09. million tonnes).”

This figure can grow if agro-ecolog-ical practices such as inter-cropping withpulses, other fruit trees, organic com-posting and fertilisers are used. Mostdegraded land can also be used fororchards, hence adding incomes for thefarmers/FPOS and helping store morecarbon in the soil.

In Ladakh, Nubra Valley producedabout 4,650 metric tonnes (MT) of apri-cot, apple, walnut, mulberry, grape andplum and sequestered 22,300 MT of car-bon. The cultivation of such temperatefruits can be used for carbon sequestra-tion and rejuvenating degraded land,cold-arid regions by improving SoilOrganic Carbon (SOC) contents andbringing more prosperity to farmers.

After achieving food sovereignty, weshould diversify and not only meet cli-mate targets, by planting trees andagro-forestry, we save water, clean the airand bring higher economic returns forfarmers. To free the land to heal andrepair the Earth, we have to address theissue of degraded areas. The burden ofcereal production has been rapacious forbio-diversity. We need to rejuvenate bio-diversity of the hinterland, especiallyalong the Gangetic plains and riverplains of the south with trees. Let the big-ger farmers grow forests, so the smalland medium cultivators can grow cere-als, lentils and oilseeds. Once the bigger

farmers shift out of cereal production,small growers can get better prices fortheir produce through the Governmentand grain traders. FPOs can play a verybig role in this.

Take for example Lucknow orKanpur, both of which are high on theair pollution index. The StateGovernment can identify clusters ofdegraded or wastelands and convertthem exclusively into agro-forests ormixed orchards. If a cluster decides touse agro-ecological methods of farming,it should be incentivised by allowingeach individual farmer to own morethan the prescribed limit in the LandCeiling Act of UP.

Instead of the Government bearingall burden of degraded land restoration,through policy decisions facilitate farm-ers/FPOs to buy it. The Government canassist by providing region-wise bio-diversity-based plans. Inter-cropping,natural composting, organic farmingshould be encouraged within theorchards and agro-forests.

Farmers/FPOs should be exemptedfrom the Land Ceiling Act if they pur-chase degraded land and bring 90 percent of it under tree cover/orchardsbased on local biodiversity in the nexttwo or three years. This should be overand above the land ceiling limits with-in State laws. This would ensure that theproject is economically viable andreduces the pressure on the land and theGovernment. State laws can be amend-ed to include this new category of farm-lands and a limit should be imposed toensure that they stay under tree cover forthe next 60 years.

The next step would be to create anational kisan carbon credit programme,linking it to the global carbon credit sys-tem. Then FPOs/clusters can earn car-bon credits for the country. This will also

encourage developed nations and pro-gressive states like California to make aninvestment into rural communitiesdirectly. Global companies too could buycarbon credits to reduce their emissions.The farmers will earn more and we cleanthe air of surrounding cities while earn-ing investments straight into rural andsemi-rural India.

If land ceilings are relaxed forrenewable energy projects, why not forclimate mitigation through bio-diversi-ty? Indian farmers, much like the solarindustrialists, are fighting climatechange; they only differ in theirapproach. One uses shiny solar panelswhile the cultivators are armed with theirsaplings and seeds. They should be givenevery opportunity to contribute toIndia’s climate mitigation because thethreat is very real and affects the farm-ers and rural India more. We need inte-gration of old wisdom and new farmingtechnologies.

The size of the land-holding is toosmall and is ever-shrinking, while thedegradation and depletion of land fer-tility are at an all-time high. We have tofree the land and free the farmers to helprestore the ecosystem. Days of bullockcarts are long gone, we need to embracetechnology and steer it for the protec-tion of the Earth and our nation.

We need to embrace new scienceand the forest together, to save our civil-isation from the negative effects of cli-mate change. Reconnect with the Earthand act now unitedly for the benefit ofour Vasudeva kutumbakam (global fam-ily) or else as best articulated by JamesBaldwin, “Instead of ending the worldwith water, God will end it with fire nexttime.”

(The writer is Programme Directorfor Policy and Outreach at the NationalSeed Association of India)

Degraded tracts can be used for orchards and agro-forestry to help store morecarbon in the soil. This will help mitigate the effects of climate change

analysis 09F I R S T C O L U M N

The mystery ofdrone strikes

GWYNNE DYER

Though Pompeo blamed Iran for the attacks on Saudioil, Trump doesn’t want a full-scale war with it and

neither does the kingdom

INDRA SHEKHAR SINGH

IF LAND CEILINGSARE RELAXED FOR

RENEWABLEENERGY PROJECTS,

WHY NOT FORCLIMATE

MITIGATIONTHROUGH

BIO-DIVERSITY?INDIAN FARMERS,

MUCH LIKE THESOLAR

INDUSTRIALISTS,ARE FIGHTING

CLIMATE CHANGE;THEY ONLY DIFFER

IN THEIRAPPROACH. ONE

USES SHINY SOLARPANELS WHILE THECULTIVATORS ARE

ARMED WITH THEIRSAPLINGS AND

SEEDS. THEYSHOULD BE GIVEN

EVERYOPPORTUNITY TO

CONTRIBUTE TOINDIA’S CLIMATE

MITIGATIONBECAUSE THE

THREAT IS VERYREAL AND AFFECTSTHE FARMERS ANDRURAL INDIA MORE

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed the Houthi claimthat the Yemeni rebel group had carried out Saturday’s strikeon two huge Saudi Arabian oil processing facilities. There was

“no evidence” that the drones belonged to the Houthis, he said. Instead,he blamed Iran. No surprise there. The way things are at the moment,if an incoming asteroid were about to strike the Earth, the US wouldblame Iran. But there’s ‘no evidence’ that the drones came from Iraneither. Pompeo is simply trading on the assumption that Yemenisare too ignorant to manage that sort of technology, so it must beIran. Saudi Arabia and the alliance of other autocratic Arab Statesthat have been bombing Yemen since 2015 push the same line allthe time. It goes down fairly well in the kingdom, where most peo-ple look down on Yemenis for being poor and less well educated,but it isn’t actually true.

Within a year of the war’s start, the Yemenis began launchinga few small ballistic missiles (with conventional warheads) back atSaudi Arabia, but the Saudis refused to believe they were doing itthemselves. The Houthis, they implied, were too backward to upgradethe Yemeni air force’s old Soviet-made Scud missiles themselves.Iran must have helped them. In fact, the Yemeni air force had Scudmissiles for decades before the Government collapsed in 2015, andtechnicians to service them. Some, maybe most of those techni-cians threw in their lot with the Houthis and upgraded those Scudsby cutting them in half and inserting a larger fuel tank. It changedtheir flight characteristic and made them very inaccurate but it didextend their range enough to hit targets all over southern and east-ern Saudi Arabia. And by mid-2017 the Houthis, who controlled mostof Yemen, were making their own improved copies known as Burkanmissiles. The ‘Super-Scuds’ were more a morale booster than a war-winner for the Houthis, who live under a merciless daily bombard-ment from the air (7,290 documented civilian deaths so far). Thecurrent attacks, if the Houthis’ claim is true, would just be anothermorale-booster, even though it has temporarily cut world oil produc-tion by around five per cent.

But was it really the Houthis? At this point there is no clear evi-dence, but it could have been. They certainly have the motive andthey may have the technology. They have used small drones in pre-vious air strikes and there are bigger drones available commercial-ly that could do the damage seen at the Saudi facilities. The biggestcurrently available is the Guardian, a monster that can carry a pay-load of 200 kilos. It’s made by Griff Aviation, a Norwegian compa-ny whose Lakeland factory in Florida is producing one Guardian aday and selling them to industrial, agricultural and military clients.

It would be quite a trick for the Houthis to acquire ten of thembut stranger things have happened. Or maybe they did get their handson some military drones, which would certainly be up to the job. Ormaybe it was Iran but nobody really knows yet.

One apparent flaw in the Houthi theory is that there are no civil-ian drones capable of flying the almost 800 km from Yemen to theSaudi targets but that’s not really necessary. Most of the land aroundthe Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities is open desert and launchingthe drones for 25-50 km away would escape detection unless theSaudis were actively anticipating such an attack.

Who would launch them? There are a million Yemenis residentin Saudi Arabia, plus two to three million Saudi citizens, who suffersevere discrimination because they follow the Shia version of Islam.There are even Sunni Saudi citizens (mostly Islamists) who are suf-ficiently disaffected to attack the regime directly. That’s a pretty largepool to fish in if you’re looking for local collaborators to smuggle thedrones in and launch them – which is what the Houthis themselvessay happened. In their statement claiming credit for the attacks, theyexpress thanks for “co-operation with the honourable people insidethe kingdom.” None of this proves that it was the Houthis or that itwasn’t the Iranians. It does leave the identity of the attackers up inthe air, where it will remain until conclusive proof emerges one wayor another (if it ever does). Mike Pompeo’s confident attribution ofblame to Iran, later echoed by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, is justpolitics, not proof. As Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted onSunday, “having failed at max pressure (anti-Iran trade sanctions),Sec Pompeo’s turning to max deceit.” Fair comment, really. And weshould be grateful that Donald Trump, for all his faults, is the grown-up in the house this time. On Sunday Trump tweeted: “There is rea-son to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depend-ing on verification but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as towho they believe was the cause of attack, and under what termswe would proceed!” Trump doesn’t want a full-scale war with Iran,and neither does Saudi Arabia. It probably won’t happen.

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is Growing Pains: The Future ofDemocracy and Work)

The ship-breaking business inIndia is booming as manynations across the world have

completely banned dismantling ofvessels on their soil, owing to pub-lic pressure over environmental con-cerns. However, the ship-breakingbusiness in India is gaining notori-ety thanks largely to the anti-environ-mental policies followed at the yardsand the tremendous health risksinvolved.

A recent Dutch documentary hashighlighted how environmental andsafety norms are being flouted inGujarat’s Alang ship-breaking yard.The documentary titled, ‘Het gifschipvan SBM’ was aired on Zembla, aDutch television documentary pro-

gramme on September 12, 2019. Thedocumentary shows how the Dutchcompany, SBM Offshore, concealedthat a gas tanker it owned, which wasto be scrapped in Alang, was conta-minated with mercury. SBMOffshore provides floating produc-tion solutions to the offshore ener-gy industry.

Many ships are contaminatedwith mercury, especially the onesconverted to Floating Storage andOffloading (FSO) vessels. Stationedat gas fields, these vessels accumulatehigh levels of mercury, which getsattached to the steel walls of thetanker. In addition, mercury alsocontaminates ballast water. Somestudies show that its presence is ashigh as 300 points per million (PPM)of mercury in 4,500 tonnes of ballastwater. Furthermore the pipes andsteel body hold an average of 1,40,000PPM mercury, that is released intothe air during the dismantlingprocess. This puts labourers andtechnical staff at risk as mercuryexposure can damage the central ner-vous system, kidney and cause liverimpairment, reproductive and devel-

opment disorders, defects in foetus-es and learning deficits. Yet in spiteof these conditions, the ships keeparriving at these yards and breakingcontinues round-the-clock. Howthese workers protect themselvesagainst the health threats and whatthe Indian Government will do totake care of its people and the envi-ronment is anybody’s guess.

The work at the yards is largelystill being done by hand. As such therisks and exposures attached to thebusiness by way of accidents andchemical reactions are very high.This raises a pertinent question as tohow the Government has not fullyautomated the breaking process asthe heavy industry technology hasmade major progress over the last

few decades. Big industrial corpora-tions like Hitachi, Siemens andHyundai specialise in heavy indus-try machinery. So why is the ship-breaking industry still hand driven?The Government must step in andincrease automation at these yards.Not only will this benefit the work-ers, it will also be easy to adhere tointernational ship-breaking guide-lines.

Further, public awareness aboutthis business and its impact on peo-ple’s health and the environment islow. This needs to change becausewith awareness comes safety.

The Government, which isalways on the back foot on this sub-ject as it’s a business fraught withrisks, can use technology as a way outof this conundrum.

It can begin an online portal,which deals with scrapping of anyharmful object, be it as small as whitegoods and e-waste to as large as ships.The portal, under different heads,can give information and live feed ofthe various dismantling and wasteprocessing facilities. This informa-tion will bring transparency on

adherence to norms concerninghealth and environment safeguards.This will also earn the Governmentthe respect of the common man.

While the ship-breaking businesshas been the focus of many research-es and studies, the lot of the peopleon the ground and the immediateenvironment, whether it is the sea orthe ambient air quality, has more orless remained unchanged. With suchglaring examples of pollution infront of us, it seems that the author-ities in India, both executive andjudicial, seem to have trained theirguns elsewhere and on smallersources of pollution. This seems par-ticularly true when one examines thefact that ship-breaking possibly is theonly activity that has the dubiouscapability of polluting the air, seawater and harming human health allin one go and under one activity.

Surely this cannot be ignoredand allowed to continue as it hasthrived long enough and consumedenough human lives and environ-mental assets.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

Ship-breaking poisoning the environmentThe pipes and steel body of a vessel hold an average of 1,40,000 PPM mercury, that is released into

the air during the dismantling process. This puts labourers and technical staff at risk

KOTA SRIRAJ

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

Tackling disparities inpower and capital hasbecome the leitmotif of theLeft globally. France'sPresident EmmanuelMacron has just pushedthrough a law formandatory profit-sharingschemes for employees. Inthe US, Democraticpresidential hopefuls BernieSanders and ElizabethWarren propose to tacklesoaring wealth inequality bygiving employees a stake intheir companies. Thiswould be welcome indeed.

(The Guardian editorial)

TACKLINGDISPARITIES

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 money 10

CAPSULE

Ambani raises stakein RelianceIndustries to 48.87%NEW DELHI: BillionaireMukesh Ambani has raisedpromoter stake in flagshipReliance Industries by 2.71per cent to 48.87 per cent,according to regulatory filingby the company. RelianceServices and Holdings Ltd,controlled by promoter groupfirm Petroleum Trust, acquired17.18 crore shares or 2.71 percent stake in Reliance onSeptember 13, it said. Theacquisition was pursuant to ascheme of arrangement notdirectly involving Reliance, thefiling said without givingdetails. Ambani and his privatefirms held 47.29 per centstake as on June 30, 2019 inIndia's second-most valuablecompany.

India Post startsspeed post serviceto 6 new nations NEW DELHI: India Post onWednesday expanded speedpost service to six new foreigndestinations in Asia, Europeand South America. "TheDepartment of Posts hasannounced commencing ofInternational Speed Post(EMS) Service to Bosnia andHerzegovina, Brazil, Ecuador,Kazakhstan, Lithuania andNorth Macedonia," the postaldepartment said in astatement. EMS or ExpressMail Service is a premiumservice that enables its usersto send documents andmerchandise faster and withthe added facility of being ableto track the movement of theitem on the internet. "Thisfacility is expected to augmentpeople to people contact withthese countries and fostertrade as EMS is popularchannel for small and mediumenterprises. The EMS serviceto these countries willhenceforth be available atmajor post offices acrossIndia," the statement said.

GreenlamIndustries expandsNalagarh unitNEW DELHI: GreenlamIndustries on Wednesday saidit has expanded theproduction capacity at itsNalagarh plant in HimachalPradesh by 1.6 millionlaminate sheets per annum.The company, which is aleading producer of laminatesin Asia, can now produce upto 15.62 million sheets in thefacility annually, thus furtherstrengthening its position inthe market. "With thisexpansion, we are delighted toannounce that ourmanufacturing unit inNalagarh is now entirelyoperational to produce anadditional 11.4 per cent - 1.6million laminate sheets perannum," MD and CEO SaurabhMittal said in a statement.

PNS n MUMBAI

Market benchmark BSESensex rose 83 points onWednesday, led by gains inenergy, metal and power stocksas global crude oil prices easedand rupee recovered againstthe dollar.

After a rangebound session,the 30-share index ended 82.79points, or 0.23 per cent, high-er at 36,563.88. The index hitan intra-day high of 36,712.99and a low of 36,465.92.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty settled 31.05 points, or0.29 per cent, up at 10,848.65.

Top gainers in the Sensexpack included Tata Steel,Vedanta, SBI, Tech Mahindra,Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints,M&M, NTPC and PowerGrid,rising up to 3.95 per cent.

On the other hand, ONGC,Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFCBank, Sun Pharma and Marutifell up to 2.08 per cent.

After plunging over 2 percent in the past two sessions,equities took a breather as oil

prices cooled after SaudiArabia's energy minister saidthat more than half of thecountry's daily crude oil pro-duction, that was knocked outby the drone attack, has beenrecovered.

He also assured that pro-duction capacity at its target-ed plants would be fullyrestored by the end of themonth.

Consequently, Brent crudefutures fell 0.95 per cent to63.94 per barrel (intra-day).

Tracking the movement inoil prices, the rupee appreci-

ated 52 paise (intra-day) totrade at 71.26 per US dollar.

Further boosting globalmarket mood, US PresidentDonald Trump said a tradeagreement between the USand China was likely to happeneither before or immediatelyafter the American elections.

Market participants werealso awaiting cues from thepolicy meeting of the FederalReserve, traders said.

Elsewhere in Asia, ShanghaiComposite Index, Hang Seng,Nikkei and Kospi ended on amixed note.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The telecom department islikely to push, by a week or 10days, the deadline for sub-mission of bids for roping inan agency that will be taskedto conduct spectrum auctionin various bands, including5G, as it plans to tweak eligi-bility norms to ensure max-imum participation byprospective auctioneers.

The government had invit-ed bids for selection of anauctioneer, for the sale of8000 MHz of spectrum at astarting price of over Rs 5.7lakh crore. The original dead-line for submission of bidswas September 25, and thatfor finalisation of auctioneerwas October 10.

The Department ofTelecom (DoT) is, however,now reconsidering the eligi-bility criteria following feed-back from prospective auc-tioneers at a pre bid confer-ence held earlier this month,and accordingly some of theaspects could be tweaked, agovernment source said.

One such criteria thatrequires sole bidder, or leadpartner (in case of a consor-tium) to have an averageannual turnover of Rs 100crore in last 3 years, is beingreconsidered so it is notrestrictive, the source toldPTI. Some other aspects,which were flagged as con-cerns by potential bidders, arebeing looked into as well.

Hence the deadline ofSeptember 25 for submissionof bids could be extended bya week or 10 days, whichmeans the finalisation ofagency which emerges as thesuccessful bidder too will bepushed back by a similartimeframe.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Users in India can now speakto Amazon's voice assistant,Alexa in Hindi to carry outtasks like checking cricketscores, requesting for songsand even asking how she'sdoing.

Launched in India in 2017,Alexa was able to understandand pronounce names of pop-ular places, names and songs inregional languages like Hindi,Tamil, Telugu, Marathi andPunjabi but supported com-mands only in English.

With the latest update, Alexacan now understand customersspeaking to her completely inHindi and Hinglish.

Alexa, which competes withdigital assistants like Apple'sSiri and Google Assistant, isavailable across Amazon's Echorange of devices as well as

products from brands likeBose, MyBox, iBall and Syska.

"India has uniquely chal-lenged our AI teams with itscultural and linguistic diversi-ty. We have worked to ensurethat customers can interact

with Alexa in different region-al variants of colloquial Hindi,"Amazon Vice President andHead Scientist, Alexa AI, RohitPrasad told reporters here.

He added that along withAmazon's own team, many

Indian users contributed toHindi development throughthe Cleo skill on Alexa.

Prasad said Alexa alreadyhas 500 "skills" for Hindi lan-guage and the firm will con-tinue to work with developersin India to introduce moresuch skills. Skills are capabili-ties like providing weatherforecasts, ordering cabs or tellstories by simply asking Alexa

to do so. Over 90,000 skills areavailable for Alexa worldwidewith a significant numbercatering to Indian users.

Prasad said Alexa has beenequipped with a rich Hindivocabulary and speaks in flu-ent Hindi while responding tocustomer requests.

He indicated that otherlanguages could also be intro-duced in the future.

Users can now interact with Alexa in Hindi

PNS n BHUBANESWAR

Odisha has registered a 7 percent increase in revenue col-lection till August during the2019-20 fiscal, officials said.

This was revealed by stateFinance secretary A K Meenaduring a review meetingpresided by Chief Secretary AK Tripathy.

Meena said total revenuegeneration increased to aroundRs 12,315 crore against collec-tion of Rs 11,758 crore in thecorresponding period of lastyear. While the non-tax rev-enue collection increased by 12per cent over the previousyear, the own tax collectionamount was more by 5 per centduring the same period, Meenasaid. Replying a question,Meena said expenditureslowed down because of thegeneral elections during initial2-3 months of the currentfinancial year. The programmeexpenditure up to Augustdeclined by 4 per cent in com-parison to the same period oflast fiscal year, he said.

The programme expendi-ture till August 2018 wasaround 32 per cent of thebudget provision against whichthe expenditure till Augustthis year was 28 per cent of thebudgeted allocation.

The chief secretary hasdirected the secretaries of dif-ferent departments to expedite

implementation of the projectsand utilization of the budget-ed amount in coming months.

Tripathy also asked the sec-retaries to implement thereforms in the field of budgetpreparation, strengthenmacro- fiscal forecasting,annual and medium-termbudgeting and introducingcommitment control systemfor uninterrupted financingto various projects and pro-grammes.

Making an appraisal of theprogress of the projects underDistrict Mineral Foundation

(DMF), DevelopmentCommissioner S C Mohapatrasaid total collection underDMF up to August this fiscalwas Rs 8,252 crore.

Around 71 per cent of thefunds (Rs 5,722 crore) wasallocated to 9,241 projectsunder priority activities ofDMF like drinking water, edu-cation, environmental preser-vation, pollution control,health care, sanitation, skilldevelopment, welfare ofwomen and Children, housing,livelihood creation programs,and connectivity.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Petrol and diesel prices wereon Wednesday hiked by 24-25paise per litre, the steepestincrease since July 5 UnionBudget, as a fallout of turmoilin global oil markets follow-ing drone attacks on SaudiArabian crude oil facilities.

Petrol price was increasedby 25 paise per litre to Rs72.42 and diesel by 24 paise toRs 65.82 in the Delhi market,which is sort of a nationalbenchmark, according toprice information availablefrom state-owned fuel retail-ers.

This is the biggest single-day hike since the July 5Budget of Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman thatraised rates by almost Rs 2.50a litre due to an increase inexcise duty on the fuels.

The hike on Wednesdayfollowed a 14 paise a litreincrease in price of petrol onTuesday and 15 paise perlitre rise in diesel rate.

Following the drone strikeson Saturday, international oilprices rallied nearly 20 percent on Monday in intradaytrading -- the biggest jump inalmost 30 years -- as theattacks halved Saudi Arabia'soutput.

Rates have in subsequenttwo days retreated, concedingabout half of the gains. Brentcrude future on Wednesdaydipped 0.26 per cent to USD64.38 per barrel after jumpingto near USD 72 in reaction tothe disruption. US West TexasIntermediate (WTI) crudelost 0.5 per cent to USD59.06 per barrel.

This came after signs thatSaudi Arabia

was quicklyre s tor i ngproductionat Abqaiqfacility.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold dropped Rs 215 to Rs38,676 per 10 gram in thenational capital on Wednesdayon strong rupee, according toHDFC Securities.

In line with gold, silverprices also declined by Rs 770to Rs 47,690 per kilogram. OnTuesday, silver had closed at Rs48,460 per kilogram.

Gold prices had closed at Rs38,891 per 10 gram in the bul-lion market here on Tuesday.

"Gold price for 24 Karat inDelhi was trading down by Rs215 as stronger rupee reducedinvestment demand for gold.The spot rupee was trading 51paise stronger against the dol-lar with fall in crude oil pricesduring the day," Tapan Patel,senior analyst - commodities,HDFC securities said.

In the international market,

gold prices were trading mar-ginally lower at USD 1,500 anounce in New York, while sil-ver was also trading down atUSD 17.81 an ounce. "Goldprices traded marginally loweron Wednesday with interna-tional spot gold prices tradingnear USD 1,500 an ounceahead of US FOMC decisionand eased crude oil supply wor-ries," Patel said. Internationalgold prices were trading steady,holding the narrow tradingrange as market is awaitingoutcome of US Federal OpenMarket Committee (FOMC)meeting and stance over Fedrate, he added.

PNS n LONDON

An influential UK Parliamentcommittee on Wednesdayissued a harsh rebuke of theUK government's "flawed"reaction to a visa row involv-ing compulsory English teststhat affected hundreds of over-seas students, many of themIndian.

The House of CommonsPublic Accounts Committee(PAC) had opened an inquiryinto a scandal dating back fiveyears over allegations of cheat-ing in the Test of English forInternational Communication(TOEIC), a compulsoryrequirement in some studentvisa cases.

Many of the students caughtup in the row have maintainedtheir innocence and have beenlobbying the government for achance to prove their inno-

cence. They have been backedby many cross-party BritishMPs and have now alsoreceived the backing of thePAC, which has called on theUK Home Office to create andpromote a "fair and trustwor-thy" means of helping all indi-viduals who may have beenwrongly accused to be able toclear their names.

"The Home Office's flawedreaction to a systemic failure bya private company has led toreal injustice for many thou-sands of overseas students tak-ing English Language tests,"said Labour Party MP MegHillier, Chair of the PAC – thecommittee which oversees gov-ernment expenditure and effec-tive use of resources.

"It beggars belief that despiteknown flaws in the Tier 4 stu-dent visa system, the HomeOffice designed an English

language testing system thatfailed to recognise the poten-tial incentive for cheating…However, despite the scale ofthe abuse, many hundreds ofpeople continue to protest theirinnocence at great personalcost. It is staggering that the

Home Office thinks it is accept-able to have so little regard forthe impact its actions mighthave on innocent people," shesaid.

The issue dates back toFebruary 2014, when BBC's'Panorama' investigation

uncovered evidence of organ-ised cheating in two Englishlanguage test centres run onbehalf of the EducationalTesting Service (ETS).

This included providingEnglish-speakers to take speak-ing tests instead of the real can-

didates and staff reading outmultiple choice answers forother tests. The UK HomeOffice responded vigorously,investigating colleges, test cen-tres and students and can-celled many visas.

"The Home Office's pace ofresponse to the issue of cheat-ing has either been 'full throt-tle' or 'too slow', with no mid-dle ground. It has been quickto act on imperfect evidence,but slow in responding to indi-cations that innocent peoplemay have been caught up in itsactions," notes the PAC reporttitled 'English Language Tests:

A Systemic Failure AffectingThousands'.

It adds: "The Home Office'sdecision to revoke the visas ofthousands of individuals beforeproperly verifying evidenceprovided by ETS has led toinjustice and hardship for manypeople.

"The Department recognis-es that hundreds of studentsmaintain their innocence butcontinues to suggest that thereis only a small risk that peoplehave been wrongly caught upin their actions. We are stag-gered that the Departmentthinks it is acceptable to have

so little regard for the impactits actions might have on inno-cent people."

The report, which gives theHome Office a strict time-frame to respond on each of itsfindings, was welcomed bygroups campaigning for justiceon behalf of the affected stu-dents.

"We particularly welcomethe recommendation for theHome Office to urgently designand implement a genuinemeans for innocent students toclear their names, and we urgethe Home Secretary to makethat happen. Working along-side many of the studentsaffected, we have seen firsthand the extreme hardshipthey face every single day as adirect result of the HomeOffice's deeply flawed reac-tion," said Nazek Ramadan,Director of Migrant Voice.

Many of the students caught up in therow have maintained their innocenceand have been lobbying the governmentfor a chance to prove their innocence

UK Parliament panel slams ‘flawed' reaction to visa row affecting many Indians

PNS n NEW DELHI

Mumbai's Ruia family-ownedEssar plans to double produc-tion of coal-seam gas from itsRaniganj east block in WestBengal as a vital Urja-Gangagas pipeline connecting usersin eastern India gets commis-sioned by year-end, a compa-ny official said on Wednesday.

Essar Oil and GasExploration and Production(EOGEPL) currently producesabout 0.45 million standardcubic metres per day due toconstraints of pipelines thatcould take the gas to con-sumers. The company plans toramp up the production tomore than 1 mmscmd, the offi-cial, who did not wish to benamed, said.

This would be the highestproduction of coal-seam gas orcoal-bed methane (CBM) fromany block in the country.

The firm has already invest-ed Rs 4,000 crore in the project,which encompassed drilling of348 wells, setting up the sup-ply infrastructure, and layingpipelines to Durgapur andnearby industrial areas.

The current productionfrom the Raniganj east CBM

block is significantly lowerthan its capacity with the com-pany having to throttle the out-put at about 0.45 mmscmdbecause of lack of a pipeline totake the gas to consumers.

"We have already produced1 mmscmd gas from this block,which is the highest by anyplayer in the sector. However,sustaining production at thatlevel is unfeasible without theGAIL pipeline being commis-sioned. This is why we are pro-ducing far lower quantities ofgas than we are capable of," theofficial said.

The Pradhan Mantri UrjaGanga natural gas pipelinetransverses from Jagdishpur

in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia inWest Bengal and Bokaro inJharkhand and Dhamra inOdisha. The pipeline is beingcommissioned in phases andthe last leg is scheduled forcompletion by December 2019.

This will help gas supplies toreach four fertiliser plants inGorakhpur, Sindri, Barauniand Panagarh, besides morethan two dozen towns wherecity gas distribution rightshave been awarded recently.The total demand in the regionis envisaged at about 20mmscmd.

CBM is natural gas stored orabsorbed in coal seams andcontains 90-95 per cent

methane. According to theDirectorate General ofHydrocarbons, India has thefifth-largest proven coalreserves in the world and,therefore, holds significantprospects for exploration andexploitation of CBM.

Raniganj east block is India'smost prolific CBM block, hold-ing 1 trillion cubic feet ofrecoverable reserves.

The official said EOGEPL isalso planning to drill additionalwells in accordance with theapproved field developmentplan for the block.

The additional wells willenable the company to rampup production to a peak of 2.3mmscmd in the next few years,he said.

The companyplans to ramp upthe production tomore than 1mmscmd, theofficial, who didnot wish to benamed, said

"India has uniquely challenged our AIteams with its cultural and linguisticdiversity. We have worked to ensurethat customers can interact with Alexain different regional variants ofcolloquial Hindi," Amazon VicePresident and Head Scientist, Alexa AI,Rohit Prasad told reporters here

Odisha registers 7% increase inrevenue collection till August

The programme expenditure till August2018 was around 32 per cent of thebudget provision against which theexpenditure till August this year was 28 per cent of the budgeted allocation

Spectrumsale: DoT maypush deadline

Sensex rises 83 pts; energy,metal stocks climb Gold drops by Rs 215

on strong rupeePetrol, dieselprices seesteepest hikesince July 5

Essar to double CBM gasproduction to 1 mmscmd

The fifth edi-tion of theannual IndianPhotographyFestival hasbeen scheduled

to begin from today atvarious locations acrossthe city. IPF provides aplatform for professionaland aspiring photogra-phers and photographylovers to showcase theirskills. While promotingthe art of photography, theevent also addresses vari-ous social issues throughphotographs.

Speaking to ThePioneer, AcquinMatthew’s, IPF directorsays, “After IPF earnedinternational recognitionto Hyderabad, the city ofpearls, has now occupied aprominent position in theglobal art calendar. Thefestival has exhibited thework of more than 2,000photographers and artistsfrom all over the worldand hosted more than amillion visitors. The lastedition has been a land-mark in itself, from everypoint of view: in terms ofaudience participation,artistic representation,scale and intent. As manyas 550 photographers from52 countries and hundred-plus events and exhibi-tions made the 4th editionof the festival a massivehit.”

Acquin informed thatLens Culture, the leadingEuropean photographymagazine listed IPF 2018festival as one of the fewfestivals to visit in 2018worldwide.

He adds, “It is a monthlong festival and bringssome of the world’srenowned names in thephotography industry. Itwill be held at State

Galleryof Art andmultiplevenues in thecity.Photographers fromover 50+ Countriesincluding the US, UK,Australia, Finland, NewZealand, Sweden, HongKong, Japan, Spain,Greece, Italy and Japan areexpected to take part inthe festival. The festivalhas already placedHyderabad on the map ofthe international photog-raphy scene in line withother major cities such asNew York, London, Paris,Tokyo, Auckland andSydney.”

This year, the festivalwill give more exposure toTelangana, feels Acquin.

The festival featuresexhibitions, artist talks,portfolio reviews, photog-raphy workshops, booklaunches, screenings andmore. IPF widely usespublic spaces for photog-raphy exhibitions to bringart to common audience,who might not normallyattend art exhibitions andevents. Public exhibitionsare done at Ameerpet andHitec City Metro station,KBR Park, GMRHyderabad Airport andInorbit Mall.

With a mission to makephotography accessible toeveryone who do not gen-erally attend art exhibi-tions, IPF will extend itsexpo till October 20.

IPF will create aware-ness about photographyand bring a plethora oftopical social issues to thepublic through its medi-um, while also promotingculture and heritage.

The Indian Photo

Festivalwill alsoconduct freephotographyworkshops tounderprivilegedstudents from govern-ment schools in collabo-ration with Teach ForIndia at the State Galleryof Art in Madhapur.

Acquin adds, “Theworkshop will be useful toidentify the untapped tal-ent of government schoolstudents, who hardly get achance to dabble in pho-tography. The whole pur-pose of this workshop is togive the students, a generalidea about photographyand create an exhibition ofthe images shot by the stu-dents during this work-shop.”

Speaking about the IPFPortrait Prize, Acquinsaid, “The Portrait Prize2019 is a portrait competi-tion open to the photogra-phers from the Indiansubcontinent.Photographers have beenmaking portraits for cen-turies and what’s so inter-esting about portraiture isits ability to capture theessence of a person, atime-period, or a culture.This award aims at discov-ering the compelling por-traits and extraordinarytalents.”

he next genera-tion is alwaysexpected to carryforward thebaton of techno-logical develop-

ment and growth. But is itfair to blame them if thegrowth is not what it isexpected to be? The coun-try is now at a dilemma asto who should be blamedfor the dip in the economy.Does the onus fall on thecollective economic policiesof the world governmentsor on millennials whoclaim to have inheritedmore bane than boon fromtheir predecessors?

Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman causedripples on social media lastweek when she suggestedthat the choice of transportby millennials be it cabs orother means of publictransportation is a major

factor that broughtdown the sales in

automobile indus-try and has con-

sequently hurtthe profits.

But sever-al prob-

lems

faced by the millennialshave been seamlessly side-lined. This caused a hugerift in opinion among thepresent and the older gen-eration alike.

“The reason for severalmembers of the commonpopulation choosing cabsand metros over owningtheir own vehicle stems forreasons such as high costsof fuel and spare parts,dangerous conditions ofroads etc,” says A.Y. Prasad,Partner, BusinessDevelopment at TooniArks. “It is not that the nextgeneration would not liketo avail the commodity butit is just that they don’thave the luxury of investingin a commodity whichwould eventually only endup burning a hole in theirpockets due to high main-tenance costs.”

Deepthi Ravula, CEO ofWeClub, offered differentinsight into the issue.“Millennials cannot beexpected to face the bruntof the cause as it’s not justthe them who are inclinedtowards cabs and otherpublic transports but mem-bers of all age groups alike,”she said. “There is definite-ly a change but the changedepends on the choice of

lifestyle of the people.Some of them might

want to save them-selves from the

stress of drivingwhile others

prefersit-

ting in the back and gettheir work done on themove. People today make aconscious decision to putconvenience over anythingelse,” says Deepthi.

There are many othereconomic factors that need-ed to be considered whilemeasuring the spendingpatterns of the public. Eventhough the finance ministerclaims that the industrialsector has clearly indicatedgrowth, the expectations ofthe public, with regard toissues such as employmentare yet to be resolved as 13per cent of graduates and16 per cent of post gradu-ates remain unemployed.

“The sudden dip in theautomobile industry is infact influenced by thealready fluctuating econo-my,” says Ramu Srinivasan,Managing Director of WideReach Advertising PrivateLimited.

“Given the rise in theGST a lot of consumersnow are thinking twicebefore purchasing an auto-mobile. Most of themtend to wait for theeconomy to stabiliseand the taxes tocome downbefore buyingso thatthey donotface

losses after investing in thesaid commodity. The con-sumers are only being varyof their choices,” he says.

The US, too, is grapplingwith a similar quandary. In2018, the Federal ReserveBoard in Washington DCreleased a paper titled ‘AreMillennials Different?’which concluded that mil-lennials, though are moreeducated, racially diverseand indifferent to mar-riage, ‘do not appear tohave’ consumption pat-terns different from theirearlier generations. Inshort: the economy dic-tates millennial choices,not the other way around.But the debate on whoexactly is responsiblefor the recent set-back in theautomobilesector andeconomyin gen-eral

is still ongo-ing. Onlytime willtell.

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A

T

ThursdaySeptember 19, 2019

A spark lit by Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman on the dip

in the automobile sector hasignited a debate nationwide

as to who is actuallyresponsible for the

losses, reportsANUSHKAPRADEEP

Millennials cannot be expected toface the brunt of the cause as it’s notjust the millennials who are inclinedtowards cabs and other public transports butmembers of all age groups alike. Some of themmight want to save themselves from thestress of driving while others wouldprefer sitting in the back and get theirwork done on the move

DEEPTHI RAVULACEO, WECLUB

It is not that the next generationwould not like to avail the commodity but

it is just that they don’t have the luxury ofinvesting in a commodity which would

eventually only end up burning a hole in theirpockets due to high maintenance costs. High

cost of fuel and spare parts discouragespeople from buying vehicles

A.Y. PRASADPARTNER, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

AT TOONI ARKS

Given the rise in the GST a lotof the consumers now are thinking

twice before purchasing an automobile.Most of them tend to wait for the economy to

stabilise and the taxes to come down beforebuying so that they do not face losses after

investing in the said commodity. Theconsumers are only being vary of

their choicesRAMU SRINIVASAN

MD OF WIDE REACHADVERTISING

PVT. LTD.

The automobile industry is nowaffected by BS6 and the mindsetsof millennial, who now prefer to

have Ola or Uber rather than committing tobuying an automobile

NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, FINANCE MINISTER ON THE

AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY EARLIER IN THE MONTH

BLAME G

AME IN A

CHANGING ECONOMY

Thousands of photographersfrom across the world are set toshowcase their skills at the annual Indian Photography Festival, which will start in Hyderabad today, reports V SATEESH REDDY

A FEAST

FO

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what’s brewing?12

ANNIVERSARYCELEBRATIONSouth India's largest

footwear destinationCentro, celebrated its 10th

Anniversary, by pampering itscustomers with great offers andfreebies. By introducing a newline of wedding and festivefootwear collection, the eventshowcased a mesmerising andcomfortable footwear line formen and women.

Hyderabad Thursday September 19, 2019

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CITY DAIRY

lThe fifth editionof the IndianPhotographyFestival will be heldfrom September 19to October 20 atvarious locations inHyderabad. IPF isan internationalphotography festivalwhich showcasesvarious events,including talks, discussions and more.

THEATREGOOD ANSWER BY MARK

CITY GUIDE

COMEDY

lAll of us believe thatour present may be badbut our future will begood. The Hindi play EkDurachari Raja (the storyof a despot) adaptedfrom Albert Camus' Caligula remains universallyrelevant. It represents the face of despotism, notonly in terms of the whimsical madness anddeification of rulers but also in terms of howpeople react to such rule with glimmer of hope forthe future. September 22, 7.30 pm, Lamakaan

lGood Answer depicts one very unpleasantmorning In the life of Michael Kaminski, amathematics professor at a small Iowa collegewho is currently serving as its acting president.He would like to get the word "Acting" removedfrom his job title.September 21 at 7.30 pm at Phoenix Arena

INDIAN PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL

FUNNY BUZZNESSlFunny Buzznessis a well knowncomedy gig seriesby Buzz KyaEntertainment andhas beeninstrumental inbringing up artistslike — AmitTandon, SorabhPant, SumukhiSuresh andNaveen Richards.October 20 at 6pm HICC.

PARTY

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

FUN TIME

l Srikanth

lSr

ija

lVe

da

l Rahul and Viswanath

GET YOUR EVENT LISTED: To get your events listed, please send your detailsalong with a poster and contact number to [email protected]

EK DURACHARI RAJA

GITAM bagged ‘Inter College Recycling Championship Award-2018’ for its Wellbeing out of Waste (WOW)programme from ITC Limited Paper Boards in an award ceremony held at JNTU Auditorium, Kukatpally, onWednesday. Bonthu Rammohan, GHMC Mayor and B. Janardhan Reddy, Secretary to Government, Department ofEducation presented the award on the occasion.

ollowing more than seven monthsof deadlock over budgetary issues,Shankar’s Indian 2, starring KamalHaasan, has resumed work recent-ly. The latest about the film is that

the ace director is shooting it inRajahmundry. The schedule will go on foranother 10-12 days. Shankar has beenasked to complete the film by year-end.The next leg of filming will take place inChennai and Taiwan. Buzz is Kamal wantsto wrap up the shoot by November as hewants to allot more time to his

political outfit Makkal Needhi Maiam. In the sequel, Kamal will be seen as a

morally upright freedom fighter Senapathy,while Siddharth, Kajal Aggarwal andRakul Preet Singh will be seen in signifi-cant roles. The supporting cast is stackedup with the likes of Vivekh, NedumudiVenu, Samuthirakani, Delhi Ganesh andVidyut Jamwal. Noted Hollywood stunt-men Jack Gill and Tadd Griffith are chore-ographing action, while some parts willbe supervised by Peter Heins. Lyca

Productions isbankrolling thefilm, an AnirudhR a v i c h a n d e rmusical.

DEVERAKONDA

to pen 4 novels

in his next?outh star Vijay Deverakonda is capitalising on his off-screen

persona to add dazzle to his on-screen character.

Deverakonda, who has won many admirers by banking on

his introspective side during interviews, will be playing the

role of a writer in his upcoming film, World Famous Lover.

In the movie, Deverakonda seeks inspiration from real life

to write intense romantic novels. He writes four novels based

on his relationship with each of his girlfriends, played by

Raashi Khanna, Aishwarya Rajesh, Catherine Tresa and

Izabelle Leite.Director Kranthi Madhav is said to be bringing

his vision of an interesting storyline where the

story of the protagonist is told through his nov-

els. The film is said to boast aesthetically

designed romantic scenes curated with heart

touching dialogues.

This role would definitely be a change from

Deverakonda’s usual roles of an angry young

man in love. People are eager to see how he

has molded himself into the role of an

writer.

he enormous success ofhis love stories like Fidaaand Tholi Prema camewith negatives as well forVarun Tej as many direc-tors started to approach

him with romance as the centraltheme. But he was sure not to getpigeon-holed. In fact, Harish Shankar,the director of the actor’s Fridayrelease Valmiki, too knocked hisdoors with Daagudu Moothalu, a lovestory. Although the actor liked it, hewanted to move away from his com-fort zone.

“After eight hours of discussions, hespoke about Jigarthanda. He asked mewhether I watched it. I said yes andhe told me to watch it again. The nextday he told me the vision he had forit. After some time, we’ve decided tomake it,” Varun notes in a conversa-tion.

The original tells the tale of anaspiring director (played bySiddharth) who targets a ruthlessgangster (Bobby Simha) because hewants to make a violent gangster film.

His discreet attempts to research thegangster fail miserably. Finally, whenhe gets caught snooping, things takea worst turn. While Varun hasstepped into the shoes of BobbySimha for the remake, Tamil actorAtharvaa Murali has reprisedSiddharth.

“People around me expressed theirapprehensions about me doing thegangster role at this stage of my career.Since they were many in number, Idecided to meet Chiranjeevi garu toseek his feedback. Harish shared theentire script to him, post which hetold me, ‘The script is superb andyour character is amazing. You shoulddo it’. He gave some suggestions toHarish on the creative front, whichthe latter incorporated into the film,”Varun recalls, adding for his get-upof Gaddalakonda Ganesh, he took hisuncle’s look in Punadhirallu as refer-ence. “Since Bobby was relatively newto the Tamil industry, no one askedwhy he was violent in the original,whereas as I’ve played a hero manytimes in the past, Harish felt the need

to have a back-story of 25 minutes toexplain why my part behaves in a wayhe does in the film.”

He goes on to mention that sinceBobby has raised the bar with his per-formance in the original; he felt theneed to approach the role in a newway. “I believe the film helped me dis-cover the other side of me. I alwayshad it but I didn’t get the opportuni-ty to exhibit that wild and violent side.The Telangana dialect and constantconversations with Harish too helpedmy role further,” he points out.

Varun has grooved to the remixversion of evergreen hit numberYelluvachi Godaramma YellakilaPaddadammo (from 1982 filmDevatha) along with Pooja Hedge inthe film. The number is known for itsfoot-tapping music and the waydirector Raghavendra Rao filmed iton the shores of river Godavari.Was he nervous? He says, “Except forthe fact that I get nervous to shoot anysong in general, there was no addedpressure as such to shoot the remixnumber. It was last bit we filmed for.

Harish was extremely confident aboutthe song and he knew its history morethan me. We released a portion of thevideo song on Tuesday and theresponse it got shocked me. As a mat-ter of fact, at the pre-release event aswell, it got more thunderous responsethan any other song from the sound-track.”

He admits getting a tad disappoint-ed with the poor show of Antarikshamat the box-office.

“On sets itself, we couldn’t matchup to the scale we’ve set out for our-selves to achieve. We predicted thatwe could finish it in a certain budget,which we couldn’t do, leaving us nooption but to compromise on thecomputer graphics. Yet, we still hadthe belief that it will do well postrelease and with that same belief wecompleted it. However, after we sawthe final product, we realized therewere glitches. We had to edit someportions, which didn’t help the con-tinuity cause,” he reasons.

He, however, asserts that spacedrama’s failure will not deter him

from associating with experimentalfilms.

“If I get a sensitive subject like ittomorrow, I will do it. When my mar-ket grows, I’m happy man not becauseI can pocket more money but becauseit gives me a chance to experiment,”Varun states, adding that he will bemore cautious attempting such con-tent hereafter. “I have my space suitfrom Antariksham at the entrance ofmy office. It reminds me of the mis-takes I did, which I don’t want torepeat again.”

Quiz him if he is interested in star-ring in the biopic of Chiranjeevi,whose journey in the industry hasbeen nothing short of inspirational,he is prompt to answer that he is.“Harish Shankar said he direct thebiopic of Chiranjeevi because hebelieves nobody loves him the way hedoes. As much as I feel Charan annashould do it, I’d be second in line ifhe doesn’t do it. I will lower my heightin CG to be more apt to playChiranjeevi garu,” he signs off, smil-ing.


y

T

13

tollywoodI willcontinue toexperiment:VARUN TEJIn a chat with NAGARAJ GOUD, the risingstar speaks about his process forbecoming Gaddalakonda Ganesh

emixing oldsongs has nowbecome a newtrend inTo l l y w o o d .

Especial ly, megaheroes are known forremixing old classics.Director HarishShankar in hisValmiki, is remixingSridevi’s hit songV e l l u v a c h iGodaramma ofDevatha movie. TheValmiki team releasedmaking of the songduring a pre-releaseevent on Wednesday.Varun Tej, PoojaHedge and MirnaliniRavi are playing leadroles in Valmiki that isset to hit the screenson September 20worldwide. Director K.Raghavendra Rao said that he recollected 25 years old mem-ories after seeing the song on screen. He added that theValmiki team did their best to make it beautiful once again.Varun Tej said that he used to listen the VelluvachiGodaramma song since his childhood and never thoughtthat he would act in its remake. Varun thanked his team formaking the song beautiful. Varun added that he was luckyto do a song of great actor Shoban Babu. Director HarishShankar says, “Remixing of Velluvachi Godaramma song ismy dream. We strived hard to create the 80’s atmospherefor the song. Varun and Pooja did their best and no one cando better than them in the song.”

Left to right: Actress Pooja Hegde, directors K. Raghavendra Rao and HarishShankar and actor Varun Tej

Song poster from the movie Valmiki

Raghavendra Raorecollects Sridevi's hit

ndustrialist and politi-cian T. SubbaramiReddy celebrated hisbirthday inVisakhapatnam on

Wednesday. Celebrities fromthe south film fraternity attend-ed the event that felicitated nat-ural actress Jayasudha with theAbhinaya Mayuri award.

Speaking at the event,

Subbarami Reddy said, “Inorder to encourage films of allcategories I host this eventevery year. I feel very happy tofelicitate Jayasudha garu withthe Abhinaya Mayuri award.”

Actors including MuraliMohan, Dr Rajasekhar andothers praised the politician forhosting such an event.

Expressing his happiness,actor/comedian Bram-hanandam said, “SubbaramiReddy holds great events tocomplement senior actors. Thisis a positive trait of his forwhich I love him.” Senior actorssuch as Roja, Jayapradha,Radhika, among others gracedthe event.

i

f

JAYASUDHA felicitated withthe Abhinaya Mayuri award

Indian 2 moves to AP

Everybodyon sets would bebowled over by

Dulquer's charm: RITUellichoopulu girl Ritu Varma, who has shared screen space withMalayalam heartthrob Dulquer Salmaan in Kanulu KanuluDochayante, is in awe of him. “I’ve always admired and respectedhim as an actor, especially the choices he made in his career. Whenthe offer to feature in this film came by, I was sure it would be agood film. He is a very down to earth person, chilled out, friendly,

competitive and someone who doesn’t have any starry airs whatsoever. Hewas extremely cooperative as well. I’ve had a very lovely time workingwith him. Everybody on sets would be bowled over by his charm,” shetells us, flashing a smile. Speaking about her role and the film, the

Hyderabadi, who has recently signed Sharwanand’s Telugu-Tamilbilingual with Shree Karthick, adds, “It’s something which I

haven’t done till now. She is a very sweet and independent girlwho lives by principles. The film is a sweet romantic come-

dy interspersed with some thriller elements. It willmove at a fast clip. There’s a lot of travelling

involved as well. It’s going to be a funwatch.”

- NG

p

r

fter the Diljit Dosanjh controversy, the Federation ofWestern India Cine Employees (FWICE) has requestedsingers Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan tocancel their upcoming Throwback 90’s concert, sched-

uled to take place in the US in November, over thealleged organiser, a Pakistani man, reports ANI. The

FWICE stated in its letter that they’ve asked Indian artistes torefrain from associating with Pakistani organisers many times.

The film body requested the singers to ‘not throw open anyground for disharmony and displeasures’. “FWICE holds thedignity of our country of paramount importance and it has

time and again informed the members of the film fraternity toabstain from associating with a Pakistani National in any plat-form of cultural or professional activities in Pakistan or in anypart of the world,” the letter stated. “Needless to add here that

you all are acclaimed singers of India and have garnered enor-mous people from this country. Guess you would reciprocate

the same sentiments with your countrymen and not throw openany ground for disharmony and displeasures arising out of any

adverse eventuality in the future,” the letter added.

uperstar Aamir Khan’s sonJunaid Khan will star in his

sister Ira Khan’s Englishplay Euripides Medea,

which marks her directorial debut.

After announcing that actressHazel Keech will be featuring in

Ira’s directorial debut, the officialInstagram page of the play

shared a video introducing thecast to the world.

The caption of the postreads: “You met Medea, now

meet the rest of our cast!”The video, though, doesn’treveal the character Junaid

Khan is going to play.The play is an adaptation of

Euripides’ Greek tragedyMedea.

The cast also includes actorssuch as Varun Patel, Sabreen

Baker, Nolan Lewis and DivyeshVijayakar, among others.

Ira on Wednesday also shared aphotograph of herself spending some

‘father-daughter’ time with Aamir,whom she lovingly called ‘couch-

buddy’.

ollywood actressJennifer Lawrenceand fiancé CookeMaroney werespotted at the NewYork City mar-

riage bureau, and fanspromptly took to socialmedia to discuss if the couplehad tied the knot.

JLaw and her art dealerbeau went into the court-house followed by a photog-rapher and a friend, besides acouple of guards, accordingto a report inhollywoodlife.com. The reportquoted Page Six as statingthat the lensperson was Mark Seliger, a top celebrityphotographer who hasworked with Lawrence in thepast.

Stoking fuel to weddingspeculation was a New YorkPost picture that hinted at thefact that Maroney seemed tocover the ring finger on hisleft hand, and also the factthat Lawrence and Maroney,walking hand in hand, car-

ried some official paper.Beyond the NY paps,

fans noticed, too.“When you go get

your marriage license,and Jennifer Lawrencewalks by to tie the knotbefore your eyes. Yeah,kids, City Hall is COOL,”an onlooker tweeted andthen deleted the post,according to Page Six.

JLaw and Maroney gotengaged in February andthe buzz doing the roundsof H-Town is they plan tothrow a big party nextmonth. Wedding gala?That’s anybody’s guess.

“Jennifer is madly in lovewith Cooke and so happy tobe engaged. Jen and Cookehave amazing chemistrytogether, and she can't possi-bly imagine a life withouthim. She feels really lucky tobe marrying the man of herdreams,” a source close to theactress had informed holly-woodlife.com after theengagement.

H


14

celeb talks

odel Chrissy Teigen savoured a vada pav themed on noneother than Indian megastar Amitabh Bachchan when she

visited an Indian restaurant here.Teigen took to her Instagram stories on Tuesday to share

her Indian moment. She was seen in a beige embellishedtube dress, holding a plate of vada pav. There was a

pinned flag featuring a photograph of Amitabh on the popularMumbai street food.

The restaurant too shared Teigen’s video on their InstagramStories. The 33-year-old model, whose Instagram bio reads“making America great again”, is married to musician John

Legend. The couple have two children Luna and Miles.Teigen has recently been in the news after being

trolled by none other than US PresidentDonald Trump, and she too took a jibe

back at him.

M

CHRISSY TEIGENSAVOURS ‘BIG BVADA PAV' IN LA

KANGANAJETS OFF

TO U.S.FOR LOOK

TEST OFTHALAIVI

ctress Kangana Ranaut

has taken off to Los

Angeles, US, with the

Thalaivi team for a look

test. She returned from

Thailand on Tuesday

evening after attending an event, and

is now on her way to the US where

she will be undergoing various look

tests with Hollywood expert Jason

Collins, who has worked on

films like Captain Marvel and

Blade Runner 2049. “I am very

curious about this process, I

don’t know how it will impact

my expressions and approach

to my character but this is going

to be one-of-a-kind experience

for me,” said Kangana, who will be

playing late politician Jayalalithaa

in the film. A multi-lingual,

Thalaivi is scheduled to go on floors

after Diwali and its shooting will

happen near Mysuru, Karnataka.

The film is being directed by AL

Vijay, and produced by Vishnu

Vardhan Induri and Shaailesh R.

A

DID JLAWSECRETLYMARRY HER ARTDEALER FIANCE?

eality TV person-ality Kylie Jenner’slatest post has fanswondering if sheand rapper TravisScott (II) are

headed for splitsville. On Tuesday, the makeup

mogul posted on a new photoon Instagram, showing offher fashion inside a walk-incloset, reportsaceshowbiz.com. In the photo,Kylie looked stunning in ashort bob, sunglasses and acurve-hugging dress with adeep cut at the top.

But what caught the atten-tion was the fact that aframed photo — of her andthe rapper that was alwaysvisible in that spot — hadgone missing. The rumoursreceived further boost thanksto the cryptic caption she putalongside the photo.

“Ain’t a game, boy,” shewrote as caption with the pic.

Her close friend, YrisPalmer, also fuelled therumours by replying in thecomment: “Made for oneplayer,” with a fire emoji.

Users were quick to take

not. “She removed the pictureshe had of her and Travis andthe caption seems sus,” oneuser wrote.

Another claimed to beshocked over the post, whilewas optimistic things are fine,and that Kylie had merelymoved the photograph else-where. The couple has yet torespond to this speculation.

Kylie and Travis starteddating in 2017 and welcomedtheir first child, Stormi

Wesbter, inFebruary

2018.

R

KYLIE’S LATEST INSTA POSTSPARKS BREAK-UP RUMOURS

S

AAMIR'S SON JUNAID JOINSSISTER IRA'S DIRECTORIAL

DEBUT PLAY

AFILM BODY ASKS UDIT, 2

OTHERS TO CANCEL US SHOW

sport 15HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

AFP n NAPLES/LONDON

Holders Liverpool begantheir defence of theChampions League tro-

phy with a defeat against Napolion Tuesday, while one missedspot-kick condemned Chelseato defeat against Valencia andanother came to Barcelona’s res-cue.

Liverpool survived a 1-0defeat in Naples in the group stagelast season to go on and win theirsixth European Cup, and this timea 2-0 reverse at the San Paolomade them the first reigningchampions to lose their openinggame in the competition since1994.

Both sides had chances in theGroup E clash before the hostswon a late penalty with barely 10minutes remaining when JoseCallejon went down under anAndy Robertson challenge.

Dries Mertens beat Adrianfrom 12 yards and substituteFernando Llorente — who playedfor Tottenham Hotspur againstLiverpool in last season’s final —then took advantage of a raredefensive lapse by Virgil van Dijkto make it 2-0 in stoppage time.

H AT-TRICK HEROHAALAND

Liverpool must now bounceback in two weeks when they hostAustrian champions Salzburg,who made a stunning return tothe group stage as teenage for-ward Erling Braut Haaland net-ted a hat-trick in a 6-2 demolitionof Genk.

Salzburg had fallen in thequalifying rounds in the lastseven campaigns but finally pro-gressed this season to the groupstage for the first time since1994-95.

Haaland, the teenage English-born Norwegian striker whosefather Alf-Inge played forManchester City, gave Salzburg asecond-minute lead and nettedtwice more before half-time.

Aged just 19 years and 58days, Haaland is the third-youngest player to score aChampions League hat-trickbehind Wayne Rooney and Raul.

The South Korean HwangHee-Chan and DominikSzoboszlai also struck before thebreak for Salzburg, while captainAndreas Ulmer completed therout in the second half.

Jhon Lucumi and Tanzanianstriker Mbwana Samatta scoredfor the Belgian champions.

Last season’s Europa Leaguewinners Chelsea ensured it wastwo defeats out of two on thenight for English sides as they lost1-0 at home to Valencia.

The Spaniards scored in the74th minute when a Dani Parejo

free-kick was converted byRodrigo Moreno. Chelsea weregiven a chance to rescue a drawwhen Daniel Wass was penalisedfor handball in the box, but RossBarkley’s 87th-minute penaltyhit the bar and went over.

AJAX IMPRESSAlso in Group H, last sea-

son’s semi-finalists Ajax claimedan impressive 3-0 home winover Lille with two of theirnewest signings among thegoals.

Quincy Promes headed theDutch champions in front andthe Mexican Edson Alvarezdoubled their lead early in thesecond half before NicolasTagliafico sealed the win.

After a patchy start to theseason, Barcelona will berelieved to escape from their tripto Borussia Dortmund with a 0-0 draw as Lionel Messi returnedfrom injury as a second-halfsubstitute.

The home side will feelthey should have won, butMarco Reus had a second-halfpenalty saved before JulianBrandt hit the bar late on.

“We played brilliantly in thesecond half, and it feels a bit likewe have lost two points,” MatsHummels told Sky.

Those two appear well placedalready to progress from GroupF after Inter Milan needed a stop-page-time Nicolo Barella goal torescue a 1-1 draw against rankoutsiders Slavia Prague.

Nigerian forward PeterOlayinka put Slavia ahead in the63rd minute, only for Barella tolevel in the second minute of stop-page time after a Stefano Sensifree-kick hit the bar.

In Group G, RB Leipzig won2-1 at Benfica with Timo Wernerbagging a brace before HarisSeferovic pulled one back.

Earlier, Memphis Depay’spenalty gave Lyon a 1-1 draw athome to Zenit Saint-Petersburgafter Iranian striker SardarAzmoun opened the scoring.

PTI n NUR-SULTAN

Indian wrestling had a lot tocelebrate on Wednesday as

Vinesh Phogat secured TokyoOlympics qualification andwon a Bronze, while PoojaDhanda put herself one winaway from her second medalat the World Championships.

Having endured a medal-less run in three WorldChampionships before, Vineshfinally ended the drought bypinning wrestler MariaPrevolaraki by fall in theBronze-medal bout.

“It is my first WorldChampionship medal and it isa big thing to win a medal atthe Worlds,” Vinesh toldreporters.

“I had changed my weightcategory and in just 10months, I got this medal. It isa thing of great happiness forme. It is the biggest medal ofmy career till now.”

She is only the fifth Indianwoman wrestler to win aWorlds medal after AlkaTomar (2006), Geeta Phogat

(2012), Babita Phogat(2012) and PoojaDhanda (2018).

Earlier in the day,she had held off worldnumber one SarahAnn Hildebrandt withsome superlativedefense in her secondrepechage round to qualify forthe 2020 Olympics.

Vinesh is now one of

India’s most successfulwrestlers with Goldmedals at theC o m m o n w e a l t hGames and the AsianGames, already in hercupboard.

Adding to the ela-tion of the Indian camp was agritty show by Pooja in the59kg, a non-Olympic catego-ry. Pooja reached the semifi-

nals with a remarkable come-from-behind 11-8 win overJapan’s Yuzuka Inagaki beforelosing the semifinal by techni-cal superiority to Russia’sLiubov Ovcharova, the 2017European champion.

She will now fight for hersecond Bronze medal at theWorlds, having won one in57kg at the 2018 Budapest edi-tion.

Pooja can now becomethe first female wrestler andonly second Indian to win twoWorld medals. Only BajrangPunia has achieved the feat.He won a Bronze in 2013 anda Silver in 2018.

Seema Bisla thoughmissed Olympic qualificationin the 50kg after losing hersecond repechage round 3-11to Russia’s EkaterinaPoleshchuk.

Much was expected fromSarita Mor after her shock vic-tory over Pooja Dhanda in thetrials but she was far from herusual aggressive self.

In the 76kg, Kiran had rat-tled her German opponent

PTI n EKATERINBURG

India were assured of anunprecedented two medals at

the World Men’s BoxingChampionships after AmitPanghal (52kg) and ManishKaushik (63kg) entered the semi-finals of the marquee event withimpressive victories here onWednesday.

While Asian Games andchampionship Gold-medallistPanghal defeated Filipino CarloPaalam 4-1, CommonwealthGames Silver-medallist Kaushikgot the better of Brazil’sWanderson de Oliveira 5-0.

Both the boxers sealed theirmaiden world medals.

Before this year, India hadnever won more than one Bronzemedal in a single edition of theworld championship.

The overall medal count forthe country stood at four Bronzemedals claimed by Vijender Singh(2009), Vikas Krishan (2011),Shiva Thapa (2015) and GauravBidhuri (2017).

However, Sanjeet (91kg), aformer India Open Gold-medal-list, and fifth seed and AsianSilver-winner Kavinder SinghBisht (57kg) bowed out after los-ing their respective quarterfinals.

While Sanjeet went down 1-4 to Ecuador’s seventh-seededJulio Castillo Torres, a Pan-American Games Silver-medallist,Bisht was beaten by the reigningCommonwealth Games champi-on Peter McGrail of England 0-5.

The second-seeded Panghal,who had earlier defeated Paalamin the Asian Games semifinals lastyear, wasn’t off to the best of startsand was trailing Paalam at the endof the opening round.

But the Army man fromRohtak didn’t take long to get hisact together and become the moreaggressive one in the next tworounds.

In the last-four stage, theHaryana-pugilist will be up againstKazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov,who stunned Armenia’s EuropeanGold-medallist and sixth seedArtur Hovhannisyan in his quar-terfinal showdown.

“He is a southpaw and has along reach, I will work out a strat-egy for him,” the 23-year-oldPanghal said.

While next up for Kaushik isCuban top seed Andy GomezCruz, who out-punched Russia’seighth-seeded Ilia Popov.

Cruz was the light welter-weight (64kg) category Gold-medallist in the 2017 edition.

SINGLES

AFP n PARIS

Manchester United andlast year’s finalists

Arsenal headline anEnglish trio that also fea-tures Europa League new-comers Wolves whilerecord five-time champi-ons Sevilla figure to beamong the primary con-tenders as the group stagebegins today.

Scottish rivalsCeltic and Rangersface testing paths tothe knockoutrounds as bitterfoes Roma andLazio bid to endItaly’s two-decade wait forthe title.

Porto, PSV Eindhovenand Feyenoord are theother former EuropeanCup winners in a compe-tition that will welcome theeight third-place finishersfrom the ChampionsLeague groups for theknockout phase.

United, EuropaLeague winners in 2017,will host Astana in GroupL as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’sside face opponents fromKazakhstan for the firsttime in club history.

They will expected toprogress with relative easefrom a group that alsoincludes Partizan Belgradeand former finalists AZAlkmaar of theNetherlands.

Unai Emery’s Arsenalreturn to the competition

after last season’s 4-1 defeatby Chelsea in the final inBaku.

The Gunners visitEintracht Frankfurt to kickoff their campaign, with10-time Belgian champi-ons Standard Liege andPortugal’s VitoriaGuimaraes also in GroupF.

Wolves, in their firstEuropean campaign since

1980, will meetPortuguese clubBraga in theiropening game atMolineux.

Scottish cham-pions Celtic travel

to French Cup holdersRennes in Group E, withItalian Cup holders Lazioand CFR Cluj, theRomanian side to whomthey lost in ChampionsLeague qualifying, com-pleting a tricky section.

Steven Gerrard’sRangers are at home toJaap Stam’s Feyenoord andwill do well to navigate agroup with Porto andYoung Boys.

Roma will take onIstanbul Basaksehir in theirfirst game whileMoenchengladbach hostAustria’s Wolfsberg.

Austria boast two rep-resentatives with LASKLinz among the six debu-tants — alongsideEspanyol, Wolves,Wolfsberg, Olexandriyaand Ferencvaros — in thetournament.

“You want to have at least a point and we didn’t getthat because of the penalty. When the player jumpsbefore there is contact it cannot be a penalty. Wecannot change that any more, so now we carry on.That’s it.”

—Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool manager)

“It was just one victory, but yes it has given us confidence,being able to match Liverpool is impressive as for methey are the best team in Europe at the moment.”

—Carlo Ancelotti (Napoli manager)

“Given the performances last season, the bar was sethigh, and people were asking if we could do it again thisseason. I think a 3-0 victory shows that we can.”

“It was a difficult game today and I think the result is fair considering what happened.”

“Without a doubt (we deserved more). Probably a win, butat least a draw. We conceded with one shot on target. It’sa harsh lesson of Champions League football, a gamewe’ve played pretty well in and we lose it.”

“We had four or five chances, and if we had takenone of them, we would have won. We said after thedraw that we wanted to qualify for the knockout

stages. If we continue to play like we did todaythen there shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Slavia Prague attacked us with intensity and showeda ruthless streak. We didn’t do well in terms of findingthe right solutions and struggled too much.”

“Everything is possible. We all saw Ajax last year, it would be nice tobe the new Ajax. But we know there are a lot of good teams. It’shard, but everything is possible.”

—Erling Braut Haaland

(Salzburg striker)

—Quincy Promes (Ajax forward)

—Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund captain)

—Antonio Conte (Inter Milan coach)

—Marc Andre Ter Stegen (Barcelona goalkeeper)

—Frank Lampard (Chelsea manager)

Marcus Rashford, Matic & Juan Mata during training MUFC/Twitter

Man Utd, Arsenalcarry English hopes

Penalty of dramaMertens scores from spot to surprise holders; Ter Stegen wins point against Dortmund

1Napoli are the first Italian sideto win against the Europeanreigning champions in the CL

group stages since Juventus,against Chelsea in 2012 (3-0).

19Erling Haaland, aged 19years and 58 days, is thethird youngest player to

score a Champions League hat-trick, behind Raúl (18y 113d in1995) and Wayne Rooney (18y340d in 2004).

1Frank Lampard is the firstChelsea manager to lose hisfirst Champions League match

in charge, 10 of the previous 11had won, while Gianluca Vialli drewwith Milan in 1999.

12Lille remain on 12matches without successin European competition

(6 draws, 6 defeats — preliminaryrounds included), the worst seriesof its history.

4Marc-André ter Stegen hasstopped four of the sixpenalties he has received in

the Champions League and is thegoalkeeper who has stopped themost in the competition since atleast 03/04 alongside Andriy Pyatov

1Ansu Fati (16 years and 321days) becomes the youngestplayer in CL history to play for

Barcelona, breaking the record ofBojan (17 years and 22 days).

FIGURATI

Fernando Llorente holds Dries Mertens after he scores from spot against Liverpool AP

HIMA DAS RULED OUT OF WORLDCHAMPIONSHIPNew Delhi: World junior champion Hima Das has been ruled out of theupcoming World Championship due to a nagging back problem.“Unfortunately Hima will not be able to compete at the WorldChampionships in Doha due to her back injury,” Athletics Federation ofIndia (AFI) president Adille Sumariwalla said. The Athletics Federationof India (AFI) had on September 9 named seven women, includingHima, for the 4x400m relay and 4x400m mixed relay races at the WorldChampionships to be held from September 27 to October 6 in Doha.Hima has been suffering from a lower back pain after competing at theAsian Games last year. She pulled out of the individual 400m heatsduring the Asian Championships in Doha in April midway through therace.

PANT, SAINI NAMED IN DELHI SQUAD New Delhi: Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant and pacer NavdeepSaini were on Wednesday named in the 16-member strong Delhi squad,led by top-order batsman Dhruv Shorey, for the first four games of theVijay Hazare Trophy, starting September 24. Delhi start their campaign onthe opening day against Vidarbha and it is expected that both the playerswill be available for the initial matches. Saini, who is not in the squad forthe Test matches, is expected to be available for the better part of theNational one-day championship, while opening batsman Shikhar Dhawanhas opted out of the current squad.

FEDEX, POTRO TO PLAY IN BUENOS AIRESParis: Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro, who is set to returnnext month from a knee injury, announced Tuesday they will play anexhibition match in Buenos Aires on November 20. “I just wanted to tellyou I'm so excited to come back to Argentina to play my good friend JuanMartin del Potro at Parque Roca,” Federer said in a video on Del Potro'sTwitter account. The Parque Roca stadium has a capacity of around15,500 and is primarily used for Davis Cup ties. Del Potro has not playedsince fracturing his right knee in the Wimbledon tune-up at Queen's inJune. He is expected to make his comeback at the ATP tournament inStockholm, which runs from October 14 to 20, and is also scheduled tocompete in Vienna the following week.

MOODY NAMED AS COACH OF OVAL TEAM London: Former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody and England WorldCup winner Lydia Greenway have been appointed as head coaches ofthe Oval-based men's and women's teams for the new Hundredcompetition, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced onWednesday. The 53-year-old's appointment is the final one among theeight men's outfits in The Hundred following the announcements ofStephen Fleming (Nottingham), Mahela Jayawardena (Southampton),Simon Katich (Manchester), Gary Kirsten (Cardiff), Darren Lehmann(Leeds), Andrew McDonald (Birmingham) and Shane Warne (Lord's).

AGENCIESAiden Markram of South Africa plays a shot during India A vs South Africa A 2nd Test match in Mysoreon Wednesday PTI

Amit Panghal celebrates after winning his last 8 bout against Filipino Carlo Paalam PTI

Panghal, Kaushikassure 2 medals

Vinesh locks Olympic quota with Bronze

Vinesh Phogat in action against Yuliia Khavaldzhy Blahinya PTI

Aline Rotter Focken to lead 4-0but lost five points in a row inthe second period to lose theopening bout 4-5.

She paid the price for beingover-defensive. Since the

German lost her semifinal,Kiran’s campaign is over.

Navjot Kaur was also oust-ed from 65kg after losing heropening bout to Alis Manolova,who later lost her semifinal.

Naomi Osaka celebrates after beating ViktoriyaTomova in straight sets on Wednesday to reachPan Pacific Open quarters WTA/Twitter

Barcelona's goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen saves a shot by Marco Reus during the Group F match in Dortmund AP

sport 16HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

PTI n CHANGZHOU (CHINA)

Reigning world championand title favourite P V

Sindhu sailed into the pre-quarterfinals with a convinc-ing straight-game win overformer Olympic Gold-medal-list Li Xuerui at the ChinaOpen Super 1000 tournamenthere on Wednesday.

India’s top shuttler Sindhubeat China’s Li Xuerui 21-1821-12 in just 34 minutes to setup a clash with Thailand’sPornpawee Chochuwong.

Replicating her worldchampionship form, theOlympic Silver-medallist pro-duced another strong perfor-mance to get the better of thecurrently 20th-rankedChinese, who entered thematch with a 3-3 recordagainst the Indian.

Men’s singles players, SaiPraneeth and Parupall iKashyap also progressed tothe second round after notch-ing up contrasting opening-round wins.

Commonwealth Gamesbronze medallists Ashwini

Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddytoo found a place in the pre-quarterfinals after crossingthe opening hurdle.

However, Saina made anearly exit after losing toThailand’s BusananOngbamrungphan in thewomen's singles.

The London Olympicsbronze-medallist lost 10-21

17-21 at the hands of theWorld No.19Ongbamrungphan in a matchthat lasted for 44 minutes atthe Olympic Sports CenterXincheng Gymnasium.

It was the former worldnumber one’s second succes-sive loss to the Thai player.

The 29-year-old Saina hasstruggled for form following

her recovery from injuries.The Indian started her

season with a win at theIndonesia Masters but hasfailed to reach another finalon the BWF circuit so far.

In men’s singles, worldchampionships bronze medal-list Praneeth had to battle foran hour and 12 minutes to getpast Thailand’s SuppanyuAvihingsanon 21-19 21-2321-14,

while former top 10 play-er Kashyap beat France's BriceLeverdez 21-12 21-15 in 38minutes.

Next world no 15Praneeth will face China’s LuGuang Zu, while Kashyaplock horns with seventh seed-ed Indonesian AnthonySinisuka Ginting.

In women’s doubles,Commonwealth Gamesbronze medallists AshwiniPonnappa and N Sikki Reddytoo crossed the opening hur-dle after their opponentsChinese Taipei's Cheng Chi Yaand Lee Chih Chen retiredmid way in the second gameafter lagging 13-21 8-11.

IANS n NEW DELHI

Former India captainSourav Ganguly said that

India need to look beyond theupcoming World T20 when itcomes to finding young talentand give them consistent runsin the senior squad.

“The most importantthing for India is to not lookat the World T20 next year.Before the last World Cupthere was too much noiseabout it and that sometimes isnot good. What they need todo is pick the best possibleplayers and give them consis-tent opportunities, as there issome serious talent in thedomestic circuit,” Gangulywrote in a column for theTimes of India.

Ganguly said that thebowling department in partic-ular will be interesting towatch with the likes of DeepakChahar, Khaleel Ahmed and

Navdeep Saini knocking at thedoors. “These guys, with timeand maturity, will see (Jasprit)Bumrah, Bhuvi (BhuvneshwarKumar), (Mohammed) Shamias their role models and thiswill be a healthy sign forIndian fast bowling. Spinnerslike Rahul Chahar,Washington Sundar, Kuldeep(Yadav), (Yuzvendra) Chahalwill also keep everyone ontheir toes,” said Ganguly.

He said that K L Rahulwill now be under pressure tokeep his number four spot inlimited overs after losing theTest opening slot. “With Rohit(Sharma) and Shikhar(Dhawan) at the top as thebest possible opening pair, KL Rahul will be pushed. Hehas lost his place in Testcricket due to indifferent formand the likes of Shreyas andManish Pandey will keep himon his toes if he wants to holdon to the No. 4 slot,” he said.

NEW n (IANS)

Ever since making his Testdebut in Cape Town in

January 2018, Jasprit Bumrahhas improved by leaps andbounds and has become anintegral part of the Indianteam across all formats, espe-cially Test cricket. Bumrah hasfeatured in 12 Test matches sofar, in which he has scalped 62wickets at an average of 19.24,thus becoming the linchpin ofIndian bowling unit.

All these 12 Tests havebeen played on foreign soil (3in South Africa, 3 in England,4 in Australia and 2 in WestIndies) where wickets natural-ly assist pacers. In all theseplaces, the right-arm pacerfrom Mumbai has made amark and performed brilliant-ly. However, the real test forhim will come up when Indiatake on South Africa in thethree-match series at home.

Former Indian pacer AjitAgarkar feels Bumrah will havean exceptional debut homeTest series against the Proteas.

“With experience, every-

one can see what progress hehas made in internationalcricket. I expect him to do wellin India as well. Obviously,there will be times when thespinners will dominate in theseries. However, with the kindof unique ability he possesses,I don’t think conditions matterto him. He has the skill-set toperform in Indian conditionsas well,” Agarkar, who is anexpert with ESPNcricinfo, told

IANS.(IPL) and has been instru-

mental in their success in theleague.

“A lot of people tend to for-get that Bumrah played quite alot of first-class cricket beforehe played for India. He hasbowled in these conditionswith the SG ball. He knowswhat to do,” said Agarkar.

Agarkar, 41, who played 26Tests and 191 ODIs for India,also said that Bumrah will befresh and raring to have the ballin his hand as he has notplayed much cricket ever sincethe World Cup. “Since theWorld Cup, he hasn’t played alot of cricket. He missed (rest-ed) the T20Is and the ODIs andfeatured in the two Test match-es. So, he must be relativelyfresh and will be very keen toperform in India as well,” hesaid.

Bumrah played two match-es in the Caribbean Islands, inwhich he picked 13 wickets,including a hat-trick.

“I would not be surprisedif he has an exceptional series,”Agarkar signed off.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen ishoping to continue the consistency

that fetched him the Belgian Open as helooks to break into top 50 in the worldranking, which will help him qualify forbigger tournaments next season.

The 18-year-old from Almorashocked second seed Victor Svendsen ofDenmark in straight games to clinch themen’s singles title at the BelgianInternational Challenge last Saturday.

“I think I played consistently wellthroughout the week and I'm happy withmy performance,” Lakshya, who didn'tdrop a single game throughout the tour-nament, told PTI.

“This win will give me lots of confi-dence to do well in the coming tourna-ments,” he said.

“This year I can play more tourna-ments than last year in the senior circuitand I hope to prepare well for all the tour-naments.”

Playing his first full-fledged seasonin the senior circuit, Lakshya had brokeninto the top-100 in March this year. TheBelgian Open win saw him jump 12places to grab the World No 67th spot inthe latest BWF ranking.

His father DK Sen, a SAI coach, whogave him the early lessons in badminton,

said Lakshya will have to quickly get intothe top 50 by the year end.

“The target now for him will be tobreak into the top 50 by end of the yearso that he can qualify for bigger tourna-ments,” he said.

Asked about his upcoming tourna-ments, Lakshya, the reigning AsianJunior Championship winner, said: “I’llbe playing the Dutch and SaarLorLuxOpen next month and then in November,I have Irish and Scottish Open.”

Lakshya, who also claimed a bronzeat the World Junior Championship andsilver at Youth Olympic Games last year,

is currently in Europe playing in theDanish League for Aarhus club.

“It’s nice to be in Denmark and theleague matches are exiting. It’s a newexperience for me,” he said.

“We are going to be in Europe for 3months, play the European circuit and theleague matches.

“In the first team match, I wonagainst Jan Jorgensen and got 1 point forthe team. It was a big match for me,”added the Indian, whose next outing inthe country will be the Syed ModiWorld Tour Super 300.

Lakshya, who has been a trainee atthe Prakash Padukone BadmintonAcademy (PPBA) since 2010, had decid-ed to play in the season circuit after thehigh in juniors last year.

He begun the year well with a semi-final finish at the China Masters Super100 tournament before reaching thefinals at Polish Open. After a few earlyexits, he suffered an ankle injury in Julybut recovered well to claim the BelgianOpen.

“This year, I twisted my ankle in July.It was not very major but I took twoweeks to get back on court. I’m just tak-ing good care and rehab,” Lakshya said.

“Mental strength is very importantas in senior circuit every match is tough,”he signed off.

AFP n CHITTAGONG

Mahmudullah Riyadsmashed 62 off 41 balls,

with five sixes, as Bangladeshposted 175-7 in their tri-nation Twenty20 internation-al match against Zimbabwe inChittagong on Wednesday.

Liton Das gaveBangladesh a positive startwith 38 off 22 balls before amini collapse saw the homeside reduced to 65-3 after

they were asked to bat first byZimbabwe captain HamiltonMasakadza.

Mahmudullah put on 78runs with Mushfiqur Rahim(32) for the fourth wicketbefore Zimbabwe snatchedthe momentum back with fewquick strikes.

Kayle Jarvis claimed 3-32while Chris Mpofu finishedwith 3-42 for Zimbabwe.Afghanistan are the third teamin the tournament.

PTI n MOHALI

Skipper Quinton de Kock anddebutant Temba Bavuma playedimpressive knocks but India

were able to contain South Africa to149 for five in the second T20International here on Wednesday.

Newly appointed captain deKock (52 off 37) led from the front,while Bavuma (49 off 43) tooimpressed in his first limited-oversappearance for South Africa inalmost two years.

But South Africa did not get thefinal flourish they were looking forand ended up with a below-partotal. India bowled well in the deathovers, conceding only 24 runs in thefinal four.Pacer Deepak Chahar waspick of the bowler with two wicketsfor 22 runs from his four overs.

India captain Virat Kohli sent anew-look South Africa into bat withthe visitors picking three debutantsin Anrich Nortje, Bjorn Fortuin andBavuma.

While Reeza Hendricks depart-ed cheaply, de Kock looked in sub-lime touch from the word go.

De Kock cover drove spinnerWashington Sundar on the first ballhe faced before collecting threestraight boundaries off pacerNavdeep Saini who was taken out ofthe attack after conceding 13 runs inhis first over.

Bavuma, South Africa’s Test spe-cialist, joined de Kock after the fallof Hendricks in the fourth over andhe too looked in fine touch. He madehis intentions clear by pulling HardikPandya over deep square leg for a six.

South Africa made only 39 forone in six overs but their innings

picked up momentum after that, tak-ing them to 78 for one in 10 overs.

It took a brilliant catch fromskipper Kohli to dismiss de Kock andshift the momentum in India’sfavour.

De Kock mistimed a hit offSaini and Kohli came running frommid-off to pounce on it, brining thecrowd back to life. The standbetween de Kock and Bavuma yield-ed 57 runs.

Vice-captain Rassie van derDussen, South Africa’s best batsmanin the World Cup, followed de Kockin the dressing room quickly byoffering a simple return catch toRavindra Jadeja in the 13th over,leaving his team at 90 for three.

Runs dried up in the death oversbut South Africa got a much-need-ed couple of sixes in the 20th over offSaini, which went for 16 runs.

Shreyas Iyer bats during practice session BCCI/Twitter

Ganguly demandsconsistent run foryoungsters

India restrict South Africa to 149/5Deepak Chahar picks two wickets for 22 runs in his four overs

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Indian men’s teamlogged their best ever

result at ITTF Asian TableTennis Championships, fin-ishing fifth after beating HongKong 3-1 in the classificationmatch here on Wednesday.

The Indian team alsodefeated Iran 3-0 to clinch theGold medal in the championsdivision.

In the classif icationmatch, India tried out a newopening with Sharath Kamal,who after the initial struggle,managed to put it across LamSiu Hang 9-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7 to provide the lead.

In the second tie, AnthonyAmalraj beat NG Pak Nam 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7, while inthe third singles, G Sathiyandefeated Kwan Man Ho 11-5,11-13, 11-7, 14-12.

In the second and fourthgames, Sathiyan won the laston his second match-point.He was the lone Indian whodid not lose a single match inteam event, having played allmatches from 1st Division tof inishing f if th in theChampions Division.

In the final of the 1stDivision, Sharath openedagain for India and downedAmin Ahmadin 11-5, 9-11,11-6, 11-6, while bothSathiyan and Amalraj werestretched fully. Sathiyan beatAir Hossein Hodaei 6-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10 whileAmalraj accounted forNoshad Alamiyan 18-16, 5-11,11-9, 6-11, 11-9 as India wonthe yellow metal.

Indian paddler Sharath Kamal in a filepicture SAIMedia/Twitter

Paddlers winGold in 1st Divat Asian C’ship

Sindhu, Praneeth, Kashyap win in China

HIGHEST SCORES ON DEBUT FOR SOUTH AFRICA IN T-20IScore Batsman Opponent Venue Date78 Rilee Rossouw Australia Adelaide 05-11-201461 Greame Smith New Zealand Johannesburg 21-10-200556 Rassie van der Dussen Zimbabwe East London 09-10-201849 Christiaan Jonker India Cape Town 24-02-201849 Temba Bavuma India Mohali 18-09-2019

FAISEL FEATURES

Bumrah equipped for Test success

Jasprit Bumrah in a file picture PTI

Mahmudullah plays a shot during his 62 run innings ICC/Twitter

Mahmudullah guides

B’desh to 175-7

Lakshya Sen in a file picture qBWF

PV Sindhu attempts a return shot BAI/Twitter File Picture

Belgian title will give me confidence: LakshyaTHIS YEAR I CAN

PLAY MORETOURNAMENTS

THAN LAST YEAR INTHE SENIOR

CIRCUIT AND I HOPETO PREPARE WELL

FOR ALL THETOURNAMENTS

INDIA CAPTAINVIRAT KOHLI SENT

A NEW-LOOKSOUTH AFRICAINTO BAT WITHTHE VISITORS

PICKING THREEDEBUTANTS IN

ANRICH NORTJE,BJORN FORTUIN

AND BAVUMA

India's captain Virat Kohli, right, congratulates teammate Deepak Chahar after he dismissed South Africa's Reeza Hendricks AP

not for imposing hindi over regional languages: shah a one-off … · 2019-09-18 · bhopal raipur...

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