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MONEY 8HEALTHCARE LIKELY TO GET TOPPRIORITY IN BUDGET: SURVEY

ANALYSIS 7EMBRACE THE

CHANGE

SPORTS 11NO IDEA HOW TO GETKOHLI OUT: MOEEN

VIJAYAWADA, MONDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

}DIVI VADTHYA IN A ROMANTICDRAMAPage 12

www.dailypioneer.com

RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 3 Issue 81*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

{

VIJAYAWADAWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated January 31 , 2021 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Paush & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Chaturthi: 06:24 pm

Nakshatram: Uttara Phalguni: 11:57 pm Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 08:16 am – 09:40 am

Yamagandam: 11:05 am – 12:29 pm

Varjyam: 08:05 am – 09:36 am

Gulika: 01:54 pm - 03:18 pm

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 05:09 pm – 06:40 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham: 12:07 pm – 12:52 pm

FFoorreeccaasstt:: SunnyTemp: 33/20Humidity: 59%Sunrise: 06:48amSunset: 06:11 pm

PM hails Keralite’s com-

mitment to cleanliness

5

Post-Covid: Indiaphysician, pharma-

cist and healer of theworld

4

Government mayannounce new

scheme for revival ofdiscoms

8

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Covid-19 pandemic haschanged the trend of the theftsin Vizag city. Criminals havemade more money from theVizagites by sneaking intotheir accounts online thanbreaking into their houses,business establishments, andoffices.

With the cyber fraudschanging their modus operan-di frequently to dupe people,cops are finding it tough to nabthem.

As many as 671 propertyoffenses worth Rs 4.78 crorewere reported in 2020 against850 cases in 2019. In 2020,expect robbery cases, the otherincidents such as burglaries,snatchings, and other proper-ty offenses have decreased pri-marily due to Covid-19 lock-down.

The cyber crooks dupedVizagites of over Rs 6.35 croreonline in 2020 while the bur-glars, robbers, chain snatchersand dacoits managed to stealonly Rs 4.78 crore from the cit-izens.

Covid-19 pandemic helpedthe crooks to dupe the netizensand Vizag city has witnessedthe biggest financial fraud in

2020, informed the cops.A Vizag-based netizen was

duped to the tune of Rs 1.63crore by cyber crooks(Facebook friends) under theguise of sending elegant andmost expensive gifts in 2020.It was the biggest financialfraud so far in Vizag city as wellas in Andhra Pradesh also.

Criminals steal more moneyonline than via house break-ins

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Taking advantage of the poorfinancial condition of the tem-ple priest, two TDP leadersoffered bribes and compelledhim to cut the hands of the idolof Subrahmanya Swamy in SriSankatahara Vara SiddhiVinayaka Swamy temple inRajahmundry.

This is the finding of theSpecial Investigation Teamwhich was formed to investi-gate the incident.

Head of SIT, Ashok Kumar,said that Marala VenkataMuralikrishna, the priest of Sri

Sankatahara Vara SiddhiVinayaka Swamy temple, situ-ated in Sriram Nagar area inRajahmundry, had lodged acomplaint with the Three

Town police station that somemiscreants damaged the idol ofSubrahmanya Swamy duringnight time on December 31,2020.

The SIT report says thetemple priest was not onlyfinancially weak, but was alsohabituated to bad habits.

He reportedly borrowedmoney from to money lendersto make ends meet during theCovid-19 lockdown as thetemples were closed and therewere no earnings. The twoTDP leaders allegedly offeredthe priest Rs 30,000 to damagethe idol.

They are said to have admit-ted to the police that theywanted to create unrest andalso wanted to raise moneyfrom the devotees for installinga new idol in place of the oldone.

The Special InvestigationTeam has arrested the priestalong with two Telugu DesamParty leaders who allegedlylured the priest with money toexecute an unholy plan.

He added that the policehave booked cases under sec-tions 448,427, 295 and 153(A).

YSRCP wooing TDP leaders with ‘deals’MARTHI SUBRAHMANYAMn HYDERABAD

The YSRCP leaders have beenreportedly offering financialpackages to TDP leaders con-testing local body polls toensure that as many as YSRCPcontestants get elected unani-mously in a bid to please theirboss, YS Jaganmohan Reddy.

They are offering the TDPcontestants to pay their pend-ing bills, due from the govern-ment, from their pocket andreimburse the same from thegovernment later. They havebeen reaching agreements tothis extent.

The gamble has left the TDPleadership depressed.

During the previous TDPregime, several TDP leadersexecuted contracts like layingCC roads in villages. Becauseof the change of guards in thestate, the YSRCP suspendedclearing the bills.

Taking advantage of this, the

YSRCP is striking a deal withTDP contestants.

One has to spend at least Rs50 lakh to Rs 1 crore to run forthe panchayat polls.

The deal helps the TDPcontestants not only save theirmoney, but also helps settletheir long-pending bills.

Therefore, the TDP leadershave been acting with foresightand are not prepared to let gothe opportunity.

Moreover, in case it becameinevitable for TDP to contestthe polls, they are being offeredvice-president post.

Therefore, the TDP leadersare in no mood to contest thepolls.

The understanding will deala crippling blow to the TDP.The TDP has decided againstfunding the poll expenses ofparty candidates. Its role is lim-ited to detect inducementsoffered by the YSRCP andsensitise people through itsmobile application. It consid-ers the polls as a chance to feelpeople's pulse on the govern-ment's performance.

The TDP, which could notpay poll expenses to contes-

tants in the first phase of thepolls, is yet to pay for mediaadvertisements inserted bycontestants.

Moreover, the TDP leadershave not been residing locallybut taking care of their busi-nesses in Hyderabad, Chennaiand Bangaluru.

Taking advantage of this,YSRCP attracted second-rungleaders in to its fold.

However, some of the activeTDP leaders want to gain con-trol over constituency by bear-ing poll expenses of the partycontestants.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh GovernorBiswabhusan Harichandanlaunched the Pulse PolioImmunization Programme byadministering polio drops tochildren below five years at aprogramme held in Raj Bhavanon Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion,the Governor said that thePulse Polio Immunisationdrive has been launched withan aim to eradicatepoliomyelitis (polio) by vacci-nating all children below theage of five years against thepolio virus.

He said that around 52.72lakh children below the age offive years will be adminis-tered polio drops in the stateas part of the drive to eradicatepolio from the country.

Due to the efforts of the gov-ernment, not even a single caseof polio has been reported inthe country since 2011, headded.

The Governor appealed toall parents to take their chil-dren to the nearest polio vac-cination centre to get themadministered polio drops, evenif they have been vaccinated

earlier.Mukesh Kumar Meena,

Secretary to Governor, A MdImtiaz, Collector, Krishna dis-trict, Dr Devi, StateImmunization Officer, otherofficials and staff memberswere present on the occasion.

CM rolls out polio campaign

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Sunday launched thePulse Polio Immunization pro-gramme by administering poliodrops to children below five yearsage here at his camp office.

Deputy Chief Minister AllaKrishna Srinivas, HealthDepartment Principal SecretaryAnil Kumar Singhal, HealthCommissioner KatamaneniBhaskar and other officials werepresent on the occasion.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Maoists have called forthe boycott of the panchay-at elections in AndhraPradesh. A letter, issued inthe name of Maoist EastDivision Secretary, Aruna,termed the local body elec-tions bogus.

In the letter, Maoists madesensational remarks againstthe YSRCP government. Theletter also mentioned about thecancellation of bauxite miningGOs. The government has sofar not filed a review petitionfor 100 per cent jobs in thereplacement of teacher posts inthe agency area.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The filing of nominationsfor the first phase panchayatelections has concluded in 12districts, except Vizianagaramin the state on Sunday at 4pm.

A large number of aspi-rants contesting the pollsfiled the nomination papers.

The State ElectionCommissioner NimmagaddaRamesh Kumar hadannounced schedule for con-ducting panchayat polls infour phases. The first phase ofpolls will be held on February9.

The panchayat electionswill be held in 2,883 villagepanchayats across the state

except Vizianagaram district. The nominations will scru-

tinised on February 1 and theaspirants whose nominationsare rejected can appeal onFebruary 2. Disposal ofappeals by appellate author-ity is February 3 and the lastday for the withdrawing ofnominations is February 4,2021. The final list of contest-ing candidates wil l beannounced on February 4after 3 pm.

Polling will be held onFebruary 9 from 6.30 am to3.30 pm. The results will bedeclared on the same aftercounting votes from 4 p.m.onwards.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The filing nomination forsarpanch by KinjarapuAppanna, the nephew ofTDP (Andhra Pradesh)president KinjarapuAtchannaidu, led to ten-sion in Nimmada pan-chayat in Srikakulam onSunday.

Ironically, he is beingfielded by the ruling YSRCongress Party.

B oth the TDP andYSRCP leaders almostcame to blows whenKinjarapu Appanna wasgoing to file the nomina-tion papers.

TDP MLA and partystate president KinjarapuAtchannaidu tried to con-vince Appanna not to filenomination backed byYSRCP. Despite this ,Appanna did not listen tohis uncle.

Appanna said that theTDP had not paid anyattention to him till nowin Nimmada. Annoyed byAppanna's att itude,Atchannaidu said that thepost of sarpanch is not apresidential post.

Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan administering polio drops to a child at aprogramme held at Raj Bhavan on Sunday.

52.72 lakh children targeted foradministering polio drops in AP

AP TDP prez'snephew filesnomination withYSRCP support

Nominations filed for2,883 panchayats

Reds boycottpanchayatpolls

YSRCP leadersreportedly offeringfinancial packagesto TDP contestantsto ensure that asmany as YSRCPcontestants getelected unanimously

2 TDP leaders, priestheld for damaging idol

2

22

2

WILL GET VACCINATED AGAINST COVID-19ALONG WITH PUBLIC: TELANGANA GUV

RJD IN TALKS WITH TMC TO FIGHTUPCOMING BENGAL POLLS TOGETHER

BIHAR: MAN THROWS BABY INTO FIREAS MOTHER REJECTS SEXUAL ADVANCES

POWER EMPLOYEES TO RESORT TO WORKBOYCOTT ON FEB 3 AGAINST

Telangana governor TamilisaiSoundarajan on Sunday said she wouldtake the COVID-19 vaccine jab during

the second phase of the inoculation drive,along with the public. Lauding thecountry's scientists for developing avaccine that offers protection against thedeadly coronavirus, Tamilisai told reportershere that it was highly commendable thatthe vaccine was being exported to manyother developing nations from India. Theentire nation, which was reeling under thepandemic since March last, was relieved after the indigenousvaccine hit the market, she said.

Asenior RJD leader revealed on Sundaythat Bihar's main opposition party RJDis trying to build a tie-up with the

Trinamool Congress to fight the upcomingWest Bengal elections together. RJDprincipal general secretary Abdul BariSiddiqui and national general secretaryShyam Rajak are currently in Kolkata to talkabout tie-up with Mamata Banerjee's TMCfor the upcoming Bengal polls. "We will bemeeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee onMonday to fight Bengal elections together,"Rajak told PTI. Siddiqui and Rajak are meeting party leaders in thestate ahead of the discussions with Banerjee.

Aman allegedly threw a three-month-oldbaby girl into a fire in Bihar's Muzaffarpurdistrict on Sunday after her mother

protested against his sexual advances, policesaid. The baby received severe burn injuries inher legs and she is being treated at the SadarHospital, they said. The incident took place inthe Bochahan police station area when thewoman was sitting outside her home near abonfire, police said. The man sat beside thewoman and tried to sexually harass her, againstwhich she protested, they said. Following this,the man snatched the baby from the woman's lap and threw her into thefire, causing severe burn injuries to the baby, police said.

Intensifying stir against the Centre'sprivatisation policy, 15 lakh poweremployees of the country would resort to

"work boycott" on February 3, the All IndiaPower Engineers Federation (AIPEF) said."Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), through aletter, has also been apprised (of this)besides notice served on Union and stategovernments," AIPEF Chairman ShailendraDubey said on Sunday, during a virtualconference. He firmly said the Electricity(Amendment) Bill in its current form isunacceptable.To build pressure on the government, the Federationearlier held meetings and has resorted to token work boycotts.

No need to shift Praveen,replies CS AdithyanathPNS n VIJAYAWADA

In the reply to the letter writ-ten by the State ElectionCommissioner NimmagaddaPrasad seeking action againstPrincipal Secretary of GeneralAdministration Department(Political) Praveen Prakash,Chief Secretary Aditya NathDas on Sunday has said thatthere was no need to takeaction against Praveen Prakashas Model Code of Conduct wasnot applicable to him.

It may be recalled that SEChad written a letter to the CSa couple of days ago statingthat Praveen Prakash be trans-ferred.

In a letter addressed to theSEC, the CS has asked him toreconsider his orders seeking

action on Praveen Prakash.However, the SEC, in anotherletter written to the CS onSunday, expressed ire for notimplementing his orders. TheSEC has said that it was tanta-mount to contempt of court if

the orders of SEC were not fol-lowed.

The SEC also directed the CSto appoint M Harinarayana, IAS,and P Basant Kumar, IAS, as thecollectors of of Chittoor andGuntur district, respectively.

BJP activists pelt stones on TRS MLA's housePNS n WARANGAL

TRS leader and Parakala MLADharma Reddy's insinuationabout the BJP mobilisingdonations 'without account-ability' for the upcoming Ramtemple in Ayodhya sparked

riotous reaction from BJPactivists who pelted stonesand eggs at the MLA's house inNakkalagutta of Hanmakonda.Several glass window panesand chairs were damaged inthe attacks.

Warangal rural and urban

districts' BJP leaders andactivists took part in the inci-dent.

On a tip-off, ACP JitenderReddy reached the place, alongwith reinforcements, andbrought the situation undercontrol.

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Phone: 040-23322341, Hyderabad Office: F-502, Diamond Block, Lumbini Rockdale, Somajiguda, Hyderabad - 500 082. Telangana. Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, Plot No.19, IDA Balanagar , Hyderbad-500037, Medchal -Malkajgiri District, Telangana. Chief Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | FEBRUARY 1, 2021

With the Biden governmentnow firmly comfortable on thesaddle and world-wideCOVID-19 vaccination pro-grammes under way, globalmarkets have, at last, heaved asigh of relief. The global stockmarkets too, have been emit-ting positive signals.Consequently, New York goldclosed at US $ 1,848.10 (perounce) while silver closed at $26.98 (per ounce). Platinumand palladium closed at $1,066 (per ounce) and $ 2,160(per ounce) respectively. Other economic parametersremained moderate. Brentclosed at US $ 55.04 (per bar-rel), while Crude MCX oil wasquoted at Rs.3,822 (per barrel).While Gold MCX stood at

Rs.59,095 (per 10 gms), MCXSilver closed at Rs.69,712 (perkg) and Copper MCX closedat Rs.595.85 (per kg). Sensexand Nifty 50 closed at46,285.77 and 13,634.60points. Leading foreigncurrencies’ exchangerates were, US $:Rs.72.91, BritishPound: Rs.99.99,Euro: Rs.88.49,Singapore $:Rs .54 .89 ,S w i s sF r a n c :Rs.81.87, Australian $:Rs.55.72, Saudi Riyal: Rs.19.44,New Zealand Dollar: Rs.52.71,Kuwaiti Dinar: Rs.240.78,Omani Rial: Rs.189.39 andUAE Dirham: Rs.19.85,

Japanese Yen: Rs.0.70, HongKong Dollar: Rs.9.40.According to the World GoldCouncil (WGC), imports ofgold and demand for gold jew-ellery declined drastically dur-ing the year 2020.In local markets, standard

gold (24 carats) declinedby Rs.180 and closed at

Rs.49,950 (per 10gms). Ornamental

gold too followedsuit and wasquoted in therange of

Rs.45,700 – 45,800 on theclosing day. Silver (0.999)appreciated by Rs.3,250 andclosed at Rs.74,600 (per kg). COMMODITIESThe sentiment in principal

wholesale commodity mar-kets in the twin cities turnedmoderate as the Covid-19graph flattened almost allover the country, includingboth Telugu states. RythuBazars and the various com-modity markets located inBegum Bazar, Kishangunj,Mukthyargunj, RisalaAbdullah, Mir AlamMandi,Dilsukhnagar, Kukatpally,Bowenpally, General Bazarrecorded moderate trading.During the week, commonpulses such as tuar dal,masoor dal, moong dal andurad dal and commoditieslike chil lies and garlicremained unchanged at theirrespective last week’s closinglevels, while staple food grains

and common edible recordeda negligible decline. Turmericand coriander recordedappreciation due to increaseddemand. Jeera and Saunfruled at lower marks as thenew arrivals began. Common vegetables such ascabbage, cauliflower, ribbedgourd, snake gourd, lady’sfinger, cucumber, potatoes,onions, tomatoes, Frenchbeans and leafy vegetablesrecorded a marginal increase. The NECC wholesale priceof eggs in Hyderabad appre-ciated by Rs.6 and closed atRs.386 (per 100). The high-est price of Rs.480 wasrecorded at Kolkata, whileHospet recorded the lowestof Rs.360.

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW

Markets emitting positive signals

HC UPADHYAY nHYDERABAD

What the nation and the worldat large witnessed on TV on theRepublic Day was nothing sortof mad dogs barking and bitingall and sundry in the streets ofDelhi, including the historicalmonument called, the Red Fort.Having failed in their sinisterattempts to create anarchy onthis significant day because ofrestrictions stipulated and writ-ten undertaking to maintainpeace extracted by the policebefore granting the permissionfor the tractor rally, the desper-ados, under the mask of farm-ers, were restless. Obviously,their failure to cow down thegovernment led to desperationand the desperation causedpanic in their minds. That iswhy they went berserk in theearly hours though the policepermission for the rally wasfrom 12 noon to 3 afternoon.

True, the police was at thereceiving end; call it theirextreme patience or extremelethargy, but the popular opin-ion weighed in favour of thecops. The gangsters couldinjure about 300 police-men in the melee, but interms of credibility, thesegoons lost their muchtom-tommed bat-tle. The goonsstyling as politicalactivists, religiousleaders and ofcourse, the farmers’messiahs have beenthoroughly discredit-ed and their facesblackened beyond recognition.

For the BJP-led NDA govern-ment at the Centre, the RepublicDay incident has come as god-send for saving its face. The gov-ernment was facing a volley ofquestions from law-abiding cit-izens as to why it was allowing

the so-called farmers to campon the borders and on roads ofDelhi indefinitely. Luckily, justas Covid-19 had come to its res-

cue in the last year whensimilar gangs were mas-querading as protestors ofCAA-NRC. This year the

mad dogs among theprotestors facil-itated the gov-ernment by

going berserk in thestreets of Delhi on the

Republic Day. Now, nopower on earth can stopthe government machineryto go hammer and tongs atthese anti-national terror-

ist and extremist elements. However, there is an urgent

need to ponder the entire phe-nomenon. Every time the largecrowds taking shelter underthe democracy and fundamen-tal rights cannot be allowed tomock the world’s largest democ-

racy and its millions of law-abiding citizens. In fact, after thebitter experience of ShaheenBagh episode, the Centre oughtto have read the writing on thewall: that these mad dogs aresuffering from incurable rabies;and that the only way to treatthem is to show them theirrightful place! In a bid to makethem understand the real pur-port of the three Bills, theefforts made by the centralgovernment are undoubtedlypraiseworthy; but the commonman is at sea to understand why10 long meetings were held withthese incorrigible elements. Infact, by giving a longer rope thanthey deserve, the ruling govern-ment has inadvertently sentout a wrong message to the peo-ple; that it lacks courage to tack-le such hooligans.

Indeed, as the President ofIndia observed in his address tothe nation on January 29 in the

joint session of Parliament, theRepublic Day’s incidents havelowered the reputation of ourgreat country in the comity ofnations. Therefore, let there beno time wasted in teaching theanti-national, separatist, jihadiand terrorist elements in anexemplary manner so that theydare not to indulge in violenceany time in future. Such boiling-water treatment alone can pre-serve the lofty ideals of liberty,freedom, sovereignty, integrity,and equality.

Allahabad HC onSec.41A CRPC

Routine arrests, especiallyin dowry cases (Sec.498A IPC)now onwards will become athing of the past. A divisionbench of the Allahabad HighCourt, comprising JusticeDr.Kaushal Jayendra Thakerand Justice GautamChowdhary, expressed its con-

cern over indiscriminate arrestof the husband and his relatives,despite there being a clear-cutprocedure to deal with suchcomplaints in Section 41 A ofthe Cr.P.C. In Vimal Kumar &Others Vs.State of U.P & Othersthe bench observed: “ The pro-vision of Section 41A wasincorporated for this purposeonly that concerned who is notcharged with heinous crimedoes not require and whosecustody is not required may notface arrest”, and added that theCourt was pained that thisprovision has not met itsavowed purpose.

The bench directed theMagistrates/Police authoritiesthat when accused alleged withoffence punishable up to 7years’ imprisonment are pro-duced before them, remandsmay be granted to the accusedonly after the Magistrate satis-fies himself that the application

for remand by the police offi-cer has been made in a bonafide manner and the reasons forseeking remand mentioned inthe case diary are in accordancewith the requirements ofSections 41(l) (b) and 41 A ofCr. PC, and there is concretematerial in existence to substan-tiate the ground mentioned forseeking remand. The benchalso issued a slew of guidelinesto the Magistrates and policeauthorities.

Hyderabad encoun-ters: SC extends time

for probe

The much-hyped Hyderabadencounter case G.S Mani & Anr.Vs. Union of India & Ors, inwhich four accused persons werekilled on December 6, 2019 hasbeen under inquiry by the apexcourt constituted InquiryCommission headed by JusticeV.S Sirpurkar, a former Judge of

the Supreme Court as Chairmanand two others.

Initially, the apex court haddirected the said Commission tosubmit its report within sixmonths which was extended byanother six months on July 24,2020. On January 29, 2021, thecourt extended the period forsubmission of final report by theCommission by six more months.

Husband cannot seek bankdetails, ITR of wife

In a significant order, the CentralInformation Commission (CIC)has ruled that a husband is not enti-tled to seek bank account details andincome tax returns of his wife underthe Right to Information Act, 2005since these are not called as publicactivity.

The CIC ruling was handed overin the second appeal filed under theRTI Act by one Pawan KumarSaluja against CPIO, O/o TheIncome Tax OFFICER, Ward No.55(4), Vikas Bhawan, New Delhi.

LEGAL

ROUNDUP

Republic Day incident godsend for Centre to save its face

Naidu asks cadre to preventforcible unanimous electionsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Telugu Desam party nationalpresident and former ChiefMinister N ChandrababuNaidu on Sunday asked hisparty cadre to prevent theforcible unanimous elections inthe ensuing gram panchayatelections.

Interacting with the in-charges of 175 constituencies inthe state through video-confer-ence, Naidu gave a call to thegeneral public and the partycadres to get ready for a fear-less battle against the rulingYSRCP's ulterior and oppres-sive plans in the gram panchay-at elections.

"The contestants shouldfight bravely and should notsurrender to the suppressivetactics of the YSRCP leaders.Nobody should be afraid of thebind over cases and the kid-nappings, he advised.

Asserting that this was theonly opportunity to developthe villages and bring backback normalcy in the ruralareas, the TDP chief raised

apprehension that villageswould turn into burial groundsif YSRCP-supported candi-dates were elected as sarpanch-es.

"The real Grama Swaraj asenvisaged by the MahatmaGandhi will come only whenthe TDP-supported candidatesare elected in the panchayatelections. Only they will be ableto confront and stop the atro-cious activities of the rulingparty. Till now, fifty per centnominations have been filedand there was a lot of enthusi-asm among the people to fight

against the ruling party oppres-sion," Naidu said.

The TDP chief claimed thatthe YSRCP had destroyed vil-lages by cancelling all thedevelopmental programmes."The government has can-celled the 'Neeru Pragathi','Panta Sanjeevini', 'VanamManam', 'Polam Pilustondi'and water management pro-grammes. The violence anddestruction caused by YSRCPleaders has badly hit the peo-ple. The BC, SC, ST andMuslim Minorities are beingattacked ruthlessly. Women

were not safe as they werebecoming victims of atrocities,"he alleged.

"There is no need to beafraid of anybody as grampanchayats would anyway getfunds allocated to them. Theresidents should come for-ward bravely and save their vil-lages from the YSRCP goon-das. The villagers should useeffectively this chance forensuring self-governance inthe villages," he added.

Naidu said that every year,each village panchayat wouldget Rs 1 crore funds directlyfrom the Centre and fromvarious sources. Each sarpanchwould be able to bring in a lotof development in his or hervillage in the next five yearswith these funds. The panchay-ats in AP would get Rs.9,975crore MGNREGS funds eachyear and also Rs.2,625 crore15th Finance Commissionfunds. Also, they would get Rs350 crore stamp duty funds, Rs300 crore mining cess, and Rs.750 crore house tax and othertaxes.

2 TDP leaders, priestheld for damaging idol

Continued from Page 1

The YSRCP government isdefying the Constitution inholding elections. The gov-ernment has proposed threecapitals only to benefit thereal estate businessmen, theletter read.

The panchayat polls in APwill be held in four phasesand the nominations for thefirst phase of voting will con-clude on Sunday.

The Maoist leader has areward of Rs 5 lakh on hishead. The letter said that theexploitative parties - YSRCP,BJP and TDP should be oust-ed.

Continued from Page 1

He maintained that the eightspecial teams have beenformed to nab the culprits.After thorough investigation,Marala VenkataMuralikrishna(priest) wasarrested on Sunday.

He further said that thepriest has admitted that he has

damaged the idol and lodgeda complaint with the police todivert the investigation.

Based on the evidences col-lected so far, he said that thepolice have arrested the hus-band of ex-corporator, MallaVenkata Raju, and ex-TNTUCorganising secretary DantuluriVenkatapathi Raju and addedthat investigation was going on.

Reds boycottpanchayatpolls

Criminals...Continued from Page 1

However, the police are yet toget any breakthrough in thecase. The police said that thecybercriminals have plun-dered more property (Rs 7.89crore) than that of the regularproperty offenders (burglars,thieves, dacoits), who havestolen Rs 6.14 crore in 2019.The same trend continued in2020 also and will continue inthe future also, they added.

Advising people to be vigi-lant while making onlinetransactions, Vizag City policechief Manish Kumar Sinhaadvised Vizagites to remainvigilant on cyber frauds.

The police said cyber crookshave been coming with inno-vative ideas to dupe the peo-ple through online lotteryfrauds, matrimonial fraudsand few other frauds. Theincreased plundering of theamount through online hasindicated that police will dealwith different types of crime inthe coming days, he added.

Nominations filed for 2,883...Continued from Page 1

The filing of nominationsfor first phase began onJanuary 29 and concluded onSunday.

Though the panchayatelections lack interventionof political parties, theirimpact was is clearly visiblein the present polls.

The influence of politicalparties is very high in manyparts of the state as the localleaders are trying for unani-mous win.

The ruling YSRCP andTDP have fielded their candi-dates, while BJP and Janasenahave formed an alliance anddecided to work together tothe win the polls.

Monday MirchiIf you can't consult, at least

don't insult

The State Election Commissioner vs AndhraPradesh government conflict, apart fromimpinging on constitutional matters, is hittingIAS and IPS officers in the state hard. Even babusknown for running with the hare and huntingwith the hounds have now become scapegoatsfor following any of the two. While SEC's pre-rogative is limited to the election time, babusin the administration, regardless of their indi-vidual preferences, need to work with, andunder, the elected bosses till the next GeneralElection. Amidst all the mess, what is lackingin the entire episode, as per senior officers, islack of consultation at the highest level. Sincethe SEC has never shared his plans with the gov-ernment or taken any of those in the loop intoconfidence, heads of government unit are feel-ing slighted. This has led to ego clashes, trigger-ing long-drawn battles. According to senior offi-cers, the SEC can't conduct elections on his ownand it his responsibility is to ensure free and fairelections "with the help of government mech-anism". Without government's support, the SECcan't perform his duty and may end up in a sit-uation in which he might choose to ask for cen-tral forces, thereby suggesting breakdown of theconstitutional machinery. SEC and the top boss-es never bothered to share information, allayapprehensions, and complement each other'splan of action, resulting in pervasive mistrustand disbelief. As a constitutional functionary,the SEC must take everyone into confidence andin the process; he has to carry along top boss-es even if that means a comedown. Governmentis permanent, but not persons holding positionsat any level. So, taking everything as a prestigeissue and trying to settle scores will finally aggra-vate the present war-like situation. Since YSRCPMinisters have already moved a privilegemotion, Nimmagadda must prepare for a longbattle even after his retirement as the stateAssembly may summon him based on theMinisters' complaint.

Saving or shaving? Babus‘land' in trouble

All India Service officers in Andhra Pradeshare facing a tricky situation. During theChandrababu Naidu regime, some of them wereallotted land at subsidized rates in Amaravatiand monthly installments are being deductedfrom their salaries towards their 'investment'.Accordingly, Rs 35,000 is being debited fromeach officer's salary. Till now, almost all offi-cers have paid more than Rs 12 lakh and nowChief M YS Jaganmohan Reddy has made itclear that they will have to shift toVisakhapatnam as it is going to be executive cap-ital of the state. Meanwhile, Amaravati has lostchances of its promised glory and land rateshave crashed to a record low. The officers wholanded in trouble due to the plunge in marketvalue of the lands they had bought in install-ments, having burnt their fingers, want the gov-ernment to return the money they had paid orat least stop their salary deductions immedi-ately. But there is no one among them who canbell the cat. Unless the CM heeds their pleasand gives a nod, their clamour for a decisionon this would be waste of lung power. Majorityof those who had scrambled for the land do notwant it now and they have started pleading withtheir bosses to stop deductions from theirsalaries. Some officers even complained thatwhat they had thought would be their 'saving'had turned out to 'shaving' from their salary.

Difficult choice for abeloved bureaucrat

A blue-eyed, brilliant or beloved bureaucratmay be the preferred choice of ruling and oppo-sition parties. The problem arises if he or shetakes a plunge into the cesspool of politics andhas to make a choice between opposing polit-ical parties whose roles have reversed.

If grapevine in the corridors of power in theVelagapudi Secretariat is to be believed, retired

Karnataka bureaucrat K Ratna Prabha, who hasserved as CS in the neighbouring state, carry-ing along with her the ruling party and theopposition, may take a plunge into AP politics.The BJP-Jana Sena alliance appears to be prepar-ing to field her for the upcoming Tirupati LokSabha segment bypoll. As the Tirupati LokSabha is a reserved segment, BJP thinks that aDalit woman bureaucrat who had reached greatheights in her career and served as ChiefSecretary in Karnataka could tilt the balance inits favour. It would be interesting to see if sheagrees to contest the by-poll and whether shewould be willing to be pitted against YSRCPcandidate. The reason is she has had a goodworking relationship with the Chief Ministerand YSRCP supremo YS Jaganmohan Reddy'sfather YS Rajasekhar Reddy when he was thechief minister of the undivided AndhraPradesh. She had come to Andhra Pradesh ondeputation during YSR's tenure and wasnamed in the infamous quid pro quo casesagainst Jagan filed by CBI. However, her namewas later cleared by the court and she was repa-triated to her parent cadre in Karnataka,where she went on to do the 'top job' there. Shealso has the rare distinction of having been onlythe third woman bureaucrat in the history ofKarnataka to become a chief secretary. She wasa unanimous choice of the then Karnataka chiefminister Siddaramiah and then oppositionleader BS Yeddyurappa for the top job. Beingthe choice of both ruling and opposition lead-ers was in itself an achievement. The CBI's casewas that Ratna Prabha, when she was the sec-retary of information technology and commu-nications department in undivided AndhraPradesh, facilitated the arbitrary allotment of250 acres of land at Shamshabad to InduTechzone in gross violation of the Cabinet deci-sion. The High Court later allowed the petitionfiled by Ratna Prabha, urging the lower courtto quash her name in the case against her onthe grounds that CBI acted 'without jurisdic-tion and verifying the facts at the ground level'.This helped clear the air and she apparentlycame out of the mess unscathed. We have towait and watch if she will take a plunge into pol-itics and contest against a YSRCP candidate.

Stomaching occupationalhazards

Three top IAS officers in the Telangana gov-ernment who were part of the committeeappointed by Chief Minister K Chandrasekharto hold consultations with various Telanganaemployees' unions on new Pay RevisionCommission (PRC) report felt humiliated by theapparent rowdy behavior of leaders and repre-sentatives during negotiations. CM KCR hadappointed the panel headed by Chief SecretarySomesh Kumar and comprising PrincipalSecretary Finance K Ramakrishna Rao andPrincipal Secretary, Water ResourcesDevelopment Rajat Kumar to hold talks withunions on new PRC recommendations and sub-mit a report to the government recommendingthe quantum of fitment (hike on basic pay) thatcould be extended to the employees.

The meetings were held from January 27 toJanuary 30. However, the PRC report was 'leaked'(no clue who leaked, but the governmentordered inquiry) to media and employees'unions exactly on the day the meetings were sup-posed to commence -- January 27.

The leaked PRC report stoked anger amongemployees as it recommended a meagre 7.5 percent, the lowest so far. Employees set PRC reportcopies on fire to vent their ire. They refused toaccept the report and threatened to boycott themeetings with CS-led panel. After all this, theemployees' unions took the CS-panel lightly andattended the meetings, following requests, forthe heck of it. They told the CS-led panel on theirface "this panel is a waste of time" and that theyhave "access to CM"; so, they would 'settle' theissue with CM alone. Not satisfied with that, theyspoke to media later making light of the poorpanel. The top babus had no choice but to stom-ach the insults as occupational hazards.

yours truly

DOST spot registrations on February 1 and 2HYDERABAD: TSCHE andCommissionerate of CollegiateEducation have announced

that registrations for DOST2020 special spot admissions inself-financing courses in the

private unaided and aideddegree colleges will be openedon February 1 and 2.

HC gives nod to door deliveryration scheme, but with riders PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The AP High Court has madefew key remarks regardingthe launch of door delivery ofration scheme scheduled tocommence from February 1.

The High Court has direct-ed the government to launchthe scheme complying withthe Model Code of Conduct.

The state government hasfiled a House Motion Petition

in the High Court against thedirections given by the StateElection Commission regard-ing the implementation of thescheme.

The High Court heard thepetition and directed that thescheme be implemented with-out the intervention of polit-ical parties and leaders.

The Court directed the SECto take a decision on the mat-ter within five days.

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | FEBRUARY 1, 2021

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Krishna district collector AMD Imtiaz took part in thepulse polio immunizationprogramme and adminis-tered pulse polio drops tochi ldren at CM HealthCentre in the city organisedby the Vijayawada MunicipalCorporation on Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion,the collector said that aboutfour lakh children below fiveyears age will be given poliodrops at 2,568 centres in thedistrict.

He stressed on the need toadminister polio drops tochildren for their brightfuture and to eradicate poliofrom the country.

He said that about3,79,420 children below fiveyears age have been identi-f ied in the district andarrangements were made tovaccinate them.

As many as 10 ,978employees have beendeployed at 2,568 polioimmunization centres thatinclude 97 mobile teams and81 primary health centres. Asmany as 26,000 vaccinationvials with 5.2 lakh doseshave been made available.

Stating that no polio caseshave been in the districtsince 2009, he said that thegovernment was conducting

the immunization drive as aprecautionary measure.

For good health of thechildren, two polio drops

are very important and com-pulsory, said the collector.

The health workers wouldvisit the houses of children

on February 1 and 2 toadminister polio drops tochildren who missed theimmunization on Sunday.

2,568 polio immunisationcentres set up in Krishna

Krishna district collector A MD Imtiaz administering pulse polio drops to a child at CM Health Centre in Vijayawada onSunday.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Archer and Arjuna awardeeVennam Jyothi Surekha,who was representingPetroleum SportsPromotion Board, has beenselected for Indian women'scompound core group oftop 12 rankers.

The Archery Associationof India conducted openselection trials at YamunaSports complex, New Delhion January 30 and 31.

Jyothi Surekha secured firstrank by scoring 2767 pointsout of total 2880. TheVijayawada archer was select-ed for the tournament after11 months gap due to Covidpandemic.

Archer Surekhaselected forIndian women’sgroup tourney

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP chief and former ChiefMinister N ChandrababuNaidu on Sunday alleged thatYSRCP leaders attacked theTDP leaders who were going tofile nomination at Periyambadivillage of Yadamarri mandal inPoothalapattu assembly con-stituency, Chittoor district.

Naidu decried that the rul-ing party miscreants attackedand damaged TDP MLCDorababu's vehicle.

The YSRCP was resorting toattacks out of frustration anddespair as there was wide-spread criticism over theYSRCP rule, he alleged.

In a statement here, theTDP chief said that out of fearof losing the elections, the rul-ing party was resorting toattacks and kidnappings. Butthe general public was deter-mined to fight back theYSRCP's vicious plans. Unableto bring in development andgrowth, the ruling party lead-ers were trying all sorts of ulte-rior methods to retainsupremacy and power, headded.

Claiming that the peoplewere unhappy about Jagan'smisrule, he said that theywould stop his Government'smisdeeds by defeating thecandidates supported byYSRCP.

Naidu spoke to RayadurgamTDP in-charge KalvaSrinivasulu and BN Halli

grama sarpanch candidate'shusband, Eeranna, over phone.Eeranna complained that theYSRCP leaders kidnapped himand threatened to kill him if his

wife filed nomination.The TDP chief expressed

concern that the ruling partywas losing patience fearingdefeat. "The TDP candidates

should not be afraid of suchthreats and they should filenomination without fail. TheTDP would stand by theirside," he said.

Naidu accuses YSRCP leaders of attackingTDP leaders to stop filing of nomination

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

TDP leader and Telugu RythuPresident Marreddy SrinivasaReddy on Sunday accused theJaganmohan Reddy Governmentof causing a severe crisis in theagriculture sector in the State bypursuing anti-farmer policiesonly to benefit the ruling partyleaders. Srinivasa Reddy saidthat the YSRCP leaders causedsevere losses to both farmersand tenant farmers, but now theywere shamelessly trying to gettheir support for declaringunanimous elections inpanchayat polls. "Of the 15.5 lakhtenant farmers, over 14 lakhcould not get input subsidybecause of the heartless policiesof the ruling party," he said.Addressing a press conference,the TDP leader recalled that theChandrababu Naidu regimeprovided bank loans to tenantfarmers considering theirincreasing role in protecting the

agriculture sector. "Now, thesetenant farmers did not get asingle loan card or insurance orinput subsidy. Over Rs. 700 croreloss was caused to the Nellorepaddy farmers through wrongweighments. When questioned,false cases were filed against theDalit farmers," he alleged.Srinivasa Reddy deplored thatthe Chief Minister has betrayedthe farmers even in hisprestigious Rythu Bharosaprogramme. "In the 2017 YSRCP Plenary,Jaganmohan Reddy promisedthat he would give Rs. 12,500 toeach farmer but now he is givingjust Rs. 7,500 to farmers. Thepromised Sankranti installmenthas not been released so far. TheYSRCP's negligent policiescaused growth rate in agricultureto come down from 11 per centduring the TDP regime to 8 percent under the Jagan's rule. Theagriculture budget was reducedfrom Rs 8,600 crore during

2018-19 to just Rs 5,986 croreduring 2019-20, a cut by overRs. 2,700 crore," he said. Hestrongly criticised the YSRCPleaders and asked them whetherformer Chief MinisterChandrababu Naidu should stopdoing politics for public goodand follow the ruling partyleaders in running the sand,liquor, land and such mafiaactivities. The Jagan regime's mindless policies havealready created a very negativeimpression among the ruralpeople, he added. Srinivasa Reddy said that lakhsof farmers doing cultivation in 30lakh acres with 18 lakh currentconnections would lose theirlivelihood because of GO 22brought in by the CM to fixmeters on farm motors. "Just formaking new loans and pushingthe State into debt-trap, theJagan rule was robbing thefarmers of their future," heobserved.

YSRCP has no right to seekvotes from farmers: TDP

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Endowments MinisterVelampalli Srinivas Rao inau-gurated a few developmentprogrammes in VijayawadaWest Constituency on Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion,the minister expressed his ireon State ElectionCommissioner NimmagaddaRamesh Kumar and wonderedif Ramesh Kumar was the SEC

of AP or a leader of a politicalparty.

The Minister alleged thatthe SEC was degrading thegovernment during his ongo-ing tour to various districts inthe state. He said the peoplewould not tolerate the SEC ifhe degrades the Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy beingin a Constitutional system.Despite such tactics by theSEC, ultimately CM Jagan will

be victorious, said the minis-ter.

The Minister further opined

that after retirement, the SECwould join the TDP as a leader."He is playing all these gim-

micks to have a strongfoothold in politics after histenure as SEC," he criticised.

The minister donated Rs5,01,116 for the constructionof Lord Rama's temple inAyodhya. He handed over thecheque for the said amount toRSS leader Bharat Kumar andAG Krishna Prasad at his res-idence. Minister's family mem-bers were also present on theoccasion.

SEC will join TDP after retirement, predicts VelampalliExpressing ire onSEC, the ministerwondered if RameshKumar was the SEC of AP or a leader of a political party.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The nine-day special prayersbegan at Gunadala MotherMary shrine on a grand notehere on Sunday. The nine-dayspecial prayers were organisedto mark the three-day MotherMary feast that would com-mence on February 9 and con-tinue till February 11.

Bishop Joseph Rajaraounveiled the statue SaintMother Theresa on the occa-sion. Speaking on the occasion,the Bishop Rajarao said that thenine-day special prayers arebeing performed every yearbefore the Mother Mary feastthat commences on February 9.

He said that for the past ninedecades the Gunadala feastwas being organised for threedays. The devotees are happywith the blessing of the holylady, he added.

Rajarao said that every yearabout 10 lakh devotees wouldvisit the place to seek blessingsof mother Mary and the num-

ber is expected to increasethis year.

He said that the committeemembers would take all mea-sures for the arrangementsduring the feast for the conve-nience of the devotees whocome from various places andneighboring states.

Monsignor M Prasad said

that all the arrangementswould be made as per theguidelines of the governmentduring the feast. The prayershave begun rememberingMother Mary and would con-tinue till the feast is complete.

He said that Mother Mary isbelieved as mother of health bythe devotees and said that herblessings will be always on allthe devotees, said the monsign-or Prasad.

Fr K Mariyanna, Fr VThomas, Fr Anthony, priests,sisters and devotees were pre-sent. Bishop Joseph Rajaraounveils the statue of SaintMother Theresa on Sunday atGunadala in Vijayawada.

Spl prayers begin at Gunadala to mark Mother Mary Feast

Bishop Joseph Rajarao unveiling the statue of Saint Mother Theresa at Gunadalain Vijayawada on Sunday.

The Bishop said that committee wouldmake necessary arrangements duringthe feast for the convenience of thedevotees who come from variousplaces and neighboring states.

To implement its initiatives more effectively and foster innovat-ions, Telangana Information and Technology Association (TITA)has formed a new Advisory Council. Pro-posed by its Global

President Sund-eep Kumar Makthala, the Advisory Council wasapproved by the Association's Governing Council after makingnecessary changes to TITA's by-laws. Accordingly, the GoverningCouncil has appointed Telangana Government Industry and ITDepartment Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan as the first chairman ofTITA Advisory Council. JNTUH Rector A Goverdhan and PhoenixGroup Director Srikanth Badiga will be the other members elected ofthe newly formed TITA panel. Sundeep Makthala along with his coreteam members met Jayesh Ranjan at his office and congratulated himon his appointment. Telangana Information and TechnologyAssociation (TITA), since its formation, has taken up various initiativesfor the development of the IT sector in Telangana.

AIG Hospitals, a pioneer ingastroenterology, has carried

out a complex procedure on a93-year-old male patientsuffering from severe Cholangitisusing a completely disposableduodenoscope for the first timeAsia. The team of doctors at AIGled by Dr D Nageshwar Reddy,

Chairman and Chief of Gastroenterology, performed the complexERCP procedure of removing the stones from the bile duct usingthe first-ever disposable duodenoscope unboxed in all of Asia. “Outof the four stones, one big stone measuring 2 cm could not beremoved by the standard technique. To remove that one large stonestuck in the bile duct, we had to innovate on the go and use anotherdisposable Spy Cholangioscope with Laser Lithotripsy. This SpyCholangioscope was used in combination with the Single-UseDuodenoscope. Using precise Laser Lithotripsy, the large stone wasfragmented and extracted out of the bile duct,” Dr MohanRamchandani, Director, Therapeutic Endoscopy, AIG Hospitals, said.

Telangana State Councilof Higher Education and

Commissionerate ofCollegiate Education haveannounced thatregistrations for DegreeOnline Services, Telangana(DOST) 2020 special spotadmissions in self-

financing courses in the private unaided and aided degree collegeswill be opened on February 1 and 2. The colleges have to enter thespecial spot admissions details on February 3 and 4. Freshcandidates who have not registered on the DOST 2020 andcandidates who registered but did not exercise web options(without registration fee) were eligible for registration for the spotadmissions. Candidates who already registered but could not secureseat and students who got seat allotment but did not confirm in thecollege, can also register for the special spot admissions. Thisapart, students can opt for intra-faculty stream/course (within BA,BCom, BSc Life Sciences, and BSc Physical Sciences streams)conversion on February 1 and 2.

SHORT TAKESJayesh Ranjan to head TS ITAssociation advisory council

DOST special spot admissionregistrations on Feb 1 and 2

AIG Hospitals carries out first of its kind complex procedure

DURGA PRASAD SUNKU

n HYDERABAD

Rachakonda Police have res-cued 223 children as a part ofOperation Smile VII in the last30 days. Most of the rescuedchildren are from UttarPradesh, Madhya Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh, Chattishgarh,Jarkhand, Maharastra, Odissa.

The aim of 'Operation Smile'is to trace missing children,potential child labour, bondedchild labour and adolescents inhazardous occupations duringthe operations.

According to theRachakonda Police, of the 223children rescued, 172 wereboys and 51 were girls. Furtherdata revealed 88 boys and 12girls belong to Telangana, theother 84 boys and 39 girlsbelong to other states includ-ing Uttar Pradesh, MadhyaPradesh, Andhra Pradesh,Chattisgarh, Jarkhand,Maharastra, Odissa, WestBengal and Bihar.

The police officials alsoreleased the data of some of the

important cases. The AntiHuman Trafficking Unit(AHTU) of Rachakonda hasrescued 26 child labourersdetained and exploited illegal-ly in different workshops -Yadadri Traders, MaruthiPolymers, SSR Industry,samosa making shed and con-crete labour work shops atIDA, Bhongir and arrestedfour accused persons.

During the rescue opera-tions, Rachakonda police haveregistered 25 cases under sec-

tions Juvenile Justice Act andChild Labour Act against themanagements, who engagedminor children in variousworks, in which 46 accusedpersons were arrested.

Further analysis of the res-cue children from differentworks they are employed are39 children who were workingin Brickline, 65 children work-ing in different companies,one from begging and 104from different shops were res-cued.

‘Operation Smile' yielding results

PNS n HYDERABAD

School Education Director Devasena hassubmitted expert committee reports to gov-ernment for it to take a decision on increas-ing the choice of questions in SSC publicexams. It may be recalled that the state gov-ernment has reduced the number of papersand has also announced the time table forthe SSC public examinations. The commit-tees have recommended increasing thechoice for other types of questions, barringthe multiple choice questions. Earlier, thegovernment issued a GO in 2015 asking theschools to conduct formative assessmenttests. Therefore, the GO is required to beamen-ded to conduct exams only in sixpapers including two science papers and con-duct only two formative assessment tests.

The Central Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE) is also changing the pat-tern of the question papers. To test the realknowledge of the students, it is increasingthe number of questions that will really testthe students' abilities.

Experts suggest increasing choice in SSC Q-papers

PNS n HYDERABAD

A 24-year-old student who leaked Degree examinationquestion paper on Saturday was booked by Panjaguttapolice. The accused student has been identified asFaizul Rahman Khan, 24. On Saturday, Statisticsexamination for Degree B.Com II year students washeld in the morning hours from 10 am to 12 pm. Thejoint director of Osmania University alerted principal ofNew Science College Shyed Sameera regarding thequestion paper leaked from their college. ShyedSameera enquired with their staff and checked thestudents writing the examination, After checking,Sameera identified Faizul Rahman Khan, of ShadanCollege in Khairatabad, who was writing the exam inRoom No 207 has leaked the question paper throughWhatsApp at 10:20 am to another phone number.Based on which, Sameera lodged a complaint withPanjagutta Police, who booked a case.

Man held for degreeexam Q-paper leak

2 minors nabbed whileattempting to loot ATM PNS n HYDERABAD

The police nabbed two minorswho attempted to loot anATM on Saturday.

The two boys spent anhour attempting to breakinto the Axis Bank ATM.Having fai led in their

attempts, they scampe-redwhen they heard the siren ofa police vehicle that waspatrolling nearby.

Their entire act was caughton the CCTV cameras. Thepolice took the two minorsinto custody and are investi-gating the matter.

PNS n KHAMMAM

Minister for Scheduled Tribes,Women and Child WelfareSatyavathi Rathod onSaturday inaugurated awomen-run drumstick pro-cessing unit at Mucharala vil-lage in Khammam districtand a dry mix (ready-to-cookfoods) unit in Bhadrachalam.Both the units are owned bytribal women, who weretrained in food processing

Sri Lakshmi Ganapathy DryMix Unit will supply ready-to-cook jowar meal (Upma mix)and ready-to-cook multigrainmeal (Khichidi mix) to gov-ernment nutrition pro-grammes and Anganwadis inthe tribal region.

Sri Rama MoringaProcessing Industry will sellmoringa powder in markets.These food processing unitsare the third successful collab-oration between theTelangana Scheduled TribesCooperative FinanceCorporation Limited (TRI-COR),Tribal WelfareDepartment of TelanganaState, Government of India'sMinistry of Tribal Affairs andICRISAT's Agribusiness andInnovation Platform (AIP).

ICRISAT has implementedtwo other programmes as partof this collaboration-- Nutri-Food Basket programme(March 2017) and Giri

Poshana (September 2018).The collaboration aims attransforming tribal womeninto entrepreneurs, localiseproduction and address mal-nutrition.

Accordingly, 80 tribalwomen farmers fromBhadrachalam, Utnoor andEturnagaram were trained byICRISAT in Hyderabad. Aftertraining, ICRISAT helped thewomen form Joint LiabilityGroups (JLGs) to manage thefood processing units.

Speaking after the inaugu-ration, the minister said, "Thefood products being pro-duced in these units havevery good nutritive values.Both children and adults canconsume them. These willbe supplied to children inschools, ashram schools andAnganwadi centres to keepthem healthy and help themgrow. The units are providing

employment to tr ibalwomen,” she added.

The food products will besold under the GirijanCooperative Corporation(GCC) brand as well as in theopen market, she said.

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | FEBRUARY 1, 2021 telangana 04

PNS n HYDERABAD

More than two years afterpromising unemploymentallowance, the TRS govern-ment is gearing up to formulatea scheme as it seeks to check theBJP, which is going aggressivein its attacks on the ruling partyover unfulfilled promises.

Despite a big drop in revenuedue to Covid induced lock-down and consequent slow-down, the TRS government iscontemplating to roll outunemployment allowance soon.Minister for MunicipalAdministration and IT KTaraka Rama Rao stated a cou-ple of days ago that ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raois likely to announce an unem-ployment allowance in the nextfew days.

“The Chief Minister, in a dayor two, may make anannouncement on the unem-ployment allowance,” said KTR.He said the government wouldsoon release a notification forthe recruitment to 50,000 postsin the government. He assuredthe youth that KCR will bestowmore than what they hadexpected from him.

Political analysts say with BJPgoing aggressive as part of itsgoal to come to power in thestate 2023, the TRS is makingswift moves to check the saffronsurge. Only last month, theChief Minister had announcedthat notifications would be

issued shortly to fill up vacan-cies of teachers, police person-nel and others.

“The primary informationsuggests that there are about50,000 vacancies in the State inseveral departments. We haveto fill them up. Teachers andpolice have to be recruited inthousands,” he had said. Twomajor announcements in asmany months apparently cameto placate unemployed youth,whose anger is believed to beone of the key reasons for theelectoral reverses suffered bythe TRS in recent weeks.

In by-election to the DubbakAssembly constituency held inNovember, the TRS suffered ashocking defeat at the hands ofBJP, which focused on youthand the unfulfilled promises ofthe ruling party.

The angry youth turned thetide as the BJP wrested the seatfrom the TRS. It was seen as ananti-incumbency vote. It was abig jolt to the TRS as the partyhad never lost a by-electionsince 2014 when it came topower in the newly createdState.

After the Dubbak victory, theBJP also made considerableinroads in TRS vote bank bywinning 48 seats in 150-mem-ber Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC), elections for whichwere held in December.

A week after the results of theGHMC polls, the ChiefMinister announced filling upof vacancies in the government.He asked Chief SecretarySomesh Kumar to collectdetails about the vacant posts in

teachers, police and otherdepartments and issue notifica-tions to fill the vacancies.

“TRS is under extreme pres-sure from the youth and unem-ployed sections of the society,along with those who are work-ing in the government. Resultsin Dubbak and GHMC elec-tions are an indication of themood of people in the State,”said political analyst PRaghavendra Reddy.

He, however, believes thatunemployment allowance willact like a painkiller for the short-term, but it is not the solutionfor the problems in Telangana,especially of the youth. TheKCR government will haveseriously think about fillingvacant posts in the govern-ment, and create more employ-ment opportunities throughself-employment and in theprivate sector.

“The BJP is making use ofand gaining ground due to thefeeling among the people of

being neglected by the TRS gov-ernment. Unemploymentallowance could help preventthe ground from slipping awaytemporarily, but KCR and KTRmust think of more long-termand impactful measures toregain lost political turf,” he said.

The Chief Minister is likely toappoint a panel of senior offi-cials to formulate the schemeand its guidelines. All eyes willbe on the allocation to be madein the budget for 2021-22.There is still no clarity on thenumber of unemployed in theState. Nearly 10 lakh candidateshave registered with employ-ment exchanges.

Over 20 lakh people candi-dates have registered with theTelangana State Public ServiceCommission (TSPSC) for gov-ernment jobs. Even if theunemployed youth are esti-mated at 10 lakh, the govern-ment will have to earmark Rs3,600 crore in the budget.

The Congress party chal-lenged the KTR to prove hisclaims of recruitment of 1.31lakh people by the govern-ment. All India CongressCommittee (AICC) secretary ASampath Kumar dared theminister for a debate on theissue.

The Congress leader allegedthat it was another ploy by theTRS to mislead youth ahead ofelections to two seats ofTelangana Legislative Councilfrom graduates constituencies.

PNS n HYDERABAD

MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha willbe always in forefront in lend-ing a helping hand to the needyand encouraging the talent asyet again she comes out in sup-port of Adilaxmi, the firstwoman mechanic of the State.

The 30-year-old Adilaxmiworks with her husband intheir automobile repair shop atSujatha Nagar nearKothagudem. She is a motherof two daughters and workswith her husband to meet thefinancial needs of her family.The story of this dedicatedmother and wife, who wantedtwo additional machines at herautomobile shop, caught theattention of Kavitha, whoinstantly expressed her desireto help Adilaxmi.

Former Member ofParliament invited Adilaxmiand her family to Hyderabad.The MLC applaudedAdilaxmi’s determination andthe amount of hard work shehas put in to support her fam-ily. In the meeting, Kavithainteracted with the family,felicitated them and extendedassistance to the family forbuying a new machine andensuring a good education fortheir daughters.

Later, Kavitha tweeted“Adilaxmi and her story hasinspired me. Her determina-tion to break the predeter-

mined shackles and to walkthat extra mile for her familyis so heart-melting. Salutingher courage!”

DOLE

TRS’ move to check saffron surge

Mankind is passingthrough a very diffi-cult phase due to the

outbreak of Covid-19.It has been perhaps the

toughest challenge forhumankind since World-War-II. It has been more thana year since the virus was firstreported in the Wuhanprovince of China and thevirus has spread like a wild-fire to all the continents.

The problems and chal-lenges thrown up by the pan-demic are unprecedented.

Initial reports indicatedthat developing countries likeIndia, with high populationdensity, would bear the bruntof the Corona pandemic con-sidering factors like weakhealth and medical infra-structure and other factorslike poor hygiene, poverty,and lack of resources to dealwith this crisis.

The western media, ofcourse, was very vocal in

cautioning against the spreadof the virus in India and wasskeptical regarding stepstaken by the NDA govern-ment to contain the virus.They even called India’s crisisand response to the pan-demic as ‘a humanitarian dis-aster’.

The exercises of the Centreto prevent the spread of thevirus as well as to deliver thekey health infrastructurerequirements like medicines,ventilators, PPE kits etc. wereunder cloud. Not only wasIndia’s healthcare infrastruc-ture questioned, but even thewell-timed and well-executedlockdown was decried sincemigrant workers and othersections of society were hithard. The world was observ-ing

with suspicion and curiosiy how the second most pop-ulous country of the worldwould tackle the pandemic.

It was indeed a daunting

task for the government tofight the negative publicityand the challenges that pan-demic had posed. It tookeffective, tough and visionaryleadership to save most peo-ple from the clutches of thepandemic. It also neededproactive steps and focusedapproach. At the operationallevel, countering Coronaneeded a three-pronged strat-egy: awareness, preventionand curative steps.

How the nation has sailedthrough the unprecedentedcrisis under the leadership ofPrime Minister Narendra

Modi is a history in the mak-ing. How India successfullyfought this challenge andemerged with flying colourswould surely be part of thesyllabus of the top manage-ment schools like Oxford,Harvard, and Stanford infuture. The nation has almostpassed the storm of corona inthe stewardship of theKarmyogi Prime Minister.

In his address to the nation,the Prime Minister wentahead with lockdown, givingthe ringing message ‘Jaan haitoh Jahan Hai’( if you have lifeonly then you survive). Life of

the citizens was given prior-ity over anything else. On theeconomic front, a slew ofmeasures were taken to boostthe sluggish economy andalso to give direct benefits tolakhs of poor labourers andneedy, following the lock-down. In his faith and relianceon ‘Make in India’, the PM notonly saw modern allopathicmedicine as a way to treat

people but brought in theMinistry of AYUSH to playthe role. This ‘immunitymantra’, well projected by thePM, soon became a buzz-word which not only helpedboost immunity among themasses, but also createdawareness about Ayurveda.The health infrastructurecame into focus with themaximum attention to thepreventive aspects of thehealth emergency like masks,hospitalization, PPE-Kits,ventilators, and oxygen cylin-ders.

Every resource of thenation was diverted to thiscause. Simultaneously, theIndian scientists were encour-aged to develop a protocoland effective vaccines.

On 26th January 2021, theUSA reported 4,101 deathsand the UK has reported1,631 daily deaths. Even withtheir highly developed health-care infrastructure, the west-

ern countries are unable tohandle this crisis. As of today,only India is able to containthe spread of virus and bringdown daily cases The casesare down from nearly onelakh in September 2020 tobelow 9,100 per day now,with active cases falling below1,74,000. The recovery rate isnearly 97 %, which is thehighest among the most-affected countries.

Credit must be given toTeam India led by Modi whoencouraged Indian scientiststo develop India's vac-cine in a race against time.India’s vaccine is not only safeand reliable, but cost-effectivetoo. India is heading for thelargest vaccination drive inthe history of mankind,wherein it aims to vaccinateits 1.3 billion

population, out of whom 2million people have alreadybeen vaccinated. It hasalready trained 2 lakh vacci-

nators and 3,70,000-personteam to help with 29,000cold storages. India is seen ashealer of the worl,d be itexport of preventive medi-cines like hydroxychloro-quine or curative Remdesiviror health care

equipment like PPE kits,ventilators etc.

India is now following itsethos of Vasudeva-Kutumbakam, wherein it isgiving doses of Made in Indiavaccines to other countries.India has already gifted vac-cine doses to Bhutan,Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh,Myanmar, Morocco, Brazil,Seychelles etc. While China isblamed as a spreader of thevirus, the world is hailingIndia as a healer. India hasemerged as the physician ofthe world and has turned outto be a pharmacy of theworld which is not only nurs-ing its own population but theentire world.

TARUN CHUGHNational General Secretary

Bharatiya Janata Party

Initial reports indicated that developingcountries like India, with high populationdensity, would bear the brunt of the Coronapandemic considering factors like weakhealth and medical infrastructure and otherfactors like poor hygiene, poverty, and lackof resources to deal with this crisis

Post-Covid: India physician, pharmacist and healer of the world

n A week after the results ofGHMC polls, the ChiefMinister announced fillingup of vacancies in thegovernment. He askedChief Secretary SomeshKumar to collect detailsabout the vacant posts inteachers, police and otherdepartments and issuenotifications to fill the vacancies

n The 30-year-old Adilaxmi works with her husband in theirautomobile repair shop at Sujatha Nagar near Kothagudem

n The story of this dedicated mother and wife, who wantedtwo additional machines at her automobile shop, caught theattention of Kavitha, who instantly expressed her desire tohelp Adilaxmi

n The women will producehygienically packed, safeand nutritious foods in theunits, which are designedand equipped withmachinery as perguidelines of Food Safetyand Standards Authority ofIndia (FSSAI), said Ministerfor Scheduled Tribes,Women and Child WelfareSatyavathi Rathod

n The food products will besold under the GirijanCooperative Corporation(GCC) brand as well as inthe open market, she said

Tribal products will getcommercial fillip: Minister

Kavitha honours the firstwoman mechanic of State

PNS n SIDDIPET

The police department wouldlaunch a free coaching centrefor police job aspirants inHusnabad town of Siddipetdistrict, disclosedCommissioner of Police D JoelDavis here on Sunday.

He reminded that they hadtrained 407 youths from thedistrict ahead of the previousrecruitment test and addedthat over 100 of them hadpassed the police recruitmentexamination and joined thedepartment.

Meanwhile, MLA VodithelaSathish Kumar announced thatthey would also offer freecoaching for youth seeking totake the Telangana State PublicService Commission (TSPSC)recruitment examination in

Husnabad town. Stating thatthe aim of offering the freecoaching is to encourage theyouth to get into the govern-ment service, he said that thepoor cannot afford the feebeing charged by the private

coaching institutes.Meanwhile, the

Commissioner of Police andHusnabad MLA took in a halfmarathon conducted bySiddipet police to create aware-ness among the people on

road safety as part of 32ndNational Road Safety Week inHusnabad.

The marathon drew a goodresponse as people from allwalks of life from across theState participated. They alsoconducted 10K Run and 5KRun. The first three winners inthese three categories were pre-sented the cash prize and goldmedals. Podaralla Abhishek, anative of Jammikunta, won thefirst prize. He was presented Rs25,000 cash prize.

Salikanti Akhil, a native ofMiryalaguda has won the 10Krun. He was presented Rs10,000 cash prize while BonalaVinod, a native of Akkannapet,was presented a Rs 5,000 cashprize as he won the 5K Runcontest.

Vadlakonda Chaitanya, a

native of Siddipet, has won thewomen 5K Run competitionwhile Banoth Soni, a native ofKoheda, and P Hemalatha, anative of Koheda, came secondand third respectively. Theywere presented Rs 10,000, Rs5,000 and Rs 2,500 cash prizesrespectively.

The Commissioner said thatthey would conduct such com-petitions in the coming days toinculcate health consciousnessamong the GenNext. He appre-ciated the Husnabad,Akkannapet, Koheda and otherarea police personnel forencouraging the youth to par-ticipate in the competition byconducting village-level com-petitions for over a period ofone month. RDO JayachandraReddy, ACP Mahendar andothers were present.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Atif Rasheed, Vice-Chairman, NationalCommission for Minorities,urged the Telangana gov-ernment to constitute aSpecial Task Force (STF) forremoving the encroachmentsin Wakf properties in theState.

Speaking to newsmen hereafter conducting reviewswith the minorities depart-ments on Sunday, Rasheedsaid that the Commissionalso recommended theCentral Wakf Council toinquire about the

corruption allegationsagainst the Telangana WakfBoard. If it is proved, theCommission will recom-

mend a CBI inquiry into theissue, he said. The Vice-Chairman said that morethan 3,000 encroachmentshave been carried out duringthe past 10 years. TheCommission has directed theState VVakf Board to set upan inquiry committee tobook FIRs against theencroachers of VVakf prop-erties.

He said that the UnionMinorities Ministry has beencoordinating the State WakfBoard for digitalisation andGeo-tagging and mappingof the Wakf properties.Rasheed stated that the dis-trict-level monitoring com-mittee will be created formonitoring PM's new 15points programme.

Police dept to offer free coaching for job aspirants

PNS n JAYASHANKAR

BHUPALAPALLY

A huge fish was caught by fish-ermen in the Godavari river atMukunur village in JayashankerBhupalpally district on Sunday.The fishermen, who went forfishing in the Godavari in theearly hours, caught the huge

fish. Villagers Ramu, Chandrayaand Satyam explained the fishbelongs to the eggshell species.The villagers bought the fishfrom the fishermen for Rs 5,000.A large number of people gath-ered to have a glimpse of fish.Meanwhile, fishermen expressedtheir happiness for the prizedcatch.

Fishermen catch a huge fish

PNS n NAGAR KURNOOL

Panic prevailed in Apppapurvillage when a leopard sud-denly came across the vehi-cle of health department offi-cials from the jungle. Theleopard appeared when theywere proceeding towardstheir destination on Sundayevening after administeringpolio drops in the villagessurrounding the Lingala zonein the Nallamala forest areaunder the Tiger project.

PNS n NIRMAL

Children aged below five yearsmust take polio drops to helpsociety become polio-free,said Minister for Forest AIndrakaran Reddy.

Speaking after administer-ing pulse polio drops to a childin Nirmal here on Sunday, theMinister for Forest said twodrops of the vaccine wouldsave the lives of children andhe sought the cooperation ofthe people in making poliodrive a success.

He emphasised the need toeradicate the disease from thedistrict. He appreciated theofficials of the health andmedical department for fol-lowing Covid-19 guidelineswhile administering the drops.

Meanwhile, CollectorBharati Hollikeri attended thePulse Polio drive at the districtheadquarters hospital inMancherial.

She underlined the need tobuild a polio-free society. Shesaid that children between 0and 5 years should have thedrops and prevent polio. Shestated that the disease could bekept at bay with the help of thedrops.

Collectors of Adilabad andKumram Bheem AsifabadSikta Patnaik and Rahul Rajtook part in similar eventsorganised in the district cen-tres. Sikta was joined byAdilabad MLA JoguRamanna. She stated that74,000 children of the districtunderwent the vaccination.

‘Set up STF against Wakfproperties’ grabbing’

MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha with the first woman mechanic of the State Adilaxmiand her daughters in Hyderabad on Sunday

Let’s make society polio-free: Minister

Leopardconfrontspolio crew

Commissioner of Police D Joel Davis

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | FEBRUARY 1, 2021 nation 05

Power demand touched anall-time high of 189.64GW on Saturday, Power

Secretary S N Sahai has said."Power demand galloping. AllIndia demand: 1,89,644 MW(189.64 GW) at 10.39 hrstoday (January 30) crossed theprevious highest all Indiademand of 1,88,452 MW(188.45 GW) on 28th January," Sahai has tweeted. Last week, PowerMinister R K Singh had exuded confidence that power demand willcross 200 GW mark soon. On Friday last, Singh had tweeted, "Thepower demand and supply surged to a new high of 1,88,452 MW at9:42 am on 28th January 2021. The rate at which we are going, weshall cross 2,00,000 MW very soon." In another tweet on the sameday, he had said, "Southern region touched the highest ever peakdemand of 53,214 MW on January 28, 2021, at 9:49 am". January20, power demand had touched a record high of 187.3 GW. All-Indiapower demand had touched a record high of 182.89 GW onDecember 30 last year. According to data from the power ministry,the peak power demand met (the highest supply in a day) duringJanuary last year stood at 170.97 GW. The rising power demandshows revival in economic activities leading to higher commercialand industrial demand, which was affected due to the pandemic.

INDIA CORNER

PNS n KOTTAYAM (KER)

It was just days ago formerUnited Nations EnvironmentProgramme (UNEP) chief ErikSolheim shared a small videoon paralysis-hit N S Rajappancollecting plastic waste fromKerala's scenic Vembanad Lakedespite his disability and said heshould be made famous.

And Rajappan got the recog-nition when Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in his "MannKi Baat" programme on Sundayhailed his commitment towardscleanliness, saying all shouldemulate him and make contri-butions wherever possible.

Sitting in his small countryboat in the lake in Kumarakomnear here, the elderly mansaidhe was "very happy" as the

prime minister himselfacknowledged his efforts.

Solheim in a tweet onJanuary 14 had praised thefabulous efforts of Rajappan toclean up the backwaters, beau-ty of which attracts tourists

from all across the world."Everyday Rajappan gets into

his small boat & collect plasticbottles from Vembanad lake inIndia. All alone. We shouldmake him famous," he hadsaid. In the 20th episode of

Mann Ki Baat 2.0', Modi saidthe news from Kottayam aboutthe divyang elderly person"makes us realise our responsi-bilities."

"In Kottayam of Kerala thereis an elderly divyang, N SRajappan Sahab.

Due to paralysis, Rajappan isincapable of walking, but thishas not affected his commit-ment to cleanliness," the primeminister said.

Noting that the past severalyears Rajappan has been row-ing his boat into the VembanadLake and taking out the plasticbottles thrown into the waterbody, Modi said, "Think, howgreat Rajappan jis thought is!"Taking inspiration fromRajappan ji, we too should,wherever possible, make our

contribution to cleanliness," headded. Rajappan, who crawlsusing his hands to movearound, said he is making hisliving by collecting garbagebottles from the lake.

"I am paralysed below myknees. I can't walk. I venturedinto the lake yesterday also tocollect plastic bottles. I gotfour sacks full of waste bottles,"he told reporters.

He said he had been doingthis work for the past 17 years.

"Every day, I manage toclimb into the boat and ventureout to collect garbage bottles",he said. Asked about his wish-es, the elderly person said hishouse was in a dilapidatedcondition. "I need a house. Myhouse doesn't have a properroof," he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A more potent version of theindigenous Tejas multi-rolecombat jet featuring a muchpowerful engine, greater load-carrying capability and next-generation electronic warfaresystem is expected to be rolledout next year and its firsthigh-speed trials will start in2023, according to Chairmanand Managing Director ofHindustan Aeronautics Ltd RMadhavan.

He said the structural pack-age and related work on theTejas Mark II, which will havean array of superior avionics,was progressing well, and theproduction of the high-perfor-mance jet is likely to startaround 2025.

Madhavan said the upgrad-ed version will have a biggerfuselage, longer range, bettermaintainability, greater load-carrying capability, muchstronger engine power andsuperior net-centric warfaresystems.

With an increase in rangeand payload capability,Madhavan said the new vari-ant will be much superior tothe Tejas Mark-IA, 73 of whichare being procured by theIndian Air Force from theHAL under a Rs 48,000-crore

deal that was approved by thegovernment on January 13.

"Tejas Mark II is likely to rollout by August-September of2022. After that, the first flightwill take some time. The firsthigh-speed trial of the jet willstart in 2023 and we expect theproduction to start somewherearound 2025," Madhavan toldPTI.

Asked about the weaponpackage for Tejas Mark II, thechief of the state-run aerospacegiant did not give a direct replyand said it will be decided ata later stage depending on therequirement and changingdynamics.

Tejas is a single-engine andhighly agile multi-role super-sonic fighter capable of oper-ating in high-threat air envi-ronments. The aircraft, man-ufactured by the HAL, is apotent platform for air combatand offensive air support withreconnaissance and anti-shipoperations as its secondaryroles.The Tejas Mk-IA will beequipped with an active elec-tronically scanned array radar,beyond visual range missile,electronic warfare suite andair-to-air refuelling system.

On the next generationadvanced multi-role combataircraft (AMCA) project, the

HAL chairman said the aim isto implement the projectunder the framework of a spe-cial purpose vehicle (SPV),also involving private sectorplayers.

India is working on thefifth-generation mediumweight deep penetration fight-er jet and the project is estimat-ed to cost around USD 5 bil-lion. Madhavan said the air-craft prototype is likely to beready by 2026 and its produc-tion could start by 2030. Headded that the DefenceResearch and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) is work-ing on the project timeline.

‘Tejas Mark II to roll outnext year; trials in 2023’

PM hails Keralite’s commitment to cleanliness

Power demand touches all-timehigh of 189.64 GW on Saturday

Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav onSunday said the farmers

were deeply hurt by the movesmade by the BJP to defamethem. He also alleged that theBJP has tortured commonpeople. "The farmers arefeeling deeply hurt because ofthe moves made by the BJP todefame them. The BJP hasenacted demonetisation, GST, labour laws and farm laws to givebenefits only to the billionaires. The BJP has tortured the commonpeople," the Samajwadi Party chief said in a tweet in Hindi.Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi's borders withHaryana and Uttar Pradesh demanding the rollback of the Farmers'Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act,2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement onPrice Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the EssentialCommodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. The protest took a violentturn during the farmers' tractor rally on January 26. Enacted inSeptember 2020, the central government has presented these lawsas major farm reforms aimed at increasing farmers' income, but theprotesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislationswould weaken the minimum support price (MSP) and "mandi"(wholesale market) systems and leave them at the mercy of bigcorporations.

Farmers deeply hurt by BJP'smoves to defame them: Akhilesh

Expelled AIADMK leader V KSasikala was dischargedfrom a hospital here on

Sunday after recovering fromCOVID-19, days after she was setfree by the prison officials oncompletion her jail term in acorruption case, authorities said.The family has decided to takeSasikala, close aide of late TamilNadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, to Chennai, sources close to hersaid, adding the hospital has advised her to be under self-quarantinefor sometime. Sasikala was admitted to the Victoria Hospital after shetested positive for COVID-19 recently while under judicial custody.Prison authorities here had formally released her on January 27 aftershe completed the four-year jail term in a Rs 66 crore disproportionateassets case. On the advice of doctors, she remained in the hospitaland was discharged on Sunday after her latest test reports camenegative for COVID-19, hospital officials said. A huge crowd of hersupporters greeted Sasikala as she came out of the hospital. Morethan 300 police personnel were deployed in the area to ensure lawand order, police said. Sambasivan, one of her supporters from Hosurin the border district of Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, told PTI that thiswas like a festival for him. Her release comes ahead of the assemblyelections likely in April-May this year in Tamil Nadu.

Sasikala discharged fromBengaluru hospital

PNS n BHOPAL

Tales of some dreaded dacoitsof Madhya Pradesh's Chambalregion and the efforts of policeto curb the bandit menace willbe showcased at a museum inBhind district, officials said.

Dacoit-turned-MP PhoolanDevi, bandit Malkhan Singhand athlete-turned-dacoit PaanSingh Tomar are among thosewhose life stories will find amention in the museum, theysaid.

The state police personnel aredonating money for setting upof the museum, which is likelyto open next month, said BhindSuperintendent of Police ManojKumar Singh.

MP museum to showcasestories ofChambal bandits

PNS n MUMBAI

Film exhibitors, producers andcinema hall owners on Sundayhailed the Centre's decision topermit movie theatres acrossthe country to operate at 100per cent capacity fromFebruary 1.

The insiders said the movewould help the industry recov-er from the coronavirus pan-demic-induced losses.

On Sunday, Union Ministerfor Information andBroadcasting PrakashJavadekar released a new set ofStandard OperatingProcedures (SOPs) to helpfunctioning of cinema hallswith adherence to COVID-19safety protocols.

Adequate physical distanc-ing, mandatory face masksand sanitisation of auditoriumafter every screening areamong the latest SOPs issuedby the Ministry of Informationand Broadcasting on Sunday,after the government allowedcinema halls to operate at 100percent occupancy fromMonday.

Digital booking of ticketsand staggered show timings to

avoid crowding will be encour-aged, the minister said, releas-ing a set of the StandardOperating Procedures (SOPs).

The Producers Guild ofIndia, headed by producerSiddharth Roy Kapur, took toTwitter and wrote that liftingof the occupancy cap was anecessary step to revive theindustry.

"We welcome the decision of@MIB_India to allow 100%capacity in cinemas fromFebruary 1 and extend our sin-cere gratitude to Honourable@PrakashJavdekar ji andeveryone involved in facilitat-ing this important step in our

industry's recovery," the Guildtweeted.

The Multiplex Associationof India also took to Twitterand shared that they weregrateful to Javadekar for thedecision and thanked actor-BJP MP Sunny Deol for hissupport.

"We are deeply grateful toHon. Minister@PrakashJavdekar &@MIB_India for allowing100% seating capacity inCinemas from 1 Feb. Wewould like to extend our grat-itude to Hon. MP @iamsunny-deol for his leadership and sup-port," the tweet read.

Producers, exhibitors welcome100% occupancy in theatres

PNS n NEW DELHI

Girish Karnad's memoir, whichwas to be translated fromKannada into English by theactor-playwright himself butcould only finish a part of itbefore his death in 2019, willnow be out in May after finaltouches by award-winningtranslator Srinath Perur.

"This Life at Play: A Memoirby Girish Karnad" will bereleased on the director's 83rdbirth anniversary on May 19 byFourth Estate, an imprint ofHarperCollins Publishers.

Karnad, considered one ofmodern India's greatest cultur-al figures, first published hismemoir in Kannada in 2011.

Covering the first half of hisremarkable life, from growing upin Dharwad and engaging withlocal theatre, to his education inMumbai and as a RhodesScholar in Oxford, his career asa publisher, his successes and tra-

vails in the film industry, and hispersonal and writerly life,Karnad's inimitable voice shinesthrough it all.

The no-holds-barred accountprovides a glimpse into the life-shaping experiences of this tow-ering figure on India's culturalscene, and a unique wi