SNCN ACHARYULUn HYDERABAD

The much-awaited delimitationof Assembly constituencies inTelangana and Andhra Pradesh willhappen only after 2026 based onCensus, the Centre reiterated onWednesday.

So, the next Assembly electionswill be held as per the existing con-stituencies in the Telugu states.

In a written reply to BJP MPGVL Narasimha Rao, the UnionMinister of State for Home AffairsNityananda Roy said in Parliamenton Wednesday that Constitutionalamendment was required toincrease the Assembly constituen-cies at present.

According to the AndhraPradesh Reorganisation Act 2014,in Andhra Pradesh the Assemblyconstituencies will be increased to225 from 175 and in Telangana theAssembly constituencies will beincreased to 153 from 119. TheMinister said that, as per Article 170

of the Constitution, the delimitationof assembly constituencies will betaken up only after the 2026Census.

He said unless Article 170 of theConstitution was amended, thedelimitation of Assembly con-stituencies as per the AndhraPradesh Reorganization Act cannotbe taken up. Meanwhile, the TRS inTelangana and the YSR Congress inAndhra Pradesh have requested theUnion government to take up the

delimitation of Assembly con-stituencies as assured in the AndhraPradesh Reorganization Act. Boththe parties have expressed theirview that upon increase in the num-ber of Assembly constituencies intheir respective states, they canaccommodate more party leaders inthe Assembly elections. They alsoasked that the delimitation ofAssembly constituencies be com-pleted before the upcomingAssembly elections.

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

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GOOGLE MAPS LAUNCHES STREETVIEW IN INDIA

Google Maps has launched its street view service across 10 cities inIndia in partnership with two local companies, the firm said onWednesday. The government had previously not allowed showing

of panoramic images of roads and other sites for security reasons. In astatement, Google said Street View is being launched in partnershipwith Genesys International and Tech Mahindra. "Starting today, StreetView will be available on Google Maps with fresh imagery licensed fromlocal partners covering over 1,50,000 km across ten cities in India,including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune,Nashik, Vadodara, Ahmednagar, and Amritsar," it said.

BIG PINK DIAMOND DISCOVERED INANGOLA, LARGEST IN 300 YEARS

Abig pink diamond of 170 carats has been discovered inAngola and is claimed to be the largest such gemstonefound in 300 years. Called the Lulo Rose", the diamond was

found at the Lulo alluvial diamond mine, the mine's owner, theLucapa Diamond Company, announced on Wednesday on itswebsite. The Lulo mine has already produced the two largestdiamonds ever found in Angola, including a 404-carat cleardiamond. The pink gemstone is the fifth largest diamond found atthe mine where 27 diamonds of 100 carats or more have beenfound, according to Lucapa, which is based in Australia.

KERALA MAN WINS RS 1 CRORE LOTTERYHOURS BEFORE SELLING HOUSE

While being burdened by a major financial crisis, MohammedBava, 50, prayed for a little luck in his life and it came true. TheAlmighty answered his prayers in the form of a Rs 1 crore

Kerala lottery, that too, just two hours before accepting the tokenadvance for his newly-built house that was put on a distress sale. Anative of Manjeshwar in this north Kerala district, he was in dire need ofmoney to pay back the debt to the tune of around Rs 50 lakh he hadborrowed from relatives and also a loan he had taken from a bank. Heborrowed huge amount of money for the marriage of his two daughtersand to adjust the losses he had suffered in the real-estate business.

HOARY TOWN OF MAMALLAPURAM'S TRYST WITH CHESS

The hoary town of Mamallapuram was in the spotlight three yearsago when Chinese President Xi Jinping met Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. It is back in the news again as it gears up to host

the 44th chess Olympiad from July 28. The sport's showpiece event isbeing held for the first time ever in India and people in the city ofChennai and Mamallapuram seem to have lapped it up big-time and thebuzz it has created across Tamil Nadu is unmistakable. The Olympiad'smascot 'Thambi' (the knight in white veshti) can be seen at severalplaces while the Tamil Nadu government is leaving no stone unturnedin its effort to promote the event for which it is the major sponsor.

{

ALMANAC

Updated: JULY 27, 2022 5:00 PM

Forecast: Scattered thunderstorms

Temp: 29oc

Humidity: 85%

Sunrise: 5:54 AM

Sunset: 6:51 PM

Month & Paksham:

Tithi: Amavasya: Jul 27 09:12 PM

to Jul 28 11:24 PM

Sukla Paksha Pratipada: Jul 28 11:24 PM

to Jul 30 01:21 AM

Nakshatram:

Punarvasu: Jul 27 04:09 AM

to Jul 28 07:05 AM

Pushya: Jul 28 07:05 AM

to Jul 29 09:47 AM

Rahukalam: 1:58 PM to 3:34 PM

Yamagandam: 5:57 AM to 7:34 AM

Varjyam: 03:59 PM to 05:46 PM

Gulika: 9:10 AM to 10:46 AM

Amritakalam: 02:40 AM to 04:26 AM

TTOODDAAYY

HYDERABAD WEATHER

PNS n NEW DELHI

A 21-day isolation, wearing masks,following hand hygiene, keepinglesions fully covered and waiting forthose to fully heal are among theguidelines by the Central govern-ment for monkeypox patients andtheir contacts.

The national capital has report-ed one confirmed case of monkey-pox, taking the total number ofsuch patients in the country to four.

Till now, 14 contacts of Delhi'sfirst monkeypox patient have beenidentified and none of them hasshown symptoms, sources said,adding one of the contacts hadcomplained of body ache but he is

doing fine now and has no symp-toms.

Another suspected case has been

admitted to the Lok Nayak JaiPrakash (LNJP) Hospital in Delhiand the samples have been sent to

the National Institute of Virology,Pune.

Officials, however, said there isno need to panic. One has to stayin isolation for 21 days from the lastcontact with a monkeypox patientor their contaminated materials,they said.

Monkeypox is a viral zoonosisthat gets transmitted to humansfrom animals with symptoms sim-ilar to those seen in smallpoxpatients, albeit clinically less severe.

Because of the recent develop-ments, the Centre issued guidelinesfor monkeypox management. TheDelhi government has directed itshospitals and 11 revenue districtsto follow the guidelines.

No delimitation before 2026m Centre’s reiteration a setback to Telanagana and Andhra Pradesh

Political war heating upbetween BJP and TRSm Major political developments after V-P poll

No definite time frame tosettle bifurcation issues: Centre

Maintain status quo onKaleshwaram works: SCPNS n HYDERABAD

The Supreme Court hasordered that status quobe maintained on theKaleshwaram LiftIrrigation Project works.

A hearing was held inthe Supreme Court onthe third TMC works ofthe Kaleswaram project.

On Wednesday, abench composed of A. M.Khanvilkar, Abhay S. Oka and J. B.Pardiwala heard the six petitionsrelated to the compensation andland acquisition filed by the proj-ect outsees. The Court askedwhether the third TMC works hadenvironmental clearances.

The Supreme Court has already

issued notices to the central andstate governments in this case.

After hearing the petitions, theapex court ordered the Telanganagovernment to file a counter affi-davit and the petitioners to file arejoinder.

TS lying onSmart Cityfunds: KishanPNS n HYDERABAD

Union Minister for Tourism andCulture G. Kishan Reddy hasalleged that the family ofTelangana Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar has been blatant-ly lying on the Smart Cities fundsreleased by the Centre toTelangana. Kishan said: "Recently,the 'farmhouse family' tried toshift the blame of poor implemen-tation of the Smart Cities projectin Telangana on the Governmentof India. The fact is that since2015-2016, the Government ofIndia has released Rs. 392 crore ofthe total Rs. 1,000 crore allocatedfor the Smart Cities in Telangana."

PNS n HYDERABAD

All the fiveminors accused inthe Jubilee Hillsgang-rape case havebeen granted bail.The Juvenile Justice Board onTuesday ordered the bail of four ofthe minors and the other minorwas given bail on Wednesday.

Saduddin Malik, the only adultaccused in the case, is still in jailas his bail petition was rejected ear-

lier.Meanwhile, the

Jubilee Hills Policehave reportedlycompleted theinvestigations andare likely to file a

charge-sheet soon. The police haverecorded the statement of the sur-vivor in the presence of a magis-trate under Section 164 of theCriminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

All 5 minors accused ingang-rape released on bail

PNS n HYDERABAD

Sleuths of the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) carried out raidsat the houses of alleged transna-tional casino dealers and agents ineight locations in Hyderabad.

The officials reportedly searchedthe houses of casino organisersChikkoti Praveen Kumar inSaifabad and Madhava Reddy inBowenpally in Secunderabad.

The ED has registered a caseunder the Foreign ExchangeManagement Act (FEMA). A CBIcase was filed against Praveenearlier and at his second house inAndhra Pradesh, the ED con-

ducted raids. They were accused ofusing hawala channels to transferprize money from gaming.

The duo allegedly hooked cus-tomers from Hyderabad, Gunturand Vijayawada.

21-day isolation, keeping lesions fully coveredCENTRE'S GUIDELINES FOR MONKEYPOX PATIENTS

20 suspended RS MPs begin relay protest in ParlPNS n NEW DELHI

Twenty suspended Rajya Sabhamembers Wednesday started a 50-hour relay protest inside theParliament complex, with sourcessaying the Opposition declined theChairman's offer that they expressregret over their members' behav-iour in the House to get the suspen-sion revoked. The MPs are holdingthe protest near the Gandhi statueand will stay at the site throughnight, said Trinamool Congress'Dola Sen, who is one of the suspend-

ed The 20 MPs, suspended overMonday and Tuesday, include sevenfrom the TMC, six from the DMK,three from the Telangana RashtraSamithi (TRS), two from theCommunist Party of India (Marxist)and one each from the CommunistParty of India (CPI) and the AamAadmi Party (AAP). The NationalistCongress Party and the JharkhandMukti Morcha who have no mem-bers suspended will also join theprotests, sources said.

m Oppn parties to arrange food, other needs

SC upholds EDpowers to arrest,attach propertyPNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Wednesdayupheld the EnforcementDirectorate's (ED) powers relatingto arrest, attach property, searchand seize under the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act, in a hugeleg up for the central agency oftenaccused of abusing its authority totarget the government's politicaladversaries. Observing that it is acommon experience world overthat money laundering can be a"threat" to the good functioning ofa financial system, the apex courtupheld the validity of certain pro-visions of the PMLA, some ofwhich were contested by over 240petitioners, including CongressMP Karti Chidambaram.

Couple washedaway in Vikarabad

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Indian MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) has issued ayellow alert for the next two daysin Telangana. A tragedy occurredin Vikarabad, following heavyrains over the past few days thathave left streams and rivulets inthe district overflowing. A coupleselling vegetables were drownedon Wednesday in the Kagna river,which is in spate. They had goneto Chandra Bhama village on theother side of the river to sell veg-etables. On their way back, theywere washed away in the strongcurrents of the river. Their bod-ies were found at Jettur village inKarnataka state. Heavy rains arevery likely to occur at isolatedplaces in Bhadradri Kothagudem,Suryapet, Mahabubabad,Warangal (Rural), Warangal(Urban),Siddipet, YadadriBhuvangiri, Rangareddy,Vikarabad, and Sangareddy dis-tricts of Telangana. For Friday,IMD predicted that heavy rain isvery likely to occur at isolatedplaces in Adilabad, KomaramBheem Asifabad, Mancherial,Nirmal,Nizamabad,Jagityal, andRajanna Sirsilla.

IMD issues yellowalert for next two days

Delimitation notdone for politicalreasons : TRSPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana RashtraSamiti has come down heavilyon the Union government fordelaying delimitation of theAssembly constituencies in thestate.

It may be mentioned herethat in April 2022, the Centretold members in the RajyaSabha that reorganisation of theAssembly constituencies inAndhra Pradesh and TelanganaStates would be possible onlyafter 2026. Answering a ques-tion, Union Law Minister KirenRijiju had said:

PNS n HYDERABAD

Speculations are rifethat after the VicePresidential electionthere would be 'majorpolitical developments'in Telangana. Afterthat, sources say, 'realpolitical war betweenTRS and BJP will start'.The BJP leadershipand the BJP-led NDA govern-ment are preparing the ground forthis.

BJP Telangana unit presidentand MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar saidtwo days ago that Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhar Rao would facea probe by the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) soon.

The Telangana unit of BJP isalready using the Right toInformation Act (RTI) as a weaponto attack the ruling TRS. The BJPhas filed thousands of applicationsseeking details about various gov-

ernment activities and also partic-ulars of assets of prominent TRSleaders.

As part of the BJP leadership'spolitical strategy, the BJP'sTelangana unit leaders are filingRTI applications seeking details ofgovernment promises and TRSleaders' assets. Based on replies toRTI queries, the BJP-led NDA gov-ernment would prepare an actionplan against the TRS governmentand TRS leaders.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Union government onWednesday said that no definitetime frame could be specified forsettlement of the disputes betweenTelangana and Andhra Pradesh inthe wake of bifurcation.

Minister of State in the Ministryof Home Affairs Nityanand Rai toldthe Rajya Sabha: "As settlement ofdisputes is an ongoing process, nodefinite time frame can be speci-fied. The approach of the Centralgovernment has consistently beenthat bilateral issues can be resolvedonly with the cooperation of theState governments concerned andthat the Central government actsonly as facilitator for amicable

settlement of the disputes in a spir-it of mutual accommodation andunderstanding."

Responding to a question by G VL Narsimha Rao on Wednesday, he

said: "A large number of provisionsof the Andhra PradeshReorganisation Act have been imple-mented".

A Committee was constitutedon 12 May, 2014 to resolve any dif-ficulties and disputes arising out ofthe implementation of the AndhraPradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 onand from the appointed day asnotified on 2nd June, 2014 betweenthe successor States of Telangana andAndhra Pradesh and the Committeehas held meetings on 17.07.2014,28.11.2014, 30.05.2015, 31.07.2015,12.01.2017, 01.03.2018, 12.03.2018,09.10.2019, 07.04.2021 & 12.01.2022.All these meetings, except the meet-ing dated 12.01.2022, were held inphysical mode.

Central Minister Nityanand Rai

ED raids on transnationalcasino organisers

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PNS n MUMBAI

HCL Technologies' chairpersonRoshni Nadar Malhotra has retainedher position as the richest woman inIndia, with a 54 per cent jump in hernetworth to Rs 84,330 crore in 2021.

Falguni Nayar, who quit her invest-ment banking career to start thebeauty focused brand Nykaa arounda decade ago, has emerged as the rich-est self-made woman with a networthof Rs 57,520 crore, as per the KotakPrivate Banking-Hurun list publishedon Wednesday.

Nayar, who is 59, saw a 963 per centincrease in her wealth during the yearand is also the second richest womanoverall, trailing the 40-year-oldMalhotra, the daughter of HCL

Technologies' founder Shiv Nadar, asper the report.

Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar-Shawwitnessed a 21 per cent decline in herfortune and has moved down onerank to be the third richest woman inthe country with a wealth of Rs29,030 crore, it said.

The list of 100 women accounts foronly Indian women, defined as bornor brought up in India, who are active-ly managing their businesses or are

self-made.The cumulative wealth of these 100

women has increased 53 per cent ina year to Rs 4.16 lakh crore in 2021from Rs 2.72 lakh crore in 2020, andthey now contribute 2 per cent ofIndia's nominal GDP.

The cut-off for making it into thetop 100 has increased to Rs 300 crorefrom Rs 100 crore earlier, and the top10 cut-off is at Rs 6,620 crore, whichis a 10 per cent jump from the previ-

ous year. Highest number of entrantsin the list are from Delhi-NationalCapital Region at 25, followed byMumbai (21) and Hyderabad (12), itsaid. When looked at from a sectoralperspective, pharmaceuticals led with12 entrants followed by healthcare at11 and consumer goods with ninewomen in the top 100 richest womenin India. Apollo Hospitals Enterprisecontributed four entrants to the list,making it the highest contribution bya single company. It was followed byMetro Shoes and Devi Sea Foods attwo entrants each.

Kanika Tekriwal (33y/o) of Bhopal-based Jetsetgo is the youngest on thelist with a 50 per cent increase inwealth at Rs 420 crore.

The list also includes three profes-

sional managers, and is led by IndraNooyi, who was associated withPepsico with a fortune of Rs 5,040crore, followed by Renu Sud Karnadof mortgage lender HDFC at Rs 870crore and Shanti Ekambaram ofKotak Mahindra Bank at Rs 320crore.

Roshni remains richest Indian womanm Nykaa's Nayar top among self-made rich women: Report

The list of 100 women accounts for onlyIndian women, defined as born or broughtup in India, who are actively managingtheir businesses or are self-made.

Dr.Chandrasekhar Reddylikely to leave TRSNAVEENA GHANATE

n HYDERABAD

Even as BJP is going all out towoo disgruntled TRS leadersto join the saffron brigade, theparty is eyeing some potentialnames. Incidentally most ofthese leaders are rich. Highlyplaced sources said that TRSleader Dr KancharlaChandrasekhar Reddy is like-ly to leave the car and join BJP.The Educationist owns sever-al engineering colleges inHyderabad and father-in-lawof Tollywood actor Allu Arjun,even contested in the 2014elections from Ibrahimpatnamon TRS ticket and lost. Highlyplaced sources indicated thatDr Kancharla is eyeing for aMLA ticket from Hyderabadand the chances are bleak inTRS. Sources indicated that heis weighing options beforetaking a final call. Meanwhile,BJP is on a spree to attractbusiness persons. The owner

of Orange Tours & Travels, MSunil Kumar, is likely to joinBJP. Sources pointed that thedecks are cleared for his join-ing and in all likelihood willjoin the party. It may be men-tioned here that One of India'srichest politicians and formerTRS MP Konda VishweshwarReddy joined BJP ahead ofNEC. Sources indicate that formajority of businesspersons,they are aspiring MLA ticketand nothing else from theparty but BJP is reportedlyasking for unconditional join-ing, without any promises forpositions of power. MeanwhileBandi Sanjay confirmed thatCongress MLA KomatireddyRajagopal Reddy's will be join-ing BJP . He made it clear thatRajagopal Reddy and manyothers will join the BJP. Hesaid that the ruling TRS MLAsare also in touch with BJP andat the right time TRS andCongress leaders will join thesaffron brigade.

ALLU ARJUN’S FATHER-IN-LAW

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

Paddy procured and sent to126 rice mills in the district hasbeen germinating on accountof incessant rains experiencedin the State for the past fort-night. In some places, the pro-cured paddy changed colour.The millers put the total lossdue to rains in the district at Rs10 crore. Some of the millersare dreading to take stock ofthe condition of the paddy.

The rice millers, unable todo anything with such paddy,are waiting for directions fromthe State government for thefuture course of action.

According to a conservative

estimate, at least 10 lakh bagsof paddy were damaged due torains. Though the millersstored the paddy procured inthe past two months carefullyin the open space on theirpremises by taking all precau-tions.

The millers are under oblig-ation to give 67% of the rice tothe government. Pendingdirections from the govern-ment on milling of the pro-cured paddy, the rice millersstored the paddy in the openair, leading to the producebeing drenched in rains.

The millers are worried thatthey may be made accountablefor the losses. Since the govern-

ment officials did not specifywhen the millers should millthe paddy and hand over therice to the government, heapsof paddy piled up in the frontyards of the rice mills. Delay inissuing directions caused lossto the millers, they pointed out.

The millers complainedthat they were caught betweenthe State and Central govern-ments. It was high time thegovernments gave properdirections to the millers so thatthe millers would not sufferfurther losses, he said.

Paddy worth Rs 10 crore drenchedin rains, sprouts

TRS and BJP call out each otherover stifling voice of OppnPNS n HYDERABAD

A day after three TRS MPswere suspended by the BJP-ledUnion government, the pinkand saffron parties engaged ina war of words ironically overstifling voice of the Opposition.Municipal AdministrationMinister K T Rama Rao in atweet said: "It's a shame thatinstead of agreeing to a discus-sion & debate on inflation,price rise & GST hike on essen-tials, NPA Govt decided to sus-pend 3 TRS MPs from RajyaSabha for 10 days. What's theGovt afraid of? Why stifle thevoice of opposition?(sic)".Responding to KTR, EatalaRajender, BJP MLA, said: "Itwould have been wise to ask

yourself the same questionwhen this happened, KTR. Infear of your dad's reaction toface us, we were suspended forthe entire budget session for noreason within two minutes onthe inaugural day.

Can you morally justifystanding for Opposition?" Itmay be mentioned here thatthe BJP MLAs were suspend-ed from the Budget session.The TRS had justified the sus-pension on the grounds thatthe BJP had come planned toprotest with a black scarf andraise slogans within two min-utes of the start of budget ses-sion. The TRS said that it wasnot same to compare as theydid not let the government fin-ish its Budget address.

37 govt schools in Bihar observeFriday as weekly holiday!PNS n NEW DELHI

The apex child rights bodyNCPCR on Wednesday soughtan explanation from the Bihargovernment over 37 govern-ment schools in a Muslim-dominated district in the stateobserving weekly holiday onFriday instead of Sunday.

According to media reports,37 government schools in fiveblocks of Bihar's Kishanganj

district, which has a significantMuslim population, have beenobserving Friday as theirweekly holiday instead ofSunday.

In a letter to Bihar chief sec-retary Amir Subhani, NCPCRchairperson PriyankKanoongo asked under whosedirection has the decisionbeen taken to declare Friday asthe weekly holiday instead ofSunday.

15-day fete of 75yearsof I-Day from Aug 8 PNS n HYDERABAD

As part of the 'Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav' programme, thestate government is makingarrangements to organise theindependence celebrations inthe state. Dr K Keshava Rao,Bharatha SwatantraVajrothsavala Committeechairman, held a meeting withofficials at BRKR Bhavan, alongwith Minister for AnimalHusbandry Talasani SrinivasYadav with GovernmentCultural Adviser Dr KVRamana Chari, TelanganaSahitya Academy chairmanJuluru Gowrishankar, CityMayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmiand Government Whip andMLC Prabhakar Rao. It hasbeen decided to prepare plansto organise the biweekly cele-

brations in all the district cen-tres and the capital city for 15days. It was decided that all thepeople should participate inthese festivals and to start thefirst day of the celebrations onAugust 8 at Hitex by the ChiefMinister. There would be atwo-week celebration toremember every step and everymoment of the country's free-dom movement. Essay-writingand speech competitions forschool students about theimportance of Amrit Mahotsavfestival would be organised. Afilm festival would also beorganized to remember thefreedom-fighters. The com-mittee has decided to organisevarious programmes as part ofthese celebrations and organizea big rally at the city's NecklaceRoad on August 22.

Continued from page 1

"Smart Cities Mission isbased on a 50:50 sharingmodel where the Governmentof India and the State govern-ment contribute equally.However, the Govt ofTelangana did not release asingle rupee till 2021-2022 -six years after theGovernment of India initiat-

ed the release of its share", headded. Kishan said that evenfunds released by theGovernment of India towardsthe Smart Cities were trans-ferred by the Government ofTelangana to Karimnagar andWarangal after a lag of manyyears. Only after pressurefrom the Government of Indiadid the State government con-tribute its share and trans-

ferred the Government ofIndia's share of the money toKarimnagar and Warangal.Kishan said that timely releaseof matching state's share of thecontribution would haveenabled Warangal andKarimnagar to improvedrainage and sewerage facili-ties. The two places wouldhave coped with the recentfloods better.

Continued from page 1

"Question: What wereOpposition MPs demandingAnswer: A discussion on#PriceRise #GST hurting mil-lions of people Action :Dictatorial @narendramodigovt suspends 24 MPs from#Parliament Next few days24x 7 dharna at Gandhi statue.Peaceful satyagraha will alwaysWIN," tweeted TMC's RajyaSabha member Derek O'Brien.

While the Congress andother Opposition parties wereprotesting at different venues inthe morning, by the evening, itseemed they had come togeth-er on the issue of price rise.

Senior Congress leaderJairam Ramesh visited the siteof the protests and said hisparty will be part of the day-night dharna organised by the

other Opposition parties.The CPI, whose one mem-

ber has been suspended, said ina statement the suspension isan assault on the basic rights offreedom of expression of mem-bers of Parliament.

"The suspension of 4 oppo-sition MPs of the Lok Sabhaand 20 MPs of the the opposi-tion in the Rajya Sabha includ-ing two MPs of the CPI(M) onsuccessive days is a seriousblow to the democratic func-tioning of Parliament. "It is theModi government that hasbeen stubbornly refusing toaccept any motion moved bythe opposition under the Rulesfor a structured discussion onthe burning problems beingfaced by the people, destroyingtheir lives, like price rise,unemployment etc."Opposition sources also said

feelers from the "other side" hasindicated that there is a viewwithin the government thatsuspending 19 opposition MPsat one go in Rajya Sabha wasa wrong strategic move andshould have been avoided.

In fact, in the morning,Rajya Sabha ChairmanVenkaiah Naidu met leaders ofthe Opposition parties in RSand an offer was made tothem that if they express regretover their behaviour in theHouse, another resolution willbe brought to revoke the sus-pensions, the sources said.

However, none of the lead-ers acquiesced, saying insteadthat the government shouldexpress regret over the decisionof not discussing price rise.

With the suspension of theMPs in RS concluding onFriday, a discussion on price

rise will be taken up after that.Sources in the Opposition

also said a detailed plan ofaction has been drawn out forthe dharna and a roster ofduties created which is beingcirculated on a dedicatedWhatsApp group. While onWednesday, idli-sambharbreakfast was organised byDMK MP Tiruchi Siva, lunchwith curd rice was arranged bythe DMK. Dinner will be roti,daal, paneer and chicken tan-doori courtesy the TMC.

On Thursday, the DMKwould be in charge of break-fast, the TRS of lunch and theAAP will arrange dinner.

Sources said the parties havetaken upon themselves toappoint leaders to take turns ofone to two hours to sit at thesite in support of those whohave been suspended.

20 suspended RS MPs begin relay...

TS lying on Smart City funds...

Continued from page 1

They were transportingthem to the All In casino ina hotel in Nepal via WestBengal on special flights. Theevent was held in a town closeto Siliguri on the Indo-Nepalborder from June 10 to June13. The agents allegedly col-lected Rs.3 lakh from eachcustomer belonging toHyderabad, Guntur, Nellore,Vijayawada andVisakhapatnam.However, EDofficials found that MadhavReddy and Praveen had takensome people to Sri Lanka andplayed casino games for a fewmonths. The ED found dur-ing its investigation that all thefacilities had been arranged inSri Lanka for those whoplayed casino. It seems thatthe duo had entered into anagreement with some SriLankan casino companies.

ED raids ontransnational...

SC upholds ED powers to arrest, attach...Continued from page 1

In an order that will cementthe powers of ED a benchheaded by Justice A MKhanwilkar said authoritiesunder the 2002 Act are "notpolice officers as such" and theEnforcement Case InformationReport (ECIR) cannot beequated with an FIR under theCode of Criminal Procedure(CrPC).

The bench, also comprisingJustices Dinesh Maheshwariand C T Ravikumar, said sup-ply of an ECIR copy in everycase to the person concernedis not mandatory and it isenough if ED, at the time ofarrest, discloses the grounds ofsuch arrest.

The petitioners in the casehad challenged the ED's powerof not disclosing the contentsof ECIR, contending it violat-

ed the fundamental rights ofthe accused.

The bench said in view ofthe special mechanism envis-aged by the 2002 Act, ECIRcannot be equated with an FIR.

"ECIR is an internal docu-ment of the ED and the factthat FIR in respect of sched-uled offence has not beenrecorded does not come in theway of the Authorities referredto in section 48 to commenceinquiry/investigation for initi-ating 'civil action' of 'provision-al attachment' of propertybeing proceeds of crime," itsaid. The court was hearing aclutch of over 200 petitionsfiled by individuals and otherentities questioning variousprovisions of the PMLA, a lawwhich the opposition has oftenclaimed has been weaponisedby the government to harass itspolitical adversaries.

The court said section 45 ofthe PMLA, which deals withoffences to be cognisable andnon-bailable and have twinconditions for bail, is reason-able and does not suffer fromvice of arbitrariness or unrea-sonableness.

The petitioners had alsochallenged the stringent bailconditions laid down by thelaw for the accused.

Section 45 says when thepublic prosecutor opposes thebail plea of an accused, thecourt can grant relief onlyafter it is satisfied that there arereasonable grounds to believethat the accused is not guilty ofhaving committed such anoffence and is unlikely to com-mit any offence if granted bail.

"The challenge to the consti-tutional validity of section 19(power to arrest) of the 2002Act is also rejected.

All 5 minors...Continued from page 1

The DNA test and forensicexamination of the car inwhich the victim was gang-raped has also been complet-ed by the police. The Test ofIdentification Parade (TIP)procedure was also conduct-ed where the victim identifiedall the accused who rapedher.

The victim was gang-rapedon May 28 in the Jubilee Hillsarea after she attended aparty at the Amnesia andInsomnia Pub. On June 7, thepolice arrested all the sixaccused involved in the case.They were charged withSections 376(D), 323, 366,366(A) of the Indian PenalCode and Sections 9G and 10of the Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act.

Couple washed away in...Continued from page 1

Further in Hyderabad thehighest rainfall recorded was34.2 mm in Patancheru,Sangareddy district. Averagecumulative rainfall was 449.0mm against normal 262.9 mmwith deviation of 70.8.

As for Hyderabad, for thenext 48 hours there will begenerally cloudy skies. Light tomoderate rain or thunder

showers are very likely tooccur in parts of the city.Maximum and Minimumtemperatures are likely to bearound 29°C and 22°C respec-tively. Surface winds are like-ly to be Westerlies or NorthWesterlies with wind speedsaround 06-12 kmph. The max-imum and minimum tem-peratures are likely to bearound 27.6o and 21.9oCelsius.

Delimitation not done for political reasons...Continued from page 1

"As per the last provision toArticle 170 (3) of theConstitution, until the relevantfigures of the first Censustaken after year 2026 havebeen published, it shall not benecessary to readjust the allo-cation of seats in the LegislativeAssembly of each State asreadjusted on the basis of the1971 Census."

On Wednesday, B VinodKumar, State Planning BoardVice Chairman, wrote a letterto Home Minister Amit Shah.

Pointing out that the BJPand the Union government ledby it had professed to believein the concept of 'One Nation,One Law", Vinod asked:"When your Ministry has goneahead and increased theAssembly seats in the State ofJ&K without amending Article170, then why your juniorminister has replied in theRajya Sabha that to increase

the number of Assembly seatsin Andhra Pradesh andTelangana, an amendment toArticle 170 is needed. It is a factthat there is no need to amendArticle 170 as simply amend-ing the Reorganisation Act isenough to increase the num-ber of Assembly seats."

Vinod said, "Show the sameenthusiasm with respect tothe issue of increase in theAssembly seats in the States ofTelangana and AndhraPradesh as you have done inthe case of Jammu & Kashmirand carry out the amendmentto Section 26 of the APReorganisation Act at the ear-liest".

Vinod pointed out that theUnion Home Ministry hadpromptly set up a DelimitationCommission headed by Justice(retd) Ranjana Prakash Desaiin March 2020 and theCommission had already sub-mitted its final report on 05May 2022. "In the case of the

States of Telangana andAndhra Pradesh, no steps weretaken by your ministry for thelast eight years. It appears thatyour ministry did this in J&K,but did not do so in Telanganaand Andhra Pradesh for polit-ical reasons", Vinod said.

Stating that APReorganisation Act had beenamended earlier as well whenseven mandals were trans-ferred, Vinod said: "If yourministry has the political will,it is easily possible for you tointroduce an amendment billto Section 26 of the APReorganisation Act in thismonsoon session and amendthe language of Section 26(1)to ensure that the Assemblyseats are increased in the statesof AP and Telangana at the ear-liest to ensure that the promis-es made by all the parties inParliament to the people ofAndhra Pradesh andTelangana are fulfilled in atime-bound manner".

Maintain status quo...Continued from page 1

The next hearing wasadjourned for four weeks. Manyexpatriates, including Congressleader Cheruku Sudhakar Reddy,have filed a petition in theSupreme Court stating that theKaleshwaram third TMC expan-sion work is being carried outwithout any permissions. Thelawyer, on behalf of the petition-er, explained that the Telangana

government is misusing publicfunds and discriminating in pay-ment of compensation to the dis-placed persons. But the lawyerfor the government said that thecompensation had already beengiven to most of the rehabilitat-ed people. The Supreme Courtadjourned the hearing of peti-tions to August 23, while order-ing the state government tomaintain status quo on the pro-ject land acquisition.

Political war heating up...Continued from page 1

It is well-known that theparty in power at the Centreuses central agencies against itspolitical opponents. In the BJPand in the Union government,if Prime Minister NarendraModi and Union HomeMinister Amit Shah take anydecision against their politicalopponents, they will not com-promise. In such politicalgames, they both will not spareeven their own party leaders.Now TRS supremo andTelangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao is report-edly in the 'hit list' of Modi andAmit Shah. After the VicePresidential election on 6thAugust, Modi and Amit Shahare likely to take a major deci-sion on Telangana. Thisincludes ED raids on closeassociates of KCR and even onhis family members. "The mainaim is to corner KCR so that hedoes not step out of Telangana,"

sources said. KCR is planningto float a national politicalparty, though it may not bepossible to unite oppositionparties against the BJP beforethe next General Election. TheBJP leadership wants to makeKCR busy and keep him con-fined to Telangana State. Usingthe ED is one of the weaponsof BJP. In fact, KCR has saidseveral times that the BJP-ledcentral government might useED against him and that he wasprepared to face anythingbecause he had never commit-ted any mistake. The BJP lead-ers at the state and national lev-els have frequently hinted at EDraids on KCR.

This being so, should thecentral government use EDagainst their party leaders orCM KCR, the TRS will take upagitation across the state and atnational level against BJP. TheTRS is planning to make polit-ical capital out of possible EDraids by blaming the BJP.

hyderabad 03HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 28, 2022

PNS n HYDERABAD

There is growing discontentagainst the Director of MedicalEducation (DME) from thedoctors across the state. DMEKo Hatao, Medical Educationko Bachao (Remove the DME,Save Medical Education) arethe slogans being raised bydoctors.

During a protest conductedby Telangana TeachingGovernment DoctorsAssociation (TTGDA) onWednesday outside the DMEoffice in Hyderabad, the doc-tors expressed their concernover the DME's functioning."The present DME is holdingthe post only as the in-charge;the government shouldappoint people to that partic-ular post according to theirseniority. There are many

senior doctors who are eligibleto be appointed as the DME",said members of the TTGDA.

Another doctor said, "Aftertaking charge, Health MinisterHarish Rao has regularly beenconducting review meetings ofhospitals across the state. Wewant to ask how many timesdid DME Dr Ramesh Reddy

conduct such review meet-ings and get in touch with hos-pitals about their functioning?He does not know the groundreality."

The TTGDA members wereprotesting outside the DMEoffice demanding fulfillment oftheir demands. Their demandsare payment of 56 months

PRC arrears, general transfersof doctors and implementationof Earned Leave encashment.

The Telangana High Courton July 7 had issued a noticeto the state government toexplain its stand on theappointment of the DME.Justice K Lakshman asked fora reply from the state govern-

ment within two weeks aboutthe long continuance of theDME. Dr Ramesh Reddy wasappointed as DME on an adhoc basis in 2017 as there wasno seniority list. When theseniority list was prepared in2021 Dr Ramesh Reddy stoodat number 10. Dr NarenderKumar, who had filed a writpetition in the HC, said that DrRamesh Reddy does not evencome within the zone of get-ting considered for the post,yet he has been continuing asthe DME.

"DME sir, what you havedone since the last five years isenough, resign with dignity. Itis our request to the ChiefMinister to give an opportuni-ty to a senior Dalit and tribaldoctors to consider for the postof DME," said the TTGDAmembers.

Doctors decry ways of DME, want regular appointee

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana government willlaunch six more urban forestparks in Hyderabad as part oforganising greenery pro-grammes in the name ofHaritha Haram to provide apleasant atmosphere along withmental relaxation.

Minister for Forest andEnvironment Allola Indrakaran Reddy and EducationMinister Sabitha Indra Reddywill inaugurate the UrbanForest Parks established as partof the objective to makeHyderabad a city with higherliving standards. These parkswill be made available to thepublic at different locationsacross the city.

The Ministers will inaugu-rate six Urban Forest Parksnamely, Nagaram Park at 9am, Pallegadda Park at 10.35am, Sirigiripur Park at 11 am,Srinagar Park at 11.30 am,

Tummalur Park at 12 pm andManyam Kancha Urban ForestPark at 12.40 pm.

Meanwhile, MunicipalAdministration and UrbanDevelopment Special ChiefSecretary Arvind Kumar said,"There are 59 urban forestblocks in HyderabadMetropolitan DevelopmentAuthority (HMDA) covering

60,000 acres, of which 16parks covering 15,000 acreswill be developed by theHMDA. Perhaps, no othermetro has such dense urbanlung space." "These parks pro-vide facilities for jogging,trekking, playing, wildlifespotting and many other activ-ities. Due to their locationclose to urban areas, they

have become attractive desti-nations for visitors to relax andunwind, as well as indulge inhealthy fitness activities. Wewelcome you to visit theseurban forests and experiencepure bliss in a well-main-tained environment," headded. Meanwhile, MinisterIndrakaran Reddy discusseddevelopment programmes of

wildlife conservancy on forestclearances required. Regardingdevelopment works under-taken under various govern-ment departments, he said,"The meeting is on 30 devel-opment programmes under-taken by various departmentsacross the state and forestclearances required for them."

Permissions required forthe road expansion, electrici-ty modernisation, T fiber gridworks in Adilabad, KomaramBheem Asifabad, Mancherial,Mahbubabad, Mulugu, NagarKurnool, BhadradriKothagudem and Medak dis-tricts were discussed.

All the questions asked bythe members of the WildlifeBoard were answered by theofficials through power-pointpresentations. They also saidthat government programmesand proposals have been madein such a way that there is lessdamage to the forests.

Six more forest parks to be opened in city todayPNS n HYDERABAD

The number of people who diedue to Hepatitis is more thanthose who die from AIDS ortuberculosis. Keeping this sit-uation in mind, the WorldHealth Organisation haddeclared July 28 as WorldHepatitis Day. The day is car-ried out with the aim of pre-venting the disease, identifyingit immediately and startingtreatment before it progresses.

Dr Kishan Nunsavata,Senior Gastroenterologist andHepatologist, KamineniHospitals, Hyderabad, said,"After the hepatitis virusenters our body, the time ittakes until the symptoms ofthe disease appear is called the'incubation period'. This timevaries depending on the typeof virus. In case of HepatitisA and E, it is two to six weeks.Hepatitis B and C viruses taketwo to six months. Treatmentof Acute Liver Failure (ALF)

caused by hepatitis virusshould be done only in cen-tres capable of liver transplan-tation. Because if liver trans-plant surgery is not per-formed in the state of com-plete liver failure, about 80 percent of the patients die prema-turely."

Hepatitis is caused by long-term excessive alcohol con-sumption, toxins that enterthe body through food anddrinks, certain types of drugs

and rarely hereditary factors.There are five types of hepati-tis infections - A, B, C, D andE. In India, Hepatitis A, B, Cand E are most common.Vaccines are available to pro-tect against hepatitis A and Bviruses. All children betweenthe ages of one and two yearsshould be vaccinated againsthepatitis A. People who aresusceptible to hepatitis andhave chronic hepatitis B or Cshould also be vaccinated.

PNS n HYDERABAD

State Roads and BuildingsMinister Vemula PrashanthReddy on Wednesday reviewedthe state roads, bridges, culvertsand many roads damaged dueto the incessant rains for the last15 days. He met ENC RavinderRao at his official residence inthe Minister's ResidentialComplex and inquired aboutvarious details. The ministersaid that 1,733 km of state roadsare damaged and they need Rs379.50 crore and 8.4 km roadsare totally cut off and theseneed Rs 13.45 crore. Similarly,39.8 km of roads have potholesand they need Rs 7.10 crore.Across the state, 412 culvertsare damaged which require Rs98.19 crore. The minister esti-mated the total cost of repairson a permanent basis would beRs 498.24 crore.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The electricity officials of GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) have beendirected to take steps to maintainstreetlights effectively in the city.On Wednesday, GHMC MayorGadwal Vijayalakshmi reviewedthe maintenance of streetlights ina meeting arranged with the offi-cials of the Urban CommunityDevelopment Department ofthe Electricity Department.

Speaking on the occasion,the Mayor directed the officialsto take measures to preventstreetlights from being switched

on in the afternoon in order toavoid complaints about frommany colonies. The Mayor saidstrong measures should be takento avoid any accidents due torains. New lights should beinstalled immediately in place ofnon-lit streetlights. The officialswere directed to coordinate withSouthern Power DistributionCorporation Limited (SPDCL)officials and take steps to preventproblems in power supply and toremove tree branches across thepower lines in coordination withUBD department officials sothat the trees do not disrupt thepower supply.

PNS n HYDERABAD

In an effort to root out organ-ised human trafficking net-work in RachakondaCommissionerate and to createa sense of safety and securityamong the families, CPRachakonda invoked deten-tion order against a human traf-ficking offender for organisingprostitution in the limits ofJawaharnagar PS and sent himto Central Prison, Cherlapallyon Wednesday. The accusedKeesanakurthi Venkata Sathyanarayana hails from Mummidivaram, East Godavari dist, APstate. Since 2021, he, alongwith his lady associate SirigadiAruna, has been running abrothel in the limits of Jawaharnagar police station of Rachakonda Commissionerate. Theyboth used to shift houses fre-quently in the limits. Earlier, hewas involved in a brothel casein Jawaharnagar PS and was facing trial before the court.

PNS n HYDERABAD

T-Hub, which leads India'sinnovation ecosystem, onWednesday announced itspartnership with Swiss ReGlobal Business Solutions(GBS) India, an analytics andinnovation hub of Swiss Re,one of the world's leadingproviders of reinsurance,insurance and other forms ofrisk transfers. With this part-nership, T-Hub and Swiss ReIndia aim to drive innovationsin the insuretech space and toestablish a presence in theworld's largest innovation cam-pus.

M Srinivas Rao, CEO, T-Hub said, "T-Hub always looksout for dedicated partners who

are open to start-up innovationbecause their transformationwill help the entire industry.Our goal of this partnership isto create opportunities for ourstart-ups to be mentored by adistinguished company likeSwiss Re GBS India so thatthey can revolutionise the mar-ket."

T-Hub will work with SwissRe GBS India to discover inno-vative technologies and trends,which allow them to acceleratethe development of new busi-ness models and products, aswell as adopt open innovationstrategy, based on exchange ofideas at the global level. The col-laboration signals a strategicpath offering the corporate aholistic synopsis of an innova-

tion ecosystem and providingstart-ups with growth opportu-nities.

Amit Kalra, Head, GlobalBusiness Solutions India said,"Bringing together our robustdigital data and technologycapabilities and T-Hub's inno-vative process, we are confidentthis collaboration will help usbuild more resilient communi-ties and a stronger reinsuranceecosystem."

T-Hub through its T-Connectinitiative will help Swiss ReGBS India in getting access tosix to eight start-ups in theinsurtech space. Four start-upswill be further shortlisted topitch during the demo day andwill stand a chance to collabo-rate with the corporate.

T-Hub partners with Swiss Reto boost reinsurance

Expedite relief ops in flood-hitareas, says Minister KTRPNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for MunicipalAdministration and UrbanDevelopment KT Rama Raoreviewed the excess rainfall andflood conditions in GreaterHyderabad city and in all 142urban local bodies inTelangana. In the wake ofheavy rains, the ministerdirected all officials to speed uprelief operations in the flood-affected areas and to workwith the aim of preventing lossof life.

On Wednesday, the ministerheld a review meeting throughvideo conference from PragathiBhavan and sought informationfrom Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC), MunicipalAdministration and UrbanDevelopment officials andHyderabad Metropolitan WaterSupply and Sewerage Boardofficials.

Speaking at the conference,the minister directed that allmunicipalities should work withthe aim of preventing loss of life.It has been suggested that reliefefforts should be expedited witha major focus on areas affectedby heavy rains in Hyderabad cityand other areas. KTR ordered

the officials to be ready fromnow on the precautionary mea-sures to be taken if the rains con-tinue like this.

Keeping in view the risk ofold buildings collapsing due tocontinuous rains, KTR advisedthe officials to continue demo-lition of the most dangerousbuildings. He said that specialattention should be paid to theareas related to culverts and

bridges in the cities and warn-ing signs should be installed.The GHMC, MA&UD,HMWSSB officials have beendirected to coordinate withlocal police, irrigation, electric-ity and revenue departments."Hyderabad city and surround-ing municipalities should joint-ly undertake flood preventionmeasures with the local bodies.Extensive use should be made of

the existing command and con-trol centres of the GHMC andwater bodies. Commissionerand Director of MunicipalAdministration (CDMA)should regularly monitor theactions being taken in allmunicipalities of the state. Mainfocus should be on the low-lyingareas in the cities. Towns shouldcontinuously monitor pondsand other water sources. Theirfull holding capacity, inflowand outflow should be contin-uously monitored by theIrrigation Department," saidMinister KTR. The officialswere ordered to repair the roadsas soon as the rains recede.

Keep off twinreservoirs,people told

In view of the heavyfloodwater entering the twinreservoirs, Hyderabad

Metropolitan Water Supply andSewerage Board (HMWSSB)has advised to increase policesecurity and requested peoplenot to go near the OsmanSagar and Himayat Sagarreservoirs. Water BoardManaging Director DanaKishore visited the twinreservoirs which are heavilyflooded on Wednesdaymorning. He checked the floodflow and reviewed with theofficials. "Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation (GHMC)and the Police Departmentwere asked to be alert aboutthe catchment areas of theriver as water is being releasedinto the Musi river. HMWSSBofficials are continuouslycoordinating with the threepolice commissionerates ofHyderabad," said DanaKishore.

Keeping in view the risk of old buildings collapsing dueto continuous rains, KTR advised the officials tocontinue demolition of the most dangerous buildings

PNS n HYDERABAD

For two days now, severalDunzo delivery riders begansharing the notifications ofthem being warned to notsupport any industrial strike.They also were told that if anyIDs of workers are found to beinvolved in any action, theywill be suspended permanent-ly. The Federation on behalf ofthe riders said in a letter, "TheIndian Federation of App-based Transport Workers(IFAT) is a registered tradeunion representing pan-Indiaon demand app-based driversand riders in India. We takestrong objection to your warn-ings to Dunzo riders. We hope

you are aware that the right tostrike is a statutory and a legalright in our country. Thisright is a process recognised byindustrial jurisprudence andsupported by social justice.National law and internation-al conventions of ILO, ICESCRrecognise workers' right tostrike and India is a signatorycountry to these conventions."

"Quick commerce industryand companies like Dunzoneed to introspect their busi-ness model which is based onprofitability, at the cost of anunderbelly of exploitation of itsworkers. Providing employ-ment by using terms such aspartners to circumvent labourlaws is to exploit the vulnera-bility of the delivery riders.Your business model exploitsthe steady supply of youthbelow 30 years ready to do thiswork without even knowingwhat their rights are. For thecompanies employing them,human angle is hardly of anyconsequence in the cut-throatbusiness," said the Federationgroup.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The government has so farreleased Rs 617 crore for theconstruction of the newSecretariat. However, only Rs217 crore has been spent so far.

All the structures includingmain building, south and westancillary buildings, mosque,church and temple are allunder construction. The con-struction work of theSecretariat is likely to be com-pleted by July 31, said the offi-cials of the Roads andBuildings Department inresponse to an applicationmade under the Right toInformation Act by KareemAnsari of YourRTI.in .

However, Telangana gov-ernment intends to completeall the construction works andinaugurate the new Secretariaton the occasion of Dussehrathis year.

Meanwhile on Tuesday,Roads and Buildings MinisterVemula Prashant Reddy

ordered the engineering offi-cers and representatives of thework agency to complete allthe construction works of theSecretariat within the deadlineset by Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao. It hasbeen clarified that all the worksshould be done simultaneous-ly on the floors. He said thatthe workforce should beincreased and the constructionworks completed quickly.

Minister Vemula has beeninspecting the constructionwork almost every week. Theprogress of grand entry, redsandstone GRC claddingworks, portico slabbing works,

windows structural glazing,compound wall railing works,CM chamber, ministers cham-bers, secretaries chambers andstation area works of variousdepartments were inspected.He examined the seating andcomputer facilities and madeseveral suggestions to theagency. After conducting areview with the officials there,the CM Chamber, MinistersChamber, Officers Chambersfurniture designs, granite floorsteps tiles, courtyard and primearea lighting fixtures were finalised. The tiles used in the CMchamber as well as the VVIPlounge were examined.

Rs 217cr spent on new Secretariat Habitual humantrafficker detained

Rs 10 cr okayedfor restoration of city roads

Hepatitis is caused

by long-term

excessive alcohol

consumption, toxins

that enter the body

through food and

drinks, certain

types of drugs and

rarely hereditary

factors

Hepatitis causes more deaths than AIDS

Notices to Dunzodelivery riders opposed

This right is a

process recognised

by industrial

jurisprudence and

supported by

social justice

Maintain streetlights effectively:GHMC directs electricity officials

Envoy-designateto Bhutan Dalelahonoured PNS n HYDERABAD

The National Council ofAsian Indian Associations(NCAIA) organised afarewell meeting forSudhakar Dalela, DeputyChief of Mission in theEmbassy of India who hasbeen appointed as the nextAmbassador of India to theroyal kingdom of Bhutan.Dalela said he was humbledby the love of the commu-nity and expressed gratitudeto his team for enablinghim to work successfullyand ensure that the goals ofamicable cooperation andensuring very effectivediplomatic relations. NayanaDesai, Sunil Singh, AnshulSharma, Yogendra Guptaand Kripa Singh each laud-ed the efforts and service ofDalela for his three assign-ments in the United States.

04HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 28, 2022

PNS n JAYASHANKAR BHUPALA PALLY

The day is not far off when the BJPwill be hounded out of power, saidTelangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) leaderGandra Satyanarayana Rao onWednesday.

Speaking at a relay hungerstrike here organised by theCongress party district unit underthe leadership of Ayutha PrakashReddy, Satyanarayana R aodeplored the BJP government atthe Centre for 'harassing' AllIndia Congress Committee(AICC) president Sonia Gandhiand the Congress leader RahulGandhi on the pretext of investi-gation into alleged money laun-dering cases. The Narendra Modigovernment, he said, has beenmuzzling the voices of dissent byusing the Central agencies like theEnforcement Directorate (ED)and the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI).

He further said the Gandhifamily had made sacrifices for thiscountry. But, those who havemade no sacrifice for the nationcannot recognise the sacrificesmade by the Gandhi family to pro-tect the integrity of the country.The people, he said, would teachthe BJP a bitter lesson, he felt.

The BJP government at theCentre was targeting the Congress

because of the fear that the grandold party would come to power inthe next elections.

The BJP has been pursuingvindictive politics against itsopponents, he said.

Congress party town unit pres-ident Devan, councillor DatlaSrinvias, Pippala Rajender, SCCell State convenor DabbetaRamesh and others were present.

PNS n WANAPARTHY

The District CooperativeCentral Bank has started offer-ing loans to students for high-er studies, according toMinister for Agriculture SNiranjan Reddy onWednesday. He expressed hishappiness over theMahabubnagar DistrictCooperative Central Bankgranting an education loan toa student, Hemanth Reddy.The Minister handed over thecheque to the student.

The District CooperativeBank has been extending edu-cation loans to students apartfrom lending money to farm-

ers. The TRS government hasbeen making all efforts tohelp students from poor fam-ilies pursue higher education.The State government, he said,has been extending Rs 20 lakhaid to students from low-income families underAmbedkar Overseas VidyaNidhi since 2015. He compli-mented the management ofthe District Cooperative Bankfor coming forward to extendeducation loans on a par withthe commercial banks. Heappealed to the students tomake proper use of newopportunities. MahabubnagarDCCB chairman NizamBhasha was also present.

Minister complimentsDCCB for granting edn loan

Minister for Agriculture S Niranjan Reddy handing over education loan cheque toa student in Wanaparthy on Wednesday

PNS n SIDDIPET

The Congress leaders andactivists on Wednesday stageda protest hunger strike toexpress their anger over theBJP government at the Centre'harassing' AICC presidentSonia Gandhi and Congressleader Rahul Gandhi. TheCongress leaders staged theprotest in response to the callgiven by the TPCC.

Congress party State unitleader Daripalli Chandra,speaking at the protest hungerstrike camp, accused the BJPgovernment at the Centres ofconspiring to weaken theopposition parties. Democracyis in peril because of the BJP'spolitical ambitions. The BJPgovernment at the Centre hasbeen making a bid to frightenthose who have been waginga fight on behalf of the people.The BJP government has beenharassing Sonia Gandhi andRahul Gandhi as part of its'hideous' plan to weaken theOpposition.

Congress leadersdeplore Centre for'harassing' Sonia, Rahul

BJP will be hounded out ofpower soon: TPCC leader

Congress leaders and activists staging a relay hunger strike in Bhupalapally on Wednesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

Congress Lok Sabha memberfrom Nalgonda N Uttam KumarReddy has accused the Centraland the State governments of giv-ing short shrift to tenant farmersin the State.

Uttam Kumar Reddy, in amedia statement on Wednesday,said, in a written reply by UnionAgriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar to a question askedby him in the Lok Sabha, revealedthe injustice being done to tenantfarmers in the country, especial-ly in Telangana State.

He said that the Central gov-ernment gave a generalised replyand misleading information onthe steps taken for the inclusionof tenant farmers and sharecrop-pers in various schemes. TheUnion Minister completely evad-ed answer to the question on the

non-inclusion of tenant farmers inthe Pradhan Mantri KisanSamman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)even in the States, such as Odishaand Andhra Pradesh, which havebeen providing cash support tolandless tenant farmers. 'By sim-ply saying that landholding is theprimary condition on which theeligibility for PM-KISAN wouldbe decided. The Centre is declar-ing that it does not care for mil-lions of landless tenant farmersacross India. Is the Ministerdeclaring that millions of tenantfarmers are not 'Kisan,' he asked.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said therewere 18 lakh tenant farmers inTelangana state, who are cultivat-ing around 20 per cent of agricul-tural land. However, tenant farm-ers have been facing discrimina-tion. Instead of supporting themwith a separate sub-target, theyare being included in the same

group as of SMFs. This is beingdone to cover up the fact that amajority of tenant farmers arebeing denied loans and kept outof priority sector lending pro-grammes, he alleged.

He pointed out that the Centrehas openly admitted that tenantfarmers, share croppers and orallessees have been excluded frominstitutional credit/formal bank-ing institutions. He said that theshare of Telangana's tenant farm-ers in the joint liability group(JLG) of 'Bhoomi Heen Kisan' wastoo nominal.

The Union AgricultureMinister, in his reply, claimed thatJLGs of 'Bhoomi Heen Kisan' wereinformal groups of 4-10 membersengaged in similar economicactivities and willing to jointlyundertake to repay the loanstaken by the group. In the UnionBudget of 2014-15, it was declared

that 5 lakh JLGs of Bhoomi HeenKisan would be financed throughNABARD. The Union Ministershared a table giving large num-bers of JLGs. But the table did notspecify how many of them aretenant farmers or BhoomiheenKisan (landless farmers).

The Congress MP said that the

Centre has claimed that therewere 54,08,798 JLBs across thecountry and a loan amount of Rs1,12,772 crore was disbursed tothem in the year 2021-22. Withjust 83,313 JLBs, Telangana stood17th in the list of 36 States andUnion and the amount disbursedto them was a mere Rs 148.76crore. This means, on average,each JLG consisting of 4 to 10members, received a loan ofRs17,855 only. In a group of 10members, each member on aver-age received only Rs 1,788. Is theMinister claiming that a loan ofRs1,788 is sufficient for crop cul-tivation by a farmer, he asked.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said thatthe previous Congress govern-ment had enacted the AndhraPradesh Land LicensedCultivators Act, 2011, to provideeligibility cards, crop loans, gov-ernment subsidies, insurance and

compensation in times of natur-al calamities to all tenant farmers.Nearly 12 lakh tenant farmerswere also identified for issuingLoan Eligibility Cards (LEC) bythe then Congress government.The TRS government, however,was yet to implement the law.

'The data on Kisan CreditCards (KCC) and PMFBY alsomakes clear the exclusion of ten-ant farmers. While there are morethan 12 crore landholdings in thecountry, out of which at least 20per cent are operated by tenantfarmers as per NSSO data, thedata presented shows only 7.14crore KCC accounts and does notspecify how many tenant farmersare covered.

'TRS Govt has excluded thetenant farmers from the RythuBandhu scheme and they don'tget the financial input of Rs.5,000 per acre.

‘Centre, State giving short shrift to tenant farmers’

PNS n MEDAK

A case of a spurned lover committing suicide byhanging himself came to light at Ramayampettown in the district on Wednesday.

The deceased was identified as 21-year-oldDharmakar Shiva Kumar. He was the resident ofRamayampet town. Shiva Kumara had reported-ly fallen in love with a girl. But, the girl spurnedhim. Dejected at being rejected by the girl, heresorted to extreme step. The police said Kumarwas found hanging from a tree on the outskirtsof Ramayampet. The police shifted the body toArea Hospital for post-mortem.

‘Spurned’ lovercommits suicide

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

TRS MLC Padi Kaushik Reddyon Wednesday challengedHuzurabad BJP MLA EatalaRajender for an open debate onthe development of the con-stituency in the last eightmonths. He would fix a date foran open debate and if the BJPlegislator failed to turn up, hewould hold a public meetingand expose Rajender's 'truecolours.' Kaushik Reddy toreinto Rajender for criticisingChief Minister KChandrashekar Rao time andagain. He ridiculed him for say-ing that he would contestagainst KCR from Gajwel con-stituency in the next Assembly

elections. As Rajender lostground in his constituency, hewas making such 'ridiculous'statements to divert the atten-tion of people, he pointed out.The BJP MLA, after his electionin the by-polls, did not even tryto develop his constituency.

'Nobody knew him before2004. KCR gave him an oppor-tunity and made him minister.But Rajender stabbed the ChiefMinister in the back,' KaushikReddy pointed out. The TRSMLC took exception toRajender describing the TRSgovernment as 'dorala palana'(the landlords' regime). Healleged that Rajender had builta palatial house at a cost of Rs100 crore.

Kaushik Reddy challengesEatala for open debate

TRS MLC Kaushik Reddy addressing a media conference in Karimnagar on Wednesday

PNS n JANGAON

Panchayat Raj Minister ErrabelliDayakar Rao on Wednesday unveiledthe statue of former president of IndiaA P J Abdul Kalam at ZP High Schoolin Palakurti and felicitated high schoolstudents who came in flying colours inSSC public examinations. The Ministeralso felicitated school attenderBikshapati in recognition of his meri-torious services to the institution.

Later, the Minister had lunch alongwith the students.Praising Abdul Kalam,Errabelli recalled the former's message

to people to work hard to fulfil theirdreams.Describing him as a great per-son, Kalam's possessions includedbooks, a stringed instrument, Veena, aCD player and a laptop. He said thatKalam studied aeronautical engineering.During the regime of Abdul Kalam,rockets were manufactured by India. Hesaid that the life of Kalam is worth emu-lating. Kalam is a vegetarian, wasagainst alcoholism, a confirmed bach-elor and disciplined to the core.

Kalam set an example for others toemulate, he said, asking children todream big as advised by Kalam.

Dayakar Rao unveilsstatue of Abdul Kalam

Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao speaking at a school in Palakurthi in Jangoan district on Wednesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister Talasani SrinivasYadav has directed the officialsto work together with Dairy,Animal Husbandry andTelangana State LivestockDevelopment Agency(TSLDA) to take the VijayaTelangana Dairy forward indevelopment as private dairiesare entering the Telanganastate.

Minister Srinivas Yadavinaugurated a one-day work-shop on Integrated DairyDevelopment Plan for VijayaDairy managers of various dis-tricts at the CooperativeManagement Institute inRajendranagar on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion,the minister explained thatafter agriculture, most of thefamilies in the country earntheir livelihood from the dairysector. He explained that thegovernment will provide nec-essary support to the farmerswho depend on this sector.

"Vijaya Dairy, which wasneglected in the state, hasachieved a lot of developmentwith the special initiative ofChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao afterTelangana state came into exis-tence. "Many programmes arebeing implemented under theauspices of Vijaya Dairy for theuplift of dairy farmers. Hesaid that apart from providingfree medical services to dairyfarmers, the government isalso providing buffaloes and

supplying grass at a subsidy,"said the minister.

Special attention has beenpaid to the measures to betaken to increase the livestockand milk production. He saidthat awareness seminars onanimal health care, artificialinsemination and other propri-etary methods will be organ-ised in all villages under theauspices of Vijaya Dairy,Animal HusbandryDepartment, Gopal Mitra andTSLDA officials. The minister

said that it is possible toincrease milk production ifplanned. He directed the offi-cials to give suggestions andinstructions on the proceduresto be followed by the farmersto increase milk productionfrom the village level.

Meanwhile, the minister saidthat more outlets will be set upin the coming days. In order tokeep Vijaya products closer tothe consumers, plans weremade to set up cold storages in12 identified areas of the stateand supply them to the outletsfrom there in the next sixmonths.

Develop Vijaya Dairy on par withpvt dairies: Minister Talasani

Special attention

has been paid to

the measures to

be taken to

increase the

livestock and

milk production.

PNS n SIDDIPET

Minister for Finance T HarishRao has said that the caste asso-ciation buildings stand as a tes-timony for the self-respect of themembers of the caste group.Hedistributed orders sanctioningRs 54 lakh to construct buildingsfor various caste associations insix villages of Nanganur mandalat his camp office in Siddipet onWednesday. Addressing the gathering on theoccasion, he said Chief MinisterK Chandrashekhar Rao in thenew State of Telangana has beenencouraging caste-based voca-tions and paving the way for eco-

nomic development of all castegroups. The buildings would be usefulfor holding celebrations. TheState government would sanc-tion community halls for vari-ous caste groups and take spe-cial measures for the develop-ment of community halls.The government sanctioned Rs10 lakh to build Yadava commu-nity hall at Akkennapalle village,Rs 7 lakh to Kanapur village, Rs7 lakh to Mudiraj communityhall in Kondamrajpalli, Rs 5 lakhto Mudiraj Community hall inAppalaya Cheruvu, Rs 5 lakh toReddy community hall inAppalaya Cheruvu.

BLDGS FOR CASTE ASSNS

Harish Rao orderssanction of Rs 54 lakh

Minister for Finance T Harish Rao handing over orders sanctioning funds forcastes associations' buildings, in Siddipet on Wednesday

Film Director MSRajashekar filescomplaint on faketweets in his namePNS n HYDERABAD

Film Director MS RajashekarReddy on Wednesday filed acomplaint with the HyderabadCyber Crime Police saying thatsome mischievous elementshave created fake tweets in hisname and are abusing certaincastes and communities.

In a letter to the JointCommissioner of Police,Cyber Crime Department,Reddy said, "Last night somemischievous elements havecreated some fake tweetsattributing to me and abusingsome castes and other com-munities. They are makingthese tweets viral and now cre-ated a hashtag "ban macherlaniyojakavargam".

Even worse, these elementshave started a vitriolic cam-paign on twitter spaces in thename of 'MacharlaMuchatlu"."As you know, theseare extremely dishearteningand dangerous acts spreadingmalice and poison in the soci-ety and disturbing the harmo-nious coexistence.

TRS govt is committed forwelfare of all sections of peoplePNS n KARIMNAGAR

Minister for Civil Supplies GangulaKamalakar has said that the State governmentis committed to the welfare of all sections ofpeople.

He, along with Mayor Y Sunil Rao, visit-ed the Ramdev Baba Seva Samiti CommunityHall being built at Yagna Varaha Swamy tem-ple in the city on Wednesday. He spoke withengineers there to enquire about the progressof construction.

He directed them to speed up the gas tocomplete construction as early as possible. Heassured the representatives of the associationthat he would help them, if necessary. He saidthat serving the members of the communi-ty who settled down in the city from variousparts of the country, is his duty.

He promised to take steps to solve theirproblems. 'Let us develop the city together,'he told the members of the community.Herecalled sanctioning Rs 10 lakh to build thecommunity hall.

He announced sanction of another Rs 15lakh to complete he balance of the works.Later, he visited Yagna Varaha Swamy tem-ple in the city and arrived at the temple withthe priests extending him full temple honours.

He performed special pujas to the deityand fulfilled his vows to the deity.

Corporators Vangala Sridevi, Pavan, KolaMalati, Sampat Rao, MPTC R LakshmiMohan, PSrinivas, V Ramesh, U Sridhar andothers took part in the programme.

nation 05HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 28, 2022

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The bodies of three tribal sisters were found hanging from a tree at a hamlet in Khandwadistrict of Madhya Pradesh, a police official said on Wednesday. They were found hangingat Kota Falya near Bhamgarh village around 11 pm on Tuesday, he said. "The villagers

found the three sisters hanging from a tree and alerted the police. The deceased were identifiedas Sonu (23) and her two younger sisters Savitri (21) and Lalita (19)," Khandwa Superintendentof Police (SP) Vivek Singh said. They wereliving with their mother in the village and theirfather had died four years back, he said,adding that besides their mother, the deceasedare survived by two sisters and three brothers."Preliminary investigation and forensicexamination indicated that the three sisterscommitted suicide, but the incident is beingprobed from all angles to know the exactcause behind it," the SP added. After beingalerted about the recovery of bodies, thepersonnel of Jawar police station reached thespot around 2 am (on Wednesday), he said.

MP: Three tribal sisters found hangingfrom tree, suicide suspected

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh on Wednesday said the Congressgovernment in Rajasthan was being "run by the mafia" but its countdownhas started as people "want to get rid of this dispensation". Accusing the

Ashok Gehlot government of "failing on all fronts", he claimed that not just BJPMLAs, but Congress legislators and ministers have also cornered it over issuesof "corruption on public platforms"."The Mafia is running theRajasthan government. Be itmining mafia, paper leak mafia orother criminal gangs, the mafia isflourishing in the state and thegovernment is working to protectthem instead of taking action."People want to get rid of thisgovernment and the countdown ofthe Gehlot government hasstarted," Chugh told reporters at apress conference here.

Mafia running Ashok Gehlot govt butits countdown has started: Chugh

Mumbai police on Wednesday arrested three persons from Surat in Gujarat forallegedly trying to extort Rs 50 lakh from a businessman here and threatening himby citing their links with gangster Chhota Shakeel, an official said. The complainant

in the case said he had given Rs 13 crore to one of the accused, but instead of repayingthe money to him, the latter along with histwo accomplices threatened him and tried toextort money, the police said. The AntiExtortion Cell (AEC) of Mumbai crime brancharrested the trio, identified as Aslam Naviwala(63), Ilyas Kapadia (42) and Mirza Arif Beig(52), the official said, adding that Naviwala'sson Ehtesham was wanted in the case. The45-year-old businessman said in hiscomplaint that he had given Rs 13 crore toNaviwala for his business after raising theamount from different people, he said. "Later,whenever he demanded his money back fromNaviwala, the latter refused to repay it.

Three Chhota Shakeel men held forbid to extort Rs 50 lakh from bigman

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Wednesday questionedCongress president SoniaGandhi for over three hours onthe third day of her depositionin the National Herald newspa-per linked money launderingcase.

She was given no fresh sum-mons amid indications that herquestioning has concluded.

With Wednesday's questioning,Gandhi has been questioned formore than 11 hours over threedays and faced around 100 ques-tions, officials said. Her firstround of questioning took placeon July 21. Gandhi reached the

federal agency's office in centralDelhi at 11 am accompanied byher daughter Priyanka GandhiVadra and son Rahul Gandhi. Thesession began around 11.15 am.

The team of investigators includ-ed the main probe officer and aperson who took down state-ments dictated by the Congresschief. Sonia Gandhi left the ED

office around 2 pm along withVadra, who stayed with her at the'Pravartan Bhawan' (ED head-quarters) in order to provide anyassistance or medical care to hermother. The questioning per-tains to the charge of allegedfinancial irregularities in theCongress-promoted YoungIndian Private Limited, whichowns the National Herald news-paper. The Congress chief isunderstood to have stuck to theparty's position that no personalassets were made in the AssociateJournals Limited (AJL)-YoungIndian deal and that the routineaffairs were handled by otheroffice bearers, including late MotiLal Vora. Congress leaders Pawan

Bansal and Mallikarjun Khargehave been questioned by the EDin the past.

The sessions took place withCovid-appropriate protocols inplace and are being recorded ina audio-video mode, the officialssaid. The Congress has slammedthe agency's action against itstop leadership and termed it as"political vendetta" and "harass-ment". The Delhi Police, like thelast two times, deployed a hugeforce, including CRPF and RAFpersonnel, and barricaded theover one kilometre stretchbetween Gandhi's residence onJanpath and the ED office.Traffic restrictions were alsoimposed in the area.

BJP man sticksModi's photo onbillboards forchess eventPNS n CHENNAI

A BJP office-bearer onWednesday affixed bright por-traits of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on billboardsput up here as part of the TamilNadu government's publicitycampaign for the 44th ChessOlympiad set to commence onJuly 28.

Amar Prasad Reddy, presi-dent of sports and skill devel-opment cell of Tamil Nadu BJP,released a video-clip of him fix-ing photographs of Modi onhoardings, along with two oth-ers. He posted the clip on histwitter handle.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A total of 3,48,279 personsinjured in 3,66,138 road acci-dents across the country dur-ing the calendar year 2020,causing 1,31,714 deaths,Parliament was informed onWednesday.

In a written reply to theRajya Sabha, Minister of RoadTransport and Highways NitinGadkari said that as many as4,51,361 people were injured inroad accidents in India during2019, while the total number ofaccidents stood at 4,49,002.According to the minister, the

road ministry has formulateda multi-pronged strategy toaddress the issue of road safe-

ty based on education, engi-neering (both of roads andvehicles), enforcement and

emergency care. Replying to aseparate question, Gadkarisaid, construction works onNational Highways weredelayed to some extent due tothe Covid-19 pandemic andthe loss of time was estimatedto be generally in the range of3-9 months depending uponthe project parameters.

The government has takenseveral steps under Atmanirbhar Bharat, like granting timeextensions for 3 to 9 months,relaxation in contract provi-sions for ensuring cash flow,direct payment to sub-con-tractors and release of reten-

tion/security money to aug-ment cash flow, waiver ofpenalty in case of delay in sub-mission of performance secu-rity (for new contracts), tomake up the loss and regain thelost speed in highways con-struction, he added. Responding to another question,Gadkari said 61 State TransportUndertakings (STUs), whichare members of Association ofState Road TransportUndertakings (ASRTU), areoperating 1,45,747 buses, out ofwhich 51,043 buses have facil-ity for boarding and deboard-ing for persons with disabilities.

PNS n NEW DELHI

India understood the impor-tance of family planning earlyand was the first country tolaunch a national family plan-ning programme in 1952,Minister of State for HealthBharati Pravin Pawar said onWednesday.

Chairing the national fami-ly planning summit, 2022, shehighlighted that India is animportant member of theFP2020, which has now transi-tioned to FP2030, and as part ofits commitment to this partner-ship, USD 3 billion has beeninvested in family planning.

Family Planning (FP) 2030is the successor to FP2020, aglobal initiative for familyplanning providing a space forstakeholders to convene, align,share knowledge, brokerresources, and advance thefield. At the summit themed'Sustaining efforts, Steering

Partnerships, Shaping Vision inFamily Planning Sabka Saath,Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayasand Sabka Vikas', She statedthat "between 2012 and 2020,India added over 1.5 croreadditional users for moderncontraceptives thereby increas-ing the modern contraceptiveuse substantially". "India hasachieved replacement level fer-tility, with 31 states and Union

Territories having achieved atotal fertility rate of 2.1 or less,"she said.

At the event, the ministerunveiled the India FamilyPlanning 2030 vision docu-ment and launched theMedical Eligibility CriteriaWheel Application, e-Moduleof Family Planning LogisticsManagement System and dig-ital archive on family planning.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP on Wednesday allegedthe involvement of Rajasthangovernment ministers and offi-cials in the suspected illegalmining in Bharatpur anddemanded a CBI probe intothe matter.

A BJP delegation, includingits general secretary ArunSingh, MP and formerMumbai commissioner SatyaPal Singh and MP and formerUttar Pradesh DGP Brij Lal,also presented its inquiryreport to party president J PNadda after visiting the site ofalleged illegal mining where asadhu had immolated himselfduring an anti-mining agita-tion. The sadhu, Vijay Das,had died a few days later on

July 23 at a hospital in thenational capital, followingwhich the BJP formed thecommittee to look into thematter.

Nadda said the reportexposes the "dismal state ofaffairs in Rajasthan and therampant mining mafia raj".

Arun Singh told reporters

that there was a lot of angeramong people against theCongress government headedby Chief Minister AshokGehlot and that Das' sacrificeshould not go in vain.

As the site of the "illegal"mining includes some sacredplaces for the Hindus, sadhusand seers had been protesting

against it for over 551 days butwere often mocked byRajasthan government minis-ters, he said. ''The protestershave sought a CBI probe intothe matter following the heart-rending death of Das, and ourparty supports it,'' he said.

A local hill considered holyby pilgrims has been destroyedby illegal mining which hasalso wrought destruction onthe environment, he said.

The National GreenTribunal should also probe thematter, he said.

The Congress governmentin Rajasthan is insulting 'saints'who have been forced tolaunch an agitation in supportof their demands, he said.

Such a government is cer-tain to go, Singh claimed.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A total of 84,405 posts arelying vacant in six CentralArmed Police Forces,with the Central ReservePolice Force having thehighest number of vacan-cies at 29,985, RajyaSabha was informed onWednesday.

Union Minister of Statefor Home Nityanand Rai

also said the governmenthas decided to fill up theexisting vacancies inCAPFs by December2023. The total strengthof Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF), BorderSecurity Force (BSF),Central IndustrialSecurity Force (CISF),Sashastra Seema Bal(SSB), Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP) and

Assam Rifles is 10,05,779.Altogether, 84,405

posts are lying vacant inthe six CAPFs, Rai said ina written reply to a ques-tion. He said the CRPFhas the highest number ofvacant posts at 29,985,followed by 19,254 in theBSF, 11,402 in the SSB,10,918 in the CISF, 3,187in the ITBP and 9,659 inthe Assam Rifles.

84,405 posts vacant in paramilitary forces: Govt

3,065-page charge sheet filedPNS n BENGALURU

The Crime InvestigationDepartment (CID) onWednesday submitted a 3,065-page charge sheet in the policesub-inspector (PSI) recruit-ment scam before the First

Additional Chief MetropolitanMagistrate (ACMM) court. Thecharge sheet names 36 accusedand includes the statements of202 witnesses and 330 materi-al evidences. All these havebeen submitted in sealedenvelopes. However, the charge

sheet against Amrit Paul, thehighest-ranking police officer(ADGP), has not been submit-ted. Sources said more evi-dence against Paul is beinggathered and he will be namedin a subsequent additionalcharge sheet. Since the charge

sheet was submitted in sealedenvelopes, the contents have notbeen released. The recruitmentprocess of 545 PSIs for theKarnataka police departmentstarted last year. In January2022, over 50,000 candidatesappeared for the written exams.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Lok Sabha on Wednesday passeda bill which seeks to provide astatutory framework for the func-tioning of the National Anti-Doping Agency and the NationalDope Testing Laboratory. TheNational Anti-Doping Bill waspassed by a voice vote along withcertain official amendmentsmoved by the government.Responding to debate on thebill, Sports and Youth AffairsMinister Anurag Thakur said itwill promote sports and protectthe interest of sportspersons. Hesaid it will also help enhance dopetesting facilities in the country.

Why is arrestedMinister still inMamata' s cabinetPNS n KOLKATA

Leader of Opposition in WestBengal Assembly SuvenduAdhikari on Wednesdayquestioned why ParthaChatterjee is being retained asa minister by Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee despite hisarrest by the EnforcementDirectorate in connectionwith an alleged school jobsscam. Adhikari metGovernor La Ganesan at theRaj Bhavan here, seeking thatChatterjee, who holds theindustry, commerce and par-liamentary affairs portfolios,be removed as minister. "She(the chief minister) has nottaken any step against himdespite so much informationand proof," Adhikari toldreporters after the meeting.Adhikari alleged that it is "herstrategy to show that she isgood and others are not".

‘More than 1.30 lakh people killed,3.48 lakh hurt in 2020 mishaps’

‘India first nation to launch familyplanning programme in 1952’

BJP seeks CBI probe into ‘illegal' mining in Raj

ED questions Sonia for over 3 hours

SI RECRUITMENT SCAM

NATIONAL HERALD CASE

Congress ‘Gangotri of corruption’,don’t need their certificate: K’takaPNS n BENGALURU

Karnataka Chief MinisterBasavaraj Bommai onWednesday called Congress a"Gangotri (fountainhead) ofcorruption" and said he does-n't need a certificate from theopposition party, as he com-pletes one year in office.

He was reacting to Congresson Tuesday giving a "zero"score for his government, andcalling 'Janotsava' (festival ofpeople), the event organised tomark the occasion atDoddaballapur on July 28, as"Bhrashtotsava" (festival ofcorruption). The event wouldbe inaugurated by BJP nation-al president J P Nadda.

"Congress is Gangotri ofcorruption, their current and

former national presidentsare daily attending inquiriesin cases relating to corrup-tion, their state president toohas faced such inquiries. Weneed not learn lessons fromthem, people are aware ofthings," Bommai said inresponse to a question.

Speaking to reporters here,he said the Congress has noright to speak on corruption.

Anti-dopingbill gets LokSabha nod

Even as WHO declared Monkeypox a global health emergency amid an outbreakin over 70 countries, Delhi got its first case of Monkeypox and now the tally ofmonkeypox cases is four in the country. This may not look alarming but it can

multiply fast and the time to take action is now.The reason for this is the unpredictability of the cause of its spread and the

speed at which it has spread across the world. That the person who tested pos-itive did not travel abroad is a good enough indication of its uncertainty. The lat-est person to get infected was in Manali, Himachal Pradesh where he contract-ed the disease. The previous three cases were reported from Kerala. All three ofthem had returned from the Middle East. So it is difficult to say from where exact-ly it would spread and how.

Monkeypox like many other diseases has its rootsin Africa. It has been there for quite some time inparts of central and West Africa for decades, but itdid not go beyond the continent. This is for the firsttime that it has been reported from across the globeand that too in a very short period. Nearly 14,000people across the globe have contracted Monkeypoxthis year, and five have died.

Monkeypox was labeled a global health emer-gency by the WHO. The Public Health Emergencyof International Concern (PHEIC) should sound analarm that a coordinated international responseis needed.

The 70 odd countries which have a Monkeypoxfootprint are now on high alert and taking precautions to control it. The low deathrate, however, is no consolation as we do not know how the virus would behave indifferent climatic conditions.Monkeypox is a DNA virus and is similar to chickenpoxin its symptoms and span. One needs to wear a face mask and maintain social dis-tancing to prevent its spread. It normally starts with a fever and skin rash.

Like most viruses this too is unpredictable. The health system in the country mustbe geared up to meet the challenge when it is just beginning. As we know that wak-ing up late, as we did in the corona pandemic, can be disastrous and play havocwith people's lives. The only silver lining is that this is not a new disease as the virushas been around in Africa for a while and gave scientists time to study it. But still,its spread is fast and would spread fast if proper precautions are not taken up.

The Government’s decision to revive Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is indeedwell-intentioned but one has to be too optimistic to believe that it would spell suc-cess. Telecom is a strategic sector, an official press release said. The presence of

BSNL in the sector, apart from acting as a market balancer, helps expand telecom ser-vices in rural areas, development of indigenous technology, and disaster relief, it added.It is for these reasons that the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, onWednesday approved the BSNL revival package amounting to Rs 1.64 lakh crore.

The package includes infusion of fresh capital for upgrading the public sector enter-prise’s services, allocation of spectrum, de-stressing of its balance sheet, and augmen-tation of its fiber network by merger of Bharat Broadband Nigam Limited (BBNL) in it.“To improve existing services and provide 4G services, BSNL will be allotted spectrumin 900/1800 MHz band administratively at the cost of Rs 44,993 cr through equity infu-

sion. With this spectrum, BSNL will be able to com-pete in the market and provide high-speed data usingtheir vast network including in rural areas,” the pressrelease said. Then there is also financial support forcapex, to the tune of Rs 22,471 crore over the nextfour years. Much of this will be in the next two years,Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters whilebriefing about the Cabinet decision.

It’s a typical PSE revival package, complete withdebt restructuring, conversion of debt into equity, etc.And, typically, the cost will be borne by the taxpayer.This raises several issues. First, at a time when pri-vate players are moving towards 5G, how would a rick-

ety PSE compete with them with 4G networks? Second, BSNL got a revival packageworth Rs 70,000 crore in 2019, but it is still not in the pink of health. It is earning oper-ating profits only; only in 2026-27 it is expected to earn a net profit, according to Vaishnaw.Which means that its revival is iffy. Can and should the public exchequer be allowed totake this bet? Third, revival packages have rarely, if ever, worked. Air India is a recentexample; tens of thousands of crores were spent over the years to resuscitate the air-line—to no avail. Earlier too dozens, if not hundreds, of attempts were made to revivesick PSEs—without any success. The government’s disinvestment manual of 2003 pre-sented a list of 21 PSEs whose revival was studied. The verdict: “Despite huge invest-ments shown above, the Government has not even been able to achieve turnaround inany of the sick companies shown in the Table.”

The reason is simple: PSEs are controlled by politicians and bureaucrats, the peo-ple least equipped to run commercial enterprises. Not infrequently, political and parti-san interests trump economic logic. Then there are the issues of incompetence andcorruption. Against this backdrop, the decision to revive BSNL seems to be a bet thatshould have been avoided.

Avoidable bet

CONGRATS TO SANDHYA RAJU FOR NATYAMSir — Congrats to Sandhya Raju whose filmNatyam has won 2 awards at the 68thNational Film Awards (for Best Choreo-graphy to SandhyaRaju, and Best Make-upArtist to TV Rambabu). The First Indianfull-time dance movie wasShantharam'sKalpana.

On the other hand boxer, Lovelina'sresponsible coach SandhyaGurung and theteam are not allowed into the CommonWealth Games (CWG) village in Birmin-gham, UK. We request CWG administra-tors to resolve the issue amicably. Withouta responsible and able team of coaches,Lovelina's victories and medal colors can gethampered.

Madhu PV | Bengaluru

ANIMAL VACCINATION IS IMPORTANTSir — Vaccination in animals is veryimportant as it's for humans. It helps in keep-ing the immune system strong and helps toprevent the disease. Though animal vacci-nation has a cost but most definitely less thanthe amount which may cost you should theyfall sick. Vaccination helps to keep animalsstrong and provides sustainability to thefarmer. It helps them to be physicallystrong since they cannot get affected by anycommunicable diseases. Scientists are doingmuch research on safe, quality, and effectivevaccines. This is particularly important forthose diseases which are complex andincurable. Therefore we must prioritize pre-venting disease or minimizing the clinicalsigns of disease in the first instance to pro-tect the health and welfare of animals.

TithiTrivedi | Ujjain

KOVIND DIDN'T ACT AS PEOPLE'S PRESIDENTSir — It is alleged that former PresidentRamnathGovind acted only as a mouth-piece of the ruling dispensation and hadonly been fulfilling the political agenda ofthe BJP by signing on dotted lines withoutmurmur. The assent given by him withoutdelay to the scrapping of Article 370 and

the Citizenship Amendment Act broughtin by the BJP government without anydeliberation in the houses of parliament isa case in point.

He only remained a passive spectator ofvarious atrocities committed against theDalits and minorities and the lynching ofinnocents by the so-called cow vigilantes,conveniently forgetting the constitutionalduties he was entrusted with towards all cit-izens irrespective of their caste, communi-ty, creed or religion, allegedly not to irk theruling party.

While he spent the entire five years inhis palace without even once raising hisobjection to the controversial acts passedby the government and the atrocities com-mitted by the right-wing goons, one expect-ed that at least in his speech to the nationon the last day of his stay in the RaiseenaHills, he will gather strength to raise hisvoice as per his conscience, to at least advisethe government to follow the Raj Dharmain its acts, one was disappointed that he wastalking of many other things except this! He

has miserably missed the bus to beacclaimed as a president who took care ofthe interest of all the people as the first cit-izen of the country!

Hope the incumbent President Murmuwould prove differently and by the end ofher tenure, earn the name as one who actedwith conscience.

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

THE KING OF GAMES IN TAMIL NADUSir — Holding the grandiloquent event ofthe Chess Olympiad for the first time inIndia is in itself a momentous pride and tri-umph for the sports-crazy nation. And nobetter city in the country than Chennai willbe relevant to host the world’s biggest chesstournament, as, after all, Chennai is India’schess hub and widely known as the coun-try’s “Mecca of chess.”

Chess indeed is “the game of kings andthe king of games.”

Ranganathan Sivakumar | Chennai

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

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HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 28, 2022

06

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Watch out for Monkeypox!Though the Monkeypox cases are just four in India so far,

the situation could snowball into a major medical crisis

PICTALK

Ladakh: ITBP personnel hoist the tricolour as part of 'Azadi ke Amrit Mahotsav' Celebrations ahead of Independance day PTI

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

The decision to revive BSNL, though well-intentioned, is not grounded in reality

The Lok sabha has suspended Congress

MPs for the entire monsoon session due

to waving placards and disrupting the par-

liament proceedings by ignoring Speaker Om

Birla's warning. It is apt and sets a good prece-

dent for rabble-rousers. It would be better if

similar steps were taken against other parties

too, who were also protesting against the gov-

ernment regarding pertinent issues suffered by

the country's people on GST, LPG price hike,

and price rise of other essential commodities.

Its also a huge responsibility of the ruling dis-

pensation to come forward, acknowledge the

impending predicament and try to answer the

questions raised by wider opposition instead

of procrastination by using finance minister

NirmalaSitharaman as a stop-gap.

Since week proceedings of both houses

are being disrupted due to continuous adjourn-

ment and tug of war between ruling and oppo-

sition which yields no result. It incurred huge

waste of public exchequer at the same time

neglecting the areas of public concern for a

healthy debate at the cost of absurdities which

must be avoided unanimously and a sense of

respect to parliament rather than making it a

ritual of disruption each year.

Janga Bahadur Sunuwar | Jalpaiguri

Suspension of MPs is apt!

SOUNDBITE

below the national averagecan be largely attributed to eco-nomic security among mem-bers of these communities.The fifth edition of India'sNational Family HealthSurvey,2021 pointed out forthe first time that the TotalFertility Rate (TFR) had hit2.0 or below the replacementrate of 2.1.

This decline in India'spopulation is in line with whatis being observed in developedcountries and is expected totranslate into improved livingstandards. The fact that thedecline in population is pos-sible without state coercivepolicies has been demonstrat-ed by India's two most popu-lous states, i.e. Uttar Pradeshand Bihar.

Now, the focus has shiftedto whether we can reducepoverty, provide healthcarefacilities, education etc. Theavailable data clearly showsthat during the comingdecades, cohorts of 0-14 yearsand 15-24 years will continueto decline while those of 25-64and 65+ will continue to rise.This indicates that India willcontinue to have a large pop-ulation of working age peoplewho will be expected to sup-port a growing number ofaged. Providing social securi-ty to this growing 65+ catego-ry of population would be a bigchallenge .

The welfare schemes of thegovernment will have to factorin the rising numbers and theavailability of resources toensure that all eligible benefi-ciaries are covered. Healthcare,housing and education sectorswould come under great strain.The need for skilling is a pre-requisite for 25-64 age groupsbecause skilling is the only wayto ensure that they are produc-tive and have better incomes totake care of the aged. This isthe major policy challengebothfor the cohort and the futuregovernments.

Another segment of soci-ety which needs special atten-tion is the Girl Child. Effective,job-oriented education is a wayout. There is a need to haveopen discussions keeping thesize of the family small.

The NFHS reportsrevealed that "unmet need forfamily planning methods" arehighest among lowest quintile(11.4%) and lowest amongthe highest wealth quintile(8.6%) implying that the usageof modern contraceptivesincreased with income. 66.3%of women who are employedare more likely to use moderncontraception compared with53.4% of women who are not.The NFHS (2019-21) indicatesthat of all the girls and womenabove the age of 6 years,only16.6% were educated for 12years or more.

To make the situationworse, ASER reports pointout the quality of educationimparted is poor. Femaleeducation is the determiningfactor of the status of malnu-trition amongst the childrenbelow the age of five. Morethan 35% of our childrenbelow the age of five arestunted. They will be trappedin poverty and would remaindependent on othersthroughout life.

Again, comparing thereports of NFHS-5 (2019-21)and NFHS-4 (2015-16), wefind that 57 per cent of womenin the reproductive age groupof 15-49 are anaemic in 2019-21 in comparison to 53% in2015-16. This unbalancedgrowth need to change andinvestment in healthcare andeducation is the key to pros-perity,especially of the GirlChild by providing them morethan 12 years of quality job-oriented education. Theimprovement of human devel-opment index of our massesleading to prosperity at all lev-els will not be possible untiland unless we take the flaggedissues seriously and put in sin-cere and honest efforts tosolve the problems.

(The writer is a seniorjournalist and Chairman,Panwar Group of Institutions,Solan, Himachal Pradesh. Theviews expressed are personal.)

There is urgent need to manage the demography of the countryelse all the development efforts could be nullified

ONLY FIVE STATESWHOSE FERTILITYRATE WAS ABOVE

THEREPLACEMENT

LEVEL OF 2.1 ARE- BIHAR,

MEGHALAYA,UTTAR

PRADESH,JHARKHAND AND

MANIPUR.THESESTATES ARE ALSO

BACKWARD INTERMS OF PER

CAPITA INCOME.

BRIJENDER SINGH PANWAR

Control populationin noncoercive way

As per the World Popu-lation Prospectus (WPP,2022) report, India is allset to surpass China to

become the most populous coun-try of the world by 2023. India'spopulation is projected to be1,429 billion by next year whenChina would have 1,426 billionpeople. It is estimated that Indiawill have 1,688 billion people, farahead of China's populationwhich will drop to 1,317 billionby 2050 whereas the world's pop-ulation would reach 8 billion onNovember 15, 2022.

Rates of population growthvary significantly across countriesand regions. By 2050, more thanhalf of the projected world's pop-ulation will be concentrated injust eight countries- India,Nigeria, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Egypt,Congo, Philippines and Tanzania.

Disparate growth ratesamong the world's largest coun-tries will re-order their rankingby size. The 46 Least DevelopedCountries (LDCs) are amongthe world's fastest growing.Many are projected to double inpopulation between 2022 and2050, putting additional pres-sure on resources and posingchallenges to the achievement ofthe UN's SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs).

The report warns that theshare of the global populationaged 65 years or above is project-ed to rise from 10% in 2022 to16% in 2050. Thus, these coun-tries should take steps to adopteffective programmes likeimproving the sustainability ofsocial security and pension sys-tems and by establishing univer-sal health care systems.

Coming back to India, thefindings of a survey indicates thatthere were only five states whosefertility rate was above thereplacement level of 2.1 ( the rateat which a population exactlyreplaces itself from one generationto the next)- Bihar, Meghalaya,Uttar Pradesh,Jharkhand andManipur. These states are alsobackward in terms of per capitaincome. This makes it obviousthat the population growthadversely impacts economicprosperity.

The fact that Jains, Sikhs andBuddhists have fertility rates well

These rebels are like

rotten leaves of a

tree and should be

shed. It is good for

the tree as there will

be new leaves.

Shiv Sena leader

—Uddhav Thackeray

Many people criti-cize PanditNehru. I cannotcriticize PanditNehru. His policymay have beenwrong, but hisintention was not.

Defence Minister

—Rajnath Singh

Today is the first

death anniversary

of Kili

Rajamahendren. .

His memory will be

eternal in the

hearts of all the past cricketers

including myself as a benefactor,

mentor and a friend.-

Sri Lankan Cricketer

—Sanath Jayasuriya

Whatever a woman

does she lives in

the headlines.

Whether she has

decided to become

a mother, or on a

holiday. Eyes are always on

women's choice.

Actor

—Alia Bhatt

China and the ChineseCommunist Party rep-resent the largestthreat to Britain andthe world's securityand prosperity thiscentury.

British parliamentarian—Rishi Sunak

Finding education forbrick kiln children

THIS SHOWS THE HEIGHT OF HYPOCRISY WHICH AND

EXPECTS NO ONE QUESTIONS THEM. SONIA AND RAHUL

GANDHI, SHOULD REPLY TO THE QUESTIONS OF ED.

—BJP SPOKESPERSON

SAMBIT PATRA

LOOK AT THE DICTATORSHIP, CANNOT HOLD PEACEFUL

DEMONSTRATIONS, EVEN BY ARRESTING US, YOU

WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SILENCE US.

—CONGRESS LEADER

RAHUL GANDHI

Women’s right to abortion, and to a larger extent, their own bod-ies has found varying degrees of contention in society, polity,culture and even the law. The recent overturning of the 1973

landmark decision in Roe v. Wade on the issue of abortion by the USSupreme Court placed almost a blanket ban on abortions in the UnitedStates — about 50 years after abortions were legalized across America.

The judicial interpretation of the US Constitution regarding abortion,following the decision in Roe v. Wade, and subsequent companion deci-sions, is that abortion is legal, but may be restricted by the states tovarying degrees. The recent overturning is estimated to affect almost3.6 crore women in the US.

Abortion remains a hot-button issue in our culture, too. A recent ruling by the Indian Supreme Court ruling will stir up the debate evenmore, after the apex court allowed an unmarried woman to terminateher pregnancy at 24 weeks, thereby expanding the scope of the MedicalTermination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act to include unmarried women. It noted,“a woman’s right to reproductive choice is an inseparable part of herpersonal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution”.

Given the larger pro-life and pro-choice debate on the internationalstage, the question is: Does this ruling protect human rights?

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act governs abortions in Indiaand legalizes them under certain conditions. In a country like India, wherewomen’s rights still remain a far cry in many aspects, one would berather shocked to learn about its relatively liberal abortion law.

The Act, first enacted in 1971 and later amended, permitted termi-nated of pregnancy by a licensed doctor up to 20 weeks of gestation ifthe pregnancy could cause grave injury to the mother’s mental or phys-ical health, if the child would be born with physical or mental abnormal-ities, if pregnancy is caused due to rape or failure of contraceptives usedby a married woman or her husband, or if the socio-economic condi-tion of the family is poor and the couple already has 2-3 children.

Following a revision in the law in 2021, the phrase ‘married woman’was replaced by any woman’ and the word ‘husband’ was replaced by‘partner’ in the Act. More recently, it said that special categories of women,including survivors of sexual assault, minors and disabled women, canterminate their pregnancy up to 24 weeks.

Women can now abort unwanted pregnancies caused by contra-ceptive failure, and marital status will not bother in this situation. If thereis a chance of fetal disability, a state-level Medical Board will deter-mine the request for termination of a pregnancy even after 24 weeks(about six months).

However, activists who fought for reproductive rights still opinethat the amended law does not accept abortion as a woman’sabsolute right. The exercise of choice still remains under the ceil-ing of “reasonable restrictions”.

The right of the pregnant woman to access termination of preg-nancy should be autonomous, affordable and effective. Allowing abor-tion means women have the right to a safe abortion, and are not harm-ing their bodies by ‘do-it-yourself’ abortions outside of a safe med-ical framework.

As noted by the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agencyUNFPA, “Whether abortion is legal or not, it happens all too often. Datashow that restricting access to abortion does not prevent people fromseeking abortion, it simply makes it more deadly.”

When sex and sexuality, as well as their discussion in public domain,remain a taboo, it is imperative for a comprehensive rights-based sex-uality education, so women can learn about their bodies and the rightsunder the Indian law.

(The author is an advocate in the Supreme Court.)

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 28, 2022

07

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FIRSTCOLUMNMTP ACT: DOES IT ENABLE

CHOICE FOR WOMEN?

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

PRAVIN KHUNTE

Reasonable restrictions apply to the rightof abortion

THE NGO FOUND25 CHILDREN

FROM TWO BRICKKILNS WHO HAVE

NOT BEEN ABLETO ATTEND

SCHOOL FOR THELAST SIX

MONTHS. THEREARE THOUSANDS

OF BRICK KILNSIN MAHARASHTRA

ALONE ANDTHOUSANDS OF

OTHERS WILL BEIN OTHER STATES.

In her maiden address to thenation, President DroupadiMurmu said that it is the

power of Indian democracythat a daughter born in a remotetribal area could reach the high-est Constitutional post of thecountry. Yes, it is true thatDroupadi Murmu is the firstmember of a tribal communityto hold the nation’s highestoffice. Her Excellency richlydeserves congratulations fromevery Indian in general andevery Tribal in particular, withan affectionate hope that she willdo her best to elevate many moretribals on par with Her, so thatthey would reach not only suchhighest positions but also excelat the grassroot, district, stateand central level, in all electedbodies.

Unfortunately, it took 75long years, thanks to Congress

and BJP-led governments at thecenter, to think of a tribal tomake the first citizen of India.Nobody knows how many moreyears it would take to elect a trib-al leader as Prime Minister,said to be the real executiveaccording to the IndianConstitution! Nobody alsoknows when tribals in largenumbers will be able to get elect-ed to legislatures and parliamentfrom a general constituency.

The untold stories and trib-al issues in India are umpteenright from their day-to-daylivelihood to their habitation,their land, health and medicine,facility for drinking water, edu-cation and so on. These were notproperly addressed by the suc-cessive union governments. Fewstates like the newest and 29thstate Telangana came out withseveral, role model schemes but

at the national level much morehas to be done. Prominentamong them is the land issuewhich requires a concerted effortand now that a tribal has occu-pied the highest post, one canhope and be confident, that shewill use all her good office toexert influence on her govern-ment at the center for a betterdeal to her community whichsuffered a lot in the blame gameof Congress and BJP that werein power most of the time.

The Telangana governmentgives top priority for the welfareof tribals by implementing anumber of schemes conceivedby Chief Minister K Chandra-shekhar Rao for them, from timeto time. They include amongothers; micro irrigation, residen-tial schools and colleges, studycircles, overseas scholarships,Kalyan Lakshmi, subsidies

under economic support, Aasarapensions, ST special develop-ment fund through ST SubPlan, making Thandas as GramPanchayats, etc. Perhaps thesecould be studied by theRashtrapathi Bhavan in the nearfuture and forwarded to theunion government to be repli-cated all over the country.

This apart, ensuring accel-

erated development ofScheduled Tribes with empha-sis on achieving equality, focus-ing on economic, educationaland human development alongwith ensuring the security andsocial dignity and promotingequity among the ScheduledTribes has been successfullyattempted by Telangana govern-ment. This is made possible byearmarking a portion, in propor-tion to population of ScheduledTribes in the State, of the totalPragathiPaddu (DevelopmentFund) outlay of the State ofTelangana as the outlay of theScheduled Tribes SpecialDevelopment Fund of the State.

Of all the issues the tribal inIndia continue to face is the landin the tribal area and its alien-ation to non-tribal in multipleways either for exploitation formining or otherwise. Several

governments have come andgone, important judgments byapex courts were pronounced inthis regard but the basic prob-lem persists.

One of the assets of the trib-al is the availability of mineralsin their areas. Very large num-ber of mineral deposits exist inthe tribal tracts in India, ofwhich much is known butremain under exploited or unex-ploited and thereby left unuti-lized. If these areas are proper-ly investigated and exploited,there will be tremendous devel-opment of mining and mineral-based industries, resulting inindustrial employment for thetribal. However, most of the trib-al habitats are in forest areas andhence there may be some distur-bance to terrestrial configura-tion. But there can be no min-eral development without this

disturbance.And hence, vast mineral

potential in tribal areas can becommercially exploited, per-haps involving tribal communi-ties, and a number of down-stream mineral industries canalso be developed for valueaddition and exports. Whenthis is achieved it would not bedifficult to create any permanentarrangement to create a "RoyaltyDevelopmental Dividend Fund"for tribal development andmuch needed tribal empower-ment

Tribal can also be uplifted bysuitably granting a certain per-centage of shares in miningbusiness. The tribal can be madeto form small cooperative soci-eties so that they can be involvedin several fields such as smallbusiness concerns and cooper-ative stores and for trading.

With Murmu occupying the top Constitutional office, all efforts should be made for socio-economic empowerment of tribals

President Droupadi Murmu and golden days for tribals

(The author is Chief PublicRelations Officer to Chief

Minister, Telangana.)

VANAM JWALA NARASIMHA RAO

VIPUL MAHESHWARI

Indian parliament enacted the Rightto Free and Compulsory EducationAct on April 1, 2009. More than adecade has passed after the enact-

ment of the law, but few know that Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar, while framing theConstitution had made provision for freeprimary education for all in the country.

However, it’s also a fact that notevery child has been able to access edu-cation. Even today lakhs of children areout of school. Majority of the childrenof migrant workers and daily wageearners have been left out of the educa-tion system. Many landless labourersleave their abode after the harvest forwork in brick kilns or sugarcane fieldswith children in tow.

This exodus results in their childrennot having access to education andproper nutrition. Driven by poverty, childmarriages are also perpetuated and fre-quently cut girls off from education. Thenumber of out of school children is inlakhs but no one is really paying heed.

In this backdrop, ‘Arise VishwaSociety’ under its Milaf project has start-ed weekly schools in Pune district(Maharashtra) for the children of brickkiln workers. Brick kiln work is haz-ardous; you have to work in the stickymud under the burning Sun. Withtheir feet trapped in the slush, theseworkers have to mix the soil with a pro-portion of water, knead it to compact itinto a mould.

Children lend a helping hand by fer-rying these molds for drying and firing.They are also involved in pulling the cartfor lighting the furnace and laying onebrick on top of the other in the furnace.When the bricks are ready, children haveto take part in loading them in trucks.The hands of these children get bruisedbecause of handling bricks all the while.At any point you will see coats of dust ontheir face and hands. Their clothes aresoiled, faces sunburned and hands rup-tured. This is the state of the brick kilnworkers and their children.

The workers raise their makeshiftabode at the site using mud, stones, ply,sackcloth and tin. In the local language,it’s called Kopi. The height of Kopi is solow that you have to bend your head toenter. A gloom is cast over the settlement,unrelieved by a single ray of hope.

In the midst of this despair someefforts are on to address the needs of thechildren of brick kiln workers who theSarvashiksha Abhiyan forgot. Non-for-mal schools have been started in a fewvillages near brick kilns close to Pune-Saswad Road. When the social workersfirst went to meet the parents, their chil-dren were working with them in the brickkiln. They assembled the children andasked them ‘Do you want to study?Would it be alright if we teach you?’ ‘Yes’,said children in chorus. Then discussionswith their parents were held. But they

Universal education isn’t reaching many children, including thosewho work in brick kilns, while they also lag on nutrition

{The author works withthe NGO, Arise VishwaSociety. The article wastranslated in English by

Alka Gadgil.)

sought permission from the brickkiln owner. It was essential, as noactivity would be possible withouthis go ahead.

To begin with, the NGO con-ducted a survey to collect infor-mation about the number of chil-dren, their age and educationalbackground. They also foundthat on any brick kiln there are 10to 12 children on an average, withthe majority of them working withtheir parents.

Rapid research done by thesocial workers before embarkingon the project found that childrenhave a great passion for learning.Brick kilns are normally in thedeserted areas.

The parents are not able toteach children, because theythemselves were deprived of edu-cation. They are also boggeddown by the workload they haveto endure. BhimashankarGurushantappa, 13 years, fromKarnataka is in the 7th grade, buthe has not been to school for sixmonths. He was not able to studyon his own because he just didn’thave the time for it. By the timethe work gets over Gurushantappais fully exhausted.

But his handwriting is beau-tiful. He likes to write and toexpress. Kannada is his mothertongue and he also tries to readEnglish. There was no one to takecare of him in his village. Hence,his parents brought him along. Hecan’t attend the nearby Marathischool because he doesn’t know

the language. He understands a bitof spoken Marathi but not the for-mal Marathi, which is used intextbooks. He wants to rejoin theschool after returning to the vil-lage. But integration of migrantchildren into mainstream classeshas not been smooth. They arealso likely to drop out of schoolby the next harvest.

Eleven-year-old Rani BasavrajShrigani from Kalburgi districtKarnataka has to take care of heryounger siblings during the day.She doesn’t have the privilege toattend school. She’s good at stud-ies and would like to learnEnglish. “I want to be a cop. Forthat I have to practice running,”she shared. But she didn’t knowthat along with running one alsohas to crack the entrance exam.

Nine-year-old Akshara Rodefrom Deglur in Nanded district inMaharashtra is in the 3rd stan-dard. She has spent the last sixmonths on the brick kiln faraway from her school. She has tohelp her parents in pushing thecart full of bricks and in buildingthe furnace. She loves to study andshe looks forward to Sundayschool. “I want to be a lawyer, butI don’t have books and notebooks.But I enjoy the Sunday class,” shesays gladly.

Thirteen-year-old KirtanGhate who is also from Naded isvery sharp and intelligent.

Although he was deprived ofschooling for the past sevenmonths, he knows all the multi-

plication tables by heart. HisEnglish is really good for his age.No matter what word it is, hespells it correctly. He rememberseverything and his general knowl-edge is also good. He studies ver-bally, tries to solve mathematicalsums verbally.

Twelve-year-old Nandini fromNanded studies in the 6th stan-dard. She had to accompany herparents to the brick kiln to takecare of her younger sibling and tocook. She likes to prepare differ-ent dishes. She prepared pav-bhaji for all the children from thebrick kiln. She also tries to assem-ble children in the evening for funand play.

These are some of the repre-sentative stories. The list can goon and on. But each case isunique. The NGO has found 25children from two brick kilnswho have not been able to attendschool for the last six months.There are thousands of brickkilns in Maharashtra alone andthere will be thousands of othersin other states. What will be thenumber of children working inbrick kilns nationally? We haveno idea.

Along with education, nutri-tion is also a grave issue. Thesechildren have been deprived oftheir fundamental rights like rightto nutrition, right to education,right to play among others. Thisis not just about one educationalyear; this cycle continues yearafter year.

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 28, 2022 Money 08

MO

NE

Y M

AT

TE

RS

State-owned CIL has earned revenue worth over Rs 1.52 lakh crore from coal sales infinancial year 2021-22, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.Coal India (CIL)earned revenue by selling 661.89 million tonnes of coal in the last fiscal year.In a

written reply to the Lok Sabha, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said the mahartana firm hasgarnered Rs 29,400 crore by selling 177.59 MT of coal in the April-June period of theongoing financial year.The revenue figure ofthe first quarter of FY'23 is provisional, itadded.While in FY'21, CIL earned Rs1,26,786.13 crore from sale of coal, in FY'20the figure stood at Rs 1,34,979.13 crore.In a bid to increase the revenues of the publicsector companies operating in the coal space,the government has given them a go-aheadfor diversifying into other sectors includingrenewable energy.The captive mine owners,other than atomic minerals, can sell up to 50per cent of their annual mineral, includingcoal, in the open market after meeting therequirement of their end-use plants.

The Centre has proposed amendments to the Warehousing Development and RegulationAct (WDRA), 2007 to make registration of godowns compulsory and to sharply raise thepenalty for various offences, says a senior Food Ministry official.

In the amendment bill, the government has also proposed simplified registration process,accepting negotiable receipts only in electronic form, more powers to regulator WarehousingDevelopment and Regulatory Authority(WDRA) to investigate, take enforcementaction, impose monetary penalty andadjudication.That apart, the governmenthas proposed doing away with up to threeyear imprisonment for various offencesbut suggested significant increase inpenalty from the current Rs 1 lakh forvarious offences, the officialadded.According to the official, the FoodMinistry has already sought inter-ministerial comments on the proposedchanges to the act and will soon seekcabinet approval.

Private sector non-life player ICICI Lombard General Insurance on Wednesday joined thegrowing trend in the motor segment, offering what the industry calls the 'pay-as-you-drive'policy.In a pay-as-you-drive motor policy, the premium is based on the average distance that a

policyholder drives the vehicle.Already insurers like HDFC Ergo, Bajaj Allianz General, DigitInsurance and a few others offer this type of motor cover.ICICI Lombard has dubbed its new offeras the motor floater policy, which provides allthe covers of a traditional motor policy (likeaccident cover, third-party liability and personalaccident cover for the owner-driver), and nowoffers the advantage of adding all the vehiclesowned by the proposer in one policy, saidSanjeev Mantri, an executive director at theinsurer.It is now offering this new pay-as-you-drive policy along with an option to convert thebasic motor cover into an 'asset cum usage'based product, wherein the premium of thebasic motor vehicle will depend partially on theusage. It offers two options under the policy, hesaid.

CIL earns revenue worth over Rs1.52 lakh cr from coal sales

Govt proposes higher penalties forviolations under warehousing development

ICICI Lombard joins pay-as-you-drive policy segment

PNS n NEW DELHI

With better than expected Rs1.45 lakh crore bids coming inon the first day, the auction of5G spectrum entered the sec-ond day on Wednesday withthe opening of the fifth round.

Firms run by tycoonsMukesh Ambani, Sunil BhartiMittal and Gautam Adani aswell as Vodafone Idea are par-ticipating in the e-auction tobuy fifth-generation (5G) air-waves.

The government receivedconfirmed spectrum bidsworth Rs 1.45 lakh crore afterthe completion of four roundsof spectrum bidding on theopening day on Tuesday.

Analysts said Ambani'sReliance Jio may be the mostaggressive of those in the race.

Though details of the bids

are not announced as yet,ICICI Securities said its analy-sis shows that Jio has likely bidfor the highest spectrum worthRs 80,100 crore, and likelyopted for 10MHz spectrum inthe premium 700MHz band.

Bharti Airtel may have bidfor spectrum worth Rs 45,000crore, spending 20 per centmore than expected, possiblyin 1800MHz and 2100MHz

bands.Vodafone Idea Ltd has like-

ly bid for Rs 18,400 crore forspectrum, while Adani DataNetworks should have picked26GHz spectrum pan-India, itsaid."It appears Adani hasbought 26GHz spectrum in 20circles (except in Delhi andKolkata), and its total spec-trum purchase could be3350MHz for Rs 900 crore.

5G spectrum auction entersDay 2: Jio may be lead

HAL signs US$ 100 mn enginecontract with Honeywell

PNS n MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank of India'srate-setting panel will go for a0.35 per cent hike in the keyrepo rate at its meeting nextweek, an American brokeragesaid on Wednesday.

The hike will be accompa-nied by a change in the poli-cy stance to "calibrated tight-ening", Bofa Securities said ina report published ahead ofthe Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC) resolutionwhich is set to be announcedon August 5.

RBI has hiked the rate by acumulative 0.90 per cent intwo tightening moves in Mayand June, responding to therunaway headline inflationwhich has consistently over-shot the upper end of the tar-

get set for the central bank formany months.

Referring to policy actionssince April, when RBI intro-duced the standing depositfacility, the brokerage said thecentral bank has effectivelyhiked rates by 1.30 per cent.

"In our base case, we nowsee the RBI MPC hike policy

repo rate by 0.35 per cent, tak-ing it to 5.25 per cent (higherthan pre-pandemic level), withstance change to calibratedtightening from withdrawal ofaccommodation," the reportsaid.The brokerage expectsMPC to retain its FY23Consumer Price Inflation(CPI) and real GDP growth

forecasts, at 6.7 per cent and7.2 per cent, respectively.

Last week, RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das said thatheadline inflation, which cameat 7.04 per cent for April, isappearing to have peaked.

There is a possibility forMPC to adopt a more aggres-sive measure and deliver a 0.50per cent hike in rates like it didin June, joining some devel-oped market and regionalcentral banks who have sentout more decisive signals.Onthe other hand, a 0.25 per centhike in rates can also not beruled out, the brokerage said,explaining that MPC couldacknowledge that inflationhas peaked and there aredownside risks to their esti-mates and there will be mea-sured hikes from here on.

RBI to go for 35 basis points hike in rates: US firm report PNS n NEW DELHI

Bajaj Finance Ltd onWednesday reported its highest-ever consolidated quarterly netprofit at Rs 2,596 crore for theJune quarter, helped by robustincome due to brisk loangrowth.

The company had reporteda net profit of Rs 1,002 crore inthe year-ago period.

Total income rose by 38 percent to Rs 9,283 crore during theJune quarter as against Rs 6,743crore in corresponding quarterlast year, Bajaj Finance said in aregulatory filing on Wednesday.

"Customer franchise stood at60.30 million (6.03 crore) as ofJune 30, 2022 as compared to50.45 million (5.05 crore) as ofJune 30, 2021, a growth of 20 percent. The company recordedhighest ever quarterly increasein its customer franchise of 2.73million (27.3 lakh) in Q1 FY23,"it said.

Bajaj Finance profitmore than doublesto Rs 2,596 cr

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Union Cabinet onWednesday gave approval tostate-owned BharatPetroleum Corporation Ltd(BPCL) to invest an addition-al USD 1.6 billion in aBrazilian oil block.The Cabinet Committee onEconomic Affairs, chairedby Prime Minister NarendraModi, has approved addition-al investment by BharatPetroResources Ltd (BPRL),a wholly-owned subsidiary ofBPCL, for the development ofthe BM-SEAL-11 ConcessionProject in Brazil, an officialstatement said.The block is tostart production from 2026-27.BPRL has a 40 per centstake in the block. Brazil'snational oil companyPetrobras is the operator with60 per cent interest.

Cabinet approvesBPCL's $ 1.6 bninvestment plan inBrazil

Cabinet nod for Rs 1.64 L cr BSNL revival package

Power generation capacityto reach 820GW by 2030

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union Power and New &Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh on Wednesday saidthe country's electricity gener-ation capacity will reach820GW by 2030, includingover 500GW from non-fossilfuel sources.In his message atthe launch of a report of TheEnergy Resource Institute(TERI), Singh said: "By 2030,the total capacity for powerproduction would be about820GW. Out of that, morethan 500GW will be non-fos-sil."Pointing out that India hasalready started adding storagecapacity to renewable energy,the minister said the govern-ment has come out with one

of the largest bids on storageand is trying to bring down thestorage cost by adding volume.

He also emphasised onIndia's commitment to ener-gy transition targets thoughthe country has one of thelowest per capitaemissions.TERI onWednesday released aroadmap charting the feasible

pathways to achieving theambitious decarbonisation tar-gets.

Apart from suggesting poli-cies as well as technologicalinterventions to achieve the2030 goals, TERI's roadmapalso calls for state leadership inthe development of pumpedstorage plants and feed-in-tariff for solar generation.

Over 500GW from non-fossil fuel sources

PNS n BENGALURU

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL) on Wednesday signed a con-tract worth over USD 100 million withHoneywell for supply and manufactureof 88 TPE331-12B engines/kits alongwith maintenance and support servicesto power the Hindustan TrainerAircraft (HTT-40).HAL CMD RMadhavan said the company has suc-

cessfully developed Basic TrainerAircraft (HTT-40) to address thebasic training requirements of theIAF."There is (a) potential requirementof 70 aircraft. The contract for thesame with IAF is under advanced stageof approval, he added.We are proud ofour four decade long partnershipwith HAL and happy to extend ourrelationship with this new order, saidSenior Director, OE Sales, HoneywellDefense & Space, Eric Walters.TheTPE331-12 family of engines hasproven itself in operations all over theworld, and we have committed to sup-port and deliver engines as well as kitswithin the stipulated schedule to meetthe requirements of the IAF.Honeywellis committed to support export ofHTT-40 aircraft in coming years alongwith other engine programmes whichare currently on radar.

Colgate-Palmolive India profitfalls 10 pc to Rs 210 crore

Govt mulls changes in pricingstructure for bauxite minesPNS n NEW DELHI

The government is con-sidering changes in thepricing structure to ascer-tain the Average SellingPrice (ASP) of metallur-gical grade bauxite inorder to attract privateplayers in the sector.Atpresent, states are notable to auction the exist-ing bauxite mines as com-panies find the selling

price of the mineral unvi-able.Bauxite is the princi-pal ore of aluminum andtherefore the mineral isthe essential raw materi-al for aluminium produc-ers.The change in calcu-lation would be madethrough amendment inthe mining law and themines ministry has invit-ed suggestions for thesame, according to anofficial note.’

Over 15,000 tonnes uranium oredeposits in Rajasthan: CentrePNS n NEW DELHI

The government is consider-ing setting up an exploratorymining centre in Sikar districtof Rajasthan where over14,000 tonnes of uranium oredeposits have been discov-ered.

In a written reply in LokSabha, Minister of State in thePrime Minister 's Off iceJitendra Singh said pre-projectactivities required for obtain-ing statutory clearances havebeen initiated by UraniumCorporation of India Limited(UCIL).

As a part of this, the stategovernment of Rajasthan has

issued Letter of Intent (LOI)for granting of mining lease toUCIL, he said.

According to the informa-tion shared by the minister,the Atomic Minerals

Directorate for Explorationand Research (AMD) found8,813 tonnes of uraniumoxide deposits in Rohil inSikar district, 1,086 tonnes inRohil west, 3,570 tonnes in

Jahaz and 1,002 tonnes inGeratiyon ki Dhani.At Umrain Udaipur district, the AMDhad found uranium oxidedeposits to the tune of 1,160tonnes.

The total uranium oredeposits found in Rajasthanare 15,631 tonnes 14,471tonnes in Sikar district and1,160 tonnes in Udaipur,Singh said, adding that thesedeposits have been classifiedas "small deposits".

"Mining technology andeconomics are important cri-teria which decide theexploitation and extractionstatus of a deposit like othermineral deposits," Singh said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

FMCG major Colgate-PalmoliveIndia Ltd on Wednesday reported adecline of 10.1 per cent in net prof-it at Rs 209.67 crore for the Junequarter, impacted by an overallrural slowdown and inflationarypressures.

The company had posted a netprofit of Rs 233.23 crore in theApril-June period a year ago,Colgate-Palmolive India Ltd (CPIL)said in a regulatory filing.

Its revenue from operations wasup 2.48 per cent at Rs 1,186.59 croreduring the quarter under review. Inthe year-ago period, the same stoodat Rs 1,157.86 crore.

The company's total expenseswere at Rs 916.60 crore, up 6.95 percent in the first quarter of FY23 asagainst Rs 856.99 crore in the sameperiod a year ago.

CPIL Chairman Mukul Deorassaid the current quarter continued

to witness challenging trends, whichwas there in the previous quarteralso.

"While we remain cautiously opti-mistic that the trends will improvein the coming quarters, the currentquarter was impacted by an overallrural slowdown and inflationarypressures," he said.

On Wednesday, shares of Colgate-Palmolive India Ltd rose 2.05 percent to settled at Rs 1,564.35 apieceon BSE.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved a Rs1.64 lakh crore package forthe revival of state-ownedtelecom firm BSNL, TelecomMinister Ashwini Vaishnawsaid.

The revival measuresapproved by the Cabinetfocus on fresh capital forupgrading services, allocatingspectrum, de-stressing its bal-ance sheet and augmenting itsfiber network by mergingBharat Broadband Nigam Ltd

(BBNL) with BSNL.Briefing reporters on the

decision taken by the UnionCabinet, he said the packagehas a cash component of Rs43,964 crore and a non-cashcomponent of Rs 1.2 lakhcrore spread over four years.

The government will makeadministrative allocation ofspectrum BSNL needs to offer4G services. The allocation ofspectrum in 900/1800 MHzband at the cost of Rs 44,993crore would be through equi-ty infusion.

He said to meet the project-ed capital expenditure fornext four years, the govern-

ment will fund capex of Rs22,471 crore for developing

4G technology stack.Also, the government will

provide Rs 13,789 crore toBSNL as viability-gap fundingfor commercially unviablerural wireline operationsdone during 2014-15 to 2019-20.

To de-stress the balancesheet, Rs 33,404 crore statu-tory dues will be convertedinto equity.

Besides, the governmentwill provide sovereign guar-antee for raising money torepay current loans, he said.

To facilitate wider utiliza-

tion of infrastructure laidunder BharatNet, BBNL willbe merged with BSNL, hesaid.

The infrastructure createdunder BharatNet will contin-ue to be a national asset,accessible on a non-discrim-inator y basis to al l theTelecom Service Providers.

The Minister said theUnion Cabinet also approveda project for saturation of 4Gmobile services in uncov-ered villages across the coun-try at a total cost of Rs 26,316crore.

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ThursdayJuly 28, 2022

In search of softmasculinity people

are travelling toSouth Korea to find

their love.

TANISHA SAXENA

eena Aggarwal, 54, heard her firstBTS track called Dynamite lastmonth. She fell in love with thetrack in split seconds.

However, on June 13, the SouthKorean pop group announced they

will be going on an indefinite break to pursueindividual careers.

For Aggarwal the news was heart-breaking. She says, “I never imaginedmyself to becoming an ARMY, shortfor Adorable Representative MC forYouth, a term the K-pop band’s fansuse to describe themselves. I am notthat fond of music except forkishore Da's songs but I must admitthat these seven people made mefall in love with the Korean culture.”

Similarly, Vibhor Gupta, amechanical engineer living inMumbai thinks that it was duringthe lockdown that he got hooked onto the BTS tracks. “You know there'ssomething in the lyrics that connects toyour soul. Take for instance the trackcalled Jump so refreshing and motivation-al. There's depth in each word that you feelit's just written for you. After that, I googledup about the band and I just can't get overthose beautiful songs and content,” tellsGupta.

The breakthrough moment

Evidently, k-pop or Korean dramas,Korean music, Korean cuisine and entire cul-ture of south korea has taken over the world.It is a major subculture now, appealing to thepeople worldwide.

The fascination has many aspects, the cine-ma particularly that comes from Korea iswhat attracts the most. Gauri Sharma, a pro-fessor of cultural studies in one of the col-leges of Delhi says, “The south Korean cine-ma is light and relatable. It is also funny yetintense, all these experiences packed upmakes their content popular today.Interestingly, Asian countries witnessed theK- wave even before it entered the West.Most importantly, it allows an escape in thehard times. Several Nations are now organis-ing Korean fairs to address the immense pop-ularity of the culture.”

If you are also obsessed with k-beautyproducts and Korean food, you have justshaken hands with Hallyu culture.

The search for ideal boyfriends

Bangalore based Mohit Sharma went tosouth korea in January 2022 for a businesstrip. He was staying at a guest house in Seoul

and he observed that galvanised by theirinterest in South Korean popular culture,more and more tourists are traveling to thecountry.

He elaborates, “I noticed many of the trav-ellers dine at restaurants and street food cor-ners to taste the food that they see in K-dra-mas, attend a live K-pop performance andvisit shooting locations. The locals call thesetourists-Hallyu travellers. Furthermore, Icame across some people who have had trav-elled from their native land to South Korea insearch of love.

Drawn to the characters they see on theirTVs, they are excited too see if real-life SouthKorean men resemble the K-drama malecharacters, both in their looks and manner-isms.”

Soft Masculinity

In the past couple of years, k-pop bands andKorean dramas have seaped into our lifestylequite seamlessly. It has become a major influ-ence on young people in the country. AhanaGoel recently finished watching Moon embrac-ing the sun and she says,”You simply can’t resistthe gaze of Kim Soo Hyun. He melts everyone’sheart. Hyun melts everyone’s heart.”

Payal kathariya, an independentresearcher of cultural studies and currentlyliving in south korea explain, “Korean menare ranked among the best in Asia. Theyare beautiful, slim, charming, have fantas-tic physique, wear makeup and naturallyappeal to the people. They are wellgroomed and mostly look flawless onscreen- called soft masculinity. TodayKorean men looks completely differentfrom the times of the 80s and 90s. Onceperformatively hypermasculine, there wasno room for beautiful men in the country.How did the culture evolve? Well, thecredit goes to the pressure of success. If welook at south Korean culture today then it

has transformed into an arbiter of cos-metics equality.”

She adds, “While there's this tropeof feminine mannerisms, they are

not feminine.The pretty boy image and

gentle male persona- repre-sented in media, and con-sumers welcome and widelyconsume them is a play withmasculinity. What it meansto be a beautiful man in aheterosexual or non-hetero-sexual way, and it indeedopens up possibilities formen to embrace the identity

they want.”Sukriti Jha, who lives in

Seoul with her friends and ispursuing graduation in archeolo-

gy and art history from Universityof Seoul. , says, “One of my flatmates

is really obsessed with k-dramas and sheused to hang around the cafes in the

evening to find her soulmate.” Bursting intolaughter, she says, “And she found a guy who

was very much like k-dramas man. She datedhim for about a year and guess what they aremarried now. I think this Hallyu wave is actual-ly interesting and people are finding their love.”

Similarly, Archana Singh remember growingup in America, and watching these malecelebrities on TV who were very manly, mus-cular, and have facial hair. In contrast, Koreanmale celebrities are more on the feminine side,had a slim figure, and put makeup on. Theylook so ideal to have them as boyfriend. Butshe also points out that they might have femi-nine mannerisms but when they play toughparts in films they are typical male characterswho are usually strong or manly. For instance,Song Joong-ki, the star of hugely popularKorean drama Descendants of the Sun is a softguy but as a special forces captain in the mili-tary he is plays a tough man,” she concludes.

Many people revealed that dating Koreanmen, whether they're older or younger thanyou, will desire to play a protective, responsi-ble, and respected position in your relation-ship.

They also be wanted to called Oppa. Theybehave more gentlemanly and do things likeprepare to have your chair pulled out for you,to have his coat brought to you if you're cold,and to go into the restaurant and discover he'salready secured the table to create a good firstimpression.

hile it is a great relief that we canfinally feel the breeze, one cannotdeny the fact that we are also wel-comed with humidity, pollution, andbacteria during the rainy season. Themost-loved season also brings vari-

ous skin issues like acne, sweating, warts, andskin allergies, among other things. However,there are multiple solutions to beat the harmfuleffects. We have found the perfect skincare rou-

tine that will make your skin go from damp todrop-dead gorgeous making all your worrieswash away. Smita Baishakhia, Cosmetologist atSt.Botanica shares with us some importantsteps to achieve flawless skin this monsoonseason.

STEP 1- CLEANSING

The first and most important partof a skincare routine is cleansingwith a gentle face wash. It will helpeliminate all the dirt and impuritieson your face and allow other prod-ucts to penetrate your skin seam-lessly. Vitamin C-rich face wash isthe ultimate solution to all yourissues irrespective of the skin typeand concerns. Vitamin C is the holygrail ingredient that is rich in antioxi-dants that help prevent free radicaldamage and diminish dark spots.

STEP 2 – TONER

Toner is an undeniable necessity

in monsoon as it helps the skin avoid cloggedpores and breakouts caused by humidity. Itdissolves the residual dirt and greasy residuesand helps in cleaning and tightening up thepores. It also controls sebum production andhelps minimise the cringing feeling thatreturns within a few hours after washing theface.

STEP 3 – SERUM

A serum is a must-have in your skincareroutine. Serums areformulated to pene-trate deep into the skinand target specific skinconcerns with the highconcentration ofactives present inthem. You can choosea serum specific toyour skin care needand one that is light-weight and non-sticky. Lightweight

serums with ingre-dients likeVitamin C,Hyaluronic Acid

and otheractives helpby keeping skin bright, moisturizedand hydrated without making it greasy.

STEP 4 – FACE CREAM

Lightweight water-based creamsare an ideal fit for this season as theydon’t make the skin feel sticky. Face

creams keep the skin hydrated andhelp in targeting different skin con-cerns.

STEP 5 - NIGHT CREAM

After the daily contact with dirt

and pollution that your skin faces, a nightcream not only hydrates and calms the skinbut can also speed up cell renewal, whichencourages repair. While daytime moisturiserstypically shield the skin from pollution, dry-ness, heat, and UV rays, night creams are bet-ter modeled toward the skin's repair process.

STEP 6- FACE MASKS

While all the above steps can be done daily,your skin also needs that boost of rejuvenationat regular intervals which can ideally beachieved with a replenishing face mask.

Spreading joy,

SHIKHA DUGGAL

he chairperson ofFragile×Society ShaliniKedia was taken abackwhen she was astonishedto see that none of thedoctors knew about a

rare syndrome called fragile×syn-drome. She even contacted therapistsand all she could find was zero luck withthem too.

This affinity led her to be a part of this interna-tional society where they promote awarenessabout this syndrome. According to them, whenthey began their research decades ago, they foundit is the most common inherited, single genecause of intellectual disability and autismworldwide.

What irked Shalini was why didn'tnobody know about it in the country?She explains to us, “Initially I was seeingmany families who didn't have a supportgroup for this and they were struggling.When they were told that their child hasbeen diagnosed with a genetic disor-der, not everyone imaginedwhat it could lead to. They did-n't have awareness about it.They instead used to go on aguilt trip.” Then she noticedhow FXS can cause intellectualdisabilities, attention deficit,and hyperactivity, autism,autistic features, and speechdelay but the parents wereleast aware of these medicalterms or the science behind it.

She says, “When yougoogled about it in the2000s, a blank page was tohave appeared. Today, atleast, we have a supportsystem that shows up. Ourdoctors will also lead you

to the concerned therapist too. Most importantly,it's a free cause. A therapist is more efficient thana doctor, I feel because they can make the parentsunderstand it in an easier way.”

Thisoccurs in both genders, males are general-ly affected with greater severity. Life expectancy isnot affected in people with FXS because there areusually no life-threatening health concerns asso-ciated with the condition. Moreover, “In twentyyears, I was able to help four thousand families. Ihad brought to the country and not just one city.Today, it's safe and fair for me to announce thatwe also have top-class treatment for this syn-drome in our country now.

Where we are lacking is the diagnosis aspect.It's a rare disorder, I learned that many doctorshaven't been taught about this in their medschools and secondly, it over-lapses autism. I haveheard many parents just casually telling thatwhatever it's, the child has to undergo therapy

anyway. But, they don't understand thatautism is trial and error and FXS can

lead to a positive note. At least, there isa blood test to confirm it.”

All individuals with FXTAS arepermutation carriers of the FMR1gene. Researchers believe that havingthe permutation leads to the overpro-

duction of FMR1 mRNA. Theybelieve that the high levels of mRNA are

what cause the signs and symptoms ofFXTAS Fragile X-associated primary ovarianinsufficiency, one of three known Fragile X-asso-ciated disorders caused by changes in the FMR1gene, is a condition in which the ovaries are not

functioning at full capacity in anFMR1 permutation carrier.

Shalini states, “One of thefondest memories working forthis society was when even thegovernment of Goa was sup-porting us openly. You knowhow difficult it's to get throughgovernment officials, I just

spoke to them once aboutthis issue and they openedall the doors for us. It wasamusing. Nearly 200 the-atres in Goa were show-ing our slides.

Also, Taj inGurugram holds a spe-cial place in my heartbecause their entire buf-

fet was dedicated to us, itwas a themed buffet.They even put placardson tables supporting usand the entire hotel was lit

up in our colours. Thewhole international com-

munity was shocked tosee this. That remainsexceptional to me.”

Ultimate skincareGUIDE FOR MONSOON

acceptance & awarenessHave you ever heard aboutfragilexsyndrome? Bringingawareness on this, today forthis week’s edition forcommunity wise, we haveShalini Kedia, chairperson ofFragilexSociety, who is on amission to promoteawareness of this syndrome.

The much-awaited season to beat the scorching heat is here.

t

find love?find love?

ARE WOMENTRAVELLING TO

KorKorea toea to

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10

Hyderabad Thursday July 28, 2022 what’s brewing?

PAR

TY

Ph

oto

s b

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V C

ha

ry

Tollywood singingsensations RahulSipligunj, Geetha Madhuri,

Damini, Arun Kaundinya andSimha made the audienceshake their legs to their peppynumbers, at the SwarnaMusical night at ShilpakalaVedika in Hyderabad.

Master DJPiyush Bajaj,

celebrated hisbirthday with hisfamily members at The Park Hotelin Somajiguda.Celebrities andother VIP’s hadalso poured theirblessings forPiyush.

l Deepika Maheshwari l Anika khara

l Vibha

l Sravanthi

l Ruchi modi

l Lollyl Shilpa

l Deepika

l Nisha

l Dj Piyush Bajaj and family

l Ayeshal Sharon

l Kavitha Jain l Rekha

l Sneha Chowdary

MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA

BIRTHDAY BASH

EMPOWERING WOMEN

Business entrepreneurs, Anita Khara and DeepikaMaheshwari organised a

women business cult businessmeet in Hyderabad on Wednesday.During this meet, a new committeecomprising president, vicepresident and the core team was also formed.

l Radhika and Riddhi

FUN

ARCHIE

GARFIELDREALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

SUDOKU

Rulesl Each row and column can

contain each number (1 to 9)exactly once.

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

11

Hyderabad | Thursday July 28, 2022 tollywood

Samyuktha Menon this yeardebuted in Telugu withBheemla Nayak in the role

of Rana Daggubati's wife. The26-year-old actress will be seen

in the August 5 releaseBimbisara now, starring NandamuriKalyanram in the lead.

In this interview, the beautifulactress talks about how Tollywoodfilms differ from Malayalammovies, her upcoming projects,and more. “Since I love acting, Ilike to speak my own lines inany language that I am doing.I have to own the dialogues.I am selfish about the char-acters I play. That's why Ihave learned Telugu.During the second lock-down in 2021, I tookTelugu language classes.I have also got to workwith established actorsso far. In their pres-ence, I can't go forrepeated takes. I wantto give the best take.When I am doing a

Telugu film, everyone on set sees me asa Telugu girl,” she tells us at the beginning.

Actually, it was in 2016 that she start-ed doing acting assignments. After herfirst movie, everyone commented thatshe is a bad actor. At that time, she waspreparing for an exam and she just actedin that movie casually. She had no ideaabout the script. Then, “There was a timewhen my only aim was to settle down ina job. It took me years to get offers fromthe Telugu film industry. A few offerswere not exciting. The first excitingopportunity that came my way wasBimbisara. I was told it would be madein two parts. NTR arts producing it excit-ed me even more. Sai Dharam Tej's 15thfilm came later. And finally came my wayBheemla Nayak, although that's the firstone to be released in theaters. Dhanushsir's SIR, too, came to me the same day.I was thrilled to sign two movies on thesame day. I never expected such a thingto happen in my life.”

Bimbisara is a time-travel fantasymovie. Her character is set in the presentera, not in the past. It's a little moderncharacter. And, “I have always loved peri-od movies. I watch them on repeat. I

watched Baahubali 2early in the morningon day one. BajiraoMastani andother suchmovies fasci-nate me.Bimbisara is asemi-periodm o v i e .B i m b i s a r a1marks myentry into thefranchise. I havea bigger role inBimbisara 2 now."

During the con-versation we learnt,director Vasishta is sopeculiar. He is everywhere onset. He doesn't sit on the chair. He per-sonally hands over the script papers tothe actors. Usually, such things are got-ten done by assistants.

Talking about her malayali stints, shesaid, “In Mollywood, we do a lot ofmovies in a year. I am glad that I am get-ting to do big movies simultaneously inboth Telugu and Malayalam. I have been

working non-stop. It'snot just acting that

I am passionateabout. I like

cinema as awhole. I amonly happythat I amgetting towork everysingle day!Malayalam

movies havecompact pro-

duction where100-115 individ-

uals exist on set ata given time. The

communication betweenactors and director is direct. In

Malayalam, we shoot in real locations.That's why films there look authentic. Wecan finish three scenes in a day. An actordoes three call sheets in a day sometimes.Acting is a thinking process that needsimprovization. When the schedules aretight, I feel exhausted. In Telugu, exhaus-tion is not happening. The sets are huge.”

She continued, “The Samyuktha you

saw in Bheemla Nayak was not the start-ing stage of my career. I had been work-ing very hard in Malayalam. I have playeda variety of roles in Mollywood. I am priv-ileged to say that I am getting to play sub-stantial roles in Telugu. There, movies arerealistic. Here, movies are cinematic.People here love you and respect you somuch. The Telugu people are emotion-al and very expressive. The Malayalamaudience merely clap even for big massmoments. The Telugu audience, on theother hand, I don't even know how todescribe. When I bagged Bheemla Nayak,everyone here showered love on me eventhough they knew nothing about me.That's because it's a Pawan Kalyanmovie.” She really understands that as anactress how glamour can't be equatedwith skin show. She is wearing fullclothing in interviews but she calls her-self glamorous in her own way.Objectification is not glamour. Now, shehas signed up for a dream-come-true pro-ject in Mollywood. It's more than aMalayalam movie. In Telugu, she hascompleted shooting for SIR. As forSSMB28, she is not doing it. It's a sweetfalse rumour that she is doing it.

ActressSamyuktha Menon,

who will next be seen inthe Tollywood film

Bimbisara, shares howTollywood films differ from

Malayalam films, herupcoming projects and

much more

Telugu starNithiin backsdirector of filmsaid to have‘casteist' slurs‘M

a c h e r l aNiyojakavargam,N i t h i i n ' s

impending social drama,has been in the news forwrong reasons. M.S. RajaShekhar Reddy, a debu-tant, who has directedthe movie, is involved ina controversy surround-ing his political motives.

On social media, indi-viduals have found someof director Reddy’s oldertweets where he is said tohave hurled insults atsome particular castes.

People on Twitter aretagging Nithiin andMacherla Niyojakavargamdirector in screenshots ofthe hateful tweets, M.S.Raja Shekhar Reddy hadwritten in the past. He isallegedly a fervent sup-porter of Y.S. Jagan and ahater of the TDP. In thepast, he is said to haveused derogatory language

against the Kamma andKapu castes and postednumerous trolls on theTDP leader, which hascalled many online usersto oppose his acts.

Since the majority ofthose harsh tweets appearto be phoney, the heroNithiin has tweeted insupport of his directorand asked people not toshare them. But giventhat the director alreadysent out multiple hatefultweets about the party, theharm has already beendone.

The Telugu Desamparty fans are now veryagitated, which will harmthe movie by taking awayits optimism. The allegedtweet and words used byM.S. Raja Shekhar Reddyhas not only infuriatedTDP supporters but alsoPawan Kalyan's politicalsupporters.

Vikrant Rona will be a bigsuper hit like Baahubali andRRR: Akkineni NagarjunaV

ikrant Rona is a bigbudget 3D movie star-ring Sandalwood’s Bad

Shah Kiccha Sudeep in the titlerole. This 3D film will bereleased worldwide on July 28.Anup Bhandari directed thismovie starring Kiccha Sudeep.Jacqueline Fernandez, NirupBhandari and Neeta Ashok.Produced by Jack Manjunathunder the banner of ShaliniArts, the film is being releasedunder the banner of ZeeStudios and Kiccha Creationsunder the banner of SalmanKhan Films.

Akkineni Nagarjuna said,“Kiccha Sudeep and Anoop allreminded me of my old films.Sudeep is not a Kannada boybut a Telugu boy. He stays in

Hyderabad. Sudeep has alreadyacted in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil,Kannada and Malayalam lan-guages. Everyone knowsSudeep as an actor. NowVikrant Rona is going to enter-tain the audience of all lan-guages. Usually, we feel proudthat this movie was shot hereand put up big posters. Earlierwe had Baahubali and RRR. Itis said that the film was shot in3D. Absolutely fantastic. Verygood mind for our telugu audi-ence. Because if our people likethe movie, they take it and putit there. The movie will be asuper hit.”

Kiccha Sudeep said, “Thefirst film I saw was RamuduBheemudu. When I came toHyderabad from Bangalore, I

watched the movie RamaduBheemudu, excited to see whatit would be like when I cameto know that my uncle hadbought a TV. The first movieI saw in the theater was Shiva.Even though I don't know thelanguage, I watched threeshows in two days. Till then Idid not know that you can hitsomeone with a bicycle chain.It became a style then. I feltvery happy that Nagarjunacame here today with a phonecall I made. This cinema has agood association withHyderabad. Because 65-70percent of the film was shot inHyderabad. Most of it was shotin Annapurna studio. Evenafter shooting there for threemonths, not a single corona

case was reported. Anupwould not have been able tocreate the world without artdirector Shibu. Also, Ajaneeshtook the film ten steps higherwith his music. If not for pro-ducer Jack Manju, it wouldhave not been successful.”

Film director AnupBhandari said, “Vikrant Ronais my 20-year-old dream.Always wanted to work withSudeep. I wrote my first scriptfor Sudeep. Now I have donea film with him. I am proud.I have a good relationshipwith the Akkineni family too.I worked as an assistant direc-tor for Geetanjali. When hewas working on this movie, hecalled me specially and con-gratulated me.”

Udhayanidhi Stalin willplay the lead in thisfilm which is going to

be produced by Kamal Haasanand R Mahendran.

The film, tentatively titledProduction #54, will be basedon a real life, historical inci-dent.

Taking to Twitter, KamalHaasan wrote, “The history ofthat day. Let us remind it. I

wish and welcome my youngerbrother Udhayanidhi Stalin.”

Sources say that the film willbe made on a lavish scale.

Kamal Haasan hadannounced that Udhayanidhiwould be playing the lead inhis company's next film at afunction organised byUdhayanidhi's Red GiantMovies. Udhayanidhi inresponse to the announce-

ment, had tweeted in Tamil,“As part of our celebrations tomark the 15-year film journeyof Red Giant movies, we hon-oured those who had con-tributed at a function inChennai yesterday.

I thank Kamal Haasan sir,who gave me the honour ofbecoming the hero of the nextfilm being produced by RKFIand for announcing it.”

Kamal Haasan welcomesUdhayanidhi onboard

RKFI's next film

Dhanush’s first look poster ofSir/Vaathi on his birthday eveleaves his fans in a tizzy

National award-winningactor Dhanush’s Telugu-bilingual Sir/Vaathi, writ-

ten and directed by VenkyAtluri, is nearing completion. SNaga Vamsi and Sai Soujanyaare bankrolling the prestigiousproject under SitharaEntertainments, Fortune FourCinemas. Srikara Studios pre-sents the film. SamyukthaMenon plays the female lead.

A title reveal video of thebilingual, calling the film anambitious journey of a commonman caught the attention ofmany, hinting at a unique,intriguing campus tale. The titleposters contributed to the excite-ment of Dhanush’s fans. On theeve of Dhanush’s birthday, themakers of Sir/Vaathi released thefirst look of the film.

In the first look poster,Dhanush, surrounded by a pileof books across various shelves,is burning the midnight oil,sporting an intense expressionwhile working on an importantassignment. This look featuringDhanush as a lecturer has onlyenhanced the curiosity sur-rounding the film’s teaser, set torelease today at 6 pm (onDhanush’s birthday).

Here’s what the director Venky Atluri hasto say about it.“Dhanush will be seen as a lec-turer in Sir. The film revolves around theeducation system and is simultaneouslybeing made in Tamil and Telugu. Dhanush’sunflinching support on the sets is indeed

unbelievable. GV Prakash’s music andYuvraj’s cinematography are among themajor highlights of the film,” he added.

Sir is set to release in October. More detailsabout the much-anticipated Telugu-Tamilbilingual will be announced shortly.

‘I am selfish about thecharacters I play’

sports 12HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JULY 28, 2022

AP n GALLE

Sri Lankan century-makerDhananjaya de Si lva

warned on Wednesday thatthey needed early Pakistanwickets on the final day ofthe second Test with badweather looming.

Tourists Pakistan, whoare chasing a record 508 forvictory in Galle or need tobat out three sessions for adraw, were 89-1 when badlight stopped play on dayfour.

Lef t-handed openerImam-ul-Haq was on 46 andskipper Babar Azam on 26.

The arrival of rain con-firmed a second consecu-tive early finish, keepingalive Pakistan's hopes of adraw — and with it victory inthe two-match series, whichthey lead 1-0.

De Silva, who hit 109,said the hosts were wary thatbad light could mean anoth-

er shortened final sessionon Thursday.

"We need to get wicketsearly tomorrow," he said."The key is to bowl at onepoint consistently."

The tourists will need tomake an unprecedentedchase — with another 419runs needed to win — if theyare to make it 2-0.

Sri Lanka, who declaredtheir second innings on 360-8 in the second session afterresuming on 176-5, neednine wickets on the finalday to end the series level.

Earlier, De Silva made adominant century beforebeing run out at the non-striker's end and Sri Lankaskipper Dimuth Karunaratnecalled his batsmen back tothe pavilion.

De Silva put on a keystand of 126 with overnightpartner Karunaratne, a left-handed batsman who battledspasms of back pain duringhis knock of 61.

PTI n PORT OF SPAIN

Paddy Upton's vast reservoir ofknowledge will be an immense-ly useful "resource" at a time

when mental health of cricketers isbecoming paramount in a choc-a-blocinternational cricket calender, feelsIndia head coach Rahul Dravid.

Upton, who had four fruitfulyears from 2008 to 2011 under GaryKirsten is back at Dravid's insistenceand will now help the elite Indianplayers cope up with pressure cook-er scenario going into T20 World Cupin Australia.

"With so much cricket beingplayed mental health side of cricket isvery important and having a resourcelike him (Upton) will really be help-ful to the group," Dravid told BCCI.Tv.

Dravid also feels that Upton'sfamiliarity with Indian cricket set-upwill prove to be helpful.

"Travelling as players in interna-tional cricket, we do understand themental side of the game and we arelucky to get someone like Paddy onboard because he has that experienceof being with Indian team during 2011World Cup and even a little beforethat.

"Most importantly he (Upton) isfamiliar with most Indian players hav-ing worked with them at IPL level orin Indian team.

"He is familiar with our cultureand how the Indian team functions.(It) seemed like a really good fit forus, to tap into his knowledge as welook to build the team for the WorldCup," added Dravid.

MY ROLE IS TO CREATE...Upton, who has had his own

unique people skills to deal with indi-vidual players wants to be seen as afacilitator of optimum performancelevel from players in top-flight com-petition.

"Everybody has a natural motiva-tional flow and part of my role is tohelp individuals find that naturalmotivation flow and for that we needto set up an environment that allowspeople to be themselves and to flour-ish," Upton said.

To prove his point, he gave ananalogy of how a gardener needs tocreate a fertile land to grow beautifulflowers.

"If I give a simple analogy is togrow beautiful flowers, the gardener

needs to create a fertile land. As coach-es, our role is to create a fertile envi-ronment which helps our players tonaturally grow and reach their fullestpotential on and off the field," addedUpton.

According to Upton, if the team isin great mental space, performanceswill naturally flow in.

"If team is in great space perform-ances are naturally going to flow.What we need to do is remove obsta-cles in those performances, individu-ally and from team perspectives,"added Upton.

"Mental side of the game hasn'tchanged a lot but what has changed isCovid experience and lot of playershave been on road lot of the times, sothere is an extra element of trying toget each individual player as well asteam as a whole in best space possible.

TALKING ABOUT CRICKET, LIFE &SPIRITUALITY

Upton first met Dravid in 1996when Strength and Codnitioning

coaches weren't in vogue and on hisfirst tour of South Africa, he wanted topick the former's brain.

"He (Dravid) has always beensomeone with such a hunger to learn,not just around game of cricket becausehe is a professor when it comes to gameof cricket but about life and everythingbeyond cricket.

"We have been in conversationabout life, cricket, spirituality since1996. We picked up again when wejoined the Indian team in 2008 withGary Kirsten.

"So I have been in these conver-sations for a long time and super excit-ing to have those conversations everyday and hopefully it goes towards set-ting up this Indian team for an unbe-lievable T20 World Cup," Uptonsigned off.

AP n LOS ANGELES

Ousmane Dembele and MoiseKean scored two goals apiece

as Barcelona and Juventus foughtto an entertaining 2-2 draw intheir US pre-season friendly inDallas on Tuesday.

French winger Dembele firedBarcelona ahead after 34 minutesat the Cotton Bowl, wriggling pastJuventus players Juan Cuadradoand Sandro before beating Juvegoalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny tomake it 1-0.

But Juventus hit back fiveminutes later with Colombianwing-back Cuadrado makingamends with a pinpoint low crossthat found Kean who tapped inpast Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Barcelona were soon back infront again, however, and onceagain the goal came as Dembelepunished poor defending.

Cuadrado was again at fault,with Dembele skipping past theSouth American's covering tack-

le and then cutting past ManuelLocatelli to shoot past Szczesnyfor a 2-1 lead.

Barcelona coach XaviHernandez made a flurry ofchanges at half-time, withDembele making way for newBrazilian signing Raphina.

The former Leeds striker

made an instant impact, blastinga long-range shot that Szczesnyparried over the bar.

Despite Barcelona's brightstart to the half, it was Juventuswho scored next with Kean tuck-ing away a rebound after deftapproach play by Denis Zakariaand Locatelli on 52 minutes.

WEST HAM SIGN SCAMACCALondon: West Ham announcedthe signing of Italy strikerGianluca Scamacca on Tuesdayfrom Sassuolo on a five-yeardeal.

The 23-year-old will report-edly cost the Hammers an initial£30.5 million ($37 million) witha further £5 million in add-ons.

Scamacca had been linkedwith Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain after scoring 16 goals in36 matches in Serie A last season.

"I am really excited to joinWest Ham," said Scamacca.

"I've waited a long time forthis moment - it's been a dreamto play in the Premier League.

AP n MONTEVIDEO

Former Barcelona and Liverpool star Luis Suarezannounced on Tuesday he has reached "a prelim-

inary agreement" to return to his first club Nacionalfor three months ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.

Striker Suarez, 35, left Atletico Madrid at the endof last season and is looking for a new club.

He is Uruguay's all-time top goalscorer and setto compete at his fourth World Cup.

"First of all I would like to say thank you for thegreat affection shown to me and my family these lastfew days," said Suarez in a video published on hissocial media accounts.

He said this had made it impossible "to reject thepossibility of returning to play forNacional and we have a prelim-inary agreement with the club."

Suarez began his career atNacional, making his debutaged 18 in May 2005.

He is due to sign a three-month deal with Nacional toplay in the UruguayanClausura competitionwhile preparing for theWorld Cup in Qatarfrom February 21to December 18.

"Details willbe finalized in thenext hours andwe hope to reachthe agreement weall desire and thatwe can all makethe most of thisnew stage andsee each other inthe comingdays," addedSuarez.

AP n SHEFFIELD

England will have the chance to win a firstever major women's tournament in front

of a sold-out Wembley this weekend after beat-ing Sweden 4-0 in Sheffield on Tuesday to reachthe Euro 2022 final.

Substitute Alessia Russo's stunning back-heel through the legs of Sweden goalkeeperHedvig Lindahl set the seal on a special nightfor the Lionesses with Beth Mead, LucyBronze and Fran Kirby also on the scoresheetto set up a clash against Germany or Franceon Sunday.

After semi-final heartache in the lastthree major tournaments, it was fourth timelucky for the Lionesess to the delight of thehome crowd of 29,000 at Bramall Lane.

Mead settled the hosts' nerves after a brightstart by Sweden when the Arsenal forwardsmashed home her sixth goal of the tourna-ment.

Bronze's header early in the second halfthen opened the floodgates, but it was Russo'sfinish will live long in the memory.

The Manchester United striker has madea positive impact off the bench throughout thetournament and may finally get the chance tostart ahead of England's all-time recordgoalscorer Ellen White in the final.

Russo's first effort was parried by Lindahl,but she embarrassed the Swedish stopper byusing her heel to thread the rebound throughthe Atletico Madrid goalkeeper's legs.

Lindahl's nightmare evening was round-ed off 14 minutes from time when she got ahand to Kirby's chip but failed to keep it out.

A record crowd for a women's Euro of87,000 is expected at Wembley for the final,hoping England will end a 56-year wait for amajor title in either the men's or women's game.

Sweden had not lost in open play in 34matches stretching back to the World Cupsemi-finals in 2019.

AP nMUNICH

Bayern Munich chief executiveOliver Kahn said on Wednesday

that making a move for CristianoRonaldo in the transfer market wouldnot fit the club's "philosophy".

"We discussed this topic — oth-erwise we wouldn't be doing our jobproperly," Kahn told Bild.

"Personally, I think CristianoRonaldo is one of the greatest-everfootballers.

"But we came to the conclusionthat, despite the esteem that we holdhim in, he wouldn't have fitted ourphilosophy at the moment."

The 37-year-old Ronaldo onlyhas one year left on his contract withUnited, but is reportedly desperate toplay in the Champions League.

Bayern saw Robert Lewandowskileave for Barcelona earlier this monthand Tottenham coach Antonio Contehas complained that the Bavarians

have been trying to entice Englandcaptain Harry Kane to move to theBundesliga champions.

"Harry Kane is an excellent strik-er who is under contract withTottenham," said former Bayern goal-keeper Kahn.

Bayern face RB Leipzig in theGerman Super Cup on Saturdaybefore opening their Bundesliga titledefence at Eintracht Frankfurt onAugust 5.

‘Resource like Upton will be helpful’

PTI n DUBAI

Senior India batter ShikharDhawan on Wednesday moved

up a place to joint 13th spot in thelatest ICC ODI rankings on theback of his match-winning knockagainst the West Indies in the firstmatch of the ongoing limited-overseries.

Dhawan, a left-handed batter,made 97 in the first ODI againstWest Indies last Friday at the Portof Spain. India won the game bythree runs.

Another India batter ShreyasIyer, who struck back-to-back halfcenturies in the first two ODIsagainst the West Indies, moved up20 places to the joint 54th amongbatters.

Iyer had struck 54 and 63 in thefirst and the second ODI againstWest Indies.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma,who both have been rested for theseries against West Indies, havedropped a place each to fifth and

sixth spot respectively.Meanwhile, in the ICC Test

rankings, Pakistan captain BabarAzam's scores of 119 and 55 againstSri Lanka saw him overtakeAustralia's Steve Smith to reach acareer high third ranking with acareer best rating of 874 points.

DHAWAN, IYER MOVE UPIN ICC ODI RANKINGS

Sri Lanka target early Pakwickets after De Silva ton

Suarez has agreementto rejoin Nacional

Ronaldo doesn't fit club's‘philosophy': Bayern’s Kahn

AP n MADRID

Neymar is due to face trial inOctober over alleged irregu-

larities in his transfer to Barcelona,judicial sources said onWednesday.

The Brazilian international,his parents and former Barcelonapresidents Sandro Rosell and JosepMaria Bartomeu will be tried foralleged corruption related to theforward's move from Santos toBarcelona in 2013.

Rosell and Bartomeu will alsoface fraud charges in the trialwhich is scheduled to take placefrom October 17 to 31.

Neymar left Barcelona forParis Saint-Germain in 2017 for a

world-record 222 million euros,but it is his move from boyhoodclub Santos to Barca which hascaused controversy.

The case stems from a com-plaint by Brazilian group DIS, theformer owner of a percentage ofthe player's rights.

Barcelona officially said thetransfer cost 57.1 million euros($63.6 million), with 40 millioneuros going to Neymar's family and17.1 million to Santos, but Spanishprosecutors later said it actuallycost at least 83.3 million euros.

DIS, which received 6.8 mil-lion of the 17.1 million euros paidto Santos, have alleged that Barcaand Neymar joined forces to hidethe real amount of the transfer.

Neymar to be tried overirregularities in Barca transfer

Lionesses thrash Sweden toreach women's Euro 2022 final

Juventus, Barca draw 2-2 in US friendly

AP n SAN FRANCISCO

Karim Benzema and EdenHazard were on target as

Spanish giants Real Madridwere held to a 2-2 draw byMexican side Club Americain their pre-season friendlyon Tuesday.

Former Real Madridplayer Alvaro Fidalgo's 82nd-minute penalty denied Realvictory in a game played ona makeshift surface at OraclePark, the home of the SanFrancisco Giants baseballteam.

America took the leadwith a shock early goal afterjust five minutes, as HenryMartin latched onto a shot byMiguel Layun and helped itinto the net.

But Real responded with

an equaliser from Benzemaafter 22 minutes.

Real coach CarloAncelotti made wholesalechanges at half-time, withseven substitutions, whichincluded Benzema makingway for Rodrygo and Asensiocoming off for Hazard.

Hazard did not take longto make an impact, convert-ing a 55th-minute spot kickafter America defenderSalvador Reyes was adjudgedto have fouled Lucas Vazquezin the box.

Hazard's penalty lookedlike sett l ing a drabencounter but America gotback on level terms eightminutes from time whenVinicius made the slightestof contact with Fidalgo justinside the area.

Real Madrid held by Club AmericaFrench winger

Dembele fired

Barcelona ahead

after 34 minutes at

the Cotton Bowl,

wriggling past

Juventus players

Juan Cuadrado and

Sandro before

beating Juve

goalkeeper

Wojciech Szczesny