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c m y k c m y k
COUNTER POINT
Max: 30.7OCMin: 18.2OC RH: 50%Rainfall: Nil
Forecast: Cloudy sky.Misty morning. Max/Min
temp. 31/18ºC
WEATHER
ASTROGUIDEVikari; Uttarayana
Tithi: Magha Shuddha Saptami till 6.07 pm
Star: Ashwini till 8.50 pmVarjyam: 4.23 pm to 6.10 pm
Durmuhurtam: 6.51 am to 8.21 am
Rahukalam: 9 am to 10.30 amHIJRI CALENDAR
Jumadi us-Sani 6,1441 AHPRAYERS
Fajar: 5.46 amZohar: 12.40 pm
Asar: 4.35 pmMaghrib: 6.17 pm
Isha: 7.26 pmSUNSET TODAY 6.11 PM
SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.47 AMMOONRISE TODAY 11.31 AM
MOONSET TOMORROW 00.15 AM
SREEPARNACHAKRABARTY || DDCNEW DELHI, JAN. 31
Amid unprecedented Opp-osition protests, PresidentRam Nath Kovind onFriday praised the newCitizenship (Amendment)Act as a historic step anda fulfillment of MahatmaGandhi’s wishes.
In his 70-minute addressto a joint session ofParliament before thebeginning of the BudgetSession, Mr Kovindtouched upon a number ofissues ranging from facili-ties for Muslim students,the Ram temple inAyodhya and the need toimprove the economy.However, when he refer-red to the CAA, it wasdrowned in the crescendoof “shame, shame” fromthe Opposition.
As soon as the Presidentbegan praising the con-tentious CAA, which hasunleashed massiveprotests across the coun-try, members of the rulingBJP began to thump theirdesks and very soon theOpposition Congress andother MPs were seenshouting “shame, shame”.
Congress MPs, includ-ing senior leaders SoniaGandhi and Ghulam NabiAzad, sat on the fifth andsixth rows and refused to
sit in their designatedfront row seats. TheCongress MPs also woreblack armbands.
At around 11.45 am, asthe President was stillspeaking on the CAA,Trinamul Congress MPsgot up and silently stood,some wearing whiteshirts with “No NRC”written on them, andother brandishing clothplacards with “No CAA,No NRC and No NPR”written on them.
Not only did thePresident hail the new cit-izenship law, he also criti-cised any kind of violence,saying it would weakensociety and the nation,without directly referringto the anti-CAA protestsacross the country, someof which have seen vio-lence.
■ Page 99: UUse sswadeshi ttogrow, ssays PPrez
CAA fulfilsMahatma’swish: PrezOpposition responds byshouting ‘shame, shame’
President RRam NNath KKovind
SANJAY KKAW || DDCNEW DELHI, JAN. 31
Exactly 15 hours beforethey were due to behanged, the four Nirbhayagangrape-murder caseconvicts on Friday got yetanother last-minutereprieve as a Delhi courtdeferred their executionindefinitely.
Convicts Mukesh KumarSingh (32), Pawan Gupta(25), Akshay Kumar Singh(31) and Vinay KumarSharma (26) — who weredue to be executed at 6 amon Saturday — will not behanged until further courtorders. However, mercypetition filed by convictVinay Sharma got thehanging postponed.
Additional sessionsjudge Dharmender Ranapassed the order on theplea by the convicts seek-ing adjournment of theexecutions “sine die”. Thisis the second time that theexecution of the death war-rants has been deferred.The first order for execu-tion of death sentence,issued on January 7 for
January 22, was stayed onJanuary 17. The secondorder, issued on January17, for February 1 wasstayed on Friday.
In deeply distressingscenes outside the PatialaHouse court complex here,Nirbhaya’s mother AshaDevi broke down and criedafter the execution of thefour men convicted in the
2012 gangrape, torture andmurder of her 23-year-olddaughter was postponedfor a second time.
Asha Devi said convicts’lawyer A.P. Singh hadbragged to her in opencourt that “the hangingwill never happen”.
■ Page 110: WWe hhave tto follow tthe llaw: JJudge
Nirbhaya rapists’ hanging put off
DC CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, JAN. 31
India on Friday started evacuatingits nationals from Wuhan in Chinain the wake of the deadly novelcoronavirus (n-COV) that has ledto over 200 deaths and over 9,000confirmed cases of infection.
The first special flight of AirIndia, a double-decker Boeing 747jumbo jet with 15 cabin crew andfive cockpit crew, left Mumbai onFriday morning and stopped inNew Delhi in between to pick upmedicines and other essentialsbefore flying to Wuhan. Thisjumbo is configured with 423 seats.About 366 Indian nationals will beflown back to India by midnight. Asecond flight will depart for Chinaon Saturday morning.
A team of five doctors fromDelhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia hospi-tal (RML), a paramedic from AirIndia with prescribed medicines,masks, overcoats and packed foodare travelling to Wuhan in the spe-cial flight. A team of engineers,security personnel is also in thisspecial aircraft. The Air Indiacrew will have minimum contactwith the passengers being flownin. “Food will be kept in seat pock-ets. As there will be no service, the-re will be no interaction (betweencabin crew and passengers),” anAir India spokesman said. Headded masks have been arrangedfor the crew and passengers. “Forour crew, we have also arrangedcomplete protective gear,” he said.
In India, special arrangementshave been made to keep the incom-ing passengers in special quaran-tine zones. The Indian Army andthe Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) have swiftly created facili-ties in their camps. While the ITBPfacility was set up near ChhawlaCamp in New Delhi for the quaran-tine of approximately 600 peopleand the Indian Army has created aquarantine facility near Manesar,where 300 people will be monitoredfor a duration of at least two weeksfor signs of coronavirus.
Indian Army officials saidscreening and quarantine will be atwo-step process. “The first onebeing screening at the airport, fol-lowed by the quarantine at Mane-sar, and if any individual is sus-pected to be infected, he/she willbe shifted to the isolation ward atBase Hospital, Delhi Cantonment(BHDC),” said officials. Thescreening at the airport will bedone by a joint team of ArmedForces Medical Services (AFMS)and Airport Health Authority.
■ Page 110: FFamily mmembers ccan’tmeet qquarantined sstudents
India to evacuate366 from WuhanArmy, ITBP build facilities to isolatepeople suspected of viral infection
MADHUSUDAN SAHOO || DDCNEW DELHI, JAN 31
Bating for massive wealthcreation in the country, theEconomic Survey 2020 onFriday said that the coun-try’s economy would growby six or 6.5 per cent in thefiscal year starting April 1,2020. The economic growthfor FY20 would remain atfive per cent.
The Survey — tabled byfinance minister NirmalaSitharaman a day before
the Union Budget for 2020-21 — also called for mea-sures to attain $5-trillioneconomy by 2024.
The Survey also made acase for relaxing the fiscaldeficit target of 3.3 per centof GDP in view of the needto arrest declining growth,estimated to touch an 11-year low of five per cent inthe current fiscal.
Apart from asking thegovernment to considerreducing food subsidy, theSurvey has called uponpeople to look at business-
men with respect as theycreate wealth and jobs.
The Survey, authored byChief Economic AdviserKrishnamurthy Subrama-nian, also introduced 10new ideas to boost growth,including wealth creationthat benefits all, marketsenable wealth creation,trust is a public good thatincreases with use, grass-root entrepreneurs thatcreate wealth in their dis-tricts, pro-business poli-cies give equal opportuni-ty, remove anachronistic
government interventions,job creation etc.
Listing global trade ten-sions and oil prices risingfrom an escalation in US-Iran standoff as downsiderisks to growth, the Surveyalso pointed out that theGDP growth of Indiashould strongly rebound in2020-21 on a low statisticalbase of five per cent growthin 2019-20. Amid soaringexpenditure on account ofbig ticket announcementsand shrinking revenue in2019, the government tar-
geted to contain the fiscaldeficit at `7.04 lakh croreor 3.3 per cent of grossdomestic product or GDP,in the financial year end-ing March 2020, from `6.49lakh crore or 3.4 per cent ofGDP in the previous year.
Despite the global slow-down, Ms Subramanian isconfident that economicslowdown has bottomedout. However, he rejectedhis predecessor ArvindSubramanian’s analysis ofIndia’s GDP growth ratebeing overestimated by 2.7
per cent post-2011, sayingthe allegation was‘unfounded’ and ‘unsub-stantiated by the data’.
“If you look at the busi-ness cycle phenomena inIndia, typically if you lookat the peaks and troughsand co-relate it with whathas happened, it seems likewe have hit the troughtherefore there should beuptick in growth,” he toldreporters on Friday.
■ Page 99: FFocus oon llabourfor jjobs: SSurvey
Survey asks Centre to splurge to boost growthCEA seeks cut in food subsidy by reviewing PDS prices; predicts higher growth next fiscalECONOMIC | REVIEW
Air India’s officials, cabin crew, cockpit crew and other people pose fora photograph before the departure of the airline’s B747 aircraft fromNew Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport to bring back Indiansfrom coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China. — PTI
KANIZA GGARARI || DCHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Four more people with suspicionof coronavirus self-reported to theFever Hospital on Friday and gavetheir samples for testing as theyhad cough and cold. All four arefrom the business community orare software engineers, who havereturned from China in recenttimes. They were worried afterreading about the virus and want-ed to get themselves evaluated.
Meanwhile, the helpline numberis buzzing with those who havenormal cold, with those with per-sistent cough calling in to checkwhether they should submit theirsamples. Officials have been ask-ing them not to worry as the viruswas yet found in any of the sam-ples tested from Telangana.
Of the 11 samples collected andsent for testing to Pune, nine sam-ples returned as negative, whileresults of two others are awaited.Two new samples have also beensent to Pune for testing.
The testing kits from the centralgovernment arrived at the GandhiHospital on Friday and the testingwould start within 24 hours here.
■ Page 22: FFive-mmember tteam wwilltest mmedical kkits aat GGGH
Four moresuspectedcases in city
New York, Jan. 31: The WorldHealth Organization (WHO)declared the outbreak sparked bycoronavirus in China that hasspread to more than a dozen coun-tries as a global emergency onThursday after the number ofcases spiked more than tenfold ina week.
The UN health agency defines aninternational emergency as an“extraordinary event’’ that consti-tutes a risk to other countries andrequires a coordinated interna-tional response.
China first informed WHO aboutcases of the new virus in lateDecember. To date, China hasreported nearly 10,000 casesincluding 212 deaths. Eighteenother countries have since report-
ed cases, as scientists race tounderstand how exactly the virusis spreading and how severe it is.
Experts say there is significantevidence the virus is spreadingamong people in China and havenoted with concern instances inother countries — including theUnited States, France, Japan,Germany, Canada, South Koreaand Vietnam — where there havealso been isolated cases of human-to-human transmission.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva,WHO director-general TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus noted theworrisome spread of the virusbetween people outside China.
“The main reason for this decla-ration is not because of what ishappening in China but because
of what is happening in othercountries,” he said. “Our greatestconcern is the potential for thisvirus to spread to countries withweaker health systems which areill-prepared to deal with it.”
In the wake of numerous air-lines cancelling flights to Chinaand businesses temporarily clos-ing hundreds of shops, Mr Tedrossaid WHO was not recommendinglimiting travel or trade to China.
The United States, however,advised against all travel to Chinaon Friday.
The US State Department’s level4 “Do Not Travel” advisory, thehighest grade of warning, toldAmericans in China to considerdeparting using commercialmeans. — AP
WHO declares global emergency
UP captor killed,his wife lynchedFarrukhabad (UP), Jan.31: The hostage crisishere ended early Fridayafter 23 children held cap-tive for eight hours wererescued by police and thecaptor shot dead, whilehis wife was lynched byangry villagers
Eight policemen and alocal resident were hurtwhen Subhash Batham,40, opened fire at themduring the siege inKasaria village, policesaid.
“The accused had invit-ed the children for hisdaughter’s birthday partyand held them hostage,”director-general of policeO.P. Singh said.
“It started about 5.45 pmon January 30 and contin-ued for about eighthours,” the Uttar PradeshDGP said.
The crisis continuedpast midnight. Police saidBatham, who was a mur-der accused and appearedmentally unstable, initial-ly released a six-month-old girl by handing herover to a neighbour froma balcony.
They said Batham, who
was out on bail, haddemanded the withdrawalof a murder case againsthim. “The accused waskilled and there wereabout 23 children whowere rescued safely,”additional chief secretary(Home) Awanish Awasthitold reporters at a hur-riedly called press confer-ence at 1.20 am on Friday.
Batham’s wife died inhospital late on Thursdaynight. She had tried toescape from the spot, butwas caught by angry par-ents who thrashed herand pelted stones at her,Kanpur Inspector GeneralMohit Agarwal said.
She suffered a headinjury in the attack, butthe exact cause of deathwould be known afterpost-mortem, he said.
The children were con-fined to the basement ofthe house. Agarwal saidBatham wanted to talk tothe local MLA, butrefused to speak to himwhen he arrived, Agarwalsaid.
■ Page 99: PPolice rrecoverweapons, bbombs
iNSIDEPg 9 | Education invillages costlier
Pg 9 | Roadblocks todouble farm profits
Pg 14 | Promoteassemble in India
Pg 14 | Health scorefor NBFCs and HFCs
CORONAVIRUS SCARE
PIO appointedIBM global CEO
New York: Indian-origintechnology executive
Arvind Krishna has beenelected Chief Executive
Officer of American IT giantIBM, succeeding Virginia
Rometty. He will takecharge on April 6. Krishna is
currently IBM Senior VicePresident for Cloud and
Cognitive Software. Krishna,57, had joined IBM in 1990and has an undergraduate
degree from the IIT, Kanpur,and a PhD in electrical engi-neering from the University
of Illinois. — PTI
Gates’ daughter to wed Egyptian
New Delhi: The world’ssecond richest person
Bill Gates’ daughterJennifer Gates has
announced her engage-ment to Egyptian show
jumper Nayel Nassar.Jennifer announced her
engagement on ThursdayInstagram by sharing
their picture. BothJennifer and Nayelattended Stanford
University and love theequine sport. Bill and
Melinda Gates said theywere thrilled for the couple.
Trump trial mayend very soon
Washington: RepublicanSenator Lamar Alexanderof Tennessee will opposecalling more witnesses in
President DonaldTrump’s impeachment
trial, all but dashingDemocratic efforts to
hear more testimony andboosting odds the Sen-
ate will vote to acquit MrTrump by Friday. A vote
on witnesses, expectedon Friday, could end the
trial abruptly. — PTI
■ Full rreport oon PPage 111
JD(U) opposesBJP on NPR
New Delhi: The JD(U) onFriday urged the govern-
ment during an NDA meet-ing on Friday to remove
questions seeking details ofparents in the National
Population Register (NPR)questionnaire. JD(U) leader
Lalan Singh said he raisedthe issue at the NDA meet-
ing and home minister AmitShah assured that the mat-ter will be discussed. Singh
said the Shiromani AkaliDal, another BJP ally, alsosupported it on the issue.
Vol. 83 No. 31 Established 1938 | 40 PAGES | `6.00deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle, google.com/+deccanchronicle
TABLOIDSPORTS|15When the Street beckons!
India pull off yetanother thrilling win
Britain exitsEuropean Union
WORLD|11
THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIAHYDERABAD I SATURDAY I 1 FEBRUARY 2020
c m y k c m y k
COUNTER POINT
Max: 30.7OCMin: 18.2OC RH: 50%Rainfall: Nil
Forecast: Cloudy sky.Misty morning. Max/Min
temp. 31/18ºC
WEATHER
ASTROGUIDEVikari; Uttarayana
Tithi: Magha Shuddha Saptami till 6.07 pm
Star: Ashwini till 8.50 pmVarjyam: 4.23 pm to 6.10 pm
Durmuhurtam: 6.51 am to 8.21 am
Rahukalam: 9 am to 10.30 amHIJRI CALENDAR
Jumadi us-Sani 6,1441 AHPRAYERS
Fajar: 5.46 amZohar: 12.40 pm
Asar: 4.35 pmMaghrib: 6.17 pm
Isha: 7.26 pmSUNSET TODAY 6.11 PM
SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.47 AMMOONRISE TODAY 11.31 AM
MOONSET TOMORROW 00.15 AM
SREEPARNACHAKRABARTY || DDCNEW DELHI, JAN. 31
Amid unprecedented Opp-osition protests, PresidentRam Nath Kovind onFriday praised the newCitizenship (Amendment)Act as a historic step anda fulfillment of MahatmaGandhi’s wishes.
In his 70-minute addressto a joint session ofParliament before thebeginning of the BudgetSession, Mr Kovindtouched upon a number ofissues ranging from facili-ties for Muslim students,the Ram temple inAyodhya and the need toimprove the economy.However, when he refer-red to the CAA, it wasdrowned in the crescendoof “shame, shame” fromthe Opposition.
As soon as the Presidentbegan praising the con-tentious CAA, which hasunleashed massiveprotests across the coun-try, members of the rulingBJP began to thump theirdesks and very soon theOpposition Congress andother MPs were seenshouting “shame, shame”.
Congress MPs, includ-ing senior leaders SoniaGandhi and Ghulam NabiAzad, sat on the fifth andsixth rows and refused to
sit in their designatedfront row seats. TheCongress MPs also woreblack armbands.
At around 11.45 am, asthe President was stillspeaking on the CAA,Trinamul Congress MPsgot up and silently stood,some wearing whiteshirts with “No NRC”written on them, andother brandishing clothplacards with “No CAA,No NRC and No NPR”written on them.
Not only did thePresident hail the new cit-izenship law, he also criti-cised any kind of violence,saying it would weakensociety and the nation,without directly referringto the anti-CAA protestsacross the country, someof which have seen vio-lence.
■ Page 99: UUse sswadeshi ttogrow, ssays PPrez
CAA fulfilsMahatma’swish: PrezOpposition responds byshouting ‘shame, shame’
President RRam NNath KKovind
SANJAY KKAW || DDCNEW DELHI, JAN. 31
Exactly 15 hours beforethey were due to behanged, the four Nirbhayagangrape-murder caseconvicts on Friday got yetanother last-minutereprieve as a Delhi courtdeferred their executionindefinitely.
Convicts Mukesh KumarSingh (32), Pawan Gupta(25), Akshay Kumar Singh(31) and Vinay KumarSharma (26) — who weredue to be executed at 6 amon Saturday — will not behanged until further courtorders. However, mercypetition filed by convictVinay Sharma got thehanging postponed.
Additional sessionsjudge Dharmender Ranapassed the order on theplea by the convicts seek-ing adjournment of theexecutions “sine die”. Thisis the second time that theexecution of the death war-rants has been deferred.The first order for execu-tion of death sentence,issued on January 7 for
January 22, was stayed onJanuary 17. The secondorder, issued on January17, for February 1 wasstayed on Friday.
In deeply distressingscenes outside the PatialaHouse court complex here,Nirbhaya’s mother AshaDevi broke down and criedafter the execution of thefour men convicted in the
2012 gangrape, torture andmurder of her 23-year-olddaughter was postponedfor a second time.
Asha Devi said convicts’lawyer A.P. Singh hadbragged to her in opencourt that “the hangingwill never happen”.
■ Page 110: WWe hhave tto follow tthe llaw: JJudge
Nirbhaya rapists’ hanging put off
DC CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, JAN. 31
India on Friday started evacuatingits nationals from Wuhan in Chinain the wake of the deadly novelcoronavirus (n-COV) that has ledto over 200 deaths and over 9,000confirmed cases of infection.
The first special flight of AirIndia, a double-decker Boeing 747jumbo jet with 15 cabin crew andfive cockpit crew, left Mumbai onFriday morning and stopped inNew Delhi in between to pick upmedicines and other essentialsbefore flying to Wuhan. Thisjumbo is configured with 423 seats.About 366 Indian nationals will beflown back to India by midnight. Asecond flight will depart for Chinaon Saturday morning.
A team of five doctors fromDelhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia hospi-tal (RML), a paramedic from AirIndia with prescribed medicines,masks, overcoats and packed foodare travelling to Wuhan in the spe-cial flight. A team of engineers,security personnel is also in thisspecial aircraft. The Air Indiacrew will have minimum contactwith the passengers being flownin. “Food will be kept in seat pock-ets. As there will be no service, the-re will be no interaction (betweencabin crew and passengers),” anAir India spokesman said. Headded masks have been arrangedfor the crew and passengers. “Forour crew, we have also arrangedcomplete protective gear,” he said.
In India, special arrangementshave been made to keep the incom-ing passengers in special quaran-tine zones. The Indian Army andthe Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) have swiftly created facili-ties in their camps. While the ITBPfacility was set up near ChhawlaCamp in New Delhi for the quaran-tine of approximately 600 peopleand the Indian Army has created aquarantine facility near Manesar,where 300 people will be monitoredfor a duration of at least two weeksfor signs of coronavirus.
Indian Army officials saidscreening and quarantine will be atwo-step process. “The first onebeing screening at the airport, fol-lowed by the quarantine at Mane-sar, and if any individual is sus-pected to be infected, he/she willbe shifted to the isolation ward atBase Hospital, Delhi Cantonment(BHDC),” said officials. Thescreening at the airport will bedone by a joint team of ArmedForces Medical Services (AFMS)and Airport Health Authority.
■ Page 110: FFamily mmembers ccan’tmeet qquarantined sstudents
India to evacuate366 from WuhanArmy, ITBP build facilities to isolatepeople suspected of viral infection
MADHUSUDAN SAHOO || DDCNEW DELHI, JAN 31
Bating for massive wealthcreation in the country, theEconomic Survey 2020 onFriday said that the coun-try’s economy would growby six or 6.5 per cent in thefiscal year starting April 1,2020. The economic growthfor FY20 would remain atfive per cent.
The Survey — tabled byfinance minister NirmalaSitharaman a day before
the Union Budget for 2020-21 — also called for mea-sures to attain $5-trillioneconomy by 2024.
The Survey also made acase for relaxing the fiscaldeficit target of 3.3 per centof GDP in view of the needto arrest declining growth,estimated to touch an 11-year low of five per cent inthe current fiscal.
Apart from asking thegovernment to considerreducing food subsidy, theSurvey has called uponpeople to look at business-
men with respect as theycreate wealth and jobs.
The Survey, authored byChief Economic AdviserKrishnamurthy Subrama-nian, also introduced 10new ideas to boost growth,including wealth creationthat benefits all, marketsenable wealth creation,trust is a public good thatincreases with use, grass-root entrepreneurs thatcreate wealth in their dis-tricts, pro-business poli-cies give equal opportuni-ty, remove anachronistic
government interventions,job creation etc.
Listing global trade ten-sions and oil prices risingfrom an escalation in US-Iran standoff as downsiderisks to growth, the Surveyalso pointed out that theGDP growth of Indiashould strongly rebound in2020-21 on a low statisticalbase of five per cent growthin 2019-20. Amid soaringexpenditure on account ofbig ticket announcementsand shrinking revenue in2019, the government tar-
geted to contain the fiscaldeficit at `7.04 lakh croreor 3.3 per cent of grossdomestic product or GDP,in the financial year end-ing March 2020, from `6.49lakh crore or 3.4 per cent ofGDP in the previous year.
Despite the global slow-down, Ms Subramanian isconfident that economicslowdown has bottomedout. However, he rejectedhis predecessor ArvindSubramanian’s analysis ofIndia’s GDP growth ratebeing overestimated by 2.7
per cent post-2011, sayingthe allegation was‘unfounded’ and ‘unsub-stantiated by the data’.
“If you look at the busi-ness cycle phenomena inIndia, typically if you lookat the peaks and troughsand co-relate it with whathas happened, it seems likewe have hit the troughtherefore there should beuptick in growth,” he toldreporters on Friday.
■ Page 99: FFocus oon llabourfor jjobs: SSurvey
Survey asks Centre to splurge to boost growthCEA seeks cut in food subsidy by reviewing PDS prices; predicts higher growth next fiscalECONOMIC | REVIEW
Air India’s officials, cabin crew, cockpit crew and other people pose fora photograph before the departure of the airline’s B747 aircraft fromNew Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport to bring back Indiansfrom coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China. — PTI
KANIZA GGARARI || DCHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Four more people with suspicionof coronavirus self-reported to theFever Hospital on Friday and gavetheir samples for testing as theyhad cough and cold. All four arefrom the business community orare software engineers, who havereturned from China in recenttimes. They were worried afterreading about the virus and want-ed to get themselves evaluated.
Meanwhile, the helpline numberis buzzing with those who havenormal cold, with those with per-sistent cough calling in to checkwhether they should submit theirsamples. Officials have been ask-ing them not to worry as the viruswas yet found in any of the sam-ples tested from Telangana.
Of the 11 samples collected andsent for testing to Pune, nine sam-ples returned as negative, whileresults of two others are awaited.Two new samples have also beensent to Pune for testing.
The testing kits from the centralgovernment arrived at the GandhiHospital on Friday and the testingwould start within 24 hours here.
■ Page 22: FFive-mmember tteam wwilltest mmedical kkits aat GGGH
Four moresuspectedcases in city
New York, Jan. 31: The WorldHealth Organization (WHO)declared the outbreak sparked bycoronavirus in China that hasspread to more than a dozen coun-tries as a global emergency onThursday after the number ofcases spiked more than tenfold ina week.
The UN health agency defines aninternational emergency as an“extraordinary event’’ that consti-tutes a risk to other countries andrequires a coordinated interna-tional response.
China first informed WHO aboutcases of the new virus in lateDecember. To date, China hasreported nearly 10,000 casesincluding 212 deaths. Eighteenother countries have since report-
ed cases, as scientists race tounderstand how exactly the virusis spreading and how severe it is.
Experts say there is significantevidence the virus is spreadingamong people in China and havenoted with concern instances inother countries — including theUnited States, France, Japan,Germany, Canada, South Koreaand Vietnam — where there havealso been isolated cases of human-to-human transmission.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva,WHO director-general TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus noted theworrisome spread of the virusbetween people outside China.
“The main reason for this decla-ration is not because of what ishappening in China but because
of what is happening in othercountries,” he said. “Our greatestconcern is the potential for thisvirus to spread to countries withweaker health systems which areill-prepared to deal with it.”
In the wake of numerous air-lines cancelling flights to Chinaand businesses temporarily clos-ing hundreds of shops, Mr Tedrossaid WHO was not recommendinglimiting travel or trade to China.
The United States, however,advised against all travel to Chinaon Friday.
The US State Department’s level4 “Do Not Travel” advisory, thehighest grade of warning, toldAmericans in China to considerdeparting using commercialmeans. — AP
WHO declares global emergency
UP captor killed,his wife lynchedFarrukhabad (UP), Jan.31: The hostage crisishere ended early Fridayafter 23 children held cap-tive for eight hours wererescued by police and thecaptor shot dead, whilehis wife was lynched byangry villagers
Eight policemen and alocal resident were hurtwhen Subhash Batham,40, opened fire at themduring the siege inKasaria village, policesaid.
“The accused had invit-ed the children for hisdaughter’s birthday partyand held them hostage,”director-general of policeO.P. Singh said.
“It started about 5.45 pmon January 30 and contin-ued for about eighthours,” the Uttar PradeshDGP said.
The crisis continuedpast midnight. Police saidBatham, who was a mur-der accused and appearedmentally unstable, initial-ly released a six-month-old girl by handing herover to a neighbour froma balcony.
They said Batham, who
was out on bail, haddemanded the withdrawalof a murder case againsthim. “The accused waskilled and there wereabout 23 children whowere rescued safely,”additional chief secretary(Home) Awanish Awasthitold reporters at a hur-riedly called press confer-ence at 1.20 am on Friday.
Batham’s wife died inhospital late on Thursdaynight. She had tried toescape from the spot, butwas caught by angry par-ents who thrashed herand pelted stones at her,Kanpur Inspector GeneralMohit Agarwal said.
She suffered a headinjury in the attack, butthe exact cause of deathwould be known afterpost-mortem, he said.
The children were con-fined to the basement ofthe house. Agarwal saidBatham wanted to talk tothe local MLA, butrefused to speak to himwhen he arrived, Agarwalsaid.
■ Page 99: PPolice rrecoverweapons, bbombs
iNSIDEPg 9 | Education invillages costlier
Pg 9 | Roadblocks todouble farm profits
Pg 14 | Promoteassemble in India
Pg 14 | Health scorefor NBFCs and HFCs
CORONAVIRUS SCARE
PIO appointedIBM global CEO
New York: Indian-origintechnology executive
Arvind Krishna has beenelected Chief Executive
Officer of American IT giantIBM, succeeding Virginia
Rometty. He will takecharge on April 6. Krishna is
currently IBM Senior VicePresident for Cloud and
Cognitive Software. Krishna,57, had joined IBM in 1990and has an undergraduate
degree from the IIT, Kanpur,and a PhD in electrical engi-neering from the University
of Illinois. — PTI
Gates’ daughter to wed Egyptian
New Delhi: The world’ssecond richest person
Bill Gates’ daughterJennifer Gates has
announced her engage-ment to Egyptian show
jumper Nayel Nassar.Jennifer announced her
engagement on ThursdayInstagram by sharing
their picture. BothJennifer and Nayelattended Stanford
University and love theequine sport. Bill and
Melinda Gates said theywere thrilled for the couple.
Trump trial mayend very soon
Washington: RepublicanSenator Lamar Alexanderof Tennessee will opposecalling more witnesses in
President DonaldTrump’s impeachment
trial, all but dashingDemocratic efforts to
hear more testimony andboosting odds the Sen-
ate will vote to acquit MrTrump by Friday. A vote
on witnesses, expectedon Friday, could end the
trial abruptly. — PTI
■ Full rreport oon PPage 111
JD(U) opposesBJP on NPR
New Delhi: The JD(U) onFriday urged the govern-
ment during an NDA meet-ing on Friday to remove
questions seeking details ofparents in the National
Population Register (NPR)questionnaire. JD(U) leader
Lalan Singh said he raisedthe issue at the NDA meet-
ing and home minister AmitShah assured that the mat-ter will be discussed. Singh
said the Shiromani AkaliDal, another BJP ally, alsosupported it on the issue.
Vol. 83 No. 31 Established 1938 | 40 PAGES | `6.00deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle, google.com/+deccanchronicle
TABLOIDSPORTS|15When the Street beckons!
India pull off yetanother thrilling win
Britain exitsEuropean Union
WORLD|11
THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIAHYDERABAD I SATURDAY I 1 FEBRUARY 2020
PAGE
2CitySATURDAY | 1 FEBRUARY 2020 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE
The five EsMinister P. Ajay Kumar says education,enforcement, engineering, environment andemergency care essential for road safety
10 am to 2 pm: Gudimalka-pur, VBG Garden, Navodaya
Colony, Sabernagar,Gollabasti; Huda Colony,
Alinagar, Priya Colony,Jayanagar, Navodaya Colony.
2 pm to 5 pm: Humayun-nagar, Mehdipatnam, MIGH,
Sriramnagar, Muradnagar;Vijaynagar colony,
Owaisi park.
CORONA‘VIRUS’AFFECTING
COMPUTERS TOOT.S.S. SSIDDHARTH || DDCHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
As it is turning out, coron-avirus is affecting not justhumans but computers as well.
Antivirus experts fromKaspersky have found mali-cious files disguised as docu-ments related to newly discov-ered coronavirus corruptingcomputers. People, worriedabout the virus, which hascaught the attention of theworld, are ending up clickingthe malware documents think-ing they contain informationabout the virus.
The discovered maliciousfiles come masked within pdf,mp4, and docx files on coron-avirus. The names of filesimply that they contain videoinstructions on how to protectyourself from the virus,updates on the threat, and evenvirus detection procedures.
The fact is that these files con-tained a range of threats fromTrojans to worms, which arecapable of destroying, block-ing, modifying or copying data,as well as interfering with theoperation of computers orcomputer networks.
Kaspersky malware analystAnton Ivanov observed,“Coronavirus, which is beingwidely discussed as a majornews story, has already beenused as bait by cybercriminals.So far, we have seen only 10unique files. As this sort ofactivity often happens withpopular media topics, we expectthat coronavirus files maygrow. With people continuing tobe worried of their health, wecould see more and more mal-ware being spread hiddeninside fake documents on coro-navirus,” Mr Ivanov added.
Malware experts say comput-er users must avoid suspiciouslinks promising exclusive con-tent. Users can refer to officialsources for trustworthy andlegitimate information. Peoplemust also look at extension ofthe files downloaded. Docu-ments and video files should nothave either .exe or .lnk formats.
POWER | SHUTDOWN
SHORT TAKESPEOPLE RUSH
FOR AYURVEDA,HOMOEOPATHY
DC CCORRESPONDENT HYDERABAD, JAN. 31
People are buying homoeopathyand ayurvedic medicines thatcost between `50 to `100 as aprotection against the Chinesecoronavirus. Such is the worryamong people that videos, pic-tures and written columns onthe coronavirus infection aremaking their way into socialmedia.
There are sermons and versesfrom various religious textsbeing shared for the people torecite and protect themselvesfrom the virus. Doctors of mod-ern medicine do not acceptclaims from the homoeopathyand ayurveda they state thatthe methods of preventionmust be followed. Prevention isthe best way to protect oneselffrom the virus, they said.
Year of Nurses
Nurses from various health organisations take out a rally from Osmania hospital to Osmania Medical College at Koti to celebrate the Year ofNurses. The WHO has declared 2020 as the Year of Nurses to honour the 200-year legacy of Florence Nightingale. — P. SURENDRA
Bizmen brace for massivelosses due to coronavirusWith factories in China shut down, orders set to be delayedADITYA CCHUNDURU II DDCHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Hyderabad’s economy isnot immune to the coron-avirus that is sweepingChina. Though the virushas not yet made its wayinto the city, many of itsbusinesses are preparingto brace for massive lossesdue to stoppage or delay intransport of cargo fromChina, where most oftheir goods come from.
Importers who generallyvisit China to place orderssaid they wouldn’t gothere any time soon.Multiple businessmenwho depend on theseimported goods said theywill soon run out of exist-ing stocks.
Naveen from CinderellaImported Shoppe inJubilee Hills, which sellsimported knick knacksand electronics, said heexpects to see a massiveimpact on his business,and others like his, by theend of February. Hereceives goods fromimporters in Mumbai,who get them from China.
“Most of the stocks weare selling arrived amonth ago from China.This stock will last anoth-er month. This is a perpet-ual process. However,importers we work withhave told me that they arenot willing to visit Chinaanytime soon to placemore orders. So the ship-ments are bound to bedelayed,” he said.
Kaizer of RolandElectronics, which sellselectronics componentsfor industrial and educa-tional use, said the elec-tronics market would seethe biggest impact. “Manyfactories in China whichmanufacture electronicgoods have been instruct-ed to shut down. So thedelay has begun right atthe production level.Shipments will be delayedeven further,” he said.
Kaizer said that even aweek-long delay in shipments would have amassive impact on hisbusiness.
“Normally, we visit citiesin China to place ordersbut I won’t be doing thatnow. I can even live with aslowed-down business. Mylife is important to me andI can’t risk it,” he said.Kaizer rued that theIndian manufacturingbase of semiconductorsand electronics was small.“In my experience, 99 percent of all electronics aremade in China. It is unfor-tunate that we have todepend on foreign mar-kets,” he said.
Some businessmen saidthe prices of some goodswill rise in the comingmonth.
“Electronics which donot come under the MRP
regime are expected torise by 10-15 per cent,”said Kaizer.
At the same time, goodswhich have printed MRPson their packaging willcause a fall in profits forother. Some businessesalso said they were fortu-
nate to be immune fromthe coronavirus falloutdue to its coincidence withthe Chinese New Year.
Agarwal from JaiBhawani International,which imports buildingmaterials, said most facto-ries in China that he deals
with were already shut fornew year celebrations.“We were already workingwith suppliers from othercountries so we won’t beaffected. In any case, wehave a buffer stock thatwill last us through sixmonths,” he said.
Pharma cos worry aboutsupply of Chinese APIs
52 medical bodies meetwith TS health ministerDC CCORRESPONDENT HYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Fifty-two medical associa-tions in the state met onSaturday and urged healthminister Etala Rajendar tostop the proposed rational-isation scheme as it wascreating a dispute amonghealth employees.
The rationalisationscheme is leading to jun-iors getting promoted andsenior employees beingignored.
Dr Putta Srinivas, con-vener of the TelanganaJoint Action Committee ofhealth and medical depart-ment, explained, “The gov-ernment is replacing peo-
ple instead of recruitingfor the sanctioned posts.This is not the right prac-tice.”
He said the rules have tobe followed and in sanc-tioned posts proper stepsmust taken which willensure that seniors are notbypassed. “The practice ofrationalisation is not goodas all of us have participat-ed and fought for state-hood,” he said.
Rationalisation is beingdone in the positions ofheads of department andthe leading posts. Thereare 33 districts where onlyincharge district medicaland health officers havebeen appointed. The JAC
said the state had 1.6 lakhhealth employees and theywanted the government tolook into their demandsfor health cards, contractemployees to be made per-manent and filling up sanc-tioned posts.
The government orderhas been issued for forma-tion of nursing directoratebut there is no work doneon that front. There is nowork done for the regionaldirectorates either, theemployees said.
Contract employees inVaidya Vidhan Parishadare paid once in twomonths and there is ademand they must gettheir salaries every month.
KANIZA GGARARI II DDCHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Active pharmaceuticalingredients (API), rawmaterials to make medi-cines, are imported bypharmaceutical compa-nies from China. There isconcern that the coron-avirus could be transmit-ted through these materi-als or through the con-tainers that import thesematerials into India.
The API and intermedi-ates come in tonnes toIndia from China. Themanufacturers are locatedin different parts ofChina. India is one of thebiggest importers of APIand intermediates for thepharmaceutical industry.
With the partial shut-down in China, the bulkmanufacturers of phar-maceutical ingredientsIndia are worried.Hyderabad is one of themain drug-makers inIndia. A bulk manufactur-er of intermediate materi-als for medicines inHyderabad explained,“We get our intermediatematerial from the part ofChina which is so far notaffected. But we do not
know if the production isgoing to resume after theChinese New Year. Thereis a lot of confusion as thevirus infection has led toshutdown in most parts ofChina. They are also notsure and have asked us towait.”
There is concern amongthe manufacturers whohave their productionschedules chalked outabout the supply of APIs.The manufacturers arealso worried whetherthese materials will besubjected to checks at dif-ferent levels before beingsent out to India.
A senior researcher witha private company said
that API is the active chem-ical of the medicine whichhelps to fight the disease.“The coronavirus spreadhas led to concern whetherit can contaminate thematerial. Since the etiolo-gy of the virus is notknown there is a lot ofworry. Can it stick to thecontainers, boxes or mate-rials in which these API’sare transported,” he asked.
These are huge ship-ments which come in con-tainers and there are nochecks at the ports for thematerials. A seniorresearcher with the com-pany explained, “Thequarantine which is prac-ticed for humans has toalso be implemented atthe material level. Therewill be checks in Chinatoo. But we will have to doour own checking if thespread is not contained.Once the etiology isknown the exact behav-iour of the virus will beclear. We have to wait tillthen.” For a long time, thegovernment of India hasbeen trying to get APIsmanufactured in India butit has not been very suc-cessful as it involves highcosts.
MS to now get disability statusT.S.S. SSIDDHARTH II DDCHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Reacting to a news analy-sis published in thesecolumns on January 6,the state government’sdepartment for welfare ofdisabled has said it wouldissue disability certifi-cates to patients afflictedwith multiple sclerosisstarting next month.
This disease, which hasno treatment, is control-lable only by a slew ofexpensive drugs. Multiplesclerosis patients (MSPs)of the city are overjoyedwith the government’sdecision. They say thatdisability certificateswould entitle them to edu-cational scholarshipschemes, rebate inincome tax, reservationin government jobs, freetravel in state buses,loans for setting up busi-nesses and so on.
“We have receivedorders only today(Friday). We will be com-ing up with a websitewhere people can fileapplications for disabilitycards,” B. Shailaja, direc-tor, Juvenile Welfare,Correctional Servicesand Welfare of StreetChildren, who also han-dles the disabled subject,told Deccan Chronicle.
She pointed out that theerstwhile list of disabili-ties — called the Personswith Disability — recog-nised by the governmenthad only seven ailmentson it when the list cameout first in 1995. The billtitled Rights of Personswith Disabilities Bill 2016was passed to replace theearlier act.
“In the new bill, thereare 21 disabilities as com-pared to seven in the ear-lier one. Once we get thewebsite up and running,we will begin issuing cer-tificates,” Shailaja stated.
However, when it comesto a disability like multi-ple sclerosis, a clauseasks for percentage ofdisability. “We are goingto have a team of medicaland health experts, whichwill decide on the set ofparameters to decide onpercentage of disability,”Shailaja added.
10 engg collegesto be shut downRAJESWARI PPARASA II DDCHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
About 10 engineering col-leges are in line for ‘pro-gressive closure’ from theupcoming academic year2020-21 and have appliedto the Jawaharlal NehruTechnological University,Hyderabad (JNTUH). Thelast date to opt for closureof various courses andinstitutes is likely to beextended by a week. Thedeadline expired onFriday.
According to the norms,institutes can opt for clo-sure if the admissions areless than 30 per cent ofcapacity in the three con-secutive academic years.Every year, JNTUH issuesnotification invitingapplications for closure ofinstitutes and courses.The All India Council forTechnical Education
gives the final nod afterverification.
In progressive closure,the process begins withcancelling admissions forthe first year studentsand the institute wouldfunction with the existingstudents. The institutewould be closed after allthe students graduate.
Speaking to DeccanChronicle, JNTUHRegistrar A. Govardhansaid that most of the 10colleges that had appliedfor closure were locatedon the city outskirts.They cited lack of admis-sions and high mainte-nance cost. The numberis likely to go up if thelast date is extended.
In the last academicyear, 13 colleges hadapplied for closure butonly two institutes werepermitted to down shut-ters by the AICTE.
WHO: nCOV CANINCUBATE FROM 2 TO 10 DAYSDC CCORRESPONDENT HYDERABAD, JAN. 31
The incubation period ofthe coronavirus once a per-son is infected ranges fromtwo to 10 days according tothe World HealthOrganisation. This meansthat the symptoms of fever,cough, cold, sore throat andshortness of breath can benoted even after 10 days.
The universal method ofisolation, washing hands,covering the mouth andnose with a handkerchiefwhile coughing and sneez-ing have to be followed toprevent the spread of thecoronavirus.
The biggest concern isprotection and care forhealthcare workers as thecoronavirus is found tospread quickly. All thosedealing with coronavirusinfection cases must wearfull protection gear.
Presently, the Telanganastate government has onlyfew of the full protectiongears but more of them arebeing ordered and keptaside for emergency pur-poses. Doctors have beengiven the first round oftraining for dealing withcoronavirus cases whereeven minute details havebeen explained regardingthe care that they and theparamedical staff have totake.
FIVE-MEMBERTEAM WILL TEST KITS AT GANDHIFrom Page 1
The medical kits for coron-avirus will be tested inGandhi Hospital by a teamof five doctors. Dr VinaySekhar, head of medicine,Dr H.L. Baby Rani, head ofanesthesia, Dr KrishnaMohan, head of surgery,Dr Nagamani, head ofmicrobiology and Dr B.Sheshadri.
The district medical andhealth officials are intouch with all suspectedcases and they have been asked to practice self-isolation.
DC | IMPACT
■ ■ MS PPATIENTS say thatdisability certificateswould entitle them toeducational scholarshipschemes, rebate inincome tax, reservation ingovernment jobs, freetravel in state buses,loans for setting up busi-nesses and so on.
■ ■ THE AAPI and intermedi-ates come in tonnes toIndia from China. Themanufacturers are locatedin different parts of China.India is one of the biggestimporters of API andintermediates for thepharmaceutical industry.
■ ■ There is concernamong the manufacturerswho have their productionschedules chalked out
W: Wash your hands thoroughly.U: Understand the viralpresentation and neverunderestimate its danger.H: High temperature — bealert. Hydration in adequatequantities to avoid renalfailure. A: Avoid crowds anduncooked meat products.Adhere to cough etiquette(cover your mouth whilecoughing).N: N95, the mask recom-mended to prevent virustransmission.
Courtesy: Dr C. Vijay KumarSenior Pulmnologist,
Apollo Hospitals
Experts hhave aalso ddetectedrelated mmalicious ffiles wwiththe ddetection nnames:■ Worm.VBS.Dinihou.r■ Worm.Python.Agent.c■ UDS:DangerousObject.
Multi.Generic■ Trojan.WinLNK.Agent.gg■ Trojan.WinLNK.Agent.ew■ HEUR:Trojan.WinLNK.
Agent.gen■ HEUR:Trojan.PDF.Badur.b
An illustration of the 2019 coronavirus
TS-bPass to reducehuman interventionDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Municipal administrationminister K.T. Rama Rao onFriday announced that thegovernment would bringin a new system for build-ing permissions (TS-bPass). This would reducethe human interface inurban local bodies, apartfrom the GHMC andHMDA, where they havealready implemented theDevelopment PermissionManagement System(DPMS).
He made the announce-ment while participatingin CREDAI. Mr Rao saidthat TS-bPass would be arevolutionary system,which would be advancedfrom DPMS.
Speaking at the event,Mr Rama Rao said the gov-ernment’s aim was toensure that people getbuilding permissions in atime-bound manner and acorruption-free environ-ment. Mr Rama Rao hadearlier said TS-bPass
would allow a citizen toconstruct a house throughself-certification if it isbuilt within 75 squareyards.
Rama Rao said the gov-ernment would soon havea meeting with the repre-sentatives of Credai andstate government officials.He said the TS-bPasswould become a rolemodel the way TS-iPasshad become. The new sys-tem will be released aftermultiple checks.TheMAUD minister requestedthe investor community tolook beyond the capitalcity for taking up projects.He even asked the develop-ers to invest in architec-ture rather buildingorganic permanent struc-tures, while cities likeBengaluru in India havebeen the front runners.
To compete with theworld class cities, buildersin Hyderabad should focuson structural beauty, thegovernment is ready toprovide the necessary sup-port, he said.
Bank staff stage a protest at the SBI head office duringtheir two-day all India bank strike on Friday. —DC
Bank strike
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3SATURDAY | 1 FEBRUARY 2020 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE
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4CitySATURDAY | 1 FEBRUARY 2020 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE
Animal healthMinister Talasani Srinivas Yadav saysgovernment is making arrangements tovaccinate 84 lakh animals from today
IN BRIEFRansomware: Hunt
on to nab culpritsHyderabad: Cybercrime officialsof the Hyderabad police are onthe lookout for a group of mis-creants that held the computerfiles of a city-based photogra-
pher captive for a ransom.According to officials who
received the complaint fourdays ago, the ransomware
attack took place in the pho-tographer’s system. “They
asked for $980 dollars to freeup the system. We are now try-ing to decrypt the code of the
virus and clean his system,”said the officials.
ROSES FORTRAFFIC
VIOLATORSDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
The Road Transport Authority(RTA) officials Gandhigiri,working in coordination withtraffic police at Punjagutta cir-cle, gave flowers to commuterswho were not wearing helmetsand seat belts.
Elsewhere, the LB Nagartraffic police gave one-litrepetrol coupons in cases whereboth the motorcycle rider andthe pillion rider were wearinghelmets. This was done as partof the Road Safety Week cele-brations. Additional inspectorNagamallu issued thecoupons.
At Punjagutta, about 150 vio-lators were given roses in themorning and were told to fol-low the traffic rules. Severalcollege students volunteeredand distributed flowers.Placards were put up appeal-ing the public to follow trafficrules.
The RTA officials said thattaking the road safety week asan opportunity, they are tryingto bring in change with thehelp of youth, among the traf-fic violators.
Similar programmes wouldbe held across the state tillFebruary 2.
GHMC TAXINSPECTORARRESTED
DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
A tax inspector working withGHMC at Khairatabad wasarrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) foraccepting a bribe to transferthe ownership of a buildingand continue the old level ofhouse tax.
ACB said the accused, P.Jagan, was caught onKhairatabad main road ataround 2.40 pm while accept-ing the bribe.
Jagan demanded `75,000from the complainant, DegalaRaju, and asked him to handover the mutation proceedingsand to continue the old housetax pertaining to the residencein Road No. 10, Jubilee Hills.
The ACB recovered the bribeamount from Jagan.
He was arrested and pro-duced before the special judgefor SPE and ACB cases,Hyderabad.
Med educationagent arrestedDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
The DirectorateGeneral of Goods andService Tax Intelli-gence (DGGI) arrestedthe chairman of aPune-based company,which deals with med-ical education consul-tancy services, forevading approximate-ly `11.81 crore of GSTand sent to judicialcustody.
According to intelli-gence personnel, aPhilippines-based con-sortium of medicalcolleges appointed aprincipal educationassociate (PEA), regis-tered in Pune andChennai, who in turnappointed agents indifferent parts ofcountry. These agentsadvertise and interactwith students, who
aspire to pursue med-ical education inPhilippines, and theirparents. For recruitingstudents and ensuringtheir smooth admis-sion, huge amountsare collected by theassociates, part ofwhich is shared withthe PEA. Most of thesetransactions, involv-ing tuition fees, visaprocessing fees, hostelfees and other relatedcharges are in cash. Asthey are not accountedfor in books ofaccounts, they escapeall taxes, includingservice tax, GST andincome tax. No invoic-es are issued and serv-ices are provided clan-destinely in order toevade tax.
Based on intelligenceinputs, officers fromWarangal RegionalUnit (WRU) of DGGI,
simultaneous searcheswere conducted at sev-eral businesses as wellas residential premis-es of certain taxpayersin Hyderabad, Vijay-awada, Chennai andPune. They are all intoproviding medicaleducation consultancyservices to studentsaspiring for MBBS andMD in the Philippines.
Searches were car-ried out on December20 and 31 and January 6and 8. Investigationreve-aled that theHyderabad-based asso-ciate dealing with thetwo Telugu-speakingstates has sponsoredover 550 students.Incriminating docu-ments and voluntarydepositions made byvarious directors andother key persons, sug-gest that PEA has evad-ed `11.81 crore of GST.
High alert
Rapid Action Force personnel deployed at Charminar and Macca Masjid inview of the anti-CAA protest on Friday. — P. SURENDRA
Hyderabad: A newly-wedwoman allegedly committedsuicide by hanging at her in-laws residence. Her paternalfamily alleged that it was theoutcome of harassment by
her husband and in-laws. Thevictim was identified as S.Pallavi, 28, of SriSrinivasapuram Colony atVanasthalipuram.
On Friday she committed
suicide by hanging in herbedroom.
Her husband, Santosh, abusinessman, informed herparents about the death,police said. Her family said
Pallavi and Santosh got mar-ried on December 8.
Since then her husband andin-laws were harassing herfor additional dowry, he par-ents alleged.
MAN SETSSELF ABLAZETO END LIFEDC CCORRESPON-DENTADILABAD, JAN.31
A 35-year-old manreportedly commit-ted suicide by settinghimself on fire on theoutskirts of Adilabadon Friday afternoon.Police identified thevictim as KamaleshKat-adiya of Bhukt-hapur colony ofAdilabad. Police saidhe took the extremesteps as he was vexedwith family disputes.It is learnt that hetook petrol in a plas-tic bottle, poured iton himself.
DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
A 74-year-old alleged-ly sexually assaulteda seven-year-old girlon Thursday after lur-ing her with tendercoconut water.Neredmet police saidthe accused, Hyderalias Yusuf, has beenarrested. Police saidthe victim is Yusuf ’sneighbour inA m b e d k a r n a g a r,Sainikpuri.
He saw her playingin front of the house,lured her into his res-idence and sexuallyassaulted her. Her
parents, daily wagelabourers, were awayat work. After theyreturned home, thevictim narrated herordeal. Her parentsapproached theNeredmet police andlodged a complaint.
74-year-old manrapes 7-yr-old girl
DURGA PPRASAD SSUNKU ||DCHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Nigerian fraudsters arecautious in hiding theirmoney, which makes itextremely difficult forauthorities to recover thedefrauded money. Earlier,they used to transfermoney using hawalatransactions. With adventof cryptocurrencies, likebitcoin, stashing moneywith their family mem-bers in Nigeria and otherAfrican countries hasbecome much easier forthem.
This month, Hyderabadcyber crime police nabbedtwo Nigeran nationalsinvolved in differentcrimes. While they weresuccessful in arrestingthem, money was not intheir possession. Policesuspect that by the timethey reached the accused,the money had been trans-ferred to four to five dif-ferent overseas accounts.
In the first case,Nigerian nationalEzumezu Lucky Ozah ofNew Delhi hatched a crim-inal conspiracy with oneDeepak and swindledmoney. The cyber crimepolice arrested Ezumezubut were unable to recovermoney. Vizag police wererelatively lucky thoughwhen they nabbed thesame Ezumezu, whoimpersonated as a womanto commit a cyber fraudinvolving `34 lakh.However, they couldrecover only `2 lakh.
In another case bookedby Cyber crime police sta-tion in Hyderabad,Nigerian national JamesLucky Obasi was arrestedfor an online gift fraudcase on January 5, 2020.Investigators made stren-uous efforts, but nothingcould be recovered.
Sharing his experience,an investigating officersaid that in one case, theylanded in Tiruppur ofTamil Nadu after they got
to know that the Nigerianinvolved in a narcoticscase had used his illegallyearned money to buyclothes and export thesame to his home country,where there is a highdemand for Indianclothes. Speaking toDeccan Chronicle, K.V M.Prasad, AssistantCommissioner of Police,Cyber Crime, Hyderabad,said, “Earlier, they con-verted defrauded moneyinto clothes and exportedthem to their home coun-
tries. Later, they startedusing hawala transac-tions. But with advance-ments in technology andadvent of digital curren-cies like bitcoin, they areeasily transferring moneyto family members inNigeria and other Africancountries”.
Bitcoins and other cryp-tocurrencies are decen-tralised. There is no cen-tral organisation, whichis aware of all transac-tions. “To avoid suspicion,the accused usually savemoney in the bankaccounts of their friendsand relatives, who are notinvolved in any crime,”Prasad disclosed.
He cautioned people notto transfer funds onlineover marketing websitesor social media platforms,unless they receive theproduct into their hands.Job or loan seekers shouldalso not pay or transfermoney without verifyingthe genuineness of per-sons and companies.
Bitcoins help Nigerianfraudsters stash money
They operated through hawala route earlier CYBER | CRIME
Accused had evaded `11.81 crore GST
■ ■ CYBER CCRIME policenabbed two Nigerannationals involved indifferent crimes. Whilethey were successful inarresting them, moneywas not in their posses-sion. Police suspect themoney had been trans-ferred to four to fivedifferent overseasaccounts.
NEWLY-MARRIED WOMAN COMMITS SUICIDE, HUSBAND, IN-LAWS UNDER SCANNER
(S/1920/D01761)
I will dwell in the house of the Lordforever. Ps. 23:6
Late Dr. K. RAJESHWAR RAOSri Tirumala Maternity & Nursing Home,
SithaphalmandiDOB: 14.05.1932 DOD: 01.02.2019Your life was a blessing, your memorya treasure, you are loved beyondwords and missed beyond measure.
- Wife, Children, Grand Children
Ist DEATH ANNIVERSARY
SHRADHANJALI
Smt. JAIWANTI BAI. M. CHHABRIAW/o Late Shri Murlidhar. R. Chhabria
Inserted by:Mr & Mrs. Kishore. R. ChhabriaMr & Mrs. Amith. K. ChhabriaPh: 9985685636 / 9866162550
(S/1920/D01757)
PAGDI
Smt. JAIWANTI BAI CHHABRIAW/o Late Shri Murlidhar Chhabria
1st February 2020Time: 5 - 5.30 p.m. at Sindhu Bhavan,
Secunderabad.Inserted by: Sons:
Prakash Chhabria (M/s Prakash Bros)Gopal Chhabria (M/s Sindh Cloth Store)Subash Chhabria (M/s Prakash Enterprises)
& FamilyPh: 9394713518 / 9849090516
(S/1920/D01767)
25th ANNIVERSARY“The Righteous will be in everlastingremembrance.” Psalms 112:6
In Loving Memory
Late Mr. P. PADMA RAO(Retd. Station Superintendent Kacheguda Stn)Born on: 05.07.1927 Called to Glory: 01.02.1995
Inserted by:Mrs. Mercy Padma Rao (Wife)
Mrs. & Mr. P. Vinod Kumar & FlyMrs. & Mr. B.J. Isaac & Fly
Mrs. & Mr. K. Jones Joseph & FlyMrs. & Mr. Samuel Thomas & Fly
(S/1920/D01773)
25th ANNIVERSARY“The memory of the righteous is ablessing.” Proverbs 10:7In Loving Memory of our Grand Father
Late Mr. P. PADMA RAO(Retd. Station Superintendent Kacheguda Stn)Born on: 05.07.1927 Called to Glory: 01.02.1995You will remain in our hearts forever
Inserted by: Jayanthi, John,Hannah, Terrance, Edwin,Priyanka, Daniel, Nishita,
Enosh, Jaden & Ronel
(S/1920/D01774)
SHRADDANJALI
Late Dr. ADI VENKATADRI(Retd. Principal L.B. College, Warangal)DOB: 10-07-1935 Expired: 31-01-2020Your memories are always in our heartsforever. We pray God to make your holysoul rest in peace.
Inserted by:Wife: Adi Saraswathi, Son: Adi Rajesh,
Daughter-in-law: A. Lavanya,Grand Daughter: A. Sanjana &
Family MembersWest Marredpally, Secunderabad.
■ ■ THE AACCUSEDsaw her playing infront of the house,lured her into hisresidence and sexu-ally assaulted her.Her parents, dailywage labourers,were away at work.
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5SATURDAY | 1 FEBRUARY 2020 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE
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6PoliticsSATURDAY | 1 FEBRUARY 2020 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE
Action, finallyMinister V. Srinivas Goud tells Sports Authorityof Telangana State officials to implementNational Sports Development Code-2011 soon
IN BRIEFKTR appointedto head TGFCLHyderabad: The state
government has appointedIT minister K.T. Rama Rao as
chairman of the TelanganaFiber Grid Corporation
Limited (TFGCL).The government had consti-tuted the TFGCL under the
Companies Act, 2013 to exe-cute and maintain the proj-
ect and its related issues.The TFGCL board of
Directors met a couple of days ago and
discussed the affairs of the company.
It was resolved then to torecommend to the govern-
ment to appoint Mr RamaRao as chairman.
According the governmentissued orders appointing
Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, as Vice-Chairman, Sujai
Subhash Karampuri, asManaging Director
Sandeep Kumar Sulthania,IAS, as Director
for TGFCL.
TSPC REQUESTSFOR MORE
NAVODAYASDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
TS Planning Commissionvice-chairman B. VinodKumar expressed his displeas-ure at the Centre’s unfairnesstowards Telangana state inallocation of Navodayaschools.
He had written a letter to MrRajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairmanof Niti Aayog, stating that it isdisturbing to note skewed dis-tribution of these centrally-aided schools in favour ofnorthern and central Indianstates.
He said that Chief MinisterK. Chandrasekhar Rao hadrequested the Prime Ministerfor allocation of a Navodayaschool in each of the 33 districts as the state govern-ment taken a progressivemove by reorganising the dis-tricts and the population ofthe state had increased to 4crore.
He brought to the notice ofMr Rajiv Kumar thatTelangana state had only nineNavodaya schools in 33 dis-tricts and had been grosslyneglected in the allocation ofnew schools. Other states withsimilar population or weresmaller such as Chhattisgarh.Haryana, Jharkhand andAssam had twice or thrice thenumber of Navodaya schools,he said.
He urged the Niti Aayog torecommend to the Centre toallocate more Navodayaschools to the state.
Budget session to beheld after PACS polls
Court gives Jagan Feb. 7 date
PCC strategisesagainst TRS
Jagan, Naidu look toModi on Council issueS.N.C.N. AACHARYULU II DDCHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Testing times awaitAndhra Pradesh ChiefMinister Y.S. Jagan MohanReddy and former chiefminister N. ChandrababuNaidu in the BudgetSession of Parliament.
It remains to be seenwhose stand on the APLegislative Council will bebacked by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. Politicalcircles are waiting withbated breath.
The AP Assembly passeda resolution on abolition ofthe Council and it was sentto Union home ministryfor action.
The procedure is that theUnion Cabinet has toapprove the decision of APgovernment and then askthe Parliamentary affairsministry to move it in bothhouses of Parliament.Once they approve thestate government’s deci-sion, it will be sent to thePresident, who has to issuea notification on the aboli-tion of the LegislativeCouncil.
Mr Reddy wantsParliament to approve hisgovernment’s decision atthe earliest. He will bringpressure on all people con-
cerned to approve themeasure in the ongoingBudget Session.
Mr Naidu is determinedto stall the decision. Thereare speculations that, ifnecessary, Mr Naidu mightsend about 15 TD MLCs toimpress upon the BJP lead-ership not to approve thecontroversial decision.Sources said Mr Reddy hasdirected YSRC MPs to fol-low-up the issue and to seethat the Union governmentwill introduce the resolu-tion in Parliament.
Meanwhile, the sourcessaid that Centre may notintroduce the resolutionrightaway. It might do so inthe second phase of thesession, which will beginin March.
The AP Assembly Budgetsession will start inFebruary. The APLegislative Council alsowill meet to discuss on the
AP Budget. If the Centreintroduces the Bill inMarch, the AP BudgetSession will be the lastmeeting of the Council.
Incidentally, since MrModi became the PrimeMinister for a second time,Mr Reddy has met him onfour separate occasionswhile Mr Naidu has nothim even once.
According to political cir-cles, Mr Modi has a softcorner for Mr Reddy. It ismore so because his gov-ernment may require thesupport of YSRC in theRajya Sabha to pass crucialbills. The YSRC has 22members in the Lok Sabhaand two in the RajyaSabha. The TD has 3 LokSabha members and twoRajya Sabha members.
A TD Rajya Sabha mem-ber will retire in April, themonth in which YSRC willhave four new membersand its strength will go tosix. The BJP requires out-side support in the RajyaSabha.
A senior political leadercommented that compara-tively speaking Mr Reddyis a more reliable friendand hence the Union gov-ernment may back aboli-tion of AP LegislativeCouncil.
DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
The Telangana Prade-sh Congress on Fridaydecided to take legalrecourse against thevoting of TRS ex-offi-cio members in therecently concludedelections to councilsof municipalities andmunicipal corpora-tions.
Senior party leaders,including Mr K. JanaReddy, Mr MohamedAli Shabbir, Mr MarriShashidhar Reddy, MrM. Kodanda Reddy, MrG. Chinna Reddy, MrT. Jeevan Reddy andothers met in the resi-dence of TPCC presi-dent N. Uttam KumarReddy and decided totake legal advice onthe alleged irregulari-ties committed by theTRS in the elections tourban local bodiesand then approach thecourt.
After the meeting,Mr Uttam KumarReddy told the media
that they had dis-cussed the strategy tobe adopted duringelections to the agri-culture primary coop-erative societies.
He alleged that und-er Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao’srule, a lot of injusticewas caused to farm-ers. Mr Rao had notreleased Rythu Band-hu assistance tofarmers nor was thererelief under RythuBhima.
He said that theCongress has decidedto expose the failuresof the ruling party inthe PACSs elections.
VUJJINI VAMSHIDHARA || DDCHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
The CBI special court atHyderabad on Fridayinquired from CBI’scounsel whether theTelangana High Courthad given liberty to APChief Minister Y.S.Jagan Mohan Reddy torequest the trial court toexempt him from person-al appearance on Friday.Special court judge B.R.Madhusudan Rao wasdealing with the applica-tion filed by Mr Reddy forexemption. Mr NiranjanReddy, counsel for Mr
Jagan Mohan Reddy, sub-mitted to the court thathe had filed 11 petitionsbefore the High Courtseeking exemption ofappearance in all thecases registered by theCBI. Counsel said as thecases were to be heard byHigh Court on February6, it has given liberty tothe petitioner to requestthe CBI court for exemp-tion by informing itabout the cases pendingbefore the High Court.
Seeking clarification onthe contention of MrJagan Mohan Reddy’scounsel, the CBI judgeinquired about it from
CBI counsel, who, inturn, submitted that theHigh Court had givensuch liberty. After confir-mation, the CBI courtallowed Mr Jagan MohanReddy’s application forexemption from personalappearance on Friday.
The CBI court later adj-ourned the cases to February 7 stating thatMr Jagan Mohan Reddyhas to appear before it onthat day if he does not getany relief from the HighCourt.
The special court,which is also looking intocases filed by Enforcem-ent Directorate against
Mr Jagan Mohan Reddyfor violating FEMA rul-es, exempted him fromappearance on Friday.
Meanwhile, Mr JaganMohan Reddy has filedsix petitions before theTelangana High Court onFriday seeking exemp-tion from personal appea-rance before the specialcourt in cases filed byEnforcement Directora-te. However, the petitionswere not numbered dueto technical errors.
Mr Jagan MohanReddy’s advocate took thepetitions back from theregistry of the HighCourt.
Like 2019, this year too the session will be held for 10 daysS.A. IISHAQUI II DDCHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Chief Minister K. Chan-drasekhar Rao is said tohave decided to hold theBudget Session of Legis-lature after the comple-tion of elections to theprimary agriculture coo-perative societies (PACS).
The election schedulefor the PACS was relea-sed on Thursday accord-ing to which the electionprocess will be completedon February 18.
Sources close to the
Chief Minister’s Officesaid that though Mr Raohad decided to hold thesession from February 9,he changed his mindafter the notification ofthe elections to the PACS.
Sources said that as perthe earlier schedule, thesession was to start on
February 9 with Govern-or Tamilisai Soundarar-ajan addressing a jointsession of the Assemblyand the Council. Thenext two days were givenfor the discussion on themotion of thanks for theGovernor’s address. TheBudget was to have beenplaced in the House afterFebruary 12.
With the notificationfor the PACS electionsissued, the Chief Mini-ster asked all legislatorsto stay in their respectiveconstituencies till the
completion of the polls,sources added.
The Budget Session forthe financial year 2019-20was held in September2019 for nearly 10 days.The session had been del-ayed because the Centrehad presented only aninterim Budget in Jan-uary because of the LokSabha elections in April-May last year. The fullBudget was presented af-ter the elections. This ye-ar also the Chief Minis-ter is thinking of holdingthe session for 10 days.
MSME TO PARTNERWITH TELANGANAFOR BIOASIA 2020DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
The Ministry of Micro,Small and Medium Enter-prises (MSME), govern-ment of India, on Fridayannounced that it wouldbe partnering with the state government for BioAsia2020.
The biosciences conven-tion will be held betweenFebruary 17 and 19 in thecity.
In a release the MSMEsaid the partnershipwould help MSME organi-sations benefit from theglobal platform ofBioAsia.
“Given that MSMEs con-tribute over 80 per cent ofthe Indian lifesciencesindustry, the partnershipis of extreme signifi-cance,” it added.
■ ■ MR NNAIDU is deter-mined to stall Jagan'sdecision. There are specu-lations that, if necessary,Mr Naidu might sendabout 15 TD MLCs toimpress upon the BJPleadership not to approvethe controversial decision
■ ■ UTTAM KKUMARReddy alleged thatunder K. Chandr-asekhar Rao’s rule, alot of injustice wascaused to farmers.Mr Rao had notreleased Rythu Ban-dhu assistance tofarmers nor was the-re relief under RythuBhima
■ ■ WITH NNOTICE forPACS polls issued, CMasked all legislators tostay in their respectiveconstituencies till thecompletion of the polls
■ ■ VINOD KKUMAR said thatChief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao hadrequested the Prime Ministerfor allocation of a Navodayaschool in each of the 33 dis-tricts as the state governmenttaken a progressive move byreorganising the districts andthe population of the state hadincreased to 4 crore
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7CitySATURDAY | 1 FEBRUARY 2020 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE
Big claimNizamabad MP D. Arvind claimsthere is no party in the countrythat is as secular as the BJP
IN BRIEFTraffic blocks
for Prez’s visitHyderabad: In view of the
visit of President Ram NathKovind to Hyderabad for
two days starting onSaturday, Hyderabad policecommissioner Anjani Kumarissued a traffic advisory on
Friday to regulate traffic. He said traffic will be
stopped or diverted on needbasis at the following
places/routes.At 3.20 pm on Saturday, the
President will arrive at theBegumpet airport and pro-ceed to Raj Bhavan via the
Begumpet flyover, RajivGandhi statue (Monappa
Island) and Raj Bhavan Road.
At 10.20 am on Sunday, thePresident will proceed toBegumpet airport on the
same route.
STATE ANNOUNCESSETTING UP OFSANITATION HUBDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Municipal administrationminister K.T. Rama Rao onFriday announced that a san-itation hub (S-Hub) — anincubator for promotingstart-ups and innovations inwater, sanitation, solid wastemanagement and wastewater recycling — wouldcome up in the city to makethe cities and towns liveableand healthy. A seed fund of`25 crore will be earmarkedfor this initiative
He said he was “extremelyupset” with the water, sanita-tion and hygiene scenario. He said Hyderabad couldonly treat 59 per cent of the2,000 million litres of sew-age that is produced everyday.
Addressing delegates at thevaledictory session of InkWash Summit in Hyderabad,Mr Rao said that S-Hub will be the go-to place thatwould incubate ideas andbuild an ecosystem for inno-vations knowledge dissemi-nation and capacity build-ing in the water, sanitati-on and hygiene (WASH) sec-tor.
The government proposesto house the S-Hub at theAdministrative Staff Collegeof India for two years and then establish a dedicat-ed facility at the propo-sed Centre for UrbanExcellence.
Mr Rao said that the stategovernment had prioritisedthe WASH sector and is com-mitted to achieving the tar-gets well ahead of the global-ly agreed timelines. The min-ister said that urban localbodies in the state haveachieved ODF status andwere working towardsODF++ protocols throughsafe management of faecalsludge and septage.
Mr Rao said the govern-ment was striving to univer-salise access to individualhousehold tap connectionand safe sanitation in allurban local bodies. The newMunicipal Act took a rights-based approach to water, san-itation and other municipalservices.
EFLU rolls back‘disputed’ noticeDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
The ‘controversial’ commu-nication from the Englishand Foreign Language Univ-ersity (EFLU), Hyderabad,was rolled back on Fridayafter students boycotted aca-demic classes for two days.
A student representativesaid that at 12 noon, stu-dents received the officialnotification that the orderhas been cancelled. Some ofthe changes the varsity hadproposed included waivingof the written section of the
PhD entrance examinationsfor JRF holders and the intr-oduction of the Bell Curvegrading and mandatory wri-tten examinations for all.
The order stated that theVice Chancellor had givenapproval for the cancella-tion of the communicationno. EFLU/RO/2020/67, post-ed on the University websiteon January 28.
The students had demand-ed a complete rollback ofthe “regressive measureswhich stood in opposition tothe academic culture andidentity of the university.”
JBS-MGBS Metroinaugural soonDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
The Hyderabad Metro RailLimited (HMRL) is waitingfor Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao to inau-gurate operations on the his-toric Jubilee Bus Station(JBS)-Mahatma Gandhi BusStation (MGBS) stretch.Authorities said that theywould inaugurate it anytime before February 10.
Once the Metro Rail serv-ice commences on the 11-kilometre stretch via theinterchange station at Para-de Ground, the travel timewill be cut down to 16 min-utes from 38-40 minutes byroad.
The HMRL secured clear-ance from the Commis-
sioner of Metro Rail Safety(CMRS) on January 11 tocommence operations onCorridor II. The CMRS, MrJ.K. Garg, inspected the linealong with HMRL managingdirector N.V.S. Reddy andsenior engineers and techni-cal experts of L&THMRL,HMRL and independentengineer Louis Berger overthree days and issued thesafety certificate.
Mr Reddy told DeccanChronicle that operationswould commence by Febru-ary 10 and that HMRL wasawaiting Mr Rao’s appoint-ment. He said that the HM-RL had made the Corridor IIpedestrian friendly and CCroad works beneath thestructure were 80 per centcomplete.
■ ■ MR RRAO said that thestate government had priori-tised the WASH sector and iscommitted to achieving thetargets well ahead of theglobally agreed timelines.The minister said that urbanlocal bodies in the state haveachieved ODF status andwere working towardsODF++ protocols
KCR for all-round growthCM favours dispersed development to reflect Hyderabad’s imageMADDY DDEEKSHITH II DDCHYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao hasasked the municipaladministration and ITdepartments to go for dis-persed developmentrather than concentrat-ing on one part of the city.
The government feltthat developing one partof the city under the lookeast would lead to compli-cations like heavy trafficsnarls, lack of parkingspaces, lung spaces anddense population withhigher rate of pollution,as is being seen in thewestern parts of the city.
Highly placed sources inthe IT department said
that the CM has suggest-ed chalking out plans todevelop all four parts ofthe city by creating phar-ma and electronic cities,IT hubs and otherlifestyle-related ameni-ties to reflect the spirit ofHyderabad which is amini-India.
Sources said that duringthe current year, thedepartment would inau-
gurate the electronic andpharma cities to the eastand south of the city andthe T-Hub in the westernpart.
This was announced byMA&UD minister K.T.Rama Rao while he wasspeaking at theConfederation of RealEstate Developers'Associations of India(CREDAI) property show.The minister asked realestate developers to focuson facade developmentand lay emphasis onarchitecture which wouldenhance the beauty of thecity. He assured them ofsupply of 41 per cent ofrecycled sewage waterwhich would lower theprice of construction.
■ ■ THE CCM wants pharmacity, electronic city, IThubs and lifestyle-relatedamenities located aroundthe city.
■ ■ PHARMA CCITY, elec-tronic city to be inaugu-rated this year.
Huge push for roadbuilding programmeDC CCORRESPONDENT HYDERABAD, JAN. 31
Roads minister VemulaPrashanth Reddy saidthat the government hadtaken up a massive roadbuilding programmewhich includes four-lan-ing of roads from districtheadquarters to the capi-tal and construction ofdouble-lane roads frommandal headquarters todistrict headquarters andconstruction of bridges.
He was addressing aworkshop on long spanbridge construction here.
He said that the govern-ment had in 2014 sanc-tioned three importantroad programmes costing`12,000 crore. Mandalsgot double-lane connec-tivity at a cost of `2,587crore. Major highwaystotalling 5,595 km andcosting `7,915 crorewidened. Now, 511bridges were being builtat a cost of `2,495 crore.
